With the birth of the Cicatrix Maledictum the Imperium of Mankind suffers as never before. Conflict and corruption is rife on every front and precious little hope remains, save for those who hold to their faith when faced with destruction.... Denied a martyr’s death during the battle for Ophelia VII, Sister Evangeline of the Order of Our Martyred Lady is blessed with a new and grave duty: to embark on a pilgrimage beyond the Great Rift to recover a precious and powerful artefact - the Shield of Saint Katherine.

Fell times have come to the galaxy. Cadia has fallen, destroyed by the onslaught of Chaos. A Great Rift in the warp has opened, and from its depths spew daemons and the horrors of Old Night. But all hope is not lost… A hero, long absent, has returned, and with him comes the wrath of the Ultramarines reborn. Roboute Guilliman has arisen to lead the Imperium out of darkness on a crusade the likes of which has not been seen since the fabled days of the Emperor. But never before have the forces of Ruin amassed in such numbers, and nowhere is safe from despoliation.

When a mysterious messenger contacts the Adepta Sororitas, Celestian Miriya must travel to Hollos and pass judgment on the world. Will she find a world embracing the Emperor's truth or one in need of cleansing? Her decision will liberate or condemn an entire planet.

In the grim nightmare future of the 41st millennium, the witch-hunting zealots of the the Sisters of Battle stand between humanity and damnation. From the elite Seraphim warriors to the berserk Sisters Repentia, they are the strong arm of the Ecclesiarchy and the brutal hammer of witches. When dangerous psychic heretic Torris Vaun escapes from her custody, Seraphim Miriya is disgraced in the eyes of her fellow sisters and superiors. Following Vaun's trail to the planet Neva, Miriya takes her sisters in pursuit and, along with Hospitalier Sister Verity, starts her investigations.

The Sisters of Battle are the Emperor's most devout worshippers, fierce warriors preaching the purity of the Imperium and scourging their enemies with bolter and flamer. On a distant world, the Ecclesiarchy outpost of Sanctuary 101 was wiped out by an implacable foe - the fearless, soulless necrons. Now, a mission of the Sisterhood has returned to reconsecrate the site - but the metallic nightmares still lurk in the darkness, guarding a secret that has lain dormant for millennia.

For Ianthe, war is all too familiar. A former soldier in the Astra Militarum, she now serves Inquisitor Covenant as an agent of the Throne. Her first mission sees her investigating a cult called the Children of Eternity. Falling foul of the local Enforcers, Ianthe soon learns that war in the shadows is seldom straightforward and that the local, angry law-keepers are the least of her troubles.

With her mighty wings spread wide and Ardent Blade aflame, Saint Celestine is the living embodiment of the God-Emperor’s wrath. Her halo blazes like a star upon the smog-wreathed, blood-soaked battlefields of the 41st Millennium; its holy light leading the faithful to victory time and time again. As heretics and daemons tear at her flesh, she calls down fires of retribution from on high to smite the wicked and unrighteous. If she is to fall in battle, none should mourn as she is Celestine, the Living Saint, and death is her duty.

After seven years of bitter war, the end has come at last for the conflict known infamously as the Horus Heresy. Terra now lies within the Warmaster’s sights, the Throneworld and the seat of his father’s rule. Horus’ desire is nothing less than the death of the Emperor of Mankind and the utter subjugation of the Imperium. He has become the ascendant vessel of Chaos and amassed a terrible army with which to enact his will and vengeance. But the way to the Throne will be hard as the primarch Rogal Dorn, the Praetorian and protector of Terra, marshals the defences.

Neferata is besieged. To the east, the daemon prince Graunos gathers the legions of the Blood God, seeking to tear the Mortarch from her throne. To the south, Sigmar’s storm heralds the coming of the Anvils of the Heldenhammer, intent on pressing the God-King’s claim. All the while, an ancient enemy grows, hidden within Neferata’s lands. Never has her power seemed so fragile. But, within the dominion of bones, the Mortarch of Blood controls all, and even the champions of the Dark Gods will find themselves puppets in her schemes.

Attached to Crusade Fleet Quintus - dubbed the Cursed Fleet by many - the Ultramarines of the Ithraca’s Vengeance are drawn to a stricken world. With millions enslaved, a malign necron technology siphons the souls of the innocent and heralds the Silent Kingdom’s expansion. The Ultramarines face an impossible decision: mount a desperate last stand to destroy the Pariah Nexus, or break away and damn the entire sector to bring word of this ancient foe’s resurgence to the only being capable of halting it - the Lord Primarch Roboute Guilliman.

The Battle Titans of the Adeptus Titanicus are towering war engines, striding to war as holy effigies of the Omnissiah. Greatest of all are the mighty Warlord Titans, their weapons bringing righteous death to alien and heretic alike. Still reeling from a near disastrous battle against tyranids, the Pallidus Morr demi-legio is assigned to a new warzone, a nearby forge world which has fallen under the sway of Chaos.

The primarchs, nigh-immortal sons of the Emperor of Mankind, take the stage in a series of short stories showcasing some of their great deeds and hideous acts from across the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy.

Belisarius Cawl, Archmagos Dominus of the Adeptus Mechanicus, is the most brilliant mind alive. For 10,000 years he has furthered the cause of mankind, working under the aegis of the Emperor and Lord Commander Roboute Guilliman to prevent the inexorable march of the alien and the traitor. Many call him heretic, but all must recognise the magnitude of his achievements, for who else but he was entrusted to create a new generation of Space Marines?

The primarch Roboute Guilliman of the Ultramarines has returned in the galaxy’s hour of need, and all muster to his Indomitus Crusade to hold back the darkness. Amongst these heroes is Cato Sicarius, Master of the Watch and vaunted captain of Second Company. Disaster befalls Sicarius and his brave warriors as their ship, the Emperor’s Will, is lost to the hellish warp, its entire crew believed slain. But Sicarius endures, though he and his men are fighting for their very survival against the denizens of the Great Rift - the daemons and renegades of Chaos.

Opal is a gleaming shrine world of saints and soldiers, beloved of the Emperor Himself. Sent to retrieve the skull of the revered Saint Veres, Sister Superior Augusta of the Order of the Bloody Rose and her squad find themselves in the midst of the capital’s holiest festival, a time of reverence and celebration. But all is not well – despite what its planetary leaders would have Augusta believe, political danger bubbles under the surface, and rebel attacks gnaw away at the city’s outskirts. The greatest threat, however, is yet to come.

Celestian Sacresant Aveline, of the Order of the Sacred Rose, has a final, sacred duty to perform before joining the battle for Cadia – securing Orison VIII, a minor shrine world in the Cadian Gate. But when a simple mission to hunt down a Chaos sorcerer becomes a deadly game of cat and mouse, an ancient evil is uncovered – an evil that knows her name. Should Aveline be unsuccessful in defeating this new threat, Holy Terra itself will pay for her failure in blood.

Opal is a gleaming shrine world of saints and soldiers, beloved of the Emperor Himself. Sent to retrieve the skull of the revered Saint Veres, Sister Superior Augusta of the Order of the Bloody Rose and her squad find themselves in the midst of the capital’s holiest festival, a time of reverence and celebration. But all is not well – despite what its planetary leaders would have Augusta believe, political danger bubbles under the surface, and rebel attacks gnaw away at the city’s outskirts. The greatest threat, however, is yet to come.

With her mighty wings spread wide and Ardent Blade aflame, Saint Celestine is the living embodiment of the God-Emperor’s wrath. Her halo blazes like a star upon the smog-wreathed, blood-soaked battlefields of the 41st Millennium; its holy light leading the faithful to victory time and time again. As heretics and daemons tear at her flesh, she calls down fires of retribution from on high to smite the wicked and unrighteous. If she is to fall in battle, none should mourn as she is Celestine, the Living Saint, and death is her duty.

Valorous Heart. Our Martyred Lady. Bloody Rose. These names of Adepta Sororitas orders are famed across the galaxy, as are the Battle Sisters who serve the emperor's will. To die in the name of the God-Emperor of Mankind is to live eternal, and none are more willing to bleed in his name than the Adepta Sororitas - the Sisters of Battle. The Book of Martyrs charts the deaths of these exemplars.

With the birth of the Cicatrix Maledictum the Imperium of Mankind suffers as never before. Conflict and corruption is rife on every front and precious little hope remains, save for those who hold to their faith when faced with destruction.... Denied a martyr’s death during the battle for Ophelia VII, Sister Evangeline of the Order of Our Martyred Lady is blessed with a new and grave duty: to embark on a pilgrimage beyond the Great Rift to recover a precious and powerful artefact - the Shield of Saint Katherine.

For Ianthe, war is all too familiar. A former soldier in the Astra Militarum, she now serves Inquisitor Covenant as an agent of the Throne. Her first mission sees her investigating a cult called the Children of Eternity. Falling foul of the local Enforcers, Ianthe soon learns that war in the shadows is seldom straightforward and that the local, angry law-keepers are the least of her troubles.

In the grim nightmare future of the 41st millennium, the witch-hunting zealots of the the Sisters of Battle stand between humanity and damnation. From the elite Seraphim warriors to the berserk Sisters Repentia, they are the strong arm of the Ecclesiarchy and the brutal hammer of witches. When dangerous psychic heretic Torris Vaun escapes from her custody, Seraphim Miriya is disgraced in the eyes of her fellow sisters and superiors. Following Vaun's trail to the planet Neva, Miriya takes her sisters in pursuit and, along with Hospitalier Sister Verity, starts her investigations.

The Sisters of Battle are the Emperor's most devout worshippers, fierce warriors preaching the purity of the Imperium and scourging their enemies with bolter and flamer. On a distant world, the Ecclesiarchy outpost of Sanctuary 101 was wiped out by an implacable foe - the fearless, soulless necrons. Now, a mission of the Sisterhood has returned to reconsecrate the site - but the metallic nightmares still lurk in the darkness, guarding a secret that has lain dormant for millennia.

Inquisitor Greyfax and a retinue of incorruptible Grey Knights are sent on a mission by the reborn Primarch Guilliman to recover the Eye of Night, a fabled artefact of Ruin that could weaken the Great Rift. It will be no easy task as Greyfax – with the aid of a long dead inquisitor – must journey into the Eye of Terror itself and challenge a traitor of a truly ancient pedigree, the crone Moriana.

During the turbulent Reign of Blood, a great schism in the Imperial Ecclesiarchy threatened all of Terra and promised a darkness to rival the terrors of Old Night. Fell times have come again to the Imperium, and a War of Faith appears inevitable. Standing in the way of catastrophe is Celestine, the Living Saint and one of the greatest heroes of the age. Only she can reunite the warring factions of the Ecclesiarchy and prevent a second Reign of Blood.

Sister Adamanthea is an oddity among the Adepta Sororitas - a Sister Repentia who has been cleansed of her sin and returned to her duty, rather than finding penance in death. Seen by the faithful as a living miracle, she herself is unsure. Still feeling the weight of her crime, she wonders if she belongs in the sisterhood at all. When she is forced to appear with a famed priest on a most holy day, Adamanthea's doubts itensify...until disaster strikes.

Attached to Crusade Fleet Quintus - dubbed the Cursed Fleet by many - the Ultramarines of the Ithraca’s Vengeance are drawn to a stricken world. With millions enslaved, a malign necron technology siphons the souls of the innocent and heralds the Silent Kingdom’s expansion. The Ultramarines face an impossible decision: mount a desperate last stand to destroy the Pariah Nexus, or break away and damn the entire sector to bring word of this ancient foe’s resurgence to the only being capable of halting it - the Lord Primarch Roboute Guilliman.

The primarch Roboute Guilliman of the Ultramarines has returned in the galaxy’s hour of need, and all muster to his Indomitus Crusade to hold back the darkness. Amongst these heroes is Cato Sicarius, Master of the Watch and vaunted captain of Second Company. Disaster befalls Sicarius and his brave warriors as their ship, the Emperor’s Will, is lost to the hellish warp, its entire crew believed slain. But Sicarius endures, though he and his men are fighting for their very survival against the denizens of the Great Rift - the daemons and renegades of Chaos.

It is the thirty-second millennium and the Imperium is at peace. The Traitor Legions of Chaos are but a distant memory and the many alien races that have long plagued mankind are held in check by the Space Marines. But an ork invasion of unparalleled scale throws the Imperium into disarray. As worlds burn and renowned Space Marine Chapters are destroyed, can the Imperium pull together to defeat the Beast?

The last thing she remembers is being shot at point-blank range just as a roiling warp storm engulfed the Calaphrax Cluster. Now, she finds herself awakening on a distant Ecclesiarchy stronghold and indebted to a magos called Metik, who has brought her back from the brink of death. Shortly after her resurrection, Sabbathiel is called to an audience on the planet Hulth by a high-ranking inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus, Heldren, who informs her that after being lost for so long, the members of her former conclave no longer trust her.