Sin of Damnation

The Sin of Damnation was the Space Hulk assaulted by the Blood Angels Space Marines in 996.M40. This campaign ultimately proved disastrous, with the Blood Angels facing an unending tide of Genestealers and finally retreating with only fifty brothers surviving of their entire chapter. The Blood Angels made a second attempt to claim the hulk when it was rediscovered in 589.M41. Under the command of 1st Company Captain Michaelus Raphael, eighty Blood Angels Terminators slaughtered over 40,000 Genestealers and captured the Hulk.

Disaster at Secoris
In the year 996.M40, an Imperial Navy patrol passing through the Secoris System detected a large Space Hulk drifting in-system, drawn by the star's gravitational pull. The fourth world of the Secoris System was a populous Hive World, inhabited by more than fifty billion humans. It was a hub of commercial and military activity and the threat posed by the closing space hulk was immense. Way of boarding the vessel with his crews, the commodore commanding the flotilla sent an astropathic message to the nearby Fortress-Monastery of the Blood Angels on Baal. The Chapter responded in full, led by Lord Commander Sangallo, and within three weeks, the might of the Blood Angels had come to Secoris.

The sheer size of the space hulk and its proximity to busy trade routes through the system precluded any kind of systematic bombardment - debris would pose a serious threat to navigation. Instead Lord Commander Sangallo led a full-scale boarding action. The initial stage of the boarding went with little problem, but soon the Blood Angels encountered growing resistance as they attempted to take possession of functioning engine rooms and control chambers. Within thirty minutes, Genestealers were rousing from their hibernation in great numbers and Sangallo committed his reserves to bolster the defensive perimeter around the boarding site, leading the reinforcements himself.

Unable to secure their objectives, the Blood Angels diverted their attention to the inner areas of the ship, seeking the dormant Genestealers. Their attack only served to hasten the awakening process and soon thousands of Genestealers had encircled the advancing Space Marines. Under the covering fire of the 1st Company Terminators, Sangallo tried to extricate his surrounded squads and was eventually forced to send forward the Blood Angels protecting the landing zone to provide a safe 'corridor' back to the boarding craft.

The Genestealers attack relented for a short while and it seemed as if the Blood Angels would be able to withdraw in good order and re-establish their beachhead. However, the calm was short-lived, as the Genestealers had noted the Space Marines' tactics and now attacked to separate them from the ammunition and support personnel at the boarding site. The battle descended into anarchy as some squads attempted to break through to their objective while others fell back towards the boarding torpedoes. Divided, the Blood Angels were picked off, squad by squad, swamped by the overwhelming numbers of their foes.

The battle ended when Sangallo had no choice but to order a general retreat. Though kill estimates put enemy slain at close to 12,000, there seemed an unstoppable tide of the creatures. Of the entire Chapter, only fifty Space Marines, including Captains Dante and Kadeus survived. Kadeus would go on to take Sangallo's place as Chapter Master and lead his Chapter from the brink of extinction. The action had been a catastrophe for the Chapter. The shame of defeat would last far longer than the losses inflicted.