In thier constant quest to replenish their ranks of crusaders, the Templars have seized RACLAW, a young man from a barbaric, backwater planet. Raclaw, having proven himself both a courageous and deadly fighter, has been recruited into their ranks. At the foot of his initiate, BRUNNER, his will be a bloody baptism into a more vast, more brutal universe -- and many painful tribulations await him before he becomes a full-fledged Space Marine.
Meanwhile, a battle-tested Templar Sword Bretheren known as GERHART fought overwhelming odds against mankind's most terrifying enemies. And the Dreadnought TANKRED was awoken from his sacred rest to wage war in the name of the Emperor once more...