The Shadow Crusade spreads across Ultramar, and the 34th Company of the Word Bearers descends on the isolated planet of Percepton Primus. As the battle turns into programmed destruction, seasoned commander Sor Talgron begins to wonder what role Lorgar has assigned him in what is happening - after all, for one who stood next to the primarchs and high lords in the great halls of the Imperial Palace, what honor is it to punish the pathetic sons of Guilliman? But the price of doubt has long been known, and before the Word Bearers can return to Terra in triumph, they must carry out a complete cleansing of the last traces of unbelief, wiping the heretics from the face of the galaxy...