Bloodquest is the first in a series of three Warhammer 40,000 graphic novels written by Gordon Rennie and illustrated by Colin MacNeil. It was first published in 1999 and is currently out of print.
Bloodquest tells the story of the Blood Angels Captain Leonatos. Chapter Commander Lord Dante sends him and his company of 100 Space Marines on a mission to protect an Adeptus Astronomica warp station on Sekundar Prime from a massive Ork invasion.
To aid Leonatos in this task, Lord Dante presents him with the Blade Encarmine - the sword of Belarius, a servant of Sanguinius, which was given to him by the Primarch himself.
The Marines duly travel to Sekundar Prime and, after teleporting to the surface, hold out for five days against repeated attacks from a force of Orks outnumbering them 100 to 1.
On the final day of combat, the orks attack again and Leonatos defeats their leader in single combat but loses the sword in the process - he stabs it into the ork, slaying him, before being knocked unconscious. Only 10 marines survive the action to greet the relief force of 300 Blood Angels the following day and the sword is gone.
Leonatos is put on trial and sent into exile for losing the Blade Encarmine. He is given a ship later referred to as The Exile and eight other marines decide to go with him. Sergeant Tranio refuses to abandon his friend Leonatos. Brothers Palamon and Valerius fought with Leonatos on Sekundar Prime and refuse to leave his side. Codicier Furion is getting old and wants to go on one last mission. Brother Cloten is afflicted with the red thirst - the Blood Angels' gene curse which makes him go berserk in combat - and wants to die a hero's death before it overtakes him. Three cadets - Proteus, Lysander and Menelius - stow away on the ship because they want to join Leonatos's quest.
The marines discover that the Blade Encarmine has been taken by Ork warlord Garshul the Destroyer. Menelius dies after being made the unwilling host of a daemon prince by Khorne-worshipping chaos cultists on the planet Tarsis who are pretending to be an ancient Imperial cult called the Brotherhood of the Watch. Furion dies keeping the daemon prince busy while Leonatos orders the exterminatus for Tarsis.
Leonatos comes to the aid of a Rogue Trader vessel called the Light of Diogenes under the command of trader-captain Nicodemus Medacio when it is attacked by a ship belonging to traitor marines of the Alpha Legion. After the rescue, Inquisitor Kelman on board the Light tells Medacio to break off contact with the Blood Angel outcasts.
Valerius dies fighting a rearguard action against mutants on board a space hulk after the marines decide to investigate life signs on board. Next, the exiled Blood Angels travel to Leptis, an Imperial world being attacked by Garshul's forces. The marines teleport on board the warlord's command ship and confront him, only to discover that he is possessed by a daemon. The creature tells Leonatos that his missing sword is now within the Eye of Terror. Leonatos kills his host body and banishes him before flying through a warp gate into the Eye.
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