After the withdrawal of Imperial troops is ordered from the ice world of Cressida, a squad of Valhallan Ice Warriors led by the indomitable Colonel Stanislav Steele is sent on a rescue mission to find a stranded Imperial confessor and bring him off-planet to safety.
But the occupying Chaos forces are everywhere, bent on the annihilation of the natives. If that wasn't bad enough, Stanislav and his troops face a race against time as Imperial battleships in the upper atmosphere are preparing to virus bomb Cressida, destroying all life upon the planet.