Wednesday, December 13, 2006

The Iron Warriors on Myrentas II

"Reliance on others is strength for the weak, but weakness for the strong."

Such is the maxim of Lieutenant Gallowfen, commander of a few hundred malcontent Iron Warriors, currently stationed on Myrentas II in the Perseus Deeps.

When the Iron Warriors control upon Aleph IV was shattered, the forces mostly retreated to Kendrenec. The Chaos forces felt betrayed, their alliance with the Dark Exterminators being the main cause they blamed for their downfall. Some imagined a betrayal that ran far deeper. Commandeering a transport vessel, Lieutenant Gallowfen took the men under his personal control away from the rest of the retreating fleet. He believed he had been betrayed by the other Iron Warrior generals, who had shown their weakness in the operations upon Aleph.

Determined that he could succeed by himself, and that to stay with the other Iron Warriors commanders would be to invite defeat, Gallowfen took only those warriors that had served under him in the Aleph campaign, and headed somewhere this small force could make its mark.

This place ended up as Myrentas II, in the Peseus Deeps. The whole system was a haven for pirates, with no centralised government and therefore no organised defences. It was perfect for Gallowfen, who launched a lightening raid on Myrentas II’s city of Whiteridge. With almost no resistance, the Chaos Warriors took the city, and began its reinforcement against a retaliation. The citizens were mostly kept alive and allowed a life, of sorts, working in the factories to produce defences and munitions.

So Gallofen set up his operation, and bided his time. Ork warbands roamed the lands between the cities of the planet, but they proved ineffective in any of their small raids on Whiteridge. The government of the planet seemed strangely comfortable to allow the Chaos their city. With no great threats to pressure the Iron Warriors, they were content to slowly build their power and plan an attack on the planet’s closest city Rockwell. Coincidentally, by the time the Iron Warriors were ready to raid Rockwell, Imperial Forces arrived in the sector.

Gallowfen and his forces are now in a dangerous position. Should the Imperium bring all of its might against the Iron Warriors, the Chaos army will surely be crushed. But Gallowfen rejects ideas of sending for aid, to call upon others would be to show weakness. Instead the Iron Warriors prepare to sell their lives dearly, each step the Imperial forces get closer the Chaos will make them pay the cost of a thousand men.

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