Battle in the balance

Following intelligence reports of Catechism activity in the Homelands Captain Angelus tasked Chaplain Gabreal El'Zekial with leading an armoured column to hunt down their nemesis. However the Catechism cowardly avoided contact, summoning a hoste of daemons to fight in their stead. The column was thrown into confusion as daemons began materialising all around them. Despite a truly heroic effort and staunch resistance leading to the banishment of many daemons the dark angels were eventually forced to withdraw with heavy losses and Chaplain El'Zekial himself was killed in the fighting. The result saw the forces of Chaos crossing the Salty sea into the Down Plains, threatening the Capital itself.

Meanwhile in the south the Ultramarines led the Imperial forces into the Home Hills and were also beset by hordes of summoned daemons. The Ultramarines however were able to defeat the greatest incursions and the Farport PDF made short work of the traitor guard units in the province.

To the east however the Anticross launched an attack from the Crossroads into the Barren Hills. Here there were no Adeptus Astartes forces to face the traitor marines and General Gault’s Imperial Guard regiments were severly mauled, pulling back to Haven. Here the Castaways had held off an attack from the Dark Eldar faction now known to be “Kraven’s Kabal”. The marines had taken heavy casualties but the Dark Eldar seem to have been more interested in enslaving as many of Farport’s population as possible, and failed to reach their specified objectives. Angered, Moonface rebuked the Dark Eldar leader, who, slighted, took his forces off the planet in disgust.

Further north the Claws of Lorek also found themselves in difficulty, running straight into Inquisitor Nikopolidis in their attack on Beckley. Bolstered by the words and deeds of a mighty Inquisitor, the Imperial regiments in the region refused to withdraw, and wave after wave of the Claw’s troops were annihilated in futile attacks. On 2611.009M42 after two days heavy fighting the Claws of Lorek were hit by a tenacious counter attack. By the 27th they were retreating and Crossroads was retaken by the Imperium.

This success was added to on 2811.009M42 as the Space Wolves successfully outflanked the Chaos forces Ork allies, who were defending the Claws of Lorek’s right flank. Seeing the Claws retreating and under fierce assault themselves, the Orks abandoned Brookeville and retreated to Carson. Four days after the initial invasion the Imperium had blunted the initial invasion surge, but the battle still remained in the balance.