By 11.025M42, the Imperium could no longer disregard the escalating violence consuming the labyrinthine expanse of Caitlen Station. Long neglected and strategically vital, the station’s sudden eruption into a multi-faction battleground threatened to upset the already-fragile balance of power in the Aleph Sector. Recognising the looming danger of Chaos, xenos, or renegades securing the installation, General Van Dorn authorised an emergency deployment of Imperial insertion teams.
Krieg and the Ecclesiarchy Respond
In the absence of seasoned Astartes or elite kill-teams, Van Dorn assembled a makeshift force primarily composed of Krieg Grenadier squads, bolstered by a number of Ecclesiarchy Sanctifier teams—zealous warrior-clerics whose enthusiasm far exceeded their formal military training.
The Krieg detachment, operating with characteristic precision, made planetfall across the battered docking causeways of Caitlen Station’s outer rings. Their first major contact was with a splintered band of Necron constructs, likely tomb-theta maintenance drones left active from prior incursions. The Krieg forces executed a disciplined assault, neutralising the Necrons with methodical volleys of plasma and demolition charges. With the xenos threat pacified, they established a rudimentary forward command post—one of the first stable Imperial footholds on the station in years.
The Fate of the Sanctifiers
The Sanctifiers, dispatched on a parallel route to secure an adjoining cargo vault, met a less fortunate fate. Moving without the discipline or equipment of the Death Korps, the Ecclesiarchy-led force blundered into a hunting party of Kroot operating under the wider T’au Alliance presence.
The resulting clash was short, brutal, and chaotic. The Sanctifiers’ fervour was no match for Kroot pack tactics, and contact with the team was lost less than thirty minutes after their initial engagement. None returned. Imperial analysts grimly noted that Kroot dietary practices made their ultimate fate all too clear—the Sanctifiers were presumed killed and consumed.
Tyranid Infestation Persists
Even as Imperial forces attempted to regroup, the infestation that had plagued Caitlen Station for months continued to manifest. A small but elite team of Aeldari Corsairs, seeking to retrieve artefacts from a derelict armoury node, found itself ambushed by Tyranid bioforms lurking in the ventilation stacks. Although the Eldar cut down scores of the beasts with elegant precision, the swarm’s numbers were overwhelming. Vox-intercepts recorded their final moments—psionic static, splinter fire, and shrieks of chitin.
None of the Corsairs escaped.
Thus, by late 11.025M42, Caitlen Station had become an active warzone. The Imperium had secured a foothold, yet every corridor remained contested. Tyranids, Necrons, Kroot mercenaries, Chaos warbands, and more all stalked the shattered super-structure. The station’s fate—and the strategic future of the Aleph Sector—hung precariously in the balance.
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