Vastrid Subsector: Orks beaten on Glossop but defeat on Quim

The war in the Vastrid subsector continued on in 10.011M42, for most a distant war in the far flung reaches of the Cerrack Nebula on worlds of little importance. Few of the teeming billions of the Imperium were aware of the war, and even the major worlds close to the war-torn region were generally unconcerned by the ongoing fighting.

Overall command for the Cerrack Nebula fell to General Pollack, a subordinate to the military commander of all forces in the Vastrid subsector, Lord Commander Foche. This status was equivalent, in principle, to a garrison commander of a major imperial world, but the resources at Pollack's disposal remained meagre. However in 10.011M42 another company of Space Marines arrived, this time from the Blood Angels chapter, and their presence was immediately felt as they took the fight to the Orks on Glossop V. Leaderless and unco-ordinated, the remaining orks on Glossop were savagely dealt with, and within days of their arrival the Blood Angels had brought an end to the campaign on the minor world. Now Pollack needed to build up its defences in case of retaliatory attack from the nearby orks on Aspaster.

On Quim however the Claws of Lorek launched a major new offensive, determined to secure a permanent and uncontested base of operations in the Vastrid subsector. Lorek's two pronged attack came up against the Blood Angels in the south, while in the north Lorek's larger force ran into the Space Wolves of Erik Morkai, who had just redeployed from Glossop. In a savage battle the Space Wolves held their positions tenaciously, and the forces of Chaos found it impossible to secure their objectives. Further south however the Imperial line broke after the Blood Angels were defeated and forced to retreat. Both Astartes forces and a few thousand Imperial Guardsmen now held a small scrap of land on the world. Pollack now scrambled to move his resources from Glossop V to Quim to prevent a total defeat there, hoping that the Claws of Lorek fleet would not arrive in force.

Perseus Deeps: Dark Eldar and Necron Menace grows

The ancient races of the galaxy continued to plague the Imperium in 10.011M42, and each other, as it became increasingly clear to General Veers, leader of the Perseus Deeps campaign, that just holding on to his recent gains would be a challenge, let alone push further into the great dark and largely unknown void of the region. In early 10.011M42 further Dark Eldar raids plagued Imperial possessions on Corticant, while the Dark Angels, based on Sentinel, were inexplicably attacked without warning by the mysterious harlequin led eldar of the Rillietann. The eldar did significant damage to installations on Sentinel, but Inquisitor Xanthus believed he had discovered the meaning behind the alien attack. The eldar had been looking for something which apparently he possessed, a suspicion further enhanced by the strange data crystal left behind, apparently by mistake, by the aliens. It would take Xanthus weeks to decode the xenos information, but then he would have his answer.

Meanwhile the Necrons were pushing the Imperium back on Zog. The Dark Angels were called in by a panicked Imperial commander, whose Imperial guard were woefully ill-equipped to deal with the skeletal warriors. The Astartes arrived soon after, since Zog was just a few days travel from Sentinel. However their attack was abortive and the Necrons continued their implacable advance across the world which was once theirs.

It wasn't only Inquisitor Xanthus that came under alien attack either. Uncaring of the petty internal Imperial squabbles, the Dark Eldar launched another raid on Inquisitor Hathek's base of Corticant on 0810.011M42, and although the Space Wolves attempted to intervene the Dark Eldar managed to hold them off long enough to complete their slave raid, capturing a significant proportion of the inhabitants of Shadowshore and Lochford. Fearful, the population of Corticant began to move to the well protected cities, adding a refugee problem to Veers' already faltering crusade. Even with a fleet of ten capital ships and millions of men under arms, Veers appeared powerless to defend even his own base.

On Gamador meanwhile, the aeons old war between eldar and necrons continued, with a successful raid by the Shattered Silence Kabal on the necron tomb world of Gamador. Whether this second raid in as many weeks was a deliberate act of war on the necrons or an act of internal one-upmanship remains unknown.

Inquisition War: Dark Angels sent in against Space Wolves

After weeks of quiescence the Inquisitorial dispute between Xanthus & Hathek flared once again in 10.011M42, culinating in an unfortunate engagement between the Space Wolves and Dark Angels. Hathek had been concentrating on shoring up the Perseus Deeps crusade, while Xanthus was now deeply mired in the campaign on Tyndareous. He had his war with the Tau and it wasn't going all that well. Even so, the Tau-Imperial truce held in the Perseus Deeps, and wider conflagoration of the kind Xanthus was looking for, failed to materialise.

Lacking Inquisitor Lord Hathek's significant naval and Imperial Guard resources, Xanthus was always looking for ways to improve his situation. He still coveted the mysterious Catechism "device", called the "soul hole" by Moonface's demented followers, after his close encounter with it in 007M42 on Myrentas II. For months he had been gathering information on the device, and seeking the components which, he hoped, would allow him to construct one of his own.

Few knew what the Inquisitor Lord was up to. Many, including the Adeptus Mechanicus, would consider his "work" heresy, and Hathek considered such investigations as extremely dangerous and another reason Xanthus needed removing from the Inquisition in general. In 10.011M42 Hathek received word that Xanthus was building a heretical device, and asked the Space Wolves to investigate. They agreed and deployed a force to Sentinel, Xanthus' base. Sentinel was however also the main base of the Dark Angels, and when the Space Wolves arrived they were not welcomed. The Dark Angels considered the investigation of an Inquisitor Lord as inappropriate and an unlawful operation to carry out, even if another inquisitor lord had requested it. In addition, the Dark Angels considered Hathek a traitor for entreating with Aliens.

Pride and suspicion then ensured combat followed. The Space Wolves attacked the Dark Angels and, after putting up a determined resistance, gave way to their fellow Astartes. The Space Wolves found nothing however, as the delay had allowed Xanthus to flee the world. Hathek bitterly regretted his request. Now Xanthus was missing, somewhere aboard his Inquisition vessel in the depths of the void, and two space marine chapters had again come to blows, though neither actually sustained any fatalities. The Dark Angels and Space Wolves managed to reconcile their differences following a martial tournament of arms, and both now became extremely cynical of the behaviour of both Inquisitors. Even the actions of the third Inquisitor Lord in the sector, Huron, was now viewed with skepticism.

Nemesis tighten grip on Valboris

On Valboris the Tyranid infestation had long been lethargic, expanding its control of the planet only sporadically to exploit weaknesses discovered in the Chaos battle lines. A series of co-ordinated attacks had repulsed the Tyranids from Mount Silston and cleansed much of Batertown. When there was no reprisal the defenders began to speculate that the infestation on Valboris had already reached its zenith, that exhausted and expended the threat posed by this tendril of Hive Fleet Nemesis was finally over.

Such hopes proved false. Without warning the Tyranids on Valboris suddenly went into full offensive. Swarms of bio-killers flowed out of the central Appolooso Mountains in unending waves to crash into the prepared positions of the Chaos defenders. The fighting was fiercest in Batertown, where determined not to give up their hard won gains Traitor Marines of the Claws of Lorek dismounted from their transports to entrench themselves in the still smoking ruins of the city.

The fighting was bloody and brief. The forward positions of the Claws of Lorek barely had time to realise they were under attack before swarms of gargoyles lead by a massive winged Tyrant landed amongst their positions. The fire support they had been expecting failed to materialise, their covering Havock teams suddenly assailed from behind by genestealers. These were repulsed with minimal casualties but it was already too late. Despite a desperate counter attack that slaughtered many of the aliens the Chaos defences collapsed completely and the Tyranids began rampaging through the Claws of Lorek's positions.

Soon the reason for the sudden Tyranid onslaught became apparent. Fresh from completing its consumption of Betor a large Hive fleet had appeared in the Valboris system. As they took up positions in orbit millions of Tyranid spores began to rain down on Valboris, blanketing the western continent. What had begun as an orderly retreat became a route. The highly mobile and well equipped traitor marines loyal to Lorek managed to escape into the east but thousands of cultists were cut off and slaughtered as the skies turned black. Batertown fell first, then Mount Silston and Main Crossing. With a space of a day all of western Valboris lay under the control of the Hive Mind. The situation looked grim for Valboris' defenders, but all was not yet lost. One of the Hive Ships had been crippled in a space battle in the system's outer reaches and the orbital blockade of the planet was incomplete. Re-enforcements could yet arrive from off world.

Tyndareous: Imperial offensive continues

Only a week after the Space Wolves had regained the initiative on Tyndareous, the Cerberex Gaurd, Inquisitor Xanthus' elite loyal force, were sent in to make good the gains won by the Astartes forces.

The difficulties in maintaining the level of equipment supplied to the Cerberex regiments following their exile from their homeworld had by now become apparent. Losses in the field meant that the organisation's use of Vendettas and heavy tanks was now restricted to a few veteran regiments, while the rest made do with whatever could be scavenged from the scant resources Xanthus could put their way.

This fact saw the division which went into the Ranier Pass equipped with a host of equipment. While the regiment could still call upon heavy tank support and the use of flame tanks, cavalry were also employed, and most men, unlike in other Cerberex formations, went into battle on foot. Despite this the initial attack by the Cerberex men caught the Tau off guard, and succeeded in destroying a number of the defenders' infantry carrying skimmers, thanks in part to a very well placed initial artillery bombardment.

The Tau then put up a stiff defence, destroying the enemy tanks with accurate railgun fire, and using crisis suits to deep strike behind the enemy positions. At one point it looked like the attack had been beaten off, but the Cerberex Guard continued their offensive without pause until late on 0210.011M42 the pressure finally told and the Tau line broke. This was mainly due to the massive casualties sustained in the centre of their line and the Imperium had their victory, if the end result flattered a little.

The Tau were barely able to scramble back to defensible positions in the mountains, and their hold on the western portion of the Tyndareous starport and military base became untenable. Now the Imperium and Inquisitor Xanthus had the upper hand. One more concerted push would see the Tau assault on Tyndareous end in defeat.

Raiders extend reach

In early 10.011M42, following the raid by the Shattered Silence, more Dark Eldar raids followed, and this time they were reported much further afield, as far as the Vastrid subsector as political intruiging and the desire for power in Commorragh drove the amoral aliens to ever more frequent assaults.

The Shattered Silence Cabal led the assaults, attacking Ork settlements in the Cerrack nebula, who were woefully unprepared for the sudden and lethal attacks launched from the webway. Following these successful raids, and apparently not wishing to be outdone, another Cabal launched its own series of raids, one of which resulted in an unfortunate encounter with the Necrons on Gamador. Unfortunate for the necrons that is, whose force was forced to retire after receiving a heavy mauling from the Dark Eldar.

Meanwhile the Claws of Lorek found themselves under concerted attack from the strange and capricious Rillietann eldar or "harlequins", who themselves appeared to bear some resemblance, or were using the equipment of the dark kin of the eldar.

The eldar attack was initially held, but the Rillietann quickly regained the upper hand in the raid on Blight, and by 0710.011M42 the unusually sustained eldar attack forced Lorek's forces to abandon several settlements to their fate. A week later they were able to return, the Rillietann having vanished as quickly as they had come. Three settlements were now completely devoid of their population, and an important library on Blight, containing thousands of arcane books, had been completely stripped of its contents.

The Aleph Sector - current ground campaigns

Glossop V: Thrugnik suffers setback

During the summer of 011M42 the war between the Orks and Imperium on Glossop V had become a lonely and sporadic affair. Ork Warlord Krumpgutz had apparently lost interest in his conquest in the world, although this was no comfort to the Imperium, as the fickle ork leader was known to change his mind often and for no apparent reason.

Thrugnik, the other major warlord of the Cerrack Nebula, decided to take on the defenders of Glossop V for himself, in order to secure himself the undisputed leadership of all orks in the Vastrid sector. Fortunately Imperial Intelligence intercepted increase manic chatter from crude vox networks on Aspaster, and Imperial Psykers felt the unmistakeable growth of Ork power around Thrugnik's homeworld.

Realising an attack in force was likely, and reasoning that Glossop V was the obvious target, the commander on the ground appealled for help. Once again the Space Wolves of Erik Morkai's great company responded to the call, and arrived with little time to spare. Thrugnik's Waagh! had landed and was moving swiftly towards the small Imperial base on the planet. Deploying rapidly, including the use of Drop Pods once again, the Space Wolves were able to halt the Ork advance, allowing the Imperial Guard stationed on Glossop V to take back several small outposts lost to the orks in the spring. The position on the minor world remained in the balance however, and one small band of Space Wolves together with a few thousand Imperial Guardsmen wouldn't last long if a concerted Ork attack materialised.

New Dark Eldar Cabal encountered

General Veers remained in overall command of all forces in the Perseus Deeps as the summer of 011M42 drew to a close. His forces were now spread out after the campaigns of Corticant, Bastien and Parthenope, and the Inquisition disputes, still rumbling along in the background, meant that a new offensive against Chaos didn't seem likely in the near future.

The Tau too were stretched. Very few forces had been sent into the Aleph Expansion Sphere from the Tau Empire during 011M42, as wars elsewhere demanded more attention. In addition the fighting on Tyndareous soaked up any reinforcements which may have been forthcoming.

The net result was that in 09.011M42 the Imperial and Tau posessions in the Perseus Deeps were vulnerable. This vulnerability was taken advantage of in late 09.011M42 by a new Dark Eldar cabal, known as the "Shattered Silence", and led by Archon Kuro Kenshi. Within the space of a week, the Dark Eldar had raided Skera in the Tau sector, and landed in force on Gamordal, the most exposed Imperial territory.

The result on Skera was a catastrophe for the Tau, who were brutally massacred by the Dark Eldar. After taking vast numbers of (inferior) Tau slaves for their own depraved consumption, the Cabal systematically razed to the ground several Tau settlements and laid waste to much of the Tau colony. Skera was badly mauled amd some Tau even questioned its continued viability, as it now appeared unable to defend itself from deliberate invasion.

On Gamordal the Praetorian 42nd, refitting and resting after their long and futile campaign on Tarsis Major, were ideally and fortuitously placed to react when news of the Dark Eldar arrived at thier base. Kenshi had clearly not included the presence of a full Imperial Guard regiment in his attack calculations, and the arrival of the 42nd was an unwelcome surprise. In a battle which raged for two days, both sides fought each other to a standstill, before the Shattered Silence Cabal withdrew under the cover of darkness, back to their fastness in the warp.

Valboris: Lorek halts Nemesis

With his campaign in the Perseus Deeps in tatters, and his new venture in the Vastrid Sector in reverse, the Chaos warlord Lorek turned his attention to Valboris. For many months the Tyranids had spasmodically extended their control of the world, and much of the western hemisohere, including settlements in the North Reach and Badlands, were now all but consumed.

Nemesis however hadn't committed its entire force to Valboris, the main hive fleet moving on and now somewhere in the Zadoc subsector. Even so the Tyranids slow advance had been relentless, the aliens apparently not worrying about the time it would take to consume the world, rather that it would, in the end, be consumed.

Lorek was determined to stop the slow digestion of an important chaos world, and in late 09011M42 a force of marines loyal to him arrived at Mount Silston. From here they moved in force to the infested settlement of Bartertown, and after several days of hard fighting, managed to dislodge the Tyranids from a significant portion of the town. The resistance had been determined however, as if the hive mind was irritated by its food fighting back. Lorek realised that to fully cleanse Valboris would be a hard task indeed.

Tyndareous: Space Wolves regain initiative

The recently appointed Imperial overall commander on Tyndareous, General Devereux Trescott, received some welcome aid in 09.011M42, as a company of Space Wolves arrived to take the war to the Tau. With the Tau fleet protecting supply convoys from attack, the Space Wolves were able to slip a single strike cruiser into Tyndareous orbit. The Space Wolves then conducted a combined offensive, driving overland from the secure base at Arrenton, co-ordinating with accurate drop pod assaults.

Despite at least one drop pod arriving late, the drive across the Burbeck plain was savagely successful, as the Tau were unable to deal with the Space wolf forces at close range, and many were slaughtered in vicious hand to hand fighting, where the Astartes troops had overwhelming superiority.

The Space Wolves did suffer losses from Tau firepower, and many of their vehicles were destroyed by accurate railgun fire. At Pardle Junction, an entire squad of Space Wolves was cut down by mass fire, but in general the Tau were forced to retreat. Pardle junction fell on 2509.011M42, and on the next day a second drop took the strategically important Tyndar Plateau. The Tau still occupied Vallerander, Burbeck bay and much of the Tyndareous starbase, but the Space Wolves had cut the Tau occupied zone almost into three, and now the Imperium had the initiative on Tyndareous. General Trescott now needed reinforcements, and fast.

The Aleph Sector 09011M42

Tragean vs. Craddock 1709.011M42

Lord Tragean moves in force 1709.011M42

While admiral Thok led his force out of the port of Mordecai, Lord Tragean was leading a much larger force of seven capital ships, led by the desolator class battleship Irredeemable Apostate, out of Kendrenec. This was the first time in ten years the warlord had personally led his ships, and it was the largest fleet Kendrenec had seen leave its docks in a decade. Fully half of Tragean's force left port in a series of escalating engagements which began to alarm Jellicoe. It seemed the Chaos fleets were testing the Imperial blockade. The Imperial admiral now worried that a truly apocalyptic fleet battle may ensue. What if all the forces of chaos sortied simultaneously? Could they, or would they, co-ordinate such an effort? His blockade had to isolate the Chaos bases from each other, as well as bottling them up.

Tragean's force was indeed impressive, but Admiral Craddock was well placed to intercept from his base in the Valitane subsector, as his fleet was on exercise near Zog at the time. Beattie already had to contend with Thok, so Craddock's force, the battleship Vanguard, cruisers Redoubtable, Aboukir, Dreadnought, Invincible and the light cruiser Ajax, immediately turned towards the Kendrenec space lane to give battle to Tragean's force.

The two fleets converged on 1709.011M42, the same date as Beattie's victory over Thok, the Imperium's six capital ships facing an enemy of seven, though the latter lacked escorts. Craddock's fleet lacked a ship armed with a nova cannon, and so the admiral chose to close the range, moving his fleet in formation towards the chaos fleet. Tragean's fleet did the same, and the two fleets maintained formation as they passed one another in between dense asteroid fields.

In the opening salvoes Invincible and Dreadnought took most of the firepower, and were forced to take evasive manouevres, throwing off their gunnery. Even so the heavy fire crippled the overlord class heavy cruiser Dreadnought, although somehow Invincible remained unscathed. Vanguard fired back, supported by the Aboukir's lances, and this weight of fire quickly took its toll on the slaughter class vessels Doomblade and Reaver, who's high speed and short range meant they had taken up position closest to the Imperial line.

Suddenly and without warning Doomblade exploded in a catastrophic warp drive implosion, crippling her sister ship and doing even more damage to the dreadnought. Desparately Dreadnought and Invincible, now crippled, attempted to move away from the chaos battle line. Invincible was successful, but Dreadnought's captain evidently failed to order a general power down of his vessel, and the battlecruiser's augur signal remained a bright beacon to the chaos vessels. Within minutes of Doomblade's destruction the Invincible also exploded, a critical hit to her plasma engines detonating the vessel and damaging Ajax in the process.

The two fleets passed, Reaver disengaging on the chaos side and Ajax and Invincible similarly leaving the fray. Repeated charges by the four sword class escorts were woefully poor, and three were destroyed in their futile attacks. As the battle wore on the gap between the two fleets opened out, briefly allowing Vanguard to rake the chaos flagship with heavy fire, but the chaos vessel remained battleworthy. Admiral Craddock then had a choice. Turn his fleet to starboard and accept a long range firefight he couldn't win, and risk the faster chaos vessels crossing his T behind his fleet, or turn to port taking shelter behind an asteroid field.

Craddock had little choice and turned to port, although this in itself didn't guarantee the rest of his fleet's safety. Only manic changes of course by Redoubtable saved the dictator class vessel from being crippled, and Vanguard herself took damage from the long range guns of the chaos fleet. Clearly Craddock was outgunned by a superior fleet, and it was equally clear that the scourge of Admiral Choraeous had returned to lead his fleet once more. The Imperial fleet fled back to the Valitane subsector for repairs, allowing Tragean's fleet clear passage to Thok's base at Morecai. The chaos forces were concentrating their forces as Jellicoe feared. Soon Jellicoe himself would have to face an enemy his predecessor had failed to best almost a decade earlier.

Thok defeated by Beattie

Following Thok's forces' latest sortie into the Perseus Deeps in 08.011M42, the Imperial Admiralty based at Caitlen Station decided to increase the blockade of Chaos by adding their newly arrived task force, including the Oberon class battleship Hood, to the blockading fleets.

Admiral Jellicoe now had a battleship and five cruisers at strategic locations across the Deeps, ready to intercept any breakout from any of the Chaos fleet bases. Admiral Dreyer's formidable task force, including the Emperor class battleship Iron Duke, was stationed at Farport. Admiral Beattie, commanding Tiger stood closest to the chaos forces on Corticant, while Jellicoe himself raised his flag aboard the Victory class Agamemnon, guarding the space lanes between the Perseus Deeps and the Zadoc subsector from Caitlen Station.

Before Rear Admiral Clinton-Baker's battlegroup could fully join the blockade however, a force of Thok's ships once again slipped their moorings and headed into the Deeps. Admiral Beattie's force immediately moved to intercept, despite the fact that Glorious and Firedrake were still undergoing repairs and would not be able to join their comrades in battle. Beattie, leading Tiger, tracked down Thok's battleforce in an uninhabited system on the Perseus Run, and in the ensuing battle decisively defeated the chaos vessels.

Queen Hel was reduced to a hulk, while the grand cruiser Mjolnir was heavily damaged. The heavy guns of the fast battleship Tiger and the venerable vengeance class Canopus proved to be the difference between the two fleets. Despite running the gauntlet of asteroid fields, Thok's ships were unable to mount a co-ordinated attack, and the Mjolnir herself proved to be significantly outclassed by the Imperial fleet, which Beattie handled well, keeping his vessels in formation and concentrating fire on the most threatening vessels. Unfortunately for the Imperium, Thok was not the only chaos warmaster at large on 1709.011M42.

Tau consolidate position

With Vallerander lost commander Starfire himself, Shadowstrike's right hand and overall commander of the Tyndareous campaign, decided to personally lead the attack on Burbeck Bay. His attacking force made up of veteran cadres who had fought on Tarsis and Melberg, and they were well used to Imperial tactics and capabilities. The Zadocians however, were unfamiliar with the Tau, the Imperium having destroyed their only units which had significant experience fighting them.

Starfire's forces stormed into the city, anihilating the Zadoc regiments defending the perimeter with well practiced precision and minimal casualties. The survivors of this assault fell back into Burbeck and to their credit mounted a fierce guerilla resistance. Starfire's cadre then had to fight from street to street, eventually securing the city and port after many days rooting out the last remnants.

Whilst this was happening, further south and east, mechanised cadres pushed through to capture Rainier Pass and air mobile cadres were deployed into the hills surrounding the Tyndareous Base while pathfinders periodically launched seeker missiles into it making imperial operations hazardous. Stealth suit infiltrations and drone patrols began ambushing any Imperial forces that attempted to leave the base to track down the pathfinders. The tau now had a massive strategic advantage and the Imperial forces on the planet had been widely scattered, their supply lines cut.

Meanwhile wider Tau strategy saw them returning to the Rim worlds, still dominated by the Catechism. For now the Tau were simply there to observe. They needed to know what the chaos forces were doing, what they were likely to do and what forces they had available to them if they were going to ramp up their campaign against the Imperium. The last thing the Tau needed was an opportunistic attack by the Catechism from an undefended flank.

The Tau pathfinder teams landed on Aornis, but the Catechism air force soon responded in force, and the tau air caste was forced to deploy defensive baracuda screens. After several dogfights the results were inconclusive, and the pathfinders were withdrawn as a precaution. The Tau were satisfied that the Catechism had no imminent plans to attack outside their own domain, but were none-the-less concerned with the strength the chaos forces still had at their disposal in the Rim Worlds.

Tyndareous campaign: current

Thok sends out raiders – 08.011M42

For many long months Jellicoe's fleet had successfully blockaded the chaos fleet bases of Kendrenec, Calliden and Mordecai. Tragean's large fleet rarely set out from its base as it was usually needed as a threat to the many warring tribes within the chaos held system. Shaidar Haran hadn't been seen for years, and many Imperial Navy officers felt it likely the force had either disappeared or been mothballed. The Catechism rarely ventured further than the Rim Worlds, Moonface's domain, but that still left Lorek and Thok.

Lorek's disasterous defeat at the hands of Jellicoe on 2201.011M42 during the invasion of Ares had seemingly deterred him from launching further fleet actions, but Thok's fleet had recently been enjoying relative success against the Imperial fleet, and it was only a matter of time before the mad admiral ventured forth from Mordecai once again. Jellicoe's biggest fear however was for the various fleets of chaos to join up and assault their jailer, the blockading Imperial fleets.

Jellicoe had adopted a policy of distant blockade. This was made easier with the Imperial-Tau "swap" of Minos for Aganthus, and with major fleets based at Farport, Corticant and Caitlen Station, Jellicoe could react in sufficient time to protect the vital Imperial worlds and waystations in the Perseus Deeps, without risking his capital ships in long deep space sweeps. To perform this role commanders Tyrwhitt and Harwood were given large squadrons of escorts to patrol the warps lanes for raiders. If the chaos forces made any major move from port, Beattie would react first, with support from Dreyer's powerful Farport fleet. If the chaos move was large, Jellicoe would lead his main fleet from Caitlen Station for a decisive victory.

On 3008.011M42 reports came in that several cruisers had left orbit around Calliden and had slipped into the Perseus Reach and were heading for the Farport lane. From here they would be able to threaten General Veers supplies which were vital for the cleaning up operation to keep Bastien and Parthenope under Imperial control. Jellicoe had to react, and sent four cruisers from Beattie's force to intercept, while the remainder of the Vice-Admiral's battlegroup remained near Corticant, in case the fast battleship Ragnarok should re-appear.

Glorious, Centurion, Intrepid and Agincourt successfully tracked the chaos ships down to a small red dwarf system midway between Calliden and the Imperial base at Corticant, while the chaos fleet were preparing to make their next warp jump. Both fleets were well scattered, and a confused action developed as both sides tried to form into a fleet formation. During the action the Glorious and Intrepid were heavily damaged, and Centurion, outnumbered and caught without support, exploded. On the chaos side, Midgard was destroyed, while the cruisers Brunhilde and Heimdall were crippled.

Overall the confused action was a draw, with both sides losing one capital vessel and having two others badly damaged, but once again Jellicoe's fleet was unable to deliver a victory with equal forces against a foe the admiral was used to beating. Now he feared Thok would be emboldened by this fact and launch ever larger raids into the hard won north-west Perseus Deeps. Jellicoe was sure however, that he had the resources available to meet the mad chaos admiral if he came out in force.

Perseus Deeps - Fleet Dispositions (current Chaos/Imperial)

Alphe Current

Astartes gain in Cerrack Nebula

At the end of 08.011M42 with setbacks in the Zadoc sector, activities in the Vastrid sector were almost going to plan. Sector command had been consolidated under General Alexander, a veteran of the successful campaigns on Tyndareous and Coronus, and several companies of space marines had lent their aid, forming a Vastrid command council. The space marines of the Lamenters chapter and the space wolves were soon in action, and on 0209.011M42 they launched a combined operation against chaos forces on Quim and Hogans Fall, reasoning that the limited forces loyal to the Lorek, the ousted "Master of Chaos", could not defend both places at once.

In the event, the forces of chaos put up a reasonable defence on both worlds, but were overrun on Quim and Hogan's Fall. The Claws of lorek found themselves in a desparate situation against the Lamenters, and Hogan's fall was liberated on 0509.011M42, with the Claws abandoning their deepest base in the Vastrid sector. On Quim, the space wolves annihilated the defenders, despite daemons being raised to halt their progess, and established a firm beachhead on the world. As the Space Wolves dug in, allowing Imperial Guard units to land, an urgent request came in for aid against the Tyranids.

Nemesis gain on Alphe

The situation on Alphe worsened as 09.011M42 began, as tendrils of Nemesis began to appear on the mainland of Hulme Island and on Snowwald Island. The PDF put up a spirited fight in Springbay, but the situation soon became desparate. Sensing an opportunity to cleanse the islands with one quick thrust, the recently arrived Ultramarines immediately planned a strike.

The marines landed on the north of the island without incident and attempted to locate the focus of the hive mind on Snowwald. Once again however, it appears that Nemesis was one step ahead, somehow understanding Astartes tactics and using them against them. The tyranid hordes successfully ambushed the Ultramarines forces, diverting them from their larger assets and swamping them with a horde of bodies. Taking casualties they could ill afford, the Ultramarines evacuated, abandoning the brave defenders of Springbay to their fate.

Meanwhile the Praetorian Guard formed their thin red line on the mainland near Moorden. The ranks of Praetorians, resplendent in their red tunics and white helmets, fired volley after volley into the advancing hordes, but the tyranids swarmed relentlessly, a tide of bodies overrunning the Imperial positions. Even the dour stubbornness of the Praetorians couldn’t face Nemesis indefinitely, and after a hard battle the Imperial line finally broke, the guardsmen fleeing their positions, leaving Moorden to be overrun.

With the situation on the front line deteriorating rapidly, General Percival was also forced to divert precious resources into policing, as order on Alphe began to break down. Panic gripped the citizens as they realised that this new enemy was far far worse than the forces of chaos. Now only percivals troops, and badly battered Astartes chapters stood between the population of Alphe and total annihilation.

Necrons resume activity

The Necrons of the Perseus Deeps had been almost inactive since the short Necron-Tau war of 02.011M42, which ended in defeat for the ancient race. For the Necrons however, who had existed for aeons, such a timespan represented less than an eyeblink to mere mortals. And, in 08.011M42 the Necrons appeared in action again. Having already reclaimed almost a third of the chaos world of Blight, the Necrons now appeared on the Tyranid infested world of Enaloth. Whether or not the planet had originally been a Tomb world remains uncertain, but a splinter of Nemesis had infested Enaloth since 010M42, and on 1808.011M42 Necrons and Tyranids engaged each other on the otherwise now uninhabited world.

It is presumed that Nemesis had failed to complete consumption of Enaloth because its main hive fleet was still many light years away in the Zadoc subsector. The hive mind was now readying itself to consume the valuable biomass of that subsector, which consisted of many more nutrient rich systems than the relatively barren Perseus Deeps. In any case, the Tyranids on Enaloth remained relatively isolated from the rest of Nemesis, and the Necrons appeared to take advantage of this, securing a spectacular victory against the bioloical enemy and establishing themselves on the world.

Shortly after the Necrons had resumed their activities in the Deeps, they themselves came under concerted attack on their tomb world of Gamador. In two apparently co-ordinated raids, the Eldar and their dark kin ravaged several Necron tombs, causing massive damage and forcing Necron forces to phase out on two separate occasions. Both forces attack with violent hatred, a pathalogical detestation passed down from generation to generation over countless millenia.

Of most concern to Imperial analysts however was the apparent co-ordination by two forces who many in the Imperium naively considered bitter enemies. If the strange Harlequin led Eldar were prepared to work with the Dark Eldar on this mission, what would it take for them to work together - against the Imperium - on other occasions?

Less than a week later, on 2408.011M42 the Dark Eldar appeared on Corticant once again, catching the Imperial defenders off balance by appearing from an area the Inquisiton of the Ordo Xenos had considered "safe". The Grey Knights were quick to respond, but as ever failed abysmally to counter the alien threat. Inquisitor Hathek then received intelligence that the Dark Eldar had appeared from an almost unknown Eldar webway portal. Perhaps the eldar had "repayed" their dark kin by showing them new ways to raid the lesser races of the Perseus Deeps.

Alphe Invasion

Nemesis Vanguard reaches Alphe

With the loss of the Peraph asteroid base in 07.011M42 Imperial commander General Percival readied his defence of Alphe. Coming only months after the withdrawal of chaos forces from the planet the news that Tyranids were encroaching on the Alphe system came as a bitter blow, and the news was kept secret from the general populace, even from the governor, Albers Torak. Percival had Imperial Guard regiments readied and the PDF re-mobilised under the pretext that chaos forces had still not left the system. A lie, but one which kept the system on a state of alert. Forces from the Salamanders, Lamenters and Blood Martyrs chapters arrived by early 08.011M42, and Percival pursuaded them to make themselves visible to the troops on the ground, thereby increasing morale. The Imperium braced itself for the inevitable onslaught, which then failed to arrive.

For much of 08.011M42 augurs searched the void of space and the warp for indications of the hive fleet arriving en masse, but nothing appeared. Admiral Jellicoe kept his fleet on alert at Caitlen station, but continued his usual fleet duties. Where were the Tyranids? Then, on 1508.011M42 worrying news reached General Percival. Since the 8th, there had been reports of general disorder, rioting and "beast attacks" from the Island settlement of Linshore, which had been devastated in the chaos invasions of 09-10M42. These were shrugged off at first, there were still outbreaks of mutation and even daemonic possession across the world, and the local adeptus arbites forces had become well used to handling such outbreaks, usually brutally.

On 11008.011M42 contact with Linshore was lost, something unremarkable on a world where so much infrastructure had been ravaged by war. However, when contact hadn't been re-established by the 15th, Percival sensed something was wrong. The Salamanders agreed to investigate, landing near the city of Linshore on 1908.011M42. At first they found nothing, then as they investigated the city itself, this very discovery became alarming. The entire population of over one million had disappeared without a trace, and the city, ruined by shelling, had almost disappeared amongst creeping vines and floral overgrowth. Very quickly the Salamanders realised what this meant, and hastily withdrew, signalling to Percival that the tyranids had indeed arrived. Then the monsters appeared.

The Tyranids had arrived on Alphe apparently by stealth, something which was not in keeping with their usual mode of operation. Nemesis, Imperial intelligence realised, was different, employing a breadth of strategy not usually encountered in the extragalactic menace. The Salamanders fought bravely, but the forces of Nemesis had taken the by surprise, cutting their forces off from their Thunderhawks. Within a day, contact was lost with the Astartes company.

The Lamenters immediately declared their intention to rescue their battle brothers from the alien hordes, despite the objections of Percival, who desperately wanted to keep the marines from hot-headed action. He managed to pursaude the Blood Martyrs from throwing in their lot with the Lamenters and began the process of quarantining Redkeep Island. on 2108.011M42 Inquisitor Darell Yintard arrived with instructions from his mentor and overseer, Inquistor Hathek. Yintard was to restart Hathek's investigations into Nemesis while Hathek dealt with the rogue Xanthus in the Perseus Deeps. Meanwhile the Lamenters went ahead with their rescue mission, and met ferocious resistance from the aliens. Few of the battle brother survived the assault, much as Percival had predicted.

Tau forces secure Vallerander

Following the successful if desparate air attacks on the Tau by the Imperial air force, the Imperial garrison was strengthened on the ground by a company of Salamanders. The overall position of the Imperium on the ground was however, pretty dire. The Tau had greater numbers and more equipment, and the destruction of the Librian guard units now left the commander of the theatre with just one Zadocian Guard regiment, a handful of PDF units and a few companies of marines. Tyndareous needed Imperial Guard reinforcement desperately, but that was weeks away, and the Tau new it.

Realising the opportune moment was now, the Tau attacked Vallerander in force, hoping for an easy victory against poorly equipped planetary defence troopers. What the Tau didn't know was that the Salamanders had identified Vallerander as a key strategic position and had moved quietly into position on the night of 1808.011M42. As soon as they attacked, the Tau came up against concerted resistance and began taking losses they did not expect. They were however of the Ksi'm'yen sept, by now the most respected Tau fighting force of the whole Aleph expansion sphere, and their experience and tactical knowledge against Imperial tactics proved invaluable, while the Salamanders, undoubtedly humanity's finest warriors, lacked exposure to Tau fighting methods.

After a bitter struggle lasting more than a day, the Salamanders grudgingly gave up Vallerander and moved off the high ground. There was no sense in losing their entire strength and they had at least inflicted significant casualties on their enemy. The commanders on Tyndareous now wondered how many reserves the Tau had, as their own forces were looking rather thin on the ground.

Tyndareous 2008.011M42

War in the Air

On Tyndareous, with the Tyndar Plateau secured, the Tau forces now moved to expand their territorial holding on the Imperial world, to prevent the Imperium from wiping them out with one concerted Space marine strike. Their next target was the remote region known as the Vallerander Heights, and several air drops using Orcas, supported by Baracudas, were drawn up in early 08.011M42.

The initial scouting landings went well, but soon follow up drops were intercepted by Imperial navy fighters based out of Arrenton and Burbeck Bay. The Tau pilots however showed their experience, as many had fought in the Tarsis campaign of 08/09, while many of their Imperial adversaries had never seen combat - certainly not against the Tau. The landings succeeded and the Imperium lost many fighters, and the crucial road intersection of Pardle Junction were secured by 1208.011M42. The Tau now planned to move on the rest of the central high ground to isolate Vallerander.

Frustrated by their losses, Air commodore Stewart requested pilots to be sent planetside from the carrier Intrepid, which had recently arrived in the system along with a number of other Imperial vessels, in order to find the Tau vessels which had initiated the invasion. Captain Dingemans agreed, and after a short orientation course on their new aircraft, the experienced fighter pilots of the Imperial Navy began to make a difference.

on 1708.011M42 the Imperium struck back, assembling a rather ad-hoc force of fighters and bombers to attack the newly constructed Tau base on the Vallerander heights. The Tau air cadre responded with force against the Imperial bombing mission, but this time the Imperial pilots were equal to them, and the Tau lost many Barracudas before breaking off. They did manage to inflict significant damage on the inbound Imperial wing, but the Tau base was heavily damaged. The Tau postponed their plans to take Vallerander. For now the Imperial air force had earned a stay of execution.

At the same time, another Imperial attack was taking place, an ill-conceived plan which saw a small force, including the Mars class battlecruiser Glorious, travel to New Sparta in the Rim Worlds. The Imperium considered the chaos defences of the world to be weak, and New Sparta ripe for the taking. Such a victory would see the crusade started with renewed vigour, and the weakened Catechism could be eradicated. In addition, a base in the Rim worlds would eas pressure on Caitlen Station, and allow more forces to be directed against the Tau in the Mabb nebula.

The first stage of operation Albatross called for the destruction of any chaos air power, though none was actually anticipated. The Imperium could not have been more wrong, The Catechism air forces appeared almost as soon as the Imperial craft entered the atmosphere, and attacked with gleeful abandon. Of the 300 aircraft sent in to defeat the Catechism, only 46 returned, and the operation was called off amid much embarrasment.

Imperium launch assault on Tau Base

The battle of the Tyndar Plateau took place on Tyndareous on 0108.011M42 between the Tau forces which had dug in on the Imperial world, and a hastily formed conglomerate of Imperial troops, which were thrown against their enemy with such speed that the Tau were taken completely by surprise. The Tau found themselves isolated and without air support. The Imperium, under the direction of Inquisitor Lord Xanthus, had managed to secure the support of the Lamenters, the Blood Angels and two regiments of Zadoci Guard, as well as a large amount of Librian equipment. The Librians themselves, who could not be trusted, were interred for the duration of the war on Tyndareous.

Lamenters scouts established the position of the base some days before the battle, skillfully avoiding the alien perimeter patrols, and began planning the attack. The plan called for the Imperial Guard regiments to take the brunt of the Tau firepower, attacking head on towards the main Tau watchtower. Meanwhile the Astartes troops would attack from the flanks, isolating the Tau base from support and ensuring its capture, along with the vital intelligence and important personell the Imperium knew were present.

The attack went as planned, with the Imperial assault soon threatening the inner sanctum of the Tau base. The Lamenters and Blood Angels in particular were murderous, slaughtering all who stood in their way, and hundreds of Kroot and Tau fire warriors died appalling deaths at the hands of the space marines. The Imperial Guard meanwhile suffered badly at the hands of Tau railguns. Tanks were blown apart and the Imperial assault began to stagger.

At the height of the battle the Astartes forces looked like breaking through the Tau defences, and the xenos desperately tried to evacuate their personell before the Imperium overran the base. While calling for air support and significant reinforcement, the Tau commander on the ground knew that only intervention from the Hunter Cadre of the Ksi'm'yen sept could save them from certain disaster. The cadre of the Ksi'm'yen sept, stationed some kilometres away, were one of Shadowstrike's own, and the Tau commander's legendary promotion of rapid deployment and manouvre now came into play. Shadowstrike's forces counter attacked at the height of the battle, and in a desperate attempt to rescue the ethereal who remained in the watchtower with the troops of Fastblade. completely uncaring of casualties, Shas'el Swift Tide lead the rescue attempt and died in the fighting, while Commander Moonshine's forces attempted to stave of a furious assault from the Lamenters on the Tau left. Fastblade's forces too made huge sacrifices, suffering 80% casualties trying to buy time for the evacuation of key personell.

What the Imperium didn't know however, was at the very time they were launching their assault the Tau were already planning their full invasion of Tyndareous. As the outer Tau base fell and the battle raged, fresh troops were being landed by Manta onto the bases' central airfield from the orbiting tau fleet and their arrival, and the threat of aerial attack forced the imperial forces to withdraw.

The Tau had managed for the most part to prevent the Imperium from getting hold of vital intelligence, but at terrible cost. Casualties were horrendous and the sacrifice was immediately hailed and was ranked among the great Tau battles in the sector. The Imperium had inflicted terrible damage on the Tau and learnt some of their motives, but now they found themselves with a determined enemy who now had fresh reinforcements. Xanthus now had a real war on his hands.

Nemesis advance on Alphe

In 07.011M42 the tyranids of hive fleet Nemesis continued to make probing attacks around the system of Alphe. The resurgence of the alien menace in the Alphe system also drew other parties into the area. Raids by the Dark Eldar increased, and at least one raid was spectacularly successful, with the Dark Eldar capturing a large number of varied monsters to entertain their brethren in Commoragh.

Later in the month the Imperium, under General Percival, launched an all out attack against the Tyranids at the Peraph base in the outer reaches of the Alphe system. A whole regiment of Islandawandans was thrown against Nemesis, but the Imperial guard soon found themselves in deep trouble. The fighting turned desperate and the ISlandawandans were barely able to hold the Tyranids long enough to mount an evacuation. By the end of 07.011M42 all remaining Imperial forces had been evacuated from Peraph, and the base was firmly in the hands of hive fleet Nemesis.

Lamenters punish "disloyal" Librians

With a significant Tau presence now confirmed on Tyndareous, the forces of Inquisitor Lord Xanthus now had to ensure that other Imperial forces on the world remained loyal to him, and carried the fight to the Tau. Almost immediately after the Tau launched their assault the Librian 271st mechanised infantry regiment sent messengers to the Tau to try to halt the fighting. Xanthus moved swiftly, declaring the Librians traitors from a traitors' world and asking the Lamenters to eliminate them from the Tyndareous battlefield.

The Lamenters launched an immediate attack on the Librian positions at dawn on 1607.011M42. As the sun rose the mechanised marine forces of the Adeptus Astartes moved into range of the Librian guns, but the Imperial Guard opening barrage was woefully inaccurate, and the Lamenters were able to get within murderous close range before the Librian fire began to take its toll. In the end the Librians gave a good account of themselves, but virtually all the infantry were slaughtered by the Astartes or fled the field, while the armoured units took heavy damage.

By 1807.011M42 the Librian forces on Tyndareous had been broken, with all their equipment lost and their soldiers either captured or fled, some to the Tau. The Lamenters had taken out the Librians as a threat to Xanthus' war, but at great cost to themselves. With much reduced forces on Tyndareous, many now wondered if the Tau invasion could be stopped.

The governor of Tyndareous was outraged at the events, and the people of the world also began to look ever more suspiciously at Xanthus and his "loyalist" forces. Xanthus had broken the treaty Hathek had negotiated, at least in the Mabb Nebula, but appeared as isolated as ever within his own Imperium.

Xanthus provokes war with Tau

In early 07.011M42 Inquisitor Xanthus once again attempted to break the Tau-Imperial peace agreement and this time he succeeded. Xanthus had previously tried to break the treaty by provoking the Tau, but with little success. His opponent, Hathek, had always managed to box in his forces and smoothe over Tau anger whenever he did manage to land blows on the alien empire.

Xanthus realised that while he was close to Hathek's powerbase in the Perseus Deeps, he would never materially influence the course of events, so he moved in secret to the Mabb Nebula in the Zadoc subsector.

With the help of the Dark Angels and Blood Martyts, Xanthus managed to move a small portion of his forces to New Cerberex, a fiercely puritan Imperial colony. On 0407.011M42 the Dark Angels launched an attack on Hylas, inserting a small force of just a few marines, killing Tau colonists indescriminately and capturing a Tau ethereal.

The Grey Knights, loyal to Hathek and the crusade council, uncovered Xanthus' plan and rushed to New Cerberex to attempt to capture the puritan inquisitor. After being unsuccessfully ambushed by a squad of Blood Martyrs, the Grey Knights then attempted to rescue the Tau diplomat, but the Dark Angels were not above killing their fellow astartes. The Ordo Malleus force was unable to penetrate the Dark Angels' base perimeter, and the Tau captive was tortured and murdered, his head sent back to the Tau as a warning, or statement of intent.

By 1107.011M42 Xanthus' plan had borne fruit. The Tau, unknown to the Inquisitor, had contacted Hathek. The peace treaty in the Perseu Deeps would hold, but such attacks in the Mabb nebula could not be tolerated. Hathek was told in no uncertain terms that since he could not deal with his fellow Inquisitor Lord, the Tau would.

The next Tau move was to deploy a small scouting force to Tyndareous, who were accidentally discovered by a patrol of Blood Martyrs marines who had arrived with Xanthus some weeks before. Xanthus knew the Tau would attack either New Cerberex or Tyndareous, so posted forces of marines on both worlds. The Tau were able to defeat the Blood Martyr's patrol, and before the astartes could get warning to other Imperial forces on the planet they launched a sizeable strike on the planet's main airbase.

The Tau arrived without warning, a tiger shark and several baracuda air superiority fighters screaming in low over the plateau on which the base stood. Taken by surprise the Imperial base was almost defenceless, but a squadron of Prozan Cavalry valyries and vultures still scrambled to intercept their enemy. The battle was utterly one sided. Without taking any damage, the prozan aircraft were smashed from the sky, and the Imperial base was heavily damaged. War with the Tau was well and truly joined.

Grey Knights fair badly

The Grey Knights, who had been concentrating on furthering the Imperial Crusade in the Perseus Deeps, moved their attention to focus on the Vastrid sector during 06.011M42. This was mostly in response to the increased chaos presence in the Cerrack Nebula, which presented a thread to the major populated centres of the subsector. Their first mission in strength came on 3006.011M42, where they deployed a significant force on Hogan's Fall to root out reports of daemonic incursions in the chaos forces which had invaged the Imperial outpost.

In finding the daemons the Grey Knights were succesful, but in defeating the abominations they were not, and the daemons proved to be more dangerous and tactically adept than the Grey Knights had expected. The Imperial assault was unsuccessful, and in repsponse the chaos forces mounted a counter attack which saw the Imperium lose ground on Hogan's fall. By 0707.011M42 the Imperial base was besieged and the world had all but fallen to the ruinous powers.

To make matters worse early 07.011M42 saw the Grey Knights mired in the inquisition dispute once again, this time coming to blows with the Lamenters chapter of space marines on Zog. The Lamenters had deployed to the world in order to assess the risk of the Necron presence, before carrying out an unknown mission. The Ordo Malleus astartes chapter had received intelligence that the Lamenters had declared for Xanthus and were planning a strike on Parataea or Skera, both Tau worlds, and that their real reason for deploying in the Perseus Deeps was this, rather than the official explanation.

The Grey Knights arrived in the Zog system and demanded the Lamenters "explain themselves". Once again however the aggressive arrogant display did not have the desired effect, and the Grey Knights were requested to leave the system. When they refused fighting once again broke out, and after several hours of sporadic skirmishing the Knights realised they had no choice but to leave, allowing the Lamenters to carry out their mission - "traitorous" or otherwise.

Eldar stir up hornet's nest

During 06.011M42 the Eldar became more and more active in the Aleph sector, appearing from time to time and in a number of places, attacking and raiding all sides apparently at random. Inquisitor Huron began to take an acute interest in the appearance of the Eldar, and he had already identified that it was the same group attacking forces across the sector. Now he had to find out why.

The latest attacks all occurred on Valboris, a chaos world now infested by Tyranids. Concentrating on Betor, the Tyranids had considered Valboris somewhat of a second front, and progress had been slow, but steady. Now the extra-galactic xenos found themselves under attack from the Eldar. Nemesis was caught off guard by the surprise attack, and the fast moving Eldar were able to inflict considerable damage on the aliens before withdrawing to the webway.

The hive mind was clearly angered by this attack, and began offensive moves once again, potentially to uncover and block of the webway portals and defend itself against this new avenue of attack. As they moved towards Main Crossing however, the chaos defenders summoned a horde of daemons to block their progress. In a bloody battle, the daemons carved through the Tyranid menace, allowing other chaos forces to exploit the breach and take back Silston from the alien creatures.

It appeared the Eldar were interested in stoking up the fires of war on Valboris, but the daemonic success may have been unexpected, as the Eldar found themselves with daemonic forces between them and the webway as they prepared to depart. Faced with no other choice the Eldar, led by their harlequin troupes, launched themselves at the forces of chaos. The fighting was bloody, but neither side could force the other to withdraw. The daemons however could not maintain their existence in the material world indefinately, and the Eldar were able to wait their enemy out, leaving Valboris a much hotter warzone than when they arrived.

Meanwhile Nemesis' tendrils began fanning out across the Zadoc subsector. With Betor apparently consumed the location of the hive fleet remained unknown, but xenos vanguard creatures began to appear on various planets in the Mabb Nebula. A particularly large force of Tyranids manifested itself on Hylas, the smallest Tau colony in the region. Fortunately for the Tau their forces, led by a protege of Shadowstrike, were prepared for the attack, and defeated the scouting Tyranid forces. The Tau high command decided to fortify all its bases in the sector, identifying Hylas as a priority.

Tyranids appear in Alphe system

It had been months since anything had been heard from the Betor system. Psykers still reporting nothing but a thick all encompassing psychic fog emanating from the region, and to attempt to penetrate it caused seizures and even death. The Imperial defenders on the world had been left to their fate, but it wasn't until 06.011M42 that the final fate of Betor became apparent.

The tyranid warp shadow began to wane in late 05.011M42, but when astropaths tried to contact Betor, they got no response. They sensed nothing from the world and the Inquisition and Imperial High Command had to accept the total destruction of one of the emperor's worlds. As the warp impression died however, the Imperium lost track of the tyranid menace as the vast hive fleet was swallowed up by the even more vast blackness of the void.

Then, in mid 06.011M42 the Peraph asteroid base in the Alphe system sent a garbled and unintelligable message before falling silent. Five thousand Imperial workers had gone quiet and no one from the base could be raised. Responding to the distress call a half company of Blood Martyrs diverted to the area and set down two squads near the base to investigate.

On landing they found the base a wreck, but couldn't find a single shred of biological matter to confirm what had happened to the Imperial workers. Then, a firefight broke out and within minutes contact with the Blood Martyrs had also been lost. A single word from the sergeant leading the expedition brought fear to the Alphe system "tyranids".

The Blood Martyrs were anguished that their gene seed had been lost and was now available to the monstrous alien menace, but were unable to send in more troops quickly. Fortunately by now a small force of Space Wolves had arrived and quickly recovered much of the precious gene seed before too many tyranids appeared.

Alerted to the two Astartes chapters however, the hive mind of Nemesis began to mount stronger and stronger responses, and very soon the small force of Blood Martyrs and Space Wolves found themselves hemmed in. A bitter and bloody struggle followed while the space marines made plans to evacuate the four squads of marines.

No quarter was given and both chapters slaughtered more than their fair share of xenos abominations. after hours of valiant fighting the tyranids were almost exhausted, the blood of their kind soaking the soil of the former Imperial base, corpses piled high. Time however ran out for the marines, and the last man standing, a Blood Martyr caught in the full flood of the blood rage, was mind shrieked to death by a Zoanthrope as he attempted to charge it down in single combat. The Asteroid base had fallen but the Imperium now knew where Nemesis would strike next.

Xanthus bid to coerce Aethor fails

With the loss of Ares to his cause, inquistor Xanthus attempted to sway Aethor to his side during 06.011M42. Aethor lay on the critical Perseus Run warp route, and Xanthus desperately needed a secure supply route from sectors towards the Imperial Hub and his base on Sentinel. Hathek and Huron had made sure he couldn't have Ares, so Aethor would have to do. Xanthus' position was bolstered by the arrival of half a company of Blood Martyrs space marines, but the Inquisitor lord remained marginalised and isolated.

Lords Hathek and Huron hadn't been blind to the move on Aethor, and had made provisions for its defence should Xanthus try anything. So it cam as no surprise when on 1906.011M42 the Grey Knights discovered that a small squad of Blood Martyrs had attempted to force their way into Aethor's main communications array. They had no idea what the purpose of this raid was, but pursued the Blood Martyrs into the wilderness of the world, finding themselves bitterly opposed by the astartes chapter forces. In a brief skirmish the Blood Martyrs lost half their team, but the outnumbered Grey Knights disengaged first, realising they could not afford to lose men at the hands of fellow space marines, and the remaining Blood Martyrs escaped.

Only later did Hathek learn what Xanthus' agents had been up to. Without warning the population of Aethor suddenly found their normal vidcast programmes interrupted by an address from High Priest Garrett Van Buerden, extoling the virtues of the emperor and imploring all to follow His will. Realising this was turning into a propaganda coup for Xanthus, Hathek immediately asked the Grey Knights to shut down the broadcast. No-one outside the council yet knew of Van Buerden's rift with the Crusade and Hathek, and the wrong words now could uncover the rift and start a civil war as the general population of the world, or even the sector, took sides. This had to be stopped.

Unfortunately the communications station was defended by units of the Prozan Cavalry, leading to an unfortunate firefight between the two Imperial forces. The Grey Knights couldn't explain why they had to destroy the communications array, nor could they merely say it was on the orders of Hathek, or suspicions would be raised. The unfortunate Imperial guardsmen were slaughtered and the broadcast stopped before too much had been said, and Inquisitor Hathek "explained" the situation to the planetary governor. Suitably impressed and trusting of the high inquisitor, the world of Aethor pledged its support to Hathek's position and another world was lost to Xanthus' cause.

War on Glossop V

During 06.011M42 the war on Glossop V, under-resourced and neglected by the Imperium, continued. The world wasn't of massive strategic significance and only a few regiments of Imperial Guard held the line between the human colonists, numbering 500,000, and the ever growing green tide of Waagh! Krumpgutz.

Unexpected help did arrive on 1806.011M42 in the form of a handful of Grey Knights units. The Ordo Malleus had a growing interest in the Cerrack Nebula with the recent appearance of chaos forces on Triam and Quim. As the only Imperial held world in the nebula the choice of Glossop V as a base was obvious, and the astartes forces agreed to help the guard defend the world from the orks. To this end the Imperial forces planned and executed several small raids against the ork horde, searching for weaknesses.

The Grey Knights were reasonably successful, establishing the size, disposition and weaponry of the ork forces arraid against the Imperial perimeter, but the Prozan cavalry suffered at the hands of the greenskins. One raiding force found itself completely cut off and surrounded by angry orks, with a desperate airborne rescue only able to extract one or two of the elite commandos. The war on Glossop would continue, largely forgotten by the rest of the sector.

Inquisition war hots up

Although the Inquisition dispute between Hathek, Huron and the council on one side, and Xanthus on the other, had cooled off after the Astartes settled the score on Ares, neither side was content to leave things as they were. Xanthus was now effectively outlawed, cut off from his usual endless resources and only commanding a few regiments of guard and a flotilla of Jellicoe's ships. Xanthus needed to sway more governors and Imperial representatives to his side, and to do that he needed to discredit the other two inquisitor lords.

To this end the Ordo Hereticus inquisitor once again planned to disrupt the Imperial-Tau alliance. Through still loyal agents, Xanthus gave false information to the Grey Knights, suggesting that a daemonic incursion was imminent on the Tau held world of Skera. Unfamiliar with the Tau dispositions in the Perseus Deeps and not bothering to check with the council, the hot headed Astartes immediately set out for the Tau system. Their strike cruisers easily evaded Tau warships and deployed a force of Grey Knights on the planet, close to the suspected daemonic outbreak centre. Unsurprisingly they found nothing, except an angry Tau force who asked why they had been assaulted. Pride quickly got in the way of negotiation and the Grey Knights soon found themselves under attack. After a brief skirmish the Ordo Malleus strike force abandoned its attack and fled the system, but the alliance still held thanks to swift interevention from Inquisitor Hathek once again. The Tau informed him however that he was on his final warning.

Hathek then directed the Grey Knights to Ares, recently retaken by the Imperium but still reporting minor intrusions from the warp. On Ares however the Grey Knights met with a government hostile to their presence, and the recently installed planetary governor refused to allow them to land, The Astartes did anyway, and found the Blood Angels already on the world pursuing their own aims. The Grey Knights demanded that the Blood Angels confirm their alliegance to the Crusade council and declare Xanthus a traitor. When they refused the Grey Knights found themselves in another uneccessary battle, although this time the Blood Angels were forced to withdraw, complaining bitterly that the Knights were exceeding their remit.

Hathek meanwhile began machinations of his own. Realising the governor of Ares was hostile to his faction, the inquisitor resolved to remove him. He reasoned, correctly that the Grey Knights could be easily swayed and used as a tool in his plans. He planted the suspicion that the government of Ares were complicit in the recent daemonic incursions on the world, and planet suitably damning evidence. On cue the Grey Knights declared the governor a heretic and attacked the capital. The ill-equipped 24th Islandlwanfa found themselves in the way and were defeated in short order by the Knights, suffering apalling casualties. The governor, all the time protesting his innocence, was summarily tried and executed under Hathek's supervision. The inquisitor then replaced the entire government with his own sympathisers, cutting another link in Xanthus' supply chain.

Parthenope Secured

General Veers' Crusade in the Perseus Deeps received an unexpected boost from the Blood Angels in late 05.011M2 when they arrived in orbit around Parthenope. Veers met with their commander, and although their quest was unrelated to the cleansing of the planet, the forces of the Astartes agreed to co-ordinate their strikes with an all out offensive planned by Veers to take the Vregal peninsular.

The Blood Angels dropped from orbit on 2905.011M42, landing near Gand and on the Lone Isles. Searching for ancient artefacts it is believed the Blood Angels were successful, but for the Imperial high command the real good news was the destruction of Anticross and Shadow Suns traitor Astartes forces.With the elite soldiers of chaos smashed apart by the fury of the Blood Angel's attacks, the door to Gelanath and Torradi now lay open. Veers assembled his best regiments of Librian Guard and deployed the feared Cerberex mechanised regiment he was keeping in reserve for the final push. The Imperial guard advanced on a narrow front, the tanks of Libria and New Cerberex punching deep behind enemy lines and by 0106.011M42 the remaining chaos forces prepared for their final stand.

Just east of the settlement of Cayal the forces of chaos played their last card, summoning a huge gibbering mass of other-worldly daemons in the path of the advancing troops, aiming to blunt the spearhead and allow the traitor marines units to recover from their defeat at the hands of the Blood Angels, and drive into the flanks of the Imperial advance.

The daemons appeared in a concentrated mass, right in front of the Librian main firepower, and were punished severely. Leman Russ tanks and massed multilaser fire proved devastating to the daemonic host, and the Punisher variant of the Librians' main battle tanks proved particularly adept at blowing apart the warp-beasts.

While the Librian regiments bottled up the daemonic horde, the Cerberex mechanised force managed to drive forward through the chaos lines and deliver a decisive blow. Too late the chaos commanders realised this had left the Cerberex right flank almost undefended, but the forces summoned to exploit this weakness were insufficient to prevent a decisive Imperial victory.

The battle lost, the daemons disappeared back to their blasphemous realm, leaving the Imperium to mop up the final defenders of Parthenope. Thousands of cultists were put to the sword, but few traitor marines were ever discovered, most having used their daemonic pacts to depart from Parthenope when it became clear all was lost.

Veers had another victory and finally secured the Farport region of the Perseus Deeps. Now however the crusade faced a crisis. What now? Where next? The council soon fell into argument. Many suggested redirecting troops to the Cerrack Nebula to respond to the activity there while others were more bullish, recommending an all out attack on Mordecai or Calliden. Some in the military ranks preferred the Rim worlds to be the next focus of the campaign, while others felt it was time to draw a line under the Perseus Deeps crusade. This against the backdrop of simmering discontent within the Inquisition made General Veers far more downcast than a conquerer of worlds had any right to be as 06.011M42 progressed.

Vastrid Subsector War

During the second half of 05.011M42 and early 06.011M42, small forces in the Cerrack nebula were reinforced, and a general escalation of hostilities began to take place. With the invasion of Glossop V by orks, the Imperium responded by sending two regiments of Prozan Cavalry, but the greenskins of Waagh! Krumpgutz proved a difficult opponent, and the airborne regiments were defeated and forced to retreat. The orks now had the initiative on the world, despite the rather unexpected appearance of eldar aircraft in the world's atmosphere on 0306.011M42.

The Orks intercepted the incomming Eldar Sky Host and a fast moving airborne engagement eventually resulted in the Eldar withdrawing when it became apparent they would be unable to penetrate the swarming ork fightas without suffering heavy casualties. The aim of the raid wasn't apparent to the Imperium, but may have been a reconnaisance mission. The interevention however only seemed to stir up the ork aggression even more than before, perhaps the real intention of the aliens.

Meanwhile newly arrived regiments from the world of Islandlwanda found themselves posted to the supposedly safe world of Hogan's Fall, established as a base by Inquisitor Cicerus in M39. However within weeks of their arrival daemons loyal to Lorek suddenly swarmed out of nowhere and fell upon the guardsmen, who were entirely unprepared to deal with such an attack. Though the Islandlwanda tribesmen fought with zeal and faith, the Imperial line was forced to pull back, allowing chaos to gain an important foothold on the planet.

Dark Angels prevent Warp Rift

With the threat of civil war averted for now and tensions returned to a low simmer, Captain Angelus redeployed his company in support of the invasion of Parthenope. The war was proceeding well. The Librian Guard had advanced deep into the Vregal Peninsula when forward reconnaissance reported a spatial distortion ahead. Conditions on the ground were too risky for mere guardsmen, many of the scouts had already gone insane and needed to be put down. Fearing daemonic incursion Ritchie requested the aid of the Dark Angels.

A task force was immediately dispatched. It was headed by the 4th's Company Chaplian, Azurath El'Ressius, to ensure the mental fortitude and purity of spirit of the expedition. The mechanised column deployed onto the planets surface some distance from the anomaly and advanced cautiously. This caution proved well founded – daemons began pouring out of the warp rift as soon as the task force had visual contact. Rather than the usual tide of lesser daemons Azurath counted not one but five greater daemons and princes of chaos, their bloated forms sustained by the unnatural energies of the portal. The task force opened fire but their weaponry, whilst accurate, seemed powerless against such terrible entities.

Azurath lead his brothers in prayer, calling forth the power of the Emperor to aid them against the dread forces arrayed against them. Lifted by the power of their faith and devotion to the god-emperor of mankind the Dark Angels raced forward, unleashing a torrent of firepower into the colossal daemons. Bolter rounds seemed to glow with a holy radiance and Azurath's Crosius crackled with arcane balefire. In a matter of moments all but one of the mighty daemons fell and scores of lesser minions were slaughtered. Only one dark champion remained and he bellowed his devotion to the blood god Khorne and charged into the Dark Angel's ranks. For a moment the battle hung in the balance as Khorne's champion set about an unholy slaughter, but its rampage was brought to an end when Brother Kaleal of the Ravenwing fearlessly skidded his bike between the daemons legs and hamstrung it with his power fist. The daemon fell.

The Dark Angels had carried the field but the remaining lesser daemons still had to be hunted down. The daemons were cunning and spiteful and it was dark before the last was banished. Many battle brothers lay dead or injured. Chaplain Azurath was heavily wounded in the fighting and Brother Kaleal of the Ravenwing fatally eviscerated by a Blood Letter's blade. His bravery had secured the Dark Angel's victory so his dying body was recovered to be interred in a mighty dreadnought. When the fighting finally ended a Thunderhawk brought down Librarian's Metatron and Bartharion who sealed the warp rift. The battered task force were carried back to the Strike Cruisers orbiting Parthenope.