Swiftstar breaks into Perseus Deeps

The Tau position in the Perseus Deeps had become increasingly desperate during the latter part of 011M42 with the loss of the Skera colony, and despite the protestations of Shadowstrike that the war on Tyndareous was unfinished, the Ethereals decided to reinforce their positions in the Deeps, particularly the main bases of Lucardium and Cernunnos.

Admiral Swiftstar was given the task of moving his considerable fleet from the Mabb Nebula to the Perseus Deeps, as quickly as possible. This meant travelling near to the Rim Worlds, the home of the Catechism. Recent fleet actions convinced the Tau admiral that the Catechism fleet, although formidable, might ignore the Tau fleet passing through their territory, given their recent losses against the Imperium.

Unfortunately for Swiftstar, whoever was commanding the Catechism clearly objected to the large Tau fleet lumbering its way through the Rim Worlds, and before long the Tau found themselves with a large Chaos fleet on their tail. Only able to make short warp hops, the Tau admiral knew he would have to give battle eventually, and the superior speed of the Chaos warships ensured the battle took place in the confusing mercurial zone of a solitary star near to Aornis, once a Tau base.

The Chaos fleet split into two divisions, with the greater part led by a Desolator class battleship, passing down the port wing of Swiftstar's "box" formation. This allowed Swiftstar to turn his fleet to starboard, lining up the smaller battlegroup of three cruisers in his formidable gunsights. Unfortunately in the difficult environment of the sun's radiation belt, the shooting on both sides suffered, and while the chaos fleet lost one devastation class vessel and had two more cruisers crippled, Swiftstar was frustrated that the damage wasn't more significant. He was more annoyed by the fact the two crippled cruisers managed to escape within the sensor baffling radiaton belts and plasma filaments.

Swiftstar then manouvered his fleet in a wide arc to face the remaining chaos vessels, suffering severe damage to two of his protector class cruisers and the loss of his escorts. The battle continued spasmodically for another hour, before both sides withdrew, neither side able to claim victory despite the greater material losses of the chaos fleet. By 1211.011M42, Swiftstar had made it to Cernunnos, significantly strengthening the Tau position in the Perseus Deeps, but the damage to two capital ships was an unwelcome setback.

The scourging of Hogan's Fall

While the assault on Trian raged, there was fighting on two other worlds within the Vastrid subsector. On 0311.011M42 the Dark Eldar of the Shattered Silence fell upon the Imperial base on Hogan's fall. The base had only recently been wrestled back from the Orks, and the Imperial Guard at the base were entirely wiped out or captured before the Grey Knights, using the world as their base of operations within the subsector, could counter the alien raid.

The Grey Knights moved quickly to stop the Dark Eldar from entirely destroying the base, but the Shattered Silence brought murderous firepower to bear on the small Imperial force. Before long the Grey Knights were in retreat and were forced to ask for assistance.

The Dark Angels responded to the call but deployed straight into a Dark Eldar ambush. They lost many brave astartes warriors before aborting their mission, leaving the Grey Knights to fight off the aliens alone. Unlike their other raids, the Shattered Silence continued their pursuit against the Grey Knights until they were forced to completely abandon the world. The Dark Eldar Kabal had already taken a huge haul of slaves, so this action perplexed the Imperial forces and drew the attention of Inquisitor Huron, who in response moved his base of operations to the subsector.

By 1011.011M42 the Grey Knights had evacuated Hogan's Fall, leaving any remaining Imperial citizens, military or civilian, to an unpleasant fate at the hands of the Dark Eldar. Hogan's Fall had been destroyed as an Imperial base, at least for the time being.

Valboris almost consumed

The slow death of Valboris continued as 11.011M42 began, with a determined assault by the Tyranids for the rest of Purgatory. Despite the impossible position the Chaos forces found themselves in, they still eagerly leapt to the defence of their world, and new warbands threw themselves enthusiastically at the alien foe. For some it had become an insane battle of honour, with various factions trying their forces out, almost always suicidally, against the Tyranid menace. There would be no evacuation, every man on Valboris would fight to the last.

The latest force to "try their hand" against the Tyranids were the new arrivals to the subsector, the Conquerers of Gorgoroth. This force was virtually unknown to Imperial intelligence, but it seems while the majority of the force travelled to the Vastrid subsector, a small force evaded the Nemesis scout biovessels above the world of Valboris and landed near Coyote Creek. Within hours of their arrival the crazed Khorne bezerkers were in combat, charging the Tyranid horde overrunning Purgatory...With predictable results. Nemesis accepted the biomass thrust before it, and moved impacably onwards towards Buffalo Crossing and Erin Bay. Analysts now reckoned Purgatory would be overrun by the end of the year, unless Nemesis chose to take even more time over its conquest of the outlaw world.

Eldar raids arouse suspicion

11.011M42 began as 10.011M42 had ended, with more Eldar and Dark Eldar raids. The main focus of these raids seemed to have shifted to the Vastrid subsector, one of the main reasons why Inquisitor Huron moved his base of operations to the subsector. Huron was intent on knowing why the raids had increased during the year, to a far higher level than seen in the last century.

The latest raids on 0211.011M42 and 04.011M42 took place on Aspaster and Trian in the Cerrack Nebula. The first was conducted, as Huron managed to find out, by the Rillietan, the strange Eldar force led by the warriors of the Laughing God. The raid destroyed several Ork installations, and enraged the greenskins, whipping them into a frenzy which saw them launch their abortive attack on the neighbouring system of Quim a few days later. Huron couldn't help but draw a correlation. Were the Eldar deliberately goading the Orks?

The second raid took place on the Chaos world of Trian, days before the Imperium launched their abortive landings on the world. The attack saw a force of traitor marines wiped out, and the Dark Eldar take many prized astartes captives, but the real effect was to put the Chaos forces on full alert, just in time to defeat the Imperial landings. Huron grew more and more concerned. Were these raids linked? Were the Dark Eldar working in concert with the Rillietan? For them? Huron made plans to sequester a force of Guard and draw up a mission to find out.

Perseus Deeps: Strategic

Necron implacable advance

The Necron threat in the perseus Deeps increased in magnitude as 10.011M42 drew to a close with increased activity on two worlds. The first, Blight, a chaos daemonworld once called Sullidaan, saw an upsurge in fighting as Necrons began to advance ever closer to the world's capital on the western hemisphere. The Necrons were determined to retake their old empire, and this world they considered their own, no matter what daemonic entity now claimed it.

The Necrons faced mostly daemonic armies loyal to the faction known as the Covenant of Damnation, but some astartes warbands were also present. After initial gains the Necrons suffered a determined counter attack, buying the forces of Chaos at least time to deal with the threat, but with Chaos on the back-foot on all fronts across the region, losses in men and equipment were hard to replace. Again and again they were forced to rely on daemonic summonings to do their bidding, and these were often risky and capricious, and couldn't hold territory for long. This was made worse as the Necrons advanced, the daemonic grip on Blight loosening with every Necron gain.

While events played out on Blight, the weakened tau colony of Skera soon came under unexpected attack. Only weeks before the Tau had suffered at the hands of Dark Eldar raiders, and were ill-prepared to meet this latest invasion, which came in great strength. Bravely the Tau sacrificed themselves for the greater good, giving ground where they could and attacking ferociously where they could not. However the Tau found the Necrons particularly hard to deal with, noting in horror how the mechanoid race simply withstood firepower which would shatter the advance of other races.

Reading the transcripts of the commander of Skera's call for aid, Commander Shadowstrike realised that the commander with responsibility for the Tau colony world was out of his depth. Shadowstrike immediately dispatched a veteran commander and his hunter cadre to deal with the situation, but when they arrived the situation was dire. The Tau landed their forces amidst scenes of near panic as the colonists of Skera scrambled to get off-world as soon as possible. Advancing straight into battle Shadowstrike's cadre soon found itself on the end of withering firepower from the Necron invaders, and could do no more than delay the inevitable. They held on long enough for the colonists to escape, then enacted a fighting withdrawal, engaging in desperate firefights as the last of the Tau dropships made for orbit. Skera was beyond hope. Which world would be next?

Raids continue in Perseus Deeps

Raids by Eldar and Dark Eldar continued, even intensified in the last week of 10.011M42, as the Vastrid subsector saw a number of small actions involving most factions vying for control of the Cerrack Nebula. A new Kabal, as yet unseen in the Perseus Deeps carried out three separate incursions with mixed results. One against Thrugnik's Orks on Aspaster was unsuccessful, but another, as well as a raid on Chaos held Trian, yielded better results and a healthy tally of captives.

Meanwhile in the Deeps the Lamenters found themselves under attack by the Shattered Silence while investigating the remains of a Necron civilisation on an unimportant world near Corticant. The Shattered Silence did not seem to want captives, so why they attacked the Lamenters remains a mystery, although speculation hints that there was something there the Dark Eldar didn't want the imperium to find.

Never-the-less the Dark Eldar raid was easily beaten of by the Astartes forces and the Kabal withdrew to lick its wounds in the webway, allowing the Lamenters to continue their reconnaissance unmolested.

Later in the month the forces of Chaos found themselves on the wrong end of a raid by the Rillietan on Calliden. This was the first time the Eldar of the Harlequin faction had raided a major Chaos world, and the action was quite unexpected and without apparent motive. Several Chaos installations were destroyed and the Chaos legion guarding them took heavy casualties.

Nemesis reaches end game on Valboris

The slow but unstoppable advance of the Tyranid horde on the Chaos world of Valboris continued in 10.011M42, with the hive mind apparently willing to take its time in digesting its current meal. No new hiveships appeared, but there was no need, as long as they kept pushing the defenders back.

After taking Main Crossing and Mount Silston in the previous month, despite a momentary setback, Nemesis was on the move again in 10.011M42. By the middle of the month reports of Tyranid activity had reached the settlement of Purgatory, and fighting resumed. The Chaos forces deployed all they had against the invader, which in truth wasn't much in terms of men and equipment, but for a time dogged resistance held up the Tyranid advance. It was a forlorn hope however, and by the end of the month half the settlement had been infested.

The defenders of Valboris now faced certain death. Without massive reinforcement from Chaos forces - which were in retreat across the sector - Nemesis would have its prize. But the worshippers of the dark gods refused to go quietly and without a fight, and the doomed struggle on Valboris continued.

Quim taken by Imperium

In the last week of 10.011M42, the Cerberex Guard under General Pollack began preparations for their final assault against the last Chaos stronghold on Quim. The Chaos defenders had only a handful of traitor astartes and fewer than a few thousand cultists, and Pollack was assured of an easy victory.

Unlike other Imperial commanders, Pollack was not so arrogant or dull witted to believe the forces of Chaos would give up the world so easily. Born and raised on Cerberex before its invasion by Moonface and the UFP, Pollack had seen what Chaos could unleash and had been trained to expect the worst from his enemies. He was right.

As his forces advanced the Covenant of Damnation unleashed a daemonic horde against the attackers, but because of his careful attention to detail and deep experience of his enemy, the General's advance was not slowed. Over a thousand guardsmen perished in the Cerberex regiments sent to extinguish the Chaos presence on Quim, but before the month was out, Quim was safely back in Imperial hands, thanks to a well co-ordinated and executed effort from all parts of the mighty Imperium of mankind.

Chaos secure Trian

As Quim fell to the Imperium, the forces of Chaos avoided being wiped out in the Vastrid subsector as they successfully saw off wave after wave of Ork infantry attacks on their base on Trian. The war here had been going on sporadically for months, but in late 10.011M42 the Ork leaders decided to bring the fighting to a conclusion.

Believing the Chaos forces to be fatally weakened the Orks launched an all out attack, throwing in all their reserves and overwhelming the Chaos lines. Forced back the small band of Chaos marines tried desperately to halt the green tide, but just as it seemed the Orks were about to wipe their enemy from the face of the world, the Ork horde broke. Their leaders, or Nobz, had led the charge, but a small band of astartes had stubbornly refused to yield. In addition the Ork shooting was even more woeful than usual, the greenskins too eager to celebrate victory than aiming their shots.

Suddenly realising the Chaos Marines would not break, the Nobz fled, and that was the catalyst for a general collapse in greenskin morale. By 0111.011M42 the orks had fled into the hills or been wiped out, and Trian and its small bases was now back under the control of Chaos, their last foothold in the Vastrid subsector.

Raids spread to Vastrid subsector

In mid to late 10.011M42 the raiding forces of the Aleph sector broadened their scope to the Vastrid subsector, and the Dark Eldar in particular launched a concerted operation on the Ork-Chaos contested world of Trian. Speculation suggests that Commoragh had initiatied a "tournament" or some kind of competition, challenging each Kabal operating in the region to take as many slaves as possible from the war-torn world.

The Shattered Silence Kabal began the operation, launching a small raid against a chaos warband deep behind the front lines. The skirmish resulted in a minor victory for the Dark Eldar, although the Shattered Silence were unable to take any slaves as the stubborn Chaos Marines refused to give up even when utterly surrounded, enabling the forces of Chaos to evacuate non combatant personell - or their own slaves - to areas far from the raiders grasp.

Another Kabal attempted to conduct a small raid against the Ork held portion of the planet, but found the area they chose for their assault guarded by Thrugnik's elite guard. The force was seen off, again with no slaves taken. The Shattered Silence were more successful later on however, taking a great haul of Orks as play-things following a much larger raid on the Ork encampments. They had chosen a softer target, far from Thrugnik's camp, and the Kabal emerged as the winner of the competition of Trian. What happened to the slaves taken in the raids no-one can say.

The Rillietan were also in action on Trian in the same month. Following a minor daemonic uprising in Chaos held territory, the full force of the eldar harlequins was unleashed on daemons loyal to the Covenant of Damnation, who were utterly massacred just before their planned attack on the Orks. Why the eldar intervened, essentially on the Ork side, remains a mystery, as the Rillietan continued to pursue their own and apparently unfathomable objectives across the sector.

Steady gains on Quim

Thanks to the victories of the Adeptus Mechanicus fleet in the Quim system, annihilating the Claws of Lorek and deterring the Catechism from becoming involved, General Pollack was now able to launch his latest offensive on the two Chaos strongholds still left on the ground. Pollack now decided to throw in his reserves, mostly consisting of Cerberex regiments, against his enemy, in an attempt to regain the initiative on the surface of the now battle scarred minor world.

On 1810.011M42 the attack began, Pollack using his superior numbers to attack on the widest front possible, and initial gains were swift. Soon after the attack had started however, the Covenant of Damnation summoned a daemonhost, and the fighting became particularly intense. Having faced such enemies before however, without suffering an inquisition purge thanks to Lord Inquisitor Hathek's personal intervention, the Cerberex regiments were not phased by this turn of events. Relying on superior firepower and support from the Mechanicus fleet now in orbit, the first Chaos bastien was overrun in three days. Casualties were heavy, but the daemonhost was banished back to its other-worldly realm. Now Pollack had just one Chaos stronghold to deal with, and Quim would be his.

Rillietan raid Tau on Tyndareous

The war on Tyndareous, which had fallen into sporadic fighting during 10.011M42, took a bizarre twist on 2110.011M42, when the main Tau base between Cranburg and Vallerander, came under unexpected attack from the Rillietan faction of the eldar.

Led by the avatar of the laughing god, backed up by eldar skimmer vehicles, the Rillietan appeared from nowehere and moved swiftly towards the Tau positions. They had already done significant damage to the Tau installation before the Tau responded, and when Fastblades Cadre deployed to counter the eldar attackers, the situation didn't really improve.

Despite the Tau being armed with broadsides and plenty of Hammerhead gunships, the Tau faired badly against their enemy. Eldar Fire Prisms took their toll on the broadsides, and inaccurate railgun fire didn't help. Fastblade was forced to give ground, allowing the Eldar to sabotage more of their equipment, and a last ditch effort by deep striking crisis suits was little more than a disaster. The leader of the Cadre, inexperienced at dropping from Orca, missed his drop zone by a wide margin, and then proceeded to fire wildly at the Eldar, doing little damage. He then fled the harlequins who attempted to engage him and his bodyguard in close combat, before being obliterated by the Eldar farseer himself.

The Tau now had nothing left to throw at the Eldar and were forced to abandon much of their base and withdraw to the safety of the inner compound. After several hours of wanton and apparently meaningless destruction, the Rillietan withdrew, leaving the Tau baffled as to the purpose of the attack. Why would they interfere on the side of the Imperium, and why were they interfering at all? The questions remained unanswerable, and Shadowstrike was urged to return to re-organise the Tau war on Tyndareous, which was fast becoming a fiasco.

Raiding Dark Eldar and Necrons plague Empire builders

With Imperial resources slowly being swung into action against the increasing threat of Nemesis, and the downsizing of the Imperial crusade against chaos, an area missed by the Imperial planners appeared to be defence against raiders. Already Veers' forces in the Deeps had suffered numerous dark eldar raids, and on 1810.011M42 the Rillietan, most mysterious of all eldar, once again came for Corticant.

This time the target was the Space Wolves, who took significant casualties but were able to avoid defeat and prevent the dark eldar from getting past their defensive perimeter. Their losses were heavy however, and among non-astartes forces morale continued to steadily drop. Questions were asked more and more about the security of Imperial bases, as the raiders seemed to appear with no warning and disappeared just as quickly.

Meanwhile the Necrons were making steady progress on Zog, defeating the Red Angels to claim more than half of the settlements on the small, but strategically important world. As Zog fell ever more under the thrall of the ancient race, Thrugnik was having more success against the Necrons in the Vastrid sector. On 2110.011M42 a force of Necrons appeared on Aspaster, but Thrugniks massive army was preparing for invasion of new worlds, and easily crushed the alien incursion. This action whipped the Orks into a frenzy and very soon it became obvious that the green tide, so recently cleared from Glossop V and ???, would likely soon be making a return...

Claws of Lorek annihilated in space above Quim

The Claws of Lorek, not content with their victories on Quim, moved to consolidate their hold upon the planet by dispatching substantial raiding fleets to secure the resource rich planets in the inner system. A battlegroup of seven cruisers led by the Acheron class Messiah of Pain was deployed to clear the meager planetary defenses under the cover of a particularly violent solar storm. Able to approach undetected they unexpectedly stumbled upon the Adeptus Mechanicus battleship Magos Vaspasian and her attendant cruiser escort, dispatched to the sector to test a newly found STC archeotech flare shield. The Chaos fleet rushed the Mechanicus, trying to capitalize on their surprise appearance, but were unprepared for the ferocity of the solar storm.

Radiation waves wracked the Chaos fleet, and tentacles of photospheric matter grasped the heavily ionized hulls of cruisers, disrupting communications and torturing the corrupted machine spirits. The Claw’s battlegroup was thrown into disarray and flew into a salvo of nova cannon fire, immediately losing a significant portion of their carrier strength, as the carriers Defiler and Fury of Chaos were crippled. Unable to communicate with his fleet, and prevented from ordering a general disengage, the Warmaster proceeded with the assault forcing his fleet forward into the waiting Mechanicus battlecruisers. The Mechanicus capitalized on this disarray and swept into the chaos formation. The Magos Vaspasian led the wedge into the center of the chaos fleet, magazines and lances blazing as her augmented weapons found their mark on chaos cruisers at her broadsides. Assault craft bays, engines and power relays were shattered in the initial assault before the chaos crews had properly braced them for battle. Following the lead of the battleship, the Mechanicus cruisers Esto Perpetua and Scienta drove straight into the crippled chaos cruisers expending ordnance, lance energy and batteries at a prodigious rate and taking full advantage of the enemy’s inability to react to the rapidly deteriorating tactical situation.

Haloed by the titanic solar emmissions from the Querros Star, the chaos fleet was unable to disengage and was rapidly dismantled by the radiation hardened Mechanicus cruisers. The Heavy cruiser Messiah of Pain managed to effect her escape using the rapidly expanding debris cloud left of her sister ships, but left the rest of the chaos fleet hulked and waiting for the Mechanicus ships, eager to explore the lost archeotech bounty left for them. The Chaos fleet faced a painful butcher’s bill as the cruisers Iron Juggernaut, The Defiler, Fury of Chaos, Prince of Murder, Harbinger of Pain, Black Wolf were lost to the Mechanicus salvage teams and towed for refit, for little battle damage on the part of the Mechanicus fleet.

The planet Quim was soon to be assaulted again however, as the Catechism fleet engaged the Adeptus Mechanicus on what was to be a far fairer field of battle. The Chaos Fleet was led by a Desolator class Battleship and was much better gunned than the previous raider fleet the Adeptus had faced. Two Acheron class heavy cruisers were escorted by two carnage class, whilst two devastation class carriers provided strike craft support to the battlegroup.

The body of the Adeptus Mechanicus fleet concealed their advance under the cover of a dense asteroid field whilst the cruisers Valente Deo and Gothic class Potentia drew the attention of the chaos fleet with Nova cannon fire at a stand off range, scoring a lucky hit on a devestation class and nearly crippling the chaos cruiser. The chaos warmaster was forced to close quickly with the cruisers to negate their range advantage, but left his fleet strung out with an opening for the Magos Vaspasian, Esto Perpetua and Scienta to drive through his center, unloading both broadsides into the staggered elements of the fleet. The Desolator launched a crippling salvo of torpedoes into the armoured prow of the dictator class Valente Deo, whose uprated turrets were unable to cope with the onslaught, collapsing her shields and forcing the cruiser to hide in the center of the Mechanicus Formation, where she managed to cripple another Catechism heavy cruiser with a lucky Nova Cannon shot before disengaging.

The Gothic class Potentia fared no better as a tentative shot from the devastation class vessel crippled the cruiser and inactivated her nova cannon. Potentia was forced to disengage as were three Chaos vessels, a devastation, acheron and carnage class, whilst the remaining chaos vessels focused fire on the Scienta and crippled her drives.

The Magos Vaspasian used her monstrous broadsides to cripple the leading desolator and another Acheron class vessel resulting in both the Acheron and the Scienta disengaging; leaving the Catechism fleet with an undamaged carrier, crippled battleship and a carnage limping its way around the system. The engagement devolved into a slugfest as the Esto Perpetua disengaged undamaged and left the heavier armoured and gunned Retribution class Magos Vaspasian to chase off the remnants of the chaos fleet.

Red Angels carry out punitive raid for Xanthus

Following the raid on the Drk Angels by the Space Wolves in early 10.011M42, Inquisitor Xanthus was keen to uncover the slightest hint of heresy or treason within the ranks of Erik Morkai's company. To do this he employed the Red Angels, who were loyal Astartes and had fortunately had little contact with Inquistor Hathek in the preceding months. Citing possible heresy and deviation from the Codex Astartes, the Inquisitor Lord eventually managed to convince a very skeptical captain of the Red Angels to conduct a reconaissance against the Space Wolves on Hogan's Fall.

The Red Angels arrived on 1910.011 and began their investigation. However on the 21st they were discovered and forced to retreat from the Space Wolves' base. Suspecting enemies, and having had no communication with the intruders, the Space Wolves sent out a military force to track them down. Due to lack of communication and pride, ince again two Astartes forces clashed, with the Red Angels coming off much worse in the short engagement. After evacuating the Red Angels reported back no issues with the Space Wolves, and their skepticism quickly became cynicism. They did however blame the Space Wolves for opening the engagement, and enmity persisted between the two marine chapters for some time.

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.