+++The Fall of Priam
+++Report by Imperial Scholar Aponymous Gatch

My Lord,

Whilst the fall of the Rim Worlds to Chaos and Tau forces is of course a great blow to the Imperial presence here, at the very least I suggest that it has presented us with the opportunity to learn about our foes. Certainly much was debated amongst the Imperial command about the strange new threat posed by the peculiarly named Moonface Catechism, a collection of rogue warbands who worship the dark gods.

Though it is unfortunate that Priam is now lost to us, taken by the Catechism, I have taken the liberty of reviewing what information our psykers and scanner equipment could pick up. Hopefully this will enable us further understanding of this threat.

All reports indicate that the enigmatic 'Moonface' was not present at Priam. It is believed that the invading force was only part of the whole Catechism. Certainly recent attacks upon Daedalon did not come from the same force. The Catechism is believed to have a number of tendrils, spreading out from the centre which presumably contains Moonface itself.

Though a high producer of luxury goods, Priam is not a highly important planet from a strategic point of view. Though some of Priam's factories may have been converted to arms manufacture by the Catechism, the scale that this could be performed at is negligible. The planet also has few natural resources. Priam is relatively lightly defended, and other Chaos forces are present in the Rim Worlds (see ref. Night Lords). This leads me to a number of hypotheses as to why the Catechism targeted Priam:

- The Catechism simply wish to cause mayhem / strike a blow at the Imperium.

- The 'Catechism process' (see below) is more effectively forged during battle (see ref. Invasion of Hartak).

- The Catechism wishes to present itself as an ally of other Chaos forces, possibly to later introduce them into the Catechism.

The Catechism process (as I shall refer to it as) is something we have been able to sucessfully gather information on from Priam. Over all territory taken by the Chaos forces broadcast posts are set up, with a higher density in urban areas. These constantly submit a series of tenets. These are sentboth sonically, by taking over all media/communications and simply through numerous loud speakers, and also through psychic waves. Based upon our information I estimate there are 99 tenets repeated continuously to all Chaos forces and all Imperial citizens.

***Insert Ref. Moonface Catechism # 34***
How might Moonface be glorified? The destruction of the Imperium, the overthrow of the Emperor.
***End of Insert***

The effect is to change the mind set of the listeners, a form of brain washing. The unfortunate will subtly be altered to worship Moonface and support the Catechism. I would therefore recommend any citizens in areas reclaimed from the Catechism are exterminated as their minds will no longer be thinking of the glory of the Emperor.
It is also evident that the brain washing process works more effectively on the warriors of Chaos if they are on the battlefield. Here it would appear they are more susceptable to the psychic conditioning, though the reason for this is still not fully known.

We have also been able to gather some information on the composition of the Catechism's forces. It would appear the armies arrayed for battle are highly varied, though certain features are commonly seen (see refs. Defiler, Obliterator, Plague Marine, Thousand Son). It has been seen that the Catechism do adapt to forces they face, making them especially dangerous. As more warbands join them their options can only grow, so it is recommend that their growth is stopped as soon as possible.

It is as yet unkown what interest they have in the major Chaos forces in the region, the Night Lords. A recent attempt by the Catechism to attack Daedalon, where the Night Lords already have a strong presence, was stopped by Tau invaders. It is my belief that the Catechism wished to ally itself with the Night Lords and then use the Catechism process to convert thetraitor marines. This is however a fairly large scale upgrading of the Catechism's current ways, moving from influencing small warbands to huge legions. We can only hope this plan never comes to fruition.

Hopefully my lord this information has been valuable to the Imperial Command. We cannot ignore this growing threat to the Imperium, but I leave this report in your capable hands and the hands of the Emperor.

Your humble servant,

Aponymous Gatch