New Necron invasions

As 04.012M42 progressed the Necron threat re-emerged with an intensity so far not seen in the sector. In three simultaneous attacks on 2104.012M42 the Necrons began invasions of three worlds, declaring their intentions and showing a strength they had until now not displayed. The Necrons were first detected on the Imperial outpost of Gamordal, which had only been cleared of a Necron presence during 010M42. The Necrons had been unfocussed and tactically naive beings, and the Imperial forces on Gamordal had come to the conclusion that Necrons were a relic of ancient times and no threat to the Imperial presence in the Deeps. On 2104.012M42 his view changed.

The Necrons arrived without warning, bypassing Gamordal's defences by using a technology far in advance of anything the Imperium possessed. Upon landing the Necrons swiftly took three vital positions, the hills overlooking the main base, the secondary space port and the water processing facility of Kerash Optecia. Now the major settlement of Gamordal itself looked under threat, and the total annihilation of the Imperial garrison was only avoided by the timely arrival of the Space Wolves. The Astartes immediately counter-attacked the Necron positions on the high bluff overlooking the city, but in a savage battle they were unable to shift the alien warriors. Now all the Imperium could do was dig in and await the Necrons' next move.

On the major Chaos world of Calliden a very similar story was unfolding. The Necrons appeared on the far west of the Dubladen peninsular and quickly overran Prideholme, cutting off the oil refineries of Kalas'har and quickly establishing a very defensible bridgehead for the invasion. The Catechism, re-energised by the invasion of one of their home worlds immediately sent in a counter attack, led by elite mechanised formations which had once lain waste to swathes of Tarsis Major and Cerberex, as well as conquering the Rim worlds in 008M42.

The Necrons were once again an impacable enemy, and the Catechism forces found their defensive perimeter impossible to break down without taking unacceptable losses. After days of probing the Necrons for weakness the Catechism withdrew to the hinterlands, drawing up a defensive line to prevent a swift breakout by their enemy. Another world was awaiting the Necrons' next move.

Further to the galactic south, almost as soon as the Tau finished the defences for the colony of Parataea, the Tau's worst fears were recognised as the world once more came under attack, this time from the ancient Necrons. The Tau had been monitoring the awaking of the Necron tomb worlds in the Perseus Deeps for many months now and had long recognised that their new sept worlds were vulnerable to a Necron invasion. Analysts predicted a major war against the Necrons was inevitable. Whether by accident or design the recent Dark Eldar raid meant that the construction of the new colony on Paratea had been finished well ahead of schedule and its garrison massively enlarged, just in time for the Necron attack. Even so the Tau suffered badly in the initial Necron onslaught, taking massive and unsustainable casualties. Despite this the Fire Caste knew their duty and fought to the death to contain the Necrons. The result was that the Necrons were successfully contained to a relatively small initial beachhead although many hunter cadres were virtually annihilated in the process. Distress messages were sent to Shadowstrike's task force at Va'Doran and the Tau's nearby allies, the Federacy, who had as much to fear from the Necron menace as the Tau themselves.