Krumpgutz resurgent in Vork ork Empire

While Lord General Militant Roover was concerned mainly with events in the Aleph sector itself, but the end of 07.012M42 he could no longer ignore the increasing signs that the orks were on the move in the Vork ork expanse. Roover couldn't spare any forces however, which was an issue as Inquisitor Leballe of the Ordo Xenos was threatening to take them anyway, and form her own investigation force. Fortunately for Roover, his senior position meant he could draw upon the support of many allies. He was able to convince Laballe to leave his Imperial Guard regiments alone, offering the support of two Astartes companies which he had managed to secure.

Laballe accepted the help of the Astartes, and the 5th battle company of the Raven Guard, led by shadow captain Corvane Valar abours the battlebarge Shadow of Corax, formed the bulk of the expedition. Within a month the Raven Guard had reached the Vork Ork expanse, joined by a strike cruiser and battle company from the Ultramarines. They landed on the sparsely inhabited ork world of Nazgrot within a month of departure, and Laballe began her investigations while the marines set up a base.

All was not well however, as very soon it was determined there were far more orks, millions more, on Nazgrot than the last imperial survey just thirty standard Terran years previously had found. It didn't take them long to find out the marines had landed, and before long orks loyal to the warlord Krumpgutz were whooping and careening just miles from the imperial base, relishing the opportunity to test themselves against the cream of mankind.

The orks attacked on 1808.012M42, and the Ultramarines fought hard to defend their perimeter, while the Inquisitor gathered as much information about the orks as she could. The Ultramarines held off the greenskin charge, just, but the orks involved in the attack appeared darker, larger and more violent than the usual inhabitants of the minor world.

Now that the orks new they were there, more would come, so Laballe moved her base of operations. As the small strike force left Nazgrot, Labbale was able to witness another battle going on between the orks on the surface. Two warlords, Uzfang and Krumpgutz, had forces engaged with one another, and the fighting was intense and bloody. Perhaps the arrival of the imperial forces had stirred the orks up and now, with their opponents leaving, they had only themselves to fight... which is of course what they did. Even so, the shocking violence on display demonstrated the orks were mobilising for something.

The next investigation occurred ten days later on Uggrod III, the smallest and outermost inhabitable world in the massive Uggrod system, home to billions of orks. As the Shadow of Corax slipped past the outer asteroid fields, Laballe detected a frenzy of activity. The orks were hard at work, building ships, roks and converting anything they could find into a mobile weapon of war. The Inquisitor's forces barely managed to slip past the orks, and it was fortunate they were so focussed on their tasks. Had the space marine vessels been uncovered, the combined might of the orks in the system would easily have overwhelmed the smaller imperial force.

The landing on Uggrod III went as planned, but within days of the landing a huge dustloud on the horizon indicated they had been discovered. Once again the orks charged, this time with even more fury and wild abandon. The Raven Guard were in the thick of the fighting, but found themselves in serious difficulties after just a couple of hours. Laballe began evacuating once more, horrified to learn the orks here were also loyal to Krumpgutz. This meant his power was growing, as his followers now spanned multiple systems. Similarly Uzfang held sway over forces in the Vork Ork Expanse and the Mabb Nebula, meaning that there were at least two ork warlords capable of launching major invasions. If one of these were to become pre-eminent, a Waagh! would surely ensue.

The Inquisitor left Uggrod III and slipped out of the system. She knew she needed to gather more information from the other worlds in the expanse, notably Maggrod and Skabgrod. How many more warlords were there? What else were the orks planning? Laballe needed to find out, and soon.