By the beginning of 018M42 the war over the Foramen Interdictum had become well established. In the rest of the sector relative peace reigned, although the war on Hylas between the orks and Imperium seemed to have no end in sight, and the arrival of Nemesis and other Tyranid hive biology kept Lord Inquisitor Huron guessing on Eris.
The forces of chaos, fractured as they were, had failed to prevent the Imperium from taking Paradorn, and now only one of the worlds of the system lay beyond the grip of Titus Luthor, as the eldar ambushed and killed any force that attempted to land on the barren rocky world. The eldar presence was a concern however, as plans for the construction of a major base at Paradorn would have to be delayed until the Xenos presence was dealt with. Clearly the Aeldari did not want the Imperium to control the Paradorn system, guarding one end of the Interdictum.
On Vandrax Inquisitor Vorushko's crusade had established a major base thanks largely to the efforts of Archmagos Cybixx. Cybbix Alpha and Beta were well fortified, and Cybixx had laid the foundations for the arcane mechanism meant - eventually - to destroy the Foramen Minoris connecting the Imperium Nihilus with the Xenos and heretical federal controlled space. There still remained many however who denounced her plan, and Lord Inquisitor Hathek led the campaign against her "crusade", managing to convince several Astartes forces and Imperial Guard regiments to wage war against their fellow man. The Imperial Fists had proved the most useful in this regard, setting up New Gregoria on the outer planet of the Vandrax system, maintaining a constant watch over the Crusade.
The Crusade also faced opposition from the Aeldari, who knew of Vorushko's plan and had set themselves against it. The Xenos had hoped to wage war against the crusade - and imperium - through their proxies, the Tau and Federacy Alliance, but the Alliance led task force under General Elliot had failed miserably to gain a foothold at the Destino system, and the Alliance fleet had withdrawn. The Rillietan had attempted to "poke" the tau into action by attacking their base on Protogonus, but the Aeldari knew they had to buy time for the Alliance to get up to strength again. So the Eldar began raids against the Imperium, both Crusade and Loyalist, trying to hold the might of Mankind off long enough for the Alliance to challenge them once again.
The Forces of chaos, having failed at Paradorn had moved onto Tarlius. More specifically Warsmith Stahl had begun landing forces on the outer worlds and fortifying them from his base at Minos, while Magnus the Red had led several factions into war on the inner worlds. Tarlius 3 had now become a horrendous meat-grinder of a war swallowing more and more of Luthor's resources, but gradually the encroachment of chaos had been halted for now.
Titus Luthor attempted to stay out of the Inquisition war between Hathek and Vorushko, as did Admiral Jellicoe. It seemed that the Inquisitors were fighting chiefly over Vandrax and Destino, so Luthor and Jellicoe concentrated on Tarlius, although Hathek, with his connections and presence on the light side of the Cicatrix, made it impossible for Luthor to do anything other than aid the Lord Inquisitor, and similarly Jellicoe was obliged to assist at Vandrax and Destino with naval battlegroups.
In space, no decisive battles had been fought, and fleets of all sides spent most of the time studiously avoiding each other. All sides knew that even a victory over a foe would leave them weak and vulnerable to a third foe, and all sides needed to keep their supply lines open. Commerce and supply line raiding became the order of the day as 017M42 came to an end.
Meanwhile Inquistor Lord Vorushko had been busy herself. In late 017M42 she arrived on Bastien and began her search for support. Fortunately Luthor himself unwittingly gave Vorushko a lifeline. Veers' second in command, General Patreus, was promoted and sent to oversee the campaign at Tarlius, while Veers saw his position diminished and his forces stripped of their power. Gone was the glory of the crusade against chaos, and Veers felt slightest. This was fertile soil for Vorushko, who by 018M42, had convinced Veers to join her side, along with all forces on Bastien and Parthenope. the Imperium in the Perseus Deeps had effectively become Vorushko's personal domain, although Hathek and Luthor had no idea..
General Veers.
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