Battle for Tarlius: Aftermath

The battle or battles for Tarlius had seen the greatest bloodshed and loss of life by far in the battles for the Foramen Interdictum thus far. Overall the forces of Chaos had been moderately successful, taking the strategic base of Tarlius I and removing most of the Crusade forces from the system. This had come at a price however.

The Imperium still held on to Tarlius II and III (also known as Gregland II), and although these were not heavily fortified, they still posed a significant thorn in the side of the plans of Stahl and the other chaos warlords. They now needed to follow up on this result and remove the remaining Imperial - and now Eldar - presence from the system.

Stahl's fleet could not stay in orbit for long. The use of the Cicatrix had allowed him to circumvent the Imperial blockade, but if his fleet stayed at Tarlius, he knew Jellicoe could bring an overwhelming force to bear, delivering a blow from which he could not recover. The fleet moved back into the shadows once more, playing the by now familiar game of cat and mouse with the Imperial fleet in the outer reaches of the system.

Stahl resolved to fortify, as any good Iron Warrior would, denying a counter offensive and readying his forces for the next strike. Would his brethren listen to him this time? Perhaps not, but for now the factions of chaos were united in their will to claim Tarlius - and the northern end of the Foramen Majoris - for themselves.

For the Imperium the results at Tarlius were almost catastrophic, but Patreus had held on, thanks largely to the timely intervention of the Eldar. Now however they needed to fortify themselves, and it was unclear what the Eldar would do next. Would they remain allies?

The Crusade suffered the most devastating blow, although the Grey Knights had managed to leave somewhat intact, and Cybixx, despite losing half his expeditionary force, was able to return, brooding, to Vandrax. Only the Dark Angels small outpost on Tarlius II remained in Crusade hands on Tarlius, and now Vorushko had to decide her next move. Wage war on the loyalists? Or unite with them at Tarlius to fight her real enemies - the heretics and xenos.

The Necrons meanwhile had suffered a defeat, and the retrieval of the ancient necron artefact - promised to them by Magnus, had been more costly than had been anticipated. Nevertheless the Necron lords now had something with which to protect their dwindling empire that had been shattered and sliced in two by the coming of the Cicatrix.

The massive battles had seen the worst violence at Tarlius, but it would not be the last. The war on Tarlius was far from over.