Battle for Tarlius II & III (Gregland II)

General Patreus knew there was something afoot on 2203.018M42, as he had reports from his commanders that the forces of chaos were leaving. Contacting his naval attache, Patreus was informed that a large chaos fleet had been detected in the inner worlds, having bypassed the imperial blockade. Patreus was to "expect hostilities", but by 2303.018M42, reports from "New Gregland" suggested that there at least, the chaos forces had completely vanished.

Patreus remained on high alert, but began the process of sending regular patrols against the chaos sector. Finding nothing of note, Patreus readied his Novgorod regiments and began an offensive against the remaining chaos forces, finding little in the way of resistance, save for scattered bands of poorly equipped cultists. Something still didn't feel right, so Patreus requested the support of the Imperial Fists, who agreed to support his offensive. All seemed to be going well, but Patreus had been right. It was a trap.

The Necrons arrived without warning, along with an elite force of Thousand sons led by Magnus. Horrified, Patreus sent distress calls, but then learned of the chaos invasion of Tarlius I. The Grey Knights and their Crusade allies were under massive assault, while Jellicoe's fleet were unable to help, having an entire chaos battlegroup now keeping them out of the inner system. Patreus and the Imperial fists were alone, and desperately outnumbered by their enemies. Then the eldar arrived.

Without communicating with the humans, the aeldari force, accompanied by an avatar of Khaine, appeared behind the embattled imperial lines, having used their knowledge of the web way. Believing this to herald a total defeat, Patreus prepared to end his own life, lest he be captured by the multitude of Xenos now facing him, but to his surprise and the dumbfounded guardsmen, the Eldar force simply pushed passed the imperial lines and headed straight at the Necrons. Patreus didn't need an official invitation, and battle was rejoined with greater fervour with these new found allies.

Despite the arrival of the Aeldari, the battle was far from certain. In the mountainous terrain of the Tarlius II badlands, the fighting became furious and at times brutally bloody. The Imperial Fists held the right flank, but had lost a venerable Fellblade in the initial assault. The Novgorod held the left, but in the centre the Eldar came face to face with the might of the Necrons and Magnus the Red himself... or at least one of his shards. Bitter fighting for the strategically vital mountain summits ensued, and the central peak changed hands over and over. Magnus and the Eldar Autarch died in the fighting, as the battle swung back and forth. Eventually however a concerted push by the Eldar and Novgorod, along with a valiant defence by the Imperial Fists, forced the Necrons and the remaining chaos troops off the commanding summits.

Their position compromised and losing men rapidly as the Imperial Guard dug in and established firebases on every summit, the Necron-Chaos alliance ended. The Necrons, satisfied that they had retrieved their ancient artefact and no longer showing much interest in the fight, disappeared as quickly as they had arrived, leaving the chaos force, now leaderless and scattered, to be mopped up by Patreus's forces as the defeat turned into a rout. The eldar however did not leave. Instead they took up positions in the equatorial region of the world following the battle, still remaining silent after preventing Tarlius II from falling to chaos. Wary, Patreus waited for the Xenos to make the first move.