New Gregoria taken over by Crusade

For months the system of Vandrax had remained quiescent as Archmagos Cybixx continued his research in what had become known as his "domain". Without Vorushko overseeing his work Inquisitor Hathek, though remaining opposed to the Crusade and what it stood for, had little interest in attempting to wrestle the now heavily fortified system out of the Crusade's hands. His attention had turned to heresy elsewhere, and the loyalist assault against chaos. This refocus also lead to a thawing of relations somewhat between the loyalist and Crusade forces as their efforts were firmly fixed on defeating the ruinous powers.

The one thorn in the Crusade's side remained the watch station and Imperial base of New Gregoria, the outermost ice planet of the system. Here the loyalists and Hathek's agents had set up a base, spying on the Crusade and watching Cybixx. Although this was annoying, because the Imperial Fists retained a small garrison on the planet, Cybixx was told in no uncertain terms to avoid assaults on the astartes. The base remained.

This changed in 08.018M42 as the Fists gave over command of their base to the Hammers of the Emperor Chapter, as they prepared for their assault on Tarlius. The rest of the Imperial Fists were needed in the Hadron Expanse, so the base had to be left in the hands of others, but Hathek demanded an astartes presence to ward off an invasion by the "rogue" adeptus mechanicus.

Unfortunately the Hammers of the Emperor were the worst choice. The Crusade would never attack the Imperial Fists as they had become battle brothers with the Grey Knights, a key supported of Vorushko's aims, in their assaults against chaos. However there was no love lost between the Ordo Malleus astartes and the Hammers chapter, as the relatively new arrivals to the sector had already been attacked by the Grey Knights over their defence of "deamon harbouring" Novgorod Guard regiments.

Now, with the Imperial Fists out of the way, Cybixx was clever enough to inform the Grey Knights of the change in garrison. The Ordo Malleus soon arrived at New Gregoria, demanding at once the inspection of the base for chaos taint. The Hammers, angered by the presumption of the Grey Knights and still bitter over the attack in the Hadron Expanse, once again refused to yield. The situation quickly escalated and the Grey Knights soon began an all out assault on the base. For a while the Hammers of the Emperor gave battle before realising the deamonhunters had them outgunned and outclassed. The loyalist astartes company rapidly abandoned the base and its loyalist workers, who were subsequently rounded up and subjected to "investigation" by inquisition agents.

The outcome of the battle meant that Vandrax became a wholly Crusade controlled system, and Cybixx was now allowed to continue his research free from Hathek's - or Vorushko's - prying eyes. Meanwhile the Hammers of the Emperor protested vehemently over their treatment by the Grey Knights, whose authority they now openly questioned. Whose side were they on?