Factions search catacombs of Hexis

Investigations into the strange energy signature emanating from the far side of Hexis began in earnest in late 02.019M42. Tipped off by the eldar the Federacy sent a covert force back to the planet in order to discover the origin of the signal. The eldar were concerned the source may be an active necron device, but it would serve their plans to allow a federal force to locate and identify the object.

The Federacy however were not alone in searching the ruins of east Hexis and while attempting to find a way into the underground chambers, they were ambushed by the Majnun Magi, a tzeentch warband who had similar designs on any artefact of power found on the planet. The Thousand Sons’ firepower was blistering, and although the Federacy began well in the engagement, their cohesion soon broke down as the enemy leader unleashed a storm of psychic powers against the special ops forces. The small federal force was soon broken, with the leader of the insertion mission killed after he attempted to heroically assault the enemy tzaangors. 

The Majnun Magi did not have the catacombs all to themselves after their victory however, as a small force of imperial Grey Knights had also set out in search of the source of power. Attracted by the sounds of battle, the astartes followed the victors before engaging them in a fierce gunfight in the ruins. After a short engagement the Thousand Sons were driven off, but none of the teams sent to discover the source of the strange energy readings had as yet managed to find a way in to the underground catacombs. 

Chaos and Imperium consolidate positions

The end of 02.019M42 saw a lull in the fighting on Hexis. The imperium conducted training missions between astartes forces and others, most notably the Grey Knights once again taught their fellow imperial comrades valuable lessons, defeating an entire Knight Household in one exercise, while general Konev began construction on a weapon that could only be sanctioned on a dead world. The new weapon would see the use of atomics on Hexis once complete, as the adeptus Mechanicus worked feverishly on the artillery pieces that would launch nuclear shells into the heart of the chaos lines. Inquisitor Vorushko approved the plans, stating there was nothing of worth on the planets surface to worry about. Meanwhile the Departmento Ministorium began preparations for an atomic conflict. 

Behind the chaos front line, old scores were settled between the Emerald Serpent and the new faction of living Thousand Sons. Keen to establish dominance over the remnants of the old legion, the Emerald Serpent conducted a punitive raid on the Legion Astartes force, defeating the Thousand Sons and asserting their dominance. Stahl was unimpressed, but at least the in fighting did not hamper his plans, as the Warsmith secured his supply lines to the Enceladus subsector, and much needed supplies began arriving in the last days of 02.019M42. Both sides on Hexis now believed they had the resources to defeat the other, and the stage was set for further bloodshed. 

Hexis and Sector Positions

Chaos invade Paradorn

While the Imperium were claiming Mordecai Tersius and the eldar moved on Destino, the forces of chaos, backed by fleets from Stahl, Thok and the Emerald Serpent, descended on Paradorn. General Maximus had requested a fleet cover Paradorn out of fear of an alliance invasion, but the fleet sent by admiral Hughes was vastly outnumbered by the chaos force and soon withdrew. This was a full on chaos invasion of Paradorn, which explained why the fleets had abandoned Mordecai.

 

the invasion of Paradorn should have been predictable by imperial HQ in hindsight, but the wheels of the slow moving imperial bureacracy meant that no one had connected the desertion of Mordecai with imminent invasion of Paradorn. However, strategic analysis showed that the system was critical for Stahl's plans, and its fortifications lacking.

 

Stahl, still on Hexis, intended for his forces to sieze both the inner largest world and the secondary planet base. This would deal a crippling blow to the imperium and even were they to try to send in forces to defend the system over the coming weeks, the war would be all but over. To this end the Emerald Serpent assaulted Paradorn Prime, the largest world, while Legio Skyphos were deployed on the secondary world, which was known to host deployments of Titans and knights given its favourable landscape. The world controlled or rather quarantined by eldar forces would not be invaded, and the outer world also controlled by the Imperium would be a target for a later assault.

 

On the secondary world, known as Paradorn Secundus by the Imperium, Legio Skyphos made good an uncontested landing on the broad plains of the world, and made their advance to the Imperial STC settlement on the equator, the only area warm enough for water to be liquid. Taking the imperial main base would cut communications across the world, which only had a garrison and population of barely one million, rendering any further defence impossible. This the Legio managed to achieve after the defending Legio Dominus Warlord titan pushed itself too hard and detonated spectacularly. This broke the morale of the defenders and the world soon fell to the invaders.

 

On Paradorn Primus however, the Novgorod Guard put up a bitter defence at the landing sites of the Emerald Serpent, contesting every incursion into critical areas and ensuring the major settlements, mines and bases remained in contact with one another. Experienced veterans from the Tarlius campaign, the Novgorod regiments held against everything the Emerald Serpent was able to throw at the imperium, and by 2402.019M42 the invasion forces had been recalled while the commanders debated what to do next.

 

Stahl was informed of the mixed success of the Paradorn invasion and his mood darkened. However, always a pragmatic realist the Warsmith sent out messages to parley to the eldar, in the faint hope that the Xenos and perhaps Cybixx's coalition could come to an agreement which would further all their plans. For once, and to Stahl's astonishment, the Kel Sandros Eldar responded, and on neutral ground at a secret location in the Aleph Sector, representatives from the Eldar, Stahl's chaos forces and Cybixx's coalition met to discuss "terms" in the Foramen. Hours became days of bitter wrangling mixed with insults and recrimination, but eventually, a deal was reached. Temporary and bounded, but the three factions had agreed at least for now to carve up the Foramen between them, isolating the Imperium.

Mordecai Tersius falls to Imperium

While the Imperium were focussing their efforts at Hexis and in the Foramen Interdictum, newly appointed Lord General Militant of the Aleph Sector, Justinian Flavius Maximus, spotted an immediate opportunity to strike a blow against the forces of chaos in the Perseus Deeps. For a long time the intitial invasion of Mordecai Tersius had been neglected as a diversion to redirect chaos forces away from the Foramen Interdictum. Now, Stahl had moved all his naval assets to the Interdictum, all but abandoning the Mordecai system. Realising this, the Lord General ordered a swift end to the campaign on Mordecai Tersius in order to build up for a potential invasion of the heart of the system. This they would either be able to do with chaos forces at the Foramen, or it would force Stahl to split his forces, relieving the pressure on Paradorn and other vulnerable worlds of the Imperium.

Without enemy fleets to worry about, the Imperial Titans of Legio Ossium made Planetfall in the northern imperial held sector of the agri-world and immediately drove south to the remaining chaos held areas. Stahl however had not totally ignored the possibility of an attack on Mordecai while the fleets were away however, and the loyalist imperial Titans encountered a strong defensive force of legio Skyphos war engines. The imperium needed to act fast while the eyes of chaos were fixed elsewhere, so the primary legion for Legio Ossium was to drive at the chaos lines and break through. This they did, aggressively pushing forwards into the traitor legion and quickly wiping out the warhounds escorting the larger titans. Reeling from the shock of this early blow, the chaos force retreated, abandoning the rest of the traitor armies, which were quickly obliterated by the God engines.

By 2602.019M42 the imperial commander on Mordecai Tersius reported the planet to be entirely in Imperial hands, the first time an imperial invasion of the agri-world had actually succeeded. Now Maximus planned for the next stage, beginning the process of appointing a General and directing the Departmento Munitorium to draw up and supply sufficient assets to successfully prosecute an invasion of the rest of the system. This would take time, but for now the Imperium had a foothold in the most important chaos system in the Perseus Deeps.

Hexis: Imperial Fists pound Chaos eastern flank

On Hexis the forces of chaos had made massive gains on their western flank, with the Emerald Serpent's forces transitioning from holding the east to striking in the west, along with their Dark Eldar allies. Keen to regain the initiative General Konev called a council of war of his generals and commanders of the astartes, proposing a significant probe of the chaos defences in the east, with a view to following up with a breakthrough should those defences turn out to be weak. The Imperial Fists immediately requested or demanded the honour of this mission, which raised a few eyebrows, but the Fists had received intelligence that heresy era Thousand Sons, still living, that they had encountered previously, were deployed in force in the east of Hexis.

 

The astartes drew up their objectives and showed them to Konev. The astartes would assess the defences and attempt to break them down, but any follow up and breakthrough would be down to the Guard of Legio Dominus. neither however were in a position to exploit any breach in the chaos defences, but Konev reasoned that breaking them down would none-the-less be of strategic worth. The mission went ahead.

 

the Imperial Fists marched on the eastern chaos defences, finding them well prepared and difficult to break down. Recognising the work of the sons of Perturabo, the Imperial Fists instead carried out harrying raids until eventually the Thousand Sons were goaded into facing the loyalists in open battle. Once joined, both sides fought with bitter hatred, but the Imperial force maintained their discipline, using the blind hatred of the traitors to manipulate the course of the battle. Eventually the Imperial Fists turned the Thousand Sons' flank, compromising the end of the Iron Warriors' defence line and surrounding the recently built fortress. The Thousand Sons retreated behind the secondary chaos defence lines manned by legions of Stahl's troops, and the Imperial Fists knew they would not be able to effect a breach. However, they had learnt more about the enemy astartes force, and forced the chaos forces off their primary defence lines. As the Imperial 3rd Army moved into their new positions, the Imperial Fists oversaw the destruction of the heretical defences erected by the Iron Warriors, and Konev's men dug in ready for the next offensive.

 

Raids in the Expanse

While the main action continued on Hexis and in the Foramen Interdictum, raids sector wide continued to hamper supply, as several smaller operations clashed with each other. In the Hadron Expanse, the Thousand Sons were raided by the Adeptus Mechanicus as they attempted to track down the cause of Cybixx's heresy, while the Black Templars clashed with Tau forces investigating systems close to the Rifts of Hecate. This action indicated that the Black Templars may be considering a return to the Expanse, as Inquisitor Vorushko was keen to secure the support of as much support as possible for her new Crusade into the Expanse, returning more worlds to the Emperor's light.

Finally the Salamanders attempted to infiltrate and destroy Stahl's defences on Hexis, but the small team were intercepted by the World Eaters close to the centre of Praxis, who engaged the loyalist astartes and forced them away from chaos held territory. These raids would continue to take place and even escalate as 019M42 continued.

Kel Sandros invade Destino

The long, grinding war on Hexis had cost the Alliance dear and Farseer Tarquil realised a change in direction was needed. The Tau and Federacy could not yet muster the bulk of forces in the Imperium Nihilus to fight such a major campaign and it represented an inefficient use of scarce assets. The strategic outlook was still good for the Alliance and Tarquil advised the Tau and Federacy to expand their influence amongst smaller and less well defended worlds whilst the massed legions of the Imperium and the Primordial Annihilator bled each other on the barren planes of Hexis. Meanwhile the Eldar of Kel Sandros had other plans, for which they would need new allies.

Kel Sandros had been lending aid to the Imperial traitor Cybixx for some time, permitting safe passage for his supply ships through the Foramen Interdictum even while they mercilessly ambushed and harassed Imperial convoys. The time had now come for Kel Sandros to make a direct intervention. The ground work for the invasion of Destino had been meticulously prepared, with Alliance operatives disabling the planetary defences whilst Cybixx's Skitarii kill teams gathered intelligence data on Imperial bases and troop positions. When Kel Sandros launched its Warhosts against the planet they knew exactly when and where to strike for maximum effect.

Aspect hosts hit ammo dumps, supply bases, listening posts and troop barracks in rapid succession, throwing the Imperial defenders into panic and confusion. Realising that to cower behind fortress walls would doom the world a company of Astartes of the Sky Lords chapter sallied forth to offer battle to the Eldar. The Eldar accepted the challenge and drew up their own forces, recognising that it was in this moment the fate of Destino lay.

Fierce fighting erupted amidst the dense rocky outcrops of the planet's central mountain range. The Sky Lords fought in disciplined, tightly ordered groupings able to cover all angles with volleys of precisely directed bolter fire. Into this fire the Eldar pressed without fear and casualties on both sides were heavy. Although the fighting was even and bloody for both sides the Eldar were able to make their greater mobility count amidst the rocky terrain, focusing their forces against parts of the Sky Lord's battle line whilst denying others and securing vital objectives ahead of their slower adversaries. Recognising that the backbone of both their current adversary and the planetary defences as a whole stemmed from the might and charisma of the Astartes’ heroic leaders the Eldar made a particular point of singling them out whenever possible, often calling in precisely targeted air strikes whenever the position of a marine leader became known.

With casualty levels becoming unsustainable and Chapter Master Potitus himself badly wounded in the fighting the Sky Lords were left with no choice but to withdraw to their battle barge and abandon the planet to its fate. Leaderless and bereft of their transhuman protectors the remaining defenders were overcome within hours and butchered without mercy. The cost had been high but Tarquil was thankful that a long and drawn out campaign had been averted.

Alliance destroy defences on Destino

The next stage of the alliance plan began at Destino, as tau insertion forces joined the Eldar Harlequins of the Sisters of Quartz in a joint expedition against the imperial defence lasers on Destino 1. Still recovering from the huge space battle just weeks before, the Carcharadons and Adeptus Mechanicus teams sent to investigate reports of intruders in the defensive positions were surprised to encounter alliance forces. Destino was a long way from the alliance sphere of interest, so the attack was all the more unsettling.

 The Carcharadons led the Ad Mech into the underground laser silos as the tau began to prep their demolition charges. However, the Sisters of Quartz charged, cutting down a number of the imperial astartes before the Mechanicum team retreated from the compound. Having secured the installation, the explosives detonated, rendering the Destino 1 defences inoperable.  The alliance insertion team withdrew leaving the imperium confused and suspicious over the sabotage mission. Who were they laying the ground for?

Hexis and strategic sector positions

Huge battles rage on Hexis

Background 

For weeks the forces of Chaos had been planning a major assault on the imperium on Hexis. Led by O’Tek Ra, the leader of the Emerald Serpent, this was a chance for Chaos to assert their domination over the world - and system. The Emerald Serpent were motivated by their difficult relationship with Warsmith Stahl, not helped by their defeat to the imperium in the space battle above Destino. However to make certain of victory, O’Tek Ra decided to enlist some help. 

Vlokarion, Dark Eldar Archon of the Crimson Blade kabal, was approached by an emissary of the Emerald Serpent in early 02.019M42. Of the drucharii would lend their aid to chaos on Hexis, they stood to profit handsomely, or so the tzeentch sorcerer claimed. Vlokarion considered the words of the foul agent of tzeentch and for once agreed. The Dark Eldar had a vested interest in the victory of chaos - or at least not the imperium - at Hexis. Imperial victory world strengthen the hand of mankind in the Hadron Expanse, putting in jeopardy the carefully constructed hunting grounds the kabal has prepared, threatening Vlokarion’s influence in Commorragh. The Dark Eldar would aid the Emerald Serpent in this venture. 

Farseer Cassandros became aware of the dark eldar involvement in the chaos offensive long before the imperium. However he did not inform his counterpart from the Kel Sandros Craftworld. Instead the eldar warhost began preparing for war, seeing that the drucharii would just as likely attack alliance forces as the imperial lines, and potentially gain access to the webway portals on the planet. Cassandros resolved to aid the imperium in their defence against the impending chaos and dark eldar attack. 

The Battle

The combined chaos and Dark Eldar force met the allied Imperial and Eldar force just to the west of the city of Praxis, in the ruined high ground near Kaeleth. Here the combined forces made their stand as the Dark Eldar raced into battle, ahead of a host of Aether Striders Knights and chaos daemons. Barring their way into Imperial and alliance territory, the Space Wolves, Imperial Knights and Eldar of Cassandross were backed up by regiments of Imperial Guard.

The battle was intensely violent, with the chaos Knight Titan's Hand quickly striking down a loyalist knight while a second imperial war engine was pulled apart by the daemon prince Andreos Cain. Then the Space Wolves quickly lost their air support, as a thermal cannon shot destroyed not only their flying war engines, but several of the wulfen deployed within.

 As the battle raged, the chaos forces gradually pushed the imperial force back, while the dark eldar rushed forward, intent on taking down the imperial and eldar leaders. This they did with great efficiency, killing all the enemy commanders and streaking into the back of the imperial and eldar positions. This was then followed up with a precision teleport attack by the Thousand Sons, which took the vital objectives behind the enemy lines, effectively breaking the allied defence and allowing the chaos forces to advance through the gap in the defence lines. When victory seemed clear, Titan's Hand decided to advance into the centre of the battlefield, only to be immediately obliterated by a Shadowdword and the imperial guard that had previously seen off the initial Dark Eldar advances.

 This last success was a pyrrhic victory however, as the imperial and eldar forces watched in dismay as thousands of chaos troops poured through the breach in the allied defences. By 1702.019M42 it was clear that despite the eldar support, General Ivanovich's 1st army had been routed, and now Randolph's forces further west struggled to keep in contact. The situation was even worse in the alliance held territory, as the tau forces were ordered to abandon their positions and retreat to the Akrash Pass and Helmases mountains. In Praxis, Imperial positions in the north were surrounded and destroyed, while the regions in the south of Praxis were cut off and quickly annihilated by the Emerald Serpent. Only a small force of Imperial soldiers now held out in the west of Praxis city centre, and the entirety of western Hexis, apart from a small area on the Haknur Plateau now belonged in the hands of the enemy.

Aftermath

The Imperium had taken a heavy blow, but Konev's preparation for the inevitable assault had reduced the damage somewhat. The imperium may have lost Praxis - for now - but they still had a good hold on the planet with well defended HQ and secure supply lines. Konev suffered a further blow later however, as it became clear the Iron Warriors were fortifying the underground catacombs against an imperial subterranean attack.

For the alliance, the battle for Praxis was the end of the campaign. Farseet Tarquil was furious, his anger directed at Cassandros for going "off script" without consulting him and wrecking his plan to wait out the big push from chaos, see who lost out and negotiate transfer of territory to them in exchange for holdings in the Hadron Expanse. This in itself angered Cassandros, as the Kel Sandros farseer had never bothered to tell his counterpart "the script", nor had he made it clear that the craftworld eldar were already making plans to abandon the Hadron Campaign. 

The loss of so much territory simply brought forward Tarquil's plans and removed the possibly difficult conversation with the tau over abandoning the campaign. It was clear the tau were in no position to reclaim the lost territory and as the eldar simply abandoned Hexis, the tau were left in the Akrash Pass, banned from utilising the webway to escape. This soured relations within the alliance, but the tau were eventually picked up by the federal fleet that had arrived to replace Swiftstar. Now the tau and federal forces would have to run the imperial blockade of Lysis to return to the Hadron Exapanse and prepare for the new alliance strategic plan, something which was already being drawn up between the leaders of the tau, eldar and federal forces.

For chaos this was a major victory which gave the traitors a clear dominating position on the planet. They had secured Praxis and created fortifications, although strategically the overall position of the traitors remained weaker than that of the Imperium. Now the chaos forces, with O'Tek Ra's Emerald Serpent having scored a major victory, decided to consolidate their position before moving forward towards finally crushing Imperial resistance. The forces on Hexis on both sides now paused to regroup.

Hexis - Current Positions

Teal'c leads disastrous Necron uprising

Teal’c, lord of the Ha’Tek dynasty that once ruled much of what the humans now called the Hadron Expanse, had been stirred into action once more following the chance discovery of slumbering necron forces by Stahl’s slaves. Since his previous defeats, the necron lord had been exiled to the shifting wastes of the planet, far from the capital and the necron device the lower order animals were now fighting over. Rats fighting over the scraps of a far superior race and intellect. 

Teal’c always intended to return to Praxis and Menthoteph, but he had not yet found sufficient force to do so. More searching of the old tombs was necessary, and that’s what the necrons has been doing. The new phalanx discovered by chaos, Teal’c reasoned, must be from the ruined tomb of Chiral, believed destroyed once the necron lord saw that where Chiral once stood was nothing more than wind blown sand. 

With these new forces, Teal’c launched his new offensive to rid the planet of the infestation that the device had attracted. The battle against the chaos forces had been an ad hoc affair. The imperium of mankind would face the necrons in their full battle mode. 

The necrons were met by the Novgorod Guard in the Deserts of Calth, but Andreyevich’s army was supremely confident, having fought these abominations before and been victorious. Once battle was joined the Guard quickly cut down many of the machine warriors, and confidently advanced into positions they thought they had cleared. However, the phalanx of necrons led by Teal’c himself was fully operational, and many guardsmen were lost as the undying warriors resurrected and cut down their enemy in turn. 

The necron force was not infinite however, and although the Novgorod Guard took savage casualties, Konev by now was aware that Andreyevich was in trouble, and committed the imperial reserve. This level of manpower Teal’c could not compete with, and before long the necrons were running low on warriors. It was clear to the necron lord that he would run out of immortals before the enemy would run out of guardsmen, so the necrons called off the attack, phasing out once more into the deserted wastelands of Hexis’ “dark side”. Andreyevich was criticised for the losses sustained, but the necrons had been defeated. Now General Konev resumed work on the fortifications against the chaos positions, aware that a large offensive by the traitors was imminent. 

Eldar prevent Imperium from uncovering their plans

The Sky Lords were not only beset by the forces of chaos in the catacombs under Hexis. Conducting their own secret mission the eldar stumbled upon the astartes as they were forced deeper into the underground labyrinth as they retreated from the World Eaters. 

The eldar and space marine forces met in an underground generatorium, still active after millennia, and in the tight confines of the installation the eldar used their speed to outmanoeuvre the imperial force, although they took heavy casualties from the astartes wherever the marines could pin their foe down. Sergeant Alexandro led by example, charging three of the xenos interlopers and cutting them down with his chainsword. 

Eventually the eldar decided enough was enough and fled the field, but their delaying action had prevented the Sky Lords from stumbling across extremely important work. Although the space marines believed they had triumphed over the xenos, in reality they had missed an opportunity to deal the eldar a painful blow. 

Chaos expand Praxis domination

By mid 02.019M42 the central section of Praxis, though fortified, was becoming surrounded by imperial forces. The Grey Knights had taken the surface levels in the east and south of the city and underground imperial forces were beginning to fortify the catacombs. Realising the risk of encirclement, small chaos forces began probing the imperial defences close to the centre of Praxis in order to stop the imperium from surrounding the vital location. 

The main actions were led by the World Eaters, who began by infiltrating the subterranean levels of the city with cultists backed up by traitor astartes. In the main underground complex they came into contact with the Dark Angels who put up a stubborn defence. However the Loyalist Astartes, often referring to the cultists as “potatoes”, underestimated the chaos forces and were eventually surrounded and defeated after a protracted skirmish that lasted hours. 

Meanwhile on the surface the Death Guard, leading a horde of poxwalkers fell upon an unsuspecting Skitarii force who were consolidating imperial defences around the central region, in preparation for a later assault on the chaos fortress. Shocked by the sheer number of the plague infected, and unable to stand before the power of the few traitor astartes driving their host forward, the adeptus Mechanicus force was driven back, yielding the north of Praxis centre to the traitors. Now only the Sky Lords held the western quarter, holding open a narrow supply route between the forces in southern Praxis and the imperial lines to the north. 

The World Eaters quickly used their success in the catacombs to surprise the astartes, who were caught from behind by cultists and traitor marines. A furious fight erupted in the city streets and underground vaults of the city, with the traitors overcoming the Sky Lords defences and pushing the imperium out of the city centre. By 1702.019M42 the imperium has lost the underground catacombs and the west of central Praxis, cutting off Konev’s forces in the court of the city. Chaos has reestablished dominance over the city and the device chamber, and the Loyalist positions in the city were becoming perilous. 

Iron Warriors awaken Necron Threat

DIG!”

The crack of a whip from the Thorakitai taskmaster followed by a scream of a slave, normal noises to Trunculo now. He had been a tank gunner in the Last of Sycorax regiment within Hexis city, or whatever they called that Xenos shit hole. He had never asked questions in the Guard, maybe he should have.

“DIG!” The boom came out again, another scream, Trunculo thought that was Trooper Hayes, he’d come from another regiment, never thought to ask which one.

“Obedience. Labour. Fidelity.” That’s what the Thorakitai drummed into the slaves, “Obedience. Labour. Fidelity and you will survive, even prosper” they said, Trunculo didn’t think he wanted to prosper in their ranks, something was off about them, there was no obvious mutation, but they never showed their faces.

“DIG!”

The labour continued, each dig he heard some slaves reciting the words drilled into them, punctuated  by the ‘crunk’ of spades cutting into the earth. It was something, they tortured those who made any reference to the God Emperor. Maybe it would help.

“Obedience”, CRUNK, “Labour”, CRUNK, “Fidelity”, CRUNK, “Obedience”, CRUNK, “Labour”, CRUNK, “Fidelity”, CLANG!

Trunculo stopped and looked down at the dirt he was digging into, an alien metal skull stared back at him, its eyes glowing as it rose from the ground and stepped to full height. Panic erupted from around him the Thorakitai sounded the alarm, other slaves fleeing as fast as they could away from the Xenos monster. Trunculo stood stock still, frozen at the rapidly looming sight of the monstrous Necron. As it levelled its gun barrel to his face he sighed a sigh of relief, “Oh, it’s finally over, thank the Emperor”, and Trunculo was no more.

In mid 02.019M42 the Iron Warriors had sought to dig in and heavily fortify their position on Hexis. “Fortress Einsenkunst” was the goal, an interlacing series of fortifications, trench works and supply points. Each point was planned to build on redundancies, with choke points, kill zones and traps throughout, every step an enemy force took into Iron Warrior held territory would be steeped in blood. That was the plan, however the Necron slumbering beneath the world had other intentions.

In 1602.019M42 the slave workers digging trenches at the northern border of the Shifting Sands were beset by Necrons of Nemesor Teal’cs dynasty. Zorisch rushed a Dekathla of Iron Warriors and daemon engines to respond to the unexpected threat. 

Luckily for Zorisch, the Necrons were slow to move forward into attack and his Havoc squads and Defilers launched shot after shot into the Immortals, destroying a phalanx of them. The Necrons began their slow march forward but continued to be outmaneuvered by the faster Iron Warriors who saw the intended attack and blocked with expendable Thorakitai while the Chosen setup to charge. A second fusilade of was unleashed from the Iron Warrior line, followed by a deadly charge from the Chosen who fired plasma into one unit of Immortals while charging into another. On the flank the two Maulerfiends charged into the Lychguard. The Necrons while outnumbering the Chosen and Maulerfiends were boxed in. The Thorakitai secured the mid field as the Havocs secured the backfield. The Destroyers wrecked the only target they meaningfully could - the Defiler who crumbled despite the the repairs of the Warpsmith.

The Necron attack was realised as futile as Obliterators tore into reality, ripping through more Necron machines, the Wraiths, already damaged by concentrated fire, attacked the obliterators who simply withdrew to a safe distance while the Havoc squads caught them in the crossfire. Zorisch’s Chosen warriors, despite taking casualties facing down triple their number, still stood, cutting down yet more under the direction of the squad leader Petridis’. The Necrons were slowly surrounded, staccato fire continuing to blast machine bodies to pieces. The end came when a Maulerfiend broke through the Necron lines and grabbed the Necron leader in its great clawed fist and smashed it to the ground over and over and over until the whole Necron force teleported away, as shattered as the body of their leader.

The Iron Warriors completed their vast fortifications in Old Town, the Shifting Sands and the Great Sand Sea. The prime fortress and Stahl’s base of operations on the Shifting sands was decorated with an enormous grinning iron skull of the Iron Warriors. If the Emerald Serpents intended push ended disastrously, the fortress Eisenkunst would be needed sooner than intended.

Grey Knights assault south Praxis

Following the success of the titan legions in the far east of Hexis and the completion of the "left hook" that Konev had planned, the grey Knights took the opportunity to deal with the daemonic forces in the centre of Praxis. The Emerald Serpent were known to be harbouring daemon worshippers and were preparing rituals in the southern and eastern parts of Praxis. Concerned that this would lead to a daemonic incursion in Praxis, and the loss of valuable imperial assets, the Grey Knights struck first, assaulting the city sectors of Marateph and Girishtar, destroying cultist forces and securing the ground for the Imperial Guard to follow up. In addition, the Ordo Malleus astartes found part of what they were looking for, blasphemous rites and other paraphernalia regarding the summoning of warp creatures.

 As the astartes consolidated their positions and destroyed the daemonic artefacts, the Emerald Serpent counter attacked, employing a host of daemonic entities against the loyalist space marines. Plaguebearers lead the attack, supported by daemons of tzeentch, and the terminators were particularly hard pressed as they were assaulted by a storm of psychic energy. They thought they had inflicted a major blow to the daemons, when the plaguebearers were cut down by withering fire, only to see the host of daemons rise once more by the power of the warp. Outnumbered, the elite astartes withdrew, but were destroyed when a sudden manifestation of khorne bloodletters surrounded them and cut them to pieces.

 Despite the trials of the Grey Knights' terminators, the rest of the astartes faired better. Their bolter discipline and air support from gunships kept the bulk of the daemonic horde at arms length, preventing a breakthrough. By the end of 1401.019M42 the remaining daemons had become unstable and disappeared back to the immaterium, and imperial guard forces were able to follow up into the astartes positions, all but surrounding the central region of the device chamber. 

Legio Skyphos

Leader: Princeps Majoris Venedicta Kantharos

Strength: Unknown

Alternative Name: The King Slayers

Colours: Violet/Cerulean Blue Marble.

Forgeworld: Unknown

Founded: Pre-Great Crusade.

Known Engines:

• Lapis Infernus
• Engine type: Warlord
• Princeps: Venedicta Kantharos
• Status: Active
• Location: Hexis
• Ostrum Inberius
• Engine Type: Reaver
• Princeps: Barek Purilias
• Status: Active
• Location: Hexis
• Phobos Alpha
• Engine type: Warhound
• Priceps: Valda Calsonica
• Status: Active
• Location: Hexis
• Phobos Beta
• Engine type: Warhound
• Priceps: Kalderas Katsophis
• Status: Wrecked
• Location: Hexis

History

Legio Skyphos were an unknown force until their appearance in the Aleph sector. Records of them are none existent after the Horus Heresy. However, recent events had shed light upon their appearance and allegiance.

Legio Skyphos were believed to be a sister Legio, or rival to Legio Krytos, who were a renowned Legio that fought alongside the Iron Warriors during the Horus Heresy, notably at Tallarn. Legio Skyphos fought in a number of campaigns alongside the IV during the Heresy but were lost in the warp after attempting an emergency translation at Schindlengeist before the assault on Terra. It was believed that the Traitor Legio transport fleet were lost with all hands. That was until 019.M42, when the repeated use of the Necron Device upon Hexis, lashing to the Enceladus Sector, the Tau Empire, to Macragge and back to the Enceladus sector swept up what was initially believed to be debris, but was later found to be powered down transport ships of Legio Skyphos. The fleet of Admiral Thok initially attempted to claim the fleet as salvage for their own purpose, the Iron Warrior Commander at Charybdis ordered Thok stand down. Naturally, Thok had no intention of listening to the upstart Commander and proceeded to attempt the claim anyway. Thoks fleet was heavily damaged from his extended battle with Admiral Cardale, and was only able to spare 3 Idolator Raiders for initial salvage, while his fleet remained at anchor. The Iron Warrior Commander did not want to risk the ire of either the Warsmith or risk the loss of Thoks fleet, so was paralysed with indecision. As the three Raiders approached 2 of the lead vessels from the drifting fleet powered up and launched a blistering barrage far greater than their transport vessels would be expected to have. The Raiders were raked with fire stripping them of their shields leaving them exposed to lances charged and ready to fire. The Vox crackled to life as the voice Princeps Majoris Venedicta Kantharos echoed through all channels:

“This is Princeps Majoris Venedicta Kantharos of the Legio Skyphos! Declare your allegiance, Warmaster or False Emperor. Fail to comply and my Legio will burn your fleet and world to ash.”

The dead silence through the varied command chambers were deafening. Admiral Thok had no idea how to respond to this turn of events, his ships were were at anchor, undergoing repairs. Ship after transport ship was showing powering up showing energy signatures far in excess of what a transport ship should be capable of, unless.of course, it was a Titan Legio like they said. Luckily for Thok, and the Charybdis system, the Iron Warriors Commander responded first.

“Princeps Majoris Venedicta Kantharos, you will know me as Legionary Aegeus, 7th Storm Squad, 23rd Grand Company, IV Legion. I fought with you at this systems compliance, check your records, my name will be there. This is the Enceladus system, it belongs to the IV Legion. Your Legio was oathsworn to fight with my Legion in the war. We thought you were dead?”

Venedicta Kantharos was renowned, she had fought alongside the Iron Warriors for decades and was respected by a number of high ranking officers within the Legion. Aegeus explained to her all that had happened, the Heresy, Horus’ lies, the Scouring, the saviour Lycurgus Stahl and his ambitions for salvation from the treachery that had damned the Legion. Venedicta had seen some of the degeneration of the legions such as the III, VIII and XII had fallen to madness and corruption. She had not expected the IV to succumb. Nevertheless, rather than revel in corruption, the Iron Warriors sought to conquer all, and that was the Legion Legio Skyphos had always remembered; unbreakable, they were tainted, but unbroken. Moreover, the history of the long war had been laid bare, the hypocrisy of the Imperium of the 42nd Millenium. The Federacy had been a momentary temptation, but their long cooperation with Xenos was nothing more than subjugation by creatures that had no right to exist in humanities galaxy. The IV were tainted by the Warp creatures, but warriors bore many scars. The IV were unbroken and so Legio Skyphos’ oaths to them would remain the same.

Battle Doctrine

Legio Skyphos battle strategy is largely unknown, though from recent engagements it appears to circle around a combined approach to combat with each engine performing a role complementing the next. Perhaps, unsurprisingly, they specialise in focussed fire, which will bring down other titans with alarming speed. Their engines are well maintained, however it appears their princeps are easily provoked.

Hexis Current Positions

Imperium win Battle of Destino

Prelude to battle 

The battle of Destino had been coming for months. Before the end of 018M42 three imperial fleets had arrived in the system, led by admiral Hughes, to counter the threat of Cybixx’s new super weapon and to prevent the collapse and surrender of the loyalists at Destino I. However, Hughes, with his sub commanders Dreyer and Craddock, veterans themselves, did not aggressively force the issue, despite apparently having superior forces. Wary of blundering into a trap the imperial fleet stood off and blockaded the system, waiting to see if Cybixx would make a mistake. 

This stance changed in 02.019M42 with the arrival of the Dark Angels fleet. The astartes were highly critical of Hughes stating “the enemy is in front of you. Fight him in the Emperor’s name”. Hughes took this as personal criticism, which it may have been, but with three imperial battlegroups and the arrival of the Dark Angels, the imperial loyalists surely had enough strength now to risk an attack. 

The arrival of the Dark Angels was indeed fortunate, as Cybixx had spent his time looking for allies with which he might defeat the imperial forces now arrayed against him. His heresy now out in the open, the renegade arch Magos cast his eye far and wide in search of aid, and found many wishing to give the imperium a bloody nose. The orks known as the “Bork” readily agreed to lend their support for the excuse of a good fight, and had been fashioning their distinctive roks from asteroids for months since the arrival of their hulk. The Emerald Serpent arrived soon after, covertly, having secured a division of chaos vessels once loyal to Lorek himself. Finally, Cybixx managed to convince Vlokarion of the profit he could find in an alliance, and the Dark Eldar Archon detached one of his fleets to lie in ambush should any of Hughes’ divisions attempt to force an action. 

Main action

The combined Imperial fleet approached the enemy fleet, still unaware of the strength of the newly formed Coalition until within a million miles of the invading force. Then, augur returns from picket ships detected the chaos and ork signatures, and admiral Hughes now knew he was facing more than the threat of just Cybixx and his heretical space station. The imperial fleet formed up with the agile space marines and escorts approaching the Coalition vessels in the centre, behind the cover of an asteroid field, while the Imperial fleet split into two major divisions, with the Dreyer's nova cannon focussed battlegroup on the right, and the rest of the Imperial heavy ships on the left. Then they surveyed the enemy deployment, and Hughes and the Dark Angel's commander smiled to each other over hololithic display. If all went to plan, victory was theirs.

 

The Imperium noted that the enemy force had deployed in a way they could exploit. The ork roks approached in a broad line in front of their hulk, with the ominous outline of the Mallem Cybixxem looming behind them. the dark eldar were detected on the ork left flank, but the chaos fleet were still some distance away, disconnected from the main Coalition force and moving in two divisions towards the flanks. This put the nova cannon division under no pressure, enabling them to fire with impunity, while on the left, Hughes' main battlegroup would be able to charge and deal with the inferior chaos force before the orks and dark eldar could react - so long as the Dark Angels were able to sufficiently delay the two xenos fleets without being destroyed.

 

At 13:40 the two fleets engaged, but the Mallem Cybixxem had the opening success, destroying six imperial escorts in one salvo and sending a wave of doubt through the imperial lines. However, as the battle progressed, the dark eldar ambush from behind the central asteroid field was effectively countered by the highly manoeuvrable astartes escorts, and by 14:30 a dark eldar cruiser had been destroyed. The furious battle in the centre of the battle saw thew xenos score their own successes, destroying the imperial swords of Craddock's battlegroup, but the Dark Angels were able to keep the xenos at arm’s length, while Dreyer's battlegroup poured in fire from the flank. Before long, Vlokarion decided to cut his losses and disengage.

 

Despite the loss of the dark eldar force, all was not yet lost for the Coalition, but at 16:20 Hughes delivered his aggressive strike against the chaos right wing. The imperial fleet ordered all ahead full, ramming the chaos cruisers and boarding one of the adeptus mechanicus vessels. In this action Phoenix was hulked at 16:47, and Firedrake crippled, but the blow by the imperium shattered the Coalition right flank, forcing the Emerald Serpent to flee. Now outnumbered, Cybixx similarly disengaged, leaving the Imperium to mop up any roks foolish enough to give away their presence by opening fire. The rest, and the space hulk, simply melted into the blackness of Destino's interplanetary space, and by 17:30 the battlefield was left in the hands of the Imperium.

 

Aftermath

The Imperium had achieved a decisive victory in the battle of Destino, but the Mallem Cybixxem had escaped. Cybixx had lost one capital ship, a mechanicum cruiser, which although a blow did not seriously reduce Cybixx's capabilities to conduct naval warfare. The ork losses were moderate, but the hulk had also not been destroyed. The rok fleet would be easily rebuilt. The Dark eldar had lost one cruiser - painful for a force which had such limited numbers at its disposal, but hardly a crushing defeat. Only the Emerald Serpent had suffered significant losses, losing three cruisers and several damaged. The chaos fleet lost by far the most of all the Coalition partners, in large part to their distant and separated deployment prior to the action.

 

Even so, the declaration of a "crushing victory" by Imperial propaganda was not entirely accurate. It was true that the combined imperial fleet had lost only one cruiser, the dauntless class light cruiser Phoenix. After the battle her hulk was taken in tow for salvage. Her sister, Firedrake, had also suffered heavy damage, but otherwise Hughes' capital ships were still in full fighting condition. However, over a dozen escorts had been lost, including a number of astartes vessels. The imperial fleet had not sustained serious losses, but the idea that the imperial fleet had escaped damage altogether was plainly false.

 

The Emerald Serpent had been the clear loser in the engagement, although the action itself meant the coalition fleet was broken up, and Cybixx had to abandon the Destino system in its entirety, leaving Hughes and the Imperium in a commanding position in the Foramen Minoris. Vandrax was still safe from attack, but many in the Imperium already began to consider Destino as the Coalition's "high tide", only weeks after its inception. This of course, was over confidence and hubris of a dangerous kind, and despite the fact the Imperial Fleet had met all its main objectives, the fact it had not delivered a fatal blow to the ability of the Coalition to wage war weighed heavily on Admiral Hughes' mind.

Coalition Losses

3 chaos cruisers 

1 Ad Mech cruiser 

1 Dark Eldar cruiser 

Imperium Losses 

1 Dauntless light cruiser 

Over a dozen escorts 

Stahl repulses Emerald Serpent rescue mission

Stahl’s attention was focussed upon Hexis, while he cared little for the world itself he had recognised its strategic value in future campaigns. So determined he was to secure the planet he ordered the flask containing Marcus to be shipped to Hexis so his essence could be syphoned for further fortifications.

This was of course scryed by the Emerald Serpent, though it was not the worshippers of Tzeentch that had responded, but rather the Daemons of Nurgle. The Grandfather of plagues had been pleased with his pets in the Emerald Serpent and had been loathe to see them come to harm. Like a dutiful parent he sent his hordes to recapture their beloved Marcus, even though the shrivelled soul was not one that belonged to the lord of plagues.

In late 0902.019M42 the Iron Warriors under Line Captain Zhorisch were overseeing new supply lines, using the flask of Marcus to speed up progress. The Sorcerer Itharion wove a ritual the soul of Marcus shrieking as it was stretched, malformed and syphoned into Daemonic engines.

The thinning of the veil required to weave the ritual gave the hordes of Nurgle the chance to tear into the Material realm. The Iron Warriors quickly pulled into a tight defensive formation, with Autocannons, Missile Launchers and Heavy Bolters all trained upon the pestilent horde. The daemonic horde was accompanied by a greasy yellow fog and buzzing flies that obfuscated them. Despite the miasma clouding their aim, the Iron Warriors unleashed so many shells that many daemons were cut down, though more tore into reality. Zhorisch knew that it was hopeless to hold the supply points in the short term, so surrendered them without a fight, allowing more time for his Warriors to take a successful firing solution. The Thorakitai fanned out into a defensive perimeter, baiting the Plague Bearers to attack, which they obligingly did so.

The Decimator war engine, Contemptor and Havoc teams focussing on the Plaguebearers furthest from his defensive line on the right flank,  the Thorakitai withdrew from the Plague Bearers on the left. The Daemons had been drawn into the Iron Warriors kill zone. Zhorisch’s Chosen warriors, armed with flamers and combi flamers, moved forward and unleashed a torrent of promethium on the plague bearers. The Chosen burned the plaguebearers and dispersed the greasy yellow fog and cloud of fat flies. Rank after rank fell to the Plague Bearers. What's more, the Havoc teams had a clear bead on the Plague Bearers and hammered home shell after shell. To their credit even after this fusilade, a third of the plague bearers still stood. The Chosen charged supported by the Thorakitai, cutting down the bloated bodies till their grasp on reality faded.

The Nurgle Daemons pulled back keen to avoid the Iron Warrior counter attack and hold onto the warp tears. The Chosen raced forward to immolate one of the Daemon Princes leading the attack while the Havoc Team and walkers obliterated the other unit of plague bearers. The lead Daemon Prince realising they had drastically underestimated the defensive capabilities of the Iron Warriors made to retreat but was halted by a furious assault by the Chosen. Though the Daemon Prince manage to put down the veteran astartes, the ancient Contemptor was hot on their heels crushing the Prince and sending its essence back to the warp.

The Iron Warriors completed their new supply lines on Hexis and once again asserted their dominance of the Chaos forces. This episode had made Stahl note that the presence of the soul of Marcus destabilised the Emerald Serpent and so used the device to return the shrivelled and tortured soul to Mordecai shortly thereafter.

Imperial Titans aid decisive push in the east

In mid 02.019M42 general Konev began drawing up his strategic plan for overall victory on Hexis. The imperium has a strong position on the north, but were unable to shift the chaos forces out of their positions in the city of Praxis. Repeated assaults on the city centre and encircling moves between Praxis and Menthoteph had all been reversed, so Konev decided to shift his focus and attempt a more far reaching encirclement. The plan would take longer, but ought to ensure final victory. 

The first stage of this plan would be to breakthrough the eastern front and drive south towards the chaos forces in the Shifting Sands. This would end the encirclement of Menthoteph and relieve pressure on the left flank of Konev’s armies. 

In order to secure Andreyevich’s armies’ flanks during the advance, the titans of Legion Dominus would be employed for the first time. The open ground to the east of Menthoteph would be ideal terrain for the titans, while the conventional ground forces would be vulnerable to any sortie from ancient fort region. 

The advance started well for the imperium, as the armies of O’Tek Ra had moved away from the front lines, apparently on a mission of their own design. This meant the imperial armies swiftly cleared their starting lines and surged south. Expecting no real resistance against the titans, Legio Dominus were alarmed when they detected the energy signatures of engines. Analysing the data, the Adeptus Mechanicus were shocked to find an equal force of titans from the crusade era Legio Skyphos, traitors to the imperium presumed lost in the warp. 

History was irrelevant however, the traitors were intent on attacking and the loyalist Titan force, made up of a warlord, reaver and two warhounds, could not allow the powerful enemy force to break through and cause carnage in Andreyevich’s army. Legio Dominus faced off against Skyphos and took the worst of the early fire. A warhound was quickly forced to shut down after sustaining damage to its reactor, only to be knocked over by a follow up shot from the enemy Warlord. The Dominus Reaver also took heavy damage while attempting to finish off the enemy warhounds, who had taken the brunt of imperial firepower, before disappearing in a violent explosion. Nothing was left of the Titan except a smoking crater. 

Reeling from this loss, the princeps of the warlord knew he had to stop the traitors from breaking through. Rushing forward with the remaining warhound, the imperial titans surprised the enemy by advancing when they had taken heavier losses. Legio Skyphos had lost one warhound, it’s leg taking critical damage and the war engine topping, its Vulcan megabolters firing wildly and catching its squadron mate in a storm of fire. Fortunately for the traitors, the damage from the friendly fire incident was minimal, and Legio Skyphos still had a 3-2 advantage. This they pressed, going after the warhound and subjecting it to a storm of fire. This however had been the loyalist’s plan. 

The remaining two titans of the Legio Dominus maniple then fled north, inviting the chaos force to follow. By the time Stahl heard of the engagement and realised the ruse, it was too late. Andreyevich’s army had slipped past the enemy Titan force and dug in to the east of the chaos base, crossing the great sand sea and taking up positions in the Shifting Sands. Konev’s plan had worked, as Legio Skyphos were forced to withdraw to the ground east of Menthoteph. With a well dug in army now entrenched on the chaos flank, Stahl’s commanding position over the eastern desert had been compromised, and Konev’s grand strategy now had a solid foundation