Bloody draw on Corticant

While the fighting continued on Tarlius and Mordecai, the Grey Knights moved on to Corticant, a world that had been quiescent for a long period, but not considered fully under the control of General Veers in the Perseus Deeps. For a while, Corticant had seen a three-way conflict between the Eldar, Necrons and Imperium, following the discovery of the Necron Device. The Eldar had managed to take the area around the alien artefact, but Vorushko's agents had activated the device. The territory taken by the necrons had fallen silent following the initial invasion, with the presumption by the Imperium that the aliens had abandoned the world following the activation of the device. However the necron sector remained unoccupied by Veers forces.

 

To the south and west, the area under the control of the eldar, including the device site, remained earily silent as well. The eldar did not post a standing army in their area of control. Instead, Veers had learnt very quickly that Imperial recon units heading towards the device site would be swiftly attacked and annihilated. If he sent in air support, the eldar flyers would appear in strength and massacre the imperial navy. Very quickly the area had been declared perdita, although this meant ultimately the imperium did not control the very artefact that allowed the Foramen Interdictum to exist.

 

The Grey Knights decided to change the situation in early 06.019M42. Confident that the situation on Tarlius was stable, efforts to secure the device chanber began with the Grey Knights marching in force to Violetwind Coast. Here they would spring the eldar trap, and defeat the xenos armies with their own rapid reaction force. They would then push on through to the excavation site through brute force.

 

In the event although the Grey Knights successfully sprung the eldar trap, things did not go as planned. A brutal battle then developed near Lochford, as the Grey Knights tried to push south. The eldar were supported by a large airborne contingent, and the sky was soon streaked with the vapour trails of eldar aircraft. The Grey Knights fought stubbornly, but repeated failure of their psychic powers and issues with their ammunition allowed the eldar to take the initiative. Eventually the Grey Knights force was wiped out to a man, although the eldar were horrendously mauled in the battle.

 

In terms of a military engagement, the outcome cannot be considered a victory for the eldar. The xenos lost far too many valuable souls for the destruction of mere Mon'Keigh, but neither can the Imperium claim to have been the victor. A Grey Knights company was all but wiped out, and Violetwind Coast was added to the eldar "exclusion zone", in order to give the aliens more warning of further attack. For now control of the device on Corticant remained firmly with the eldar.