Stahl continues his vendetta against his “allies”

“Emerald Serpent, your profligate endeavours have come to nothing; your foolishness cost us in strength, all for your deluded gambits for naught but the whims of your insane master. You will suffer for your weakness, you will be a demonstration to your ‘god’ that I will not tolerate its games” - Intercepted Transmission from the Warsmith Lycurgus Stahl to the Emerald Serpent, Mordecai, 10550602.20M42

++For months, the Emerald Serpent has shown little interest in the invasions against long held chaos strongholds by the Imperium, sending only token forces while they have pursued their own agenda. Again and again the forces of chaos have expected the Emerald Serpent to hold, only to have them fail, putting the bulk of their forces elsewhere in the Aleph Sector, seemingly at the whims of Tzeentch.++

++It has long been known that Lycurcus Stahl blamed the Emerald Serpent for recent losses, particularly at Hexis, Tarlius and Mordecai Tersius. It appears that Stahl once again has sought revenge for the failures of his “allies”.++

++Inquisition interpretation of events.++

In the late morning of 0602.20M42 the transmission above was broadcast, wide frequency to the command points of the Emerald Serpent on Mordecai. The majority of Emerald Serpent forces were away, seeking their own agenda and consequently the Sorcerers were caught completely off guard when the attack came.

Helldrakes screamed through the sky continually broadcasting Stahl’s anger while a massive horde of Daemon engines scuttled toward the Emerald Serpent lines at an alarming speed. One Maulerfiend pulled ahead of the pack, determined to keep pace with the supersonic Helldrakes, who collectively crashed into rubrics, tearing them to pieces. Another Iron Warrior warband unknown in Aleph were with the Thousand Sons, to which the Heldrakes immediately melted half with their baleflamers.

Having gathered their senses from this sudden and unpredictable act of wanton violence the Thousand Sons responded by weaving the warp in the air, the cabal of sorcerers dismantling the first Helldrake on the atomic level. A second squad of Rubrics redeployed through warp trickery to create overlapping fields of fire against the Engine horde approaching. The horde kept pace, gouts of baleful fire curuscating over the Thousand Sons and renegade Iron Warriors, killing several. Emerald Serpent reinforcements; Obliterators and Sekmet Terminators tore into reality, having stepped from whatever scheme the Emerald Serpent were enacting. The Obliterators sought to earn their name, but Iron Warriors against Iron Warriors is always a bloody affair, and while one Maulerfiend was torn to pieces the Iron Warriors of the 144th charged them with hatred one can only reserve for an erstwhile brother.

In the rearguard of Iron Warrior lines, the High Sorcerer stepped from the shadows of the warp, along with a phalanx of Rubrics, opening fire on the 144ths human slaves. The Iron Warrior Havocs, having used the slaves as human shields, opened fire with their chain cannons, emptying their ammunition into the rubrics shredding more than half, the remaining crushed as the entire ruins collapsed from the devastating fusilade. The High Sorcerer summoned his brothers within his cable, three terminator clad sorcerers teleporting in and between the 4 they eliminated the Havocs and the remaining mortal slaves. Believing himself safe, the High Sorcerer retreated behind the collapsed ruin, only for the warp to flicker and from above with a roar the Iron Warrior Daemon Prince bound to Stahl’s will dive bombed into him crushing the High Sorcerer. The Defiler and the Dark Apostle charged the cable of sorcerers, the defiler catching one in it’s claws before hurling him the length of the battlefield like a mortal would throw an egg, the sorcerers broken body making a comparable mess on impact. In the Emerald Serpent lines the Obliterators, Renegade Iron Warrior Lord and Daemon prince were shredded by massed daemon engines. The day belonged to Stahl’s Iron Warriors, but whether this would help, or hinder the defence of Mordecai was anyone's guess.