Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Skirmishes across the Hadron Expanse

While the Imperium and Aeldari battled the elements and the slowly awakening Necron forces on Cruthynia, the other factions active in the Hadron Expanse were not idle. The Death Guard, taking advantage of the much weakened forces of general Konev on Hexis, launched a major raid from their base on the planet's major moon. Devoid of natural atmosphere, the moon provided a secure base of operations for the Death Guard, and for months they had been laying the foundations of a significant military installation. Now the space port was complete, offensive operations against the planet below could begin. Attacking without warning, the plague marines moved relentlessly against Konev's forces, and the Adeptus Custodes, still in place on Hexis until they could be reassigned to a more valuable warzone, were unable to prevent the traitor forces from ransacking Konev's already meagre supplies. Having stripped the complex bare, the Death Guard returned to the moon,. With the Imperium unable to counter the chaos military build up, it seemed inevitable that the the traitor legions would attack the main planet in force at some point in the future.

The Drukhari meanwhile, freed from their obligations to the Ynnari and the Alliance, decided it was time once more to make the Hadron Expanse a profitable venture. Having secured a number of bases in the webway close to the subsector, the dark eldar struct first against the Tau Empire, which had been largely inactive for over a year. Believing this to be a sign of weakness, the forces of Commoragh were somewhat taken by surprise when their raiding force was met by a swift response from Malkaor's hunter cadres. Far from inactive, the Tau had been building up their strength, and Echo Reach was now a military installation of some significance. Clearly the Tau were planning something big, and soon. The Drukhari managed to extricate themselves from the precipitous situation, but not before they had suffered serious casualties for next to no gain.


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