Hexis: Tyranids embattled and necrons fail to enter tomb complex

On Hexis, the Imperium had become alarmed by the sudden ressurgence of the Tyranids as their work to uncover the secrets of the ruins of Praxis was not yet complete. The Adeptus Mechanicus in particular exerted their own political influence in order to secure more forces for the Imperial armies on Hexis, using their contacts to appeal far and wide. Help was not long in coming, as General Percival, aware that his armies were entirely dependent on the Mechanicum's good will to service his equipment and war engines, quickly re-routed two regiments of Imperial Guard to the planet that had been earmarked for the Rifts of Hecate. In addition to this force, the Grey Knights also committed one company to dealing with the Xenos threat, as they themselves recognised the loss of Hexis would compromise their aim to track down the Thousand Sons who they knew were active in the Hadron Expanse.

The news that new regiments were on their way prompted general Konev to launch an offensive against the xenos beasts now occupying the northern districts of the ruined city, that had cut off the imperial held central areas of Praxis. The tyranids were a challenging foe, but the Novgorod Guard managed to clear the area of the enemy, linking up once more with the isolated imperial sector protecting the vital works of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Soon after, the Grey Knights attacked, attempting to strike a decisive blow against the hive mind and key synapse creatures. They appeared to have been successful, as the great tyranid host reeled from the ferocity of the astartes assault, allowing the newly arrived elite Lycanon Guard to move forward into positions the Imperium had not held for many months.

This victory was fleeting however, as the departure of the Grey Knights back to their strike cruiser in orbit heralded a counter attack by the hive mind. Hordes of xenos creatures led by tank-like larger beasts crashed into the Lycanon lines. Despite the improved armour characteristics of their Leman Russ battle tanks, the Lycanon regiment could not hold back the alien tide in the north eastern suburbs of the city, and were forced back once more to the more defensible ruined urban districts of Hengrist. The Imperium had checked the tyranid assault on the cuty of Praxis, but the threat remained to Konev's forces.

Meanwhile, in the western wastes of the planet, a patrol of space marines from the Sky Lords chapter had been searching for the eldar webway portal, believing it to be a possible link into the necron tomb complexes themselves. During this patrol, they were unable to locate the portal, but they did stumble across a small force of necrons who they were able to drive off after a short firefight. What the necrons were doing so far north the astartes did not know, but it confirmed their suspicion that somehow the necron tomb complexes and the eldar webway were somehow linked. Under the surface, no matter how hard the Adeptus Mechanicus tried, the layout of the tombs just didn't make rational sense. The necrons themselves knew very well of the non-cartesian nature of the tombs and their link to the webway, but their encounter with the Sky Lords had not allowed them to secure an entry into the underground labyrinth as they had desired.