Rifts of Hecate: Imperial Knights deploy in force

With the Imperial expedition to Lodax now coming under attack from necron, ork and eldar forces, General Maximus took charge and ordered a full lance of Knights from House Taranis to the system. In addition a second force of knights was sent to Mezria VI, where the Imperium were under attack from both orks and tyranid forces.

On Mezria the arrival of the knight heavy firepower made an immediate difference as they led an assault into tyranid infested territory. The alien beasts fought savagely however, and the knights of House Taranis were made to pay dearly for their headlong charge into hostile ground. The knights lost their venerable commander, while the tyranids were thrown into disarray. The offensive had been a success, as the xenos had been pushed back from imperial controlled land, allowing the foot soldiers of mankind to continue building a solid base with defences, but the cost had been high.

On Lodax, the Knights were barely deployed in system before finding themselves under surprise attack from the Kel Sandros Eldar. The craftworld which had been mostly passive over the previous years now moved in force along with other eldar, with one simple goal. Eradicate all factions from Lodax and ensure the necrons were kept in their slumber.

The eldar moved swiftly to target the Cerastus pattern night, which they had identified as a real threat in the engagement, first sending a mighty avatar into combat with the imperial war enging. Machine spirit clashed with ancient eldar sentience, causing the very ground to shake, but the Lancer shocked the Aeldari by shrugging off the blows from a god of war, before despatching the alien spirit entity almost in one sweep. There was a brief pause as the collective psyche of the Kel Sandros Eldar reeled at the sheer insult of what had just happened, but quickly moved to correct the situation. Fire Dragons stepped up unleashing a concentrated and disciplined hail of lethal fire into the knight, overloading its void shields in seconds and reducing the otherwise invulnerable walking death machine into worthless slag.

Having dealt with the Cerastus pattern knight, the eldar were now in a more favourable position, able to outmanoeuvre the lumbering walkers and cutting their supply lines. The battle raged for some time, but the eldar were not raiding, but ensuring they gained control over the entire world. At some cost, the Kel Sandros Eldar defeated the Knights of House Taranis, taking more ground away from the Imperium and forcing them back to an ever decreasing perimeter.