Slowly, surely, with a screech of breaking rust, the gears of war began to turn.
A Knife in the Back
Mired in a hellish siege war against the Death Guard on Bagot Prime, Epistolary Astralhand knew that a drawn out war of attrition could only ever favour his opponent. His troops were essentially trapped, unable to break through the fortifications of the traitors, yet unable to allow their foes to leave their pens.
When one of the many rampaging bands of Orks on Bagot Prime managed to awaken a minor Necron Nanossuary during their raids, most commanders would have seen it as a dire sign. Astralhand took it as an opportunity instead.
With his own forces committed, he instead requested backup from a White Scars cruiser, moving to protect a damaged ammunition convoy from out-sector. Glad of a chance for planetary action after a long sojourn in the Warp, the marines struck with their characteristic speed and fury. Crushing the tomb world forces in their enclave, they planted a series of charges before withdrawing, the nascent xenos uprising all but eliminated before it could grow.
All but eliminated, but not entirely.
On Astralhand's specific demand, the charges re-buried the entrance to the Nanossuary whilst opening a new series of tunnels instead. Furious Necron reinforcements started assaulting the Death Guard fortresses from below and within. The Death Guard destroyed this new front as efficiently as the White Scars had, but it drew from their defence lines, and two key bastions fell, freeing Ultramarine assets to strike elsewhere. From a potential stalemate, the Imperial forces had instead drawn a minor victory.
In Through the Sally Port
Pushed back from Alebus, the Chaos fleet had meanwhile found themselves in the Drawbridge system. Scattering to avoid being crushed by local Imperial Navy patrols, the traitor ships went dark. Even in disarray, a whole fleet would be easy to spot, but as individual vessels on silent running, the fleet vanished like motes of dust in a sandstorm.
They didn't stay inactive, however - what had been taken for a rout took on darker meaning as each vessel slipped into ancient repair docks or abandoned orbital loading bays. The Alpha Legion had seeded Drawbridge with a myriad of cults in preceding years, and many had remained undetected until this moment.
Time and again, Mantis Warrior squads arrived too late to find the docking bays empty once again. Exterminating the heretics who'd dared to defile Imperial repair depots with such ill-use was cold comfort. The fleet had already moved on, leaving the taint of chaos behind it and too few loyalist troops to cleanse the stench. Drawbridge became a hotbed of insurrection, its ammunition mills grinding to a halt as their workforces either rebelled or perished.
Sky Fires
In Rylstone, where the Crypt Angels still struggled against the T'Pau Sept for overall dominance, the Drukharii fleet kept up its reign of terror.
Surgical strikes knocked out orbital defences or punched small but critical holes in fleet blockades. Weak from decades of war, the T'Pau were unable to make use of these actions, but the Crypt Angels were likewise in poor shape and found themselves stretched ever thinner as they attempted to reinforce the unexpected weak points. Imperial influence in the sector seemed ever more tenous.
Sleeping Cults Lie
On Zamaroon, the Inquisition was stirring.
The jungle world had previously seen the machinations of an Inquisitorial cell with more than usually perverse intent. Perhaps intending to use the hidden infrastructure left behind by this individual, Inquisitor Vodiis now attempted to seed chaos cults into the few Imperial watch stations left on world.
His attempt was a disaster. Refusing to be manipulated by servants of the Corpse Emperor, the cultists spurned every attempt to give their agents covert positions in Imperial patrol squads or logistical oversight operations. Instead, clearly furious, the cults struck back, locating and eliminating the Inquisitorial operatives who’d been entrusted with the task. A brief spurt of covert violence and the cults vanished back into obscurity, leaving the Inquisitor’s teams badly short mauled, not to mention embarrassed.
Campaign Round Two
The combat round has played out, I'm still waiting on the full details of the consolidation phase (cough cough guys), but here's what we're looking at:
- Chaos has managed to destabilise Drawbridge but has lost Bagot Prime to the Imperium. They score the same two systems as last round (the SDF and the Vulnis Infernii), bringing their total score to 4.
- The Imperium holds steady in Alebus and Bagot Prime. They score 2 for a total of 5.
- The Xenos are still running amuck in Rylstone, the Transcaridian Docks and Haga, so their total now runs to 6.
- The Inquisition (who are still looking for drawn systems to score in) are maintaining conflicts in Gauntlegun, Mombassa and the classic no-score-Drawbridge. 3 points brings them up to 5.
Still a close run game, but someone's going to have to do something about those aliens. Get your fleets in orders, chaps, round three is looming!
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