Prologue

[13th Legion]

Sirs:

The debris and asteroid belt that spans the area of space bound by the planets claimed by the Jordaan gang warlords and the House of Yarr, stretching through the Lathekin systems and culminating in the near-impenetrable fields owned by Narendra miners contains over 86 major planetary bodies, and a nearly countless number of asteroid and hulk detritus. Within this belt (known heretofore as JYLN) there is a single cluster simply designated as System 55 (JYLN-55). This cluster has been under scrutiny for some time now, and for the past ten years we find it a continually flagged by our analysis protocols as "unusually active." This letter is to request a survey and continued surveillance of all areas of JYLN-55. Upon your request, we will depart at once to conduct a full planetary survey and post our recommendations, to be acted upon as you see fit.

It should be noted that the JYLN-55 cluster consists of a single sun and three planetary bodies. Two of the bodies are considered, yet are lifeless hunks of rock without any significant mining or atmospheric interest. Therefore, when we refer to JYLN-55, we simply refer to the only planet in the cluster that carries life or any interest (for more details on this please see enclosed file).

The fall of Mercia and subsequent decline of the system.
JYLN-55 was one of the 67 shipping transfer sites that surrounded system Mercia (see ref. 127.x45 sec88) and acted as a third-tier transfer for raw ore industries. While there were active mines upon the JYLN posts, they paled in comparison to the great hive colonies on Mercia. You will note that just before the ork invasion of Mercia (see ref. Warboss Gobkrakka, files uploaded upon request) the center of the planet was mined through, the CSMO (Central Services Mining Operator) was compromised and Mercia literally imploded from within post-invasion. This is the primary source of extra debris that is found in the JYLN belt. While there always was a good amount of free matter, the detonation of the planet made travel through the belt nearly impossible for several decades as tug crews struggled to keep lanes open.

It is widely assumed by both man and ork that the ork forces of Gobkrakka precipitated the destruction of Mercia.

After the detonation of Mercia, traffic through the JYLN belt was halted and then resumed at an extremely slow pace. Systems within the belt were cut off from supply, as the trade that they depended upon were being re-routed to other systems, some years away. The belt that had once protected trading ships from predatory raids was now responsible for keeping those same ships away. Even the pirates that prowled the region moved on, creating a very quiet system indeed.

On the planets' surface, however, things degraded rapidly. JYLN-10, -15, and -33 were overrun by insurgent Jordaan nationals, eventually crushing their local governments until they were hastily surrounded and pacified by Imperial troops. JYLN-55 was no exception, as the tyrant Klaeser was to come to power, oust the Imperial Governors, burn the Ministry Houses and declare war upon the rest of the Sectors. However, house Ecale (for apparently classified reasons) had large interests in the Ministries of 55. While the Klaeser rebellion surged - a Slaan Cult rose to capture large slums in three of the mining hives - the Imperium held a tight grip upon JYLN-55. It became a small beacon of light in a range of stars that were slowly dimming into the darkness of chaos and xenos.

While the surrounding systems fell into disorder, all forms of serious rebellion and heresy were roped under control in JYLN-55. Even as House Lathekin was reduced to a few derelict vessels and Narendra Company was disbanded before being captured by orks, the tyrant Klaeser was hung from the walls of the Tech Ministry on JYLN-55 to signal the end of the heresy.

Part of the reason why JYLN-55 still holds Imperial influence is that recent events have shown theMarines Errant, following their tradition with the Covenant of Ecale, have taken JYLN-55 under their wing. They have placed a contingent of their own marines upon the surface and have begun training idle miners into the ranks of Imperial Guardsmen. This conscription has been wildly successful, as the majority of the population of the continents of JYLN-55 are not registered as assigned to duty in the imperial databases. Following a nationalist fervor, the miners have been found to be extremely loyal troops who have served the Errants well.

The Ork Menace Arrives
As early as 17 months ago, a serious and vicious attack came from an unexpected sector of the JYLN belt, a Warboss under the powers of Zazdakka had invaded JYLN-55 space and made planet-fall. The Errants were called to respond, but arrived too late; Zazdakka's minions had placed a sort of "Bio Bomb" upon the third-largest continent, Sector 7 (referred to by the local inhabitants as Sendeez, a colloquialism based upon slang terms used for both the number 7 and Slaan Cults). Zazdakka's weaponry did JYLN-55's security forces a bit of a favor by eliminating most of the only remaining Slaan Cult factions that had been marauding unabated in abandoned Sector 7 hives. The hives were demolished and in the wake of the destruction came a secondary invasion of Tyranids.

It is currently under investigation, but it is believed that Zazdakka's Bio-Bomb (orkoid forms that were captured and interrogated referred to the device as Ur-Schleim, ref 243 J55) was responsible for attracting the small cluster of Tyranids, which landed and caused great havoc before folding in upon themselves and eventually being exterminated by planetary bombardment by the Errant Cruiser Entract.

It should be noted that upon this operation all life upon the continent Sector 7 was extinguished. Seemingly attracted by the rotting pestilence left behind, an expeditionary force of Nurgle landed but was easily repelled by the Errant Marines waiting for them.

The Enfuego Crusade

The former Rogue Trader Miguel Quasar took part in an expedition deep into Zazdakka's Enfuego Prime to meet with Eldar pirates who supposedly held a key to the puzzle. It is thought that the Marines Errant were deceived by the Eldar, led into a trap. Massive numbers of the Guardsmen were lost on Enfuego, and the Errants returned to JYLN-55 battered and certainly lower in numbers. Miguel Quasar has been accused of crimes against the Imperium. He is assumed to have sneaked out of the system undetected and his whereabouts are currently unknown.

The orks followed the Marines Errant in their retreat back to the planet, invaded JYLN-55 again, and now occupy great sections of Sector 7, and make regular incursions into new territory. It takes every human resource upon JYLN-55 to keep this ork force at bay and to fend off reinforcements, and for the past 2 months has been more heated than usual, seeing large numbers of orks invading from submersibles and water-borne aberrations of nature, also a possible side-effect from this Ur-Schleim Bomb.

Eldar strike craft have been spotted within the belt as well, various reports confirm this.

Present Conditions
This brings us to the present day. We propose sending a full survey team to the surface to determine the total number of orks left on the surface, and the reason (if there is such a thing in the orkoid mind) why they seem so interested in Sector 7. Furthermore, it is of interest to the Imperium of the nature of the Nurgle infestation, the biology of any remaining Tyranid lifeforms, and level of control the local government holds over the populace.

With your blessing, of course.

Vital Statistics:

Mean radius 6371 km (3981 miles)
Average distance from nearest stellar body: 149.6 million km (93 million miles)
Rotates on axis in 32 hrs.
Diameter: through equator 12756.26 km (7928 miles); through poles 12713.5 km (7899 miles)
Surface area: 510 million square km (198 million) square miles, of which about a quarter is land.
Mass: 5.97x1024 kg or 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (6x1021) metric tons

JYLN-55 is composed mostly of iron (54%), oxygen (30%), silicon (14%), magnesium (0.2%), sulfur (0.3%), nickel (0.2%), calcium (0.1%), and aluminium (0.1%); with any remaining matter consisting of trace amounts of other elements.

Its atmosphere is rated as "Severely Polluted," yet current respirator technology allows up to 24-48 hours exposure with no life-threatening side-effects.

The Oceans are rated as "Toxic" and "Acidic." Desalination for use of drinking water is prohibited by local Imperial Governors, therefore most water comes from replication/recycling units.

There many abandoned cities, hive spires and space ports that cause a great security risk amongst the local population.

There is no sustainable agriculture upon the surface. 99% of food intake is from trade or from replication/recycling units handled by Central Services.

There are seven major continents, each named a Sector number. The world government lies upon one of the medium continents, Sector 1, but referred to locally as Yule.

At any given time there is one company of Marines Errant upon the surface, and the cruiser Entract lies in orbit with an undisclosed number on board. While the Marines Errant tend to carry heavy weapons into battle, the conscripted security forces of the Imperial Guard they have trained are geared toward riot-suppression, carrying lighter more mobile weapons. They are gaining a reputation for surrounding their enemies and ambushing them in brutal city warfare. These tactics were initially used by the tyrant Klaeser and adopted into the routines of generals who have redeemed themselves in service to the Emperor.

Notable contacts of JYLN-55

Marines Errant: Chapter Master Aldous Bruin, Master of the Forge Breiss, Librarian Lidicker

Imperial Guard: Company Commander D. Nodler, Senior Sergeant Lawrence

[mpendl]

A Brief History of People and Conflict: Message fragment compilation (Alpha-0) delivered by servitor HJC79.

The Jordaan

For fifty-five years, the mining conglomerates on Cassius had one directive: drilling. For miles they would dive beneath the planet's surface, looking for anything that could be salvaged as ore. They came up, for the most part, empty-handed. Including the fact that Cassius was not in the "average deviation" from Imperial shipping rounds, the mining conglomerate soon found itself broke and unable to pay its workers.

Almost a hundred percent of the mining labor was comprised of people from a racial sub-group called the Jordaan. Nobody really understands what makes the people who call themselves the Jordaan a racial sub-group, except the Jordaan themselves. The Jordann elders keep verbal traditional tales of long lineage alive through secret meetings in darkened basements beneath slums comprised of cramped habitation blocks. The Jordaan live in the slums that surround the mines, yet very few of them actually enter the mines themselves.

The reason for this is that the mining company that used to operate this sector (aptly named the Jordaan District) haven't actually mined anything in ten years. The Jordaan revolted against low pay, polluted living conditions and poor leadership. In the ensuing six-year labor disputes, over 1,500 Jordaan were executed by Vrall Enforcers. However, the Jordaan ended up finding ways to shoot, poison, drown, and crush with rolling boulders the four owners of the Jordaan District mines (in that particular order). The Jordaan claimed the District as a place where only the Jordaan belong, and under a period of surprisingly civil evictions, the Jordaan District became a two-mile by four-mile territory comprised of only those of pure Jordaan bloodlines. The Vrall Enforcers found themselves outnumbered in tight alleyways where citizens formed an almost endless militia comprised of very strong and regularly inebriated miners with too much time on their hands. After a few embarrassing patrols into the district, the Vrall just gave up. They regularly forge reports to their superiors that everything in the Jordaan is just fine and civil, which is true as long as they don't actually set foot inside the Jordaan District.

The Jordaan have been emboldened by this show of solidarity, and when the solidarity was mixed and shaken with a dram of nationalism, things grew extremist. The Jordaan now see themselves as racially superior, and destined for a new future. Xenophobia has moved in and unpacked in the mind of the average Jordaan - uneducated minds powered by hate speech. The Jordaan are now mostly preoccupied with doing things that prove that they are more Jordaan than others around them. Speak of a "pureblood" Jordaan race is regular conversation in the district.

Strangely enough, this definition of the Jordaan people was written sometime around the founding of the Jordaan District Mining Company. A logistics man for the JDMC named Gelande Klebstoff had written a report to his managers about an area on the south side of a habitation complex that housed a group of people that called themselves the Jordaan Family. The patriarch of this clan had fifteen sons, each of which carried an average of 6" higher than the average man and could outlift anyone else on Cassius. Each of these sons had multiple wives and many of them were raising extraordinarily strong children. The Jordaan Family (really quickly turning into a clan) were poor farmers from the fungus vats, and could probably be convinced to become miners if their lives were improved to any degree. This report to the JDMC, called The Areas Surrounding Sector 5.5 South Logistics Report mentions the family several times, "...the people comprised of this clan are essentially taller, strong, with sandy-brown hair, small ears and facial features, a muscular build, with thick hands and large feet." There are other references to the "tall patriarch" whose eyes were "small and beady." In his report, Gelande Klebstoff was obviously impressed with Jordaan senior's family, and he was so convincing that mining was the key to the Jordaan Family's future he was accepted into their ranks as family, and allowed to marry a daughter (a woman of proportionally large size, reportedly).

At some time, Jordaan the Elder (who was quite old at the time of this report) exchanged gifts with Klebstoff, and Klebstoff was given a tube of sealing wax. Normally this was done amongst the people of the area as a sign of trust, as sealing documents was seen as the moral equivalent as making a promise or a pledge. The important part of all of this was: the Jordaan family would always add a drop of their own blood to the sealing wax. It is quite possible that this report is sealed with wax containing the blood of the oldest known Jordaan.

This story of the wax and the Logistics Report have recently fascinated the Jordaan. They could extract genetic information from a wax like this, and have the actual genetic imprint of pureblood Jordaan. They even know where the report is. It lies in the middle of the district.

The problem for the Jordaan is that the report is held by the grandson of Gelande Klebstoff, Enthalten Klebstoff. Enthalten sees himself as of the Jordaan since his grandmother was the granddaughter of Jordaan the Elder. However much proof he can bring, there are always those in the district that think he is a mixed-blood. Enthalten has become a controversial figure, becoming alienated, holed up in a small building, clutching onto the Logistics Report. He sees the wax-sealed document (which he stole from a warehouse left unlocked on the conglomerate's property) as an important part of his own family's history, as evidence that the wishes of Jordaan the Elder was that the Klebstoffs and the Jordaan were meant to be part of the same family. It is this evidence exactly that gets the Klebstoffs employed: being known as someone who "Jordaan jobs it" is someone you wanna hire.

There are other players in this scenario. The Cassius Mining Conglomeration Incorporated wants the logistics report as well for several reasons. The first being that it is, actually, their property. They look very bad when things like this aren't squirreled away by a scribe-servitor. Word's got out that it is missing, and they'd pay cash for its return. However, they aren't stupid, and know that anyone they send in would get nowhere near the Klebstoff residence.

Recently, there's been gang fights between the Jordaan and the Klebstoffs. One particularly nasty one just flared up around Enthalten's hab. Enthalten had to evacuate his family, but he remains behind guarding his cache of stolen documents.

During the gang fight, a group of Vrall Enforcers infiltrated the district and into Enthalten's house. They are there essentially holding him prisoner, waiting for the airlift out. It is assumed that when he's gone, the report will go with him, and probably get returned to the conglomerate, or mysteriously lost somewhere along the way.

The Enforcers in Enthalten's house are well armed and there are many of them. The Jordaan are currently spreading word that their document is leaving the district, and hundreds of them will be gathering in the area before long, ready to try to take it.

Its a pretty tense situation.


In the months past, two gangs have been "having it out" on Cassius. One gang was led by the Inquisitor Arkhan Lan, the other by the Rogue Trader Miguel Quasar. In their first encounter, Arkhan Lan stole some pertinent information from under the noses of the local police, the Vrall Enforcers. Quasar and his Eldar cohort were also looking for said information, and decided to set an ambush to try and steal it from Arkhan. The battle was bloody, and Arkhan still escaped with the plans intact, but both gangs had taken casualties.

The information gained put together another piece to the puzzle of the mysterious caves beneath the cities of Cassius. What were they for? Who built them? More importantly, what was down there that could be fashioned into a makeshift weapon?

Quasar hired some locals and assaulted the hideout of Arkhan; while the Inquisitor fell to the insidious Death Seer Yog Soth'oth (Quasar's murderous Eldar bodyguard), the plans remained intact and in the hands of Lan's gang, who were "taken over" by Sgt. Hulka.

Without warning, the communications systems on Cassius were disrupted while an alien vessel plummeted to the planet's surface. A satellite infected with a malicious computer virus was fought over by the Marines Errant and the Apostles of Contagion. The Errants captured the uplink computer, which had uploaded the virus, and quickly left the planet's surface to deliver it to the Adeptus Mechanicus.

Lan's men (Sgt. Hulka) and Quasar clashed at the crash site of the alien ship the same day the Errants and Apostles were duking it out over the satellite. Upon arriving at the site, Sgt. Hulka jumped on board and downloaded starmaps and other vital information onto his data-board, jumped on board a toad (Cassius's ubiquitous utility vehicles) and raced off the board. Quasar got caught up in combat with several automated defense robots that emerged (heck, just materialized ala-necron style) around the alien vessel. Quasar found himself badly wounded and surrounded by Hulka's men, he was captured and roughed up and held for ransom.

The next day Yog Soth'oth, Hiro, Oblio and Damon (the four Eldar left from Quasar's gang) decided to make a deal with Hulka; if they could find the location of the caves mentioned in the information stolen from mission one, Hulka would release Quasar. The Eldar, lost without their leader, stumbled into xenophobic districts and came up empty handed. The cops were called, and the Eldar ended up running for their lives. Quasar was eventually sold into slavery on an off-world site.

Hulka's crew then learned about a factory that was full of equipment and weapons- a backlog of production that could probably be looted for pretty easy pickings. They infiltrated the factory, found a few cool things, before the Vrall Enforcers arrived and chased them out. Before they left, a nasty automated "killer robot" controlled by the factory owner came out and really laid out some fearsome damage. They all escaped with their lives, but had to pick some bullets out.



++Transmission begins++
Among the detritus of the planet's surface were found several datafile cartridges. While most of them had been damaged beyond recover from repeated exposure to plasma radiation and virus-bomb corrosive compounds, one particular cartridge had been found beneath a large slab of ceramite left over from the detonation of what looks like a melta-bomb upon a blast-door. The information has been mostly recovered, filtered for heresy, and released to the proper authorities. An example of the information is presented below, for your perusal.
Excerpt from the transcriptions of the Vox Journal of Imperial Guardsman Private Weil Stryker, stationed in Quad 33 in Beltos, JLYN-55:

ORIGINAL ENTRY. +00136747

++The bug infestation landed three weeks ago. Our platoon was assigned to the 731st and deployed along the southern banks of the Velta district, just east of the Jordaan slums. The result was a massacre, but we held them to some degree, wiping out most of the smaller creatures both with wings and on clawed feet, leaving behind several larger beasts. Our brothers died admirably, only a few in the beginning of the battle took flight and ran; our Veterans scored large prizes of monster bugs. In the end, our deployment zone was a wasteland, littered with alien gore covering smoldering hulks of our destroyed transports.


++See Ref. 1.1.0. File: excursionsbeyondthecall.blogspot.com/2013/08/tyranid-thumper-battle-report.html

++A meeting has been arranged. After being dragged from the battlefield rather badly wounded, it was discovered that one of our Junior officers was none other than the former Rogue Trader that went by the name Miguel Quasar. After this information was revealed to the Inquisitorial panels aboard the orbiting Entract, an entire shuttle full of power-armored advisors were sent to the surface. As it turns out, Mr. Quasar was not to be removed from his post for failures in the battle, but rather would be reinstated. I was most likely derelict in my duty by doing so, but I remained in the WC and eventually hid within the holding tank in order to hear the following details of our upcoming mission.

++Mr. Quasar, now Sergeant Quasar, has had repeated contact with the Eldar in outer regions in the past. He had eventually helped Eldar forces to some degree during the Corriba Incident a mere 12 years ago. For this, he was given access to certain information that led, in a confusing circle, to the recovery of the Threshold Pearl. The Threshold Pearl could hold the forces of Slaneesh at bay, and it allowed decadent Eldar to venture beyond the confines of Commoragh enclaves and with him into deep space. It was this way that Mr. Quasar became a Rogue Trader backed up by a gang of some of the most sinister of corrupted Eldar: the feared Death Seer Yog Sothoth, the Bounty Hunter Hiro Protagonist, and others named Ver Dante, Shub-Iftael, Jess Las, possibly others. At some point on Cassius they had met their match fighting some renegades led by a retired Guardsman named Sergeant Hulka. He was captured by them during an incident with a crashed alien vessel and was sold in slavery to the militia forces of JYLN-55.

++See Ref. 92.7. File: excursionsbeyondthecall.blogspot.com/2012/04/cassius-chapter-three.html

++File: apostlesofcontagion.blogspot.com/2011/12/campaign-game-4-battle-report.html

Since then, using cunning and bravery, Quasar has worked his way into a semi-leadership role within the Guard of JYLN-55, and this is how he was discovered after the horrible battle against the bug-bomb sent to us by Orkish sabotage.

++See Ref. 97.5. File: excursionsbeyondthecall.blogspot.com/2013/06/ork-insurgency-on-jyln-55.html

++Mr. Quasar has been sent to the Entract, and there he has communicated with some of the most powerful Eldar Farseers in the sector. He has fooled them into thinking that he is behind the meeting on EnFuego, where the Eldar are preparing to retrieve the Infinity Relic, which by my guess is a sort-of warp enhancement crystal. With it, it is rumored, our forces may be able to draw away the bugs plaguing our planet much in the same way the Orks have attracted them here. However foolish this may seem, it is even more foolhardy that in stead of Mr. Quasar the Warlord and Chapter Master of the Marines Errant will be the one that arrives at the meeting. Surely, knowing the temperament of Chapter Master Malgar, this meeting is doomed from the start.

++We are to fly tomorrow. In 48 hours or less we will be arriving upon the surface of EnFuego, in a secure landing zone. It has been noticed that in the Great Uprising, an abandoned Imperial Bastion known only as Bastion #451 has been left unguarded. If we move swiftly we will capture the outpost ahead of the advancing Chaos forces, a group of traitorous renegades led by the Iron Warriors that has been regrouping after a vicious planetary Rokk Bombardment. Company A will advance north to knock out their weakest flank, while our Company will drive north behind them and secure the Outpost and Bastion #451. Here we will hold the line while the Marines Errant will perform a quick advance down the canyon to our east- this will lead them to the plateau where the Eldar-held landing zone, the Relic, and the Eldar host themselves lie in wait. I will update when we arrive upon the surface of the planet. I have illustrated this manuver using the crude tools of my datapack and recorder-screen applications. -+-


ADDENDUM. +00156748

++We have been quickly assembled and have secured Bastion 451. Company A has sent good news, they have found the north flank to be disorganized and may be able to send reinforcements. The Marines Errant have passed behind us silently in the night, and have made it to the plateau. The Iron Warriors have detected our presence, and are flooding our vox channels with threats, taunts and promises of treasure upon our surrender. Fear has gripped all of us, but we stand ready to resist their advance. We have just heard word that talks with the Eldar have quickly fallen apart. We are bracing for the worst. Sensors in the Bastion have detected Eldar moving in from the northwest. Company A has promised to send any remaining reinforcements from their Chem Squadrons and with heavy ordinance support.

++I can see the lights of the renegades shining in the distance as dusk falls. Our las-packs are charged and we are advancing into position. The ground shakes as their machines advance, and acrid smoke has begun to drift across the charred remains of this outpost. Emperor have mercy upon our souls. -+-

END OF ENTRY.

++Transmission ended.++
++Whereabouts of Subject Miguel Quasar unknown. If found please report to Inquisitorial Officer 697.89.++


++Excerpts taken from the log of Epistolary Lidicker follow.

++Our mission was simple enough. The images included in this report have been uploaded from vid-serv skulls hovering above the conflict zone. We arrived before dawn (ref. 4579.4b) at Bastion 451, which had been previously abandoned by Imperial Guard forces two weeks earlier in an effort to support a front against an Ork Waaagh conducted on another hemisphere of the planet. It has been noted to the proper authorities that this bastion was abandoned under direct orders from the Senior Officers in the Waaagh zone.

Company Commander Creed and his cohort of Sergeant Kell and several bodyguards carrying an autocannon tripod arrived at the bastion and found that the comms array was still in perfect working order. This would allow the command to communicate effectively with all guardsmen on the field.
Chimeras flanked to the left and right. To the left were multiple squads of guardsmen carrying special weapons. To the right, Marneus Guardgar's Platoon Command Squad would follow a team of Veterans and Miguel Quasar's Platoon Command Squad. All were mounted in transports, and advanced quickly on the Right flank. To the center, a Lascannon Heavy Weapons Team took stance at the base of the bastion to await the inevitable thrust of the enemy tanks toward the bastion. These were the Iron Warriors, after all.


I, and several Marines Errant, accompanied a Leman Russ Battle Tank to the center support position, directly behind the bastion (shown in the above photo.) Advancing on the Left Flank, yet not yet arriving and held in reserve were Thad Allen's Reactionary Marine Team, also accompanying a Leman Russ Battle Tank, this one the reliably unreliable Punisher variant, piloted by Tank Ace Pask.

It was to the loyalist's surpise that there were tunnels that had been dug, apparently hastily, in a cobweb of patterns underneath this battlefield! Surely the enemy were sending in teams covertly but had pulled back. Two squads of guardsmen entered of the discovered tunnels beneath the bastion in order to secure them. Upon exiting, found themselves directly in front of the enemy, and quickly took the front lines of the traitorous rebels by unawares.


++Immediately after the Chimeras crossed the Left Flank, Veteran Sergeant Thad Allen arrived from Reserves. Behind him, a rumbling sound tolled the arrival of the Punisher Battle Tank. Veteran Allen stepped up to a ruined bunker, and spotted a Chaos Champion- a plague-weeping monstrosity named Necrosius- leading a large hoard of abominations to mankind across the battlefield. While the Guardsmen cut the zombies down with fusillades of lasgun fire, Allen issued his challenge in a bellowing howl: "Fiend, you shall not breach these lines, with the Emperor's righteousness at my side I shall smite thee down!" With that, he began to advance across the field.


In the center of the field, three Chaos Vindicator Siege tanks advanced toward a firing position, a threat to the Bastion. On the Right Flank, Hounds of Xaphan advanced through the ruins straight toward Marneus Guardgar. On the far right, Veterans had disembarked from their Chimera, and started destroying advancing Chaos Rhino transports. On the left, one can see Veteran Sergeant Thad Allen charging forth from the bunker. Almost all the guardsmen and the zombies from the initial engagement (turn one) were lost. The tunnel warfare made for a truly bloody engagement in midfield.


Imperial Guard Veterans advanced into oncoming Chaos Rhinos on the Right Flank. Behind them, Miguel Quasar's Platoon Command Squad offered fire support with an autocannon team. Melta Guns flared as two Chaos Rhinos were destroyed, and about 16 Chaos Marines emerge, some Chosen among them, led by a mighty Warpsmith.

To the left of those veterans and Miguel Quasar hid the Platoon Commander Marneus Guardgar, his autocannon team, his trusty vox-caster expert, and a Ministorium Priest named Tallyard, wielding an enormous eviscerator. If they had not been torn to pieces by the Hounds of Xaphan, they would be charged with heresy for their cowardice.

Meanwhile, on the Left Flank...

Treachery is afoot. Eldar support forces, reacting to the battle at the plateau, had made their way to this flank. Sneaking through Chaos defenders, they swarmed in a sneak attack and assaulted the Left Flank Waypoint. A mighty firefight broke out, and guardsmen did their best possible to defend against oncoming waves of Dire Avengers, Howling Banshees, and Harlequins.

In the center of the field,
the fury of the Chaos Vindicators was unleashed upon the Bastion.

Meanwhile on the Right Flank, the veterans had engaged and put a good dent in all of the Chosen Chaos Space Marines except for one: The Warpsmith. Miguel Quasar advances, and a brave guardsman sprays a gout of flame across the Warpsmith in vain. In the background, we can see a Chaos Exterminator Battle Tank.


A voice transmission has been intercepted and decoded.

++ intercepted transmission translated as follows:

Sirs.

++An investigation has been launched into possibly treacherous activity surrounding the activities of the Rogue Miguel Quasar, previously of JLYN-55 Defense Regiments and before that a renegade Rogue Trader and Eldar consultant.

--garbled static

++The Errants, led by Master Malgar had been informed of the position of the Infinity Relic upon En Fuego Prime. The large detachment of Errants took the rear flank behind the JYLN Regiments and proceeded to the rendezvous with the Grand Farseer Eldrad.

++Only three other currently undisclosed Imperial officials know of this meeting. This is of the greatest security to everyone involved, it goes without saying.

--long pause, static

++The tacticals held back in a covering fire formation, while the Errant Honor Guard swept to the right flank.

+May the demons who haunt the victims of the Eldar have mercy upon their wretched souls.

+Malgar and Eldrad met face-to-face around the Infinity Relic. There are those that doubt the power of the Infinity's ability to enhance warp travel, and those that claim it actually destroys the minds of Librarians, wild psykers, even Eldar Warlocks if you are to believe them. Whatever it does, the Errants wanted it, and the Eldar were prepared to deliver.

++Something fell through with the negotiations, and ah...

--static

++Everything was all set for the meeting. Marneus approached Infinity, which stood between him and Eldrad. This was in an open area of the small ruin at the top of the plateau. Almost immediately the Errants spotted a large section of Eldar breaking off from the plateau, using grav-tanks to quickly flank to the north of them. This splinter of Eldar raiders headed straight across the ridge to assault the defense forces of JYLN to the southwest of where they were now.

--garbled static


++They fought for a while. Almost seemed like they were, um, toying with one another, if you could say that. Malgar seemed to eventually get a hold of Eldrad and wouldn't let go, eventually Eldrad just disappeared into the darkness. Malgar ran into the Eldar troops and their blazing shurikens. The battlefield erupted into chaos.




++They didn't even have a chance at capturing the Infinity Relic at this point, and a general withdrawal was declared. Their chance of escape back to the drop zone- this was Alpha Charlie 10- you know, it was being cut off, and AC10 was quickly becoming threatened by an ork advance from the south.

++I think if they had captured the Infinity Relic it might have been used to deactivate the warp signal planted by the Orks on JYLN that's been sending bugs here for the past year, or who knows. They'll have to find another way to repel this new ork form of weaponry without the help from Infinity. As for the investigation... hang on...

++garbled static

++Mr. Quasar is suspected of willingly leading the Marines into a trap. I believe it has something to do with the Infinity Relic or more likely that actually the Relic that was at the meeting was not actually the Infinity Relic. He survived his encounter with the Warpsmith and has not been found. However, if they every find him he'll be executed on the spot. This I now know for sure. Much more effort is being put into finding out exactly where Infinity is right now than the search for Mr. Quasar.

++Anyways. There's a file on this on your deck. You can check out the specifics. We will keep comms open for a while, but then we'll be silent for a bit. You'll be on your own.

++Out.

Transmission ends.