Vol. I, Iss. 1 |
9023999.M41 |
Hello, fellow citizens, and welcome to the first issue of the Gladius Sector Gazette! This fine publication has been created to inform you of the events going on that are changing the shape of things in our sector. The most important of these, of course, is the current war going on in the sector between Imperial forces and an onslaught of hideous aliens.
So without further ado, let's see what's been going on...
GSG has learned that a Dark Eldar raiding force, under the command of Archon Maldroui, has entered Gladius Sector and is cutting a bloody swath through it. The first appearance was on the industrial world of Ghent, where presumably the Dark Eldar were hoping to capture the factories to put to work making their dark engines of destruction. They were met there by the valiant and stoic forces of Wolf Lord Kalnar, leader of the Space Wolves stationed in this sector. The Space Wolves fought valiantly and at the height of the combat Kalnar himself charged the evil Archon, but he was no match for the Archon and his bodyguard of well trained warriors. Kalnar suffered grievous wounds and had to be dragged from combat by his Grey Hunters. Even the revered Dreadnought Bjorn suffered mightily, having his legs and both arm weapons damaged severely. Thunderhawks were able to retrieve the remnants of the Space Wolves army, but Ghent was lost.
Less than a week later, the Dark Eldar of Baruth Marg assaulted the industrial world of Hurst. But the Space Wolves were well prepared. Bjorn had been repaired, and Rune Priest Magnus took command while Kalnar healed from his injuries. Maldroui's personal Raider was downed, and he was severely wounded by a plasma pistol that overloaded his energy field. The Archon's bodyguard made the responsible Grey Hunters suffer a terrible price for their victory, but Bjorn eventually managed to run them from the battlefield. At the end of the day, only one Raider survived, and it was outbound from the Space Wolves force. Though many battle brothers lay dead, they had succeeded in driving off the aliens.
Maldroui's rage would be felt again as he descended upon the worlds of Khost, Lenin, and Beris. On Khost, he faced the Ultramarines of Commander Frete. Frete's forces valiantly held their ground in the face of severe enemy fire, taking many of
Maldroui's own bodyguard out of the fight. But the remnants tore through the Terminator squad and began to rip through the rest of the Ultramarine army. Some believe the Ultramarines failed due to sabotage of their weapons, for their missile launcher was repeatedly off-target, and their plasma cannon overheated many times. On Khost, the Dark Eldar managed to grab a satellite uplink, allowing them to better control where their reserves would show up.
On Lenin, Commander Frete tried to avenge his loss, but was no more successful. The Ultramarines formed a battle line around an ancient temple, but the Dark Eldar managed to break their line in several places. A single warrior with a blaster did much of the harm himself. He was able to target perfectly and pick off several Ultramarines, though the rest of his squad suffered for the attentions brought to them by this lone warrior. The Ultramarines had to fall back, giving up control of the temple to the Dark Eldar.
On Feris, the Blue Knights Space Marines were attempting to prevent the capture of several sprawls where many innocent civilians lived. Theories on why the Dark Eldar wanted such a site tend toward sacrificing the people to gain more energy to open a portal that would allow more Dark Eldar to come into the sector. Whatever the reason, the Dark Eldar were merciless. The Blue Knights' Chaplain was an example of how a Marine should perform his duty, standing in the face of horrendous amounts of fire and firing at the Dark Eldar. But the Marine line could do nothing; they were shattered and sent on their way. Rumours from the area suggest a portal opening, and we'll follow up on that.
Our sector has also been assaulted by another alien force, the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Scylla. These foul creatures have begun descending upon worlds all over the sector.
On Lohr they touched down to find the Space Wolves defending the capital city valiantly in prepared positions. The Tyranids leapt upon the defenders feverishly, surrounding them and cutting off any chance of escape. While the Space Wolves were fighting the rest of the Tyranids, a large Ravener burst from underneath the Space Wolf bunker and began to assault it. The Space Wolves were to have none of that, and for a few precious seconds all firing was directed at this beast. Once it was gone, the Space Wolves turned to find the Tyranids almost on top of them. With a perfection only Space Marines could achieve, the Space Wolves began a withdrawal, laying down a curtain of fire as they did so. This allowed them to defeat the Tyranids, earning them the gratitude of the city.
The Tyranids weren't done yet, and on the fields of the wasted world Corinth they once again launched an assault. The Space Wolves arrived to stop them, bringing a Whirlwind for support. It was to no avail, as even the Whirlwind was damaged by the aliens as they swept across the defenders, forcing them to withdrawal and handing over the inhabitants of Corinth to the Hive Mind.
Hearing of the losses caused by the Tyranids on their battle brothers, the Ultramarines of Captain Rasso launched an assault on their position on Corinth. They were successful in driving away the majority of Tyranids or wiping them out, but one last group came together to stand in the path of the Ultramarines, keeping them from their Thunderhawk gunship transports. The Space Marines roared through in their Rhinos and Razorbacks, but the Tyranids smashed the vehicles aside. Angered, Captain Rasso and his command squad assaulted and slew the terrible mutated Ravener that caused much of the havoc. This caused many of the Tyranids to turn their attention upon the Captain and his men, who prepared to sell their lives dearly against two broods of Genestealers. This allowed their battle brothers to reach the transports. The transports quickly sped back to the scene of the battle, where the combined firepower of the gunships and the discipline of the Marines was enough to destroy the remaining Tyranids and retrieve the bodies of the fallen, including Captain Rasso, who was miraculously still alive. The introduction of yet more Tyranids to the area has caused the cleansing of much of the planet's surface with a low-grade Exterminatus.
The situation on Corinth has gotten worse, as Captain Rasso has told Wolf Lord Kalnar in no uncertain terms what he though of the Wolves' performance, adding that he considered the Space Wolves to be "mutants". Kalnar took obvious insult to this, and ordered Rasso to leave the world. Rasso felt he had a better claim to it. This all would have gone down as just another argument between Space Marines, had it not been for the infamous incident at Junta Pass.
Marines from both chapters were searching for signs of any aliens left on the planet, when they came across each other. It is uncertain why, but the two forces fired upon each other, and this escalated into a full scale battle. The Space Wolves were on the losing end, as the Ultramarines' tactical squads with lascannons and the Scouts containing Brother Insidius and his legendary heavy bolter tore into the Space Wolves. Casualties were high for the Space Wolves, and the blow to their honour was great. The Ultramarines also decided to stake a claim on the land the two Marine groups fought over.
Melor has recently been captured by a horde of Orks under the command of Warlord Ben. Commander Frete launched a recent mission to liberate the world, but managed to succeed only in gaining a beachhead. When the Ultramarines first landed, they were surrounding and had to fight their way out. A mob of Slugga Boys tried valiantly to fight off two tactical squads, but were assaulted by the Marines and wiped out. The Marines were able to escape the Ork trap and grab a factory that would be put to use manufacturing heavy vehicles.
A mysterious force of Necrons has been seen on vid-logs fighting Tyranids from Hive Fleet Scylla on the world Polis. A series of factories set up near the Dark Pyramids of Polis was the battleground. The Tyranids descended from the sky upon the Necrons, showing them as little mercy as they have shown to any other races. In the end, many Necrons were driven from the field of battle, phasing out from the battle and returning to the place they came from. The sudden appearance of Necrons is very worrying for Imperial forces, especially with the problems they are having containing the Dark Eldar and Tyranids.