The Cleansing of the Mongoid Sector

This article is about a battle in the /tg/ Heresy project, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40k universe.

The Cleansing of the Mongoid Sector
Date	882-929.M30
Scale	Sector-wide
Theatre	Mongoid Sector
Status	Imperial Victory
Belligerents
The Imperium of Man	Mongoid Orks
Commanders and Leaders
Johannes Vrach Theophrastus Salk	Little Mork Kek Moon
Strength
Losses
Outcome
Mongoid Sector brought into the Imperium, complete eradication of the Mongoid Orks

Background

At the close of the Pulmni war, the then Brothers of Death were rapidly swept into a greater campaign distant from the region. With the poorly understood Ork menace scattered and nearly eradicated, and the Bronchus stars rebuilt into a proud Imperial system, the XIIth turned their attention to other threats and the rest of long devastated Korpys was left behind. While the sector's value was without question, the demands of the crusade would consume the legion's focus until the time of their Primarch's recovery. As Vrach permitted himself to become familiar with the history of those men under him, he would find the incomplete nature of the Korpys campaign a prime proving ground.

The massive and central Cord system was the most logical choice, with Rogue traders reporting a number of simple and fertile worlds that were disorganized, primitive, and ripe for taking. Johannes announced his aims to the assembled legion shortly after their great re-branding, with the promise that the Life Bringers would learn their true purpose here in the shadow of their hardest won crusade. He was met with rousing approval from the assembled warriors and the legion set about their new task. Most of the resistance that the Cordian worlds could muster was swiftly put down, but the discovery of the devastated remains of the 8th chapter group near the edge of the system, once led by Vanheim Paracel of the legion's Sacred Band and lost at the close of the Pulmn Campaign, would lead to one of the most trying campaigns in the Life Bringer's history.

The Renyl Campaign

Johannes, under heavy pressure from Captains Salk and Vira, outfitted an expedition to the nearby Renyl System to investigate the cause of the destruction. Salk was given command, but only a limited cadre of veteran soldiers were dispatched alongside himself and Captain Vira. The primarch reasoned that the majority of the legion would better serve the Imperium by continuing their relief work in the Life Bringers' tributary systems, and Paracel was infamous for his mercilessness and disliked by most. Those that remembered him fondly were solely the surviving members of the Sacred Band, fondly recalling a time when the sepulchral and scarred remainders stood alongside their brothers as ten youthful and unblemished avatars of death.

The region where the wreckage of Paracel's fleet had been spotted was on the opposite end of the Pulmn system, very distant from the Cordian planets where the majority of the legion was at work. As they made their way through the void, nearing the are of interest, the hardened fleet was accosted by a number of loud bangs. At first it had seemed little more than a minor asteroid storm, they were dangerous, but a danger to which the Imperial Navy was familiar. The maneuvers proscribed for just this event were met with counter-maneuvers of their own. It would seem that the numerous asteroids before the Imperials were in fact a tremendous massing of roks, with a few odd Kroozers in tow. Though the Ork fleet was repelled briefly by the larger and more formidable ships of the Imperials, their number was problem enough for Salk to order his fleet to the planet below.

Nephron was a brutish and sun-beaten place, tremendous rock formations and seemingly endless trenches dotted its surface, lending a jagged and misshapen sense to the landscape. The natural fortifications seemed to be a blessing and the astartes quickly set about preparing for the on-coming siege. Aas they waited for the brutish Orks to rocket through the atmosphere, the four-score veterans were surprised for a second time. The Roks, the Kroozers, and now an apparent flagship which seemed to be a crude synthesis of the two had massed in orbit around the arid world. The disjointed vessels hung menacingly over the Imperials, threatening to fall, and commander Salk realized their aim. The Life Bringers were being blockaded, by Orks.

The understanding that one has so grossly misunderstood the cunning of their foe is not one that many men make twice, but Theophrastus Salk had a tenacity that only Orks and Brothers of Death knew. Most had figured at once the Orks were not planning on starving them, but it was Gaius Vira who suggested a nearly unprecedented two-pronged attack. The extra hours the plague doctor's observations had given them made all the difference as the warbuggies rolled toward them. Vira allowed himself a rare smile at the sight of the effects of his anti-Ork Metronaidoryll gas traps. The gas' effects were enough to slow the charge of those Orks who witnessed them, something akin to terror seemed to resonate with them. Those stricken seemed to have the green burned away from them, blowing onto those behind them, and blanched Orkoid corpses lay beneath.

Aboard the Orkoid flagship, Little Mork bellowed and huffed, throwing all those who crossed his path clear across the bridge. The warboss was, despite his moniker, considerably larger than most of his kind from decades of wars against those he saw as usurpers. He had seized power over the vast majority of his former boss' forces since the close of the Pulmni war, and this was no accident. Longing for a chance to smash the humans who had once defeated him, Little Mork could know no greater fury than this failure. Brashly, the warboss ordered his fleet to drop down to the planet below, his own ship leading the downward charge.