Pacification of the Harakien Sector

This page details people, events, and organisations from the /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the /tg/ Heresy Timeline and Galaxy pages for more information on the Alternate Universe.

Pacification of the Harakien Sector
Date	973-976.M30
Scale	Sector-wide
Theatre	Harakien Sector
Status	Imperial victory
Belligerents
The Imperium of Mankind	The Harakien Eldar Empire
Commanders and Leaders
Gaspard Lumey	Ku'Motsk, the Void King
Strength
Substantial forces from the Fifth Legion supported by the Imperial Army
Losses
Outcome

In the eighteenth decade of the Great Crusade, the Imperium launched a massive attack on the Harakien Eldar Empire.

Background

The Harakiens' first encounter with the Imperium was on the Feral World of Destino in 964.M30. Winged Victory had just departed the newly-pacified world, leaving behind a garrison of Imperial Army troops. Much of the garrison was second- or third-line regiments, but among their number was the 38th Regiment of the Auron Infantries. Unbeknownst to the Imperium of man, the 6th Division of the Harakien Fleet drifted toward the planet. The expedition was headed by the sixth's inexperienced captain, Ju'Rhin, and was the first wave of a planned expansion of the Harakien Empire's sphere.

The information that the Harakiens had on Destino spoke of a lush and untamed world, but the Eldar were greeted by an unexpectedly organized force of soldiers bearing unknown markings. Ju'Rhin, eager to make a name for himself, sent the full force of his aerial division against the Imperial camps, devastating them with vicious bombardments. The swiftness of the assault was such that the Imperials had no time to respond, the surviving infantrymen were only mustering when the next phase of the Harakien attack began. The second wave was low assault craft and the Eldar swiftly put their enemies to flight, taking large numbers of captives. Word was sent to the Sovereign Fleet of the startling new discovery of an apparently organized space-faring human empire.

While the militia and PDF formations disintegrated, many of the Aurrie troops escaped capture and fled into the thick jungles of Destino. Within that forbidding growth, bands of the 38th regrouped and prepared guerilla raids on their enemies. Captain Ju'Rhin ordered the forests cleared away. He would rout their foe through any means, but the 6th Division were unprepared for the nigh insurmountable task before them. Although they suffered great deprivation and heavy casualties, the courageous Aurries held up the Harakiens until the arrival of Lieutenant Uli Dreier's Squadron of Winged Victory Space Marines and several Demi-brigades of Ciban Chasseurs. The assault was like nothing that the Harakiens had ever seen, the power-armored foes before them astounding to behold. They were human in shape only, they moved faster and endured far more. Even the ordinary soldiers accompanying them were more heavily-armed than expected, with powerful armoured vehicles, artillery, and aircraft. Out-numbered and out-gunned by the startling new Imperial reinforcements, the Eldar withdrew from Destino.

Dreier linked up with the surviving men of the 38th and debriefed them. His report back to the Fifth Legion was answered promptly with the dispatch of further reinforcements, including sappers recruited from the Markian Pact. These specialists were under instructions to fortify Destino. In the meantime, Dreier and his expanded command would probe the surrounding systems to assess the Xeno threat.

A series of raids and counter-raids ensued. Although both sides built up their forces in this period, the Space Marines were largely absent from the initial phases of battle. Uli Dreier's squadron of one hundred space marines remained based at Destino, taking on key missions, but the bulk of the fighting in this phase was done by newly arrived first-line Imperial Army formations. Marshal Louis-Davide de Lattre of the Markian Grand Corps arrived on Destino and established an Army Group headquarters in 970.M30 to coordinate the efforts of hundreds of Imperial regiments along the northern border of the Harakien sector.

The naval fighting in this period was dominated by inconclusive skirmishes. Harakien forces were reluctant to closely engage the heavy ships of the Imperium, and their superior mobility made it difficult for Imperial captains to force the issue. A clash in the Malavaro system during 968.M30 saw the Winged Victory strike cruiser Persévérance heavily damaged by mines. In response to this incident, the Imperial Army dispatched a full cruiser squadron with the Grand Cruiser Repulse as its flagship. The squadron pushed deeper than the Imperials had gone before, headlong into the Kurassan System, northernmost of the Harakien Sector.

It was 4th Captain Sisyk Alovar who met the Repulse. Alovar's fleet was the largest in the entire empire, besides that of the Void King himself, and the old captain was renowned throughout Harakien space for his skill in space combat. His battleship Talon led the strike, the entire fleet flying toward the cruiser squadron with unbelievable speed. The Imperials brought their weapons to bear, but the entire fleet seemed to vanish in a shimmer of light and the weapons fired uselessly into empty space. A moment later, the Harakien fleet returned to reality directly above the Imperial fleet. The Talon hung over the Repulse menacingly, then blasted it out of reality with a concentrated beam of darklight. The other ships in the Harakien fleet followed suit, and those that remained were easy prey to the 4th Division's Fleet.