The Cleansing of the Mongoid Sector

The Renyl Campaign

The discovery of the devastated remains of the 8th chapter group, 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. 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. The resulting battle would prove to be one of the hardest tests of Vrach's command, and whether he passed or failed this test is a subject of much debate.

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 flee 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.