The Pulmni War

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

Background

The Pulmni War
Date	829-831.M30
Scale	System-wide
Theatre	Pulmn System
Status	Imperial Victory
Belligerents
The Imperium of Man	Mongo Mork's Orks
Commanders and Leaders
Theophrastus Salk	Mongo Mork
Strength
Losses
Outcome
Brothers of Death reduced to half strength, Mongo Mork's armies scattered through the Mongoid Sector

WAAAGH Mongo Mork had been raging through the sophisticated and technologically advanced, though largely pacifistic, human Republic of Pulmn for nearly a century. The Pulmni humans were only barely capable of holding back the Ork incursion for many years, and their settlements had faded greatly in this time. Nearly half of the formerly verdant planets system were endemically infested, those that were not still found themselves troubled by the occasional splinter warband. Near the time of the Imperium's first contact, the Pulmni humans had begun to lose ground, and the Orks had grown to an all but unstoppable force due to the effects of combat on their physiology. The last two decades of assault by Mongo Mork had nearly eradicated all traces of human life from the formerly thriving and advanced Pulmni Republic.

The Brothers of Death had been ordered to clear out the Pulmn system, a natural progression from their successful pacification of the nearby Rand sector. The location of the Pulmn system encompassed the Bronchus stars, a logistically vital region which would permit a rapid expansion both within the sector and into others near it. The Ork infestation was known to the Imperium, Rogue traders had spoken of a great empire which was collapsing under their weight. Though the greenskins were one of mankind's oldest foes, there was surprisingly little that was known of their biology other than their incredible tenacity. The XIIth legion, and their thorough chemical assaulter, were the obvious choice in scouring such an entrenched foe.

This was of no surprise or concern to the battered legion, but their non-stop fighting since first leaving Terra had taken its toll. Though dozens of sectors and hundreds of systems had fallen before the ceaseless biochemical bombardments and the legion's fool-hearty ground assaults through the toxic clouds. The terror that the fearless marines inspired with their reckless marches on a system's first planet was sometimes enough to collapse entire empires, and the Rand sector was only the most recent of such a conflict. Little did Lord Commander Salk know as the XIIth legion fleet approached border-planet Grayclus, the Orks here were stronger and more experienced than most, and his legion would be facing one of their most defining campaigns.

Into the Korpys Sector

The Rand campaign was less than bloody, but the Brothers of Death had hardly stopped since leaving Terra and were likely only at two-thirds strength when they first received the order to push into what was then known as the Korpys sector. Though the Brothers were badly battered, the leader of the XIIth legion was among the most devoted astartes in service and inspired the same in his men, so spirits were high as the Imperial fleet approached the Bronchus stars. Large portions of the legion had been assigned to deal with a suspected xenos threat in the region, but much of the Brothers' supplementary forces had remained tied to Hektor Cinncinatus' campaign to bring the troublesome Galt Sector into the Imperial fold. Sacred Band member Edentis Pneuren had an amicable relationship with the Warmaster, and often found his apothecarium conscripted to help manage the Wolves of Dawn's typically high number of casualties. The successes of the Brothers led many to believe that this division was of little consequence, but the folly of these thoughts was revealed alongside the breadth of the Ork threat.

There was little doubt as to the importance of the Bronchus stars, numerous verdant planets illuminated by their light made the Pulmn system a valuable take. To settle this region would unlock the rest of the sector and, with the eventual compliance of the whole of Korpys, untold treasures in the reaches of southwestern Ultima. One third of the XIIth legion pushed into orbit around the gateway world of Syphir and saw the ruins of a once prosperous civilization burning and infested with Orks. The Syphiri humans were all but exterminated, refugees were thrown into the depths of space inside outdated and short-ranged vessels. They greeted the oncoming astartes with desperate joy, recognizing their transhuman nature as a new hope in their long and failing war, and pledged all they could to assisting the Imperium's efforts. Theophrastus Salk marked their alliance with one-hundred chemical bombardments against the Orks below, followed by a full scale invasion by the legion itself.

The greenskins fell easily to the unprecedented assault and the Brothers' confidence was further inflated, leading Salk to split his forces further and put into motion the simultaneous assault the remaining Ork worlds. Commanders Marchessani, Hashimoto, and Paracel each took command of a portion of the forces, with Salk himself leading an assault on the heart of the former Pulmni Republic. These three forces were believed to be strong enough on their own to defeat any enemy, and the crude and disorganized greenskins would surely fall by all speculation. Marchessani and Hashimoto met combat early in the maneuver against forces similar to the mess found on Syphir, which served to confirm the common opinion. The untold resistance that Paracel's fleet grouping met as they pushed far into the northeast was the first signs of the Brothers' grave error in calculation, but by the time of this revelation it was far too late.

The Battle of the Dysnik Belt

The stout and hard-faced Vanheim Paracel was the most extreme of temperament amongst the sacred band of the XIIth, he alone had a true taste for war. It was he who codified the Brothers' siege tactics, brutal utilitarian strikes through a heavily toxified and harsh battlefield, and he was often seen at the areas of harshest fighting. His headstrong push into the Dysnik Region was intended to ultimately flank the enemy forces in the core worlds of the Bronchus stars. The Asteroids that surrounded the twin planets of Eupne and Katherine shrouded the Brothers' view of the horrors wrought upon these once beautiful gems of the Pulmni Republic. Vast swathes of the surfaces of these resource-rich worlds were carved out in a horrific fashion visible even in space. The iron under the surface was twisted to the whims of its master.

As the legionary fleet maneuvered through the belt to secure their objective, the fruit of the Orks' labor was brought to bear. As a number of kroozers started coming from all directions, many of the asteroids revealed themselves to be camouflaged Ork roks. Paracel was hammered from all sides by an aggressive and oddly coordinated strike by the Ork fleet commander and Mongo Mork's second-in-command, Little Mork, but the veteran astartes was wry and met his foe as well as any could have hoped. After hours, the Orks showed little signs of stopping and seemed to be without number, every rok struck down seemed to be replaced instantly and the kroozers were nimble and well-built enough to avoid destruction. After nearly three days of combat Paracel's fleet was down to a fraction of its original strength, but they had managed to push the bulk of naval combat into the edge of the sector.

Stripped of the defenses and confusion provided by the Dysnik asteroids, the Ork forces lost momentum and the battered Brothers of Death pushed them further. The constant battery of the ruthlessly cunning Little Mork had all but crippled the few remaining Imperial ships, but still the legion would not permit their foe to flee intact. The Brothers of Death under Vanheim Paracel split their diminished ships in a last ditch effort to scatter the enemy forces and prevent Little Mork from bringing the full force of his navy to aid his fellows. It is unknown precisely how long the astartes gave chase, as the commander's Battle Barge was found intact and abandoned many decades later.

The Carox Campaign

The closer the Brothers of Death got to the core worlds of the fallen Pulmni Republic, the more intense the battles seemed to grow as the astartes met more hardened and experienced forces. As their compatriots under Edentis Pneuren and Wilmut Sachs followed Hektor's conquest of the Rand Sector into another campaign, the momentum of the Korpys campaign was all but stopped as Hasimoto was bogged down on Carox and Salk diverted his own forces to aid in the battle there. The Orks of Carox were a sea of red, green, black, and white. The bulk of their number looked to be between a Nob and an average Ork and the Commander was larger than any warboss either astartes had ever seen, with a retinue of three that easily rivaled the previous largest. Mongo Mork was an active boss, rushing with disturbing speed around the battlefield, pushing his boys in the right direction, and his underbosses followed suit with varying effectiveness.

Artillery bombardments, followed by armor-supported infantry, and even the occasional sub-orbital Rok strike were the preferred tactics of many of the Mongoid forces. These Orks were accustomed to fighting clever opponents, Mongo Mork had long since learned to bide his time and wage a war. The most impatient were, as always, sent to the front lines to test the enemy's defenses, but most Orks on Carox had long since learned not to rush. The Brothers of Death were slowly, but surely, being bled to death by their foes. After a month of heavy fighting, the 12th was feeling their wounds. The battered forces of Mafran Marchessani, fresh from their campaign against the Ork forces under the brutish giant Grak and stubborn old Murdo on Flumm, relieved their comrades only momentarily as their counterparts did the same for the Mongoid Orks.

Captain Vira came forth some five months into the campaign with a smile on his face for the first time since its start. The aged Orks under Mongo Mork proved far more resistant to the chemicals typically employed by the Brothers of Death against their foes. While Kranktmakt gas was enough to slow most human sized creatures, the size and resilience of the Mongoid Orks was simply too much. The Reaper's new concoction would be far too powerful for any creature to take, but he spoke at lengths on the obvious drawbacks of its effectiveness on astartes. There was no hesitation at Vira's caveat and the new Steraa Gas was put into use immediately. Though many legionaries were poisoned alongside their foes, the Orks were forced back by this new and 'sneaky' weapon. With Little Mork's reinforcements cut off from the bulk of his forces, Mongo Mork ordered his boys off-world to consolidate.

The Taking of the Pulmni Core

Not long after their hard-won victory at Carox, the 12th legion was reunited with those under Pneuren and Sachs during Hektor Cinncinatus' sweeping 3-sector campaign. The much needed services of the medicae had grown in skill during their time with the warmaster and the exchange of information left the Brothers of Death more capable of handling their latest weapon than before. It seemed that now was the perfect time for a strike, but the campaign against Mongo Mork's core forces was held back by Ork invasions on worlds previously thought clean. The 12th legion made short work of the comparably weak foe, but the loss of a sense of stability echoed throughout the legion.

The Brothers had been fighting against the Pulmni Orks for nearly two years. Though the marines were stalwart in their duty and unerringly skillful at cutting down greenskins, the system was so infested with them that it often seemed a hopeless task. 3rd Captain Hashimoto, called The Red for both his skill with shedding blood and the peculiar coloration of the chemical burns on his hands, volunteered to lead the final strike into the heart of the beast. He and his men were eager to decapitate the enemy and finally put to rest a long and bloody campaign that had claimed so many lives. Hopes were high that the Orks would fall to infighting as soon as their leader was lost, as they had so many times before.

Hashimoto and his men touched down and began their push into the city of rubble and jagged steel the Orks called home, they were met with inaccurate artillery bombardments and a massive, poorly-concealed minefield. The so-called defenses of the fortress became steadily less substantial after the main wall was breeched, and they were met with a horde of green giants. Hashimoto understood the gravity of his situation at this point, the boyz were as big as nobz and the nobz were like the warbosses of lesser WAAAGHs, and he turned to face the beast called Mongo Mork. Mongo Mork himself was as large as an Imperial dreadnought and his retinue nearly so, he carried a rocket launcher in one hand and a sharpened fin from an Eldar jetfighter in the other as he charged headlong into battle. With characteristic calm, Hashimoto drew his blade and pulled out his gas grenades.

At the end of the fighting, both Hashimoto and Mongo Mork were dead. The man called the Red held his sword tightly even in death, even though the great greenskin had cleft him in twain at the waist, and it was lodged in the monster's eye socket. The greenskins were defeated, but much of Mongo Mork's inner circle had fled the planet with the death of their warboss. The Brothers of Death pushed them out of the Pulmn system for good during the Battle of the Bronchus Stars, but they did not fragment as expected. The heirs of Mongo Mork moved on, as did the Brothers of Death, but their paths were fated to cross again in the future and fragments of Mongo Mork's high command would remain a threat to the Imperium for centuries as they each sought to out-achieve each other and their predecessor.