Tarsis Ultra
Tarsis Ultra is a Dead World and former Agri World in the realm of Ultramar.
Planetary Summary
| Map | Basic Data | Planetary Image | |
|---|---|---|---|
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Name: | Tarsis Ultra | 
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| Segmentum: | Ultima Segmentum | ||
| Sector: | Unknown | ||
| Subsector: | Unknown | ||
| System: | Tarsis Ultra System1a | ||
| Population: | 60,000,000 | ||
| Affiliation: | Imperial | ||
| Class: | Dead World (former Agri World) | ||
| Tithe Grade: | Unknown | ||
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The following paragraphs contain spoilers for: | Warriors of Ultramar (Novel) |
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The following paragraphs contain spoilers for: | Planetkill (Anthology) |
Background
Tarsis Ultra was a Civilised World with some specifications typical to an Agri World and a long, harsh winter period during which it looked like a ice world. It was the turning point of the advance of Hive Fleet Leviathan. During the Great Crusade, Roboute Guilliman led the assault on this world from which he was attacked by an unknown assailant but was saved by a native soldier. Guilliman then made a warriors bond with the trooper vowing to return should the world ever need his aid. A temple within the capital Erebus honours this along with the planets residents changing the name to include the Ultramarine's name and the local Planetary Defence Force attempting to replicate the Ultramarine's Power armour.
Hive Fleet Leviathan
- Main article: Battle for Tarsis Ultra
In 999.M41, Tarsis Ultra was faced with the threat of the Tyranids after it was discovered that a tendril of Hive Fleet Leviathan was bound for the planet. The Ultramarines were sworn to honour the ancient oath pledged by the Primarch, Roboute Guilliman, to defend the people of Tarsis Ultra; thus Captain Uriel Ventris through the orders of Marneus Calgar enlisted the aid of a Company from an Ultramarines Second Founding Chapter, the Mortifactors, led by Chaplain Astador. Supporting the Space Marines defending Tarsis Ultra were two Imperial Guard regiments, the 10th Logres led by Colonel Octavius Rabelaq and the 933rd Death Korps of Krieg led by Colonel Trymon Stagler, plus the PDF headed by Major Aries Satria. Inquisitor Kryptman was also present to impart his extensive knowledge of the Tyranids to help the war effort. Fabricator Marshal Sebastien Montante proved to be a valuable asset as an efficient organiser of resources and general supply management.
When the Tyranids arrived in the system and consumed the planet Barbarus Prime, the Imperials launched an attack in space. Despite an initial victory in destroying a Hiveship, Inquisitor Kryptman wished to invoke Exterminatus upon the world Chordelis, as it was the next planet in the path of the Tyranids; this was to prevent it from being devoured and swelling the Tyranids' numbers, as planetary evacuation was deemed to be too slow. Ventris was vehemently against this decision and supported an alternative solution proposed by Admiral Tiberius, who proposed to slow down the Tyranids by exploding a hydrogen-plasma refinery in space thereby destroying another Hiveship. However, Kryptman had lied to Ventris and with the assistance of the Mortifactors invoked Exterminatus in spite of the Ultramarines' plan succeeding. The Imperials attempted the same trick again with a second space refinery to destroy yet another Hiveship. However, the Tyranids adapted to this ploy and the plan backfired on the Imperials, crippling their fleet and forcing the survivors to flee; Tarsis Ultra was left unprotected from space, which allowed the Tyranids to launch their final planetary invasion.
During the Tyranid attacks on Tarsis Ultra, a Lictor was captured by Ventris and a Deathwatch team; this proved pivotal during the war, as Kryptman was able to concoct a venom from the Lictor's genetic structure that would send an early generation Tyranid into hyper-evolution, killing the creature. They then decided upon killing the Norn-Queen in order to win the war. Ventris joined the Deathwatch team in infiltrating the final remaining Hiveship to kill the last Norn-Queen controlling the Tyranids. Ventris managed to finally kill the last Norn-Queen with Kryptman's gene-poison. The remaining Space Marine contingent of both the Ultramarines and Mortifactors were down to sixteen men when the Tyranids started to attack each other, as the link with the Hive Mind was lost when the last Norn-Queen died. The psychic shockwave of the overmind's death affected the Tyranids into slaughtering each other senselessly, leaving the Imperials alone. The majority froze to death under the harsh conditions of Tarsis Ultra with a minority surviving and taking refuge in warmer surroundings. At the conclusion of the war, Ventris reaffirmed his faith as an Ultramarine to protect the Imperium from the enemies of Mankind.1
The Demise
However, despite the victory Tarsis Ultra would not be the same again. Despite their defeat, the Tyranids had left some form of vegetation behind that was consuming the ecosystem (albeit slowly), which forced the Imperials to send fire-teams to suppress it.2
A few years after the victory on Tarsis Ultra, a furious Iron Warriors Warsmith Honsou, fresh from his narrow victory over rival Warsmiths Berossus and Toramino, as well as his defeat at the hands of Uriel Ventris, learned of Tarsis Ultra through The Newborn, a mutated clone of Ventris who had inherited all of the Ultramarine's memories. Determined to destroy everything Ventris held dear, Honsou raided an Imperial agro-research facility and stole a sample of the experimental Heraclitus virus.2, 3
Honsou invaded one of Tarsis Ultra's space stations with his followers, slaughtered the crew and launched orbital torpedoes at the surface. A few of the torpedoes bombarded cities, but the final one carried the Heraclitus virus. The virus was designed to speed up crop growth, but it had a cataclysmic reaction with the Tyranid vegetation, speeding up its growth so quickly that it covered the entire planet and eventually consumed the atmosphere, leaving the planet an airless rock.3
After Honsou departed, Magos Locard and a few members of the Skitarii landed and attempted to investigate what had happened. Locard vowed to make whoever was responsible for the death of Tarsis Ultra pay.2
See Also
Sources
- 1: Warriors of Ultramar (Novel) - Ultramarines (Novel Series) Omnibus by Graham McNeill:
- a: Ch 4, pp. 324-325
- 2: The Heraclitus Effect (Short Story) by Graham McNeill
- 3: Chapter's Due (Novel) by Graham McNeill
