Death of Cygnax
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In M41, the Hive World of Cygnax was a heavily militarised Imperial world and the most populated sphere in the northern Maelstrom Zone. A key world to Imperial control of the region, it formed a bulwark against aggressors and a safe port.[1]
In 557.M41, following a Maelstrom storm, it succumbed to corruption from within and attack from without. Backed by the intervention of the Chaos Space Marine Warband known as The Reborn, Cygnax fell into a bloody civil war between its Imperial garrison and death cult nihilists who had swelled up from the deep hive sinks in their tens of thousands, killing and raising entire city districts. Despite the intervention of the Mantis Warriors which came from the nearby Endymion Cluster, the death toll rose into the millions. The cultists gained access to part of the planet's defence missile silo network and in a suicidal rage unleashed a rain of atomic and plasma warheads on the hive cities, disrupting the orbit of Cygnax for years.[1]
Permanent winter, radioactive fallout and tectonic upheavals annihilated all life on the world. The shockwaves of this destruction were tremendous and the imperial control of the northern Maelstrom Zone swiftly crumbled. Trade routes were severed, contact with outposts and mining stations was lost. Cygnax became a wasteland, the wreckage of fallen hives lured scavengers and renegades in human and xenos origin. In a year, an expanse of space equal to a month and a half's journey under warp was lost.[1]
Taken with other losses over the previous few centuries, a crucial tipping point was reached and vital military supply chains stretching as far as Bakka and Holy Terra itself were threatened, forcing the Adeptus Terra to act.[1]
