Lakonia Persecution
The Lakonia Persecution was the name given to the Imperial mission to track, capture and contain the Renegade Space Marines of the Soul Drinkers Chapter.[1e]
Overview
At one point in M41, a Soul Drinkers taskforce led by Commander Caeon took part in an Administratum-orchestrated raid on the Van Skorvold Star Fort in the Lakonia System. Although the official reason for the raid was to sanction the Van Skorvold Cartel, the members of which were suspected of a number of crimes against the Imperium, the Soul Drinkers were acting on intelligence that the Van Skorvolds had come into possession of a lost relic of the Chapter - a legendary weapon known as the Soulspear.[1a][1b]
In the assault on the star fort, Caeon was killed by Veritas Van Skorvold and was succeeded as Commander of the strike force by Librarian Sarpedon. Despite this, the Soul Drinkers were able to locate the Soulspear in the cartel's vaults. As they moved to secure it, however, the weapon was stolen by the Chapter's Adeptus Mechanicus allies operating under the orders of Archmagos Khobotov.[1b] The Soul Drinkers threatened retribution against the Imperial battlefleet supporting them in an effort to get the Mechanicus to relinquish the Soulspear, but Khobotov then deployed a Geryon Ordinatus platform from his ship capable of destroying the star fort if the Space Marines did not stand down.[1c] The Soul Drinkers instead launched an assault on the Geryon, destroying it and crippling the battlefleet.[1d]
Sarpedon discovered, however, that the Soulspear had already been transported away from the fleet, taken by Khobotov to his forge on Koden Tertius.[1c] The Soul Drinkers then fled the system aboard their Strike Cruisers Gundog and Unendingly Just, destroying the Van Skorvold Star Fort as they left.[1d] The remaining functional ships of the battlefleet then pursued the Space Marines, who were forced to take refuge in an asteroid belt called the Cerberian Field.[1e]
Now known as the Lakonia Persecution, the Imperial battlefleet and the renegade Marines were locked in a stalemate lasting months, with the Imperial ships unwilling to enter the Field due to the danger posed by the asteroids.[1e] Eventually, the Inquisition intervened, with Lord Gorgo Tsouras of the Ordo Hereticus taking command of the fleet. He sent one of his agents, the Interrogator K'Shuk, to parlay with the Marines, offering them one final chance to stand down and surrender to the Inquisition. When the Soul Drinkers refused, Tsouras formally declared the entire Chapter Excommunicate Traitoris and ordered the battlefleet into the Field regardless to destroy them. However, the remainder of the Soul Drinkers Chapter suddenly arrived in system and extracted Sarpedon's force before escaping.[1f]
In the wake of the operation's failure, Tsouras led a purge of the surviving Imperial staff involved, condemning most of them to death.[2]
Imperial Forces Involved
Command Personnel
- Gorgo Tsouras - Inquisitor Lord, Ordo Hereticus.[1e]
- Iocanthos Gullyan Kraevik Chloure - Consul Senioris, Administratum.[1e]
- Hrorvald - Captain of the Penitent's Wrath, Imperial Navy.[1f]
- Vekk - Flag-Captain of the Diligent, Imperial Navy.[1f]
- Druvillo Trentius - Captain of the Deacon Byzantine, Imperial Navy.[1f]
- Talaya - Tactician, Imperial Navy.[1e]
Vessels
- Penitent's Wrath - Ragnarok Class Capital Ship.[1e]
- Epic[1e]
- Diligent - Battle Cruiser.[1e]
- Deacon Byzantine - Cruiser.[1e]
Sources
- 1: Soul Drinker (Novel) — The Soul Drinkers Omnibus
- 2: The Bleeding Chalice (Novel), Chapter One
