Operation Salvation
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Operation Salvation is a Space Wolves campaign, launched by Force Commander Rakhim, to free the Imperial Hive World Asedor, from the Brothers of Retaliation Warband.[1]
History
It began when Rakhim received a plea for aid from Asedor, while he had command of the Pride of Fenris. The Force Commander led his forces to the Hive World, but discovered that it was firmly in control of the Brothers of Retaliation Warband and their Chaos Cult and Traitor PDF allies. The Cult aided the Warband in the invasion and they were both able to infiltrate the Hive World's defenses and take over Asedor's principle military installations. The Brothers of Retaliation were also helped, when half of Asedor's PDF betrayed their Homeworld and aided the Warband. A plea for Imperial assistance was then sent out, before the Chaos invaders attacked the Arden Prime Hive, where Imperial Governor Elias An'Therosed's palace was located. When the Hive's defenses were breached, Arden Prime began to be overwhelmed and An'Therosed rallied his remaining loyal Adeptus Arbites and Guardsmen for a final stand.[1]
It was then though, that the Pride of Fenris appeared, but Rakhim knew his forces were outnumbered and could not win in a direct assault against the invaders. Instead he sought to escort An'Therosed to the Pride of Fenris, so the Imperial Governor could provide intelligence against the Chaos forces they would face. This would then allow the Space Wolves to know where to aim their attacks, in order to ensure they defeated the invaders. Rakhim then personally led a rescue-team that teleported to the Governor's besieged palace in Arden Prime, to ensure An'Therosed was safely extracted to the Pride of Fenris. The Space Wolves located the Governor, via his Transmission Implant, and were preparing to teleport back, when the Brothers of Retaliation became aware of their presence and jammed the rescue-team's teleport signal. This prevented them from escaping with An'Therosed and with the Hive World's orbital defenses in the Warband's hands, the Pride of Fenris was also unable to send Thunderhawks to extract the Space Wolves and Governor. The Chaos invaders then attacked them and though the Space Wolves, Adeptus Arbites and Guardsmen repelled several attacks, the rescue-team knew they could not last for much longer. It was then, that An'Therosed informed the Space Wolves that there was a prototype Escape Pod, at the top of Arden Prime's Hive-spire. While it could not house all of them, the Escape Pod was made to be invisible to sensors and could safely reach the Pride of Fenris. But they would need to reach it before the Chaos invaders broke through the Imperial forces arrayed against them. Acting quickly, the Space Wolves began escorting the Governor to the Escape Pod chamber, while leaving the Adeptus Arbites and Guardsmen to fended off the invaders.[1]
However, the Brothers of Retaliation and their allies overwhelmed the defenders, as the Space Wolves were still in the Hive-spire. A group of the warband's Chaos Space Marines then pursued the rescue-team in order to kill An'Therosed before he could escape. Despite the Space Wolves' head start, the Brothers caught up with them, just as the rescue-team was within reach of the Escape Pod chamber. Both sides suffered numerous losses in the battle that followed, as the Space Wolves had to not only defend themselves, but the Imperial Governor as well. The Brothers of Retaliation were relentless, though, especially the Chaos Champion Neremor, who killed several Space Wolves single handily. The Champion's rampage drew the attention of Commander Rakhim's Wolf Guard and in order to prevent An'Therosed's death, they attacked Neremor. As the fighting intensified, Rakhim escorted An'Therosed to the Escape Pod chamber, as the Wolf Priest Verodan and the Loki and Black Wolves packs, provided covering fire. But when Chaos Terminators led by Ajan approached the Governor's location, the Wolf Priest led the Black Wolves in a charge against them in order to protect An'Therosed. The Space Wolves proved to be no match for the Chaos Terminators, though, and they were all killed except for a mortally wounded Verodan. The surrounded Wolf Priest then used the last of his strength to activate a Melta Bomb, which killed himself as well as Ajan and the Chaos Terminators.[1]
Meanwhile, even more Brothers of Retaliation tried to reach An'Therosed and Commander Rakhim fends them off with the aid of the Loki pack. This left the Imperial Governor on his own and An'Therosed almost reached the Escape Pod chamber, when the Chaos Space Marine Salid raced towards him. Salid sought to claim the power that would come with killing the Governor, but the Loki pack intervened and attacked the Chaos Space Marine. They were easily killed by Salid, however, who then attacked An'Therosed as the Governor was about to enter the Escape Pod chamber. While An'Therosed managed to survive, Salid prevented the Governor from escaping. Rakhim then attacked Salid to allow the Governor to enter the chamber, but the Chaos invaders cut the power to the Arden Prime Hive-spire moments later. This prevented the Escape Pod from working and left An'Therosed and the surviving Space Wolves stranded on Asedor.[1]
Trivia
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- Operation Salvation, the Brothers of Retaliation, Asedor, Elias An'Therosed and Rakhim and his Space Wolves, were created by Lorens Karaca. They appeared in The Citadel Journal 33.[1]
Sources
- 1: The Citadel Journal 33, pgs. 62-67 - Operation Salvation
