Changes

Using their pet officers and Guardsmen the Cult then manipulated 4,000 soldiers into marching into the wastes before some 15,000 Orks, assuring them they would be withdrawn once the force fields were back up. Simultaneously, the Cultists staged an uprising in Dirksden's primary Hive and defenseless defenceless the government easily fell. They subsequently raised the force fields suddenly, trapping the Guardsmen outside to meet their end at the hands of the Orks. Many of the untainted managed to flee Dirksden as it fell, unwittingly bringing many hidden Genestealer Cultists with them to nearby Hivesprawls. Meanwhile, at Oteck Hivesprawl, the Pauper Princes struck hard as the Cult desired its plentiful water. Despite bitter fighting, the Pauper Princes were able to seize control of Oteck's water supply and corrupted it with their genetic taint.{{Fn|3a}}

The response of the Imperial government on Vigilus to the Genestealer Uprising was slow, and they simply dismissed the attacks as the acts of criminals that would soon be dealt with by the [[Adeptus Arbites]]. Instead, they focused their attention on shoring up their defenses defences and reinforcing their own positions. This allowed Vigilus' industry to effectively grind to a halt due to the cessation of export and resource convoys, a problem compounded by constant Ork raids in the wastelands. During the '''Battle for the Seeping Delta''' a force of Mechanicus [[Skitarii]] battled in rivers of industrial runoff, with both sides inflicting millions of casualties on the other. The Mechanicum only won the battle when Fabricator [[Vosch]] set the delta alight with a 600-strong [[Kataphron Breacher]]s attack, burning both sides.{{Fn|3a}}

At the Mechanicum Stronghold of Megaborealis, the commanding [[Magos Dominus]] of Hive Scelerus [[Ipluvius XIV]] was distracted by his studies and overly confident in his own defensesdefences, allowing a team of Ork [[Kommandos]] to infiltrate and find a weak point in the Hivesprawl's force fields. What followed was a massive Ork Speedfreak attack. Ipluvius XIV's [[cogitator]] froze under the pressure and the leaderless Skitarii were assailed by not just the Orks but also by Genestealer Cultists of the [[Claw of the Thirsting Wyrm]] who simultaneously rose up under the leadership of [[Slygaxx the Prophet]]. The Cultists were able to steal [[Vortex Missile]]s and detonate them in the hivesprawl center, wiping out much of the assets of the defenders such as the [[Warlord Titan]] ''[[Dominus Rex]]''. By now Archmagos [[Nesium Caldrike]] had Ipluvius XIV put into stasis and took his place. Proving a decisive commander, he was able to coordinate with the Iron Hands ' [[Kaargul Clan]] to stall the Genestealer momentum after bitter fighting.{{Fn|3b}}

By now, the Imperial Guard had undertook a large scale counterattack in cooperation with [[Valkyrie]] and [[Vendetta]] squadrons of the [[Imperial Navy]]. Most of the missions involved escorting fuel and supply convoys to beleaguered outposts but were ultimately aiming to reinforce Megaborealis. The Guard armored armoured convoys of [[Leman Russ Battle Tank]]s and [[Chimera]]s reaped a heavy toll on the Orks they met thanks to artillery support. However this served to only attract more Ork Speed Freaks and overwhelmned overwhelmed the Imperial Guard formations by weight of numbers. At the '''Battle of Mourning Gorge''' the 121st Goliath Armoured Battle Group was destroyed by the Ork Speedster [[Fragbad Squigbiter]] after he set off after he recklessly assailed a [[Deathstrike Missile]] with [[Stikkbomb]]s. The battle ensured that nearby Storvhal would be encircled and a vital Imperial supply route was cut.{{Fn|3b}}

By 2.230 post, the cramped slums of Hivesprawl Dontoria were already under the pressure of unknown raiders on its lowest depth (which would eventually be revealed as [[Dark Eldar]]). Compounding this problem, they received reports of an unknown vessel inbound. Despite being fired upon by the defending anti-aircraft batteries the ship managed to crash into Dontoria's centercentre, unleashing the [[Gellerpox Infected]] into its overcrowded sprawls. However what followed next was even worse, as a detachment of [[Death Guard]] emerged in the Infected wake. Though the local [[Tempestus Scion]]s of the [[98th Lamdic Oxen]] and [[Arbitrator]]s were able to contain the Infected, they were quickly overwhelmed by the [[Chaos Space Marine]] assault. Facing defeat the [[Tempestus Scion|Tempestor]] [[Naiod]] ordered the lower levels fire-bombed within a two mile radius. The pitiless act seemed to work and the 98th withdrew. However shortly after a strange plague broke out across the districts of Dontoria, and it became clear that the Imperials had failed to contain [[Nurgle]]'s followers. Despite the warnings of the [[Rogue Trader]] [[Delarique du Languille]], who had experience with such plagues, the Aquilarian Council was slow to respond.{{Fn|3b}}

As the Imperial pursued the Craftworld Eldar, their Dark Eldar kin continued their hit-and-run raids across the planet. Their raids on Hyperia and Oteck hivesprawls were such harrowing and spectacular affairs that they became known as feared as the '''Carnivals of Pain'''. The Dark Eldar force included not just [[Kabal|Kabalite]] ite troops but also [[Wych Cult]]s and [[Haemonculi]] creations. At the head of the Dark Eldar force was the [[Haemonculi Coven]] of [[The Altered]]. The Altered were out for revenge against the sons of [[Ultramar]] after being defeated by [[Roboute Guilliman]] in a past engagement during the [[Indomitus Crusade]]. During their raids, the Dark Eldar managed to capture entire squads of Ultramarines and haul them off to [[Commorragh]].{{Fn|3c}}

Since the fall of the Oteck Water supply, the precious resource was becoming even scarcer on Vigilus. Dontoria was now in danger of losing its own water supply, Lake Dontor, which was now under constant vigil due to threats of contamination. Even worse, Calgar's Vigilus Senate had still not yet rediscovered the Death Guard that had made planetfall. But water was not the only scarce resource, on the false continent of Mortwald much of the planet's food and medicine was produced but with the Orks and Genestealers now threatening it production was running dry and the common people were paying the price. However , Mortwald was defended by scores of veteran Guardsmen from the [[Ventrillian Nobles]] to the [[Vostroyan Firstborn]] to even now-refugee [[Cadian Shock Trooper]]s under the command of [[Deinos]], the Governor's own brother.{{Fn|3c}}

Thus when the Mortwald came under attack, Deinos' trench network held fast and gunned down many Orks. Well-coordinated withdrawals and kill-zones further hindered the Greenskin advance. For weeks, the Orks could not penetrate Mortwald's defensesdefences. The Guardsmen proved equally adept at handling Genestealer uprisings in the Ejecta Districts. Lord Deinos preached the mantra which now became the rallying cry of the defenders - Mortwald would not fall.The situation for the defenders improved drastically when the [[Imperial Fists]] ' [[5th Company (Imperial Fists)|5th Company ]] under [[Space Marine Captain|Captain]] [[Dravastis Fane]] arrived via aircraft and improved upon its already formidable defensive network. Ork [[Stompa]]s soon emerged by their hundreds, causing Fane to fallback to higher ground before counterattacking. Shortly after loyalist [[Knight]]s from [[Dharrovar]] under [[Joren Vanaklimptas]] as well as those from [[House Terryn]] arrived to further reinforce Mortwald's defenders.{{Fn|3c}}

The Space Marines did not leave the reckless Knights to their fate, with Fane leading an airborne assault alongside the [[White Scars]] under [[Olujin Khan]] and a [[Ravenwing]] strikeforce under [[Meneraeus]]. Supported by Imperial Navy bombers, the Space Marines quickly closed on the Knights location within the Scrap cities. Olujin's squadrons of [[Stormtalon Gunship]]s mapped out approaches to the blind spots of Ork air defenses defences and strike into the heart of the settlement and destroyed their heavy artillery. Without artillery support, White Scars and Ravenwing bikers cut through the Ork ranks to aid the beleaguered Knights. It was at this point in the battle that the Ravenwing force broke off from the engagement and made straight for the Vhulian swirl. With half of their strike force gone in a matter of seconds, the White Scars found themselves on the verge of being overwhelmed by the growing Ork assault. Faced with no other option, Olujin Khan ordered a retreat. Unknown to all except the [[Unforgiven]], the Dark Angels had abandoned the war effort for now to serve their own purpose.{{Fn|3c}}

The new enemy to threaten Vigilus was first seen in the form of strange [[Voxvox]] emissions and ghosts. The Great Rift above Vigilus seemed to blacken. Psykers reported that the [[Emperor's Tarot]] was reporting the same card every reading, : that of the Daemonblade crossed with the Herald of Darkness and the Knight of the Abyss. Reports of abductions and bizarre monsters in the upper spires became abundant. Those sent to investigate the latter claim were never seen again. Only the [[Tzeentch]]ian Chaos [[Chaos Cultist]]s recognized these signs for what it truly was: that a [[Chaos]] invasion was imminent.{{Fn|3d}}

Far to the south, [[Thousand Sons]] [[Rubicae]] squads were discovered among the ruins of Kaelac's Bane, infiltrating the Oteck Hivesprawl's force-field during a routine shutdown to cause havoc inside the Imperial lines. Under [[Lord Commissar]] [[Barthold Dorst]] led an armored armoured assault to try and repel the Rubicae, but were unable to deal with their warpfire weaponry. Meanwhile at Mortwald, a new Gellerpox Outbreak erupted and the elites of of the Hivesprawl shut themselves inside their spires with all the food and water they could find. Abandoned and without food or drink, the workers of Mortwald slowly died over the ensuing months. The Chaos and Genestealer forces took advantage of this act, spurring the desperate workers into uprisings against Imperial authority. Amid all this, the vox traffic of Vigilus was overwhelmed by the cries and suffering of atrocities that were yet to pass but would soon be upon them.{{Fn|3d}} Haarken has claimed that he will conquer the planet in 80 days.{{Fn|4}} And the worst has yet to come,{{Fn|3d}} as soon word that [[Abaddon the Despoiler]] himself was also inbound to Vigilus at the head of a massive Chaos armada.{{Fn|6a}}

As Vigilus reeled under Chaos assault, Calgar made his plan to leave the planet, leaving the defenses defences to [[Pedro Kantor]] of the [[Crimson Fists]]. Calgar sought to journey to [[Nemendghast]] aboard his flagship ''[[Laurels of Victory]]'' in order to discover what had befallen the [[Nemendghast Raid|the strike force he had dispatched there]]. After a weeks journey into the void to the location given by [[Vanguard Librarian]] [[Maltis]], Calgar came across a Black Legion fleet led by the legendary ''[[Vengeful Spirit]]'' itself.{{Fn|6a}}

At Mortwald, the situation soon became dire. Vigilus had long depended on its archaeotech Bastion Force Fields to hold back the many threats to its Hivesprawls. However, they now had to contend with the [[Iron Warriors]] who themselves were masters of siegecraft. Iron Warriors [[Warpsmith]]s were able to use [[Scrapcode]] to disrupt the Bastion Fields operating systems, shutting down two-thirds of the networks. Into this disaster came an armored armoured blitz of Iron Warriors, sweeping aside defense defence trenches on the flanks of Mortwald and Megaborealis. At Mortwald, The Iron Warriors were able to capture massive Tectonic Fragdrills, using them to breach whatever Trench Networks could stand against their initial assaults. [[Imperial Fists]] under Captain [[Dravastis Fane]], backed by [[Knight]]s, intervened and engaged in a vicious trench war with the Iron Warriors which resembled the legendary [[Iron Cage]]. Due to their simultaneous battles with Ork Scrap Cities in the West, the Fists did not have the manpower to hold back the Iron Warriors and were forced to withdraw to Hyperia, ceding the outer eastern, western, and northern defenses defences of Mortwald to Chaos. Meanwhile [[Deinos Agamemnus]] had dispatched many of his elite [[Ventrillian Nobles]] and [[Sonasthi Royal Guard]] Imperial Guard regiments to combat Genestealers in the south. Thus, when the [[Iron Warriors]] advanced to the Deinos Trench Line the Imperial defenders had little in the way to halt their advance. In typical fashion, the Iron Warriors besieged Mortwald.{{Fn|6g}}

Inside Mortwald, the ruling and rich of the Hivesprawl reacted to the arrival of Chaos forces by stockpiling as much food and water as they could find. In Immortalis Spirehive, the elite had more food than they could consume in a hundred lifetimes. Soon enough, these gluttonous rulers were influenced by the touch of [[Slaanesh]] in the form of Cults of Luxury and Immortality. A wave of rioting also hit Mortwald, a situation which the [[Flawless Host]] used to its advantage. Arriving at Immortalis Spirehive, the Flawless Host sought to show Lord Deinos and his compatriots the meaning of true excess. Hordes of [[Daemonette]]s were summoned by the [[Master of Possession]] [[Zhune Tzang]] and each proud spire of Mortwald soon burned from within, its rotten heart exposed for all to see. With Mortwald in disarray, the Flawless Host finally achieved their true objective given to them by the Black Legion and shut down the Hivesprawls automated defensesdefences. This allowed 1,000 Black Legion Marines under [[Terminator]] Lord [[Thorosgar Bear-Fist]] to bypass the Deinos Trench Network entirely and launch devastating attacks on Electros and Djodrolev Hives.{{Fn|6g}} At the same time, the starved common people of Mortwald launched their own bloody Revolution. [[Khorne]] took full advantage of this, reducing many of the insurgents into crazed Blood Cultists.{{Fn|6b}} By the time the Imperial Fists and [[Necropolis Hawks]] could respond, it was too late and the streets of Mortwald ran with blood.{{Fn|6g}}

As their bodyguards clashed around them, Calgar and Abaddon engaged in a fateful duel. The Ultramarines Chapter Master sought to keep his distance from the Chaos Warmaster and instead sought to deliver [[Bolter]] strikes from afar. Abaddon responded in turn with Bolter fire from the [[Talon of Horus]]. As a flagstone gave way under the weight of Calgar, Abaddon lept towards Calgar and injured the Ultramarine's arm with his Talon. Calgar responded with an unarmored unarmoured fist that cracked Abaddon's jaw before attacking with his other fully enclosed [[Power Fist]] that lifted the Warmaster from his fleet. Angered, Abaddon swung [[Drach'nyen]] at Calgar, severing two of Calgar's fingers and slashing open his armor armour and destroying his secondary heart.{{Fn|6c}}

At Kaelac's Bane, the Dark Eldar battled the [[Thousand Sons]] around a hidden [[Webway Portal]] both sides utilized. The Drukhari utilized stolen terraforming technology at Quixotine Loop to summon blizzards against their enemies. The temperature around Kaelc's Bane plummeted well below zero. Though able to shrug off damage, the [[Rubicae]] of the Thousand Sons proved vulnerable to the extreme temperatures and became entombed in prisons of ice. The [[Sorcerer]]s of the Thousand Sons were forced to abandon their Rubicae retinues and flee back into the Webway Portal.{{Fn|6g}} The confusion allowed them to transport hundreds of thousands of slaves back to [[Commorragh]], including many Space Marines from the [[Necropolis Hawks]]. Meanwhile, with their task fulfilled and honor honour satisfied with the death of much of the Aquiliarn Council, the Eldar chose to withdraw.{{Fn|6c}}

In the aftermath of Abaddon's withdrawal, Imperial commanders saw the situation change little for them on the ground. Chaos Space Marines continued their attacks as Genestealers and Orks rampaged across the planet. At Megaborealis Hive Sprawl, the [[Stygies VIII]] ruling Tech-Priests ignored calls to abandon their [[Blackstone]] mining network despite attacks by the [[Brazen Beasts]], Genestealers, and Orks. However the Mechanicum soon launched a counterattack of their own, launching Sicarian-class [[Skitarii]] against the Greenskins into the mines. While initially successful, the Skitarii became bogged down in subterranean ambushes by Genestealers. Meanwhile at Hivesprawl Mortwald, the Black Legion and Daemons of [[Slaanesh]] continued to run amok, using warp power to bypass Imperial defensive lines manned by exhausted Imperial Guard. The hivesprawls chem factories had long since ceased production, and the outer defensive ring formerly manned by Space Marines were under attack from both Chaos and Ork forces. With many Space Marines having since withdrawn from the warzone, many Imperial Commanders considered Mortwald a lost cause. However Human resistance continued in the face of [[Corpse-King Rat]], a former Hive [[gang]] boss who scored a number of unlikely victories against Chaos forces. Death Guard and Thouand Sons forces had ravaged Vigilus' capital Hivesprawl of Hyperia but soon enough turned on one another. The hivesprawls suffered tremendously in these battles, and warp anamolies anomalies saw huge disturbances which toppled entire hive spires seemingly at random. While the defense defence in Hyperia depserately desperately continued, nearby Oteck Hivesprawl was declared lost to Genestealer Cults. {{Fn|8a}}

Brigadier General [[Van Telost]] then assumed command alongside the orbiting [[Rear Admiral]] [[Fhallen]]. Together, they reorganized the defenses defences and prevented a total rout. However the two both knew Orgalnafor was lost, and sought to evacuate as many assets from the world as possible. Using the Guard for many distractionary and deceptive efforts, the Imperials secretely secretly sought to evacuate their most precious assets. However word spread of the truth, and panic began to erupt in the Imperial ranks. In orbit, several Imperial vessels were lost keeping the evacuation points secure. After evuacting evacuating all they could the Imperial fleet withdrew, leaving 200,000 soldiers behind. Their fight was not over however, as during the breakout from the system more Imperial vessels were lost to attacks by Chaos warships. In time the event would become known as the ''Orgalnafor Massacre''. Within the Warp the fleet desperately sought a safe point, accidentally ariving arriving at Vigilus due to its illuminating beacon within the Immaterium.{{Fn|8c}}

As the sacrifice on Vigilus continued, a growing cult of martyrdom encouraged by the Ecclesiarchy swept across the world. The religious ferver fervour reached a peak when it was reported [[Saint Celestine]] herself had appeared in Hyperia Hivesprawl, and it was this revered figure who was able to rally Imperial defenders and finally slow the Black Legion advance there. In the subsequent defense defence of Saint's Haven it is said tens of thousands of Imperial troops were lost, but they eventually forced the Black Legion to withdraw. Celestine departed the region soonaftersoon after, reappearing at Megaborealis at the fortwall leading to Dontoria.{{Fn|8d}}

Thanks to the explosion of faith, Imperial forces became reinvigored and Greenskin and Genestealer Cult forces soon began to leave the warzone entirely. Many of the orbiting Ork warships had left, stranding the remaining Orks there as the ambitious [[Bootstompa Ghalgutz]] began his scheme to build his grandest bastion atop an ancient stronghold that had been uncovered in the fighting. Meanwhile many more of the Genestealer fanatics remained and began to scheme to use the religious fervor erupting to their own advantage. Outside of the walls of Dontoria, a gaint giant sinkhole appeared and from it emerged the few cultists that had survived in Dontoria. While greeted by their kin as a blessing, in truth they carried many foul diseases that would infect other cult cells.{{Fn|8d}}

**[[Heralds of the Inevitable End]] - 2 armored armoured warbands

**[[Armoured Serpents]] - 1 armored armoured warband

**[[Spectral Curse]] - 1 armored armoured warband