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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
m
clean up, replaced: organiz → organis (5)
In 694999.[[M41]], infamous Ork Warlord [[Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka]] arrived in the Octarius Sector. He had grown bored of the [[Third War for Armageddon]] and proclaimed that he was beginning a new [[Great Waaagh!]]. By this point, the Ork forces in the sector were under the control of [[Zog Steeltoof]], who had risen to power after [[Gorsnik Magash]] had joined the fighting on [[Armageddon]]. Seeing the opportunity for a good fight, Ghazghkull came to the aid of the Orks of Octarius and after slaying a mighty [[Mawloc]], has rallied the Greenskins there to his cause.{{Fn|5}}
After reorganizing reorganising and reinvigorating the Greenskin cause in Octarius, Ghazghkull departed and is now leading an armada of five million warships towards the Imperium.{{Fn|7}}
===Skull Hunt===
====Da Maw====
After his ascension, Bloodprice organized organised an even greater warband from not only the Skullhunt but also the [[Bloodblessed]], [[Bloody Dawn]], [[Gorefists]], and [[Harvest]] alongside hordes of [[Cultist]]s, [[Beastmen]], [[Chaos Knight]]s, and [[Dark Mechanicum]]. He moved on to an Ork world dubbed "Da Maw" where horde after horde of Tyranids threw themselves into battle with Greenskins on a colossal scale. To Bloodprice, this war-strewn land was a paradise and blessing of Khorne. He used his flagship ''Goredrenched'' to lead his armada into the planet's orbit, smashing past Greenskin and Tyranid ships and aiming to land on the world to engage in total slaughter.{{Fn|10c}}
===Imperial Involvement===
The powerful and well-garrisoned Fortress World of Vand was next. [[Void Shield]] generators made orbital bombardment futile, and the Tyranids instead landed at the inaccessible peaks of the Skypierce Mountains, deploying large amounts of [[Zoanthrope]]s, [[Neurothrope]]s, and [[Maleceptor]]s. They attacked small defensive outposts using swarms of lesser Tyranids as shields and thanks to their psychic might, they caused the void shields to fizzle. In their wake came fresh waves of beasts that finished off the defenses and consumed all within. Leviathan landed swarm after swarm and turned its attention upon the remaining defenders.{{Fn|10b}}
Despite its low population, Bianzeer's Hollow became one of the most strategically vital battlezones as it was home to Inquisitor [[Nashir Sahansun]] base of operations as well as shielding the [[Octos System]]. The Imperials were resolved to stand their ground and extensively prepared for the coming attack. On [[Saint's Blessing]] the miners mapped their tunnels extensively and baited areas with soiled clothing and parts of the dead. When [[Ravener]]s and [[Termagant]]s emerged, they triggered booby-traps which collapsed the entire tunnels. In return, the defenders suffered heavily, as the Tyranids soon adapted and tunneled around these traps to ambush Imperial forces. The desperate Imperial subterranean defenders soon earned the name 'Tunnel Devils' for their actions. On [[Holy Toil]], the quarries demolition experts were organized organised into brigades which laced strategic passes with minefields. Using these tactics they killed many Tyranids in rock-slides and kill-zones. On [[Death of Bianzeer]] thousands of trackers mounted on ice-sleds pulled by [[Canid]]s lured swarms of Tyranids into the frozen Great Lakes of Peldathusa. The Tyranids did not know the safe routes through the thin ice covering, and hundreds of thousands fell into the freezing waters. However, much to their horror, the Tyranids emerged from the waters unharmed and annihilated all in their path.{{Fn|10b}}
Four Deathwatch [[Watch Company|Watch Companies]] from the Eye of Octos fought in Bianzeer's Hollow, waging a valiant defence on Saint's Blessing's factory-spaceport centre. Using Malleus tactics, the Deathwatch struck down burrowing xenos and raced in battle tanks to wherever they reared their heads. After slaying the tunnelling organisms, the Deathwatch rushed along the Tyranid tunnels and collapsed them with explosives. In response, the Tyranids launched hundreds of tunnel raids simultaneously, slaughtering countless [[Guardsmen]] in the facility before eventually being driven away by more troops that had to be pulled off a major sallying effort. The Tyranids bombarded the defenders with barrages of Spore Mines, destroying defensive positions and inflicting horrific casualties. Despite the heavy fire, Deathwatch kill-teams calculated targeted telemetry for Imperial counter-battery fire that silenced the xenos gun-beasts, creating breathing space they needed to throw back the frontal and aerial assaults. The defenders held on and more Tyranids were drawn in, and without the Deathwatch's actions Bianzeer's Hollow would not have stood its ground against the Xenos. However the Imperials paid a heavy price, and while the Tyranid advance was eventually broken it would take years before surviving xenos were purged from the system completely.{{Fn|10b}}
====The Veloria Expedition====
The Veloria Expedition was organized organised after Inquisitor [[Athocles Van Roth]] grew concerned at the state of the Tyranid and Ork war. Deathwatch kill teams of the Eye of Octos discovered an Ork [[Mek]] invention by self-appointed King Mek [[Baddkrasha]] that disrupted the synaptic control signals of the Tyranids. The Deathwatch from Watch Company Secundus under [[Watch Captain]] [[Daox Glykas]] successfully seized the device, which was embedded into the King Mek's [[Baddkrasha's Crown|own skull as a crown]]. Glykas delivered the device to Van Roth, who sought to use it to turn the tide of the war. Van Roth eventually decided to experiment with the device in the Pctarius Belt, an area believed to have been decimated entirely by [[Saim-Hann]] and [[Biel-Tan]] [[Craftworld]]s. However at the [[Maiden World]] of [[Veloria]] Orks and Tyranids fought in isolation, making it a perfect testing ground. For the operation, Van Roth organized organised Deathwatch, numerous Imperial Guard regiments, [[Militarum Tempestus]], and clades of [[Magos Biologis]]. He also acquired [[Freeblade Knight]]s such as [[Impervious Rex]], [[The Scarred]], and the [[White Warden]].{{Fn|10c}}
Van Roth began field testing as soon as his forces arrived at Veloria, deploying units to capture live Tyranids and observing their behavior when in the presence of the Ork technology. He found the original crown was the only one that had any effect, and even then only when it was worn by captured [[Mek]]s. After weeks of failure he received word of an Ork fleet arriving in orbit too fast to evacuate everyone. If the Imperials wanted to withdraw successfully, they needed to move to a new position so their ships could reach them without being destroyed in orbit. Van Roth planned to use Deathwatch elements to infiltrate areas of the large mountain range among whose foothills they had deployed, where there were a significant number of Tyranids. Their aim was to lure invading Orks into the Tyranids midst, using it as a distraction to withdraw. Meanwhile Van Roth and others would enter the ruined Haven Spire and destroy it, creating a detonation that would close the mountain path to any Greenskins that pursue. The other Imperial commanders such as [[Barcelia Mung]] and [[Daox Glykas]] were skeptical of the plan and advised abandoning the crown, but Van Roth refused.{{Fn|10c}}
