Tumulus Samael's invasion
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History
After the Grimskull War, Graia remained under the watch of the Inquisition as the latter feared a resurgence of Chaos on the planet. Indeed, a faction of rogue Tech Priests captured a fragment of Inquisitor Drogan's Chaos-corrupted power source in the aftermath of the war, and began to organise heretical experiments in a remote underground complex on Graia. Before long, the rogue Tech Priests extended their research into forbidden Xenos and Chaos artifacts, resulting in the emergence of Chaos Cults on the planet. The followers of Chaos eventually rose up, taking control of hab blocks and factories near the secret complex. The area subsequently cut off contact with the rest of the planet. Though this development initially aroused not much suspicion among Adeptus Mechanicus authorities, Inquisitor Seibel of the Ordo Malleus did notice. Fearing the worst, she requested aid by the Ultramarines, but the Chapter spared only a single squad led by Veteran Malum Caedo.[1]
By the time Caedo's squad reached Graia, the rogue Tech Priests had conducted an experiment with the power source which caused a catastrophic failure. They opened a Warp Rift at Graia's sun, allowing a Black Legion force led by Tumulus Samael to invade Graia. Samael sought the power source to corrupt the planet's orbital space station, the Graian Crown, turning it into a powerful weapon. He and his followers, including some Death Guard allies, summoned Daemons of Nurgle and Tzeentch. They then butchered their way toward the secret labs of the rogue Adeptus Mechanicus faction, killing both the local loyalist defenders as well as the rogue Tech Priests.[1]
Meanwhile, Seibel sent the Ultramarines to investigate the habs which had cut off contact. As the Ultramarines made planetfall, their drop pod was severely damaged during the descent (possibly by Samael's sorcery) and crash landed on the planet's surface, leaving Caedo as the sole survivor. Undeterred, Caedo began his investigation, quickly discovering the presence of Chaos corruption and Samael's attempts at locating the power source. The Ultramarine followed the Chaos Sorcerer, killing countless Chaos Cultists, Daemons, and Chaos Space Marines. He even overcame a Lord of Change and Great Unclean One. However, Samael appeared to be always be one step ahead. His forces overran the secret labs and captured the power source before launching an attack on the Graian Crown itself.[1]
Assisted by Seibel, Caedo raced after the attackers, fighting his way through the Chaos-occupied areas of the orbital station to reach its Warp drive. At the same time, Samael started to use Drogan's power source to transform the Graian Crown's warp drive into a weapon which could enlarge the warp rift at Graia's sun to create a Warp Storm to engulf the entire region of space. This plan was foiled by Caedo, however, as he managed to reach the Chaos Sorcerer in time and killed him in a hard-fought duel. Afterwards, the Warp Rift closed, while Seibel secured the power source.[1]
Sources
- 1: Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun
- 2: Twitter Auroch Digital: The Auroch Digital team are huge Warhammer fans. Enjoy some models painted by the Lead Designer for #Boltgun Grant Stewart. Here we see Malum Caedo squaring off against the black legion sorcerer Tumulus Samael, both seen in the game. (Posted on 11/05/2023) (Last accessed on 01/06/2023)