Ultramarian Reclamation
The Ultramarian Reclamation is the Ultramarines Chapter's campaign to fully reclaim the worlds of Ultramar in the aftermath of the formation of the Great Rift and the Plague Wars.[1a]
Contents
Overview
Prelude
Following the return of the Primarch Roboute Guilliman and the commencement of the Indomitus Crusade, the new Lord Commander of the Imperium declared that Ultramar would be restored to its pre-Horus Heresy borders and once again encompass 500 worlds. Many of these worlds were already in Imperial hands, but would require negotiations with existing Governors and other authorities to transfer to the control of Ultramar. Many more however had been lost contact with or occupied by both heretics and Xenos in the turbulent period following the formation of the Great Rift as well as the devastating Plague Wars.[1a]
Though he was busy leading the Indomitus Crusade, Guilliman nonetheless swiftly organised a broad plan for the reconquest of Greater Ultramar. Four primary fronts would be launched out of each of the new Tetrarch worlds: Konor in the north, Andermung in the south, Vespator in the east, and Protos in the west. The initial offensive would focus on seizing key planets and resources, and in the wake of the four speartips would come auxiliary armies to fully occupy the region. Should all go to plan, Ultramar would actually encompass potentially far more than 500 worlds.[1a]
With Guilliman on the Crusade and Marneus Calgar still returning from the Battle of Bastior, execution of the campaign fell to 2nd Company Captain Demetrian Titus, 3rd Company Captain Mikael Fabian, 4th Company Captain Uriel Ventris, 6th Company Captain Ferren Areios, and 10th Company Captain Taelos. This force was joined by forces from the other Shield Chapters of Ultramar: the Reborn, Scythes of the Emperor, Silver Skulls, Avenging Sons, Sons of Orar, Novamarines, Praetors of Ultramar, Doom Eagles, and Aquiloan Brotherhood. These were further reinforced by the forces of the Ultramar Auxilia and Ultramar Defence Fleet as well as allied Adeptus Mechanicus.[1a]
As the newly declared Master of the Watch, Titus was charged with securing the sanctity of Ultramarines borders and had broad strategic oversight of the campaign aboard his Strike Cruiser Righteous Fury.[1a]
The Vespator Front
The Vespator Front is the eastern theatre commanded by Tetrarch Decimus Androdinus Felix, though Titus also is leading forces. Consisting of the largest campaign theatre, its forces been assigned a sprawling enormity of interlinked Sub-Sectors to conquer, making it the most diffuse of the four campaign zones. A high proportion of the systems marked for reconquest contain high-value worlds whose manufacturing and agricultural output will be vital to Greater Ultramar.[1b]
Felix began his campaign with a massive flanking maneuver conducted on a galactic scale. Besides Tyranids, his forces also battle Necrons under Nekrosor Ammentar and Death Guard holdouts from the Plague Wars.[1j]
Meanwhile, Captain Titus personally led a taskforce in early victories at Boruta II and the Battle of the Osymanden Way.[4] He then moved to the world of Idarus in the Heliodras System, seeking to save the precious Agri-World from Hive Fleet Leviathan. Directed by Commodore Gaius Silva, Ultramar warships caught the orbiting Tyranid Bio-Ships unawares in a flanking maneuver. The 2nd Company conducted boarding actions of the Bio-ships before planting explosives and evacuating via Thunderhawk. Meanwhile, waves of Drop Pods rocketed to Idarus' surface followed by dropcraft carrying vehicles and Ultramar Auxilia under Aemelia Minervas. In the following three days of bloody fighting, Idarus was purged of the Xenos taint and Titus personally slew a Tyranid Prime.[1c]
Before the fighting on Idarus had ended, Titus and his advisors tracked the Xenos fleet movements and found it had deliberately bypassed the nearby world of Novamagnor. Veterans of the Deathwatch knew what this often meant: that it was a Necron Tomb World. Knowing that Novamagnor likely represented a great danger to the region, Titus organised that the world be their next destination.[1c]
The War for Novamagnor
The Ultramarines arrived at Novamagnor to find a world in turmoil. Broken distress signals were still present in the System, and the surface was flooded with bizarre geothermal and electromagnetic readings. Gathering the Wardens of Ultramar aboard the Righteous Fury, the commanders agreed to move on Novamagnor's capital settlement of Obstinus Bastion. There, they would confirm the status of Governor Adrica Gallow, they would work to purge the planet of any xenos taint. As they discussed strategy, a massive but damaged Necron vessel ascended from orbit and broke away, disinterested in combat.[1c]
Titus ordered a furious pursuit and personally led the boarding operation of the Necron warship. After securing the damaged vessel, they discovered an intricate-looking Necron artifact within. The relic was brought back with Titus and studied by the secretly C'tan-worshipping Archmagos Wytbor Oct, who had pledged himself to the Ultramarines to have access to Necron and C'tan technologies. Oct warned that it might be a weapon and warned against destroying it due to the powerful energies that could be released and recommended that it be transported down to Novamagnor and analyzed in a Mechanicum Forge-shrine at Firebrand. Unaware of Oct's true allegiance, Titus accepted the plan and scuttled the captured Necron warship.[1c]
The Ultramarines landed at Obstinus Bastion, discovering ongoing battles between Human and Necron forces in a jungle region dubbed the Iron Wilds. As Titus, Gadriel, and Metaurus sought to reclaim Obstinus Bastion, the Mechanicum forces under Archmagos Oct sought to secure Firebrand and its Forge-shrine. Titus was quickly successful and had a brief audience with Governor Gallow, who informed him that Necron structures had shot from the earth and embroiled the planet in conflict. She also informed him that the primary Tomb complex, designated Site Umbra, had yet to put forth any Necron forces or show much sign of life. Titus then decided to launch a preemptive attack on Site Umbra before it could reawaken. Advancing into Site Umbra without any resistance and found Canoptek Constructs broken and strewn about. After coming into a massive central chamber, Titus sought to reach its center and plant a vortex bomb.[1c]
However before the Astartes could complete their work, large numbers of Destroyer Necrons burst out of light blossoms and attacked the Imperials. Beset by Lokhust Destroyers, Skorpekh Destroyers, Hexmark Destroyers, and Ophydian Destroyers, Titus, Gadriel, Metaurus, and their Battle-Brothers they commanded stood firm and launched a ferocious counterattack as casualties mounted. The Ultramarines were able to slowly fight their ways to the center of the chamber as Nekrosor Ammentar himself arrived and slew the last surviving Tech-Priest with the Ultramarines. With the Tech-Priests dead, any hope of activating the complex vortex bomb was lost, and to make matters worse Ammentar soon reactivated much of the Necron dead that lay across the chamber and personally tore apart Squad Gaius.[1d]
Seeing the situation as hopeless, Titus ordered a retreat and blasted their way out of the Chamber. The surviving members of Squad Gaius gave their lives to cover their withdrawal. Fighting their way back to Novamagnor's surface and their waiting Thunderhawks, the Ultramarines retreated from Site Umbra. Meanwhile, Oct had arrived at Firstbrand's Forge-Shrine and sought to unlock the Necron relic with him. While telling the Ultramarines that it was a dangerous weapon, in truth it was a C'tan Shard that he sought to unleash.[1d]
Withdrawing back to Obstinus Bastion, Titus soon discovered that the situation on Novamagnor was dire. Large armies of Destroyer Necrons had appeared across the surface, overrunning many positions. Worse still, reports of a colossal abomination in black robes wielding a scythe to butcher Imperials and absorb their very life-force had emerged. Commodore Silva used mass orbital bombardment to only narrowly prevent the total fall of Fortis Bastion at the hands of the murderous machines as Legatus Minervas and the 30th Macragge Defence Auxilia defended the wilds between Firstbrand and Battery Delta-04. The wounded Titus released his last reserve forces from orbit, prioritizing conflicts that could be won and commanding Silva to unleash orbital bombardments wherever he could. However, the presence of Necron Pylons hampered their effectiveness. He was particularly concerned with Firstbrand falling, for the relic Oct had secured could fall into Necron hands.[1d]
Utilizing his personal Astropath Dainal Kornelius to reach out for reinforcements, an Ultramarines squadron from the 4th Company informed Titus that it would offer aid and was on its way. Meanwhile, he divided his forces into three segments. One would be led by Gadriel and was sent south to Battery Halo-09, another under Metaurus moved to counter Necron forces pushing from the west, while a third moved north in tanks to intercept an attack from Site Dusk, rallying Ultramar Defence Auxilia retreating from the Nightbringer Shard along the way. Led by Repulsor tanks, the Ultramarines traded fire with Necron hordes led by the shard of the Nightbringer but did little damage to the creature. Air support provided by Stormhawk Interceptors also failed to stop the Nightbringers advance, but did wreak havoc on escorting Necron forces. Eventually, the Ultramarines were able to inflict so much damage on the Nightbringer's accompanying Necrons that they were forced to retreat, taking the C'tan shard with it.[1d]
As Titus continued to issue fresh orders, he soon observed the Necron Civil War spillover onto Novamagnor. Sautekh Dynasty forces appeared on the world, which soon were met by large numbers of Szarekhan Dynasty legions emerging from Site Umbra. The numerically greater Szarekhan Necrons were able to co-opt the Sautekh Necrons, who they now fought beside. Leaving the complexity of this matter to Oct, Titus instead sought to travel back to Site Umbra and reactivate the vortex bomb. He was able to confirm via augur scanning that Sites Obscurum and Dusk were linked to Umbra via extended tunnels, and sought to reach the bomb through these secondary sites. Titus mustered every surviving Ultramarine asset he had on Novamagnor to ensure the coming attack would be successful.[1d]
Despite the belief by Szarekh that Ammentar's rampage was directionless and had no objective, the Nekrosor and his Oblivion Court were hard at work with his goal of finding all the shards of the Nightbringer and restoring the C'tan. He had come to Novamagnor, called Uzshemek by the Sautekh Dynasty, to reclaim another shard of the Nightbringer. After swatting aside the Canoptek Construct defenders and corrupting many of its denizens, the worlds Necron Overlord, Haskateph, had attempted to flee with the C'tan shard in his flagship before the Ultramarines had come upon him. As they battled the Imperials, Ammentar knew he had to steal the Nightbringer shard back from them and kill every living thing on the planet.[1e]
Ammentar quickly organised most of his forces for a massive push on Firstbrand, where the C'tan shard was kept. Meanwhile, his Nemesor Anhutek employed her command protocols to pare off phalanxes of infantry and war machines from the mass, dispatching them to other routes to bolster secondary offensives and defenses of tomb nodes. At the same time, Titus led his own offensive towards Site Obscurum in order to use it to reach Site Umbra and the vortex bomb that dwelled within. Titus was angered by the fact that Archmagos Oct was using all of his own forces to defend his Forge-Shrine instead of giving any aid to the coming offensive.[1e]
As the Thunderhawks arrived at Site Obscurum, the Ultramarines immediately met the defending Necrons in battle. Titus led the battle personally, Gadriel at his side. However most of the Necrons were poorly organised, inaccurate in their fire, and badly led by a heavily corrupted Royal Warden. The Ultramarines used this to their advantage to press their attack and quickly push deep into Site Obscurum, fighting through hordes of Flayed Ones, Canoptek Wraiths, and Ophydian Destroyers. Meanwhile at Firstbrand, Oct learned of the coming massive Necron push. However the corrupted Archmagos refused to warn the rest of Firstbrand's defenders as he apparently was overcome by an alien presence.[1e]
Soon enough, Ammentar personally led a massive push into Firstbrand from the tectonic fissures that dotted the region. Quickly massacring hapless PDF, a wave of reports soon met Governor Gallow's strategium at Obstinus Bastion. Titus was away leading his own attack, and her attempts to communicate with the Mechanicus forces at Firstbrand fell on deaf ears due to Oct's machinations. Taken by surprise and unsupported, the Mechanicum and Ultramar Auxilia defenders of Firstbrand were quickly massacred by the Necron Destroyer horde. Out of desperation, Governor Gallow dispatched her own personal guard, supported by a Baneblade to try and save Firstbrand. However they were too few, and Ammentar himself led the destruction of the guard and their Baneblade, breaking through its hull and ripping apart the crew inside. Governor Gallow herself next appeared and took up her sword, leading a final stand.[1f]
Under sustained fire from a trio of Doomsday Arks, the forge shrine's gates were reduced to ruin and Ammentar and his Destroyers were able to enter the facility and kill the commanding Skitarii Marshal. Inside the central chamber, Ammentar came before Archmagos Oct himself and offered desperate supplication. Offering whatever aid he could to the Nekrosor, but his pleas were ignored and he was thrown to be ripped apart by the accompanying Destroyers. Ammentar's Crypteks from the Hyperankh Conclave next unlocked the Tesseract Vault containing the C'tan shard, and the Nightbringer rose before the Necrons from its prison.[1f]
Meanwhile, Titus continued his attack towards Site Umbra despite mounting casualties and ammunition shortages. Using Techmarines to lock onto the energy signature of the Vortex bomb at Site Umbra, the Ultramarines were able to navigate the labyrinth towards the central complex. As they neared Site Umbra, they found the tunnels surprisingly lightly defended as most of the Necrons had departed with Ammentar for Firstbrand. Only Anhutek and a small garrison lay between Titus and his prize. Resisting her masters call through sheer willpower, the mental strain put on her hindered her ability to detect the Ultramarines until they were right on top of her. Thus were Titus and his forces able to reach the central tomb complex and the vortex bomb before Anhutek arrived.[1f]
Titus' Techmarines set about activating the vortex bomb just as the Necrons under Anhutek arrived. Metaurus and Redemptor Dreadnought Poliadrus were left to defend the Techmarines as Titus, Gadriel, and the rest met the Necrons in battle. The ensuing fight was savage, and even Gadriel was badly wounded by a Skorpekh blade. Titus saved Gadriel from death before rushing to meet Anhutek in personal combat. While Titus was exhausted and wounded, Anhutek herself was weakened by the mental strain upon her from resisting Ammentar. After a difficult duel, Titus was able to destroy Anhutek's physical form, though her spirit phased away to a far-distant reanimation sarcophagus. By this point the vortex bomb was ready for activation, and Titus bore it towards its goal. He set in its designated deployment site directly beneath the pillar chamber and activated its timer before orderin ga full retreat. The surviving Ultramarines escaped just as Site Umbra was annihilated.[1f]
As Titus and the survivors reached the surface and evacuated by Thunderhawk, the subterranean network around Site Umbra was swiftly destroyed along with the rest of the facility. Upon taking flight, Titus learned that Firstbrand had fallen to Ammentar along with Obstinus Bastion and the Forge-shrine. Battery Delta-04 and much of the Steel Heights Sprawl had been equally overrun, while the last defenders of Tenacitus Sprawl were in full retreat. There was cause for hope however, as in other locations such as Munitorum Hub 242 and Battery Halo-09 the Necrons had been forced back. Moreover, Legatus Minervas had successfully evacuated Ultramarine and Novamagnorian forces from Battery Delta-04 and was assembling a new substantial army for renewed offensives. Meanwhile, with the C'tan shard secured, Ammentar departed the world and pledged to continue his crusade to annihilate all life in the galaxy by awakening the Nightbringer.[1f]
The Protos Front
The Protos Front is the western theatre commanded by Tetrarch Balthus of the Doom Eagles. This front has already developed a dark reputation, with some dubbing it the Haunted Front. Supernatural threats proliferate in these dark reaches, and many worlds within the region have suffered uprisings and sudden catastrophes. Balthus' response has been to increase the speed and ferocity of his reconquest, attempting to beat the region into submission.[1b]
The Andermung Front
The Andermung Front is the southern theatre under the command of Captain Portan of the Genesis Chapter. Though technically the smallest projected reconquest zone, this front's Warp-routes are fickle and labyrinthine, while many of its planetary systems can only be reached via convoluted routes or during certain celestial alignments. Some of its Sub-Sectors are notorious Pirate havens, while others have been the lairs of well-established alien empires for centuries.[1b]
Over the course of the campaign, Portan advanced the most cautiously and always sought to fortify his conquests before moving onto the next. This is done out of necessity for the difficult travel of the area.[1i]
The Konor Front
The Konor Front is the northern theatre commanded by Ultramarines First Captain Severus Agemman. The projected reconquest zone contained the highest number of preexisting Imperial-held worlds, but also large concentrations of heretics and rebels.[1b]
During their campaign, the Konor Front came into conflict with Ork Freebooters under Gorbog. However this did little to hinder Tetrarch Agemman, who was able to command and coordinate a large number of battles simultaneously in a way only Guilliman himself was thought capable of doing.[1b][1g]
Imperial Order of Battle
- Ultramarines - Under broad oversight of Captain Demetrian Titus[1a]
- Shield Chapters of Ultramar
- The Reborn
- Scythes of the Emperor
- Silver Skulls
- Avenging Sons
- Sons of Orar - 4 Companies
- Novamarines
- Praetors of Ultramar - All viable forces
- Doom Eagles
- Aquiloan Brotherhood
- Ultramar Auxilia
- Ultramar Defence Fleet
- Adeptus Mechanicus
- Deathwatch[3]
Sources
- 1: 500 Worlds: Titus
- 2: 500 Worlds: Titus – War on the Vespator Front
- 3: 500 Worlds: Titus – Dread Incursions, pg. 60
- 4: White Dwarf 520, pg. 18
