Several ground-based sensor installations have been built recently in the subarctic regions of Dar Sai.

New sensor installations bolster Dar Sai orbital defenses

A string of new sensor installations have been built in the northern latitudes of Dar Sai to improve the targeting of the moon’s polar laser defenses.

An Imperial Navy fleet has been orbiting Dar Sai for more than a year in a bid to prevent Tau invaders from being resupplied and reinforced, but such a commitment of naval resources to a single world simply isn’t sustainable, Imperial authorities say.

In anticipation of the fleet assuming a more aggressive role in the ongoing xeno wars in the Sculptor System, military authorities decided a year ago to begin construction of the new installations to improve the ability of planetary ground-based and orbital defenses to shoot down airborne threats.

“If we’re going to rid the Sculptor System of xenos, we need Fleet Corvus on the move,” explained one military source. “There are at least two xeno fleets in the system, and if we stay on the defensive, who knows what mischief they’ll get up to.”

The Zoccadus Shrine on Kerberos has served as a holy site of the Ecclesiarchy for centuries, but Imperial authorities say the structure’s recently uncovered xeno origins require its immediate destruction.

Xeno ruin slated for destruction on Kerberos

Long considered a structure built by the planet’s original settlers, a mountain shrine on the ice world of Kerberos has been declared of xeno origin—and designated for destruction by Imperial authorities.

The Zoccadus Shrine, built atop a mountain range near the planet’s polar region, has been used as a hermitage and abbey by the local Ecclesiarchy for millennia, and the simple yet striking architecture is considered one of the most impressive sites on the region.

But, after an extensive study of the shrine, noted Imperial scholar Zechariah Mathias has declared the shrine actually of xeno origin. The finding sparked outrage from the world’s priesthood, which dismissed the conclusion as nonsense.

Despite worldwide opposition, a representative of the Ordo Xenos, the Lady Inquisitor Georgene Serillian, has endorsed Mathias’ verdict—and ordered the Imperial Navy to send a lance-armed capital ship to Kerberos to bomb the shrine from orbit.

An aircraft of the Carcharodons Space Marine Chapter zooms across the battle-torn landscape of Gamelan V. The chapter’s 5th Company recently saved the world from an ork invasion.

Carcharodons’ 5th Company saves Gamelan V

The surprise intervention of the Carcharodons Space Marine Chapter has helped crush a budding ork WAAAGH!

Several minor worlds already had fallen to the galactic west of the Corvus cluster, victims of an ork warlord by the name of Warackha. It was said that this xeno leader commanded nearly 2 million orks.

When this force invaded the planet of Gamelan V, however, Imperial authorities responded by sending several Imperial guard Regiments. “There was concern that further success by this so-called warboss could provide the momentum for a dangerous WAAAGH!,” noted one military scholar.

The early weeks of the war certainly underscored the danger. The orks seized a sizable portion of the planent, and the world’s PDF was teetered on the brink of destruction.

The war took a new turn, however, on 6 893 739.M41, with the appearance of the Carcharodon’s 5th Company. Deployed aboard a strike cruiser in orbit, the largely unknown Astartes Chapter waited but a day until its librarian Te Kahurangi, discerned the location of the ork leader. Then it deployed in drop pods and landed directly on Warackha’s position.

According to Imperial Guard sources, the 5th Company landed 5 kilometers behind enemy lines. Despite being outnumbered 20-to-1, the Carcharodons fought their way to the ork warlord, and Te Kahurangi personally engaged Warackha  in hand-to-hand combat.

Victorious, the Astartes leader hacked off Warackha’s head and raised it so the entire ork army could see it. The sight was sufficiently to break the xeno’s morale, and they were soon slaughtered by Imperial guard and PDF troops.

A Necron Monolith floats across the ruins of an Imperial city on Tophet.

Tophet breaks long silence; still resisting Necron invasion

Word has reached Imperial authorities that the Necron invasion of Tophet has been fought to a standstill, and if reinforcements can be sent, it is likely that the world’s PDF can win the day against this mysterious new xeno species.

Communications with Tophet were lost more than 18 standard months ago, and attempts by Imperial Navy to reach the planet have been repulsed by Necron ships patrolling the Dryillian Quarantine Zone.

But an astropathic message from Magos Abnightus, a noted biologis of the Adeptus Mechanicus, recently reported that Tophet still stands against the xeno invasion, and that new studies of the xenos’ advanced technology has been uncovered—a revelation that suggests may help Imperial forces defeat the xenos.

Despite this promising news, it isn’t clear Imperial authorities are willing to commit scarce Imperial resources to the fight. Significant forces already have been committed to the Mograin Crusade, a campaign by the Vorpal Swords to retake the Burning Frontier, and to the Sculptor System, which is suffering invasions by both orks and the Tau.

“Strategically, these two regions are more populated and industrialized than Tophet,” observed one source who asked not to be identified. “And there’s no guarantee that reinforcements will arrive in time to save Tophet.”

“On balance,” this source concluded,” it’s likely that Tophet must fight on alone.”

—

The Corvus Cluster is a Warhammer 40K blog documenting our gaming adventures in the fantastical sci-fi universe of Games Workshop.

TheGM: These photos were taken at the NOVA Open in September. So, by my logic, as I was observing the battles taking place, that meant they were part of the Corvus Cluster. Convoluted thinking, perhaps, but do I really need an excuse to share hobby photos?