A trio of Death Riders, from the 173rd Death Korp Infantry Regiment, survey a battlefield on Nemea Primus. The hive city of Palador burns on the horizon.

A massive ork invasion of the Nemea System occurred nearly 10 months ago, and Nemea Secundus—an agri-world that feeds the massive hive cities of Nemea Primus—already has been conquered by the greenskins.

An announcement of this xeno attack was released only today ( 3 543 741.M41) by Nguyen Naval Base in the Belliose System.

“On 6 821 740.M41, a fleet of ork vessels dropped out of the Warp at the edge of the Nemea System and accelerated immediately toward Nemea Primus and Secundus,” Base Commander Lucious Antonius explained at a news conference to Imperial scriveners.

“By the grace of the God-Emperor, Nemea Primus was serving as a temporary staging ground for several Imperial Guard regiments that, having received reinforcements and new equipment, were preparing to be transported to existing theaters of war,” he added.

The commander declined to answer questions about the delay in releasing news of this attrack,  just the latest in a series of xeno and traitor threats that have left the Corvus Cluster beleaguered. It has been common, however, in recent years for Imperial authorities to attempt to suppress negative news—or put the most positive light on events—in order to avoid alarming the public..

A positive tone was exactly the tone that Commander Antonius attempted to project during the press conference. He emphasized, for example, that a sizable flotilla of Imperial Navy warships was in the Nemea System at the time of the ork appearance,  and this force of 17 capital and escort vessels immediately moved to meet the xeno threat.

“A significant portion of the ork fleet was destroyed, but in confronting the xeno warships, Imperial ships did not have the firepower available to stop the accompanying 13 ork Roks (hollowed out asteroids used as  orbit-to-surface troop transports).”

Although two Roks were destroyed as they crashed into Nemea Secundus—their trajectories too steep to survive their crash into the planet—four Roks survived their landing on the planet, and seven more of the massive asteroids survived their descent to Nemea Primus.

The XIVth Praetorian Guard Regiment finds itself hard-pressed to hold back a greenskin horde during a night attack.

There was insufficient time to deploy Imperial Guard regiments to Nemea Secundus, and the planet’s 500,000-strong Planetary Defense Force (PDF)  was overwhelmed within weeks by the ork invaders, Commander Antonius said.

But there were 15 Imperial Guard regiments on Nemea Primus—including two regiments of the Death Guard of Krieg, one regiment of the Praetorian Guard, and six regiments of the Diomedes Dragoons. These highly experienced troops, supported by nearly 30 PDF regiments, proved a much greater obstacle to the xenos’ plans.

“Supported by armor and air assets, these Imperial forces quickly responded to the ork landings,” Commander Antonius said.

It was impossible to deploy troops to every ork landing site, according to military officials. Instead, the regiments targeted two Roks that were easily reached, and every effort was made to destroy them before the orks could consolidate their positions.

One Rok was overrun, but the fighting for the second was fierce and lasted three weeks, Commander Antonius said. By that point, sizable ork forces from other Roks began to advance on the fighting.

“Facing envelopment by xeno troops, our regiments withdrew to a pre-prepared defensive line, allowing us to avoid heavier losses and put our troops in a position to protect the largest hive cities on the planet.”

An exhausted guardswoman of the 46th Mordian Iron Guard Regiment seeks a moment of rest after days of brutal fighting.

One hive city, Palador, and several smaller cities and industrial areas have been overrun by the greenskins, and civilian casualties exceeded 10 million in the first three weeks of fighting,

Fighting has been ongoing since the ork landings, and Imperial forces have been pressing the xenos relentlessly, Commander Antonius said.

“Knowing that the orks will attempt to set up their own manufactorums to build war machines, our forces have used its armored reserves to outflank and outfight the xenos’ largely infantry force and savage them. Xeno casualties are immense.”

Asked if this military success meant that the invasion would soon be crushed, the commander looked startled momentarily. But, recovering, he provided a less-than-reassuring response.

“Our forces on Nemea Primus are fighting bravely, and the xenos are being contained,” he said,  concluding the press conference. “We have every confidence that our brave PDF and Guard regiments will meet the xenos on the field of battle and earn the favor of the Emperor.”

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