As Daxim III turns into an ice world, 99.9 percent of its population has died, and the rest are on the cusp of dying of hunger or the planet’s frigid temperatures.

Continued from Part 3 . . .

Other news of interest

Necrons warships active in quarantine zone—Midyear, a patrolling squadron entered the Perdide System and observed the passage of a small Necron voidcraft [Classification: Jackal-class Raider] through the system.

The xeno ship quickly accelerated out of range of ship sensors, but its presence was a stark reminder that the xenos—who earlier had wiped out an entire colony in the system—had as much interest in the uninhabited system as did the Imperium.

That became even clear when the squadron returned to the system some months later and came under attack by a larger Necron force. 

At this time, the squadron of three Cobra-class destroyers had been reinforced with a light cruiser, and it put up a good fight. But, after a brief exchange of fire, in which the cruiser was damaged and one destroyer,The Emperor Defiant, lost power and crashed onto the world of Perdide, the squadron was forced to withdraw.

Survivors exist on Daxim III—To the surprise of Imperial officials, it appears that there remain survivors on Daxim III—a world devastated years ago by a collision with a massive asteroid.

The asteroid’s impact vaporized huge amounts of planetary material into the atmosphere, where it encircled the planet and blocked out solar radiation from the system’s star. Temperatures dropped to subzero temperatures, and it’s estimated that 99.99 percent of the planet’s population died within three months.

How long these survivors will last is unclear. The only evidence of any survivors is infrequent, static-filled vox broadcasts, but communications with these survivors is all but impossible as electromagnetic storms disrupt attempts to send a signal to the planet’s surface. These conditions also make travel to the surface extremely dangerous.

For the moment, naval officials say there simply aren’t the resources for any rescue attempt.

An illustration outlining the entry point of ork boarding parties when they attacked The Plagueclaw, a Death Guard cruiser in the Dozaria System.

Death Guard virus bomb Aroria II —In the third month of the year, Aroria II endured an attack by ork raiders and an even worse fate at the hands of the infamous Death Guard.

The ork raiders struck first, bombing cities from orbit before descending to pillage and kill. Arriving on the scene, a Death Guard cruiser, The Plagueclaw, came under attack by an ork Kill Kroozer, although the ship’s crew was able to repulse a greenskin boarding party.

By this point, the orks had satisfied their lust for looting and departed the system. The Plagueclaw took advantage of the orks’ departure to launch their own raid of the planet, finding sufficient supplies and slaves for their blasphemous needs.

As a final act of cruelty, as the traitor cruiser prepared to leave orbit, it launched several virus bombs at major population centers and killed millions.

Orks gain ground on Iconia—Plagued by an ork invasion, Imperial defenders on Iconia had to contend with a massive armored assault through the planet’s equatorial jungle. For a time, authorities feared their defensive line would shatter and allow the greenskins to seize a wide swath of territory.

The dense jungle terrain, however, eventually proved too logistically challenging for the xenos. Although achieving a partial breakthrough, a fierce Imperial defense, coupled with the xenos being unable to adequately supplies their troops with food and ammo, exhausted the greenskin attack.

Eldar raid Calypso—A force of approximately 5,000 Eldar warriors landed in an isolated region of the world of Calypso and began excavations for some unknown reason. The Planetary Defense Force responded immediately, but after a short period of bitter fighting, the xenos evacuated the area and returned to their orbiting ships—soon disappearing into the Void.

Imperial authorities have no explanation for the xenos’ motives.

Traitor rebels move through the forest as they prepare to attack an under-trained depot platoon guarding a crossroads on Ixion.

Troops executed on Ixion—Two squads of the 12th Belliose Depot Regiment suffered heavy casualties, and the survivors were executed for “fleeing in the face of the enemy,” because of a skirmish on the planet of Ixion.

In the midst of a war with traitorous rebels, two squads of inexperienced troops were ordered to secure a crossroads in the Malorian Jungle. On their arrival, they were attacked by traitor forces and routed, a defeat that allowed the rebels to march to the nearby town of Cytora and fortify it.

Traitor Astartes killed on Volana—A battalion of PDF troops on the twilight world of Volana report that they killed a single Blood Wolf warrior after a fierce battle that saw more than 300 soldiers killed. There’s no clue as to why the traitor Astartes was on the planet, but the planet has been a target of repeated raids in recent years.

Warp taint worsens on Dargav III—Dangerously close to the Heart of Darkness warp storm, officials on Dargav III report an increasing incidence of mutations among the fauna and flora of the planet. To date, authorities have been forced to slaughter half of the world’s grox population and burn a quarter of its grain crops.

Civilian food supplies are now being restricted to 2,000 calories a day per person.

+ END UPDATE +

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