Return to Megiddo Prime: A Killteam Campaign

The Era Indomitus, 999.M41 Reality tears itself apart from the Hadex Anomaly at the core of the Jericho Reach in the Eastern Fringe, to the furthest star system of the Segmentum Obscurus. From that hole come Warp Storms not seen since the Age of Strife, cutting off the galactic north from Terra. The initial period, known as the Noctis Aeterna -- or the Blackness -- is terrible indeed. For a time, all Warp travel is impossible and the far-spread planets of the Imperium are isolated, with no travel or astropathic communication between them. Worlds in their hundreds fall before the ensuing Chaos onslaught. The pulsing Great Rift or Cicatrix Maledictum spreads like an impenetrable curtain, robbing entire systems of the holy light of Terra. The birth of the Great Rift marks the start of what will be called by Imperial savants the Era Indomitus. 

Upon Megiddo Prime, a planet on the mend following a five-year war of reclamation and forty-nine-year rebuilding process, is cut off from the Imperium of Man once more. The warp storms created by the great rift ripple across the asteroid fields surrounding Shekkle’s System, animating, and spinning the rocks into one another, causing them to swing out of their orbits, colliding with one another in flashes of energy and explosions that can be seen from the surface of Megiddo Prime herself. For weeks following the first of the storms, the cold night skies are lit by blazing comet trails and blossoming explosions. Harbingers of things yet to come. 

Cut off from the Emperor’s Beckon and stable warp gates, the prefects of the planetary government and garrisoned Ultra Marines scramble to find out the cause of this sudden severing of communications. Within a month no space travel is permissible, the sea of rocks sent spinning into motion create a grinding gulf system wide, ships attempting travel outflank and pulverized by city sized fragments or perforated by streams of fast-moving rock that shear aside shielding and armored plates with ease. Within another few weeks, rivers of rock and asteroids pelt the surface of Megiddo Prime, shattering orbital docks and defense stations and pounding the planets frozen surface. Megiddo prime was at war with the stars, a war it could not win. Production of fuel and minerals came to a standstill as refineries and Hab blocks were obliterated, men and materials smashed and vaporized even as planetary laser silos sought to destroy planet killer sized asteroids, power crystals soon going dark after days of constant firing. The forces of the Imperium on Megiddo Prime fought an isolated war of preservation while the rest of the galaxy descended into flame, would there be anything left once the Indomitus Crusade finally reach the beleaguered system?

The forces of the Orks, seeing the Traitor legions had the same idea as they did for the Hive, rushed forward in a great Waaaaaagh! The forces of Chaos were not to be denied and both armies threw themselves upon the defenses of Artemis Hive. Artillery thundered into the ranks of approaching aliens, the Vindicators of the Black Templars blowing apart huge units of Ork Boyz. The Ultramarines surged forward to meet the hated forces of the Angels of Rapture, bolters, flamers and chainswords seeking a blessed end to the foul traitors. From elevated positions along the Hive walls, Space Marine scouts sniped enemy leaders, sowing confusion in the ranks of the Orks, even as the Traitor Guard continued their bombardment! Chaos tainted Hellhounds surged forward, ancient melta guns reducing the Ultramarine tanks to piles of molten slag. Hordes of Bloodletters surged forward to engage the crews of the destroyed tanks, even as the Land Raiders of the Ultramarines ground forward. At a turning point of the battle, a squad of Angels of Rapture Terminators teleports into the heart of the Ultramarine position, bolters scything down defenders as their lighting claws began to glow. Perjurious had seen this tactic used by the Traitor Legionnaires once before and had prepared for the move. The Angels were met by squads of Ultramarine 1st company Terminators that lumbered into battle from their transports, their power fists soon reducing the traitors to a bloody pulp, even as many of them were themselves disemboweled by lighting claws that slashed through their armored bodies. No less than 30 Terminators dueled to the death as the battle raged around them. Ork mobs overran the defenders south of the Hive and entered the Hive proper, choppas waving and trukks belching smoke. 

They didn’t sense the rumblings in the ground around them as they moved in for the kill. Squads of Ultramarines were set upon and the Ork wall was pushing the Ultramarines back towards their staging area. Several Ork Battle wagons lumbered into view, dozens of Boyz hanging on the crude frame, shootas blazing! Just as they rounded the street before the Genetorium, the wagons were blasted asunder by the screaming arrival of the Blood Angel Thunderhawks, Commander Dante himself, along with his Honor Guard and dozens of squads of Assault Marines plowed into the advancing Ork lines, powers swords and bolt pistols driving the aliens back. Captain Lycar of the Black Templars and his bodyguard of Terminators emerged from their Land Raider and assailed the Ork Warboss. Thunder Hammer glanced off Power Claw, Power Claw glanced off Thunder Shield as the two leaders clashed. As the battle wore on, the Warboss slipped on the accumulated ice and blood. This was all the opening Lycar needed. He swung his thunder hammer downwards, the Ork leaders head exploding in a burst of gore and metal. As the Ork dropped, his nearby boyz lost heart and began to retreat. A ragged cheer went up from the refugees and defenders as the Ork fell, even as screams of warning failed to reach the ears of Lycar. The shadow cast by the Bloodthrister blotted out the feeble sunlight, even as it raised its mighty axe to split the Marine in twain. As Lycar spun to face the new foe, he knew he would not be in time to deflect the blow even as he brought his shield around to his front. Suddenly the Bloodthrister dropped its axe from numb hands and toppled forward into the snow, dead! Looking past the Bloodthrister, Lycar saw the thumbs up from a squad of Ultramarine snipers, which even now were searching for new targets. The back of the head of Khorne demon had been blown out, the vile fluids staining the snows red! 

As the tide of battle turned once more in the favor of the Imperium, new reserves of Ultramarines moved to the front, bolters tearing holes in the remaining Orks, while they fought sword to sword with the Angels of Rapture. For their part, the followers of Slaneesh fought with all the ferocity of the Khorne demons, scything down Loyalists with glee. Commander Dante and his marines continued to harry the Orks, cutting down Tankbustas, Stormboys and Nobz as the murderous greenskins fell back. A thundering burst from the Traitor Guard Basilisks rained down upon his position, many of his warriors being destroyed in a blast of heavy shelling. Remaining Orks did drive by shoota attacks upon the survivors, even Dante himself falling to the thunderous firepower the Orks were packing. Even as he fell, a force of Killa Kans overran the defensive lines, hacking apart Black Templars, while cackling Tankbsutas moved into position to assault the enemy tanks. A force of Bloodletters fell upon Lycar and his remaining guards. The ensuing combat was bloody as sword strokes were parried, counter parried and returned. Even as mighty a warrior as he was, Lycar soon found himself alone against the demons and fell beneath a flurry of chopping blades. Ordering the reserves in from the south, Perjurious joined his troops as they threw back the invaders, spent bolter cartridges lining the bloody street as the force of demons lost hold on their forms and began to disappear into the warp. Seeing the Orks still fighting but reduced in number and isolated into small pockets of resistance, the Angels of Rapture decided they had had enough of this planet and withdrew to their transport ships. 

The battle for Artemis Hive was won! 

Cheers went out among the victors as more reinforcements arrived from space. The battle, though costly, had been won. Soon the flag of the Ultramarines was raised above Artemis Hive, along with the flag of the 27th Combined Arms Division. A gesture that the Ultramarines found to be highly justified and well deserved! As the victors consolidated their win, the western horizon was lit by balefire and smoke. The peaks their tumbled into the ground as more fissures opened in the ice, kilometer wide tracks of land tumbling into the bubbling magma abyss. As the defenders stared on, awestruck, a might Blackstone Fortress bubbled up from the lava, here forcefields sparking from the heat, her hull glowing super-heated white! The alien artifact hovered in few for several minutes, Ork Fight Bommas making failed strafing runs against it as there were burned up in the shields of the craft. Then with a hum that grew to deafening proportions, the craft screamed into orbit and disappeared. It seemed as if the Night Lords had achieved their objective on Megiddo Prime.

In the aftermath of the war, Commander Dante and Captain Lycar were found among the dead and wounded and the Apothecaries from over a dozen chapters fought for the right to restore these two warriors to health. The 27th Combined Arms Division was credited with turning the war, Lord Commander Isen was awarded the Emperor’s Cross. In terms of lives lost, the final numbers were in the hundreds of thousands, both civilian and military. The remaining Orks fled the planet surface in crude transports and commandeered craft. Many were shot down by the Imperial Navy, the rest dispersed among the stars. The Traitor Guard surrendered at Zebra Station and were incarcerated in the Penal Colony under the tender mercies of the Inquisition. Exterminous was halted and Megiddo Prime was gradually restored to the Emperor’s light. Tithes were reestablished and within ten years after the wars end, she became once more an Imperial World, with all the rights and privileges accorded. A force of Ultramarines established a permanent garrison on Hoarfrost Ridge, Captain Perjurious himself blessed the facility before leaving Megiddo Prime. 

As he moved to board his transport ship, the Captain stooped, removed his gauntlet, and picked up a handful of fresh snow. As he let the flakes fall between his fingers, he gazed first to the west and then to the stars. The Night Lords had used the war here as a mere distraction for them to find and recover an ancient and secreted Blackstone Fortress. In their hands now was a powerful artifact that would be turned to vile uses. What dire consequences would this mean for the Imperium, he wondered as he walked up the ramp, that closed behind him with a final metallic clang...

The war-torn surface of Megiddo Prime has suffered for eight battle scarred years. The forces of Chaos and the forces of the Imperium have continued their endless war with one another, this planet yet another footnote in their bloody eon’s long war. With the coming of spring to the planet’s surface, the harsh winter winds are subsiding, and the surface temperature is rising. Great vent of steam once more rise from smoking fissures, the Virgrid Plains are crumbling as the layer of permafrost is melting for unknown reasons. Theories run wild among the Adepts of the Imperium, speculations ranging from an opening Warp Gate to geothermal spikes to planetary fission. One thing remains certain, the surface of the planet is starting to crack under the strain of battle! Driven from the Virgrid Plains by the expanding fissures, the Orks dwelling there have set upon the forces of the Ultramarines once more. An army of thousands of greenskins march upon the defenses of the Artemis Hive, hell-bent upon capturing the crown jewel of Megiddo Prime. The combined forces of the Ultramarine 6th company and the 27th Combined Arms Division had been reinforcing the Hive City over the course of the past 5 months. The Orks ran into an array of minefields, razorwire defense lines and dozens of newly formed Bastions. Their crude trukks and ramshackle vehicles blossomed in the morning sun as they hit the minefields, Orks pin wheeling through the air as their transports were blown asunder! As the assault ground to a halt, the Orks struggled to reform as batteries of Quad Guns, Medusa launchers and Basilisks rained down tons of ordnance on their lines. The Orks were pounded for hours as they sought cover. The Ork Warbosses cracked heads and killed underlings as they sought to find a way through the defenses. Each of their ploys was meant with heavy resistance from the Imperials forces. Kommandos stalked through the minefields, only to run into booby trapped trenches and Ratling snipers. Feints with Stormboys and trukkboys were countered with rapid reserves of Stormtroopers and Marine scouts. Three days of continued bombardment were starting to take the toll in Ork bodies. On the fourth day of the battle, the stalemate was broken. Forces of Night Lords, infiltrating through the lines beyond the trenches, were able to assail the Basilisk guns with melta bombs. 

With the guns silenced, the Orks drove thousands of Grots through the minefields, their Runtherd masters using grabbastikk and squighounds to goad the little monsters into the mines. As hundreds of Grot bodies were thrown skyward by the blasts, the Ork trukks and boyz surged forward, throwing themselves upon the forces of the Imperium. Marine, Guardsman and Ork locked in deadly hand to hand combat as the greenskins sought to break the back of the defenders through sheer numbers. As the battle looked like it was turning against the Imperials, help arrived from above…. The orbit around Megiddo Prime was choked with asteroids, planetary dust clouds and drifting wrecks. The battle in the heavens around Megiddo Prime had raged even longer than the ground attack. Contact with the fleets had been lost but the battle for space supremacy raged none the less. Orks, Imperial and Chaos cruisers all clashed in and around the asteroid fields for many years now, the Orks gaining the upper hand for much of the campaign. Their insane asteroid pilots cared little for their ships, going full thrust through the spinning mazes of rocks to emerge on the other side and launching attacks on both Chaos and Imperial alike. With the arrival of an immense Rok, the Orks gained the upper hand for some time; the rest of the space vessels could do little more than hit and run attacks, trying to keep the Ork commanders off balance. As the seventh year of fighting came to an end, this would all change…. A force of Ultramarine and Blood Angel Battle Cruisers emerged from warp space in system and moved to engage the Orks at close range. Unprepared for the sudden appearance of reinforcements, the Orks scrambled to counter the Adeptus Astartes. But to no avail. The Space Marines proceeded to unleashed payloads of torpedoes into the Ork Rok, blasting it into thousands of pieces that burned up in the atmosphere or joined the eternal dance of asteroids orbiting the planet. With the seemingly easy destruction of the Rok, the Orks commanders ordered their remaining ships to leave orbit and seek safety in the asteroid belt beyond Megiddo’s sun. 

With the space lanes open to landings, Thunderhawk gunships, laden with Blood Angles and Ultramarines prepared for a surface assault. Led by the legendary Chapter Master Dante, the Blood Angels were given the honor of setting down upon Megiddo Prime first…. Even as the Imperium’s finest warriors prepared to land, the forces of Chaos played their final card. A vast army of Traitor Guard, under the lashes of the Angels of Rapture, moved down from the north and engaged the defenders at Artemis Hive. Hundreds of tanks, many of them barely able to move or in need of repairs, lumbered into position north of the Hive, a mustering of armored might not seem yet in the eight years of war. Immediately the bombardments began. Megatons of heavy shells rained down upon the Hive. Soon, the corroded armored skin of the Hive began to crack and crumble under the strain of the bombardment, metric tons of debris falling into the ice choked streets below. The loss of civilian life was horrendous, many of the workers unable to avoid the collapsing structure and retreating out into the teeth of the Angels of Rapture! Bolters grew red hot as the Traitor Marines gunned down thousands of refugees. Soon a great pile of steaming corpses littered the northern groundscape, and here the Cultists preformed their terrible ritual. A huge gaping hole opened in the permafrost, vile gasses spewing forth from the fissure, followed by insane cackling! A great host of Demons were vomited forth through the fissure. Flesh Hounds, Bloodletters and even a mighty Bloodthrister emerged from the rift and fell upon the hapless refugees! The carnage was sickening but mercifully quick as the host of Khorne bellowed at the Hive walls and moved to engage the Ultramarines. And so, the final bloody day of fighting on Megiddo Prime began…… 

The horrors of that final day of battle were too numerous to recall, though halo vids continued to record every event during the battle. As dawn broke upon Megiddo Prime, the fissures in the Virgrid Plains began to widen into kilometer long scars, tons of ice and snow vaporizing in an instant as the superheated gases wafted into the chill air. Soon great streams of liquid hot magma bubbled to the surface, the tortured land screaming out its agonies. Captain Perjurious of the Ultramarines 6th Company could only gaze with small concern at the distant thermal activity. Arrayed before him was the might of his enemy. Three full companies of Angels of Rapture, hundreds of thousands of traitor Guard and a host of Khorne demons stood before his dwindling forces. Reinforced overnight by the Ultramarine 4th and 5th company, as well as a detachment of Black Templars, his own company waited for the final push. The order to withdraw had been given overnight and the 27th Combined Arms Division had been transported off planet via Valkeries, their Lord Commander Isen renouncing the decision but understanding Perjurious was his superior. The 27th had fought valiantly during the war but the Emperor degreed their time on Megiddo Prime was done, they were to move with all haste to the Minos Cluster to deal with a Tyranid incursion there. So only the Emperors finest troops remained behind to rearguard the final evacuation of Megiddo Prime. The Inquisitor Stallman Klim had requested and received approval to submit the planet to the fires of the Exterminatus.

As the war spirals towards its unknown zenith, the forces of the god Emperor have begun to take the upper hand on Megiddo Prime. The armored onslaught against the traitorous Night Lords has been hugely successful, pockets of Storm troopers and Ogryn driving them out from their hiding places and into the frozen landscape surrounding the ruins of Artemis Hive. A daring early morning raid by the forces of the Reiksverld 27th, under the cover of Marauder bombers, leveled the kilometer wide barricades of bunkers, razorwire and trenches erected by the Iron Warriors and allowed the armored might of several tank companies to spill through the gaping hole. Traitor Guard and mutants in the thousands were ground under the tracks of the Imperial Guard as they sought to fall back to the safety of the Arbites Precinct. The debris cluttered streets soon ran black with the smoke of heavy flamers and Executioner rounds, no building being spared a blast from the sacred weapons of the Emperor, cleansing fires scouring the taint of chaos from the very plasticrete themselves. 

Forces of the Valhallan 1001 descended upon the ruins of the Genetorium near the Precinct house, demo charges in hand to deal with the automated defenses and force fields left behind by the Iron Warriors. As the guardsmen entered the building, the Night Lords sprung their trap. Explosions rocked the ancient building as planted charges blasted through the ceiling grids, burying dozens of guardsmen under a tomb of rock! Reinforcements were mobilized, earth movers and diggers rushing to the scene to help find trapped soldiers. It was then that the Night Lords struck their most devious wound of the war. As the myriad soldiers and civilians worked to remove rubble and debris, traitor forces unleashed a salvo of Whirlwind launchers at the nearby building, collapsing them upon the humans that were engaged in rescuing the Valhallan 1001st! Nearly 3000 lives were snuffed out in an instant, without the Night Lords having to lift a hand. Lord- General Isen was seen to openly weep at the senseless slaughter and has vowed the Night Lords shall suffer for this most heinous of acts! During the two year purging of the Arbites Precinct of heretics, the Traitor Legions continued to make war upon one another. The forces of the Angels of Rapture, still smarting from the betrayal of the Night Lords, launched preemptive strikes against coastal targets as well as the stronghold of Zebra Station. Once again, with the help of the World Eaters, the Night Lords drove off the enemy, sending the followers of Slaneesh back to their trenches in defeat. Smarting from recent losses, the force of the Angels of Rapture fractured, internal power struggles resulting in the crowning of a new leader, even as the old one was put through the tender mercies of the lash.

Strange natural events are seeming to occur at random, since the arrival of the Ork Rok dubbed "Party Crasher" by the 304th IG. Great upheaveals of lava and hot gases have burst upon the surface of the ice world, like burning wounds festering upon the skin. Rumblings form the mountains have triggered avalanches and the ammonia seas to the south seem to be dissapating into the atmosphere for unknown reasons. The strange changes remain a mystery to all sides involved in the war, it's as if the planet herself is rebelling against the invaders! The Orks continue to grow in strength as their numbers grow. The battle in orbit is taking a decidedly turn for the better for the Orks, several Kill Kroozers arriving to join the fray. Imperial naval vessels, stretched to the limit with aiding in ground support fire, were unable to stop the Orks from setting up a cordon and landing a Rok on the surface of Megiddo Prime! Bristling with weapons and packed with Orks, the Rok began a steady bombardment of Ultramarine forces to the south of McCready Airfields; the sky lit up by heavy kannon shells and krooze missiles. Captain Pejarious immediately pulled back half a company of Ultramarines form the front to deal with this new threat, even as the Orks moved south to capture vital pipelines and ammo stores from the Imperial Guard garrison at Curfious Ridge. The Orks continue to grow bolder as the forces of the Imperium are being forced to fight a two front war and are unable to bring enough might to bear on the greenskins to end their three.

 As the harsh winters are once again drawing to a close, the war has reached its seventh year. The strain on manpower and equipment is getting severe and something must give. As the dawn of the eighth year of the war approaches, chaos has lost much ground but the forces of the Orks continues to grow. What was once a perceived Chaos threat seeming to be crumbling as the Orks continue to take ground…

As the war drags on into its fifth year of fighting, the tides of battle seem to be turning. Reports are coming in from the front that the vile forces of the Traitor Legions are starting to turn on one another, eons old grudges pushing to the forefront of in fighting. Scouting units of the Valhallan 1001, under the command of Lt. Bjorn “the Kodiak” Gorgol confirm that a large force of World Eaters, dislodged from McCready airfield early in the war and though destroyed, have attacked entrenched units of the Angels of Rapture. While the battle was recorded on vid disk from afar, the Valhallans were witness to some of the most perverse, savage fighting of the campaign. The servants of the Blood God fell upon the Angels of Rapture in the pre-dawn hours, bombarding the fortified trenches surrounding the captured Iron Fist marine bastion with Medusa siege guns and Vindicator shells. Further heavy bombardment came down from the west, which Intel later revealed were from the siege guns of Zebra Station! 

Apparently, the Night Lords were aiding the World Eaters in their battle against the Angels of Rapture, directing the bombardment with unerring accuracy, disabling communications, and pulverizing the landing pads near the fortress! Many of the Angels were slain while in the ecstasy of torturing prisoners, flamers incinerating hundreds more as the World Eaters assailed the trenches in force. It became apparent The Angels were no match for the World Eaters, who excel at close combat fighting. After several hours of fighting, lumbering Dreadnaughts, armed with power claws and seismic hammers and fueled by battle lust, burst through the outer defenses, toppling bunkers and the massive gates to the fortress, allowing a sea of Berserkers to swarm into the breach. By the burning fires of the enemy fortress, the World Eaters massacred their brethren without mercy, the buzzing of chainswords and the splash of blood music to the sights and sounds of the Angels of Rapture, even as they died upon the blades of their allies. Intercepted transmissions indicate that the Night Lords seem to have orchestrated the attack upon the Angels of Rapture for reasons unknown. Even as it appears as though the forces of Chaos might be turning on one another, the armies of the Imperial Guard would beg to differ!

While the evacuation of several working camps continues, forces of the Dark Eldar prey upon the weak and isolated. Reports of atrocities continue to roll in from the fringes, butchered corpses, strange mutations, and unexplained pools of viscous substances are flooding the high command. Preemptive strikes against the Dark Eldar positions were launched, the weather and firepower from the guard driving the Zenos scum from their lairs and forcing them into hiding. It has been several days now since reports of attacks have reached high command and the Imperial leaders are cautious in declaring a victory. While fighting the Zenos on the main front, the IG has been waging a war against the forces of chaos as well. With the weapons systems on Hoarfrost Ridge firmly in their control, the 27th has pushed on towards the embattled fortress of the Arbites Precinct, near the ruins of Artemis Hive. Fighting there has been reported between the remnants of a Dark Eldar Kabal and a force of Ultramarines. Their armored companies have come under constant attack by the forces of Night Lords, masquerading as Ultramarines. It seems the traitor Legionnaires are fighting in the guise of Ultramarines, captured, and cannibalized during previous battles, the traitors are using this advantage to get close to perform their hit and run raids. All IG and Marine companies operating in the area have been issued new vox casters, comms and code numbers so identification can be verified, several friendly fire incidents have been reported and both sides are leery when dealing with the other. It seems the Night Lords have sown their seeds of dissention among both the Imperial forces and the Traitor Legions! As the war grinds on, the forces of the Orks continue to engage both sides of the war. The destruction of their airfields only seemed to galvanize their attacks further! 

Using the icy mesas of the Virgrid Plains, the Orks have once again established airfields and the telltale contrails from Ork Bommas again paint the skies across Megiddo Prime. A force of Ultramarines was dispatched to drive the aliens out of their bases. Poor Intel from 10th company led the commanders to believe they were facing a fracture of warring tribes, instead of the cohesive force they found! The Orks attacked from the sky, pounding the Marine column as it entered a narrow defile in the hills. The ground here is highly unstable, and the massive number of bombs being dropped causes the surface to buckle under the pounding. Vast fissures appeared in the frozen surface, many of the heavy tanks of the Ultramarines pitching into them and causing a logjam of tanks on the narrow ledge of the defile. The Orks then attacked with a force of battlewagons and boyz, overwhelming the Marines as they fought to free their vehicles. The air was alive with bolter fire as the Marines dug in and pushed the Orks first wave back. The snows were soon stained with alien ichor, burnt bolter casings, and spent flamer canisters. And still the Orks continued to attack, three more waves in total that day before the Marines were forced to give ground and withdraw. Even now the Ultramarine commanders fume at the ambush, and several of the high-ranking leaders of the 10th company have been relieved of command! Meanwhile the Orks have since used their Trukks to drag out the remaining tanks from the ice and even now are scavenging parts and weapons from the Imperium finest machines. Driving the Orks out will apparently be a long and costly affair…

The onset of winter has plunged the surface temperatures on Megiddo Prime to sub-freezing numbers, the holy oils of the Adeptus Mechanicus barely able to keep the mechanized forces of the Imperial Guard at fighting strength. Scores of Tech Priests work round the chronometer to keep the armored divisions fighting, for it has become folly to fight with infantry as the death world-like environment has forced most of the armies underground to wait out the season long winter threat. The air has become thick with ammonia, making the use of rebreathers the only viable way to conduct any sort of infantry sweep. The Adeptus Astartes forces are not so hindered, their blessed armored suits providing ample protection from the elements. 

Thus, the main thrust of war has come from the forces of the Space Marines. Elements of Ultramarines and Blood Angels have fought a yearlong campaign of surgical strikes on key positions occupied by the Traitor Legions. McCready Airbase has been purged of the heretic menace by Captain Pejarium and his Ultramarine brethren, while forces of Blood Angels continue to fight in the mountain range near Zebra Station. The Night Lords continue to fortify their base of operations high in the peaks surrounding Zebra Station, the massive planet pounding guns of the station systematically leveling defenses being erected by the forward elements of the Imperial Guard. The Blood Angels succeeded in destroying several resupply convoys bound for the station, the discovery and summary execution of several score chaos Machine Adepts leading many among the Mechanicus cult to summarize that the guns need repairs and the time to strike might be at hand. Praying to the God-Emperor for better weather, his prayers were seen to be answered. Six hours after instructing Brother Chaplain Xerkes of the Blood Angels to pray to the Emperor for good weather, the clouds parted, and the snows ceased. Lord General Isen was overheard telling his subordinates “That man has a direct line to the Emperor! I plan to decorate him after this action!” 

Using this newly garnered intel, Lord General Isen has ordered the long-awaited attack up Zebra Station. Using the cover of darkness and a mysterious break in the weather, elements of the 34th Elysian Drop Regiments began the assault on Zebra Station at 0:1700, via Valkeries incursion. They soon fell under attack from the traitor legions, led by squads of nearly arrived Black Legionnaires! As the combat raged, armored elements of the Reiksverld 27th moved Baneblades and other artillery elements into position and began pounding the mountain fortress containing the Macro Cannons. Even as the base shook and small avalanches of ice and snow cascaded down the mountainous slopes, Hades Breaching Drills emerged into the icy caverns beneath the gun emplacements. Swiftly following regiments of Imperial Guard and Blood Angels swept into the gaps, the frozen hallways echoing with las gun and bolter fire as they meant the enemy head on! The icy hallways soon became thick with blood as the Night Lords and Angels of Rapture fought back. Mighty Demon Princes were loosed upon the attackers, driving them back to the breached tunnels with claw, horn, and demonic steel! As the forces of the Imperium were forced to fall back, the Demon Princes assailed the roofs of the tunnels, collapsing them upon themselves and their enemies, burying all in tombs of ice. 

At 0: 2100 hours Lord General Isen ordered the withdrawal of forces, weather conditions worsening and the loss of the tunnels making the assault on Zebra Station unwinnable at this point. His advisors were of the mind that a more direct approach would be needed to take the battle zone and so the armored regiments withdrew from the front, leaving behind a sizeable contingent of guardsmen to keep the traitors hemmed in while their commanders sought newer ways of taking down the enemy. Word has reached Lord General Isen that a sizable force of Black Legion marines has arrived from off world, while all contact with the Imperial Fleet is still impossible due to the asteroid belt around the planet and worsening weather conditions. Several Valkeries dispatched to bring news to the fleet have been systematically shot down by Ork Bommas. The greenskins continue to be a thorn in both sides of the war, striking at random from a hidden airfield and launching full blown attacks in crude armored formations. The Virgrid Plains are overrun with the green skinned aliens, and reports coming in from scouts detail a large action between the Black Legion and Ork tribes. Intel is sketchy at this point and Lord General Isen is awaiting further details. A scout force of Salamanders has been dispatched to the region, under the command of Captain Patton. A skilled military lifer, Patton has been ordered to map the region, record troop numbers and formations, and take any prisoners for interrogation. The force was dispatched over a fortnight ago, and no communications have been forthcoming since that time. The war in the ruined Artemis Hive has reached greater heights as the workers have joined the forces of the Imperial Guard and Adeptus Arbites to wage a running gun battle with the sinister forces of the Dark Eldar. Using load lifters, earth movers and ore smelters, the workmen have taken the battle home to the Dark Eldar, driving them out of the Hab Blocks and back into the outer sectors of the ruins. The Dark Eldar skimmers, their mainstay weapons and key to their lighting raids, have been all but useless as the weather conditions have caused them to be grounded time and again. Many of the Kabal warriors have died in crashes as snow and ice stall engines and they fall like stones to the debris below.

When news reached them that the Dark Eldar had overrun and captured the Arbites Precinct, the Imperial forces moved in haste, surrounding the fortress, and laying siege with the earth movers. The fortress withstood three sorties aimed at gaining purchase of the inner sanctum, but each time the forces were repulsed by scores of Wyches and withering splinter gun fire. Squadrons of Medusa siege guns were moved into position and began bombarding the outer walls of the fortress before the onset of bad weather forced them to withdrawal. As the forces withdrew, their rearguard fell under attack from Zebra Station! For their own unknown reasons, the Night Lords were aiding the Dark Eldar! Defense lines soon crumbled under the impact; the Medusas blasted apart as they sought to find cover. The bombardment lasted long into the night, forcing the infantry to seek shelter while hell rained down upon them from above. The constant pounding took its toll on men and machine, the icy cold of night further undermining morale. During the chaos, the Dark Eldar had moved out of the fortress, slaughtering whole regiments of guard during the night, the darkness and noise keeping their movements secret. As dawn broke upon the precinct house, the flag of the Kabal still flew from the battlements. All across the square surrounding the fortress were the burning remains of the Medusas, huge, blackened craters and the frozen corpses of scores of Imperial Guard, their blood frozen in crimson icicles, the looks of horror frozen upon their faces……

As the war of attrition continues, the beleaguered forces of the Imperium have come under attack from all venues. The war in the mountains of Hoarfrost Ridge has taken a greater toll on men and resources than previously thought. The hit and run ambushes of the Night Lords and Angels of Rapture have forced the Reiksverld 27th C.A.D into a type of warfare they are not used to. Unable to simply blast the renegades with the might of their Leman Russ, Lord-General Isen has turned to the newly acquired commanders of the Valhallan Cold Bloods. The 27th has been training hard in the cold heights under their tutelage, learning survival skills, ambushing skills, camouflage, and winter combat. Great metal enclosures have been erected in the ruins of the Vigilus Colony, barracks, motor pools and supply dumps as well. Adept techs, with the help of hundreds of Servitors, have levelled the ruins and replaced them with the Hab Blocks needed to provide shelter for vanguard of the advancing 27th. The Tank Companies have been refitted with winter terrain gear, each vehicle in turn bathed in sacred oils and new blessings to protect them from the rapidly degrading elements. The mighty Laser silos on Hoarfrost Ridge have been retaken from the elements, the Tech Priests laboring night and day to repair and bless them back into the Emperor's grace. All the ceremony needed to complete the repairs is impairing the 27ths ability to use them against the Night Lords. 

Lord-General Isen being aware of the Priests rituals, still grinds his teeth in frustration at the delay on getting these weapons operational! Meantime forces were being moved into place to assault the gun emplacements of Zebra Station, still firmly in the grip of the Night Lords. All was proceeding according to the battleplan when the Orks struck. Roaring out of the morning sky, a horde of crude Fighta Bommas strafed the newly built base, detonating supply dumps while dropping bombs on the scrambling troops below! As flak guns lit up the predawn sky, the Speed Freak pilots dodged and weaved among the peaks, circling around in wild patterns, and unleashing payload after payload of bombs. The ground crews soon started taking their toll back, as the flak gunners tracked the crude aircraft, depressing triggers and cheering as one after another of the Ork planes blossomed into great orange explosions that lit the predawn, followed by ground explosions as the craft fell to earth. Less than 15 minutes after the attack had started, it was over, the remaining Ork planes heading back over the mountains to the west.

The forces of Chaos meanwhile have spent the years digging in their defenses and securing their lines. Hit and run attacks on the Imperial guard regiments were more of an excuse to relieve their troops of boredom than any real threat of doing serious damage. The warmasters had a long-lasting war of attrition in mind when they came to Megiddo Prime, knowing full well that they could not afford to fight a quick hit battle. They were here to recover something from the planet and could ill afford to lose their troops in failed attacks, their resources limited. They have been focusing their attacks and advances towards the ruins of Hive Artemis, crude energy readings giving the warmasters a measure of hope that they could complete their task and get off this forsaken planet.... Not all the Imperium forces fighting on Megiddo Prime are Imperial Guard. The Space Marines of the Ultramarine and Blood Angel chapters continue to fight alongside their counterparts, aiding in the raids against the Orks and Chaos marines. Forces of Ultramarines have succeeded in securing the Yarrick Pipeline to the south. A daring early morning surgical strike on McCready airfield caught the small force of Worldeaters based there in a deadly crossfire, elements of the 34th Tank Company "Thor's Hammer" hitting the traitors drop ships with battle cannon, ensuring they could not flee. 

Meantime assault companies under Captain Pejarium of the Ultramarine 7th took the fight to the traitors of Khorne, the Captain himself felling a mighty traitor Lord in single combat, chaos blade against thunder hammer, in a duel that lasted for over 20 minutes while the battle raged around them. By midafternoon, McCready Airfield was in the hands of the Imperium once more.

As the war enters its 4th year, the forces of the Imperium are digging in and taking back the surface one battle at a time. Fearsome snowstorms are grounding most of the aircraft on both sides, though the Orks continue to send up suicide Bommas that crash more often than doing any damage! Tech Priests are close to re-activating the laser silos on Hoarfrost Ridge. And the forces of Chaos seem to be getting closer to their true objective. And the war rages on..........

With the full onslaught of winter lashing the surface of Megiddo Prime, the war effort on most fronts has come to a virtual standstill. As the snows pile up, it is increasingly difficult to coordinate troop and artillery movements, many platoons getting stranded and unable to offer any sort of coordinated support. As a result, many of the warring factions are fighting hit and run battles with what they have, even as the weather turns even worst. Lord General Isen, of the 27th Reiksverld C.A.D, has requested additional troops and artillery to aid in his push through the towering peaks of Hoarfrost ridge, where his men are under constant bombardment from Zebra Station, still in the vile hands of the Night Lords. Pinpoint shelling has collapsed many of the passable routes under an avalanche of snow and ice. A full squadron of Hellhound tanks has been allocated to General Isen to help melt a path through the mountains through which armored divisions can be brought to bear on the Night Lords position.

In addition, the General has requested, and been given command of, regiments of the Valhallan 1212 “Cold Bloods”. These troops specialize in arctic warfare and their counsel has been of great aid to the 27th’s war effort. Upon entering the valley housing the ruins of the Vigilus Penal colony, the 27th came under attack by a horde of savage Orks! Where the Orks came from is a manner of speculation, but the Xenos scientists attached to Isen’s command believe the Orks arrived on the hulk decades ago and were all but destroyed. Upon death all Orks release a cloud of spores that, given enough time, can gestate into full Ork warriors. The spores were likely hermetically frozen in the global catastrophe that doomed Megiddo Prime, waiting for the return of heat, water, and air. As the planet-wide thaw began two decades ago, it is likely the spores grew new Orks, and these creatures now roam the surface of the planet. Scavenged weapons and the like were noted on the corpses slain by the 27th, who were well prepared when the Orks attacked and repulsed the alien menace with precision firing and faith in the God Emperor himself! Be what it may, there is a definite Ork presence on the planet and Xenos hunters have been requested. 

Reports still continue to trickle in from the western front of massacres of civilians. Discovery of the Orks had many believing that a face had been laced on the perpetrators, but the savagery of the attacks is brutal even by Ork standards and the discovery of strange weapons and armor have left the Xenos advisors shaking their heads. Several Xenos hunter teams have been dispatched to the region with orders to find and root out the source of these attacks, even as more workers flee their Hab blocks. The situation in orbit above the planet has rapidly deteriorated. Little contact with transport ships has been had in the past few months, the Imperial supply lines have been cut off, and garbled communications have been picked up via surface vox casters but of little or no value. It is assumed by ground commanders that the ships were destroyed in low orbit by the asteroid fields. 

These self-same commanders know now that their survival depends on using what ground forces they have until such a time as communications can be re-established and fresh troops brought into the theater of battle. Year Two of the war slowly grinds to a halt in the grasp of winter, even as the war rages on…

The invasion of Megiddo Prime has begun! Planetary assaults have begun in earnest, the forces of Imperium and Chaos dueling it out in the stars above the planet while contrails of landing craft and assault boats litter the skies above the stark white world. The atmosphere above Megiddo Prime is now a graveyard of ruined ships and asteroids, the Explorator Fleet no match for the Chaos cruisers that prowl the space lanes. Space Marine Battlebarges still duel with their twisted brethren, lending even more wreckage to the growing flotsam in orbit, many plummeting into the atmosphere, to burn up as if falling stars. The war on the surface rages on as well, the snowy plains shaking under the tramp of feet and the rumble of tanks. The Virgrid Plains, and the remains of Hive Artemis, are even now under siege. Forces of the Night Lords, World Eaters and more Traitor Marines have landed in force. The World Eaters, under a daring Deathclaw night assault, overran regiments of the 46th Valhallan IG and have gained possession of McCready Airfield. Using the only operational airfield, the Blood God's warriors are now in position to threaten the flanks of the beleaguered Ultramarines to the north.

Meanwhile under a coordinated battleplan, forces of the demon prince Slaneesh, the Angels of Rapture, overwhelmed a garrison of Blood Angel Marines as they sought to fortify the ruined Ironfist Marine Bastion squatting the shadow of Hoarfrost Ridge. Elements of the Night Lords, again under the cover of darkness, seized Hoarfrost Ridge itself, bringing online the massive ordinance batteries bastioned there. Soon enough the guns were trained on the Imperial forces to the south and the night skies were lit up with massive bombardments. The forces of the Imperium have been forced to dig in as their positions continue to be shelled by the massive weapons of Hoarfrost Ridge. Commanders even now are organizing commando teams to lead a coordinated land & airborne assault to retake the Ridge. Regiments of the 304th Cadian Rough Raiders, Chausers Chosen, under the command of Commissar Alexander (The Hammer) Micah are gathering for an all-out cavalry assault on the entrenched Traitor Legions even as swarms of Valkeries make ready to assault the peaks. The war for the Imperium grinds on into its third month now, the reclamation of Megiddo Prime now an afterthought in the face of the Traitor Legions assault. Companies of Ultramarines, Blood Ravens and Blood Angels are now reverting to Thunder Hawk assaults and hit & run tactics against the Traitor Legions, as the tide of Chaos grows larger. Imperial Guard regiments, including the Valhallan 46th, have seized several Morpheus factories complexes and drilling platforms, as well as curing the listening arrays of the Emperor's Peak. Using the massive auspex arrays there the Imperial commanders now have a much better picture of the traitor forces. Most of the Chaos forces have massed to the north of Artemis Hive where they are even now fortifying their hold on Hoarfrost Ridge. 

While the surprise attack of the World Eaters took them by surprise, the IG was quick to respond. A company of Leman Russ, under the command of Captain Orpheus “The Fury” Bane, has been dispatched to McCready Airfield with orders to root out the World Eaters and retake the airbase. Day in and day out now, their ground forces are being pounded by a constant bombardment from Hoarfrost Ridge and the battle plan to retake the airfields now hinges heavily on the Loyalists retaking the gun emplacements from the Traitor Legions. The forces of Chaos seem motivated, ready to sell their lives dearly. What is driving this fervor is only speculation at this time… Disturbing reports have begun trickling in from the fringes as well. Reports of slain patrols, ruined settlements and atrocities committed upon settlers are reaching the ears of the Imperial commanders. 

Short on manpower Lord Marshal Londras Cantrell, leader of the Explorator forces, has placed the Adeptus Arbites patrols on high alert, the grim judges tasked with finding the source of these attacks and hunting down the perpetrators. The black armored forces have taken to the streets, martial law in effect and the Arbitrators dispensing summary justice upon the streets of the temporary Hab Blocks. As the first year of the war for Megiddo Prime comes to an end, the forces of Chaos seem to have the upper hand as they stretch the forces of the Space Marines to the limit. Imperial Guard regiments continue to fight the bulk of the traitor armies, the mutants, and renegade guardsmen. In space, the depleted forces of both the Imperium and Traitor Legions have come under attack from unknown forces, the pirates playing a game of hit and run, using the asteroids to mask their approach. And the war grinds on......

 

Megiddo Prime

A History of Megiddo Prime

Settled in the early years of the 38th millennium, Megiddo Prime has enjoyed a relatively peaceful history and only recently, in the past century, descended into turmoil. Upon its discovery in 949.M38 by Explorator Bureaus Sheckle, Skeckle’s System (named after her discoverer) pulses on the Western Fringe of the Imperium. Amid a glowing whirlpool of mineral rich asteroids that span light years, rests a system of 6 planets and several moons. The only habitable world upon discovery was Megiddo Prime, a mineral ripe planet with a single moon. An Explorator Fleet, under the protection of a Clan Company of the Ironfist Space marines, began the processing of settling the new world. Acting under the doctrines of the Adeptus Pacificus the Ironfist Space Marines began bringing the indigenous population to heel, the Explorator Fleet descending afterwards in force. Masters of the art of planetary occupation, the Ironfists and Explorator swiftly brought Megiddo Prime under the Emperor’s rule. Great hive cities, sprawling conglomerations of metal, were erected within a few short years. Huge settlement craft, heaving with civilians drawn from hive worlds across the Imperium, brought settlers both willing and reluctant to their new home.

Despite the obvious advantages, its mineral wealth and prime location along space routes, the Megiddo system had one serious flaw. Widespread asteroid belts made travel to and fro treacherous at best. Only experienced pilots and Rogue Traders with tried-and-true skills could navigate the immense bulk freighters and ore ships through the sea of fast-moving rock. The mineral rich asteroids were a deterrent to communications as well, radio and com signals dampened by the dense minerals they contain, the Emperor’s Beacon the only source of communication unfettered thru the sea of rock. Still the population of Megiddo Prime swelled each year. House Artemis, a well-known mining cartel, was given charge of the world and tasked with meeting the Emperor’s tithe. Artemis Hive was built to house the clan leaders, guards and major domos needed to run day to day operations. All was well for decades, numerous other cartel houses joining Artemis and forging a mineral wealth-based conglomerate. But the original denizens of the feral world were forced into servitude by the Adeptus Arbites and Planetary Defense forces, terrorized by the Ironfists as well. Stripped of their world and personal freedoms, the original populace of Megiddo Prime was cobbled into a docile workforce. But this workforce harbored a deep-seated hatred, they did not view their conquerors as saviors but as enemies that needed to be destroyed. Thus, the seed of rebellion was planted, taking centuries until that seed bore fruit. When fate took a hand…

During the year of 957.M72 an immense space hulk came hurtling into the region, spit forth from the Warp. The hulk was traveling at such speed that when it hit the asteroid belt near Megiddo Prime, it exploded with a force of such magnitude that it burned out all sensor auspex on the orbiting star bases. Planet sized chunks of rock were flung in all directions, Megiddo Prime right in their path. The skies were filled with fiery visions, the impossible mass of burning rocks hurtling towards the planet, clear for all to see day or night. While it would take several weeks for the planet killing mass of rocks to descend on the doomed planet, all knew their fates were sealed. The leaders among the enslaved population viewed the coming apocalypse as a sign and they rose up in arms, nests of infiltrators striking without warning as Planetary forces strove to keep peace as a mass exodus was underway. Several days of fighting resulted in the rebels overrunning Artemis Hive, sacking the Palace, and putting the leaders to the torch and blade. Adeptus Arbites forces clashed with the rebels, the streets becoming killing grounds as the populace tried to get off world while the rebels slew all they came across, centuries of hatred boiling over into an orgy of killing. And all the while the asteroid cloud drew closer to the planet.

Worst still, the attendant Tech Priests who operate the vast auspex arrays in the space docks above the planet began to detect shifts in the tectonic plates of Megiddo Prime. The energy signatures revealed volcanic eruptions were a certainty. To further add to the chaos, initial chunks of the shattered hulk began to shower the atmosphere of Megiddo Prime, destroying array stations and evacuation craft that were in orbit and dropping off the passengers that were originally board the hulk, Orks! Many of the greenskins survived the impact of the hulk fragments upon the surface and began to muster their kind, determined to bring yet another world under their green heel. But their attack would be short lived. Looking skyward the green skinned monsters saw their fate as well, their brutal cries hurling skywards, directed at the rocks that doomed the planet.

Three weeks and a day after the hulk arrived in system, Megiddo Prime died. The asteroids hit the planet in her north oceans, spinning the planet on its axis and moving it out of orbit. Water was vaporized in an instant, the resulting burst of steam boiling millions in an instant. The atmosphere was ripped asunder; cosmic rays bathing the planet in hellish heat, all vegetation burned, the atmosphere igniting as if under the holy fires of the Exterminous. Clouds of ash and steam were hurled skyward, blocking out the sun and dropping the world into sub arctic death. The planet froze, many of the survivors frozen on the spot as the temperatures plummeted overnight.

And so, Megiddo Prime became a Ghost World, her population gone, her proud hive cities and all their wealth and technology buried under a crust of snow and ice. It had remained thus for centuries. But now the time to reclaim the world draws near. The asteroid storms have abated. The atmosphere has stabilized, and the draw of the planet’s wealth cannot be ignored. While the Imperium musters an army to reclaim their lost jewel, other eyes gaze upon Megiddo Prime. Hungry eyes...

 

 

 Old School Ork terrain: KillTeam