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...