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THE BEST SELLING CONTROVERSIAL NOVEL BANNED BY THE IMPERIAL INQUISITION

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Preface - The Long War

There is something fascinating about the Traitor Legions's wars.

They're half a legend, with stories of goat-headed daemons and scheming wizards, with entire worlds burnt to appease mad pagan gods. Yet, to the combatants, its all too real. For a war out of mythology spanning thousands of years, the grit is still there. In water-logged trenches, men are kept awake for days on end by the thundering of distant explosions and rustling of feral rats. Up to their knees in fine sand, men march for days on end beneath a pale white sun, while the painful itch of dehydration builds in their throats. Half shrouded by smoke, men clamber through vine choked forests, hearing nothing by the rattle of bolterfire. All across the galaxy, men die brutal deaths. Their names are unremembered, only the war.

Still, the Long War goes on.

It has its basis in the Horus Heresy, in which fully half of the Imperium's army (primarily Astartes, then known as Legionnaires) revolted against the enigmatic figure known only as the God Emperor. The cause of the rebellion is unclear. The Imperial Histories states that "[the rebels] were beguiled by a Great Evil, made slaves to darkness and to loathe light" His Just and Righteous Reign, penned as part of the Apocrypha of Saint Chastine, supports this claim, going as far as to insinuate that they were possessed by daemons and lost all free will. On the other hand, the controversial writings of Gerold Damien (banned in the Imperium) declare that, "the Legionnaires's psycho-conditioning gradually wore off. They become truly aware that they were slaves, abducted as children and shaped into a tyrant's weapons."

Whatever the war's cause truly was, its clear that the rebels were defeated and fled to the Ocularis Terribus, a warp phenomena known commonly as the Eye of Terror. Due to its warp-infused nature, it was beyond the Imperium's reach. There, they turned on each other. For nearly five hundred years, the Imperium was allowed to enjoy a relative peace, beset only by the Orks and Hrud. In the Eye, these conflicts heightened until one faction emerged dominant, the Black Legion. Once known as the Luna Wolves, they had cast off their old name and colors. Many members of the World Eaters and Emperor's Children, whose Legions were shattered in the conflict, were assimilated into it. Later, following the death of Konrad Curze on Tsagualsa, many of the Night Lords joined as well.

The Black Legion and all the Traitor Legionnaires serving beneath them stormed Cadia on 781.m31. Ships flew from the Eye like a storm of blades, each one sharper than the last. They eclipsed the Cadian Star, plunging the world into night. Its only light was the orange glow of flames. The Imperial Fists Legion was the first to respond. Though greatly outnumbered, they held off the traitors for as long as they could to buy time for reinforcements. Countless Astartes were sacrificed in the process, including Rogal Dorn himself. Ultimately, fleets from Hydraphur, Port Maw, and Cypra Mundi closed in on the traitors, forcing them to retreat. Originally known as the First Battle of Cadia, its now more commonly referred to as the 1st Black Crusade.

The 2nd Black Crusade followed a similar pattern, though this time the Imperium was prepared. Cadia and its surrounding worlds had all been fortified, and great fleets were posted just outside the Eye of Terror. Once again, the traitors were forced to retreat. A century passed, during which the last of the Imperial Legions were broken up into Chapters. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that the Black Legion would return. When they did, the Lord General Militant Amduscias described it as, "almost disappointing". Only the Black Legion, the Thousand Sons, and a small force of Word Bearers took part in the conflict, which was limited to only two worlds. At the height of the conflict the Daemon Prince Tallomin was summoned, only to be butchered with two days. With his death, the traitors fell back from Cadia and Saint Gerstahl's Tomb.

In a speech before an audience of thousands, the Ecclesarch Domitan declared, "the traitor's sun has set and the forces of evil are no more!". More than a millennium passed, during which the only recorded conflict against Traitor Legionnaires was a skirmish with the Alpha Legion. There were rumors that the Warmaster Abaddon had been killed and the Black Legion destroyed upon their retreat. A rogue trader who had ventured into the Eye was interrogated, and told his torturers that the Eye was completely empty, its worlds reduced to featureless white deserts. The Il'sariadh Craftworld sent a cryptic message of the Imperium, speaking about the traitors in past-tense and implying that a war with daemon-xenos had been the end of them.

Then came the 4th Black Crusade.

All of the Traitor Legions, from the Death Guard and the Thousand Sons to even the Alpha Legion, were united beneath the Warmaster Abaddon. It was the first Crusade to reach the Segmentum Solar, and it was the bloodiest conflict since the Horus Heresy.

Chapter One - Opening Moves

The Nature of Power

Below - The famous Ors Abaddon pict, as documented by the Imperial Inquisition


War, simply put, is a continuation of politics. Nations use it to further their own aims - nothing more and nothing less. To examine the 4th Black Crusade from purely the military's perspective would do it great injustice. To fully understand why the 4th Black Crusade occurred, and how it played out as it did, we must look at it from a political lens as well.

This crusade occurred at a time when the warp's strength was waning. The Astronomicon was almost as bright as it was before the Horus Heresy, and navigators all through-out the galaxy were reporting calm seas. The Maelstrom, sister to the Eye of Terror, was even receding in size. This raises a question: Why would the greatest Chaos incursion since the days of the Horus Heresy occur at a time when the warp was weak? The answer is because of it.

Power isn't derived from birth or fear or even rank. Power is derived from money. Through-out all of time and history, soldiers have answered to the men who pay them. Spies, bureaucrats, scribes, assistants, mechanics, and speech-writers all answer to their paycheck. Abaddon has maintained power through a combination of two means: the first is imposing tithes on the worlds he commands. The exact size of the worlds and the exact amount of wealth he reaps from them is unknown, but it was clearly enough for him to win the civil wars fought between the Traitor Legions. The second is loot and plunder from Black Crusades. However, on his own he couldn't wage a Black Crusade. His force would be too small to reap enough wealth.

As a result, Abaddon is forced to rely on other warlords. The majority of these warlords rely on tithing worlds. When the warp is strong, these daemon worlds are rich with resources, making these warlords rich as well. They have no reason to risk their lives fighting in Black Crusades when their worlds are more prosperous than ever.

When the warp diminishes in strength, as it did before the 4th Black Crusade, things change.

Their worlds weren't making enough money. If these warlords didn't find another source of wealth, they risked being deposed. They knew that eventually the warp would regain some of its strength - but that might not happen until after their own men, wanting better pay, murdered them. Nearly the whole Eye of Terror united beyond Abaddon.

The Cadian Knot

Below - The Stercore district of Cadia, as seen before the 4th Black Crusade


The world of Cadia offers the only stable gate to and from the Eye of Terror. There are few other options beside it. Approximately once every three thousand years, the sole moon of Belial IV scraps against the edge of the Eye of Terror, offering a short-lived but large gate. Arx, a world just outside the Eye that serves as an Imperial monitoring station, is an unstable and temperamental entrance prone to storms. One of Caliban's shards appeared to offer a gate, but when Lord Xadciel of the Word Bearers attempted to cross it, the warp closed on him like the maw of a great beast.

Narrow and claustrophobic, the Cadian Gate serves as a bottleneck for the Traitor Legions. Waiting on the other side are the great fleets of a hundred different worlds, and in its center is one of most fortified Imperial bases in existence - Cadia itself. This world serves to make a narrow choke point even narrower, and gives his enemy a base to strike from when the Legions are at their most vulnerable.

If the Warmaster Abaddon destroys Cadia (he has demonstrated multiple times that he has the means to obliterate entire worlds) he risks the gate collapsing on itself. If he leaves it be, he allows the greatest obstruction and threat to his forces to stand. This dilemma, known as the Cadian Knot, has plagued the Traitor Legions since the days of the 1st Black Crusade.

The approach Abaddon has consistently taken is to swarm Cadia by sheer strength of numbers, suffering grievous casualties in the initial stages of the assault. As the gate widens, the majority of his fleet is able to break through the Imperial blockade and spill-out into the Segmentum Obscurus. A substantial portion of his forces, usually no more than a third, are left behind to besiege Cadia. This is to prevent the Imperial fleet from building up Cadia while he crusades. Otherwise, upon returning from the crusade, he risks being blockaded from the Eye of Terror, and encircled by the Imperial fleet. Abaddon appears satisfied with this, or at least believes he has no better options, as he has never differed from this approach.

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Next Installment - Warpath

I hope this continues, it was an interesting read. Is there going to be fluff on the ground battles of Cadia?

Thanks for the comment, Themanwiththeplan. I'm actually currently working on making maps for the ground battles of Cadia. Hopefully I'll have the maps and the writing done within two or three days.

Very interesting, I am in you have my attention hope you continue to write.

Interesting. I have been playing around with the idea of writing a story from an in universe historical perspective as well. Neat to see how this one is turning out.

Now this was indeed a fine read, and label me a follower of this

Thank you for all the comments, they're much appreciated.

The Crusade Begins

Below - The fleet movements of the Traitor Legionnaires during the first two weeks of the 4th Black Crusade


With the warp growing thin, the storms surrounding the Arx Gate began to dissipate. Due to its unstable nature, the bulk of the Traitor Legionnaires were unwilling to navigate it, choosing the reliable gate of Cadia instead. Only the Word Bearers, assured by dark whisperings and dread prophecies, agreed to use it. Abaddon gave the Word Bearer's Dark Council the order to attack Port Maw. This would prevent the Imperium's largest standing fleet from intervening on Cadia, and would also have the added benefit of weakening Port Maw days before Abaddon's own attack on the facility. The Dark Council was concerned, aware that it would be a bloody battle, and that the plunder and slaves they reaped wouldn't be enough to make up for their horrendous causalities. To gain their approval, Abaddon promised to aid 1st Chaplain Erebus in his power struggles against Captain Kor Phaeron and the Prophet Kaerus. Abaddon and Erebus both benefited greatly from the deal, with only the Word Bearers losing.

Early on, all eight other Legions would besiege Cadia, though only half would remain once the Cadian Gate was bypassed. The Iron Warriors and the Night Lords would champion this prolonged siege. While the forge world of Hydraphur and Port Maw were attacked by the bulk of Abaddon's fleet, feints would be launched at Fenris and Ingiga. By attacking Fenris itself with a force of vengeful Thousand Sons, he couldn't lose. As he explained to Ahriman, either the siege succeeded and Fenris would be taken, or the Space Wolves would intervene and stop the siege, preventing them from truly taking part in the Black Crusade. Though Ahriman agreed, like Erebus he needed to be bribed. It took a payment of seventeen thousand slaves to persuade him.

Meanwhile, the small assault on Ingiga would demand the High Lords of Terra's attention, due to the fact that it would be the first Legionnaire incursion in the Segmentum Solar for nearly four thousand years. They would immediately commit to stopping it, neglecting more pressing threats in the Segmentum Obscurus. A group of World Eaters with a small number of Black Legionnaire handlers were chosen for the task. The World Eaters didn't need to launch an organized attack, maintain cohesion, or even use the slightest bit of strategy. All that Abaddon required of them was murder.

The Stercore District of Cadia

Despite the fact that the Stercore District represents only a small portion of Cadia's landmass, at the time of the 4th Black Crusade it housed more than half of Cadia's entire population and nearly two thirds of its military. It had been mostly untouched by the war (including the nuclear winter, which had a devastating effect on nearly all life outside of Cadia's equator) and was a verdant land where Imperial industrialization had yet to consume it. The oceans were still host to aquatic life, and dense forests still covered the land.

In Cadia there are only three types of cities, all of which were evident in Stercore. Most common were non-Imperial settlements, known simply as towns. These tend to have Low Gothic or ancient Cadian names, in contrast to the High Gothic names of the Imperial cities. In these towns exist Cadia's only civilians. In all Imperial settlements, all adults are conscripted (though only men can serve combat duty by the decree of the Ecclesiarch Domitan). The denizens of non-Imperial settlements have traded the relative safety the Imperium offers for freedom. Once per year, representatives from the Administratum collect tithes. Tithes evasion is common. Due to poor record keeping and a minimal Imperial presence, the Administratum is willing to tolerate a moderate level of fraud, but still destroys those towns that refuse to pay tithes altogether.

The most common Imperial settlements are fortress-cities, the smallest of which can support a population of one hundred thousand. These fortress-cities receive a great deal of funding from the Departmento Munitorum, but are held up to strict standards. Each one is expected to be resistant to unfocused orbital bombardment, to have a functioning missile defense system with at least three hundred laser turrets, to have an underground power plant, and to be equipped with the supplies to stand for six months under heavy siege. Most also are bristling with flak cannons and missile silos. The more extravagant are known to have dome shields that can be activated in the event of an attack.

Lastly, there are fortress-castles, towering behemoths of twisted metal and fuming smokestacks, held up to even higher standards than the fortress-cities. A fortress-castle must have a supply of water, fuel, food, and ammunition to last for six years undersiege. The food needs only be enough to accommodate the 'essential staff'. During the 2nd Black Crusade, there were multiple instances of mutinies where the fortress-city's standing armies learnt that their commanding officers no longer intended to feed them. Since then, most of these facilities carry slow-acting poisons, most commonly arsenide, which can be placed in the army's meals, as a means to kill them before they eat all the food supplies or launch a mutiny.

Connecting every Imperial settlement and some non-Imperial settlements are an underground magtrain network. In the past, settlements have used these networks to supply each other with supplies each one lacks in. The fortress-city Acre Mons had an highly productive coal mine, which was used to help supply the primitive fuel to those in need. There had been talks of disconnecting vulnerable areas (non-Imperial settlements) from the magtrain network, in order to prevent Traitor Legionnaires from capturing those areas just to gain access to the network. As of this writing, the plan has been set into motion, but during the 4th Black Crusade many undefended towns were still connected.

Due to Stercore's value, it was at the center of the Siege of Cadia.

The Disaster at Splintrock

Below - The Black Legion's landing on Stercore, and the prelude to the Battle of Acre Mons


For the past several years, Cadia had been plagued by chaotic corruption in the Martyr's Forest (which can be seen in the northwest corner of Stercore). The true depth of the corruption is unknown. General Sonsal exaggerated the threat, in order to receive the resources needed for his 'Purgation Groups'. Lord Castellan Desmond downplayed the threat, in order to save face and prevent retribution from the High Lords of Terra. Only the Sisters of Battle, at the forefront of the Purgation Groups, knew the true extent of the corruption, and they were sworn to secrecy.

Cowell Murkine, a historian with a questionable reputation, claimed that there was no corruption whatsoever and that, "the entire operation was designed to move money around, and hide just how much certain members of the Departmento Munitorum had stealing from the coffers." This seems unlikely, given the favor the Traitor Legionnaires showed the place, as well as the Sisters's vehemence that the forest needed purging.

Each Purgation Group had preceptory of Sisters of Battle leading the vanguard. They were the only soldiers who could be trusted to both eradicate the corruption and effectively police the Guardsmen under their command. Following the Sisters's heels was a heavy infantry regiment (if not two or three), usually armed with a great deal of flamers and plasma weaponry. Finally, behind them, were several mechanized regiments, whose main purpose was logistical. They brought supplies, fuel, and more men with them.

While the purge was in-progress, the 4th Black Crusade began. Ship after ship poured forth from the world of nightmare, all the colors of madness dancing across their shielding. Initially they suffered horrendous causalities, as the Imperials lit up the sky with streaking kinetic lances and brilliant lasfire. Nuclear missiles were exchanged, and the resulting EMP put civilian life to a grinding halt, as only the only electronics that still functioned were shielded military items. Paying dearly for each inch, the traitors gained ground. As the traitor's fleets became able to mass around Cadia, the ground battle began.

Drop pod after drop pod pounded into the Cadian earth. Fat-bellied frigates and armored Thunderhawks navigated the nightmarish skies, filled with roiling smoke, flak bursts, and anti-missile lasers. Clad from head to toe in ceramite, the Terminators of the Black Legion teleported where they could, striking where the enemy was most vulnerable. Cadia was swept away by the war. A great force of Black Legionnaires, whose exact numbers are still unknown, landed in the corrupt Martyr's Forest. Though the Purgation Groups were equipped to deal with mutant beasts, cultists, and stray daemons, they were not at all prepared to fight a true war. Purgation Group Nine, the largest of the groups, was caught on the edge of primary landings. What followed was the Disaster at Splintrock.

Below is an excerpt from the Journal of Miles Bure, a member of the Cadian 20th Heavy Infantry regiment.

Miles Bure wrote:It has been several days since I've last written. It slipped my mind.

The skies are black now. I'd heard stories about it, but I never truly believed it. Wilheiner says its because of the smoke, the rubble in space, and all the ships above that. During the brightest hour of day, things don't get much better than a sort of grey-blue. Sarge just says its because of daemons. I never really thought daemons were real, not even after weeks of being in the Purg. I'm not so sure now. When I stare up at the sky too long, my breath starts coming hard and my eyes water, and I get that prickly feeling on my neck like I'm not alone.

The Sisters are mostly gone now. Sarge says that they held off the daemons just to buy us time, but the way his little toneless voice sounds, I can tell its just a rehearsed answer. Something to keep us from asking more questions. James says that a man from the 23rd told him that the Sisters didn't just hold them off - they started charging. Then they ordered us to charge too, but the Colonels refused, and while they fought we retreated. Supposedly they opened fire on the 23rd even, and tired to burn down as many as they could. If that's true - if - that would make us heretics. Not just heretics, but traitors. Where can we even run to, if the daemons and the Imperium are both hunting us?

We're going through old ground that we've purged before. The sky is grey and so is the ashy ground. With every breathe, you're getting a mouthful of ash and smoke. My throat isn't just sore - it feels like someone tore the flesh away, and each little spec of grit is scraping against my bloody skin. Then there are these twisting black trees, where the leaves were burnt away and the bark was reduced to charcoal, but somehow they're still there. Every day there are less men. Good soldiers, good men, just can't take it anymore. After all they've seen and how far they've ran, and just how much ash they're breathed everyday, they don't have the energy to fight anymore. In the morning they refuse to get up, and we leave them behind.

Yesterday I ditched my flamer. Forty pounds of gear is too much to carry. We used the fuel for a funeral pyre, and we burnt Willis, Greaves, Charlie, and four other men that I didn't know. Willis cut his foot on a rock, and the wound got the green. It started crawling up his leg, and his foot itself went black and swollen, but he refused to cut it off. He died of fever. Greaves was shot in the gut, and no one was willing to carry him anymore, so he shot himself instead of being left behind. Charlie was executed for stealing from and murdering someone I didn't know, who was also in the pyre.

We are going to die here.

Of Purgation Group Ninus, roughly a third of the Cadian 20th Heavy Infantry (not including Miles Bune) as well as the 11th and 12th Mechanized were able to fall back to the fortress-castle of Acre Mons. Their escape from the traitors was short-lived, as within two days Acre Mons itself was undersiege. Due to its coal mines, extremely valuable Dark Age era generator, sizable armory, and the fact that it was host to population of more than one hundred thousand men, the Black Legion had truly had its eye on Acre Mons the entire time. Purgation Group Ninus had never been the real target.

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Next Installment - The Battle of Acres Mons

Now that was some grim reading with Miles Bure, I totally approve. I understand the IF arrive early in the crusade, does that mean your going to do the last stand of Dorn. (which you could for sure do in a first person as you did a fab job with your alternate heresy fluff).
Keep up the brillient work because I'm hooked.

Brilliant mate, absolutely brilliant.

This was truly a great read, and YES YES YES! More glory to the dark gods!

Again, thank you all, the comments really mean a lot to me. So far I've mostly finished up the Battle of Acre Mons (land battle between Black Legionnaires and Imperial Guard) and I'm working on the Battle of Port Maw (space battle between Word Bearers and Imperial Fleet). Should be done within two or three days.

To answer Themanwiththeplan's question, Dorn's last stand won't be covered in much detail, because that occurred during the 1st Black Crusade. Still, its an interesting tidbit of fluff, and expanding on it might be a later project.

Oops, my lack of knowledge and hoping got the best of me. .
Can't wait for the update with the teasers you gave LL.

Composition

In the days before the Battle of Acre Mons, five regiments of the Imperial Guard met at the fortress-castle. Two had already been posted there for months, tasked with defending it. They were the Cadian 38th Artillery and 2nd Infantry. Smaller than most regiments, the 38th Artillery was a well supplied regiment made up of combat veterans, where discipline was rigidly enforced. At the time of the battle, its strength was seven thousand men. The 2nd Infantry was its polar opposite. Made up of sixty four thousand untrained and poorly equipped conscripts, the 2nd Infantry had regularly faced problems with the Commissariat for its lack of discipline. Its commander, Colonel Kinsky, once said, "The only difference between us and Penal Legion is that we don't have the budget for shock-collars".

The 11th and 12th Mechanized, sister regiments that worked closely together, fell back to Acre Mons following the Disaster at Splintrock. Each one could call on twenty thousand men. Unfortunately, most were servants, messengers, mechanics, laborers, and servitors that were never intended for combat duty. Following on their heels were the broken remnants of the 20th Heavy Infantry, who had seen the disaster firsthand. One of the richest regiments, they were a force of combat hardened veterans, clad in carapace armor and armed with hellguns, flamers, and an assortment of plasma weaponry. Though their exact numbers were not well documented, it estimated that five thousand men were left.

This would put the total Imperial forces at one hundred and sixteen thousand men total, the majority of which could not be trusted to maintain discipline in combat.

While during the wet season Acre Mons could rely on rain and atmospheric condensers for water, during the dry season it was forced to rely upon the Rjeak River and trade via the maglev network. Aware that the traitors would target their water supply, General Sonsal arranged the regiments to protect it. A long line of 2nd Infantry defended the river from the south and the east. Sonsal hoped that the difficult forest terrain would slow down the traitors, and hamper the 2nd Infantry in the event that they attempted to retreat. To defend Acre Mons and the Rjeak River from the west, he deployed the 11th and 12th Mechanized. The flat plains there would serve them well, allowing them to outmaneuver the enemy.

The 38th Artillery and the 20th Heavy Infantry were stationed at Acre Mons itself, with a small scattering of the 38th defending the rivermouth. While the 38th defended the fortress-castle against an aerial assault, the 20th policed the terrified populace. It is believed that the experienced 20th Heavy Infantry was kept from the frontlines because Sonsal trusted them even less than his other men. There were rumors that the Sisters of Battle had ordered them to stand and fight at Splintrock, but instead they had refused and fled. Their convenient lack of Commissars among them helped to fuel these rumors. Many believed that the 20th had betrayed the Sisters, slaughtered their own Commissars, and had only fallen back to Acre Mons in an attempt to destroy the fortress-castle from the inside.

The traitors faced similar problems with moral. Rather than being organized into regiments, with strict hierarchies and high quality record keeping, they were instead made up of three independent warbands, with a small detachment from the Black Legion to watch over them. First and foremost were the Blood Maggots, a vast horde of slave soldiers led by fanatical cultists. Not a single Traitor Legionnaire was part of their warband, and the majority of them had never left the Eye of Terror before. Devram Korda, who commanded the traitors, was aware that the Blood Maggots would break if faced with any hardened resistance. For this reason he positioned them before the infamously unprofessional 2nd Infantry, whom he hoped would break first.

Second to the Blood Maggots in size were the Lords of Desolation, a vastly diverse warband led by Legionnaires of the Word Bearers. They relied on daemons and mortals to carry the brunt of their assaults. Korda placed them to the west of the 11th and 12th Mechanized. South of the 11th and 12th were the Black Reavers, a faction made up of former Luna Wolves that had never truly joined the Black Legion, but still answered to the Warmaster Abaddon. The Black Reavers were one of the largest warbands that relied solely upon Traitor Legionnaires in battle. Though they had many mortal slaves to call on, these slaves served non-combat roles, primarily maintenance.

Korda himself led a detachment of Black Legionnaires known simply as Korda's Chosen. He chose to remain close to the Blood Maggots, whom he didn't trust. The Lords of Desolation and the Black Reavers were left to operate on their own.

The total numbers that Korda could call upon are unknown. The Apocrypha of Talenpine puts it at one million. On the other hand, the Doctrina Historia Cadia declares that, "of the traitors, there were twenty five thousand score men, and five hundred score of the Legions." A great deal of the confusion can be contributed to the Lords of Desolation, who relied upon fluctuating numbers of Daemons. On one day, the Lords of Desolation might have twice as men as they did the previously. Despite all this, one thing that all sources agree upon is that the traitors outnumbered the Imperials by a significant amount.

Of Daemons

The role daemons played in this battle was an important one, and for this reason several misconceptions about the creatures should be correcting. When I use the term daemon, I am discussing the wide variety of xenos that dwell in the Immaterium, also known as the warp or the Sea of Souls. They are formed from the currents of the Immaterium, which in turn is believed to be fed by thoughts and emotions. If this is true, this would mean daemons are emotions given flesh. This may sound fantastic, but in truth is more mundane than one could think. Daemons are made of emotions the same way humans are made of stardust. While technically true, it sounds utterly alien.

The First Day

Below - A map portraying the troop positions and movements during Day One of the Battle of Acre Mons.


Following the confusion at the Disaster of Splintrock, Korda was unsure how many Imperial Guardsmen were left to defend Acre Mons. His first move was to order the Blood Maggots to blockade the maglev network. They accomplished this by tunneling deep beneath the earth and establishing a roadblock of rubble, landmines, and tank traps, all wired with plastic explosives. To gauge the enemy's strength, Korda then ordered his warbands to conduct small probing attacks.

The Lords of Desolation, misled by the unlikely success of their probing attacks, believed that the enemy was weak and that they could capture Acre Mons personally. Disobeying orders, they launched an assault on the 12th Mechanized. Word Bearers, draped with chains and parchment, herded vast swathes of the Lost and the Damned towards the enemy. In response, the 11th and 12th launched an all-out barrage of artillery, missiles, and las-fire. Realizing that they had disobeyed their commander and charged headlong into a meatgrinder, they chose to cut their losses and fall back.

Many soldiers couldn't. Crippled by the Imperial salvos, they were left behind in the Cadian plains. The smoldering debris led to brushfires, and soon the plains were consumed. All through the night, the smoke built and the dying screamed. An estimated five thousand mortals of the Lords of Desolation perished in the fighting. On the other hand, the Imperial forces lost fewer than a hundred men. Colonel 'Mad Bull' Buckner of the 12th sent the following transmission to General Sonsal:

Colonel Buckner wrote:Dear General Sonsal,

I enjoy this place greatly, just as you promised. So long as the war keeps up, I'll never complain about being reassigned again. I wish you good prayer and good fortune.

Your dearest and most loyal compatriot, Jack Buckner

The Second Day

Below - Pict Capture of Black Legionnaire underwater at the Rivermouth Skirmish


Believing that he could not win a straightforwards siege, Devram Korda made it his goal to contaminate the Rjeak River by any means necessary. During the night, he launched an fleet of thirteen Thunderhawks loaded with a powdered variant of the VX nerve agent. Those who flew close enough to the river to properly distribute it were shot down by the 38th Artillery, both destroying the ships and allowing the resulting fires to destroy the VX within. Other Thunderhawks flew too high, avoiding the artillery but failing to properly contaminate the river. Half way through the operation Korda called it off, fearful of exhausting his VX supplies for nothing.

By late afternoon, Korda had a new plan. Twelve land raiders, ferrying a group of ninety eight Black Legion Terminators, set off into the ocean. Voidsealed, the land raiders rode out three miles before turning and riding along the coastline, toward the rivermouth. Unfortunately for Korda, the clouds parted for a brief moment of time just as the land raiders set off. An Imperial satellite caught a pict, and it was sent to General Sonsal. A force of Chimeras (all-purpose, amphibious APCs) drawn from the 20th Heavy and 38th Artillery regiments set off to stop them. Two miles from the rivermouth, the Black Legionnaires and the Imperial Guardsmen met.

Even with the warning that the Guardsmen had received, the odds were still against them. While the Chimeras were primarily armed with anti-personal weaponry, usually multi-lasers or heavy bolters, while the land raiders were truly equipped to deal with vehicles. Each one came with twin godhammer pattern lascannons, capable of tearing through a ship's hall. Not only that, but each of the land raiders's inhabitants was clad from head-to-toe in void sealed terminator armor, meaning that they could withstand a breach in their hall. On the other hand, when a Chimera was breached, the Guardsmen within were doomed. The only advantage the Imperials had was sheer numbers. For every land raider the traitors could field, there were a half dozen Chimeras.

The journal of Erald Thonius, a member of the 38th Artillery, describes the skirmish as it played out.

Erald Thonius wrote:I had a very clear reason for volunteering. If I was conscripted, I wouldn't have any say in which regiment I ended up in. With my luck, I knew that if I was conscripted, I'd end up in a throneforsaken drop regiment. That's what happened to Jack. So, I decided to volunteer instead for the 38th Artillery. That's because we mainly get to sit on our asses in some General's fortress, and every once in awhile he have to reload. When the Archtraitor came, I knew that I'd made the right decision. I'd get to spend the entire war sitting on my ass.

Except I don't. Except the rivermouth was attacked, and clearly someone in High Command messed up, because an artillery regiment was called in to fight a battle underwater. I keep catching myself fantasizing about what General Sonsal would look like with his face purple and my hands around his throat.

The ride to the battle was awful. We had a Commissar, some guy named Brant, in our Chimera. There was a painful awkward silence, where we all just wanted to at least acknowledge the fact that we were being sent out to hell, but we couldn't with this bastard locked in here with us. The words 'suicide mission' and 'meatgrinder' were on the tip of everyone's tongues. When the terrain got bumpier, the Commissar started praying out loud, and none of us were sure if we were supposed to join in. The closest we had to a conversation was when Millers told Keel to fasten his helmet. Then the Commissar glared at both of them, and he had that 'I'm psycho and I'll fething stab you' look in his eyes.

When we hit the water, Halstrom threw up. Part of it was probably because of the sound impact, but I think most of it was because of anxiety. With that pregnant silence and the Commissar's crazy eyes, your fear just builds and builds. It snowballs. I could tell Halstrom ate cornbread for breakfast. Seeing that orange-brown slurry sliding around on the floor, changing directions every time we hit a bump, I'll never eat cornbread again. I'll probably throw up too if I just smell it.

Then Millers said it: "Firing positions." We lined up with our lasguns slots. It was at that point that the fear turned physical for me. Before, I could deny the fact that we were going into combat. I could distract myself with the Commissar's eyes and Keel's helmet and the cornbread slurry spreading it way across the metal decking, but now the upcoming battle was all too real. My gut started knotting up, tighter and tighter. My hands went shaky with the kind of tremors where, if you focus on them, it only makes them worse. The way my eyes started to water, I thought I'd break down sobbing hysterically any minute.

We plunged into the water. The Chimera rocked and bucked, and the engine roared. My view out the slot went blue-black. All the while this rushing noise came over us. You could hear the water running along the hall, and the waves crashing just over our heads. Right then and there I was hit with the vision of a Chimera half sunken in fine sand, its tracks whirring uselessly, a watery tomb. My breathing started coming hard.

"Remember the Litany of Faith," the Commissar said, his voice dark and brooding. "O' God Emperor, hear my prayer and know my devotion! Deliver me from fear! Deliver me from doubt! Deliver me from thought! My body is but a vessel for your guiding hand! Deliver me from-"

Something hit us, or we hit something. The impact reverberated through the hall. Halstrom started dry heaving. In a confined rocking space, that sort of thing spread quickly. Keel fell to his knees and started heaving too. My head was swimming. That pugnant rotten smell, given a sharp tang by stomach acid, just got stronger and stronger. I wanted nothing more than to curl up in a little ball far far away from the war. The Commissar was shouting prayers now, bellowing them as loudly as he could.

The heavy bolter started rattling, and the Chimera was shaking with it. Then the autocannon started barking, every shot ringing through our little metal tomb. "Open fire!" yelled Mills. "Thirty five degree angle! Left side!" I was on the right, so I could only watch. There was the whoosh of lasfire, with light flashing just out of the corner of my eye, and then the hissing of cool-down. They fired in concentrated volleys. "Forty degrees!" The men adjusted, still firing. "Right side, open fire, one twenty degrees!"

Our dozerblade must've hit something. Metal squealed and screeched against metal. Bolterfire pinged against our hall. The way the engine was roaring, you'd think it was just as scared as us. Our Chimera tore open first. Hearing metal being cut is one thing. Hearing it being torn open in long jagged strips is another. Lyn screamed as the water rushed in. He was trapped in the pilot's chair by his restraint harness. I wondered if it could still unhook underwater.

The rushing of the water, the rattling of the guns, the screaming of men, all seemed so distant now. There was no reason to be afraid anymore. At this point, things couldn't get any worse. Millers and the Commissar started putting on their respirators while the water pooled around us. There were thirteen of us: ten of us privates, Sergeant Millers, our pilot Lyn, and the Commissar. Thirteen men, and only two respirators, reserved for our commanding officers. Millers was always a good man. He wasn't the stereotypical Cadian sergeant, bellowing insults at the top of his lungs and treating us like maggots. He was a good man, and he acted just like he was one of us. I don't know how he expected us to just stand-by and watch him and the Commissar take the only respirators, while the rest of would die.

I always thought of him as better than that.

The lasguns were hooked onto the firing slots. That was because, if they could come out, some arsehole might just pull them out. That would create a hole where the lasgun used to be, and then water would start pouring in. But we had other weapons. Some of us had brought our own lasguns and combat knives. Keels drew his pistol while the Commissar was adjusting the respirator. He looked up and started to say, "In the name of-". That was when Keels pulled the trigger. I barely heard it, but I saw the muzzleflare, and I saw the Commissar stumbling back. Millers started to say something, but Sared and Halstrom both rushed him. I started working the hatch, trying to find some way to escape. The water pouring in was stopping me from just swimming out the tear in the hall.

In seconds, it was up to our waists. Millers, Sared, and Halstrom, were writhing and fighting over the respirator. A lasgun in his hand, Millers was furiously beating Sared over the head. Blood streaming down his forehead, Sared was groping for his pistol. Halstrom buried a combat knife in Millers's back, and started yanking on the respirator. The Commissar was floating on his back. His respirator was gone, but I never saw who took it.

The hatch opened outwards. The pressure difference between the inside and outside of the Chimera was forcing it shut. I was too terrified to notice. My head was swimming, and all I could hear was my hard breathing and all the blood rushing in my ears. With one hand, I kept frantically patting and groping for some lho-sticks. I hadn't smoked in four years. It must've been some sort of hysteria. My mind overloaded, and all I could think back to was familiar, unthinking habits.

When the water reached my collarbone, it hit me that the hatch wasn't going to open until long after I drowned. If I'd been smart I might've been able to get a respirator, but it was too late for that. The only way I could escape was through the tear in the hall. It was either that, or spend eternity with the Commissar and Sergeant Millers. So, I swam. The saltwater stung my eyes, but I was too panicked to care. I could've been shot and I wouldn't have noticed. Lyn was floating in his seat, mouth agape, still trapped by his restraint harness. His eyes were closed. Thank the God Emperor. I don't think I would've been able to handle him looking at me.

I was already hysterical. A waterlogged corpse that I knew very well, staring at me with glassy eyes, might've just made me snap.

My belt snagged on the tear on my way out. Instead of calmly taking off my belt, I fought like an animal in a snare. Eventually it tore. I powered upwards, towards sunlight. If I'd thought to look around, maybe I would've seen the land raiders massacring our formation, or the Legionnaires plodding through the sand. Instead, all I focused on was the sunlight above me.

There was an inflatable raft, filling with maybe a half dozen other Guard. I don't remember paddling towards them. One minute I was furiously swimming, and the next I was collapsed in a raft, breathing hard. Now, thinking back on it, the idea of someone taking a raft seems ridiculous. "Hey guys! You know how we're going in a sealed, confined, airtight space underneath the ocean? Well, we should bring an inflatable raft!" Yet I owed them my life.

I wonder how many other emergency rafts were brought, but never used. Maybe, in the chaos of battle, while men were struggling to escape flooded Chimeras, no one remembered the raft. Maybe there were those who did remember their rafts, but they never made it to the surface. There were more than fifty squads, and these guys couldn't have been the only ones who thought to bring one.

I don't know how much time passed, but soon the battle started to calm down. Two more men were furiously paddling toward the raft. As they swam, their movements became less coordinated. At first they were twitching and their paddling was uneven. Then they started to spasm and thrash. Over a span of thirty seconds, they lost the ability to swim altogether, and drowned well before they could reach us. There was something sickening about it. The way they jerked and writhed was grossly inhuman.

A few minutes later, we learnt why. Someone had been resting their hand in the water, when all of a sudden they yanked it back and shouted, "What the feth?" Their hand was twitching too, and he said he couldn't control it. Someone else said, in a very calm voice, "Throne, they must've used the VX. Its in the water."

"We won then," I said. My voice was somehow smaller than I thought I'd be. "I mean, we won, right? We were trying to keep them from reaching the rivermouth. And they never reached it."

"Yeah," he said. "Let's just hope it was far enough away."

A series of detailed tests confirmed the Imperials's worst fear: the water was contaminated to the point where it was undrinkable. They hadn't intercepted the traitors in time, and the VX had simply been released too close. Though they had inflicted grievous damage to Korda's Chosen, decimating the already small warband, the operation was a failure. Acre Mons had lost its water supply, and could no longer stand undersiege. General Sonsal and his Colonels held a late-night meeting. They came to the conclusion that they had no choice but to break out from the siege, as quickly as possible, and escape to the nearby fortress-city of Dracomortem.

The Third Day

Below - A map of the Imperial break-out attempt


Through the night, the Imperials concentrated their forces on the eastern flank. In order to hide this from the traitors, a great deal of the 11th and 12th's artillery and vehicles were left behind. Not only that, nearly a third of the regiment altogether was ordered to stay back, maintain their campfires, and act as guards. If the traitors caught the slightest hint that the Imperials were massing, all hope was lost. The 20th Heavy Infantry and the 38th Artillery were left behind at Acre Mons, in order to maintain order at the fortress-castle and defend the city from an aerial counterattack.

With a steady, crushing advance, the Imperials intended to break the Blood Maggots and cut through them before the other traitors could rally.

Within the 2nd Infantry, moral was poor. They were required to stay awake through the night, carefully and silently preparing for the coming battle. Most were aware that the General Sonsal along with the 20th and 38th were remaining at Acre Mons. They took it as a bad omen, believing that the commanders had little faith in the attack, and that they were being sent off to die. Not only that, but with the poisoning of the river, strict new rationing rules had been implemented.

Moral was likewise deteriorating within the Blood Maggots. For three days they had been encamped, and they had already expended most of their food. The slaves had become an unruly mass, and their commanders feared provoking them. Meanwhile, cultists often neglected their guard and maintenance duties in favor of drinking and gambling. It had been days since they had last seen their Traitor Legionnaire masters, and the fear that kept them inline was beginning to slip away.

Just as the sun began to rise, the Imperials struck. The Guardsmen went on a grueling march through uneven forest terrain, sleepless and red-eyed, bringing with them all the rations and ammo that they could carry. Blood Maggot sentries ran to their supervisors, screaming that the whole enemy host was coming down on them. Panic spread through the ranks, as commanders tried to track down and rally all of their men. Black Skull the Terrible ordered his men to maintain a static defense line: Devram Korda had all but arrayed his army for him, and Black Skull feared the consequences of disrupting Korda's planning. This was a dire mistake.

Firstly, it allowed the elements of the 11th and 12th Mechanized to use their tanks and punch through the Blood Maggots line, then curl around and catch the Blood Maggots in a pincer movement. Secondly, due to the disorganized array of the camp, it was practically impossible. Being unmotivated soldiers given impossible commands, Slaves and cultists alike deserted. What was initially a trickle of deserters quickly became a flood, as they realized Black Skull simply lacked the resources to stop them. With the Guard close on their heels, the Blood Maggots fled. Black Skull, then realizing his men had disobeyed the Black Legion regardless, understood that his political career had reached an end and attempted to flee with them.

Upon being informed of the situation, Devram Korda reacted poorly. The Victories of Amaruel the Blessed gives a visceral description of the event.

The Victories of Amaruel the Blessed wrote:His just and gracious lord, Devram Korda, stood resolute as a statue while the man relayed his message. He spoke of the advance of the False Emperor's slaves and of Black Skull's most blatant betrayal. All the while, Lord Korda never moved so much as a muscle. Even his breathing had stopped, and from his vox grille came only the grave's silence. When at last the messenger was done, Lord Korda said two words. "I see." Just as the man began to relax, letting out the long sigh of relief, Korda grabbed him. His armored gauntlets, black as onyx and trimmed with resplendent gold, came down on either side of the man's head. He put a thumb on each of the man's temples. Servos snarled as his grip tightened.

The messenger writhed in his lordship's ceramite grip, screaming and hammering at his lordship. There were small cracking noises, like thin ice beginning to thaw, and the creaking of overstressed wood. Then came the first true snap. It was sickly wet yet hard and sharp all at once. The man's face lost some of its shape, the flesh beginning to go dark, and blood gushed from his nose. Screaming turned to gargling and choking. Another snap came. Blood ran through Lord Korda's fingers, giving his gauntlets a sleek, reflective coat. With one final snap, the skull was reduced to shards and splinters, slicing the man's already mangled flesh and disfiguring him beyond recognition.

He let the corpse drop. Its knees hit the ground first, and buckled. The torso slumped against his lordship's shins, and its broken skull hung limply from a blood-drenched neck. In a voice cold as murder, Lord Korda spoke. "The Imperials are attacking, our right flank has fallen, and my largest army has betrayed me. Someone send for my lieutenants and, please do it quickly.."

While Korda's Chosen navigated to catch the Blood Maggots before they could flee entirely, he commanded the Black Reavers and the Lords of Desolation to do the same. A simple order was given: shoot anyone who so much as glances south. Korda and his retinue set off on Assault Bikes, riding across the battlefield. He told each commander he came across that the situation was isolated, the Imperials were losing ground all across the battlefield, and all that the commander need do was press the assault.

As Korda rode across the battlefield, he noticed two things. The first was that even the Guardsmen on the frontlines were carrying great packs. They were carrying their rations with them. General Sonsal wasn't fighting to win - he was fighting to escape. The second was that the Guardsmen weren't just from the 2nd Infantry: based on their badges and uniforms, he realized that vast swathes of them were from the 11th and 12th Mechanized, drawn from the western flank. He sent a message to the Lords of Desolation: "Our right has gone to hell. The 11th and 12th have joined the fighting. Take Acre Mons."

Apostle Tarik sent a curt reply: "I will do it."

Below - The tide turns


Traitor Legionnaires, the daemonic veterans of a thousand wars, herded slaves and cultists towards the Imperials. Gradually facing more and more resistance, the Imperials lost momentum. Colonel Kinsky of the 2nd Infantry ordered his men to fall back a short distance and regroup. He dispatched messengers to inform and 11th and 12th of his plans. Unfortunately, of the three messengers sent to inform the 12th, two were killed and the third was lost.

As a result Colonel 'Mad Bull' Buckner of the 12th was wholly unprepared when the 2nd Infantry deserted him. He found himself alone against a powerful force of Black Reavers and charging Blood Maggots, despite intelligence reporting that the Black Reavers were far to the west of him, and the Blood Maggots were falling back. Believing that the assault had failed and General Sonsal had lied to him, he furiously ordered his men to retreat. Colonel Ragert of the 11th Company than received two messages. Colonel Kinsky told him, "My regiment is falling back to regroup, then we will press on. Please be advised." Colonel Buckner told him, "The sons of bitches lied to us, fall back."

The 11th and 12th companies on the eastern flank began to retreat, and meanwhile the traitor's advance snowballed.

On the west, the 11th and 12th were attacked by the Lords of Desolation. The highly mobile regiments easily outmaneuvered the traitors on the plains, attacking where the traitors were spread thin and falling back before the traitors could retaliate. Though these attacks were highly successful, they weren't enough. With most of their companies fighting the Black Reavers and Blood Maggots on the east, these western forces lacked the numbers to truly fight. They fell further and further back. As this occurred, the lost messenger finally reached Colonel Buckner, and informed him that Colonel Kinsky was intending to fall back and regroup. This was hours after Colonel Kinsky had fallen back.

Colonel Buckner then began to rally his men, intent on fixing his error and beating back the traitors. When he was informed that the western flank was underattack, he ordered the 12th and the 11th (which was not even under his command) to keep the traitors back, declaring, "The eastern battle still rages, you must just hold a little longer."

General Sonsal, upon being informed of the situation, decided that if he couldn't escape with his army, he could at least escape with himself. He and his inner circle boarded an armored submarine and set off down the Rjeak River, intent on escaping the battle by any means necessary. He handed off command to Colonel Kinsky. In turn, Colonel Kinsky shot himself. A common misconception was that his last words were a message to General Sonsal declaring, "I quit". In truth, his last words were "I'm sorry" to his mistress, who was returning from the latrines just as he put the gun to his head. Command then fell to Colonel Buckner. By this point, the Imperial Guard's hierarchy meant nothing. The Guardsmen answered only to mob mentality.

They fell back until they reached the Rjeak River, which was poisoned with vast quantities of VX. Its floor was rocky and uneven, and its currents were treacherous. There were few places which Chimeras could cross, and these were heavily crowded. The northernmost company of the 2nd Infantry saw General Sonsal's submarine as he attempted to escape. With nothing left but bitter hatred, they fired on it. It was completely and utterly destroyed, and no survivors emerged from the wreck. Realizing that his men could fall back no farther, Colonel Buckner sent a desperate message to Devram Korda: "We are willing to negotiate the terms of a surrender."

Below - A pict capture of the 11th Mechanized 2nd Company on the eastern flank, backed to the Rjeak River


By this point, Korda understood that he had won. "No terms," he replied. "Complete and unconditional surrender, or complete annihilation. Your choice."

Buckner accepted.

The Implications of Acre Mons

What the traitors gained, first and foremost, was a foothold. Acre Mons was resistant to orbital bombardment. Using the facility's cannons and turrets, they could secure a small portion of Cadia's lower atmosphere, allowing them to bring in more reinforcements. Not only that, but Acre Mons was stocked with rations, fuel, and ammunition. The only thing it lacked was water, and that was due to the traitor's own VX.

Devram Korda was able to capture the leaders of the Blood Maggots, most notably Black Skull the Terrible. To punish their failure, he condemned them to a fate worse than death. They were skinned and castrated, and their limbs were hacked off What was left of them was tossed into pits of burning sludge and blood while daemons danced around them. What slithered out eight days later was no longer human, though The Victories of Amaruel the Blessed claimed, "It had the Black Skull's eyes."

Colonel Buckner was taken as a hostage. However, news of his surrender spread, and the Ecclesiarch signed off on warrants for his execution, for the high crimes of heresy and treachery. Following that, he was of little use. Initially several Black Legionnaires intended to torture him for information, but Korda stopped them, understanding that if he tortured the men who surrendered men would stop surrendering. Ultimately Buckner was let free, and his fate following that is unknown. According to the Doctrina Historia Cadia, he was eventually taken as a slave an Iron Warrior named Jharek Kelmaur.

Very much enjoying the read, keep it coming.

Thanks themanwiththeplan.

This entry got fewer comments than the others, and comments are generally a good indicator of quality. Anyone have any suggestions for changes I should make/things I should do in the next entry?

Maybe you could make it a more personal account like you have done in parts. Having your face pushed into the mud instead of a birds eye view might engage more comments IMHO.

Now this enjoyed, always nice reading about the previous black crusades. I would like to read more about the fate of the civilans inside the now rather luckless civilans. Also sorry for the lack of comment. Have been reading though

I'm liking this. the mix between personal and secondary accounts is very interesting.