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One of my absolute fav parts of the recent codices are the little vignette stories that are usually listed chronologically after the main fluff section.
They give some really nice little teaser ideas or "what might happen next moments" or just plain cool ideas.

I wrote up a couple but feel free to write your own here, maybe we can build a collection.
In keeping with the style keep then short n sweet though!

On Rigel 4, Mechanicus forces fighting a vicious Necron assault find themselves almost completely wiped out.
With their landing zone destroyed and no way to bring in reinforcements, Adepts onboard an orbiting Ark Mechanicus attempt a truly audacious feat.
They stress their teleportarium to near breaking point but manage to teleport a Reaver titan to within a kilometer of their embattled forces.
The Reaver lets loose its fury and a working beach head is established hours later. The fightback for Rigel 4 begins.

On Pollux 2, a last unit of loyal Bullgryns hold back an ever growing tide of Tyranids rallied on by their Commissar.
Wave after wave of Xenos crash against their slab shields.
Their last stand is almost successful until a beast of truly mythic proportions engages their lines.
Only one Bullgryn survivor is extracted grunting madly about “ta beast wiv only un eye”.
He is mind wiped later as reports are sent to Order Xenos Death Watch teams.

Very nicely done. I like the idea of an Ogryn last stand against waves of Nids. That might be a fun game to play too.

I have completely overlooked this sort of thing in the codexes but now you mention it I can recall seeing these kinds of timeline stories before. And while I've never given it much thought as a creative writing style I can certainly see the appeal. Think of something just plain awesome-sauce and report when it happened. I'll try to have a go and post a couple soon.

Ok. Here's my attempt. Could prob do with an edit down.

On Angelis an imperial agent observes and records an Ork Gargant of truly unprecedented scale in the final stages of construction at the heart of a bustling ork society. Her report proceeds with all due haste through the proper channels , arriving on the desk of the Sector High Administrator within the decade. A tailored strike force is ordered but delays in releasing specialist materiel and mounting administrative costs stall the project. A subsequent Inquisitorial audit of the affair provides the impetus to release the strike force but to no avail. The Gargant is already gone, into the stars, leaving only a remnant of feral orks and a departure crater over two kilometres wide. The sector remains on high alert for any sign of the thing they call the GorkaMorka.


Hive world Mugabrey. The outbreak of over 600,000 prisoners in a prison hive in the southern continent calls for the deployment of four regiments of the Mordian Iron guard in support of the entire local PDF. Tensions mount in the North as the thinly stretched authorities fail to contain a popular uprising. PDF units are hastily recalled to Northern bases abandoning Mordian regiments still fighting in the south and precipitating a catastrophic loss of all Imperial forces as the planet falls to total Chaos within a matter of four months.

On Amristar a brutal planetary governor puts down a revolution with such undue violent bloodlust that it sparks an Inquisitorial inquest. The Inquisitor and his team become the focus of a bloody civil war resulting in the Governor being removed from his throne and palace, but not before it comprised the skulls of some eight million rebels including a number of the Inquisitor's staff.

Good stuff, really liked the Gargant one

Thanks, Glad you enjoyed it.

If you edit the OP thread title to invite folks to "write your own" you might get a few more responses.

A company of Sisters of Battle held off wave after wave of Tyranid swarms while civilians evacuated the planet from the last starport. Their immolators running on Prometheum fumes and running low on ammunition they made peace with the Emperor as the next wave made contact. Being totally overrun and as some Sisters were being eaten alive and crying out for the Emperors mercy, Thunderhawk gunships roared overhead and squads of Blood Angel assault marines dropped down and saved the day

Blood Angel -to the Sisters of Battle- “Hey this doesn’t look like a kitchen”

Having been captured in a raid by Dark Eldar pirates, a lone Howling Banshee warrior is forced to fight night after night under the covetous leer of her Archon master.
On the eve of her final match, he promises her a trove of delights from Commorragh and a place by his side as concubine if she triumphs.
As she steps out into the arena for her final fight she slits her own throat, collapsing before the match begins.
The Archons apocalyptic howls drown out the arena as he unleashes a thousand of his demented Wracks amongst the stunned crowd.

On Velar III a Dark Mechanicum cohort begin the ritual of binding a Daemon to their newly upgraded Decimator Engine.
As the ritual nears completion, a sanity shattering scream pierces through reality as the Daemon K'Tai embeds its essence into the warmachine.
It proceeds to slaughter the Dark Mechanicum forces including the leading Warpsmith, leaving only enough thralls and servitors to begin copying its own design.
One month later it makes its way off world aboard a transport freighter with three hundred of its Daemon-infested brothers.

I think I like the Dark Mechanicum one better than the Banshee warrior one. Bit more of a bigger deal for the timeline. I reckon these ought to be fairly significant events worthy of note on the timeline.

I like these. Good thread. If a bit dead.

On the nigthworld of Stygia V the hive cities become the hunting grounds of skull masked killers as mobs of heretics and madmen hunt the streets during the endless nigth, however the dark carneval of madnes, blood and sodomy turns into a all out festival of horror for the poor souls, whom strayed from the path of the loyal. As the world reels from the mass carnage caused by the heretics, a lone ship breaks back into reality. From its gloomy holds it spews out scores of black painted gunships and assault craft. Down below in the gloom of the world figures clad in dark red war plate hunt heretics and innocent alike, in days the world falls more and more silent as its people are run down and made to pay a bloody toll for their crimes against the lord of mankind.

DalekCheese wrote:
I like these. Good thread. If a bit dead.

Not as dead as Stygia V by the sound of things. Yeesh!

 theCrowe wrote:

DalekCheese wrote:
I like these. Good thread. If a bit dead.

Not as dead as Stygia V by the sound of things. Yeesh!

Well you said add grim dark, pardon for any spelling mistakes.

By the Lights of Perverted Science
The crew of the salvage ship Avalanche encounter an Imperial starship of unknown class drifting at the edge of Segmentum Pacificus. The vessel, apparently derelict and abandoned, is identified as HDMS Jenova's Witness. A boarding team from the Avalanche finds the vessel is not as abandoned as previously thought when creatures mutated from exposure to the warp are unleashed upon them by an insane medical officer.

Between a Rok and a Hard Place
In a desperate attempt to stem an invasion from the Charadon Empire, Militarum Tempestus kill-teams board the Ork space hulk Starkrumpa. The Orks, unaccustomed to being outmanoeuvred by "Impeeriul Oomies", are unable to prevent a daring assault on the space hulk's reactor. Fifty Tempestus Scions are immolated in the explosion along with three million Orks.

Danse Macabre
Tyranid ships of Hive Fleet Hydra are boarded by swarms of Dark Eldar raiders. The Tyranids are thrown into turmoil when their Norn Queen is stolen. So successful is the raid that the Wych arenas of the Glorious Hags Cult are packed to capacity for months. Asdrubael Vect himself is entertained by a troupe of Tyranid Warriors wired to control mechanisms which send pain-spasms throughout their bodies, causing them to dance and cavort.

On the ocean planet of Atalantia a suspected planet strike from orbit sends a devastating tsunami wave rippling across the globe crippling the PDF and causing great loss of life among coastal Imperial cities. Within months the previously feral local Ork populations show alarming signs of rapid development which outstrips the ability of the under-resourced PDF naval forces to control within only two years. The issue is forced to a head when the destruction of an ancient sacred site sets Imperial forces on an all out war footing before they are fully prepared. Their forces arrayed against the now heavily mechanised and battle savvy orks prove little more than a red rag to a bull and they are smashed aside in a matter of weeks. Soon after all contact with Atalantia is lost. The last planetary survey mission failed to report any evidence of surviving human outposts among the ork inhabitants of Altalantia.

(Double post sorry)

A Nurglite war band has been attacking a small, under resourced Chapter near the great rift. So far, however, they have been unable to triumph. Looking for a new tactic, they turn their rotting eyes toward the forgeworld supplying the Marines...

The Liberators of Tartarus
Shortly after entering the Warp on her way to Terra, the Black Ship Tartarus is swarmed by Thousand Sons traitor marines and daemons, who free the captive psykers from the ship’s holds. The psykers join their rescuers in butchering the Inquisition crew who imprisoned and mistreated them. Over the next few years, Tzeentchian cults of the sector grow in power, bolstered by their new psykers.


A Traitor Rewarded
Lady Jorenne, illegitimate daughter of the planetary governor of Niobe Secundus, strikes a deal with the Kabal of the Last Hatred. In exchange for vital intelligence about her home planet’s defenses, she asks her Drukhari allies to kill or abduct her father and siblings during their raid, so that she may ascend to power in the aftermath. Her communications are intercepted, and the forewarned Planetary Defense Forces put up a good fight before they are overwhelmed. Blaming Jorenne for their heavy losses, the Drukhari drag her in chains to Commorragh along with her family and half a million other captives.


Unlikely Saviors
Embattled with a tendril from Hive Fleet Leviathan, the Valencia system calls for reinforcements from the Astra Militarum, but receives no response. Instead it is the T’au who offer their aid, on the condition that the Valencians accept their rule and convert to the Greater Good. The Valencians agree to the terms, and the T’au help them repel the invasion. Imperial plans to reconquer Valencia are postponed in the chaos that follows the opening of the Great Rift.


The Ulthwé Conspiracy
Inquisition archivist Eli Pharos uncovers evidence suggesting that a secretive Ordo Xenos cell has been in communication with the Seer Council of Ulthwé, going so far as to forewarn them of Imperial plans against the Asuryani race. Not knowing who to trust, Pharos keeps his findings to himself until he has more proof. A month later, just as he is about to finish his extensive investigation report, Pharos and his work are consumed in a mysterious library fire.



Turns out all four of my stories are themed around an alliance between humans and enemies of the Imperium. This was not on purpose.


.

-Guardsman- wrote:
The Liberators of Tartarus
Shortly after entering the Warp on her way to Terra, the Black Ship Tartarus is swarmed by Thousand Sons traitor marines and daemons, who free the captive psykers from the ship’s holds. The psykers join their rescuers in butchering the Inquisition crew who imprisoned and mistreated them. Over the next few years, Tzeentchian cults of the sector grow in power, bolstered by their new psykers.


A Traitor Rewarded
Lady Jorenne, illegitimate daughter of the planetary governor of Niobe Secundus, strikes a deal with the Kabal of the Last Hatred. In exchange for vital intelligence about her home planet’s defenses, she asks her Drukhari allies to kill or abduct her father and siblings during their raid, so that she may ascend to power in the aftermath. Her communications are intercepted, and the forewarned Planetary Defense Forces put up a good fight before they are overwhelmed. Blaming Jorenne for their heavy losses, the Drukhari drag her in chains to Commorragh along with her family and half a million other captives.


Unlikely Saviors
Embattled with a tendril from Hive Fleet Leviathan, the Valencia system calls for reinforcements from the Astra Militarum, but receives no response. Instead it is the T’au who offer their aid, on the condition that the Valencians accept their rule and convert to the Greater Good. The Valencians agree to the terms, and the T’au help them repel the invasion. Imperial plans to reconquer Valencia are postponed in the chaos that follows the opening of the Great Rift.


The Ulthwé Conspiracy
Inquisition archivist Eli Pharos uncovers evidence suggesting that a secretive Ordo Xenos cell has been in communication with the Seer Council of Ulthwé, going so far as to forewarn them of Imperial plans against the Asuryani race. Not knowing who to trust, Pharos keeps his findings to himself until he has more proof. A month later, just as he is about to finish his extensive investigation report, Pharos and his work are consumed in a mysterious library fire.



Turns out all four of my stories are themed around an alliance between humans and enemies of the Imperium. This was not on purpose.


.

I like the accidental theme. It does well to show how the ailing Imperium is crumbling. The forces of chaos will collect up those dissidents the Imperium breeds and the Tau eagerly fill up the power vacuum the Imperium leaves behind.

The Comma Crisis

In a new edition of an Adepta Sororitas holy text, a missing Oxford comma implies that two venerated martyrs from the Order of the Stone Altar were in fact traitors ("the conflagration engulfed the traitors, Sister Magna and Sister Cyrilla"). The misprint brings no less than four Sororitas orders and several factions of the Ordo Hereticus to the brink of a sector-spanning holy war before cooler heads point out that context does not support this interpretation. All 40 million copies of the offending edition are tracked down and burned, along with the seventeen scribes, proofreaders and bureaucrats who allowed this mistake to go to print.

.

Had forgotten about this thread - good work guys and keep them coming, good reads

The horror below

On the hiveworld of Ghorgon deep below the surface horror made manifest comes alive, it began with servitors and other augemtented tools began to show disturbing signs of malfunction and growing danger for all around. As the moon grew bigger on the heavens far above the darkness of the slums the countless servitors, servo skulls and automated equipment came alive. Possed by the horrible tech virus released by a hidden cult of dark mechanicum priests the very surrondings of the deep hive turned upon the inhabitants. Countless citizens where murderd in the most gruesome ways by the hordes of mechanical horros unleased by the dark cult, as the spreading mayhem below spread upwards in the hives of the world more and more mechanical creations are twisted and unleashed upon the population. The malestorm of madness reaches its pinical when the dark mechanicum opens several warp gates and the dark legions of the traitor priests of Mars decend upon the world. Soon the world is aflame and all hope is lost as one by one the hives are drowned in blood and twisted mechanical monsters.

Da Loud Warz

The Lèrins sector was invaded by a marauding war band of the Emperor's Children. By sheer chance, the raiding was soon interrupted by an encroaching Ork waaugh of the Bad Moons clan. The crazed marines refused to abandon such easy prey and attempted to push back the Orkish hordes. Their sonic weapons left the orks enamored with their garish and destructive power. Flashy and powerful, It was everything the Bad Moons loved. The meks got to work building the biggest and most deafening contraptions they could imagine. Trucks blared raucous noise, what passed for Ork music, as they hauled troops to the front line. Tanks were overladen with entire sound stages on their backs, complete with mountains of speakers. Ork stompas wielded giant weapons shaped into a variety of comically scaled musical instruments. Both armies, too insane to relent, only escalated further. Every means of communication was slaved to creating a cacophony of sound. Every vox channel was choked with signal noise. Cultist psychers and Ork weirdboyz flooded the warp with their screaming and shouting. The psychic pollution would grind astropathic communication to a halt two sectors over for nearly a decade. Inter planetary vox communication would spontaneously become impossible a century later as the electromagnetic shock wave spreads across the galaxy.

The Orks on the other hand would see a boom of culture, music and fashion spread across the various clans. With bands such as 'Stabba' or 'Da Rolling Roks' becoming quite popular.

(also if anyone wants to suggest an Ork band, let me know.)