Ullanor Crusade

The Ullanor Crusade was a vast Imperial assault on the Ork Empire of the two Greenskin Primeorks during the Great Crusade of the late 30th Millennium in 006-007.M31. Ullanor Prime, the capital world of this empire, and the site of the final assault, lay in the Ullanor System of the galaxy's Ullanor Sector. The Orks of Ullanor represented the largest concentration of Orks ever defeated by the military forces of the Imperium of Man up to that point just as the crusade represented the biggest concentration of Imperial might up to that point.

Prelude
In the years of virtual exile from 001.M31 to 006.M31 Lukas and Niklaas, despite their personal disagreements, worked together to create a strategy that would destroy the Ork empire located in the Ullanor sector. For years the former of these two Primarchs pleaded with the Regent for the forces to turn the work of countless sleepless nights into reality. So when, in private, Alexandros indicated he planned to assume command of the crusade the Lords of Fire indicated they would not fight at his command. Koschei Kharkovic added his voice to theirs, and Alexandros was forced to relent, paving the way for Niklaas to be named Warmaster of the Crusade the following day. It might surprise some that the bellicose Lukas Keath would allow himself to be subordinate to the Lord of the Twelfth but the confusion did not last long. For when the Imperium began its war of annihilation against the greenskins it was the Obsidian Guard and their Primarch in the vanguard. Five thousand warships and twice that number in transports, supply barges, and other auxiliary vessels departed the Kytheran system on the First of Quartus, 007.M31 to the adulation of those who witnessed the muster, both in person and through the paintings, picts, and vids produced by the Remembrancers attached to the Crusade. Little did anyone know that many of those ships and the hundreds of thousands of Space Marines, millions of mortal soldiers, and hundreds of Titans they carried would not return with even those that did forever scarred.

In the year and half since the Obsidian Guard's incursion the Orks had not been idle, nor had the muster of the crusade escaped their notice. More specifically it had not escaped the notice of the two most powerful Warbosses in the area, dubbed Gork and Mork by Imperial writers who wished to mock the greenskin's foolish religion. However if they had met either of these brutes they would have fallen on their knees in terror to plead for their lives. Gork was of the Goff Klan, a giant easily the size and weight of an Imperial Knight covered in scrap metal armour adorned with the skulls or helmets of his vanquished foes and wielding a fearsome array of weapons that looked more at home on a vehicle or fortification but troubled the beast not at all. Mork on the other hand was smaller, both in his own physical stature and the size of his horde, but yet he was the more dangerous of the two. For unlike Gork he was possessed of the kind of base cunning so commonly derided by intellectuals, that is until they too have been laid low by the onslaught of his Kommandos.

The Crusade Begins
Between the return of the Tenth to their defensive positions and the launch of the Ullanor Crusade Gork and Mork had unified nearly all of the Ork forces within the core of the Ullanor Sector, with only those at the outskirts retaining their independence. But this had a purpose, to lull the Imperials into a false sense of security: which it did. Although the battles were hard fought the possibility of defeat was never considered. Orks died in the tens of millions at the hands of the vengeful Obsidian Guard and Fire Keepers, who together made up more than half the Astartes contingent. At Alexandros's insistence elements of the other legions, his own Halcyon Wardens, Koschei's Godslayers, Morrigar's Riven, Daito's World Shakers, Hectarion's Crimson Lions, and Gustave's Alabaster Order, were always present in order to show the unity of the Space Marines.

This illusion was shattered when an entire chapter of the Riven, which had been conducting reconnaissance in force, disappeared without a trace. The Lord of Mycenae led his Legion to investigate this incident and either rescue or avenge the sons of Morrigar. They found the wreckage of the ships the Fifteenth had been aboard but no bodies, causing Hectarion to split his forces and search the surrounding planetoids to see where the Riven could've gone. While on the surface of the closest moon evidence of battle was found and one of the combatants was definitely the Orks, though in different colours than usual and with higher quality equipment. And the other was definitely Astartes, but the corpses, ruined tanks, and scattered weapons all belonged to Absalom's Black Stars. Evidently the Third Legion had come to Ullanor after all, but rather than joining the crusade itself had launched a campaign of their own. As could be expected they had been trounced. Hectarion did not get the chance to continue that line of thinking for any longer as a gargantuan Ork fleet appeared in orbit and engaged the Lions' own vessels.

Even though a minimum of four ships was dedicated to each of their Imperial counterparts the Orks still had plenty able to deploy ground troops to the surface. Millions of greenskins led by a warboss that spoke High Gothic, and not the bastardised version the Astartes had grown accustomed to. Shocked at the rapid appearance of the Orks and thus taken off guard the Lions suffered many casualties in the opening stages of the battle. But these were the Emperor's Legiones Astartes, led by their Primarch, and soon the Lions had begun to fight back with Hectarion leading the counterattack. Naturally, with no other equals, the Primarch and the Warboss eventually got into single combat with one another. Hectarion did not win, as every time he found an opening it was revealed to be a ploy to allow the Warboss another scathing hit from its Power Choppa.

After an hour of this it was plain to see Hectarion was losing, badly, his left arm was held on by a few strands of muscle and little else. He limped from both legs and that slowed him down to the point where the Ork could grapple the Primarch into a deadly embrace and snap the Primarch's back in twain. Seeing their crippled father the Lions fought in a berserker rage and made it to his side. Every second another of their number was slain by the Warboss but they were able to contact the Lupis Sanguis and teleport Hectarion to safety. Total defeat was averted by the arrival of Daito Ueyama and the World Shakers, which covered the retreat of the battered Lions. Hectarion was alive but his participation in the Ullanor Crusade was over, before he left however he relayed his findings to his brothers. Though a hunt for the Warboss was organised it proved fruitless and the forces allotted for the effort were reassigned.

As the Legions surged ever onwards they were met by stiffer, more organized resistance and the mortal soldiery of the Imperial Army, Tech Guard, and Taghmata were ever more frequently called upon to support the Astartes in battle. Though the cost in lives mounted the victories still vastly outnumbered the defeats and eventually the Orks had been pushed back to the planet Boss'Ullanor. For their service it was decided that the Obsidian Guard and Fire Keepers would be granted the honour of striking the final blow, supported by half a dozen Titans Legios including Legios Tempestor, Praesagius, and Atarus. Lukas and Niklaas both lead their legions in person, though attacked from different directions for two reasons: to divide the Orks' attention and the simple fact that although they had built up a working relationship neither wished to remain in the other's company for longer than necessary. Simultaneously both legions launched mass drop pod assaults at the planetary poles, signaling the start of the final battle of the crusade... and the beginning of the end of the Imperium's golden era.

The Assault on Boss'Ullanor
Two Primarchs and their legions spearheaded the Crusade force: Lukas of the Obsidian Guard and Niklaas of the Fire Keepers and with them they brought fire and death to the greenskins. No answer could be given to the fury of the legions by the Orks such was the devastation wrought by the Emperor's warriors. In their tens of millions the Orks were butchered by blade and bolter though they were soon replaced by millions more. But rather than discourage them this invigorated the Astartes of the Eighth and Tenth Legions, who, with awe-inspiring efficiency, butchered their foes like so much wheat before the scythe. There was no escape for the Orks who attempted to flee into the voids of space, for the Imperial Army quickly brought each Ork squadron to battle and crushed them.

By all visible metrics the Ullanor Crusade was an unmitigated success. Except it wasn't. The divisions that were meant to be stamped out were in fact exacerbated. After the loss of so many of their brothers the Riven became increasingly obstinate, refusing to carry out operations until their own scouts verified the intelligence. It caused delays but the Regent allowed them to go unpunished in order to show that he understood their loss and acknowledged that it been the result of faulty reconnaissance. His ire was reserved for the one responsible for the loss of the Riven as well as the mauling of the Crimson Lions and their Primarch. Absalom had by then fled the combat zone but a small contingent of his sons remained to answer for their primogenitor's mistakes.

The Triumph
The day the Ullanor empire fell was a day of celebration throughout the Imperium. The threat that had required the Emperor's personal attention had been vanquished. Seven long years had passed as the War Council had attempted to contain the Greenskin threat even as they had searched for the Emperor. The Primarchs Niklaas and Lukas Keath had dedicated themselves and the majority of their Legions to building a wall the length of the void to contain this galactic cancer. With its destruction, a weight had been lifted off the shoulders of Humanity itself. How could one properly commemorate such an event? Ever since accepting the regency, High Regent Alexandros VonSalim had steadily shifted his previous style of understatement to something more resembling the Emperor's penchant for the grandiose. Even as we acknowledge this, the Ullanor Triumph would be a step beyond in ostentation. A major factor was the encouragement flowing towards the High Regent. It was a rare Primarch who would turn down the opportunity to celebrate their victory, and seven had fought against Ullanor, nine if we included the initial campaigns before the Vanishing. The Council of Terra was another such voice. While their motivations may vary between personal aggrandizement and wishing for a symbol to rally the Imperium's morale, all agreed that this was a victory deserving of special care and acknowledgement. These two bodies did not stand alone but were joined by hundreds of others among legionary, soldier, and citizen. Regent VonSalim mentioned all of this in his private memoirs. Yet, another factor weighed on his decision. Although devolving into vague feeling and speculation, the High Regent outlined an instinct stemming not from within himself toward this Triumph. What is clear is that something otherworldly played on his sense of events, though we will never understand its source. In any case, VonSalim would deliver a spectacle as desired.

Once the decision had been made, things rapidly came together. What had once been the crude junk-fortress of the self-proclaimed 'Super-Boss of All 'Dem Orks' would be erased from existence. On those formerly polluted grounds, a victory arch rose to commemorate Humanity's celebration over the Greenskin. Standing three kilometres high, the Victoria Arcus composed itself into three arches, aligned on an East-West axis toward the system's star. All along the interior of the arches did skilled artists paint critical moments of the Ullanor crusade. The West arch focused on the Imperial Army. The East Arch highlighted the Mechanicum's cohorts. The central arch combined both sides with the Legions and Primarchs leading them all at the arch's crescendo. To allow the unaugmented to see it all, walkways were seamlessly integrated through the iconography. On the chosen day, every Army Regiment, Mechanicum Taghmata, Knight House, and Space Marine Legion who had participated in the campaign surrounded the Victoria Arcus, their position determined by the calibre of combat service. The Emperor's sons who had fought against Ullanor assembled at the Arcus' zenith. Holofeeds carried their image and words as the High Regent began the Triumph. His speech is recorded elsewhere. For the purposes of this document, it is only necessary to note the general schedule of the proceedings.

The High Regent opened the festivities, praising those who had served, declaring this grand victory over the Orks to the galaxy. After him followed Lord Niklaas and Lord Keath, the primary field commanders against Ullanor. The two had their say: Niklaas a short, terse statement that could hardly be called a speech. Lord Keath, himself not much for public displays, broke habit and gave a speech praising the fighting men and women who had fought and died against the xeno. Where it broke with Alexandros' previous piece was when he publically condemned Lord Vaughn and the entire Black Stars Legion for recklessness. It was a sour note of discord that would have ramifications elsewhere. At the end of his speech, Lord Keath offered the head of the strange PrimeOrk who had caused such misery in the final days of the campaign. The High Regent graciously accepted the gift. Each of the Primarchs who had participated in the campaign (with the exception of Lord Vaughn who had refused to attend) were given their moment to speak. Lord Kharkovic cheered the common soldier for his bravery and his part against Ullanor, while honouring his sons' contributions to the campaign. It was an especially diplomatic effort after Lord Keath's scorn. Lord Hectarion surrendered such an opportunity, preferring to let his physical presence speak for himself. All throughout the event, Hectarion, among all of his brothers, was granted the space next to the High Regent where his great form left a lasting presence. Lord Ueyama, by far the most novice of his kin in political matters, delivered a casual speech of victory that earned more than a few laughs and cheers from the average soldier. [[Category:U]]