Breaking of Keld'abe

The Breaking of Keld'abe was a decisive campaign that occurred in 011.M31 between the Iron Revenants and Shadow Warriors legions, centred around the Shadow Warriors' homeworld of Keld'abe. Rang Talyc, long dissatisfied with the rule of the High Regent, gathered his legion and called on his closest brother to come and speak with him. The Iron Revenants, discovering the Chaos taint of the First Captain of the Shadow Warriors, launched a surprise assault on the Shadow Warriors, decimating them and sending them fleeing.

The Revenants hunted the Warriors for a week, as the Shadows tried to evacuate their homeworld and escape the system. The fighting was not even halted when a Sky Reavers fleet arrived, having received the calls for aid from the Shadow Warriors. The Shadow Warriors used their cover to escape into the Warp, and Araphel was escorted to Terra under the charge of treason.

The Breaking came as a complete shock to the Imperium, making visible the undercurrents of discontent that had been suppressed during the Halcyon Age. The public display of inter-legion fighting broke forever the illusion of unity that Alexandros had worked to construct. The Shadow Warriors would be sent on a dark path by this, and the Imperium would come to regret the Revenants' actions in the Fourth Ruin.

Prelude
The Succession Crisis that had developed in the two years before the Breaking had spiralled from mere enquiries by the High Regent Alexandros into the viewpoints around the appointment of a new Emperor into a brewing conflict. The Primarchs Lukas and Araphel had vocally supported Alexandros being crowned the new Emperor, and many others had voiced neutrality or slight support. However, there were some who were extremely opposed, Hectarion and Theoderaf chief amongst them. When word reached the two, they immediately voiced their opposition, and to back up their positions retreated from their duties in the Reclamation Command to their respective homeworlds to gather their own support. The Primarch Morrigar, already tainted by the forces of Chaos, declared his support for the anti-Alexandros movement, hoping to weaken both sides of the divide by spreading discord. In a similar vein, Absalom in Segmentum Ultima saw the conflict and the opportunities that a conflict in Sol would give him to further grow his own authority. As such, he gave private encouragement to the anti-Alexandros faction, with his hatred of the High Regent being known to all his brothers.

While this crisis deepened, Araphel was driven beyond the limits of his sanity. His paranoia, a long held condition unknown to all but his closest brothers, grew to new heights as he imagined that the anti-Alexandros faction was set to destroy the Imperium and that any of his brothers could be implicated. Even his long friendship with Theoderaf did not dissuade him, as Araphel gathered his legion and covertly altered their training orders to include the tactics developed by the First Chapter: anti-Astartes warfare.

Before Araphel could strike against his dissenting brother, the High Regent Alexandros called on Araphel with a new mission that only he was suitable for. Araphel, as loyal to the Regent as ever, obeyed the summons and received a new target: the world of Keld'abe. His close brother, Rang Talyc, had reacted to the spiralling succession situation by withdrawing to his homeworld, his actions and motives unknown to Terra. Araphel was to make contact with his brother, discover his intent and prevent an escalation in tension. Araphel dutifully took up the task and departed Terra, ordering his entire legion to make for the Keld'abe System.

The Opening Moves
For the Shadow Warriors on Keld'abe, the arrival of the Iron Revenants was an unexpected pleasure, the two legions having a long friendship and none suspecting that the current political situation affected this. Rang Talyc was suspicious of the sudden arrival without prior planning, but the two Primarchs met in customary fashion and Rang officially welcomed Araphel. The two's close friendship dispelled any fear or tension in their sons, and the two legions comingled as the Primarchs withdrew to Rang's private quarters. The two Primarchs would lay out the two sides of the conflict, discussing which legions would join each side and the resulting fallout of the brewing clash. Rang stated that there was a third way, an opportunity for someone to save the Imperium by imposing order. Rang stated that he and his legion would back Araphel as the new Emperor, to act as a stern hand guiding the Imperium as opposed to the inflexible Imperialists or conniving Regentists. Araphel, while visibly displeased with Rang’s offer, replied that he would not commit such an act against the Regent. Araphel returned to the Titan’s Gaol and Rang returned to Keld’abe.

When Araphel returned to the Titan’s Gaol, he was presented with information from his 1st Chapter reconnaissance units. A secret message had been sent to the Titan’s Gaol by Lorak Saar, Rang’s step-brother, wishing to speak with him in private without Rang’s knowledge. Araphel accepted, having met Saar doing the Great Crusade several times and knowing of his closeness to Rang. Saar arrived on the Titan’s Gaol with a prisoner held in stasis, brought to Araphel’s quarters without anyone’s knowledge. There Saar revealed his prisoner: a Shadow Warrior twisted and corrupted. Saar explained that the Shadow Warriors legion had been slowly changing throughout the Vanishing, and that Rang Talyc had been corrupting his sons into a mysterious religion. Saar described himself as the unofficial leader of the group resisting Rang’s changes, but with the departure of the Saturnine Raptors the process had only accelerated and Rang was on the verge of completing his transformation of the legion if he was not stopped. Suddenly, the stasis field on the prisoner failed, and the Possessed Marine lunged at Araphel and Saar with unnatural speed. Araphel caught hold of the marine’s head and crushed it with ease with his hand. Araphel took in all the evidence and sent orders for his legion to prepare for military action, and that Saar was to be placed under armed guard until after the action for interrogation.

With the revelations of Lorak Saar and the attempt on his life, Araphel was set on preventing the Shadow Warriors having another chance to harm him, his legion or the Imperium. Open moves against them were not an option as it would give the Warriors too much forewarning, and so Araphel was forced to use the ships and units in the positions they were in. Chapter Master Arlo of the 4th Chapter of the Iron Revenants would earn infamy when he alone of the ten Chapter Masters asked for confirmation instead of following through. Even with this delay, confirmation arrived only a few minutes later. Araphel issued the order for the assault to begin, and the guns of the Titan’s Gaol erupted into life.

Open Betrayal
Araphel commanded his fleet from the bridge of the Titan’s Gaol, clearing the Shadow Warriors from orbit and positioning his Gloriana over the capital city of Keld’abe. For minutes the Iron Revenants fleet pounded the Warriors’ fleet, Araphel receiving intelligence of the Warriors’ movements and reaction. All of the hails from the Shadow Warriors were ignored, and the Revenants’ own Astropaths were instructed to broadcast the news of the Shadow Warriors’ betrayal to the Imperium. Though tempted to take part in the boarding actions of his sons, Araphel refrained and left the boarding to the 1st and 6th Chapters. The situation had been complicated by the unexpected arrival of the small Sky Reavers’ fleet, who Araphel ordered were not to be fired upon unless they fired first, but they posed no threat to the Revenants’ naval might.

Rang’s initial reaction was one of shock. Surely there was a mistake, or perhaps an Iron Revenants subordinate had lost his mind to madness. However, the radio silence that met Rang’s attempts to hail the Titan’s Gaol signalled that this was no one-off mistake that Araphel did not sanction. Rang knew his brother, and knew of his paranoia, and so he finally accepted that his brother must have lost his mind to his affliction. His shock became replaced with rage, as he summoned his war council and considered launching a counter-attack into orbit to wreak havoc. However, cooler heads prevailed and Rang recognised that such an effort would be futile and with little chance of success. What was most needed was to defend his people, to ensure their safety as the Lord of Keld’abe. Therefore, Rang sent orders that the Shadow Warriors scattered across the world were to begin evacuating the nomadic tribes into the safety of the cities where the defences would be strongest. He also called all nearby Shadow Warriors to Bral’Rang and to direct the evacuation within the city in that direction.

Though Yrjö Niemelä had tried to establish peace between the warring factions, he had been forced to defend himself and some of the Shadow Warriors' fleet. Many fleeing Warriors had already either boarded the Void Queller to join the Reavers or led their ships behind the Reavers' cordon. The Revenants had shown some reticence to fire directly on the Reavers, aiming for the ships behind them and ordering them to turn over the traitors to them. Yrjö refused for the time being, slowly pulling back his cordon to avoid clashing with the Titan's Gaol itself.

Rain of Death
These hopes for salvation were shattered when reports came in that the Iron Revenants’ fleet was moving into orbital bombardment formation. Once the Warriors’ fleet had been forced to abandon their guard of Keld’abe, Araphel determined that the quickest way to end the Warriors’ resistance was exterminatus, and he gave his forces the five minute warning to prepare themselves. Soon as the Titan's Gaol and the heavy capital grade warships of the Revenants' fleet came overhead, a temporary lull reigned. For a few short minutes the Revenants did not fire, even as the Bral'rang's defensive batteries poured out a steady stream of macromunitions, laser discharges and missiles into their formation. With the Ash-Blooded himself now in command, Beln'ykin stood in the Strategium of one of the Orbital Stations as they hastily analysed the fleet pattern. Suddenly the Revenants began their bombardment; lances and magma bombs rained down upon the Bral'rang's volcanic holding, all smothered and blocked by the Void Shields. For a time. Like all things, Void Shields have a limit and it was quickly reached.

From high orbit the Iron Revenants Fleet systematically and methodically fired shells containing the dreaded Life Eater for maximum dispersal over the population centres. Icarus disapproved of the exact method of exterminatus, believing that cyclonic torpedoes and glassing would’ve been better but did not argue with his gene-sire. Rang ordered everyone to make for bunkers to hunker down, bitterly ordering that Astartes and Imperial Army troops were to take precedence. It would be after this bombardment that Araphel would finally take to the battlefield himself.

The two Primarchs surveyed the situation happening across Keld’abe: Rang from the safety of his command bunker, Araphel from orbit. The results were worse than Rang had ever imagined. Not only was the capital city under assault, but across the world cities were bombarded and the civilian casualties were beyond count. The Shadow Warriors had also taken casualties, those whose bunkers were breached or who failed to make it in time, and particularly those who had been amongst the nomadic clans. Rang ordered those that remained to prepare for breakouts and the evacuation off-world, knowing that Keld’abe was doomed by the Life Eater. The industrial city of Tra’aden was identified as the best point from which to evacuate, and so the order went out that all Astartes were to regroup there as soon as possible.

Clashing Blades
Up until this point, Araphel had commanded the Iron Revenants from his command seat on the Titan’s Gaol, but now he decided it was time for him to take to the field himself. The assault was to target the Bral’Rang, the fortress-monastery on the world that would doubtless house the largest concentration of Shadow Warriors on the world. Their specific objective was a ring of six orbital defence stations around the volcanic caldera. So long as those stations remained active, any mass orbital insertion risked heavy casualties. Araphel decided that he would lead the assault on Station Quintus with an elite force, hoping that the smaller size of the assault would cause the defenders to allocate their defences elsewhere. The majority of the force was drawn from the 1st Chapter, with minor elements from the 5th, 9th and 10th Chapters acting in support. The Titan’s Gaol was left under the command of Icarus and the rest of the orbital assault on the world left under the command of Thaniel as Araphel and the full complement of Pallas Terminators prepared for the assault. Chapter Master Arlo would lead the rest of the Revenants against Station Primus.

Rang held council with the Ver’gebuire and the remaining members of the Alii’Aliit in the hours of the bombardment. Cut off from Lorak Saar and Lotara, Tos Saar was given command of preparing the defences of the Bral’Rang and Bo Saar was given the task of organising the civilian refugees. Lotara was ordered to abandon her planned rendezvous with Rang at the orbital stations of Bral’Rang and instead take the Ashnar'shukalar to Tra’aden to begin the evacuation. Rang himself would lead the Ori’Ramikade of Clan Rang to meet any assaults by the Revenants. He identified that the six orbital stations would be the clear targets of the initial assaults, but he could not cover all six with the Astartes he had available. He was forced to position himself in reserve, waiting to see which stations were attacked before committing himself.

The Kharybdis Dreadclaw Drop Pod containing Araphel plummeted towards Station Quintus as the orbital defences roared into life. Surrounded by many other drop pods, Araphel’s pod landed without issue and disgorged its occupants into a corridor manned by Shadow Warriors. Araphel and his Pallas Terminators came out with no battle cries or hesitation, slaughtering the Shadows as they reeled from the sudden appearance of a Primarch. Bolter rounds bounced harmlessly off the Armour of Hyperion, and Araphel claimed the lives of many Shadows as he pushed his way towards the command centre. As he moved and fought, reports streamed in from across the station of where the strongest resistance was and where the Revenants were making progress. Before he could send more orders, he and his bodyguards were ambushed by Shadows. Seekers had filled the gantries above an open crossroad, and as the last Pallas Terminator crossed the threshold the doors were slammed shut and locked. Scorpius bolt shells ripped into the bodyguards, several Terminators succumbing to the weight of fire and Araphel himself taking damage for the first time. Though no real threat to a Primarch, Araphel could not let his bodyguard be destroyed, and so with the harpoon in his Sagittae he wrapped around the gantry and pulled it from the wall. The Shadows fell into the open space and were swiftly put down by the Pallas, putting an end to the threat.

At Station Primus, Chapter Master Arlo led 11,000 Legionaries launched against the volcanic fortress. A minute after launching from the warships, the anti-orbital cannons returned to life, joined by anti-aircraft batteries to support them. Drop pods exploded under lucky hits as a web of chaff tried to distract the incoming fire. Several hundred died before even reaching the planet surface. In less than five minutes, the first drop pods touched down upon the surface. As Revenants poured out upon the surface, new waves of fire slammed into their ranks as they were caught between fields of fire emanating from near-subterranean bunkers, fire points, and automatic defences whose duty was to protect the cannons. As expected for a proper fortress of a Legion, these weapons wielded the strength to punch through power armour, and the Fourth Chapter's casualties steadily rose.

Despite this initial fusillade, the First Legion did not falter. As expected, Arlo wasted little time in pressing against the enemy defences. A number of dreadnoughts had been launched with the first wave and assigned to Primus. These Legion ancients quickly advanced toward the bunkers with close combat weapons ready to break open walls as they launched munitions for cover fire. Missiles and heavy bolter fire slammed against the defensive emplacements. Although casualties were few among the defenders, the suppression was far more valuable as Iron Revenants pushed behind these armoured assaults. The Shadows may have known their base with the utmost intimacy, but the Iron Revenants demonstrated a never-before-seen proficiency for slaying marines, paying credence to certain rumours of their founding. With these two advantages cancelling each other out, that left the most simple of advantages to swing the battle toward the Fourth Chapter: numbers.

By the five minute mark, the Primus assault force had lost over 10% of their number but had seized 20% of the facility. Several anti-air batteries died to either dreadnought claw or to planted melta bomb. With the loss of each battery, the danger of a second wave doubled. Although the orbital cannons remained, time was against them.

Araphel continued onward to the command centre, ordering all of his Revenants to converge on the centre after the weapons batteries had been neutralised. The defenders had sealed themselves in the command centre, forcing the Revenants to call on breaching charges and lascutters to begin carving their way in. The small Revenant assault force slowly gathered as the doors were pried open. Hails of fire roared out, and the Breachers pushed their way in as the Soman Destroyers arranged themselves behind them. Suddenly, blasts of sizzling plasma slammed into them as Araphel saw inside the centre. A number of Dreadnoughts had been roused from their sleep, tended to by a Mortificator, their plasma cannons glowing and their chainfists revving in preparation. The remaining defenders were split between holding the breaches and working on the machinery and consoles in the centre of the room, the Shadow Warriors commander surrounded by his honour guard. Araphel led the charge into the room, drawing the fire of the Dreadnoughts and taking heavy fire. Plasma and melta roasted his armour, causing it to crack, but he pushed on and reached the Dreadnoughts. He ducked and dodged the swings of the Dreadnoughts, swinging his Sagittae into the Dreadnoughts and breaking them open. The Mortificator charged forward to stop him, only for two Pallas Terminators to intercept him and pummel him into the ground.

The Shadows’ resistance, though valiant, was no match for the Revenants, but the sensors in Araphel’s armour warned him of the plasma reactors reaching critical temperature. He turned to see the Shadow Warrior commander standing over the console, and Araphel dashed at him. Even with the Primarch’s immense speed, he could not reach the console in time. The commander initiated the final meltdown sequence just as Araphel’s hand grabbed him by the throat. A series of explosions rocked the station, and the rock surrounding the station broke apart. An avalanche began sliding down the volcano, heading straight for the station. The Warrior commander managed to let out a gasping laugh before Araphel broke his neck and ordered a retreat. The Revenants hurried back along the corridors they had taken, making for the Dreadclaws, but for the majority it was too late. A few Revenants made it back into the air before the avalanche hit, but Araphel was caught in the fall and Station Quintus was sent crashing down the side of the volcano. And so, Station Quintus had fallen.

Rang watched from his command centre as the Revenants began their assaults. The sky swarmed with drop pods and the weapons batteries roared into life. He analysed the patterns of the falling pods, determining that the three defence stations of Primus, Secundus and Quintus were the targets of the assault. Rang immediately issued orders for the defenders of stations Tertius and Quartus to send as many of their troops to reinforce Secundus and Quintus while maintaining their weapons batteries. Rang counted the number of drop pods, their composition and gathered information, determining that the assault on Quintus was a decoy and that the assaults on Primus and Secundus were the main threats. As Rang prepared his forces, reports came in that Araphel himself was leading the assault on Secundus, tipping the scales to the point that Secundus’ fall was inevitable. Rang sent a vox message to the commander of Secundus informing him to deny Araphel the defence station in whatever way was necessary. With Secundus’ fate decided, Rang moved towards Primus where the result might still be influenced.

After a few minutes, a giant fist burst through the ground where the debris of Station Quintus had settled. A second followed, and the Primarch Araphel pulled himself out and forced himself to his feet. Araphel voxed any nearby Revenants for signs of life, and a ragged squad rushed to his location. Casualties of the assault were estimated to be over 80%, with Shadow Warrior casualties being total as any surviving Shadows had been exterminated in the evacuation missions. Araphel ordered the squad of Revenants to remain hunting for survivors as he called in a Storm Eagle to collect him. The avalanche had dealt significant damage to the Armour of Hyperion, and Araphel could do little except return to orbit for repairs. As he ascended, he received news of the other assaults. The Secundus assault had failed, the Imperial Army and Mechanicum elements unable to break the Astartes’ defences. The Primus assault had succeeded, with only the arrival of Rang himself stopping a full-scale breakthrough. Araphel returned to the Titan’s Gaol and immediately had his armour removed and given over to the techmarines to begin repairing. From orbit, he could see that the Shadow Warriors had begun retreating on a gigantic multi-legged crawler, heavily armoured and defended with void shields. It was there that Rang would be stationed, and Araphel determined that to end the resistance Rang would need to be neutralised.

Fire within the Void
With the sudden onslaught from the Iron Revenants now directed at them, the Sky Reavers could do little but begin a fighting retreat. While they continued to do their best to rescue Shadow Warriors vessels, the sheer firepower of the Revenants forced several vessels to be abandoned or evacuated as the Sky Reavers withdrew to the Mandeville Point. Yrjo hoped that if he and the refugees could hold out for long enough, the astropathic messages would have time to reach Aato and Terra and reinforcements would arrive to aid them and save Keld'abe. The Sky Reavers fought off many boarding assaults as they pulled back, Yrjo unleashing his psychic might to slaughter any that tried to take the Void Queller. There was little choice but to leave the orbit of Keld'abe to the Revenants for them to begin their assault.

While the fighting raged on Keld’abe, the Sky Reavers could do nothing to help, barely able to defend themselves. The Revenant onslaught had slackened as ships were pulled away to launch the assault, and a slow trickle of Shadow Warriors vessels had reinforced their fleet. Yrjo met with the highest ranking Shadow Warrior present, a Keld’aban named Niyaart Choss. The joint Reaver and Warrior fleet was positioned behind the farthest planetoid in the system, the closest celestial object to the Mandeville Point and the last point to hold the line. The two legions had never been particularly close, but the crisis before them forced the two to forge a pact. The combined fleet proved enough of a threat to the Revenants that the roaming battle barges that had moved without fear previously held back. A few still tried their luck, but Yrjo’s mercy had been expended and the attempts to take prisoners or disarm their brothers were brought to an end. As the small moments of calm came to an end, Yrjo gave a speech to the assembled Astartes, having no idea as to whether the Imperium had held his messages and declaring that if they were to die, they would make the traitors pay.

Though the joint Sky Reaver-Shadow Warrior fleet had superior numbers, they had few of the heavier class ships that had been the initial targets of the Revenants’ assault. Receiving the reports of the incoming Revenant fleet, Yrjo decided on a bold strategy: he would challenge the leader of the Revenants to an honour duel. Though advised against it by Choss, who believed that the Revenants had no honour, Yrjo moved the Void Queller into attack position and issued his challenge through the void. His call was answered by the Phantomia Sanguinata, led by the Captain of the Sixth Chapter. The Dictatus-Class Battleship was a slower but more powerful vessel, and so Yrjo tried to manoeuvre to bring his guns to bear on the bow of the battleship. This proved impossible, as the Phantomia Sanguinata was able to simply slowly rotate and keep up its barrages. Eventually, the void shields and weapons of the Void Queller gave out and incoming boarding actions were expected. The defenders were not going to give up without a fight, though, every suit of power and terminator armour activated and the armoury emptied. Weapons batteries were positioned in the main halls and the hangar was fortified with makeshift barricades.

Though the Sky Reavers had the home advantage, the fighting slowly turned against the defenders. Boarding torpedoes were able to bypass the hangar, striking across the ship and forcing rapid reactions to plug the gaps. Though the Reavers and Shadows fought with fanatical determination and hatred, the Revenants had brought strange and deadly new weapons with them, bolt rounds capable of breaching power armour with sinister ease. The defenders were pushed back to the very centre of the ship, holding the command deck against the assaults of the Revenants. The Vatammi were cut down in this engagement, slowly ground down as they unleashed their raw psychic power onto the Revenants. Finally, the commander of the Revenants revealed himself, flanked by breacher siege squads. Before Yrjo could face him, Niyaart Choss stepped in front of him and roared a Keld’aban battlecry. Raising his Akaan’kad, he and the remaining Shadows charged the Revenants. The duel was short-lived, the experience and cool-headedness of Icarus proving superior to the blind fury of Choss. Yrjo rushed to aid his friend, but Icarus landed the killing blow. Yrjo threw at Icarus in a whirlwind of destruction, his halberd moving with warp-assisted speed that Icarus struggled to dodge. Yrjo was able to land a few strikes, but the surrounding situation was reaching a critical standpoint. The remaining Shadows had been slaughtered or captured, and even the Reavers were being forced into surrendering or sacrificing themselves. Yrjo himself was injured heavily, slowing him enough for Icarus to land his own blows that forced Yrjo back. Before he could be overwhelmed, the teleportarium flared and a single squad of Rekja Terminators arrived. Their arrival knocked the Revenants back momentarily, as Yrjo was pulled towards the teleportarium and was transported to a light cruiser. The Void Queller had fallen, but the fight was not over. [[Category:B]]