Author Topic: Gothic V Campaign (Read 1195 times)

Steve Walmsley · « **on:** July 11, 2025, 04:58:29 AM »

Background
In 2032, Earth was attacked without warning by an alien armada, which bombarded the surface from orbit. The aliens were apparently only interested in devastating the planet as there was no follow-up invasion. Only pockets of humanity remained, living in near-medieval conditions in a cold, irradiated wasteland. In the centuries that followed, some semblance of civilisation returned with the emergence of villages, towns and eventually small city states. Even though knowledge of the Fall was part of collective human memory in the form of myths and legends, humanity was fractured and small wars still broke out over territory or resources. One state, known as the Imperium, expanded as a result of conquering its neighbours with swift and effective military campaigns. Those campaigns were aided by propaganda from the Imperium claiming that humanity must unite and prepare for another alien attack. This was effective enough to bring some small powers into the fold without military action.

As the Imperium developed into the most powerful state on Earth, it became an economic, scientific and military powerhouse. Trans-Newtonian physics were re-discovered, leading to the construction of factories, research facilities and orbital shipyards. Spacecraft were built, although remained close to Earth to support combat on the ever-expanding Imperium frontiers. The leader of the Imperium, known only as The Emperor, did not wish to venture into space, even to the rest of the solar system, until humanity was ready. Concern was high that the aliens had left some form of monitoring system to alert them to humanity venturing forth from its home.

By the dawn of the forty-first century, almost two millennia after the alien attack, Earth was united under the banner of the recently renamed Imperium of Man. The reclusive Emperor was no longer simply the leader of mankind, but an object of religious veneration. Earth itself was named Terra in High Gothic, a derivative of Latin that had become the official language of the Imperium. Across the globe, it had become a matter of faith that aliens, now known as Xenos, were an existential threat and that the Imperium had to be ready for their return. On the symbolic date of January 1st 4000, the Emperor gave the order for the first survey frigates to leave orbit.

Campaign Setup
This campaign uses the WH40k Imperial Navy and Imperial Guard as a guiding theme, with elements of the Space Marines. Ship classes mirror the general capabilities of classes of the Imperial Navy, based on the type of weapons specified for the ship classes in the Battlefleet Gothic board game, with the following exceptions. Survey ships don’t exist in BFG, so I chose a design and reduced weapons to allow room for the sensors. I also designed the carrier-hybrids, such as the Dictator, as full carriers, because ‘fighters’ are relatively larger in Aurora vs WH40k and it is the ‘carrier’ aspect that distinguishes those ships. I no longer require specialised jump-capable designs due to the changes in v2.4.0, so all ships of frigate-size or greater will have their own jump drive. Finally, there is a much wider variety of non-warships in Aurora compared to BFG so I created most of those from scratch using names appropriate to the theme.

For the Battlefleet Gothic ship lists, I am primarily using the Expanded Revised edition, plus I may use the Additional Ships Compendium for roles not covered by the standard ship lists. Ground forces will be based on the equipment of Imperial Guard, Space Marines and other Imperial forces from the WH40k 8th edition codices. In order to utilise the nomenclature of the Imperial Navy, railguns on major warships will be named weapon batteries, gauss turrets will become defence turrets, CIWS are commercial defence turrets, 10cm railguns on small craft will be lascannon, particle lances will be lance batteries, lasers will be bombardment cannon and missiles will become torpedoes. There are various attack craft in WH40k which are harder to replicate, but I will stay true to their intended roles.

To reflect the theme and to allow me to include all the listed weapons, I have ‘gone large’ with the ship design, with frigates at 15,000 tons, light cruisers at 30,000 tons and cruisers at 60,000 tons. This fleet doctrine and weapon mix will not produce ‘efficient’ ships, but good design is not the intention. This is a role-play campaign based on a WH40k Imperial Navy theme. There are fewer distinct classes than in previous WH40k games, due to the absence of specialised jump ships and the larger hulls, which allowed me to combine classes such as the Firestorm and Sword class frigates into a single design. I’ve also ignored gauss and lasers initially to allow for an initial RP spend on particle lances.

With all the above in mind, I made the following changes to the starting setup:
•   Starting population is two billion with standard installations for that population size, except for 800 Maintenance Facilities instead of 600.
•   Research Points are double normal to allow for the variety of starting weapons.
•   Starting Build Points are double normal, on the assumption the Imperium has been building up the largest army and fleet it can support before venturing into the galaxy.
•   Shipyards are customised for the ship classes. This results in a larger than normal number of shipyards, but the Imperium doesn’t have the resources to use them all simultaneously.
•   Ruin chance is increased from 20% to 25%.
•   Enhanced Invaders, Enhanced Precursors, Enhanced Swarm and Raiders are active
•   System Count is 30 for Raiders, 60 for Swarm and 100 for Invaders.
•   NPRs can activate Precursors and Raiders
•   Eight multi-system NPRs using 2 + 4 empire radius. 40-80 LY
•   NPRs generate other NPRs with a 5% chance.
•   NPRs encounter Precursors and Raiders
•   Minor Races set to 80%
•   Limited Research Admin
•   Research speed 50% after game start
•   Hostility Modifier +25
•   Survey Speed 25%
•   Min Raider Tech 600k
•   Min Precursor Tech 750k
•   Min Invader Tech 2000k

Imperial Navy Ship Designs
The Firestorm class frigate is a workhorse for the Imperium, capable of independent operations, protecting commercial traffic or small colonies, functioning as part of a frigate squadron or providing an escort for larger warships. The main armament of the Firestorm comprises six Astaroth Kinetics AK-20 Weapons Batteries, with each battery firing four projectiles every fifteen seconds out to a range of 160,000 kilometres, supported by the same number of light weapon batteries for close defence. The single Gothicus-Caliban GC-8-200 Lance Battery is a slow-firing but devastating weapon that can penetrate the armour of cruiser-sized warships, but is less effective in terms of overall damage output against lighter targets. Passive defences include moderate armour and a single Valentinian-Stern VS-37 Void Shield. With a full suite of sensors, the Firestorm can locate hostile ships with her active augur array at over sixty million kilometres, detect incoming torpedoes and conduct passive searches with both thermal and electromagnetic augur arrays.

Firestorm class Frigate 15,000 tons 512 Crew 2,491.5 BP TCS 300 TH 1,200 EM 1,110
4000 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 4-54 Shields 37-370 HTK 95 Sensors 5/8/0/0 DCR 12-8 PPV 72
Maint Life 2.54 Years MSP 1,745 AFR 150% IFR 2.1% 1YR 378 5YR 5,677 Max Repair 600 MSP
Captain Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months CDE 20% Morale Check Required

RM-150 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 15000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-1200-MB (1) Power 1200.0 Fuel Use 34.92% Signature 1200.00 Explosion 12%
Fuel Capacity 593,000 Litres Range 20.4 billion km (58 days at full power)
Valentinian-Stern VS-37 Void Shield (1) Recharge Time 370 seconds (0.1 per second)

Gothicus-Caliban GC-12-200 Lance Battery (1) Range 200,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 37-3.75 ROF 50
Astaroth Kinetics AK-20 Weapons Battery (6x4) Range 160,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 12-4 ROF 15
Astaroth Kinetics AK-10 Light Weapons Battery (6x4) Range 40,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 3-3 ROF 5
MK I Energy Weapon Fire Control (2) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 4,000 km/s ECCM-1
R-229 Gaseous Fission Reactor (2) Total Power Output 45.8 Exp 5%

MK I Frigate Active Augur Array (1) GPS 8640 Range 66.8m km Resolution 120
MK I Torpedo Detection Array (1) GPS 16 Range 6.4m km MCR 574.5k km Resolution 1
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8.0 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5.0 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km

Electronic Warfare Jammers: Fire Control 1 Missile 1

The Tempest class survey frigate is based on the Firestorm hull. The lance battery, light weapon batteries, shield generator, jammer systems and two of the six weapon batteries have been removed and the armour reduced by twenty-five percent. The freed-up interior hull space is dedicated to four gravitational and four geological survey sensors, a probe launcher and significantly increased endurance. The reconnaissance capability provided by the probe launcher improves the chance of avoiding detection by hostile forces in unexplored space, while the extensive crew accommodations, large engineering deck and considerable fuel capacity allow the Tempest to operate without support for up to five years.

Tempest class Survey Frigate 15,000 tons 418 Crew 2,422.3 BP TCS 300 TH 750 EM 0
2500 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 3-54 Shields 0-0 HTK 97 Sensors 5/8/4/4 DCR 20-13 PPV 29.2
Maint Life 5.98 Years MSP 2,518 AFR 90% IFR 1.2% 1YR 120 5YR 1,806 Max Repair 281.3 MSP
Magazine 38 / 0
Captain Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 60 months CDE 20% Morale Check Required

RM-150 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 15000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-750-ME (1) Power 750.0 Fuel Use 10.78% Signature 750.00 Explosion 7%
Fuel Capacity 1,607,000 Litres Range 178.8 billion km (827 days at full power)

Astaroth Kinetics AK-20 Weapons Battery (4x4) Range 160,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 12-4 ROF 15
MK I Energy Weapon Fire Control (1) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 4,000 km/s ECCM-1
R-162 Gaseous Fission Reactor (1) Total Power Output 16.3 Exp 5%

MK I Probe Launcher (1) Missile Size: 4.0 Rate of Fire 800
MK I Probe Launcher Fire Control (1) Range 4m km Resolution 1 ECCM-1
MK I Small Augur Probe (9) Speed: 4,000 km/s Range: 3,794.9m km WH: 0 Size: 4

MK I Frigate Active Augur Array (1) GPS 8640 Range 66.8m km Resolution 120
MK I Torpedo Detection Array (1) GPS 16 Range 6.4m km MCR 574.5k km Resolution 1
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8.0 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5.0 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km
Gravitational Survey Sensors (4) 4 Survey Points Per Hour
Geological Survey Sensors (4) 4 Survey Points Per Hour

Imperial light cruisers lie halfway between true capital ships and frigates and are intended to form the core of a light task group. The Dauntless class is the standard light cruiser class of the Imperial Navy and has double the armament of the Firestorm, mounting twelve weapon batteries, twelve light weapon batteries and a pair of lance batteries. As the Dauntless is intended to operate in heavy combat, destroying hostile vessels at close range, it has substantially more passive defences than the Firestorm, with triple the shield strength and almost two and a half times the armour volume. The Dauntless has an improved sensor suite, adding seventeen million kilometres to active sensor range and dedicating three times as much hull volume to passive sensors.

Dauntless class Light Cruiser 30,000 tons 993 Crew 4,962.7 BP TCS 600 TH 2,400 EM 3,330
4000 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 6-86 Shields 111-370 HTK 180 Sensors 15/24/0/0 DCR 24-8 PPV 144
Maint Life 2.23 Years MSP 2,981 AFR 300% IFR 4.2% 1YR 809 5YR 12,139 Max Repair 600 MSP
Captain Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months CDE 20% Morale Check Required

RM-300 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 30000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3

Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-1200-MB (2) Power 2400.0 Fuel Use 34.92% Signature 1200.00 Explosion 12%
Fuel Capacity 1,122,000 Litres Range 19.3 billion km (55 days at full power)
Valentinian-Stern VS-37 Void Shield (3) Recharge Time 370 seconds (0.3 per second)

Gothicus-Caliban GC-12-200 Lance Battery (2) Range 200,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 37-3.75 ROF 50
Astaroth Kinetics AK-20 Weapons Battery (12x4) Range 160,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 12-4 ROF 15
Astaroth Kinetics AK-10 Light Weapons Battery (12x4) Range 40,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 3-3 ROF 5
MK I Energy Weapon Fire Control (3) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 4,000 km/s ECCM-1
R-460 Gaseous Fission Reactor (2) Total Power Output 92.1 Exp 5%

MK I Light Cruiser Active Augur Array (1) GPS 13440 Range 83.3m km Resolution 120
MK I Torpedo Detection Array (1) GPS 16 Range 6.4m km MCR 574.5k km Resolution 1
MK I Large Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 15.00 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 30.6m km
MK I Large Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 24.00 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 38.7m km
Electronic Warfare Jammers: Fire Control 1 Missile 1

The Dread Argent class Strike Cruiser is a modified Dauntless, with the lance batteries and half the weapon batteries replaced by a hangar bay with a capacity of 4600 tons. The bay houses a pair of 2000-ton Thunderhawk assault transports, each able to carry a company of eighty-three Space Marines and conduct boarding missions against hostile shipping, plus a pair of Aquila landers. The Dread Argent is still a capable ship-to-ship combatant, with six weapon batteries and six light weapon batteries, plus the same passive defences and sensors as the Dauntless class light cruiser.

Dread Argent class Strike Cruiser 30,000 tons 777 Crew 4,319.2 BP TCS 600 TH 2,400 EM 3,330
4000 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 6-86 Shields 111-370 HTK 154 Sensors 5/24/0/0 DCR 24-8 PPV 60
Maint Life 2.10 Years MSP 2,659 AFR 300% IFR 4.2% 1YR 808 5YR 12,123 Max Repair 600 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 4,600 tons
Captain Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months Flight Crew Berths 92 CDE 20% Morale Check Required

RM-300 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 30000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-1200-MB (2) Power 2400.0 Fuel Use 34.92% Signature 1200.00 Explosion 12%
Fuel Capacity 1,142,000 Litres Range 19.6 billion km (56 days at full power)
Valentinian-Stern VS-37 Void Shield (3) Recharge Time 370 seconds (0.3 per second)

Astaroth Kinetics AK-20 Weapons Battery (6x4) Range 160,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 12-4 ROF 15
Astaroth Kinetics AK-10 Light Weapons Battery (6x4) Range 40,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 3-3 ROF 5
MK I Energy Weapon Fire Control (2) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 4,000 km/s ECCM-1
R-229 Gaseous Fission Reactor (2) Total Power Output 45.8 Exp 5%

MK I Light Cruiser Active Augur Array (1) GPS 13440 Range 83.3m km Resolution 120
MK I Torpedo Detection Array (1) GPS 16 Range 6.4m km MCR 574.5k km Resolution 1
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5.0 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km
MK I Large Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 24.00 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 38.7m km
Electronic Warfare Jammers: Fire Control 1 Missile 1

Strike Group
2x Thunderhawk Assault Transport Speed: 9375 km/s Size: 40
2x Aquila Lander Speed: 4001 km/s Size: 6

The Lunar is the standard cruiser class of the Imperial Navy. With a hull twice the size of the Dauntless class, the Lunar has sufficient internal space to add six weapon batteries, six light weapon batteries, two lance batteries, a flag bridge and eight torpedo launchers, with sufficient magazine space for sixty-four torpedoes and four small augur probes. Passive defences are substantially increased for the Lunar, with double the shield strength of the Dauntless and sixty percent greater armour volume. The MK I Cruiser Active Augur Array replaces the active augur array on the Dauntless, extending sensor range by a further sixteen million kilometres. Finally, the fuel storage, engineering systems and reactors have all been upgraded in line with the larger hull, although the Lunar has half the intended deployment time of the lighter warship classes, as it will remain close to major fleet bases unless deployed for major operations.

Lunar class Cruiser 60,000 tons 1,855 Crew 9,490.9 BP TCS 1,200 TH 4,800 EM 6,660
4000 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 6-136 Shields 222-370 HTK 329 Sensors 15/24/0/0 DCR 44-7 PPV 285.6
Maint Life 2.13 Years MSP 6,850 AFR 655% IFR 9.1% 1YR 2,014 5YR 30,209 Max Repair 750 MSP
Magazine 1,552 / 0
Lord-Captain Control Rating 3 BRG AUX FLG
Intended Deployment Time: 9 months CDE 20% Morale Check Required

RM-600 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 60000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-1200-MB (4) Power 4800 Fuel Use 34.92% Signature 1200 Explosion 12%
Fuel Capacity 2,109,000 Litres Range 18.1 billion km (52 days at full power)
Valentinian-Stern VS-37 Void Shield (6) Recharge Time 370 seconds (0.6 per second)

Gothicus-Caliban GC-12-200 Lance Battery (4) Range 200,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 37-3.75 ROF 50
Astaroth Kinetics AK-20 Weapons Battery (18x4) Range 160,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 12-4 ROF 15
Astaroth Kinetics AK-10 Light Weapons Battery (18x4) Range 40,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 3-3 ROF 5
MK I Energy Weapon Fire Control (4) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 4,000 km/s ECCM-1
R-474 Gaseous Fission Reactor (3) Total Power Output 142.3 Exp 5%

MK I Standard Torpedo Launcher (8) Missile Size: 24 Rate of Fire 1960
MK I Torpedo Fire Control (2) Range 19.4m km Resolution 10 ECCM-1
MK I Standard Torpedo (64) Speed: 25,000 km/s Range: 9.4m km WH: 25 Size: 24 TH: 3,000 / 6,000 / 12,000
MK I Small Augur Probe (4) Speed: 4,000 km/s Range: 3,794.9m km WH: 0 Size: 4

MK I Cruiser Active Augur Array (1) GPS 19200 Range 99.6m km Resolution 120
MK I Torpedo Detection Array (1) GPS 16 Range 6.4m km MCR 574.5k km Resolution 1
MK I Fighter Detection Array (1) GPS 160 Range 13.8m km Resolution 10
MK I Large Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 15 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 30.6m km
MK I Large Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 38.7m km

Electronic Warfare Jammers: Fire Control 1 Missile 1

The Dictator class carrier is based on the same hull as the Lunar, but with massive internal changes. All the weapons have been removed, along with four of the six shield generators and half of the armour. In their place is an expansive hangar bay, which holds a strike group of twenty-four Starhawk bombers, thirty-six Fury interceptors and two Aquila landers, plus sufficient magazine storage to reload the bombers twice. The Starhawks are capable of launching twenty-four standard torpedoes in a single salvo, while the interceptors can escort the bombers, provide anti-torpedo defences for the carrier or launch their own independent strikes against soft targets. The significant reduction in defences for the Dictator is based on a doctrine of launching carrier strikes from at stand-off ranges, rather than operating with the battle fleet.

Dictator class Carrier 60,000 tons 1,170 Crew 7,431.6 BP TCS 1,200 TH 4,800 EM 2,220
4000 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 3-136 Shields 74-370 HTK 260 Sensors 5/8/0/0 DCR 44-7 PPV 0
Maint Life 1.99 Years MSP 5,906 AFR 655% IFR 9.1% 1YR 1,988 5YR 29,816 Max Repair 750 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 21,000 tons Magazine 1,156 / 0
Captain Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 9 months Flight Crew Berths 420 CDE 20% Morale Check Required

RM-600 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 60000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-1200-MB (4) Power 4800 Fuel Use 34.92% Signature 1200 Explosion 12%
Fuel Capacity 2,157,000 Litres Range 18.5 billion km (53 days at full power)
Valentinian-Stern VS-37 Void Shield (2) Recharge Time 370 seconds (0.2 per second)

MK I Standard Torpedo (48) Speed: 25,000 km/s Range: 9.4m km WH: 25 Size: 24 TH: 3,000 / 6,000 / 12,000
MK I Small Augur Probe (1) Speed: 4,000 km/s Range: 3,794.9m km WH: 0 Size: 4

MK I Cruiser Active Augur Array (1) GPS 19200 Range 99.6m km Resolution 120
MK I Torpedo Detection Array (1) GPS 16 Range 6.4m km MCR 574.5k km Resolution 1
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km
Electronic Warfare Jammers: Fire Control 1 Missile 1

Strike Group
24x Starhawk Bomber Speed: 8000 km/s Size: 8
36x Fury Interceptor Speed: 10001 km/s Size: 6
2x Aquila Lander Speed: 4001 km/s Size: 6

The Cetaceous class troop transport is the primary transport ship of the Imperial Navy and can carry an entire Imperial Guard Corps, with ten thousand troops and over a thousand vehicles. The Cetaceous is not jump-capable, has no drop capability and lacks any defence beyond its minimal armour. Therefore it will require a stabilised jump point or support from a jump tender, plus warship escort in hostile space. Once the required technology is available, a larger, better protected, drop-capable transport will be designed.

Cetaceous class Troop Transport 225,651 tons 1,081 Crew 3,940.8 BP TCS 4,513 TH 7,200 EM 0
1595 km/s Armour 1-330 Shields 0-0 HTK 324 Sensors 5/8/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 10 Max Repair 320 MSP
Troop Capacity 125,000 tons Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 12
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months CDE 20%

Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-400-C (18) Power 7200 Fuel Use 2.24% Signature 400 Explosion 4%
Fuel Capacity 1,500,000 Litres Range 53.4 billion km (387 days at full power)

MK I Commercial Active Augur Array (1) GPS 1920 Range 31.5m km Resolution 120
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km

The jump-capable Orca class troop transport has a capacity sufficient for a single infantry regiment of the Imperial Guard, or an Ordos expedition. The Orca has no drop capability and lacks any defence beyond its minimal armour.

Orca class Troop Transport 51,714 tons 280 Crew 1,090.2 BP TCS 1,034 TH 1,600 EM 0
1546 km/s JR 3-50(C) Armour 1-123 Shields 0-0 HTK 81 Sensors 5/8/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 13 Max Repair 320 MSP
Troop Capacity 25,000 tons Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 3
Captain Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months CDE 20%

RC-520 Commercial Jump Drive Max Ship Size 52000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-400-C (4) Power 1600 Fuel Use 2.24% Signature 400 Explosion 4%
Fuel Capacity 400,000 Litres Range 62.1 billion km (465 days at full power)

MK I Commercial Active Augur Array (1) GPS 1920 Range 31.5m km Resolution 120
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km

The 2400-ton Oculus Vigil class is used for long-range deployment of Auspex buoys, normally at both sides of a jump point. It is jump-capable, can deploy up to eighteen buoys in a single mission and has a range of over forty billion kilometres. Two are in service.

Oculus Vigil class Buoy Deployment Vessel 2,400 tons 49 Crew 276 BP TCS 48 TH 120 EM 0
2500 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 1-15 Shields 0-0 HTK 17 Sensors 6/8/0/0 DCR 1-4 PPV 3.6
Maint Life 2.50 Years MSP 71 AFR 46% IFR 0.6% 1YR 16 5YR 237 Max Repair 60 MSP
Magazine 216 / 0
Captain Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Morale Check Required

RM-24 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 2400 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-120-M (1) Power 120.0 Fuel Use 63.90% Signature 120.00 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 369,000 Litres Range 43.3 billion km (200 days at full power)

Buoy Dispenser (1) Missile Size: 12 Rate of Fire 1390
MK I Probe Launcher Fire Control (1) Range 4m km Resolution 1 ECCM-1
Auspex Buoy (18) Speed: 0 km/s End: 0m Range: 0m km WH: 0 Size: 12.00 TH: 0 / 0 / 0

MK I Commercial Active Augur Array (1) GPS 1920 Range 31.5m km Resolution 120
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8.0 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 6.0 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 19.4m km

Imperial Navy Attack Craft
The Thunderhawk class Assault Transport is a 2000-ton vessel designed to launch a Space Marine Company against hostile ships. Even with a speed of 9375 km/s, the Thunderhawk is not fast enough to successfully assault warships with similar speeds to Imperial designs, at least not without heavy casualties among the boarding parties, so the ideal target ship is a lower moving commercial vessel or a damaged warship.

Thunderhawk class Assault Transport 2,000 tons 7 Crew 256.2 BP TCS 40 TH 375 EM 0
9375 km/s Armour 1-14 Shields 0-0 HTK 6 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0-0 PPV 0
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 399% IFR 5.6% 1YR 325 5YR 4,878 Max Repair 187.5 MSP
Troop Capacity 1,000 tons Boarding Capable
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 0.3 days CDE 20% Morale Check Required

Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-375-ADB (1) Power 375.0 Fuel Use 564.81% Signature 375.00 Explosion 25%
Fuel Capacity 14,200 Litres Range 0.23 billion km (6 hours at full power)
MK I Fury Augur Array (1) GPS 2 Range 2m km MCR 181.7k km Resolution 1

Ground Forces
1x Space Marine Company

The Starhawk bomber is the primary long-range strike weapon of the Imperial Navy and is equipped with a launch rail for a standard torpedo. The Starhawk includes an integral active augur array and fire control system, allowing torpedo launch from maximum range. The bomber’s endurance is sufficient to attack targets over six hundred million kilometres from its parent ship.

Starhawk class Bomber 400 tons 1 Crew 56.5 BP TCS 8 TH 64 EM 0
8000 km/s Armour 1-4 Shields 0-0 HTK 2 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0-0 PPV 3.6
Maint Life 1.73 Years MSP 25 AFR 80% IFR 1.1% 1YR 10 5YR 152 Max Repair 32 MSP
Magazine 24 / 0
Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days CDE 20% Morale Check Required

Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-64-AB (1) Power 64.0 Fuel Use 700.00% Signature 64.00 Explosion 20%
Fuel Capacity 21,300 Litres Range 1.37 billion km (47 hours at full power)

Torpedo Launch Rail (1) Missile Size: 24 Hangar Reload 245 minutes MF Reload 40 hours
MK I Starhawk Fire Control (1) Range 10.2m km Resolution 16 ECCM-1
MK I Standard Torpedo (1) Speed: 25,000 km/s Range: 9.4m km WH: 25 Size: 24 TH: 3,000 / 6,000 / 12,000
MK I Starhawk Augur Array (1) GPS 192 Range 10m km Resolution 120
The Fury class Interceptor has three different missions; long-range interception of hostile targets, providing an escort for bomber attacks and fleet defence against torpedo attack. The Fury is armed with the MK I Lascannon, a small, rapid-firing weapon, and is equipped with an augur array capable of detecting torpedoes.

Fury class Interceptor 300 tons 2 Crew 66.8 BP TCS 6 TH 60 EM 0
10001 km/s Armour 1-3 Shields 0-0 HTK 1 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0-0 PPV 1.65
Maint Life 2.80 Years MSP 30 AFR 60% IFR 0.8% 1YR 6 5YR 83 Max Repair 30 MSP
Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 0.6 days CDE 20% Morale Check Required

Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-60-ADB (1) Power 60.0 Fuel Use 1412.03% Signature 60.00 Explosion 25%
Fuel Capacity 11,500 Litres Range 0.49 billion km (13 hours at full power)

MK I Lascannon (1x2) Range 40,000km TS: 10,001 km/s Power 1.5-1.5 ROF 5
MK I Fury Fire Control (1) Max Range: 64,000 km TS: 10,000 km/s ECCM-1
R-15 Gaseous Fission Reactor (1) Total Power Output 1.5 Exp 10%
MK I Fury Augur Array (1) GPS 2 Range 2m km MCR 181.7k km Resolution 1

The Aquila class Lander is a multi-role, jump-capable small craft, used for scouting missions, picket duty, long-range interception of unarmed vessels and even fleet defence in desperate situations. The Aquila is armed with a MK I Heavy Bolter, capable of a single shot every five seconds.

Aquila class Lander 300 tons 6 Crew 39.1 BP TCS 6 TH 24 EM 0
4001 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 1-3 Shields 0-0 HTK 1 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0-0 PPV 0.98
Maint Life 4.77 Years MSP 25 AFR 60% IFR 0.8% 1YR 2 5YR 27 Max Repair 12 MSP
Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months CDE 20% Morale Check Required

RM-3 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 300 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-24-MB (1) Power 24.0 Fuel Use 246.91% Signature 24.00 Explosion 12%
Fuel Capacity 36,700 Litres Range 8.9 billion km (25 days at full power)

MK I Heavy Bolter (1) Range 40,000km TS: 4,001 km/s Power 0.75-0.75 ROF 5
MK I Aquila Fire Control (1) Max Range: 51,200 km TS: 4,000 km/s ECCM-1
Heavy Bolter Power Plant (1) Total Power Output 0.8 Exp 10%

MK I Shuttle Augur Array (1) GPS 384 Range 14.1m km Resolution 120
MK I Shuttle Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 0.5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 5.6m km
MK I Shuttle EM Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 0.8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 7.1m km

Imperial Navy Starting Forces
4x Lunar class Cruiser: Imperial Wrath, Holy Flame, Iron Duke, Justicar
4x Dictator class Carrier: Archon Kort, Ferrum Aeterna, Hammer of Justice, Rhadamanthine
4x Dread Argent class Strike Cruiser: Angelic Blade, Dread Argent, Eternal Defiance, Holy Execution
8x Dauntless class Light Cruiser: Aegis, Bellerophon, Bloodhawk, Cerberus, Dauntless, Divine Crusade, Ravenor, Unbroken Vow
12x Firestorm class Frigate: Cape Wrath, Excalibur, Firestorm, Heroic Endeavour, Kraken, Medusa, Pegasus, Rubicon, Silent Fire, Valiant, Vengeful, Vortex
8x Veritas Invicta class Survey Frigate: Acta Sanctorum, Astra Fidelis, Crux Veritas, Custodia Lucis, Ordo Revelare, Sanctus Lux, Veritas Invicta, Virtus Aeterna
2x Oculus Vigil class Buoy Deployment Craft: Oculus Vigil, Oculus Nox
4x Cetaceous class Troop Transport: Bastion of Souls, Choir of the Fallen, Echo of Vengeance, Hymn of Sacrifice
4x Orca class Troop Transport: Emperor’s Arrow, Silent Lance, Strike of Mercy, Vigilant Path

8x Thunderhawk class Assault Transport
144x Fury class Interceptor:
96x Starhawk class Bomber:
16x Aquila class Lander:

Imperial Guard
The primary ground combat forces of the Imperium are known as the Imperial Guard, or more formally as the Astra Militarum. There are several different types of Imperial Guard formation, the largest and most numerous of which is the Imperial Guard Infantry Regiment. The standard infantry regiment requires 25,000 tons of transport capacity and comprises two thousand four hundred guardsman armed with lasguns, two hundred and forty heavy weapon teams armed with light anti-vehicle weapons, two hundred and forty Chimeras (light vehicles armed with crew-served anti-personnel weapons), four Vox Caster squads for liaison with orbital fire support, two hundred and forty labourers assigned from the Departmento Munitorum to handle logistics and the Regimental HQ.

When multiple regiments are deployed together, they are organised into Corps formations. Each corps consists of up to four regiments plus corps-level assets including two hundred and forty heavy mortars, one hundred and twenty Departmento Munitorum vehicles, twelve Trojan construction vehicles and the Corps HQ. The corps assets require similar transport capacity to a regiment. In total, the Imperial Guard in January 4000 has six infantry corps, each of four regiments.

These large infantry-based formations are supported by the Heavy Armour Regiment, which comprises one hundred and twenty Leman Russ Battle Tanks, armed with a battle cannon and a heavy bolter, one hundred and twenty Leman Russ Exterminators, equipped with twin heavy bolters, two hundred and forty Departmento Munitorum labourers and a Leman Russ Command Vehicle. As of January 4000, there are four heavy armour regiments organised into a single Corps. The final combat formation is the Planetary Defence Regiment, intended to guard colonies against hostile torpedo attack or bombardment by energy-armed warships. This formation comprises four Planetary Lance Batteries, twelve Planetary Weapon Batteries and twelve Planetary Light Weapon Batteries. Four regiments are in service.

In addition to the combat forces, there are three other Imperial Guard formations; the Ordo Xenos, the Ordo Mineralis and the Ordo Machinum. The Ordo Xenos is intended to investigate any Xenos artefacts or ruins that are discovered during the re-survey of the galaxy. The Ordo Machinum comprises seventy-two Trojan construction vehicles for various tasks, including recovery of any Xenos installations identified by the Ordo Xenos. Finally, the Ordo Mineralis will conduct ground-based geological surveys where the orbital survey finds evidence to suggest further mineral deposits may be located. Two formations of each type are available in January 4000.

Imperial Guard Starting Forces
6x Imperial Guard Corps (each with 4x Infantry Regiment): Cadian Shock Troops, Kaledon Hunters, Lucifer Blacks, Mordian Iron Guard, Thunder Warriors, Vengeance Legion
4x Heavy Armour Regiment: Armageddon Steel Legion, Jantine Patricians, Konig Armoured Regiment, Vostroyan Firstborn
4x Planetary Defence Regiment: Black Guard, Celestial Guard, Grey Slayers, Raven Watch
2x Ordo Machinum
2x Ordo Xenos
2x Ordo Mineralis

Commercial Ship Designs
The Jericho class colony ship provides the means by which the Imperium will colonise the galaxy. It is capable of transporting half a million colonists and is equipped with a full commercial sensor suite. The Jericho is almost as expensive to construct as a Dread Argent class strike cruiser. Unlike the Imperium’s warships, the Jericho and its companion ship, the Universe class mass conveyor, do not have jump capability and will rely on jump tenders and the stable jump network.

Jericho class Colony Ship 225,737 tons 1,156 Crew 6,357.9 BP TCS 4,515 TH 7,200 EM 0
1594 km/s Armour 1-330 Shields 0-0 HTK 236 Sensors 5/8/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 17 Max Repair 400 MSP
Cryogenic Berths 500,000 Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 12
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months CDE 20%

Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-400-C (18) Power 7200 Fuel Use 2.24% Signature 400 Explosion 4%
Fuel Capacity 1,500,000 Litres Range 53.4 billion km (387 days at full power)

MK I Commercial Active Augur Array (1) GPS 1920 Range 31.5m km Resolution 120
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km

The Universe class Mass Conveyor is the primary cargo transport of the Imperium. It is capable of transporting up to five factories or mines over considerable distances.

Universe class Mass Conveyor 225,405 tons 871 Crew 2,491.5 BP TCS 4,508 TH 7,200 EM 0
1597 km/s Armour 1-329 Shields 0-0 HTK 223 Sensors 5/8/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 6 Max Repair 200 MSP
Cargo 125,000 Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 12
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months CDE 20%

Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-400-C (18) Power 7200 Fuel Use 2.24% Signature 400 Explosion 4%
Fuel Capacity 1,500,000 Litres Range 53.5 billion km (387 days at full power)

MK I Commercial Active Augur Array (1) GPS 1920 Range 31.5m km Resolution 120
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km

The Carrack class freighter is the much smaller companion to the Universe class and is used for tasks where the vast capacity of the mass conveyor is not required, such as transporting minerals or establishing sensor outposts. Because the Carrack will often operate in newly explored space, it is equipped with a jump drive.

Carrack class Freighter    51,668 tons 240 Crew 811.2 BP TCS 1,033 TH 1,600 EM 0
1548 km/s JR 3-50(C) Armour 1-123 Shields 0-0 HTK 61 Sensors 5/8/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 9 Max Repair 130 MSP
Cargo 25,000 Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 3
Captain Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months CDE 20%

RC-520 Commercial Jump Drive Max Ship Size 52000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-400-C (4) Power 1600 Fuel Use 2.24% Signature 400 Explosion 4%
Fuel Capacity 400,000 Litres Range 62.2 billion km (465 days at full power)

MK I Commercial Active Augur Array (1) GPS 1920 Range 31.5m km Resolution 120
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km

The small Empyrean class jump tender provides jump support for the Imperium’s large, commercial-engined craft, such as the Universe, Jericho and Cetaceous classes.

Empyrean class Jump Tender 27,723 tons 227 Crew 1,046.2 BP TCS 554 TH 1,200 EM 0
2164 km/s JR 3-50(C) Armour 1-81 Shields 0-0 HTK 50 Sensors 5/8/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 23 Max Repair 600 MSP
Captain Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months CDE 20%

RC-2400 Commercial Jump Drive Max Ship Size 240000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-400-C (3) Power 1200 Fuel Use 2.24% Signature 400 Explosion 4%
Fuel Capacity 400,000 Litres Range 115.9 billion km (620 days at full power)

MK I Commercial Active Augur Array (1) GPS 1920 Range 31.5m km Resolution 120
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km

The Omnis Apertum class is intended to stabilise jump points within Imperium space, opening up systems to colonisation and mining and providing access to civilian shipping.

Omnis Apertum class Stabilisation Ship 87,589 tons 396 Crew 1,898.3 BP TCS 1,752 TH 2,800 EM 0
1598 km/s Armour 1-175 Shields 0-0 HTK 90 Sensors 5/8/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 13 Max Repair 1,000 MSP
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months CDE 20%
Jump Point Stabilisation: 180 days

Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-400-C (7) Power 2800 Fuel Use 2.24% Signature 400 Explosion 4%
Fuel Capacity 1,000,000 Litres Range 91.7 billion km (664 days at full power)

MK I Commercial Active Augur Array (1) GPS 1920 Range 31.5m km Resolution 120
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km

The jump-capable Sepulchre class Salvager is designed to recover the wrecks of destroyed Xenos spacecraft, in order to learn their technological secrets, collect any intact components and gather minerals for re-use.

Sepulchre class Salvager 77,274 tons 615 Crew 1,853.2 BP TCS 1,545 TH 2,400 EM 0
1552 km/s JR 3-50(C) Armour 1-161 Shields 0-0 HTK 107 Sensors 5/8/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 14 Max Repair 200 MSP
Captain Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months CDE 20%
Salvager: 4 module(s) capable of salvaging 2000 tons per day

RC-780 Commercial Jump Drive Max Ship Size 78000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-400-C (6) Power 2400 Fuel Use 2.24% Signature 400 Explosion 4%
Fuel Capacity 600,000 Litres Range 62.4 billion km (465 days at full power)

MK I Commercial Active Augur Array (1) GPS 1920 Range 31.5m km Resolution 120
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km

The Exordium Mundi class terraforming station has been designed and built on the premise that the Imperium will find worlds that are not immediately ideal for human habitation, but could be transformed over time. The Gaia will be towed into place by the Atlas class tug.

Exordium Mundi class Terraforming Station 126,411 tons 516 Crew 2,691.8 BP TCS 2,528 TH 0 EM 0
1 km/s No Armour Shields 0-0 HTK 66 Sensors 5/8/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 13 Max Repair 500 MSP
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months CDE 20%
Terraformer: 5 modules producing 0.0016 atm per annum

MK I Commercial Active Augur Array (1) GPS 1920 Range 31.5m km Resolution 120
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km

The Sangua Machina class Fuel Harvester Stations have been constructed to refine fuel from the atmospheres of gas giants. While the Sol system has yet to be surveyed, Imperial scientists are hopeful that at least one of the four gas giants in the system will contain gaseous Sorium. If not, there will be many other gas giants in the galaxy that could serve as the Imperium’s long-term source of fuel.

Sangua Machina class Fuel Harvester 132,474 tons 556 Crew 1,741.2 BP TCS 2,649 TH 0 EM 0
1 km/s No Armour Shields 0-0 HTK 271 Sensors 5/8/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 8 Max Repair 30 MSP
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months CDE 20%
Fuel Harvester: 50 modules producing 2,000,000 litres per annum

Fuel Capacity 2,000,000 Litres Range N/A
Refuelling Capability: 40,000 litres per hour Complete Refuel 50 hours

MK I Commercial Active Augur Array (1) GPS 1920 Range 31.5m km Resolution 120
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km

The Auriga Gravis class Tug was constructed to tow the Exordium Mundi and Sangua Machina class stations, plus any future Imperial stations that may be designed and built. It is equipped with a jump drive to allow deployments outside the stabilised jump network.

Auriga Gravis class Tug 137,804 tons 1,087 Crew 3,019.3 BP TCS 2,756 TH 10,000 EM 0
3628 km/s JR 3-50(C) Armour 1-237 Shields 0-0 HTK 292 Sensors 5/8/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 13 Max Repair 350 MSP
Tractor Beam
Captain Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months CDE 20%

RC-1400 Commercial Jump Drive Max Ship Size 140000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-400-C (25) Power 10000 Fuel Use 2.24% Signature 400 Explosion 4%
Fuel Capacity 2,000,000 Litres Range 116.6 billion km (372 days at full power)

MK I Commercial Active Augur Array (1) GPS 1920 Range 31.5m km Resolution 120
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km

The Magistratus class provides jump-capable logistics support to the Imperial Navy, as well as collecting fuel from harvesting stations and transporting fuel and maintenance supplies between colonies.

Magistratus class Replenishment Ship 78,000 tons 455 Crew 1,453.6 BP TCS 1,560 TH 3,200 EM 0
2051 km/s JR 3-50(C) Armour 1-162 Shields 0-0 HTK 117 Sensors 5/8/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 10,011 Max Repair 195 MSP
Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 2
Captain Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months CDE 20%

RC-780 Commercial Jump Drive Max Ship Size 78000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-400-C (8) Power 3200 Fuel Use 2.24% Signature 400 Explosion 4%
Fuel Capacity 23,506,000 Litres Range 2,421.3 billion km (13663 days at full power)
Refuelling Capability: 60,000 litres per hour Complete Refuel 391 hours

MK I Commercial Active Augur Array (1) GPS 1920 Range 31.5m km Resolution 120
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km

Commercial Shipping
4x Empyrean class Jump Tender: Aurelius, Empyrean, Seraphim, Zephyrus
4x Omnis Apertum class Stabilisation Ship: Crux Apertura, Omnis Apertum, Porta Aeterna, Via Custodis
4x Sepulchre class Salvage Ship: Cenotaph, Reliquary, Sarcophagus. Sepulchre
4x Magistratus class Replenishment Ship: Auxilium Divinum, Civitas Fidelis, Curator Ventus, Magistratus
4x Auriga Gravis class Tug: Auriga Gravis, Ferrata Spina, Onus Aeternum, Vigor Magnus
5x Universe class Mass Conveyor:
5x Jericho class Colony Ship:
10x Carrack class Freighter
5x Exordium Mundi class Terraforming Station
5x Sangua Machinum class Fuel Harvester

Terra Survey Report
Duranium: 445,500 1.00
Neutronium: 128,250 0.80
Corbomite: 145,200 0.60
Tritanium: 122,500 0.70
Boronide: 120,250 0.40
Mercassium: 333,300 0.70
Vendarite: 138,150 0.50
Sorium: 141,075 0.90
Uridium: 125,000 0.40
Corundium: 281,400 0.80
Gallicite: 430,200 0.70

Steve Walmsley · « **Reply #1 on:** July 11, 2025, 06:01:42 AM »

The first priority of the Imperial Navy was a survey of Sol, the results of which were extremely disappointing. None of the potentially habitable bodies had any minerals of note and the only gaseous Sorium in the system was in the atmosphere of Uranus, at 0.5 accessibility. The resources the Imperium required to survive and expand would have to be found beyond the limits of the Sol system.

By July 4000, three jump points had been discovered, all within a billion kilometres of the Sun. One was located within the asteroid belt and the other two were a hundred million kilometres outside the orbit of Jupiter. On July 21st, Virtus Aeterna conducted the first interstellar transit by a ship of the Imperial Navy. She emerged near Proxima, the closest star to Sol, which was orbited by two terrestrial planets, one of which had liquid water, a stable orbit, a temperature of -7C and an atmosphere of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, with a trace of oxygen. As the planet had a diameter fifty percent greater than Earth, it would be a difficult target for terraforming. Virtus Aeterna launched an augur probe at the planet, detecting nothing, then began a survey of the system.

Less than twenty-four hours later, Acta Sanctorum transited the jump point within the asteroid belt and discovered Caliban, a red dwarf system with nine planets and over fifty moons. The system was known as Gliese 633 in ancient records, located thirty light years from Earth, which was a far more distant connection than expected by the Imperium’s experts on jump point theory. None of the planets were even remotely habitable, although there was a unusual trace of oxygen in the atmosphere of the innermost planet - a barren rock smaller than Mercury with a surface temperature of three hundred degrees. Acta Sanctorum, located nine hundred million kilometres from the primary, launched an augur probe and began her survey.

To the shock of Captain Konrad Orcus, commander of Acta Sanctorum, the drone revealed a large Xenos colony on the barren planet and a substantial fleet in orbit. The colony’s EM signature was around twelve percent of Terra’s but the thermal signature was over thirty percent, which suggested a high number of installations for the population size. The Xenos fleet included forty-three ships of four different sizes and ten different classes ranging from 983 tons up to 83,571 tons. In terms of overall tonnage, the fleet was almost as large as the entire Imperial Navy. Once the probe moved into orbit, it also detected a ground forces signature of over 50,000 tons .

As soon as news reached Imperial Navy headquarters, it created a furore. It had been two thousand years since Earth was attacked, so despite the focus of humanity on defeating the Xenos threat, the presence of a large Xenos force so close to Earth was still a shock. The Emperor had delegated overall command of all Imperium space-based forces, including the Imperial Navy and all supporting commands, such as the Adeptus Astronomica or the Adeptus Logisticae Militarum, to Lord Admiral Lucian Zagan, so the decision on how to proceed now fell on his shoulders.

While many senior admirals recommended an immediate attack, including the flamboyant High Admiral Asteroth Varnus, commander of the Imperial Navy, Lord Admiral Zagan was cautious and conservative by nature, with the weight of humanity’s future bearing down upon him. While he shared his subordinates great concern, he also knew that a misstep so early in the Imperium’s journey to the stars, could be fatal. Therefore, he gave orders to protect the Sol – Caliban jump point with a strong force, but also to gather as much intelligence as possible before committing to a course of action.

The Imperial Inquisition was responsible for all Xenos-related intelligence analysis. Six Conqueror class ships of approximately 28,000 tons and twelve ships of approximately 18,700 tons had shield signatures, so the Inquisition classed them all as certain warships. The largest type, six ships designated as Vindicator class, did not have a shield signature, which led to a tentative assignment as a type of commercial vessels. Given the trace of oxygen in the atmosphere, it was possible they were terraformers. The remaining ships, nine of which were 9300 tons and ten less than 1000 tons, were likely to be warships, as commercial ships would be larger. In total, the Inquisition estimated the combat component of the Xenos fleet to be around half a million tons.

While that gave the Imperial Navy more than a 2-1 advantage in tonnage, the Inquisition cautioned that no evidence was available yet as to the capabilities of the Xenos technology, plus it was possible that was simply a colony of a much larger Xenos Empire. They agreed with Lord Admiral Zagan that more data was vital, in particular with regard to finding jump points and exploring beyond Caliban to establish the size and power of the Xenos empire. Acta Sanctorum was ordered to launch drones at the other planets, then conduct a gravitational survey only and not reveal herself to the Xenos. Two more survey frigates, Custodia Lucis and Astra Fidelis, were diverted from the ongoing Sol survey to assist.

A newly formed fleet, designated as Battlefleet Caliban, took up station on the Sol – Caliban jump point. They were under orders to immediately engage any substantial alien fleet, but to warn off any single ships or small scouting forces. The fleet comprised the cruiser Imperial Wrath, the light cruisers Aegis and Dauntless, the strike cruiser Dread Argent and two frigates, Cape Wrath and Firestorm. Battlefleet Caliban was commanded by Rear Admiral Uriel Maxim, from his flag bridge on the Imperial Wrath.

Battlefleet Caliban (Rear Admiral Uriel Maxim)
Lunar class Cruiser: Imperial Wrath
Dauntless class Light Cruiser: Aegis, Dauntless
Dread Argent class Strike Cruiser: Dread Argent
Firestorm class Frigate: Cape Wrath, Firestorm
2x Thunderhawk class Assault Transport
2x Aquila class Lander

As a result of the augur probes launched by Acta Sanctorum, two further small Xenos populations were detected: a thermal contact on the thirteenth moon of Caliban VII, rated TH-360, and a TH-310 contact on the twelfth moon of Caliban IX. While they were not in the same league as the massive TH-17000 contact on Caliban I, they further reinforced the Xenos influence on the system. While the probes were underway, the buoy deployment vessel Oculus Vigil briefly entered Caliban to emplace an Augur Buoy on the Caliban – Sol jump point.

On August 4th, Acta Sanctorum completed her work at the first of thirty designated survey locations in Caliban, as part of the overall gravitational survey. As a result, she detected a new jump point half a billion kilometres from the Sol jump point and approximately the same distance from the Caliban primary. She immediately moved to investigate. Following transit, she emerged at the edge of Penumbra, a system with ten planets, including twin planets slightly larger than Mars, and sixty moons. The only system body of any note was Penumbra II, which had a thin atmosphere of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, a temperature of 20C and desert-like conditions. As Acta Sanctorum had only a single Augur probe remaining, she moved in-system to a point where she could launch it at the desert world.

In the Sol system, the survey frigate Crux Veritas arrived at the last of the three known jump points and transited. She arrived almost three billion kilometres from a planetless M3-V red dwarf, which was named Nadir. She began a survey. Less than a day later, the survey frigate Sanctus Lux discovered a fourth jump point in Sol, located midway between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus. She paused her survey of Sol and probed the new jump point, emerging a billion kilometres from Tau Ceti, a Sol-like star with three planets, over forty moons and a scattering of asteroids. The tenth moon of Tau Ceti I, a large superjovian, was a hot, desert world, larger than Mars, with a thin nitrogen – oxygen atmosphere and a few small lakes. Sanctus Lux launched a probe at the moon, then began a survey.

With three survey frigates now committed to Caliban, including any systems further out, such as Penumbra, and one each in Proxima, Nadir and Tau Ceti, that left only Ordo Revelare and Veritas Invicta to continue the survey of Sol. By this time, they were both operating within the Kuiper Belt. Meanwhile, the augur probe launched by Acta Sanctorum did not detect any sign of life near Penumbra II, so she set course for the Caliban jump point, via a nearby survey location, to resume her survey of that system. A full survey of Penumbra would have to wait until the work in Caliban was completed.

With Acta Sanctorum still a billion kilometres away, a previously unknown ship of the Caliban Xenos was detected on approach to the Penumbra – Caliban jump point by an augur buoy, recently emplaced by Oculus Vigil. The ship, designated as Hunter class, was 7,757 tons and moving at 3996 km/s, marginally slower than Imperial Navy warships but much faster than Acta Sanctorum, and on a heading that suggested an origin point beyond the orbit of the outermost planet. If the Hunter was some form of survey ship, it suggested an engine technology that was superior to the gas core drives of the Imperium. Although if it was a scout, with a focus on speed rather than endurance, it was possible the technology might be comparable. Thirty minutes later, the Hunter transited into Caliban, where it was detected by another buoy, and held position close to the Penumbra jump point. Acta Sanctorum could not transit without being detected, so she continued surveying in Penumbra.

In late September 4000, another new ship of the Caliban Xenos, a 6,731 ton Stalker class travelling at 3,454 km/s, was detected in Penumbra on the same approach vector as the Hunter. As with its predecessor, it transited into Caliban, but immediately moved away from the jump point into the outer system. Either there was another jump point further from the Caliban primary, or the Stalker was a gravitational survey ship. While Acta Sanctorum remained in Penumbra to avoid detection, Custodia Lucis and Astra Fidelis continued a gravitational survey of Caliban. As Astra Fidelis moved deeper into the outer system, she diverted to one of a pair of long-period comets to conduct a brief geological survey. A small Xenos colony with a contact signature of TH-160 / EM-155 was already in place. If the colony possessed any form of detection capability, the Caliban Xenos were now aware that the Imperial Navy was in their system. How that would affect the deployment of their warships remained to be seen.

Comet #2 Survey Report
Duranium: 365,653 0.90
Neutronium: 221,337 0.90
Sorium: 37,051 0.50

Astra Fidelis continued her survey of Caliban and in early December identified a new jump point that was in the right area to have been the destination of the recently-detected Stalker. She paused her survey, moved to the new jump point and transited, finding a brown dwarf star and a couple of comets. As the new system, designated as Nyx, was small and easy to survey, Astra Fidelis temporarily abandoned her work in Caliban. Within three days of arriving in Nyx, she found an outward jump point and conducted a probe.

The system beyond, designated as Prospero, was in complete contrast to the dim and claustrophobic Nyx. A yellow G8-V star blazed at the centre, surrounded by four planets, forty moons and more than six hundred asteroids, clustered in a vast belt around the system periphery. Prospero I was a super-terrestrial world, dominated by rainforests and liquid oceans, with a nitrogen – oxygen atmosphere of 1.33 atm, including 0.31 atm of oxygen. With slightly less oxygen, it would be breathable. The surface temperature was 52C, although that was due to the planet being close to perihelion. As its eccentric orbit took the planet further from the star, the temperature would drop to -12C.

Astra Fidelis launched an augur probe at Prospero I from two billion kilometres away, then moved to a nearby survey location to await the results. The probe took six days to reach the planet and found no sign of life. Given the potential value of so much real estate, especially in orbit of a star that was only three billion years old, which meant a higher chance of usable mineral deposits, it seemed very likely that if this system was within the territory of the Caliban Xenos, they would have established a colony. Astra Fidelis completed her work at the survey location then headed in-system to survey the near-habitable planet.

The survey frigates beyond the Sol – Caliban jump point were now dispersed across several systems. Custodia Lucis remained in Caliban, conducting a gravitational survey, while Acta Sanctorum was in Penumbra, trying to locate the origin of the Hunter and Stalker class ships. Astra Fidelis was in Prospero, two transits beyond Caliban via Nyx, yet had barely begun a survey of Nyx. As soon as the two survey frigates still working on the Sol survey were available, they would be dispatched to assist. Meanwhile, Oculus Vigil followed in the wake of Astra Fidelis, emplacing buoys at both sides of the newly discovered jump points.

Back at Terra, Lord Admiral Lucian Zagan decided that the Imperium of Man would establish a presence in Prospero, even before the system had been surveyed. Based on the astrographic data obtained so far and the movement of the Stalker and Hunter, he believed that the Caliban Xenos probably originated somewhere beyond Penumbra. In the event that the Xenos did not prove immediately hostile, the Imperium would need to block their expansion until the time was right to deal with them. They would not be allowed to enter Sol, but the Imperium also had to prevent further movement through the Nyx system and beyond. A colony and naval base in Prospero would serve that purpose, as well as providing support to survey operations.

The assembled transport fleet comprised eight Universe class mass conveyors carrying infrastructure, two Carrack class freighters with tracking stations and four massive Jericho class colony ships with two million colonists. They were accompanied by the Cetaceous class troop transport Echo of Vengeance, with the entire Mordian Iron Guard Imperial Guard corps, and the smaller troop transport Silent Lance carrying the Black Guard planetary defence regiment. The tender Seraphim provided jump capability for the large commercial-engined ships, while the replenishment ship Curator Ventus brought fuel and supplies. Given the value of the ships and their contents, they were escorted by a carrier group, comprising the Dictator class carrier Ferrum Aeterna, two light cruisers and two frigates.

Prospero Expedition
Dictator class Carrier: Ferrum Aeterna
Dauntless class Light Cruiser: Bellerophon, Bloodhawk
Firestorm class Frigate: Excalibur, Heroic Endeavour
Cetaceous class Troop Transport: Echo of Vengeance
Orca class Troop Transport: Silent Lance
Magistratus class Replenishment Ship: Curator Ventus
Empyrean class Jump Tender: Seraphim
4x Jericho class Colony Ship
8x Universe class Mass Conveyor
2x Carrack class Freighter

As the Xenos Hunter class ship was still stationed on the Caliban – Penumbra jump point and a direct course between the Sol and Nyx jump points would pass within sixty million kilometres, the Prospero expedition moved in-system, close to the orbit of the ninth planet, before changing heading toward the Nyx jump point.

On January 19th, Acta Sanctorum detected a new jump point in Penumbra, located on a bearing from the Caliban jump point that reciprocated the arrival bearing of the Stalker and Hunter class ships. She altered course to conduct a probe. Before she reached her destination, another new class of a Xenos ship, a 9,337 ton Silencer travelling at 3,220 km/s, approached the Caliban jump point from the direction of the new jump point and transited into Caliban. After waiting for several hours, it moved away on a course that would take it between the inner system and the Sol jump point. There was no obvious destination in that direction, although the gravitational survey of Caliban was still underway.

Acta Sanctorum transited the new jump point and emerged in Orpheus, a red dwarf system with four planets. Orpheus III was an ice-covered, earth-sized world with a breathable atmosphere. The surface temperature was -91C, although as the planet was tide-locked there were more habitable zones in a narrow band, which give it an overall colony suitability rating of 0.63, with 0 being perfect conditions. Despite the atmosphere, it did not seem a very likely location for an alien home world. Acta Sanctorum had used all of her augur probes, so she moved in-system to investigate the planet. There was no sign of any Xenos presence, even thought the survey revealed a deposit of seven million tons of accessibility 1.0 Duranium.

Orpheus III Survey Report
Duranium: 7,372,800 1.00
Neutronium: 1,048,576 0.10
Tritanium: 27,541,504 0.10
Vendarite: 35,426,304 0.60
Gallicite: 36,864 0.10

Despite the presence of the Hunter, Oculus Vigil was ordered to pass into Penumbra and lay buoys at the Penumbra – Orpheus jump point. As she approached the Caliban – Penumbra jump point, Oculus Vigil received an unintelligible communication from the Xenos vessel, which had plainly detected her. Attempts to translate the message were unsuccessful, so Oculus Vigil transited and continued her mission. Meanwhile, the Silencer class ship that was detected entering Caliban, was detected by another buoy entering Nyx, the first time any Caliban Xenos ship had been detected in that system.

The Prospero Expedition arrived at Prospero I as the geological survey was completed by Astra Fidelis. The results in geological terms were disappointing, with large quantities of three minerals, but at minimal accessibility. Of far greater interest was the discovery of an abandoned but mostly intact Xenos colony on the surface. The Ordo Xenos would need time to conduct a xenoarchaeological survey to understand the Xenos language and symbology and to identify targets for recovery operations, but this was a find of potentially significant value. The troop transport Choir of the Fallen was dispatched from Terra with all three Ordo Xenos formations, plus two Ordo Machinum formations that would conduct the eventual recovery operations. She was escorted by the frigate Pegasus and a jump tender. Lord Admiral Zagan’s decision to establish a presence in Prospero had proven to be extremely foresighted.

The light cruiser Bellerophon, the frigate Excalibur and the replenishment ship Curator Ventus remained at the new Prospero Colony, while the remainder of the Prospero Expedition began the journey home to Terra. A few days later, in the Proxima system, adjacent to Sol, a small colony of 500,000 was established on Proxima II, primarily to stimulate the creation and growth of private shipping companies. In Orpheus, Acta Sanctorum was conducting a survey of the other planets and located useful deposits on Orpheus I, a dwarf planet only two thousand kilometres in diameter.

Orpheus I Survey Report
Duranium: 145,800 0.80
Corbomite: 532,900 0.50
Tritanium: 672,400 0.80
Boronide: 202,500 0.70
Vendarite: 960,400 0.90
Corundium: 62,500 1.00

On March 27th 4001, many of the previously detected ships of the Caliban Xenos were detected by Augur Buoys as they transited the Caliban – Nyx jump point. All six 28,000-ton Conqueror class light cruisers were in the fleet, along with nine of the ships in the 18,700-ton range and five smaller ships of approximately 9300 tons. Every ship had military engines and a speed of 3,316 km/s. The Imperial Inquisition classed all the mid-sized ships as frigates, although they were larger than the 15,000-ton Imperial Navy frigates, and the smaller types as escorts. The speed of the Xenos ships was a welcome data point, as it meant they were almost 700 km/s slower than their Imperial Navy counterparts.

The primary concern for Lord Admiral Zagan and High Admiral Varnus, commander of the Imperial Navy, was the destination of the Xenos armada. The Prospero Expedition was almost at the Caliban – Sol jump point, so was in no position to assist if the Xenos intended to move into Prospero and attack the new colony. The Imperial Navy forces in the latter system comprised Bellerophon and Excalibur stationed at the Prospero Colony, the survey frigate Astra Fidelis in orbit of Prospero II and the frigate Pegasus, en route from the Nyx jump point with the troop transport Choir of the Fallen and a jump tender. Also in the system were Curator Ventus and the recently arrived tug Auriga Gravis, which was towing a terraforming station. The Black Guard planetary defence regiment was stationed at the Prospero Colony.

While the aliens had not yet shown any hostile intent, that could have simply been due to a lack of targets. Lord Admiral Zagan ordered the tug, the replenishment ship and the jump tender into deep space away from the colony, while Pegasus stayed with the troop transport, as the safest place for the valuable Ordo formations on board was on the surface of the colony. Astra Fidelis completed her task and moved to join the other Imperial Navy ships, as she had her own light armament to add to the force.

Another factor to consider was the absence of the Xenos fleet from the Xenos colony on Caliban I. If the Imperium intended to eliminate the threat and capture the colony, there would not be a better time. Lord Admiral Zagan gave the order to assemble a powerful force at the Sol – Caliban jump point, ready to enter the system if ordered. The frigate Heroic Endeavour was detached from the Prospero Expedition and ordered to make a close approach to Caliban I and see what remaining in orbit. She engaged her active augur array at forty million kilometres and detected the six Vindicators, which were suspected terraformers, three ships at 18,700-tons and four escort-sized vessels. Heroic Endeavour pulled back out of range and headed for the Sol jump point.

On April 4th, the Prospero Expedition passed safely into Terra. The remaining escort ships joined the growing force on the Caliban jump point, while the commercial-engined ships headed for Terra. It had now been eight days and there was still no sign of the Xenos fleet entering Prospero, despite the journey across the brown dwarf Nyx system being much shorter, so it seemed that fleet had another destination. Lord Admiral Zagan ordered Astra Fidelis to return to Nyx and complete the survey of that system, while the commercial-engined ships in Prospero were ordered home. Pegasus would remain with Bellerophon and Excalibur. The troop transport Strike of Mercy was ordered to Prospero with a second planetary defence regiment, while the frigate Medusa was ordered to enter Penumbra and hold station there, so it could move into Caliban and eliminate the Xenos Hunter class vessel if an attack order was given.

On April 15th, the large Xenos fleet was detected once again, this time on a course toward the Nyx – Caliban jump point. However, once the signatures of the individual ships were checked, it quickly became apparent this was an entirely new fleet, with the same composition in ship classes. Where this fleet had originated and where the identical fleet from Caliban was heading were both of high importance to the Inquisition. Astra Fidelis would perhaps provide that intelligence with her ongoing survey.

Lord Admiral Zagan decided to postpone the attack on Caliban I, much to the disappointment of High Admiral Varnus, as he did not want his ships to face the new alien fleet, perhaps both fleets, shortly after attacking the planet, especially with no intelligence on their weapon capabilities. In the meantime, he planned to build up the defences of Prospero and continue the search for the alien home system. Shortly after the detection of the Xenos fleet, a second Silencer class ship appeared from the same direction.

Two weeks later, Astra Fidelis located a new jump point in Nyx, in the direction from which the Xenos fleet had approached the Caliban jump point. She conducted a probe and discovered the system of Erebus, comprising a red dwarf primary, five unremarkable planets and twenty-six moons, plus a large belt of almost four hundred asteroids, clustered within three AU of the primary. There was no wreckage or other sign of recent combat. As the jump point was on the edge of the system, Astra Fidelis returned to Nyx to complete her twice-interrupted survey. Even though known space now extended to ten system, none of those systems, including Sol, had a completed gravitational survey.

Less than a day after the discovery of Erebus, the new Xenos fleet of twenty warships transited from Caliban into Penumbra and set a course that was in the general direction of the Orpheus jump point, but not an exact course. As the frigate Medusa was stationed on the Penumbra – Caliban jump point, High Admiral Varnus ordered her to track the fleet and identify its destination, regardless of concerns about highlighting the Imperium presence to the Caliban Xenos. Meanwhile in Prospero, the Ordo Xenos formations completed their survey, identifying four hundred and twenty-six potential recovery locations at the Prospero Colony. Unfortunately, it seemed the previous inhabitants were fairly low tech, so it was unlikely anything would be recovered to boost the Imperium’s level of technology.

On May 6th, the Xenos fleet transited a previously unknown jump point in Penumbra, midway between the Sol and Orpheus jump points but not on a direct course. Medusa, who had been shadowing the fleet from thirty million kilometres, transited in the wake of the Xenos ships. She emerged within two AU of a close-orbiting binary, with a bright yellow-white F9-V primary and a G1-V companion similar to Sol. The only bodies in the system were a pair of wandering comets. The Xenos fleet was thirty million kilometres away on a course that passed close to the two stars. Medusa still had eighty percent of her fuel so she continued her pursuit. The system was named Avernus.

Thirteen days later, the Caliban Xenos fleet transited another jump point, three and a half billion kilometres from the Avernus primary, taking it even further from the colony on Caliban I. Once again, Medusa followed them. She emerged three point six billion kilometres from an F2-III giant star fifty times more luminous than Sol. The system, named Gehenna, had six planets and over forty moons. Gehenna III was a terrestrial world, with liquid oceans, forested rift valleys and a breathable atmosphere similar to Earth’s. The temperature was a balmy 16C, although the highly eccentric orbit would result in a temperature range between -68C and 77C. Despite the presence of a world that seemed to be a candidate for the home world of the Caliban Xenos, the Xenos fleet set a course away from the inner system. Medusa, now on sixty-three percent fuel, continued to follow at a distance of thirty million kilometres.

The replenishment ship Magistratus departed Earth orbit with orders to follow the course of Medusa, giving the frigate the option to exhaust her fuel during the pursuit of the Xenos fleet. Oculus Nox, sister ship to Oculus Vigil, was already en route to place buoys on the new jump points transited by Medusa. She transited into Avernus, emplaced a buoy at the Avernus – Penumbra jump point, then set course for the Gehenna jump point. Less than a week later, the newly positioned buoy detected the approach of another Xenos fleet, once more identical to the two equally large fleets that had previously been detected, one pursued by Medusa and the other last seen in Nyx. The tonnage of known Caliban Xenos warships now exceeded that of the Imperial Navy.

The third fleet arrived from a direction that did not quite line up with the Gehenna jump point, so there was likely to be another jump point somewhere in the planetless Avernus system. After transiting into Penumbra, the Xenos fleet set a direct course for the Caliban jump point. High Admiral Varnus dispatched the frigate Kraken from its picket position on the Sol – Caliban jump point to the Caliban – Penumbra jump point, with orders to shadow the fleet if it transited.

Due to the increased contact between ships of the Imperial Navy and the Caliban Xenos during 4001, both sides had been transmitting messages to each other in an informal way. For the Imperium, this ‘ad hoc’ communication was often conducted by commanders of commercial-engine vessels, or escorting warships, to create the impression that the Imperium was ‘passing through’ and here to talk, not fight. Imperium High Command had not formally banned this activity, but not condoned it either. In any event, the Inquisition kept records of all communication and by mid-May 4001 had managed to translate the alien language and decrypt the video elements of their transmissions.

The Caliban Xenos referred to themselves as the Vorchan Ascendancy, a designation that would be used in all future official reports. The video decryption allowed the Inquisition intelligence officers to see the Xenos for the first time. They were grey-brown in colour and roughly humanoid in general shape, but slightly shorter and much bulkier than humans and appeared to be somewhere between reptiles and amphibians. Their massive heads were hairless, with large deep-set eyes, an armoured cranium and a huge protruding jaw. Understanding the Vorchan language would prove useful in gathering further intelligence and warning them away from Sol and Prospero.

To aid comprehension, the Inquisition decided to assign names to the various known Vorchan fleets. The original Caliban fleet that had vanished in Nyx would be known as Vorchan Primus, the fleet followed by Medusa would be Vorchan Secundus, while the fleet currently out of contact in Penumbra but expected to transit into Caliban was designated as Vorchan Tertius. In Gehenna, Vorchan Secundus was six billion kilometres from the primary and still moving outwards. Medusa detected a new Stalker class ship approaching on a reciprocal course.

On June 2nd, the Imperium learned that the Vorchan Ascendancy had also deciphered High Gothic. The frigate Kraken, stationed on the Caliban – Penumbra jump point to await the arrival of Vorchan Tertius, received a request from the nearby Hunter class ship to leave the system as soon as possible. The easy short-term solution was for Kraken to transit into Penumbra while she awaited the Xenos fleet. In the longer term, Ascendancy resistance to Imperium ships passing through Caliban would be a serious problem.

Four days later Medusa observed yet another transit from Vorchan Secundus, seven point five billion kilometres from Gehenna’s F5-III primary. For the third time, she followed them through. Her fuel was now only thirty-seven percent and she could not return home without support. The new system, designated as Tartarus, had an orange K5-V star and four terrestrial planets, one of which was a Terra-sized world with a stable orbit, an atmosphere that would be breathable except for a trace of chlorine and a temperature of 18C, although it lacked any surface water. Vorchan Secundus headed in the general direction of the inner system, pursued by Medusa.

Ships of the Ascendancy had now been detected in a chain of six systems, stretching from Nyx, through Caliban, Penumbra, Avernus, Gehenna and now Tartarus. Concern was growing in the higher echelon of the Imperium about the size and power of the Vorchan Ascendancy. As Medusa followed the Xenos warships deeper into Tartarus, she received a communication from one of the Conqueror class ships, informing her that Tartarus was a system of the Ascendancy and requesting that she leave, although not with the urgency of the recent similar request in Caliban. This had not happened in any of the previous systems through which Medusa had followed, which suggested there was possibly a Vorchan colony in Tartarus. On the direct instructions of High Admiral Varnus, passed via the chain of command, she ignored the request.

Meanwhile, Vorchan Tertius arrived at the Penumbra – Caliban jump point and transited. Kraken followed them through and took up a shadowing position as they headed out-system, with no known destination ahead. Custodia Lucis was still surveying Caliban though, with less than twenty percent of the survey locations remaining, so it was possible there was a fourth jump point in the system.

On June 13th 4001, the Vorchan Ascendancy contacted both Kraken and Medusa. Once against, Medusa received a request to leave Tartarus. The message to Kraken was far stronger. The Ascendancy demanded she leave Caliban immediately. High Admiral Varnus was content to ignore the Vorchan and force a confrontation. Lord Admiral Lucian Zagan overruled his subordinate and ordered Kraken to reverse course and move into Penumbra, although he permitted Medusa to continue following Vorchan Secundus. By this point, he had also reached the conclusion that conflict with the Vorchan Ascendancy was inevitable, but if the Imperial Navy was going to fight, he wanted every advantage before it opened fire, including ensuring that all commercial shipping was in a safe harbour before the first blow landed. A second expedition was in Prospero, which included six mass conveyers and a Jericho class colony ship, while the troop transport Choir of the Fallen was in Caliban, heading home.

Two days later, Veritas Invicta finally completed the gravitational survey of Sol, although the geological survey would require another few days. Partial surveys had been conducted in several of the other known systems, but Sol was the only one completed. On June 19th, a stronger warning was issued to Medusa, which was following Vorchan Secundus toward Gehenna IV. High Admiral Varnus instructed her to sweep the inner system and then depart via the Gehenna jump point. Medusa detected a Vorchan colony on Gehenna IV, a terrestrial world with liquid oceans and CO2 – nitrogen atmosphere, with a signature of TH-1268 / EM-1515, much smaller than on Caliban I, but larger than the other four small Ascendancy colonies in the same system. The other three planets were lifeless, so Medusa headed for the Gehenna jump point and ran out of fuel half a billion kilometres from her destination. The replenishment ship Magistratus was en route to assist her, but still a month away.

A week later, Vorchan Tertius, the fleet that had been shadowed by Kraken, transited into Nyx and a set a course for the Erebus jump point, which was also the assumed destination of Vorchan Primus. The Xenos ships transited on June 27th and headed for the planetary system and asteroid belt clustered close to the red dwarf primary. So far, there had been no Imperium survey activity in Erebus, but with two of the three major Ascendancy fleets in that system, the priority level had just risen. When Astra Fidelis completed her survey of Nyx, she would moved into Erebus. The Nyx – Erebus jump point was also a logical ambush location for an Imperial Navy battlefleet when hostilities commenced. In Tartarus, Oculus Nox entered the system briefly as she emplaced buoys either side of the Gehenna jump point, but could not render aid to the crew of the stranded Medusa, beyond words of encouragement.

By early August, Medusa had been rescued by Magistratus and was heading home across the Gehenna system, with Magistratus in her wake. Ahead of her, Oculus Nox was already in the planetless binary of Avernus and had travelled half a billion kilometres from the Gehenna jump point, when a the buoy she had emplaced detected a new Ascendancy fleet moving toward the jump point from deeper in the outer system. It had the same composition as the other three major fleets detected so far and was therefore classified as Vorchan Quartus. The Avernus system had yet to be surveyed but the appearance of the new fleet suggested at least one more jump point existed beyond the two detected by Medusa as she tracked Vorchan Secundus on its long journey from Caliban to Tartarus. Unfortunately, despite all the new intelligence gained by monitoring the movement of Ascendancy fleets, the Inquisition was still no closer to knowing the location of the Vorchan home world, a data point that would be vital for the coming war.

Medusa and Vorchan Quartus passed each other in Gehenna, travelling on reciprocal courses between the Avernus and Tartarus jump points. On August 15th, Vorchan Quartus entered Tartarus, detected by the recently emplaced buoy, joining Vorchan Secundus in that system. With Vorchan Primus and Vorchan Tertius believed to be in Erebus, or somewhere beyond, that left Caliban completely open to attack. It also gave the Imperial Navy the chance to block the powerful alien fleets beyond the Nyx – Erebus and Penumbra – Avernus jump points, securing the systems of Caliban, Penumbra, Orpheus, Prospero and Nyx, although the only one of those systems with a completed gravitational survey was Nyx.

However, each Xenos fleet massed almost four hundred thousand tons, which means the two groups in Erebus and Tartarus each massed 800,000 tons. The entire Imperial Navy was barely more than a million tons and would need to take Caliban, blockade two different jump points with powerful forces, protect Sol and Prospero and retain enough reserves to replace ships at the end of their deployments. A fifth Lunar class cruiser was under construction but would not be ready for thirteen months. Two Dauntless class light cruisers were eighteen months away. If the Imperial Navy was to fight the Ascendancy, it would have to do so with the forces currently available.

Battlefleet Prospero, guarding the Prospero colony, comprised the Dauntless class light cruiser Bellerophon and the frigates Excalibur and Pegasus. Two more frigates, Heroic Endeavour and Valiant, were also in Prospero, escorting three Jericho class colony ships and the jump tender Empyrean as they delivered another one and a half million settlers to the colony. The frigate Kraken was stationed at the Penumbra – Caliban jump point, while Medusa was still in Avernus. The strike cruiser Angelic Blade and the light cruisers Cerberus and Divine Crusade were stationed at the Sol – Caliban jump point. Every other warship was in orbit of Terra.

Lord Admiral Lucian Zagan decided that the Imperial Navy could not cover all the necessary deployments, while maintaining sufficient forces for each. However, the two Vorchan fleets in Tartarus were around fifteen billion kilometres from Caliban, with Imperium buoys deployed on the intervening jump points. Therefore, two major forces would be deployed. One to assault the Ascendancy colonies in Caliban and the second to guard the Nyx – Erebus jump point. After the conquest of Caliban was complete, the conquering force would move to intercept any movement from Tartarus. With any luck, the Nyx-based force would ambush the Xenos force in Erebus before the arrival of the Tartarus-based force and would be able to join the second battle.

As its primary role was to ambush transiting Ascendancy warships, Battlefleet Nyx was designed as a cruiser-heavy force intended for close combat, comprising the Lunar class cruisers Holy Flame and Imperial Wrath, four light cruisers, two strike cruisers and two frigates. Battlefleet Caliban, intended to eliminate all resistance at the Ascendancy colony on Caliban I, was a carrier-heavy force designed to quickly overwhelm the defenders. All four Dictator class carriers were in the fleet, along with the cruiser Iron Duke, three light cruisers and a strike cruiser. A third force, with four Cetaceous class troop transports and two frigates would conduct the invasion once the defences were down. Battlefleet Nyx departed first. Battlefleet Caliban moved to the Sol – Caliban jump point, but would not enter the Caliban system until Battlefleet Nyx was in place.

Battlefleet Nyx (Rear Admiral Titus Belicus)
Lunar class Cruiser: Holy Flame, Imperial Wrath*
Dauntless class Light Cruiser: Aegis, Bloodhawk, Cerberus, Dauntless
Dread Argent class Strike Cruiser: Angelic Blade, Dread Argent
Firestorm class Frigate: Cape Wrath, Firestorm
4x Thunderhawk class Assault Transport
4x Aquila class Lander

Battlefleet Caliban (Rear Admiral Uriel Maxim)
Dictator class Carrier: Archon Kort, Ferrum Aeterna, Hammer of Justice, Rhadamanthine
Lunar class Cruiser: Iron Duke*
Dauntless class Light Cruiser: Divine Crusade, Ravenor, Unbroken Vow
Dread Argent class Strike Cruiser: Eternal Defiance
2x Thunderhawk class Assault Transport
2x Aquila class Lander

Caliban Invasion Force (Captain Cassius Gavinus)
Cetaceous class Troop Transport: Bastion of Souls, Choir of the Fallen, Echo of Vengeance, Hymn of Sacrifice
Firestorm class Frigate: Rubicon, Silent Fire
3x Imperial Guard Corps
4x Heavy Armour Regiment

Almost the entire Imperial Navy was involved in the complex operation, leaving only the cruiser Justicar, the strike cruiser Holy Execution and two frigates in Terran orbit. Together with the surface defences, they would need to guard the home world of humanity until a substantial portion of the Imperial Navy was able to return to Terra.

Battlefleet Terra (Rear Admiral Israfael Calgar)
Lunar class Cruiser: Justicar
Dread Argent class Strike Cruiser: Holy Execution
Firestorm class Frigate: Vengeful, Vortex
2x Thunderhawk class Assault Transport
2x Aquila class Lander

Steve Walmsley · « **Reply #2 on:** July 11, 2025, 06:26:42 AM »

Battlefleet Caliban was twenty-seven hours from the Nyx system when the plan suffered its first complication. Another new Ascendancy fleet, identical to the others and named Vorchan Quintus, was detected by the buoy emplaced on the Avernus – Penumbra jump point. Its approach vector was from the general direction of the Gehenna jump point, but not exactly. As the latter jump point also had a buoy, this new fleet probably originated from a third, unknown jump point. The Penumbra – Avernus jump point was less than three billion kilometres from the Penumbra - Caliban jump point, so this new fleet could appear behind Battlefleet Caliban as it attacked the Ascendancy colonies, or even move to the Sol jump point, which was less than half a billion kilometres from the Caliban – Penumbra jump point. Thirty minutes later, Vorchan Quintus transited into Penumbra and set course for Caliban, just four hundred million kilometres behind Medusa.

Based on this new threat, Lord Admiral Zagan decided to adjust the battle plan. High Admiral Varnus immediately expressed his concern about calling off the attack, but that was not Zagan’s intention. Instead, he planned to ambush the new fleet as it transited into Caliban and then move to attack the colonies. While Battlefleet Caliban was not set up for close combat, it could deliver a powerful opening blow. However, the Hunter class ship was still stationed on the Caliban side of the Penumbra jump point and if that detected the approach of a major Imperial Navy fleet, it could trigger hostilities early. Therefore Zagan ordered the fleet to remain in Sol and only enter Caliban and move to the Penumbra jump point at the last possible moment.

Barely forty-eight hours had passed, with Vorchan Quintus moving across Penumbra, when yet another identical fleet was detected. Vorchan Sextus was detected on approach to the Avernus – Gehenna jump point from the same out-system direction as Vorchan Quartus. The Vorchan Ascendancy appeared to be a major Xenos Empire. Given the number of fleets originating in the planetless Avernus system, the Inquisition was favouring an unknown jump point in Avernus as the most likely route to the Ascendancy home system. Vorchan Sextus transited into Gehenna and set a course for Tartarus. Meanwhile, Lord Admiral Zagan ordered Medusa to hold position in Penumbra and wait for Vorchan Quintus to reach her position, then shadow the Xenos fleet so its arrival in Caliban could be timed precisely.

Guided by updates from Medusa, Battlefleet Caliban departed Sol on September 2nd 4001, with its arrival at the Penumbra jump point scheduled for less than four hours before the arrival of Vorchan Quintus. While they were in transit between the two jump points, Vorchan Secundus reappeared, entering Avernus from Gehenna. The previous detection of this fleet had been in Tartarus and there was no record of its moving between Tartarus and Gehenna, so it had either transited before the buoys were emplaced or there was another route between Tartarus and Gehenna. The approach of this fleet was another complication but it was too far away to modify the plan, so Battlefleet Caliban continued on course.

Rear Admiral Uriel Maxim, commanding the fleet from his flagship, the cruiser Iron Duke, was a larger-than-life character, an energetic epicurean, known for both his bonhomie and his analytical approach. Rear Admiral Maxim faced a tactical situation where his five energy combatants, Iron Duke, the strike cruiser Eternal Defiance and the light cruisers, Divine Crusade, Ravenor and Unbroken Vow, were out-numbered four to one in hulls and more than two to one in tonnage. However, they had two advantages. The first was the presence of one hundred and forty-four Fury interceptors from the four carriers in Battlefleet Caliban. While they did little to address the tonnage imbalance, they were potentially deadly in close quarters. The carriers themselves were held back half a million kilometres from the jump point, with their Starhawk bomber squadrons still on board. Rear Admiral Maxim believed this would be a long war and the torpedoes of the Starhawks were a precious resource that was not easily replenished. They would only be used in an emergency.

The second advantage of Battlefleet Caliban was that the Xenos vessels would suffer from jump shock on transit, making them unable to respond until they recovered. The five Imperial warships had to inflict as much damage as possible on the twenty Xenos vessels while the Ascendency force was suffering from jump shock – assuming they did in fact transit into Caliban. Unless they could eliminate at least half of the enemy ships quickly, they could find themselves in a difficult situation. Given the importance of the first few seconds of the battle, Rear Admiral Maxim was concerned that his relatively inexperienced crews would waste previous seconds identifying and locking on to targets. Therefore, with Vorchan Quintus an hour away from the Caliban jump point, he took the cruisers and fighters into Penumbra to select their targets and prepare their weapons to fire

Iron Duke targeted two of the Conqueror light cruisers, while Eternal Defiance and the three light cruisers each targeted one of the other four. The light weapon batteries on all five ships were assigned as point defence, but targeted on the small escort-sized vessels. The fighters split into four groups, each of which targeted one of the 18,700-ton Impaler class ships. That left almost half the Vorchan ships untargeted, but concentration of fire was vital. With all weapons, except for the torpedoes of Iron Duke, targeted, the fleet returned to Caliban. The frigate Medusa moved to join Kraken on the Penumbra side of the jump point. Both frigates would remain in the system and attack any Vorchan ships that tried to retreat into Penumbra during the battle. With the battle plan set and his ships prepared, Rear Admiral Maxim projected an air of confidence on the flag bridge as he awaited the expected transit of Vorchan Quintus.

Battlefleet Caliban (Rear Admiral Uriel Maxim)
Dictator class Carrier: Archon Kort, Ferrum Aeterna, Hammer of Justice, Rhadamanthine
Lunar class Cruiser: Iron Duke*
Dauntless class Light Cruiser: Divine Crusade, Ravenor, Unbroken Vow
Dread Argent class Strike Cruiser: Eternal Defiance
2x Thunderhawk class Assault Transport
96x Starhawk Bomber
144x Fury Interceptor
10x Aquila class Lander

Vorchan Quintus
6x Conqueror class Light Cruiser (28,000 tons)
3x Punisher class Frigate (18,697 tons)
4x Impaler class Frigate (18,676 tons)
2x Ravager class Frigate (18,646 tons)
4x Ambusher class Escort (9,345 tons)
1x Abhorrent class Escort (9,328 tons)

At 13:14 on September 2nd 4001, the twenty Ascendancy warships transited into Caliban and were met with an immediate hail of fire from every Imperial vessel and fighter on the jump point. They were running with shields down, which made the attack even more effective. All six Conqueror class ships and the four Impalers suffered internal damage. A 9300-ton Ambusher was blown to pieces by the cruisers’ secondary armament.

Vorchan Quintus broke away from the jump point, trailing damaged ships in its wake, as a 9300-ton Abhorrent blew up. The fighters continued fire on the Impalers, while the cruisers waited for their main armament to recharge. Rear Admiral Maxim gave an order to pursue the fastest Xenos vessels, attacking the others en passant.

Fifteen seconds after transit, the Iron Duke and the light cruisers fired again, destroying four of the Conquerors, while the fighters overwhelmed one of the 18,700-ton Impalers. Thirteen Xenos ships remained, eight of which had yet to be attacked. Rear Admiral Maxim ordered Eternal Defiance to use her Thunderhawks to board the two remaining Conquerors, both of which were crippled, while the cruisers turned their attention to the Punishers and Ravagers. Five seconds later, the other three Impalers exploded under heavy fire from the Furies, which then pursued the remaining escorts.

Thirty seconds after transit, the cruisers fired their main armament for the third time. All three 18,700-ton Punishers exploded and the fighters eliminated another Ambusher. Forty-five seconds after transit, the battle was effectively over. Every single Vorchan warship had been destroyed, apart from the two crippled Conquerors, one of which was still moving at 552 km/s, which had both been boarded by Space Marines. The interceptors headed back to their carriers, except for six Furies which were dispatched in pursuit of the Hunter, which had started fleeing just before the battle. Eighty seconds after transit, one of the two crippled Conquerors launched a salvo of nineteen size-9 torpedoes at the five Imperial cruisers, despite the ongoing combat on board.

The torpedoes had a speed of 19,000 km/s, slower than the 25,000 km/s of the Imperial torpedoes, but still fast enough to reach Battlefleet Caliban within a few seconds. They were met by massed point defence fire from the fleet’s light weapon batteries. A single torpedo impacted on the shields of Iron Duke. Shortly thereafter, the fighters ran down the hunter and destroyed it, then returned to their carrier.

Four minutes after the battle began, the Space Marines on board the stationary Conqueror eliminated the remainder of the crew and secured the ship. The Conqueror was a pure torpedo combatant, with thirty-two launchers and sufficient magazine space for six full salvos. It was more lightly protected overall than Imperial designs, which made sense given its long-range armament, but had more advanced shield generators. The engines were comparable in technology to the Imperial Navy, although smaller in size. The Vorchan Ascendancy also possessed sensor jammer technology, which had yet to be developed by the Imperium. Overall, the ship had better technology, but not to a degree that would cause real concern.

Conqueror class Strike Cruiser 28,041 tons 564 Crew 3,487.8 BP TCS 561 TH 1,860 EM 1,980
3316 km/s Armour 4-82 Shields 66-330 HTK 146 Sensors 12/18/0/0 DCR 12-4 PPV 86.4
Maint Life 1.07 Years MSP 932 AFR 524% IFR 7.3% 1YR 823 5YR 12,350 Max Repair 490.2 MSP
Magazine 1,898 / 154
Lord-Captain Control Rating 4 BRG AUX ENG CIC
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Morale Check Required

Nuclear Gas-Core Engine EP310 (6) Power 1860 Fuel Use 39.76% Signature 310 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,150,000 Litres Range 18.6 billion km (64 days at full power)
Delta S33 / R330 Shields (2) Recharge Time 330 seconds (0.2 per second)

Size 22 Decoy Launcher (7) Decoy Size: 22 Hangar Reload 234 minutes MF Reload 39 hours
Size 9 Missile Launcher (30.0% Reduction) (32) Missile Size: 9 Rate of Fire 1200
Missile Fire Control FC64-R110 (7) Range 64.9m km Resolution 110 ECCM-1

Active Search Sensor AS68-R110 (1) GPS 11880 Range 68.8m km Resolution 110
Active Search Sensor AS31-R20 (1) GPS 1440 Range 31.8m km Resolution 20
Thermal Sensor TH2-12 (1) Sensitivity 12 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 27.4m km
EM Sensor EM3-18 (1) Sensitivity 18 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 33.5m km
Electronic Warfare Jammers: Sensor 1 Fire Control 1 Missile 1

The second Conqueror was secured shortly afterwards, bringing a formal end to the engagement. Battlefleet Caliban had destroyed eighteen Ascendancy warships and captured two more, removing almost four hundred thousand tons from the Xenos order of battle. No ordnance had been expended and no ship had suffered damage. The cleanup began immediately, with Medusa transiting into Caliban to pick up over two thousand Ascendancy survivors, including eleven officers, and transfer them to Earth for interrogation. Eternal Defiance dispatched her two Thunderhawks to recover the two Space Marine companies, while the salvage ships Sepulchre, Reliquary and Cenotaph broke Earth orbit to begin recovery of the Vorchan wrecks. A tug was dispatched to tow the crippled Conquerors back to Earth.

With its initial mission completed, Battlefleet Caliban set course for the major Ascendancy colony on Caliban I, hoping to eliminate the defenders and begin landing operations before any more Vorchan fleets were detected en route to Caliban. Battlefleet Nyx stood ready to eliminate any threat arriving from Erebus. All the operations underway had a time limit, as the capital ships were only designed for deployments of nine month and even the light cruisers and frigates would eventually require overhauls. Almost the entire Imperial Navy was committed to the operations so the defensive forces would have to be scaled down significantly over the coming months.

As Battlefleet Caliban headed into the inner system, it passed close to the small Ascendancy colony located on the thirteenth moon of Caliban VII. Rear Admiral Uriel Maxim ordered his fleet to alter course slightly to bring the colony in range of its missile detection sensors. A ground forces signature of 1600-tons was detected, although it would be higher in reality due to fortifications. Maxim detached the carrier then took his five warships to eliminate any surface-to-orbit capability at the colony. There was no attack from the surface, so Maxim ordered the Caliban Invasion force to enter the system and capture the small colony, while he took his own fleet to Caliban I. On approach, Battlefleet Caliban detected the six 83,571-ton Vindicator class ships fleeing the area at a stately 287 km/s, escorted by a single Impaler.

The Vindicators had already been tentatively identified as commercial vessels and their speed confirmed it. While four Impalers had been destroyed by the fleet’s Furies, they had never opened fire so their armament was unknown. In any event, a single vessel was no match for Battlefleet Caliban, so Rear Admiral Maxim ordered his fleet to close in, with the fighters on escort duty and the carriers following half a million kilometres astern. With the fleet one point seven million kilometres from its target, a wave of forty-two inbound torpedoes was detected, most likely light torpedoes based on their thermal signature.

Further waves followed every ten seconds, so after the fourth wave was detected, Iron Duke launched eight of her own torpedoes in response. Moments later a single torpedo from the first wave impacted on the shields of Iron Duke, with the rest eliminated by the light weapon batteries of the warships and the lascannon of the fighters. The following waves scored minor hits on the shields of the other warships. Further missile waves continued to appear at ten second interval, but some were reduced in size as the Impaler diverted its fire to the torpedoes launched by Iron Duke.

A single Imperium torpedo was hit by the defensive fire, along with a multitude of decoys. Each MK I Standard Torpedo carried ten decoys. Three more torpedoes struck ship decoys launched by the Impaler. The other four detonated their strength-25 warheads on target, flattening the Impaler’s shields and penetrating its armour. All the light torpedoes in flight suddenly vanished. Whatever damage had been done to the Impaler had knocked out its ability to target Battlefleet Caliban. The Impaler began to regenerate its shields but without any offensive capability the defences were irrelevant. Iron Duke closed to point-blank range and blasted the Xenos vessel into scrap with a single volley. The Inquisition reclassified the Impaler from a frigate to a destroyer, which was the Imperium designation for small ships with torpedoes as the main armament.

With the Impaler removed from the board, Rear Admiral Maxim decided to capture the Vindicators. Eternal Defiance launched her Thunderhawks. The first ship was captured with the loss of a single Space Marine. As suspected, the Vindicator was a terraformer. Maxim detached Eternal Defiance to cover the boarding operations, which were likely to require a whole day, including recovery of the Space Marines after each capture, then took the rest of the fleet toward Caliban I.

Vindicator class Terraformer 83,572 tons 374 Crew 1,986.1 BP TCS 1,671 TH 480 EM 0
287 km/s Armour 1-170 Shields 0-0 HTK 66 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 14 Max Repair 500 MSP
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months
Terraformer: 3 modules producing 0.001 atm per annum

Commercial Nuclear Gas-Core Engine EP160.0 (3) Power 480 Fuel Use 3.54% Signature 160 Explosion 4%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres Range 6.1 billion km (245 days at full power)
CIWS-120 (2x4) Range 1000 km TS: 12,000 km/s ROF 5

It soon became apparent, there were no longer any Vorchan ships in orbit of the Xenos colony. Based on the original detection, there were the ships of Vorchan Primus, the Vindicators and their Impaler class escort, plus a number of other suspected warships, including a sixth Impaler, an 18,650-ton Enforcer, three 9,328-ton Savage class ships, a 9,300-ton Abhorrent and ten Razor class FACs. They had not left the system by any of the known jump points to Sol, Nyx and Penumbra, as buoys were emplaced at all three. The gravitational survey of Caliban had recently been completed, so either there was a fourth, undetected jump point, or the missing ships were still somewhere in the Caliban system and could reappear at an inconvenient time.

Rear Admiral Maxim ordered the four remaining warships to close on Caliban I, with the carriers still trailing astern. At 220,000 km they came under fire from twenty-six surface-based weapons, although no hits were scored. The STOs fired again fifteen seconds later at 160,000, inflicting two minor hits on Iron Duke’s void shields. Battlefleet Caliban halted at 155,000 km and returned fire with weapon batteries. It was an uneven contest and the Xenos weapons were rapidly eliminated. Collateral damage was estimated to have killed 170,000 Vorchan civilians and destroyed approximately thirty installations.

The fleet continued closing and came under fire again at 55,000 km, presumably by short-range defences intended to engage inbound torpedoes. Battlefleet Caliban retreated out of range and opened fire on the newly-identified targets. Another 70,000 civilians and a dozen installations paid the price for continued resistance, along with the remaining surface defences. With all the defences eliminated and no sign of the missing Vorchan warships, Rear Admiral Maxim ordered the invasion force to ignore the small colony on the moon of Caliban VII, at least for the moment, and proceed directly to Caliban I. Twenty-four hours later, the boarding operations were complete and all six Vindicators were slowly making their way toward the Sol jump point, escorted by Eternal Defiance.

Four days after the end of combat operations in Caliban, the replenishment ship Magistratus, heading home after rescuing Medusa a few weeks earlier, reported contact with Vorchan Secundus, just over a billion kilometres from the Avernus - Penumbra jump point. Twenty-one minutes later, her last transmission was a report of inbound torpedoes. Apart from a single Space Marine, Magistratus was the first Imperium loss in the war against the Vorchan Ascendancy.

On September 11th 4001, the missing Vorchan ships reappeared. As feared, it was in a very inconvenient place. Three salvage ships and six Carrack class freighters were at work close to the Caliban – Penumbra jump point. Battlefleet Caliban was still in orbit of Caliban I, guarding the troop transports of the invasion force as they unloaded their Imperial Guard regiments, while Eternal Defiance was nearby, guarding the recently-captured terraformers. The Sol jump point was guarded by the strike cruiser Holy Execution. The salvage ships detected emissions from two Savage class ships at thirty million kilometres and closing. The only warship close enough to assist was the frigate Kraken, currently picketing the Penumbra – Caliban jump point.

Battlefleet Caliban and Holy Execution immediately set course for the Penumbra jump point. Knowing that the Vorchan used torpedoes, Rear Admiral Maxim ordered the salvage groups to abandon their tasks and enter Penumbra, while Kraken transited into Caliban and headed for the salvage group further from the jump point. As soon as the frigate entered the system, it detected all six of the ‘missing’ Ascendancy warships, although not the ten smaller FACs. All three salvage groups escaped unharmed, at least for the moment. Kraken remained in Caliban to observe the Vorchan ships, which unexpectedly started to move away.

Almost an hour later, Kraken detected thirty-six size-9 torpedoes headed straight for her at 19,000 km/s, so she transited back into Penumbra. She waited a further hour, then transited back into Caliban. The Vorchan were stationed thirty million kilometres from the jump point. They moved away briefly and then returned, but did not launch further torpedoes. Kraken re-entered Penumbra, partly to avoid further attack but also to avoid scaring away the Vorchan ships until Battlefleet Caliban could arrive.

An hour later, the Vorchan ships moved within nine million kilometres of the jump point, where they were detected by an Auspex Buoy. They continued closing, so Kraken briefly transited, to lock on to the Impaler class ship, then returned to Penumbra. At two point five million kilometres, the Vorchan eliminated the sensor buoy with a light torpedo. Thirteen minutes later they jumped into Penumbra. Medusa was outnumbered six to one by a Xenos fleet with five times her tonnage.

Firestorm class Frigate 15,000 tons 512 Crew 2,491.5 BP TCS 300 TH 1,200 EM 1,110
4000 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 4-54 Shields 37-370 HTK 95 Sensors 5/8/0/0 DCR 12-8 PPV 72
Maint Life 2.54 Years MSP 1,745 AFR 150% IFR 2.1% 1YR 378 5YR 5,677 Max Repair 600 MSP
Captain Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months CDE 20% Morale Check Required

RM-150 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 15000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-1200-MB (1) Power 1200 Fuel Use 34.92% Signature 1200 Explosion 12%
Fuel Capacity 593,000 Litres Range 20.4 billion km (58 days at full power)
Valentinian-Stern VS-37 Void Shield (1) Recharge Time 370 seconds (0.1 per second)

Gothicus-Caliban GC-12-200 Lance Battery (1) Range 200,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 37-3.75 ROF 50
Astaroth Kinetics AK-20 Weapons Battery (6x4) Range 160,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 12-4 ROF 15
Astaroth Kinetics AK-10 Light Weapons Battery (6x4) Range 40,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 3-3 ROF 5
MK I Energy Weapon Fire Control (2) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 4,000 km/s ECCM-1
R-229 Gaseous Fission Reactor (2) Total Power Output 45.8 Exp 5%

MK I Frigate Active Augur Array (1) GPS 8640 Range 66.8m km Resolution 120
MK I Torpedo Detection Array (1) GPS 16 Range 6.4m km MCR 574.5k km Resolution 1
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km

Electronic Warfare Jammers: Fire Control 1 Missile 1

She immediately opened fire on the Impaler, inflicting multiple internal hits.. The salvage ships and their accompanying freighters jumped into Caliban to avoid the battle. The Impaler moved away from the jump point, with Kraken firing her light weapon batteries, then destroying it with the second volley from her main weapon batteries. Her relatively inexperienced crew took fifteen seconds to change targets to the 18,700-ton Enforcer, but two volleys from Kraken’s main armament proved sufficient to destroy it. Forty-five seconds had passed since the transit.

Her lance battery finally recharged and she opened fire on the Abhorrent. The single hit triggered a strength-77 secondary explosion that blew the Xenos warship into irradiated debris. Kraken changed targeting to the first of the three Savage class ships and fired her main weapon batteries, resulting in another massive secondary explosion and another wrecked Vorchan ship. The other two Savage class vessels ran for their lives, with Kraken in pursuit. Before the Imperium frigate could target her next victim, a dozen size-9 torpedoes appeared at point-blank range.

Kraken ignored the torpedoes, six of which flattened her shields, and fired everything at her target, leaving it dead in space. Another twelve torpedoes appeared, presumably from the remaining undamaged Vorchan ship. Kraken accepted the hit, which ravaged her armour, leaving a massive hole through ten percent of the hull, but did not inflict any internal damage. Her light weapon batteries responded and destroyed the crippled Savage, then she gave chase to the last enemy vessel. A single combined volley from her main and light batteries was enough to obliterate the fleeing Xenos warship.

In ninety devastating seconds, Kraken had wiped out a Xenos fleet with five times her tonnage, attacking with maximum aggression. Fortuitous secondary explosions had certainly aided her cause, but Kraken, and her heroic - and appropriately named - commanding officer, Captain Darius Invictus, had earned their luck. Captain Invictus was awarded the Silver Star for the destruction of 75,000 tons of Ascendancy warships, plus the Macharian Cross for his tactical brilliance during the engagement. What could have been the loss of the vital salvage ships and their accompanying freighters had turned into a glorious and memorable victory.

Kraken picked up the Ascendancy survivors and headed to Terra for repairs. The salvage ships Reliquary and Cenotaph entered Penumbra to salvage the wrecks of the recent battle, as the approach of Vorchan Secundus through Avernus would potentially put those wrecks out of reach. Sepulchre returned to her task in the Caliban system. Battlefleet Caliban and Holy Execution both continued on course to the Penumbra jump point, where they would cover the salvage operation.

On September 13th, the four troop transports in orbit of Caliban I completed the unloading of the invasion force, which comprised the Cadian Shock Troops, Kaledon Hunters and Vengeance Legion Imperial Guard Corps, with a total of twelve infantry regiments, plus four armoured regiments: the Armageddon Steel Legion, the Jantine Patricians, the Konig Armoured Regiment and the Vostroyan Firstborn. The required transport capacity for the invasion forces was 460,000 tons. The confronted an Ascendancy ground force with a sensor signature of 43,000 tons, although the true size would be multiples of that due to the effects of fortification. The planet was barren due to the high temperature, so the defenders did not benefit from any favourable defensive terrain.

Three hours after the landing, with the first clashes yet to take place, an Auspex buoy at the Erebus – Nyx jump point detected the approach of a small Vorchan fleet, identical to the one wiped out by Kraken. The Enforcer and the Impaler both had shields up. Thirty minutes after the first detection, a light torpedo destroyed the buoy and contact was lost. Twelve minutes later, the Ascendancy squadron transited into Nyx, where Battlefleet Nyx was waiting with two cruisers, two strike cruisers, four light cruisers and two frigates.

Rear Admiral Titus Belicus, commanding the fleet from his flagship Imperial Wrath, ordered all ships to fire at will. All but three Imperium ships opened fire instantly, obliterating four ships and inflicting massive damage on the survivors – a pair of Savage class destroyers. One was motionless, while the other fled at 1660 km/s. Belicus ordered cease fire and instructed his two strike cruisers to launch their Thunderhawks. The shattered ships were captured within minutes. Seven space marines were lost when one of the Vorchan ships suffered an onboard explosion due to collateral damage. None were lost to hostile fire.

Savage class Destroyer 9,329 tons 194 Crew 1,145.6 BP TCS 187 TH 620 EM 0
3323 km/s Armour 2-39 Shields 0-0 HTK 55 Sensors 6/0/0/0 DCR 4-4 PPV 32.4
Maint Life 1.39 Years MSP 307 AFR 174% IFR 2.4% 1YR 173 5YR 2,588 Max Repair 185.3 MSP
Magazine 708 / 44
Captain Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Morale Check Required

Nuclear Gas-Core Engine EP310 (2) Power 620 Fuel Use 39.76% Signature 310 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 400,000 Litres Range 19.4 billion km (67 days at full power)

Size 22 Decoy Launcher (2) Decoy Size: 22 Hangar Reload 234 minutes MF Reload 39 hours
Size 9 Missile Launcher (30.0% Reduction) (12) Missile Size: 9 Rate of Fire 1200
Missile Fire Control FC64-R110 (3) Range 64.9m km Resolution 110 ECCM-1

Active Search Sensor AS56-R110 (1) GPS 7920 Range 56.2m km Resolution 110
Thermal Sensor TH1-6 (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 19.4m km
Electronic Warfare Jammers: Fire Control 1 Missile 1

On Caliban I, the Imperial Guard engaged the Vorchan defenders. Early intelligence was limited, but they put the number of defenders somewhere between ten and fifteen thousand light infantry, supported by a perhaps a hundred medium tanks. The Imperial Guard had thirty thousand infantry, backed up by artillery, three thousand light armoured vehicles and almost a thousand heavy tanks. The weight of fire was massively in favour of the Imperial Guard and they used it ruthlessly, smashing into the Ascendancy lines and inflicting huge casualties.

By the end of the first day, the defending force was in tatters, with thousands of dead and few tanks remaining. The Imperial Guard regiments were penetrating their defences almost all will. Casualties were unexpectedly light, with losses including two hundred and fifty infantry, twenty Chimera light vehicles and a single Leman Russ battle tank. By the end of the second day, the battle was effectively over, with the Imperial Guard mopping up the remnants of the Vorchan infantry.

Even as the invasion of Caliban was reaching a successful conclusion, the 400,000 tons of warships that comprised Vorchan Secundus reappeared on approach to the Avernus – Penumbra jump point, eliminating the auspex buoy before transiting into Penumbra and eliminating the buoy on that side too. The Vorchan Ascendancy was gradually eliminating the Imperium’s ability to track the movement of their ships. At its best speed, Vorchan Secundus would reach the Penumbra – Caliban jump point in a little under ten days.

On September 15th 4001, the Ascendancy colony on Caliban I surrendered to the Imperial Guard. The colony had a population of fifty million and appeared to be primarily a military output, with over three hundred maintenance facilities. Seventy factories and eighty-five mines were also at the colony, along with a refuelling station and an ordnance transfer station. The Kaledon Hunters Imperial Guard Corps was left on the surface as a garrison, while the troop transports began embarking the rest of the victorious regiments. Later the same day, the auspex buoy on the Tartarus – Gehenna jump point detected the approach of Vorchan Quartus before it was destroyed. The buoy on the Gehenna side of the jump point reported the Ascendancy fleet had transited into the system before it too was destroyed. Two separate, large Vorchan fleets were now heading toward Caliban.

On September 16th, interrogations of Vorchan prisoners, particularly one of the captured officers, provided full geological survey data for the Erebus system. Unfortunately, apart from a gas giant with a large quantity of accessibility 0.9 Sorium, the information revealed nothing of significance. A week later, the four armoured regiments launched an invasion of the small Ascendancy colony on the 13th moon of Caliban VII, overwhelming the battalion-sized garrison force within twenty-four hours. Seven civilian mining complexes were captured and would be put into Imperium use. So far, no geological survey of Caliban had been conducted, due to the presence of Ascendancy forces, so there was no information on the mineral resources of the captured colonies. That would be corrected as soon as possible.

On September 24th, just hours after the capture of the civilian mining colony, Vorchan Secundus was detected by the buoy on the Penumbra – Caliban jump point. Thirteen days earlier, Kraken had wiped out the six Ascendancy warships on the same jump point and suffered considerable damage in the process, so it was possible the Xenos fleet would not realise Battlefleet Caliban was waiting for them. Rear Admiral Maxim did not want to alert Vorchan Secundus to the presence of his ships, so there was to be no repeat of the ‘pre-locking’ tactic used against Vorchan Quintus. Instead, the fleet would use the same tactics as Battlefleet Nyx, allowing all ships to fire at will. The only exception would be the carriers, with the Starhawks, which would wait half a million kilometres from the jump point.

Battlefleet Caliban (Rear Admiral Uriel Maxim)
Dictator class Carrier: Archon Kort, Ferrum Aeterna, Hammer of Justice, Rhadamanthine
Lunar class Cruiser: Iron Duke
Dauntless class Light Cruiser: Divine Crusade, Ravenor, Unbroken Vow
Dread Argent class Strike Cruiser: Holy Execution
2x Thunderhawk class Assault Transport
96x Starhawk class Bomber
144x Fury class Interceptor
10x Aquila class Lander

Vorchan Secundus closed on the jump point and took out the auspex buoy. Apart from buoys either side of the Gehenna – Avernus jump point and on the Penumbra – Orpheus jump point, the Imperial Navy was now blind beyond Caliban. Battlefleet Caliban waited in anticipation, with weapon’s primed, but Vorchan Secundus did not immediately transit – perhaps wary of the fate of their sister fleet. Four of the wrecks in Penumbra had been salvaged before the salvage ships were forced to abandon the system. Acta Sanctorum remained in Penumbra, continuing her gravitational and geological survey.

Six hours after the destruction of the buoy, Vorchan Secundus transited, surprising the defenders who had assumed the Xenos fleet had adopted a defensive posture. Only the light cruiser Ravenor reacted, along with some of the Fury class interceptors, She focused her weapon batteries on one of the Impalers, inflicting massive internal damage. Her two lance batteries both struck one of the Punisher class frigates, but were absorbed by its shields. Those Furies that did open fire also struck shields The Vorchan warships had some through with shields raised, learning from their earlier mistakes, and immediately moved away from the jump point.

This was a very different situation than the devastating ambush of Vorchan Secundus and Battlefleet Caliban would be in serious trouble unless it could react more quickly. Rear Admiral Maxim gave the order to pursue the Ascendancy fleet. The other two light cruisers and the strike cruiser Holy Execution opened fire after a few seconds, inflicting armour damage on three ships, but Iron Duke was still not in the fight and many of the Vorchan warships still had full shields. Maxim instructed the carriers to launch their Starhawk bombers, with orders to carry out a coordinated attack on the six 28,000 ton Conqueror class missile cruisers.

Iron Duke finally fired her weapons ten seconds after transit, damaging a Conqueror and a Punisher and launching her torpedoes against a second Conqueror. Holy Execution scored the first kill of the battle, taking out a previously crippled Impaler. Overall though, the response of Battlefleet Caliban was disjointed and uncoordinated. Rear Admiral Maxim realised the scattergun approach of selecting targets quickly but randomly was not the right tactic in this situation, so he ordered his ships to take new targeting orders from the flagship, as soon as any of their current targets were destroyed.

All eight of Iron Duke’s torpedoes were on target, although two were distracted by decoys. Four penetrated the Conqueror shields and armour, leaving it dead in space. All the Imperial warships and interceptors were now in action, pouring fire on the fleeing Ascendancy ships before they could recover from jump shock. One of the 9300-ton Ambushers exploded and numerous ships had shields down and damaged armour.

A second Ambusher blew-up, followed by a Punisher and then an Impaler. A damaged Conqueror ran for the jump point. Sensing the tide was turning, Maxim ordered the Starhawks to abandon their attack and return to their carriers. Iron Duke blasted one of the Conquerors into irradiated debris and a second exploded simultaneously under fire from Unbroken Vow. The Fury class interceptors swarmed around the remaining Xenos vessels and the Ascendancy formation broke apart.

Thirteen Vorchan ships remained, although many had varying degrees of damage. Vorchan Secundus was now in serious trouble. Iron Duke destroyed another Conqueror, while the Furies ripped apart a second Conqueror and two of the smaller ships. Two crippled Vorchan warships attempted to ram one of the freighters involved in the salvage operations, still ongoing amid the chaotic battle. Only forty seconds had passed since the initial transit and none of the Ascendancy ships had opened fire.

By this point, Battlefleet Caliban had split up, trying to run down the remaining Xenos vessels as they scattered in confusion. Divine Crusade obliterated one of the two Ravagers and its sister ship exploded moments later as it was strafed by Fury interceptors. The fighters were proving adept at finishing the Vorchan cripples and another Conqueror blew up under lascannon fire.

The denouement was swift. The last few survivors of Vorchan Secundus were a fleeing mob, harried by the Furies and under constant weapon battery fire from the five Imperial Navy cruisers. Exactly sixty seconds after transit, the last Vorchan ship was blown to pieces, leaving nothing near the jump point except life pods, wreckage and victorious Imperium warships. While this was less tactically satisfying than the destruction of Vorchan Quintus, it was still another triumph for the Imperial Navy, especially given the disarray in the first few seconds after transit. Holy Execution picked up the Vorchan survivors and returned to Terra.

One third of the known warship strength of the Vorchan Ascendancy had now been destroyed. Of the remaining major fleets, Vorchan Primus and Vorchan Tertius were believed to be in Erebus or beyond, while both Vorchan Quartus and Vorchan Sextus were last seen in Gehenna. Re-establishing the auspex buoy network would be vital in providing early warning of further attacks. In the meantime, Battlefleet Caliban would maintain its watch on the Penumbra jump point and protect the salvage ships, while Battlefleet Nyx guarded the Nyx – Erebus jump point. Eternal Defiance would return to Battlefleet Caliban after its task of guarding the captured harvesters was completed. In the meantime, the Invasion Force, protected by the frigates Rubicon and Silent Fire, would continue its conquest of the Vorchan colonies in Caliban.

While the war had gone well so far, almost the entire Imperial Navy was on deployment. Within months, the morale of those ships would begin to suffer and key components would break down. Managing shore leave and overhauls, while maintaining a sufficient guard force, would be as important as the battles yet to come in winning the war. As a start, the carrier Rhadamanthine would be detached from Battlefleet Caliban and sent back to Terra. Two days after the battle, interrogation of the prisoners from the previous engagement yielded complete gravitational survey data on the Erebus system, revealing three outward jump points. Astra Fidelis was already in the system to attempt to gather that same data, so she was ordered to cautiously investigate the new jump points, using augur probes to check the jump point environs before approaching.

Steve Walmsley · « **Reply #3 on:** July 11, 2025, 07:04:12 AM »

On October 1st 4001, an Ascendancy civilian mining colony of the twelfth moon of Caliban IX was conquered by the Imperial Guard Armour Corps. Six mining complexes were present. Three days later, the auspex buoy on the Gehenna – Avernus jump point detected the approach of a squadron of Vorchan warships, comprising four Ambushers and an Abhorrent, from the direction of Tartarus. While no Ambusher had managed to fire on an Imperium ship, the salvage of Ambushers destroyed in Caliban had found the remnants of a bombardment cannon in the wreckage, although the calibre could not be determined. As the Xenos fleet drew closer, fifteen more ships suddenly appeared, as the buoy’s active augur array penetrated their active sensor jamming. It was Vorchan Quartus. The buoy was lost thirty minutes later.

After transiting into Avernus and being detected by the last remaining buoy beyond Penumbra, the fleet set a course to the outer system, in a direction from which Ascendancy fleets had previously appeared. The Inquisition was certain an important, unknown jump point lay in that direction and raised the priority for a survey of Avernus with Lord Admiral Zagan, even though it was an extremely dangerous area for survey frigates. In the meantime, the Inquisition hoped that one of the Vorchan prisoners would be forthcoming with that information. A few minutes after transit, the buoy was hit by a light torpedo.

On October 6th 4001, a six-ship Ascendancy squadron suddenly transited into Nyx from Erebus. Three ships from Battlefleet Nyx reacted swifty, destroying a 9300-ton Abhorrent class within a few seconds. Moments later, the 60,000-ton cruiser Holy Flame opened fire. Simultaneously, an 18,700-ton Enforcer and a 9300-ton Savage, were blown apart by a combination of lance and weapon batteries, while the light batteries eliminated a second Savage. Dauntless, lead ship of her light cruiser class, took out an Impaler. A single Savage class ship was all that remained, until Bloodhawk activated her weapons and smashed it into wreckage. The brutal annihilation of the Vorchan squadron took fifteen seconds. Rear Admiral Belicus, conscious of maintaining a long-term presence at the jump point, sent the light cruiser Cerberus back to Terra with the Ascendancy survivors, so she could be overhauled and her crew given shore leave.

Later the same day, thermal emissions from a Vorchan Silencer class ship were detected approaching the Penumbra – Caliban jump point. A new buoy was in place, courtesy of Oculus Vigil, which was on its way, via a circuitous route, to the Penumbra – Avernus jump point to place buoys on either side. Also in Penumbra were Acta Sanctorum, in the inner system, and the salvage ship Cenotaph, which was attempting to salvage the last two wrecks in Penumbra before the Ascendancy sent another fleet. Little was known about the Silencer, except that it was 9,337 tons, had military engines and a speed of 3320 km/s. Rear Admiral Maxim dispatched six Fury interceptors into Penumbra, with orders to run down the Silencer and destroy it, or at least discover its armament. The interceptors reached the Silencer before it could move out of thermal sensor range of the buoy, destroying it with lascannon fire.

Three days after the brief battle at the Nyx – Erebus jump point, Astra Fidelis transited the outermost of the three unexplored jump points in Erebus. She emerged one point five million kilometres from Beta Hydri, a yellow G2-IV sub-giant star with six planets, orbited by over thirty moons. Beta Hydri III was a terrestrial world dominated by Savanna, with liquid oceans and a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere of 0.4 atm, albeit with only 0.02 atm of oxygen. The survey frigate launched augur probes at the planet and also at Beta Hydri II, a barren world within the life zone.

On October 11th, Oculus Vigil emplaced a buoy at the Penumbra – Avernus jump point, then entered Avernus to place a buoy on the far side. With successful entry to the system confirmed, Acta Sanctorum was ordered to abandon her survey of Penumbra and move into Avernus, with a particular focus on the area in which Ascendancy vessels had such significant interest. Ordo Revelare was pulled from her survey of Tau Ceti, leaving her sister ship Sanctus Lux to continue alone, and ordered to Penumbra to continue the survey there. Meanwhile, Oculus Vigil took an indirect course to the Gehenna jump point, hoping to emplace more buoys.

The survey frigate Custodia Lucis completed a survey of Caliban I, revealing why the Vorchan Ascendancy had such interest in the planet. There were deposits of every Trans-Newtonian mineral except Sorium, including a million tons of accessibility 0.8 Duranium and accessible, million-plus deposits of Corbomite, Boronide and Mercassium. An Imperial colony would rapidly be established on the planet, using the infrastructure built by the Xenos, once the current inhabitants had been evicted. Those that survived would be useful as labourers.

Caliban I Survey Report
Duranium: 1,018,870 0.80
Neutronium: 126,818 0.70
Corbomite: 3,651,470 0.50
Tritanium: 73,627 1.00
Boronide: 2,414,194 0.80
Mercassium: 3,979,123 1.00
Vendarite: 1,535,031 0.10
Uridium: 74,258 0.30
Corundium: 35,450 0.30
Gallicite: 4,235,274 0.10

The augur probe from Astra Fidelis arrived at Beta Hydri III on October 14th, detecting a significant Ascendancy colony with a signature of TH-4200 / EM-5500. While only a third the size of the Caliban I colony, it was still larger than any other detected so far. Ten Razor class FACs were in orbit. The Razors that were originally detected in Caliban had never reappeared and these were different ships. Veritas Invicta class survey frigates were armed with four weapon batteries, but lacked shields, so Astra Fidelis was unlikely to be able to engage the FACs without risking destruction. The probe reached orbit of the planet, detecting a ground forces signature of 54,000-ton, probably representing a force similar to that on Caliban I.

Veritas Invicta class Survey Frigate 15,000 tons 418 Crew 2,422.3 BP TCS 300 TH 750 EM 0
2500 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 3-54 Shields 0-0 HTK 97 Sensors 5/8/4/4 DCR 20-13 PPV 29.2
Maint Life 5.98 Years MSP 2,518 AFR 90% IFR 1.2% 1YR 120 5YR 1,806 Max Repair 281.3 MSP
Magazine 38 / 0
Captain Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 60 months CDE 20% Morale Check Required

RM-150 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 15000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-750-ME (1) Power 750 Fuel Use 10.78% Signature 750 Explosion 7%
Fuel Capacity 1,607,000 Litres Range 178.8 billion km (827 days at full power)

Astaroth Kinetics AK-20 Weapons Battery (4x4) Range 160,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 12-4 ROF 15
MK I Energy Weapon Fire Control (1) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 4,000 km/s ECCM-1
R-162 Gaseous Fission Reactor (1) Total Power Output 16.3 Exp 5%

MK I Probe Launcher (1) Missile Size: 4 Rate of Fire 800
MK I Probe Launcher Fire Control (1) Range 4m km Resolution 1 ECCM-1
MK I Small Augur Probe (9) Speed: 4,000 km/s Range: 3,794.9m km WH: 0 Size: 4

MK I Frigate Active Augur Array (1) GPS 8640 Range 66.8m km Resolution 120
MK I Torpedo Detection Array (1) GPS 16 Range 6.4m km MCR 574.5k km Resolution 1
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km
Gravitational Survey Sensors (4) 4 Survey Points Per Hour
Geological Survey Sensors (4) 4 Survey Points Per Hour

Astra Fidelis was halfway to the inner system, so she reversed course and headed back into Erebus. The second probe arrived at Beta Hydri II without detecting any sign of life. In Nyx, Rear Admiral Belicus considered sending a couple of light cruisers to eliminate the colony, but the Beta Hydri jump point was on the far side of Erebus from the Nyx jump point, with two unexplored jump points in-between. He decided to wait until those had been probed before deciding on a course of action.

On October 22nd 4001, interrogation of the Vorchan prisoners provided full gravitational data on the Orpheus system, adjacent to Penumbra, revealing two unexplored, outward jump points. Orpheus had been low on the priority list for exploration due to the high level of Ascendancy activity beyond the Penumbra – Avernus jump point, although a geological survey had been conducted. Orpheus III was a frozen, tide-locked world with a breathable atmosphere, plentiful surface ice and a deposit of seven million tons of accessibility 1.0 Duranium. The colony suitability rating varied from 0.61 to 0.68 at perihelion and aphelion. Due to the eight survey frigates being in great demand, the Firestorm class frigate Valiant was dispatched to Orpheus to investigate the new jump points.

Orpheus III Survey Report
Duranium: 7,372,800 1.00
Neutronium: 1,048,576 0.10
Tritanium: 27,541,504 0.10
Vendarite: 35,426,304 0.60
Gallicite: 36,864 0.10

A few hours after Valiant broke orbit, the newly-emplaced buoys at the Avernus - Penumbra jump point detected a Silencer class transiting into Penumbra. Almost simultaneously, active emissions were detected in Caliban from two of the ten ‘missing’ Razor class FACs, half a billion kilometres from the Penumbra jump point and about six hundred million from the Caliban colony. Due to the defeat of the Ascendancy forces in Caliban and the fleets that had transited from Erebus and Penumbra, there was a multitude of unescorted commercial shipping in Caliban, so an urgent operation was launched to track down and eliminate the Razors.

The light cruisers Ravenor and Unbroken Vow were detached from Battlefleet Caliban. The frigate Vengeful entered the system from its picket location on the Sol – Caliban jump point and the frigate Rubicon headed in-system from the Invasion Force that was in orbit of a comet-base civilian mining colony, where the Imperial Guard armour was engaged in combat. Rear Admiral Maxim also dispatched a strike group of twenty-four Starhawk bombers. They were unlikely to detect the FACs themselves, but with a speed of 8000 km/s they could react quickly to sightings. The strike cruiser Holy Execution was dispatched from Terra to protect the Caliban I colony, which had been left temporarily unguarded. The Razor emission ceased after a few minutes, but the various pursuit forces began to close the net.

Eleven hours later they were detected again, two hundred million kilometres closer to the Caliban I colony. The pursuing ships changed course to intercept, but the only ship who could catch the Razors before they reached the colony was the survey frigate Custodia Lucis. She abandoned her survey of Caliban II, engaged her active augur array and moved to protect the colony from the FACs. While the lives of the Xenos on the occupied colony were not of relevance to the Imperium, the installations on the planet had considerable value.

Custodia Lucis moved to a position on a direct line between the colony and the last reported position of the Vorchan FACs, then headed out-system at 2500 km/s. Twelve hours later, her missile detection array picked up the Razors just six million kilometres ahead on a reciprocal course at 5088 km/s. She could not enter weapon range unless they let her, but she had confirmed their location. The closest friendly force was the Starhawks, but they were one hundred and eighty million kilometres astern of the Razors, which were just over one hundred million kilometres from the Caliban I colony. The Vorchan FACs continued on course toward the colony, so Custodia Lucis reversed course to run ahead of them, holding the range open as long as possible, and targeted the lead ship. So far, the assumption had been that the FACs were armed with torpedoes, but with no launch so far, it was possible they were armed with energy weapons.

Custodia Lucis opened fire at 158,000 km with her four weapon batteries, scoring eight strength-1 hits on her target. Two streamers of atmosphere confirmed two armour penetrations. Moments later, the Razor class FACs launched thirty-three size-9 torpedoes. Until she fired, the Ascendancy ships plainly did not regard the survey frigate as a target worthy of their torpedoes. Custodia Lucis could not recharge her weapon batteries in time to fire on the torpedoes and she was a slow-moving target. Twenty-nine torpedoes detonated their strength-5 warheads on target and the effect was devastating.

Her main drive and jump drive were both disabled, along with three of her four weapon batteries, seven of her eight survey sensors and both her primary active and EM augur arrays. Custodia Lucis could still track the Razors using her missile detection sensors, which was sufficient to record the launch of a further fifteen torpedoes, all of which struck the helpless vessel. Custodia Lucis exploded. Only sixty-seven of her four hundred and eighteen crew made it to the life pods, along with her executive officer Commander Dalin Mandulis. The colony briefly picked up sensor emissions from the FACs as they apparently reversed course, although that could have been a manoeuvre related to their torpedo launch.

Whether they had torpedoes remaining was unknown, but at the very least Custodia Lucis had drawn a substantial portion of their fire onto herself, possibly saving considerable damage to the colony. In the short-term though, the loss of one of the eight precious survey frigates would cause considerable disruption to the work of the Adeptus Astronomica, especially in regard to the geological survey of Caliban. The pursuing forces continued to close in, determined to find and destroy the Vorchan fast attack craft, although their speed would be a significant problem in that endeavour. The carrier Archon Kort departed the Penumbra jump point for the original detection location of the FACs, hoping to bring her Furies within range if they could be found once again.

The life pods from Custodia Lucis suddenly vanished, which meant the Vorchan Ascendancy had its first human prisoners. The Razors could not be permitted to transport those prisoners, especially Commander Dalin Mandulis, to an Ascendancy interrogation centre. Two and a half hours after the destruction of Custodia Lucis, the FACs were detected again, this time by the tracking stations on Caliban I. The Razors were still on course for the colony and this time no one was in a position to intercept. To make the situation worse, the civilian shipping line of House Vornhart had its sole colony ship in orbit of Caliban I. House Vornhart was the first ‘Rogue Trader’, a civilian family given a ‘Warrant of Trade’ by the Imperium to conduct civilian commerce between colonies. House Vornhart also had a pair of freighters, but the loss of the colony ship would be crippling to House Vornhart specifically and the concept of Rogue Traders in general.

Remarkably, the Razor class FACs moved into orbit of Caliban I and did nothing. It seemed that Custodia Lucis had indeed absorbed every torpedo carried by the Xenos attack craft. The Starhawks, down to twenty-eight percent fuel, moved within torpedo range five hours later. Ten of them each launched their single Standard torpedo at a different Razor. Three FACs were blown to pieces by the powerful strength-25 warheads. Although the other seven torpedoes missed, due to the speed of their targets, they were equipped with retargeting systems so they reversed heading and attacked again. The FACs had no point defence and could not outrun the torpedoes, so it was only a matter of time. One by one they exploded as the torpedoes hunted them down.

The Starhawks refuelled at the Caliban colony then headed back to Battlefleet Caliban on the Penumbra jump point. The other pursuit forces also returned to their points of origin, with the exception of Holy Execution and Vengeful, who would form a new guard force for the Caliban colony. A planetary defence regiment was ordered to redeploy from Terra to bolster the defence.

With all the survey and naval activity in Caliban and beyond, the systems beyond Sol’s other three jump points, Nadir, Proxima and Tau Ceti, had been such low priority, they were almost forgotten. That changed in late October 4001, with the completion of the Proxima survey, which found a single outward jump point. Virtus Aeterna conducted the probe and discovered Lalande, a red dwarf system close to Sol in real space terms. Four planets, one with a single moon, orbited the primary, along with a dense belt of almost three hundred asteroids. Lalande III was a frozen, mountainous world with an atmosphere that contained traces of oxygen. Virtus Aeterna launched an augur probe at the planet and began a survey of the system.

On October 27th, interrogation of two Vorchan officers who were experts in energy weapon technology, enabled the Inquisition to pass on details of Spinal Mounts to Imperium scientists. It was theorised that a spinal version of the lance battery could be developed that would have fifty percent greater firepower and twelve point five percent greater range. Three days later, the first human colony was established on Caliban I, which would known as Caliban Prime to distinguish it from the occupied Vorchan colony. Over time, as the colony grew, installations would be transferred from the Vorchan colony to Caliban Prime. Meanwhile in Erebus, Astra Fidelis was ready to explore the second unexplored jump point, located within the inner system. She transited and emerged in Hecate, a red dwarf system with an unremarkable collection of planets of moons. Astra Fidelis returned to Erebus and headed for the remaining outward jump point.

On November 1st 4001, a Silencer class ship transited from Penumbra into Caliban. The light cruiser Divine Crusade disabled it with her lance batteries, allowing the 5th and 6th Space Marine companies from Eternal Defiance, now back with Battlefleet Caliban, to board the ship. As suspected, it was unarmed. The capture confirmed it was a scout rather than some form of survey ship.

Silencer class Scout 9,337 tons 183 Crew 1,134.8 BP TCS 187 TH 620 EM 0
3320 km/s JR 4-100 Armour 3-39 Shields 0-0 HTK 45 Sensors 36/36/0/0 DCR 1-1 PPV 0
Maint Life 0.11 Years MSP 75 AFR 697% IFR 9.7% 1YR 681 5YR 10,220 Max Repair 226.3 MSP
Magazine 0 / 66
Captain Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Morale Check Required

J9350(4-100) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 9350 tons Distance 100k km Squadron Size 4
Nuclear Gas-Core Engine EP310 (2) Power 620 Fuel Use 39.76% Signature 310 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,350,000 Litres Range 65.5 billion km (228 days at full power)

CIWS-120 (2x4) Range 1000 km TS: 12,000 km/s ROF 5
Size 22 Decoy Launcher (3) Decoy Size: 22 Hangar Reload 234 minutes MF Reload 39 hours

Active Search Sensor AS68-R110 (1) GPS 11880 Range 68.8m km Resolution 110
Thermal Sensor TH6-36 (1) Sensitivity 36 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 47.4m km
EM Sensor EM6-36 (1) Sensitivity 36 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 47.4m km
Electronic Warfare Jammers: Fire Control 1 Missile 1

Interrogation of the Vorchan prisoners by the Inquisition, especially with regard to the officers, continued to provide extremely useful information. Sixteen officers of commander rank had been captured and seven of those had yielded to the aggressive questioning of the Inquisitors. The latest pair to prove cooperative supplied survey data on Penumbra, revealing that the three known jump points, to Sol, Avernus and Orpheus, were the only ones in the system. That would save time on the existing survey, but also opened up a new strategic option.

So far, there had been no detections of Vorchan ships or colonies in Orpheus and the buoys on the Penumbra – Orpheus jump point remained in place. If, as the Inquisition suspected, the heart of the Ascendancy lay beyond the Penumbra – Avernus jump point – despite the presence of two major fleets in Erebus – then Battlefleet Caliban could move from its current position and blockade the Penumbra – Avernus jump point instead, opening up both Penumbra and Orpheus to the Imperium. If there were Vorchan ships in Orpheus, they would be detected on transit into Penumbra and the Avernus jump point lay halfway between the Sol and Orpheus jump points, giving any blockading fleet the option to engage or retreat.

Lord Admiral Zagan decided the benefits were worth the risk and ordered Battlefleet Caliban to move forward to the new blockade location, but to detach a second carrier to return home first. While that weakened the fleet, they could still employ the Starhawks if necessary and Oculus Vigil had emplaced a buoy that would provide warning of any threat from Avernus. He also ordered Battlefleet Nyx to send one of its two Lunar class cruisers home as well for similar reasons.

Astra Fidelis transited the last unexplored jump point in Erebus on November 7th. She emerged two billion kilometres from Gamma Pavonis, a bright F6-V star with eight planets and ninety moons. Two of the moons of Gamma Pavonis IV had ice sheets and thin nitrogen – oxygen atmospheres and several other bodies had gravity within human tolerance. Astra Fidelis launched her last three augur probes at the third, fourth and fifth planets, them moved to a nearby survey location to await the results.

Two days later, Acta Sanctorum entered Avernus to begin a survey and immediately detected a Silencer class scout on approach to the Penumbra jump point. She tried to give chase, but the scout had an 800 km/s speed advantage so she abandoned the pursuit and returned to her survey activity. Further prisoner interrogations on Terra revealed the existence of a planetless red dwarf system beyond Tartarus, known as Styx, although not the location of the Tartarus side of the jump point.

In Orpheus, the Firestorm class frigate Valiant reached the first of two unexplored, outward jump points and transited. She found a white dwarf primary, a scattered of asteroids and a distant gas giant with seven tiny moons. The system was named Acheron. In Caliban, the Invasion Force completed the conquest of a fourth civilian mining colony, located on the more distant of the two comets. That was the last known Vorchan colony in the system. Mining colonies on two moons and two comets, with a total of twenty-three civilian mining complexes had been secured, along with the major colony on Caliban I. The Invasion Force headed home to Terra after a successful few months.

On November 14th 4001, Crux Veritas completed the survey of Nadir, located beyond Sol’s third jump point, and probed the single outward jump point. She arrived less than one AU from Epsilon Indi, an orange K5-V star with five planets, thirty-three moons and a small asteroid belt. Epsilon Indi II was a hot desert world, larger than Terra. with small seas and gravity of 1.5G. The dense nitrogen – oxygen atmosphere had an oxygen content of 0.41 atm, significantly above the upper tolerance for humans. Crux Veritas launched a probe at the planet, little more than a hundred million kilometres away, and began her survey. The recent flurry of jump point exploration and new intelligence data had increased known space to twenty systems, fourteen of which were beyond the Sol – Caliban jump point. Valiant increased that to twenty-one, when she transited the second outward jump point in Orpheus, finding a planetless K5-V system that was named Lethe.

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Oculus Nox had been following in the wake of Astra Fidelis, as she probed the outward jump points in Erebus, emplacing buoys on both sides of each newly explored jump point. One of those buoys, on the Beta Hydri – Erebus jump point, detected the approach of a Vorchan squadron of six ships, with the usual composition of one 18,700-ton Impaler, armed with light missiles, one Enforcer, which based on salvage was armed with 15cm bombardment cannon, three Savage class destroyers of 9300-tons with size-9 torpedo launchers and a single Abhorrent, with armament unknown. The Xenos squadron destroyed the buoy but did not transit into Erebus.

Four days later, a different but identical six-ship squadron transited into Erebus from Beta Hydri. The Inquisition began to consider scenarios where the separate areas of Ascendancy territory – beyond both Avernus and Erebus – were somehow connected. The Enforcer in the new squadron destroyed the Imperium auspex buoy with 15cm bombardment cannons, confirming the intelligence from salvage operations.

Interrogations continued and revealed the existence of two additional systems, Persephone and Thanatos, although the information did not include connections to known space. The former had nine planets, but none of any particular note. The latter had six, including a Mars-sized world with small seas and a thin nitrogen – oxygen atmosphere. Despite all the interrogations and survey work and the extension of known space to twenty-three system, there was still no hard evidence regarding the location of the Vorchan home world. While the Imperial Navy had won important battles, humanity would not be safe until the threat could be neutralised at its source.

A period of calm began at the end of November and lasted for six weeks, with no contact at all with Ascendancy forces. The salvage operations in Caliban and Nyx were concluded and freighters full of components and minerals returned to Terra. Although no new technology was gained directly, the components did speed up research into several areas, such as sensor jammers and shield regeneration rate. Colony ships increased the population of the Caliban Prime settlement to seven million, while freighters transferred all eighty-five mines from the Vorchan colony to Caliban Prime. Mass drivers on the four captured ex-civilian mining colonies began transferring minerals to the Imperium colony.

The calm ended on January 15th, with the transit of a Silencer class scout into Nyx. The light cruiser Bloodhawk swiftly dispatched the intruder. On February 4th, Acta Sanctorum discovered a new jump point in Avernus that matched the direction from which multiple Vorchan fleets had appeared, en route to the Gehenna jump point. She approached within fifty million kilometres and engaged her active augur array, without detecting any Xenos vessels, then closed in to conduct a transit. Unfortunately, she had already exhausted her supply of augur probes.

Acta Sanctorum jumped into a planetless red dwarf system, designated as Charon. She immediately came under fire from a Vorchan fleet picketing the jump point, which comprised two Impaler class destroyers, three Punisher class frigates, each armed with twenty-one 15cm bombardment cannons, an Ambusher class escort, armed with quick-firing, light bombardment cannon and a 72,500-ton commercial-engined vessel of a new type, designated as Gladiator class. Acta Sanctorum had only moment to transmit the contact information, confirming all the Ascendancy vessels had not been detected previously, before she was torn apart under heavy fire.

Only six survey frigates remained from the original eight, which restricted Imperium surveying and intelligence efforts. Three were deployed beyond the Sol – Caliban jump point, in Prospero, Penumbra and Gamma Pavonis respectively, and one survey frigate was deployed beyond each of Sol’s other jump point, in Lalande, Epsilon Indi and Tau Ceti. Two more were under construction and close to completion.

Five days after the loss of Acta Sanctorum, an auspex buoy detected Vorchan Primus on approach to the Avernus – Penumbra jump point, where Battlefleet Caliban waited on the far side. Battlefleet Caliban was weaker than in previous engagements, with only two carriers and half the attack craft in the force and the light cruiser Divine Crusade replaced by the frigates Vortex and Heroic Endeavour. Vorchan Primus comprised six Conqueror class missile cruisers, three Punisher and two Ravager class frigates, four Impaler class destroyers and five escorts.

Battlefleet Caliban
Dictator class Carrier: Ferrum Aeterna, Hammer of Justice
Lunar class Cruiser: Iron Duke
Dauntless class Light Cruiser: Ravenor, Unbroken Vow
Dread Argent class Strike Cruiser: Eternal Defiance
Firestorm class Frigate: Heroic Endeavour, Vortex
2x Thunderhawk class Assault Transport
48x Starhawk class Bomber
72x Fury class Interceptor
6x Aquila class Lander

Rear Admiral Uriel Maxim took his cruisers and frigates into Avernus to select targets, but left the fighters in Penumbra. They would have to use a standard transit and it was possible they could be attacked by torpedoes before they could withdraw. Iron Duke, Ravenor and Unbroken Vow all targeted a Conqueror, while Eternal Defiance and the frigates each targeted an Impaler, then all six ships retreated into Penumbra to wait. Vorchan Primus approached with shields raised, eliminating the auspex buoy with a light torpedo, but did not transit on schedule. After several hours, the fighters had to return to their carriers. After five days without incident, Rear Admiral Maxim ordered his ships to stand down.

It appeared that the Ascendancy was content to remain on the defensive in the short term. With Acta Sanctorum destroyed, that meant there was no Imperium presence beyond the Penumbra – Avernus jump point, except for the Auspex buoys at the jump points linking Tartarus, Gehenna and Avernus. None of those buoys had detected the transit of Vorchan Primus, so the likely origin point of the Xenos fleet was Charon.

Another quiet period ensued, with the Imperium focused on recovering installations and resources from the ruins on Prospero I. Four Ordo Machinum formations were in place by March 4001 and recovered items were being shipped to Terra by freighters and mass conveyors. The Imperium population at the ruins reached six million, with a further half a million at a new colony on the nineteenth moon of Prospero II. The ongoing survey of the system had revealed almost seven million tons of gaseous Sorium in the atmosphere of Prospero II and accessible mineral deposits on its nineteenth moon, so the latter would be developed as a mining colony, plus a naval base to protect the former, as it was two hundred million kilometres further out than the colony on Prospero I. The Sorium at Prospero II was accessibility 0.8, which was far better than the current harvesting site of Uranus, which was 0.5. The nearby moon was not ideal for a mining colony, with a suitability rating above six, but it was a similar size to Mercury and could be terraformed, plus any automated mines recovered from Prospero I could be shipping there with no environmental concerns.

Prospero II Survey Report
Sorium: 6,859,868 0.80

Prospero II - Moon 19 Survey Report
Duranium: 163,579 0.80
Neutronium: 4,839,990 0.60
Tritanium: 234,253 0.20
Boronide: 3,175,514 0.60
Mercassium: 627,249 0.90
Corundium: 4,460,542 0.10
Gallicite: 3,579,661 0.20

Two new survey frigates, Astra Incognita and Clavis Obscura, were launched on April 6th 4002. Both would be initially deployed to Caliban to complete the much-delayed geological survey. Two more ships were laid down. Ten days later, Inquisition efforts to learn technical information from the Vorchan prisoners finally yielded results, as they provided details of their orbital mining modules. All the officer prisoners had now been processed, along with ninety percent of the enlisted prisoners.

On August 7th, two Vorchan warships, an Enforcer class frigate and an Abhorrent class escort, approached the Erebus – Nyx jump point and destroyed the auspex buoy with bombardment cannon fire. This was the first time that the Ascendancy had deployed a pair of warships, rather than a squadron of six or the fleets of twenty ships. Due to the inactivity on the Erebus front and the requirement to rest crews and ships, Battlefleet Nyx had shrunk to six ships, including the Lunar class cruiser Holy Flame, the light cruiser Dauntless, the strike cruiser Angelic Blade and three frigates, including the now-famous Kraken. There was no transit, so the Vorchan Ascendancy now had ships blockading both the Erebus – Nyx and Avernus – Penumbra jump points, preventing further Imperium incursions further into their territory.

Battlefleet Nyx
Lunar class Cruiser: Holy Flame
Dauntless class Light Cruiser: Dauntless
Dread Argent class Strike Cruiser: Angelic Blade
Firestorm class Frigate: Firestorm, Kraken, Medusa
2x Thunderhawk class Assault Transport
2x Aquila class Lander

Steve Walmsley · « **Reply #4 on:** July 11, 2025, 07:40:57 AM »

Following the brief contact in Erebus, the Vorchan Ascendancy ceased any attempt to enter Imperium space and a hitherto unknown period of relatively tranquility ensured, giving the Imperial Navy time to rest and reinforce. On September 10th 4002, the Lunar class cruiser Thunderchild was launched by the Eisenstein Naval Shipyard, the fifth of her class and the first major warship to join the Imperial Navy since it ventured beyond Terra orbit. Six months later, construction of the Dauntless class light cruisers Myrmidon and Sanctis Legate was completed, taking the number of light cruisers to ten. The Firestorm class frigates Gladius and Sphinx were launched in November 4003. In addition to the new warships, the survey frigates Umbrae Viator and Vox Tenebrae joined the Adeptus Astronomica in early 2003. Multiple commercial vessels were built, including additional colony ships and mass conveyors, terraforming and fuel harvesting stations the replenishment ship Cantus Reparatio, which was a replacement for Magistratus, and the hospital ship Sanctum Vitae, which would be used for life pod recovery.

Sanctum Vitae class Hospital Ship 17,500 tons 129 Crew 563 BP TCS 350 TH 800 EM 0
2285 km/s JR 3-50(C) Armour 1-60 Shields 0-0 HTK 34 Sensors 5/8/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 20 Max Repair 100 MSP
Cryogenic Berths 20,000
Captain Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months CDE 20%

RC-175 Commercial Jump Drive Max Ship Size 17500 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-400-C (2) Power 800 Fuel Use 2.24% Signature 400 Explosion 4%
Fuel Capacity 199,000 Litres Range 91.3 billion km (462 days at full power)

MK I Commercial Active Augur Array (1) GPS 1920 Range 31.5m km Resolution 120
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km

During this peaceful interlude, the number of Ordo Machinum formations was increased to six, which accelerated the recovery of installations and other materials from the Prospero colony, until the overall recovery operation was completed in late 4003. In addition to a variety of factories and significant quantities of fuel and supplies, the Ordo Machinum restored four research facilities and five ground forces construction complexes. Most of the installations were transferred to Terra, with the exception of forty automated mines and nine manned mining complexes transferred to the colony on the nineteenth moon of Prospero II. Five ex-Civilian mining complexes from the captured Vorchan colonies in Caliban were also transferred to the moon. By this point, the Prospero colony had reached a population of fifteen million, with a further million on the mining colony. The latter had a suitability rating of 6, so the population would not grow significantly until terraforming capacity was available to reduce that.

In Caliban, the occupied Ascendency colony had decreased by six million, partly due to the diversion of three million Vorchan into labour camps, with the remaining decline due to the reallocation of infrastructure to Caliban Prime, the growing Imperium colony on the same planet. The latter reached a population of twenty-four million in November 4003, hosting a hundred and fifty mines, five ex-Civilian mining complexes and fifty maintenance facilities. The ongoing survey of Caliban revealed three hundred million tons of accessibility 0.8 gaseous Sorium in the atmosphere of Caliban II. The planet did not have any moons, which made protecting harvesters more difficult than at Prospero II, which had similar accessibility, but Caliban II was much closer to Terra, so Lord Admiral Zagan decided to split the available fuel harvesting stations between the two planets.

The Vorchan had been the subject of xenobiological research since the capture of their colony on Caliban I, to determine their environmental tolerances. After thorough testing and detailed examinations, Imperium scientists concluded that the bulky, squat Vorchan physique was due to their home world having extremely high gravity and frozen conditions. Vorchan gravitational tolerance ranged from 0.41G to 3.71G, which allowed them to colonise high-gravity worlds that were completely inhospitable to humans. Their temperature tolerance ranged from -52C to -17C, which was entirely outside the human range. Terra’s atmosphere would not be breathable to the Vorchan, as the low end of their oxygen tolerance was 0.23 atm, with a maximum tolerance of to 0.47 atm. It was also likely the Ascendancy home world would not be inhabitable for humans due to the gravity. Survey frigates of the Adeptus Astronomica were instructed to search for a cold, high gravity world with a dense nitrogen – oxygen atmosphere.

In mid-4003, a new colony was created on Orpheus III, primarily as a naval base to support exploration beyond the Orpheus system. The decision to establish the base was made after Vox Tenebrae discovered three outward jump points simultaneously in the adjacent Lethe system, after surveying a single location. In November 4003, Orpheus III had a population of three million and hosted fifteen maintenance facilities.

The lack of contact with the Vorchan Ascendancy ended on November 23rd 4003, when a Stalker class ship was detected by an auspex buoy in Erebus, approaching the Gamma Pavonis jump point. Astra Fidelis was already in the latter system, conducting a survey. The role of the 6,731-ton Stalker was unknown, but it was suspected to be a survey vessel. The Vorchan ship transited into Gamma Pavonis, held position on the jump point for eighteen hours, then transited back into Erebus and set course for the Beta Hydri jump point.

The scout frigate Spectre joined the Imperial Navy in late November 4003. She was the first of a new frigate class that sacrificed a third of its weapon batteries for improved sensors and greater endurance. The design was initiated after the frigate Medusa tracked a Vorchan fleet across several systems, but eventually ran out of fuel. The replenishment ship Magistratus was lost as a direct result of her rescue of the stranded frigate. Spectre, and her under construction sister Phantom, would be able to track Xenos fleets over long distances and from a greater range. She could also serve as a long-term picket, in a scouting role or as a commerce raider, as she retained a meaningful armament, including her lance battery.

Spectre class Scout Frigate 15,000 tons 483 Crew 2,458.8 BP TCS 300 TH 1,200 EM 1,110
4000 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 4-54 Shields 37-370 HTK 98 Sensors 15/24/0/0 DCR 16-10 PPV 52
Maint Life 3.40 Years MSP 2,139 AFR 112% IFR 1.6% 1YR 281 5YR 4,219 Max Repair 600 MSP
Captain Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 36 months CDE 20% Morale Check Required

RM-150 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 15000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-1200-MB (1) Power 1200 Fuel Use 34.92% Signature 1200 Explosion 12%
Fuel Capacity 928,000 Litres Range 31.9 billion km (92 days at full power)
Valentinian-Stern VS-37 Void Shield (1) Recharge Time 370 seconds (0.1 per second)

Gothicus-Caliban GC-12-200 Lance Battery (1) Range 200,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 37-3.75 ROF 50
Astaroth Kinetics AK-20 Weapons Battery (4x4) Range 160,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 12-4 ROF 15
Astaroth Kinetics AK-10 Light Weapons Battery (4x4) Range 40,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 3-3 ROF 5
MK I Energy Weapon Fire Control (2) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 4,000 km/s ECCM-1
R-162 Gaseous Fission Reactor (2) Total Power Output 32.6 Exp 5%

MK I Light Cruiser Active Augur Array (1) GPS 13440 Range 83.3m km Resolution 120
MK I Torpedo Detection Array (1) GPS 16 Range 6.4m km MCR 574.5k km Resolution 1
MK I Large Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 15 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 30.6m km
MK I Large Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 38.7m km

Electronic Warfare Jammers: Fire Control 1 Missile 1

On December 3rd 4003, Clavis Obscura transited the first of three unexplored, outward jump points in Aeolus, a system two transits from Sol via Tau Ceti. She emerged in Repentance, a red dwarf system with two planets, the second of which was high gravity with a dense nitrogen – oxygen atmosphere. For a moment, the frigate commander, Captain Luther Akios, thought he had stumbled on to the Vorchan home world from a completely unexpected direction, but further examination revealed a hot world dominated by swamps. Clavis Obscura launched an augur probe, then moved in to survey the planets. A week later, Sanctus Lux transited the second unexplored jump point in Aeolus. She arrived seventeen AU from Altair, a dazzling white sub-giant star with seven planets, sixty moons and an asteroid belt. Altair III was a super-terrestrial desert world, with small lakes, high gravity and a dense atmosphere. Like her sister ship, she launched a probe and followed it in-system.

Virtus Aeterna completed the survey of Lalande on December 12th, then moved to investigate the first of two outward jump points. She discovered a planetless K8-V system with a scattering of comets, which was named Equinox. Virtus Aeterna returned to Lalande and probed the second jump point, finding the binary system of Alpha Centauri, which had a total of six planets, none of which had any moons. Alpha Centauri-A II was an ocean world with a thin nitrogen – CO2 atmosphere, so the survey frigate launched an augur probe at the planet.

In mid-December, Crux Veritas and Umbrae Viator completed a survey of Epsilon Indi, the only system, two jumps from Sol via Nadir, without finding any outward jump points. As Nadir only had the single outward jump point to Epsilon Indi, that meant one of the potential routes of exploration from Sol was now cut off. Exploration would therefore focus on the routes through three choke-point systems, Orpheus, Lalande and Aeolus, all of which had two outward jump points, plus Prospero, where a single outward jump point had been discovered by the ongoing survey.

In early January 4004, a new Stalker class ship was detected entering the Erebus – Hecate jump point, remaining for a few hours and then returning to Erebus. In both recent cases, Gamma Pavonis and Hecate. the Ascendancy was either probing or scouting jump points. In the former case it would mean that the Vorchan were still surveying in the area, which raised the question of why two major fleets had entered Erebus. Based on data from the auspex buoy at the Erebus – Nyx jump point, before it was destroyed, two Vorchan warships were likely picketing the jump point, with Battlefleet Nyx on the far side. Rear Admiral Celestine Vetriano, an energetic individual recently assigned to command the Battlefleet from the Lunar-class flagship Holy Flame, decided that updated intelligence was required, so he dispatched an Aquila class lander through the jump point. There was no sign of any Xenos presence. On hearing the news, Lord Admiral Zagan decided this would be an ideal time to test the capabilities of the new scout frigate, so Spectre was dispatched to Nyx with orders to pass through Erebus and investigate Beta Hydri.

As Spectre moved though the inner system, she detected a Vorchan population with a signature of TH-3700, EM-4140 on the fifth moon of Erebus III. While the Imperium had survey data on Erebus, it had been provided by the interrogation of Vorchan prisoners, rather than by the Adeptus Astronomica, so there had been no systematic check for populations in the system, as there would have been with a full geological survey. This was a valuable lesson for the future. The presence of the population was puzzling though as the moon was a barren rock, with a helium-hydrogen atmosphere, a trace amount of water and a surface temperature of -135C. According to the Erebus data, there were no mineral deposits, which begged the question of why the Ascendancy would bother to establish a population that was likely to be in the range of ten million colonists.

Spectre moved closer and engaged her active augur array. There were no ships in orbit, but there was a ground forces signature of 9,300 tons. This was a golden opportunity to capture, or at the least eliminate, a Xenos colony, so Lord Admiral Zagan ordered High Admiral Varnus to use whatever forces were necessary to secure the colony. In the meantime, Spectre was ordered to sweep the inner system for other Ascendancy colonies. Two days later, as Spectre was beginning a circuit of the asteroid belt, she detected active emissions from a pair of previously unknown Savage class destroyers on the outer edge of the belt. The primary sensor of the Savage was known to the Inquisition as the VAM-1 and had a range of fifty-six million kilometres, far less than the eighty-three million of the Spectre, which mounted the same active augur array as the Dauntless class light cruiser. As Spectre was faster, that meant she could monitor the Xenos vessels while remaining outside the range at which the destroyers could achieve an active lock for their torpedoes.

Spectre abandoned her reconnaissance of the Erebus asteroid belt and moved to investigate the destroyer contacts. Once within active augur range, she detected four additional ships, making up the standard six-ship formation that the Imperial Navy had recently designated as a destroyer squadron, comprising three Savage class destroyers, each armed with twelve torpedo launchers, an Impaler class destroyer with light torpedo launchers, an 18,700-ton Enforcer class frigate with nineteen 15cm bombardment cannon and an Abhorrent class escort, with unknown armament. The Xenos destroyer squadron set a pursuit course, so Spectre slowed to match their speed and began leading them toward the Nyx jump point.

Even as Spectre was trying to draw the Vorchan squadron into a trap, a Stalker class ship transited from Avernus into Penumbra, where Battlefleet Caliban was stationed on the jump point. Data was immediately transmitted to the Imperial Inquisition, which identified the Xenos scout vessel as the same one that was detected three months earlier transiting from Erebus into Gamma Pavonis, on the far side of known space. This proved the theory that there was a direct connection between the systems around Erebus and the chain of systems that included Avernus, Gehenna and Tartarus. Rather than confronting separate areas of Ascendancy space, Battlefleet Caliban and Battlefleet Nyx were defending against different fronts of a single, contiguous Vorchan Ascendancy. The Stalker that triggered this revelation was destroyed by a single volley from the frigate Rubicon.

On February 11th 4004, with the Vorchan squadron less than ninety million kilometres from the Erebus – Nyx jump point, Battlefleet Nyx transited into Erebus. The composition of the Battlefleet had changed over time and now comprised the Lunar class cruiser Holy Flame, the Dauntless class light cruisers Bloodhawk and Dauntless, the strike cruiser Dread Argent and two frigates. They were soon joined by Spectre. As soon as the Xenos squadron detected Battlefleet Nyx, it reversed course and ran at 3316 km/s. The Erebus Invasion Force, comprising two Cetaceous class troop transports, the cruiser Imperial Wrath, two light cruisers and two frigates, was en route to Erebus to support Battlefleet Nyx and would arrive in two weeks.

Battlefleet Nyx
Lunar class Cruiser: Holy Flame
Dauntless class Light Cruiser: Bloodhawk, Dauntless
Dread Argent class Strike Cruiser: Dread Argent
Firestorm class Frigate: Firestorm, Heroic Endeavour
Spectre class Scout Frigate: Spectre
2x Thunderhawk class Assault Transport
2x Aquila class Lander

Erebus Invasion Force
Lunar class Cruiser: Imperial Wrath
Dauntless class Light Cruiser: Aegis, Cerberus
Firestorm class Frigate: Silent Fire, Valiant
Cetaceous class Troop Transport: Chalice of Redemption, Echo of Vengeance

With the range between the two fleets down to thirty-six million kilometres, Battlefleet Nyx detected an inbound wave of thirty-six size-9 torpedoes from the Savage class destroyers. Half were destroyed by point defence and eight more missed, leaving ten to detonate their strength-6 warheads on the shields of Holy Flame. A second, identical wave was detected twenty minutes later. Most of the point defence work against the first wave was handled by the light weapon batteries. For the second wave, Rear Admiral Vetriano allowed his ships to allocate some of the main weapon batteries, which reduced the number of hits to seven – once again on the shields of Imperial Wrath. Five more waves arrived at twenty minute intervals, with only eighteen torpedoes in the seventh wave, achieving nothing more than a light show, as the cruiser’s void shield absorbed every hit.

Battlefleet Nyx continued to close and at eighteen million kilometres, they came under fire once again from waves of twelve torpedoes. The most likely candidate for the origin of the torpedoes was the Abhorrent, the only class without a known armament. One or two torpedoes from each wave penetrated the Imperial Navy’s defences. Once the range fell to six million kilometres, Imperial Wrath launched eight standard torpedoes at the Impaler. Each sixty-ton torpedo included ECCM, active terminal guidance, retargeting capability, ten decoys and a strength-25 warhead. A full wave of eight torpedoes had the same manufacturing cost as four Fury interceptors.

The first light torpedo destroyed a decoy with the Imperium torpedoes one point seven million kilometres from their target. A disadvantage of the huge standard torpedoes was the range at which they could be detected and attacked. Fifteen light torpedo detonations were recorded, fourteen of which struck decoys. Unfortunately, five of the remaining seven standard torpedoes were distracted by the Impaler’s own ship-launched decoys and the other two took down ninety percent of the Impaler’s shields but did not cause any damage.

Holy Flame launched a second salvo twenty minutes after the first. Once again, the defensive torpedoes destroyed one of the Imperial Navy torpedoes. The Impaler still had decoys remaining, but this time they only distracted two of the inbounds. The other five flattened the Impaler’s shields and penetrated its armour in three places. The Xenos vessel dropped out of formation, reduced in speed to 2489 km/s. Its shield generator were evidently intact, as they recharged to their previous level.

Rear Admiral Celestine Vetriano decided to conserve his remaining torpedoes and ordered Battlefleet Nyx to close on the Impaler, which was taking a slightly different heading than the five undamaged ships, possibly intent on reaching the Ascendancy colony rather than the Beta Hydri jump point. While the battle had been underway, the small buoy deployment ship Oculus Vigil, already in Erebus to replace destroyed auspex buoys, had moved in behind the Vorchan squadron and deployed a buoy on one of the outer moons of Erebus III, enabling the Imperium to maintain a close watch on the colony on the fifth moon.

As Battlefleet Nyx closed within two million kilometres of the Impaler, it came under fire from waves of forty-two light torpedoes, ten seconds apart. At 28,800 km/s, they were harder targets than the slower, larger Vorchan anti-ship torpedoes, but had only strength-1 warheads. Between five and ten torpedoes struck in each wave, targeting Holy Flame and then changing to the light cruiser Bloodhawk and then the frigates. Their shields were gradually reduced, but not to a dangerous level, so Rear Admiral Vetriano refrained from a further torpedo launch. After thirty waves over the course of five minutes, the barrage finally ceased without damage to any Imperial warship.

At 160,000 km, Battlefleet Nyx opened fire with weapon batteries, taking down the Impaler’s shields and inflicting significant internal damage. The Impaler dropped to 1659 km/s, so Vetriano ordered the fleet to cease fire and dispatched both Thunderhawks from Dread Argent to board and capture the Xenos warship. The target was secured in less than four minutes. This was the first captured Impaler, which the Ascendancy had designated as an escort cruiser. It was uncompromisingly designed as a platform for launching light torpedoes. The two Thunderhawks remained behind to pick up the Space Marines, while Battlefleet Nyx pursued the remaining Vorchan warships.

Impaler class Escort Cruiser 18,676 tons 419 Crew 2,269.7 BP TCS 374 TH 1,240 EM 1,650
3319 km/s Armour 3-62 Shields 55-388 HTK 129 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 8-4 PPV 42
Maint Life 1.02 Years MSP 607 AFR 349% IFR 4.8% 1YR 579 5YR 8,690 Max Repair 429.3 MSP
Magazine 1,450 / 110
Lord-Captain Control Rating 2 BRG CIC
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Morale Check Required

Nuclear Gas-Core Engine EP310 (4) Power 1240 Fuel Use 39.76% Signature 310 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 750,000 Litres Range 18.2 billion km (63 days at full power)
Delta S55 / R388 Shields (1) Recharge Time 388 seconds (0.1 per second)

Size 22 Decoy Launcher (5) Decoy Size: 22 Hangar Reload 234 minutes MF Reload 39 hours
Size 1 Missile Launcher (42) Missile Size: 1 Rate of Fire 10
Missile Fire Control FC11-R1 (9) Range 11.3m km Resolution 1 ECCM-1

Active Search Sensor AS9-R1 (1) GPS 51 Range 9.8m km MCR 883k km Resolution 1
Electronic Warfare Jammers: Sensor 1 Fire Control 1 Missile 1

If, as suspected, the Abhorrent and the three Savage class destroyers were out of ordnance, the only threat to Battlefleet Nyx was the Enforcer. Therefore, all ships targeted it with their lance and weapon batteries. As soon as the range fell below 200,000 km, every lance battery in the fleet fired simultaneously. Four hits were registered, one of which struck the armour after the shields were blasted down. At 180,000 km, the Enforcer returned fire with nineteen bombardment cannon. Bloodhawk received three strength-1 shield hits. The Enforcer fired again fifteen seconds later at 168,000 km with similar results. The lance batteries recharged and fired, scoring three penetrating hits, then the fleet reached 155,000 km and a barrage of weapon battery fire blew the Enforcer to pieces.

With four unarmed but intact enemy ships remaining, Rear Admiral Vetriano ordered his two light cruisers and two frigates to each target a different enemy ship with a pair of weapon batteries and keep firing until its speed fell below 1800 km/s, which would allow the Space Marines to board without risking losses during the operation. Once the Thunderhawks had recovered the Space Marines from the captured Impaler, they would assault any remaining crippled Vorchan warships. Each Xenos vessel was attacked until it lost one of its two engines, then Dread Argent was detached to shadow them, while the rest of Battlefleet Nyx moved on to the Ascendancy colony. Seventeen hours after the battle, all four damaged ships had been captured.

Abhorrent class Missile Destroyer 9,329 tons 194 Crew 1,145.6 BP TCS 187 TH 620 EM 0
3323 km/s Armour 2-39 Shields 0-0 HTK 55 Sensors 6/0/0/0 DCR 4-4 PPV 32.4
Maint Life 1.39 Years MSP 307 AFR 174% IFR 2.4% 1YR 173 5YR 2,588 Max Repair 185.3 MSP
Magazine 708 / 44
Captain Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Morale Check Required

Nuclear Gas-Core Engine EP310 (2) Power 620 Fuel Use 39.76% Signature 310 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 400,000 Litres Range 19.4 billion km (67 days at full power)

Size 22 Decoy Launcher (2) Decoy Size: 22 Hangar Reload 234 minutes MF Reload 39 hours
Size 9 Missile Launcher (30.0% Reduction) (12) Missile Size: 9 Rate of Fire 1200
Missile Fire Control FC23-R5 (3) Range 23.2m km Resolution 5 ECCM-1

Active Search Sensor AS20-R5 (1) GPS 360 Range 20.1m km Resolution 5
Thermal Sensor TH1-6 (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 19.4m km
Electronic Warfare Jammers: Fire Control 1 Missile 1

On February 20th, Battlefleet Nyx arrived at Erebus III and began its approach to the colony on the fifth moon. The fleet came under fire from thirteen surface-based weapons from 240,000 km onwards, suffering minimal shield damage. A barrage of weapon battery fire silenced the Xenos STOs within forty-five seconds. Approximately thirty installations were destroyed by the resulting collateral damage. A second ground battery opened fire at 60,000 km and suffered a similar fate. With orbital space over the Ascendancy colony secured, Battlefleet Nyx moved on toward the Beta Hydri jump point, where Oculus Vigil had just emplaced a buoy, to prevent any Vorchan reinforcements. The defenceless colony would be secured by the Erebus Invasion Force, which was scheduled to arrive in twenty-five days. In Penumbra, another Stalker class scout transited into the system and was quickly destroyed. The same ship had been detected three months earlier at the Erebus – Hecate jump point.

On March 18th, Dread Argent joined the rest of Battlefleet Nyx on the Erebus – Beta Hydri jump point, along with Oculus Vigil and the replenishment ship Curator Ventus. She sent one of her two Aquila landers through the jump point to check for an Ascendancy force on the far side. There was no sign of any Vorchan warships so Oculus Vigil transited and emplaced a buoy before returning to Erebus. Beta Hydri III was a known Ascendancy colony but Rear Admiral Vetriano was reluctant to proceed further without better intelligence, especially given the size of Beta Hydri due to its G2-IV sub-giant primary, so he ordered Spectre to conduct a sweep of the area first.

A few hours later, the Imperial Guards Armoured Corps and the Cadian Shock Troops Corps were unloaded on the fifth moon of Erebus III by the Erebus Invasion Force. The defending force was approximately fifteen hundred infantry, with limited heavy weapon support, defending a frozen, barren moon against ten thousand infantry and a thousand heavy tanks. The battle was violent, but brief. Forty hours after landing, the Imperial Guard declared the moon secure. The Vorchan population was nine million and the only installations were four tracking stations, a refuelling station and sufficient infrastructure to support that population on a body that had a suitability rating of five for the Vorchan. While the colony had no obvious function, the best estimate of the Inquisition was that the population had been established to ensure a claim on Erebus, as its four jump points made it a strategic crossroads system.

As the Erebus system appeared relatively secure, Rear Admiral Vetriano ordered the two frigates in the invasion force to move to the Beta Hydri jump point and join Battlefleet Nyx while the troop transports, protected by Imperial Wrath and two light cruisers, recovered the two Imperial Guard Corps. Meanwhile in Beta Hydri, the scout frigate Spectre approached the third planet, which had a signature of TH-4540, EM-5950, without detecting any major Ascendancy warships. As she drew closer, she detected active emissions from a pair of Razor class fast attack craft. Spectre was thirty million kilometres from the planet, while the FACs had the VAS-1 active sensor, with a range of forty million, so she reversed course and headed back toward the Erebus jump point.

With no significant Vorchan fleet in the system and his rear relatively secure, Rear Admiral Vetriano decided to press on and either secure or eliminate the Ascendancy colony. Battlefleet Nyx entered Beta Hydri and headed in-system. The FACs, still in orbit of Beta Hydri III, launched a wave of forty-eight torpedoes, fifteen of which impacted on the shields of Holy Wrath. As the fleet drew closer, it came under fire from twenty-six surface-based weapons. Battlefleet Nyx responded with a hail of weapon battery fire, destroying all the Razors and silencing the surface defences, then moved into orbit to await the troop transports. One week later, with everything apparently proceeding according to plan, Vorchan Quartus suddenly appeared close to the Beta Hydri - Erebus jump point, cutting off Battlefleet Nyx and directly threatening Erebus.

Steve Walmsley · « **Reply #5 on:** July 11, 2025, 07:58:08 AM »

Spectre had already moved back into Erebus before the arrival of the twenty Xenos warships, to resume her sweep of the asteroid belt, and the salvage ship Sepulchre was halfway between the jump point and Battlefleet Nyx. On the far side of the jump point was the Erebus Invasion Force, refuelling from the replenishment ship Curator Ventus, plus the buoy deployment vessel Oculus Vigil. The latter had recently placed the buoy that detected the approach of the Ascendancy fleet, or they would have enjoyed complete tactical surprise.

The Erebus Invasion force comprised the troop transports Chalice of Redemption and Echo of Vengeance, escorted by the cruiser Imperial Wrath and the light cruiser Aegis. The second light cruiser from the original fleet, Cerberus, had been left in orbit of the captured colony on the moon of Erebus III. The two frigates, Silent Fire and Valiant, that were detached earlier had also rejoined the fleet. It was fortunate that refuelling operations were underway, or the fleet could have been caught in deep space by an Xenos force that could launch almost two hundred anti-ship torpedoes in a single volley. A fate that could still befall Battlefleet Nyx. Even so, if Vorchan Quartus transited into Erebus, it would be a very difficult engagement for the four Imperium warships.

Chalice of Redemption, Echo of Vengeance, Oculus Vigil and Curator Ventus were all ordered to run for the Nyx jump point, while Imperial Wrath, Aegis, Silent Fire and Valiant briefly transited into Beta Hydri to select targets and perhaps deter Vorchan Quartus from transiting, After they jumped back into Erebus, the buoy monitored the approach of the Xenos fleet until it was destroyed by a light missile. Battlefleet Nyx, almost two billion kilometres from the jump point, had no source of resupply so Rear Admiral Vetriano ordered his fleet to head for the jump point, hoping to draw the powerful Vorchan fleet toward him. While Battlefleet Nyx would be in great difficulty in a deep space engagement, it was faster and had better sensors, so it would only be drawn into battle on its own terms, at least until it ran out of fuel.

At 16:54, on April 5th 4004, Vorchan Quartus jumped into Erebus with shields raised. The four defending warships, waiting at battle stations, opened fire immediately. Imperial Wrath smashed a Conqueror into wreckage, Aegis crippled a second and even the frigates Silent Fire and Valiant achieved internal hits. The three damaged missile cruisers split up and moved away in different directions. The rest of Vorchan Quartus moved away in the opposite direction with Imperial Wrath in pursuit, her crew trying to lock on a new target.

Silent Fire and Valiant pursued their targets, while Aegis fired a volley from her light batteries, leaving the targeted Conqueror dead in space, and set a new course for the main body of Vorchan Quartus. Imperial Wrath took fifteen seconds to fire again, despite the exhortations of her commander, Lord-Captain Jonah Vash, but the result was worth the wait. Her lance and weapon batteries devastated another Conqueror and a follow-up volley from her light batteries destroyed it. Aegis, despite being half the size of Imperial Wrath, was more than holding her own and she too destroyed a Conqueror. The remaining three missile cruisers, including the one originally attacked by Aegis, were battered but not yet out of the fight and had succeeded in drawing the two frigates more than a hundred thousand kilometres from the rest of Vorchan Quartus. Both frigates fired again and two of the damaged Conquerors blew up. Both set a course to chase the main body of fourteen Ascendancy warships, with Silent Fire targeting the crippled Conqueror near the jump point.

Imperial Wrath and Aegis wasted precious seconds before firing again. The cruiser obliterated one of the Punisher class frigates, which were armed with nineteen bombardment cannon, while Aegis crippled a second then switched targets to an Impaler, leaving the damaged ship for the frigates. Her first shot caused a massive secondary explosion that destroyed the escort cruiser. Thirteen Vorchan ships remained, including two cripples, and the effects of jump shock could not last much longer. Silent Fire changed direction and moved to the crippled Conqueror, destroying it with a full broadside. Simultaneously, Imperial Wrath, living up to her name, ripped apart a Punisher with her lances and weapon batteries.

Imperial Wrath damaged an Impaler with her light weapon batteries, then an Ambusher opened fire, revealing its armament to be seven twin bombardment cannon turrets. Aegis lost a third of her shields. Eleven Vorchan ships remained; three Impaler escort cruisers, two 18,700-ton Ravager class frigates with unknown armament, four Ambusher class escorts with their deadly short-range armament, a single Abhorrent class destroyer and a crippled Punisher. Concerned about the potential of all four Ambushers once jump shock wore off, Rear Admiral Vetriano ordered his ships open the range and fight a more conventional action, relying on their shields to defend against the bombardment cannon.

Imperial Wrath fired her main armament and an Impaler blew up. Aegis attacked a second Impaler, inflicting crippling internal damage. The crippled Punisher fired on Aegis with four bombardment cannon, one of which was a larger calibre – possibly a spinal weapon. Three hits dropped her shields to fifty-eight percent. Simultaneously, Silent Fire targeted the Punisher and destroyed it. Forty light torpedoes were launched from the remaining intact Impaler.

Aegis ignored the Impaler she had crippled, leaving it to the frigates, and attempted to target its intact sister ship. In the heat of battle, her commander forgot the instruction to keep the range open and was attacked by the Ambusher at the same time as his ship was struck by nineteen light torpedo, dropping her shields to one third strength. Fortunately, the other three Ambushers had not yet recovered from jump shock. Imperial Wrath launched eight standard torpedoes, which slammed into the intact Impaler just as it launched its own salvo of light torpedoes, and dropped its speed to 829 km/s. Twelve size-9 torpedoes were launched by the Abhorrent class destroyer.

Rear Admiral Vetriano ordered the other three ships to rendezvous with his flagship, so that they could fight as a combined whole. Just as Aegis moved into formation with Imperial Wrath, she was attacked by the combined salvo, suffering nine hits from the heavy anti-ship torpedoes with strength-6 warheads and thirteen more from the light torpedoes. Her shields were overwhelmed and several torpedoes inflicted armour damage. In response, she destroyed the damaged Impaler hit by Imperial Wrath’s torpedoes. Imperial Wrath herself fired on the two Ravagers, causing armour damage to both. Vorchan Quartus now comprised four Ambushers with short-ranged weapons, the Abhorrent class destroyer, the two Ravager class frigates, still with unknown armament. and a crippled Impaler.

The Impaler, despite being dead in space, was not out of the fight, as it suddenly launched twenty-three light torpedoes, nine of which struck Aegis. Silent Fire, trailing the rest of the fleet, targeted the Impaler and destroyed it just as it launched another dozen light torpedoes. Aegis took further armour damage, but Rear Admiral Vetriano was now confident of victory as the Ambushers could only fire on his ships as they strayed into range, while the Ravagers and the Abhorrent were all under fire. The four Imperial Navy warships focused on the Abhorrent, then systematically blasted the remaining ships into debris from outside their weapon range. The Ravagers did not fire at any point.

In four minutes of heroic defence, Imperial Wrath, Aegis, Silent Fire and Valiant had destroyed more than three times their own tonnage and saved the cream of the Imperium’s ground forces from being ignominiously wiped out aboard their transports. With a little bad luck, or slower reactions from the crews, or even the timing of the refuelling operation, it could have ended very differently. Therefore, Lord Admiral Zagan decided to halt any further offensive operations into Beta Hydri until a forward base was established in Erebus and a survey of Beta Hydri had been conducted. Battlefleet Nyx was ordered to retreat into Erebus.

Interrogation of the prisoners captured from Vorchan Quartus provided full gravitational survey data on Hecate, of the systems adjacent to Erebus, revealing a single outward jump point. Spectre was dispatched to investigate and discovered Stygia, a planetless red dwarf system. Meanwhile, in late May, Astra Incognita entered Beta Hydri and discovered a jump point within four hundred million kilometres of the jump point to Erebus. Given this was highly likely to be the jump point through which Vorchan Quartus entered Beta Hydri, an Aquila was dispatched from Battlefleet Nyx on the Erebus – Beta Hydri jump point.

The Aquila transited into Nocturne, a system with an orange K5-V primary, seven planets, eighty-five moons and an asteroid belt. Nocturne II was a hot world with liquid oceans and an atmosphere of 1.34 atm that was close to breathable. Waiting on the Nocturne – Beta Hydri jump point was a six-ship Vorchan destroyer squadron. The Enforcer class frigate in the squadron opened fire and destroyed the small lander.

Surveying continued elsewhere in the Imperium. In Repentance, two jumps from Sol via Tau Ceti and Aeolus, Clavis Obscura discovered a small ruin on the second planet. An Ordo Xeno formation identified twenty-one potential recovery sites. In Altair, also adjacent to Aeolus, a huge ancient Xenos construct was discovered on the surface of on the third planet, a super-terrestrial desert world. The Ordo Xenos surveyed the site and determined it would improve the efficiency of any sensor research by ninety percent. Altair III was too large and with too dense an atmosphere to easily terraform, so any research outpost would require a large amount of infrastructure.

On July 3rd 4004, the buoy on the Beta Hydri – Erebus jump point detected the approach of a large Ascendancy fleet, with the same ship types as the earlier missile cruiser fleets but composed of previously undetected vessels. The new force was designated as Vorchan Septimus. The approach vector did not correspond to the location of the nearby Nocturne jump point. By a fortunate coincidence, six warships, led by the Lunar class cruiser Justicar and the carrier Archon Kort, had just arrived on the Erebus – Beta Hydri jump point to relieve most of the ships in Battlefleet Nyx, as the latter required shore leave and overhaul, and were refuelling from Curator Ventus. In total, the Imperial Navy had over 400,000 tons of warships, slightly more than Vorchan Septimus.

The buoy was destroyed ten minutes after the initial detection. Twenty minutes after detection, Vorchan Septimus jumped into Erebus. They faced two cruisers, four light cruisers, a strike cruiser and four frigates. Archon Kort did not even bother to launch her fighters. Forty-five seconds after transit, there was nothing on the jump point except life pods, wreckage and a victorious Battlefleet Nyx. The Imperial Navy had now destroyed four of the seven known Ascendancy battle fleets. Even so, there was a still great reluctance to engage the Vorchan in deep space. All significant Imperium victories had been defensive actions on jump points.

In mid-July, prisoner interrogations revealed the most useful intelligence so far – full gravitational survey data for Beta Hydri. Two jump points were already known, to Erebus and Nocturne. The intelligence information revealed three more, all of which were approximately five billion kilometres from the Erebus jump point. Two were much further out from the primary, just outside the orbit of the sixth planet. The third was closer to the star, but on the far side of the system. This last jump point roughly corresponded to the direction from which Vorchan Septimus appeared, so an Aquila was dispatched from Battlefleet Nyx to investigate. The 300-ton craft transited into Mortis, a red dwarf system with three planets and twenty-six moons, without incident. Mortis II had an ice sheet and a trace atmosphere of nitrogen and oxygen.

At Terra, the eleventh Dauntless light cruiser, Flame of Purity, was launched from the Golgotha Forge orbital shipyard. Interrogation of Vorchan prisoners revealed the existence of a system named Asphodel, a binary of two orange K7-V stars with a total of five planets. After being encouraged to provide further details, two of the officer prisoners provided full geological and gravitational survey data. Asphodel had four jump points and a dormant Xenos construct on the inner planet of the primary, plus a few useful mineral deposits on comets. In Beta Hydri, Astra Incognita surveyed the third planet, location of the Vorchan colony, and discovered another dormant construct. A survey by the Ordo Xenos would have to wait until the planet was secured by the Imperial Guard.

In Beta Hydri, the Aquila was refuelled by Curator Ventus and dispatched to the fourth jump point. She transited into a planetless brown dwarf system, designated as Ember. An Enforcer frigate and an Abhorrent class destroyer were picketing the far side of the jump point. The lander barely had time to transmit that information before it was blown to pieces.

Two weeks later, Astra Incognita, conducting a geological survey of Beta Hydri, discovered a small Ascendancy population on the twenty-fifty moon of Beta Hydri V. There was no sign of any surface-based weapons, so she continued surveying the planet’s extensive moon system. On October 17th, the same Enforcer and Abhorrent that destroyed the Aquila in Ember, appeared twenty-one million kilometres away from the survey frigate. Rear Admiral immediately dispatched his two Dauntless class light cruisers, Ravenor and Unbroken Vow and three frigates, including Spectre, to find and destroy the two Xenos warship, leaving Holy Flame, Justicar and Holy Execution to guard the Erebus – Beta Hydri jump point.

Astra Incognita was over four billion kilometres away and the Vorchan ships had an 800 km/s speed advantage, so there was no chance the Imperial Navy squadron could reach her in time. However, the 18,700-ton frigate and the 9,300-ton destroyer held the range open at twenty million kilometres and just shadowed the 15,000-ton Imperium survey frigate. Astra Incognita gradually turned until she was heading for the Erebus jump point. Three days after the initial contact, with the light cruisers and frigates a billon kilometres in-system from the jump point, a buoy detected a squadron of seven Vorchan ships approaching the Nocturne jump point from the direction of the Mortis jump point, which also placed them much closer to the Erebus jump point. Four were previously undetected ships of known classes – two Ambusher class escorts, an Enforcer frigate and an Impaler escort cruiser. Two more were a new 131,500-ton type, designated as Crusader class, while the seventh was another new class, a 33,700-ton Vanquisher. The whole force was moving at 1338 km/s, which suggested the Crusaders were some larger commercial type.

There was no way for Ravenor and Unbroken Vow, or the ships remaining in Erebus, to intercept before transit and a Vorchan squadron was defending the Nocturne side when an Aquila transited earlier in the year, so Rear Admiral Vetriano did not change his existing orders. As the Ascendancy squadron approached the Nocturne jump point, the Impaler destroyed the buoy with a light torpedo. Maintaining the presence of buoys on key jump points was an ongoing struggle for the Imperium’s two buoy deployment craft.

On October 25th 4004, the five-ship Imperium squadron, which had been running silent, moved within sensor range of the Enforcer and Abhorrent and engaged both shields and active sensors. The two Xenos vessels changed course immediately, with the Imperial vessels in pursuit. At twelve million kilometres, the squadron came under fire from a salvo of twelve torpedoes launched by the Abhorrent. Eleven were eliminated by point defence and the twelfth missed. A second salvo scored three hits on the frigate Medusa, reducing her shields to fifty percent, and a third achieved identical results. The squadron moved into energy range and opened fire with lances and weapon batteries. The Enforcer returned fire with its nineteen bombardment cannon. It was a brief and uneven contest. The squadron picked up the Vorchan life pods and the frigates returned to Erebus. The two light cruisers escorted Astra Incognita as she returned to the moons of Beta Hydri V.

A week later, an Aquila-R lander, a new type that exchanged the heavy bolter of the original for much greater range, entered the outermost jump point in Beta Hydri and emerged in Zeta Tucanae, a system with an bright F9-V primary and seven planets. Zeta Tucanae IV had liquid oceans and a dense atmosphere of CO2 and nitrogen. The Aquila headed in-system and conducted a sweep of the inner planets, without detecting any sign of a Xenos presence.

On November 22nd, the seven-ship Vorchan fleet with the two huge Crusader class ships transited back into Beta Hydri from Nocturne and set course for the Mortis jump point. It was detected by a buoy recently emplaced by Oculus Vigil, at least until the new buoy was destroyed. Even though Battlefleet Nyx was understrength due to the detachment of Ravenor and Unbroken Vow to protect Astra Incognita, Rear Admiral Vetriano did not want to miss an opportunity to eliminate Ascendancy warships, so he took Battlefleet Nyx into Beta Hydri and set course for the Nocturne jump point. From there, his fleet would head toward Mortis in search of the Vorchan squadron. As the jump point would be uncovered during its absence, the Lunar class cruiser Imperial Wrath and two frigates left orbit of a newly created colony on the third moon of Erebus III and set course for the Beta Hydri jump point, leaving the cruiser Cerberus to guard the colony and the captured Ascendancy colony on the fifth moon.

Battlefleet Nyx
Dictator class Carrier: Archon Kort
Lunar class Cruiser: Justicar
Dread Argent class Strike Cruiser: Holy Execution
Firestorm class Frigate: Medusa, Rubicon
Spectre class Scout Frigate: Spectre
2x Thunderhawk class Assault Transport
24x Starhawk class Bomber
36x Fury class Interceptor
2x Aquila-C class Lander

Five hours after transit, Battlefleet Nyx detected the Ascendancy fleet on a reciprocal course. The Vorchan ships had plainly altered their heading after destroying the buoy. While the armament of the Vanquisher was unknown, the only ship with a known torpedo armament was the Impaler escort cruiser. Therefore, Archon Kort launched her Starhawks with orders to take it out.

The Starhawks closed to five million kilometres and each of the twenty-four bombers launched a single standard torpedo. By this point the Ascendancy fleet had turned to run, after detecting the approach of Battlefleet Nyx. The Impaler used its light torpedoes to attack the inbounds, but only killed two. Three more were destroyed by energy-range point defence. The other nineteen detonated on target and blew the Impaler to pieces. With the Impaler eliminated, Battlefleet Nyx closed in and was able to determine that the Vanquisher had commercial engines, which left the Enforcer frigate as the only threat, due to the short-range armament of the Ambushers. The ensuing energy-range battle was extremely one-sided.

After the three Xenos warships had been dealt with, attention turned to the three commercial-engined vessels. Boarding was an option, but their speed of 1,338 km/s could have been due to the maximum speed of either the Vanquisher or the Crusaders. There was also a concern about the Crusaders being troop transports, given they had been moving back and forth between systems. Spectre was ordered to use a single weapon battery to slow the Vanquisher to gain more information. After considerable internal damage, it broke formation and headed toward the colony on Beta Hydri III at 1186 km/s. Holy Execution launched her Thunderhawk assault transports to board it. They secured the ship within three minutes, without suffering casualties. The Vanquisher was a jump tender, similar in function to the Empyrean class.

Vanquisher class Jump Tender 33,710 tons 275 Crew 1,227.7 BP TCS 674 TH 1,600 EM 0
2373 km/s JR 4-100(C) Armour 1-92 Shields 0-0 HTK 85 Sensors 6/6/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 22 Max Repair 638.9 MSP
Captain Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months

JC132K Commercial Jump Drive Max Ship Size 132000 tons Distance 100k km Squadron Size 4
Commercial Nuclear Gas-Core Engine EP160.0 (10) Power 1600 Fuel Use 3.54% Signature 160 Exp 4%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres Range 75.4 billion km (367 days at full power)

CIWS-120 (1x4) Range 1000 km TS: 12,000 km/s ROF 5
Thermal Sensor TH1-6 (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 19.4m km
EM Sensor EM1-6 (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 19.4m km

After recovering their space marines, the two Thunderhawks launched an assault on the first of the Crusaders. This was a more difficult battle as they faced almost eight hundred crew, but they prevailed with the loss of a single Space Marine. As suspected, the Crusader was a troop transport and had a capacity of 60,000 tons. On this occasion it was empty, or the battle could have gone very differently. The second Crusader was secured several hours later.

Crusader class Troop Transport 131,506 tons 762 Crew 4,968 BP TCS 2,630 TH 3,520 EM 0
1338 km/s Armour 6-230 Shields 0-0 HTK 343 Sensors 6/6/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 23 Max Repair 200 MSP
Troop Capacity 60,000 tons Drop Capable Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 2
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months

Commercial Nuclear Gas-Core Engine EP160.0 (22) Power 3520 Fuel Use 3.54% Signature 160 Exp 4%
Fuel Capacity 3,800,000 Litres Range 146.8 billion km (1270 days at full power)

CIWS-120 (2x4) Range 1000 km TS: 12,000 km/s ROF 5
Thermal Sensor TH1-6 (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 19.4m km
EM Sensor EM1-6 (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 19.4m km

The Imperial Navy was faced with a dilemma. Beta Hydri seemed to be the centre of known Ascendancy naval activity, but the huge size of the system, due to its sub-giant primary, and the four outward jump points made it difficult to secure, or even conduct operations. Three of the jump points had seen recent Ascendancy activity and there was no way to know from which direction the remaining major Vorchan fleets might appear. The Imperial Navy did not have the strength to guard all four, while still maintaining Battlefleet Caliban in Penumbra and protecting the growing number of colonies. Leaving the jump points open, or lightly guarded, could easily led to a missile cruiser fleet engaging the Imperium in open space, which would greatly favour their heavy torpedo armaments. As a short-term measure, Battlefleet Nyx moved to the Nocturne jump point, leaving defence of the Erebus – Beta Hydri jump point to Imperial Wrath and her frigate escorts, where it could intercept any new arrivals and provide cover for future salvage operations. Longer-term, the Imperial Navy needed a new ship class designed to guard jump points.

Steve Walmsley · « **Reply #6 on:** **Yesterday** at 04:34:00 AM »

This is the 1st of 3 posts today

On January 3rd 4005, the war against the Vorchan Ascendancy became even more complex, when a second Xenos race made its presence known. A new ship type designated as Raptor class, travelling at the concerning speed of 7468 km/s, was detected by the tracking station at the naval base on Orpheus III, three jumps from Sol via Caliban and Penumbra. The colony of six million had been established to support exploration beyond Orpheus, which had two outward jump points leading to Acheron and Lethe, which in turn had one and three outward jump points respectively. Sufficient maintenance facilities were in place to support up to 56,000 tons of ships and the Firestorm class frigate Gladius was in orbit. A single Colony Security Regiment was on the surface. The security regiment was a new type of formation, intended to protect smaller colonies, with both ground and surface-to-orbit elements. The regiment comprised six hundred Guardsmen, sixty Chimeras, sixty heavy weapon teams, four weapon batteries, four light weapon batteries and a single lance battery.

The closest support was in the adjacent system of Penumbra, where Battlefleet Caliban was deployed on the Avernus jump point. As there had been no attempt to assault the jump point in several years, Lord Admiral Zagan ordered the fleet’s two Dauntless class light cruisers to head to Orpheus III. The Imperial Navy was almost fully committed to defending the points of contact with the Vorchan Ascendancy, including the rotation of warships for overhaul and shore leave, plus the deployment of the Erebus Invasion Force to support Battlefleet Nyx. In the short-term, Zagan authorised the deployment of the strike cruiser Dread Argent, the light cruiser Bloodhawk and the frigate Sphinx from Battlefleet Terra, leaving a cruiser, a carrier, two strike cruisers and a light cruiser in Terran orbit, plus several ships under overhaul. Strategically, any planning for an offensive into Beta Hydri and beyond would have to be abandoned until the new threat was assessed. Orders went out to finish the survey and salvage operations in Beta Hydri, then withdraw to Erebus and defend the Erebus – Beta Hydri jump point. Ships would be reassigned from the system as soon as they became available.

The Raptor was on a course that seemed to originate from Orpheus IV directly toward Orpheus III. The frigate Gladius had her active augur array online but was not detecting the ship as it moved closer. Initially, given the speed of the Xenos vessel, this was assumed to be a high tech sensor jammer. Over time, consternation grew as the ship drew closer, passing within half the maximum sensor range, then a third. At ten percent of normal range, without any active contact, the crew of Gladius was not far from outright panic. Without an active lock they could not engage the Raptor if it was hostile. Finally, it moved within the six million kilometres range of the frigate’s missile detection sensor and registered as a vessel of just 1,153 tons, explaining why the primary sensor had found it difficult to detect.

The Xenos vessel continued on course, drawing closer and closer to Gladius and Orpheus III. Both the frigate and the security regiment were under orders not to fire unless fired upon. At 294,000, almost double the range of the frigate’s weapon batteries, the Raptor opened fire with three 25cm bombardment cannon, missing with all three shots. There was no way a warship of 1,153 tons could mount three large bombardment cannon, so it appeared to be utilising some form of cloaking technology to reduce its cross-section. Gladius remained in orbit, trying to draw it closer before trying to return fire.

The lance battery on the colony fired at 180,000 km, without success. The weapon batteries followed up a few seconds later at 145,000 km, scoring four armour hits. The Xenos warship returned fire, inflicting three strength-5 hits on Gladius and dropping her shields to sixty percent. As the Raptor came about, Gladius finally fired – missing with her lance battery but scoring three strength-1 hits from her weapon batteries, one of which caused a streamer of atmosphere to appear. It seemed the Xenos ship paid for its stealth with minimal passive defences. The Raptor began opening the range, so Gladius pursed at 4000 km/s, receiving a pair of strength-4 hits before the Xenos vessel moved out of weapon battery range. As it would take time for the lance battery to recharge, Gladius reversed course.

The Raptor closed to 168,000 km, just outside weapon battery range and held the range open as it pursued Gladius, which moved back toward the planet trying to draw the Raptor into range of the planetary weapon batteries. The Xenos vessel began circling the planet at 200,000 km, staying out of weapon range, and fired on Gladius again as she entered orbit. Her shields were at twenty-seven percent. Her commander, Captain Raziel Karkasy, ordered his ship away from the planet in the opposite direction to the Raptor, but it still refused to enter weapon battery range of the planet, remaining at 195,000 km/s. The planetary lance battery tried another shot at extreme range and missed, then Gladius moved back to the planet and fired her lance battery, with similar results.

The engagement became a game of cat and mouse with the Raptor refusing to enter weapon battery range of either the frigate or the planet, while sniping with its bombardment cannon. In turn, the security regiment and the Gladius tried extreme range lance battery shots, hoping for a critical hit before the Raptor realised the range of the lance batteries. Gladius opened the range between lance attacks, using the planet as a shield. Every lance shot missed, but the Raptor could not wear down the frigate’s shields from long-range. Suddenly, as Gladius approached the planet, and missed once again, the Raptor charged toward her. Both the frigate and the security regiment fired their weapon batteries at 125,000 km, scoring ten strength-1 hits, two of which penetrated armour. The speed of the Raptor dropped to 3,734 km/s. Gladius immediately altered course toward the damaged Xenos warship.

The Raptor continued on course and fired again, inflicting three strength-8 hits that took down the frigate’s shields and damaged her armour, including one penetration that breached the hull. Gladius fired again at just 12,000 km, scoring twenty-one strength-4 hits that blasted the Xenos ship into scrap metal. There were no life pods. Gladius returned to orbit to await reinforcements. Due to the range and speed advantages of the Xenos ship, Lord Admiral Zagan authorised Archon Kort to leave Battlefleet Caliban and enter Orpheus, leaving just the Lunar class cruiser Thunderchild and two frigates on the Penumbra – Avernus jump point.

The new Xenos race was considerably more advanced than the Vorchan Ascendancy, although only a single ship had been detected so far so there was no way to determine the extent of their Empire. The other puzzling aspect of the Raptor’s sudden appearance was that all three of the jump points in Orpheus – leading to Penumbra, Acheron and Lethe – had auspex buoys deployed on both sides. There was no way for the Raptor to enter Orpheus unless there was a fourth, undiscovered jump point or the Raptor had an alternative form of interstellar travel.

On January 7th, an Aquila-R probed the Nocturne jump point and found no sign of Vorchan ships, so it headed in-system to check the planets. A colony with a signature of TH-460, EM-455 was detected on Nocturne III. The planet was a Venusian world so it was likely to be some form of automated mining outpost. As the Aquila drew closer, it came under fire from surface-based weapon and took a single hit that wiped away a third of its armour. The lander retreated and circled around to check the other inner planets. Two days later, the Aquila detected a large Xenos colony on the eighth moon of Nocturne IV, a cold, Terra-sized body with ice sheets and an atmosphere of nitrogen and methane. The signature of TH-13400, EM-16600 indicated a population similar to that on Caliban I.

There were now six known Ascendancy colonies; two in Nocturne, three in Beta Hydri and one in Tartarus, with the most recently discovered being the largest. The Aquila headed back to the Beta Hydri jump point, but detected a Vorchan destroyer squadron between the orbits of the third and fourth planets. Rather than run, the lander used its superior speed to stay at twelve million kilometres, from where it could shadow the Xenos squadron. Unfortunately, the appearance of a single size-9 torpedo proved that the Ascendancy could track the small target at that range. The Aquila successfully evaded the inbound torpedo and two further attacks. Its gallant resistance finally ended when the fourth torpedo detonated.

Three weeks after the battle in Orpheus, with no further sign of the new Xenos race, the various reinforcements were formed into a new fleet, known as Battlefleet Orpheus. The frigate Gladius was en route to Terra for repairs.

Battlefleet Orpheus
Dictator class Carrier: Hammer of Justice
Dauntless class Light Cruiser: Aegis, Bloodhawk, Dauntless
Dread Argent class Strike Cruiser: Dread Argent
Firestorm class Frigate: Sphinx
Thunderhawk class Assault Transport
24x Starhawk class Bomber
36x Fury class Interceptor
4x Aquila-C class Lander

On February 25th, the sixth Lunar class cruiser, Agrippa, joined the Imperial Navy. She would help considerably in reducing the strain caused by so many capital ship commitments. A month later, the survey frigate Astra Incognita completed a geological survey of Beta Hydri and moved into Nocturne, where a buoy had been emplaced on the Beta Hydri jump point, to conduct a gravitational survey. Approximately thirty hours after leaving the jump point, the Vorchan destroyer squadron that was known to be in the system was detected approaching the jump point from the opposite direction. Shortly thereafter, the buoy was destroyed. By this point, Battlefleet Nyx had recreated into Erebus so several of its ships could return home for overhaul. While the Xenos vessels did not pursue Astra Incognita, they were potentially blocking her exit from the system.

By the end of May, there had still been no further sighting of the Xenos race detected in Orpheus. Concerned about the weakness of Battlefleet Caliban, due to the detachments to Battlefleet Orpheus, Lord Admiral Zagan ordered a probe of the Penumbra - Avernus jump point by an Aquila-R. The small lander detected two Punisher class frigates and an Ambusher class escort stationed on the Penumbra jump point before it was destroyed. The three ships effectively blocked Imperial entry into the system, short of a major attack, but did not pose an offensive threat

In July 4005, the Dauntless class light cruisers Clarion of Wrath and Sanctified Blade joined the Imperial Navy, increasing the number of ships in the class to thirteen. At the end of the month, Astra Incognita discovered a jump point in Nocturne that led to Morpheus, a system with a sub-giant G5-IV primary and three planets, one of which had large ice sheets and a thin nitrogen – oxygen atmosphere. The entry jump point was five billion kilometres from the star, so Astra Incognita returned to Nocturne to continue her survey.

At the far side of known space, two jumps out from Orpheus, the survey frigate Vox Tenebrae had recently discovered Cerberus, a large binary system comprising an F7-IV sub-giant primary with five planets and an orange K9-V companion, orbiting at nine billion kilometres, with six planets and a large asteroid belt. Vox Tenebrae was in the midst of a gravitational and geological survey, when she found a ruined city on the surface of Cerberus-A IV, a cold, Terra-sized world with a thin nitrogen atmosphere. Two Ordo Xenos formations were dispatched from Terra to investigate.

In August 4005, the survey frigate Umbra Viator completed a survey of Mortis, which lay beyond one of the four outward jump points from the Ascendancy system of Beta Hydri. She discovered two new jump points that led to the planetless systems of Lilith and Belial. She entered the latter, which had a brown dwarf primary, to begin a new survey. She quickly found two outward jump points, both of which were stabilised. As there had been no evidence thus far that the Vorchan Ascendancy had stabilisation ships, this was either the edge of their core territory, or perhaps a new Xenos race entirely. The scout frigate Spectre had recently been overhauled at the new Imperial Naval Base in Erebus, so she was dispatched to Belial via Beta Hydri and Mortis.

In September, a pair of Vorchan 6,700-ton Stalker class ships jumped into Penumbra and were immediately blown apart by an understrength Battlefleet Caliban. As there was still no sign of the new Xenos returning to Orpheus, the strength of Battlefleet Orpheus was reduced, with a carrier and a light cruiser transferred back to Battlefleet Caliban. On September 24th, sensor emissions from a second Raptor class ship were detected in the Aeolus system, five jumps away. Aeolus had buoys on all four of its jump points and was home to a small naval base, so it seemed unlikely that the Raptor had entered the system normally. This sighting all but confirmed that the new Xenos had some alternative method of interstellar travel.

Aeolus was a compact trinary of three red dwarfs. The B component orbited at a similar distance to Terra, which was very close in stellar terms but nothing compared to the C component, an M9-V eight million kilometres from the primary that completed an orbit every seven days. The only planet in Aeolus, a barren Mars-sized world, orbited the C component at 200,000 km and had a surface temperature of eight hundred degrees. A small asteroid belt, huddled within two million kilometres of the B component, was home to a small Imperium colony with a population of one million, located on one of the larger bodies. A Domus Machinarum class maintenance base was in orbit, providing basing facilities for up to 32,000 tons of warships, although none were present. A security regiment was on the surface. The Raptor was detected close to the barren planet orbiting the C component.

Domus Machinarum class Maintenance Base 101,911 tons 1,016 Crew 2,305.3 BP TCS 2,038 TH 0 EM 0
1 km/s No Armour Shields 0-0 HTK 128 Sensors 5/8/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 14 Max Repair 100 MSP
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months CDE 20%
Maintenance Modules: 20 module(s) capable of supporting ships of 32,000 tons

MK I Commercial Active Augur Array (1) GPS 1920 Range 31.5m km Resolution 120
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km

A small task group, comprising a carrier, a light cruiser and a strike cruiser, was dispatched from Terra, but it would not arrive in Aeolus for two weeks. If the new Xenos could truly strike anywhere within using jump points, every colony would require a defensive force capable of engaging them successfully. In Aeolus, the Xenos vessel disengaged its sensors and vanished. Days passed with no further contact so it appeared the small colony had gone unnoticed.

On October 11th 4005, Spectre transited the first of the two stabilised jump points in Belial. She emerged in Hades, a system with an M0-V red dwarf primary and four planets, the second of which was a hot desert world, with small liquid seas and an atmosphere similar to Terra. Spectre moved in-system to investigate. Four hundred million kilometres from the planet, she was intercepted by a Vorchan destroyer squadron, composed of previously undetected ships. As usual, the formation included three Savage class destroyers, an Abhorrent class destroyer, an Enforcer class frigate and an Impaler class escort cruiser.

Spectre had a speed advantage, so she began to work her way around the pursuing Xenos warships in an attempt to get a closer look at the inner system. She stayed just out of their active augur range to avoid coming under torpedo attack and followed a wide arc, eventually moving between the squadron and the planets. After a close pass of Hades IV, confirming no Ascendancy presence, she set a course for Hades III. Halfway between the two planets, she detected an EM signature of 6400 from a Vorchan colony on Hades II, the near-habitable world, which was similar in size to the Vorchan colony on Beta Hydri III. Shortly afterwards, a pair of Conqueror class missile cruisers in orbit of the planet engaged their augur arrays. They were not from any of the known Vorchan battle fleets.

As Spectre moved closer to Hades II, she detected the rest of the expected fleet of twenty ships, moving out to intercept. This new battle fleet was designed as Vorchan Octavus. Spectre could not fight either of the fleets closing on her position and could not afford to be trapped between them. However, she had not yet reached active augur range of the colony, so she continued on course for another twenty minutes. There was nothing in orbit that she could detect, although it was possible there were ships with sensor jammers. In any event, Spectre could not delay her withdrawal any longer, so she began to move away, trying to pass between the respective active augur ranges of the two Xenos fleets and escape toward the jump point.

Within minutes of changing course, Spectre detected another fleet, comprising an Impaler escort cruiser, two Ambusher class escorts and eight 84,000-ton ships of a new type, designated as Scorcher class. The Xenos fleet was on course for the jump point and moving at 286 km/s, so the Scorchers were likely to be some form of commercial vessel. Spectre now had the destroyer squadron on her port side, the new fleet on the starboard and Vorchan Octavus closing from the port quarter.

Spectre threaded her way through the narrow gap between the approaching Ascendancy warships and used her superior speed to pull away toward the jump point. Four days later, she transited into Belial, where a new Vorchan destroyer squadron was waiting on her exit jump point. Spectre emerged 40,000 km from the Xenos ships and immediately came under fire from an Enforcer class frigate, suffering ten strength-4 hits that took down her void shield and slightly damaged her armour. The four destroyers in the Vorchan squadron, three Savage class and an Abhorrent, launched a salvo of thirty-nine torpedoes. Spectre, still suffering from jump shock and unable to use her point defence, was struck by twenty-two strength-6 detonations. Her armour was shredded, losing over half its mass, and she took multiple internal hits, although the damage was confined to non-critical systems, except for the loss of one of her two fire controls.

Even as the torpedoes were impacting, a further nine anti-ship torpedoes were launched, along with forty-two light torpedoes from the Impaler. The light torpedoes arrived first, inflicting a further twenty-two strength-1 hits, seven of which penetrated the remnants of the armour. Once again, the damage was confined to fuel and crew quarters. Moments later, five of the larger torpedoes detonated and the Enforcer scored three minor hits with its second volley. Spectre lost a weapon battery, but was still functional. Three quarters of her armour had been vapourised.

Spectre was heading away from the Vorchan destroyers at 4000 km/s, while the Xenos squadron headed in the opposite direction, so the range had opened to 150,000 km. While she would soon be out of range of the Enforcer and the destroyers would need several minutes to recycle their launchers, there was no escaping the light torpedoes of the Impaler. The second salvo dealt a critical blow, disabling the scout frigate’s sole engine. Dead in space, she could not escape the constant barrage and finally exploded when the fourth salvo arrived. The number of Ascendancy ships in Hades and the swift arrival of a second destroyer squadron to ambush Spectre, plus the first stabilised jump points to be encountered, suggested that Mortis was the most likely route to the core systems of the Vorchan Ascendancy.

By this point, the naval base on the third moon of Erebus III had grown to a population of eight million, primarily housed by infrastructure taken from the occupied Vorchan colony on the fifth moon. Seventy maintenance facilities were in place, plus a Domus Machinarum class maintenance base. The light cruiser Divine Crusade was in orbit, along with a pair of frigates undergoing overhaul, a salvage ship and a jump tender. The base was in the ideal location to support an offensive into Beta Hydri and beyond, so Lord Admiral Zagan ordered an expansion of the facilities to the point where it could support a permanent battlefleet and supporting assets, independent of Terra. This would be known as Battlefleet Erebus and would replace Battlefleet Nyx.

A few days after the destruction of Spectre, Umbrae Viator completed her survey of Belial. One stabilised jump point remained unexplored, but given the significant Vorchan activity in the area, a long-range Aquila-R lander was dispatched from Erebus to conduct the probe. Umbrae Viator was ordered to transit back into Mortis and begin a survey of Lilith. The Aquila transited the unexplored jump point on November 29th discovering a system with an orange K5-V primary, five planets and twenty-six moons. The second planet was 27,000 km in diameter, with gravity of 2.06G and a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere of 1.2 atm. Ice sheets covered a quarter of the surface and the temperature was -32C. The conditions were a close match to the Vorchan environmental tolerances. The Aquila headed in-system to confirm if this was the Vorchan home world.

Half a billion kilometres from the planet, the Aquila detected two 48,000-ton commercial vessels, each of a previously unknown type and designated as Abomination and Charger classes. Eight hours later, she encountered a new ship of the 72,500-ton, commercial-engined Gladiator class, escorted by an Impaler. The lander altered its heading to avoid proceeding on a direct course between the jump point and the planet. On December 3rd, the Aquila detected a population signature slightly smaller than that of Terra. The Vorchan home world had finally been located and the system was named accordingly. Vorchan was seven transits from Sol and four from Erebus, the nearest Imperium system.

The Aquila moved within twelve million kilometres and engaged its active augur array. In orbit of the Vorchan home world was a battlefleet, designated as Vorchan Nonus, a destroyer squadron and six 18,700-ton ships of two new types, designated as the Annihilator and Decapitator. Both classes had shields strengths of 110, which was stronger than any previously known type, including the larger Conquerors. It was possible they were a recent, more advanced design. Within minutes of entering sensor range, the Aquila came under attack from a single torpedo, which missed. The tiny craft survived two further torpedo attacks, then used its 4000 km/s speed to evade any pursuers and run for the jump point. Unfortunately, yet another destroyer squadron, the tenth to be encountered so far, was waiting on the Belial – Vorchan jump point. The Aquila was obliterated by point-blank fire from an Enforcer class frigate.

With the home system of the Vorchan Ascendancy finally located, long-terms plans could be made to eliminate the deadly threat to the Imperium. The Erebus naval base would be the starting point for a major offensive, but a forward base would have to be secured in Beta Hydri, and potentially Mortis too, and the systems surrounding the approach to Vorchan either cleared or blockaded to prevent flanking attacks. Surveying those systems would also be a priority, despite the high risk to the survey frigates. Finally, the other avenue of attack, via Avernus and Gehenna, would also be investigated to determine if a shorter route existed. This course of action would require clearing the Vorchan blocking force on the Avernus – Penumbra jump point.

In late December 4005, the Firestorm class frigates Achilles and Manticore joined the Imperial Navy, taking the total number of Firestorms to sixteen. In January 4006, the Ordo Xenos formations in Cerberus completed their survey of the ruined city, identifying one hundred and five potential recovery locations. On January 9th, an Aquila transited the Beta Hydri – Nocturne jump point to check if it was clear and was immediately destroyed by the Vorchan destroyer squadron that had been in the system for some time. Astra Incognita was in Nocturne, carrying out a gravitational survey.

The Xenos ship detected briefly in Aeolus reappeared in Caliban on February 9th 4006, approximately one hundred and thirty-five million kilometres from the harvesting operation at Caliban II and twenty million further from the Caliban Prime colony. In addition to a dozen fuel harvesters, three other space stations were in orbit of Caliban II: a Domus Machinarum maintenance base, a 500,000-ton Arca Vitae class orbital habitat and a tiny Arca Munitorum maintenance pod with supplies for the maintenance base. They were all guarded by the light cruiser Flame of Purity.

Arca Vitae class Orbital Habitat 501,712 tons 46 Crew 299.7 BP TCS 10,034 TH 0 EM 0
1 km/s No Armour Shields 0-0 HTK 31 Sensors 5/8/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 0 Max Repair 200 MSP
Colonist Berths 200,000
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months CDE 20%

MK I Commercial Active Augur Array (1) GPS 1920 Range 31.5m km Resolution 120
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km

In orbit of Caliban Prime were eleven terraforming stations, four Universe class mass conveyors, the light cruiser Sanctis Legate, the frigates Vengeful and Vortex and the first Faustus class Interceptor, a fast 2400-ton ship armed with a single Gothicus-Caliban GC-18-200 Spinal Lance Battery. The Faustus was designed to engage targets from outside their own weapon range, using the slow-firing lance battery to inflict devastating damage. In this case, the Raptor was known to have a weapon range of 300,000 km so that would not be possible, but the Faustus was also the only ship in the system capable of catching the Raptor, due to the latter’s maximum speed of 7,468 km/s. The Raven Watch planetary defence regiment was on the surface of Caliban Prime.

Faustus class Interceptor 2,400 tons 69 Crew 604.9 BP TCS 48 TH 384 EM 0
8000 km/s Armour 1-15 Shields 0-0 HTK 19 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0-0 PPV 15
Maint Life 3.47 Years MSP 1,078 AFR 92% IFR 1.3% 1YR 137 5YR 2,055 Max Repair 267 MSP
Captain Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months CDE 20% Morale Check Required

Nuclear Gas-Core Engine EP384.00 (1) Power 384 Fuel Use 285.77% Signature 384 Explosion 20%
Fuel Capacity 185,000 Litres Range 4.9 billion km (7 days at full power)

Gothicus-Caliban GC-18-200 Spinal Lance Battery (1) Range 225,000km TS: 8,000 km/s Power 56-4 ROF 70
MK I Faustus Fire Control (1) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 8,000 km/s ECCM-1
R-40 Gaseous Fission Reactor (1) Total Power Output 4 Exp 5%

MK I Starhawk Augur Array (1) GPS 192 Range 10m km Resolution 120
MK I Fury Augur Array (1) GPS 2 Range 2m km MCR 181.7k km Resolution 1
MK I Shuttle Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 0.5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 5.6m km
MK I Shuttle EM Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 0.8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 7.1m km

The Raptor headed in-system on a course for Caliban Prime. The four warships all deactivated their shields and disengaged their active sensors, hoping to lure the Raptor close to Caliban Prime. It was a risky course of action, considering the Xenos vessel was faster and armed with longer-ranged weapons, but it was a better option than trying to engage in deep space. At sixty-five million kilometres, the Xenos ship suddenly reversed course. The Faustus was dispatched to pursue, but its speed advantage was only 550 km/s. The Raptor disappeared from sensors in roughly the same location as it appeared.

The Faustus maintained its course and detected the Raptor just outside the orbit of Caliban VII, two hundred and fifty million kilometres from the Caliban Prime colony, at which point the Raptor began to pursue the interceptor. Rear Admiral Uriel Maxim had responsibility for Caliban and Penumbra. He ordered the Faustus to shadow the Raptor and lure it toward the inner system, while the light cruiser Sanctis Legate closed in from Caliban Prime. However, when Sanctis Legate moved within sixty million kilometres, the Raptor reversed course again. The Faustus moved around the Raptor and ahead of it, then reversed course and charged it head on.

In response, the Raptor opened fire at 300,000 km with its three 25cm bombardment cannon, missing with every shot. The Faustus returned fire at 220,000 km, albeit with a very low chance to hit, and missed, then tried to retreat out of range while its lance battery recharged. Aided by a course change by the Raptor, the interceptor opened the range to 280,000 km before the Xenos vessel fired a second time, inflicting a strength-2 hit that penetrated armour but did not cause any internal damage. A third shot at 292,000 km caused an engine explosion that blew the 2400-ton craft to pieces. The Raptor continued outwards and vanished from sensors once again.

Ten hours later the Raptor briefly reappeared. For the next two days, it continued to lurk at long-range, moving in and out of sensor range. When it first appeared, the carrier Ferrum Aeterna had been dispatched from Terra with the intention of transferring a squadron of Fury class interceptors to Caliban Prime. After it entered the Caliban system, Ferrum Aeterna launched a dozen Starhawks toward the general area in which the Raptor was manoeuvring. When the Raptor appeared for the fifth time, the Starhawks were further out-system and began to move in behind it, but could not reach launch range before it disappeared.

It took a further two days, three further sightings and the assistance of a pair of Fury interceptors with their lower resolution sensors before the location of the Raptor was finally pinned down. The Starhawks gave chase, achieved a target lock at 900,000 km and launched their torpedoes. Seven missed on their first pass, three struck decoys and the other two detonated, leaving the Raptor dead in space. Seeing a chance to capture the Xenos raider, Rear Admiral Maxim ordered the other torpedoes to be self-destructed and requested a strike cruiser from Terra. Eternal Defiance broke orbit and would arrive in four days. In the meantime, the Starhawks headed back to their carrier, while one of the Furies maintained a sensor contact on the Raptor. Ferrum Aeterna was dispatched to the area as cover.

Four days later, Eternal Defiance moved within 400,000 km of the still-disabled Raptor, holding her Thunderhawks on board to protect them from any remaining weapons. At 320,000 km, the Raptor fired, missing with all three shots. After missing again at 240,000, the Raptor finally scored a strength-4 hit at 160,000 and a strength-8 hit at 90,000 km. The strike cruiser launched both Thunderhawks, which deposited their space marines and landed back on Eternal Defiance before the Xenos warship could fire again, then moved away to let the boarders do their work. After two minutes of brutal, intense combat, the Raptor was secured by the space marines.

Disabling and capturing the advanced Xenos vessel had required skill and cooperation from many different Imperial Navy ships and attack craft and cost the lives of fifty-four crew on board the Faustus. The reward would be access to examples of the Xenos technology. The engines were Magneto-plasma Drives, two generations ahead of the Imperial Navy’s gas core drives, while the Stellarator Fusion Reactor was one generation ahead of the Imperium’s recently-developed, but not yet deployed, magnetic mirror fusion reactors. The fire control systems were equally advanced, while the cloaking device and the three 25cm bombardment cannon were far ahead of anything the Imperium could produce. Many more physical examples would be required before they would be replicated, but the capture of the Raptor was the starting point.

Raptor class Raider 11,531 tons 361 Crew 3,660.7 BP TCS 23 TH 413 EM 0
7468 km/s Armour 1-45 Shields 0-0 HTK 71 Sensors 24/8/0/0 DCR 4-3 PPV 24
Maint Life 0.60 Years MSP 793 AFR 266% IFR 3.7% 1YR 1,320 5YR 19,802 Max Repair 861.1 MSP
Magazine 0 / 66
Lord-Captain Control Rating 3 BRG AUX CIC
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months Morale Check Required

Magneto-plasma Drive EP861.12 (2) Power 1722.2 Fuel Use 34.52% Signature 206.6688 Explosion 11%
Fuel Capacity 900,000 Litres Range 40.7 billion km (63 days at full power)

25.0cm C5 Far Ultraviolet Laser (3) Range 320,000km TS: 7,468 km/s Power 16-5 ROF 20
Beam Fire Control R320-TS7450 (2) Max Range: 320,000 km TS: 7,450 km/s ECCM-2
Stellarator Fusion Reactor R7 (3) Total Power Output 22.1 Exp 5%

Size 22 Decoy Launcher (3) Decoy Size: 22 Hangar Reload 234 minutes MF Reload 39 hours

Active Search Sensor AS50-R94 (1) GPS 4512 Range 50.3m km Resolution 94
Active Search Sensor AS9-R1 (1) GPS 32 Range 9m km MCR 812.4k km Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH3-24 (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 38.7m km
EM Sensor EM1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
Cloaking Device: Class cross-section reduced to 10.0% of normal
Electronic Warfare Jammers: Fire Control 2 Missile 2

The Xenos themselves were long-limbed, tall and muscular humanoids with pale skin. Their computers proved impossible to decrypt, but enough physical material was available to determine that they referred to themselves as Drukhari and appeared to be a race of raiders. Every Imperial colony would require protection against their depredations and that protection would need to be capable of detecting, pursuing and engaging, as the Drukhari did not seem to favour a fair fight.

Steve Walmsley · « **Reply #7 on:** **Yesterday** at 04:38:32 AM »

This is the 2nd of 3 posts today

In March and April 4006, the buoy deployment ship Oculus Vigil, preceded by an Aquila-R lander, laid buoys in numerous systems between Beta Hydri and Vorchan, including Mortis, Lilith, Belial, Hades and even Vorchan itself. Their activities attracted the attention of a previously unknown destroyer squadron – the eleventh so far – which eliminated the buoys on the Belial – Hades jump point soon after Oculus Vigil and the Aquila departed the Vorchan system and retreated into Mortis via a circuitous route. Before the buoys were destroyed, they detected several commercial-engined ships moving across Belial between Vorchan and Hades.

As the second scout frigate, Phantom, had recently been completed, she was dispatched to the area as a raider, with orders to use her extended endurance and capable sensors to search for easy targets. After arrival in Belial, she encountered a Vorchan squadron of seven ships while en route to the Hades jump point. These comprised two Crusader class troop transports, a Vanquisher jump tender, an Enforcer class frigate, an Impaler class escort cruiser and two Ambusher class escorts. As they appeared to be on course to Mortis, Phantom retreated to that system and lay in wait.

Spectre class Scout Frigate 15,000 tons 483 Crew 2,458.8 BP TCS 300 TH 1,200 EM 1,110
4000 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 4-54 Shields 37-370 HTK 98 Sensors 15/24/0/0 DCR 16-10 PPV 52
Maint Life 3.40 Years MSP 2,139 AFR 112% IFR 1.6% 1YR 281 5YR 4,219 Max Repair 600 MSP
Captain Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 36 months CDE 20% Morale Check Required

RM-150 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 15000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-1200-MB (1) Power 1200 Fuel Use 34.92% Signature 1200 Explosion 12%
Fuel Capacity 928,000 Litres Range 31.9 billion km (92 days at full power)
Valentinian-Stern VS-37 Void Shield (1) Recharge Time 370 seconds (0.1 per second)

Gothicus-Caliban GC-12-200 Lance Battery (1) Range 200,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 37-3.75 ROF 50
Astaroth Kinetics AK-20 Weapons Battery (4x4) Range 160,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 12-4 ROF 15
Astaroth Kinetics AK-10 Light Weapons Battery (4x4) Range 40,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 3-3 ROF 5
MK I Energy Weapon Fire Control (2) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 4,000 km/s ECCM-1
R-162 Gaseous Fission Reactor (2) Total Power Output 32.6 Exp 5%

MK I Light Cruiser Active Augur Array (1) GPS 13440 Range 83.3m km Resolution 120
MK I Torpedo Detection Array (1) GPS 16 Range 6.4m km MCR 574.5k km Resolution 1
MK I Large Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 15 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 30.6m km
MK I Large Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 38.7m km
Electronic Warfare Jammers: Fire Control 1 Missile 1

The Ascendancy squadron moved into range of the jump point buoy, destroyed it with a torpedo and jumped into Mortis. Phantom had briefly transited into Belial during the approach to lock on to the Enforcer, so she fired as soon as they transited, hitting with every weapon, including her lance battery and inflicting more than a dozen internal hits. The Enforcer broke away from the rest of the Xenos fleet, with the scout frigate in pursuit and firing her light weapon batteries. Phantom destroyed the Vorchan frigate with her second main battery volley, then targeted the Impaler and gave chase.

With her inexperienced crew, Phantom took twenty precious seconds to acquire her new target and open fire, but she scored a hit with every shot from her weapon batteries. When her batteries fired for the fourth time, they were joined by the lance battery and inflicted crippling damage. With the Impaler stationary, Phantom began to open the range before the deadly short-range armament of the two Ambushers came on line. Even as she moved away, the damaged Impaler launched twenty-two light missiles. Five were shot down by Phantom’s light weapon batteries and nine missed. The other eight impacted on the scout frigate’s shields. Simultaneously, Phantom blew the Impaler to pieces with her primary batteries. Even as it died, it launched another seven torpedoes, four of which struck Phantom, dropping her shields to seventy percent

The Vorchan squadron now comprised two 130,000-ton troop transports, a 34,000-ton jump tender and two 9,300-ton escorts with only short-ranged bombardment cannon. Phantom was faster and had longer-ranged weapons, so the issue was never in doubt. She picked off the two escorts, destroyed the Vanquisher and then pounded the two large, heavily-armoured transports into wreckage. After destroying 56,000 tons of warships and almost three hundred thousand tons of commercial shipping, securing over a thousand prisoners, including three senior officers, and fully avenging the loss of her sister ship, the 15,000-ton scout frigate set course for the naval base in Erebus.

On August 23rd 4006, an Aquila transited from Penumbra into Avernus to determine if the Ascendancy still had a defensive force on the jump point. The tiny craft was instantly destroyed by two Punisher class frigates, armed with twenty-two bombardment cannon. The Punishers were accompanied by a pair of Ambusher class escort and a previously unseen type, a 19,673-ton Rampager class. The Imperial Navy fleet on the Penumbra – Avernus jump point had recently been renamed Battlefleet Penumbra and comprised the Lunar class cruiser Justicar, two light cruisers and two frigates. A second Lunar, Imperial Wrath, had temporarily been assigned to the fleet in case the Aquila transit revealed an opportunity to launch an attack on the defenders. However, even a Lunar would be in serious trouble against the weight of defensive firepower and Lord Admiral Zagan was not yet prepared to commit a larger force to an assault, when there was a known route to the Vorchan home world via Erebus.

Interrogation of the prisoners captured by Phantom provided full geological survey details on the Hades system, two transits from Vorchan via Belial. The reason for the Ascendancy colony on Hades II became obvious, as it was home to an ancient construct that would increase the effectiveness of propulsion research by eighty percent. Hades IV had another construct, although the Vorchan had yet to determine its function, plus the ruins of a Xenos city. Data was also obtained on Beta Hydri, which showed that the third planet, home to another Vorchan colony, also had a propulsion-based construct that would boost research by up to seventy percent.

An Argus class ELINT vessel of the Imperial Navy was already in orbit of Beta Hydri III and had been on station for some time, without any attempt by the Vorchan Navy to attack it. There were auspex buoys on all five of the Beta Hydri jump points and no Ascendancy ship had attempted to enter the system in months. In the adjacent Erebus system, the Imperial naval base was growing, with a population of seventeen million and sufficient maintenance capacity to support up to a quarter of a million tons of warships. Battlefleet Erebus was no longer sending ships back to Terra for overhaul, as it could handle everything in-system. The colony had its own naval headquarters for both command and control and prisoner processing.

Argus class ELINT Vessel 3,000 tons 77 Crew 452.1 BP TCS 60 TH 120 EM 0
2000 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 1-18 Shields 0-0 HTK 26 Sensors 5/10/0/0 DCR 3-10 PPV 0
Maint Life 6.36 Years MSP 282 AFR 24% IFR 0.3% 1YR 12 5YR 180 Max Repair 100 MSP
Captain Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 60 months CDE 20% Morale Check Required

RM-30 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 3000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-120-M (1) Power 120 Fuel Use 63.90% Signature 120 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 477,000 Litres Range 44.8 billion km (259 days at full power)

MK I Commercial Active Augur Array (1) GPS 1920 Range 31.5m km Resolution 120
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km
ELINT Module (2) Sensitivity 10 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 25m km

Lord Admiral Zagan decided the time had come to secure the Vorchan colony on Beta Hydri III, so he ordered the local commander, Rear Admiral Celestine Vetriano, to use the forces at his disposal to take and hold the planet, so it could be turned into a forward operating base and eventually a research colony. Four Cetaceous class troop transports with the Imperial Guard Armoured Corps and three infantry corps were already in orbit of the Erebus Naval Base, so they were immediately dispatched to Beta Hydri, escorted by the carrier Archon Kort and the Lunar class cruiser Iron Duke. They landed on Beta Hydri III on October 7th 4006.

The Vorchan defenders comprised between ten and fifteen thousand infantry supported by a few dozen tanks. The invasion force comprised thirty thousand infantry, supported by three thousand light armoured vehicles, a thousand heavy mortars and a thousand heavy tanks. It was an unequal contest. The Ascendancy forces were wiped out within three days and the colony surrendered. Imperial losses were less than four hundred Guardsmen killed, plus a dozen Chimeras and a single Leman Russ Exterminator destroyed.

The captured colony had a population of thirteen million Vorchan and had thirteen research facilities, a ground force construction complex and a dozen assorted factories and mines. The research facilities would be transferred to a new Imperium population that would be established on the planet to make use of the ancient construct. Beta Hydri III was a Terra-sized world with liquid oceans, a surface temperature that ranged between 26C and 65C and an nitrogen – oxygen atmosphere of 0.4 atm, including 0.02 atm of oxygen. There were some mineral deposits, but nothing worthy of note. An additional benefit of the conquest was technical information that provided data on improved fuel consumption and turret tracking speed.

Following the invasion, an Aquila probed the Beta Hydri – Nocturne jump point to check if the Vorchan destroyer squadron in Nocturne was still guarding the jump point. There was no sign of them, so the ground forces were loaded back on to their transports and escorted to the Nocturne jump point, where they rendezvoused with three warships from the force that had been guarding the Erebus – Beta Hydri jump point. The joint force now comprised Archon Kort, the Lunar class cruisers Iron Duke and Holy Flame, the light cruiser Cerberus and the frigate Rubicon, plus the four troop transports. Their new target was the large Ascendancy colony on the eighth moon of Nocturne IV, although the transports would not be able to transit until a jump tender arrived. The light cruiser Divine Crusade and the frigate Medusa moved to Beta Hydri III to provide a guard force.

Meanwhile, on the Belial – Mortis jump point, an Aquila lander was providing a temporary picket until new buoys could be emplaced. The lander detected the approach of a Vorchan ship of a previously unknown type; an 11,615-ton Equalizer class travelling at 5488 km/s, which was faster then any other known Vorchan class. Given the other new classes detected recently, the Imperial Inquisition believed the Ascendancy had potentially improved its engine technology, which would significantly change the balance of power. While the Imperium was already conducting research into ion drives, the estimate for completion of that research was six years. The Aquila monitored the approach of the Xenos vessel until it was a million kilometres from the jump point, then transited into Mortis, where the frigate Valiant was stationed on the Belial jump point acting as a tripwire outer defence for operations in the adjacent Beta Hydri system. The Equalizer declined to follow.

While the invasion force at the Beta Hydri – Nocturne jump point awaited a jump tender, the Aquila in Nocturne moved toward the Vorchan colony, less than a quarter of a billion kilometres away, and detected emissions from a pair of Savage class destroyers close to Nocturne IV. They moved out to intercept, so the Aquila reversed course. Minutes later, it was struck by an anti-ship torpedo with a strength-9 warhead moving at 23,500 km/s. The Ascendancy had new, faster torpedoes with fifty percent larger warheads, which almost certainly proved the Inquisition theory that the Ascendancy had improved its engine technology, along with other advancements such as the new warheads. The war against the Vorchan Ascendancy had entered a new and more dangerous phase.

Eighteen hours later, the Vorchan squadron was detected approaching the jump point by a buoy recently placed by Oculus Nox. As usual, the squadron comprised three Savage class destroyers, an Abhorrent class destroyer, an Enforcer class frigate and an Impaler class escort cruiser. Iron Duke, Holy Flame and Cerberus transited into Nocturne, along with Archon Kort’s entire strike group, leaving the carrier, the frigate Rubicon and the transports in Beta Hydri. The twenty-four Starhawks from Archon Kort targeted the three Savage class with eight Standard torpedoes each, while the Iron Duke and Holy Flame targeted their total of sixteen torpedoes on the Impaler. As soon as the effects of jump shock had ended and all ships or bombers signalled their readiness, the fleet launched all forty torpedoes.

The Enforcer and Impaler began raising their shields as soon as the Imperial ships appeared in Nocturne and all six ships turned to run. The 9300-ton destroyers did not have shields. The first light torpedo detonations began just over a million kilometres from the Vorchan ships, impacting a pair of decoys, and continued every few seconds as the torpedoes closed on their targets. Only two torpedoes were hit by the defensive fire, including desperate point-blank fire from the Enforcer. The other thirty-eight detonated, followed shortly afterwards by two massive secondary explosions. The Impaler and two of the Savage class destroyers were blown to pieces, while the third Savage was crippled and stationary. The remaining two ships, the Enforcer and Abhorrent set a course for the Morpheus jump point.

Four inbound torpedoes appeared, moving at 23,500 km/s, one of which struck Iron Duke. A further wave of fourteen appeared two minutes later and achieved three hits. The Starhawks returned to Archon Kort in Beta Hydri, while the Furies flew close escort for the three Imperial Navy warships as they eliminated the crippled destroyer, then pursued the two remaining Vorchan warships. Several further torpedoes attacks were launched by the Abhorrent, with minimal success, using the older 19,000 km/s torpedoes, before the Imperial Navy ships moved into weapon battery range and blasted the two Xenos warships into scrap metal.

On November 14th, the jump tender Zephyrus arrived at the Beta Hydri – Nocturne jump point, allowing the troop transports to transit and join the rest of the fleet. The light cruiser Cerberus remained near the jump point to guard the salvage ship Sarcophagus and its accompanying freighters, while the troop transports, the carrier, the two cruisers and the frigate Rubicon set a course for the eighth moon of Nocturne IV.

Battlefleet Erebus - Troop Transports
Dictator class Carrier: Archon Kort
Lunar class Cruiser: Holy Flame, Iron Duke
Firestorm class Frigate: Rubicon
Cetaceous class Troop Transport: Bastion of Souls, Choir of the Fallen, Echo of Vengeance, Hymn of Sacrifice
24x Starhawk class Bomber
36x Fury class Interceptor

Once the fleet was within a million kilometres of the Vorchan colony, which had a signature of TH-13400, EM-16700, the two Lunar class cruisers moved ahead to engage any surface defences. They came under fire at 220,000 km from twenty-six surface-based bombardment cannon. The moon was a Terra-sized body, with a dense atmosphere of nitrogen and methane and ice sheets covering eighty percent of the surface. There was no terrain in which the bombardment cannon could be easily concealed, so the battle was one-sided. Collateral damage from the bombardment killed approximately half a million Vorchan civilians and destroyed over eighty surface installations. The cruisers moved closer and were attacked by a further twenty-eight short-ranged bombardment cannon. They pulled back and resumed the bombardment. Another 150,000 colonists and thirty installations paid the price for the brief defiance of the surface defences.

With orbital space now cleared, the troop transports moved in and commenced landing operations. The defending forces were similar to those on Beta Hydri III, although with greater armour support, but put up a much stiffer resistance, killing over two hundred guardsmen and destroying seven heavy tanks in the first few hours of combat. Their resistance was ultimately futile given the overwhelming strength of the Imperial Guard and the moon was taken within three days. The Ascendancy population was sixty million, even larger than on Caliban I, and seemed to be a military outpost, with over three hundred maintenance facilities, a hundred mines and eighty factories.

With the capture of the Vorchan populations on Beta Hydri III and the eighth moon of Nocturne IV, the frontier with the Ascendancy was no longer as simple as guarding a couple of jump points. Battlefleet Penumbra would continue to guard the Penumbra – Avernus jump point, but Battlefleet Erebus would have to guard the naval base in Erebus and the newly captured colonies, while detecting and intercepting any significant Vorchan incursion. While there was an obvious route from Vorchan via Belial and Mortis into Beta Hydri, the astrography of the region was still mostly unknown and a threat could appear from any direction.

On November 25th, with the invasion fleet still in orbit of the occupied Vorchan colony, active augur emissions were briefly detected from a pair of Razor class FACs in orbit of Nocturne I. The FACs were too fast to run down, so Archon Kort dispatched her strikegroup toward Nocturne I to find them. The Starhawks’ sensors were intended for much larger targets, so it was the accompanying Furies that detected ten Razors in orbit of Nocturne I and a small ground forces signature on the surface. Ten of the Starhawks each targeted a different Razor and launched their torpedoes. The Vorchan FACs did not seem to even detect the inbounds, as they were still stationary when half of them exploded. The standard torpedoes had retargeting capability and the FACs lacked any point defence capability, so each one was hunted down and destroyed by the strength-25 warheads.

After the destruction of the FACs, the troop transport Bastion of Souls, escorted by Holy Flame, transported the Imperial Guard Armoured Corps to Nocturne III and then Nocturne I, conquering the small civilian mining colonies on each world. Nocturne III was home to eight civilian mining complexes, with three more on Nocturne I. Meanwhile, the survey frigate Astra Fidelis arrived in Nocturne to survey the eighth moon of Nocturne IV and found the Terra-sized body was home to tens of millions of tons of accessible Duranium, Sorium, Uridium and Gallicite. The Gallicite was particularly welcome, as no other large, accessible source existed in known space. At the far side of the Empire, Veritas Invicta probed a jump point in Aeolus, two transits from Sol via Tau Ceti, and discovered Icarus, a red dwarf system with three planets. Icarus I was a dwarf planet with large deposits of several key minerals, although not on the scale of the find in Nocturne.

Nocturne IV - Moon 8 Survey Report
Duranium: 66,489,399 0.70
Neutronium: 23,386,308 0.10
Corbomite: 464,536 0.10
Tritanium: 36,917,188 0.10
Boronide: 3,013,108 0.10
Mercassium: 60,916 0.10
Vendarite: 4,981,236 0.10
Sorium: 27,119,151 0.70
Uridium: 36,914,251 0.60
Corundium: 26,480,728 0.10
Gallicite: 38,434,125 1.00

Icarus I Survey Report
Duranium: 1,620,000 0.90
Tritanium: 1,679,616 0.40
Mercassium: 331,776 0.90
Vendarite: 2,073,600 0.90
Sorium: 11,664 0.90
Uridium: 599,076 0.40
Corundium: 1,368,900 0.60
Gallicite: 599,076 0.40

By the end of 4006, Caliban Prime was by far the largest mining operation except for Terra, with two hundred and sixty-nine mines, one hundred and thirty-two forced labour mining camps and seven ex-civilian mining complexes extracting forty thousand tons of minerals per year. Caliban Prime, Icarus I and the eighth moon of Nocturne IV had complementary deposits, so they would be developed into the Imperium’s primary sources of minerals in the coming years, unless even better sites were identified.

Caliban Prime Survey Report
Duranium: 1,003,271 0.80
Neutronium: 113,168 0.70
Corbomite: 3,641,720 0.50
Tritanium: 54,128 1.00
Boronide: 2,398,595 0.80
Mercassium: 3,959,624 1.00
Vendarite: 1,533,081 0.10
Uridium: 68,409 0.30
Corundium: 29,601 0.30
Gallicite: 4,233,324 0.10

In Nocturne, Astra Incognita had been continuing her gravitational survey for eighteen months, initially avoiding the Vorchan squadron in the system and then monitoring the combat and subsequent invasions by Battlefleet Erebus. In mid-February, as she approached the last survey location, her Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-750-ME engine failed and she had insufficient maintenance supplies to fix it, leaving her stranded on the outer edge of the system. Auxilium Divinum, a replenishment ship in orbit of the occupied colony on the moon of Nocturne IV was dispatched to rescue her. At the colony, which had been named Nocturne Glacialis due to the -78C temperature and endless ice fields, a small fleet remained in orbit, comprising the cruiser Holy Flame, the light cruiser Cerberus and the frigate Rubicon, along with the troop transport Bastion of Souls carrying the Imperial Guard Armoured Corps. A colony security regiment was on the surface. The other ships of Battlefleet Erebus had returned to the Erebus naval base, while the survey frigate Astra Fidelis continued her geological survey.

On March 9th 4007, an Aquila-R safely entered Belial, allowing Oculus Nox to follow and emplace sensor buoys. The frigate Valiant remained on station on the Mortis – Belial jump point. Oculus Nox then moved to the Belial – Hades jump point, preceded by the Aquila, and placed another buoy. The Aquila jumped into Hades to check for Ascendancy forces was instantly destroyed by a fleet of twenty-five ships, including Vorchan Octavus and another previously unseen destroyer squadron. Oculus Nox moved away from the Belial side of the jump point and headed to the Belial – Vorchan jump point to lay another buoy before escaping to Mortis. Twenty-four hours after emplacement, the last buoy detected a second ship of the 5488 km/s Equalizer class emerging from Vorchan, followed two days later by a third, which subsequently stationed itself on the Belial – Hades jump point. Neither of the buoys were attacked, so it was possible the Equalizer was some form of unarmed scout.

In April 2007, the last survey frigate to be constructed, Cognitrix Stellarum, probed a jump point in Beta Antilae, two transits out from Orpheus, and discovered Sirius, the brightest star in the Terran night sky, orbited by two terrestrial worlds, both dominated by rift valleys but otherwise unremarkable. As she was surveying Sirius I, a Raptor of the Drukhari appeared on thermal sensors at ten million kilometres. Faced with a much faster opponent with longer-ranged and more powerful weapons, Cognitrix Stellarum could not escape, so she charged straight at the Xenos vessel, hoping to get within range.

Veritas Invicta class Survey Frigate 15,000 tons 418 Crew 2,422.3 BP TCS 300 TH 750 EM 0
2500 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 3-54 Shields 0-0 HTK 97 Sensors 5/8/4/4 DCR 20-13 PPV 29.2
Maint Life 5.98 Years MSP 2,518 AFR 90% IFR 1.2% 1YR 120 5YR 1,806 Max Repair 281.3 MSP
Magazine 38 / 0
Captain Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 60 months CDE 20% Morale Check Required

RM-150 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 15000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-750-ME (1) Power 750 Fuel Use 10.78% Signature 750 Explosion 7%
Fuel Capacity 1,607,000 Litres Range 178.8 billion km (827 days at full power)

Astaroth Kinetics AK-20 Weapons Battery (4x4) Range 160,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 12-4 ROF 15
MK I Energy Weapon Fire Control (1) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 4,000 km/s ECCM-1
R-162 Gaseous Fission Reactor (1) Total Power Output 16.3 Exp 5%

MK I Probe Launcher (1) Missile Size: 4 Rate of Fire 800
MK I Probe Launcher Fire Control (1) Range 4m km Resolution 1 ECCM-1
MK I Small Augur Probe (9) Speed: 4,000 km/s End: 11d Range: 3,794.9m km WH: 0 Size: 4

MK I Frigate Active Augur Array (1) GPS 8640 Range 66.8m km Resolution 120
MK I Torpedo Detection Array (1) GPS 16 Range 6.4m km MCR 574.5k km Resolution 1
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK I Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km
Gravitational Survey Sensors (4) 4 Survey Points Per Hour
Geological Survey Sensors (4) 4 Survey Points Per Hour

The Raptor fired at 300,000 km, missing its target. Cognitrix Stellarum returned fire at 150,000 km with its four weapon batteries, managing a single a strength-1 armour hit. In response the Raptor moved away for a few seconds and fired against at 175,000 km, missing with all three bombardment cannon. Apparently eager to improve its chance to hit, the Raptor closed again and Cognitrix Stellarum fired at just 77,000 km, inflicting six strength-2 hits, all of which penetrated armour. The Raptor’s speed dropped to 3,734 km/s, which was still faster than the 2500 km/s of the survey frigate.

Even so, the Raptor continued closing and fired at just 14,000 km. Cognitrix Stellarum was staggered by three strength-16 hits that smashed through her armour. Fifteen crew were killed, but somehow the damage was restricted to one of her weapon batteries and a survey sensor. The survey frigate returned fire, still at point-blank range, and achieved ten strength-4 hits, all of which penetrated the Raptor’s thin armour. The Xenos raider did not slow and attempted to ram Cognitrix Stellarum. Fifteen seconds later, both ships fired simultaneously as their weapon recharge times synchronised. Cognitrix Stellarum took a single strength-16 hit that disabled her engine, killed thirty of her crew and caused damage to several non-essential systems. In return, she pounded the Raptor with another ten strength-4 hits that rendering it motionless, apart from its station-keeping thrusters.

Both ships were now dead in space, just a few metres apart. The Raptor would not give in, using its thrusters for further ramming attempts. Despite the advanced technology of its opponent, Cognitrix Stellarum possessed one vital advantage. A fifteen second recharge time for her three remaining weapon batteries compared to twenty for the Drukhari bombardment cannon. She fired moments before the Raptor’s weapon could recycle and blew it to pieces. A remarkable and unexpected victory, achieved through courage, aggression, luck and a lack of caution from the Xenos raider. The surviving crew began to repair the damage to Cognitrix Stellarum, so she could resume her survey work.

In June 4007, a fleet of Jericho class colony ships, bringing Imperium settlers to Beta Hydri III, renamed Solara Hydri due to its temperature range of 26C to 60C and its broad expanses of savanna, detected a civilian mining colony of the Vorchan Ascendancy on one of the scattering of asteroids near the primary. Beta Hydri was another system where some of the geological data had been gained via interrogation, rather than survey work, so some bodies had never been visited by an Imperial Navy ship. Bastion of Souls delivered the Imperial Armoured Corps to the asteroid, which quickly subdued the defenders. Eight mining complexes were in place, but the deposits were small and starting to deplete.

Beta Hydri Asteroid #7 Survey Report
Duranium: 12,415 1.00
Corbomite: 1,728 0.62
Tritanium: 5,487 1.00
Sorium: 3,959 0.94

In Belial, two ships of a new type, designated as Aggravator class, emerged from the Vorchan jump point and were detected by an auspex buoy. They were 10,200 tons, equipped with military engines and travelling at 4,162 km/s. The Vorchan Ascendancy continued to develop new, faster ship classes. One remained on the jump point, while the other set a course for Hades and was detected twenty-fours later by a second buoy as it transited.

On August 2nd 4007, a destroyer squadron emerged from the Vorchan system and set a direct course for the Belial jump point, where the frigate Valiant was still maintaining her picket position. A light torpedo took out the buoy and the six Xenos warships vanished from sensors. Three days later, the same squadron was detected by the buoy on the Belial – Mortis jump point. Valiant transited into Belial to get a lock on one of the ships, then transited back into Mortis. The Vorchan squadron reversed course and moved out of range of the buoy. The naval forces of the Ascendancy had plainly developed great respect for the capabilities of Imperial Navy warships in a jump point defence.

Since the conquest of Nocturne, there had been no Vorchan naval activity in Mortis, Beta Hydri or any of the surrounding systems. The Imperial Inquisition theorised that the Imperial Navy had eliminated all Ascendancy forces beyond the Belial – Mortis jump point and that a new blockade could be established. The cruiser Iron Duke and the strike cruiser Angelic Blade were dispatched from the Erebus Naval Base to support Valiant. More ships would be made available as the Imperium adjusted its deployments accordingly. Forces would still be maintained at Solara Hydri and Nocturne Glacialis in case the Inquisition was incorrect and also to protect them from Drukhari raiders.

A few days after the destroyer squadron declined to transit into Mortis, an Equalizer class ship moved to the Belial – Mortis jump point and adopted a picket position. As the Inquisition believed the Equalizer was an unarmed scout, Valiant transited into Belial. The Equalizer immediately ran at 5488 km/s, with Valiant in pursuit at 4000 km/s. Fifteen seconds after transit, jump shock wore off and Valiant opened fire from 30,000 km. Almost every shot struck the target, crippling the Vorchan scout. As a strike cruiser was en route and less than three weeks away, Valiant held her fire but maintained a close watch. Unfortunately, with Iron Duke and Angelic Blade still eleven days away, the destroyer squadron returned. Valiant was forced to destroy the crippled Equalizer and retreat into Mortis.

The Vorchan destroyer squadron transited into Mortis five hours after Valiant. Valiant was at battle stations with the Enforcer class frigate already targeted. She opened fire instantly. The 18,700-ton Vorchan warship vanished in a huge secondary explosion. Valiant took valuable fifteen seconds to acquire the Impaler before she fired again. Two volleys from her main batteries and six from her light weapon batteries were required to destroy the escort cruiser. Valiant targeted one of the three Savage class destroyers, but she was running out of time. Fortunately, her crew acquired it quickly and the 9300-ton Savage lacked the shields of the larger ships. A full volley from all Valiant’s weapon batteries was sufficient to obliterate the Xenos ship in a single attack. Two Savage class and an Abhorrent class remained.

Fifteen seconds passed before Valiant fired again and one of the Savages was consumed by a large secondary explosion. Twenty seconds later, she fired on the last Savage, which was also destroyed by a secondary explosion. At the same moment, Valiant detected the launch of sixteen size-9 torpedoes. Six detonated against her shields, with strength-6 warheads, reducing her shield strength to just three percent. The Abhorrent did not get chance to fire again, as Valiant closed in and blew it to pieces. Once again, a single Imperial Navy frigate had wiped out an entire Ascendancy squadron and once more, luck and large secondary explosions had favoured the Imperium. The luck couldn’t last forever though and at some point, the Vorchan Ascendancy would improve its jump point assault tactics.

On August 21st, the buoy at the Belial – Hades jump point detected a new Ascendancy battlefleet, with the familiar composition of six Conqueror missile cruisers, four Impaler escort cruisers, three Punisher class frigates, two Ravagers, four Ambusher class escorts and an Abhorrent class destroyer, approaching from the direction of the Vorchan jump point. The fleet was designated as Vorchan Decimus. So far ten battlefleets and twelve destroyer squadrons had been detected, totalling five million tons of warships, plus various other individual ships. Four battlefleets and six destroyer squadrons had been eliminated by the Imperial Navy, but the Vorchan Ascendancy was building new and improved ships to replace them. The buoy was destroyed shortly after detection. It was proving increasingly difficult to maintain a sensor network within Belial.

Crux Veritas had been conducting a survey of Altair, three transits from Terra via Tau Ceti and Aeolus, for over two years, as the mass of the bright A7-IV sub-giant primary meant the survey locations were much further out than in most systems, and she would not complete her task for some time. Three outward jump points had been discovered so far, two of which remained unexplored, so Oculus Vigil visited the system to deploy buoys. As there was no other ship nearby and Crux Veritas was eight billion kilometres away, Oculus Vigil was ordered to probe the innermost jump point. She emerged in Ragnarok, a red dwarf system with six planets, one of which was an ideal habitable world. Ragnarok II was a super-terrestrial world 21,000 km in diameter, with a dense, breathable nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere. Oceans covered eighty percent of the surface and the land was dominated by sweeping grasslands. The orbit was eccentric, which resulted in a temperature range between 8C and 60C, although as the planet was tide-locked the impact on habitability was minimal.

Oculus Vigil was not equipped to conduct a scouting mission to the planet, so the strike cruiser Holy Execution, stationed at the Aeolus naval base two transits away, dispatched one of her Aquilas to investigate. The Aquila transited and headed in-system toward Ragnarok II. A hundred million kilometres from the planet, the 300-ton lander detected three 10,356-ton vessels, designated as Obsidian class and from a previously unknown Xenos race, travelling at 3,553 kms on a reciprocal course. All three Xenos ships closed to point-blank range, then continued in the general direction of the jump point. Under strict orders to move into sensor range of Ragnarok II, the Aquila held her course and soon detected an EM signature of 66,000 and a thermal signature of 22,000 from the planet, approximately forty percent that of Terra. Once within sensor range, she detected a vast Xenos fleet in orbit, with almost a hundred ships ranging in size from 7,500 tons to 160,000 tons.

This was plainly a major Xenos race and Ragnarok II was almost certainly their home world, which raised the question of why they there was no sign of them in the adjacent Altair system, where the Imperium had been present since 4004. Altair III was home to an Imperium colony of seven million, with four research facilities taking advantage of the ancient construct on the planet. Altair also had a number of mineral-rich asteroids, albeit with relatively small deposits, that could one day host civilian mining colonies. One transit closer to Sol was Aeolus, where a fledgling naval base had been established on an asteroid. A population of one point two million supported ten maintenance facilities and an orbital maintenance base, with the strike cruiser Holy Execution as the guard ship.

Aeolus had been chosen due to its position as a crossroad system, with three outwards jump points to Altair, Icarus and Repentance. As Altair would now require its own naval base and Icarus I was intended as a major mining colony, which already had an orbital maintenance base and a frigate on station, Lord Admiral Zagan decided to move the Aeolus facilities to Altair and cease use of Aeolus as a base. Operations against the Ascendancy would be curtailed for the moment, with a picket maintained at the Mortis – Belial jump point, small squadrons in Beta Hydri and Nocturne and a larger force at the Erebus naval base, but no forces allocated to offensive operations. A new Battlefleet Altair would be created from elements of Battlefleet Terra, plus Holy Execution, and the Altair III colony expanded to support the new deployment.

Meanwhile in Ragnarok, the Aquila continued into orbit of the Xenos home world, detecting eighteen FAC-sized ships, a large shipyard complex and half a million tons of ground forces, including emissions from surface-to-orbit weapons. After a brief scan, the lander set course back to the jump point, although with orders not to transit if it could be observed. She arrived without incident and neither her onboard sensors, not the buoy recently placed by Oculus Vigil, could detect any Xenos presence, so she entered Altair and took up a picket position. Oculus Vigil probed the remaining unexplored jump point in Altair and discovered a planetless red dwarf that was named Solstice.

At the end of October 4007, Lord Admiral Lucian Zagan, commander of all Imperium naval forces, retired after many years of service. His replacement was newly-promoted Lord Admiral Asteroth Varnus, the flamboyant and aggressive commander of the Imperial Navy. While Lord Admiral Zagan was a cautious, patient commander who generally committed to action after intelligence was gathered and contingencies considered, Lord Admiral Varnus considered his mission in life to be removing any threat to the human race and he was willing to accept greater risks, and potentially casualties, in pursuit of that goal.

Steve Walmsley · « **Reply #8 on:** **Yesterday** at 04:43:01 AM »

This is the 3rd of 3 posts today

By mid-November, the salvage ship Cenotaph had salvaged the wrecks of the Vorchan squadron that Valiant had destroyed close to the Mortis – Belial jump point. The wreck of an Equalizer, one of the Ascendancy’s newest ships, was 800,000 km from the far side of the jump point. However, a 10,209-ton Aggravator class was sat on the Belial – Mortis jump point, monitored by an auspex buoy. While the Vorchan ship had not destroyed the buoy, Inquisition Intelligence still believed it was a warship due to the emissions from a known sensor with a resolution of 5 – an augur array designed to detect small craft. By this point, Valiant had returned to Erebus and had been replaced by a much stronger picket, comprising the cruiser Iron Duke, the strike cruiser Angelic Blade and the light cruiser Bloodhawk. Iron Duke was a veteran ship, responsible for destroying more Xenos tonnage than any other warship in the Imperial Navy.

Battlefleet Mortis
Lunar class Cruiser: Iron Duke
Dauntless-B class Light Cruiser: Bloodhawk
Dread Argent class Strike Cruiser: Angelic Blade
2x Thunderhawk class Assault Transport
2x Aquila-C class Lander

Rear Admiral Celestine Vetriano, based on the naval headquarters in Erebus, authorised Battlefleet Mortis to enter Belial, eliminate the Aggravator and cover Cenotaph while she salvaged both wrecks. The three ships conducted a squadron jump, arriving 20,000 km from the jump point. The Aggravator immediately launched a salvo of fourteen size-9 torpedoes. Lord-Captain Raphael Justinian, commander of Iron Duke, ordered all his ships to fire as soon as jump shock cleared. Until then, point defence was off-line, so there was nothing the Imperial squadron could do to prevent thirteen of the torpedoes slamming into Angelic Blade, taking down her shields and inflicting a single strength-9 hit to her armour. The new Vorchan torpedoes were twenty-four percent faster than the older model and had a fifty percent larger warhead.

With a speed of 4162 km/s, the Aggravator was slightly faster than the Imperial Navy warships and tried to flee. It managed to open the range to 40,000 km before it was ripped apart by a simultaneous salvo from Iron Duke and Bloodhawk. The hospital ship Benedictio Caelestis, which had been waiting in Mortis, transited into Belial to pick up the Vorchan survivors, followed by Cenotaph which began its salvage operations.

On December 10th 4007, the new Dauntless class light cruisers Bellator Stoicus and Vanguard joined the Imperial Navy, increasing the number of units in the class to sixteen. No more would be built for the foreseeable future as a program was underway to refit the ships of the class to the Dauntless-B design, which included upgraded sensors, a combat information centre, a shield strength increase of almost thirty percent and improved fuel capacity. Minotaur and Righteous Fury were completed a week later, the seventh and eighth Lunar class cruisers. Work began on upgrading Agrippa and Holy Flame to the Lunar-B class, which included similar upgrades to the Dauntless-B, except the increase in shield strength was sixty percent.

On December 25th, the new flagship of the Imperial Navy was launched from the Omnis Mechanica shipyard. Retribution was a 120,000-ton battleship, twice the size of the Lunar class cruisers and with twice their armament, plus a shield strength that was one hundred and forty percent greater than the Lunar-B and almost four times the strength of the original cruiser design. In addition to her sixteen torpedo launchers, eight lance batteries, thirty-six weapon batteries and thirty-six light weapon batteries, she was the first major warship to mount the new spinal lance battery, although that would also be included in an updated design for the Firestorm-B class frigate. The primary use of the Retribution would be in offensive operations, especially in the jump point assault role where her massive shield strength would protect her until jump shock wore off.

Retribution class Battleship 120,000 tons 3,696 Crew 19,186.3 BP TCS 2,400 TH 9,600 EM 25,560
4000 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 6-216 Shields 852-426 HTK 659 Sensors 18/24/0/0 DCR 86-7 PPV 586
Maint Life 2.00 Years MSP 13,593 AFR 1340% IFR 18.6% 1YR 4,514 5YR 67,704 Max Repair 1,500 MSP
Magazine 3,104 / 0
Commodore Control Rating 4 BRG AUX CIC FLG
Intended Deployment Time: 9 months CDE 20% Morale Check Required

RM-1200 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 120000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-1200-MB (8) Power 9600 Fuel Use 34.92% Signature 1200 Explosion 12%
Fuel Capacity 4,551,000 Litres Range 19.6 billion km (56 days at full power)
Valentinian-Stern VS-71 Void Shield (12) Recharge Time 426 seconds (2 per second)

Gothicus-Caliban GC-18-200 Spinal Lance Battery (1) Range 225,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 56-4 ROF 70
Gothicus-Caliban GC-12-200 Lance Battery (8) Range 200,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 37-3.75 ROF 50
Astaroth Kinetics AK-20 Weapons Battery (36x4) Range 160,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 12-4 ROF 15
Astaroth Kinetics AK-10 Light Weapons Battery (36x4) Range 40,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 3-3 ROF 5
MK I Energy Weapon Fire Control (6) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 4,000 km/s ECCM-1
R-477 Magnetic Mirror Fusion Reactor (6) Total Power Output 286.4 Exp 5%

MK I Standard Torpedo Launcher (16) Missile Size: 24 Rate of Fire 1960
MK I Torpedo Fire Control (4) Range 19.4m km Resolution 10 ECCM-1
MK I Standard Torpedo (128) Speed: 25,000 km/s Range: 9.4m km WH: 25 Size: 24 TH: 3,000 / 6,000 / 12,000
MK I Small Augur Probe (4) Speed: 4,000 km/s Range: 3,794.9m km WH: 0 Size: 4 TH: 400 / 800 / 1,600

MK I Battleship Active Augur Array (1) GPS 28800 Range 121.9m km Resolution 120
MK II Fighter Detection Array (1) GPS 210 Range 15.8m km Resolution 10
MK II Torpedo Detection Array (1) GPS 21 Range 7.3m km MCR 658.1k km Resolution 1
MK I Large Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 38.7m km
MK II Large Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 18 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 33.5m km
Electronic Warfare Jammers: Sensor 1 Fire Control 1 Missile 1

In Ragnarok, a Pax Imperialis diplomatic station was towed into orbit of the first planet to allow communication attempts with the new Xenos race. Within ten days, full communication was established with the race of bulky armoured reptilians, which referred to themselves as the Clavian Consciousness. The Clavians caused an atavistic reaction from the Terran linguistics team when video contact was initiated, due to their resemblance to a Terran crocodile, albeit one with six legs, an upright posture and a spinal ridge of armoured spikes. There was little warmth in their reaction to the arrival of the Imperium and they requested to be left alone, although they agreed to accept the continued presence of the diplomatic ship.

Regardless of whether their claim to desire isolation was genuine, the Clavians were a potential threat to the Imperium and would require a substantial fleet to be maintained indefinitely in Altair. That would seriously impact the Imperium’s ability to fight an effective war against the Vorchan Ascendancy, just at the moment when new ships were adding a significant offensive capability. Based on the limited intelligence available, the Inquisition believed the Consciousness might be confined to a single system. Therefore, Lord Admiral Varnus ordered a survey of the Ragnarok system and the deployment of an Argus class ELINT Vessel to gain intelligence on the population. If the Inquisition theory was confirmed, the Imperial Navy would launch an all-out assault to eliminate any threat from the Clavians, led by the battleship Retribution.

On February 17th 4008, the first Cobra class destroyer joined the Imperial Navy. Development on the Cobra was started when the first Drukhari Raptor appeared, with the aim being to develop a ship that could detect and eliminate the advanced Xenos raider at long range, without needing to match its speed. Changes to the design were made as improved sensors and shields became available. The Cobra was much smaller than other torpedo-armed combatants and the first Imperial warship without weapon or lance batteries. It was not intended for independent operations, but rather to protect colonies from raiders and to provide launch capability to small squadrons.

Cobra class Destroyer 15,000 tons 377 Crew 2,119.7 BP TCS 300 TH 1,200 EM 2,130
4000 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 3-54 Shields 71-426 HTK 79 Sensors 6/8/0/0 DCR 12-8 PPV 43.2
Maint Life 2.28 Years MSP 1,559 AFR 150% IFR 2.1% 1YR 406 5YR 6,092 Max Repair 600 MSP
Magazine 875 / 0
Lord-Captain Control Rating 3 BRG AUX CIC
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months CDE 20% Morale Check Required

RM-150 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 15000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-1200-MB (1) Power 1200 Fuel Use 34.92% Signature 1200 Explosion 12%
Fuel Capacity 529,000 Litres Range 18.2 billion km (52 days at full power)
Valentinian-Stern VS-71 Void Shield (1) Recharge Time 426 seconds (0.2 per second)

MK I Standard Torpedo Launcher (6) Missile Size: 24 Rate of Fire 1960
MK I Torpedo Fire Control (1) Range 19.4m km Resolution 10 ECCM-1
MK I Standard Torpedo (36) Speed: 25,000 km/s Range: 9.4m km WH: 25 Size: 24 TH: 3,000 / 6,000 / 12,000
MK I Small Augur Probe (2) Speed: 4,000 km/s Range: 3,794.9m km WH: 0 Size: 4 TH: 400 / 800 / 1,600

MK II Frigate Active Augur Array (1) GPS 11340 Range 76.5m km Resolution 120
MK II Fighter Detection Array (1) GPS 210 Range 15.8m km Resolution 10
MK I Electromagnetic Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
MK II Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 19.4m km
Electronic Warfare Jammers: Fire Control 1 Missile 1

A few days later, an Ascendancy fleet, composed of previously unknown ships, transited into Belial from Hades, detected by a buoy recently placed by Oculus Nox. The composition was unusual. It appeared to be a cut-down version of a battle fleet, featuring the usual six Conqueror missile cruisers, but with only one Impaler instead of four and two Punishers instead of three. They were accompanied by an Abhorrent class destroyer, two Ambusher class escorts and two 20,500-ton ships of a new type, designated as Extinguisher class. Given the amount of traffic moving between Hades and Vorchan, and vice versa, the lack of offensive operations against the Imperium and the makeshift nature of the new fleet, Inquisition Intelligence began to consider the idea that the Ascendancy was engaged in a war against another Xenos race. Lord Admiral Varnus decided that more information was needed on events in Hades and beyond.

Given the huge fleet that was found guarding the Hades – Belial jump point during the last probe of Hades, gaining that information seemed unlikely. Even so, an Aquila was dispatched to transit the Belial – Hades jump point. To the surprise of the two-man crew, the only ship on sensors was an Aggravator class destroyer. Unfortunately that was enough. The Aquila was destroyed by a torpedo before it could return to Belial. A survey frigate in the Azrael system, adjacent to Beta Hydri, was ordered to abandon its survey and attempt to reach Hades, but it was ten weeks away. Another option was to force the Penumbra – Avernus jump point, where a stand-off had existed for several years. However, the Imperial navy now had the Retribution class battleship and within three months would have a pair of refitted Lunar class cruisers. A successful jump point assault was now a possibility.

On April 28th 4008, an Aquila attempted a transit into Avernus. The same Vorchan squadron of two Punishers frigates, a 19,673-ton Rampager class of unknown capability and two Ambusher class escorts that had been present in August 4006 had been joined by an Equalizer class scout. The Aquila emerged 40,000 km from the jump point and remarkably survived the first salvo, but not the second. Two days later, another Aquila transited from Belial into Hades and found the jump point was deserted. Acting with the sense of aggression that had started to permeate the Imperial Navy since the promotion of Lord Admiral Varnus, Battlefleet Mortis had moved up behind the scout and was stationed on the Belial – Hades jump point. It was not long ago that a huge fleet had guarded the jump point and now there was no defence at all.

Four days later, with the survey frigate Ordo Revelare less than a day from entering Hades, the Aquila detected active emissions from a pair of Conqueror class missile cruisers, fifteen million kilometres from the Hades – Belial jump point and closing. Their heading was from the outer system, rather than the Ascendancy colony on Hades II. In retrospect, it was probably unwise to probe the system, several days before the survey frigate arrival, rather than immediately beforehand. The Conquerors moved within sensor range and the entire fleet was revealed. It was Vorchan Nonus, last seen in orbit of the Vorchan home world.

Battlefleet Mortis, comprising the cruiser Iron Duke, the light cruiser Bloodhawk and the strike cruiser Angelic Blade, was now in a difficult situation. It had moved to the Belial – Hades jump point in anticipation of the Aquila confirming the presence of the single destroyer detected two months earlier, whereupon the squadron would have transited and eliminated it. How they were faced with a full battlefleet and could not retreat unless it transited and caught them in deep space. Conversely, they were seriously outgunned if they tried to defend the jump point but it was better than the alternative. The Aquila transited back into Belial and attempted to probe Vorchan, where it was killed by an Aggravator class destroyer. Battlefleet Mortis waited at the Belial – Hades jump point for two days, then retreated back into Mortis, along with Ordo Revelare. Despite the constant skirmishing, there seemed little chance that the Imperium could move into Belial and beyond without a serious commitment of forces that were simply not available, at least in the short-term.

In May 4008, Citadel and Redoubt, the first pair of Citadel class defence monitors, were launched from the Sol Invictus shipyard. The Citadels were intended for long-duration jump point defence duties and could remain on station for up to five years. Their design was uncompromisingly based on maximising offensive firepower at the expense of almost everything else. With twenty-four weapon batteries and twenty-four light weapon batteries, they mounted twice the firepower of a Dauntless class light cruiser, despite being twenty percent smaller. This was achieved by sacrificing shields, jammers, passive sensors and most of the armour, plus replacing the engines with a single, highly boosted drive that allowed full warship speed at the expense of anything beyond minimal range. The role of the Citadel Defence monitor was to destroy anything that emerged from a jump point, before it could recover from jump shock. A pair of Auriga Gravis class tugs towed Citadel and Redoubt to the Penumbra – Avernus jump point, where they replaced the existing ships of Battlefleet Penumbra.

Citadel class Defence Monitor 24,000 tons 1,124 Crew 4,874.2 BP TCS 480 TH 1,920 EM 0
4000 km/s Armour 3-74 Shields 0-0 HTK 218 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 26-10 PPV 240
Maint Life 5.48 Years MSP 6,300 AFR 177% IFR 2.5% 1YR 353 5YR 5,293 Max Repair 960 MSP
Captain Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 60 months CDE 20% Morale Check Required

Ravenor Drive Systems RDS-1920-DB (1) Power 1920 Fuel Use 220.84% Signature 1920 Explosion 24%
Fuel Capacity 263,000 Litres Range 0.89 billion km (62 hours at full power)

Astaroth Kinetics AK-20 Weapons Battery (24x4) Range 160,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 12-4 ROF 15
Astaroth Kinetics AK-10 Light Weapons Battery (24x4) Range 40,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 3-3 ROF 5
MK I Energy Weapon Fire Control (4) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 4,000 km/s ECCM-1
R-477 Magnetic Mirror Fusion Reactor (4) Total Power Output 190.9 Exp 5%

MK I Commercial Active Augur Array (1) GPS 1920 Range 31.5m km Resolution 120
MK I Torpedo Detection Array (1) GPS 16 Range 6.4m km MCR 574.5k km Resolution 1

On July 2nd 4008, the battleship Retribution and the Lunar-B class cruisers Agrippa, Holy Flame and Minotaur joined the two Citadels, the survey frigate Peregrinus Aetheris and an Aquila at the Penumbra – Avernus jump point. The Aquila, with a volunteer crew, transited first to update intelligence on the Vorchan defenders. The Xenos fleet remain unchanged from the previous transit: two Punisher class frigates, two Ambusher class escorts, an Equalizer class scout and a 19,700-ton Rampager of unknown capability. The Aquila was attacked by an Ambusher and crippled, but not destroyed. Lord Admiral Varnus authorised the assault to begin immediately.

The three cruisers jumped as a squadron, arriving close to the jump point, with Retribution jumping separately and appearing at 40,000 km. Retribution attracted the most fire, suffering thirty-one strength-3 hits, but that only reduced her shield strength by eleven percent. Holy Flame also took several hits, with a similar drop in shield strength. One of the Vorchan warship attacked the Aquila, destroying it with bombardment cannon that would have been better used against the Imperial capital ships. The Vorchan fleet broke up, with the Equalizer fleeing, the Punishers and an Ambusher moving in the opposite direction, while the second Ambusher and the Rampager remained near the jump point

Holy Flame quickly recovered from jump shock and blasted a Punisher frigate into scrap metal before it could fire a second time. The second Punisher and an Ambusher returned fire, dropping the cruiser’s shields to forty-six percent, before Agrippa eliminated the second Vorchan frigate and Holy Flame took out the Rampager, which had never fired. The Equalizer was known to be unarmed, which left the two fast-firing but fragile Ambushers as the only threat. They focused on Holy Flame and her shield strength continued dropping until she destroyed one herself and Retribution, finally recovered from jump shock, took out the other and the Equaliser simultaneously. Holy Flame was at twenty-seven percent shields and would have suffered armour damage without the recent upgrade. The assault was an unqualified success, removing the blocking force and allowing Peregrinus Aetheris to begin a survey of Avernus.

Minotaur returned to Terra with the Vorchan survivors. Interrogation of those survivors provided full gravitational survey data on Tartarus, located two transits further out than Avernus via Gehenna, and revealed the location of two outward jump points, in addition to the known jump point to Styx. In late August, Peregrinus Aetheris discovered a pair of jump points seven hundred million and one point three billion kilometres from the Avernus - Penumbra jump point, which was relatively close give the mass of the Avernus primary, an yellow-white F9-V with twice the luminosity of Sol. As the system was in Ascendancy territory and anything could be waiting just beyond the new jump points, an Aquila was dispatched from Sol to investigate. Meanwhile, Astra Incognita arrived to assist with the survey.

On September 10th 4008, the Aquila transited the closer of the two jump points and discovered Crucible, an unremarkable orange K0-V system with six planets and eighty moons. After a sweep of the inner system that found nothing, the Aquila returned to Avernus and probed the second jump point, which led to Methuselah, a red dwarf system with a similar collection of system bodies. In October the survey operation was further reinforced with the arrival of Ordo Revelare. By February 4009, the survey was approximately seventy-five percent done, at which point Astra Incognita moved into the adjacent Charon system, from where Ascendancy forces had arrived in the past. The Charon side of the jump point was stabilised. She had barely moved away from the jump point, when she detected the approach of an Equalizer class scout, which fled when she changed course to intercept.

On February 23rd, Astra Incognita discovered a stabilised jump point in Charon. Given the potential for a hostile fleet to be located beyond it, an Aquila was dispatched from Terra to probe it On March 14th 4009, it transited and was blown to pieces by a squadron of five Vorchan warships; three Punisher class frigates, an Impaler escort cruiser and an Ambusher class escort. The system beyond the jump point had a red dwarf primary and three planets, one of which had a trace nitrogen – oxygen atmosphere and extensive ice sheets. It was named Purgatory. The Purgatory - Charon jump point was not stabilised, which suggested there was another jump point in Charon that led deeper into the Ascendancy.

The Equalizer that was briefly detected by Astra Incognita entered Avernus and conducted reconnaissance, monitoring the Imperium survey operations, the deployment of auspex buoys at jump points and the arrival of the frigates Vengeful and Vortex, as they took up a picket position at the Avernus – Charon jump point. The capital ships had all returned to Terra, leaving the defence monitors to guard the Penumbra - Avernus jump point. The Equalizer had a speed of 5,488 km/s and ran away at the approach of any Imperial Navy warship, so a Faustus-B interceptor, with a speed of 8000 km/s, was deployed to Avernus. As the Equalizer seemed to be moving between the Charon and Penumbra jump points, the Faustus followed the same route and soon detected the Vorchan scout. A single shot was sufficient to disable its engines, so a strike cruiser was dispatched from Sol to board it.

Faustus-B class Interceptor 2,400 tons 69 Crew 606.9 BP TCS 48 TH 384 EM 0
8000 km/s Armour 1-15 Shields 0-0 HTK 18 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0-0 PPV 15
Maint Life 3.54 Years MSP 1,079 AFR 92% IFR 1.3% 1YR 132 5YR 1,982 Max Repair 267 MSP
Captain Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months CDE 20% Morale Check Required

Nuclear Gas-Core Engine EP384.00 (1) Power 384 Fuel Use 285.77% Signature 384 Explosion 20%
Fuel Capacity 196,600 Litres Range 5.2 billion km (7 days at full power)

Gothicus-Caliban GC-18-200 Spinal Lance Battery (1) Range 225,000km TS: 8,000 km/s Power 56-4 ROF 70
MK I Faustus Fire Control (1) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 8,000 km/s ECCM-1
R-40 Magnetic Mirror Fusion Reactor (1) Total Power Output 4.1 Exp 10%

MK II Starhawk Augur Array (1) GPS 252 Range 11.4m km Resolution 120
MK II Fury Augur Array (1) GPS 3 Range 2.3m km MCR 208.1k km Resolution 1
MK II Shuttle Thermal Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 0.6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 6.1m km
MK I Shuttle EM Augur Array (1) Sensitivity 0.8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 7.1m km

On April 13th, an Aquila transited a newly-discovered stabilised jump point in Charon and discovered Hesperus, a planetless red dwarf system. While there was no sign of life, the Hesperus – Charon jump point was stabilised and therefore the most likely route deeper into the Ascendancy. In Avernus, Thunderhawks from the strike cruiser Eternal Defiance captured the crippled Equalizer, confirming it was a scout design equipped with ion engines. Eternal Defiance moved to join the two frigates on the Avernus – Charon jump point.

In June 4009, Cognitrix Stellarum completed a survey of the Ragnarok system, home to the Clavian Consciousness, finding a single outward jump point. So far, no Clavian ship had even approached the Altair jump point. Therefore, the Imperial Inquisition theorised that even though the Consciousness was a Trans-Newtonian race, it had never developed the concept of jump point theory – at least so far. Study of their home world by the ELINT vessel Cassandra had determined their population was eight hundred and twenty million with approximately two and a half thousand installations. In addition, data was obtained on the design of an orbital mining ship, which had nuclear pulse engines – a generation behind Imperium designs.

Cognitrix Stellarum transited the sole outward jump point, located three hundred and sixty million kilometres from the primary, and emerged at the edge of a binary system of two K-class stars, each with five planets. As the Clavian system was named Ragnarok, the Adeptus Astronomica decided to name any system beyond it using an ancient Norse theme, so the binary became Asgard. At first glance, Asgard-A III was an ideal habitable world, with a breathable atmosphere, a temperature just within the lower end of human tolerance and liquid oceans covering almost half the surface. However, data on its eccentric orbital path showed a likely temperature range between -78C and 32C, so the conditions would become decidedly unpleasant as Asgard-A III moved out to aphelion.

For humans, Asgard-B III was a much better option, with a temperature range within human tolerance and oceans covering 90% of the surface. The dense nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere was not breathable, but could be made so with the removal of 0.03 of oxygen, although given the 19,200 km diameter of the planet that would be a slow process. As the B component was within two and a half billion kilometres, Cognitrix Stellarum launched an Augur probe at Asgard-B III, then headed in-system to launch a similar probe at Asgard-A III. Neither probe found any sign of life.

A fourth survey cruiser arrived in Avernus in July, by which time the survey of the system was complete. In late August, the survey of Charon was also nearing completion and Peregrinus Atheris was already in Hesperus and moving to its first survey location. The frigate Vengeful moved into Charon with the intention of picketing the Charon – Hesperus jump point. While she was still a day from her destination, a 20,500-ton Extinguisher class ship was detected on the far side of the jump point by a recently placed buoy. Vengeful was forced to reverse course when the Extinguisher entered Charon and set course for the Avernus jump point at 4146 km/s, in case the Xenos warship was armed with torpedoes. The newer Ascendancy designs had both a range and speed advantage over Imperial Navy ships.

A day after contact with the Extinguisher, a Vorchan destroyer squadron – the fourteenth encountered so far – approached the Hesperus - Charon jump point from the same direction as the Extinguisher. After destroying the buoy in Hesperus, the squadron jumped into Charon, where an Aquila that had been picketing the jump point was already fleeing toward the Avernus jump point. Within a minute of transit, the buoy on the Charon side and the Aquila had both been eliminated. Leaving the Imperium with no visibility of the squadron, or the preceding Extinguisher. The three survey frigates still in Charon were ordered to move to the Avernus jump point after completing their survey tasks.

On August 28th, the Extinguisher was detected by a buoy on the Charon – Avernus jump point. Thirty minutes later, it jumped into Avernus using a squadron transit and arrived 125,000 km from Battlefleet Avernus, which comprised the strike cruiser Eternal Defiance and the frigates Vengeful and Vortex. This was a very different situation to the usual half-suicidal standard transits used by Vorchan fleets in the past. The Extinguisher was already at long-range and faster than the Imperial Navy warships. It would also recover from transit much more quickly. Battlefleet Avernus targeted the Extinguisher and a set a pursuit course.

Fortunately, the Extinguisher set a course for the Penumbra jump point, which allowed Battlefleet Avernus to close to 100,000 km, and all three Imperial ships opened fire within a few seconds. Both frigates were Firestorm-Bs and inflicted strength-18 hits with their spinal lance batteries, accompanied by over fifty strength-1 hits from the squadron’s weapon batteries. Only a single hit penetrated the Vorchan shields and armour, but that was sufficient to drop its speed to 3110 km/s. Two more weapon battery volleys, both from close range, left the Ascendancy warship dead in space, although the amount of punishment it could apparently absorb caused great concern. All Imperial ships ceased fire, allowing Eternal Defiance to launch a boarding operation that captured the crippled ship within three minutes. The Extinguisher was an unarmed military jump tender, equipped with ion engines, but otherwise demonstrating a similar level of technology to Imperium designs.

Extinguisher class Military Jump Tender 20,499 tons 386 Crew 3,265.3 BP TCS 410 TH 1,700 EM 1,110
4146 km/s JR 4-100 Armour 13-66 Shields 37-341 HTK 78 Sensors 18/18/0/0 DCR 8-3 PPV 0
Maint Life 0.81 Years MSP 796 AFR 420% IFR 5.8% 1YR 988 5YR 14,819 Max Repair 744.2 MSP
Magazine 0 / 66
Lord-Captain Control Rating 3 BRG ENG CIC
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Morale Check Required

J30750(4-100) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 30750 tons Distance 100k km Squadron Size 4
Ion Drive EP425.0 (4) Power 1700 Fuel Use 32.54% Signature 425 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 850,000 Litres Range 22.9 billion km (64 days at full power)
Delta S37 / R341 Shields (1) Recharge Time 341 seconds (0.1 per second)

CIWS-120 (3x4) Range 1000 km TS: 12,000 km/s ROF 5
Size 22 Decoy Launcher (3) Decoy Size: 22 Hangar Reload 234 minutes MF Reload 39 hours

Active Search Sensor AS56-R110 (1) GPS 7920 Range 56.2m km Resolution 110
Thermal Sensor TH3-18 (1) Sensitivity 18 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 33.5m km
EM Sensor EM3-18 (1) Sensitivity 18 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 33.5m km
Electronic Warfare Jammers: Sensor 1 Fire Control 1 Missile 1

At the far side of known space, an Aquila transited the Belial – Hades jump point to check for defenders and found no sign of hostile ships. The survey frigate Virtus Aeterna was waiting in Belial and immediately entered Hades to begin a gravitational survey. Finally, the Imperium would be able to gain survey data on what was plainly one of the Ascendancy’s core systems. On August 31st, the Vorchan destroyer squadron in Charon was detected entering the Charon - Purgatory jump point, so the survey frigates in the system changed their headings back toward the Hesperus jump point.

Five days later, a group of sixteen Aggressor class ships, 24,000-tons and travelling at 1670 km/s with commercial engines, appeared near the Charon – Purgatory jump point, heading for the latter system. Their course suggested they had arrived from Hesperus. Even more convinced that Hesperus was the route to the Ascendancy core systems, Lord Admiral Varnus had dispatched the battleship Retribution, four Lunar class cruisers and two carriers to Avernus, with orders to assault any jump point discovered by the survey frigates, including Purgatory. In the meantime, the frigate Vortex took up a picket position on the Charon – Hesperus jump point, while Oculus Vigil replaced the destroyed buoys.

On September 18th 4009, Peregrinus Aetheris detected a stabilised jump point in Hesperus. An Aquila was sent to investigate. A few hours later, the buoy on the Hesperus – Charon jump point detected the approach of an Equalizer class scout, although not on a heading that corresponded to the location of the new jump point. The Equalizer took up station on the jump point and made no attempt to transit, so Vortex jumped into Hesperus and pursued it, destroying it with a single salvo as soon as jump shock wore off. The Aquila transited the new jump point and was blown to pieces by two destroyer squadrons – the fifteenth and sixteenth to be encountered. The resources available to the Vorchan Ascendancy seemed endless. The system itself, comprising a planetless K5-V star and a pair of distant comets, was named Mordred.

Two weeks later, Retribution and the cruisers Imperial Wrath, Holy Flame, Iron Duke and Justicar launched a jump point assault on Purgatory. An Aquila transiting just before them confirmed the defensive force was still three 18,700-ton Punisher class frigates armed with bombardment cannon, an Impaler escort cruiser, an Ambusher class escort and a 36,500-ton Reformer class with commercial engines. Retribution, jumping with Imperial Wrath. was the focus of the defensive fire, taking twenty-nine strength-4 hits, a pair of strength-6 hits and six strength-2s that reduced her shields by sixteen percent. The other three cruisers arrived nearby and all five Imperial Navy warships started to open the range, reducing the effect of further defensive fire until they recovered from jump shock.

Five seconds after transit, Justicar opened fire and obliterated one of the Punisher class frigates. Instead of pursuing the Imperial fleet, the remaining Vorchan ships sets a course for the inner system, while the Impaler began launching light torpedoes Within twenty seconds, all of the Imperial ships had recovered from shock and opened fire. Retribution destroyed the Impaler, Justicar destroyed another frigate with her second salvo, while Imperial Wrath crippled the third. The battle was effectively over before it began. The remaining Vorchan ships were eliminated with minimal resistance. The carriers Archon Kort and Rhadamanthine entered the system to join with Retribution and the cruisers, then the fleet headed in-system, with the exception of Imperial Wrath, which remained to picket the jump point.

Two days after the battle in Purgatory, an Aquila transited a newly discovered stabilised jump point in Hesperus and emerged three billion kilometres from the Vorchan home world. It was instantly destroyed by a Vorchan battle fleet stationed on the Vorchan – Hesperus jump point. The defending fleet was the twelfth battle fleet to be encountered, four of which had been eliminated, and had the standard composition, plus an Aggravator class destroyer.

The Inquisition had theorised Hesperus was on the path to the Vorchan system, but no one had expected the sudden connection. The discovery of the new link created a circular chain of eleven systems. Starting from Caliban, adjacent to Sol, the chain progressed via Nyx, Erebus, Beta Hydri, Mortis, Belial, Vorchan, Hesperus, Charon, Avernus, Penumbra and back to Caliban. The route was shorter via Hesperus, but there was not a single planet, moon or asteroid in any of the systems beyond Penumbra. Even the planets in Penumbra were further away than the Caliban jump point. The only system that provided real estate suitable for a forward base was Purgatory, assuming it could be secured, and even that was three transits and seven billion kilometres from the Vorchan home world and not on the direct route.

For now, the picket would be maintained at the Mortis – Belial jump point and offensive operations would focus on the route via Charon and Hesperus, although there many systems flanking that route that would need to be checked, including a known population in Tartarus, two jumps from Avernus via Gehenna. In the meantime, the temporarily-designated Battlefleet Purgatory, comprising Retribution, three cruisers and two carriers, continued to close on the three planets in the Purgatory system, one of which had a trace oxygen – nitrogen atmosphere.

In Hesperus, a buoy on the Charon jump point detected the approach of two Crusader class troop transports, along with an Impaler escort cruiser, an Enforcer class frigate and a new design of 10,200 tons, designated as Demolisher class. The frigate Vortex was stationed as a picket on the far side of the jump point. The approaching fleet destroyed the buoy and transited into Charon.

Unusually, the two transports came through the stabilised jump point, but the three escorting warships conducted a squadron transit, arriving 63,000 km from Vortex. The Imperial frigate immediately opened fire, scoring a hit with her spinal lance battery and seventeen strength-2 hits with weapon batteries on the Enforcer, reducing the speed of the Xenos frigate to 2,487 km/s. Vortex’s commander, Captain Leonatus Merrick, knew he had far less time than usual to engage the Ascendancy ships before they recovered from jump shock, so he attempted to close the range. The Enforcer ran for the Avernus jump point, while the other escorts headed for the troop transports.

The strike cruiser Eternal Defiance was en route to the Charon – Hesperus jump point, although thirty-six hours away, so Captain Merrick decided to reverse course and attack the undamaged escorts. Vortex targeted the smaller Demolisher first, as Merrick suspected it was an escort with short-range but fast-firing weapons and he did not want to face that while trying to get close to the Impaler. A volley from the light weapon batteries, followed by a full broadside was sufficient to kill the Demolisher, by which time the Impaler had recovered from jump shock and launched a wave of forty-two light torpedoes with a speed of 48,000 km/s. The Ascendancy had apparently improved its light torpedoes too.

Thirty-seven torpedoes struck Vortex, accompanied by eight strength-2 hits inflicted by the Enforcer class frigate, which was still on course for the Avernus jump point, but less than 70,000 km away. Vortex’s shields were reduced to twenty-seven percent. Her crew was not used to a rapid response from the Vorchan during a jump assault and struggled to target the Impaler, which launched a second wave of light torpedoes. Forty of them detonated, blasting down the Imperial frigate’s remaining shields and causing significant armour damage. Vortex finally responded with a full broadside at point-blank range, smashing through the larger ship’s slowly raising shields and penetrating its armour in seven places.

The Impaler’s speed fell to 1,338 km/s, but its weapon were mostly intact, as it launched a wave of thirty-nine more light torpedoes, just as the retreating Enforcer scored six strength-1 hits on Vortex. Vortex continued to fire on the Impaler with her light weapon batteries, as the main batteries had a fifteen second recycle time, inflicting further internal damage. All thirty-nine light torpedoes hit Vortex, even as she continued firing, and she suffered damage to non-critical system due to three separate armour penetrations. Forty percent of her armour had been wiped away, leaving her extremely vulnerable. Vortex’s main batteries fired once again and the battered Xenos cruiser finally exploded, but not before launching another twenty-two torpedoes. Somehow Vortex survived their attack with the loss of more armour, her fire control jammer and more non-critical systems. The Enforcer continued to snipe as the range increased, but only inflicted further armour damage.

With the Impaler and Demolisher destroyed and the Enforcer at long range, Vortex took the opportunity to move out of range of the Xenos frigate, while her shields were restored, and instead targeted the two Crusader troop transports. Once both were eliminated and her shields were at two-thirds strength, Vortex set off in pursuit of the damaged Enforcer. Once within 180,000 km, she came under fire from seventeen bombardment cannon, two of which scored strength-1 hits. The Enforcer did not have any detectable shield strength, which suggested that the earlier damage had disabled her shield generator. Vortex held the range at 155,000 km, from where she could wear down the Vorchan warship with her main weapon batteries while taking minor hits in return on her shields.

A strength-18 hit from Vortex’s spinal lance battery effectively ended the contest, as the Enforcer ceased all movement. It still had ten operable bombardment cannon, so Vortex continued firing. Eventually, the Xenos warship ceased fire and Captain Merrick considered allowing Eternal Defiance to arrive and board it, but the older Vorchan ships lacked any technology not possessed by the Imperium. Even the 15cm bombardment cannon had been replicated, although not deployed on any Imperial designs. Instead, the spinal lance battery skewered the helpless escort cruiser and it exploded.

While Vortex had won a famous victory, the implications were extremely concerning. The Ascendancy was now using squadron transits, even for the escorts of troop transports, so the days of single Imperial frigates defeating Vorchan destroyer squadrons were now firmly in the past. Any jump point pickets would have to be substantially reinforced. Vortex rescued the Ascendancy survivors, then remained at the jump point until she was relieved by Eternal Defiance, after which she visited Purgatory to pick up the life pods from the recent battle and then headed home to Terra for repairs. In the inner system of Purgatory, Battlefleet Purgatory found a small Ascendancy colony and eliminated its surface-to-orbit defences. There was no sign of Vorchan ships.

By October 20th, Retribution and the other cruisers had moved to the Charon – Hesperus jump point, which the exception of Iron Duke, which remained in orbit of the small Ascendancy colony on Purgatory I. The frigate Vengeful had adopted a picket position at the Charon – Purgatory jump point. The survey frigate Astra Incognita entered Purgatory and headed in-system to survey the planets. Two hundred and eighty million kilometres from the jump point, she detected sensor emissions from an Enforcer class frigate and a Savage class destroyer fifty million kilometres ahead. Both ships had been detected before as part of a destroyer squadron. Astra Incognita immediately reversed course. Iron Duke left orbit of Purgatory I and also headed for the Charon jump point, while Holy Flame and Justicar left their position at the Charon – Hesperus to support Vengeful. They were two days away. The replenishment ship Civitas Fidelis was also in Purgatory and transited immediately into Charon.

Vengeful entered Purgatory and moved to support Astra Incognita, hoping their combined weapon batteries could provide sufficient defence to limit the torpedo salvos from the destroyer squadron, if she could get there in time. Once it became obvious that the Xenos ships were pursuing Astra Incognita, she engaged her sensors to confirm the enemy fleet comprised three Savage and one Abhorrent class destroyers, plus an Enforcer class frigate and an Impaler class escort cruiser. Unfortunately, Vengeful was still a hundred and fifty million kilometres away when Astra Incognita detected thirty-six inbound torpedoes.

Astra Incognita managed to shoot down one torpedo and two more missed. The rest detonated on target and caused massive internal damage, including her engine, weapon batteries, jump drive and all but one of her survey sensors. A second, equally large salvo, arrived thirty minutes later and obliterated the crippled survey frigate. Vengeful was forced to retreat through the jump point. Given the new squadron transit tactics of the Vorchan Ascendancy, her chances of defending against a jump point assault were slim, so she was ordered to escort Civitas Fidelis as the replenishment ship fled toward the Hesperus jump point at 2000 km/s.

The Vorchan destroyer squadron transited when Vengeful and Civitas Fidelis were two hundred million kilometres from the jump point and immediately destroyed the jump point buoy, vanishing from sensors. Vengeful left Civitas Fidelis, as she would reach Holy Flame and Justicar before the Vorchan could catch her, and reversed course to locate the Xenos fleet. There was no sign of them near the jump point, so Vengeful set a course for the undefended Charon – Avernus jump point, in case that was their destination. Numerous unarmed ships were in Avernus, moving up to support combat operations, and would be easy prey for the Vorchan destroyers. Meanwhile in Hesperus, a buoy on the Mordred jump point detected the approach of Vorchan Decimus, a known Ascendancy battlefleet, from the direction of the Vorchan jump point. What was more important in Mordred and beyond than the presence of large Imperial Navy forces in Charon was unknown. The auspex buoy was eliminated by a trio of light torpedoes.

With Vengeful halfway to the Charon – Avernus jump point, the Vorchan destroyer squadron was detected by Holy Flame and Justicar as they approached the Charon – Purgatory. Wherever the Xenos ships had been during the frantic effort to locate them, they were now back on sensors. They briefly transited back into Purgatory as the two cruisers drew closer, then returned to Charon and set a course for the Avernus jump point. Holy Flame and Justicar changed course to intercept and soon came under attack from a wave of thirty-six torpedoes of the older 19,000 km type. Sixteen torpedoes, were shot down. Fourteen detonated against Holy Flame’s shields, reducing them by a quarter. Four further waves of thirty-six torpedoes attacked, approximately twenty minutes apart, each with similar results, followed by a smaller wave of thirty and several waves of twelve, none of which had any real effect other than the consumption of maintenance supplies to deal with occasional weapon failures.

Once within range, Holy Flame and Justicar launched their own salvo of sixteen standard torpedoes at the Impaler class escort cruiser. Three torpedoes and forty-two decoys were hit by defensive light torpedoes. Eight more were distracted by the Impaler’s own decoys, leaving five to detonate their strength-25 warheads on target, sufficient to blast down the shields of the Xenos warship and inflict internal damage. The Impaler dropped out of formation, with its speed reduced to 1659 km/s, although its shield generator was obviously undamaged as the shields regenerated to full strength. The launchers were intact too, as it fired a volley of forty-two light torpedoes as the cruisers approached.

Even as the cruisers ploughed through the hail of Xenos torpedoes, eliminating many of them with point defence fire and absorbing the rest on their shields, Holy Flame launched a new salvo of eight standard torpedoes. Seven struck the Impaler, causing crippling damage and ending the constant stream of light torpedoes. Holy Flame fired her lance batteries as the two ships passed the stricken Impaler, leaving wreckage in her wake, then the cruisers ran down the remaining Vorchan warships, eliminating the Enforcer frigate first then massacring the helpless destroyers, which had exhausted their torpedoes.

In mid-November, interrogation of the prisoners captured in the recent engagements in Charon and Purgatory yielded technical information on 20cm bombardment cannon. Two weeks later, an Aquila transited the fourth jump point to be found in Hesperus and entered Circe, a G5-V system with three unremarkable planets, nineteen moons and a scattering of asteroids and comets. A few hours after transit, a new Vorchan class transited into the system. Designated as Terminator class, it was 180,000 tons and equipped with commercial engines. The Terminator remained on the Circe – Hesperus jump point, so Imperial Wrath was detached from the Imperial fleet gathered at the Charon – Hesperus jump point. A week later, after travelling across Hesperus, she entered Circe, obliterated the Terminator with a single volley and took up position on the Circe – Hesperus jump point. The Aquila moved into Hesperus to watch for approaching ships.

With the Imperium’s attention focused on the systems around Charon and Hesperus, there was less emphasis on the previous constant skirmishing around the Belial system. Oculus Nox entered the system twice to place buoys but was almost detected and destroyed. The one buoy she did successfully emplace, on the Belial – Hades jump point, detected multiple commercial ships over several weeks. However, given the loss of Spectre on a previous commerce raid, the limited number of available capital ships and the new jump point assault tactics of the Ascendancy, no further raids had been mounted. There was some consideration of deep space interceptions between the Hades and Vorchan jump points, but the speed advantage of the latest Vorchan designs made that a risky proposition.

However, Lord Admiral Varnus managed to find an alternative. Several years earlier, a Raptor class ship of the Drukhari had been captured and repaired. Since then, it had remained in orbit of Terra. That ship, now renamed Noctis Venator, was dispatched to Solara Hydri, where it resupplied and conducted a brief overhaul, before refuelling from Auxilium Divinum at the Mortis – Belial jump point and entering the latter system, where it took up a position just off the direct route between the Hades and Vorchan jump points. Noctis Venator had high speed, capable passive sensors and a small cross-section due to her cloaking device, making the advanced Xenos-constructed vessel ideal for commerce raiding.

Raptor class Raider 11,531 tons 361 Crew 3,660.7 BP TCS 23 TH 413 EM 0
7468 km/s Armour 1-45 Shields 0-0 HTK 71 Sensors 24/8/0/0 DCR 4-3 PPV 24
Maint Life 0.60 Years MSP 793 AFR 266% IFR 3.7% 1YR 1,320 5YR 19,802 Max Repair 861.1 MSP
Magazine 0 / 66
Lord-Captain Control Rating 3 BRG AUX CIC
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months Morale Check Required

Magneto-plasma Drive EP861.12 (2) Power 1722.2 Fuel Use 34.52% Signature 206.6688 Explosion 11%
Fuel Capacity 900,000 Litres Range 40.7 billion km (63 days at full power)

25cm Bombardment Cannon (3) Range 320,000km TS: 7,468 km/s Power 16-5 ROF 20
Beam Fire Control R320-TS7450 (2) Max Range: 320,000 km TS: 7,450 km/s ECCM-2
Stellarator Fusion Reactor R7 (3) Total Power Output 22.1 Exp 5%
Size 22 Decoy Launcher (3) Decoy Size: 22 Hangar Reload 234 minutes MF Reload 39 hours

Active Search Sensor AS50-R94 (1) GPS 4512 Range 50.3m km Resolution 94
Active Search Sensor AS9-R1 (1) GPS 32 Range 9m km MCR 812.4k km Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH3-24 (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 38.7m km
EM Sensor EM1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
Cloaking Device: Class cross-section reduced to 10.0% of normal
Electronic Warfare Jammers: Fire Control 2 Missile 2

On January 7th 4010, the troop transport Chalice of Redemption landed the 2nd Imperial Armoured Corps, with almost a thousand heavy tanks, on Purgatory I, site of a small Ascendancy colony. The defenders comprised approximately three thousand infantry with minimal heavy weapon support. After a battle that lasted less than thirty-six hours, the victorious Imperial guard troops secured the colony, home to forty-seven automated mines, a refuelling station and an ordnance transfer station.

In Belial, six 96,000-ton, commercial-engined Vorchan ships of a new type, designated as Skychaser class, transited into the system from Hades. Noctis Venator intercepted the fleet and destroyed each ship in turn. At this point, Battlefleet Mortis, guarding the Mortis – Belial jump point, comprised the Dauntless-B light cruisers Bloodhawk and Divine Crusade. Lord Admiral Varnus decided to move the two ships up to the Belial – Hades jump point while the hospital ship Benedictio Caelestis picked up the Vorchan survivors and the salvage ship Reliquary, inbound from Erebus, recovered the wreckage. The cruiser Minotaur and the carrier Ferrum Aeterna, based at the Erebus naval base, were ordered to Mortis, along with the strike cruiser Angelic Blade from the squadron guarding Solara Hydri.

That left only three light cruisers and a frigate in Erebus, plus a light cruiser and a destroyer at Solara Hydri, but Varnus decided the time was right to add pressure to the Ascendancy while it was under threat on the Hesperus front. Why the Vorchan Ascendancy was not reacting with more force to the various Imperial incursions remained a mystery, although the Inquisition still believed it was possible the Ascendancy was engaged with an unknown adversary.

Two days after the arrival of Bloodhawk and Divine Crusade at the Belial – Hades jump point, eight 84,000-ton Scorcher class ships jumped into Belial, accompanied by an Impaler escort cruiser and two Ambusher class escorts. The Impaler was instantly obliterated, following quickly by the small 9300-ton escorts. Seven Scorchers were rapidly blown to pieces before the sole survivor recovered from jump shock and escaped into Hades. Sixteen hours later, an Aquila was sent through the jump point, confirming no Ascendancy presence. Noctis Venator took the opportunity to move into Hades, where she detected the retreating Scorcher at sixteen million kilometres, moving at just 286 km/s. Rather than destroy it, the stealthy raider began shadowing the fleeing ship. As Noctis Venator moved away, a Vorchan destroyer squadron moved to the Hades – Belial jump point in her wake, but declined to transit into Belial.

In mid-February 4010, Astra Fidelis was surveying the Damocles system, two transits outward from Nocturne via Morpheus, when she detected Vorchan Primus, the first Ascendancy battlefleet to be detected and not seen since February 4002, when it was observed in Avernus, nine transits from its current location. Damocles was seven jumps from Sol and six from the Vorchan system, with both Beta Hydri and Nocturne on the direct route, and was therefore considered to be a safe area for survey ships. Astra Fidelis was operating with active sensors on, which is why she detected the Xenos fleet at sixty-five million kilometres, close to the lone planet orbiting the primary.

The 15,000-ton survey frigate disengaged her active sensors and ran for the Morpheus jump point. Unfortunately, the Vorchan battlefleet had detected her approach and gave chase. Astra Fidelis could not outrun her pursuers and was destroyed by two salvos of torpedoes. The presence of the twenty warships of Vorchan Primus in Damocles was a threat to Nocturne, Beta Hydri and Erebus, all systems that were thought to be behind the lines and had recently contributed ships to Battlefleet Mortis, which was forward deployed in Belial. Oculus Nox had recently laid buoys in Morpheus and at the Damocles – Morpheus jump point, so there would at least be some warning if Vorchan Primus approached.

Author Topic: Gothic V Campaign (Read 1195 times)

Steve Walmsley (OP)

Gothic V Campaign

Steve Walmsley (OP)

Re: Gothic V Campaign

Steve Walmsley (OP)

Re: Gothic V Campaign

Steve Walmsley (OP)

Re: Gothic V Campaign

Steve Walmsley (OP)

Re: Gothic V Campaign

Steve Walmsley (OP)

Re: Gothic V Campaign

Steve Walmsley (OP)

Re: Gothic V Campaign

Steve Walmsley (OP)

Re: Gothic V Campaign

Steve Walmsley (OP)

Re: Gothic V Campaign