The Warzone

Magos 3Y Chal-Alpha of the Adeptus Mechanicus working under the guidance of Belisarius Cawl has made a discovery - a datastream that when loaded into a corrupted machine spirit, cleanses the taint of Chaos. After extensive testing and refinement in secret, the time has come to finally put this new development to a true test.

Now the Imperium musters its strength; under the leadership of Ultramarines Captain Marcus Gabriel a fleet is sent to the Athelstan system with a mission. Threaten the Hell-Forge with sufficient strength to trigger the awakening of Morea Furor, then flood its data channels with the Mechanicus's datastream in a final test of its efficacy. Aeternus Rex and Ilotar Fortis have joined the war effort, to maximize the plan's chances of success. If their plan works, the brothers will be united once again in their war against Horus and his traitors. But even more significantly, the Imperium will have made a huge technological leap in its arms race against the ruinous powers.

Governor Tukos Insidiat runs Athelstan Prime's forges for the Warmaster - but he aspires to so much more. When he first learned of the Imperium's plan to invade the Athelstan system, he welcomed the opportunity to prove himself in battle. But when he later discovered they were bringing two ancient Warlord titans with them in a misguided attempt to cleanse their fallen brother ... he could barely contain himself. Morea Furor had always been his personal pet, and now he was being given the delicious opportunity to expand his vast arsenal threefold.

Vivis Ilphant'ar, Drukhari Archon of the Umbral Regard is a practical type. When they see something they want, they take it. And when word came to them of the Imperium's creation of a device that can cleanse the taint of Chaos, he was ... at least interested, if not impressed. Perhaps with a bit of tweaking, the core concepts could be built into a warding to protect a soul. Regardless, they needed to get their hands on it first, and for that they'd need a respectable fighting force. And so Ilphant'ar set about doing what they do best - convincing others to do their work for them. Through assorted backchannels, a motley crew of pirates and mercenaries was assembled to crash the party on Athlestan Prime where they would find out if the Imperium really had managed to devise a way to counter the influence of Chaos, and if so, to steal it.

Athlestan Prime is orbited by a single moon called Gaiapan which is home to a research project led by one of Fabius Bile's oldest pupils, Apothecary Malfect Omegon. Here, Omegon conducts research on blending the taint of Chaos with the Genestealer virus, technology that, if mastered, would be a potent boon to the Warmaster and his Crusade. Powerful warp dampeners keep the captive synaptic organisms from communicating with their larger hive fleet, and the physical isolation of the moon itself serves as a last resort in the event of an outbreak. Unfortunately for Omegon (and for everyone else really as well), the sudden arrival of the Imperium fleet into the Athlestan system created a significant warpsurge that disrupted the facility's dampeners for the briefest of moments. Just long enough for one of the bio-organisms on Gaiapan to reach across the void to make contact with the Hive Mind. Now the vanguard forces of a nearby splinter arm of Hive Fleet Agathos bear down on the Athlestan system to rescue their beleaguered kin.