Erebus Ascends

Erebus Ascends is the name of the xenocidal extermination campaign conducted by the Blood Vultures, Blazing Claws and Iron Scorpions Chapters against the encroaching Tyranid menace, in the form of Hive Fleet Erebus.

History
When the Ultima Segmentum was beset upon by a xenos menace known as the Tyranids, they first made contact with Hive Fleet Erebus, a small and highly evolution-prone Tyranid Hive Fleet. These first wave of Tyranids were believed to by an evolved amalgamation of splinter fleets descended from the bulk of what would later be known as Hive Fleet Behemoth. By the late 800's.M41, circumstances and opportunity presented itself to the beleaguered military forces of the Imperium. Led by the efforts of the Blazing Claws Chapter, the Chapter quickly sent out an Astropathic message calling for assistance. Their call for assistance was heard, and was answered in the form of the Iron Scorpions and Blood Vultures Chapters. The latter sent a single company strike force, comprised of the elite 2nd Veteran Company ('Black Vultures') - the Chapter's Terminator elite - to assist the Blazing Claws.

The bellicose Blood Commander Arkash Cruor, the Master of the Black Vultures, led his company in this dire undertaking with much relish. He saw it as an opportunity for his warriors to test themselves against a potent enemy. Though the 2nd Company arrived late in the campaign, they didn't disappoint, causing untold devastation amongst the Tyranids in surgical decapitation strikes, clearing paths for their cousin Chapters. Before the 'Black Vultures' could help finish with the eradication of Hive Fleet Erebus, there were quickly re-called back to their Chapter homeworld of Regark, as they received word from several of the Chapter's outer rim watch stations that one of their populated moons faced an imminent attack by a massive fleet of marauding Chaos Space Marines.