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This article, Devastation at Viltessa Secundus, was written by Achilles Prime. Please do not edit or 'acquire' this fiction without the writer's permission. |
At the urging of the Librarius, the Chapter made for war. Due to a foreboding and persistent Tarot reading foretelling of great loss and anguish for the Emperor's Imperium.
First to be drawn was The God-Emperor card face down, foretelling of a brutal conflict with hopeless odds, signalling great loss for the Imperium. Next the Space Marine card was drawn face up, it's meaning a sign of hope, a shield and bulwark for the enemies of Man to crash against in their folly, though when paired with the face down God-Emperor card could spell disaster and ruin. Last to be drawn was the Abhorrent card, signalling the malicious and abominable taint of the alien, a card that was left to interpretation, for when it's drawn it does not always lead to conflict, but an interaction with a Xenos race or something Xenos related in general is a certainty.
The Chapter was drew out of the Halo Stars to the relatively nearby outskirts of the Calyx Expanse, a region known as the Temnelis Sector. Like a creeping sickness the Chapter was filled with an unease at the Tarot's message, but it was quickly culled before it's insidious roots could take hold as they remained resolute none the less to their duty. Within the dual planet system of Viltessa the worlds of Viltessa Prime and Viltessa Secundus found their home, the former a sprawling Hive World home to billions of Imperial souls and the latter a desert world with the classification of a Dead World. Even with the risk presented by entering an Imperial held system, a flotilla of five Void Krakens' vessels, most notable the Battle Barge Depth Born and two Strike Cruisers Fell Tide and Vengeful Current, together holding the 1st, 2nd and 3rd companies respectively, emerged from warp at the system's rim.
It was during their course to Viltessa Secundus, a barren world of red sand wastelands and a harsh broiling atmosphere, that the Astartes' vessels came into a confrontation with an enemy hiding within the shadow behind the planet's dull ashen moon. A flotilla of Eldar ships bearing the heraldry of Craftworld Il-Kaithe and colours of purple and green sat within the moon's shadows.