EVENT - The Campaigns on the Eastern Fringe

[Sigismund229]

Over the course of our starting work on Book 2 and beginning to outline what will happen in book 3, the campaigns on the Eastern Fringe have grown far larger than I initially anticipated. So, I'm starting this thread so that we can keep all of the information of them, ideas regarding them etc. in one place rather than having it scattered all over the General Discussions and Book threads as well as various private conversations. So, without further ado:

 

Phase 1(038.M31-?)

 

Loyalists

Order of Battle: Dune Serpents, Solar Auxilia, Forge Wold Hepheasta

 

Dramatis Personae:

 

Dune Serpents:

• Azus, primarch of the XIVth legion
• Lawrence

 

Insurrectionists

Insurrectionist Order of Battle: Steel Legion, Drowned, Solar Auxilia

 

Dramatis Personae:

 

Steel Legion:

• Nomus Sardauk, primarch of the XVIIIth legion

 

Drowned:

• Sorrowsworn Morro, primarch of the XVIth legion
• Hennahson

Phase Summary

Having secured the galactic centre, Icarion begins to send his legions out to conquer other regions of the Imperium where the loyalist's hold is weak. One such is the Eastern Fringe, which is only guarded by the badly depleted Dune Serpents. Hitting hard and with numbers the XIVth can't hope to match, the Drowned and Steel Legion cut a path through the flanks of the Eastern Fringe, encircling and isolating it from the rest of the Imperium. However, rather than stand and defend the core worlds of the Eastern Fringe as the Insurrectionist expected them to, the Dune Serpents disperse and start harrying the Insurrectionist supply lines and rear lines, coordinated by Azus. This phase ends when the Steel Legion capture Azus and the Dune Serpents shatter, deprived of their primarch's leadership. With the breaking of the Dune Serpents legion, the Drowned begin to hunt its remnants across the Eastern Fringe and both Insurrectionist legions spread out to secure their conquest, the Steel Legion descending on the Forge World of Hepheasta to claim the technology hidden on it. 

 

Phase 2(?-?)

Loyalists:

Order of Battle: Void Eagles, Dune Serpents(shattered), Solar Auxilia. 

 

Dramatis Personae:

Void Eagles

• Yucahu, primarch of the IVth legion
• Admiral Ayelat, General-Sunderer of the 8th Fleet, Ash Walkers, placed in command of the Scorched Earth Operations
• Admiral Qalie, Fleetsmaster of the 9th, Orchestrator, second in command to Yucahu during the battle of ()

​Dune Serpents:

• Lawrence

 

Insurrectionists:

Order of Battle: Steel Legion, Drowned, Solar Auxilia. 

 

Dramatis Personae:

Steel Legion: 

• Nomus Sardauk, primarch of the XVIIIth legion

 

Drowned:

• Sorrowsworn Morro, primarch of the XVIth legion
• Hennahson

Phase Summary:

With Azus' capture, the Dune Serpents are broken and scattered to the winds. Seeing the defences on the Eastern Fringe collapsing, the Warmaster sends the Void Eagles to try and salvage as much of the situation as they can or, if not, deny the Insurrectionist as much as possible. Gathering the bulk of his legion, Yucahu smashes into the Insurrectionist rear and, while his legion is greatly outnumbered by their Insurrectionist counter parts, the initial shock of their sudden assault carries them to several victories. However, eventually as their being to lose momentum, the Insurrectionist fight back and at the battle of () they and the Steel Legion engage in a bloody void engagement in which both sides take serious losses. Seeing that he has lost the upper hand and has little chance of regaining it, outnumbered and on the offensive as he is, Yucahu and his legion adopt a scorched earth policy, evacuating everything he can to systems still in Imperial hands and burning what he can't move. By the same token, he unleashes his legion without any restraints. Eventually, he manages to fight the Steel Legion and Drowned to a standstill. As the Void Eagles are fighting this war, the Dune Serpents have been running rampant, raiding and burning as they wish. 

 

Phase 3(?-047.M31)

Loyalists:

Order of Battle: Predators, Dune Serpents(shattered), Solar Auxilia. 

 

Dramatis Personae:

Predators:

• Andezo Sambedi, primarch of the XXth legion

​Dune Serpents:

• Lawrence

 

 

Insurrectionists:

Order of Battle: Steel Legion, Drowned, Solar Auxilia. 

 

Dramatis Personae:

Steel Legion: 

• Nomus Sardauk, primarch of the XVIIIth legion

 

Drowned:

• Sorrowsworn Morro, primarch of the XVIth legion
• Hennahson

 

Phase Summary:

Predators counter-attack, culminating in an ambush that inflicts heavy losses on the Steel Legion. Other details to be decided

Edited November 28, 2017 by Lord Thørn

[Kelborn]

So I had the idea while on my way to work in the morning.

 

Steel Legion's somewhat owning the Eastern frontline until being countered by the Predators, right?

 

Had the idea that one certain battle is the cause of the Steel Legion breaking down. Don't know why but I somewhat love these kind of ambush. ^^

 

 

Predators, led by Andezo, lure the Steel Legion, led by Nomus, into a system with several asteroid rings as some of its planets were crushed eons ago.

Therefore, navigations are quite difficult. Nevertheless, a hard and bloody space battle occurs in which both Legions take heavy casualties.

Though Nomus superior tactical mind is the key to the SLs victory, Andezo is able to deal some serious blows against Nomus' capital ships by unorthodox tactics (for example using ships as rams, sacrificing escort ships as fireships, throwing them into the enemies bridges or hangars, etc.). In the heat of the battle, Nomus is too distracted by the Predators weird tactics that he looses a couple of his own ships due to these suicide fireships.

 

Therefore, he concentrates on the Death's Baron (Andezos flagship), resulting in the collapse of the Baron's defense shields. Unknown to him, Andezo had let it happen (like Russ did with the Alpha Legion) in order to draw Nomus on his ship. Some boarding actions done by the Steel Legion until Andezo retreats into one of the asteroid rings. Though this is a dangerous course, Nomus' still got his shields and follows his brother, intending to land the killing blow.

 

While the majorities of the fleets still fight amidst the void, the Death's Baron and Nomus' flagship trade barbs with each other.

 

All of the sudden, fire is opened upon Nomus from a not foreseeable source: the asteroids.

 

It is revealed that the entire battle was a great trap for Nomus. Andezo had lowered his shields and pretended to be weakened and trying to flee in order to get Nomus where he wanted him to be.

 

On the greatest asteroids, an entire Legion of Titans and several Acastus Knight Porphyrions had waited for the right time to strike, adding their devastating arsenal to that of the Baron. As Nomus had concentrated his shields to secure his front, his flanks are delivered to the lethal blows. Nomus' flagship is heavily damaged and it's shields are disabled.

 

Now, it is upon Andezo and his men to strike.

Andezo and his tribes teleport on Nomus' flagship, heading towards the essential core points of the ship: enginery bay, bridge, etc.

 

The fight culminates in a dual between Nomus and Andezo in which both of them show their skills in combat. Though Andezo is the superior fighter, Nomus is able to take more than suspected. In the end, Andezo is overwhelmed with Nomus' sheer fury and thundering fists. Andezo falls to his knees, the Ancient's Blade still in his hand and Nomus right behind him. As Nomus wants to deliver the killing blow, Andezo reacts and stabs himself with his blade and even further, Nomus as well. With both of them impaled on Andezo's blade, he says: "Gotcha!" and makes use of his biomancy powers, releasing devastating lightnings from his own into Nomus' body. 

 

Nomus is seriously hurt as the lightnings just blow up Nomus' artificial enhancements in his body. Furthermore, Andezo is able to change Nomus' body chemistry so that his flesh divests his implants. Nomus collapses.

Though victorious, Andezo is heavily injured as well (but can recover from it due to his biomancy powers) and retreats along his sons. The Steel Legion, which was connected with Nomus, gets a heavy drawback because of Nomus' demise, scattering their morale and discipline. The Steel Legion flees and with that victory, Andezo is able to push them back.

 

Three ways to end this battle:

- Andezo is able to end it by killing his brother

- Nomus dies because of his injuries later on

- Nomus survives by being even more augmented, making him somewhat of a mix between a Taghmata or a Dreadnaught

 

Whatever happens to his body, there is still the chance of a fourth way: Nomus is able to load up his consciousness into the Legions network, making him an absolute omnipresent being, detached from flesh. He could create avatars of his former body in order to be "real" again. Or he "possesses" some of his sons when his presence is necessary.

 

Thoughts? http://image.bolterandchainsword.com//public/style_emoticons/default/smile.png

Edited March 3, 2017 by Kelborn

[Skalpynock]

Not this early. Nomus dies at the earliest in 025.M33. Most likely he never dies, but possibly uploads himself in the Suzerainty Mainframe at some point between M33 and M41.

 

Additions to the Phase 2 order of battle:

 

⋅Admiral Ayelat, General-Sunderer of the 8th Fleet, Ash Walkers, placed in command of the Scorched Earth Operations

 

⋅Admiral Qalie, Fleetsmaster of the 9th, Orchestrator, second in command to Yucahu during the battle of ()

Edited March 3, 2017 by Skalpynock

[Kelborn]

Sure.

That's why I said, he can still survive. Besides that, decent enough to make use of?

[Sigismund229]

I think that the ambush should take place on a planet rather than in the void as we already have a lot of void engagements

[Kelborn]

Can be surely adapted and turned into a ground fight. A tank race could be of interest. Mastodon vs Mastodon B)

 

Showdown can occur in a jagged area full of hills, canyons and the likes.

[TheBlindPrimarch]

That and void warfare doesn't exactly seem like the strong suit of either legion.

[Kelborn]

So what?

 

Every Legion is capable of doing void warfare or using tanks as transports. I'm talking about Steel Legion could assault the Predators on a world. Big battle occurs in which Andezo "flees" in his Mastodon. Nomus is chasing after him and boom ambush.

 

Don't think that we only deal with the specialties of each and every Legion. Most of the time, Legions are forced to fight in all kind of ways.

[TheBlindPrimarch]

fair enough

[MikhalLeNoir]

I like that concept a lot however, the style of warfare is more akin how i see the dune serpents unusual tactics. Wasn't the preds seek and destroy? So they should be on the hunt not the other way around because the preds are going to be introduced and having them in one so important battle not beeing the hunters seem somewhat weird. If the battle would be on a later timeframe, where the preds and their fighting style of seek and destroy is already established it would giv e them an additional layer and strategic depth. That soon however would convolute the image of the preds imho. Even legion specific battles and the hostory in the book wouldn't help, it would confuse the reader even more.

 

 

But these are just my two cents.

 

 

On the death: he could ipload himself to the steel legion and spread across all of his sons and live on and as soon as the suzi is created he can upload himself to the suzis mainframe. The suzi don't have to be established in order for him to become a spark in the heads of his sons ( and having an avatar for him is cool. He could have different bodies ( or a reference to the 7 paths of pain from naruto^^) and he chooses always the fittest for battle or has a special kill team squad ( pain)

 

 

That would be awesome

[Kelborn]

Fair point, Mikhal.

 

Maybe I was a bit too fanboy-ish and focusing on the hunter laying traps. ^^

 

With the help of the Serpents, Andezo could still do this. Let the Serpents lure Nomus into the trap and Andezo would deal the killing blow.

 

Good thing is that the Preds and the DS are fellow warriors, so it would be reasonable for them to do teamwork against Nomus.

 

And yeah, Nomus being Pain-ish was my initial idea all along. ^^

 

But I won't decide that without Sangi & Griff.

Edited March 3, 2017 by Kelborn

[Sigismund229]

Or maybe just do away with the whole idea of the Steel Legion charging headlong into a trap. They don't seem like the kind of legion who would do that unlike some(eyes the Crimson Lions). How about:

 

Upon the world of (?) the Steel Legion have, for whatever reaso, dug in. This position is nestled among hills with swamps either side of it which are judged to be an unlikely avenue of attack due to their density.

 

The first predator attack comes from where the Steel Legion expect it to and is an armoured assault, guns blazing that goes crashing into the Steel Legion lines. At first the SL lines give before the attack's ferocity but the SL soon rally and are able to counter-attack, driving hard into the Predator's centre and it' here that the two primarchs meet. However, then Predators units either:

 

1. Spring forth from around the Predator's flanks

 

Or

 

2. Emerge from the swamps

 

and surround the SL legion. Like Cannae IN SPAAAACE. However, due to greater coordination, a large number of the SL manage to withdraw.

[TheBlindPrimarch]

Quick question...have we ever considered the possibility of a Primarch being captured and shown the error in his thinking? On either side of the insurrection?

[Skalpynock]

Quick question...have we ever considered the possibility of a Primarch being captured and shown the error in his thinking? On either side of the insurrection?

Azus on the DoR. He ends up in Kozja and Zumras' hands and scalpels.

[Sigismund229]

 

Quick question...have we ever considered the possibility of a Primarch being captured and shown the error in his thinking? On either side of the insurrection?

Azus on the DoR. He ends up in Kozja and Zumras' hands and scalpels.

Actually that's been retconned. He now gets captured during the fighting on the Eastern Fringe by the Steel Legion. And then handed over to Jade and Kozja

[Skalpynock]

A change I am not strongly against.

[Nomus Sardauk]

 

So I had the idea while on my way to work in the morning.

 

Steel Legion's somewhat owning the Eastern frontline until being countered by the Predators, right?

 

Had the idea that one certain battle is the cause of the Steel Legion breaking down. Don't know why but I somewhat love these kind of ambush. ^^

 

 

Predators, led by Andezo, lure the Steel Legion, led by Nomus, into a system with several asteroid rings as some of its planets were crushed eons ago.

Therefore, navigations are quite difficult. Nevertheless, a hard and bloody space battle occurs in which both Legions take heavy casualties.

Though Nomus superior tactical mind is the key to the SLs victory, Andezo is able to deal some serious blows against Nomus' capital ships by unorthodox tactics (for example using ships as rams, sacrificing escort ships as fireships, throwing them into the enemies bridges or hangars, etc.). In the heat of the battle, Nomus is too distracted by the Predators weird tactics that he looses a couple of his own ships due to these suicide fireships.

 

Therefore, he concentrates on the Death's Baron (Andezos flagship), resulting in the collapse of the Baron's defense shields. Unknown to him, Andezo had let it happen (like Russ did with the Alpha Legion) in order to draw Nomus on his ship. Some boarding actions done by the Steel Legion until Andezo retreats into one of the asteroid rings. Though this is a dangerous course, Nomus' still got his shields and follows his brother, intending to land the killing blow.

 

While the majorities of the fleets still fight amidst the void, the Death's Baron and Nomus' flagship trade barbs with each other.

 

All of the sudden, fire is opened upon Nomus from a not foreseeable source: the asteroids.

 

It is revealed that the entire battle was a great trap for Nomus. Andezo had lowered his shields and pretended to be weakened and trying to flee in order to get Nomus where he wanted him to be.

 

On the greatest asteroids, an entire Legion of Titans and several Acastus Knight Porphyrions had waited for the right time to strike, adding their devastating arsenal to that of the Baron. As Nomus had concentrated his shields to secure his front, his flanks are delivered to the lethal blows. Nomus' flagship is heavily damaged and it's shields are disabled.

 

Now, it is upon Andezo and his men to strike.

Andezo and his tribes teleport on Nomus' flagship, heading towards the essential core points of the ship: enginery bay, bridge, etc.

 

The fight culminates in a dual between Nomus and Andezo in which both of them show their skills in combat. Though Andezo is the superior fighter, Nomus is able to take more than suspected. In the end, Andezo is overwhelmed with Nomus' sheer fury and thundering fists. Andezo falls to his knees, the Ancient's Blade still in his hand and Nomus right behind him. As Nomus wants to deliver the killing blow, Andezo reacts and stabs himself with his blade and even further, Nomus as well. With both of them impaled on Andezo's blade, he says: "Gotcha!" and makes use of his biomancy powers, releasing devastating lightnings from his own into Nomus' body.

 

Nomus is seriously hurt as the lightnings just blow up Nomus' artificial enhancements in his body. Furthermore, Andezo is able to change Nomus' body chemistry so that his flesh divests his implants. Nomus collapses.

Though victorious, Andezo is heavily injured as well (but can recover from it due to his biomancy powers) and retreats along his sons. The Steel Legion, which was connected with Nomus, gets a heavy drawback because of Nomus' demise, scattering their morale and discipline. The Steel Legion flees and with that victory, Andezo is able to push them back.

 

Three ways to end this battle:

- Andezo is able to end it by killing his brother

- Nomus dies because of his injuries later on

- Nomus survives by being even more augmented, making him somewhat of a mix between a Taghmata or a Dreadnaught

 

Whatever happens to his body, there is still the chance of a fourth way: Nomus is able to load up his consciousness into the Legions network, making him an absolute omnipresent being, detached from flesh. He could create avatars of his former body in order to be "real" again. Or he "possesses" some of his sons when his presence is necessary.

 

Thoughts?

http://image.bolterandchainsword.com//public/style_emoticons/default/smile.png

I like it a lot Kel, you're a bloody genius even, especially with how Andezo defeats Nomus. An unfalteringly logical mind like Nomus wouldn't even consider the seemingly counter-productive possibility of Andezo stabbing through himself to land a decisive blow on him.

Also, as Skalpy said, Nomus wouldn't die this early on as it's already been decided he's the last man standing of the Suzerainity Primarch Trio, with Kozja getting space cancer from his self-experimenting and going into stasis while Jade gets SHORYUKEN'ed by the False Primarch. By extension Andezo's bio-lightning destroying Nomus's implants, while certainly dramatic, would unfortunately kill Nomus due to how his implants are connected to some pretty important organs, ie his brain, same thing for Andezo's biomancy forcing Nomus's body to reject his organs. However the lightning problem can be neatly sidestepped by the logical assumption that Nomus would probably make sure his bionics are modified to be safe from electrical and other energy discharges, obviously warp lightning doesn't quite play by the same rules but this way while Andezo's bio-lightning will still :cuss: Nomus up really, really badly it won't also turn his brains to scrambled eggs. As for the biomancy rejecting bionics, that's a seriously complex thing to do, especially when Andezo would also be getting electrocuted through his sword stuck in him, so personally I'd cut that part out.

 

Anyway, so Nomus collapses to the floor, spasming erratically in pain and is left defenceless as Andezo slowly picks himself up, but that leaves the question as to why Andezo would retreat with his sons rather than finish Nomus off in his vulnerable state? I have a possible solution for this, perhaps Nomus, being a practical chap, has an emergency failsafe built into his armour that basically activates a personal teleporter to whisk him away to a pre-determined safe location should his vitals reach dangerous levels?

 

As for the four ending ideas you mentioned, obviously 1, 2 and 4 are out given we're already established Nomus lives through the Insurrection but I don't see him going with 3 either given his desire to hold on to his humanity, plus adding more of the things that lost you the fight seems highly counter-intuitive. Therefore I propose, so as not to downplay the severity of the wounds Andezo inflicted, that due to the synaptic overload he suffered Nomus falls into a coma for several months as his body slowly repairs and his mind recovers, this gives plenty of time for the newly reinforced Loyalists to push the Insurrectionists back while the Steel Legion are still reeling and without the unnatural co-ordination granted by their Primarch's leadership.

 

What do you think?

 

Not this early. Nomus dies at the earliest in 025.M33. Most likely he never dies, but possibly uploads himself in the Suzerainty Mainframe at some point between M33 and M41.

 

I actually already had an idea for Nomus's fate, specifically him sort of resigning himself to things and giving up on his dream of achieving an understanding of mortals in the decades or centuries following the War of the False Primarch.

 

Tired of his lonely existence in an unwanted position of leadership over the Suzerainity with Kozja & Jade gone and his remaining loyalist brothers unable to forgive his mistakes, he realises his only hope for a family again is if the Emperor personally forgives him. Therefore he retreats to his inner sanctum and seals himself inside his bacta-tank thingy to await the day the Emperor returns, essentially returning to the state the AI Overseer had him in during his youth so he can mercifully slumber through the millenia while still leading the Suzerainity from a distance via his direct link to the Suzerainity's Interplanetary Network System (a later development of the Collective made to help co-ordinate & defend the Suze) and making sure things don't go completely to :cuss: in his absence.

Edited March 3, 2017 by SanguiniusReborn

[Sigismund229]

I believe that Nomus will be the last primarch standing. As far as loyalists go I believe we determined that Hec would be last man standing among them and he goes missing fighting the Nomads around the same time as Jade dies fighting the False Primarch

 

Sl as far as family is concerned, Nomus will have lost all of his uncorrupted brothers to one thing or another

Edited March 3, 2017 by Sigismund229

[Kelborn]

Thanks, Sangi.

 

I agree in a lot of points with you. Glad that you like it. Think that we can use it as a basement. Along with Sigis and Mikhals suggedtion, we can turn this into a pretty awesome scene. ^^

 

Did someone read the Darth Vader vs Darth Maul comic? Though it's not canon anymore, it's nearly a masterpiece. Maul owns Vader until Vader stabs himself and kills Maul.

 

Maul asks: What in the world do you hate so much to defeat me?

Vader: Myself.

 

Awesome! Bloody lovin' it. That scene came up on my mind and it did fit so well. ^^

Edited March 3, 2017 by Kelborn

[Nomus Sardauk]

 

Thanks, Sangi.

 

I agree in a lot of points with you. Glad that you like it. Think that we can use it as a basement. Along with Sigis and Mikhals suggedtion, we can turn this into a pretty awesome scene. ^^

 

Did someone read the Darth Vader vs Darth Maul comic? Though it's not canon anymore, it's nearly a masterpiece. Maul owns Vader until Vader stabs himself and kills Maul.

 

Maul asks: What in the world do you hate so much to defeat me?

Vader: Myself.

 

Awesome! Bloody lovin' it. That scene came up on my mind and it did fit so well. ^^

 

Oh I know that scene! I've seen that panel before online, no idea where I saw it but I remember thinking how awesome it was. What was the title of the comic? Or was it just Darth Maul vs Darth Vader?

[Kelborn]

Vader vs Maul

Lucas Books

August 2002

Oldie but goldie. ;)

One of my all-time favorites.

[simison]

I'm waiting on Athrawes for a reply, Hesh is busy, and Grifft has turned in for the night. What is the next item for 'book' 2?

[Sigismund229]

I'm waiting on Athrawes for a reply, Hesh is busy, and Grifft has turned in for the night. What is the next item for 'book' 2?

Apart ftom the Eastern Fringe which is wip? There's also the Campaigns in the Galactic Core and the battle of the Forge

[simison]

Question: where are House Toho and the Insurgos?

[Sigismund229]

Question: where are House Toho and the Insurgos?

House Toho: Wasn't even aware they were supposed to be part of the Campaign on the Eastern Fringe. Can't really help you there

 

Insurgos: They're scattered across the Imperium conducting raids to keep loyalist forces occupied and disrupt supply lines etc. meaning that, while present, they aren't a "large-scale" force on the Eastern Fringe.