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History of Cygnus Primaris: The Grostiche Incident

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To: The Office of the Governor Militant
From: Selusia Continental Command, Col Markus Cochrane of the Cadian 101st
Regarding: Selusia Security Reports
Classification: Crimson

Since the time of last months Security Report we have little new to offer Cygnus Command with regard to credible threats. As you well know the Selusian Continent is mostly a frozen waste with ice pack so thick and temperatures so cold that no enemy could mount any feasible threat. Selusia Command remains at the ready and are ever diligent regardless.

I have little else to offer and would end this transmission here if not for the urgings of some of the field command who insist I make note of what they have dubbed the “Grostiche Incident”

Grostiche is a range of mountains that crosses the northern plains of Selusia and dotted with pits of rock but mostly flat plains and coniferous forests. An Armored Detachment from Lt Col Brunwaldt’s tank company had been out searching the Grostiche mountains that pass through sector seven looking for a lost Chimera full of tech adepts and auxiliary support staff that had been lost in a white out. Their homing beacons had seemed to malfunction as well. The Armored Detachment traced them to the point where their homing beacon failed.

The detachment found the Chimera nestled between some large rocky outcroppings to shelter it from the blizzard. As they neared within several kilometers of the Chimera their own beacon systems began to fail and Vox Casters supposedly began to broadcast Xenos whispers and odd noises. I mark up most of what I’ve said and what I will follow with as superstitious hysteria from local conscripts within the 101st Selusian Imperial Guard.

They say they spotted shapes moving in the snow storm that were draped in flayed skin that had belonged to some of the Tech adepts. They say these shapes had knives for fingers and a relentless desire to coat their skeletal forms in more wet flesh.
A survivor from the Basilisk crew mentions that specters rose up from the ice, their bodies immaterial and ghastly, and that they flew across the ground and ripped through metal bulkheads with a might that even Ogren cannot muster.

The few remaining Tech Adepts were loaded onto a Hellhound that had managed to penetrate the snow and were rescued. The Hellhound crew relates a fantastic tail of ice covered and snow packed skeletons carrying weapons that would strip the layers away from Imperial armor and that these weapons were no larger then a las rifle. One of them reports a pair of ponderous pyramids that phased onto the ice fields in a dim flash of green light.

They say hideous mechanical undead marched from the swirling vortex within these idols while throwing bursts of explosive green power around the battlefield. They say no amount of ordinance could penetrate their hides and any superficial damage done to it was reknits by this fantastical living metal.

The local population have many colorful stories about such odd and unbelievable enemies. It most likely is resultant from unconfirmed and unreliable Imperial reports of robotic Xenos found on dead worlds. Such outrageous stories may have found their way into the culture of the local population via the loose lips of drunk officers and naval adepts during the first days of the garrison construction.

What is confirmed is that something prevented the return of all but one tank from the detachment. It is more likely that the cause for this is revolutionist traitors from extremist groups found here in Selusia and all around Cygnus. These ignorant fools believe the gracious hand of the Emperor and his forces is to oppressive for their little world. They may have clothed and armed themselves in a manner similar to these restless dead that are part of the local color in order to shake the spirits of the Selusian guard. I assure you it has not weakened our resolve any. This is far more likely a scenario then ice phantoms.

Thought for the Day: The Loyal Servant Learns to Love the Lash

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Cygnus Tomb Necrons Vs Armored Company of the Cadian 101st
Game Size: 1440
Mission Type: Take and Hold
Result: Solid Victory for the Cygnus Tomb