Fall of Thuyela

The Fall of Thuyela is an event that happened during the Great Crusade at the end of the 30th Millenium, and saw the destruction of the Eldar Craftworld of Thuyela at the hands of the Sirens of Kastar, Ashen Crows and Palatine Wings. The conflict also saw the creation of the Land Raider Icarus, a varient of the Land Raider battle tank that used gravitic plates to speed across the battlefield, and soon began to see use in the armouries of other legions beyond those three.

## Forces Present

### Sirens of Kastar

* Caladrial Hex - Primarch of the Sirens of kastar
* Forgemaster Kalvar Numea of the Paestum House
	+ 1st Chapter of the Samudra House
	+ 3rd Chapter of the Pelorum House
	+ 9th Chapter of the Starbone House

### Ashen Crows

* Galvarian - Primarch of the Ashen Crows Legion
* Flock Master Averlos - Legion Master of the Ashen Crows
	+ 1st Great Flock

### Palatine Wings

* Warleader Laereas Drancus - Commander of the 6th Brotherhood and overall commander of the Palatine Wings
* Captain Codasay - Commander of the 7th Sky Corps
* Forge Lord Niakon - Part of the 51st Company and highest ranking Tech Marine of the Palatine Wings present
* Jarog Epistolary Dykyn Harlak - Commander of the Jarog attached to the Palatine Wings contingent.
	+ The 6th Warband
		- The 6th Brotherhood
		- The 59th Company
		- The 7th Sky Corps

### Mortal Forces

* Combat Master Pawel Korine of the 40th Expeditionary Fleet and the Naronian 1st Regiment of the Imperial Army.
* Princeps Kaltora of the Legio Ignatum “The Fire Wasps”

## History

During the Great Crusade in the late 30th Millennium, the 40th Expeditionary Fleet encountered a race of unusually humanoid xenos in Kobolt space who were lethal and proud, and had no interest in human affairs. Little more was divined about their nature, the species striking with blinding speed before withdrawing once more, baffling sensors and attempts at quantification. Nevertheless, the 40th advanced, eventually finding the xenos’s base of operations, a gargantuan vessel that sparkled as if it was made of glass, soon nicknamed as the "Scintilla City”. It was at this point the race was finally identified, Eldar, living on one of their giant craftworlds, known in their own xenos tongue as Thuyela.

True to their capricious nature, the Aeldari of Thuyela attacked the 40th Expeditionary Fleet without apparent reason or explanation time and time again, managing to fight the Imperial fleet to a standstill. Swallowing his pride, Combat Master Pawel Korine, overall Imperial Commander of the 40th Expeditionary Fleet, requested aid from the Emperor’s greatest warriors, and shortly afterwards, the Legiones Astartes answered in the form of three separate legions, the Vth, XI**th** and XIVth.

Largest of these forces were the XIVth Legion, the Palatine Wings arriving in the form of the 6th Warband, commanded by the controversial Laereas Drancus, taking the mantle of War Leader of the assembled Palatine Wings forces, the 6th Brotherhood, 59th Company and 7th Sky Corps. However, of the three legions, they alone arrived without their genesire in command, and as such were denied command despite their larger size.

Next to answer the call were the warriors of Kastar, the Vth Legion, led by the Genesire, Caladrial Hex. they boasted the smallest force of Astartes, and yet with them rode five titans of Legio Ignatum, The Fire Wasps, their power supplementing the three chapters brought by the Vth.

And finally, the Ashen Crows arrived, the 1st Great Flock entering the system, led by Galvarian himself, the new Legion Master, Flock Master Averlos close by his side.

With these three legions working together, Caladrial and Galvarian splitting command, Imperial forces laid siege to, and then landed upon, Thuyela, though once again became pinned down, the Eldar forces eclipsing the speed of the heavy Imperial vehicles, while their firepower eclipsed that of the fast Imperial landspeeders or jetbikes. The casualties spiked in those first few days, especially amongst vehicles, the Land Raider fleets of all three legions being targeted and knocked out with such rapidity that soon their wrecks littered the Scintilla City. Something had to change, Caladrial approaching Galvarian for just this purpose.

A faster tank was required, something that could deliver firepower at speed, while still retaining enough armour to survive some of the reprisals. In this, only a Land Raider would suffice, and Galvarian began to draw up plans to re-create the mighty hover raiders of the Ist Legion. This would have been no small feat off the battlefield, their technology lost to time, and on the battlefield, it was simply not feasible. It was only through Caladrial’s own words that this point was fully taken on board by the First Ember, plans revised to use what was at hand, far smaller and more manageable in scope.

Working alongside the Mechanicum contingents, as well as the Forge Masters of the Sirens of Kastar and Palatine Wings, Kalvar Numea and Niakon respectively, Galvarian spearheaded this new project, which saw the wreck of Imperial vehicles given new life, Caladrial remaining on hand to provide his own expertise with gravtic-tech, as well as keeping Galvarians grand ideas in check.

Land Raiders had their armour lessened, still heavier than many vehicles but no longer the near-impervious plating they usually boasted, as well as having fully half of their weaponry removed, the aim a simple one; cut back on weight to allow for the gravitic plates of four land speeders to be mounted underneath the tank in place of tracks, creating a far more heavily armoured fast skimmer.

Soon, the vehicle was ready, dubbed the Land Raider Icarus by Galvarian. Still boasting the powerful frontal armour of the land raider, the vehicle's rear armour was lighter as a result. It only mounted a pair of las-cannons in total, rather than a pair each side, and it's heavy bolters had been stripped back, replaced instead with multilasers, reducing the need for physical ammunition and further lowering the weight. Finally, the vehicle was no longer able to transport terminators, their weight far too much for the new vehicle, and yet for all this, the Icarus was perfect.

With a fleet of these provided to every legion present, the Imperium struck once more, and now, the Eldar fell back, dying in droves as their precious glass city shattering around them. Soon, the Eldar were no more, the Land Raider Icarus a resounding success. In time, the design would be ratified by the Mechanicum, sanctified for continued use and further improved upon outside of battlefield conditions. Purpose made Icarus were soon seen in the armouries of far more legions, though always in small numbers, the delicate technology required in their construction making them a rare sight, more often deployed for specialised missions, rather than used as a matter of standard operating procedure.

## The Land Riader Icarus

An attempt to recreate the unique Hover Raiders of the Ist Legion, the Land Raider Icarus was initially created by Galvarian of the Ashen Crows, working alongside Caladrial Hex of the Sirens of Kastar, and representatives from the Palatine Wings forges and the Mechanicum during the Fall of Thuyela. Less armoured and more lightly armed than the standard Land Raider, as well as being unable to carry Terminators, the land Raider Icarus is nonetheless a potent vehicle, able to keep up with even the fastest of enemy vehicles, while retaining enough armour and firepower to be a constant threat to any target. The Mechanicum ratified the design soon after the campaign, and the Icarus began appearing in other legions armouries in small numbers.

### Armament

The Land Raider Icarus was forced to cut down on weight to operate as it does. As such, it is far lighter armed and armoured than its predecessor. The Icarus mounts the following pieces of Wargear:

* **Two Single Lascannons**
* **Twin-Linked Multilaser**
* **Searchlight**
* **Smoke Launchers**
* **Machine Spirit**

A Legion Land Raider Icarus may take one of the following pintle-mounted weapons:

* **Combi-Weapon**
* **Heavy Flamer**
* **Multi-Melta**

Legion Land Raider Icarus may also have a variety of vehicle equipment such as:

* **Hunter-Killer Missile Launcher**
* **Armoured Ceramite Plating**
* **Frag Assault Launchers**

When in a squadron of three, one Legion Land Raider Icarus can be upgaded to the following:

* **Squadron Command Tank**