Nebulas Campaign

## History

"*Nothing fears a seasoned war like the obscurity.*"
— An unknown Veteran of the Ashen Hawks 3rd Company
At the time of the 41st Millennium, despite the fact that most of the human worlds had been returned to the bosom of the Imperium by Abbadon's efforts, there was still a part of the galaxy that had not been conquered. It was this area that caused the most problems for the Imperium of Humanity: numerous hordes of terrible xenos carried out raids from here deep into human possessions, any attempts to conquer or at least explore this region did not give results. This segment of the galaxy was both the last missing detail for full control over the entire galaxy, and the main problem for those who tried to master and explore it. And the name of this region is Veiled Stars or Veiled Region.

Due to the large accumulation of nebulae, navigation in this region is impossible. Even the light of the ubiquitous Astronomicon cannot penetrate through the "veil" of nebulous clusters of gases and cosmic particles. In the east of this region, in the most explored part of the Veiled Stars, gangs of green-skinned pirates led by the great warboss Aklash Mag' Koi are engaged in robbery. From the cold south, where new stars are born, regular raids are carried out by xenos unknown to the Imperium.

Although this region was inconvenient for the imperial ships of free traders, until the 41st millennium, the Lords of Terra saw no point in further conquering this rebellious region. The reason for the start of a new expedition mission deep into the Veiled Stars was the occurrence of anomalous activity of artificial origin in the southern and south-western limits in the radar visibility zone. Many imperial analysts suggest that a new warp storm is forming in this segment, which may threaten not only the complete isolation of the Veiled Stars from the Imperium, but also a catastrophe for the entire south of the galaxy.

The main suspicions about the artificial origin of this anomaly are related to the fact that the region is sparsely populated, besides the Great Rift is far enough away from it, which makes it clear that warp activity in this region is minimal. In 992 M41, a large expedition was assembled, called the "Nebulas Crusade". The expedition included the advanced fleets of the Alpha Legion and the Order of the Ashen Hawks.

## Artifacts

At the time of the beginning of the Nebulas Crusade, the eastern reaches were already well developed for making flights, but the planets recently discovered by the Imperium were neither studied nor mastered.In addition to the dangerous xenos races that hypothetically inhabited these planets, artifacts - mysterious products of unknown origin with abnormal power-were especially attracted to officials from the Administratum and priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Tech-priests viewed artifacts as previously unexplored by the STC, free traders saw them as a commodity that could pay off well and bring a fortune.

It would seem that all parties in the Imperium had to support the expedition deep into the Veiled Stars. But, unexpectedly (and perhaps expectedly), representatives of the Ecclesiarchy and the Inquisition opposed this. At an extraordinary council, the intentions of the Lords of Terra were condemned and called heretical. Cardinal Titian Suetonius described the newly found artifacts as "heretical, dark sources of dark energy that concentrate the power of destructive forces". Of course, despite such harsh criticism, the decree on the beginning of the Nebulas Crusade was adopted at the discretion and was approved by an absolute majority of the Council of Lords of Terra. Free traders took this with enthusiasm and many of them began to prepare their fleets for expeditions deep into the region and buy licenses to conduct trade in this sector.

## Beginning of the Expedition

### Disembarkation

Almost immediately after the adoption of the decree on the beginning of the new Crusade, the airspace of the Segmentum Obscurus was filled with many spaceships. The Legions of Astartes, the Inquisition, Black Shields (in particular, the Order of the Ashen Hawks), Free Traders-all wanted to eat a piece of a new "delicious pie" and get new artifacts into their possession. The ambitions were colossal: some wanted to turn every planet into a Fortress-Monastery, others - into one big factory serving for the benefit of Mars. A real "gold rush" has begun.

The Crusade began at the end of the 41st millennium. At the forefront of the Crusade's advanced forces were the flagships of the Ashen Hawks and the Alpha Legion. It was they who were destined to be the first to witness those terrible secrets associated with this sector. After a long journey between the cosmic nebulae of newborn stars, the first planet appeared in the field of view. It was the planet Zeta-Briss - a cold, uninhabited world of death, almost completely immersed in darkness. This planet was not listed anywhere before, it is not in the Administratum data, nor in earlier sources. Many were not even sure whether this planet was discovered by mankind during the Dark Era of Technology. In general, the very fact of the existence of Zetta-Briss was only very insignificant until recently. The forces of the expedition had to face the most insidious enemy - obscurity.

As soon as the main contingent of the expeditionary forces made a successful landing on Zetta-Briss, the Mechanicums immediately began to explore the planet for the presence of artifacts and CTS. A gloomy picture opened before the disembarked: a deserted, almost completely devoid of relief wasteland was enveloped in pitch darkness. Only small gaps in the clouds caught a glimpse of the gigantic chunks of black stone casually scattered across the planet. In places of tectonic faults, the wasteland was cut by huge gutters of canyons and abysses. At first glance, it may seem that Zetta-Briss has always been a lifeless desert rock, hovering among the dying stars.

After the main forces successfully entrenched in the Landing Zones, the joint command consisting of the close Mechanicum-Magos, the retinue of the rogue trader Usykei and the captains of the expeditionary groups of the Order of the Ash Hawks and the Alpha Legion, it was decided to conditionally divide the perimeter of the planet along the zero meridian to be able to lead more effective research and search for artifacts. West of the prime meridian was the "Alpha" zone, which came under the jurisdiction of Usicaeus and the Ashen Hawks, to the east - "Omega", which was under the control of the Alpha Legion and the Mechanicums subordinate to it. From that moment on, the expedition entered a new, active phase of the search.

## Beginning of the Conflict

"*Until the recent command meeting, I had no doubts about the effectiveness of the Alpha Legion's actions. But after such a stupid decision, I finally became convinced of their incompetence and negligence. Cutting us off from the main forces of the expedition, they deprived us of valuable resources, which will only complicate further research into this I am sure the Alpha Legion did this to take the planet's future riches for themselves.*"
— From the personal diary of Rogue Trader Usykei. 992.M41
Having completed the preparation of equipment and technic for the search for artifacts, the Magos Explorator corps landed later under the cover of the fighters of the 4th company of Ashen Hawks under the command of Captain U Ruk Tell began exploring the surface of the planet. The expedition spent the first five months in fruitless attempts to find at least something indicating the presence of traces of any technology. Later, based on the results of the expert examination of the Mechanicum specialists, it was concluded that the surface of the planet was artificially cleared of any forms of life. However, persistent searches were still able to lead members of the expedition to the blocked passages to underground structures, which are intricate labyrinths. In the course of further progress through the underground complex, Magos Efilaah Ksutoris came to the conclusion that the technologies used for the construction of these structures had nothing in common with other xenos technologies that the Imperium had previously encountered (eldar, necrons), but it became clear from the noticeable traces of artificial destruction on the walls that a fierce struggle had been fought here before, which already indicates the presence of traces of intelligent life forms inside the complex. The further the members of the expedition broke through the barricades of debris from the wreckage of the vaults, the more it became clear that once orcs invaded the complex, presumably at the beginning of the 30th millennium.