59th Cadmus Salvation Force

This article details the background and history of the Imperial Guard regiment designated the 59th Cadmus Salvation Force.

The Cadmus 59th was redirected into the service of Inquisitor Craven for use in the Faction of the Bringers of Silence. Heavily tied to the Inquisitorial authority, even at the deception of the regiments Commissars, the regiment was reported for use of local unsanctioned ab-humans (ref: Rotter), dependence on psykers and the eventual misuse of xenos artefacts.

### Background

The 59th was a mixed regiment recruited originally during the Ryza crisis when the Orks of Waaaagh! Grax (925. M41) triggered emergency recruitment in the nearby worlds. When the conflict escalated, Cadmus was tithed a regiment. Recruited mostly from her planetary defence forces and ab-human militia, the 59th came into their own fighting the Orks, coming to earn several super heavy battle tanks and main line battle tanks in the progress.

Unfortunately, having being stripped of her own defences, the world of Cadmus soon came under attack, causing the 59th to be granted leave to defend their home world. However, enroute back, high level orders arrived drawing the 59th into the Faustian conflict under the command of Inquisitor Yvassilli Craven.

### Campaign History

Translating into orbit above Warren's End, the 59th were quick to deploy at key areas both at the capital world and on Acre. Linking up with the Black Scorpions chapter, they secured key assets and dug in. Under the absolute authority of the Inquisition, Major General Eicke makes the decision to deceive the commasariat in his regiment.

> "Only a few under my command know what we are doing in the system, letting the commissars know of our purpose here would be the end of my campaign. For now, the inquisitorial summons will keep things in order."
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The first engagement saw the Tyranids on Acre devastate a small garrison before reinforcements could arrive. After action reports noted the sudden appearance of larger Tyranid biomorphs that had not been observed by the native Warden patrols assigned with monitoring Acre's "captive" Tyranid population. This would be the first official notation of the hidden Tyranid threat on Acre.
After the failure of the regiments supporting vessel "Ryza's Dawn" to augur the Tyranid threat, Major General Eicke places more indentured Inquisitorial psykers in places of responsibility.

> "My psykers advised that more powerful creatures existed on the planet, perhaps I should rely more on their abilities instead of the ship's scanners."
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Despite this loss, the 59th pushed elsewhere, taking and holding Warren's End's spaceport of *Grieflind*. The regiment utilised psykers in command sections, allowing for a surprise assault.

Upon seizing the compound and mass-landing plateau, the regiment brought in her super heavies. The 59th also made use of the imported mutant slave labour as effective snipers and scouts, essentially replacing the lost Ratling snipers. This act was reported, although no formal charges would ever be laid.

A large engagement against the Tyranids saw the 59th allied up with the Black Scorpions chapter. The regiments tank companies scored many kills although the sudden appearance of hostile Super Heavies from the opposing Imperial Guard regiments was a near loss. Only a costly intervention from the Astartes Drop pods carried the day.

Moral amongst the regiment is noted to have declined. Major General Eicke is noted as allowing Commissars to have Psyker escorts to allow for better moral screening. Regimental motivation increases.

During one sizeable conflict, the 59th took major casualties from the enemy Warhound titan from the fellow Imperial Guard regiment of the 501st.

Betrayal at Auger 23, the Factions split in a violent series of back stabbings, preempted by the Black Scorpions themselves. Despite this, moral remained high, even after the sudden destruction of space port *Greiflind* by the Tyranid Hive mind using the discovered *Catharsis* class Bioweapon. The 59th command staff however, are adamant that the devastation was caused by the 501st.

After the betrayal, the 59th had lost several key space ports on several worlds, their holdings on Warren's end threatened by the poisoned atmosphere. Advised by Primaris Zedain, Eicke's most trusted confidant, the 59th sent an enforced excavation team to the planet Sordid.

This excavation force was attacked heavily by Eldar of the Ibraseil Craftworld, primarily consisting of Wraith constructs. Although the engagement was a total loss, including the destruction of the regiments Stormsword, Zedain escaped with his life, though heavily injured.

Seeming to suffer from a mental break, Major General Eicke summons a strong retaliation force and returns to Sordid en mass.

> "Our forces on Sordid were attacked by eldar. Three of the monstrous wraith knights assaulted as if out of nowhere and ripped my forces to shreds. Zedain escaped the slaughter at the cost of a Stormlord. He will be out for the rest of this campaign, but the speed of which his wounds heal... He discovered something down there, and I want to exploit it."
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The 59th were absent from the battle for Sordid, suffering heavily from the victory push of the Dark Eldar of Ozzy Lovecraft and the rising Necrons of the Trazian Dynasty. In the last notation from the recovered journal of Major General Eicke, it is indicated that a substantial element of the regiment survived and withdrew in good order. It is also indicated that the Major General had acquired a powerful enhancement for the psykers under his command including Zedain.

> "My psykers on the other hand has gained power. I have little knowledge of how the warp influences them, but the slaughter in this system has empowered them far beyond the level thei were on when the cam started. I may have lost the artefacts, but I think I have gained a much more fearsome weapon than what any xenos can manufacture. It remains to decide however if I should use their power for the Emperor, or for myself."
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After the Faustian Schism, there has been no sighting of the Cadmus 59th leading to the Inquisition considering the regiment as *Traitoris i Absentia*, or simply lost to the warp.

### Notable Commanders

#### Major General Joseph Eicke

A farmer's son from the lower valleys of Zepher, Joseph Eicke graduated from Schola Mundus to become a lieutenant in Cadmus' planetary defence force. Seeing mostly action against small invasion from Orks, his experience allowed him the commission of Major when the essential forge world of Ryza was invaded by Waaagh! Grax.

Upon first making landfall, General Clawke's lander was obliterated by xenos ack-ack, forcing the budding major to take command leading the regiment to her first victory against the Orks. Lauded as the hero of Cadmus, it was no surprise when the regiment was allowed leave, with several blessings from the Ryzan forges, to return home to defend her from it's own Ork invasion.

Originally disgruntled by the Inquisitorial induction of his regiment while enroute home, his attitude in journal as been the cause for much speculation as to the nature of Psykers within the Inquisition. His entries regarding the campaign change from those of a sceptic to a willing participant, then finally to obsessed with the very nature of the warp.

After the events of the Faustian Schism, his whereabouts and status remain unknown.

#### Psyker Primaris Zedain

A classified agent of the Inquisition under the aegis of Inquisitor Yvassilli Craven. Zedain was largely known for his foresight into the future, possessing some precognitive abilities. However it was his skills in telepathy that allowed for early and later victories for the 59th. Regarded as a close adviser to Major General Eicke, it is a point of debate that suggests that it was his machinations that made Eicke pliable to the Inquisitors cause.

After the events of the Faustian Schism, his whereabouts and status remain unknown.