Battle of Colvrin

Armorial of the Argent Eagles.

The **Battle of Colvrin** was an Imperial castigation campaign conducted by the Argent Eagles Space Marine Chapter as a part of the much larger Imperial Crusade known as the Crusade of the Claws.

## Background

The first obstacle that stood in the way of the Eagles was the planet of Colvrin and its massive Star-Fortress which had been used as the main port for the ships of the Unnamed. As was to be expected, the Star-Fortress was protected by a large fleet. In light of this situation the commander of the Imperial Navy ships offered for his fleet to engage first and take the brunt of the enemy's fire while the Astartes would move in close to perform boarding actions against the capital ships of the Chaos fleet. After consulting with Chapter Master Urikles and Kubernete Nemion Ceyon Aerik of the vengeful Host, battle was joined and the strategy enacted. Though losses among the crews of the Imperial Navy were severe the Astartes managed to successfully board and disable most of the hostile Battleships with swift efficiency. While their outstanding tactics employed during these boarding maneuvers were commendable, most of the enemy vessels seemed to be manned and defended by regular humans and strange beasts native to the world of Colvrin. Only the command decks and what was assumed to be the Flagship of the Unnamed managed to muster a formidable defense against the onslaught of the Space Marines as they were defended by Traitor Astartes.

During the brutal fighting aboard the Unnamed Flagship it was discovered that all of the enemy Marines had undergone a strange soul bonding ritual with the ships reactor that was essentially meant to act as a failsafe should the Flagship fall, making it so that the death of the last Unnamed Marine on board would set off an explosion and destroy the ship, along with most of the Argent Eagles Astartes Fleet surrounding it. As this was only revealed after the last traitor had already been mortally wounded it seemed as though the Voidwar would end in a devastating defeat for the Imperium. It was at this moment that a small group of Hieropriest Apothecaries teleported onto the command deck and began to do everything in their power to keep the dying traitor alive. At the same time every cultist and beast on the ship began rushing towards them, seeking to end the life of the denied martyr and leading to a bizarre scene in which Space Marines of the Argent Eagles' 10th Host fought tooth and nail to defend a servant of Chaos and prolong his life. Meanwhile a lone Techmarine attempted to steer the void vessel into a collision course with the Star-Fortress in hopes of destroying both of them at once. Right before impact the Astartes teleported off the ship as the last remaining Hieropriest drew his Boltgun and executed his former patient before quickly teleporting away himself.

Though the worst case was avoided, the Star-Fortress above Colvrin managed to bring its defenses to bear on the approaching Flagship and destroyed large parts of it before its reactor went critical and detonated. The Star-Fortress suffered considerable damage but was still mostly operational.

Leading an all-out assault on their last great obstacle, the Chapter Master personally spearheaded the attack on the damaged Fortress. After disabling most of its point defenses the Argent Eagles deployed almost 200 Marines to quickly carve their way towards the command center. The losses sustained during this bloody offensive were considerable however and many great warriors of the Emperor met their end in the blackened hallways of a a station that none even knew the name of. Shadowed by his Elysian Guard, Urikles wasted no time and relentlessly pushed onwards until he had reached his destination. A warrior clad in many different colours awaited him and challenged the Chapter Master to single combat, clearly trying to use his sense of honour against him. Nevertheless, Urikles accepted.

For several minutes the evasive warrior held his own against him despite the fact that they were worlds apart in martial skill. Eventually however the warrior's severed head lay still upon the floor of the command center. And with his death the entire Star-Fortress began to slowly accelerate towards the planet's surface whilst breaking apart into thousands of pieces. For this mysterious Marine had also performed a soul bonding, though with the entirety of the mighty Fortress. When the Argent Eagles reached the command center this bonding was still incomplete, meaning the duel to which he had challenged the Chapter Master served only to buy enough time for it to reach completion. Urikles, escaping with only 50 other Marines, watched as an artificial hail of meteorites descended on the planet of Colvrin. It is unknown just how many enslaved and tortured imperial citizens were on the planet desperately awaiting salvation when it was consumed by fire, but one thing that is certain is that none of them survived the fall of the Star-Fortress. Cursing his own foolishness, Chapter Master Urikles declared the Battle of Colvrin to be a crushing defeat.