The Battle of the Endless Arkium

### Scale

The Endless Arkium, a single megastructure stretching across an entire system of space

### Strength (Attackers)

Initially - Imperial Justicars, Star Guardians, Consuls Exemplar, Imperial Army, mechanicum, Titanicus Support.
Eventually - Legio Custodes, Watchers of Akhet

### Outcome

The Endless Arkium is destroyed
Almire demonstrates his supreme ability in command alongside the Emperor once more
Gaius’s obsession with Warp Tech increases.

**The** **Battle of the Endless Arkium**, also known as **The Battle of the Colossalstructure** , was a war waged in M30.945 by a combined Imperial force against an Abominable Intelegence megastructure known as the Colossalstructure or the Endless Arkium.

The Endless Arkium stretched over an entire system, its robotic defenders able to take a multitude of different forms to better combat any aggressors. Initially commanded by Almire Leoric, the Imperial Assault was mired with slow progress and heavy losses, though not through any faults with Almire's command. It was only upon the arrival of the Emperor of Mankind Himself, along with His Legio Custodes that the Endless Arkium began to crumble in earnest, the Emperor and Almire bringing the Imperium victory shortly after His arrival.

## ~ Dramatis Personae ~

### The Emperor’s Talons

* The Emperor of Mankind, Supreme Ruler of the Imperium of Mankind
* Captain General Constantin Valdor, The First of the Ten Thousand, the Shield of the Emperor.

### The Primarch’s

* Almire Leoric, XVIth Primarch, Lord of the Imperial Justicars and Overall Commander of the Imperial War Effort during the Battle of the Endless Arkium
* Shaaa Hydrades, the Breacher Lord, IVth Primarch, Lord of the Star Guardians
* Gaius Augustus Caligula, the Thousand Armed Centurion, XIIIth Primarch, Lord of the Consuls Exemplar.
* Khnum-Anhuret, the Sunstone Kind, Ist Primarch, Lord of the Watchers of Akhet

### The Imperial Justicars Legion

* First Praetor Gobalt Asmodeus - Second in command of the Imperial Justicars, Lord Executioner to Almire and Head of the Executioners order
* Praetor Jean Davoust - Commander of the 6th Chapter
* Forge Master Fulque Sayre

### The Star Guardians Legion

* Lord Commander Crikon Hanfer - Second in Command of the Star Guardians Legion and Lord of the Saturnalians, Member of Shaaa Hydrades Syriac Council
* Fracturam Lord Commander Varinius Rampt - Former Legion Master and Commander of the IVth Legions Dreadnought Forces, Member of Shaaa Hydrades Syriac Council
* 7th Commander Julius Atalan - Commander of the 7th Division, Member of Shaaa Hydrades Syriac Council
* 8th Commander Sirvan Golz - Commander of the 8th Division and Champion of the IVth Legion

### The Consuls Exemplar Legion

* Arch-heraldor Brutus Alexander - Legion champion and bearer of the legion Vexilla.
* Arch-Centurae Prime Uuliois Kaezar - Master of the 2nd Cohort.
* Artion - Chief Librarian of the Consuls Exemplar

### The Watchers of Akhet Legion

* High Steward Phirona - First Captain of the Watchers
* Equerry Petamn - Equerry to the Primarch
* Hori-Re - Chief of the Hecatti
* Captain Taheli Rai - Captain of the Ninth Company

### Non-Legion personnel

* Legatus Braden Jaxer - Commander of the Hydra Auxilia forces of the IVth Legion

## The Battle of the Endless Arkium

In the opening weeks M30.945, advanced Mechanicum scouting parties of the 71st Expeditionary Fleet, commanded by the Imperial Justicars Legion, stumbled across a single ship as they entered a new system, seemingly scanning every world from its single, unmoving position. Attempts to hail the vessel were met with naught but a stream of binaric, and as the Mechanicum advanced party drew close, the ship finally began to move. In an instant, the vessel had reformed itself, revealing an entirely mechanical structure to the watching Mechanicum, before turning and fleeing from the system. The Mechanicum knew what such a vessel truly was and released a beacon to guide the rest of the 71st to their position, before plunging after the robotic probe, determined to find where it called home, to hunt down this Abominable Intelligence to ends its affront to the Machine God.

Close to a week later the remainder of the 71st, Commanded by the Imperial Justicars’s Forge Master, Fulque Sayre, arrived in the system where the beacon had been set. Predictably, the remainder of the Mechanicum contingent were eager to push onwards to link up with their forward elements and see the technological marvel which must have birthed the machine for themselves, but many of the Imperial Justicars wished to wait and regroup first. Had they been commanded by another, such a path may have been played out, but commanded as they were by Fulque Sayre, inducted into the Martian Cult as he was, the 71st could only act in one way, forging onwards after the Mechanicum, leaving a message with the rearguard fleet that if no word reached them within 20 local solar cycles, they were to put out the call for aid.

Finally after another three days of warp transit, of which seemed to stretch on for en eternity, the 71st dropped from the warp into the system the Mechanicum had identified as the source of the probe. The fleet formed up behind Avaris’ Battle Barge, the *Scales of Equity*, as all eyes widened to take in what they saw before them. Many of the Mechanicum personnel had laid eyes upon the Mega-structures that were held within the Imperium, from the mobile world of the Sirens of Kastar to the star encompassing Ring that served as the homeworld of the Star Guardians, but as impressive as both were, they paled in both scale and majesty to what they now saw, a single word being whispered by the Mechanicum commanders, soon taken up across the fleet, a simple designation that sufficed where little else could.

Colossalstructure.

Without hesitation, and perhaps lacking in a full plan in their eagerness, the 71st struck at the Colossalstructure , searching for signs of the Mechanicum advanced parties. Landing on the surface of the structure, they quickly found them, hundreds of Skitarii units and Battle Automata lying strewn across the landing zone, most still within their drop ships, gunned down as they disembarked. For the 71st however, there was no sign of the enemy, Imperial Justicars astartes leading the way.

For over an hour, they advanced without contact with anything, the Colossalstructure silent, save for the creaking of metal. And then, without ceremony or sound, an Astartes dropped, a perfect hole bored through both sides of his Mk2 helmet, the size of a boltshell. With that, the peace erupted into war, more stabbing beams of silent light found their marks, the Imperial Justicars returning fire, the sound of thundering boltguns filling the hallways as from every angle, strange, multi-jointed mechanical beasts charged forth, intent on ripping apart the warriors of the 71st.

Within minutes, communications reached the assembled fleet, a cry for reinforcements from the surface quickly being relayed into a formal request, sent to the closest fleet, the 63rd, commanded by Almire Leoric himself, the Primarch of the Imperial Justicars, and future Warmaster of the Imperium.

It did not take long for Almire to respond to the call of his children, bringing with him the full might of the 63rd Expeditionary fleet, hundreds of vessels, including mortal, Mechanicum and titan support, and perhaps most important of all, though few expected it at the time, a single company of the XIIIth Legion, the Consuls Exemplar.

Formulating a plan with the preternatural ease, Almire led a massed assault on the Colossalstructure , thousands of his sons following behind him, the Mechanicum and mortal contingents forming a second wave with the majority of the XVIth Legions armoured reserves. Like the hammer of the gods, Almire smashed into the forces still besieging his sons, batting aside all opposition as the Imperial forces once again took the momentum of the fight, crushing all resistance as they once more drew into the super-structure, the fleet aiding in coordinating the assault, fending off attacks of their own from more drones that relentlessly harried the ships.

And then, silence dropped over the entire assault force, the Colossalstructure seeming to adapt to this new threat, blocking out all communications in an instant.

On the surface, Almire felt this change, his own forces faltering as they fell out of contact with their commanding officers. Knowing that such a change could only mean one thing, Almire raised his voice, his armour amplifying the sound, his sons relaying the message through their own armour so that all could hear it.

“We hold here. Brace for incoming enemy targets.”

It was a simple order, one followed without hesitation, and not a moment too soon, Imperial Justicars breacher and terminator squads took the forefront of the force as mortals and Mechanicum deployed Aegis barriers and static weapons. When the forces of the Colossalstructure struck again, they found a fortress awaiting them, slamming into its walls with the relentless, cold fury that only a machine could match, swarming across the Imperial supply lines and surrounding the Primarch and his sons in an instant.

Almire was no fool, and though he had pride in his own sons, he also would not let such a pride blind him to the reality of war. His forces were holding now, but they could not do so indefinitely. Nor could they retreat from this position however, the enemy already responding to the threat, making the prospect of forging yet another beachhead a costly prospect no matter which forces were thrown into the forlorn hope. The Imperial Justicars had to hold, but word had to reach the fleet. It was here that the Consuls Exemplar proved invaluable, dispatching a trio of elite kill-teams to wind their way back through the structure, the decision made not to send any more to preserve their cover, as well as giving Almire more warriors to hold the ground with.

Over the course of a week, the Consuls Exemplar made their way back through the station, avoiding conflicts with an enemy who could have killed them without a thought. They were not without casualties of their own, only a single warrior reaching the dropships of the thirty who had been sent, but it was enough, and within hours, a true request for reinforcements was sent out, the true scale of the threat now known, as well as the stations true name, discovered by the Consuls kill-team as they made their way through ducts and untrodden pathways.

Soon, this call was answered, the might of the two legions, as well as the remainder of the XVIth turning to power towards the system. The Star Guardians and Consuls Exemplar would heed Almire’s call for aid, and together, the three Primarchs would make war upon the Endless Arkium.

With Shaaa Hydrades taking charge of all orbital assets across the multiple fleets, and Gaius Augustus Caligula leading the ground forces in a relief effort, the Endless Arkium was once more was on the defensive. Gaius led the charge, the might form of the mace, ‘Weight of Ignorance’ cleaving a path through the enemy forces, while high above, Shaaa ordered all vessels to begin a concentrated bombardment of the shell of the Endless Arkium, punching a hole wide enough to fly a battleship through. This would be a battle like none other fought in Imperial History, and it would require far more support from the fleet than simple long range bombardments.

In short order, the three forces linked once more, the Imperial Justicars force having taken a fearsome beating in their defence, but very much alive. Without question, Almire assumed full command of the force, disseminating the forces available to them accordingly.

Almire would take over full command of the ground forces, mostly comprised of Imperial Justicars, mortal and Mechanicum assets, including the titan forces. With these, he would command the bulk of the power the Imperium could bring to bear, smashing aside resistance that grew too strong in any one sector.

Gaius would fall back into a role he was more comfortable with, commanding his own legions kill teams either from behind the line or leading them directly, plunging into the depths of the station to help creating something close to a map of the constantly changing and unpredictable structure, as well as to satiate his own curiosity of the structure itself. Unknown to almost all of the Imperial forces present, though Gaius was aware of their existence, as were many of his most trusted officers, Shadow Lord Eleiat Hokhan of the XVIth also worked alongside the Consuls Exemplar kill-teams in this manner, aided by the unknown assassins that were the Imperial Justicarss Excursors.

Finally, Shaaa would retain command of the fleet, as well as acting in a vanguard role for the rest of the army, maintaining a steady and unrelenting advance towards the heart of the enemy,  lifetimes spent living and fighting inside space stations serving them well inside the Endless Arkium. The Battle of the Endless Arkium would also serve as a final field test of the new Mk 3 ‘Void’ pattern of Power armour that the IVth Legion had developed, designed with their own method of combat in mind, and proving itself superior to the standard Mk3 in use by the other legions time and time again.

Meter by meter, inch by blood inch, the three legions advanced. Gaius was usually the first to find the enemy, though rarely did he engage them directly, instead simply observing, sending most of his findings back to other legion and Mechanicum forces for further analysis, though some was held back for his eyes and the eyes of his sons only, reserved for implementation into the secretive Vel-Tech project. Behind them came the Star Guardians, breacher shields to the front as Indomitable and Breacher Squads met the enemy. Lord Commander Crikon Hanfer often leading such forces alongside First Praetor Asmodeus and the Executioners of the Imperial Justicars, Shaaa opting to remain on board his flagship, plotting new paths of advance with the Consuls maps, taking the fleet deeper and deeper into the station, making new corridors as required, providing the Imperial forces with the largest artillery guns available.

And finally came Almire, possessing perhaps the greatest and hardest take of all. Commanding the forces at his disposal was simple to the Indominate, Almire proving again and again why he was regarded as the first amongst equals even then, but the battle inside the Endless Arkium was not like a traditional war. Ground taken by Imperial forces was anything but secure, drones of all shapes and sizes, from the size of a human child all the way to the size of towering battle titans assailed his forces from all sides, able to strike and fade without warning. Few could have hoped to command such a force and still push towards victory, Almire taking it all in his stride, forming a rallying beacon for the mortal forces under his command, none wishing to take a step back when his eyes fell upon them, not through fear, but through admiration.

For weeks, this continued, advancing at a snails pace. The Imperial forces saw victory after victory, though they were not free from their share of defeats, nor did they come away unscathed. At a junction of seventeen different corridors, two hundred Star Guardians were set upon by an unending horde of drones, enemy titan support being brought to bear upon them. By the time Shaaa rerouted forces to stem the tide, all two hundred were dead, their bodies and precious gene-seed utterly destroyed. Elsewhere, over ten thousand warriors of the Imperial Army died in an instant, the Endless Arkium rearranging itself as their regiments passed through, suddenly exposing the soldiers to the void of space. When Imperial forces found the room, they saw the floating corpses of ten thousand frozen bodies.

And yet for all the setbacks, they were making progress, victory predicted to be in Imperial hands in little over a year. Such a campaign length however would not materialise, unlooked for aid appearing as the eighth month of the assault began. Yet more Astartes came froth to do battle, the Watchers of Akhet under the command of their lord, Khnum-Anhuret, and while their numbers were great, they paled in comparison to those they flew alongside.

The Emperor of Mankind, undisputed lord of humanity, strode the halls of the Endless Arkium with flaming sword in hand. With Him came the ten thousand, the golden might of the Legio Custodes, each warrior a demi-god to eclipse even the Astartes. None could touch these new warriors, and at the Emperor’s approach, Almire and his brothers knelt, Almire stepping aside as the Emperor took command.

With these new forces in place, and led by the Emperor Himself, the Imperium surged forward with a speed not matched in the entire assault to date. Watchers of Aket, fresh and well armed and armoured, surged forth alongside the battered but undaunted Imperial Justicars and Consuls Exemplar, Khnum ensuring his warriors took the brunt of the fighting where possible, allowing those warriors from other legions a moments reprieve. Unable to keep up with such an assault, the Star Guardians withdrew to their starships, the fleet redoubling its efforts as it continued to push forward, opening breaches through the Endless Arkium when going around would take too long.

The Endless Arkium responded in force, but whereas before it was akin to a cliff standing tall against the crashing waves of Imperial aggression, now it was fast turning to sand, resistance crumbling, the Abominable Intelligence at the heart of the Colossalstructure unable to account for the presence of a being such as the Emperor. Coordinated assaults became sloppy, drone types being sent against foes they would struggle to combat efficiently became commonplace. And at the heart of all of the renewed assault, on the very tip of the spear, fought the Emperor and Almire. None know how many drones fell against their weapons, the pair fighting back to back with the surety of purpose and bond of a father and his first born son, falling back on the years the pair had fought together before any other Primarch was found. With such a duo in place, the outcome was never in doubt, and finally, after eleven months of combat, victory was seized by the Imperium. It was not the victory many amongst the Mechanicum, and indeed the IVth legion had hoped for.

For a long time, the Mechanicum had theorised that the Endless Arkium was powered not simply by a single star, but by a pair, the system it encompassed once being a binary, or even a trinary star system, no other explanation being feasible for the level of power needed for such a structure. Over the years, the AI at its heart continued to replicate outwards, unfettered by its now dead builders, spreading across the entire system. In the latter part they were correct, but its power did not come from any number of stars. As the Imperial forces broke into the heart of the Endless Arkium, their eyes reflected the purple madness of a tear in reality itself. Mortals went mad, only the mind of an trans-human able to comprehend a contained warp rift.

Instantly the Mechanicum’s eagerness to learn of the structures secrets turned to venomous bile and hatred. Such technology was not merely commanded by an Abominable Intelligence, it was tainted down to the cellular level. When the Emperor proclaimed it was to be destroyed, none openly arguing against it, the assembled warriors moving to destroy the spires holding the rift in place. While most of these were destroyed fully, there were a trio that merely feigned their destruction, instead deactivating convincingly enough to fool even the closest of inspections. These were the spires assigned to the Consuls Exemplar, the Mechanicum forces attached to the legion all perishing in a final attack from the Arkium, or so the official reports showed. Nevertheless, the Mechanicum and the XIIIth soon grew distant, treating with each other only when required, and never a moment longer.

With the Warp Rift destabilised, the Imperial forces retreated from the structure with all speed, the defences neutralised at the loss of their power source, the structure collapsing in upon itself. Before a week had passed, the station was in ruins, Mechanicum forces remaining behind to sift through the wreckage to search for any non-tainted part they could salvage, though they did not expect to find such treasures.

Even though the structure was destroyed however, its influence was far from destroyed alongside it. Almire had once again proved his ability in command, even over his own brothers, something that would mark him as the preeminent commander amongst the Primarch’s, and one to whom further command would fall at Ullanor and beyond.

Gaius had received more technology with which to accelerate his own experimentations on the research world of Prospero, the Vel-Tech and Obzhet Venatus both benefiting from this ancient example of technology and the immaterium combined in perfect harmony.

Perhaps the most obvious of all the influences however came from Shaaa Hydrades. When he was named Praetorian of Terra in the wake of Almire’s own ascension to the rank of Warmaster, he devised a plan not to simply defend a world, but to defend an entire system with a defence greater in scale than anything that had come before it. In many ways, the Endless Arkium lived on in spirit far after its destruction, known instead as the Solar Guardian Array.