Chaos Knights - Age of Merciless Conquest, M41-M42: Note: All dates from this point forward are provisional due to errors in the Imperial Calendar, meaning these events could actually have occurred at any time from the early 41st Millennium to the early 42nd Millennium.The Great Rift Opens (ca. 999.M41) - Savage Warp Storms rage across the breadth of the galaxy, coalescing to form the Cicatrix Maledictum from one side of the galaxy to the other. Scores of Knight Worlds are swallowed as the Great Rift yawns open, and more are beset by the ravenous Warp entities that come spilling from this scar in reality. But to many Chaos Knights, the nightmare divide in the stars is a signal for them to march to war. Dreadblades and Fallen households that had maintained isolated domains of tyranny on the fringes of the Imperium now gather en masse, heeding the clarion call of the Dark Gods.The Nachmund Gauntlet (Unknown Date.M42) - Dharrovar, a Knight World thought lost since the Horus Heresy, is rediscovered inside one of the few known passages through the Cicatrix Maledictum. Imperial envoys are sent to the Nobles of Dharrovar, and entreat them to secure this vital gateway to the Imperium Nihilus that lies captive behind the Great Rift, cut off from the light of the Astronomican. Yet these requests are met with violence. It soon becomes clear that Kaligius, High King of House Mandrakor, has fallen to Chaos, his Throne Mechanicum riddled with daemonic presences. Many of his most loyal Knights follow him into treachery, leading to a devastating civil war on Dharrovar.Conflagration of Rho Zapphire (Unknown Date.M42) - Above the gas giant of Rho Zapphire, a strike force from the White Scars 6th Company fights a war of speed against an invading host of Slaaneshi daemons. The Space Marines race to secure the vital aether-derricks that are suspended in the planet's thermosphere, cutting their way through screaming droves of Daemonettes and Fiends of Slaanesh that skitter along the equatorial gantries, even as more depraved beings pour from the nearby maw of the Great Rift. The fuel from these derricks is crucial for the Imperial fleets withdrawing from the encroaching Warp Storms, but the daemons outnumber the White Scars a hundred times over. The battle appears to take a shift when a flotilla of macro-conveyance barges swoops into low orbit and disgorges its cargo of Knights. But the hope of reinforcements is short lived. The Knights of House Khymere that march onto the floating gantries open fire on the Space Marines, obliterating those few that remain. When cruisers from the Imperial Navy arrive to refuel, the Chaos Knights depart, but not before overloading the core of each aether-derrick. The ensuing chain reactions ignited the volatile atmosphere of Rho Zapphire, incinerating the refuelling fleets as the entire planet exploded.Forge Infernus (Unknown Date.M42) - On the Industrial World of Nemendghast in the Vigilus System,the Master of Possession Vorash Soulflayer and his acolytes transformed a sprawling manufactorum complex into the daemonic foundry known as the Forge Infernus. Among the victims of Soulflayer's vile rituals were two Freeblade Knights that were hobbled and captured while defending Nemendghast from the Chaos incursion. The first Freeblade and its pilot were subjected to agonising Warp exposure, their metal and flesh blasted with pure daemonic energies. The second was pumped full of sludge rendered from the writhing corpses of the recently possessed, the Knight and its Noble drowned in the viscous fluid. Though they resisted the corruptive rituals for almost a Terran year, eventually the Freeblades are broken in body, Throne Mechanicum and soul. The first of them Vorash renames Bale Star, and the second the Hand of Mourning. Each of these Dreadblades swears fealty to its creator before being dispatched on individual quests. Bale Star is sent to find and slay the Baroness of Tanika, a Knight reputed to be the greatest duellist in the galaxy, and to drag the felled Knight suit back to Nemendghast. Meanwhile, the Hand of Mourning is given the true name of an ancient Daemon Prince, and is told to bring this creature to Vorash, one way or another.Stomping Grounds (Unknown Date.M42) - A cloud of Ork Roks plummets to the surface of the Infernal Knight World Cobbran, home of House Qiln. Before the dust of impact has settled, dozens of Stompas bearing the mark of the Deathskulls klan emerge from the crude landing vessels and begin a lumbering march toward the nearest keep. Filled with outrage, the Chaos Knights stride out en masse to meet the invaders, forming a lance of over five hundred roaring war engines with which to charge head-on into their foe. Such is the scale of the ensuing battle, so heavy the metallic footfalls and so destructive the barrages, that the tectonic crust of Cobbran shifts, leading to explosive volcanic activity. Those Knights that are felled are quickly hacked to scrap by wide-eyed Big Meks. Meanwhile every Stompa that is toppled is dragged into the open lava flows by cults of Idolators loyal to House Qiln, and in profane rituals new, fully formed Chaos Knights are summoned into being from the bubbling slag.Dysephamine Campaign (Unknown Date.M42) - The Dreadblade Hatred of Krastellan aligned itself with the Renegade Space Marines known as the Company of Misery. Together they waged a harrowing campaign through the Dysephamine System, which culminated in them enslaving the populace of the world of Dyseph IX. The Company of Misery set about slaughtering every psyker on the planet, but not before a distress call was sent off-world. Yet this call for aid was not only anticipated but planned for by the Hatred of Krastellan. The Dreadblade's own message was added to the distress beacon -- a formal challenge to the Freeblade Sir Hekhtur and his Knight Canis Rex, the so-called "Chainbreaker." The Hatred of Krastellan then travelled to the sole moon of Dyseph IX, and on the barren surface awaited the coming of the renowned Freeblade.To Hunt the Hunters (Unknown Date.M42) - On the Jungle World of Y'tach'grra, a lone War Dog of House Khomentis is cut down by a roving band of Kroot mercenaries. As is their custom, the carnivorous Kroot pry the pilot from the fallen engine and devour his flesh. But in doing so the daemonic entities the Fallen Noble had welcomed into his body are released. After a swift and brutal skirmish, these manifestations are similarly cut down, their essences dissipating back to the Warp, but not before they have marked each of the Kroot mercenaries with a burning rune. More than a Terran year later on a distant world the truth of these markings becomes apparent. A lance of Khomentis Knights attack the Kroot from out of nowhere, having tracked the burning runes through the Warp to take revenge on their prey.Eternal Avarice (Unknown Date.M42) - Upon learning of a chamber filled with ancient archeotech and lost knowledge, the Gilded King sets out on a quest to find this secret repository, and to slay its guardian -- the Freeblade known as the Green Knight.Battle of Vigrid (Unknown Date.M42) - The Great Game for supremacy between the Chaos Gods spills into realspace, leading to a series of hellish conflicts across the worlds deep in the Imperium Nihilus. Greatest of these was the Battle of Vigrid, where vast armies of each of the Ruinous Powers engaged in a sprawling combat. Eventually a contest of champions was proposed whereby the Greater Daemons of each god would engage in single combat. The nightmarish war cries from this contest echoed through the Warp, liquefying the minds of psykers for light years in every direction -- and drawing the attention of House Lucaris. Four Lucaris Knights were sent to engage in the Vigrid tourney, to prove the might of the Iconoclast house. Those Knights that duelled the champions of Khorne, Nurgle and Slaanesh were all victorious, but it soon became apparent that they had been bestowed with a portion of Tzeentch's fate-bending power. These three Chaos Knights managed to escape the battle zone before the daemonic armies descended into open war once more, carrying with them the sorcerous gifts of the Changer of Ways.False Idol (Unknown Date.M42) - After nearly two and a half Terran centuries of ceaseless war, the Knight Rampager Death’s Sabre was covered in a thick layer of shredded skin and rancid fat claimed from its most worthy opponents. Throngs of cultists gather around the mad Knight in battle, displaying their loyalty through acts of increasing depravity. The continued slaughters perpetrated by Death’s Sabre soon drew the admiration of an even more bizarre sect of worshippers, as a teeming pack of Necron Flayed Ones emerged from their bleak dimension. After swiftly butchering the deranged Human followers, the Flayed Ones fell to worship of the Chaos Knight, believing it to be a manifestation of the C'tan Llandu'gor. In its own state of savage madness, Death’s Sabre did not even notice its xenos thralls.Indomitable (Unknown Date.M42) - On countless fronts, the Fallen houses waged war against the myriad fleets of the Indomitus Crusade. Dread lances of Chaos Knights struck worlds where Imperial reinforcements were inbound, daring the approaching armies to meet them head-on, while more rapacious households and Dreadblades laid waste to planets that lay in the wake of the crusade fleets. Many age-old blood debts were settled and even more were incurred as the warped war engines loosed their fury on the Emperor's servants across the divided galaxy.