Age of Apostasy - The Beginning of the End: The attack on Fenris had taken a heavy toll on the rebellious Astra Militarum forces, slowing, but not stopping, the expansion of the Apostate Cardinal's other armies. His many trusted sub-commanders were moving westward, taking more and more planets.Eventually, they arrived in one star system, Chiros. Here they would be stopped. Reports came back to Bucharis of major setbacks and problems faced by his forces on Chiros. It was not a poor planet, its surface primarily covered in forests with a Human population of no more than a few million. Most of its wealth came from exporting luxury goods, furs, elixirs and narcotics. Bucharis could not understand why a planet would resist him and risk total destruction.Bucharis abandoned Fenris and, being fairly close to the homeworld of the Space Wolves himself, he ordered the rebel fleet to Gathalamor while he assessed the situation. Reports came in that, despite horrendous casualties, the Chirosians were no closer to surrender than they had been before the attack began.The commander of the rebel fleet in Chiros had restrained from the use of devastating orbital bombardments as he saw the planet as a good place for Bucharis to retire to, hoping to gain some favor by sparing it. Bucharis agreed with this idea, pleased at the foresight of his commander. He then sent three more companies of rebel Astra Militarum to aid in the conquest, certain that these forces would beat the Chirosians. Unfortunately for the rogue cardinal, it was not to be. The commander soon reported back to Bucharis of his surrender to the Chirosians. Bucharis was stunned.He knew the Astra Militarum were not elite forces like the Space Marines, but surely an entire regiment should have easily conquered such a small population. Eventually Bucharis' agents returned, bringing reports of what had happened. It appeared that the forces faced by the Astra Militarum were not just the usual small units of militia and Planetary Defence Forces brought together in times of war, but had included the entire population of the planet.Each had a hunting rifle or other weapon and spread themselves throughout the planet's surface, in the woods and jungles and hills. Millions of marksmen had wiped out wave after wave of invaders in destructive ambushes before retreating back to their hunting lodges, hidden deep in the woods.The whole planet had become a dangerous nest of guerillas. Supplies were intercepted and there was no respite. A suicide squad had run into the centre of the rebel expeditionary force's camp and detonated explosives, and after these casualties the rebel army had lost the will to fight on.After the news of the defeat spread to other worlds in the Apostate Cardinal's empire, planet after planet began a revolt. First it was the mining planet Guryan. The miners had cut down their guards and strangled others with their shackles. After Guryan came Dolsia and Vaust. It seemed that the rebellion against the Apostate Cardinal was spreading, cutting a swath through his empire straight towards Gathalamor.On Colcha, Bucharis laid a trap and managed to destroy a small fleet of his opponents that appeared around the planet. One shuttle survived however, and landed on the planet. Fredreich Khust, the overall Imperial Commander of the sector who was loyal to Bucharis, was wary of the shuttle that had landed, and so kept his Imperial Guardmen and their tanks on the planet on full alert.A year after the shuttle landed, the population of Colcha went berserk. They burnt the fields, stormed the Astra Militarum's barracks but lost three quarters of their numbers before overcoming the rebel Guardsmen. They stampeded their vast herds of gigantic gorbeasts into tank companies, crushing the war machines under a thunderous storm of house-sized animals. They dammed rivers, flooding their own homes and whole towns where Khust's men were billeted.Even the elderly and young children hurled makeshift grenades made from the local distilled fuel, setting fire to the air vents of Leman Russ Tanks and choking the crews inside. All across both continents of their world the people of Colcha stopped at nothing to rid themselves of their enslavers. Eventually, Khust's forces were overwhelmed and pushed from the planet.The populations of the planets of Lima Rogan, Troudor and many others revolted, pushing Bucharis' forces further back toward his capital world. Bucharis' coffers were emptying more rapidly than they could be filled. Many of his soldiers deserted and there was infighting and dissension even within the highest ranks of his army.Still the revolts continued, and finally, Methalor, the closest planet to Gathalamor, revolted, its principal hive city destroyed by an inferno started when the inhabitants overloaded the great city's geothermal power grid.Bucharis was worried now. He doubled the defensive cordon on his system and had all starships searched as they entered the system. After the fall of Methalor an Imperial messenger arrived at the Cardinal Palace on Gathalamor.With a defiant look and a stern voice, the messenger proclaimed himself to be the envoy of Confessor Dolan Chirosius. Confessor Dolan called for the immediate surrender of Bucharis to the Ecclesiarchy. The cardinal was ordered to resign his position, renounce his heresies and throw himself on the mercy of the Emperor.The Imperial messenger's remains were nailed to the gates of the Cardinal Palace of Gathalamor to be feasted on by rats and crows.