Donatos War - Loyalists in Disarray: In the wake of the disastrous first attack on the Valle Electrum, the tables had been turned on the Imperials. Strengthened by the betrayal of Houses Chimaeros and Wyvorn and with the Word Bearers now unleashed, the reconquest of Donatos Primus hung by a thread. Yet all hope was not lost, for High King Tolwyn's valiant sacrifice had saved the lives of a considerable number of Imperial Knights, a force that -- whilst severely diminished -- was still strong enough to put an end to Varakh'Lorr's schemes and Gerraint's ambitions.Even in death, the High King watched over his House and its allies, for among Tolwyn's last actions was to upload a crucial data-package that contained the location of a rallying point for the survivors. Designated rally point Zeta-Lambda-Rho, the safe haven was part of Donatos' immense subterranean network of munition warehouses where even the towering Imperial Knights could easily hide.Thanks to the survival of Polluxis' Land Crawlers, the survivors of Houses Draconis, Minotos and Pegasson could be rearmed and repaired for the next battle. Fortunately, the electrical storms that often plagued Donatos' atmosphere hid their retreat from the enemy and the sector of the city they occupied had been emptied of all troops in preparation for the devastating ambush that had crippled their strength. While facing no immediate threat, a number of problems needed to be solved before the battered survivors could even consider reentering the fight.The High King's untimely demise had left the Imperial troops leaderless, a fact they needed to remedy quickly. With the Marchioness Tan Pegasson also reported slain, the most senior House Noble present was Grandmarshal Gustev Tan Minotos, a seasoned veteran of several campaigns but not used to commanding anything bigger than the forces of his own House. Moreover, Gustev's closest advisors -- his Exalted Court -- had all been slain and his own Knights barely outnumbered the half a dozen survivors of House Pegasson.The bulk of the surviving Imperial Knights were those of House Draconis and the High King had also legally appointed his successor -- his son, Danial Tan Draconis. While not formally invested as such, the young Knight had become the de facto leader of the Imperium's armies on Donatos Primus. A war council of leading Nobles soon formed around the Kingsward, ready to assist him.Danial rightly feared the threat of disunity: whilst his own position was not challenged, the debacle at the Valle Electrum had revealed an unexpected complication in the person of Luk Tan Chimaeros, Danial's closest friend and the son of the Traitor Gerraint Tan Chimaeros. Amidst the fighting at the Valle Electrum, Danial, his sister Jennika and their House Herald Markos Dar Draconis had encountered Luk's Knight Errant desperately fending off attacks from other Chimaeros Knights.Whilst that betrayal by his own House might have exonerated him from all accusations of treason there were some voices among the council that proclaimed that Luk might still be a spy for his father, the attack on him a deliberate play to allow Luk to earn the survivors' trust. Even though Luk protested his innocence, these voices could not be easily silenced. Only when High Sacristan Polluxis proved that Luk's Knight had suffered from the same scrap-code infestation that had befallen the other survivors was the matter dismissed.With the question of Luk's loyalty temporarily settled, Danial was careful to reestablish the trust between the Adrastapolian Knights and their Cadian allies, for much of the 454th Regiment had also rallied to Zeta-Lambda-Rho and were now uneasily watching the Knights' war council. As the most senior officer still alive, Grandmarshal Gustev was appointed to lead a delegation of Nobles to the Cadian troopers and convince them of their continued loyalty to the Emperor and the Throne of Terra.