Battlefleet Orpheus - The Orphean War: In 990.M41, the binary system of Caracol went supernova, an event which is believed to coincide with the reawakening of the Maynarkh Dynasty, a powerful fraction of the Xenos-species identified as Necrons. Unknown to the Imperium of Mankind, the Caracol-system harboured one of the powerful xenos-devices known as Dolmen Gates, which transferred the energy of the twin solar death to the plane of the Immaterium, creating something akin to the tsunamis of Old Earth within the Warp. This huge tidal wave snuffed out all warp-turbulences within the Orpheus Sector and beyond, some of which had been plaguing the Sector for the past centuries. The Shattered Deeps, a warp storm which had long sheltered Ork pirates, collapsed on itself and only the Howling Vortex in the Barren Stars remained. Many vessels that were traveling in the Warp when the wave hit were thrown wildly of course or had to initiate an emergency translation into realspace -- the less fortunate were even destroyed and their souls left to feed the ever-hungry denizens of the Warp. It is unknown how Battlefleet Orpheus suffered from this phenomenon, or if indeed warships or other installations were lost or harmed in the process, but such an event was bound to cause some form of turmoil. However, none truly expected it to herald a sector-wide invasion of the Orpheus Sector.By 991.M41, Battlefleet Orpheus was in a heightened state of alert, powerful agents of the Ordo Malleus had analyzed the warp wave further and come to the conclusion that a daemonic calamity was drawing near. Yet no attack from the Immaterium manifested itself and so patrols and troop gatherings were continued as planned. Sector authorities were pressing for the reconquest of the Chemarium-system which had been cordoned-off by the warships of Battlefleet Orpheus. As part of the reinforcements gathered for this expedition, the Space Marines Chapter of the Minotaurs had arrived in the Orpheus Sector and made way for Amarah. When the attack came, it came from the North, but the enemy was not the one expected -- the Eldar Corsairs of the Hesod Nebula had been stirring and were now launching heavy raids against the nearby Imperial worlds. Ships on patrol in the vicinity such as the Thetis were the first to counterattack, the Thetis’ logs - only recovered after the events - showing that quite uncharacteristically, the raiders had lingered on Bessarion, hunting down every last survivor and stripping the colony as if they were preparing for some great voyage. With the help of Destroyer-squadron Ajax Three, the Thetis defeated the Eldar, driving them off before pursuing a damaged corsair vessel to the uninhabited system of Hex-Lul-344-5 only to find it already vanquished. Boarding parties sent on board the xenos derelict described a scene of utter devastation, Eldar and human captives slain alike, their flayed corpses hanging from the ceiling or lying in bloody heaps on the ground. In a sealed compartment, the armsmen discovered Eldar which had committed ritual suicide to escape whatever fate had befallen their comrades, the walls of their hiding hole covered with warding signs written in their own blood. Meanwhile, a far larger Corsair-fleet was trying to move westwards when it encountered a battlegroup of Battlefleet Orpheus and the majority of the Minotaurs’ own powerful fleet. The Eldar being quickly destroyed, the combined fleet returned to Amarah, while the Thetis, now alone, pressed on to the Mechanicus outpost of Harrow Watch. Having lost contact with Battlefleet Headquarters several hours before, the Thetis’ could not issue a warning upon reaching the Harrow Watch-system where its wreck was later discovered. Like the Thetis, a score of worlds perished in utter silence and without the knowledge of the Imperial forces, their cries for help unheard and their call for assistance unanswered.It wasn’t before the the Inquisitorial fortress on Apollyon, close to the heart of the Sector was attacked itself that the Imperium realised that it was under attack. With astropathic communication out of service, the following call to arms had to be relayed by fast-travelling ships, many of whom did not return. How the Necrons were indeed able to sabotage this communication remains unclear as the sole comparable phenomena is generated by the collective Hive Mind of the Tyranids and is known as the "Shadow in the Warp". Yet the Necron did not simply copy the Tyranid’s ability but took it even a step further, apparently freezing the astropathic messages and death screams of its inceptors in time to be used to a baleful end. The desperate warning of Apollyon brought movement to the Imperial warmachine, but with all contact lost with a score of worlds and most importantly Libertha, the homeworld of the Angels Revenant, Imperial Commanders began to frantically man their defences rather than conduct a coordinated counter-attack. In this course of action, Calibor Laan, the Sector’s Imperial Governor was supported by the most distinguished of the Inquisitorial representatives still alive, Lord Inquisitor Ntshona of the Ordo Malleus. However, as he had not been on Apollyon or faced the enemy himself, the venerable Lord Inquisitor theorized that this was all an elaborate terror-campaign conducted by the agents of the Archenemy and that no punitive actions were to be undertaken. As the days became weeks and the weeks months, Amarah was soon turned into a fortress. Battlefleet Orpheus tirelessly transferred materiel and troops to Amarah, leaving the Arcantis Cluster dangerously undefended as the ever more paranoid Calibor Laan commandeered ever more troops in defence of his throneworld. First to arrive was Battlegroup Salvation, the great Imperial army initially mustered to reconquer the Chemarium-system, while later reinforcements included the 17th and 60th Line Korps of the Death Korps of Krieg. Apart from shipping troops to Amarah, most of Battlefleet Orpheus stood idle at Amarah, reading themselves for action when eventually the enemy would show itself. Countless minefields were laid at the system’s Mandeville point, the only route the enemy could arrive from.The ominous silence that had fallen over nearly half of the Orpheus Sector was abruptly shattered on 3806991.M41. Astropathic channels and scanner auguries that had been silent for months were suddenly overwhelmed by the mass of signals and incoming messages, an overlapping cacophony that drove more than one Astropath to madness. Those that survived described scores of babbled distress calls mingled with the death screams of entire populations, folded on themselves and overlapping as if they had been magically kept in a bottle only to be opened again. Scanners and empirical detection devices showed strange energy spikes on the borders of the Veiled Region while a malevolent corrupted machine spirit overpowered the defences of entire worlds and ther greatest warships of Battlefleet Orpheus to deliver its message in hard edged Imperial Gothic "Maynarkh comes". This simple phrase, repeated over and over shocked the Orpheus Sector to its core, for with the cacophony hallowing from their own vox-networks, a malign presence had manifested itself in the Imperial communication network. Battlefleet Orpheus reacted quickly, as the normal safeguards of the Machine God’s adepts proved utterly vain, the Mechanicus Adepts used galvanic purges to scour the infestation clean, creating an effective firewall which allowed to reassert control over the communication grid. Only with communication reestablished did the full extent of the invasion become visible: Libertha, the homeworld of the Angels Revenant had been reduced to a volcanic plain, venting the fury of its fiery heart in its soured atmosphere while from Pallasite to Apollyon all worlds had been scoured clean of life. Even as the systems in Amarah’s direct vicinity and Battlefleet Orpheus’ own shipyards came under attack, no counter-attack was launched, even the Space Marines of the Minotaurs Chapter staying in orbit around Amarah. Kesh and Epirus fell next, while the Imperials still dug themselves deeper in, awaiting the horror that was bound to come.