Battle for Black Reach - Opening of the Campaign: In 855.M41, the Hive World of Black Reach, and to a lesser extent, its neighbouring planets of Jede'ogh and Voldermach in the Black Reach System, were overcome by a surging Ork WAAAGH! primarily composed of the warriors of the Goff Clan under the control of the Greenskin Warlord Zanzag. Black Reach, though ostensibly valueless, was of great tactical import to the Ultramarines Chapter's Realm of Ultramar. The planet is surrounded by a series of asteroid belts so dense that should Black Reach and its vast array of orbital debris ever become infested by xenos, it would take centuries to exterminate them all.Furthermore, the magnetic elements of the Black Reach asteroid belt made it extremely difficult to contact Black Reach from out-system, let alone augur the whereabouts of individual armies and their war leaders within the system. An alien invasion of the Imperium could be mustered there, right under the nose of Ultramar, and remain undetected until it was time to strike against the Ultramarines' home region.All three planets in the Black Reach System were overcome by a surging Ork WAAAGH! which burst into realspace through Jorgund's Eye, a wormhole thought to be connected to the Aeldari Webway in the Vidar Sector. How the primitive Ork fleet pulled off such a feat of interstellar bravado is unknown, but the Greenskin forces descended upon the Black Reach System so quickly that such disturbing questions were put aside by the Ultramarines high command on Macragge in favour of readying for the coming battle.When the fleet's long-range Auspex arrays confirmed their Astropaths' claims that the system of Black Reach was under attack, the warriors of Ultramar were left with no choice. Without any real knowledge of the size or disposition of the enemy forces, the Adeptus Astartes would have to engage the invaders upon Black Reach itself and, bereft of any real support, destroy every last one of them before the system became choked with Greenskin spores. Due to multiple encroaching Tyranid Hive Fleets penetrating the eastern sector of the Ultramarran pocket empire, only the Ultramarines 2nd Company could be spared to stem the Ork menace.Captain Cato Sicarius, an inspiring leader and exceptional warrior whose star was in the ascendant in his Chapter, was tasked with taking a detachment of Ultramarines planetside, ascertaining the disposition of the Ork forces and reinforcing the embattled Imperial Guard garrison native to Black Reach. The Captain also had a mission of his own, to bring back the head of the Ork war leader behind the invading horde. Sicarius vowed that his men were equal to the task, provided they were afforded full planetstrike support from the Imperial Navy. Sicarius' plan was for the fleet to unleash a punishing orbital bombardment of Melta and Plasma warheads prior to the Ultramarines' main attack, whilst heading planetside within his personal Thunderhawk gunship, the Gladius.Sicarius would seek out the sections of the battezones where the Ork forces still maintained a disciplined formation even in the terrifying midst of the bombardment, reasoning that this would be the location of the Ork Warboss. He would then land and personally execute the Warboss at the heart of this new invasion. It was a plan so audacious that even Sicarius' sergeants had their doubts as to its feasability, but the Ultramarines were ever courageous, some might even say foolhardy, in the face of extreme danger. Battle-hymns were sung, weapons were primed, and before long the strike was launched.