Astra Militarum - M41-M42, The Era Indomitus: 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.ca. 999.M41 The Birth of the Great Rift and the Imperium Nihilus - The galaxy is torn asunder by a massive wall of Warp Storms. Tidal waves of unnatural energy rush outwards from the maelstrom, and with a horrific surge the planets of the Imperium are cut off from the guiding light of the Astronomican. For the Astra Militarum soldiers fighting in innumerable war zones, any hope of receiving reinforcement is lost, whilst whole regiments in transit are flung wildly off course or are swallowed outright by the roiling Warp. Even when the Astronomican finally blinks back into existence, it cannot pierce the Cicatrix Maledictum -- the Great Rift that stretches from the Eye of Terror in the galactic west to the Scourge Stars in the east. Those planets and regiments in the Imperium Nihilus are left to fend for themselves, or be forever consumed by the darkness of this newborn Noctis Aeterna.Unknown Date.M42 The Warping of Armageddon - The bloody quagmire on Armageddon continues, despite both Ork and Imperial armies being cut off from reinforcements. Whipped up by the maelstrom of the Great Rift, hellstorms ravage the planet's surface, and from them emerge Tzeentchian and Khornate hordes. Titanic Greater Daemons duel for supremacy even as they slaughter the Ork and Imperial armies, and fully half the planet is transformed into a nightmarish landscape resembling a Daemon World. Astra Militarum regiments form uneasy and temporary alliances with the Greenskin invaders to fight the Daemonic threat. While the Armageddon Steel Legion and Planetary Defence Forces hold out against hope to secure Armageddon's hives, the Salamanders, along with nine other Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, succeed in halting the ritual that would bring Angron, the Primarch of the World Eaters, back to the planet that had defied him in ages past.Unknown Date.M42 False Hope - Adrift amongst the stars of the Imperium Nihilus, a fleet-bound Astra Militarum army group believes it has located the Astronomican. They follow the telepathic signal through the Immaterium, straight into the clutches of a massed Alpha Legion ambush.Unknown Date.M42 Slash and Burn - A battle group en route to war zone Ultramar during the Plague Wars descend to quell the massive Genestealer Cult uprising on Gretienne's Garden. So rife with mutants are the forests of the verdant world that the Imperial soldiers set the planet's entire western continent ablaze. After solar months of intense battles, the Genestealer Cults withdraw into the densest woods, and the offensive devolves into a series of seek and destroy missions. The majority of the battle group is called away by order of the Ordo Xenos, leaving only a handful of Catachan armoured regiments and super-heavy vehicles. The departure is fortuitously timed, for days later the system is cut off from all communication -- shrouded by the Warp shadow emanating from a fast-approaching Hive Fleet Jormungandr splinter fleet. Undeterred, and with abominations still to kill, the remaining Baneblades blast and bulldoze their way through the lingering hybrids, while Hellhound companies incinerate any living thing that crosses their path. The forest world and every mutant on it is reduced to ash by the time the Tyranid Hive Fleet arrives. The armoured Catachans hold out for as long as they can before being devoured by the overwhelming enemy. Finding the once-lush planet stripped of its vital bio-mass, the Jormungandr splinter fleet quickly sets off towards other Imperial worlds.Unknown Date.M42 Call of the Forge - A fragmented message reaches the astropathic choirs on Vostroya. Though it appears to have been sent by the Adeptus Mechanicus, calling for aid on Canoptis II, the nature of the threat facing the Tech-priests is unclear. Nevertheless, the Vostroyan Firstborn 22nd "Riders of Dawn," the 99th "Only Sons" and the 331st "True Shots" set out to answer the call, hoping that their Navigators will be able to traverse the now lightless stars.ca. 000.M41-015.M42 War of Beasts - The strategically located Hive World and Bastion World of Vigilus linked the Imperium Nihilus with the Imperium Sanctus through the Nachmund Gauntlet, one of the only known stable passes through the Great Rift. Realising the importance of this planet to the survival of the Imperium, it was assaulted by multiple xenos and Chaos forces, including the Black Legion under the command of Abaddon the Despoiler. Though the Despoiler's invasion was ultimately defeated by warriors drawn from multiple Space Marine Chapters under the command of the Ultramarines Chapter Master Marneus Calgar, Vigilus remained a world largely under siege from Ork, Drukhari and Genestealer Cult factions. In the wake of Marneus Calgar's victory, a reprieve from the executioner's axe is beheld as a miracle on the Bastion World. More Astra Militarum regiments are funnelled through the nightmarish Nachmund Gauntlet in a bid to take advantage of a seeming reversal in Imperial fortunes. But the picture becomes bleaker with every astropathic data transfer; Vigilus' neighbours fall quiet one by one, and though Abaddon is said to have retreated, more of his forces continue to spill onto the world.Unknown Date.M42 Wages of War - The Tallarn Desert Raiders, fighting alongside Grey Knights of the Blades of Victory Brotherhood, conduct a series of feinting attacks against the Nurgle Daemons spawned in the wake of Outbreak Arcanum, when the spores of the sentient plague Eater of Lives were unleashed from the drifting space hulk Mother of Miseries. Skirmishes flit across barren moons and Dead Worlds, the Grey Knights instructing the Desert Raiders to never close on their enemy or leave their dead behind. In time, the rotting hordes waste away. The Grey Knights carve the names of the Tallarn commanders into their armour to honour their service, then put every surviving Tallarn guardsman and officer to death to prevent the spread of the plague.Unknown Date.M42 Entry to Valhalla - Amidst the darkness of the Imperium Nihilus, fleeing vessels carry word of a Greenskin fleet surging towards Valhalla. Planning to intercept the Orks on the nearby Hive World of Skovi, the Valhallan Ice Warriors make a series of short range Warp jumps. Upon arrival they learn that the Skovian armouries are severely depleted, having expended their munitions reserves fighting off several Ork waves already. Desperate calls for resupply had been sent, but they were either never received or the Imperial Navy's resupply ships had been lost in the Warp. As the main body of the Ork fleet arrives in orbit, the well-equipped Ice Warriors assume command of Skovi's defence, requisitioning what few supplies remain. The Skovians are given knives, hatchets, spears and rocks before being ordered to march alongside the Valhallan infantry towards the Greenskin invaders. The Guardsmen in the vanguard are mercilessly butchered by the first Ork charge, but the Ice Warriors hold their ground. From the rear of the Imperial formation, the 888th Valhallan "Frostburners" Artillery Regiment begins to shell the front lines. Ordnance blasts send chunks of human and Ork flesh raining across the battlefield, and the creeping barrages continue to cut further and further into the sea of Greenskins. By nightfall on the fourth solar day only a handful of Orks remain. Despite devastating losses and a lack of proper weaponry, the Skovians join the Ice Warriors in hunting them down.Unknown Date.M42 Cadia Stands! - Cadian Shock Troops regiments scattered across war zones throughout the Imperium vow to avenge those who perished when their homeworld fell to Abaddon the Despoiler. The skill and discipline instilled in each Cadian on their mother planet is imparted to Planetary Defence Forces and newly founded Militarum Regimentos whom they fight alongside, and the last Lord Castellan's mantra, "Cadia Stands!" is not forgotten. The surviving Cadians are now led by their new Lord Castellan Ursula J. Creed, the daughter of her predecessor, who has inherited every bit of her father's skill and grit.Unknown Date.M42 Battle of Norada VII- The fleet-borne Cadian High Command, now under the leadership of Lord Castellan Ursula J. Creed, deploys armies comprised of Kasrkin and Cadian Shock Troops to dozens of star systems. On Norada VII, the Cadians narrowly avoid becoming encircled by Traitoris Militarum, only to watch as their transport ships are destroyed in orbit by Heretic Astartes vessels...Unknown Date.M42 Rebellion on Thyriss Paterna - The rebellion thought crushed on Thyriss Paterna two solar decades before the opening of the Great Rift rises again. As the war escalates and the involvement of Traitor Marines is confirmed, the planet is deemed lost , and virus-bombed into oblivion. Forty-two regiments of Thyrissite Sentinels remain in service with the Astra Militarum, deployed far from their homeworld. Learning of its annihilation, these regiments vow to exact revenge against the followers of the Ruinous Powers.Unknown Date.M42 Rafnar Complex Sub-4c - Having recently completed the putting-down of insurrectionist workers' guilds in the delver colony tunnels of Complex Sub-4c on the world of Rafnar, regiments of Urshan Pitfighters and Vantelli Warders are suddenly attacked by unidentified foes from even deeper workings, far beyond any known Imperial delve. A vicious war erupted in the cramped, unlit mazes.Unknown Date.M42 Greenskin Assault on the Gorentz System - Orks in their billions descend upon the Gorentz System. Regiments are raised from every planet within reach, including the worlds of Barac, Ulani and Catachan. The expanding war zone, centred around the cardinal world of Gorentz, becomes a meat grinder as planet after planet is swallowed by the bloody conflict.Unknown Date.M42 Battle of Orvaston Planus - Tyranids designated as a splinter of Hive Fleet Kraken swarm into the star systems of the Vasta Nebula. The world of Orvaston Planus is the site of the Imperial Guard's greatest success in the region. Thousands of Attilan Rough Riders operate night and day in repeated attacks, hunting swarms to extinction to delay any adaptation and counter the Tyranids' rapid onslaught. The world quickly becomes the bulwark of a major fight to retake the whole nebula from the Great Devourer.