Taros Campaign - Stygies VIII Forge World: Abaddon’s 13th Black Crusade would indirectly affect every part of the Imperium, whether it was the demands for new Imperial Guard regiments, increased tithes or higher production from Forge Worlds to meet supply demands. Abaddon’s ambition could be likened to throwing a stone into a pond, where the ripples stretched out to the far corners of the galaxy.In the Ultima Segmentum, the largest of the five great Segmentums that divide the Imperium, the effects would also be felt, even as far away as the Eastern Fringe. Stygies VIII is one of Ultima Segmentum’s greatest Forge Worlds, and one of the Adeptus Mechanicus' largest research and production facilities. In productivity Stygies VIII stands in the second tier of Forge Worlds, with Mars alone on the top tier. Situated in the Vulcanis system and covering the entire surface of the eighth moon of the ringed gas-giant Stygies, the Forge World is one of the most productive in the Ultima Segmentum, and of great importance to the Imperium’s war efforts.As a Forge World, Stygies VIII does not pay tithes to the Administratum; instead it is bound to supply arms, munitions and equipment to the Departmento Munitorum for use by the Imperial Guard. This is a very important task as productivity is carefully monitored to meet demand forecasts (itself something of an arcane art practiced by the Adeptus Mechanicus’ Logis). Should the Forge World fall behind, there might be serious consequences in the future when, in some far-off warzone, ammunition or replacement weapons begin to run out. The Departmento Munitorum spends a lot of its time and resources making sure this does not happen.Carrying the authority of the Master of the Administratum, a Departmento Munitorum official arrived on Stygies VIII with a new set of production figures and targets. The forecasts of a coming Black Crusade meant many new Imperial Guard regiments were being raised, and these fighting men needed equipment. The rules of Stygies VIII and the High-Prefect of the Departmento Munitorum held long councils to discuss the new requirements. At this council, Stygies VIII argued that if production was to be increased, then more refined and raw materials would need to be found. The lifeblood of any Forge World is the material it consumes. For production on the scale found on Stygies VIII, vast amounts of minerals and chemicals are required. Mining planets across the Imperium supplies these demands. The task of finding new material was a big one, and the Departmento officials returned to Terra to begin it. Administratum Auditors set about finding where reserves had been located and catalogued, and where planetary-audits suggested that extra productivity might be squeezed from refineries.It was during this process of evaluation and cross-referencing that the planet of Taros first came to the Administratum bureaucrat's attention. Taros was a small Mining World deep in Ultima Segmentum. It was unremarkable except for two things: the estimated size of the planet’s untapped mineral wealth and secondly, its rather too-close-for-comfort proximity to the expanding borders of the alien Tau Empire. The Departmento Munitorum briefed a delegation to visit this backwater planet. Armed with an ancient audit report compiled in the 38th millennium by officials collecting data for just such circumstances, Auditor Prime Nymus Dree and his team of scribes and archivists were dispatched to inform the Planetary Governor of Taros of his new increased production targets and to help organise the meeting of these. Dree was authorised to use the Departmento’s ultimate sanction. Under the conditions of the Pax Imperialis, if the Planetary Governor could not, or would not, meet the increased targets, then he would be replaced by a new Governor who would.