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Melkeji Salvation

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The Melkeji Salvation was a battle waged by the Word Bearers during the Great Crusade.[1]

Overview

Melkeji had once been a Human world, but during the Age of Strife had fallen under the control of a parasitic alien race. Unable to exist outside the body of a sentient host, these nameless creatures ruled Melkeji through a class referred to as the Ascended, beings who wore the faces of humans but ruled with a single-minded determination to maintain a large pool of future hosts. Ascended Hosts lasted little more than a year before they died, and a new host would be selected at random. So conditioned to submission was the uninfected human population of Melkeji that they worshiped the Ascended as divine beings.[1]

First contact by the Imperium with Melkeji was made by a small Expeditionary Fleet under Grand Marshal Kulth but shockingly the Imperial forces faced stiff resistance from the human population of the world, who resisted these new invaders on the orders of the Ascended. Kulth requested aid, and a full eight Chapters of the Word Bearers led by Lorgar himself arrived to bring the Emperor's justice to Melkeji.[1]

Lorgar began his assault on Melkeji's orbital cities which were home to the Ascended. After an hour long orbital battle, Melkeji's space defenses were obliterated and the Word Bearers landed 5,000 Space Marines and 100,000 auxiliaries on the planet. Even in the face of such might, the Melkeji still fanatically resisted. Several million defenders were killed in the first hour of the engagement. Lorgar simultaneously timed this assault with the final destruction of the Ascended, whose death cries were broadcast across Melkeji. Realizing that their masters were truly gone and they were alone against the might of the Imperium, most of the Melkeji surrendered. A decade later, Melkeji was a world faithful to the God Emperor. Half a century later, 500,000 Melkeji made a pilgrimage to Ultramar with the names of alien gods on their lips.[1]

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