War Zone: Catachan
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War Zone: Catachan was a campaign waged by the Imperium during the Noctis Aeterna.[1]
Overview
When the Great Rift formed, many worlds were swallowed up in the massive network of Warp Storms or abandoned within the Imperium Nihilus. Many more were invaded by hordes of Daemons, empowered by the great Warp Rift. Catachan was spared initial disaster, but would soon find itself plagued by a more subtle threat.[1]
Following the formation of the Great Rift, Catachan began to prepare for the coming Indomitus Crusade, whose fleets were pressing towards Catachan itself. This included raising many new Regiments, as well as calling back ones deployed to other warzones. Moreover, the Death World had the destination to many refugee flotillas fleeing the destruction caused by the Great Rift. These included not only civilians but remnants of other Imperial Guard Regiments, such as those from Tulosc, Berentis Kha, Vulpus II, Dorlan, and Meggsh. The Catachans maintained their usual disdain towards these interlopers, often refusing many refugee convoys landings under the logic of them being too weak to survive on the harsh Death World. Only the Tuloschan Grey Companions were permitted the right to land on Catachan's surface, with their great physical strength being cited as giving them the privilege. The Tuloschans were assigned to Fort Traggan and given duties to clear its perimeter of hostile lifeforms and the relentlessly advancing jungle. Unknown to the Catachans however, the Tuloschans were secretly followers of the Forces of Chaos, worshiping a god known as the Shadow Butcher. They had unleashed Daemons on their on homeworld and now sought to do the same to Catachan.[1]
Ultimately, the Tuloschans revealed their treachery and attacked Catachans within Fort Traggan. A vicious melee erupted in the fortress settlement, with both sides ripping each other apart. The traitors used the blood spilled an enact a ritual to summon the hosts of Khorne of Catachan, and with their aid the last loyalists in Traggan were butchered. From the desecreated city, mortals and daemons spread along trails through the dense jungle, advancing against other settlements. Other Daemons hunted packs of carnivorous beasts or wildly hacked at burning swathes through the undergrowth. Meanwhile, a Catachan counterattack under Colonel Straken moved quickly following the first reports of treachery. What followed was a war of stealth that lasted for months, though the Grey Companions last only a matter of days, with most of them succumbing to disease, predators, or Catachan ambushes. This only served to swell the Daemons power, and they inflicted a heavy tally on the Catachans.[1]
In the Ghorsa Hills, monsoons of blood fell amidst supernatural landslides of skulls and even elements of the planets wildlife were corrupted. Yet even as the Catachans continually adapted and continued to wage their guerilla resistance, so did Catachan turn on the invaders. With feral instinct, all of Catachan's predators hunted and bled the Daemons until the final creature vanished. By the time the Indomitus Crusade arrived, the unconquered jungle had been erased of the corruption.[1]
Catachan Order of Battle[1]
- Infantry Regiments
- Catachan II 'Green Vipers' - 27 Companies
- Catachan LXIII 'Stranglevines' - 19 Companies
- Catachan CIII 'Trail Stalkers' - 42 Companies
- Catachan CCXII 'Devils Own Thorns' - 30 Companies
- Catachan CMLI 'Clawfangs' - 15 Companies
- Airborne Mechanized Regiments
- Catachan XXXI 'Black Strikes' - 13 Companies
- Catachan XCII 'Death Cloud' - 9 Companies
- Armoured Regiments
- Catachan XX 'Ironteeth' - 7 Companies
- Catachan CIX 'Fire Ghosts' - 11 Companies
Sources
- 1: Codex: Astra Militarum (9th Edition), pg. 23
