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Siege of Vraks

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Siege of Vraks
VraksTanks.jpg
Malcador Tanks advance through No-Man's Land on Vraks Prime[2a]
Date 813-830.M41
Location Vraks Prime
Outcome Pyrrhic Imperial victory
Combatants
Imperium of Man Forces of Chaos
Commanders
Lord Commander Zuehlke
Marshal Amim Kargori
Lord Inquisitor Hector Rex
Supreme Grand Master Azrael
Brother-Captain Arvann Stern
Captain Carab Culln
Cardinal Xaphan
Deacon Mamon
Arko the Faithless
Zhufor
Strength
34 Krieg Regiments[3e]
22 Legio Astorum Titans[3d]
5 Companies of Dark Angels
Angels of Absolution
Red Hunters
Red Scorpions
Grey Knights
Ordo Malleus Inquisitors
Battlefleet Scarus
50,000 Disciples of Xaphan[2a]
10,000 Vraksian Traitor Guard[2a]
500,000 PDF[2a]
1,500,000 Militia[2a]
1,250,000 Frateris Militia[2a]
1,500,000 Labour Corpsmen[2a]
500,000 Lost and the Damned
The Faithless
Berserkers of Skallathrax
Skulltakers
The Purge
Apostles of Contagion
Lords of Decay
The Sanctified
Steel Brethren
Black Brethren of Ayreas
Adharon's Reavers
Legio Vulcanum
Uraka's Head-Hunters
~30 Warships[2a]
Casualties
14 Million Guardsmen[3e]
Hundreds of Space Marines
at least 4 Inquisitors
9 Titans[3e]
All killed or fled

The Siege of Vraks was a major campaign waged by the Imperium to reclaim the world of Vraks, first from traitorous forces, and later from Chaos.[1]

Prelude

Trouble on Vraks began when the rogue Cardinal Xaphan established a powerful following on the Departmento Munitorum armoury world of Vraks, proclaiming that he was acting against doubters and heretics that threatened the Emperor's divine rule. Xaphan attempted to organize a War of Faith as he established a stranglehold on Vraks, purging any who spoke out against his zealotry. However, his sermons focused on the downtrodden workers and lower circles of Imperial society, and soon Xaphan became a man of the people. This drew the ire of the Ordo Hereticus, which became concerned that the Cardinal was amassing too much personal power and that his preachings of hope to the lower classes may result in open class warfare on Vraks. Thus the Ordo decided to dispatch the Cardinal, deploying a lone Vindicare Assassin for the job. However the assassination attempt failed, and when the attempted murder of their "saviour" at the hands of the Imperial government became known, the citizens of Vraks rose up in open revolt.[1a]

The Cardinal's Frateris Militia and labour-soldiers quickly overwhelmed the small Arbites and Adepta Sororitas presence on the planet, dismantling its Administratum buildings on the worlds central Citadel and murdering the Master-Prefect. It took time for news of the uprising to move through Departmento Munitorum, Segmentum, and General Staff levels of command, but eventually a strikeforce was approved to retake the planet and purge the apostate Cardinal Xaphan. The force was dubbed the 88th Imperial Guard Siege Army and consisted of 31 Regiments from the Death Korps of Krieg. Overall command of the operation was given to Lord Commander Zuehlke. The Departmento Munitorum planners knew that Xaphan's rebel forces were well-armed from the planets stores and dug into the formidable defences of Vraks, so picking the Krieg Regiments, themselves siege and trench warfare specialists, seemed like the natural choice.[1a]

Meanwhile, Xaphan's right hand man Deacon Mamon organized the defences of Vraks to withstand the Imperial assault. The best and most loyal troops drawn from the Cardinal's own retinue were dubbed the Disciples of Xaphan, while Imperial Guard Garrison Auxillia and PDF forces were also mobilized and well-equipped from the armoury worlds stores. Lastly, vast numbers of fanatical but poorly trained Frateris Militia and Labour Corps formed a large, but expendable, part of Xaphan's army.[1a]

On 965812.M41, the Siege of Vraks began when Transport ships from the 88th Siege Army began their landings on the planet.[1a]

The Killing Fields of Vraks

Death Korps of Krieg Artillery positions[2c]

The opening shot of the war was fired by the Krieg regiments who began a heavy artillery bombardment on rebel positions in the outposts of the Vraksians' outer defensive line, known as the Van Meersland Wastes. After days of artillery bombardment on the traitors outer positions, the first assault by the Krieg forces began on 212813.M41 with 500,000 men launching themselves at the defences over the course of two days. The Krieg forces took enormous casualties, entire platoons were simply wiped off the Imperial Order of Battle over the courses of hours. However, the Krieg Guardsmen continued across no-man's land nonetheless, braving not only enemy fire but also vast minefields. After several weeks of hard fighting the Krieg forces had indeed captured a few outer trench lines, but these were negligible gains taken at great cost.[1b]

On 897814.M41 the first major pitched battle of the conflict began, the Battle of Fort A-453. After a massive night artillery barrage achieved little, Krieg Grenadiers and armoured forces consisting of Leman Russ Battle Tanks and Baneblades advanced on the strategically important fort. The Guardsmen succeeded in cracking the enemy defensive line, forcing the enemy to fall back. The first full breakthrough on the enemy defences was achieved by the Krieg 30th Line Korps, which was exploited by all Imperial forces in the sector. Death Riders pursued fleeing enemy forces, and soon a full rout broke out as traitor forces withdrew to their rear fortifications. Fort A-453 was captured at significant cost, but the first objective of the Siege of Vraks had been completed.[1b]

After 2 years of war, the 88th Siege Army experienced the first concentrated enemy counterattack, intended to recover the ground that had been lost in the northern sector after troops were forced to withdraw from it during the fall of Fort A-453. The unprepared Krieg forces in the northern sector came under a furious night offensive from Vraksian PDF and Garrison Auxilia, and though the Krieg Guardsmen managed to halt their initial attacks they had no reinforcements available to keep up their momentum. The rebel forces struck again at dawn, this time achieving a breakthrough after two days of gruelling fighting. The Krieg forces fought bravely but in vain, and much of the northern sector fell to enemy forces, which were led by armoured columns. This setback set back Lord Zuehlke's timetable for the campaigns completion significantly and forced many planned offensives to be cancelled.[1c]

Days of heavy and mutually bloody tank combat ensued as the Guard forces launched an assault led by Leman Russes and Macharius tanks to try and blunt the rebel momentum. Eventually the Krieg forces prevailed in stalling the enemy counter-offensive. Both sides then dug in from their immediate positions, and after several weeks the 88th Siege Army launched its own offensive to try and reclaim the ground it had previously lost. The rebel forces lost some ground, then blunted the Imperial attack, launching their own counter-offensive in turn. For seven years these remorseless cycles of offensive, counter-offensive, and trench warfare ground on, killing millions on both sides. However, in 820.M41, a dire new development reached Commander Zuehkle. Reports that Alpha Legion Chaos Space Marines had joined the Vraksian renegades began to pour in, and Lord Commander Zuehkle sent this report to the Lord Commander Militant of Segmentum Obscurus. Unknown to the Imperium, Vraks had attracted the attention of the Alpha Legion warlord Arkos, whose Battle Barge crept into the Vraks System and landed his battle brothers on the other side of the planet. Arkos was a useful and powerful ally for Xaphan, who gladly accepted his aid for the time being.[1c]

The report of the Alpha Legion's presence on Vraks attracted the attention of the Dark Angels, who answered the call by Commander Zuehkle for aid. The Dark Angels, normally reluctant to undertake major operations that did not concern them, seemed overly committed to the Vraks Campaign. Half of the entire chapter was mobilized and led by Supreme Grand Master Azrael himself. Clearly the Dark Angels were after something on Vraks that they were not telling the Departmento Munitorum.[1d]

Using Thunderhawks and preceded by a fierce orbital bombardment, the Dark Angels landed both infantry and heavy armour just outside Vraks Starport on 844821.M41. Initial objectives were achieved by the Dark Angels in mere minutes, knocking out dozen of traitor vehicles and inflicting hundreds of casualties. The Astartes then advanced on the Starport itself, using indiscriminate firepower from their Thunderhawks to devastate the city. Over 8 days of cautious urban combat, Azrael finally ordered the final assault on the city and Land Raiders led the charge. The renegades were overwhelmed and outmatched by the Dark Angels, until the Astartes fell right into an Alpha Legion ambush that saw Arkos and Azrael engage in personal combat. Initially pummelled by the Chaos Lord, Azrael's Deathwing Terminators arrived to save the Supreme Grand Master and Arkos was forced to withdraw with his men. As the Alpha legion withdrew, the Imperium claimed the spaceport, but the Dark Angels had lost 200 Battle-Brothers.[1d]

Breakthrough

Seeking to maintain the initiative, Lord Zuehkle organized for a massive offensive to finally and decisively end the conflict. Krieg forces charged enemy lines across no-man's land, accompanied by a massive artillery bombardment. The result was the typical mutual slaughter for both sides, and Krieg forces made little progress after three days of bloody fighting. However the battle of attrition began to take its toll on the rebel forces, and by the fourth day the 468th Krieg Regiment managed a major breakthrough on the exhausted and battered Vraksian lines. This time the rebel forces could not organize a significant counter-offensive and their second defensive line collapsed. The Guardsmen finally achieved a major breakthrough, after nine years of constant attacks. It now became apparent that Xaphan's rebel forces on Vraks faced certain defeat. However, the real battle was yet to come.[1e]

Upon his defeat at the spaceport, Arkos had his Sorcerers send a psychic signal through the Warp. It was a call for old allies to Vraks, and warbands of the Eye of Terror united in their hatred for the Imperium answered the call. Soon, a Chaos Fleet of over thirty vessels was spotted heading towards the Sector. The commander of Imperial vessels in the region, Rear Admiral Rasiak, organized his meagre resources to resist based around his flagship, the Lunar Class Cruiser Lord Bellerophon. After his frigate squadrons on reconnaissance made contact with traitor vessels, the First Battle of the Vraks System began when Traitor forces tested the defences of the planet. Six days later, the traitor fleet made its move on the planet and the Lord Bellerophon, backed up by Cruisers and Grand Cruisers, battled the Despoiler Class Battleship Anarchy's Heart as well as its escorts of cruisers and raiding craft. In the end, the Chaos fleet overwhelmed the Imperial planetary defenders and the Lord Bellerophon was forced to retreat. The Chaos forces now had total control of the skies over Vraks, and they would deliver a bloody vengeance to the Imperial forces on the planet.[2a]

Chaos Unleashed

The Chaos Space Marine counteroffensive on Vraks began when the World Eaters warband the Berserkers of Skallathrax launched a Dreadclaw assault on the planet from the battleship Blood Dawn. The attacks were aimed at the rear of the Krieg regiments, which were now encircling the primary Fortress of Vraks. The Krieg forces themselves were busy in the Assault on Mortuary Ridge, a key strategic high ground overlooking the Fortress. The attack was typically bloody for both sides, but the situation became catastrophic for the Krieg forces when the Chaos fleet above began a fierce orbital bombardment of Macro-cannon shells. Next came the Drop Pods and Dreadclaws, each full of screaming Khorne Berzerkers. The bloodthirsty killers and their orbital bombardment threw the Krieg Regiments into full-scale confusion, and the Guardsmen fell back in a full rout. Other Chaos vessels began to land on the planet, disgorging not only other Chaos Space Marines from Death Guard, World Eater, Iron Warriors, and Black Legion warbands but also hundreds of thousands of Cultists, Mutants, Beastmen, and other fighters of Chaos. Worse still, Traitor Titans from the Legio Vulcanum landed on the planet, unloading Warhound and Reaver Titans. Seeing an opportunity for a dramatic turnaround, the Vraksian renegades launched a major attack from their own embattled positions, causing the Krieg troops to become attacked on all sides. A full-scale counter-offensive by the Forces of Chaos was underway, and the Imperial Guard faced total defeat.[2b]

What had once been a war with clearly defined frontlines now became a messy affair, as the Krieg Regiments were attacked on all sides by a wide variety of enemies. The Krieg forces withdrew in quick order, and Segmentum Command soon dismissed Lord Commander Zuehlke and appointed Marshal Amim Kargori in his stead to salvage the operation. Marshal Kargori gathered a relief force to save the beleaguered Krieg regiments, consisting of Titans from the Legio Astorum as well as fresh regiments from Krieg itself. While this relief force was mobilized, the Krieg forces on Vraks fought for their lives.[2b]

By now, Xaphan had lost most control over his forces. Arkos and the warlords of the various Chaos Space Marine warbands operating on the planet assumed direct control, and Xaphan became a mere figurehead who made less and less public appearances. Various Nurgle-affiliated warbands such as The Purge, Apostles of Contagion, and Lords of Decay plundered Vraks' stocks, unleashing a dreadful chemical weapon known as TP-III which could even eat through the Krieg Guardsmens' gas masks. The Death Guard forces, consisting of many Plague Marines, slaughtered the 19th Krieg Regiment with their new weapon in a gleeful harvest for Nurgle.[2b]

Meanwhile, after several weeks forces from Battlefleet Scarus arrived in the Vraks System to assess the enemy fleet situation. To their surprise, no enemy vessels remained in orbit. The traitor captains thought the war on the planet won, and left to go claim new victories and new plunder. However, one ship remained, the Alpha Legion battleship Anarchy's Heart and her escorts, which attempted to ambush the Imperial battleship Duke De Walle in the Second Battle of the Vraks System. This time, the Anarchy's Heart was severely damaged and withdrew from the system, leaving the Imperium to send their relief force to the planet. The fresh Krieg Regiments and Titans quickly established a foothold on Vraks, launching the Kargori Offensive which succeeded in breaking the Traitors' momentum through sheer attrition and the heavy firepower offered by the Titans. During the battle, loyalist and traitor Titans met in combat, with the loyalists winning the day and forcing a traitor withdrawal after losing nearly twelve machines.[2c]

Reaver Titans lead a counteroffensive on Vraks[2c]

With both sides now digging in for another round of attrition warfare, Marshal Kagori sought a dramatic new tactic and used Death Korps Engineering teams to attempt to tunnel under enemy positions, setting mines and tunnels to attack the traitors rear. This War Beneath Vraks became a major theatre of the battle, with both sides taking heavy losses in vicious, dark, underground fighting. In the air, both sides attempted to establish air superiority over the battlefield in a dramatic new part of the war. Chaos Hell Blades and Hell Talons traded blows with Imperial Thunderbolt and Lightning fighters as Marauder Bombers rained death on Vraksian lines. As the war dragged on, Imperial Navy Fighter Wings managed to established local air superiority but only at great cost.[2d]

Marshal Kagori, attempting to regain the Imperial initiative in the campaign, organized a massive new offensive. After Krieg underground engineers mined enemy defences in Sector 54-44, an enormous artillery barrage opened up in conjunction with a mass Gorgon APC assault. The first two assaults failed in the face of vicious traitor resistance, a third thrust succeeded in taking local sectors at the cost of a million men, but the overall planetary situation was grim. Chaos Marines launched devastating lightning attacks, and Krieg troops were coming under attack from both the front and rear in the face of this new mobile enemy. The long war of attrition continued for both sides, with deadlock prevailing once more. The Administratum lost faith in the war effort, not seeing any decisive end in sight. It began to withdraw vital Regiments for other warzones, dooming the campaign to drag on eaven further. Now desperate, Kagori attempted to recruit Adeptus Astartes of the Red Scorpions Chapter in a bid to finally make some headway in the conflict.[2d]

Angels of Death

After lengthy negotiations, the Red Scorpions agreed to contribute to the war effort and chose to land at the breach created in Sector 57-44 and create a decisive breakthrough. The Red Scorpions launched their Veterans and Terminators from their orbiting Strike Cruiser in an attack codenamed Operation Execution Place. Landing by Thunderhawk and teleportation, the Red Scorpions caught the enemy off-guard and plowed through their ranks. The Astartes were met by a vicious charge of Chaos Ogryns, which was fought off in bloody close combat by Assault Terminators. The Scorpions succeeded in taking the breach, which soon became reinforced by Krieg Guardsmen. The traitor forces in turn organized a major counter-attack, this time led by Chaos Titans. Once more it fell to the loyalist Titans of the Warp Runners to beat back the Titan attack, succeeding in another struggle that saw the Legio Vulcanum withdraw. With the enemy offensive defeated, the Red Scorpions' mission was complete and they withdrew as quickly as they came. With the Breach of Sector 57-44 in hand, only the central Fortress of Vraks now stood before the forces of the Imperium. The Chaos Space Marines meanwhile did little to prevent the Breach's capture. Instead, they were busy in an attempt to summon new allies to the field.[2e]

Reports of ill omens and portents began to erupt across the Vraks system, signs typically associated with an impending daemonic incursion. As a result, the Ordo Malleus began to investigate the situation. At an Inquisitorial Conclave at the Inquisitorial Fortress of Scarus, it was determined that a major Daemonic incursion on Vraks was imminent, and that the Ordo Malleus would achieve jurisdiction to take command of the operation over the Ordo Hereticus. Lord Inquisitor Hector Rex was given command of the expedition, and he immediately began negotiations with the 88th Siege Army to have him and his Inquisitors to take direct command of the war effort. The Ordo Malleus forces were bolstered by the Grey Knights and Red Hunters Space Marine chapters. Perhaps not surprisingly, the beleaguered headquarters of the 88th Siege Army based on Thracian Prime agreed to hand Lord Rex command of the Vraks operation. So it was that the Siege of Vraks became a major front for the Ordo Malleus, with Rex acting as the new Supreme Commander and Inquisitors deployed in the field as his lieutenants.[3a]

Hector Rex on Vraks

As Strike Cruisers of the Grey Knights and Red Talons from Titan entered orbit above Vraks, the final assault by the 88th Siege Army on the central fortress of Vraks was being planned. Finally taking the citadel was a real possibility since Sector 57-44 had been captured. Heavy resistance was expected, and nearly the entire strength of the Krieg's forces on the planet would be thrown into the operation alongside the Inquisitorial forces. Lord Rex planned to close a ring of troops around the Citadel and gradually seal traitor forces in an ever-shrinking pocket. The first action of the offensive to capture the citadel was undertaken by the Krieg 30th Line Korps, which advanced through a "Green Hell" of Death Guard Space Marine warbands. After eight days of vicious fighting that saw the Guardsmen subjected to Daemon Engines of Nurgle, chemical warfare, and twisted Spawns of Nurgle, the Krieg forces finally stalled in their advance. To break the stalemate, the Inquisitors authorized the use of chemical weapons, barely affecting the Death Guard Plague Marines and only adding to the Green Hell. Meanwhile, other offensives undertaken by the Krieg troops progressed slowly with the usual butcher's bill. But nonetheless, the drive on the Vraks Citadel continued.[3a]

As the fighting continued and the Imperial forces pressed ever-onwards, the Chaos Space Marine warbands became embroiled in petty squabbles over supplies as morale of the renegades finally began to falter. Skulltakers Lord Zhufor, hoping to prolong the war to simply offer more skulls to Khorne, now planned to take over the renegade war effort on Vraks himself. A coup was launched against the other warbands, with Zhufor being able to subdue the Berzerkers of Skallathrax, Black Brethren of Ayreas, and The Sanctified through either combat or negotiation. Arkos and his Alpha Legion remained with Zhufor in an alliance, allowing the vicious Skulltakers into Xaphan's palace where they proceeded to massacre Xaphan's followers and locked the Cardinal himself in a dungeon. News of this turn of events was not given to the Vraksian Renegades, and Xaphan remained the nominal figurehead of traitor resistance on Vraks. Zhufor now stood as the supreme warlord of Vraks.[3a]

Meanwhile, Lord Rex launched an assault on Hangman's Hill, hoping to disable the Defence Laser batteries around the Vraks Citadel, which were slowly taken in bloody pitched battles. The primary summit was taken after three failed attacks. But beyond, the Citadel of Vraks was now directly visible. But despite this victory, meddling by rivals of Rex within the Inquisition meant that the overall size of the 88th Siege regiment was reduced when the High Lords of Terra themselves issued a direct decree to withdraw a dozen Regiments.[3b]

This grim turn of events however did not stop Rex from continuing the advance, attacking a key path to the Citadel in the Battle for Gate 579-459. The resulting battle was bloody, seeing the death of Commissar-General Maugh and the near collapse of the offensive due to an intervention by Khornate Berzerkers and Chaos Terminators. However the Guardsmen's sheer numbers and an armoured thrust managed to beat back this counter-offensive.[3b]

Final Assault

The Central Citadel of Vraks[3b]

With Gate 579-459 in hand, the 88th Siege Army prepared for the final push on the Vraks Citadel itself. The citadel itself was a daunting target, the most formidable defensive bastion on the planet. Guardsmen would have to face the "Murder Slopes" dug around the fortress and potentially foul Daemons that would be summoned by Chaos Space Marines. However Rex knew that this bloody assault was necessary, and planned three primary attacks from different directions.[3c]

The attack began with a Gorgon advance, unloading Krieg Guardsmen onto the Murder Slopes. Backed by tanks, artillery, and airpower, all available resources at the 88th Siege Army's disposal was used. But as expected, all three attacks met with fierce resistance and enormous losses were sustained by the Krieg troops. However continuous artillery and aerial bombardment managed to finally overwhelm the Citadel's Void Shields, allowing for the Citadel itself to receive direct damage. As the Guardsmen finally reached the Murder Slopes, resistance was initially light but this was just a ploy by enemy troops dug deep in the Citadels walls, who opened up an enormous torrent of fire when the Krieg forces were close. A seven day battle for a central ravine around the Citadel erupted, which not even an intervention by Titans could win for the Imperium. Finally, Rex realized that only the Adeptus Astartes could take the ravine and the Red Hunters, waiting in high orbit, deployed from their Drop Pods. However the enemy had expected such a manoeuvre, and the Red Hunter strike force of 150 battle brothers fell right into a trap. They were surrounded and annihilated to the man, with Krieg forces unable to aid them due to poor visibility. Several more attacks by the Krieg forces were made anyway, resulting in 2 entire Regiments being butchered. Finally the offensive on the Ravine was called off a day later.[3c]

Rex waited to organize a force of 68 Marauder Bombers before launching a new assault on the Ravine. This time, heavy air power combined with classical Krieg tactics of attrition and a major Titan offensive saw the Ravine finally fall to Imperial hands. In coordination, along the entire front Krieg Guardsmen were pushing forward, and in places they almost reached the walls. It was now that the Guardsmen faced a heavy counterattack from the Black Brothers of Ayreas, which saw the Krieg troops pushed from the wall. More men were poured into the attacks along the walls, and six times over the course of a day did these positions change hands. The Sanctified were meanwhile unleashing Daemon Engines through sacrificing prisoners souls to their infernal gods. On the second day, the Krieg infantry launched a new offensive that was led by the Grey Knights and Lord Rex himself in order to combat the new Daemonic forces at the disposal of the renegades. Overwhelming the traitor forces, the Imperial troops succeeded in taking the Lower Gate Spur and defeated additional enemy counterattacks. It was the first victory of the last battle for Vraks.[3c]

Daemonic Assault

Meanwhile, the Red Scorpions deployed once more to Vraks to exploit the gains made in the Lower Gate, now in ruins from the fighting. They engaged the traitor forces in the Battle for St. Leonis Gate, one of the primary entrances to the Vraks Citadel. Led by Land Raiders, the Red Scorpions succeeded in driving the enemy back. But the traitors were by no means defeated, as The Sanctified had finally completed their ritual and opened a Warp rift in the citadel from which Daemons poured. Bloodletters, Flesh Hounds, and Juggernauts tore through the Imperial forces initially, but the Red Scorpions held firm and did not give ground. Meanwhile in the Battle for the Cardinal's Gate, Lord Rex's assault force of Grey Knights met similar Daemonic resistance, but proved more able to combat this menace. All was going as planned in the battle for the Cardinal's Gate until a great Bloodthirster rose from the Daemonic ranks, An'ggrath. The mighty Bloodthirster cleaved a Land Raider in two and killed Grey Knights Brother Captain Arturus. Standing alone against the beast, Rex was able to plunge his sword deep into its heart and banish it back to the Warp after a vicious duel.[3d]

By this point, it seemed that the siege was almost over when the Angels of Absolution suddenly arrived to aid the Imperial forces. The Angels, under the instructions of the Supreme Grand Master of the Dark Angels, had awaited the siege's finale before making their move on the citadel in order to complete their classified mission. The Angels of Absolution assaulted the Alpha Legion positions in the Citadel, capturing Arkos after he slew Master Yafrir and hauling him off to The Rock for their own mysterious reasons. Arkos' warband was defeated shortly after. In space the Angels Fleet managed to find and destroy Arkos' flagship, Anarchy's Heart. [3c]

Meanwhile, the final attack on the Citadel was taking place. The complex took a merciless pounding from artillery and airpower as underground Krieg engineers created additional breaches to pour troops through. An exhausted Lord Rex led the final clearing sweeps of the Citadel by the Red Scorpions and Grey Knights, slaying any Daemon and heretic they came upon. It was here that they found the wretched remains of Cardinal Xaphan, now a pathetic Chaos Spawn. The Sisters of Battle charged with originally defending the citadel also were discovered in its dungeons, tortured and speechless after 18 years of abuse. But with the war now as good as lost, Zhufor, his Berzerkers, and the Sanctified departed through the Warp Rifts created by his allies. However before departing the Sanctified summoned the Daemon Prince Uraka Az'baramael and his warband of Khornate Daemons. The Daemon lord was met by a fresh wave of Grey Knights who teleported from orbit, this time led by Brother-Captain Stern. After a vicious struggle, Uraka was banished back to the Warp by Stern and the Grey Knights combined their psychic might to seal the Warp Rift in the Central Citadel. The Final Battle, and the war, was finally over.[3d]

Aftermath

On 414830.M41, the Siege of Vraks officially ended. 14 Million Krieg Guardsmen and hundreds more Space Marines, Titan Princeps, and Inquisitors had lost their lives. The original goals of the mission, to retake the planet from the rogue cardinal Xaphan and reclaim the world's armouries were theoretically completed. However, while in Imperial hands, the taint of Chaos lingered and the planet was quarantined by the Inquisition. The world was too ruined to be of much use anyway, its armouries used up in the war. Thus it remains that Vraks is a barren wasteland, though the Ordo Malleus has conducted long reviews into the events of its war.[3e]

Minor Battles of the Siege of Vraks

See also

Sources