Stratos
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The following paragraphs contain spoilers for: | Fires of War (Short Story) |
| Map | Basic Data | Planetary Image | |
|---|---|---|---|
  Reductus Sector |
Name: | Stratos | 
|
| Segmentum: | Segmentum Tempestus[1] | ||
| Sector: | Reductus Sector[1] | ||
| Subsector: | Hadron Belt[1] | ||
| System: | Unknown | ||
| Population: | Over 4.3 million[1] | ||
| Affiliation: | Imperium[1] | ||
| Class: | Mining World, Ocean World[1] | ||
| Tithe Grade: | Unknown | ||
Stratos is a world of the Imperium, one of a chain of Mining Worlds located in a region of the Reductus Sector called the Hadron Belt. The planet is considered valuable to the Imperium, both for the oceanic minerals extracted from beneath its seas and for its Imperial Guard Regiments, known as the Stratosan Aircorps.[1]
History
At one point the planet suffered an uprising by a Chaos Cult known as the Cult of Truth. Despite an initially strong Astra Militarum response, the Cult led a surprisingly-coordinated, devastating series of actions across the three major loft-cities, forcing the surviving Imperial Guard and PDF forces to retreat. Mysteriously, however, the Cult then withdrew to the planet's capital loft-city, Cirrion, allowing the Guard to retake a significant portion of the territory they had been forced to retreat from earlier.[1]
By this point, Governor Varkoff had sent an astropathic call for assistance. The 3rd Company of the Salamanders Chapter responded, arriving in-system aboard the Strike Cruiser Vulkan's Wrath and deploying via Thunderhawk. At this point, the Guard had retaken the major cities of Nimbaros and Cumulon, following the Cult's unexplained retreat, but were still unable to make any progress assaulting Cirrion.[1]
The 3rd Company's commanding officer, Captain Ko'tan Kadai, agreed to lead the next assault on Cirrion, with their primary objective to eliminate the Cult's leader, a demagogue known as the Speaker. At first the Salamanders deployed to the interior of Cirrion in an armoured assault but, despite meeting no resistance at first, they were forced to proceed on foot and split up due to rubble blocking off most of the roads. Eventually they finally encountered the Cultists, who launched a series of expertly-planned ambushes that caught the Space Marines off-guard. Worse still for the Marines, the Cult had released a gaseous hydrogen amalgam into Cirrion's atmosphere that prevented the Salamanders using their flame- and melta-weapons without them backfiring catastrophically. Several Marines were lost in the ambushes, including Apothecary Fugis.[1]
The Salamanders were forced back to Cirrion's central square, but the Marines rallied there, successfully defending themselves and pushing the Cultists back. After regrouping, the surviving Salamanders tried to launch an attack on the Cultists' strongpoint in the Aura Hieron temple district but were unable to penetrate the Cultists' extensive defence network. They unexpectedly received a signal from Fugis, who had survived the ambush and found a group of survivors. One of the civilians, an engineer named Banen had suggested a plan to Fugis to clear the hydrogen amalgam from the city's atmosphere and deal a significant blow to the cult: if the Marines could escort Banen out of the city, he could purge Cirrion's air supply. Captain Kadai was unwilling at first, as this would result in any civilian survivors hidden in Cirrion dying from either a lack of oxygen or the extreme cold, but reluctantly agreed.[1]
Now able to use their heat-based weapons and with the Cult of Truth badly weakened, the Salamanders made their way to the Cult's temple. As they confronted and killed the Speaker, the true architects of the uprising revealed themselves: the Chaos Space Marines of the Dragon Warriors, lead by the Chaos Sorcerer Nihilan. Nihilan unleashed a Chaos ritual that summoned a daemon, using the Speaker's body as a host. In the resulting fight, Captain Kadai was able to banish the daemon back to the Warp, but was killed by a multi-melta blast before the Dragon Warriors retreated.[1]
Although Stratos was saved from the Cult of Truth, the Dragon Warriors escaped having achieved their real goal - to locate and retrieve a device known as the decyphrex.[1]
Geography
The surface of Stratos is covered in oceans that produce high concentrations of chlorine gas. As a result, the inhabitants of Stratos must live in floating loft-cities high in the planet's atmosphere. Each loft-city has its own enclosed atmosphere and is connected to the others by a series of sky-bridges.[1]
Loft-Cities
- Cirrion — Capital loft-city and seat of the Governor's power. Primary area of operations for the Cult of Truth during their uprising, it was later purged by the Salamanders 3rd Company.[1]
- Cumulon — One of the three primary loft-cities.[1]
- Nimbaros — One of the three primary loft-cities.[1]
- Pileon — Minor loft-city.[1]
