Echoes of Nihilus - Phase 2: Predation

Echoes of Nihilus is the Crusade Campaign that D J is currently running at his gaming club that is nearing its conclusion. Whilst there will be a brand new campaign starting in the next few months, we thought we would do a write up of the narrative that has happened so far in the campaign as a prelude for what's to come. We would like to thank all the amazing players who have participated in and contributed to the fantastic lore that has made all this possible!

Table of Contents

• Prologue
• Phase 1 - Invasion
• Phase 2 - Predation
• Phase 3 - Eradication
• End Game/Conclusion
  
  

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The skies of Ultrus Prime began to darken further as Tyranid organisms rained down upon the planet in ever greater numbers than before. In the southern continent the Aeldari and Arkos Dynasty find themselves under attack from feeder organisms and to the northeast the battle between the Emperor's Children and the Slumbering Horror Kabal is interrupted by a completely new branch of Tyranid organisms. Seizing the opportunity afforded to them the Drukhari make a tactical retreat leaving the Heretic Astartes to fight off the xenos threat by themselves, unaware that their Aeldari cousins lay in ambush to liberate the soul stones the Archon had stolen to fuel their dark machines. They were subsequently defeated and the warriors of Iyanden claimed back the souls of their kin that were theirs by right.

To the north the Iron Warriors disengaged from the Unseen as the Nulla Faculta PDF began their march towards the city of Nihmian's Pass in an attempt to aid the Mentors Strike Force, the latter of whom had been redeployed to investigate the destruction of the planet's capital. Concerned that the Imperial Guard would discover their true objective, the Unseen attempted to halt the platoon in their tracks but proved to be no match for the Nulla Faculta PDF's tenacity. The Mentors meanwhile, expecting to disembark from their Thunderhawks to face off against Tyranid swarms instead find themselves under attack from the Adepta Sororitas. This element of surprise was enough for the sisters to hold off the Astartes long enough for the Mentors to receive orders of urgent redeployment to the southern continent to eradicate the growing Tyranid and Necron threats there as the Khertet Dynasty had completely abandoned their post and as such left the hostile xenos on the continent completely unchecked.

Unbeknownst to the planetary defenders, the Khertet Dynasty had made their way onto the northern continent to reclaim their tombs earlier than they had originally agreed with their allies of convenience. There they split into 2 smaller groups, the first were the Destroyer Cults led by Szarazs the Charnel King who carved a bloody swathe through numerous Tyranid bodies, but was halted for a while when his cult engaged in battle with the Hedarai Vultures. The second group was led by Kharimekh the First whose mission was solely to retrieve the assets his Dynasty had come to retake all those years ago. When they arrived at their tomb they discovered the Unseen attempting to plunder the technology they referred to as "Heretek". The Necrons managed to push the renegade guard back, reawakening their Dynasty planetwide and achieving the only objective they had come to Ultrus Prime to accomplish but not before the Unseen were able to send out one final anonymous vox alerting the Imperium to the Dynasty's true intentions.

Meanwhile the Iron Warriors known as His Second Sons intercepted the vox received by the Harkillian 808th and pinpointed their location. Heading south to finally confront their most hated foe, the Encarmine Shield Strike Force of the Blood Angels moved to engage the Heretic Astartes to buy Inquisitor Le Roy time to engage the Hedarai Vultures, whose location had in turn been revealed to him by their use of sorcery against the Khertet Destroyer Cults. They met on the battlefield just before the Thousand Sons cabal could finally claim the Liber Infernus. It was at this point that Inquisitor Le Roy had realised that the Hedarai Vultures had been working alongside Sicandor, a renegade Blood Raven Librarian who was thought to have died many years prior. After a bloody and prolonged battle the Thousand Sons finally crushed the Harkillian 808th and claimed the blasphemous artefact for themselves. Their mission failed, Le Roy requested an immediate teleport evacuation off the planet to prepare an Exterminatus bombardment but found his communications jammed by the Warsmith Drazyk, the Iron Warrior finally catching up to his prey with demolisher cannons aimed squarely at the Inquisitor.

An earth shattering explosion rang as the Vindicator fired at the unsuspecting Inquisitor. When the dust had cleared, Le Roy was no more and the ground where he stood had been blown asunder by the Iron Warrior's assault.

- D J Driver