Editing The Markian Corps (section)

===The Mortekaiser Campaign===
''"Officially, my first command served on Ryleh in Segmentum Pacificus. But the truth is, we were in the Eastern Fringe. One day, an Astartes... approached me, and told me my regiment had been selected for a tour on the Eastern Fringe. Do you know those tales of fantastic xenos there? They are true, but it is not those irregularities who frightened me. It was those… Spires. I only ever saw pictures of them, but I knew where they were from the streaks in the sky. Their soldiers… Terrifying in their silence, their rough black armor, the crackling sparks arcing off them, the grotesque beasts they ordered about. I know those spires; they are the same. I cannot let them rampage unmolested. I must stop them."''

''"How many nukes does it take to destroy a titan legion?"
"Three if you're Verdun."''

''"What starts with A and is a techpriest's worst nightmare?"
"Verdun starts with a V."''

Markia's other notable independent actions include the battles undertaken in the Mortekaiser Campaign against the foul Intax Empire and misplaced elements of the [[Morkai]]. When Imperial explorers discovered the human realm of Intax, they were terrified to find unrivaled levels of degeneracy: heathen machine-worship, unsanctioned pursuit of knowledge, human sacrifice, and playing with xenotech. Appalled by the level of heresy, the Mechanicum requested that the Markian Corps personally see to the empire's destruction. The Sky Marshal assigned the task to Grand Marshal Vivyan Broussard, whose command included the decorated war hero Marshal Judas Ranc of the 78th Grand Corps, General Marius Marie-Gaston Verdun, and the lesser of the three, the 35th Army. Among other forces present were the Mechanicum Forces of Ghalhal and their Legio Cataegis, and knights of House Goda.

====The Bridge World====
The Intax Empire had dismantled a forgeworld. Verdun and the 1001st Division discovered this when they fell under fire from titans on the bridge world Ulysses. With Legio Cataegis and superheavy support elsewhere, Verdun had to work with what he had to slow the enemy titans. So, the 1001st lured the titans under a bridge-city, collapsed the two of its three bases with tactical nuclear weapons and brought several million tons of steel and flesh down atop an entire cohort.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Ulysses, Marshal Ranc had a different issue: AI. Abominable automata assaulted the 1002nd Division in the thousands, cornering them on a bridge-city where they faced both droids and human partisans. However, the odds were in the 1002nd's favor, for they had experience with cramped environs, numbers skewed towards the enemy, and generally being surrounded and outmatched. The 1002nd fought on for several days in a desperate fight, until support from the Skitarii and Shrike Divisions arrived. By the time they were relieved the 1002nd was decimated, and so the equally-exhausted 1001st Division was folded into them, with overall command being given to to Verdun. 

====The Burning World and Shazakh====
In the wake of the battle for Ulysses, the Imperium became aware of the full extent of Intax's crimes. The campaign hastened, and Markia marched on the volcanically active Burning World. Though many parts were unsafe for the ill-equipped Markian Corps, the Intax battalions could move unhindered thanks to their bionic enhancements and automaton support. The Burning World was left to the Ghalhallan Skitarii, who too were safe in the wastes of the planet. Meanwhile, the Markian Corps proper moved on to the world of Carices and Helion Prime, where they faced light resistance compared to other worlds, regrouping with Ghalhal on Talia in preparation of the invasion of the pillaged forgeworld Shazakh, capital of the Intax Empire.

The battle for Shazakh was a long one. Titans, knights, xenotech of unknown origin, abominable intelligences, even the machine-halls of the manufactorums conspired to destroy the Imperial forces. From floor to floor, building to building, even in the throne room the Markian Corps fought, not resting until a grenadier placed a lasbolt in the Intax Emperor's head; and even still, there was brief respite, as the Imperium now had to purge the entirety of the Intax population, and destroy the automata roaming the worlds of the Mortekaiser Sector. Ultimately, fighting continued for centuries after the campaign ended, dragging far into the Age of the Imperium.

====Ranc's Incursion on Dread====
The 78th Grand Corps did not fight on Shazakh, as their commander had what were in his opinion more pressing matters to attend to. On the eve of the final assault Imperial patrols detected long and pointed vessels venturing near the plains world Dread. Most generals would pass this off to another, but Ranc was familiar with these ships; they were undoubtably transports of the Morkai, a race from the distant east he was somehow familiar with, and their presence in Segmentum Pacificus was both curious and unsettling. Immediately Ranc set out with the 78th, against Grand Marshal Broussard's wishes, and pursued the Morkai craft, finding they were already shooting troops to the ground, tiny black spots screaming through the atmosphere like burning meteors. The 78th did likewise, landing to engage the Morkai soldiers while the Imperial fleet engaged the spires. Battle was fierce, mores than even the battle on the bridge city. Morkai were nothing like the automata of Ulysses: their aim was true and deadly, their jagged jet-black armor deflected all but the most harrowing lasfire, their assaults were relentless, and their biomechanical horrors wreaked havoc on the Markian troops. The battle only ended when the Morkai suddenly began retreating to their spires, the Markians doing likewise in caution. This proved wise, as the planet's surface shook with an eery vigor, and green fissures opened all around the world, spewing skeletal machines. The 78th and their Morkai adversaries had just narrowly averted their destruction at the hands of the necrons, who stirred from their slumber briefly, only to return to their ancient rest once Dread was once again confirmed devoid of sentients.

====Aftermath====
In the wake of the Mortekaiser Campaign Imperial scholars unmasked the truth behind the Intax religion. Based on their machine worship, macabre face-paintings, myths, and proximity to a necron tomb world, the Intax probably worshiped the necrons of Dread as gods, revering them as purifiers who slumbered until the time came to purge the galaxy of the heathens. As for the morkai, their presence on Dread was baffling because morkai had no way of reaching the galactic core in a timely manner, let alone the Mortekaiser Sector; nor is it known why they landed on Dread beyond that it was related to the necrons. Though it was not all questions and confusion; promotions were in order after the campaign. Verdun was promoted to Marshal and commended for his actions on Ulysses. Ranc, who had defied orders in going to Dread, was nearly court-martialed. However, while the Markians were fighting on Shazakh, the Imperium erupted into civil war. Markia would need every man where he belongs, so Ranc was promoted to Grand Marshal in preparation for a new, more massive campaign.