Core Worlds Campaign

This article is about a battle in the /tg/ Heresy project, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40k universe.

In 998.M30, the Eyes of the Emperor and Winged Victory were dispatched to pacify the Core Worlds Confederation. Their response to the diplomatic intransigence of the Core Worlds would have a great effect on the Hektor Heresy.

Background

While the Emperor and Hektor confronted the Ork Empire of Ullanor, another potential thorn in the side of the Imperium was making its presence felt. The mighty Core Worlds Confederation, the largest and most advanced human realm outside of the Imperium, had long pursued a policy of peaceful co-existence. The Core Lords were perfectly happy to open their borders to Rogue Traders, shared civilian technologies with the Tech Priests of Mars, and occasionally permitted their vassals to participate in the Great Crusade as mercenaries. But they had refused to entertain the Emperor's demand for human unity across the galaxy. Worse yet, their independence was beginning to inspire worlds that lay outside the Imperium's grip to stand independent while some of those that had only recently been pacified began to lobby for a looser form of government and more regional authority. Shakya Vardhana and Gaspard Lumey, known for their friendship and close understanding, were dispatched to resolve the matter one way or another.

Initially, the Primarchs attempted a negotiation. However, they ran into two fundamental problems. Firstly, while the Core Lords appreciated the seriousness of the Emperor sending two of his sons to treat with them, they were still reluctant to give up their autonomy and demanded concessions and guarantees. Worse yet, the decentralised nature of the Confederation saw each world competing against its fellows to get the best deal from the Imperium. As negotiations began to see-saw between ever more demanding petitions from Karazak and Chelob Hold, the two strongest Core Worlds, Gaspard Lumey walked out of the negotiations to prepare his campaign. Shakya Vardhana remained only long enough to conduct the formalities of ending the talks.

The campaign

Core Worlds campaign
Date	998.M30
Scale	Sector-wide
Theatre	Chelob Hold Sector
Status	Decisive Imperial Victory
Belligerents
Imperium of Mankind	Core Worlds Confederation
Commanders and Leaders
Gaspard Lumey Shakya Vardhana	various Core Lords
Strength
over 100,000 Space Marines over 60 million frontline auxilia 80 Titans drawn from Legio Antsar, Legio Cataegis	estimated between 4 and 12 billion ground forces
Losses
9,842 Space Marines (6,106 Winged Victory and 3,736 Eyes of the Emperor) 2 million Imperial Army	tens of billions
Outcome

Lumey opened the attack at Karazak, the de facto capital world of the Confederation. Until the coming of the Imperial Legions, Karazak was said to rival Terra itself in its technology, industry and population. The greatest of the Core Worlds was dominated by immense underground cities and its citizens were confident that they had little to fear from a direct assault. They did not count on Lumey's resolve. The Primarch launched a horrifying fleet bombardment that fractured the crust of the planet and killed tens of billions. A petition for conditional surrender brought not relief, but the descent of the Fifth Legion. What resistance remained on Karazak was swept aside in three bloody days. On receiving news of Lumey's attack, several Core Worlds, including Karazak's old rival, Chelob Hold, immediately offered unconditional surrender to the Eyes of the Emperor.

With their enemies reeling, the Primarchs pressed the initiative. Believing that the immense concentration of their Astartes and auxilia would be more than sufficient to overwhelm the Core Worlds, Winged Victory split into three task forces, led by Gaspard Lumey and his trusted lieutenants Fabrice Diallo and Augustin Carron. The Eyes of the Emperor, mainly committed elsewhere in the galaxy, contributed only a single fleet.

Lumey's force, based on the Space Marines of Fifth Legion and their warships, hunted down the remains of the Core Worlds fleet. Although the Primarch retained overall command of this part of the operation, he relied on Kesh Kanak's void-born sense for naval combat. Kanak did not disappoint. Winged Victory cornered their quarry at the Wobegon system and moved to engage. However, the Core Lords fleet that had fled from Karazak had done so against the combined naval assets of the Fifth Legion. Lumey's task force, stripped of assets required by Diallo and Carron, was nominally outnumbered. To counter their numerical disadvantage, Kesh Kanak used the Legion's mighty flagship, the Resolve, as a spearhead, absorbing enemy fire upon its mighty hull. While Kanak's audacious manoeuvres disoriented the foe, Gaspard Lumey led teleporter assaults, securing the surrender of two ancient factory ships and a handful of smaller vessels.

Diallo's men, supported by armour and sappers from the Markian Pact attacked the Mining World of Lzoro. Fifth Legion planners had identified Lzoro as a Core Worlds strongpoint, and believed that its reduction would be a terrible blow to the enemy's morale. It is a sign of the great confidence that Fabrice Diallo enjoyed that he was tasked with this critical part of the campaign. Understanding the stakes involved, the doughty warrior decided to lead from the front. It was a sage decision.

Although the initial landings were opposed, Diallo's personal leadership ensured that the Fifth held their beach-heads until the first echelons of their auxilia could set down. A ferocious counter-attack, spearheaded by the immense war machines of the Core Worlds Confederation, was only held back by the heroic sacrifice of Captain Quintus Iuventus. Iuventus led his squad into the depths of the lead engine. Though the Astartes did not emerge, their detonations from within the metal leviathan crippled it and bought time for the guns of the fleet to be brought into play. With their breathing room established, a tide of Markian armour began to roll the Core Worlds forces back, relieving their Space Marine allies and pressing in on Lzoro's spaceport, the great portal between its interior and space. As the outskirts of the spaceport were obtained, Diallo's Astartes entered the battle once more, storming ahead with fresh energy and overwhelming the defenders. With the conquest of the planet barely twelve hours old, the Fifth Legion landed its siege equipment. Any hopes of the defenders standing firm in the choked tunnels of Lzoro's interior were dashed by the Mole Transports of the Markian soldiers, which time and again would dig around strongpoints and flank them. The cleansing of the planet's hives lasted just three more days.

Carron waged a lightning war down the Varrian Reach, assisted by Ciban Chasseurs and supporting Imperial Army forces under the command of the able Jeanne d'Orléans. Although the two young commanders (d'Orléans had just appointed the youngest Marshal in the history of the Markian subsector) did not see eye to eye personally, they remained professional on campaign and co-ordinated their troops in a masterpiece of combined arms warfare. Ten worlds fell in as many days.

The peak of the Eyes of the Emperor campaign was the storming of Valaya Station, an immense space fortress that guarded the warp channel leading to the innermost Core Worlds. Shakya Vardhana personally led a teleporter assault on the station, establishing a beachhead that could be reinforced by his Haeltoth Starguard vassals. Although the Eyes of the Emperor and their auxilia were still outnumbered hundreds to one, the combination of the Vardhana's leadership and might, the marines' superb melee prowess, and the Starguard's sophisticated firepower was unbreakable. As the second push against the Imperial beachhead ground to a halt and fresh Eyes of the Emperor forces began to land, Valaya's commander requested terms of surrender.

Each great victory brought new offers of surrender. The remaining Core Lords were quick to see the inevitability of their fate. Yet their hopes of leniency were dashed. Lumey insisted on the execution of the surrendering aristocrats and a heavy tithe upon the newly conquered worlds. It is thought that the Vardhana actually talked down his imperious brother from even harsher terms, though it is hard to imagine what further punishment could have been levelled on the defeated.

Aftermath

Chelob Hold and its allies, being the less war-torn of the Core Worlds, raised many regiments for the Imperial Army. These troops, known as the Chelob Hammerers, saw action all across the galaxy, especially in the auxilia of the victorious Legions.

Following the Council of Nikaea, Gaspard Lumey's actions in the Core Worlds Campaign would be investigated at the command of Hektor Cincinnatus. Although the Fifth Legion were not convicted of any war crimes, their actions would be found "regretable" and in 004.M30 Hektor would dispatch Winged Victory to the Galactic Fringe.