The Battle at Hoher Goll Station

In the days immediately following the Battle of First Contact, additional battles were waged on the planet Adrilles. Most of these occurred in the volcanic northern hemisphere as units from all armies sought to regroup and establish positions of strength. The Battle at Hoher Goll Station occurred in the morning after the Battle of First Contact. Though the number of combatants was small compared to other fights during the first week of the Adrilles War, the Battle at Hoher Goll Station is significant because of what it reveals of Khorne and Space Wolves tactics during this early stage of the war.

The Jager Corps had been on Adrilles years before the arrival of its enemies. As a result, the well-equipped Jagers had established bases of operations, military outposts, and research facilities in all corners of Adrilles. More than half of these were in the volcanic northern hemisphere where dormant Tyranid presence was largest. This is where Grand Librarian Hoeth and his cadre of Psykers perfected the controlled awakening and psychic engineering of Tyranids.

On the day after the Battle of First Contact, small yet effective groups of Khorne daemons began systematic assaults on Jager Corps research facilities in the volcanic north. Each of the attacked facilities had a series of warp portals which were used to amplify and focus the psychic energy required to develop and control Tyranids. When a facility fell to the Chaos swarm, the daemons would slaughter the soldiers and non-military personnel within but would also collapse the warp portals. Indeed, surviving Jager Corps soldiers reported that the daemons’ primary objective appeared to be the destruction of the portals. The wholesale slaughter was merely a means to that end.

When Space Wolves found Hoher Goll Station, it was a husk. The outlying buildings were smoldering, chaotic fires licking the architectural bones. Bodies littered the ground– Jager Corps troops tasked with defending the station amid the unnatural forms of daemon. Hoher Goll had only one portal, which had collapsed, but the daemons had not moved on after doing so. A horde of Bloodletters were trying to get inside the only remaining standing building.

What had drawn the Wolves to the area was not only smoke on the horizon but also a weak distress beacon. As they got closer, the signal got stronger. A Librarian of the Jager Corps was trapped inside the facility.

The Space Wolves attacked the Khorne position. None of the attacking Space Wolves survived the daemons counter-attack, but a lone Scout had been ordered to stay behind and report back whatever occurred. That report– one of thousands filed during the Adrilles War– reveals the Wolves’ intent was to rescue the Librarian and to bring him before Rune Priests so it could be learned how the Jagers were able to develop and control Tyranids.

Most historians present Arjac Rockfist as possessing only one goal: To eradicate the Jager Corps for their perceived heresy. A handful of historians– and it should be noted each is a controversial figure– claim Arjac Rockfist– perhaps under orders from Leman Russ or even the Emperor directly– sought to understand the Jager Corps experiments.

 

Part 3 – A Call to Chaos

The Chaos God Khorne sits on his throne of Bone and Blood constructed from a millennium worth of souls killed in his name, in the name of killing for killing sake. As he sits, he feels it, the call of the Warp; but this time it is different. This time it is less a call and more a plea. A plea to save it. It is a plea that promises the reward of death, blood, and, most importantly, souls.

He must act fast to answer the call. He must prevent those of the mortal plane from gaining access to any Warp energy that may be used to prevent the flow of his Chaos into their existence. He also knows if he heard the plea others within his realm have as well.

One of his advisers warns him against haste. As payment for such open and cowardly advice, Khorne sends this coward to the forges. There he will be ripped apart and put back together, but he is not reassembled as he once was. Now he is part of a machine. The coward is reborn a Soulgrinder. There in that cursed form he will stay until Khorne is satisfied that he has shed his cowardice. Khorne knows this is unlikely to happen.

Khorne calls on one of his most trusted generals. Skulltaker is always eager to cleave heads in the name of his Master. Skulltaker shall be sent to this planet where the Warp cries out. There Skulltaker will destroy the devices the mortals have constructed to harness and focus the power of the Warp. Khorne has seen such devices before. These teleporters cage the energies of the Warp. How dare these mortals try to control what is not theirs.

Skulltaker and his small yet powerful army will assess what will be the battleground as well as determine who best to align with to achieve their goal. Many powerful factions will converge on this planet. It is always the way with places of power. If there is an opportunity to fight alongside others in order to more quickly achieve the goal then so be it. Skulltaker bristles at the very suggestion, but settles when Khorne reminds him of two things. First, Khorne is Master and Skulltaker is not. Second, Skulltaker can kill his allies once the Warp is freed.

Khorne dismisses Skulltaker once his orders are given. Shadows within the Chaos God’s throne room stir and from within emerges the form of the Soulgrinder. Its metal legs grind with each scuttling step. Khorne watches it and considers what might be found on the planet. Something about the place feels oddly familiar, like an old wound never healed.

Within the Realm of Chaos all distances are both great and small depending on Khorne’s focus. Time can compress and expand but is outside of his influence. This distress call from the Warp could be from the past or present. Warp portals, though loathsome, are not uncommon constructs. The plea Khorne is answering might be the result of some greater disturbance. Either way, the call must be answered. A God of Chaos does not rethink his strategy once the plan is set.