Close to the border of the Segmentum Tempestus,
in the Uhulis sector, there is the radiated Death World by the name of Krieg. Any Augur Array scanning would tell you this
planet is dead. It’s stratosphere is filled with dust and
the temperature too low to sustain human life. The air is severely poisonous and filled with
ionizing radioactive particles. Leftovers from an old war that ended in a
catastrophic atomic deluge that still renders the land severely hostile to all forms of
life. No plants are able to grow in the radioactive
ash that covers the surface. And the oceans, or rather what is left of
them, are completely contaminated with toxic chemicals. But despite these bleak, poisonous conditions
on the surface of this planet, it surprisingly remains the active homeworld of an infamous
Astra Militarum Regiment, known… as the Death Korps of Krieg. This regiment is not only renowned for its
reputation as experts of Siege Warfare, but they are second to none in their dedication
and unconditional loyalty to the Emperor of Mankind. A reputation they have costly earned over
the centuries. There are no civilians on Krieg, only soldiers. Their military forces are trained in the hostile
conditions of this very planet. With little else to do on this barren hellscape,
the people of Kieg are raised from birth to serve in the army. They are trained not only to just survive
these hostile conditions, but to actively thrive in the worst possible conditions a
battlefield can throw at them. And thus, the DeathKorps forces are among
the most battle hardened and resilient guardsmen that can be found within the wider Imperium. But this hasn’t always been the case. Before the apocalyptic destruction of their
planet, Krieg was once a thriving rich hive world populated by countless billions. Far from the barren wasteland it is now, iIt
was known for being a prosperous center of trade and manufacturing within the sector. As far as The Imperium goes, Krieg was in
fact as pleasant and hospitable as could realistically be expected of a Hiveworld in the 41st millenium. A major reason for Krieg’s wellbeing, apart
from its useful location in the sector, was the stability and mutual cooperation of its
ruling class, known as the council of autocrats. This council is a collection of nobles and
elites, with uncontested dictatorial rule over the various hive cities of Krieg. This prosperity however wasn’t necessarily
the result of visionary leadership. No, in fact, most members of this council
were predominantly concerned with their own fortunes. Their obsession with sustaining their decadent
lifestyles of excessive luxury and status would always come first. Krieg’s contribution to the imperium was
of lesser concern. But of course where such simple vanity and
greed is concerned, people are fairly… predictable. This stability and mercantile attitude has
been the main driving force towards the long term reliable and profitable trade that has
made Krieg so exorbitantly wealthy. Such positions of leadership are of course
extremely coveted. Fueled by their personal ambitions, many figureheads
on this council had ruthlessly elbowed themselves through the Imperiums bureaucratic ladder
to achieve their positions of power. As such they were well acquainted with suspicion
and political backstabbing. As Krieg’s wealth continuously increased,
The autocrats remained under no illusions about their exceptionally luxurious position. They grew increasingly paranoid about any
threat that could potentially shatter their dictatorial rule over their hive cities. In such a large galaxy, a bountiful planet
such as Krieg would surely attract someone… somewhere…who was waiting for the opportune
moment to strike and take all these riches for themselves. Such a threat could come in many shapes and
forms of course. And it wouldn’t be the first time that an
overly ambitious member of the council had entertained the possibilities of seizing the
hive cities of its neighbors. In order to enhance their own riches the Council
had been more than capable of cooperation of course, but they certainly didn’t trust
one another a single bit. As such, in a continuous arms race the autocrats
recruited larger and larger private armies with the aim of keeping the balance of power
on Krieg in check, and discourage their ambitious neighbors from attempting an ill advised coup. But compared to the potential for a civil
war on Krieg, an even more devastating possibility that was not overlooked would be an invading
force from the outside. Far from being strictly loyal to the Imperium,
the Autocrats didn't just consider Xenos forces as the only threat the galaxy had to offer. To the leadership of Krieg, it was the wider
Imperium itself that was seen as perhaps the greatest threat to their sovereignty. You see, Krieg was already being subjected
to the highest echelons of Imperial Tithes, and thus the autocrats had little love for
the Imperium and its taxation policies. But what if Krieg became wealthier still? What guarantee would they have that some bureaucrat
back on Terra wouldn’t just decide to cut out the middle men, and disband the council
entirely? No matter where the threat would eventually
come from, it was clear that the autocrats would spare no effort in permanently consolidating
their power over Krieg. Their most significant investments were to
be the large amounts of orbital defense lasers. Such high capacity lasers are capable of outright
destroying any unauthorized ship in lower orbit. By this point, the defense network on the
surface alone would have provided sufficient firepower to make any outside force think
twice about invading. But for the Autocrats this wasn’t enough. Just to make sure their rule was guaranteed,
they acquired an incredibly large defensive fleet that was permanently stationed in orbit
around the planet. By now the world of Krieg was entirely surrounded
by an outward ring of steel that would be nigh impenetrable. The planet of Krieg had become virtually invincible
now, and many on the council started to entertain the heretical idea that perhaps separating
from the Imperium altogether, would be in their best interest. And after all, what could the Imperium realistically
hope to do about it? Colonel Yurten was flying in a shuttle back
towards his home planet of Krieg. The Astra Militarum had deployed him and his
regiment to a minor skirmish with local rebels in the sector. As he entered orbit he was once again reminded
of the defensive flotilla uselessly hanging around the planet. It made him angry just to think how all of
these forces were squandered in the pretense of protecting Krieg, when they could have
been usefully deployed elsewhere, fighting the enemies of the Imperium instead. The colonel was well known for his reputation
of loyalty and vocal support of the Imperium. Because of this the council had deliberately
kept him on a short leash, and under various pretenses deprived him of military leadership
over anything more than a minimum amount of troops. Perhaps not all of the Autocrats had been
corrupted. But Yurten highly suspected the majority on
the council, and especially the chairman, harbored traitorous intent. And so in secret he had already informed the
Ordo Hereticus of his suspicions. During this latest military deployment in
the sector, an Inquisitor of the Ordo had intercepted the colonel. Jurten and his troops were subjected to long
hours of interrogation before the Inquisition was finally convinced sufficiently of the
colonel's unwavering loyalty to the Emperor and the truthfulness of his claims. The Autocrats would have to be stopped. Unbeknownst to the traitorous council, the
Inquisition had then bolstered Jurten’s regiment in size and then sent them back to
Krieg. The Inquisition’s best bet was that a large
detachment led by an openly loyal officer would discourage, or at the very least, delay
the council’s treason. The Inquisition would then have time to covertly
deal with these Autocrats one by one and bring Krieg under Imperial Command before they could
rebel in earnest. As such, Colonel Jurten’s force slipped
unsuspectingly through the defensive network of Krieg and landed on the planet. General Krauss, the commander in chief of
the forces on Krieg, after hearing that Colonel Jurten had returned with a suspiciously large
force, quickly suspected the Inquisitorial plot. He then immediately pressured the Council’s
Chairman to deliver the secession speech sooner, rather than later. By striking now, they could hopefully prevent
Yurten from strengthening the loyalist bulwark on the planet even further. If they striked quickly, perhaps Yurten would
not even have time to mount a significant resistance. And so it was that not long after Colonel
Yurten had arrived in Ferrograd, that broadcaster speakers throughout all hive cities on Krieg
aired the chairman’s pre-rehearsed message: “I have spoken to you often about our relationship
with the Imperium of men. I’m the first to acknowledge that we have
enjoyed their protection and free trade with other civilized prosperous worlds. I know you share my concerns however, about
the price exacted of us in Return. Many of us, most of you, know well the pain
of having our sons and daughters torn from us by remote bureaucrats who have never set
foot upon our soil, or breathed our air. The highlords of Terra have taken generations
of Krieg’s children, forcing them to fight, and often die in a war that feel less like
our war each day. I weep when I think about what those lost
generations could have accomplished right here, on Krieg. I mourn for the joy they could ahve brought
us, as I do for the world they could have build. So, it is with regret but also with hope for
the future, and after consultation and much discussion with my council. That krieg declares its cessation from Imperial
Rule. No longer are we prepared to pay punitive
tithes, nor tolerate the ever increasing burden of rules ever imposed upon us. From this moment forth, we are an independent
world. Sufficient upon ourselves and more than capable
of defending ourselves against external threats. All non krieg citizens therefore, must leave
this world immediately. This applies to the bureaucratic minions of
the Adeptus Administratum. This applies to importers and exporters, and
to the ambassadors who are no doubt clamoring for an audience with me as I speak. It especially applies to the Inquisitorial
spies who hoard the shadows around us in the hope of overhearing secrets that can be used
against us. Or detecting thoughts of which they disapprove. I give these people three days to make suitable
arrangements, after which our borders will be closed. To the rest of you, those born and bred upon
this world. Who take pride in its name and its history,
I make this pronouncement: Our long years of vassalage are over. From now on we shall keep our families close
to us, and enjoy the fruits of our own labors. From this day, this moment forth, we are finally
free.” And so, with the delivery of the chairman’s
speech, Krieg’s betrayal and separation from the Imperium was now official. If it was up to Jurten however this would
not go unpunished. He mustered his outnumbered troops for the
struggle that was to come. The Civil war on Krieg was about to begin. The traitorous plans of Krieg’s secession
from the Imperium had been long in the making. Over the years many secret meetings between
members of the council had taken place. Elaborate plans and preparations had been
made to ensure the loyalist part of the population would be kept under control as much as possible. Some troublemakers would inevitably rise up
at first, but over time Krieg’s population would come to accept the new situation. Afterall most people would surely be convinced
by promises of more lenient working hours and higher wages. But even though they were well prepared, the
chairman had still been afraid of the inevitable uncertainty this gamble would bring. Despite the script for the broadcast having
been written and finished many months prior, he had long hesitated to make the irreversible
declaration of independence official. But now that Colonel Yurten had arrived on
the planet he could no longer delay it. General Krauss, the highest ranked military
commander on Krieg, pressured the Chairman to finally take action and to do it quickly. And so, the traitorous Speech of the Chairman
was loudly broadcasted on all speakers across the hive cities of Krieg. People on the streets and in their homes tuned
in to the passionate speech of the chairman. But in Hive Ferrograd, Colonel Yurten was
no longer listening. Before the speech was even half over, he had
already heard enough to know what was going on. And more importantly….he already knew what
needed to be done. He ordered a detachment of his troops to secure
control over the astropathica tower. He needed the Astropaths' communication secured
in order to send a distress call to the Astra Militarum in order to inform the Imperium
of Krieg’s betrayal. Yurten himself gathered his personal command
squad and made his way to the upper spires of Hive Ferrograd to meet with the local council
members. Without announcing his arrival he simply barged
into the governmental building. Here a number of Krieg’s ruling elite were
already present to hold a meeting and discuss the current change of events. Amongst them two of the most influential leaders
of Hive Ferrograd, High Autocrat Dremond and Autocrat Morell, were present. Yurten’s unceremonious arrival had been
expected. His role as regimental commander allowed him
the privilege of attending the hive’s committee. He couldn’t tolerate their usual bureaucratic
nonsense, so of course this was not something he would under normal circumstances do. But today he would make an exception. Everyone in the room was fully aware of Yurten’s
reputation as a dogmatic loyalist, and so his outrage at the chairman's message had
been predictable. Unfortunately for these autocrats, the colonel
had serious military authority. They were well aware that under the current
circumstances Yurten could potentially order his astra militarum regiment to take over
the city and even arrest the members of the council, if he so pleased. The council would watch their words very closely. Yurten demanded to know if any of them had
been aware of the plans for secession. But to his surprise, the autocrats actually
admitted that Krieg’s Independance had indeed been a frequent topic of discussion on the
council. However, according to them they had played
no role in the planning of it. And not only that, there had been no formal
vote amongst the many different leaders of Krieg either. They strongly emphasized that the secession
did not have their approval at all. And they were actually telling the truth. Although they had been well aware of the traitorous
meetings, the leaders of Ferrograd had not expected the declaration of independence would
actually happen.They had known the chairman as a cowardly man; a man of words and empty
promises rather than action. They had certainly not expected it to happen
without some form of democratic vote amongst the ruling elite first. But then again, they hadn’t exactly opposed
the chairman either. Yurten had wished to arrest them right then
and there. He could order his men to put them in custody,
but without direct proof of their complicity it would be difficult to get them convicted. Arresting the hive’s leadership at this
point in time would cause more problems than it solved. Instead, Yurten demanded that High Autocrat
Dremond transmitted a message of their own right away. A broadcast to let the still loyal inhabitants
of Krieg know that resistance towards the traitors would start right now, at this very
moment, and that Hive Ferrograd would stand with the Emperium no matter what the cost. High autocrat Dremond tried to weasel his
way out of it. He argued that such a broadcast would mean
inevitable civil war. They would have no way of knowing if the inhabitants
and homeguard of Hive Ferrograd would actually stand with the Imperium. They would feel conflicted between Hive Ferrograds
orders, and those of the chairman. And afterall, most importantly perhaps, this
war could still be avoided if they could somehow convince the chairman to rethink this decision. The other committee members approved this
diplomatic approach, but Yurten would have none of it. He told them that if there were to be any
sign of insurrection within the hive, his fully trained and staffed regiment would easily
deal with it. As for the Chairman, any hesitance to act
on their part would be just what these traitors would want. Instead, there would be no time to waste,
and from now on Hive Ferrograd would be under strict martial law and make itself ready for
war. The autocrats were rightfully afraid that
Yurten would try to court martial them for treason if they protested any further, and
so they conceded the argument to him. High Autocrat Dremond sighed and left the
meeting to make the public announcement that Yurten had demanded. Meanwhile Yurten had a message of his own
to make. He ordered the astropaths to send a message
directly to the chairman himself. It contained only one word. Confess. Meanwhile over in the Capital of Krieg, Hive
Orros, civil unrest had now broken out. Part of the population still loyal to the
Imperium had been inspired by Ferrograd’s resistance. Many people took to the streets themselves
in order to protest. Although the Chairman ordered his home guard
units to break up the protestors, he emphasized he didn’t want any citizens harmed or killed. He was still their beloved ruler after all
and he cared for his people. Although some troublemakers perhaps didn’t
agree with his decision now, he was sure they would all come to understand and accept it
sooner or later. If only he could get rid of that troublesome
Colonel Yurten. Coincidentally one of the commanders of the
Chairman’s personal guard unit was the colonel’s daughter: Sabella Yurten. The chairman had always been fond of her. But with the unrest in the streets it was
important to increase his security, and he had to make sure she was still loyal to him. And so she was ordered to his personal chambers
for a conversation. When she had heard the news about the Colonel’s
uprising she had expected her loyalty would be doubted. She barely even knew her father, for most
of her life he had been away on Astra Militarum campaigns far away from Krieg. But despite her years of loyal service her
name had now condemned her. When brought before the Chairman Sabella Yurten
offered to lead a small incursion into Ferrograd. They would infiltrate the hive and start a
counter movement against the colonel, to let the people of Ferrograd know they had not
been abandoned by the council. They would use the Yurten name against the
colonel by letting it publically be known his very own daughter stood against him. The chairman liked this idea and was pleased
by her loyalty. Undermining the colonel was a solid plan,
but it wasn’t enough. He preferred to simply get rid of him completely. Instead he ordered that she take a strike
force with her and attempt to assassinate her father. And so Sabella Yurten would make her way towards
Ferrograd, with the plan to infiltrate the city through the underground tunnel network. Meanwhile Ferrograd had become the centerpoint
of loyalist resistance. From all over Krieg citizens and guard units
flocked towards the hive. Colonel Yurten’s influence and forces had
grown significantly. Now he no longer had any use for Hive Ferrograd’s
Autocrats and decided this was the opportune time to finally arrest them. To Yurten’s dismay Autocrat Morell had managed
to avoid captivity by fleeing before his coup. But the others had not been so lucky, Yurten
had ordered them guilty of treason. They had plotted against the Emperor of mankind
and were sentenced to death. He ordered to have them publicly executed
to send a message to all traitors on Krieg. They would be put before a firing squad. On Yurten’s personal orders the guardsman
raised their bolt pistols, and then fired. With the Autocrats of Hive Ferrograd dead,
the city was now officially under the complete control of Colonel Yurten. Deep in the underhive’s dark tunnels Autocrat
Morell was hiding. She had made her break just hours before the
inevitable coup, and had used her influential relations to make herself disappear. She had almost made it out of the city to
safety, but not everything had gone according to plan. In the underhive her prestigious family name
meant nothing, and she had been betrayed and robbed. Now she was stuck in these dark sewers not
knowing where to go. She had been here for days now. Until suddenly she heard lots of footsteps
coming down the pipes. She thought it was soldiers who had come looking
for her, so she made a run for it. But she was too late and a fatal lasgun shot
hit her in the back. But it turned out they hadn’t come for her
specifically. Instead it had been a cleanup squad hunting
down and exterminating the growing population of mutants occupying Ferrograds underhive. They hadn’t been able to tell the former
Autocrat apart from the subhumans living down here in the filth. It was one of these cleanup squads who would
eventually run into Sabella Yurten. She and her strikeforce had finally made her
way underneath the walls of Ferrograd. After a tense exchange in the dark tunnels
she identified herself to be the daughter of Colonel Yurten and asked to see her father. She had no intention of killing her father,
but instead joined the resistance. When news of this reached Hive Orros the chairman
was furious. He should have listened to General Krauss
and not have trusted her. But it was too late now, too much time had
been wasted and his only hope of getting rid of Colonel Yurten quietly had been ruined. He would send no more offers for negotiations,
it was all pointless anyway as Yurten has not bothered responding to a single one of
them. As far as the chairman was concerned, the
time for diplomacy was over. He ordered General Krauss to start his offensive,
using all the means necessary to bring Ferrograd to heel. Soon airplanes lifted off from Hive Orros. The first military action of the civil war
was to run a bombing raid over Hive Ferrograd. Meanwhile the ground armies from the surrounding
hive cities made their way towards the city as well in order to completely surround and
besiege it. While Colonel Yurten was preparing for the
onslaught, his earlier astropathic distress call to the Astra Militarum was finally answered. He was ordered to hold out as long as they
could in the name of the Emperor, but for now no reinforcements were available that
could break through Krieg’s orbital defenses. Jurten wasn’t at all surprised. Asking for reinforcements had been a long
shot, but he had to try. Even if no help was coming, at least the Imperium
would know what was happening on the surface of Krieg. With the chairmans forces on their way to
surround the city, the first bombs were already falling on Ferrograd. And they would not stop until Yurten surrendered. The civil war on Krieg was now well underway. The Chairman’s army had besieged Hive Ferrograd
for eighteen months now. An elaborate trench network completely surrounded
the city. On a daily basis the air raid sirens wailed
loudly whenever Bomber airplanes arrived to drop their payloads onto the spires of the
city. Day in and day out the ground trembled as
the chairman’s forces fired their long range artillery on the city. Although over time this would certainly inflict
considerable damage, its rockcrete walls and buildings were strong and withstood the shelling
fairly well. Hive Cities run deep underground with many
layers stacked on top of one another. Even if they managed to pulverize the outer
layers, it would still take considerable firepower to achieve any real damage to a hive’s infrastructure. The living and breathing heart of its population
would simply continue to live and function in the underhive beneath the rubble. Clearly it would take more than a mere handful
of bombs to bring a large hivecity like Ferrograd to heel. The defenders didn’t just hide idly behind
their walls either. Anti air defenses fired clouds of flak at
the incoming aircraft causing Krieg’s air force to take heavy losses. Almost half of the airplanes that flew over
Ferrograd were shot down. And whenever artillery shells started raining
down upon the city, the defenders' cannons would respond in kind with counter battery
fire to shut down the attackers guns. Although they were outnumbered and outgunned,
the soldiers of Ferrograd made sure that this war would not just be a one sided affair. Afterall the troops Colonel Jurten had brought
back to Krieg were a well trained and well disciplined regiment of the Astra militarum,
and they were more than a match for the planet’s militia forces. Even though the Siege of Ferrograd had raged
on for more than a year already, due to the defender's competent resistance the chairman
had little to show for it. Even the general population had gotten used
to the war by now, and apart from the daily air raid siren and the occasional spire crumbling
down, life for most citizens in the city continued as normal. They woke up, went to work, hid in an air
raid shelter, went back to work, then went to bed only for it all to repeat exactly the
same the next day. But Ferrograd would not be able to sustain
this war of attrition forever. Despite its valiant defensive efforts, it
was still only one hive city against many. Eventually Jurten’s forces would run out
of the necessary resources to continue their resistance. To even the odds Jurten had sent out nightly
stealth teams into the enemy's trenches to sabotage their equipment. For a long time this tactic had proven successful,
taking out enemy tanks and artillery pieces, but recently it had stopped being effective
as the attackers had learned to counteract these raids. Krieg’s war would be lost by the first side
to exhaust its resources. Every citizen of Ferrograd would have to pull
their weight. But they had two advantages. First, they were fighting for a just cause
they truly believed in, against traitors who fought for nothing. Second, they had been joined by a prestigious
member of the cult Mechanicus, Archmagos Griel. In this war of attrition Griel’s many mechanicus
acolytes turned out to be invaluable in repairing weapons, vehicles and even turning scrap into
useful resources. Griel had drawn up plans to modify the existing
lasgun rifles that Jurten’s forces had been using. They would be easier to manufacture as they
required less complex parts to produce, and they would even pack more of a punch per shot,
although this was counterbalanced by a slower firing rate. He had turned the underhive into an industrial
complex of whirring machines constantly producing food and war material. He had even started a program to genetically
modify and breed horses for Ferrograds Cavalry companies. Although this might not seem particularly
useful as long as they were trapped inside these walls, it might prove useful later,
was the rationale. And afterall the Archmachos was planning much
further ahead than most. It was him who had earlier ordered the sweeping
of the underhive’s pipes, the place where autocrat Morell had been killed, in order
to clear the area of mutants and put it to better use. But even Griel did not see a way out of their
current predicament with the way things were going now. However, he had one trick up the sleeves of
his long red mechanicus robes. He had records of Mechanicus data slates in
his possession that recorded the existence of ancient terran weaponry from the dark age
of technology. It was stored somewhere deep in the underhives
of Ferrograd. Without consulting Colonel Jurten he had already
started digging and exploring in the ancient vaults and locked crypts deep under the hive. If he was able to find them, and should they
still prove functional, perhaps this could turn the tide of the war. All he would have to do is convince Jurten
to use these weapons. Jurten’s daughter also proved a valuable
asset. She had spent most of her life in the Chairman’s
direct service and knew a lot about the autocrats. She even had a few loyalist contacts back
in Hive Orros who would relay information to her. It was rumored that the chairman had fallen
ill since he had not given a public speech in months. Sabella Jurten offered her father to be sent
out on a mission to assassinate the Chairman. She had been able to sneak into Ferrograd
using the underground tunnels, she could do the same in reverse and sneak into hive Orros. If the Chairman was sick he would be recovering
in his personal bedchambers. Having once served as his private bodyguard
she would be able to sneak into the palace. She would know exactly where to find him,
and kill him. Command of the army would surely fall into
the hands of general Krauss, but this was practically the case anyway. The chairman's death would send a message
to the rest of Krieg’s autocrats that the Emperor’s justice would come. Even in their own hive cities they would not
be safe. Jurten approved of the plan, and so Sabella
Jurten assembled her specialized strike team and through the underground tunnels made her
way back to Hive Orros. The chairman had no idea of what was about
to take place. The strikeforce sneaked into his chambers
wearing gas masks, they then deployed a poison gas and shot the bodyguards. One of his servants warned the chairman of
the infiltration. Perhaps he could still have escaped because
there was a secret passageway behind his wardrobe that even Sabella Jurten did not know about. But the Chairman was sick, and it took him
too long to get out of bed. The poisonous gas entered his bedroom and
then his lungs. His servant made it out just in time before
the strikeforce entered the room, shutting the secret wardrobe door behind him. Shooting the Chairman at this point was no
longer necessary, the poisonous gas was doing its work. Suffocating him as he lay on the floor. It burned away his eyes and skin, and he slowly
and painfully died right then and there. The last thing he saw before he lost his vision
was the image of gas mask wearing soldiers standing over him. But when General Krauss was informed of the
infiltration attack, he had a suspicion who might be behind this daring raid. He laid a trap in the passageway that he suspected
Sabella Jurten and her strikeforce would take to get out of the city. He had been right. In their attempted escape out of Hive Orros
they walked straight into his ambush, and they were all killed. Jurten was informed of her death, but had
no time to mourn or even think about it. Back on Hive Ferrograd the attackers had broken
through the northern wall of the city. Fierce hand to hand combat broke out in the
rubbles of the outskirts. The colonel and his Command squad were in
the middle of the fray, swinging chainswords and killing traitors with their own hands. The militia forces were no match for the veteran
guardsman, and fled. Jurten pursued the enemy but realized he had
been lured into a trap. Before he could retreat, volleys of lasgun
shots already pinned down his squad. He himself was shot in the leg and chest. His bodyguards dragged the wounded colonel
away from the fighting to safety. He would never walk again without support,
but for now he was alive. Until the mechanicus servants could craft
an artificial hip for him, his second in Command, lieutenant Jonas, would take over command
of the frontlines. Eventually they managed to drive the attackers
out of the city, but the breach of their walls was yet another sign that the defense of Ferrograd
was steadily crumbling. Griel used this moment of weakness to inform
Jurten and his command squad of the legendary weapons hidden below Ferrograd. He had in fact already found and entered these
vaults himself. Although the schematics of these ancient and
forbidden weapons had been lost, their powerful effects were understood. Should they be used they would surely destroy
their enemies, but millions of innocent citizens would be vaporized in the blastwaves. In the worst case scenario they could even
potentially turn the entirety of Krieg into an ashen wasteland for centuries to come. But at the very least the planet would not
fall into traitorous hands. Archmagos Griel had done all he could, the
next decision would be up to colonel Jurten. Then came the day of the Emperor's Ascension. A common festival in the name of the Emperor
of mankind. Celebrating the moment when ten thousands
years ago the Emperor was raised to the golden throne and became a divinity. General Krauss had sent a few extra squadrons
of bombers over Ferrograd to mock the loyalists. While they were celebrating they could hear
the rumble even down below in the underhive. After several years of Siege Warfare two thirds
of Ferrograd had been turned into rubble. More and more the defenders were forced to
hold out underground. He was tired of having to endure General Krauss’s
denigrating demands for surrender. He was tired of hiding from the enemy bombardments. Especially on this most holy of days no insult
towards the Emperor and his followers should go unpunished, but there was little he could
do. He had tried to defend his home planet against
these traitors, but he realized he was losing. Deep in his heart, Krieg no longer felt like
home. And perhaps most importantly, at the back
of his mind nagged the loss of his daughter. It was then, with a heavy heart, that Jurten
made his decision; the weapons will be launched. He ordered Griel to prepare the missiles,
and together with his command squad made his way to the launch silos. But his officers protested the use of these
weapons; Krieg would be devastated. Innocent people would be killed. Jurten tried to explain to them that this
was the only way, and his decision was final. They mutinied and threatened to arrest the
colonel. He had predicted this, however. In secret he had already ordered snipers to
cover the launch silo. On his order shots rang out, firing at the
officers who fell dead right where they had tried to detain the Colonel. His second in command, lieutenant Jonas, was
still alive on the ground. Jurten drew his laspistol and shot him in
the head. All remaining doors, windows, panels and ventilation
shafts in hive Ferrograd were ordered shut and sealed. Then out of the rubble of Ferrograd large
missiles slowly raised high into the sky in salvo’s of three. More than twenty of them spread out over the
planet. Two of them made their way directly to Hive
Orros. “It is done”, the colonel said. He felt relieved. The first missiles rained down on Hive Orros
and the city blazed in a flash of light brighter than the sun. Anyone who had looked into the flash had their
optic nerves burned and was immediately, and permanently, turned blind. A huge fireball engulfed the hive and rose
up into the skies. The blastwave then followed and the upper
levels of the hive erupted into a cloud of smoke and rubble. They had no warning or time to prepare, so
large amounts of radioactivity and toxic dust was blasted down into the lower levels and
seeped into the underhive. The army encircling Ferrograd stood in disbelief. Those who had not already had their retinas
burned off could not believe what they were now seeing. They had already assumed victory over the
loyalists. It would have taken another year or so but
the resistance in Ferrograd would have eventually been beaten. These assumptions shattered before their very
eyes. What they were witnessing now was beyond belief,
but there it was. Far in the distance, where Hive Orros stood,
a growing mushroom cloud rose towards the heavens. Then the other missiles started arriving at
their destinations. Hive Wulfram and Hive Agentes were next. Some of the missiles even detonated high into
the skies and set the planet’s atmosphere ablaze. Shockwaves rippled through the defensive ring
of ships in orbit around Krieg, many of the vessels were caught in the blasts and started
to crash down towards the surface. None of the hive cities on Krieg would be
spared, for they had all followed the chairman's orders and marched on Ferrograd. As the skies turned dark and it started to
rain acid, Krauss and his army were caught in the open. Recovering from their disbelief, the soldiers
quickly began to search for cover. Strong winds swept the plains, and even several
hurricanes started forming. In the face of this apocalypse many of these
traitors, not realizing the irony, started praying to the Emperor. General Krauss was unable to cope with this
new reality… and committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. Hurriedly the troops scattered in all directions
in hopes of surviving, not realizing almost all of them would die from radiation poisoning
within a few days. As the decaying skin fell off their bones
and their organs gave out, they would regret the days they had betrayed the Emperor of
mankind. After a week the firestorms calmed down. The first person to step out of Hive Ferrograd’s
protective rockcrete bunkers was colonel Yurten. He wore a long heavy reinforced trench coat
and a gas mask with a long hose connected to a respirator box on his chest. Even with the protection, going out there
was dangerous, but he had to see the devastation for himself. In the far distance he could see a few remaining
molten and crooked spires of hive Orros and Agentes. Deep in the rubbles of these hives traitors
remained, but the tables had turned. Soon it would be Colonel Yurten who would
lay siege to them. And then Krieg’s purge would finally be
complete. Over the many years to come the inhabitants
of Krieg would fight their civil war to the bitter end. The toxic ashen wastelands made existence
extremely difficult, but through the sheer will of Jurten and the ingenuity of Archmagos
Griel, the forces of Ferrograd would besiege and purge the remaining hive cities. Because the surface was too inhospitable,
much of the fighting took place in the darkness of deep underground tunnels. But clad in greatcoats and gasmasks the death
korps even faced the harsh conditions above ground when necessary. Due to Griel’s breeding program, the horses
of Krieg had turned into formidable mounts that proved more than useful when traversing
the devastated terrain of Krieg to chase down the traitors and mutants. But while they were busy carving out their
new world from the ashes, the human population on Krieg was dwindling. Even amongst the loyalists the birth rates
were plummeting. Soon there would be no one left to inhabit
the planet. Jurten was now old, and Griel visited his
deathbed. He had long tried to convince the Colonel
to consider the vitae womb technology that the Mechanicus possessed. To apply this technology to humans was prohibited,
maybe heretical even. By firing those ancient forbidden weapons
long ago Jurten already had enough on his conscience. He passed away that night into the Emperor’s
blessing. But regardless of whether the Colonel had
given his approval or not, Griel would continue with his plans. He had the Mechanicus install the birthing
installations deep within Ferrograds underhive, far away from the sight of any curious eyes. Should any of Ferrograd’s new leadership
protest, the Archmagos would simply claim he had Jurten’s blessing, and that would
be the end of it. But everyone understood what was required
to save Krieg, and so nobody objected. Five Hundred years later the civil war was
finally over. And when ships of the Imperium arrived at
Krieg the planet appeared completely dead. The toxic atmosphere did not seem capable
of sustaining any form of life. What had happened on Krieg had almost been
forgotten, it was reduced to merely a note in the Imperial archives. To their surprise however a single transport
lifted off from the dead planet’s surface to approach the ship. When it boarded, the Imperial delegation was
met by six soldiers wearing gas masks and long dark trench coats. The soldier highest in rank was merely a colonel. They introduced themselves as the death korps
of Krieg, willing to serve once more in the Emperor’s name. Ready to be immediately sent to the most hazardous
warzones with a fully equipped twenty regiments. The delegation was stunned and wondered how
a deathworld could support such a large army. When asked how numerous the civilian population
of Krieg was, the colonel replied with only one sentence. There are no civilians on Krieg, only soldiers.
