The Siege of Vraks Part 1: The Cardinal of Vraks (Warhammer 40K Lore)

glue in this grim future of ours there is only war it has evolved in so many ways from the simplicity of old we've developed new ways sundry foul ways of killing we've cast ships of steel and iron into the void sporting weapons that can scour a world of all life we have wrought data jinn to take the conflict into the realm of the binary we even war with our minds ethereal battles in a new space of pure idea forms yet despite this the galaxy hateful as it so often is opts to make room for the baser modes of strife to allow war to be reduced to the horrid bluntness of muddy industrial slaughter for a planet to be turned into a carnal house of churning bodies split flesh and rivers of vitae reddening the salty earth the type of war where lives are spent as easily as ammunition where soldiers are as much a line item on a requisition form as artillery shells one such conflict arose in the latter years of m-41 scanned centuries ago one that served a reminder that though we may live in a future far removed from the wars of our past the world can still so readily pivot to men slogging through a trench defying choking gases and sucking mud only to die nameless and unmourned on a world that hates them for a regime that doesn't even care no then that this is the first in a series of records concerning this conflict of a campaign as infamous as it is now hatefully iconic the siege of wrecks for such an infamous chapter in imperial history this particular conflict began fairly inauspiciously the long expected death of a priest cardinal astra borja of the scaras sector passed to his emperor grant reward in 366 804 m41 at the age of 400. his natural life having been greatly extended by juvent treatments that his position had granted to him and others that his personal political power had allowed him to secure more of a solid and dependable ecclesiastical presence in life the long sweep of his tenure had allowed him to carefully secure for his successor an easy ascension to the cardinal ship thus was the position easily and deftly passed to his successor zafan without any of the necessities of politicking or bloodshed as the bells told for the dearly departed borja who it must be noted had not left his seat upon san or taurus for two centuries zafan was enshrined as the new cardinal astra with little in the way of any opposition raised from his contemporaries borja had been a powerful patron zafan was a capable protege of his tutelage keen to minister to a flock he felt had been long deprived of the presence of this highest of religious offices zafan declared his first act as cardinal astra would be a grand pilgrimage to both honor the memory of the departed borja and renew the faith of the sector's laity it would appear the new cardinal was not only quite aware of the billions he was now expected to minister to but also of his own failings and mendicancy for at no point in his ecclesiastical career up to now had zafan made any pilgrimage to any of the sundry holy sites abroad across scara's sector the retinue zafan assembled was one designed to not only project the correct heirs of authority and piety but was additionally a trial run to project his newfound power and influence testing the waters if you will of just what the cardinal astra of skaras was capable of wielding should he set his mind to it a thousand strong at least it assembled not just the requisite deacons preachers chantelles choirs and secristens but in quite a coup for the new cardinal a detachment of battle sisters from the adepta sororitas the order of the argent shroud to be precise thus arrayed with all the trappings of what was expected of the imperial ecclesiarchy zephan's pilgrimage began the five-year arc of the cardinal astros tour can be considered at least initially a riotous success in some cases quite literally in the two centuries since the previous cardinal esconced himself on his throne world the scara sector had grown somewhat religiously rudderless though the planetary establishments tended to the citizenry the same as always with routine services and the everyday generality of purges pogroms and indoctrination persisting as usual the arrival of religious leadership in the form of a soul-touring prelate was an event that shook the masses out of the humdrum of everyday church-sponsored terror and control focusing their devotional energies now upon a single soul leadership is a tenuously wielded thing and in zafan the flocks of scarus were presented with a charismatic and most importantly new figure in which divest their worship it was a sharp rise in fanatical cults aligned to the church of the emperor yes but outside its general control the redemptionists the largest amongst them pronounced the cardinals pilgrimage nothing short of a crusade to rid scarus of its indolence its apathy and its quietly festering heresy a spiritual renewal of the realm of his imperial majesty's domain that had grown fat off years of relative comfort on tracy and primaris the outdoor ceremonies of zafan grew crowds that numbered in the millions with crushes and riots killing thousands as the frenzied masses attempted to get closer to his blessed figure prompting harsh and bloody reprisals from both the local arbites and zafan's own sororitas honor guard many of these faithful pledged themselves to the cardinal intending to sell their lives in his service his entourage fleece rapidly bloated with ramshackle pilgrim transports and tuppeny bulk carriers their holds crammed to the brim with the zealous citizenry of the sector the word of zafan spilling from cheap recordings and the slavering lips of thousands of preachers was a constant background noise on these ships as persistent as the thrumming of their engine stacks their number soon began two worried eyes to resemble those of a small army rather than a mere procession of the faith it is likely that in this pilgrim horde zafan truly began to see the power of his position and the potential it represented may indeed have been initially from a place of virtue the council chambers of the ecclesia conclave on san arturus contained a multitude of responsibilities and work all of it good and just of course but here amongst the people of the imperium zafan was able to watch his word work wonders perhaps in this he saw a calling or truth the work of the emperor made manifest his duty and his role being fulfilled in a very tangible manner he was stirring the fervor of the laity with each sermon his deliverance is swelling the tides of the faithful with each passing day the people were believing with a zeal that had not been seen throughout the sector for literally centuries real action was being taken no presiding over conclaves developing policy or fine-tuning ignorable declarations surely this was good surely all was right in the world the cardinal was recorded to have voiced these opinions to his most trusted advisors musing with those closest to him at what these feelings could mean for his new tenure in the office most demured the atlesiarcy has a tenuous history in this particular regard memories of the age of apostasy persisted into m41 or rather the inquisitorially mandated laws in memorial of that particular chapter of imperial history did during his reign of blood the tyrant gauge vandyar had seized the power of both the administratum and the atlesiarc holding simultaneously two seats upon the high lords of terra and ushering in a period of civil war that had not been seen since the great heresy control over not only the religion of the imperium but the faith of its devotees had been crucial to van dyre's power and his rise leading in the aftermath to sweeping reforms being placed on the ministorum's abilities to control men under arms these laws were ruthlessly enforced by a wing of the inquisition founded to do just that the ordo hereticus many within zafan's retinue quietly feared de drawing their eyes at best or their reprisal at worst asceedance to the cardinals wishes was judged by these hangars on to be the best course of action all save one deacon maman a young man recently joined after impressing zafan during the ceremonies on tracy and primaris was favored by the cardinal for his forthrightness and his desire to see this pilgrimage as a force for good within the sector the man of action as zephan was routinely heard to say of him and one rising rapidly in favor because of it maman openly declared that the pilgrimage need not simply be the simple preaching caravan which should be actively developed and built upon but the ultimate goal of becoming a war of faith playing to the cardinals desire mammon declared that zafan was a great uniter the leader that the sector needed to bind the various wings of the imperial creed under one banner the bringer of a great surge that would see the sector scoured of the unclean and the heretical the concept of a war of faith is not unknown within the imperium they are sanctioned reality for the adaptus ministorum and serve a multitude of purposes beyond their simple military efficacy the other means by which the atlegiarcy may galvanize the faithful into action and by which the imperium may wield its copious manpower in an effective if incredibly blunt manner in purely utilitarian if horrific terms there are also the means by which the inquisition may allow a culling of the more restive elements within imperial religious hierarchy a demagogue is all well and good until you find yourself the object of their hatred and wars of faith allow for that hatred to be directed just where the imperium desires it to be outward the peak of wars of faith is widely considered to have been reached in the age of redemption from m37 to m38 but has remained strictly speaking well within the strictures of the lex imperialis although crucially they must be sanctified and approved by the high ecclesiarc onterra itself a great degree of temporal political and religious influence is needed to properly secure such permission and it goes without saying that the process is closely monitored by inquisitors of the ordo hereticus for any potential deviancy it is these eyes that zaphan was wary of drawing and that caution was actively stoked by deacon ma'mon one false move he warned and the cardinal would be clapped in irons by agents of the throne there could even be eyes watching him right now members of the retinue turned to the pay of scrutinizing bodies or traitors seeking to sell the cardinal astra out for the sake of their own petty aims zafan began to agree with mamon his inner circle should be one he could rely upon trusted individuals dedicated to his holy path to the exclusion of all else the current chaos of the constantly shifting orderlies priests and sundry functionaries gave the cardinals enemies as maman began to call them ample opportunity to infiltrate if zafan were to see his heart's desire manifested if the holy war that scara sector so desperately needed was to be delivered the cardinal would need a location a planet even secure and safe where he could plan and prepare zafad wondered where could possibly exist such a world neman said he knew of one racks located in the kirak sub-sector of scaras the vrak system contains four planets prime secundus tertius and urix of which vrack's prime is the only inhabited world planet was an armory world under the purview of the departmento munitorum one of thousands scattered throughout the imperium to serve as a planetary scale storage facility for the materials the imperium devours in its endless wars ammunition weapons armor artillery and military supplies of every variety all stored in the event they are needed for the foundation of new regiments of the astra militarum or the equipping of planetary defense forces or as emergency reserves in a time of unexpected need an unkind world that had begun its life cycle with highly volatile volcanic activity vrax has over millions of years settled into its current dormancy while its tectonic movements were now negligible the constant churning of minerals had created across to that through the millennia and developed deep ravine canyons as the softer elements were scoured away by sudden and highly severe sulfuric electrical storms themselves a product of mass ejections of gases during the planet's early life the high sulfur content had the added benefit at least for imperial colonization of making native fauna non-existent beyond the level of simple single-celled bacteria such settlement occurred in the ancient times of the great crusade when the planet had been discovered by a rogue trader of the van meer dynasty a name now redelent in the naming of geographic features surrounding the capital initially a supply depot for the great crusades expeditionary fleets in the galactic north the passage of the great heresy and the scouring elevated it in importance given its proximity to that most hated of galactic regions the eye of terror the majority of the traitor astartes legions now confined within the storm the fortification of the canadian gate becoming a top priority for segmentum authorities the adeptus administratum through the departmento munitorum began the process of turning racks from a simple forward staging ground into a fortress its stockpiles were now contained within a mighty citadel itself close to a newly constructed spaceport allowing for the atmospheric landing of the mighty bulk haulers utilized by the munitorum all of this was expanded upon and added too as a millennia wore on with certain periods usually in the wake of or in anticipation of the black crusades of the despoiler seeing massive reworking and updating of the defenses taking place the cycle was a simple one more storage was needed for more material which meant more material was stored which increased the risk of attack which required greater defensive capabilities etc etc all over seen by the exacting eye of the munitorum who ran the planet to the highest of standards from within the fortress of racks a massive citadel situated in the caldera of one of the planet's many extinct volcanoes this fastness was a nerve center of all operations planetside serving not just as the headquarters of the local defense forces and adeptus arbites but also the offices and archives of the administratum the cells and precincts of the local inquisitorial branches the astropathic choir and the palace of the cardinal astra the fortress was also home to the basilica of saint leonis raised in m38 with the intent of serving as a focal point for religious affairs of those presiding over the millions of endangered workers serving the munitorum these serfs formed the majority of the world's population some five million strong with a substantial proportion of these being made up of agrin ab humans deemed priority for menial labor tasks the presence of the basilica drew a sizable pilgrim crowd between one and five million depending on the season while militarum regiments could occasionally be present for rearming and resupply generally speaking the level of defenses present on vraks were vastly disproportionate to its population but completely in line with the amount of arms and armaments it possessed to the munitorum it was essentially impregnable the citadel was surrounded by high curtain walls and three ringed defense lines crammed with pill boxes trenches minefields tank traps and on filets the fortress itself had multiple inbuilt void shield generators to protect itself from orbital bombardments and enough laser batteries to see off any airborne assault batteries which could if needed fire upon ground targets covering a 360 degree arc around the citadel in overlapping fields of fire it was a masterwork of defensive capabilities a true testament to the design and dedication of the departmento munitorum and it was not to last according to the enthusiastic deacon mamman the citadel of racks would be the ideal location for the cardinals purposes the basilica and the cardinal palace had not seen the presence of the office for centuries saint leonis had been blinded and martyred by heretics during his own travels preaching the emperor's word and his bones enshrined upon vraks still drew large pilgrim caravans the symbolism inherent in the acts of leonis proclaimed mammon were ideal for continuing the tone zaphan was seeking to set as well as being a story that reminded the faithful of the wickedness of the heretic in the apostate the pilgrims there would be eager in the extreme to hear the preaching of a cardinal astra and doing so would maintain zafan's fame as a man of the people in private maman was quick and earnest to state that rax was perfect for allowing the cardinal both ideal time and ideal location to further his plan for his war of faith as the strict passage requirements surrounding entry rigorously monitored by the department of munitorum would naturally weed out any potentially traitorous elements from joining zafan's retinue the cardinal was fulsome in his praise of mammon's plans leaving the entirety of the logistics in his seemingly perfectly capable hands under the auspices of the pilgrimage imperial navy transports were arranged as were escort frigates the department of munitorum were informed and while surprised acceded to the cardinals request for residents with little complaint save for inquiries around the speed at which the ecclesiarchal decision had been made potential issues with this and with security concerns were ironed out rapidly by deacon maman's silver tongue assuring the munitorum that he had all confidence in their ability to carry out any and all preparations in record time such of course being their devotion to the emperor's church and its works a frenzy of action ensued throughout the sub-sector as ships were rerouted and astropathic messages shot back and forth bearing the news the new cardinal astra the mendicant preacher of scarus the champion of the common man was coming to vrax which would now become the true seat of religious authority within the sector the arrival of zafan upon frax was an event accorded all the pomp and circumstance the munitorum eager to prove mammon's faith in them well placed could muster the entire garrison of the citadel was marched out and lined the road to the spaceport in perfect parade order banners fluttering in the sulfur-tinged winds the storms usually redelent of vrax's atmosphere kept at bay that day a sign the more pious of its citizens counted as an exceedingly auspicious one zafan's procession was immense and the crowds of pilgrims in its wake even more so it had been quite unlike anything the armory world had seen in millennia and after conferring upon the waiting garrison his most sincere blessing and after a perfunctory meeting with the master prefect of the munitorum to conclude formalities the cardinal retired to the ecclesial palace with his inner circle the grateful and smiling maman at their head little was seen of the cardinal following these initial meetings contrary to the expectations of both the munitorum officiates and the endangered workforces who had heard so many rumors of his willingness to preach zafan rarely made any public appearances or addresses occasionally visiting the shrine at st leonis's remains to pay quiet homage much to the delight of whatever pilgrims were lucky enough to be present in the basilica at the time few were admitted to his presence and those that were and did so only with the permission of deacon the prelate had taken over management of the public face of the cardinal assuring inquirers that zaphan was deep in contemplation over matters spiritual working day and night on behalf of the people of scaras life on vracks began to return to normal the workers forgot the cardinals presence as their overseers demanded higher quotas to make up for the time lost by the arrival ceremonies administratum and munitorum officials returned to the daily toil of storage management shipping manifests and deployment scheduling the sisters of the order of the argent shroud content that their charge was protected by the fortress and garrison as much as their own presence took up residence in the chancel priory attached to the basilica electing now to be an honor guard to the relics of the departed saint days turned to months life was regular and all the while in secret zaphan labored the first steps of his war of faith were being laid he had already elected at merman's urging not to dispatch missives to terror as the urgency this upcoming crusade dictated that such channels would only present an unacceptable delay a war of course would need an army zafan already had his core the militant pilgrims still encamped outside the citadel awaiting his word but he would need more while functionally disallowed from doing so maman had already seen to this a legal loophole granted to the ministorum by the presence of the basilica which as an imperial holy site contained sanctified relics and was permitted in times of conflict and threat to raise a frateris militia in its own defense by the cardinal's direction maman sent the most trusted of his missionaries out to the work camps and have blocks to spread the word of zafam their sermons began as military-tinged rhetoric extolling the virtues of service to the emperor and death in his name and in defense of his realm from there they called curses upon the hateful eye that squatted in the skies of the world beautiful and apocalyptic and finally they spread word that heretical forces were already abroad in the scara sector pillaging their way from planet to planet and butchering all those loyal to the throne that they could find many a preacher invoked the trials faced by the departed saint leonis whose torture at the hands of heretics simply for doing the word of the god emperor was now being replicated across dozens may hundreds of worlds vrax was next the missionaries swore would these workers stand idly by and let it fall or would they rise in its defense pledging their lives to the cause of protecting all that was good and holy in this galaxy the atmosphere of life upon frax was slowly charged until it fairly crackled with zealotry open displays of religious fervor became at first commonplace and then expected gangs of freighters militiamen unarmed yes but violent patrolled the work camps enforcing the cardinals word or their interpretation of it whenever they saw fit their influence extended over the garrison granting them legitimacy and all those who were found to harbor thoughts against the cardinal or his word were surrendered to the just as sympathetic arbites dragged into the depths of the citadel's dungeons for correctional torture within the cardinal palace deacon maman was personally working to establish an inner circle for his master one that could be trusted to obey the words of zafan without question drawn from the ranks of the freighters ma'mon selected those with talents or ruthlessness he deemed necessary creating a fanatical group known as the disciples the proximity to power that this group offered was additional enticement to the commanders of the local garrison who memon was quick to flatter and cajole or even bribe with the cardinals vast wealth should the simple appeals to piety prove insufficient where all else failed the inroads the deacon had now made would allow his sufficient influence to remove the remaining holdouts and have them reassigned or replaced by those amenable to the cardinals cause eventually all could be relied upon to heed any wishes zaphan may express none were under his command in the strictest sense there was no usurpation of the direct line of command authority it is true but in practice this was merely semantics every officer of the garrison was the cardinals the only hold out with the local adeptus arbites who had been deliberately excluded from ammon's machinations for fear of a misunderstanding of purpose or so the deacon would claim when pressed maman's work and zafan's word were working their way through the population of racks with stunning rapidity the laborers of the world drank in the sermons of their supposed champion grasping for hope amidst a life they knew would be hard short and painful indentured servitude to the whims of the administratum or indeed any branch of the imperial regime is not the worst faith imaginable in this galaxy of ours but neither is it one that any of us will choose zaphan through the ministrations of his preachers gave them what they had not received well ever recognition he made them feel that the eyes of the emperor were upon them the god of humanity required their service in ways greater than their limited minds could ever imagine offering them an escape from the menial drudgery of their existences that bred a form of devotion that is ordinarily admirable but quite dangerous should it be turned to wicked means means which the watchful eyes of the inquisition were ever wary of eyes which were now turning upon for acts despite deacon mammon's efforts the ordo hereticus had taken note of zafan's works upon the fortress world ward had reached the sub-sector officiates of the cardinals preachings and many within the conclave believed the warning signs were there sequesterment the buildup of power and influence the development of a close inner circle the divestment of authority to sanctioned gangs the encouragement of fanaticism and blind loyalty these were standard practices of the ministorum yes but only when properly conducted in the open and with deference to the appropriate authorities higher up the chain this cardinal was conducting his business seemingly at his own behest and this could not be allowed to continue too often has the ordo heretic has been called to put down such prelates of the atletic for too many have been unable to avoid the temptations power has promised them curtailment of said through let us say preventative measures maseraticus's preferred means to combat such outcomes better to nip any potential concerns off the vine lest they destructively bloom and to that end a preventative measure was dispatched to vrax an assassin of clade vindicare the purveyors of the finest snipers in the entire imperium infiltrated the citadel with comparative ease the pilgrim flocks were still descending on vracks in greater numbers now thanks to the cardinals presence so despite what they may have initially believed entry visas and proper ident tagging were not so difficult to obtain for one with the resources of the officio assassinorum at their disposal after that it was merely a matter of applying careful surveillance to security measures guard movements and the routine comings and goings of the citadel for the assassin to find the optimum spot to lay his ambush and then utilize the legendary patience of the vindicare until the opportune moment presented itself history could have taken an entirely different course were it not for what happened next his scope trained upon the cardinals palace the assassin had despite his chance and took it a single shot a heavy penetrator round pierced the wall and cut clean through a decorative pillar only to be turned aside when it struck zafan himself although floored by the shot the cardinal had taken precautions his suspicions having grown more acute during his time on racks and had obtained a personal refractor field his life wards frateris zealots all rushed to protect him with two more of their number being pulped by repeated rounds from the vindicate operative had they not it is possible the refractor field would have collapsed under the assault but that moment never came to pass the assassin had missed his shot against all odds and knew he must exfiltrate immediately the citadel erupted as word of the attack spread treachery treachery was here at last the heretics had struck the cardinal saved by a miracle and now was the time for the faithful to prove their worth despite his best laid plans the escape route of the vindicare was swarmed by frenzied acolytes forcing his hand and his quiet departure to turn hot the chase took him and his pursuers through the depths of the citadel into the vaults of the basilica itself shots blasting to and fro between hunters and hunted cornered the guards were able to shower enough grenades at the assassin to disable him before finally killing the operative in a hail of bullet fire at the cost of dozens of their own regardless the security forces of racks had succeeded and the body of the cardinals would be killer was dragged above ground for public display lest anyone harbor doubts of the attack or possess any ideas of defying the great zafan matters worsened and rapidly akin to a hive of insects that had been disturbed furor gripped the citadel as all the worst fears of the faithful were apparently manifesting before their very eyes fears they had been conditioned to expect rioting spread from the citadel throughout the labourer camps to the starport for terrorist militia demanded access to the armories to arraign themselves for a battle they knew would soon be hence and the garrison under deacon mammon's direction threw open the doors for them weapons and ammunition were showered upon the pilgrims who seized upon any and all supplies they could the arbiter's attempts to restore order were utterly futile with the citadel branch soon finding itself besieged by mobs of freighteris now armed to the teeth it did not stop there militia men moved out of the citadel and into the industrial zones everywhere the workers of relax ceased production and threw down their tools rising up against their overseers at the extolling of zaphonite preachers in their midst desperate the master prefect of rex a munitor a man to his core ordered the garrison to put down the uprising that was now becoming almost total but found his orders countermanded by word from the cardinal's office this was a religious affair they said the war of faith had begun at last the master of free fact had failed in his duty to keep the heretic from the shores of racks and now the world's defense must lie with the faithful attempts by the prior s of this aurora task to intercede on behalf of law and order only resulted in her being clapped in irons and thrown into the dungeon with the rest of her mission similarly seized although some sold their lives dearly in the process with nothing in their way the zaphonites under deacon mammon's explicit direction stormed the offices of the munitorum killing the helpless master prefect as he fled to his personal shuttle the astropaths frantically screaming distress calls into the ether were put to the bayonet outside in the labor camps and have blocks chaos reigned but the citadel of rex had fallen for the first time in its millennia-long history and had fallen from within cardinal zafan recovered from the attempt on his life was now the sole unchallenged ruler of rex what would come next would be simply years of punishing unrelenting and apocalyptic slaughter the likes of which are remarkable even by the imperium standards that account must however wait for another day until such time ave imperator gloria in excelsis terra this video and this channel were made possible thanks to the very kind donations and support from my patreon subscribers if you'd like to help support the channel head on over to patreon.com oculus imperia if you'd like to receive more updates about the channel and any future videos you can contact me or follow me on twitter at oculus imperia otherwise please like subscribe comment let me know your feedback and as ever thank you very much for watching [Music] you

Channel: Oculus Imperia

Views: 183,857

Keywords: Warhammer, Warhammer 40k, Warhammer Lore, Warhammer 40k Lore, Warhammer 30k, Horus Heresy, Horus Heresy Lore, Forge World, Games Workshop, Astartes, Primarchs, Space Marines, Adeptus Astartes

Id: g3an8j1alZE

Length: 38min 58sec (2338 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 29 2021