15/4-2003 – Abaddon departs

The Blood Angels and Black Templars pursued the Orks and Alpha Legionnaires, and finally got a confrontation between them in a rocky region of the area. The Greater Daemon of Ork killed the Grand Master of the Grey Knights, but was in turn killed by the Grey Knight Terminators. It was a close call, with the battle switching from a certain victory for Chaos and Orks in the beginning to a minor victory for the imperials.

After this defeat Abaddon returned to the Eye of Terror to consolidate his forces gathering there. His forces on Rhoie and Messen dug in, as did the imperials during the events that would later be known as the Eye of Terror campaign.

11/4-2003 – Alpha Legion lure Orks to attack

An unholy alliance between Alpha Legion and Orks are driven off by a contingent of Blood Angels and Black Templars. A greater Daemon of unknown origin, but very much bearing the resemblance of one of the Ork gods appeared. This prompted a squad of Grey Knights to teleport in and deal with it.

2/1-2003 – Andeonium Hive

Andeonium Hive is roughly circular, with large habunits and mining facilities on the lower floors. The main Chaos force attacked from the South, with contingents of Alpha Legion and World Eaters circled round and advanced from the East and West. PDF troops held the city, but were harassed by Daemon and guerrilla forces. The Aeldari arrived from the Northwest at the same time as the loyalist Space Marines arrived from the East.

From an unknown source, a formidable force of Tyranids appeared in the western part of the research facilities on the upper levels, as well as some Drukhari raiders.

1/1-2003 – War on Rhoie

But Abaddon had still an unknown agenda as he directed the rest of his forces to the industrial world of Rhoie deeper in the system. This world was an important merchant world with rich mineral resources and a large spaceport. Abaddon swiftly crushed the port and landed his remaining forces on the planet, where they met stiff resistance from the local PDF and militia. The larger cities were also protected by large force fields, which were more than a match for Abaddon’s orbital barrage. As the invasion swiftly ground to a stalemate, more Aeldari and Space Marines appeared. The Blood Angels and Black Templars that had chased Abaddon arrived after defeating Abaddon’s rearguard and sent reinforcement to the loyal troops on the surface.

But then Abaddon sprang his surprise as all over the planet, local guerrilla and terrorist troops led by Alpha Legion Chaos Space Marines began attacking the force field installations and power plants. Soon, only the largest hive, Andeonium, stood. The few Aeldari troops along with the imperial and Chaos Space Marines began to converge on the hive for a final showdown.

14/8-2002 – Abaddon and Eldrad

The Aeldari had not been content to merely play the role of spectators in the ensuing drama and had secretly brought a large army to Messen. As the Abaddon’s Chaos forces deployed on the planet, using an old imperial outpost, the Aeldari struck. Led by Eldrad Ulthran himself as well as several Phoenix Lords, a combined force from several Craftworlds made an attempt to drive the Chaos forces away. Ulthran had foreseen the possible destruction of Messen and the closest Craftworlds if Abaddon was allowed to continue unhindered. After a hard struggle the noble Aeldari were defeated at the hands of Abaddon himself.

With reinforcements still coming in from the Webway gate, Abaddon’s forces had established a secure beachhead on Messen. As the Iron Warriors deployed on the planet and began the construction of several forts to acts as strongpoints when the imperial troops would arrive.

11/8-2002 – Chaos raids

Abaddon continued on his rampage and sent a small force from various Chaos warbands supported by cultists to intercept a Space Wolf force, led by Venerable Dreadnought Laga. Chaos triumphed and wiped the Space Wolf force from the planet after heavy fighting. A Grey Hunter Pack heroically held their ground for a long time against a Chaos Dreadnought and a Chaos Lord with retinue.

The same Chaos force later tried to ambush the Cabal of Crimson Carnage, but was thoroughly trashed. Abaddon claimed to have no part in the attack and claimed it was an independent act, committed by the unnamed Chaos Lord in charge, although he probably wouldn’t have minded not to lose the slaves he had promised Kael

2/6-2002 – Aeldari on Messen

The planet which the Blood Angel Scouts arrived upon was a giant volcanic jungle world, called Messen. It is located on the northern border of Segmentum Solar, in the vicinity to the Eye of Terror. The Imperium uses the planet to collect energy from the numerous thermal power plants established there during the Tagean Crusades. These supply power to the almost fully automated factories there to produce power cells used in various imperial energy weapons.

On the other side of the planet, a freshly recruited Dark Angel force was training. Their base of operations was one of the remote thermal plants. Suddenly, the training became real as a Drukhari force, led by Archaon Kael, appeared. After dispatching the guards, the Drukhari force easily ambushed and destroyed the arriving Dark Angels one squad at a time. The few that survived were taken as captives and set to work on rerouting the power plants energy output to power up an old deserted Webway gate. But the portal remained closed. The Haemonculi employed by the Cabal of Crimson Carnage stated that they needed more power for it to open and so Kael left him in charge as he took a contingent of troops to find another.

In the southern jungle he found what he was looking for, but as he approached it, he spotted another force making its way towards it as well. It was an Aeldari force from the Ulthwé Craftworld. Unknown to the Imperials, Messen was originally an Aeldari maiden world populated by Exodites. As long as the Imperials were content to gather energy from the thermal power plants and otherwise leaving the planet alone, the Exodites made no fuss. But as soon as the Drukhari presence was known, the strongest Exodite Lord, Isdale, had requested help from the nearest Craftworld. Eldrad Ulthran had consulted the runes and found that if Kael was not stopped, Ulthwé could be in danger. After a bloody battle, the Drukhari withdrew and the victorious Aeldari held the badly damaged power plant.

25/5-2002 Dragon Keep falls

The Black Templar and Blood Angel forces regrouped and after landing fresh troops, they began retaking the planet. The local ragtag guerrilla force joined the Space Marines and between them they cleansed the planet from Chaos infestation. Their last stronghold was the Dragon Keep, a fortified outpost protected by a force shield and surrounding the Aeldari Webway gate. The keep was held by a strong contingent of Alpha Legion Traitor Marines and what was left of the World Eater force, under the command of Agamemnon of the Alpha Legion.

At dawn, a Black Templar and Blood Angel force engaged the Dragon Keep. The force field proved to be almost impossible to penetrate and the attack seemed suicidal. The Traitors created a bloody killing zone in front of the keep. But the main assault was just a diversion as Thunderhawk gunships approaching from the other direction delivered a formidable force of jump pack equipped Assault Marines and the dreaded Death Company of the Blood Angels. The newly arrived Space Marines assaulted the unprepared Alpha Legion guarding the force field generator and destroyed it. Their main force rallied and pushed forward, breaking the Chaos line and trapped them in a deadly crossfire with their newly arrived brethren. The few Chaos marines that survived fled into the Webway gate. Before it closed a small force of Blood Angel scouts managed to slip in.

12/5-2002 – Chaos reigns on Halon’s Retreat

The World Eater force erected huge pyramids of skulls outside the cities and summoned hordes of Daemons to aid them in the slaughter of the population. The planetary governor and his aides managed to flee to an underground base in the northern mountain range and established a guerrilla force to repel the invaders.

Strangely, the Khornate worshippers sought out an old ruin on the western plains of Halon’s Retreat. The ruin was in fact an Aeldari Webway gate and the World Eaters tried to gain entrance to it, but was annihilated by an appearing force of Drukhari, led by Dhrazaryn Kael, Archon of the Cabal of Crimson Carnage. After their defeat, Abaddon struck a deal with Kael, offering slaves in exchange for limited use of the Webway to transport his fleet further into imperial space. He left behind a large force of World Eaters and used the Webway to transport the rest of the fleet away from imperial retribution.

Soon after, a combined force of the Black Templars led by Chaplain Holmbaud, and Blood Angels led by the Sanguinary Priest Lazarescu, launched a planetary assault against Halon’s Retreat after having repaired their ships. Their attack was met by a vicious World Eater counterattack. The battle ended in a stalemate as both forces suffered terrible losses, and withdrew to lick their wounds.