- Mission Name: Operation Tempest
- Date: 349.M41 - 352.M41
- Commander/s: Captain Kay; Colonel von Strahl; Magos Hadrian.
- Forces: Seventh Company inc. support elements; Krieg 128th; Joint Nestorian-Agrotian Techpriest workforce
- Transport: Pax Sepulchrum
- Description: Operation Tempest was a long-term, multi-part Operation designed to improve quality of Imperial life on the world of Folkvangr and build relations between that planet and the Ghosts of Retribution. Several elements and factions took part, including the Adeptus Mechanicus, and all had different missions and objectives that are shown seperately below.
Ghosts of Retribution Mission[]
- Objective/s: Equip and train the Order of the Ionian Tempest.
- Timespan: 349.M41 - 352.M41
Description[]
The Order of the Ionian Tempest is an unsanctioned, unofficial order of Adepta Sororitas, numbering approximately 1200 and consisting of native Folkvangrians who patrol the ash wastes of their planet and salvage machinery and materials that were buried in the depths during the planet's liberation in the Third Ionian Crusade.
Over the course of their 3-year mission, Captain Kay and his marines both worked alongside the Sisters in their salvaging operations and trained them whilst not in the field. In addition they upgraded, repaired and replaced the Sister's equipment until they were on-par with fully equipped Storm Troopers. High quality Hellguns, special weapons, fully enclosed Carapace armour and a whole host of technical support equipment (communications, rebreathers, etc.) was supplied to the Order alongside their training, which allows the Order to coordinate their actions with greater precision and fight more effectively.
Kay along 30 of his Marines attached themselves to the Relic Hunters unit of the Order, the ones who foray into the warzone wastelands to salvage materiel for their supply-starved world. Unfortunately little of value was found over the 3 years, but the presence of the Space Marines made recovery of what was found much simpler. Whilst not in the field, the Space Marines led the Sisters in drills, training exercises and lectures on every tactical situation imaginable, greatly increasing their combat proficiency.
Through the course of the Relic Hunters' training there was a single hiccup, when a Sister named Lena misfired a Meltagun Brother Lamidius had just given her to train with. Lamidius was killed instantly as the entire upper half of his body disappeared in a wave of superheated gas. Though Kay himself told Lena she should not carry the weight of the tragic accident, the poor Sister was too grief stricken to hold a weapon again and was struck from duty.
Fully half of the Order of the Ionian Tempest serves in the Armoured Company, consisting of Leman Russ tanks, heavy units and infantry who are only deployed when a settlement must be defended from an unusually large uprising of war servitors. Chaplain Omniscio, 40 marines and the crews of 3 Predator Tanks trained the Sisters in large-scale combat and vehicle combat tactics, and techmarines of the Chapter repaired and improved what vehicles they could of the Order's somewhat ramshackle collection. Omniscio also led the Marines and Sisters in prayer together alongside the Order's own spiritual leaders.
The only incident of note with the Armoured Company was when a malfunctioning data cogitator reported that over 150 Sisters of had been killed from undefined and inexplicable causes. After a slightly panicked exchange of astrophathic messages it was discovered that the broken cogitator had merely misreported a list of Sisters who had suffered injuries during close combat training with the Astartes.
The final ground unit of the Ionian Tempest are the Pathfinders, scouts who patrol the wastes tirelessly. Lieutenant Tercius and 30 marines instructed the Pathfinders extensively in their Raven Guard tactics, perfect for the highly mobile infantry unit. They also accompanied the Pathfinders on their long range patrols, where the Astartes instructed the Sisters in using their new optics devices to see further and scout better, and used their thunderhawks and landspeeders to give the Sisters a bird-eye view of their terrain.
Meanwhile in orbit, the crew of the Pax Sepulcrum gave training to the crew of Tempest Squadron, the trio of Partisan-class Raiders that serve as Folkvangr's System Defence Fleet. The highly trained serf crew of the Strike Cruiser gave the Folkvangrians extensive knowledge in space combat, and thousands of ratings were rotated between the strike cruiser and the squadron (not all of whom returned to their ship of origin at the conclusion of training) to share their knowledge with their counterparts.
By the end of the rigorous 3-year training course, every Sister of the Order of the Ionian Tempest had been trained to a degree almost rivalling that of officially sanctioned Sororitas (particularly in their specialised fields), and equipped to a grade at least on-par or exceeding Imperial Guard Storm Trooper Regiments. They also came to respect their Astartes teachers and relations between the two factions grew from non-existent to friendly.
Krieg 128th Mission[]
- Objective/s: Clear and salvage areas of the warzone wastelands of Folkvangr
- Timespan: 349.M41 - 350.M41
Description[]
During the first year of deployment Colonel von Strahl led his regiment in extensive digging & clearing of those wastelands nearest the established settlements. Unfortunately progress was stalled when the Kriegers discovered an unexpected concentration of war servitors that spilled into their half-finished trenches. Almost 100 Guardsmen were killed as they could not escape their incomplete works, and von Strahl ordered an artillery strike on the trench system rather than waste guardsmen trying to retake them from the servitors, which were brutally efficient in such close quarters.
Deemed ultimately impractical. This phase of the Operation was abandoned.
Adeptus Mechanicus Mission[]
- Objective/s: Research mechanisms to limit and manage hostile elements of Folkvangr's environment
- Timespan: 349.M41 - 351.M41
Description[]
The Nestorian component of the AdMech workforce, led by Magos Hadrian, were tasked with neutralising the most volatile and frequently erupting volcanoes of the planet. They were also tasked with concentrating on the area around Spirit's Vigil, redirecting and clearing the lava flows to make the area more hospitable and ripe for exploitation.
The Forge World of Agrotus supplies most of Folkvangr's technology, but have been reluctant to install permanent measures to combat the ashslides due to political pressure from the Iron Monks. With the official responsibility for the operation laying upon the Ghosts of Retribution and Nestorian AdMech, who care little for defying the Iron Monks, Agrotus was tasked with building structures to redirect ashslides away from areas that have already been cleared of detritus. This will ensure that safe zones remain as such.
Magos Hadrian began his planning for this extensive, multi-decade operation in 349.M41, and finished all his estimations and calculations by 351.M41. Once his planning was complete Hadrian estimated a total cost of somewhere between 1.2 and 1.5 billion Thrones (1200-1500 wealth), which could be spread over a period of operation somwhere between 20 and 60 years.