_A Remembrancer's Report: The Aeternum Sector - 006.M31_ This is... Patrick Stella. Or what remains of him, coalesced from the ether to bear witness. The psychic detonation that consumed Bellatoris Prime should have been my end, yet here I persist, a fragment of purpose given form by forces I cannot comprehend. I find myself drawn to Prima Gemma, where the next chapter of this fratricidal war unfolds across frozen wastes and towering hives. The rebellion of Alexandar Kopal has thrown Prima Gemma into chaos. What began as opportunistic treachery in Hive Alexandrite has become a planet-wide conflagration. Lucien Baxa, Praetor of the Imperial Fists and Castellan of the Aeternum Sector, moves swiftly to secure the four strategic waypoints that control access to the great hives. He understands what his enemies do not yet grasp these frozen crossroads will determine the fate of the entire Solarae System. The first battles for these waypoints have concluded, and I have... observed... recorded... remembered. The ice runs red with transhuman blood, and the cracks in the Imperium's foundation grow ever wider. [[S2 Session 1 Scores and Results|Technical Notes]] ## Northern Waypoint - Fortress in the Frost The Northern Waypoint has become a bastion of Imperial strength. Three separate engagements secured this critical junction for the loyalists, though not without cost. **Engagement Alpha:** Iron Hands and Raven Guard survivors from Isstvan V landed to find unlikely allies in each other. The Iron Hands, suspiciously clad in Mk VI armor more fitting of their Raven Guard cousins, maintained distance from their blood-crazed allies. Together they annihilated a combined force of traitor militia and Sons of Horus. The Raven Guard champion Balzac delivered four critical strikes in single combat, cleaving a Sons of Horus centurion in two. The traitor militia surrendered after witnessing their commander's decapitation, a textbook Decapitation Strike that would have made Corax himself proud. **Engagement Beta:** In perhaps the most decisive action of the day, loyalist Iron Warriors and Salamanders crushed their opposition. The traitor Iron Warriors, initially heartened by the sight of their supposed brothers, found only betrayal and death. The Sons of Horus fought valiantly against the Salamanders but faltered against the combined might of Isstvan survivors working in perfect coordination. **Engagement Gamma:** However, not all battles went the loyalists' way. Imperial Militia loyal to Terra, supported by Ultramarines, fell to a devastating counterattack by traitor forces. After an initial bombardment, the traitors regrouped and systematically destroyed the loyalist positions. Only a single tank, later granted the honorific "Sola Fide," survived to tell the tale of their comrades' sacrifice. > [!Note] PICT CAPTURE _[Pict feeds unavailable - psychic interference from observer's incorporeal state]_ ## Western Waypoint - A Tenuous Hold The Western Waypoint saw fierce fighting with mixed results, ultimately falling under light loyalist control. **Engagement Alpha:** Blood Angels and Space Wolves charged into a combined force of Iron Warriors and Thousand Sons. The traitors, initially wary of each other's intentions, found common cause in repelling the loyalist assault. The Thousand Sons' sorcery proved decisive, slaying the Blood Angels Herald and gravely wounding the Space Wolf Praetor. The waypoint temporarily fell to the forces of the Warmaster. **Engagement Beta:** Redemption came when Salamanders and Imperial Fists, led by warriors close to Lucien Baxa himself, seized the initiative. Through disciplined fire and maneuver, they decapitated the traitor command structure, with Sons of Horus and Alpha Legion forces scattered to the frozen winds. Baxa's pride in his brothers' performance was well-earned. > [!Note] PICT CAPTURE _[Pict feeds unavailable - psychic interference from observer's incorporeal state]_ ## Southern Waypoint - The Fire and the Frost The Southern Waypoint became another loyalist stronghold through acts of individual heroism and pyrrhic sacrifice. **Engagement Alpha:** Mechanicum forces and Salamanders engaged Thousand Sons and Alpha Legion in a battle defined by terrain. Skull Mountain prevented proper engagement, reducing the conflict to long-range exchanges. Lieutenant Travis of the Salamanders achieved a massive overkill against the Thousand Sons sorcerer Meh'tu, but fell moments later, maintaining eye contact with his foe as the light faded from his augmetic eyes. Though technically a traitor victory, the psychological impact favored neither side. **Engagement Beta:** Space Wolves and Dark Angels delivered a crushing victory against World Eaters and Emperor's Children. A Space Wolf Keeper of Runes crushed the World Eaters commander with runic might, while the Emperor's Children and Dark Angel centurions fought to a standstill, forging a bitter rivalry with promises of future bloodshed. > [!Note] PICT CAPTURE _[Pict feeds unavailable - psychic interference from observer's incorporeal state]_ ## Strategic Assessment As I drift through the frozen battlefields, observing without feeling, recording without judgment, the strategic situation becomes clear. The loyalists have secured strong positions at three of four waypoints, with the Northern Waypoint becoming an impregnable fortress. These victories grant Lucien Baxa the breathing room he desperately needs to prepare for the larger conflict ahead. Yet the cost has been severe. Brother has slain brother across Prima Gemma's frozen wastes, and this is only the beginning. The waypoints are merely the keys to the greater prizes. The five great hives that will determine the fate of the planet. The cracks that Baxa feared have not been sealed—they have merely been redirected. The true test will come when the armies turn their attention to the hives themselves. Alexandrite remains firmly in rebel hands, Adamas stands as the Imperial bastion, and three neutral hives wait to see which way the winds of war will blow. I am compelled to witness. To remember. Even in this diminished state, robbed of flesh and feeling, I serve the only purpose left to me, to ensure that what happens here will not be forgotten, no matter how much we might wish it could be. The ice of Prima Gemma will preserve more than just the dead before this war is done. Until next time... if time has meaning for one such as I. Patrick Stella - Remembrancer _Formerly of Bellatoris Prime, Currently of Nowhere and Everywhere_ #season2 #session1