This is the latest mission I'll be sending my crew on. The mission briefing is deliberately vague as 1.) I don't want my guys to know what's coming and 2.) it means I can share it with you lot if anyone wants another mission to throw into their game

I am personally going to run with with more of a survival horror point of view, likely involving daemon activity, although it'd work brilliantly with a lictor attack, Tau taking over the joint or Eldar rocking up to reclaim a maiden world. Standard disclaimer - you may want to change the name of the crusade, dates and individuals involved to suit your game. As can probably be gathered by the write up - this is designed to be the first mission in a series that tie closer together, involving chaos forces. I'll post the follow ups as I write them (which will almost certainly be the day of the session in a maddened rush as I remember at the last minute I have to do a handout)

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By the close of 009M42, the Carinae Crusade had started to gain momentum. The main bulk of the crusade had fortified the area around Eta Carinae and were starting to receive massive reinforcements from the Imperial Navy and the Departmento Munitorium. Lord Solar Janthine Victus had called upon her long term ally, Admiral Alizabeth Hulegaard within the Imperial Navy. Admiral Hulegaard managed to bring a Naval battlegroup containing no less than fourteen frigates and destroyers of varying class and three cruisers, including the Cyclops Cluster flagship; the Spear of Tartarus . Fully three regiments of Imperial Guard had joined the fighting, including the famously decorated Valhallan 449th Mechanised regiment. With such forces at her command making up for the disasterous loss of the 008.M42 EC-47 sailent and the primary foes of the crusade still unseen, the Lord Solar decided to attempt to engage on multiple fronts.

"A large naval force led by the Spear of Tartatus was sent to EC-998 to hold the system, dubbed Gateway, and deny the warp routes to the enemies of the Imperium. Almost immediately, the naval taskforce came under attack by minions of the archenemy, with enemy vessels trying to lure the task force out of position by performing raiding strikes before fleeing back to the outer photosphere of the local star. EC-998 was unusual for the region, an older star unlike the brightly burning suns of the stellar factory, with a photosphere dense enough to block sensors, but yet thin enough that void shield protection could keep the worst radiation damage at bay. Admiral Hulegaard was aware that the chaos raiders were far more adept at the knife fight condditions within the photosphere and restrained her captains, keeping them from taking the bait. She was aware that her forces were being bled dry, but her request for reinforcements was denied, as all available vessels were operating in the new push.

"The Chaos Raiders targeting the naval blockade in the Gateway system were first engaged by imperial forces in early 010. The sword class frigates Hunter's Eye and Path to Glory made daring raids into the photosphere to engage the raiders in close range fire fights. After a number of engagements with the smaller, less armoured Iconoclast raiders, the auger crews of the frigates were astonished to see that previous opponents had actually managed to effect repairs, even whilst hiding in their inhospitable battlezone. After a daring boarding action performed by the Path to Glory on the raider Magnanimous Cruelty , the Path's captain was able to discover from captured ratings that there was a heavily shielded void station orbiting the star at a close distance, using the solar winds for concealment.

"Admiral Hulegaard could not afford to allow such a void station to exist in the hands of the archenemy, but was confounded by the stations concealment. Even as heavily defended patrols with wide auger sweeps scanned the surface of the star without success, the Admiral turned to her inquisitorial support staff and requested any information they could provide. While the inquisitors were forced to admit they had no information about this station, and none of the interrogated prisoners knew precisely where it was, Inquisitor Mara Xetochek had an idea about how to find out.

"Surrounding the nearby pacified star of Jkakis were a number of ancient Eldar xeno-artefacts. These floating monoliths had been studied for some time by inquisitorial staff. All that was known is that they were in place to somehow change the spectral output of a star. Inquisitor Xetochek believed that if these obelisks could be moved, they could change the spectral projections of the gateway star and expose the station to the Spear of Tartarus' nova cannon. Astropathic messages were sent to Jkakis II to confer with the inquisitorial team there, but no response was incoming. Inquisitor Xetochek ordered a reading of the Emperor's Tarot which confirmed - something had happened to the colony on Jkakis. With the Astartes and Imperial Guard attached to the crusade campaigning towards Taures For, Inquisitor Xetochek used her influence within the Ordo Xenos to organise a local kill team to investigate the system, eliminate any threat, and ensure the safety of the obelisks for transport. "

Primary Mission: Investigate the silent colony.
The colony on Jkakis II is not responding to astropathic communications or vox hails. Identify the nature of the silence and the nature of any foe involved.

Secondary Mission: Eliminate primary threats.
If the subjects that targeted the colony are still present, destroy them.

Secondary Mission: Ensure the safety of the Obelisk array
If the colony was destroyed as a deliberate act of sabotage, the attackers may have also attacked the Obelisks closest to Jkakis II. Ensure the safety of the devices and ensure no ground or orbital weapons have been erected to damage them.

Tertiary Mission: Capture informant.
If the attacking forces were xenos or archenemy agents, capture a prisoner for further experimentation. If the colony was silenced by seismic or tidal effects on the previously stable surface of Jkakis II, gather auger scans of the planets crust. If local flora, fauna or disease was responsible, take a sample.

Tertiary Mission: Rescue/avenge imperial citizens.
If the citizens of the Jkakis II colony still live, ensure their safety. If they have been slain, find the beast, heretic, xenos or vector that killed them and educate them as to the nature of the God-Emperor's wrath.