By the early months of 790.M41, it was clear to the Imperial leadership of the the Armus Sub-sector that the uneasy and undeclared cease fire in the subsector could not last. After a brief interlude, reports of increased Xenos pirate activity were on the rise, as were the number and strength of the probes by the Archenemy naval forces that remained in the Delphi and Parma systems. under these conditions, the commander of the Imperial Navy forces, Wilhelm Goodenough, was forced to spread his light forces thin in an effort to roll back pirate activity in order to keep Forgeworld Armus and the hives on Loak’s World, which together formed the cornerstones of the Imperial presence in the sub-sector, supplied and ready for war. While this move was an operational necessity, it carried with it no small measure of risk; a crafty enemy might very well catch one of Goodenough’s patrols and defeat it in detail before reinforcements could arrive. –  Excerpted from “An Imperial History of The Armus Wars” by Dorman J. Poltera, 173.M42.

Canova Prime, Canova System, Armus Sub-Sector

Commander Rubin paced the command deck of His Divine Imperial Majesty’s light cruiser Daring. His ship, along with her sister ship Ranger and two squadrons of Sword escorts, lay in orbit over the principle planet of the Canova system. The small Imperial task force was under his command, and was tasked with conducting an anti-piracy patrol. Rubin’s ships had been in the Canova system for the last three days, chasing down sightings of possible pirate vessels made by a freighter passing through the system. The freighter was able to escape thanks to not being spotted until it was already almost at the jump point, but based on the sensor data that the freighter’s relatively primitive auspex suite was able to record, the ships were moving far to fast for any Imperial or even traitor designs. That suggested they were Eldar pirates, a thought which secretly filled Rubin and every other officer in his task force, with dread. Eldar ships were fast and maneuverable, and Eldar Corsairs were renowned for never engaging unless the situation was in their favor. However, after having scoured the system for several days with no sign of the unknown shps, Rubin had decided it was time to turn for home. “Helm,” he ordered, “Break orbit from Canova Prime, and set a course for the jump point back to Armus. Communications, relay the order to the rest of the ships in the task force.” The bridge officers quickly acknowledged his commands, as he felt the deck beneath him begin to hum as the ship’s powerful engines began to power Daring out of the gravimetric embrace of the planet below and push her onto a vector to the outer reaches of the system.

Outer Reaches, Canova System, Armus Sub-Sector

The Imperial patrol makes it way out-system to its jump point.

Rubin’s small force was still about 30 minutes out from their designated jump point when the rating manning the Daring’s auspex console announce “multiple unknown contacts, sunward!” Pulling up the data at his command throne, what Rubin saw made his blood run cold. “There are our Eldar Corsairs, by the Throne.” From the way they were moving, it was clear that they were trying to his ships off from their jump point. However, it appears that the solar flare activity that had been plaging the system recently had somehow interfered with their plans, as the Eldar ships appeared to be out of position to sunward, which left him with a narrow opening. Rubin ordered “Helm, All Ahead Full! Communications, order the Ranger to follow us. We are going to punch through the Eldar ambush and strike for the jump point. Order our escorts to cover our escape.” Turning back to his tactical display, he could see both Daring and Ranger begin to surge ahead, the enginseers of both ships pushing their plasma drives to the limit.

The first wave of Eldar ships were close enough to begin engaging Rubin’s force. The pirates were clearly focusing on Ranger as she was the closer of the two Imperial cruisers, and very quickly damage reports started streaming in from Daring’s beleaguered sister. “The auspex has identified the enemy ships as Hellbore frigates, sir!” the Auspex watch reported. “Very well,” Rubin acknowledged. “Engage with weapons batteries as the target bears.” Given the fact that Ranger and Daring were pouring all available energy into their engines, there was precious little power left for weapons. However, the light cruisers did manage to claim one of the attacking enemies. Suddenly, two more of its consorts disappeared, as one of the Sword squadrons returned fire. The Swords then took up position aft of Daring and Ranger, still streaming for the jump point.

Consulting the tactical plot once again, Rubin could see that the two light cruisers would not be able to outrun all of the remaining Hellbores before they reached the jump point. He would need to delay the rest of the Eldar forces that were inexorably closing with Ranger and Daring, despite the light cruisers running for all they were worth. He was out of options; the remaining swords would have to turn back to cover the escape of Daring and Ranger, and would likely be destroyed in the process. “Comms, order the remaining Swords to turn 090 sunward, and engage the pursuing enemy,” he ordered, adding an “Emperor have mercy” under his breath, too quiet for the rest of the bridge watch to hear. A moment later, the comms watch reported “The commander of the 756th Escort Squadron acknowledges the order, and states that they will do their duty for the Emperor, sir.”

Rubin’s eyes were locked on his tactical display as the three Swords astern of his ships turned and began closing with the enemy at a far faster rate. Soon, the escorts reached effective weapons range, and Rubin watched in amazement as one, then two, and then a total of four escorts disappeared under the fire from the three escorts. Cheers erupted around the Daring’s bridge, as the efforts of their smaller brethren had clearly secured the escape of the two light cruisers. “Send word to the 756th; well done, now get clear and head for the jump point,” Rubin ordered.

However, even as his order was passed, one of the Swords succumbed to fire from the vengeful corsairs. Soon, a second Sword disappeared in a cloud of debris, leaving only a single ship. Rubin had been so absorbed in watching the Imperial frigates fight for their life, he was surprised when the Navigator announced “Jump point reached, initiating jump sequence.” As the Daring was pulled into the Immaterium, Rubin’s tactical display froze since the ship’s sensors could no longer observe the action. From that final snapshot, it looked grim for the sole surviving sword. “Emperor  protect them,” Rubin thought.

The sole remaining Imperial frigate runs for its life, with the vengeful Eldar pirates in close pursuit!

Almost there!

Outer Reaches, Armus System, Armus Sub-Sector

The Imperial defence monitor ASDF-281, one of the many such craft present in any Imperial system of even moderate importance, was on station as the picket ship for the jump point to the Canova system. On the monitor’s cramped (by Navy standards) bridge, the officer in charge lounged in the command chair, wearing a bored expression. There was only one transit expected that day, an anti-piracy patrol returning from a sweep of Canova, and even that was not due for a number of hours yet. Unexpectedly, however, alarms began blaring that indicated something was coming out of warp in the vicinity. The officer snapped to full alert, and ordered, “Sensor watch, what is going on? Who is coming thorugh?!” The watch standard looked confused, stating “Unable to tell yet, sir. Looks like two contacts, possibly cruisers. Standby…receiving transponder codes from the contacts! It’s Daring and Ranger, sir. Throne! Ranger is hurt bad.” The officer, who by now was standing over the shoulder of the rating manning the auspex screen, grimaces as she looked over the light cruiser’s status indication. “Comms, raise Commander Rubin, and request if his ships require assitance.” Turning back to the auspex, she asked the rating “Any sign of the escorts?” The rating grimaced, and replied “None, sir.”

“Sir!” the comms watch said,”I have Commander Rubin on a secure channel.” “Very well,” she said, “Put him through.” Soon enough, Rubin’s features resolved on the screen to her left. “Throne, sir,” she began, “It looks like you had a fight. Did any of your escorts make it?” Rubin shook his head, and replied, “Armus Picket, we were attacked by Eldar pirates at the jump point out of Canova. Please send my respects to Naval HQ and inform them of the event, as our long-range comms are damaged. When we jumped, a single Sword remained, covering our escape. It didn’t look like they were going to…” Rubin cut off his words as his eyes darted to the tactical plot. “Arums Picket, are you seeing this?” he asked. “Yes sir,” the monitor’s skipper replied, as she looked at her own plot. Astern of the two cruisers, a single, battle-scared Imperial frigate emerged from the warp, as the bridge crews on both cruisers and the monitors looked on.

Conclusion

Hope you enjoyed reading this! I wrote this short article as a narrative battle report for a game I played with Aexaex for the 2nd MBS BFG campaign, using the Blockade Run scenario. At the very end of the game, my sole remaining Sword managed to pass its leadership test (I needed a 5, and got a 5!) to go All Ahead Full and escape! It was an exciting end to a very fun battle, and it was great way to kick off the campaign. Until next time!