Emperor's Mercy (Bastion Wars)

Inquisitor Roth and his henchman Silverstein are sent to the worlds of the Medina Corridor to uncover the location of a set of ancient artefacts. Meanwhile, the Ironclads, a force of Chaos traitors, invades the subsector in search of their artefacts for their own nefarious ends. With the Ironclads' indomitable army crushing all before it, will Roth be able to find the artefacts in time and prevent a terrible cataclysm engulfing the Medina worlds? BASTION WARS: A RETROSPECTIVE HISTORY For a week Lord General Militant Imada refused all food and drink. The High Commanders of the Bastion Ward Regiments waited outside his bed chambers in obedient quiet as their world deteriorated. The Bastion War had reached a literal crescendo. The artillery outside the city grounds had blurred into a constant drum roll. From the Bastion Stars to the Lupina Chain-Worlds and all half a dozen star systems in between, the war had raged for eight long years and in that time the guns had grown only louder. In the past weeks as the fighting intensified Lord Militant Imada had wilted. His skin had become translucent and his eyes had glazed to blankness. With each passing day, he aged a year or more. His beard, once squared like a slab of iron jutting from the high collars of his greatcoat now spilled down his front in a tangled mess. Those who were admitted into his chambers whispered that the Lord Militant now embodied the state of the entire Imperial war effort. Brittle and on the verge of collapse. 'I am powerless,' Imada announced when he finally emerged from solitude. 'This war is not ours to be won.' Those were the words that immortalised Imada in the volumes of Imperial history. The words by which the War of the Bastion Stars would be remembered. That tight cluster of stars which formed a bulwark in the far eastern Segmentum Ultima was now a region of continuous conflict. The Bastion Stars had commanded shipping lanes through the Dominion of Storms and lay down a defensive outpost on the Eastern Fringe. It had withstood xenos invasion for thousands of years, its resilience traced back to the Pre-Unification barbarians who repelled both eldar and orkoid. But the last eight years of war had far exceeded anything the region had experienced. The Imperial Guard suffered a series of catastrophic defeats against the Archenemy legions of Sabot Sigur. Overwhelmed by vastly superior numbers, both Guard and Naval elements fought a defensive campaign. At the battle of Ortega in M881.41, the Bastion Ward regiments lost some four million soldiers within the span of six months. While the Imperial forces recoiled from its devastation, the Archenemy forces of Sabot Sigur rejoiced. Sigur the Arch-Slaver was heralded as the White Terror of the Eastern Fringe. His billion strong phalanx had routed the Imperial resistance. His tale spread across the subsector. The prayers of Sigur had turned Imperium ammunition to clay. The power of his oration could set fire to tanks. His followers willingly died for him, throwing themselves onto bayonets and land mines, weeping for his favour. They found his visage in rocks, bread and almond seeds. His armies were of limitless number. Following the Lord Militant's Concession, the Conclave of Notables convened at Simpani Park, the Govenor's Estate on Bastion Ward Primary. Surrounded by the annual blooms of Simpani gardens, the chamber of military chieftains, inquisitors and political delegates met for three weeks. There, they decided the fate of the entire subsector. Overhead, the Imperial Naval was disintegrating beneath an Archenemy armada so vast that it flooded vox frequencies, and filled the skies with warp storm. These were the last months of the Bastion War Campaign. What follows are the chronicles of Inquisitor Obodiah Roth and his exploits in the Bastion Wars, from the first incursion of the Medina Corridor to the delaying actions at Lupina. As history will reveal, the influence of the Conclave of Notables played a significant role in the conclusion of the eight year war and most instrumental among them was the young Inquisitor Roth. As of M999.41, the Bastion Wars remains one of the most brutal wars of attrition in recent Imperial history. Of Lord Militant Imada's fate little is known. Official records show that he attempted to retire to the Imperial world of San Leor. Half-guest, half-exile, Imada spent his last days pining in the hospices of San Leor. Suffering from dementia and maddened by the horrors he witnessed at Bastion, he died as he lived, an embodiment of the Bastion Wars.