[History] Age of Apostasy in Anargo

I wrote this long ago, but posting it now by popular demand. It will go on the website, eventually.

The Age of Apostasy
Towards the end of the 35th millennium, the Adeptus Ministorum’s funds were depleted from having first invested heavily in establishing a new home on Ophelia VII, before returning to Terra less than three centuries later, whilst also creating a new galactic army known as the Frateris Templars. The treasure chambers of the Ministorum’s cardinals across the Imperium were nearly depleted, and although they had already taxed their followers heavily, the Cardinals now increased their tithes further. Those who failed to comply were met with swift sanctions at the hands of the Frateris Templars and the Officio Assassinorum.

As the 36th millennium began, warp storms became increasingly frequent all over the galaxy, wreaking havoc with interstellar trade and leaving the worlds of the Imperium vulnerable to enemy attacks. As a result, even more worlds failed to meet the tithes set by the Adeptus Ministorum, and so the cardinals tightened their grip further. It was a dark time, and pre-apocalyptic cults spread throughout the Imperium, declaring that the Emperor was punishing his decadent followers. While the Frateris Templars ruthlessly punished those who failed to meet their tithes to the cardinals, the powerful zealous cults launched crusades across the Imperium to destroy those who had angered the Emperor, slaughtering anyone suspected to be a mutant, witch or faithless. By the time the infamous High Lord Vandire ascended to his bloody throne, the distant Anargo sector was already maimed by centuries of such conflict.

In 115.M36, the tension between Cardinal Ximenez VI and the Fabricator General of Proteus reached an inevitable climax in the Anargo sector and war was declared. For years, the Frateris Templars had travelled from world to war, punishing people into obedience, convinced that they were serving humanity by appeasing the Emperor and ending the cataclysm that was sweeping across the Imperium. In every subsector, various colonies that had failed to meet their tithes had been accused of disobedience and treachery against the Emperor. Eventually, knight world Nova Cerkes, a colony under the control of forgeworld Proteus, was threatened with decimation unless Ministorum tithes were met. Proteus responded by calling all tech adepts in Dorvastor back to the Archaios subsector. Some refused, believing that such an act would lead to Proteus’ destruction. Some obeyed and returned to Proteus, and many others were either captured or killed in their attempt to escape.

In the Sargassos subsector, the Adeptus Terra was torn by internal conflict as pro- and anti-Ministorum forces clashed in the Adeptus Administratum and other organisations. The fear of large scale civil war was so prevalent that many officials were paralyzed, hoping that the matter would eventually resolve itself as Proteus and Dorvastor realised the cost of their actions and made amends. This never happened however. The Meksum and Castellan subsector were subjected to increasingly harsh sanctions by Dorvastor, and the strong conservative and theocratic governments in the Anargo subsector sided with Dorvastor.

The sector’s battlefleet and armies were effectively divided in six as each subsector struggled for its own survival and neglected their allegiance to the entire sector through the pacts of the Imperium. The majority of the battlefleet was under the control of the Dorvastor-Anargo alliance, while the Archaios subsector found itself virtually defenceless from navy attacks. In 240.M36, however, the brutal policies of the Dorvastor-Anargo alliance inspired the Silver Skulls Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes to side with Proteus in the conflict. Together, the fleets of the Astartes and Mechanicus were able to break the Navy battlefleet’s chokehold and blockades in the Archaios subsector. After years of intense conflicts, the Meksum and Sargassos subsector finally resolved their internal conflicts and sided against the Dorvastor-Anargo alliance in 288.M36. The deadlock between the Mechanicus-Astartes alliance and the Navy battlefleet was finally broken, and the powerful armies and fleets of the Anargo and Dorvastor subsector now launched a crusade against the poorly defended Sargassos and Meksum subsectors.

The war between the Dorvastor-Anargo alliance and the Sargassos-Meksum separatists was largely one sided for the first decades. Whilst the Meksum subsector suffered great casualties, the news from Terra about the death of High Lord Vandire and the ascendancy of Sebastian Thor eventually reached the Anargo sector, and inspired the forces of Meksum to hold out until reinforcements arrived. Their prayers were heard in 353.M36, when a large group of warships from distant sectors arrived in the Sargassos subsector, swearing allegiance to the Lord of Hespera in the battle against the Dorvastor-Anargo alliance. For several years, intense fighting raged between the four eastern subsectors of the Anargo sector, while the forces of the Archaios and Castellan subsectors slowly recovered in between alien and pirate attacks. It was the darkest period in the history of the sector and just when the battered citizens of the Meksum subsector thought it could not get any worse, a startling discovery was made.

Inquisitorial agents from Anargo had successfully infiltrated the allied forces that had come to the rescue of Sargassos and revealed that they were in fact chaos renegades operating under instructions of the Alpha Legion and masquerading as loyal Imperial servants. The Dorvastor-Anargo alliance immediately broadcast its findings to the Meksum and Sargassos subsectors in an effort to weaken their alliance, and the attempt was successful. Horrified by their error, the colonies in the Meksum subsector immediately declared Sargassos an enemy, while many worlds in the Sargassos subsector were torn apart by civil war between chaos worshippers and loyal Imperial citizens. Finally, in the year 360.M36, the unified forces of the Dorvastor-Anargo alliance were free to make their final attack.

The Meksum subsector now found itself fighting wars against both Sargassos and the Dorvastor-Anargo alliance, in addition to the increasing amount of opportunistic alien raids. Morale was shattered and in a few short years, Meksum was pacified by the Frateris Templars. Now the Dorvastor-Anargo alliance was free to focus its effort against Sargassos and the forces of chaos. After centuries of war in the sector, mercy and temperance was not an option. More than ever, the Frateris Templars prepared themselves for a bloodbath to restore peace to the sector.

In 365.M36, after five years of brutal conflict, the Dorvastor-Anargo alliance had taken control of the Meksum and Sargassos subsectors. In the Sargassos subsector, where chaos cultists had taken control of several colonies, the losses were horrific. Every colony in the Sernet, Syonis and Idolon systems, in addition to several smaller colonies in the Hesperus, Onisius and Theta Corionis systems, were annihilated by Exterminatus grade weaponry. In addition, Dekal and Carsium were utterly sterilised, whereas Jorgard was subjected to heavy bombardment. Not even the sector capital, Hespera, was spared from the excessive destruction, but suffered so destructive attacks that large amounts of its atmosphere were boiled away by the powerful weapons of the Navy battlefleet. It was over three hundred years since the colonies in the Anargo sector had been united. The full count of human casualties was something the Dorvastor-Anargo alliance never went to great lengths to document, but many Imperial scholars put the number of casualties in this dark period as high as thirty billion. As the forces of the Archaios and Castellan subsectors stood powerless to stop the Dorvastor-Anargo alliance, Anargo Primus became the de-facto capital of the sector, and its theocratic government ensured an unstoppable alliance between the Adeptus Ministorum and the sector’s highest ranking Administratum officials.

And still, the war was far from over. In the distant Solar Segmentum, the aging High Lord Sebastian Thor had ordered a vast reformation of the Adeptus Ministorum and the disbandment of the Frateris Templars. In the coreward horizon, a massive Navy fleet approached the Anargo sector to liberate the region from the hold of the pro-Vandire rulership.

As the Thorian forces began their liberation of the Anargo sector near the middle of the 36th millennium, word finally spread to every corner of the sector about the Reformation of Sebastian Thor, and the alliance against the apostate Cardinals in the Imperium. With this new hope, separatists all over the sector began their rebellion against Cardinal Xemenez VI of Dorvastor. In 567.M38, an Arbites officer by the name of Albrecht Gaius lead a coup d’etat against the Anargan Theocracy using loyalist PDF and Adeptus Arbites elements. By the time the sector had been liberated and a new pro-Thorian Cardinal, had been appointed to Dorvastor, Albrecht Gaius was effectively the ruler of Anargo Primus. With the Sargassos and Meksum subsectors crippled by war, the Adeptus Administratum looked for a new sector capital. Dorvastor retained much of its original power, but the prospect of another civil war instigated by the Adeptus Ministorum did not appeal.

The solution was simple. Because Albrecht Gaius was such a popular leader and an icon for the rise against the now dead Cardinal Xemenez VI, the Adeptus Administratum stripped Gaius of his Arbites rank and elevated him to become Imperial Commander of the Anargo system. Furthermore, in order to take advantage of the great economical and political strength of Anargo, combined with its recent anti-Ministorum movements, the Adeptus Administratum made Anargo Primus the new sector capital, replacing Hespera. Even the new Cardinal of Dorvastor knew better than to protest at this, even though it was crystal clear that this was a ploy by the Adeptus Administratum to weaken the influence of the Adeptus Minstorum in the sector. Finally, as the Adeptus Ministorum in the Anargo sector was fully reformed, the Adeptus Mechanicus and Adeptus Astartes somewhat reluctantly revived their alliance with the local Cardinal and the new Conclave on Anargo Primus. Finally, peace had been restored between the Imperial colonies in the Anargo sector, and a new age of rebuilding and war against the forces of chaos and aliens could commence.

The Cursed subsector
Following the war against the Dorvastor-Anargo alliance, the Sargassos subsector was viewed with fear and suspicion by surrounding colonies. Astropaths complained that the short succession of bombardments that had killed tens of billions had left its mark upon the warp currents in the region. Six whole systems had been completely wiped out by Exterminatus, three of which were previously home to several large Imperial colonies, and three which were believed to have hidden bases for the Alpha Legion and various chaos renegades and pirates. Together with the already quarantined Scaros system, these six system formed a forbidden zone that was now off-limits to all civil and merchant ships. The zone was declared Regionalis Impeditus by the Officio Cartagrafia and officially named the Umbra Convex. Heavily patrolled by Navy warships, the Umbra Convex was feared to still have some presence of chaos lingering despite the great destruction that had been brought upon the systems within, and thus any intruders or unidentified ships in the Convex were ordered to be destroyed on sight. To the sailors of the Anargo sector, it became a place of myth and legend, where dark things lurked and called starships to their doom. In place of its official name, the zone would more commonly be known as ‘the veil’, ‘peril’s grasp’, ‘the ghost worlds’, ‘the hollow’ or ‘Umbra deep’.

Although several worlds in the Sargassos subsector remained loyal to the Emperor throughout the Apostate Wars in Anargo and even emerged remarkably unscathed from the chaos incursion in their subsector, the suspicion of heresy was not so easily washed away. For centuries to come, the Sargassos subsector was commonly referred to as ‘the cursed subsector’, and a combination of political, religious and superstitious beliefs greatly impaired trade and made the process of rebuilding the sector far more difficult than originally anticipated. Some worlds were able to successfully recover and sustain economical growth after a relatively short period of time, such as Corionis Prime and Neo Laguna.

Circa 200.M35 – Ecclesiarch Benedin IV makes Ophelia VII the new home of the Adeptus Ministorum and the Holy Synod.

Circa 500.M35 – Ecclesiarch Greigor XI orders the return of the Holy Synod to Terra. He is assassinated shortly after the transition is complete.

Circa 100.M36 – Warp storms spread across the galaxy.

115.M36 – War breaks out in the Anargo sector as the Cardinal of Dorvastor dramatically increases tithes and demands that the Knight world Nova Cerkes is included in the Cardinal’s diocese and thus obliged to tithe. Proteus and most Mechanicus forces in the sector break contact with Dorvastor. The Sargassos subsector is torn between pro- and anti-Ministorum forces in the Administratum. In both the Meksum and Castellan subsector, several worlds are subjected to sanctions by the Frateris Templars as a failure to meet tithes. The Anargo subsector has some internal conflicts, but most its worlds side with Dorvastor.

Circa 150.M36 – Goge Vandire is elected as High Lord of the Adeptus Administratum

Circa 200.M36 – Lord Vandire declares executes Ecclesiarch Paulis III and takes his role as Ecclesiarch, in addition to his status as High Lord of the Administratum.

240.M36 - Opposing the new regime and the extreme tithes imposed by the Cardinal of Dorvastor, the Adeptus Mechanicus and Adeptus Astartes grow hostile towards the Adeptus Ministorum and theocratic worlds in the sector. In 240.M36, the Adeptus Astartes chapter Silver Skulls attack the Imperial Navy in the Dorvastor sector, stopping the blockade around Sistina and saving millions from hunger. The Adeptus Mechanicus on Proteus is quick to support this action, and several large military engagements between the forces of the Lord Commander of the Anargo sector and the forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus and Silver Skulls follow in the next years to come.

215.M36 – Lord Vandire assassinates Lord Phaedrus, the Master of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica.

288.M36 – Lord Vandire is killed by Alicia Dominica of the Daughters of the Emperor. Sebastian Thor takes his place as Ecclesiarch. The Decree Passive is issued.
The Meksumian and Sargassos subsectors rebel against the pro-Vandire alliance of Dorvastor and Anargo. A huge war ensues as the Dorvastor subsector launches a crusade against the rebels, with full support from the Castellan and Anargo subsectors. Battlefleet Anargo is forced to loosen its hold on the Archaios subsector, and there is some traffic in and out of the subsector.

353.M36 - The war in the Anargo sector between pro-Vandire remnants and pro-Thor loyallists reaches is climax as countless armies appear from different parts of the sector and even other distant sectors, swearing allegiance to the Lord of the Sargassos subsector. For several years, the Meksum and Sargassos subsector are successful in holding off the armies of Dorvastor and Anargo.

360.M36 - The mysterious allies of the Sargassos subsector are revealed to be cultists of Chaos and it is evident that the rulers of Sargassos have been corrupted. The Meksum subsector is appalled by this revelation and immediately break their ties with the Sargassos subsector. Now alone, the Meksum subsector is forced to fight a war against the chaos cultists within its own borders, the armies of the Sargassos subsector and the vast forces of the pro-Vandire remnants. In a matter of mere months, the Meksumian defences collapse and the Dorvastor-Anargo alliance assumes control of the Meksum subsector.

365.M36 - Almost a century after Sargassos first rebelled against the Dorvastor-Anargo alliance, the sector's loyal battlefleet finally has full control of the Sargassos subsector. While most of the subsector’s loyal systems are recovered after heavy fighting, the Idolon, Sernet and Syonis systems are corrupted beyond hope of salvation and utterly Exterminated. In addition, several smaller colonies in other systems are also targeted with Exterminatus, and Carsium, Jorgard, Dekal and Hespera are subjected to heavy bombardments. While a portion of Hespera and Jorgard’s population survives, Carsium is entirely sterilised. The once glorious capital subsector now lies largely in ruins and an era of rebuilding begins.

368.M36 – Lord Sebastian Thor dies on Terra.

567.M36 – The Gaian Revolt on Anargo Primus.