Pariah Nexus Crusade Spoilers

Welcome to the Nephilim Sector! Here's a brief rundown of the events that have transpired in the latest Crusade narrative supplement: Pariah Nexus. Obviously, these are spoilers

The Nephilim Sector was utterly silent, which is why Lord Commander Roboute Guilliman dispatched Battle Group Kallides from Fleet Primus to investigate.

As they approach, they see signs that the xenos and heretics raiding the nearby areas are actually fleeing from something. Navigators and psykers start suffering, warp engines start faltering, and they discover worlds with brain-dead (for a lack of a better word) citizens. They call it the Stilling.

They find blackstone pylons in the jungles of Mesmoch in the Zeidos system, and Necrons show up to attack the Humans. Groupmaster Marran sends a task force there to destroy the pylons, but it ends in a disastrous defeat for the Imperium.

Battle Group Kallides also loses many battles in the Paradyce and Vie Almus systems. They win in Paradyce II, though, and the Ultramarines win in the Vertigus system. Ephrael Stern shows up to help Battle Group Kallides attack the ice world of Cherist in the Lomorr System, destroying a bunch of dolmen gates to cut off Necron reinforcements.

Knights of House Mortan play a part, by the way. Yay.

Buoyed by faith, the Imperial forces prevail over the Nihilakh Dynasty. This allows the Andromedan Blades Chapter to break the siege of Exulta on Mesanor and the Keshari Light Yeomanry to escape the Necrons on Hethalas in the Shen'Tai System.

Inquisitor Draxus shows up to help Marran, as well, but disappears because she's being chased by Necron Deathmarks.

The Silent King has returned to build the contra-immaterial nodal matrix to banish the warp from the galaxy altogether. That's what the Blackstone Pylons are for. Also, the Szarekhan Dynasty is absolultely loyal to Szarekh, but the Sautekh are not. Szarekh is the last Silent King, by the way.

While Battle Group Kallides is about to fall apart, they are reinforced by returning task forces, as well as Battle Group Orphaeus of Fleet Primus.

Epistolary Thengrest of the Imperial Fists gathers whatever astropaths and battle psykers on Cherist in the Lomorr System to send a distress signal to the Primarch of the (former) XIII Legion. While they do so, Lieutenant Stornvor of the Imperial Fists and Marshal Arnulf of the Black Templars reinforce the Lomorr System, building fortresses and launching Crusades respectively to buy the psykers time to send the signal. They succeed, and many of the psykers sacrifice themslves to send the signal, but the Necrons continue to overwhelm the Imperial forces in the Nephilim Sector.

Tredica, Ig and Gornal Illuminata hold for now. Necrons also have their own agendas, with some dynasties and Overlords/Phaerons doing their own thing. The Imperium hold the Argovon System, the gas giants of Zeta IIX Hespus and the Vertigus System, as well as the heavily fortified Lomorr System, despite powerful Necron fleets assailing them with sheer numbers. However, the forces in Myrtika System, Hanken's World, Zhoren, Vergoyz Alphic and Vergouz Gamhal are annihilated, with only Myrtika's Colic the sole holdout for an isolated garrison.

There's a mention of Trazyn the Infinite, who apparently was stealing from other Necrons. Whoops. His old buddy, Orikan the Diviner, also shows up because he saw omens and failed prophecies, and wishes to stop the catastrophe that is sure to occur...soon.

We have a short story about two scions of House Vulker on patrol, and even their Knights' machine spirits are suffering the effects of the Stilling. Ouch.

Roboute Guilliman receives the signal, but because he is too busy with logistic matters and fighting a lot of campaigns (including the Plague Wars that...uh, plagued Ultramar - there's a mention earlier that he personally led his own fleet to the Nephilim Sector, but found no sign of Battle Group Kallides because they got blown off course and entered the sector far from them, and he had to do a u-turn because Mortarion chose that moment to attack Ultramar), he instead sends Battle Group Hephaestus of Indomitus Fleet Primus ahead, with Groupmaster Vikraen commanding it.

Archmagos Belisarius Cawl ends up being the overall commander, though, when he and a mighty Adeptus Mechanicus contingent show up to augment the battle group's strength. Belisarius's objective is to construct the foundations for Guilliman's eventual arrival to cleanse the sector of the Necron threat, but he's also very interested in the rich noctilith deposits and abandoned technologies. Noctilith being blackstone in High Gothic.

Battle Group Hephaestus is predominantly composed of forces from the forge worlds of Mars and Metalica, as well as cohorts and macro-clades from many other forge worlds, including Voss Prime, Ryza, Phaeton and Draconis IV. This means many of the senior commanders are Tech-Magi, who in turn answer to Archmagos Belisarius Cawl. They make it, with the Battle Group splitting up and fleets leaving to pursue their own objectives. Even as they divide their formidable might, Belisarius issues the Noctilith Decree, dividing them into aegis fleets and accretion fleets.

The aegis fleets are to reinforce surviving Imperial forces and fortify fallen worlds. Accretion fleets will seek out and secure noctilith deposits and process them. The accretion fleets would then construct liminal abraisers from the amassed blackstone, which would be used to nullify the Necron's contra-immaterial nodal matrix.

The aegis fleets secure half a dozen worlds and establish contact with elements of Stornvor's fortress. They also discover the remnants of fleets and defenders upon Grumhail and Oodine Pentus, and begin to rebuild and fortify them.

Fortunately, the aegis fleets finally find a major presence from Battle Groups Kallides and Orphaeus in the Paradyce System and Magos Eradicatus Psolt (I wonder if this is a reference to the Starcraft 2 pro player Polt) and his macroclades help to exterminate the Necrons there. They also find and reinforce Volshepta, Shen'Tai, Astorokor, stations in the Vorlian Anomaly, and other Systems and worlds.

Unfortunately, Aegis Fleet T'reshent at Zeidos and Aegis Fleet Qrang at the Vorlian Anomaly are wiped out by the Necrons.

Batle Group Haephestus clashes with Mephrit and Nihilakh Dynasties, as well as the Novokh Dynasty, which attacks the accretion fleets.

Despite being on the verge of annihilation, the beleaguered aegis fleets in Vertigus and Zeta IIX Hespus Systems are granted a reprieve when the Necrons suddenly abandon the battle halfway. On Tharia, Magos Ordinatus Dzevodia and her forces are saved when the Szarekhan legions suddenly retreat.

Aboard the Zar-Quaesitor, Belisarius Cawl and his task force go to the Vertigus System to harvest noctilith, but suddenly the Necrons fighting his Skitarii armies on Verrtigus II vanish. Right before Belisarius was about to drop his Iron Hands and House Taranis reserves on them. Collating combat data, Belisarius figures out that a civil war has erupted between the various Necron dynasties.

As the aegis fleets contact most of the surviving enclaves of Battle Groups Kallides and Orphaeus, they learn that Groupmaster Marran died in battle when defending Cherist, taken out by a Necron assassin resembling flickering fractals and wielding a bolt of infernal lightning (anyone knows who this is?). By the way, he has been elevated to Sainthood by the Ministorum, so cool, I guess? Marshal Arnulf and Lieutenant Stornvor are missing in action, but while they supposedly crusaded toward the heart of the Nephilim Anomaly, Belisarius believes they were cut off and slain somewhere beyond the Tredica System.

Restoring Stornvor's fotress, Archmagos Belisarius Cawl and Groupmaster Vikraen manage to secure a solid foothold, establishing a stable front across the Lomorr System, the Skahren System, the Myrtikan space, the Vertigus System and the Shen'Tai System.

More good news - the accretion fleets on Tharia, Obsoversi and Aclandrica V meet their noctilith harvesting quotas. The bad news is that they fail to construct the liminal abraisers, which is further aggravated by counteroffensives from the Szarekhan Dynasty.

Inquisitor Draxus appears once more, revealing to Belisarius that Illuminor Szeras has sent Deathmark assassins after her, but she knows how to turn the tide of the war in the Imperium's favor.

Meanwhile, Imotekh the Stormlord of the Sautekh Dynasty has rebelled against the Silent King, Szarekh, capturing three full systems. He also launches an assault on the Myrtika System, and on Vergoyz Alphic, Necron legions of both the Sautekh and Szarekhan Dynasties clash. Magos-Cantic Lundkest and the Imperial fleet and defenders withdraw to allow the Necrons to fight amongst themselves, only for Draxus to show up and requisition Lundkest's armies to help.

While Lundkest's Skitarii legions and battle-servitor maniples hold off the Szarekh Necrons, who turn away from the Sautekh, with Imotekh ordering a retreat through the last dolmen gate and collapsing it, Draxus and her forces enter the pylon and destroy it. Lundkest and his forces evacuate, and watch the Necron pylon implode and basically damaging the planet of Vergoyz Alphic. Draxus survives and appears in front of Lundkest, but never shows up again for the rest of the story.

The Silent King is mad and issues a new decree that allow the Technomandrites and Necron Legions to unleash the most terrifying weapons in their arsenals, abandoning all pretense of honor. Fortunately, the Adeptus Mechanicus is not without ancient weapons of our own, and we have all sorts of archeotechnological super-weapons from the Dark Age of Technology.

Anyway, Phaeron Nektarrik of the Thokt (I hope this isn't a joke about Thots, given that Nektarrik is female) Dynasty attacks Torantis with technological horrors capable of even destroying the Warlord Titan Dracos Apocalystor. In response, two entire aegis fleets arrive to reinforce Torantis, commanded by Magos Oradi and Manipulus-Prime Behzt.

Magos Oradi unleashes an Ark of Oblivion that sends a devastating contramolecular shockwave that destroys three tomb ships through excitation fields. Um, unfortunately, a few of Behzt's ships get caught in the fallout because Oradi didn't warn her, the cold bastard. The Eyes of the Void - Necron Technomandrites - dispatch their own super-weapon, splintering a shackled shard of Iash'Uddra and binding its energistic fragments into canoptek constructs that manifest in ghost-like swarms and cause insanity in the Skitarii. Manipulus-Prime Behzt has her own super-weapon, which is basically a black hole that ends up consuming her and her maniples within minutes, as well as a third of Torantis's mass. Both Humans and Necrons are annihilated by this black hole.

Magos Oradi is from Metalica, by the way, and he becomes obsessed with the absolute annihilation unleashed upon Torantis, hoping to use it to save his doomed forge world.

Magos Einvahld Veridian unleashes Mohrgar Fex's Hyper-Alembic upon the Oruskh legions of Overlord Khutmecc, reducing Necrons to bubbling slime from the resultant non-viral outbreak. Needless to say, other Human forces get caught up in this too. Szarekhan plasmancers throw a bound dwarf star into Imperial naval formations in the Zann system, slaying billions, but the Chalice-class cruiser Silence in Suffering rams one of the stellar shackles and basically frees the dwarf star from Necron control, which means the dwarf star also damages the Zann Pylon significantly.

Belisarius tries to put a halt to the hypertechnological war as calamity after calamity unfolded - our dear Archmagos has been isolated in the Vertigus System and caught up with his own research that he has neglected the battlefield. Adeptus Astartes, Adepta Sororitas and Astra Militarum commanders are incensed at the wholesale destruction being caused by both sides, and how the Adeptus Mechanicus Tech-priests are treating their fellow Humans as expendable and acceptable collateral damage. Whoops. Not his fault, because the Necron pylons have been stifling astropathic messages and making it hard for Imperial forces to communicate. Unfortunately, this same difficulty is exploited by...uh, overly zealous Magos to pretend they didn't hear him and continue deploying their horrifying super-weapons on the enemy.

Szarekh, the Silent King, also realizes that he is in trouble. His Necron subordinates aren't happy with the way the war is progressing, either because they find the use of super-weapons dishonorable or they're fed up with losing to "inferior" Human technologies. Requiring a clear victory, Szarekh chooses to focus on destroying the Humans first before turning his full attention upon Imotekh and the Sautekh Dynasty. Szarekhan, Nihilakh and Oruskh tomb ships attack accretion fleets, while Loyalist Necron dynasties invade the Myrtika and Shen'Tai Systems.

Crypteks deploy devices that uncoiled gravitic ribbons thousands of miles long capable of hypercharging planetary crusts into electrifying terminals, that flatten mountain ranges with magnetophasic beams, or planar slivers that disintegrate armies into atoms. The Crypteks of the Nihilakh Dynasty unleash ten C'tan Shards in Zeta IIX Hespus.

Necrons also make use of this opportunity to attack their rivals or carve out their own dynastic territories, while Imotekh the Stormlord withdraws his forces and fortifies his positions to watch and wait, rather than participate in the esscalating arms race.

Orikan the Diviner realizes that he cannot stop the catastrophe that is about to occur, and while he eventually finds his way to the Skahren System, he decides to ally with Imotekh to exploit the situation to his own advantage.

In the Skharen System, Myrmidominus Ghelf and his accretion fleet have successfully driven the Necrons back from several worlds, focusing on Santis-Magna to harvest noctilith from the planet. While the Skitarii and Martian void fleet have successfully defended Santis-Magna, Ghelf is unable to destroy the pylon in the moon of Skahren's Coil.

Unfortunately, Ghelf, his subordinates, and his army end up suffering Chaos shenanigans, and Ghelf himself becomes increasingly paranoid. I think his mind is being poisoned by Vashtorr the Arkifane. Yikes. Anyway, Myrmidominus Ghelf finally snaps and deploys his network of ancient micro-servitor satellites called Shivarik's Constellation.

A formidable Necron fleet boasting warships and phalanxes from the Szarekhan, Oruscar and Nihilakh Dynasties sail into the Skahren System to crush the accretion fleet, and despite the Magi firing apocalyptic weapons at the Necron fleet, ravaging tomb ships with atomics or phosphor-chem warheads, they aren't able to stop the Necrons from beaming their warriors and war engines onto Santis-Magna. So Ghelf activates Shivarik's Constellation. Twenty-five weapon satellites from the Dark Age of Technology fire upon the Necron fleet and absolutely decimate them, bypassing shields and defensive measures.

After wreaking a calamitous toll upon the Necron armada, the satellites of Shivarik's Constellation detonate one after the other, then are sucked into a swirling vortex. Myrmidominus Ghelf himself is killed from the feedback, his brain...blowing up.

The Skahren Pylon is corrupted and becomes an empyric amiplifier instead of nullifier. From the vortex, the daemon world of Wyrmwood emerges, with Vashtorr the Arkifane at its head. Empowered by the worship flowing into him, thanks to the wilful acts of technological destruction and the corruption of so many brilliant minds, Vahstorr is able to tear a rift into this space that would be otherwise utterly inimical to his kind.

He has plans to turn the Silent King's contra-immateria nodal matrix to his own uses, but as to what foul purposes he wishes to twist it to, we still have no clue.

Meanwhile, Belisarius Cawl is informed that something horrible has occurred in the Skahren System, in addition to his dismay at his own fellow Magi's rampant hypertechnological destruction across the sector. The good news is that his prototypes for the liminal abraisers have finally shown some promise, though he needs more time to perfect them. Also, he has received missives telling him that Battle Group Hephaestus only needs to hold Stornvor's fortress for a bit longer, because Roboute Guilliman is at last on his way, sailing at the head of a formidable host drawn from the cream of Indomitus Crusade Fleet Primus. Phew.

The Silent King, on the other hand, is unable to understand how a tremendously powerful warp manifestation has occurred within the Pariah Nexus, and his hammerblow offensive that was supposed to decisively crush the Humans and earn a much-needed victory for Loyalist Necron legions to then turn upon Imotekh's renegade ones had failed spectacularly. Thanks to the massacre in the Skahren System, Szarekh has to divert forces from his other offensives against other war fronts to guard against this new Chaos threat. Thanks to that, the Humans have earned a reprieve and can hang on for a bit longer. We have survived, but just barely. Phew.