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Stories: Failed Operations
The Purging of Hive Secundus
The Adepta Sororitas had already begun their purge when we arrived. Sister Superior Amelia of the Order of the Cleansing Flame had declared the entire hive compromised after finding evidence of cult activity. Their solution was simple - burn everything.
We knew better. Our war beasts could track the corruption to its source, eliminating the need for such wholesale destruction. But when we tried to explain this to the Sisters, they saw only heresy. The sight of our blood rituals as we prepared for the hunt sent them into a frenzy.
The operation devolved into chaos. While we tracked cultists through the underhive, the Sisters burned level after level above us. Their flames drove the cultists deeper into our hunting grounds, disrupting carefully laid ambushes. Worse, the smoke confused our war beasts' senses, making precise targeting impossible.
The final disaster came when Sister Superior Amelia ordered her forces to burn through a support wall - the exact wall we had identified as critical to the hive's structural integrity. Millions died in the collapse, including many of our battle-brothers and their Sisters alike.
The cult was destroyed, but at a far higher cost than necessary. Since then, we've developed new protocols for operations with the Sororitas. We now ensure clear operational boundaries are established beforehand, with each force assigned to separate sectors. While we prefer to work independently, when we must fight alongside the Sisters, we keep our rituals private and focus on areas where our methods won't conflict with theirs.
Commissar Viktor Hale was everything the Imperial Guard manual said a leader should be - brave, unwavering, and completely inflexible. When we deployed to support his regiment against Tyranid infiltrators, he immediately tried to incorporate our forces into his rigid battle plans.
We tried explaining that our methods required flexibility - that our war beasts and psykers needed freedom to hunt effectively. He saw this as a challenge to his authority. When we deployed our forces in small hunting packs rather than traditional battle lines, he accused us of cowardice.
The breaking point came during a crucial operation. Our psykers had detected a Lictor's presence near the command post. Standard protocol would have been to draw it out with a small force while our hunters struck from multiple angles. Instead, Hale ordered a full regiment to form firing lines.
The Lictor was not alone. While the Guard's attention was focused forward, three more Lictors struck from behind. We lost the command post, half the regiment, and valuable intelligence about the hive fleet's movements. Hale did not survive to learn from his mistake.
The incident led to a formal review of our joint operation protocols. Now we insist on detailed pre-mission briefings with Imperial Guard command staff, explaining our tactical requirements while respecting their chain of command. We've found that demonstrating our methods' effectiveness in smaller operations first helps build the trust needed for larger deployments.
The Mechanicus Interference
The forge world Lucius IV should have been a simple compliance operation. The tech-priests had requested our help in clearing out Dark Mechanicus infiltrators. Our war beasts were perfectly suited for sniffing out the corrupted machine spirits.
But the Mechanicus representatives couldn't accept our methods. They insisted on monitoring every aspect of our operation, demanding explanations for our "non-standard" procedures. When they saw how our psychic abilities interacted with machine spirits, they declared it tech-heresy.
The situation reached critical failure during an assault on a corrupted forge temple. Our standard tactics called for psychic disruption of the enemy's control systems before a precise strike. The tech-priests forbidden us from "tainting" their precious machinery with our powers. Instead, they insisted on a full frontal assault.
The resulting battle destroyed three forge temples and a priceless STC fragment. Most of our Thunderhawk squadron was damaged by automated defenses that could have been neutralized with our usual methods.
The incident strained relations with the Mechanicus, but also taught us valuable lessons. Now we maintain careful documentation of our psychic-technical procedures, presenting them in terms the tech-priests can better understand. While we still face skepticism, establishing clear boundaries and areas of operation has allowed us to maintain necessary cooperation while minimizing direct conflicts over methodology.
The Arbites' Overreach
The Adeptus Arbites of Hive Mortalis had a simple request - help them locate and eliminate a genestealer cult. We agreed, but with one condition: our methods must be allowed to work without interference. They agreed verbally but proved incapable of honoring that agreement.
Our war beasts had tracked the cult's patriarch to the middle hive levels. We were systematically working our way through the population, identifying infected bloodlines for precise elimination. The Arbites, however, grew impatient with our methodical approach.
Judge Konstantin ordered a precinct-wide crackdown, implementing martial law and mass testing protocols. This sent the cult into hiding, scattering them throughout the hive. Worse, their harsh methods sparked a civil uprising among the uninfected population.
The experience taught both sides painful lessons. Now when we work with the Arbites, we establish clear phases of operation with agreed-upon timelines. We share more intelligence with their command structure, and they provide us with the time needed for our methods to work. The relationship remains professional but distant - as it should be.
The Inquisitor's Pride
Inquisitor Darius Rex of the Ordo Hereticus arrived with full authority and zero understanding. He had tracked a chaos cult to the agri-world of Thanatos II and demanded our assistance in its elimination. We agreed, but his interference doomed the operation from the start.
Our psykers detected multiple sources of corruption, suggesting a complex network rather than a simple cult. We proposed a patient approach - monitoring the cultists to uncover their full organization before striking. The Inquisitor, however, insisted on immediate action.
He ordered exterminatus preparations to begin even as we protested that the corruption was limited and containable. When we refused to support such an extreme measure, he accused us of being compromised by the very corruption we were fighting.
Since then, we've learned to better manage Inquisitorial oversight. We now provide more detailed documentation of our methods and reasoning, while maintaining appropriate deference to Inquisitorial authority. When disagreements arise, we focus on presenting evidence rather than challenging authority directly. It's not a perfect solution, but it allows us to maintain necessary working relationships while protecting our operational effectiveness.
The Grey Knights' Disdain
Even among fellow psykers, our methods are sometimes misunderstood. When a joint operation with the Grey Knights was ordered against a suspected demon incursion, we looked forward to working with warriors who would understand our capabilities. We were wrong.
The Grey Knights' commander, Brother-Captain Stern, dismissed our war beasts' ability to detect warp manifestations. He considered our blood rituals primitive and potentially dangerous, despite their proven effectiveness. Our offers to coordinate our psychic abilities were met with thinly veiled contempt.
The operation's failure came during the final assault. Our war beasts detected a pattern in the warp disturbances, suggesting the demon was using multiple decoy manifestations. The Grey Knights ignored our warnings, committing their full force against what we knew to be a fake target.
The true demon manifested behind their lines, causing devastating casualties before it could be contained. Even then, they blamed our "unstable" psychic presence for disrupting their battle-plans.
While the incident strained relations, it also led to better understanding on both sides. Future operations with the Grey Knights are carefully coordinated, with clear delineation of responsibilities and methods. We maintain professional respect for their abilities while accepting that our different approaches to combating the warp may not always align. When we must work together, we focus on complementing their strengths rather than trying to integrate our methods with theirs.
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