A Light Not Extinguished

Interlude: The Green War

"Head to the nearest Subduement Clinic to get your daily shot of Neo-X! Remember: An obedient citizen is a good citizen."
-Propaganda broadcast from the human nation, the Rykilmer Dominion. M23. 071.

"Ork ambush on the latest shipment again? Contact the Redblades and you'll never worry about losing ships again! 30% discount on first hiring!"
-Noosphere advertisement by the spacefaring mercenary comapany known as the Redblades, M23. 076.

The Orks have long been a stain on the galaxy that refused to go away, a persistent pest that gnaws on the roots of all that is civilized. All spacefaring civilizations inevitably encounter them sooner or later, humanity being no exception. In fact, humanity's first encounter with extraterrestrial life was with the Orks, casting a shadow that would take millennia to overcome during our travels into the galaxy.

Throughout history, the Orks have plagued sentient life at every turn. They are an illogical, brutish race that exists only for the sole joy of combat, and have no wish to grow beyond that. Yet their unnatural abilities allow them to harness advanced technology belonging to other species, such that they could not be ignored.

In the middle of the 23rd Millennium, humanity's division was at a peak during the Age of Conquest. Humanity's domain was split into hundreds of territories, divided by a myriad of nations that all wielded technology superior to most other species in the galaxy. Many small wars broke out between them, be they over religious differences or rare minerals in the Galactic Core.

The star of Mankind was rising, and few could match the armies that the human polities wielded, from the fleshcrafters of Adytum to the android armies of Neo-Ludweisschitz. With the Aeldari Empire no longer taking an active role in galactic affairs, humanity seemed unstoppable, their influence reaching all across the galaxy.

And yet, the Orks were still a thorn in humanity's side. Although most of the human powers could repel any large-scale Ork invasion, they were a nuisance in the shipping lanes, frequently using repurposed wrecks of human ships to do naval battle. Every time an Ork horde was vanquished, another popped up from seemingly nowhere, due to the green menaces leaving persistent spores behind in their wake.

At last, the Terran Confederation, one of the most influential polities, called for a temporary alliance, where the nations of man would unite and scour their territories clean until not even a single Ork spore remained, to end this threat once and for all. Three hundred and forty-one human nations answered the call, and at the Lunar Summit of 092' treaties were signed, and oaths were sworn.

Three months later, the great armies of mankind sailed forth. In what was known as the Exterminatus Initiative, human nations purged all traces of Orks within their territory in a coordinated strike. Ork warbands were ruthlessly hunted down and destroyed, their spores destroyed by potent viruses. Soldiers clad in the latest generation of power armour brought war to a million worlds, and the greenskins bled oceans upon oceans of blood.

In a mere five years, the human armies had cornered them at the edge of the Astronomicon, the Orks beaten and fleeing. An armada had encircled them at Ullanor in the galactic east, and humanity thought that the greenskin menace would be ended that day.

It was not to be.

A Warp storm of unforseen proportions and intensity enveloped the sub-system in the blink of an eye, dragging the human fleet into the Immaterium. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the rift in realspace closed, leaving behind a single planet now coated in crackling green power.

At that time, the rest of mankind did not know what had happened, only that the 1st Exterminatus Fleet had been lost. The three other fleets converged on Ullanor, only to find a terrible sight.