I'm planning the last details for an incoming 40k narrative apocalypse.
let me guess, Cadia is going to be one-upped?
APOCALYPSE "UNEXPECTED DEFENDERS" - Background
(Imperial Guards + Genestealer cults Vs Death Guards / CSM / Chaos Knights)
Cadia was rumored to be under attack.
All the Proxima III Imperial Guard Command knew, was that the Eye was bright as never before, that the raids had intensified, and that reinforcements were not available. The imperial Commander watched the dark horizon, beyond the fortifications of the IV Base of the Imperial Claw West Sector. He could hear the rattle of the approaching enemy war machines. He could also feel the vibrations of the underground… from the underground hangars, the most valuable vehicles of the Guard were transferred to the internal defense line. Resources were limited and it made no sense to disperse them to defend too broad a front.
His company had been ordered to slow down the enemy and protect the entrances to the hangars. He was under no illusions… he peered into the dark and saw some shapes move stealthily… the nameless workers, the servants who worked, suffered and died incessantly in the labyrinth of dungeons to keep the gigantic buried infrastructure operational.
It seemed they were organizing themselves into some kind of militia to participate in the defense. Of course the poor outcasts would have died together with the base, but perhaps in the dark they could have fooled the Chaotics to waste a few hits on them.
By the light of some torches, the Commander could see the workers almost clearly. Some had misshapen faces and 3 arms. Probably sanctioned heavy-duty mutants, like the Ogryns. They were equipping construction vehicles with modified armor and drill rigs. In the darkness they seemed almost threatening.
The commanders of the Legions of Chaos were in a hurry. The rush was due to 2 good reasons. Both the orbital data and the advanced raiders had indicated that the imperial defenses were inadequate ... Outnumbered troops and tanks, no astartes and a handful of militiamen. An easy massacre was one of the greatest joys: even if they wanted to, they couldn't hold back the troops that craved killing. The commanders themselves couldn't wait to have the loyalists reunite with their corpse-god.
The second reason was that they too had orders, and they were very clear. Strike immediately, enter the bunkers shielded from orbital bombing, prevent the fugitives from rejoining the innermost defenses and create problems for subsequent fights. And disregarding these orders would have had only one consequence ...