The Deathwatch: Who Are the Imperium’s Elite Alien Hunters? – Part 12

Every corner of the grim darkness of the far future is teaming with grotesque monsters, both biological monstrosities and mechanical aberrations. For several grueling months, the Death Watch squads from three watch fortresses have been locked in a relentless war against these creatures until the sanctity of Asgar Rod’s Sanctuary was finally shattered by continuous bombardment from laser cannons and monstrous vehicles.

The Death Watch, being the stalwarts of the Emperor’s will, went above and beyond duty when they participated in the notorious suicidal operation of Inquisitor Kryptman. This was in the year 997 of the 41st millennium when the madman, in a desperate gambit, ordered the destruction of all Imperial worlds in the path of the Tyranid Leviathan Fleet, hoping to starve the beast. For this folly, he was suspended from the Inquisition, and his execution was planned. However, it was never carried out, for it seemed he still had some use.

Inquisitor Kryptman, ever the strategist, asked the Death Watch to capture Genestealer Broods from a spaceship and send them to the captured Empire of Octarius, hoping to pit the Tyranids and Orks against each other, buying the Imperium time to recover and act further. However, this plan was not without its flaws, as the Orks represented a valuable source of biomass for the Tyranids. The aftermath of such clashes only made the bugs stronger.

In the 32nd Millennium, Eldar Corsairs learned about an ancient artifact, the Doomsday Sphere, stored in the Omega Fortress. Little did they know, they were walking into an ambush organized by the Death Watch’s kill teams. The artifact was a ruse, a trap set by the black shields of the Death Watch to lure the xenos into their demise.

Fast forward to the end of the 41st Millennium, an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor named GAO constructed a watch fortress at Fort Velosa, named The Necron Datain. This action drew the ire of the Necron Overlord Janatar the Vengeful, leading to a deadly conflict resulting in the destruction of the kill team and the capture of several Inquisitors.

The successes and failures of the Death Watch have spanned millennia, and with the rebirth of Primarch Roboute Guilliman and the opening of the Great Rift, the Death Watch found themselves reinforced with the newly awakened Primaris Marines. However, not everyone in the Death Watch welcomed these newcomers. Watch Captain Holar Ironfang, for instance, sent the Primaris Marines on the deadliest missions because he distrusted them, reserving the best missions for his veteran kill teams.

Ever since the opening of the Psychic Maledictum, things have only gotten worse. The number of migrations and hude attacks have increased, with one such attack being on the Shrine world of Daral. The Huds, coveting the local stasis tombs, wreaked havoc on the planet, aging regiments of the Morian Iron Guard and a strike force of the Sons of Medusa to death with their entropic field.

The Death Watch, undeterred, engaged with two full companies and eight Dreadnoughts, launching an assault on the Hude labyrinths. The battle was fierce and when it ended, the eight Dreadnoughts had transformed into rusty hulks, their biological remains turning to dust, a testament to the Huds’ ability to steal time from their victims.

The Death Watch’s battles span across the stars, and they are often accompanied by radical Ordo Xenos Inquisitors like Balus B, who employed severe xenos technologies to penetrate the warp storms of the Dark Imperium. During one such operation, the Tau boarded the ship Castas, forcing the Death Watch to destroy it to prevent the technology from falling into Tau hands.

As we continue this multi-part series, we delve deeper into the lore of the Death Watch, their victories and defeats, triumphs and sacrifices, and their relentless fight against the xenos to protect the Imperium. Their saga is a testament to the grim reality of the far future, where there is only war.

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