The Manzikert System is located on the Eastern Fringe. Manzikert is a largely habitable planet similar to Old Terra (known to antiquity as Earth), it was colonised by mankind during the Dark Age of Technology. During the Age of Strife it was cut off by localised Warp Storms and when it was rediscovered toward the end of the Great Crusade the population had reverted to a Medieval Feudal Society.
To the Imperium as a whole Manzikert is largely unimportant, its primary use being that the members of it's Feudal Society make useful recruits for the Imperial Guard and it has intermittently been used as a recruiting ground for Space Marine Chapters. Its only other use is as an early warning system for any horrors emerging from the Great Beyond. As such the Imperial Presence on the planet is minimal and there is just a small local garrison located in the Northern Ash Wastes.
Manzikert would have remained an obscure planet were it not for several strange religious ideologies that began to develop there. The first, and largest, of these worshipped the Emperor as a Star god. They preached that he would return soon and they would become one in spirit, mind and flesh. The second most powerful Cult worshipped the Emperor as a warrior and believed he needed to be appeased with violence and bloodshed.
The Imperial Cult is flexible and allows Emperor worship in whatever way Culture dictates on a planet. As a result the two primary forms of Emperor worship at first raised no alarm. However on closer inspection by the Inquisition it became apparent that Warrior Cult had a disturbingly strong grip on Manzikerts planetary defence force. As such an expeditionary force, headed by a Company of Blood Angles set off to stem any insurrection before it started. However the Manzikert they set off for was very different to the planet they arrived at.
Whilst The Imperial Expedition was in transit all Hell broke loose on Manzikert. The Star god Cult rose in insurrection claiming the arrival of the Emperor was imminent. They were not wrong their god the Tyranid hive ships arrived and two thirds of the population willingly surrendered themselves to the Hive Fleet. Panicking at the ascendency of the Star god Cult the Warrior Cult enacted the 'Great Ritual' to bring the Warrior Emperor to them. The blood flowed as men and women were sacrificed, to the Warrior Emperor, they succeeded in their aim Warp Rifts began to open across the planet and daemons of Chaos would soon follow.
Adding further to the woes, rumours of raids by Eldar pirates and Tau forces begin to come in across the planet. Though why the aliens had an interest in the damned planet was not clear.
As the Expeditionary force pulled out of the Warp it was clear that the planet was overrun with Tyranid lifeforms and only a few pockets of Imperial Resistance remained. They would have to act quickly if they were to stand any chance salvaging the situation. The battle for Manzikert had begun.
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