The violet mist blanketing the surface grew denser. The Imperial Guard that had arrived with the Attack Moon were already feeling unwell, and even the pink fuzz of some Blacklight Zerg had stopped fluttering, drooping listlessly.
These signs made every Blackwatch member realize that there had to be a Necron Tomb World beneath the planet. It might even belong to an ancient dynasty; otherwise, there couldn't be a Pariah Nexus on such a massive scale.
And that was indeed the case. Boreas lay in Segmentum Obscurus. It had no special resources to speak of, and apart from the abundance of life throughout the system, it was just an ordinary Imperial World.
But once the Dark Side Crusade began, Boreas's location became extremely important. It was like Alicia in the Solar Segmentum: a vital transportation hub.
As long as they secured the area around Boreas, the Blackwatch could use their massive air transport forces to deliver supplies to the many legions fighting on the front lines. That was one reason Hogg had secretly sent a force to Nethers to infiltrate the area.
To keep the operation covert, Hogg didn't send the Evil Orcs legion through the Star Gate. Instead, they drifted through the Warp. He gathered all the Ark of Omens and, with the aid of C'tan Power, spent three months condensing them into a colossal Attack Moon.
There was another reason, too: Trazyn, the Necron traitor. He'd told Hogg that the Silent King had returned and was awakening all the Necrons to sweep the Galaxy clean.
The Necron Trio had been summoned by the Silent King, but they didn't want to return after hearing the news. To save their own skins, the three decided to drag their good buddy into the mess—a brother who'd applied to battle school alongside them