Stories of H Merrill

The Great Conversion, also known as the Battle of Nurna, was the battle for the planet Nurna during the War of Purification. The Veltenri forces liberated the Nurnans who had been engaged with the Karnathal for almost 53 years, with over two years of fighting in their home system.

Summary of Initial Forces

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Background

In 3367 GE, the Nurnans had first contact with the Karnathal. As most first contacts with the Karnathal go, it was incredibly hostile. The Organism began to spread into Nurnan space and overrun their worlds.

By 3419 GE, the Karanthal had taken all Nurnan systems aside from their home system Nuros. The Karanthal launched an assault on the Nurnan home planet Nurna. The defending Nurnas were on their last defense when the Veltenri force arrived.

The Nurnan Fleet was led by Admiral Olas Kiran, until he was killed when his battleship was sheared in two by a kamikaze Karnathal cruiser. Because of Olas Kiran’s death, Captain Adimos Harth took command of the orbital defense.

The ground forces were led by Marshall Isakia Kurn, who had been leading the defense from the beginning of the invasion. Her reputation had diminished by the time the Veltenri arrived.

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Veltenri Arrival

The Veltenri arrived in the system in 3421 GE as part of their first counter-offensive against the Karnathal. Because the Karnathal had been blocking Nurnan communications, the Veltenri did not know whether or not the system had already been taken, and the fleets they sent were Extermination Fleets designed to eliminate Karnathal threats with as little resources as possible. Because the system was still defended, the Veltenri forces were able to more easily overpower the Karnathal.

When the Veltenri arrived, the Nurnans were on their last defense, having been pushed back again and again on several fronts. The Nurnan frontlines were in disarray with most communications cut.

Xiadan Zan, Standard-Bearer of the Crucible of the Exalted Inquisitor Solthi Ren, was able to convince Solthi Ren and Zenus Kan to not exterminate the Nurnan populace, instead, the Veltenri forces would fight alongside them.

The Veltenri fleets flew quickly to the planet, pushing through to create a landing tunnel for their carriers. The initial strike craft sweep cleared several Karnathal jammers and cleared up most communications for the Nurnans. This allowed the Nurnan teams to receive orders from Axium, the Nurnan military headquarters, and regroup.

After the initial strike, the Veltenri began landing troops led by Xiadan Zan. Zan ordered that the Nurnan fighters fall under their command:

“By the order of Exalted Inquisitor Solthi Ren, on behalf of the Prophet-Emperor, who communes with the Zara, the first God, I will cleanse the blight from this world. Those that stand in its defense are hereby under my command. Any who stand against me will be in violation of the Ulm-Zara and will be purified by my blade.“

The Nurnan command, Marshall Isakia Kurn, ordered the Nurnans forces to continue the defense and to ignore all Veltenri orders; however, because of the continuous defeats under her command, the Nurnan forces ignored her instead, giving almost total control of their forces to the Veltenri. Because of Kurn’s order to disobey the Veltenri, the Crucible of Zenus Kan raided Axium, taking control of Nurnan communications.

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Axium Raid

After Xiadan Zan paved the way for a forward command. He ordered a raid on Axium to take control of Nurnan communications and to remove the Marshall Isakia Kurn for not following his orders. The raid was conducted by the Crucible of Zenus Kan, who had been placed under Zan’s command.

Axium was the most heavily defended part of the city, boasting a 380 square kilometre area that had multiple layered walls lined with heavy gun turrets; however, the Nurnan defenses were not targeting Veltenri ships and the 500 of Kan’s 900 Crucible landed within or around the walls of Axium. Most Nurnans did not fight back, allowing the Crucible to descend on the main structure, the central spire, an almost 1000-metre-tall tower that housed the remaining Nurnan government and military command.

As the Crucible advanced on the spire, Isakia Kurn ordered the Nurnans to fire on the Veltenri forces. Most disobeyed the order and continued to allow the Veltenri free reign of the compound. The Tribunal of Nurna, the head of government, ordered Kurn to stand down; however, she disobeyed, and those loyal to Kurn overthrew the Tribunal and took full control of the spire of Axium.

Kurn then announced her demand for total control of Nurnan forces:

“We will not be under the command of these beasts. I have taken command of Axium and any that disobey my orders will be marked as traitors. Under my command we will rid our planet of all invaders. I order that all forces fire on any alien.“

The Crucible started working its way through the spire, easily removing any Nurnan resistance. While the Nurnans did use magic, they were still no match for the Crucible. Kurn became more desperate as the Crucible took the lower levels of Axium. Fights broke out in the upper levels of Axium, between those loyal to Kurn and those who were loyal to the Tribunal. By the time the Crucible had reached the upper levels, Kurn’s loyalists had been pushed back to the command centre. The Crucible burst through the doors of the command centre, but before killing Kurn, they were ordered to take her alive and bring her to Zan. Kan’s Crucible executed all the other Kurn loyalists, taking full command of Axium.

When Kurn was brought before Zan, he judged her to be a heretic in violation of the Ulm-Zara, after which she was swiftly executed.

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Nucleon Mind Containment

Because the Karnathal had not taken full control of Nurna, the Veltenri forces were able to contain them without any extreme losses, this was also often attributed to the use of Nurnan forces as opposed to Veltenri forces.

The Horizon battlegroup, the Nurnan battlegroup that made first visual contact with the Veltenri infantry, played an integral role in the containment and destruction of the Nucleon Mind. Alongside Zan’s Crucible, they found and created partitions around the Nucleon Mind, containing it just enough to allow Karnathal psionic communication to be disrupted but not enough for the Karnathal to root themselves and create another Nucleon Mind, a tactic Horizon learned from the Veltenri. 

With the Mind contained, Karnathal forces were broken into smaller groups by Veltenri and Nurnans over the course of the next eight months. By month eleven of the Veltenri incursion, the Karnathal had all but been exterminated.

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Red Flare and Horizon

Red Flare, later renamed Horizon, was a battlegroup on the Nurnan front lines. They are known for their heroic endeavors in the battle and for making the first visual contact with the Veltenri, specifically Xiadan Zan.

Before the arrival of the Veltenri strike craft, Red Flare had taken heavy losses against the Karnathal, and their numbers reduced from 170 to 21. They had retained a defense of their position despite lack of communication from Axium and their heavy losses, although their survivability was partially due to their small numbers being ignored as a threat.

When the Veltenri arrived, their strike craft targeted Karnathal jammers and psionic nodes. With the communications now clear, Red Flare received orders from Axium to stay in their position. Axium combined several battlegroups who had sustained losses into a new battlegroup, Horizon.

As Veltenri ships began to land, the commanding officer of Horizon, Major Nathlam Kazzerin, ordered Horizon to defend landing Veltenri ships, disobeying Axium’s orders. Horizon pushed forward clearing a landing zone for the first wave of Veltenri Crucible ships. The first ship that landed was Xiadan Zan who was leading the Veltenri forces.

When Zan’s ship landed, Zan was the first to engage the Karnathal on the ground. Kazzerin and Horizon fought beside him, helping him clear the way for a forward command. Zan was impressed with their zeal and took direct command of Horizon.

During the rest of the battle, Horizon took part in many incursions beside Zan and the Crucible, including the containment and extermination of the Nucleon Mind on Nurna.

After the battle, Zan awarded Horizon for their actions. Later, when Zan became an Inquisitor, he drafted Horizon along with other Nurnans into his Crucible. Horizon would later be renamed Putrifact part of Zan’s Necroguard during the War of Absolution.