The First Contact Conflict, as the incident in the Nox system came to be known, is viewed with mixed sentiments by the wider Imperium. For some, it was a much-needed humbling of the Primarch Morro and by extension the rest of the Drowned legion. For others, it was an embarrassment that the upstart Priests of Nox used to leverage favourable terms. To the Mechanicum Abyssii, however, it was an event of good fortune and a much-needed eye-opener. Their military might and diplomatic ability had been clearly demonstrated for all to see, but the fact that a foreign invader had been able to control the course of the battle in their home system to the degree the Drowned had was to the Magos of Nox utterly unacceptable. Reform was needed within the Basilikon Astra Abyssii, and out of the debates, theories and simulations arose Magos Ariana Furia. Furia had commanded the Amber Citadel during the First Contact Conflict, and had already been noted for her successful command in that battle and former conflicts. However what drew the true attention of Mortera Nagathiir herself was her theories on naval strategy. Where previously her rank had prevented her from doing so, the reforms had given her the chance to voice her ideas.

Her bold and novel ideas were met with a great deal of resistance from the Magos Navarch in the Basilikon Astra, however her oratory, and the unexpected backing of Archmagos Reductor Charon Discut and Magos Myrmidax Silon Rex, convinced Mortera to allow her to test her proposed strategies and theories in simulations. In spite of her detractors, her work proved sound, but what truly captured the attention of the ruling Magos of Nox was Furia's fluidity of command. Her ability and willingness to dispense with predefined tactics and instead improvise rankled with many of her peers, but the First Contact Conflict had already demonstrated the danger of adhering to strict protocol, and after her first real-space 'War Games' scenario resulted in an overwhelming victory, Furia was given the opportunity to prove herself and her theories in the field. The Treaty with the Imperium had been fully ratified, and the Abyssii were called to war. The Pacification of the Minos Empire would be Magos Ariana Furia's true trial by fire, and with her new allies, Archmagos Discut and Magos Rex, at her side, the battle would be the event which secured her title as Archmagos Navarch Ariana Furia.

The Minos Empire was a well-entrenched human domain spanning several star systems in the galactic south, east of the Veiled Region. Though the empire never expanded beyond two dozen systems, the systems the Minos managed to control were rich in resources, with some scattered Dark Age technology free for the taking. The small-scope of the Minos Empire coupled with ready access to potent technology and plentiful supplies made the twenty four systems well-defended, with the capital world of Minos boasting defences the equal of some Imperial fortress worlds. The Minos Empire had refused to submit to the Imperium, but the initial pacification force had been fought off, the Minos defence fleets proving their worth. These factors had given the Imperial commanders cause for alarm, but to the Ordo Reductor the defences of the Minos Empire were naught but another bloody equation to be solved. When the Abyssii fleet arrived, the Priests of Nox rapidly set about their work.

Commanding the fleet actions from her new flagship, the Armageddon’s Blade, Ariana Furia led the first assault of the Pacification, a massed attack on the Deltana system. The Deltana system boasted some of the Minos Empire’s most impressive defences short of their capital world, with formidable orbital defence platforms and a powerful fleet, which made it the ideal target of the Abyssii’s ire. The bulk of the Abyssii forces emerged into realspace at the extreme fringes of the Deltana system, immediately cutting all non-essential power use save for sparing use of their engines to drift into the system proper, whilst three battlegroups formed primarily of escorts and cruisers, emerged at the system’s Mandeville point and at Magos Furia’s instruction began raiding the outer reaches of the system, acting the part of marauding pirates. It wasn’t long before the defence fleet responded to the apparent pirate threat, half of the system’s ships diverting to combat the raiders.

Over the course of the next few days, the three raiding groups kept the fragmented fleet’s attention, leading them in apparently random patterns through the system’s outer reaches whilst the cold ships of the Abyssii drifted close. It was on the fourth day the trap was sprung; the bulk of the defence fleet had been drawn out into indefensible positions, far from the protection of their orbital stations. The three raiding groups turned as one to finally engage the ships they had been luring out, their sudden attack timed perfectly with the first volley from the Abyssii fleet. In the first few seconds the first Minos ship died in flames; a grand cruiser was the Lance Held High’s first target, close-range fusion lances ripping through its shields, the unfortunate crew only had a fraction of a second to see the portals appear around the ship before a barrage of Douvoir missiles slammed into the now unshielded keel and stern, tearing the ship apart in a series of detonations.

Whilst the grand cruiser was still in its death throes, the Abyssii fell upon the scattered and shocked defenders. At close range the ships of Nox proved their mastery, disgorging boarding parties to seize several larger vessels, whilst the advanced weapons of the Abyssii tore through the Minos warships. The first battle was over in a matter of hours, the final defending ships attempting to retreat torn apart by merciless volleys of fire. Yet the Abyssii did not relent, speeding towards the heart of the system, their ships forming into offensive patterns seamlessly as they kept the momentum of their attack. The remaining defenders, those who had not pursued the raiding groups, formed up around their orbitals, sheltering under the guns of the stations. As the Abyssii fleet approached the range of the stations, the Rulebreakers of the Armageddon’s Blade and the Lance Held High roared across the void. The shields of the first orbital were overloaded by the reality-warping detonations, the electromagnetic pulses from the warheads throwing the sensors of the closest warships into utter disarray as the first station came apart under repeated impacts, entire sections turned to energy or sucked into oblivion.

With the orbital zone around Deltana secured, the Ordo Reductor deployed en masse to the surface, the local garrisons butchered under the gaze of Archmagos Discut and Magos Rex. Unwilling to surrender the momentum of their campaign, the Abyssii forces made liberal use of orbital bombardment and other weapons of mass destruction to annihilate points of resistance, departing as soon as other Crusade forces arrived to properly secure the system, moving on to other worlds in the Minos Empire.

The Deltana system had capitulated less than forty eight hours after the Abyssii fleet first fired across the void, and the fleet moved on to the next two systems, Alsafi and Mintaka. The engagements in the neighbouring systems were just as decisive, neither system boasted as large a defence fleet or garrison as Deltana, and with the fall of Deltana many ships were being recalled back to Minos Prime. Regardless, these lesser defended systems were not spared the attention of the Abyssii, broken ships and burnt cities left in their wake. In these opening engagements the Abyssii hardly suffered; no ship larger than a frigate had been lost, and their larger ships had only taken minimal damage.

In mere weeks the fleet reached the capital system of Minos Prime. The recalcitrant empire was now ready for them, every weapon the system could muster primed and ready, a mighty fleet gathered in orbit to defend their throne world. The subterfuge that had ensured victory against Deltana, Alsafi and Mintaka would not work here, so instead Furia relied on the Abyssii’s brutal talent at close-range engagements, and no small amount of trickery to carry the day. Magos Furia ordered the void mines that had been recovered during the campaign be fitted with small engines and guidance servitors. When the fleet arrived at the Minos Prime system, the fleet sheltered behind the outermost planet to hide their activities and protect against torpedoes and shells flung across the extreme ranges that separated the Abyssii and the Minos fleets.

The modifications to the mines were completed in short order, and their paths programmed in. The swarm of mines would use the system’s planets to slingshot deeper into the system, their final target the heart of the Minos formation. With the Abyssii following close behind the mines, the defenders would be faced with a dilemma; spend their opening volleys destroying the mines before they became a true danger, or fire on the Abyssii ships and allow the mines to wreak havoc on their fleet. As the Abyssii emerged from their final slingshot manoeuvre, their ships were spared the opening volley, the void between the opposing fleets filled with detonating mines as the Minos poured fire into the horde of mines threatening their ships, allowing the Abyssii to rapidly close the distance.

The Minos barely managed to fire a second volley before the Abyssii entered brawling range, the void roared with the fury of their guns, their capital ships focussing down the Minos Prime defence platforms whilst their other ships engaged the enemy fleet. The Abyssii did not close the distance unscathed, however, two cruisers dying in flames under the punishing return fire of the Minos fleet, but the losses only heightened the resolve of the Abyssii, responding to the casualties with a flurry of boarding actions, the Myrmidons of the Perimo Rex cult under the command of Magos Rex turning the corridors of their targeted ships to bloody charnel houses, the war-priests butchering their way through the crews. The Minos line now in disarray, the Abyssii fleet tore into them at point-blank range, the Armageddon’s Blade scoring the first ramming kill of the campaign, its armoured prow cleaving a rival battleship in half. With the Abyssii ships locked in battle in orbit over the world of Minos Prime, the Ordo Reductor launched transports, aircraft and siege-crucibles towards the planet.

A series of orbital bombardments and brutal bombing runs quickly cleared suitable landing grounds for the Ordo Reductor, and Archmagos Charon Discut’s sinister war-host took to the field. This world was the capital of the empire that had refused the Emperor and the Omnissiah; there would be no mercy, and the Ordo Reductor could now afford the time to carry out their task to its pitiless conclusion. Discut ordered scorched earth as they advanced, the Abyssii ground forces savaging the armies of Minos in short order with alchem-munitions and rad-fire, leaving vast swathes of devastated, contaminated land in their wake. The Minos Empire had developed a healthy fear of the Abyssii during the Pacification, however the ruination the Ordo Reductor was visiting upon their capital world turned that fear to unbridled horror, the mere sight of the black-robbed Priests of the Reductor stalking through the ash and fires sending their armies fleeing.

Town, village and city were torn down by the Ordo Reductor, artillery flattening defensive lines and bathing trenches in baleful Phosphex, whilst entire garrisons were routed and gunned down at the command of Magos Rex, the enormous Myrmidon Lord leading spearheads personally. Wherever the priests of the Abyssii went, nothing was left standing, a seared track of land visible from orbit marked their path. The inhabitants of Minos Prime were spared no weapon in the arsenal of the Ordo Reductor, clouds of chemical weapons billowing across every battlefield, whilst the war-priests fell upon the choking survivors in hand-to-hand combat. No quarter was given; any survivors amongst the defenders were executed or taken to be turned into combat servitors, and unleashed on their former comrades.

When the Reductor war-host reached the city of Kades, the throne of the Minos Empire, the city had no choice but to surrender. Their fleets in orbit were almost annihilated, reinforcements were too far away or occupied with other Crusade forces, and their surviving soldiers could not resist the amassed might of the Ordo Reductor. To this end, a diplomatic delegation met with Archmagos Discust outside the capital city to offer their unconditional surrender in exchange for ending the bloodshed. Discut’s response to their surrender was swift and brutal; at his command, an atomic device levelled half the city’s fortress walls and primary gatehouse, before Magos Rex’s Myrmidons were set upon the city’s surviving garrison, their soldiers slaughtered in their bunkers and barracks, entire companies cut down without remorse nor pity. By the end of the Ordo Reductor’s retribution, the remaining ramparts still burnt with the ghostly flames of Phosphex, the Abyssii’s domination of the empire now absolute. The verdict had been made, and the message was clear for all to see; such is the fate of those that dare to resist the Great Crusade.