The synaptic beacon lighted by the betrayal of the Calivieri and the slaughter of the civilian population let the Gestalt mind of Hive Fleet Bahmuhl know that Reinhaus IV was ripe for the plucking - the Narvhals of the great fleet locked on to the gravitational signal of the dying planet, and even while most of the available bio-mass on the planet was evaporated in the gigantic blasts of the nuclear meltdowns, the Fleet set in motion - not knowing it had been robbed of it's prize even before the carnage har begun.
As is usually the case when a planet is the target of the Narvhals pull, the forces unleashed had catastrophic consequences for the remaining population on Reinhaus IV. The tidal forces became unstable, and all oceanic travel became nigh impossible. Earthquakes shook the tormented population, as they took shelter in the rubble of their former homes, and volcanoes, long dormant, awoke - sending even more pollution into the already poisonous atmosphere, clouding the very light of the stars themselves.
But the worst was yet to come - the hive ships of Hive Fleet Bahmuhl entered the Reinhaus system, and was only sporadically opposed by chaos-controlled systems defences - the few not destroyed in the first invasion of Reinhaus IV. As the Hive ships were detected by the remaining planetary defence batteries, the hidden covens of Genestealers, who had survived and multiplied since the destruction of the dual hives, launched overwelming assaults on the already battered defenders, Imperial and Chaotic alike. The defence batteries were silences even before they had a chance to fire, and the Tyranid menace made landfall virtually unopposed.
As the skies darkened further with the falling spores, Harpies, Shrikes and single-celled poisons released from the orbiting Hive ships, another contender in the battle for control of Reinhaus IV settled in for the long haul - initially bereft of it's prize, it would settle for nothing less than the death and assimilation of every living thing in the system.
As is usually the case when a planet is the target of the Narvhals pull, the forces unleashed had catastrophic consequences for the remaining population on Reinhaus IV. The tidal forces became unstable, and all oceanic travel became nigh impossible. Earthquakes shook the tormented population, as they took shelter in the rubble of their former homes, and volcanoes, long dormant, awoke - sending even more pollution into the already poisonous atmosphere, clouding the very light of the stars themselves.
But the worst was yet to come - the hive ships of Hive Fleet Bahmuhl entered the Reinhaus system, and was only sporadically opposed by chaos-controlled systems defences - the few not destroyed in the first invasion of Reinhaus IV. As the Hive ships were detected by the remaining planetary defence batteries, the hidden covens of Genestealers, who had survived and multiplied since the destruction of the dual hives, launched overwelming assaults on the already battered defenders, Imperial and Chaotic alike. The defence batteries were silences even before they had a chance to fire, and the Tyranid menace made landfall virtually unopposed.
As the skies darkened further with the falling spores, Harpies, Shrikes and single-celled poisons released from the orbiting Hive ships, another contender in the battle for control of Reinhaus IV settled in for the long haul - initially bereft of it's prize, it would settle for nothing less than the death and assimilation of every living thing in the system.