The First Poxwar: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|"Seven times shall the Putridum Bells of the Grandfather ring, heralding the birth of your feculence. Eternity will rot and fester under the hordes of disease and decay, the Gold Walls breached and forced open. Those that dwell beyond shall kneel as the air creeps with infection and the ground melts, the Daemon shall lie with the machine, brother infecting brother with the glories of the Grandfather. The putrid wound pours its malice forth. The rotted herald his malfeasance, his gifts. The fate of Eternity shall be decided on holy infected soil."

Excerpt from the Liber Contagione}}

| -Excerpt from the Liber Contagione}}

== Overview ==

The First Poxwar launched by the heretic Astartes [[Rotbelchers]] resulted in the largest clash between the Imperium of Man and Chaos forces in [[Eternum Map|Eternum]] since the Horus Heresy ~~10,000 years~~ before. The Rotbelchers raised an enormous army from the fallen worlds of subsector [[Putrilocus]] and a massive fleet from the corrupted [[Port Uralplagush]] intended to bring an end to Sector Eternum and corrupt the trillions of souls contained in her. Although launched far before the Eye of Terror split the galaxy in twain, the First Poxwar would be a portent of things to come for a battered Imperium.

The First Poxwar launched by the heretic Astartes [[Rotbelchers]] resulted in the largest clash between the Imperium of Man and Chaos forces in [[Eternum Map|Eternum]] since the Horus Heresy millennia before. The Rotbelchers raised an enormous army from the fallen worlds of subsector [[Putrilocus]] and a massive fleet from the corrupted [[Port Uralplagush]] intended to bring an end to Sector Eternum and corrupt the trillions of souls contained in her. Although launched far before the Eye of Terror split the galaxy in twain, the First Poxwar would be a portent of things to come for a battered Imperium.

The campaign began with a massive assault out of the [[Bubonic Rift]], spilling forth into subsector [[Caligulas]] and [[Makerus]] and launching brutal fights on dozens of worlds with the ultimate goal of seizing the power secreted away by the Inquisition in [[Confedus]] and destroying the [[Crimson Bulwark|Crimson Hammer]] along with infecting hundreds of billions. The First Poxwar forever changed Eternum, but details are lost and the rest secreted away by the Inquisition and now-Crimson Bulwark, with little known for certain in current times.

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The Imperial forces dug in at key worlds in the path of the invasion, with forces and fleets arranged for rapid redeployment once the enemy arrived at their next target designed to take advantage of Redobti's stable warp routes that connected her to far away systems. The fortress [[Redobti]], the Brass Gate, was key to stalling the tide of traitors, though the world [[Regina]] was also an expected high priority target due to its ties to the Crimson Hammer. Imperial forces fortified both with each preparing to reinforce the other when the Chaos fleet had chosen its next priority. Chaos arrived at Redobti and began their invasion, as Astropaths burned out telling their counterparts on Regina. Planetside forces on Regina began preparing to depart for Redobti, with all Battlegroups except the [[Battlefleet Arkamedes|Arkamedian]] 12th Battlegroup leaving for the battle while they remained to safeguard the ground forces redeployment. Unbeknownst to the Imperium, the Arkamedian 12th had fallen to Chaos, lured by promises of power to retake their home subsector from the Orks and waiting for the opportunity to strike at their former compatriots. With Regina's orbital defenders gone, the 12th signalled a waiting Rotbelcher sorcerer's ship which soon arrived to deliver the sorcerer's demonically enhanced virus bomb from the Dark Age of Technology. With all orbital defenses controlled by the 12th, the Crimson Hammer marines, Imperial Guardsmen, and Sisters of Battle could do nothing but watch as the virus bomb spread its miasma over the world and rapidly engulfed all life. Even the hermetically sealed power armor of the Marines and Sisters corroded under the power of the warp infused virus, choking the life out of the planet in a rapid chain reaction. Mercifully for the defenders, the virus was far more powerful than the sorcerer foresaw, and the gasses released as the pestilence rapidly decomposed Regina's life were ignited by a lightning strike that quickly grew into a conflagration that burnt the entire planet. The traitor was dismayed at the loss of raw material for his biological experiments, but his objective to destroy Redobti's relief was successful.

Redobti, commonly called the Brass Gate, formed a critical link in Eternum's defense as it was a locus for almost all stable warp routes deeper into subsector [[Gothar]] and even further away worlds in Makerus, [[Richmon]], and Confedus. Situated on the sole mandeville point, Redobti protected Eternum's most key Battlefleet anchorages and prized worlds, thus it was an irresistible prize for the Rotbelchers and would soon see fought a brutal battle for survival, with the combined Imperial forces of the Crimson Hammer, [[Order of the ~~Purple Communion~~]], and Imperial Guard fighting the Rotbelchers, their daemon allies, and hordes of zombies and traitor regiments. Although the defending Battlefleets bolstered by Regina's fleets engaged the arriving traitors fiercely, the unending swarm of vessels kept the strongest Imperial ships tied up in furious close range engagements. The terrifying Rotfleet led by their most bloated and disfigured flagship forced their way through the orbital melee, with each fetid ship shrugging macrocannon fire that would obliterate any ship not blessed by Nurgle, towards the heavily fortified surface. Disgorging scores of landing craft, droppods, and pustules filled with cursed cultists and daemons, the invasion of the Brass Gate had begun. The sky filled with flak and macrocannon fire and hordes of flies, with defenders assailed by unending scores of cultists, plague zombies, and other creations of the Rotbelchers, line after line was slowly pushed back. Only the fortress design that created reinforced enfilade points afforded the defenders the time to hold off the enemy horde, time to regroup and hold out for reinforcements that were due to arrive soon.

Redobti, commonly called the Brass Gate, formed a critical link in Eternum's defense as it was a locus for almost all stable warp routes deeper into subsector [[Gothar]] and even further away worlds in Makerus, [[Richmon]], and Confedus. Situated on the sole mandeville point, Redobti protected Eternum's most key Battlefleet anchorages and prized worlds, thus it was an irresistible prize for the Rotbelchers and would soon see fought a brutal battle for survival, with the combined Imperial forces of the Crimson Hammer, [[Order of the Last Candle]], and Imperial Guard fighting the Rotbelchers, their daemon allies, and hordes of zombies and traitor regiments. Although the defending Battlefleets bolstered by Regina's fleets engaged the arriving traitors fiercely, the unending swarm of vessels kept the strongest Imperial ships tied up in furious close range engagements. The terrifying Rotfleet led by their most bloated and disfigured flagship forced their way through the orbital melee, with each fetid ship shrugging macrocannon fire that would obliterate any ship not blessed by Nurgle, towards the heavily fortified surface. Disgorging scores of landing craft, droppods, and pustules filled with cursed cultists and daemons, the invasion of the Brass Gate had begun. The sky filled with flak and macrocannon fire and hordes of flies, with defenders assailed by unending scores of cultists, plague zombies, and other creations of the Rotbelchers, line after line was slowly pushed back. Only the fortress design that created reinforced enfilade points afforded the defenders the time to hold off the enemy horde, time to regroup and hold out for reinforcements that were due to arrive soon.

The first waves that already cost the Imperium dearly were merely cannon fodder cast aside by Nurgle's followers, and soon the defensive lines came under attack from the true Rotbelchers. Fortress complex after fortress complex fell to plague, unending tides of zombies, and the Plague Marines themselves, with the Imperium soon realizing the expected relief forces were not coming. Although the defense was fierce and cost the attackers, the Rotbelchers succeeded in commandeering Redobti's central command nexus, allowing them full control of the planet's formidable weapons, weapons which thanks to traitors amongst the Guard had not fired a single shot in defense.

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The Imperial fleets waited near the [[Mandeville points]], prepared for the first ships of Chaos to appear and hoping to strike a critical blow against the first wave, were surprised when a fleet of civilian ships arrived. Hesitant to fire as several Ecclesiarchy pilgrim fleets were already part of the forces in orbit, the Imperial ships demanded identification, the new arrival's engines cut, and held their fire. Claiming to be pilgrims from the world [[Meridia]] and having proper Meridian ship registrations, their dialect and manner of speaking felt off to Lord Admiral Buchanan and this feeling was only reinforced by the supposed pilgrim fleet's drifting towards the flagship and the core of the collective Battlefleet. Trusting his intuition Lord Admiral Buchanan ordered the fleet engaged, and as the first macrocannon rounds hurled towards the civilian ships they revealed their true colors and praised Nurgle. The traitor ruse had been discovered, but not before masses of small civilian transport ships and jury-rigged boarding torpedoes flew out of each vessel as they were destroyed, all hurdling towards the nearest Imperial vessel. Imperial fighters raced to engage the craft as Line Ship and Escorts alike lit up with point defense weaponry, but for every one destroyed five more met their target and boarded. Some filled with cultists, some with traitor Guard, and others with nurglings and lesser daemons, independently no match for the seasoned armsmen of the Imperial Navy, collectively they began fighting and sabotaging any systems they could reach. Although not as effective as they planned, the boarding still was the distraction needed and the Rotfleet proper translated en masse to begin the attack proper. As ships in the Battlefleet fought with wave after wave of lance and macrocannon fire, their armsmen fought the original boarders as new strike craft and boarding torpedoes arrived to deliver plague marines and other seasoned traitors. Vessel after vessel exploded, Imperial and Traitor alike, as the Rotfleet pushed further into the system. Their most pestilent ships, reinforced through dark blessings tanked hit after hit, dealing as much damage to the Imperials as they to it, and continued their inexorable advance towards Absolution. The orbital defense platforms and ground mounted guns joined in the brutal Naval battle, but the Rotfleet had reached their goal. As the naval battle raged, the plague ships and masses of transport craft began unloading drop pods and landing craft, turning the sunny skies over Absolution into night through sheer volume. The invasion of Absolution had begun.

Concentrating their landing forces at the Gennlach fortress complex, the raw masses of Rotbelchers overwhelmed the Guard regiments defending and carved a central landing zone for the tide of the arriving servants of Nurgle. Absolution contained rings of fortress complexes separated by dried lake beds termed Lochs, all clustered around the central Fortress Monastery, with orbital defenses in each along with isolated fortress complexes spread throughout the world. Taking advantage of their inlay at Gennlach, the Rotbelchers began to send their hordes towards the other fortresses surrounding the monastery while sorcerers diverted to begin their foul work in the towns and villages that dotted the world. Quickly overwhelming the auxiliary forces defending what had been classed a tertiary defense priority, the sorcerers turned the civilians cowering in their homes into more charnel ritual components and zombies. Two thirds of the civilians of Absolution would be turned against their stewards this way, either as Poxwalkers to absorb fire from battlements or used to bring forth daemons.

Concentrating their landing forces at the Gennlach fortress complex, the raw masses of Rotbelchers overwhelmed the Guard regiments defending and carved a central landing zone for the tide of the arriving servants of Nurgle. Absolution contained rings of fortress complexes separated by dried lake beds termed Lochs, all clustered around the central Fortress Monastery Absolution's Reflection, with orbital defenses in each along with isolated fortress complexes spread throughout the world. Taking advantage of their inlay at Gennlach, the Rotbelchers began to send their hordes towards the other fortresses surrounding the monastery while sorcerers diverted to begin their foul work in the towns and villages that dotted the world. Quickly overwhelming the auxiliary forces defending what had been classed a tertiary defense priority, the sorcerers turned the civilians cowering in their homes into more charnel ritual components and zombies. Two thirds of the civilians of Absolution would be turned against their stewards this way, either as Poxwalkers to absorb fire from battlements or used to bring forth daemons.

As the Rotbelchers advanced across Absolution they breached the outer walls of the massive Fortress Monastery and turned the once holy walls into fierce melees, corrupting and destroying as they went. Holy archives and defense controlling cogitators fell as the outer Monastery fell to the Rotbelchers. Fights continued in other Lochs and fortresses, but the core of the Rotbelchers faced the core of the Crimson Hammer in the final wall protecting the Monastery proper. The assault began, and scores of defenders were picked off by plague-sorcery, blight drones and bolter fire, while whole hordes of chaff were slaughtered by defensive emplacements. Bringing their most powerful ground weaponry, the Rotbelchers began trying to break the inner wall. The wall built with the best craftsmanship known by the Crimson Hammer took hit after hit, standing firm each time. Making no progress and suffering brutal losses, the Rotbelchers turned to the sky for help breaking the resolute wall.

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 {{quote|"Seven times shall the Putridum Bells of the Grandfather ring, heralding the birth of your feculence. Eternity will rot and fester under the hordes of disease and decay, the Gold Walls breached and forced open. Those that dwell beyond shall kneel as the air creeps with infection and the ground melts, the Daemon shall lie with the machine, brother infecting brother with the glories of the Grandfather. The putrid wound pours its malice forth. The rotted herald his malfeasance, his gifts. The fate of Eternity shall be decided on holy infected soil."
-Excerpt from the Liber Contagione}}
+| -Excerpt from the Liber Contagione}}
 == Overview ==
-The First Poxwar launched by the heretic Astartes [[Rotbelchers]] resulted in the largest clash between the Imperium of Man and Chaos forces in [[Eternum Map|Eternum]] since the Horus Heresy 10,000 years before. The Rotbelchers raised an enormous army from the fallen worlds of subsector [[Putrilocus]] and a massive fleet from the corrupted [[Port Uralplagush]] intended to bring an end to Sector Eternum and corrupt the trillions of souls contained in her. Although launched far before the Eye of Terror split the galaxy in twain, the First Poxwar would be a portent of things to come for a battered Imperium.
+The First Poxwar launched by the heretic Astartes [[Rotbelchers]] resulted in the largest clash between the Imperium of Man and Chaos forces in [[Eternum Map|Eternum]] since the Horus Heresy millennia before. The Rotbelchers raised an enormous army from the fallen worlds of subsector [[Putrilocus]] and a massive fleet from the corrupted [[Port Uralplagush]] intended to bring an end to Sector Eternum and corrupt the trillions of souls contained in her. Although launched far before the Eye of Terror split the galaxy in twain, the First Poxwar would be a portent of things to come for a battered Imperium.
 The campaign began with a massive assault out of the [[Bubonic Rift]], spilling forth into subsector [[Caligulas]] and [[Makerus]] and launching brutal fights on dozens of worlds with the ultimate goal of seizing the power secreted away by the Inquisition in [[Confedus]] and destroying the [[Crimson Bulwark|Crimson Hammer]] along with infecting hundreds of billions. The First Poxwar forever changed Eternum, but details are lost and the rest secreted away by the Inquisition and now-Crimson Bulwark, with little known for certain in current times.
@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 The Imperial forces dug in at key worlds in the path of the invasion, with forces and fleets arranged for rapid redeployment once the enemy arrived at their next target designed to take advantage of Redobti's stable warp routes that connected her to far away systems. The fortress [[Redobti]], the Brass Gate, was key to stalling the tide of traitors, though the world [[Regina]] was also an expected high priority target due to its ties to the Crimson Hammer. Imperial forces fortified both with each preparing to reinforce the other when the Chaos fleet had chosen its next priority. Chaos arrived at Redobti and began their invasion, as Astropaths burned out telling their counterparts on Regina. Planetside forces on Regina began preparing to depart for Redobti, with all Battlegroups except the [[Battlefleet Arkamedes|Arkamedian]] 12th Battlegroup leaving for the battle while they remained to safeguard the ground forces redeployment. Unbeknownst to the Imperium, the Arkamedian 12th had fallen to Chaos, lured by promises of power to retake their home subsector from the Orks and waiting for the opportunity to strike at their former compatriots. With Regina's orbital defenders gone, the 12th signalled a waiting Rotbelcher sorcerer's ship which soon arrived to deliver the sorcerer's demonically enhanced virus bomb from the Dark Age of Technology. With all orbital defenses controlled by the 12th, the Crimson Hammer marines, Imperial Guardsmen, and Sisters of Battle could do nothing but watch as the virus bomb spread its miasma over the world and rapidly engulfed all life. Even the hermetically sealed power armor of the Marines and Sisters corroded under the power of the warp infused virus, choking the life out of the planet in a rapid chain reaction. Mercifully for the defenders, the virus was far more powerful than the sorcerer foresaw, and the gasses released as the pestilence rapidly decomposed Regina's life were ignited by a lightning strike that quickly grew into a conflagration that burnt the entire planet. The traitor was dismayed at the loss of raw material for his biological experiments, but his objective to destroy Redobti's relief was successful.
-Redobti, commonly called the Brass Gate, formed a critical link in Eternum's defense as it was a locus for almost all stable warp routes deeper into subsector [[Gothar]] and even further away worlds in Makerus, [[Richmon]], and Confedus. Situated on the sole mandeville point, Redobti protected Eternum's most key Battlefleet anchorages and prized worlds, thus it was an irresistible prize for the Rotbelchers and would soon see fought a brutal battle for survival, with the combined Imperial forces of the Crimson Hammer, [[Order of the Purple Communion]], and Imperial Guard fighting the Rotbelchers, their daemon allies, and hordes of zombies and traitor regiments. Although the defending Battlefleets bolstered by Regina's fleets engaged the arriving traitors fiercely, the unending swarm of vessels kept the strongest Imperial ships tied up in furious close range engagements. The terrifying Rotfleet led by their most bloated and disfigured flagship forced their way through the orbital melee, with each fetid ship shrugging macrocannon fire that would obliterate any ship not blessed by Nurgle, towards the heavily fortified surface. Disgorging scores of landing craft, droppods, and pustules filled with cursed cultists and daemons, the invasion of the Brass Gate had begun. The sky filled with flak and macrocannon fire and hordes of flies, with defenders assailed by unending scores of cultists, plague zombies, and other creations of the Rotbelchers, line after line was slowly pushed back. Only the fortress design that created reinforced enfilade points afforded the defenders the time to hold off the enemy horde, time to regroup and hold out for reinforcements that were due to arrive soon.
+Redobti, commonly called the Brass Gate, formed a critical link in Eternum's defense as it was a locus for almost all stable warp routes deeper into subsector [[Gothar]] and even further away worlds in Makerus, [[Richmon]], and Confedus. Situated on the sole mandeville point, Redobti protected Eternum's most key Battlefleet anchorages and prized worlds, thus it was an irresistible prize for the Rotbelchers and would soon see fought a brutal battle for survival, with the combined Imperial forces of the Crimson Hammer, [[Order of the Last Candle]], and Imperial Guard fighting the Rotbelchers, their daemon allies, and hordes of zombies and traitor regiments. Although the defending Battlefleets bolstered by Regina's fleets engaged the arriving traitors fiercely, the unending swarm of vessels kept the strongest Imperial ships tied up in furious close range engagements. The terrifying Rotfleet led by their most bloated and disfigured flagship forced their way through the orbital melee, with each fetid ship shrugging macrocannon fire that would obliterate any ship not blessed by Nurgle, towards the heavily fortified surface. Disgorging scores of landing craft, droppods, and pustules filled with cursed cultists and daemons, the invasion of the Brass Gate had begun. The sky filled with flak and macrocannon fire and hordes of flies, with defenders assailed by unending scores of cultists, plague zombies, and other creations of the Rotbelchers, line after line was slowly pushed back. Only the fortress design that created reinforced enfilade points afforded the defenders the time to hold off the enemy horde, time to regroup and hold out for reinforcements that were due to arrive soon.
 The first waves that already cost the Imperium dearly were merely cannon fodder cast aside by Nurgle's followers, and soon the defensive lines came under attack from the true Rotbelchers. Fortress complex after fortress complex fell to plague, unending tides of zombies, and the Plague Marines themselves, with the Imperium soon realizing the expected relief forces were not coming. Although the defense was fierce and cost the attackers, the Rotbelchers succeeded in commandeering Redobti's central command nexus, allowing them full control of the planet's formidable weapons, weapons which thanks to traitors amongst the Guard had not fired a single shot in defense.
@@ Line 72: / Line 72: @@
 The Imperial fleets waited near the [[Mandeville points]], prepared for the first ships of Chaos to appear and hoping to strike a critical blow against the first wave, were surprised when a fleet of civilian ships arrived. Hesitant to fire as several Ecclesiarchy pilgrim fleets were already part of the forces in orbit, the Imperial ships demanded identification, the new arrival's engines cut, and held their fire. Claiming to be pilgrims from the world [[Meridia]] and having proper Meridian ship registrations, their dialect and manner of speaking felt off to Lord Admiral Buchanan and this feeling was only reinforced by the supposed pilgrim fleet's drifting towards the flagship and the core of the collective Battlefleet. Trusting his intuition Lord Admiral Buchanan ordered the fleet engaged, and as the first macrocannon rounds hurled towards the civilian ships they revealed their true colors and praised Nurgle. The traitor ruse had been discovered, but not before masses of small civilian transport ships and jury-rigged boarding torpedoes flew out of each vessel as they were destroyed, all hurdling towards the nearest Imperial vessel. Imperial fighters raced to engage the craft as Line Ship and Escorts alike lit up with point defense weaponry, but for every one destroyed five more met their target and boarded. Some filled with cultists, some with traitor Guard, and others with nurglings and lesser daemons, independently no match for the seasoned armsmen of the Imperial Navy, collectively they began fighting and sabotaging any systems they could reach. Although not as effective as they planned, the boarding still was the distraction needed and the Rotfleet proper translated en masse to begin the attack proper. As ships in the Battlefleet fought with wave after wave of lance and macrocannon fire, their armsmen fought the original boarders as new strike craft and boarding torpedoes arrived to deliver plague marines and other seasoned traitors. Vessel after vessel exploded, Imperial and Traitor alike, as the Rotfleet pushed further into the system. Their most pestilent ships, reinforced through dark blessings tanked hit after hit, dealing as much damage to the Imperials as they to it, and continued their inexorable advance towards Absolution. The orbital defense platforms and ground mounted guns joined in the brutal Naval battle, but the Rotfleet had reached their goal. As the naval battle raged, the plague ships and masses of transport craft began unloading drop pods and landing craft, turning the sunny skies over Absolution into night through sheer volume. The invasion of Absolution had begun.
-Concentrating their landing forces at the Gennlach fortress complex, the raw masses of Rotbelchers overwhelmed the Guard regiments defending and carved a central landing zone for the tide of the arriving servants of Nurgle. Absolution contained rings of fortress complexes separated by dried lake beds termed Lochs, all clustered around the central Fortress Monastery, with orbital defenses in each along with isolated fortress complexes spread throughout the world. Taking advantage of their inlay at Gennlach, the Rotbelchers began to send their hordes towards the other fortresses surrounding the monastery while sorcerers diverted to begin their foul work in the towns and villages that dotted the world. Quickly overwhelming the auxiliary forces defending what had been classed a tertiary defense priority, the sorcerers turned the civilians cowering in their homes into more charnel ritual components and zombies. Two thirds of the civilians of Absolution would be turned against their stewards this way, either as Poxwalkers to absorb fire from battlements or used to bring forth daemons.
+Concentrating their landing forces at the Gennlach fortress complex, the raw masses of Rotbelchers overwhelmed the Guard regiments defending and carved a central landing zone for the tide of the arriving servants of Nurgle. Absolution contained rings of fortress complexes separated by dried lake beds termed Lochs, all clustered around the central Fortress Monastery Absolution's Reflection, with orbital defenses in each along with isolated fortress complexes spread throughout the world. Taking advantage of their inlay at Gennlach, the Rotbelchers began to send their hordes towards the other fortresses surrounding the monastery while sorcerers diverted to begin their foul work in the towns and villages that dotted the world. Quickly overwhelming the auxiliary forces defending what had been classed a tertiary defense priority, the sorcerers turned the civilians cowering in their homes into more charnel ritual components and zombies. Two thirds of the civilians of Absolution would be turned against their stewards this way, either as Poxwalkers to absorb fire from battlements or used to bring forth daemons.
 As the Rotbelchers advanced across Absolution they breached the outer walls of the massive Fortress Monastery and turned the once holy walls into fierce melees, corrupting and destroying as they went. Holy archives and defense controlling cogitators fell as the outer Monastery fell to the Rotbelchers. Fights continued in other Lochs and fortresses, but the core of the Rotbelchers faced the core of the Crimson Hammer in the final wall protecting the Monastery proper. The assault began, and scores of defenders were picked off by plague-sorcery, blight drones and bolter fire, while whole hordes of chaff were slaughtered by defensive emplacements. Bringing their most powerful ground weaponry, the Rotbelchers began trying to break the inner wall. The wall built with the best craftsmanship known by the Crimson Hammer took hit after hit, standing firm each time. Making no progress and suffering brutal losses, the Rotbelchers turned to the sky for help breaking the resolute wall.