Bakka Sub-sector

The Bakka Sub-sector is a Sub-sector of the Imperium of Man within the Milky Way Galaxy located in the Segmentum Tempestus. This Sub-sector is home to the vitally important Imperial Mining World/Forge World of Bakka, made famous across the galaxy by its orbiting shipyards, which have been in use to build new starships for the Imperial Navy since the early years of the Great Crusade in the late 30th Millennium.

Bakka serves as the primary Segmentum Naval Base for Battlefleet Bakka, providing coordination for all Imperial Navy forces in the region and serving as the primary point of resupply and repair for all the Imperial battlefleets now operating in the Segmentum Tempestus.

History[]

Segmentum Tempestus[]

Segmentum Tempestus is one of the five Segmentum Majoris, the great Imperial administrative divisions of the galaxy. It lies to the galactic south of the central Segmentum Solar, between Segmentum Pacificus to the galactic west and the Segmentum Ultima to the galactic east. Here, matter is scarce and the Segmentum is mostly a dark and empty void dimly lit by scattered stars. Segmentum Tempestus is organised into 200 light-year cubes calledSectors. The Imperial Navy's Segmentum headquarters is located in a 15 light-year cuboid known as Sub-Sector Bakka, which is located on the main galactic star arm that passes through the east of the Segmentum.

Segmentum Tempestus is mercifully free from proximity to a festering mass incursion from the Warp, such as the Eye of Terror or the Maelstrom. As such, a Chaos incursion is usually a problem of raiders rather than the mass attack of a large Chaos Fleet of deranged Heretics. However, Tempestus is notorious for infestations of Genestealers, as well as assaults from Ork and Eldar raiders. There has, therefore, been a tendency for Tempestus battlefleets to concentrate on small flotilla anti-piracy tactics rather than Grand Fleet strategy.

In the 36th Millennium, a group of Segmentum Tempestus tacticians, sometimes called the Gareox Prerogative because they were based at the Gareox Sector Base, came to prominence. This "Young School" proposed a complete change to Imperial fleets so that they would now be based on Attack Craft carriers rather than large ships of the line, as such tactics had proved highly effective against pirate squadrons. The arrogant Prerogative eventually gained enough political influctence within the Imperial Navy to control Imperial warship design and were able to order the construction of Attack Carrier warships such as the ill-fated Despoiler-class Battleships.

This action brought them into conflict with the "Big-Gun Lobby" at Bakka. Political rivalry eventually led to outright civil war, the so-called Gareox Incident (Inquisita Classificationae Purgata Secrata, level sextus). A series of fleet actions demonstrated the superiority of Lance-armed warships over Attack Craft carriers and the Prerogative was purged and the Gareox Sector Base cleansed of their presence. In their bitterness, many of their supporters in the fleet turned to blasphemy and fled into the Warp. Only three Despoilers were built out of the fifteen orginally ordered and all ultimately became Traitors. This incident left a suspicion for Attack Carriers in Segmentum Tempestus battlefleets and even today there is a tendency for such fleets to favour big-gun ships of the line. This is particularly true of Battlefleet Bakka where the Big-Gun Lobby had reigned supreme.

Forge World Bakka[]

A young world, Bakka was colonised during the Dark Age of Technology by the restless agents of Mankind who claimed it for their own, greedy for its abundant and available mineral wealth. The surface of the planet consists of black island rafts of basalt and granite that float on a glowing viscous sea of cooling lava. Every so often, turbulent flow or a meteorite strike causes fresh magma to burst through the thin skin on the surface of the orange seas and throw incandescent fountains of yellow fire into the sky. The atmosphere is hot, arid and very poisonous; oxides of nitrous, sulphur and sodium mix with ammonia in spirals of yellow, brown and red fog. Giant, tracked machines extract minerals when convective flow forces important ores near the surface of the seas. The loss rate among the lava workers is substantial and commonly penitents and Heretics are assigned to the hazardous duty. The punishment for a penitent and a Heretic is the same, for though the God-Emperor rejoices at the righteous remorse of a penitent, the sin must still be cleansed by punishment.

Permanent installations are built on the black rafts. In the reinforced adamantium walls of the fortress-like plants, ore is processed into usable materials. Heavy laser batteries are mounted on the strengthened roofs of the squat, dark structures to blast away meteors, and any of the Emperor's foes who might come calling. Most of the manufacturing facilities hang above the planet in geostationary orbit and there are also found the vast, sprawling dockyards of the Segmentum Tempestus Sector Naval Base.

Horus Heresy[]

Bakka is one of several locations where a combined Loyalist force of Space Wolves and Ultramarines faced a Traitor force composed of starships of the World Eaters, a single Thousand Sons starship and several vessels of the Saturnine Fleet in an attempt to destroy the massive Word Bearers Battleship called the Furious Abyss during the Horus Heresy in the early 31st Millennium. The Loyalist force was under the command of Captain Cestus of the Ultramarines.

Plague of Unbelief[]

During the early centuries of the 36th Millennium, many false prophets appeared throughout the anarchic Age of Apostasy, some little more than madmen leading rebel armies, others spiritual demagogues who commanded worlds and armies. The most powerful of these was the Apostate Cardinal of Gathalamor, Bucharis, whose heresies reached such proportions that they became known as the Plague of Unbelief. In 300.M36, Bakka was absorbed into this galaxy-spanning heresy, forming a minor pocket empire which was defined by its people's heretical belief that the Emperor was no longer able to rule the galaxy.

This pocket empire stretched from Bakka in the galactic south to the Space Wolves' Chapter homeworld of Fenris in the galactic north. The back of this insurrection was eventually broken by the valour of the Space Wolves following the failure of the assault upon their Fortress-Monastery, The Fang, by Bucharis' forces.

First Tyrannic War[]

In 745.M41, the Imperium of Man first encountered the encroaching threat of the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Behemoth. Battlefleet Bakka was quickly dispatched from Bakka to lend aid in the valiant Imperial defence of the Ultramarines Chapter's homeworld of Macragge during the climactic Battle of Macragge. Though they ultimately emerged victorious from the conflict, the Ultramarines suffered substantial losses to the ravenous xenos.

The Red Corsairs[]

Aiming to seize additional vessels for his Renegade fleet, the infamous Chaos Lord Huron Blackheart and his Chaos warband of Red Corsairs Renegade Space Marines attacked the Imperial orbital shipyards at Bakka. At the height of the battle, a Grey Knights Strike Cruiser warped into the heart of the Red Corsairs fleet. Though the Space Marines inflicted substantial casualties upon the Renegades, they failed to kill Huron, whose fleet made its escape back into the Warp. The Bakka shipyards were saved, but Grey Knights Grand Master Vorth Mordrak's vengeance was left unsatisfied.

Locations[]

Bakka - Mining World/Forge World. Sector Naval Base for Bakka Sub-Sector and Imperial Navy Fleet Headquarters and home of the Segmentum Command for the entire Segmentum Tempestus.
Chakka - Hive World.
Delta Prime - Civilised World.
Hades - Mining World.
Iometa - Agri-World.
Ironika - Mining World.
Lochan - Hive World.
Nexus - Uninhabited World.
No Return - Prison World.
Seraka - Agri-World.
Verdantia - Agri-World.
Wightan - Agri-World.
384/87/BS/SW54/1 - Uninhabited World.

Sources[]

Battlefleet Gothic Magazine 2, "Battlefleet Baka," & "D'aynes Fighting Ships of Segmentum Tempestus - Battlefleet Baka," pp. 30-35, 36-40
Battlefleet Gothic Magazine 7, "Rath's Last Stand," by Time Driscole, pp. 6-8
Battlefleet Gothic Magazine 10, "The Defence of Macragge," by Tim Driscole, pp. 6-9
Codex: Grey Knights (5th Edition), pg. 16
Codex: Sisters of Battle (2nd Edition), pp. 39-42
Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook (5th Edition), pg. 129
Battle for the Abyss (Novel) by Ben Counter