The Scribe Wars

 The Scribe Wars

Taking place between M33.199–M33.802, (as near as can be reckoned), the Scribe Wars left the Antona Australis sector's records in ruins. Essentially a civil war between different factions of the Administratum, the wars are believed to have escalated from a simple disagreement over the correct name for the sector – whether it should be correctly termed Antona Australis or Anton Australis.

Scribes of the planet Plutarch (then the Capital Planet of the Sector) uncovered a huge array of back-taxes, misfiles and errata that was eventually traced back to Grovsenor II and Grovsenor VI; where the spelling Antona Australis had been used since the early years of the sector's being brought to Compliance by the Ultramarines and Dark Angels.

In stark contrast, the Administratum Maior traced the spelling Anton Australis back to Grovsenor I, the fabled 'First planet' of the system. In unspooling the differences, the Administratum of Plutarch found huge sums of credits along with vast amounts of men and materiel were simply unaccounted for. Panicking, the Sector's Governor issued a decree that the spelling Antona Australis was to be outlawed immediately, a rash move that caused rioting on Grovsenor II and VI. 

The crackdown was immediate, involving the Arbites, PDF and eventually the Imperial Guard and Sector Fleet, as armies from Anchorpoint were deployed to Grovsenor II and VI to quell what had become a popular cause. The fighting was vicious and close-fought, with guerilla scribes fighting a war of words with rifles and daggers. Nevertheless, the Grovsenor forces – known as the 'A-Administrata', or simply AA – were outgunned and outmatched. The fighting might have stopped there, until the worlds of Grovsenors I and VII were mistakenly attacked by regiments from Anchorpoint owing to a misplaced 'I'. Stirred into action, the two neutral worlds staged a counter-assault on the Plutarchy; dividing the Anchorpoint fleet and capturing a number of craft with the help of Mercenary forces.

The fighting expanded, engulfing the Grovsenor, Hesiod-Siculus and Starfire sub-sectors. The Sector was plunged into massed conflict, the likes of which had not been seen since the early days of Compliance. The Governor of Plutarch renamed the Grovsenor sub-sector Anton Antecedent as the resistance forces of the Grovsenor planets were gradually whittled down.

Despite the grinding battlelines and mass loss of life raging across the sector, the Wars were to be decided in the relatively unimportant Mercia sector. Titus Saint, later known as the Apologist of Anchorpoint, amassed a strong following with his fiery oration and anal retentiveness, and Administrata from across the sector flocked to his banner. He led forces sympathetic to the Plutarchy in a rampage across Mercia, until his forces were met by Marius von Marion, a young and dynamic Scribe.

In what has been described variously as 'a battle of wits that seldom was seen' and 'the biggest enemy to wakefulness since the Plague of Somnolence', Von Marion engaged Titus Saint in a debate, the niggardliness of which has never been matched. Reams of data were processed, proposed, counter-argued and debated until eventually Von Marion caught Saint in defending a paradox. Humbled by the brilliant and charismatic Von Marion, Saint recanted and joined his forces with the AA.

Clinching a small but vital victory in the distant Mercia sub-sector, the AA were exultant and fell on their foes with glee. Driven on to the back foot, the Plutarchy was humbled across the Sector. Seeing a hero borne aloft by cheering crowds, a passing fleet of White Consul Astartes – whose disjointed and mysterious history made them sympathetic to the cause – joined the fight on the side of the AA. Resistance swiftly crumbled, and the Plutarchy was driven back until it surrendered.

Plutarch was stripped of its Capital status, the title moving to Grovsenor VI, and the sector was hailed by the largely-baffled populace as Antona Australis in perpetuity. The war-wearied Scribes returned to their desks, and refused to table the motion that the Anton Antecedent sub-sector be returned to its previous name.