Word Bearers 34th Grand Host

Classified: Scarlet – Interrogator Tertius or higher.

Notes: 34th Grand Host of the Word Bearers.

After the disastrous attempt to take the Borus Gate, Marduk has taken his Host deep into the Antona Australis sector in search of occult lore. Their passage has been made easier by the opening of the Cursus on Shale and the 34th Host has received unlikely reinforcements from the pestilent Death Guard, for only Marduk and his loyal warriors did not escape from the Garden of Nurgle without making certain unwholesome pacts with the Father of Decay. The incident has failed to dent Marduk's rising ambition and for him, it is no longer enough for daemons of the lesser choirs to bend the knee. He seeks to bind one of the mightiest servants of Chaos to his will, one who has crossed paths with his Darkling Father and whose fate and that of the Bearers of the Word are irrecoverably bound...

The 34th Grand Host stands as one of the most well equipped of its kind. While recent campaigns have whittled down its numbers, Marduk's followers have been scrupulous in their recovery of matériel. Recent intelligence from the field indicates a high prevalence of terminator-armoured Annointed, possessed and Daemon Engines. After-action reports have also observed the presence of a large Obliterator cult, presumably lured into Marduk's service by the promise of lore from Darioq-Grendh’al's crazed experiments. 

There are conflicting reports that Marduk has fallen in battle on Frigia, at the talons of the Tyranid construct known as "Old Growler" and to the fell blades of the Eldar. In the absence of any signs of a power struggle and given the regard in which Marduk is held by the ruinous powers, we advise that Imperial forces continue to assume that Marduk leads the 34th.