《IA：启示录》（2013版）节译：弗拉克斯战区

RISE OF A FALSE PROPHET

伪先知的崛起

Cardinal-Astral Xaphan began his swift rise through the ranks of the Adeptus Ministorum as a humble preacher, chosen early in his career as a protégé by the then Cardinal-Astral Borja. With the death of his master in 804.M41, Xaphan rose to the lofty heights of head of the Adeptus Ministorum in the Scarus Sector and began a long pilgrimage to its many worlds, and untold millions of Imperial subjects, he would be assuming spiritual authority over. Later Imperial histories list this as potentially where the earliest stirrings of his heresy began; that a lifetime dealing with the minutiae of Ministorum councils paled in comparison to the adulation of world after world. He allowed members of his private council to convince him that, in the hinterlands of the sector he could exert real power, stirring populations to action and embarking on a grand crusade to cleanse it of heretics and xenos. These early dreams of glory soon became simple excuses for his attempts to grasp at power within the Imperium — beginning with the seizure of Vraks, with its stockpiles of munitions and vast garrison. 

在其职业生涯的早期，萨凡被时任星界红衣主教波尔扎选为自己的门生，这位谦逊的传教士开始在国教教会中迅速崛起。随着其导师逝世于804.M41，萨凡荣升为Scarus星区的国教教会首脑，并开始了一场漫游星区内诸多世界，接见数以百万计帝国臣民的漫长朝圣，他将成为星区的精神权威。后世的帝国历史学家们认为，萨凡的异端行径最早可能就开始于此；相比于接受来自一个又一个世界的赞美奉承，花一生岁月去处理国教会议中的细枝末节，就显得苍白无趣。他放任私人顾问们说服自己，相信在星区的腹地中，自己能够行使真正的（世俗）权力，鼓动民众们采取行动，发起一场大规模圣战，肃清星区中异端分子和异形。这些关于荣耀的早期梦想，很快就变为了萨凡企图在人类帝国内部攫取权力的纯粹借口——他首先占领了坐拥庞大军火储备和驻军部队的弗拉克斯世界。

After taking up residence on Vraks, it took little effort for Xaphan and his cronies to stir up the oppressed indentured worker population into a religious frenzy. Soon he commanded a host of the frateris militia, as well as much of the garrison, through proxy commanders whose loyalty he had suborned from the planetary prefect. It was an attempted assassination, a failed move by the Ordos Hereticus, intended to draw the reign of this troubling new Cardinal to a quick close, that lit the fires of rebellion. In a short, but violent, civil war, Xaphan took full control of the world of Vraks, burning out those symbols of Imperial authority that he could not suborn or corrupt. 

在定居于弗拉克斯世界后，萨凡和他的亲信们毫不费力便煽动起受压迫的契约工人们，令其陷入宗教狂热。很快，他便拥有了一支大军，其兵源来自护教民兵，以及诸多的驻军士兵——萨凡从行星长官处收买到了那些代理指挥官，由此让士兵们投入自己麾下。为了迅速结束这位棘手的新任主教的统治，讨逆修会组织了一次暗杀行动，但却失败未遂，叛乱之火由此被点燃。经过一场短暂而激烈的内战，萨凡完全控制住了弗拉克斯世界，不能被其收买利用或腐化的帝国当局人士都被烧死。

THE LONG SIEGE

漫长的围攻

While Xaphan loosed a storm of misguided fervour on Vraks, the Imperium absorbed news of his rebellion and slowly formed its response. That response was the 88th Imperial Siege Army, over thirty regiments of tanks, men and artillery from the grim world of Krieg, dispatched to Vraks to put an end to Xaphan's heretical regime. 

就在萨凡于弗拉克斯世界上煽动起误入歧途的狂热风暴的同时，人类帝国也得知了他发动的叛乱，并缓慢地做出反应。超过三十个团的坦克、步兵和炮兵组成了第88帝国攻城集团军，从冷酷的克里格世界被派往弗拉克斯，前去终结萨凡的异端统治。

Arriving in-system many months after the initial uprising, the task force's transports approached the far side of Vraks, avoiding the fortified defence laser batteries that guarded both the Citadel that served as Vraks' capital, and the nearby star port, to disembark the vast Imperial army onto the rebellious planet's uninhabited wastelands. They then began a long year of preparations, and as the enginseers of the Adeptus Mechanicus laboured to construct an immense servitor-guided railroad to move men and supplies from the safe landing zones to the front lines, the fighting men of the 88' Imperial Siege Army were prepared and trained for the war on Vraks. 

在最初的叛乱爆发很多个月后，特遣队抵达了弗拉克斯星系内；为了避开保卫着弗拉克斯主星首府要塞和附近太空港的强化防御激光炮塔，运输舰接近了远端半球，以将数量庞大的帝国军队投放到这颗叛乱星球无人居住的荒原中。帝国部队开始了为期一年的漫长备战，机械修会的引擎士们建造了一条由机仆引导控制的巨型铁路，用于将人员和补给从安全的登陆区输送到前线，同时第88帝国攻城集团军在为弗拉克斯之战进行准备和训练。

In the time it took for the Imperial forces to ready themselves, the rebel forces were not idle. Xaphan ordered his followers to prepare for war, arming the work-gangs and rebellious militia troops with the contents of Vraks' vast armouries, and the planet's population of Ogryn labourers were conscripted and reduced to mindless killing machines through the use of crude augmetic implants and proscribed combat drugs. Those indentured workers not inducted into the militia were swiftly put back to work, this time reinforcing Vraks' already impressive fortifications. 

在帝国部队整军备战的同时，叛军们也并未坐等进攻。萨凡命令自己的信徒们做好战备，用弗拉克斯庞大军械库中的物质装备起工团和叛军民兵；星球上的欧格林劳工也被征召入伍，他们被植入粗糙的强化植入物，并被注射了遭到禁用的战斗药剂，沦为了毫无理智的杀戮机器。未被征入民兵部队的契约工人们很快复工，强化加固了弗拉克斯那早已令人印象深刻的防御工事。

Imperial records show that the war to re-conquer Vraks finally began at 166813.M41, as the massed Krieg regiments, their preparations now complete, unleashed the thunderous firepower of thousands of artillery cannon on the first line of the enemy's defences. The Death Korps soldiers began the first assault on the heels of the opening bombardment, phalanxes of Gorgon assault carriers advancing into the teeth of the enemy's guns. Thousands died in the attack, though no ground was gained, and the Krieg regiments were forced back, leaving their fallen to rot in no-man's land. Months of bitter, bloody fighting followed, with both sides launching costly assaults across the corpse strewn wasteland and exchanging artillery fire. 

帝国记录（文件）表明，重新征服弗拉克斯的战争最终开始于166813.M41。随着战备工作完成，集结起来的克里格卫军团调集了数千门火炮，向敌军的第一道防线释放出雷霆般的火力。开幕炮击甫一结束，死亡军团士兵便发动了第一波进攻，戈耳工突击运输车组成方阵，顶着敌人的枪炮射击前进。数以千计的克里格士兵死在了进攻中，但帝国未能攻占任何阵地，克里格卫军团们被迫后撤，任由己方死者腐烂在无人区中。随后便是数个月的血腥苦战，双方在尸横遍野的荒原各处发动代价高昂的突袭行动，并且相互进行炮击。

The fall of Fort A-453 to a near suicidal Death Korps assault finally forced a breach in the first defence line, after almost a year of non-stop trench warfare. In response, Krieg infantry poured through the hole in the enemy's defences and fast moving squadrons of Death Riders began to slaughter the fleeing militia troops as they pulled back to the next defensive line. 

经过一年近乎无休止的堑壕战之后，通过一场近乎自杀的攻势，死亡军团攻陷了A-453要塞，在第一道防线上打开了突破口。作为回应，克里格步兵从敌军防线上的缺口涌入，民兵部队逃向下一道防线，快速移动的死亡骑兵中队则开始屠杀溃敌。

With their defences breached, renegade units up and down the first line began pulling back before the vengeful Imperial soldiers could surround and annihilate them. They retreated to the second of Vraks' great defence lines which was, if anything, more heavily fortified than the first defence line, and threw back all attempts to breach it. The sombre men of Krieg, meanwhile, moved past the broken first defence line, and began digging new trenches. 

随着防御被突破，在复仇心切的帝国士兵们能够包围并歼灭他们之前，第一道防线各处的叛军们便开始撤退。他们撤回了第二道防线（如果说有什么区别的话，那就是比前一道更为坚固），并且击退了所有试图将其突破的进攻。与此同时，性格阴郁的克里格军也快速穿过破损的第一道防线，开始挖掘新的战壕。

For seven years, the Death Korps regiments besieged the second massive defence line, the Citadel of Vraks still distant on the horizon. Seven years of gruelling trench warfare as the Imperial Guard slowly advanced, trench-by-trench upon the enemy. Whole regiments of Earthshaker cannon, towed by fleets of Centaur artillery tractors, duelled with ancient Minotaur artillery tanks retrieved from Vraks' arsenals by Xaphan's fanatical legions and turned against their creators. The bitter war on Vraks, being fought on the doorstep of the Eye of Terror, inevitably gained the attention of the renegade Space Marine warbands who plagued the sector. One such warband, comprising Chaos Space Marines of the Alpha Legion, under the command of Arkos the Faithless, was eager to exploit the opportunity it represented. Infiltrating Vraks with ease, they presented themselves to Xaphan, who eagerly accepted their aid. 

在（之后的）七年时间里，死亡军团围困着规模庞大的第二道防线，而弗拉克斯堡垒仍然远在天边。在这七年的堑壕游击战中，帝国卫军们缓慢挺进，清理一条又一条敌军战壕。整团的地震炮被半人马牵引车队拖拽至炮位，与古老的牛头怪炮击坦克——萨凡的狂热军团从弗拉克斯军械库中找回了这种武器，用于对付帝国部队——进行对轰。由于这场苦涩的战争就发生在恐惧之眼的门阶处，祸乱该星区的变节星际战士战帮也不可避免地注意到了此次冲突。由“无信者”阿尔考斯领导的某个阿尔法军团混沌战帮，便渴望利用起弗拉克斯战役所代表的机遇。他们轻松潜入了弗拉克斯，亲自面见了萨凡，而后者也热切地接受了对方的帮助。

Attacks by the Alpha Legionnaires quickly threatened to turn the tide of the war and undo the Krieg regiments' hard-fought gains. Lord Commander Zuehkle, commander of the 88' Siege Army, requested aid from the Adeptus Astartes to counter this new threat, and that request was answered by a strike force of Dark Angels. Five companies from the Chapter staged a daring assault on Vraks' primary star port, in the shadow of the Citadel itself. The infamous warriors fought overwhelming odds, and a brutal counter-attack was launched against Arkos and his brethren to destroy the star port, to cut off Vraks from any further heretical allies that could assist them. 

阿尔法军团战士发动的袭击很快便威胁到了战争局势走向，并毁灭了克里格军苦战而来的成果。第88攻城集团军的统帅——领主指挥官祖尔克请求阿斯塔特修会来应对这一威胁。一支黑暗天使打击部队对其做出了回应，五个连队的星际战士对弗拉克斯的主星港——该设施紧邻星球堡垒——发动了一次大胆突袭。声名远扬的黑暗天使们以压倒性优势作战，对阿尔考斯及其兄弟发动了残酷反击；他们摧毁了星港，切断了弗拉克斯与其他任何异端盟友的联系。

The attack was successful, despite the Dark Angels taking heavy casualties. However, as they refused to co-operate with the Krieg regiments, the 88' Siege Army was unable to capitalise on the victory. After destroying the star port, the Dark Angels departed Vraks, considering their mission complete and leaving the continuing siege to the Imperial Guard. Weakened by almost nine years of grinding attritional warfare, the 88th Siege Army paused its attacks in order to build up replacement troops and ammunition for an overwhelming assault on the second defence line. 

尽管黑暗天使遭受了严重伤亡，但这次行动是成功的。不过，由于星际战士们拒绝与克里格军协同配合，第88攻城集团军未能利用起这次胜利。在摧毁星港后，黑暗天使们离开了弗拉克斯，他们认为自己已经完成了任务，留下帝国卫军们继续攻城。遭受了将近九年无休止消耗战的削弱，第88攻城集团军暂停了攻势，以组建起替换部队并获取弹药补给，为向第二道防线发起压倒性攻势做准备。

The attack was presaged by a mighty four day bombardment of enemy positions, the constant firing of thousands of cannon lit the sky at night and filled the days with thunder. Once the guns finally fell silent, soldiers on both sides knew what it must mean, and scrambled to their assigned positions, ready for battle. For eight days the Krieg Line Korps threw themselves against the defences Xaphan's fanatics had laboured to build, hammering them with a relentless tide of men and tanks until a breakthrough was made, heedless of the cost in men and equipment that was paid. Despite the sacrifices made to topple the second defence line, the battered Krieg regiments now faced the final, and most fortified, of the defence lines. 

总攻是以四天的猛烈轰炸为预兆，数千门火炮不断开火，夜空被照亮，隆隆雷声也响彻天际数日。待炮声刚刚陷入沉寂，双方士兵都明白这意味着什么，他们全都冲向指定的阵地，做好战斗准备。面对萨凡麾下狂热信徒辛劳建造的防御设施，克里格线列军们猛攻八天，他们不顾人员与装备损耗，用步兵和坦克组成的无情波潮撞开了一道突破口。尽管拔除第二道防线令其付出的重大牺牲，但遭受重创的克里格军现在面对的，便是最后也最坚固的一道防线。

附录：

THE FIRST BREACH 

第一道缺口

At 897814.M41, the 9'" Company of the 261st Regiment was ordered to conduct a probing attack on the enemy position listed on the Krieg charts as Fort A-453. This was a series of bunkers, each linked by concealed underground tunnels and defended by multiple heavy bolters. The central bunker had at one point mounted an earthshaker cannon in its casement, but Imperial artillery had destroyed the gun some weeks earlier. The approach to the fort itself was warded by a deep anti-tank ditch and layers of razor wire and mines, a killing ground daunting to any attacking force. 

在897814.M41，第261克里格团的第九连被命令去对克里格作战地图标记为“A-453要塞”的敌军阵地进行试探性进攻。该区域由一连串的地堡组成，而且被隐藏式的地下隧道彼此相连，并有多门重型爆弹枪用于把守此地。中央地堡的平开窗处曾经设置过一门地震炮，但帝国炮兵已经在几周前将其摧毁。通往堡垒的道路上开挖了一条很深的反坦克壕沟，并布置了层层的铁丝网和地雷，这是一片任何进攻部队都将望而生畏的杀戮区。

The 9'h Company attacked under cover of darkness, and an artillery barrage launched by quad launchers was brought up for the attack. The Krieg Guardsmen's unflinching determination got them past the initial barriers, despite taking heavy casualties from the emplaced heavy bolters and mines, and up to the first of the bunkers. Grenade blasts quickly cleared the militia defenders from the bunker, and the men of the 9th Company advanced into the fort, quickly becoming embroiled in a close range fire-fight with the remainder of the garrison as it was roused from sleep. 

第九连在夜色中发起了进攻，而且后方的轮式四管火炮们也进行了一轮齐射，为其提供掩护。尽管重型爆弹枪和地雷令其伤亡惨重，但克里格士兵还是凭借坚定的决心穿越了最初的障碍，冲入了第一座地堡。第九连用手雷快速清理掉建筑内的民兵，前进杀入要塞；其余守军也从睡梦中被惊醒，双方陷入了近距离交火。

Despite being vastly outnumbered by the rebel fighters, Captain Tyborc of the 9'h Company refused to abandon his position, the only breakthrough the Imperial army had created since the start of the invasion. His vox operator dead in the shell-cratered wastes of no-man's land, Tyborc ordered one of his forty remaining men back to friendly trenches with word of the attack's success, and led his remaining men into the underground vaults below the bunkers. 

尽管己方在人数上极为劣势，但第九连指挥官——迪波尔克上尉拒绝放弃阵地，因为这是帝国军队自入侵弗拉克斯以来打开的唯一突破口。由于通讯器操作员已经死在了遍布弹坑的无人荒原上，迪波尔克命令某个下属——现在他手下还剩余四十名卫军——返回己方战壕，汇报袭击成功的消息；上尉自己则率领其余士兵进入了掩体地下的仓库区。

For three days, Captain Tyborc and his men fought a desperate defence in the pitch black depths of the rebel fort, fighting off wave after wave of Vraksian militia fighters in vicious close quarter battles. By the third night of near constant fighting, they were down to eight wounded men, and all but out of ammunition, food and water. It seemed that their runner had failed to reach regiment's commanders, leaving them stranded behind enemy lines with no hope of rescue. 

三天的时间里，在叛军要塞漆黑的地下，迪波尔克上尉和下属们进行了一场绝望的防守战，在激烈的近战中击退了一波又一波弗拉克斯民兵。等到第三天夜间，连队中仅剩八名伤员，而且事物、饮水和弹药已经耗尽。似乎信使并未能抵达团指挥部，第九连被困在了敌军后方，再无获救希望。

Unbeknown to the men of the 9' Company, the 88th Siege Army was well aware of their plight. All along the front, the 30'" Line Korps was furiously attacking enemy positions, and a detachment of grenadiers and an armoured company had began an assault on Fort A-453 on the morning of the third day of the 9' Company's holding action. On the morning of the fourth day, Tyborc and his men were relieved. Of the eight men who survived, none was without serious wounds and most had no ammunition left, having relied on captured enemy weaponry or bayonets and trench clubs. More importantly, the 88"' Siege Army had broken the first line of defence, and began the first real advance since the beginning of the war. 

但第九连不知道的是，第88攻城集团军非常清楚他们的困境。第30线列军正在前线各处猛攻敌军阵地，在第九连坚守阵地第三天的早上，一支由掷弹兵和装甲连组成的分遣队开始攻击 A-453要塞。迪波尔克和下属们在第四天的早上获救，这八名幸存者全部身受重伤，而且大多数人都已耗尽了弹药，是依靠缴获的敌军武器或刺刀与战壕槌进行抵抗。而更重要的是，第88攻城集团军已经击垮了第一道防线，开始了自战争开始以来的首次真正挺进。

 A GATHERING OF MIGHT 

集结力量

The siege ground on, now within the shadow of the Citadel of Vraks' walls, as the tireless regiments of the Death Korps assaulted the final defence line, advancing in heavily armoured Gorgon assault carriers in the wake of earth-shattering artillery bombardments. Even deep beneath the surface of Vraks the war raged, in kilometre after kilometre of tunnels dug to undermine the rebels' defences, Krieg engineer detachments fought desperate battles in the dark, securing their mine-heads from counter-attacks by Xaphan's fanatical warriors.

攻城战继续进行，帝国部队现在已经进入到弗拉克斯堡垒高墙的阴影中。在一阵摧山裂地的炮击之后，不知疲倦的克里格死亡军团登上装甲厚重的戈耳工突击运输车，向最后的防线发起进攻。甚至在弗拉克斯地下深处，战事也在激烈进行中，为了破坏叛军的防御，克里格工兵分队在地下挖掘了一公里又一公里的隧道，并在黑暗中进行着绝望的战斗，以阻止萨凡麾下狂热战士的反击破坏掉他们的地雷。

Backed into a corner by the relentless advance of the Imperium's army, Xaphan turned to the only allies that remained to him. Arkos the Faithless bid his sorcerous advisors to send forth a summons, calling on Chaos Space Marine warbands who would battle the forces of the False Emperor to rally to Vraks and join their cause. 

帝国军队的无情挺进将萨凡逼入了绝境，他向留在自己的仅剩盟友寻求帮助。“无信者”阿尔考斯命令自己手下的术士发出召唤，呼叫那些愿意对抗伪帝走狗的混沌星际战帮，要他们前来弗拉克斯集结并加入自己的事业。

Within a few months, a great fleet of loosely allied warbands surged into Vraks' orbit and scattered the Imperial ships moored there, unleashing their cargo of traitorous Adeptus Astartes, their sub-human chattel and even great, warped Chaos Titans onto the planet. The followers of the Blood God roared forth and began to drive back the servants of the Emperor, whilst the disease-ridden servants of Nurgle spread across the wastes of Vraks, using the vast stores of chemical weapons, once safely stored in the lmperium's armouries, to pollute the land and slaughter the Death Korps soldiers who doggedly defended their trenches. The once monolithic trench war had become a shifting, mercurial battle, as lumbering formations of tanks and Death Korps soldiers tried to counter the swift attacks of the power armoured Chaos warbands. 

短短数月之内，各混沌战帮组成的松散联盟派出一支庞大舰队，涌入弗拉克斯的轨道并击溃了停泊于此的帝国飞船。从船舱中走出的是叛变的阿斯塔特与他们的亚人奴兵，甚至还有巨大扭曲的混沌泰坦。血神信徒们咆哮着冲上前来，开始驱逐帝皇的仆人们；恶疾缠身的纳垢奴仆分散在弗拉克斯荒原各处，利用起曾经被安全储存在帝国军火库中的巨量化学武器，污染土地并屠杀那些坚守战壕的死亡军团士兵。曾经完整统一的堑壕战变为了变幻莫测的遭遇战，步兵和坦克组成的笨拙编队努力反击着混沌星际战士们的快速进攻。

In the face of this onslaught, other Imperial forces were swiftly diverted to Vraks to aid the war effort and counter Xaphan's heretical allies. Titan maniples deployed by the Legio Astorum strode across the corpse-strewn plains, duelling with their rivals of the traitorous Legio Vulcanum and blasting rebel positions apart with weapons larger than battle tanks. Lord-commander Zuehlke, who had led the 88th Imperial Siege Army up until this point, was relieved of his command and reassigned to other warzones. His replacement, Grand Marshal Kagori was charged with ensuring the Imperial forces victory. Kagori set about re-organising and reinforcing the troops now under his command. Knowing that the depleted siege regiments might not prove adequate for the task ahead, he also dispatched messengers to seek allies amongst the Adeptus Astartes. After encountering a battle group of the Red Scorpions, returning from war in distant sectors, Kagori's representatives brought over a hundred battle brothers of that Chapter into the fray. 

面对此等进攻，其他帝国部队也被快速调往弗拉克斯进行增援，对抗萨凡的异端盟友们。星象军团（虚空行者）派出的泰坦支队们阔步于尸横遍野的平原各处，它们与来自火神军团的叛徒敌手对决，用比战斗坦克还要庞大的武器炸碎敌军阵地。第88攻城集团军一直以来的统帅——领主指挥官祖尔克被解除了指挥权，并重新指派到其他战区。他的继任者——大元帅卡戈里负责确保帝国部队获胜。卡戈里重整并强化了这支现在处于自己麾下的部队。他明白，这些损耗严重的攻城团可能无法胜任眼前的任务，便派使者去阿斯塔特修会中寻找盟友。在偶遇到红蝎战团的一支战斗群后（他们结束了在遥远星区的战争，正在返回母星），卡戈里的代表们将一百多名战斗兄弟带入了这次混战。

With his strategies set and allies secured, Kagori began the new offensive. Repeated attacks by massed waves of Imperial Guard infantry, backed by the massive firepower of the Legio Astorum, finally forced a breach in the final line of defences that surrounded the great Citadel. However, it was only the heroic orbital assault of the Red Scorpions that secured victory for the forces of the Imperium, who now stood upon the brink of victory, ready to begin the final assault upon the mighty Citadel of Vraks. 

随着战略拟订，盟友就位，卡戈里发动了新的攻势。在星象军团庞大火力的支援下，大量步兵集群反复进攻，终于在环绕着巨大堡垒的最后防线上打开了缺口。不过，全赖红蝎战团英勇的轨道突袭，帝国部队才得以取胜；他们现在就处于胜利的边缘，准备开始向强大的弗拉克斯堡垒发动最终攻势。

RIFTS IN THE WARP

亚空间裂隙

With his forces poised to begin the final assault on the Citadel of Vraks, Grand Marshal Kagori received word that an Inquisitor Lord had arrived and demanded an audience. Even a man as powerful as Grand Marshal Kagori, commanding millions of Imperial soldiers, could not ignore the summons of an Inquisitor and he hurried to obey. 

就在麾下部队紧锣密鼓地准备对于弗拉克斯堡垒的总攻时，大元帅卡戈里得知一位领主审判官已经抵达此地，并要求与之会面。即便是大元帅这样手握数百万帝国军队的强势人物，也无法忽视一位审判官的召见，于是他匆忙前去。

Hector Rex brought word from the Scarus Conclave, the Inquisitorial council for the Scarus Sector. Psychic auguries warned of a coming catastrophe on Vraks, of Daemons and death, and Inquisitor Lord Rex had travelled to Vraks to make sure such a thing did not come to pass. Under the authority of the Holy Inquisition he was to take command of the 88' Siege Army, which was to be inducted as an Inquisitorial force, and end the war on Vraks. Rather than step down from his post and move on to another war zone, Grand Marshal Kagori requested a transfer to a combat command on Vraks, as did many of his officers, a request which was quickly approved by the Inquisitor. 

赫克托尔 雷克斯带来了Scarus星区审判庭议事会——Scarus圣团的消息。灵能占卜表明弗拉克斯上将要爆发关于恶魔与死亡的灾难，领主审判官雷克斯前来此地，就是要确保此类事件不会发生。在审判庭的授权下，雷克斯接管了第88攻城集团军的指挥权，将其吸纳为审判庭部队，并结束了弗拉克斯上的战争。大元帅卡戈里也没有从自己的职位退下，并前往另一个战区，而是和自己麾下的诸多军官一样，申请被调任到弗拉克斯的战斗指挥部。审判官很快就批准了他们的请求。

Soon an influx of new troops began to arrive on Vraks - Inquisitorial warbands and storm trooper cadres, as well as over thirty Inquisitors of the Ordo Malleus. However, Hector Rex's rivals within the Scarus Conclave felt his crusade on Vraks was a waste of resources, the grandstanding of a man aiming to make himself a hero, and moved to block his preparations. The vast bureaucracy of the Adeptus Administratum downgraded the priority of the war on Vraks, slowing its rate of ammunition and troop resupply, and forcing Inquisitor Lord Rex to look further afield for manpower. Detachments of the Red Hunters Space Marine Chapter were quick to answer his call, ancient allies of the Inquisition, alongside the Grey Knights, the silver fist of the Ordo Malleus. 

很快，一批新的部队开始抵达弗拉克斯：审判庭战帮，风暴军，以及三十多名圣锤修会审判官。不过，雷克斯在Scarus圣团中的竞争对手认为他的弗拉克斯远征是在浪费资源，是某个哗众取宠之人在将自己包装为英雄，便对雷克斯的备战进行阻拦。政务部庞大的官僚体系降低了弗拉克斯之战的优先级，减缓了其弹药与部队的补给速度，雷克斯被迫向更遥远的区域寻求人手。红蝎战团——他们是审判庭的古老同盟——的分遣队们很快便响应了他的号召，圣锤修会的银色重拳——灰骑士们也前来助战。

His troops assembled, Hector Rex departed for Vraks, arriving to co-ordinate the armies manoeuvring to begin the assault on the Citadel. Firstly, the massed regiments of the Death Korps of Krieg needed to close the ring of men and tanks that was forming around the Citadel, the Inquisitor intended that no heretic should escape Vraks to plague the Imperium in some later battle. As fighting broke out along the regiments' advance, the Inquisition's fears were to come to pass. 

随着部队集结完毕，雷克斯动身前往弗拉克斯，协调帝国军队开始进攻堡垒。首先，大量的克里格卫军团需要形成严密封锁带，围困住堡垒周围防御圈中的人员和坦克，审判官不打算让任何异端分子逃出弗拉克斯以在之后的战斗中为祸帝国。但随着战斗沿帝国部队的挺进路线爆发，审判庭所担忧的状况将要成为现实。

As the 30" Line Korps pressed the attack on Armoury 59-44, a vital target if the Citadel was to be taken, the servants of Nurgle tore through the curtain of realspace, its very substance weakened by the constant bloodshed and poisoning of Vraks, and called forth a daemonic horde to drive back the Imperial host, a horde led by the immense Daemon Scabeiathrax. Only the intervention of Captain Stern of the Grey Knights was able to stem the tide of Chaos and throw back the daemonic legions, and Inquisitor Lord Rex knew full well it would only be a temporary respite while the renegades yet held out on Vraks. 

在第30线列军进攻59-44军械库的同时（夺取该目标是攻占堡垒的关键前提），纳垢的奴仆们撕裂了现实宇宙屏障——弗拉克斯上连续不断的流血和投毒早就削弱了现实的本质，并召唤出身形巨大的斯卡贝拉撒克斯领导下的一群恶魔来驱逐帝国部队。完全是由于灰骑士连长斯特恩的干涉，帝国军队才能够抵挡住混沌波潮并击退恶魔军团；领主审判官雷克斯很清楚，这只是暂时的喘息，因为叛军们仍旧盘踞在弗拉克斯。

Unknown to the Imperial army, as it surrounded the Citadel with the massed might of the Imperial Guard, many of the mortal soldiers who made up the vast bulk of the traitor Cardinal Xaphan's armies were in a state of panic. Decisive leadership from Xaphan had long since ceased, he had not ventured from the safety of his chambers deep within the Citadel in many years; it seemed that they had but two choices — surrender or die. 

不为帝国军队所知的是，在数量庞大的帝国卫队包围住堡垒的同时，叛徒萨凡麾下大军中的很多凡人士兵都陷入恐慌。萨凡的坚定领导早已不复存在，主教已经很多年都未曾冒险离开过堡垒深处的安全房间了；他们似乎只剩下了两个选择——投降或死亡。

However, there were those amongst the traitor host who did not want to see the slaughter end until every possible soul had been wrung from Vraks. Chief amongst these was Zhufor, leader of the Skulltakers, the largest of the Khornate Chaos Space Marine warbands on Vraks. In a campaign of shocking brutality and startling political insight, Zhufor forged an alliance of all of the major warbands on Vraks, with himself at its head. 

不过在叛徒大军中，也有人不想还未能榨出这颗世界上的全部灵魂，便看见屠杀结束。弗拉克斯上规模最大的恐虐混沌战帮——携颅者的领袖，朱弗便是其中的佼佼者。利用人震惊的残酷武力威胁，结合上惊人的政治交易，朱弗将弗拉克斯上的主要混沌战帮组建为联盟，并由自己亲执牛耳。

His first act was to drag Xaphan from his throne, casting him down and watching as the Dark Gods Xaphan had pledged himself to warped his body into a twisted, mewling Chaos spawn, before taking control of the war on Vraks. Harsh discipline was swiftly imposed on the wavering Vraksian armies, and Zhufor forced them back into the fray, uncaring of whether they slew the enemy or if the Imperial guns slaughtered his new minions. All that mattered was that blood continued to flow on Vraks. 

朱弗的第一项行动就是把萨凡拖出了王座室，他将主教丢在地上，眼看着黑暗诸神——萨凡已经宣誓效忠于它们——将之变异为扭曲嚎叫着的混沌卵，然后自己掌控住了弗拉克斯之战。朱弗向军心动摇的弗拉克斯军队强加于森严的军纪，强迫其重新投入战争，完全不在意自己的新奴仆们是杀死了敌人，还是遭受了帝国枪炮的屠杀。他在意的只是要让弗拉克斯上继续血流漂橹。

Where the fighting on Vraks had been a slow, grinding affair in the past, battles of attrition and slow advances, now it shifted into a new form of war. Swift moving Chaos Space Marine warbands and unpredictable daemonic incursions threw the carefully planned Death Korps attacks into confused close range bloodbaths. The remaining renegade militia forces fought with the strength of the doomed, knowing that to retreat would be to guarantee their deaths in a manner far worse than anything the Imperial soldiers could inflict. As the tempo of war increased, so too did the appearance of the renegades' daemonic allies, and every step towards the walls of the Citadel was bought with the life-blood of many Imperial soldiers. 

之前进行于弗拉克斯上的，是缓慢且难熬的战争，是关于消耗与缓慢挺进的战斗，而它现在转变为了新的形式。快速行动的混沌星际战士战帮与无法预料的恶魔入侵，将死亡军团精心策划的攻势转变为混乱的血腥近战。剩余的叛军民兵也疯狂进攻，只求一死，因为他们知道自己倘若撤退，死状肯定更为凄惨。随着战争节奏的加快，叛军恶魔盟友也出现得更为频繁，帝国部队向堡垒的城墙迈进的每一步，都是由许多士兵鲜血换来的。

Even with the renegade army's renewed ferocity, the Imperial advance could not be denied. New allies arrived to bolster the 88th Siege Army's ranks, battle forces from both the Red Scorpions and Angels of Absolution Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, answering Inquisitor Lord Hector Rex's call for reinforcements. With these new troops, the Citadel's defences began to crumble, the Red Scorpions led the attacks at the St. Leonis Gate, while Death Korps engineers forced entry into the Citadel undercrofts from below and the Angels of Absolution Chapter launched a drop pod assault directly on the Citadel's central keep. 

尽管叛军发动了凶恶的反击，但帝国的挺进还是未能被阻挡住。应领主审判官赫克托尔 雷克斯的呼叫，红蝎和赦免天使战团的部队也前来增援第88攻城集团军。在援军的协助下，帝国军队开始攻破堡垒的防御攻势：红蝎战团领导了对于圣莱昂尼斯之门的进攻，同时死亡军团的工兵们也下方强行攻入堡垒的地下通道，赦免天使则是直接向堡垒的中央要塞发动空降舱突袭。

Many tales of glory can be told of this final assault: of how Hector Rex faced and defeated the immense Daemon lord An'ggrath, of how Chaplain Belphegor of the Dark Angels Chapter, accompanying the Angels of Absolution, destroyed the last of the Faithless warband and took Arkos the Faithless as his prisoner. Many more tales go unrecorded, desperate actions fought to rid Vraks of the taint of Chaos in the final days of the siege, but eventually the Imperium's army swept through the Citadel, and at a great cost in men and equipment, destroyed the remaining renegades. 

对于最后的总攻，有很多故事可供讲述：赫克托尔 雷克斯如何直面并击败了巨大的恶魔领主安格拉斯；黑暗天使战团的牧师——贝尔芬格如何在赦免天使的陪同下，剿灭了无信者战帮的最后成员，并逮捕了“无信者”阿尔考斯。还有更多的故事未能被记录，在围城战的最后几天中，为了让弗拉克斯摆脱掉混沌的污染，帝国部队采取了绝望的行动，但他们最终还是席卷了堡垒，并在付出巨大的人力和装备代价后歼灭了剩余叛徒。

The final battle was fought deep within the Citadel as Inquisitor Rex, Captain Stern and a force of Grey Knights and Inquisitorial troops teleported into the inner keep ahead of the main army to destroy the Warp portal the Chaos Space Marines had constructed. Zhufor and many of the other surviving Chaos Space Marines had already departed Vraks through the portal, abandoning the failing war on Vraks, and the Inquisitor and his Grey Knights allies could only vent their wrath on the daemonic guardians that had been left behind. With the Warp portal closed and the Chaos Space Marines fled, the war on Vraks was finally over

最终的战斗爆发于堡垒深处。赶在主力部队到达之前，审判官雷克斯、斯特恩连长、一支灰骑士打击部队和审判庭部队被传送进入内部要塞，前去摧毁混沌星际战士们已经建造完成的亚空间传送门。朱弗和其他很多幸存的混沌星际战士已经离开了弗拉克斯，放弃了这场正在失败的战争，审判官和灰骑士们只能将怒火发泄在被遗留下的恶魔守卫们身上。随着亚空间传送门被关闭，混沌星际战士们四散逃离，弗拉克斯之战最终结束了。

THE PRICE OF VICTORY

胜利的代价

At 414830.M41, the siege of Vraks was officially declared at an end. The campaign, which had been planned to last for twelve years, had become an eighteen years bloodbath that had seen the deaths of over fourteen million Imperial Guardsmen. Enemy casualties could not be easily calculated, but the victorious Imperial armies took few prisoners, all of whom were given over to the grim-faced Inquisitors of the Ordos Malleus and were never seen again. 

帝国在414830.M41正式宣布弗拉克斯攻城战结束。这场原本计划进行十二年的战争，最终演变了持续十八年的血腥屠杀，超过一千四百万帝国卫军在战斗中阵亡。敌方的伤亡人数无法被轻易计算，但获胜的帝国军队只抓获了少量俘虏，这些异端分子都被交给了圣锤修会的冷面审判官，以后再未出现过。

Vraks itself had been devastated by the fighting. Nothing of value remained for the Administratum's servants to plunder, Vraks' infrastructure lay in ruins and its indentured workers had either been slaughtered in the war, or removed by the Inquisition. Even the great underground armouries had been rendered worthless; the supplies of arms and munitions long since used up by Xaphan's rebellious armies. 

弗拉克斯世界本身也被战火摧毁。星球上任何可供政务部官员们回收的有价值物品都不复存在，基础设施化为了废墟，契约劳工们不是死于战争，就是被审判庭带走。哪怕是庞大的地下军火库也已变得毫无价值：萨凡麾下的叛徒大军很久之前就耗尽了其中的武器弹药补给。

Abandoned minefields, unexploded shells and dormant fields of toxic chemicals had turned the wastelands of Vraks into a hellish and deadly landscape, and many within the Inquisition feared that the world might still be at risk from daemonic influence after the horrors unleashed upon it by Zhufor. In the end the planet was abandoned and interdicted, by order of Lord Inquisitor Hector Rex. Automated beacons were set in orbit to ward away all those who might come across the planet, and Vraks was declared lost to the Imperium. 

废弃的雷区、未爆弹和含有化学毒素的土地，让弗拉克斯的荒原变为了地狱般的致命区域。审判庭中的很多成员也认为，在朱弗于其上释放过（亚空间）恐怖之物后，弗拉克斯可能仍然处于遭受恶魔影响的危险中。最终，领主审判官赫克托尔 雷克斯下令放弃并封锁该星球。弗拉克斯的轨道上被放置了自动信标，警告所有可能经过该星球的人们避开此地，人类帝国也宣布失去了弗拉克斯世界。