Following the battle of Karrik there is a long period during which the 10th and 34th Hosts hang around Diamantina, licking their wounds, repairing, and gathering new forces. There is a lot of stuff going on within the Host and inside Calixis, but it does not involve mighty fleet battles or planetary invasions.

The 34th Host eventually leaves for greener pastures, but new allies appear: Baphomet and a force of Black Legionnaires and Task Tak with his Death Guards. The Death Guards agree to take on the Hazeroth front, the Black Legion the Josian Reach, leaving Castor and the 10th to cover the Markayn Marches, the region closest to both Consovor and Diamantina.