As 11.010M42 wore on there seemed to be no end to the fighting on Bastien. The deadlock remained and the two sides poured vast armies against each other without great success. On 1811.010M42 the Covenant of Damnation, who made up the lions share of troops on Bastien, began a well planned and brutally simple advance on the Imperial lines. Despite taking heavy casualties the Covenant forces ploughed forward, grinding down the Imperial Guard facing them in a war of attrition.
Unwilling to continue this death match General Veers accepted the aid of two Astartes chapters, including the Dark Angels. The Dark Angels moved in first, attempting to secure forward positions to allow the recapture of Heretic. The insertion mission was a disaster however, and the front line moved ever further away from the city. Many valuable Dark Angels were lost in the mission, but the other marine chapter was undeterred.
The section insertion mission followed a similar pattern to the first, but the chaos forces were taken utterly by surprise. They did not expect a second attack to be almost identical to the first. Suddenly key installations in Heretic had been siezed and the Covenant's supply lines cut. Now, with increasing pressure from Veers' guard regiments, the chaos army now found itself in full retreat. By 2311.010M42 the front line had returned to its previous position and Heretic was once again in the hands of the Imperium, the shattered smoking ruins being renamed "Nova Imperious".
Despite this return to fortune and overwhelming logistical superiority General Veers was unable to maintain the momentum. Once again the fighting bogged down into a familiar pattern and sweeping advances were replaced with trench warfare. The Astartes were recalled and the stalemate resumed. Veers knew he needed a new tactic and started planning for a "Big Push" to take place within the next couple of months...
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