The defeat by the Emerald Serpent on Mordecai was considered a setback, but the damage to the Adeptus Mechanicus facility did not pose an existential threat to the prosecution of the ongoing campaign. Of more concern to general Kutuzov was his worsening logistics chain and the overall strategic position, which now favoured a chaos counter attack at Mordecai. To keep the pressure up, the Imperium ordered an audacious mission to capture Festergax, the strategically vital city on the eastern end of the chaos "red wall". If this could be taken and held, the defensive positions held by chaos would be weakened, and there would be multiple breakout opportunities to exploit.
To get to the city, several defensive positions would have to be taken and held while the slower moving Imperial guard regiments moved up. This would minimise the effectiveness of the chaos defences and ensure the frontal assault on the city didn't become a dreadful bloodbath. Operation Forum Hortus was conceived to take the city quickly, without the need for valuable astartes assets to once again be deployed in a strike against chaos.
The operation was divided into two parts. Operation Forum would be an airborne drop by the Gregorian 88th. Dropping at high speed from Valkyrie transports the mission was not without risk, but the highly trained scions, well equipped with plasma weaponry, were given objectives behind the main chaos defence lines, close to the Death Guard positions outside the city. The armoured units would then follow up as part of Operation Hortus, closing the gap to the paratroops as quickly as possible before they were surrounded and reduced by counter attacking chaos forces.
Colonel Winters, commander of the Airborne regiment, personally led the first drop into the chaos defences, only to find that not only Death Guard forces but also powerful war engines of the Host of Eschar, in the form of a Knight desolator and several war dogs. The initial strike was delivered with precision, taking out the war dogs and significantly reducing the chaos capacity to swat his precious aircraft from the sky. Some of his units were less fortunate, taking casualties in the drops themselves, then more to an unfortunate series of incidents with highly volatile plasma weaponry, which through the course of Operation Forum killed almost as many scions as the chaos forces themselves. An inquiry into the weaponry later resulted in several tech priests finding new ways to serve the Emperor as servitors.
The airborne operation had secured its objectives by 0305.020M42, and taken out much of the Death Guard artillery, but despite the sacrifice of many scions and several precious valkyries, the knight desolator still stood, its avenger cannons causing destruction amongst the imperial lines. The armoured support struggled to catch up, and for much of the operation the badly needed demolisher cannons of the Leman Russ contingent remained frustratingly out of range. Colonel Winters personally turned the tide of battle however, goading the daemonic war engine by shouting various derogatory remarks while waving his baton in the air. Annoyed by this, the giant knight, despite having taken significant battle damage, determined to squash the upstart loyalist itself, burning the colonel's entourage alive with its heavy flamers before leering at the colonel as it prepared to bring its mighty foot down on his head. This was the chance Winters had been waiting for. With an arm guided by the Emperor himself, Colonel Winters launched a krak grenade into the knight's armoured cockpit, where it exploded, felling the mighty engine and ensuring Operation Forum resulted in success.
The Death Guard meanwhile had delivered their own counter attack, as a unit of terrifyingly resilient blight lord terminators caused dismay in the mustering area of Operation Hortus. However, the terminators were slow, and despite the wildly ineffective and inaccurate shooting of the battle tanks holding this ground, the elite death guard unit was unable to significantly trouble the armoured push west. Eventually the Blightlord Terminators, realising the defence of the city had crumbled, simply left, ready to be deployed elsewhere.
Operation Forum Hortus had been a success, and the city of Festergax fell to the Imperium on 0405.020M42, although it was now flanked on three sides and the 88th Gregorian had lost much of its equipment, including most of its Valkyrie transports. Kutuzov now waited for the counter attack.
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