By mid 04.025M42, the Imperial campaign on Mordecai Primaris had advanced deep into the Hamen Hive Sprawl, a labyrinthine urban region on the northern edge of the Chaos-held territories. With the loyalist front now dangerously extended, General Kutuzov faced mounting logistical difficulties, political pressure from rival commanders, and a shifting enemy strategy.
The Chaos war machine was no longer merely the brutish madness of cultists and daemonhosts. The forces of Nurgle were increasingly asserting dominance within the warp-tainted command structure, and the emergence of the Legion of Eschar—a disciplined and heavily armed human force—had transformed the strategic landscape. With Imperial high command breathing down his neck, Kutuzov identified the Hamen Spaceport as a critical objective.
Its capture would provide an anchor for resupply and reinforcement, ensuring that Imperial vanguard elements pushing into Hamen could not be easily cut off. Recognising the significance of the task, Kutuzov elected to personally lead the assault, placing himself at the head of his elite formation: the Novgorod 1st Regiment.
The Battle
The fighting began with the Novgorod Guard advancing through shattered hab-blocks and manufactoria surrounding the spaceport, under cover of earth-shaking artillery barrages and supported by super-heavy tanks from the Mordian Armour Reserve. Morale among the troops surged with Kutuzov riding his signature white charger, visible to his men even as the hellish theatre erupted around them.
But the enemy was ready.
The Escharite Legion, demonstrating tactical proficiency rare among traitor human forces, had fortified the approaches to the spaceport with brutal efficiency. They fielded their own super-heavy vehicles, including corrupted Baneblades and traitor-pattern artillery, which rained death upon the Novgorod formations. In the dense ruins, Escharite assault troops charged Imperial positions with shocking tenacity, engaging in brutal melee combat and eviscerating squad after squad of loyalist infantry.
Despite suffering appalling losses, the Novgorod 1st did not break. Kutuzov's elite armour began a slow but deliberate counter-barrage, systematically neutralising the enemy's heavy vehicles, although the Escharite commanders showed a worrying level of restraint, often withdrawing their own armour before total annihilation.
For several days, the fighting devolved into a war of attrition. The shattered outer perimeter of the spaceport became a killing ground, each ruined building and corridor contested metre by metre.
It was only when Kutuzov himself led a decisive charge—his blade raised high, leading an armoured thrust into the Escharite rear—that the chaos lines faltered. Spearheading an assault on a key command node within the port complex, the Novgorod Guard succeeded in breaking the Escharite centre. The traitor forces, though disciplined, began to fracture under sustained pressure and retreated in disorder.
By the seventh day, the Imperium had taken the spaceport.
Aftermath
The capture of the Hamen Spaceport marked a major strategic victory for the Imperium. Supply lines were shortened, morale lifted, and the Imperium now held a vital staging ground for further operations into the Hive itself. Kutuzov had silenced his detractors—at least for now—with a daring and costly success.
Yet, the price had been steep.
Casualties on both sides numbered in the tens of thousands. Entire companies of the Novgorod Guard were obliterated, and much of the surrounding infrastructure lay in ruins. Worse still, the true capability of the Legion of Eschar had now been revealed—not as mere traitor remnants, but as a true mirror and mockery of the Imperial Guard, capable of matching the Emperor’s soldiers in firepower, organisation, and discipline.
General Kutuzov had forced open the gates to Hamen Hive—but at what cost? As the banners of the Imperium were raised above the smouldering wreck of the spaceport, the old general looked eastward, to the hive city itself—and the even greater trials that lay ahead.
The campaign on Mordecai Primaris was far from over, and it was now clear: the enemy would not be dislodged easily.
No comments:
Post a Comment