Imperial Forces repel Nazghat

With Warlord Nazghat building up massive Ork forces on Danelloth the Imperium had to act. A week after the Orks had landed on the planet the Imperial fleet arrived. The carrier Illustrious escorted the Librian 14th and Librian 12th Grenadiers, some 20,000 men, travelling in two massive troop transports, into the heart of the Danelloth system.

The troops disembarked and made a defensive perimeter around the capital, a group of larger mining facilities clustered around the main spaceport with their attendant commercial districts and hab zones. The city, merely named “Danelloth” by the inhabitants became a fortress.

The Imperial commander in charge was Brigadier Sir Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, who soon found that the Orks seemed unwilling to attack such a fortified position. His army needed to deal with the threat quickly, so he ordered the Librian 12th out to Mining Complex PKS-112 to investigate reports of a large Ork force. He was not disappointed. The Orks, under a dangerous Warlord, possibly one of Nazghat’s closest subordinates, attacked the Librians in the ruins of the old mining complex next to the current facility.

Mines on Danelloth were abandoned to ruin once their ore has run out, so the Orks had plenty of rubble stretching for miles to hide in. The Ork attack was ferocious but the greenskin infantry suffered badly at the hands of the Imperial Hellhounds and Leman Russ, with hundreds burned alive or blown to bits by high explosive shells. Many of their comrades made a run for it away from the battlefield, but the Warlord and his retinue were able to wreak revenge before abandoning the battle, destroying a number of Imperial tanks in close combat.

The victory however was solid enough, and Lethbridge-Stewart was able to report that mining complex PKS-113 had been cleared of Ork infestation. He then reported the actions of the Ork Warlord, who the Dark Angels decided to assassinate. The Dark Angels merely submitted the following short communiqué:

+++Intelligence from Imperial Command falsely indicated that the landing sight chosen for the Danelloth intervention was clear. Soon after disembarking from their Thunderhawks the Dark Angel's perimeter was attacked by massive Ork forces that had been hiding in the nearby ruins. Advanced scouts called in elements of the 1st company the halt the green tide and buy time for Captain Angelus to bring up his forces and strike directly at the Ork Warboss. Casualties were high with many battle brothers slain or crippled. These brothers will be moved into command positions within the fleet and brothers from the10th drafted in to replace them.+++

Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart was irritated in the extreme by the Dark Angels’ comments. He felt in no way responsible for the Dark Angels’ inability to recognise a potential threat. At the time of his report the area had been clear of Orks, it was not his fault they had returned. Even so the Brigadier was far too junior an officer to make any kind of formal complaint.