Mordecai: Imperium retake Fort Diligence

Following the establishment of a front line at Abrax lake on Mordecai Secundus, the next logical step for Kutuzov was to retake the ruined complex of Fort Diligence. Standing on a vital strip of hardened basalt between multiple lava lakes, the complex was vital to the taking of the Abrax mines, and no meaningful assault on the mining area could take place until it had been secured. Unfortunately for the Imperium the move on Diligence was also obvious to the chaos forces, and the Emerald Serpent had already moved strong forces to its location. Worse, since the loss of the Nexus Arrangement, the Emerald Serpent was once again being directly influenced by Magnus the Red himself, as he used the power of Astralis to project manifestations of himself in multiple locations, heading up armies across the subsector. Kutuzov expected such a manifestation at Fort Diligence, and he was not disappointed.

Mass artillery fire signalled the start of the Novgorod infantry assault across the barren plains in front of the fortification complex, as shells rained down on the chaos positions for several hours. As the barrage rose to a crescendo, the powers of the warp launched a daemonic strike on the imperial batteries, but by then the Novogorod had already begun their relentless advance. On the left flank the Novgorod easily dealt with the lesser daemons and cultists opposing them, but on the right, larger daemonic warp entities stalled the infantry advance. The artillery kept firing however, frustrating Magnus and forcing him to move personally against them. This however left his own forces without his aid as the grinding infantry advance of the imperial fguard slowly began to crumble the resistance on their right. Eventually, slowly, the daemons were brought down, leaving Magnus alone and unsupported against the imperial army.

The daemon primarch, frustrated once more fled back to his daemon hold on Astralis, with its portal to the Planet of the Sorcerers. Without the Emerald Serpent daemonic entities to lead them, the remaining cultist army was easily brushed aside by superior imperial guard forces, and by 1612.020M42 Fort Diligence was once more in Imperial hands. General Kutuzov began once more planning the assault on the Abrax mining complex.