Adeptus Sororitas retake Burroneus

Following the decisive fleet battle in the space around Mordecai Secundus, supplies began to arrive on the surface within weeks, allowing Kutuzov to shore up his defences especially around the chaos salient that now existed with Festergax at its head. Soon, Kutuzov would go on the offensive, and the forces of chaos were very aware of this fact. Imperial intelligence picked up significant troop movements into the Festergax salient, and it was clear the Emerald Serpent believed this city, that had changed hands numerous times, would be the initial target of the Imperium's new offensive.

Knowing this, Kutuzov met with his generals and decided that Festergax would certainly not be the first priority. It was a key strategic position, but the troop movements made this an unpalletable first target for the renewed armies of the Imperium. Instead, Kutusov asked for options, and the Sisters of Battle proposed their own plan in the south to take one of the twin cities. Burroneus and Ur'Ghar stood like guardians of the southern passage between the Sarkar Traps and the Kuneus lava sea, acting as a bottleneck and keeping the imperial forces bottled up in the Sathugar plains. A strike here would hit the chaos forces while they were off balance, and potentially unlock the opportunity for a breakthrough to the south.

Kutuzov agreed to the plan and the Adeptus Sororitas charged the city of Burroneus on 1508.022M42, facing weaker opposition as the Death Guard had pulled back to Ur'Ghar. The Emerald Serpent quickly responded, using Astralis to redeploy rapidly, and a violent battle erupted on the narrow isthmus between Nazugral and the twin southern cities. In the centre the Sisters pushed their infantry supported by Immolators with dominions skirmishing on the flanks. It appeared the traitor forces underestimated the infantry push, as their terminators arrived not in the centre, but elsewhere to deal with the skirmishing forces, allowing the Sororitas infantry to push forward relatively unmolested. Eventually the Repentia squads moved into range to be able to unleash a devastating charge, overrunning the chaos centre and unhinging the defence of Burroneus. The city fell, and the Thousand Sons legion found their control of the warp severely hampered by the unshakeable faith of the Sisters of Battle. Frustrated, the Emerald Serpent withdrew to Ur'Ghar, leading to the recapture by the Imperium of the entire Sarkar Isthmus in the process.

Meanwhile the Iron Warriors were clashing with the Adeptus Mechanicus on the flanks of the Festergax Salient. Here the forces of chaos were launching continual skirmishes in order, they thought, to disrupt the Imperial major offensive. In actual fact, Kutuzov had no intention to launch an offensive here, but the spoiling attacks by the Iron Warriors were not particularly successful in any case. Both sides engaged in close quarter fighting, with stubborn resolve, but neither side were able to deal any real damage to one another.