Mordecai Secundus: Hammers of the Emperor Breakthrough

By late 03.023M42 the forces of chaos were decidedly on the back foot following victories by the Imperial Guard and the ever increasing supplies now reaching the system thanks to the protection of no fewer than four imperial battlegroups in the system. The power of Astralis maintained the chaos logistics but the inactivity or inability of the chaos warfleets to oppose the imperial fleets had ensured that as the armies of general Kutuzov expanded their control over the vital resources of Mordecai Secundus, the gap between the chaos forces reinforcements and those of the Imperium of Mankind continued to widen.

To capitalise on this Kutuzov asked his council of war for new plans for a breakthrough, and the Hammers of the Emperor, having fully recovered from their losses in previous actions offered to decisively break the chaos lines and drive deep into enemy territory, on two fronts simultaneously, in three carefully planned operations.

In the central sector the Hammers drove swiftly west, hoping to take the chaos forts of Parganath just north of the Sarkar Traps, and fort Mekken, guarding the high ground of the Mekken plateau. In the east, a smaller operation would drive the chaos forces out of the Abrax mines once and for all, and in both cases the Imperial Guard would follow up behind and dig into new defences.

The success of these operations would break the chaos forces in the central sector, while shoring up the east front. If the astartes achieved their objectives, the way would be open for a grand offensive over the Mekken plateau and down into the Jurukai mines, all but ensuring victory for the Imperium on Mordecai Secundus.

In all three operations the Hammers quickly overwhelmed the light forces holding the front lines, but were opposed rapidly by elite chaos knight formations that threatened to block the astartes advance and undo the whole operation. At fort Parganath, the astartes faced two blocks of enemy war machines, but were able to utilise their speed and mobility to focus down one flank, then turn their attention to the other. Fort Parganath fell in hours and the Imperial Guard began moving up behind.

On the east front, the marines were also successful, although the battle was far less one sided. The knights took a terrible toll on the marines but were forced to withdraw having lost all but one of their mighty war engines. The sacrifice of many marines was worth it however, as the Abrax mines were retaken and the east front shored up.

Fort Mekken was a different story however. Once again the chaos knights deployed in two supporting echelons, but this time the Hammers were unable to separate them as they supported one another. The fighting bogged down into violent close range melee, and the marines found themselves now surrounded and in desperate straits. The Guard, realising the fort would not fall dug in where they were, in case of a breakthrough, though the Hammers and chaos logistics prevented this from happening. A company of astartes was all but wiped out however, and fort Mekken stayed in chaos hands, stubbornly holding out and preventing any massive imperial breakthrough.

Despite the setback at Mekken, the Imperium had made good, if not spectacular progress, and while the chaos central sector hadn't completely collapsed, fort Mekken was now the last bastion of chaos force preventing the Imperium from driving west in strength.