Kalidar War



The Kalidar War was but one of a series of minor conflicts between the Imperium of Man and its enemies that destabilised the Segmentum Pacificus at the time of the Macharian Crusade. With the Imperium's gaze fixed upon expansion, several key star systems were left severely weakened, one of which was the Kalidar System that was home to the strategic Industrial World of Kalidar in the Chiros Sector.

The conflict began in 395.M41 when an Ork invasion, a dreaded WAAAGH!, fell upon Kalidar. Led by the Warlord Gratzdakka Wur Mekdakka, the Blood Axes klan descended upon the unsuspecting Industrial World. The planetary capital of Hive Meradon quickly fell before the green-skinned invaders and the Orks gained access to Kalidar's most precious resource: the psycho-reactive Lorelei crystals. Under the direction of Gratzdakka's chief advisor and powerful Weirdboy, the Warphead Greeneyes, the Orks begin to amass considerable amounts of Lorelei crystals to power their strange, experimental technology.

Delayed by severe Warp turbulence, Imperial reinforcements took nearly two Terran years to reach their designated warzone. Spear-headed by the Paragonian Regiments of the Astra Militarum, the Imperial assault quickly encountered several setbacks. Having grossly underestimated the tactical abilities of the Orks and the psychic mastery of Greeneyes, the Imperial counterattack suffered from several well-planned ambushes that lead to high casualties. Only once Imperial tacticians became aware of these factors were the Imperial forces able to regain the initiative and ultimately defeat the xenos invaders.

Ork Invasion
"Orks are Orks are Orks, and we're the best in the galaxy! But us, we're the best yet, better than the best of the best. We're Blood Axes, Gorkier than Gork and Morkier than everyone. We are strong and we are smart! We're going to tear you all apart, snick snick! Better than a Goff, and sneakier than a Deathskull. We are strong and deadly, but we are cunning too..."

- Translated message from Warlord Gratzdakka prior to the Kalidar invasion

Imperial historians have struggled to reconstruct the events of the initial Greenskin invasion of Kalidar. Lacking any meaningful orbital defences, Kalidar made for a tempting target, but no Imperial tactician would have dared to predict an attack on the isolated Desert World. To this day, the highest echelons of the Imperium's military regard the Orks as little more than savages -- hulking, greenskinned thieves and pirates drawn to civilised worlds to seize their loot or to experience the military challenge they offer. Yet none of these criteria can be said to apply to Kalidar.

Kalidar was attacked either out of sheer bad luck because it was simply in the path of the WAAAGH!, or it was deliberately chosen as a target by the Orks for the very same reason the Imperium coveted its possession as well--the world's rich deposits of psycho-reactive Lorelei crystals. As the latter motivation would imply that Orks are capable of complex reasoning and able to grasp the very notion of strategic resources, it is often dismissed out of hand by most Imperial Adepts.

Whatever the reason for their arrival, the Orks landed nearly unopposed on Kalidar's southern hemisphere and quickly made for its administrative capital, the Hive City of Hive Meradon. Planetary Governor Lozallio Cann was soon besieged in his own city, but his Astropaths were able to project a distress call before the hive city was overrun. It would seem that instead of pressing their advantage, the Orks chose to linger at Hive Meradon, enslaving the local population of Humans and mutants to work the Lorelei mines and in the workshops of their Mekboyz. This gave the Imperium the opportunity to mount an effective response.

To Break The Stalemate
Recently freed for service by the successful conclusion of the Indranis Campaign, a sizeable Battlegroup of Astra Militarum regiments -- the Dentares Wargroup -- was rerouted to Kalidar following the Ork assault. Having suffered heavy casualties against the Aeldari, the Wargroup was expected to make a stop at the lunar colonies of Paragon from which many of its regiments had been raised.

To further strengthen the Imperial expeditionary force, two new regiments were raised, the 42nd Paragonian Armoured and the 63rd Paragonian Mechanised Infantry Regiments. While both regiments were made up of Paragonian troops, their officers were drawn from regiments depleted by the Dentares Suppression. It is a testimony to the organisational skills of the Departmento Munitorum and the Paragonian authorities under Planetary Commander Gondannick Lo Materiak that the raising of these two regiments did not delay the reinforcement more than a solar week.

Officially renamed Battlegroup Kalidar, the Battlegroup embarked for its scheduled 4 solar month journey to Kalidar. However, severe turbulence in the Warp-turbulence delayed its transit, so that by the time the Imperial reinforcements reached the beleaguered world, 2 Terran years had passed.

Battlegroup Kalidar was a motley collection of hardened veterans and green troops, which despite the harsh training provided by Training Sergeants drawn from the Cadian Shock Troops had yet to see their first battle. While most of the battlegroup's regiments were drawn from Paragon, its command rested with Captain-General Iskhandrian of Atraxia, a seasoned Astra Militarum general who had commanded the Dentares Suppression. The Battlegroup was further complemented by the addition of two regiments of Savlar Chem-Dogs, who were also veterans of the Dentares Suppression.

By 397.M41, when Battlegroup Kalidar finally reached its destination, the situation on the ground had changed. The Orks had tried to break through the subterranean transit network. But the valiant efforts of the local military forces had blocked the Orks' progress, forcing the Greenskins to move their troops above ground where Kalidar's fierce climate could thin their numbers and slow their advance.

Fortunately for Kalidar's defenders, a small detachment of Space Marines from the Black Templars Chapter had also heard the distress signal and responded. The Space Marines' involvement helped to stem the tide of Greenskins, ensuring that no other hive city fell to their assault. However the Orks grew bolder and began to roam far and wide from Hive Kimeradon, besieging several key mining facilities and threatening Hive Modulus.

Fully aware of the difficult conditions his troops would face once on the Desert World's surface, Captain-General Iskhandrian planned for a quick war. The army group would land as close as possible to the enemy, in Hive Modulus, and clear the surrounding parts of the Kalidarian desert before pressing straight for Hive Kimeradon where Imperial intelligence had located the leader of the WAAAGH!, Warlord Gratzdakka.

From the start, the prosecution of the Kalidar War would heavily rely on the quick progress of the battlegroup's armour and mechanised infantry regiments, especially since these formations could be supported by no less than two super-heavy tank companies, the Atraxian 18th and the Paragonian 7th, both of which were at full strength.

The Kostoval Rout
"Enemy line impact in six minutes. Your coming actions honour the dead. Prepare to scour this world free of the Emperor's foe."

- Message from Company Captain Malliant (KIA) to the men of 3rd Company, 42nd Paragonian Armoured Regiment

On 3267.397.M41, three solar days after having set foot on Kalidar, the Imperial troops launched their first counterattack. As some of the battlegroup's regiments where still transitioning planetside, this first engagement was a limited operation involving only the battlegroup's most mobile elements.

Their designated target was the Urta Mine Complex, a heavy-duty refinery for Lorelei crystals harvested in the Kostoval Flats. Located near Hive Modulus, the besieged Urta Mine Complex marked the furthest point of the enemy's advance. For two solar months, the Orks had laid siege to it, fighting running battles -- both on the surface and underground -- with the miners and Imperial troops detached to support them.

With one of Kalidar's fierce sandstorms sweeping in, Captain-General Iskhandrian chose to use the weather to mask the tell-tale dust-clouds of a heavily mechanised advance. The battle plan was simple: advance under cover of the storm and surprise the Ork-held siege lines from two directions at once.

Designated Formations Alpha and Beta, each salient of the Imperial attack was compromised of two full companies of Leman Russ Tanks drawn from the 42nd Paragonian Regiment -- one of the newly raised formations -- as well as embarked infantry from the Atraxian Regiments and the Savlar Chem-Dogs. Each formation would further benefit from the support of the Baneblades and other tanks of the super-heavy tank companies, with the 7th Paragonian part of Formation Beta and the 18th Atraxian allotted to Formation Alpha.

Despite Kalidar's difficult atmospheric conditions which played havoc with the Astra Militarum's long and short-range communications, the Imperial troops were able to keep their formations together while advancing through the sandstorm. Adopting the standard Tactica Imperium formation known as "Solon's Axe," the armoured elements of both formations climbed the last dune separating them from the Ork trenches and launched their attack.

While Formation Alpha plunged deep into the Ork-lines, Formation Beta almost immediately ran into trouble at the southern end of the line. Instead of dug-in bands of Orks trading fire with the beleaguered defenders, they found thousands of Greenskins arrayed in crisp battle lines and shouting their war-chants. Here and there, the greater forms of Deff Dreads and Killa Kans could be seen, hemmed in between mobs of Ork Boyz and eagerly snapping their Power Klaws at the onrushing Imperials. Brightly coloured Battlewagons and other armoured units were also part of the Greenskin horde.

Undeterred by this sight, the Imperial formations rushed on, utilising the lull in the storm for maximum effect. The Leman Russ tanks opened up with their Battle Cannons, quickly joined by the Baneblades and their heavier Mega Battle Cannons. Just as they were to enter effective range with their hull-mounted Heavy Bolters, the sandstorm surged forward, catching up with the Imperial advance.

As visibility degraded, the keen eyes of the commander of the Leman Russ Indomitable Fury, Lieutenant Colaron Artem Lo Bannick, saw how hidden trap doors and blankets were thrown open, Ork Tankbustaz suddenly appearing on the formation's flanks. The Imperial tanks had run into an ambush!

As the first Rokkitz began to take their toll upon the battle tanks, the main horde surged forward. Oblivious to the members of their mobs mowed down by the tanks' Heavy Bolters or crushed beneath the rolling tracks, the Orks launched themselves at the Imperial tanks, climbing on top of their hulls and trying to break in with their Stikkbombz or Tankbusta Bombz.

Even as the Leman Russes churned forward, ploughing through the enemy lines, towering figures soon emerged from the sandstorm, the fat-bellied figures of Ork Stompaz. No less then seven of the Titan-grade walkers were advancing on the Imperial formation, their heavy artillery-pieces taking a serious toll on the Imperial tanks.

The super-heavy tanks of the 7th Paragonian replied in kind, the combined fire of the company's two Baneblades, Mars Triumphant and Artemen Ultrus, causing one of the Stompaz to explode. With casualties increasing, Beta's advance had stalled, whereas Alpha's attack proceeded according to plan. Soon Beta's infantry support was calling for a retreat, leaving the tanks unsupported against the walkers and the infantry.

A general withdrawal was called soon after. The remains of the 42nd Paragonian Armour, now under the command of Lieutenant Bannick, and the yet unscathed 7th Paragonian Super-Heavy covered the retreat. The company's only Shadowsword, Lux Imperator, transformed one more Stompa into molten slag through a well-aimed shot of its Volcano Cannon.

Mars Triumphant and Artemen Ultrus continued to work hand in hand, concentrating their fire on a one-armed Stompa which had lost his gigantic close-combat weapon and was now coming at them, its gatling gun hammering Mars Trumphant’s thick armour plating before it was brought down. With three Stompaz destroyed in short order, doubtlessly intimidated by that display of power, the Orks' enthusiasm to press on was diminished, giving the survivors of Beta's main line time to regroup.

Adopting a single line, the survivors of 2nd and 3rd Company stopped to steady their aim, still shooting at the enemy. On the left, Formation Alpha had diverted their course to aid its overwhelmed counterpart. Herded by 4th and 5th Companies' guns, the Atraxian 18th and Alpha's infantry support cut down the Orks as wheat before the scythe. Ork Nobz tried to gather their Boyz around them and lead a charge, but the fire-discipline of the Astra Militarum ensured that none of these charges succeeded.

As the battle was about to turn in the Imperium's favour, an even larger shape emerged from the bellowing sandstorm. Dwarfing even the Stompaz before it, a gigantic Ork Gargant stepped out of the storm, a palpable sense of malevolence preceding it. Its arms bristling with all kind of weaponry, this Gargant carried two great globes on ridged conducting rods high upon its back, weird energies playing about them and the super-heavy walker's grotesque faceplate.

From the sense of unease that befell the Imperial troops it soon became clear that the gargantuan warmachine carried a psyker within, a powerful Weirdboy, or even one of the dreaded "Warpheadz." Quickly recuperating from the shock of having to face a Titan, Honoured Captain Hannick, the commanding officer of the 7th Paragonian Super-Heavy Company, ordered all his tanks to fire at the monstrosity.

Mars Triumphant, Artemen Ultrus and Hannick's own tank, the Hellhammer Ostrakhan's Rebirth, fired their main weaponry as well as their hull-mounted Demolisher Cannons at the new opponent, but nothing managed to penetrate the defensive shield psychically generated around its ugly form. The Gargant's huge jaw was gradually lowered, a strange cannon protruding from it like an obscene tongue. Following 7th Company's lead, all of the Leman Russ tanks redirected their fire upon the Gargant, their shells vanishing in guts of flame and green lightning as they impacted the Gargant's psychic shield.

With a blinding lightning flash, Lux Imperator unleashed the power of its Titan-killing Volcano Cannon, but even the Shadowsword failed to bring the Gargant's shields down. Weathering the storm, the Gargant deployed its main weapon, its tongue-cannon vomiting a braided spout of green Warp-energy. Everything the green lightning struck vanished, men, Chimeras and Leman Russes alike.

Mars Triumphant was strafed by the blast, lurching to the side as if it had been kicked by a gargantuan monster, half of its systems shorting out. As the more mundane of the Gargant's weapons began to fire, the coordinated retreat soon became a rout, Imperial troops fleeing before the invincible giant slaughtering them.

Where others fled, the 7th Paragonian Super Heavy Tank Company held their ground. With the Gargant's shield inviolable, the super-heavy tanks concentrated their fire on the Gargant's support walkers, felling one more Stompa while the Shadowsword's main cannon -- the Imperials' only true Titan-killing weapon -- recharged. Lux Imperator fired a second time, but still the enemy shield held. Having quite literally drawn the Gargant's malevolent gaze upon itself, the Shadowsword became the next target of the Gargant's tongue-cannon, the green lightning turning sand to glass before hitting Lux Imperator head-on, destroying it in a viridian flash.

With the loss of Lux Imperator, all hopes of victory were lost. Without psykers of their own and unable to contact the Imperial Navy in low orbit to unleash a planetary bombardment, both Imperial formations quickly retreated. A rearguard was assembled to die on the Orks' guns and buy their comrades time to fall back into the protective confines of the storm and escape the Gargant's devastating weaponry.

Six Chimeras and their complement of troops as well as three battered Leman Russ tanks of the 2nd Company of the 42nd Regiment were chosen to make the sacrifice. Loath to expend the lives of good men, Honoured Lieutenant Cortein of the Baneblade Mars Triumphant had his tank retreat slowly with its front facing the enemy, covering the rearguard for as long as he could.

The enemy Titan was focused on trading shots with the remaining super-heavy tank, not paying attention to the doomed troops on its left. Some survivors of the rout joined the rearguard, hoping to escape the hell they had waded into, but the commanding sergeant was adamant that his orders were not to retreat.

Out of the sandstorm emerged a lone figure in the purple uniform of a Paragonian officer: Lieutenant Bannick. Taking control of the rearguard by dint of his rank, Lieutenant Bannick countermanded his superiors' orders, telling the troops under his command to ready for departure. Without further delay, the Lieutenant clambered aboard one of the Leman Russes, and ordered his new squadron to load armour-piercing shells.

The Lieutenant's keen eyes had noticed that the force field that protected the enemy Gargant seemed to be extremely limited. Even in close proximity to the Titan, the Stompa's own shields did not flare up when they should have interacted with those of the Gargant, meaning the larger walker was not protected from interaction with its smaller companion. It was the Lieutenant's hope that by targeting and disabling the smaller walker, the Stompa would collapse onto the Gargant's foot or in its path and cause a collision that would stop the Gargant from pursuing the retreating Imperial formations.

Biding his time, Lieutenant Bannick carefully coordinated his squadron's fire and the las-beams and shells found their mark. As the head of the Stompa exploded, the big walker toppled to the left, its wreckage falling right in front of the Gargant's colossal foot. When the Gargant's armoured skirt caught upon the wreckage of the Stompa, the Ork Titan was unable to move, forcing the murderous walker to stop in its tracks. Pinned fast, the furious Gargant continued to fire its weapons, but to no avail. The retreating Imperials were soon out of reach, and vanished into the billowing clouds of the sandstorm.

Back from the Brink
Although the Ork ambush on the Kostoval Flats had not succeeded in destroying the northern army, the so-called "Kostoval Rout" had cost the battlegroup dearly. The 42nd Paragonian Armoured Regiment had fared the worst, losing no less than 23 main battle tanks in its first engagement. The supporting regiments of mechanised infantry -- both Atraxian and Paragonian -- had fared little better; only the Chem-Dogs had somehow escaped the fate of the other regiments. Even after the battle ended, casualties amongst the Imperial regiments continued to rise as troopers and tankers alike succumbed to their wounds or fell prey to the pernicious and fatal local affliction known as "dustlung."

The Orks were also responsible for the ever-rising body count, ambushing Imperial patrols, booby-trapping salvageable wrecks or conducting hit-and-run attacks with their Speed Freeks. The Greenskins especially targeted the 42nd's Atlas recovery teams, hindering the Imperium's attempt to reclaim their precious warmachines before Gratzdakka's Mekboyz could transform them into Looted Leman Russes, a fate that also awaited the abandoned Lux Imperator.

Even outside the regiments that had suffered casulaties in the rout, morale was low. Feeling himself responsible for the heavy losses of the 42nd Armoured Regiment, Colonel Sholana -- the 42nd's commander -- attempted to hand in his resignation, but General Verkerigen -- the leader of the Paragonian Regiments on Kalidar and commander of the northern battlegroup -- would not have it. He ordered the 42nd Armoured Regiment to remain in the line. To boost the failing morale of the army, the officers sought ways to improve the troops' spirits while Captain-General Iskhandrian revised his plans.

The Fate of Lieutenant Bannick
Imperial propaganda soon found a suitable candidate in Lieutenant Colaron Artem Lo Bannick, a disgraced Paragonian nobleman which had fled before the law by joining the Astra Militarum. The young officer had shown great talents and a keen eye, being the first spotter of the Ork ambush on the Kostoval Flats and the commanding officer of the rear-guard which ultimately prevented the Gargant -- now only referred to as "Greeneyes" because of the emerald arcs of energy being spit by its central cannon -- from pursuing and annihilating the retreating Imperial forces.

While his efforts had doubtlessly contributed to save countless lives, the Lieutenant's actions were also being questioned, as by ordering the rear-guard's own retreat he had countermanded the order of a superior officer, an act that some of the top-brass and the Commissariat wanted to handle as an act of insubordination. Furthermore, during his valiant efforts to save his comrades, the Lieutenant's Rebreather-unit had malfunctioned, in consquence of which Lieutenant Bannick was suffering from dustlung and slowly dying of it.

In that matter, Imperial Command had a stroke of luck. Believing Bannick to be chosen by the Machine Spirit of the Baneblade Mars Triumphant, one of the Adeptus Mechanicus' Techpriests, Enginseer Brasslock, had pulled some strings within his organization to get Lieutenant Bannick the expensive lungwash-treatment he needed to survive. With the Lieutenant's survival now guaranteed, all charges against him were dismissed. Lieutenant Colaron Artem Lo Bannick was given a medal for his courage and transferred to the prestigious 7th Paragonian Super Heavy Company, there to serve on the tank he had helped save: Mars Triumphant.

Breakthrough in the Vorsanii Aridity
With the Orks further conducting the siege of the Urta Mine Complex and creeping ever closer to Hive Modulus, the northern army was at risk of becoming trapped in the Hive City. Imperial scouting parties riding swift Salamander Scout Vehicles had reported that the Greenskins had invested several smaller formerly abandoned mine-complexes in Modulus' immediate vicinity. These were not the teeming multitudes of WAAAGH! Gratzdakka's main line, but rather isolated bands of outriders and light armour, the so-called Speed Freeks. Sensing an opportunity, Captain-General Iskhandrian marked these roaming bands for extermination.

The remaining mechanised elements were reorganized into raiding groups, each one benefiting from the support of one of the operational super heavy tanks. While the tanks and their mobile infantry-support would draw the Orks out for battle, teams of Savlar Chem-Dogs would conduct a subterranean assault, using the mines' own tunnels as a manner of ingress to plant atomantic explosives beneath the Ork-encampments.

It would be during one of these raids that Lieutenant Bannick would again prove his worth. Having been detached by his Tank Commander, Honoured Lieutenant Cortein, to act as additional scout for the raiding group including Mars Triumphant, Bannick would lead his Salamander into the thick of the firefight, reach the Ork encampment safely, liberate human prisoners and evacuate the zone before the atomantic mine destroyed it.

This series of small victories and Bannick's rescue of the captured soldiers were the morale boost High Command so desperately needed. Over two weeks of raids, the Orks were forced to retreat to the inner deserts, abandoning all pretense to lay siege to Hive Modulus. In a rare display of strategic awareness, the Blood Axes lifted the siege of the Urta Mine Complex, the risk of being outflanked by the forces of the Imperium becoming too great. The unified front the Orks had presented during the first Imperial counter-attack had fragmented and the smaller bands of greenskins proved no match for the coordinated Imperial troops. Two more of the Stompaz were brought down in a series of running battles and with still no sign of the dreaded Gargant, the northern army seemed on the cusp of victory.

Decapitation Strike
With the northern army advancing into the area of the Kalidarian desert known as the Macaree's Tablelands, General Iskhandrian called for a halt. To further improve on the army's morale, a banquet was to be held on board of Iskhandrian's lavishly furnished Command Leviathan, the Magnificence to which all officers of importance were conveyed. The invitation also included the tank commanders of the 7th Paragonian Super Heavy Company and the heroic Lieutenant Bannick.

At the banquet's opening, Captain-General Iskhandrian re-decorated Lieutenant Bannick with his medal and gifted him with a finely crafted blade. Intended as a gesture of respect, Bannick soon cursed the sword as it tangled with the legs of his chair every time he had to stand up to salute a superior officer. Being a mere Lieutenant, this meant that almost every one present at the table outranked Bannick. Fortunately there were also a few exceptions: the Astropath Prime, Mastraen, and his two cymonculous aides, Maldon and Logan, the battlegroup's senior Navigator, High Chaplain Moktarn of the Ecclesiarchy and the army's two Primaris Psykers. Two Magii of the Martian Mechanicus were also present, completing the group of senior commanders of every regiment fighting on Kalidar.

Source
[[Category:K]]
 * Baneblade (Novel) by Guy Haley