Scourging of Kerrack

This is a new article. Content is still being added by its inceptor: Silberstich. PLEASE DO NOT MAKE ANY EDITS WHILE THIS SIGN IS STILL UP!

Scourging of Kerrack
Attacker(s)	Charnel Cults, Slaughterkin, Secessionist Kerrack Planetary Defence Forces
Defender(s)	Kerrack Planetary Defence Forces, Star Phantoms
Attacking Commander(s)	Mahaur the Harvester
Defending Commander(s)	Planetary Governor Vortigern Strick (KIA), Colonel Mortemar, Captain Calphax
Date	932.M41
Scale	Planetary Invasion
Theatre	Kerrack, Varsavus Sector, Ultima Segmentum
Strength (attackers)	Unknown
Strength (defenders)	Three regiments of the Astra Militarum (Imperial Guard), twenty squadrons of the Imperial Navy, 5th Company of the Star Phantoms
Casualties (attackers)	Estimated to be in the thousands
Casualties (defenders)	Unknown
Status	Imperial victory
Outcome	Imperial control maintained on Kerrack, enemy Chaos Champion slain

The Scourging of Kerrack was an Imperial campaign conducted on the Agri-world of Kerrack to rid it of the Chaos taint that had befallen it. What started as a mere workers' riot soon evolved into a planetary insurrection. Led by one of the dreaded Chaos Space Marines, Mahaur the Harvester, the Chaos Cultists of the Charnel Cults almost succeeded in vanquishing the Imperial defenders and seizing the weapons stockpile established by the Adeptus Administratum. Fortunately for the Imperium, the arrival of unexpected reinforcements in the form of the 5th Company of the Star Phantoms Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes helped to turn the tide and secure victory for the servants of the Emperor. In recent years, the Scourging of Kerrack has increasingly become required reading for Imperial tacticians and military officers because of the paramount importance air power played in the successful outcome of the conflict.

The Roots of Heresy

"The enemies of the Emperor will show us no mercy. We intend to extend to them the same courtesy!"

— Group Captain Ardas Quinn, Kerrack Tactical Air Command

Kerrack is a peculiar world where life has always been harsh. The planet is dominated by a single large continent where the human population has naturally concentrated. This vast continent harbours Kerrack's single and most valuable resource: the great forests of mighty Cholam trees, some of them towering more than 200 Terran feet in height. Cholam roots only grow in humid environments, which means that beneath the canopy much of Kerrack's continent resembles a gigantic swamp. Although filtered through ancient technological artefacts that likely predate the birth of the Imperium, the water used to irrigate these forests is highly toxic. The Imperial presence on Kerrack is concentrated in a few factory-cities located on the shorelines. The harvested Cholam roots are processed there into a barely palatable but nutrient-rich grey gruel, before they are shipped to Kerrack's single spaceport at Ven Nys and then on to the overpopulated Hive Worlds across the Imperium and to support the Astra Militarum regiments engaged in the Karthago Crusades.

Since its establishment as an Imperial Agri-world, Kerrack's native population has deliberately been kept in a state of servitude and held to a lower technological standard than that of the wider Imperium. Organised in great family-groups, the men and women of the so-called Harvester Clans have toiled under the stern gaze of their Imperial overseers, hacking at the tough, fibrous roots of the Cholam trees. So thick were these forests that only travel on foot was possible, thus severely hindering quick transport of goods and personnel on Kerrack. Clansmen riots and insurrections were few and far between, though not unheard of. So in 926.M41, when the first clansmen rose against the Imperium, none could have foreseen the dramatic turn that events would take.

Upon learning of the first uprisings, Kerrack's Planetary Governor Vortgern Strick immediately ordered the Planetary Defence Forces to mobilise. His intent was to quickly smash the riots, but like a brush-fire, these revolts spread quickly, including amongst the PDF. All across the northern shore of the continent, from Algrist in the west to the Ven Nys spaceport in the east, all of the Imperial settlements came under attack, be it from the great mobs of Harvester Clans, now openly declaring themselves the "Charnel Cult," or insurrectionist elements of the Kerrack PDF. At the planetary capital of Calder's Ark, Governor Strick quickly found himself besieged in his own palace. Fortunately for the Governor, a sizable Astra Militarum garrison had been stationed at Calnix Island, to defend the Adeptus Administratum-controlled weapons and munition depot. There on "Fortress Calnix," Colonel Mortemar and his three thousand Cadian Shock Troops readied themselves for their decisive counterattack.

For the Imperial defenders, things looked grim. Colonel Mortemar knew that the enemy heavily outnumbered him. If he was caught in the open, his troops would be quickly annihilated. Secondly, the Cadians were only able to field about two hundred aircraft, not enough to deploy the Cadian forces as one, which would mean that his already meagre fighting force would need to be further divided to allow them to reach the designated battlefield. Furthermore, such large landings could only be conducted in the great factory-cities, most of which had already fallen to the enemy. A direct assault on Calder's Ark was deemed too risky, and so Colonel Mortemar settled for the capture of Algrist, the nearest settlement from which he could strike at the capital, break the siege of the Governor's palace and rally enough loyal troops to finally put down the rebellion.

In disciplined ranks and files, the brave Cadians boarded what Valkyries were available. A first group would storm the city, dig in and hold out against the enemy until a second wave of Loyalist troops could be ferried from Calnix Island. To improve the chances of the first assault wave, it would be supported by what aircraft the base could muster to serve as both air defence fighters and tactical air support. While Mortemar's strategy was sound, on the ground and in the air, things looked far more complicated.

First was the nature of the terrain. Like many provincial cities within the Imperium, Algrist was no grand planetary capital with wide avenues, grand plazas and elegant official buildings: it was an industrial town at the heart of a dense forest. Algrist's streets were narrow and its skyline dominated by the great bulk of the processing factories and worker habs which would take many hours of fierce street-to-street fighting to seize. The height of the Cholam trees -- some of which can grow to a height of more than 200 Imperial feet -- also meant that any approaching aircraft could not use the natural terrain to hide from the city's air defences, which would presumably be well manned by the Charnel Cult. Capturing Algrist would make for a dire prospect indeed.

To make things worse, as soon as the Imperial counterattack was launched, it ran into the enemy. Before even reaching their designated target, the Lightning Strike Fighters of Leonid Squadron who served as the spear-tip of the Imperial attack encountered unexpected enemies: defiled Thunderbolts of the Charnel Cult, formerly belonging to Kerrack's Planetary Defence Forces. Heavily loaded with bombs, as their prime target had been Algrist's anti-air guns, the normally nimble Lightnings made for easy targets. Intercepted while still over the Calnix Channel, a fierce dogfight erupted from which the Imperial fighters ultimately emerged victorious, but several of their numbers had been damaged or been forced to drop their payload into the sea and thus needed to return to base. The depleted first wave continued their attack, approaching Algrist from the sea. The Lightning pilots valiantly dropped to a dangerously low altitude, using the city's drainage trenches and channels as approach vectors to find their target. This allowed the Imperial pilots to close with their target while limiting their exposure to enemy fire, but also required the pilots to level out at the last possible moment, only narrowly avoiding crashing into the city's towering nutrient processing facilities. One pilot miscalculated his approach, pulled up too late and crashed at full speed into the city's ferrocrete flood walls. Forewarned of their approach, the Lightnings were welcomed by Autocannon and Manticore-platforms that spit fire from the ground.

Having been delayed by their unexpected skirmish above the Calnix Channel, the Imperial aircraft were still dealing with Algrist's air defences while the first wave of Mortemar's troop were inbound, further crowding the airspace. The Thunderbolts that made up the first wave's fighter escort soon gained altitude to engage their Renegade counterparts, while the infantry-laden Valkyries sped on. The heavier Vulture gunships outpaced the vulnerable transports, attacking the buildings surrounding the landing zones to keep the enemy occupied or being occasionally called in to destroy an enemy position previously missed by the Lightnings of Leonid Squadron. With typical diligence and the routine born of many battles, the Cadians rappelled down their transports' lines and immediately rushed into buildings, clearing out the enemy to secure a proper beachhead. Fierce firefights and heavy fighting erupted in the city's eastern quarters.

Under the watchful eyes of their escorts, as soon as they had off-loaded their human cargo, the Valkyries turned around and raced back to Calnix Island where the second wave of Imperial troops already waited to be ferried to the mainland. The Lightnings and Vultures remained on station, the Cadians ordering precision strikes wherever the enemy's resistance was too tough to break, but their fuel was limited and soon would need to pull back to resupply. The enemy would doubtlessly counterattack once the Imperial air support was forced to quit the battlefield, so the Cadians did not heedlessly rush in, but instead fortified their landing zones as best they could, waiting for the arrival of their reinforcements to properly take control of the city. As predicted, the Charnel Cult launched themselves at the Imperial attackers with great savagery, but the Cadians held their positions until the arrival of the refuelled Valkyries and Thunderbolts heralded the cultists' defeat. By the end of the day, Algrist was again in Imperial hands.

The Fall of Calder's Ark

The reconquest of Algrist marked the first Imperial victory in the Scourging of Kerrack campaign. The Cadians had secured a valuable foothold on the mainland, yet unknown to Colonel Mortemar and his command staff, events were in motion that would strip this victory of its meaning. Unknown to the seasoned colonel, a voidship was approaching Kerrack, a vessel carrying no other than Mahaur the Harvester and his Chaos Space Marines warband known as the Slaughterkin. Only a few solar hours after the fighting had ebbed in Algrist, Mahaur's vessel reached orbit and stationed itself above the planetary capital of Calder's Ark. Rather than bombard the capital from orbit, Mahaur unleashed the Slaughterkin's own aerial might, as scores of Hell Talons and Hell Blades descended like vultures upon a carcass. Heedless of the losses they might inflict on their allies in the Charnel Cult, the Slaugherkin ravaged Calder's Ark, carpet-bombing all its districts save for the Governor's Palace -- for Mahaur intended to seize it to use as his own base of operations. The Slaughterkin rejoiced in the carnage they wrought as entire units of loyal PDF were annihilated from the air. The survivors of these bombardments were often in such poor shape that they preferred to go into hiding or to desert rather than face their true enemy.

When all but the Governor's Palace lay in ruins, the Slaughterkin landed their own troops on Kerrack, their Chaos Space Marine general at their head. Such was the frenzy Mahaur instilled in his troops that in less than an hour of fighting the Slaughterkin took the Governor's Palace, slaughtering what remained of the governor's loyal bodyguard befor leading their lord to the palace's throne room, where the Chaos Cultists had cornered the rightful ruler of Kerrack, Imperial Governor Vortigern Strick. To his credit, the captured Imperial Governor did not cover or plead for his life as Mahaur the Harvester strangled him with the elaborate gold chain that denoted his office. Vortigern Strick's death marked the end of Imperial resistance within the planetary capital and its surroundings. Henceforth the Cadians would need to fight alone.

While the Harvester now ruled in the city of Calder's Ark, the Charnel Cult gradually took control of Kerrack's other cities, the Imperial defenders disheartened by the quick fall of the capital and their commander's subsequent death. Under Mahaur's direction, the arcane technologies regulating and purging the waters of Kerrack's swamps and seas were tampered with. The great filtration towers began to increase the water's toxicity levels rather than diminishing it. This perversion began to poison the surrounding land as huge regions of forest began to wither and die. Even the sturdy Cholam trees were overcome by the toxic sludge that now bathed their roots, heralding the food shortages to come for many other nearby worlds of the Imperium should Kerrack fall. Knowing he had only a short respite, Colonel Mortemar carefully reconsidered his position. While Algrist had been captured, the death of Vortigern Strick and the remaining Loyalist PDF meant that his prime objective had been denied. The enemy had been considerably reinforced and by taking Algrist, the remaining Imperials were much closer to the enemy's main force than before. Only the township of Rorth stood between Mortemar and the Harvester, and that town would also soon fall.

In truth, only two options remained: reinforce Algrist and try to hold out against the crushing numbers of the Charnel Cult and the Slaughterkin, or fall back to Calnix Island where the terrain heavily favoured the defenders. So with a heavy heart, Colonel Mortemar ordered his troops to evacuate Algrist. The unending air-ballet began anew as disciplined files of Cadian Shock Troops boarded their Valkyries to leave the city they had fought so hard to conquer. Again, the Cadians' lack of transport would hinder them greatly: the enemy was already on its way, force-marching through the swamps and forests, closing on Algrist. The evacuation had barely begun when the first enemy units were spotted by the perimeter guards.

Using their own flyers to converge quickly on Algrist, the Slaughterkin led a sizeable continent of renegade PDF to attack the retreating Imperial Guardsmen. With the same savagery as at Calder's Ark, the Slaughterkin broke through the exterior positions, but the discipline and tenacity of the Cadians slowed their progress into the heart of the city. Colonel Mortemar soon realized that he would not be able to secure safe transport for all his troops, even now Thunderbolts were struggling to keep the Valkyries safe from squadrons of marauding Hell Blades. Reluctantly, Colonel Mortemar designated those companies and platoons that would act as rear-guard for their comrades before boarding a transport himself. He had effectually condemned hundreds of his men to die, but such were the hard laws of war. Despite knowing they were doomed, the Cadian rearguard acquitted themselves well, buying enough time so that all transports - some overladen with troops and wounded - could take off. For an entire afternoon, the Imperial rearguard slowed down the hordes of the Slaughterkin and the Charnel Cult that had begun to swarm the city. The situation changed around nightfall, the defenders being quickly overwhelmed. Those that were lucky enough to die in the fighting were spared the bloody rituals and sacrifices the Charnel Cult conducted around the large bonfires they had lit.

Attack on Fortress Calnix

Strategically speaking, Colonel Mortemar's decision to fall back from Algrist was a sound one, for Caalnix Island - or "Fortress Calnix" as it was locally known - offered many advantages. First of all, its situation as an island would meant that the enemy would have to conduct either an airborne or an amphibious assault, both type of operations requiring much in the way of planning and logistical support. Furthermore, for generations Calnix Island had been the main military base of the Imperium on Kerrack, which meant that it had been well fortified. These fortifications included hard-built artillery redoubts with pre-sighted guns that were in perfect working condition. Rigorous fire drills had transformed the eastern part of the island in a moonlike landscape of craters and loose rubble, a landscape that would heavily favour the defenders. Calnix Island also harboured the principal airfields of the Kerrack Air Command and the twenty full-strength squadrons under its orders. These squadrons ranged from light Lightnings to the far heavier Marauder Destroyers and would enable Mortemar to coordinate both air support and air cover. Lastly, the island also harbouredAdministratum-led munition plants and weapons reserve, the proverbial armoury which would ensure that the Cadians would go down guns blazing. These impressive defences would have deterred most conventional attackers, but the deluded worshippers of Chaos were not impressed at all and sought to capitalize on their advantage and almost immediately attacked the last Imperial stronghold on Kerrack.

For the massed ranks of the Charnel Cult, the frothing and steaming chem-seas around Calnix Island formed an impenetrable barrier, and so the first attackers of Forteress Calnix would come from the Harvester's own warband, the Slaughterkin. Powering on their screaming daemonically infused engines, the bat-like silhouettes of Hell Talons -baroque shells of fighter crafts forged by the Dark Mechanicus within the Maelstrom - powered over the Calnix Channel, intend of wreaking havoc on the last Imperials on Kerrack. They were resolutely met by the Thunderbolts and Lightnings of the Kerrack Air Command. These first overzealous incursors were rapidly shot down, but the situation in the air soon changed. Loathe to waste their own fighting strength, the Slaughterkin gathered what renegade fighters they could and threw them into the fight. Thanks to these renegade pilots and their Imperial-issued material, the attackers could hold the advantage of numbers and hope to wear down the Imperial squadrons. Soon, the unmistakable drone of Thunderbolts flights launching could be heard from both ends of the Calnix Channel, Imperial machines rushing to meet defiled fighters whose Imperial sigils and defence force markings had crudely been defiled or obscured by blood-painted sigils in the dark language of Chaos. As once Imperial fighter-pilots fought those they had called brothers mere days before, the Slauhterkin's Hell Talons and Hell Blades mostly held back, revelling at the fratricidal carnage that unfolded beneath them before picking of the wounded, for the Blood God cared little for whose blood flows as long as the bloodshed continues.

While the fighting raged in the air, on the ground Colonel Mortemar knew that the raging air offered at best a short respite before the inevitable ground attack of the Harvester's forces. Therefor the Imperial defenders had set to expand and strengthen the already impressive fortification network on Calnix Island. This did not escape the watchful if bloodshot eyes of the Slaughterkin-pilots, which sought to disturb the Cadians' efforts. Brightly coloured Slaughterkin Hell Talons fighter-bombers launched several bombing runs, targeting bunkers, gun emplacements and newly dug trenches. Fortunately for the defenders, the Slaughterkin's bloodlust was up and presented with a far more tempting target than mere earthworks, they could seldom resist. Kerrack Air Command soon learned how to use isolated Lightning fighters as bait, the Hell Talons often breaking off their bombing run to engage the loyal fighter, screaming incoherent insults and challenges over open vox channels while racing toward their new target. Using his fighter greater speed, the Lightning pilot would then lead his pursuer right into the concentrated fire of a Hydra Flak Tank or in the path of hidden Imperial fighters attacking from above. If these attacks failed to disrupt the Cadians effort, they nevertheless succeeded in inflicting some damage.

Sources

• Imperial Armour Aeronautica, pp. 76-84
• Imperial Armour Volume Thirteen - War Machines of the Lost and the Damned, pg. 25