Siege of Hydra Cordatus
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This article is about the M41-era battle; for the Horus Heresy-era battle, see First Siege of Hydra Cordatus. |
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The Siege of Hydra Cordatus took place in late M41, when a Grand Company of the Iron Warriors Chaos Space Marines besieged the Imperial fortress on the Forge World of Hydra Cordatus. The Iron Warriors had been ordered to take the fortress by Abaddon the Despoiler, seeking to recover the hidden store of Imperial Fists' gene-seed inside the fortress, as part of his plans for the impending 13th Black Crusade.[1] Under the overall command of The Warsmith, the primary Chaos commanders during the siege were Forrix, Honsou, and Kroeger.[2]
Though the better known siege of the planet, the M41 battle was actually the second Iron Warriors attack on the planet. The First Siege of Hydra Cordatus took place 10,000 years earlier during the Horus Heresy.
Overview
The battle commenced when the Iron Warriors Battle Barge Stonebreaker arrived in-system and unleashed a devastating orbital bombardment on Jericho Falls, Hydra Cordatus' primary spaceport. Utilizing Magma Bombs to destroy the spaceports Torpedo silos and anti-ship gun batteries, the traitors experienced little return fire. Using saboteurs which targeted the Imperial Astropaths, the Iron Warriors ensured that their approach to Hydra Cordatus went undetected.[1a] Following the bombardment, a Drop Pod assault was launched led by Honsou and Kroeger, landing large numbers of Chaos Space Marines which quickly cleared the Spaceport of any surviving defenders.[1b]
After establishing a bridgehead to ferry down vehicles and siege equipment, the Iron Warriors then struck towards the fortress-city of Tor Christo. Moving to besiege the fortress, the Iron Warriors dug a trench network in their approach just outside the range of Tor Christo's defensive guns. These were then branched into zigzagging "saps" to move closer and closer to the fortress walls, utilizing Lost and the Damned fodder and captured slaves to absorb Imperial fire along the way.[1c] Meanwhile, the Iron Warriors were able to set up their own artillery batteries to bombard the fortress, destroying its own guns and weakening its walls. Attacks led by Forrix and Honsou were able to overrun the fortress.[1d] However just as the fortress was about to fall, the lone Guardsman Julius Hawke was able to detonate a Torpedo, destroying Tor Christo and devastating the Iron Warriors trench network.[1e]
Despite this setback, the main citadel of Hydra Cordatus was cleared thanks to the destruction of Tor Christo. The Iron Warriors were still able to quickly recover and began digging a third trench network towards Hydra Cordatus, though the effort was slowed due to the loss of much of their artillery. The Iron Warriors dug mines to try and approach the walls, though they were met by counter-mines by the recently arrived Imperial Fists under Captain Alaric Eshara. Forrix was able to lead a subterranean counterattack, pushing back the Fists and detonating explosives to bring down the curtain wall around Hydra Cordatus.[1f] With a breach in the fortress formed, the Iron Warriors launched waves of captured Imperial Guard as fodder to clear minefields and fill ditches with their corpses. The Iron Warriors then used Vindicators to unleash a devastating point-blank bombardment that shattered the defensive positions around the breach, and Honsou led a storming assault which captured Primus Ravelin Bastion. Simultaneously, the hulking Armoured Daemon that had now replaced Kroeger led an assault on Mori Bastion, butchering large numbers of Imperial Fists including Librarian Corwin before vanishing into a Warp Rift.[1g]
It was at this moment that the Imperials unleashed their final trump card: A maniple of Titans from the Legio Ignatum. Its numbers included three Warlords, five Reavers, and four Warhounds led by Princeps Fierarch. The devastating power of the Titans stopped Forrix's advance, and while the former Iron Warriors First Captain was able to bring down a Warhound Titan he was killed by another shortly after. The Iron Warriors were only able to turn the tide with a Titan of their own: the corrupted Legio Mortis Imperator Titan Dies Irae. The Dies Irae was able to annihilate most of the Legio Ignatum maniple before Princeps Daekian of the Warlord Titan Honoris Causa sacrificed itself to bring down the Imperator. The catastrophic explosion ripped an even larger breach in Hydra Cordatus' citadel walls, and the Imperial line finally began to collapse.[1h]
The Warsmith himself, now swelling with Daemonic power from his imminent ascension, arrived at the citadel to lead the final charge alongside Honsou. The surviving Imperial Fists under Captain Eshara led a desperate last stand, buying enough time for Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Leonid to retreat into the gene-seed vault beneath the fortress. Inside, Leonid and the last survivors attempted to destroy the gene-seed stocks to deny them to the Iron Warriors, but were killed by an attack led by Honsou. As the Iron Warriors stormed the lab, the Warsmith consumed the gene-seed of Captain Eshara to complete his transformation into a Daemon Prince. Now ascended, The Warsmith abandoned his forces and journeyed into the Warp.[1i]
Aftermath
With The Warsmith gone, his chosen successor, Honsou, led the remnants of the Grand Company back to Medrengard, where the greater share of the captured gene-seed was delivered to Abaddon. Meanwhile, the Adeptus Mechanicus arrived shortly after to obliterate Hydra Cordatus from orbit and erase all trace of the battle.[1j] However, Honsou kept a share for his own use, which provoked war with The Warsmith's former allies, Toramino and Berossus, with whom Honsou refused to share his spoils.[2]
The Imperial Fists 3rd Company was slain to a main during the battle, and had to be rebuilt under Captain Garadon.[3]
Sources
- 1: Storm of Iron (Novel) by Graham McNeill,
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- 2: Dead Sky, Black Sun (Novel) by Graham McNeill, Prologue
- 3: Sentinels of Terra - The 3rd Company's Triumphs
