Cadian 117th After Action Reports

Lachesis

Raid on Sitalayi

Report ID: ERI-GRA-LAC-117A-0001
Reporting Officer: Capt. Founder
Report:

Upon initial deployment to Lachesis, the 117th was assigned to the defence of the psychic training facility Sitalayi, also known as the “Tower of Focus”, in the region of Haeka. A Company, with attached elements from the 53rd Armoured was billeted alongside elements of the 31st Nightfall Ranger Regiment.

We first became aware of an assault upon the barracks when Heretic Astartes appeared out of the snow from the north. The sentries covering that sector, or remains thereof, have not been found, so it is unknown how the archenemy were able to eliminate them without tripping an alarm.

I fired off the emergency flare and prepared to buy time. I ordered the Ogryn detachment from the Eridani Irregular Infantry Regiment to assault the right flank, and they engaged a group of large horribly mutated Heretic Astartes, as well as a unit of jump pack equipped assault troopers. I have no doubt that without their efforts we would have been quickly overrun and defeated. I would like to posthumously recommend Sergeant Drok for whatever commendation or posthumous promotion may be applicable to an Abhuman.

Meanwhile, myself and Commissar Valden attached to the Nightfallers help the line with what forces we had; a few squads from 2 Platoon, a mortar team and some Nightfall snipers. We took heavy casualties and we forced back to the tree line. Commissar Valden personally saved my life when I was assaulted by a gigantic mutated Heretic Astartes.

Through stubborn resistance and great sacrifice, we bought time for relief to arrive. Lieutenant Raan of the Nightfall 31st with several of his squads and IFVs, as well as Captain Wulfe of the 53rd Armoured in his Leman Russ Executioner ‘Kasr Petros’ arrived and turned the tide.

The Heretic Astartes livery was deep red with silver trim. They were covered in various markings that Commissar Valden has ordered the men not to look at directly, however it has been noted that a common recurrent symbol on the shoulder pad appeared to be a flaming skull on a white or cream coloured rectangle.

Regimental Command Notes:

• Heretic Astartes tentatively identified as Word Bearers.
• Contrary to Capt Founder’s report, Abhuman Sergeant Drok was eventually found to be alive, albeit wounded.

Red Corsair Raid

Report ID: ERI-GRA-LAC-117A-0002
Reporting Officer: Capt. Founder
Report:

Having been rotated out of Sitalayi for some lighter duties, we responded to a distress call from the town of Ursev in the Miduma Province. Along with the Nightfall 31st, whom we have become quite comfortable working with, we responded with a mechanised force.

Initially we mistook the Heretic Astartes raiders for Word Bearers as before, but their armour was not just red but red and black in a jumbled mismatch.

Our forces clashed towards the south eastern end of the town. Once again I used the Ogryns to tie up the enemies close quarters troops, whilst on the left flank the Nightfaller snipers dualled with some heavily armed Astartes occupying a building by a landing pad. I led 3rd squad of 2nd platoon around the right flank to rescue some civilians.

With the Ogryns blocking their advance, we were able to hold them up until, once again, Lieutenant Raan and Captain Wulfe arrived. We were able to secure the town and the Heretic Astartes pulled back. It seems that unlike the previous group, these acted more like raiders than fanatical warriors.

I think we’ve finally managed to teach Sergeant Drok the point of holding key objectives, rather than just charging into the fray. This should prove useful.

I must also report that after the battle several soldiers purchased foodstuffs from a local vendor, and subsequently fell ill. If I find out who it was I’m likely to have them arrested for disabling Imperial soldiers in a time of war.

Regimental Command Notes:

• Whilst Capt Founder does not mention it himself, his heroic actions in this battle were reported separately by both Lieutenant Raan and Captain Wulfe and he has been awarded the Star of Terra.
• Heretic Astartes identified as Red Corsairs.

Defence of the Power Plant of the Tower of Focus

Report ID: ERI-GRA-LAC-117A-0003
Reporting Officer: Capt. Founder
Report:

We have been rotated back to Haeka. Whilst the Nightfallers have returned to the Tower of Focus itself, Battlegroup 86 has been stationed at key facilities in the region. It is good to once again have the Knights of House Ulfir towering over us. A Company, alongside elements of the 53rd and several Knights were positioned to defend the power plant.

On the third day of deployment the advanced scouts warned of an incoming attack from the black and red Heretic Astartes. An armoured assault accompanied by outriders on bikes and heretical warmachines.

On the right flank 2 platoon resisted the outriders, with support from the Leman Russ Kasr Bastos and assistanc from the Knight Vapnburtha. It took overwhelming firepower to achieve it, but the advance was stopped and with it the ability for the enemy to break our flank and roll up our defensive lines.

The centre was mainly held by Yarl Rúna herself, in her mighty Knight Striiguth. She personally smashed the enemy’s spearhead Land Raider and slew the Terminator elite within, whilst the Ogryns (who have become bizarrely protect of Striiguth) charged in on her flank along with the Knight Sverthsegg to wipe out the nearby infantry who might swarm her.

The battle was fairly conclusively ended when the enemy leader assaulted Striiguth in hand to hand combat. Unlike previous encounters with the Orks, where a particular Ork leader in black armour has seemed disturbingly resilient to Striiguth’s might, this fight ended quickly and without and surprises.

With the outriders repulsed, the spearhead broken and the leader defeated, the enemy faded away. Conscious of my orders to defend the power plant, and the enemies' proven ability to get past our sentires, we did not chase them very far and returned to our lines in good order.

The Desecration of Hope Swell

Report ID: ERI-GRA-LAC-117A-0004
Reporting Officer: Capt. Founder
Report:

2 Platoon, with armoured support, were dispatched to respond to distress calls in the nearby town of Hope Swell in the Haeka province. We found a local priest trying to escape on an Arvus Lighter who explained that they were performing some dark ritual on the statue in the town square.

The enemy took a proactive defence, assaulting us with horrifically mutated Astartes. We took high casualties and Kasr Petros was badly damaged, but the Ogryns once again turned the tide and we were able to push armour into the town and drive out the enemy who were mostly infantry.

The priest assured us that the ritual was not completed, but that several shrines had been desecrated and would take some time to purify.

Regimental Command Notes:

• Report forwarded to Commissariat and Inquisitional representative.
• Commissar Nari to be assigned to A Company.

Rogue Psyker Hunt

Report ID: ERI-GRA-LAC-117A-0005
Reporting Officer: Capt. Founder
Report:

The 117th were cycled off frontline duty and sent to Miduma province to sweep for rogue psykers that the Word Bearers unleashed from the Tower of Duty. I followed Psyker Heirani, acting as our main detector for witchcraft. She led me to a major hotspot of activity, and I closed in with two platoon and attached elements of the 53rd.

As we closed in on the site of activity I spread out the troops into the surrounding area and set them to evacuating civilians. Approaching a manufactorum we could see the witchlight, and soon could see a large building that had been completely destroyed as if by and explosion from within. In the centre of the maelstrom was a floating figure. Unfortunately, approaching from the north were Astartes in blue and silver.

Although I have yet to meet them, I have been briefed on the heraldry of the Cobalt Scions who are operating in theatre, but these were clearly something else, twisted and corrupted. We opened fire even before we saw their demon engines emerge.

It was a bloody and desperate battle, the Heretics seemed to be trying to capture the psyker, and the maelstrom around it was protecting the witch from our attempts to shoot it and deny the enemy.

Kasr Petros and Kasr Bastos laid down a punishing barrage, suppressing the enemy and knocking out several of their abominable machines. On our left flank the Psyker Heirani led the Ogryns and Sentinels in an attempt to flank the foe, but were stalled and eventually routed by mutated Heretic Astartes supported by a psyker of their own. The mutants are horrifying, even more dangerous than a normal Astartes, if that can be believed.

I took most of two platoon down the right flank, cleared out some civilians who were too scared to move, and secured that flank. We were assaulted by demona engines, and almost helpless against them. Still, we are Cadians. We held them off long enough for Kasr Petros to deal with them. I was wounded at this point and Sergeant Smale had to carry me out. Staff Sergeant Dekker held the line in my absence, but first squad were all but wiped out in the effort. He’s going to have to rebuild from scratch with fresh blood.

Whilst we held the enemy at bay, Lieutenant Wright led third squad into the maelstrom in a desperate bid to deny the foe their prize. The witch may have been immune to our firepower, but Sergeant Hadel personally cut it in two with his chainsword. Unfortunately third squad took heavy fire from the giant gun-mutant Astartes. They dug in to the cover of the ruin but it was costly.

The survivors then engaged the enemy witch, who seemed to be the leader. They managed to wound it, then called in a mortar barrage to finish it off. Whether it died or fled, I cannot say. Nevertheless, with the rogue witch destroyed and our reinforcements inbound, the foe retreated in good order.

The rest of the operation was less eventful, with many rogue psykers captured or killed. Some eyewitness reports suggest the blue heretic astartes have also gathered up quite a few of the psykers before we could get to them.

Regimental Command Notes:

• Report forwarded to Commissariat and Inquisitional representative.
• Reports of blue and silver Astartes are believed to be in error. Command confirms the Night Lords are active in theatre, in blue and bronze. Word Bearers, Red Corsairs and Night Lords are the only Heretic Astartes forced present on Lachesis.

Ambush on highway 17

Report ID: ERI-GRA-LAC-117A-0006
Reporting Officer: Capt. Founder
Report:

Whilst travelling along highway 17 for redeployment, A Company came under fire. Whilst at first the enemy appeared to be human traitors, that was simply a distraction from the blue and silver Heretic Astartes approaching from the rear. Our transport vehicles were quickly crippled and I ordered the troops to abandon them and take cover in the nearby industrial structures.

I find myself sheltering with Lieutenant Wright and 2 Platoon. We were able to hold back the cultists quite handily, particularly with help from the mortars, but the Heretic Astartes approaching from the opposite side were approaching through some old ruins and completely unphased by what little firepower we were able to concentrate upon them.

Captain Wulfe was bringing his squadron of Leman Russes to our aid, however they were engaging some demon engines further up the road and distracted by Mutant Astartes who appeared to menace them but then faded away. Sergeant Drokk once again showed his bravery and dedication by leading his Ogryns into the fray.

They engaged the Astartes, the crude bludgeons in their mighty fists proving far more capable of dealing with the transhumans than all the technology of a lasgun. Whilst they were able to injure or perhaps even kill several Astartes, their main strength was simply being able to hold up those mighty slabs between themselves and their foes, shrugging off the transhuman savagery of the Heretic Astartes.

The arrival of another demon engine turned the tide against the Ogryns, but by this point Captain Wulfe’s squadron had arrived and they were able to fall back in good order and let the big guns do their work. At this point a second ambush was launched, leavy guns on one side and the Mutants from before. Our priority split, I ordered 2 Platoon forward to hold up the mutants with their lives to buy time for the tanks to deal with the guns, first, then they would be free to deal with the mutants.

The Heretic Astartes knew they were outplayed at this point, and I am pleased to report they fell back rather than slaughter 2 Platoon. I feel that their brave determination to sell their lives for the benefit of the Imperium has won the day, and ultimately saved the lives of everyone in the platoon. Due to this we took relatively few casualties.

Special commendation must be made to our sanctioned psyker Heirani. For the most part she was thoroughly outmatched by the enemy sorcerer, who blocked most of her powers and shrugged off her attempts to do likewise to him. However she bided her time carefully and when he overcommitted his unsanctioned witchcraft and opened himself to malefic assault from the warp she sensed weakness and launched a mental assault directly upon his person. We were unable to confirm a kill as his body was dragged away, however at the very least she put a stop to his witchcraft in the immediate battle.

Regimental Command Notes:

• Captain Founder persists in reporting the Night Lords’ armour as blue and silver instead of blue and bronze. An eye examination has been scheduled for him with the Medicae.

Deianós

Assault upon Deianós

Report ID: ERI-GRA-DEI-117A-0001
Reporting Officer: Capt. Founder
Report:

The 117th and 86th have been dispatched to Deianós, without the support of House Ulfir, who are still at work on Lachesis. This is an empty world, settled once but then abandoned it seems. However Aeldari raiders have appeared now and Sub command have sent us to go defend Imperial territory.

The regiment was spread wide on a patrol sweep, and A Company hit the jackpot. We rolled up on a xeno witch doing something with some weird xeno boxes. Tech-priest Omonust says it’s probably a different kind of xenos, Aeldari use something like plastic or resin, and this was some kind of weird metal.

I didn’t want to find out what happened when the witch got finished, so we pushed in hard. Whilst the tanks smashed the enemy walkers, the infantry pushed ahead through the ruins, but the Aeldari guns fire razor discs that cut through flak armour like paper. They also had winged reinforcements that dropped in and cut down our mortar support that was bombarding the enemy. But sharp discs and flappy wings didn't bother Imperial steel and the tanks rolled forward and blaster apart first their walkers and then their infantry.

We lost a lot of good men but we broke the aliens before they could finish whatever dark ritual they were attempting.

Regimental Command Notes:

• Infantry losses in the 2nd Platoon units involved were 74%, reinforcement troops have been fast tracked to maintain combat efficacy, but a lot of experience gained on Lachesis has been lost. 2 Platoon no longer considered a veteran platoon.

Failed Pursuit

Report ID: ERI-GRA-DEI-117A-0002
Reporting Officer: Capt. Founder
Report:

Despite heavy casualties, we had succeeded in our mission of driving off the Aeldari pirates. My immediate intention was to see to the wounded and reorganise in case of counter-attack whilst awaiting reinforcement from the rest of the Regiment. Our new Commissar insisted that we pursue the foe immediately. I suggested that the Aeldari are famed for their speed, and if we caught them up it would only be by their own choice. She insisted that failure to immediately pursue would be a dereliction of duty.

I scrounged up a scratch squad of survivors, grabbed a Chimera, the sentinel Squadron and a tank and we headed off. The first we knew of the ambush was when xenos popped up to either side of us and opened fire. We were at least expecting it, the vehicles popped smoke immediately and we committed fully to the left hand side in an attempt to break the ambush.

We managed to overrun the enemy infantry, but a swarm of walkers turned up, and a bigger one behind us. They destroyed the Chimera, and even the battle cannon bounced off barely bothered them. I have no idea what their guns are doing, but they simply made chunks of people and vehicles disappear. Whole torsos vanished leaving a pile of limbs.

On the other side of the field the witch from before was flying about duelling with the Sentinels. They couldn’t get a bead on it, but it kept popping up in different places casting its witchcraft at them. With the Chimera and Sentinels out of action, and most of the men down or dead, I called a retreat, we had no further means of affecting any kind of pursuit even if we somehow could fight through the walkers. Commissar Nari did not object, either she agreed or her wounds prevented her. I am told her wounds will not be fatal, I am sorry the same can’t be said of many of the others who were with us.

Regimental Command Notes:

• Commissar Nari’s report corroborates, however she also mentions that Captain Founder personally destroyed an enemy walker (Wraith Guard?) in melee and was the last to pull back as his troops retreated with what wounded they could carry.