Battle of Iyacrax

"*He knew how this would play out. He lacked the incredible application of force the 1st or 4th could dole out in space, his ships would only be for harassment he would not waist so much life.*"
— Attr. Unknown
An Insurrectionist warfleet led by Kozja Darzalas lay siege to the great Forge World Iyacrax in the Galactic North East. Sweeping aside resistance in the surrounding systems, Kozja seized swathes of Iyacrax but fierce resistance and the arrival of Vth Legion and VIth Legion fleets brought his advance to a halt. A grinding stalemate ensues, and the world’s industry was effectively wiped out through months of fighting. The Warbringers eventually withdrew, deeming Iyacrax no longer worth the resources and blood needed to break the deadlock.

## Background

### Iyacrax: The Calculus of War

A deep breath in.
He is Orr'eon Lakestrider, the Ironborn, Lord Chief of the 3rd Grand Wartribe, Master Hunter, Master of the Armoury.
He clicked on the hololith recorder."My father is dead, fell by those you've sided with. And while I can't promise death to a Primarch, I can promise vengeance a thousand fold. And I promise all whom march against the Iron Bears now will regret it for a hundred millennia. And any Primarch that does land here, I promise to put so many rounds into your flesh, you'll never feel as you do now, I will strip you of any confidence, any bravado, any comfort you have now. For you will know what it is like to be bested by a simple Astartes. To land here is to court death, for she is my mistress."
 Chief Captain Redd

" *Located in the Segmentum Solar, the world of Iyacrax is a Forge World. Iyacrax was brought into compliance by the astartes of the Lightning Bearers in 803.M30. The world has a population of 17 billion souls, all of whom are employed in the worlds continent sized manufactories. Second only to Mars in terms of production capability, the world of Iyacrax produces up to 4% of all Super Heavy armoured pieces and nearly 1.78% of the Power Armour and bolter ammunition. While these were the worlds principall industries, it also possesed the capability to produce titans. In addition to its vast industrial power, Iyacrax occupied a relatively stable area of space, making it an ideal transport hub.

The garrison of Iyacrax consists of nearly 1 billion men of the Imperial Army, largely drawn from the Voltine Hussars, Borrydok Highlanders and Karrityne Heavy armour, with smaller detachements of Korrikan Steam Troopers, Horritan Gunner, Grundun Rifles and Volpine Guards. In addition to these Imperial Army troops, the garrison also contained a force of 4000 Halycon Wardens, hand picked by their primarch to defend the world. In orbit, the Iyacrax Defence Fleet can call on five capitol ships along with 200 smaller vessels. Details of the Mechanicum forces on the world are unknown, aside from the Legio Corvus and the Ordinati Iyacra. Multiple estimates have been attempted by Imperial commanders over the years but none have been confirmed due to the mechanicums refusal to share its data.

There are two Ordinatus on Iyacrax, the Ordinatus Ferrum, known as Hells Judgement by the troops of the Imperial Army and the Ordinatus Angelis. The Ordinatus Ferrum is an Alpha Class artillery piece, consisting of two Kibre pattern cannons. Significantly larger than stamdard weapons, the Kibre cannons fire a shell weighing nearly 43 tonnes. While tests have never been conducted, it is estimated that one shell from a Kibre cannon is capable of killing an Emperor titan and that the guns maximum effective range is 160Km. However, only two of these guns were ever produced as the responsible for their design, Tech Priest Ezra Kibre, was later declared to be heretical in his inventions of such weapons. The second Ordinatus on Iyacrax, the Ordinatus Angelis, is located on the outside of Gamma Manufactory. Details of this ordinatus are much rarer as no non mechanicum personnel have ever been let near it. However, from what can be see from afar, it appears to be some form of enormous energy weapon, possibly using similair technology to plasma or volkite weaponry.

Aside from all the aformentioned defences, the world of Iyacrax also has a complex shielding system, which it is estimated could withstand bombardment from a fleet of similair size to the Iyacrax defence fleet for a full month Terran standard if the fleet were to stay in high orbit. However, the shield ceases to function against low orbital strikes and while many of the larger manufactories have seperate shields, the majority of areas would be vulnerable to bombardement from this altitude.*"
—Excerpt from Adeptus Ministorum file number 3,442 on the world of Iyracrax IV
### Iyacrax: Hussar

Gunnery Colenol Tarkus looked out through the sights built into the Ordinatus Ferrums command throne at the Warbringers slaughtering the Voltine 42nd Hussars. Growling, he bit down on his cigar even harder. Into the vox he said "Cannon battery 3 open fire on sector 3425-5838-1578 Alpha". "But sir the Voltines are st-" said the officer on the other end. Tarkus cut him off before he could finish and said "They're giving their lives to give you this shot. Use it". Then he turned to his command crew and said "Get us turned around so that we can fire on that sector".
Trooper Merdas opened fire on the Warbringers advancing up the slope towards the Ordinatus' position. While his lasgun shots were doing precious little to stop the enemy, it felt damn good to finally have something to express his anger on. Just then, he heard a whine of thrusters above him and swung his weapon around, to find a breacher squad had landed barely a few metres from him. "Fething hell" he said and unclipped a grenade from his belt and threw it at the assault squad, quickly following up with a few hastily aimed las shots. As more Voltines swarmed in to hold up, Merdas had no illusions that they would halt the astartes, the Warbringers, he turned back to the advancing astartes. Then, a massive volley of cannon fire came slamming down among them, blasting astartes to pieces and ripping through their squads. Then, the whole world fell apart.
Tarkus grinned contendedly as he observed the effects of the single shot the Ordinatus had just fired. It had left a crater at least 2Km wide and half as much deep. Nothing remained of the astartes muster he had targeted with the high explosive shell. It had simply been destroyed. Grinning he muttered "Get used to it you bastards. There's plenty more where that came from".
 Sigismund229

"*I should have been an old man. I should have been dead several times by now. But they denied my right to do so. My body seems still in its prime, strong and healthy. My reflexes are smooth, to anyone I would be a paragon of humanity. I am not. This body is rotting from within, the Wolf is taking away our ability to think, the Warrior our ability to feel. Our arms are aching, constantly pumped with stims, our skin numb from the painkillers. They do not see this war like we do. To them this is another conquest, against corruption they say. They care not when they walk over our corpses, we are expandable plebeians to them. They haven't fought in the tunnels, they haven't known the horrors we knew down there. They haven't had to wage war in a collapsing tower. And most importantly, they haven't understood that they are wrong. We are fighting on the wrong side. The First is corrupt, not the Imperium. Ah, at least I feel like I won't have to survive this battle.*"
—Extract from censor-log of Discipline Officer Yestevan Serotev, Yurasil Chem-Wolves

### Iyacrax: The Face of Treachery

 Sigismund229

### Iyacrax: The Gods March to War

Vashar had seen the Bears and Wardens in person, fought by their side even. They'd given him hope, he looked upon steely visages and suits of armour incomparable. In each of those warriors he'd found both hope and fear; Hope because they were embodiments of The Emperor himself; Fear because of the wrath they could sew. Normal humans were of such little threats to them, he'd lost his stomach when an absolutely massive Iron Bear he'd come to know as Tarkanus the Thunderbeast hit the front line of the Army units and he swung his two short thunderhammers like a graceful dance. With in a single moments time dozens upon dozens of troopers had fallen, blood steamed, guts had become ashen, and flesh and armour little more than pulp.
The furs had kept him warm, even as the black snow fell Vasher had moved into a pill box made into add hoc barracks by the men of his squadron to gain some extra heat from the small fire, and to warm some rations to eat.
The pill box bore four high caliber autocannons, it was the first defensive deployment Vashar had relished in. He'd eaten the ration pack with the gusto of a starving man. But one sound had made him almost empty. The bell.
Sitting high upon the shoulders of a massive Lucius pattern Warlord named "Invictus Eternal" sitting between laser weapons meant to scour cities, was a bell of ancient, over ten meters high and twenty across. Its ringing signaled the next charge against the traitors. It's Princeps Tharamos called to those to around him "LET US NOT FAIL DAER'DD, NO, DO NOT LET HIS DEATH GO IN VAIN! NO! FOR THIS DAY WE FIGHT FOR HIS GLORY! FOR DAER'DD! FOR THE EMPEROR!"
The speech rang out across the battle field as a bellowing horn of raw noise, loud enough to kill those too close and able to crumble rock and shatter windows had anyone been near.
Vashar heard the foot falls next, Warhounds and Knights, the first wave of the executioner's axe. The furs were suddenly far too hot.
 Chief Captain Redd

### Iyacrax: Cataphract

 Skalpynock/Specteon

### Iyacrax: Face of Contempt

He couldn't grimace at the ugly parallel with the fighting here. The Contemptor mask that served as his visage scanned the area impassively, taking in the bodies of his comrades, the Harbingers his sword and claw had eviscerated and the Baneblade he’d reduced to scrap. Around him the warren of streets rang with the sound of isolated, desperate fights. His home world, rendered in fire and metal.
The Battle of Iyacrax had passed the time for grand strategy and formations long ago. Now squads or individuals fought to find allies and momentary refuge or simply to spill more of the enemy's blood. We wrought another Cthonia in just five days.
A gaggle of traitor soldiers sprinted round the corner and screamed when they recognised the dreadnought's colours. By then the great storm bolter had swung up, and seconds later they were a smear on the rockcrete. He headed in the direction his victims had come from. Sure enough, power armoured figures soon appeared, jogging towards him. A second of tension, then a shoulder guard caught the firelight. Iron Bears. True brothers. He stepped out of the shadows, displaying the amethyst hue of his carapace.
Their leader made the sign of the aquila as he drew to a halt. “Hail, venerable brother. Captain Roanoke, 28th Company.”
“Ezekyle Abaddon. What news, captain? The vox has been no use to me the last two days.” Radiation and enemy action had seen to that; he had been fighting alone for thirty hours before his chrono gave out.
“We are to make for the hangars, brother. Command deems the planet too badly damaged to be worth holding. We are ordered to seize all we can take and withdraw.”
Abaddon had fought xenos, mutants and abominable intelligences. He had endured the breaking of his body and the unique trials of existence in a sarcophagus, but the import of Roanoke's words still rocked him. “We are to… retreat?” He grated. Not one step back had been the mantra ever since that last day on Cthonia. “Well, if every other certainty is being overturned, I guess it was only a matter of time. Which way, captain?”
The Warbringers and traitor skitarii who attempted to waylay them died messily, broken and thrown aside as an old warrior vented a kind of rage he had never felt before. The desolate fury of a man who, for the first time in centuries of war, has tasted the ashes of failure.

Even before being interred, Abaddon had never quite belonged as a Halcyon Warden. However much he relished the prospect of a new family after the exile of his youth, he was too choleric to fit in with most of his brothers, and he struggled to adjust to his gene-father’s favoured tactics. The role of advisor which so many of the revered fallen occupied seemed wrong to him, and thus he remained a leader of terminator squads instead. Now those brothers were gone, lost to this treachery.
The Battle of Iyacrax had plunged him back into his old life, after a fashion. Alone, hunting through the tunnels of debris, fighting vicious battles in the dark, crawling over the dead. Now he could see more of his fellow Loyalists up ahead, assault Troopers flitting from rooftop to rooftop as they set off flares to attract any remaining allies. Transports were loading as the Loyalists prepared to abandon the planet.

The trouble with the flares, of course, was that the Insurrectionists could see them too. Sirens broke out as they reached the hangar, and as they turned to face southeast a booming warhorn sounded. “Titans” spat Roanoke. As if his statement needed confirming, white light suddenly engulfed a tower block about three kilometres away. Through the fire strode a colossus, an Imperator, surrounded by a retinue of smaller Titans and Knight walkers.
“We don't have anything that can even delay that thing,” snarled an assault marine sergeant.
“Don't be so certain, sergeant.” Abaddon strode over to a stack of munitions. Demolition charges, if he was any judge. “Do your jump packs have any life left in them?”

It was a mad plan, even he was willing to admit that. The upside was that, if he failed, no one would live to speak of it.
The Titans were a few hundred metres out of range when the assault marines opened fire with rocket launchers. As the Titans responded they fired their packs and shot away, pausing only to detonate the charges placed on either side of the concourse. To the Titans it meant little, but their crews were disorientated and their space marine escorts were buried in the rubble.
Now for the mad part. Abaddon burst from cover, storm bolter blazing and missile launcher hurling ordnance as he tore into the leg of the nearest Warhound with his sword. He'd placed himself right among the machines and aimed to cripple any within reach, not destroy them. Hopefully this would give them pause before they opened up with their ranged weapons. The terrain helped, the uneven ground providing a degree of cover and obstructing his attackers. Above him the Imperator turned ponderously, its princeps trying to bring its foot down on the irritant below. No doubt they thought him insane; even the mightiest dreadnought wouldn't stop them for more than a minute. If they did believe that, then so much the better. It would buy him a few more seconds. He could hear enemy Astartes getting closer. He would have to end this soon.
Fire engulfed him as another Warhound joined the fray with a melta. Abbadon roared and crippled it with a missile to the knee. He tore into his attacker, armour scorched black and his helm's topknot aflame, bellowing war cries in Cthonian, damning them for their treacherous deeds. A canon tore chunks from his carapace, and he felt an unfamiliar sensation within his amniotic cradle. I bleed? Now there really was no going back. Time to finish it.
He switched to Low Gothic, bellowing a furious valediction. “I am Ezekyle Abaddon, son of Cthonia, warrior of the Halcyon Wardens!” As a Knight came at him, he made no effort to parry its huge sword, just twisting enough to avoid his organic remains being speared. As it was the blow was fatal anyway, destroying several vital components, but all that mattered was that his power claw remained functional and he stayed conscious for just a few more seconds. “I die for the living!” he snarled in defiance.
 bluntblade

### Iyacrax: Ghosts in the Fog

 Chief Captain Redd

### Iyacrax: Autumn

That day she had defied the odds. Today she could do nothing to avert the outcome, only deny the enemy their prize. Everyone present, save for the servitors, looked to her, unable to ignore the awful significance of this moment. Most were rigid with tension, but here and there she saw tears.
"Starboard novae," she said, just suppressing the tremor in her voice, "fire."
\_\_\_ ordered the lance strike that killed the final Harbingers frigate. The rest were already out of range, fleeing to the Mandeville point and abandoning their comrades on the planet, now that they had been denied any chance to conquer the world. Normally, like any Void Eagles captain, he would have kept the \_\_\_ burning after them, seeking any chance to land one more blow. But this victory was nothing to savour, and he ordered his ship brought about, turning his eyes to the viewport.
The shudder resonated through every tier of the Dragon. Far below, on the port side, menial workers looked up with expressions of dread, and waited for their own orders. Overseers turned from their consoles, signalling that their guns remained ready. On other decks, munitions were loaded, ready to lace the stratosphere with debris and kill anything trying to escape the planet's death.
Aboard the \_\_\_ Damon Redd stared out, Ar'assa's scorched helm cradled in one massive gauntlet.
On the Shield of Delos, Akylles tore his gaze from the viewports, and found Legate Sauhan with his head in his hands.
On the Dragon of Autumn, Ellan Temeter watched one of the Iyacrax tech-priest give a strange, drooping motion where a normal man's shoulders would have sagged. She remembered what she had been told about Forge Worlds being sacred to the Mechanicus, and wondered if that grieved the priest more or less than the loss of his home.
Pict screens showed the projectiles streak down. They blurred, failing to capture the magnitude of the impacts, but that could not disguise the sheer size of the fires that bloomed through the smog. Alarms blared, signifying tectonic ruptures already spreading from the points of impact, but Lotara barely heard them. She stared upwards, through the clear ceiling of the ridge, to the ravaged surface that hung above them.
The ground was visible now, centuries of pollution forced away by the impacts and joined by debris from buildings, earth and wreckage that raced on, ever outward.
She knew those waves were killing people, comrades, friends. But worse, worse, part of her thought the destruction beautiful.
The world tipped away to hang at her left, and she felt the rolling motion cease. Doram, jaw clenched with the effort of keeping his dignity, signalled. "Port novae, fire" she ordered, and her voice too sounded as if it echoed from some far corner of the ship.
The second broadside struck twenty kilometres to the north of the first,covering a span of fifty. The crust buckled, and magma spilled up, dragging chunks of the world with it. Beyond the fiery wound, all light from the surface was smothered, save for lightning that accompanied the choking tide. A few specks showed where enemy escapees were being run down and cast back into the cataclysm.
Nibaasiniiwi left open his last few vox links to the surface. The last words of dozens - screams of terror, tearful missives that he was implored to send home, stoic injunctions to make the traitors pay ten thousandfold for this and all their other crimes - blurred beyond even a space marine's ability to separate them. Then the roar came, swallowing voices first in ones and twos, then threes and more, exponentially until it drowned the vox-thieves themselves, and left him with silence. He told himself that far more enemy voices had been silenced by that roar, that whole maniples of Insurrectionist Titans would had been consumed. He hoped that down there, his treacherous cousins had time to see their death coming.
The fleet drifted into higher orbits as fresh bursts of fire appeared through the pall of dust. The ruptures spread throughout the crust, tectonic plates spurred into grinding, ruinous motion. Iyacrax had been denied to the enemy. Killed.
 bluntblade

## Forces in battle

### Loyalists

#### Iron Bears

* 3rd Grand Wartribe
* Totem Guard
* 1st Grand Wartribe
* 2nd Grand Wartribe
* 5th Grand Wartribe

#### Iron Bears Auxiliaries

* Daughters of Daer'dd
* Ogryn Auxilia
* Ratling Auxilia
* Various Abhuman Auxilia
* Demiurge Clans

#### Halcyon Wardens

* (?)

====Ordinatus Ferrum(Ordinatus Kibre?)====
Made from a pair of Kibre pattern cannons, the Ordinatus Ferrum is located atop bastion 471 near manufactory Gamma. With a maximum effective range of 160Km, the Ordinatus Ferrum can fire up to 2 of it's massive 43 tonne shells every 5 hours if it has a full complement of crew, 6000 men. It is also possible for the Ordinatus Ferrum to be rotated up to 360°, taking 30 minutes for it to turn the full 360°.

Each of the Ordinatus' Ferrums standard mass explosive shells weighs 43 tonnes. However, the Ordinatus Ferrum is also capable of firing poison gas rounds, canister shells or even virus shells. However, the Ordinatus Ferrum also has a number of subsidiery guns attached to its gun carriage. Mounted the carriages carapace are also weapons such as demolisher cannons, battle cannons, executioner plasma cannons and even heavy bolter and mortar teams. This makes the Ordinatus Ferrum less of a cannon and more a fortress with a pair of cannons built into it. The Ordinatus Ferrum also has shields capable of withsanding limited bombardment from a capital ship.

The Ordinatus Ferrums ammunition, large as it is, is transported along a seperate system of underground rail networks straight from the manufactory, where each shell is individually made and blessed.

====Ordinatus Angelis(Ordinatus Iyacrax?)====
The Ordinatus Angelis is built into Oryia Defence Network near Manufactory Alpha, the habitation of the Forge Lord. The Ordinatus Angelis is a massive gun based off of plasma technology. It's design means it's able to fire an unbroken stream of plasma at its target for nearly a minute before needing to stop to cool down, using the massive coolers built into it, a process that takes nearly 40 minutes. Using this continuos stream of plasma, the Ordinatus Angelis has been estimated to have enough firepower to shoot down or seriously damage any capitel ship that enters into low orbit above Iyacrax.

This potent anti ship capability makes it likely that anyone invading Iyacrax would need to destroy or capture the Ordinatus first. As such, the Ordinatus is prepared for an enemy attack, being built with walls and gun turrets in it's frame. Even without the main cannon, the Ordinatus' defences constitute a formidable obstacle with overlapping fields of fire and Fellblade turrets built into the Ordinatus, especially when the Ordinatus has its full complement of 4,800 crew.

#### Imperial Army Regiments

* Voltine Hussars
* Borrydok Highlanders
* Karrytine Heavy Armour
* Korrikan Steam Troopers
* Horritan Gunners
* Grundun (Gudrun?) Rifles
* Volpine Guards
* Jurrakan Cavaliers

#### Knight Houses

* House Tzilastes - Mechanicum aligned
* House Bayard - Imperium aligned
* House Corbin - Imperium aligned
* House Pluramus - Imperium aligned
* House Vasa - Imperium aligned
* House Orion - Imperium aligned

#### Legio Vindex

* Ordo Reductor
* Legio Cybernetica
* Skitarii

Adeptus Mechanicus Forces
Collegia Titanica: 2 Imperators, 6 Warlords, 13 Reavers, 29 Warhounds.
Centurio Ordinatii: 2 Ordinatii
Knightly houses: 99 knights.
Ordo Reductor: 12,000 Thalaxii
Legio Cybernetica: 4,500 Automata.
Skitarii: 250,000 Skitarii.

Adeptus Astartes
4000 Halycon Wardens
22,250-24,250 Iron Bears.

Imperial Army forces
30 million Voltine Hussars.
7 million Borrydok Highlanders.
6.7 million Korrikan Steam troopers.
5.8 million Horritan Gunners.
3.9 million Grundun Rifles.
2.5 million Volpine Guards.
24,000 tanks of the Karrytine Heavy armour.
8000 tanks of the Jurrakan Cavaliers.
Total: 55.9 million Troopers and 32,000 tanks.

Abhuman or other Auxilia
90,000 Daughters of Daer'dd.
35,000 Ogryn Auxilia.
15,000 Ratling Auxilia.
45,000 other abhuman Auxilia.

### Traitors

#### Warbringers

* 1st Principate Darzala
* 4th Principate ?
* 8th Principate ?
* 9th Principate ?

#### Novadeka Regiments

* Darzalan Uhlans
* Yurasil Chem-Wolves
* Kzarny Rad-Walkers
* Zalmoxite Cataphracts