Editing War of Beasts (section)

===The Mortwald Defense===

With the destruction of the waterworks at Oteck Hivesprawl, water was getting harder to come by at Vigilus. Dontoria's own water source was also in danger of contamination due to everyone forgetting that the [[Death Guard]] had already made landfall.

Mortwald, the source of most of the planet's food and medicine, was also under threat. Defending it were regiments of '''Ventrillian Nobles''', '''Vostroyan Firstborn''', '''Catachan Jungle Fighters''' and '''Cadian Shock Troopers''' as well as the native regiments of '''Vigilant Guard''', all under the command of '''Deinos''', the [[Awesome|surprisingly-competent]] brother of the Imperial governor.

When the Greenskins came, the trench network Deinos had prepared showed its worth and slowed down the advance of the Orks for weeks. Within the walls of the Hivesprawl, the Guard proved themselves equally adept at putting down Genestealer Cult uprisings. Lord Deinos was adamant - ''Mortwald will not fall'' - and his mantra became the rallying cry of the defenders there. Across the Mortwald front, the various Imperial Guard regiments all had their moments to shine. The Catachans were stationed amidst the massive cactus forests of Mortwald, which made up much of the planet's sustenance. Initially upset about being positioned away from the frontline and amidst flora that was tame by Catachan standards, the Catachans soon changed their minds when dozens of Ork Fighta Bombas managed to make it through the AAA fire of the trench lines and began airdropping Storm Boyz from their bomb bays right into the cactus forests. The Catachans were waiting for them, and soon Ork heads were seen mounted on top of the tallest cacti.

This stalwart defense was only improved by the arrival of the [[Imperial Fists]] 5th Company under '''Brother-Captain Dravatis Fane''', though his forces would be tested as Ork [[Stompa|Stompas]] emerged by the hundreds. Although his forces had to retreat to higher ground, Fane led a counterattack. With him were loyalists [[Imperial Knight|Knights]] from '''House Terryn''' as well as Freeblades formerly from the traitorous House Mandrakor.

In a charge that was the stuff of legends, the knights attacked the Stompa horde. Supported by the [[Reaver_Battle_Titan|Reaver Titan]] '''Heresium's Bane''', the Knights actually forced the Orks to break. Rather than running them down, the Imperials halted (notwithstanding the Freeblades who wanted to pursue them) as they insisted that the [[Noblebright|defending the people of Mortwald came first]]. This decision would soon bite them in the arse as a few days later the Orks attacked. While it was driven off easily enough, these attacks increased in strength week after week, until the Imperials were facing machines the size of ''reavers''. 
Fane had enough. He ordered an expedition into the wastelands to find the factories churning these machines out, and put them out of commission. Permanently.

The Imperial forces found a large scrap city east of Mortwald and, under the cover of a dust storm, attacked. With [[Warhound_Scout_Titan|Warhounds]] as support, the Knights identified, then destroyed the major factories. With the mission completed, Fane ordered a withdrawal, but the Freeblades, in their zeal to redeem themselves, ignored this and [[RAGE|charged straight into the ''next'' scrap city]]. Much facepalming ensued as while the Knights killed countless orks in their reckless attack, they soon found themselves surrounded.

Fane led an airborne rescue force alongside elements of the [[White Scars]] Brotherhood led by '''Olujin Khan''' and [[Dark Angels]] Ravenwing commanded by '''Meneraeus''' to aid the beleaguered Knights. The [[Stormtalon|Stormtalons]] of the White Scars destroyed the anti-air and artillery emplacements, and without these the [[Bike_Squad|Bike Squads]] of the two Chapters cut a path through the Orks. Without warning, the Ravenwing [[Fallen|suddenly abandoned the attack and thundered into the dusty wilderness of the Vhulian Swirl]]. The White Scars, now bereft of support, found themselves on the verge of being swamped by Greenskins, so Olujin was forced to call a fighting withdrawal.