The Defence of Dakota Minor was a series of conflicts in 884M41, that saw the Imperium defending the Matteus Subsector’s primary food provider against invaders. With only a token battlefleet and planetary defence force to protect it, Dakota Minor was expected to fall to the invaders in less than three months. Fortunately, intervention by local Astra Militarum regiments and the Adeptus Astartes saw the invasion quelled and the planet secured for the Imperium.

 

The first theatre of conflict was the defence of the city Dakota Primus, culminating with the last stand in the city's centre known as the Bastion.

 

The "Forge Brethren" (Salamanders 5th Company, 5th Tactical Squad) hold ground against an Ork onslaught, as the DMDC soldiers continue their withdrawal.

 

 

Despite the assistance of the Salamanders, the Imperials could not stop the numerous Orks' advance through the city. What had worked against the Orks was the narrowing of passages and blockage of easy-access routes toward the city centre, preventing their vehicles from going further. Driven by impatience and the chase of the good fight, the greenskins contently abandoned their vehicles and proceeded on foot.

 

Ork invaders proceed on foot through the narrowed passages towards the Bastion, leaving their scrap-vehicles behind.

 

The Bastion - Day 54 to 63

The Imperial forces rallied at the Bastion, the heart of Dakota Primus. They prepared for what would be the Ork's final assault, knowing that defeat would ensure Ork control of the city. Imperial elements were positioned at key points in or around the Bastion: defending infrastructure, guarding cilivian shelters or establishing kill-zones in alleyways. The Salamanders continued to distribute their forces amongst the Imperial forces, sometimes only one per DMDC platoon or at most a non-contiguous combat squad.

 

Salamanders and DMDC forces defend the entrance to civilian shelter "N5".

 

The first few days saw numerous skirmishes and probing attacks against the Imperial defences. Slowly but surely the defenders were wittled down, either slain at their posts or forced to withdraw in a staggered manner. Even the Adeptus Astartes were overwhelmed by the onslaught; their genetic enhancements were no matter for the Ork's weight of numbers. As such, they too joined the DMDC soldiers in their withdrawal.

 

Little did the Imperials know that the Orks had in fact exhausted the bulk of their own forces attempting to penetrate the city. Realising that they had overextended themselves, the Warboss fled the city with his deffkopta fleet to rearm and rally the remaining Orks at their Rok landing site. Thousands of overly excited Orks and gretchin were left behind, with nowhere left to go but forward.

 

The Final Stand - Day 64

The Emperor and His Angels are watching. Let none of us be found wanting!

For Dakota Minor! For the Emperor!

- Lord-Governor Hastings Freeman addressing the DMDC soldiers on the Bastion’s paraphets.

 

By the sixty-fourth day, the Imperial defenders were pushed to the base of the Bastion's centre spire. The Salamanders had lost few of their own, but the DMDC's casualties were significant and few remained to defend the spire. To make up the shortfall, Lord-Governor Freeman ordered the various labour guilds and unions to be pressed into service. Thousand of Imperial citizens who had spend their entire life as farmers, labourers and fertiliser producers took up lasguns in defence of their world.

 

Able men and women of the Agri-Labour League (left, centre) and the AmSul Cooks (right), needed to take up arms against the final Ork push.

 

With gleeful abandon, the Orks launched their assault knowing it would be their last great fight. The Salamanders were conditioned for the assault, but with boltguns and flamers running empty they struggled to hold the enemy back. The DMDC soldiers and citizen militia fought back with lasgun and bayonet, but man-to-Ork they were still inferior fighters. In short time, the Imperials were engulfed by greenskins; even the Lord-Goveror and the DMDC command staff were surrounded.

 

Captain R'Keth and Lord-Governor Freeman, along with the remaining Imperial defenders, make their last stand at the Bastion. 

 

It was then that intervention of another kind arrived on Dakota Minor. On the same day, reinforcements hailing from the Asokan Rifles and Sartorian Rangers had arrived in orbit. Tens of thousands of soldiers grav-chuted into the city to support the beleaguered defenders of Dakota Primus. The jubilant Orks were undeterred, but still were bested by the superior and freshly supplied firepower. 

 

With the battle now tilted in the other direction, the Imperials began coordinated efforts to push the Orks out of the city centre, and continue on to sweep the outer hive districts and destroy any remaining Ork presence. It would take another one-hundred-and-thirty days before the city was declared "Ork-free".

 

 

The reprieve provided by the Sartorian Rangers and Asokan Rifles allowed the remaining defenders to rally and push the Orks out of the city and back into the Adatok Wastelands. Captain R'Keth convened with the human leadership and emphasised the need to maintain momentum to ensure the Orks' total defeat. With their combined might, the Imperial forces began their counter-attack to destroy the xenos invaders and stop the invasion. 

 

By the end of the war, it was estimated that thirty-seven percent of the city was destroyed or damaged; it would take six decades until it was rebuild to its original state. The battle of Dakota Primus would become a integral part of the city's culture. The Imperial victory imbued a newfound pride and confidence in the local populace, and created many tales of heroism, defiance and His Angels' interventions. Most notably, pict-recordings of Lord-Governor Freeman combating the Orks would be used for propaganda profusely for decades to come.

 

One of many propaganda posters featuring Lord-Governor Freeman during the battle for Dakota Primus.