The 8th Company crashed into the Iron Warriors' line with such ferocity that they immediately annihilated two full squads and shattered the formation of a dozen more.
Jump packs roared as the assault squads descended upon the traitors, their chainswords and power weapons carving through silver armour. The Iron Warriors had been prepared to fight the loyalists from the front, supported by their heavy tanks, but the sudden assault from above disrupted their carefully arranged formations.
Bolters fired at point-blank range. Chainswords screamed against ceramite. Astartes collided among the ruins, turning the narrow streets into a brutal melee.
The Iron Warriors attempted to reorganise, their sergeants shouting orders as they tried to establish firing lines and bring their weapons to bear. Yet the 8th Company gave them no opportunity to recover. Every attempt to form a defensive position was met by another assault, forcing the traitors to divide their attention between the incoming jump-pack troops and the ongoing armoured engagement.
Among the assaulting warriors were two Vanguard squads.
Unlike the regular assault squads, these veterans had been assigned a very specific objective. Each squad carried enough melta bombs to equip an entire company, their warriors laden with the explosives intended for the three Kratos battle tanks.
They had not come to win a prolonged engagement against the Iron Warriors' infantry.
They had come to destroy the enemy armour.
The constant warfare endured by the Venators and Warhawks had cost both Chapters dearly. Their numbers had dwindled through centuries of campaigning, their armour and weapons had suffered repeated damage, and countless irreplaceable relics had been lost on battlefields scattered across the galaxy.
Yet those same wars had given their surviving warriors something of immense value.
Combat experience.
Consequently, the Venators maintained a small deviation from the traditional company structure.
Although the 1st Company remained the Chapter's principal concentration of veterans, veteran squads were also distributed among the other companies, with the exception of the 10th Company. The arrangement allowed experienced warriors to serve alongside their less seasoned Battle-Brothers, passing down their knowledge through actual combat rather than leaving such instruction solely to training exercises.
The Captains of the 2nd through 7th Companies could choose whether to incorporate Vanguard Veteran or Sternguard Veteran squads into their formations, depending on the needs of their companies and the nature of their assigned operations.
The 8th and 9th Companies, however, followed a different arrangement.
The 8th Company specialised in assault operations and close-quarters engagements. Its veteran contingent therefore consisted exclusively of Vanguard Veterans, warriors whose experience with jump packs, rapid assaults, and specialised melee weapons made them particularly suited to breaking enemy formations and striking high-value targets.
The 9th Company, by contrast, maintained Sternguard Veteran squads, whose exceptional marksmanship and extensive experience with specialised bolter ammunition made them invaluable in supporting the Chapter's firepower.
And on this battlefield, the 8th Company's Vanguard Veterans were about to demonstrate precisely why their presence was so valuable.
The two squads approached the three Kratos from above, their jump packs roaring as they leapt from one ruined rooftop to another. Their armour's targeting systems tracked the enemy vehicles below, identifying vulnerable points along their hulls while the Iron Warriors remained occupied with the Land Raiders.
The Vanguard Veterans did not wait until they reached the ground.
Even before they landed, several warriors had already drawn their melta bombs and hurled them toward the traitor tanks.
The explosives spun through the air.
One struck the upper hull of the leading Kratos and clung to its armour. Another landed near the junction between the turret and the main body, while a third struck the rear section of the second tank.
The Iron Warriors' crews reacted almost immediately.
Warning runes flashed across their internal displays as the vehicles' auspex systems detected the incoming explosives. One Kratos began turning its turret toward the approaching veterans, while another attempted to reverse behind the cover of a ruined building.
But the Vanguard Veterans were already descending.
Their jump packs flared, slowing their fall just enough for them to adjust their trajectories. Several landed upon the surrounding ruins, while others dropped directly toward the tanks, their weapons raised and their remaining melta bombs secured against their armour.
The first explosives detonated.
Blinding flashes of white-hot energy erupted across the Kratos' upper hull. The shaped charges focused their destructive force against the armour, heating and penetrating the metal in an instant.
The leading tank lurched as its crew struggled to maintain control. Smoke began pouring from damaged systems, and one of its weapon mounts fell silent.
The second Kratos suffered a similar strike, its rear armour scorched by the explosion.
Yet neither vehicle was destroyed.
Kratos battle tanks were heavily armoured machines, designed to endure punishing engagements. The first wave of melta bombs had damaged them, but the traitor crews continued fighting, determined to eliminate the Land Raiders before the loyalists could finish their attack.
The Vanguard Veterans had anticipated as much.
Rather than concentrate their attack on a single target, the two squads began to separate, each moving towards a different approach to the three Kratos. Their objective was simple: divide the enemy's attention, prevent the tanks from concentrating their fire on one squad, and destroy them before the Iron Warriors could reorganize their infantry to intervene.
The first squad veered towards the leading Kratos, using the shattered remains of a nearby building for cover. The second swept around the flank of the rearmost tank, their jump packs roaring as they bounded over rubble and broken masonry.
The Iron Warriors reacted swiftly. One Kratos traversed its turret towards the first squad, its battle cannon thundering as it fired into the ruined avenue. At the same time, its hull-mounted heavy bolters opened fire, unleashing a relentless barrage of heavy-calibre rounds against the approaching Veterans.
Explosive shells tore through the already battered ruins, pulverizing walls and sending chunks of masonry tumbling into the street. Heavy bolter rounds ripped through the dust clouds, chewing apart the remnants of the building and forcing the Vanguard Veterans to take cover before they could close the distance.
One Veteran was caught in the open as he leapt across a collapsed section of wall. Heavy bolter rounds struck his power armour, staggering him in mid-air before he crashed behind a mound of rubble. His battle-brothers pressed on, their jump packs carrying them from one fragment of cover to the next as they sought an opening in the tank's field of fire.
The Kratos had brought its weapons to bear, but the Veterans had not survived centuries of warfare by charging blindly into an enemy's guns. They continued to spread out, forcing the tank's crew to track multiple targets while the rest of the squad maneuvered towards its flanks.
The Vanguard Veterans responded before the Kratos could bring its weapons to bear on them again.
"Spread out! Get above its firing arc!" the squad sergeant barked over the vox.
The surviving Veterans immediately broke from cover. Two ignited their jump packs and vaulted over the shattered wall, their armoured forms rising through the smoke as heavy bolter rounds tore through the ground beneath them. Another pair sprinted along the building's collapsed foundations, using the broken masonry to conceal their approach while the rest of the squad drew the tank's fire.
The Kratos's turret swung upwards, its battle cannon tracking the airborne Astartes. It fired, the enormous shell streaking past the first Veteran and detonating against the upper floors of a ruined hab-block. The blast engulfed the street in dust and debris, but the Veteran had already changed direction, his jump pack carrying him sideways before the explosion could catch him.
His battle-brother came in from the opposite side.
The Veteran slammed into the Kratos's upper hull, his magnetic boots locking against the armour with a heavy clang. Before the crew could react, he drew a melta bomb from his harness and attached it beside the damaged junction between the turret and hull. He armed the charge, then pushed away from the tank as his jump pack roared to life.
"Charge placed!"
The warning reached the squad a moment before the bomb detonated.
A blinding flash erupted across the Kratos's upper hull. Superheated energy punched through the already weakened armour, sending molten fragments scattering across the avenue. The turret shuddered violently, and one of its weapon mounts fell silent as internal systems failed beneath the blast.
The tank lurched forward, its engine still running, but its battle cannon no longer tracked smoothly. The Iron Warriors crew fought to regain control, desperately trying to bring the hull-mounted heavy bolters around to cover the Veterans clinging to the vehicle's flanks.
They were too slow.
The two Veterans advancing along the ruined foundations surged from cover. One hurled a melta bomb towards the rear armour while his companion leapt onto the tank's side, bracing himself against the hull as he secured another charge over a vulnerable section of plating.
The Kratos's heavy bolters finally found them. A burst of fire struck the Veteran on the ground, shredding the masonry around him and hurling him backwards. His companion was less fortunate: several rounds struck his shoulder and chest, but his power armour held. He staggered, caught himself against the hull, and finished arming the bomb.
"Second charge set!"
He kicked away from the tank, igniting his jump pack at the last possible moment.
The second explosion ripped through the rear armour. Smoke and burning fuel belched from the damaged engine compartment, and the Kratos ground to a halt. Its battle cannon fell silent, leaving only the crackle of flames and the clatter of failing machinery.
Across the avenue, the other Vanguard squad have also completed their target.
The Iron Warriors crew fought desperately to keep their tank operational, but the Veterans had already secured their positions along its hull. Two melta bombs detonated in quick succession, their searing blasts penetrating the weakened armour and crippling the tank's remaining weapons. The Kratos shuddered beneath the explosions before finally falling silent, its engine choking as flames spread through the rear compartment.
The victory came at a cost. Two Vanguard Veterans had fallen during the assault, their armour torn apart by the tank's defensive fire. Their surviving brothers had no time to recover their bodies. With the infantry engagement still raging around them, they regrouped and turned their attention towards the final Kratos.
But the last tank had already drawn the attention of another force.
The Sternguard Veterans of the Venerators' 5th Company had established firing positions among the ruins, their bolters covering the avenue as the remaining loyalist armour exchanged fire with the Iron Warriors. Their squad possessed only a single multi-melta, but they had brought melta bombs for precisely this kind of engagement.
"Concentrate fire on its weapons! Keep those traitors busy!" their sergeant ordered.
The Sternguard opened fire. Their disciplined volleys struck the Iron Warriors surrounding the Kratos, forcing them to take cover and disrupting their attempts to protect the tank. Under that covering fire, the Astarte equip with multi-melta charge out, using the building rubles as cover to get to the Kratos flank.
The multi-melta's twin barrels discharged with a blinding flash. Its concentrated heat struck the Kratos's side armour, turning a section of plating incandescent and burning through the outer layers. The tank lurched as its crew attempted to maneuver away from the threat, but the narrow avenue and heaps of rubble restricted its movement.
That was the opening the Sternguard needed.
Three Veterans broke from cover, sprinting through the smoke with melta bombs clutched in their hands. The Iron Warriors responded with a vicious barrage. Heavy bolter rounds swept across the street, tearing through the ruins and cutting down one of the advancing Astartes. Another Veteran was struck while crossing the avenue, his armour ruptured by the impact. He fell without reaching the tank.
The third made it.
He reached the damaged flank and attached his melta bomb to the weakened armour. A second pair of Sternguard followed, placing their own charges near the multi-melta's impact point before withdrawing under covering fire from their squadmates.
"Charges set! Clear the area!"
The surviving Veterans fell back as the bombs detonated.
The explosions merged into a single, searing blast. The Kratos's side armour buckled inward, and the combined force of the melta charges and the multi-melta's previous damage tore through the tank's internal compartments. Flames erupted from its hull, followed by a secondary explosion that shook the surrounding ruins.
The final Kratos ground to a halt.
Its battle cannon fell silent, its heavy bolters ceased firing, and thick black smoke poured from the wreckage. The Iron Warriors had lost all three of their battle tanks.
The Sternguard had paid dearly for the victory. Three of their number lay dead among the shattered masonry, but their sacrifice had removed the threat to their plan.
With all three Kratos destroyed, the Iron Warriors had lost their greatest advantage in the engagement. They could no longer rely on the tanks' firepower to break the loyalist armoured column.
The Iron Warriors commander recognized the situation for what it was. Continuing the engagement would accomplish nothing but waste warriors and ammunition. Their orders had been to delay the loyalist advance, not sacrifice themselves in a battle they could no longer win.
He began organizing a fighting withdrawal.
"Squads Three and Four, cover the eastern avenue! Heavy weapons teams, suppress the loyalist armour! The rest of you, fall back by—"
Gunfire erupted from both flanks.
The sudden barrage struck with devastating precision. Heavy bolter rounds tore through the Iron Warriors' exposed positions, while autocannon shells smashed into their barricades and exploded among the traitor infantry. A second volley followed almost immediately, forcing the Iron Warriors to abandon their firing positions before they could establish a coherent response.
"Contact on the left!"
"Enemy fire from the eastern ruins!"
The commander turned sharply, watching as his sergeants struggled to restore order among their squads. Warriors who had maintained their discipline under the loyalists' frontal assault now found themselves caught between converging lines of fire. Their attempts to establish new firing positions were disrupted before they could bring their weapons to bear.
Then he saw them.
The Venerators' 5th Company had already manoeuvred around the Iron Warriors' flanks while the traitors were preoccupied with the sudden assault by the Vanguard Veterans. Using the confusion and chaos as concealment, they had advanced through the ruined streets and secured firing positions overlooking the Iron Warriors' defensive line.
The commander stared at the advancing Astartes for a moment before a bitter expression crossed his face.
"So that's why you gave me the Kratos," he muttered.
The words were barely audible beneath the thunder of gunfire.
The Land Raiders and surviving Predators now emerged from behind the ruins, moving into a coordinated firing line. The heavy vehicles advanced just far enough to establish clear fields of fire, their crews positioning the hulls to support one another while keeping the remaining traitor weapons under constant pressure.
Lascannons discharged in brilliant beams of light. Autocannons hammered the Iron Warriors' barricades, and the Razorbacks added their heavy bolters and assault cannons to the growing storm of fire. The traitors' positions collapsed beneath the concentrated bombardment, their carefully constructed defences offering little protection against weapons designed to destroy armoured vehicles and fortified emplacements.
The Iron Warriors commander clenched his fist.
"Fall back! All squads, withdraw to the secondary positions! Keep your formations intact and do not let those bastards cut off the avenue!"
His orders were clear, but the withdrawal had already become far more dangerous than he had anticipated. The frontal assault pressed forward, the flanking forces continued to pour fire into his positions, and every attempt to regroup drew another punishing volley.
As the fighting intensified, the Iron Warriors commander made his decision. He began gathering a portion of his forces, selecting squads that remained sufficiently organized to cover his escape and form a defensive line at the secondary positions. The rest would remain behind to delay the loyalists' advance.
He knew what that meant. The warriors he left behind would be forced to hold their ground against a superior enemy while the rest of the company withdrew. Many would not survive.
But to the commander, their lives were merely another resource to be expended.
"Hold your ground," he ordered over the vox, his voice cold and devoid of hesitation. "Prove your worthiness to our Primarch. Prove that there is truly iron within you."
He did not wait for a response.
The commander severed the vox-channel and turned away, leading his chosen squads through the ruins towards the secondary positions. He had no intention of listening to the protests, curses, or desperate pleas of the warriors he had abandoned. If they possessed the strength to survive, they would rejoin the Iron Warriors. If they perished, then they had proven themselves unworthy.
Behind him, the remaining traitors received no further orders.
For a moment, the Iron Warriors stood amid the wreckage of their shattered defensive line, watching their commander disappear into the smoke. Then, one by one, they turned towards the advancing Venerators and raised their weapons.
They would do as they had been commanded.
"Iron within! Iron without!"
The chant rolled across the ruined avenue, repeated by dozens of traitor voices. There was no anger in it, no desperation, not even the defiance of warriors facing certain death. The words came in a cold, emotionless cadence, as though they were reciting a sacred oath rather than preparing to die for a commander who had already abandoned them.
Heavy bolters thundered from behind shattered barricades, while bolters and autocannons spat disciplined volleys into the advancing loyalists. The Iron Warriors had abandoned any hope of escape and instead established overlapping fields of fire, using the remains of their defensive positions to make the Venerators pay for every step forward.
For a brief moment, their resistance stiffened the battle. Several loyalists were forced to take cover as shells detonated among the ruins, and the leading infantry squads halted while the armoured column adjusted its firing angles.
But the outcome had already been decided.
The Iron Warriors no longer had their Kratos tanks. Their commander and a portion of their forces had withdrawn, leaving the remaining warriors without the heavy weapons and support necessary to withstand the renewed assault.
The Venerators responded with methodical brutality.
Lascannon beams tore apart the traitors' strongest firing positions. Autocannon shells smashed through barricades, while heavy bolter fire pinned the defenders in place. Under the armoured column's covering fire, the Venerators advanced through the ruins, clearing each position before moving to the next.
The Iron Warriors continued chanting between volleys.
"Iron within! Iron without!"
Their voices grew fewer as the loyalists closed the distance. Some fought until their ammunition ran dry, drawing combat blades and charging through the smoke. Others remained at their positions, firing until loyalist bolter rounds overwhelmed them.
None surrendered.
Before long, the last pockets of resistance were silenced. The avenue fell quiet apart from the crackling fires and the distant rumble of advancing vehicles.
The Iron Warriors left behind by their commander had been destroyed.
The 5th Company Captain surveyed the battlefield, his gaze passing over the corpses of both the traitors and his own warriors. Smoke drifted through the ruined avenue, mingling with the acrid stench of burning promethium and ruptured power systems. Around him, the surviving Venerators secured the area while the Apothecaries moved among the fallen, searching for any brothers who might yet be saved.
The Captain opened a vox-channel to his Chapter Master.
"We have secured the objective," he reported, watching as one of the Apothecaries knelt beside a fallen Iron Warrior. "Our casualties are higher than anticipated due to the unexpected arrival of the traitors from the 4th Legion."
"Have those traitors met their deserved fate?" the Chapter Master asked.
"We have destroyed a significant portion of their force, but their commander escaped with a small contingent."
"Understood. We will commence the second stage once the bombardment has ended."
"Your will, my lord."
The Captain closed the channel. Even as the vox-link went silent, a familiar mechanical roar rolled across the battlefield.
Whirlwinds.
The artillery vehicles that station within the base begin to elevating their launchers towards the distant horizon. Moments later, the first rockets streaked across the battlefield, trailing plumes of smoke as they raced towards the traitor back lines.
The bombardment had begun.