Thus Did The Imperium of Mankind Fight There

Part 2 Battle Upon the Throneworld

"Open fire!" Judge Grigorovich roared as he followed his own order, pulling out his bolt pistol and firing it into the charging horde of Xenos. That order was quickly followed by hundreds of Arbiters responding with a fusillade of shotgun shells, soon followed by bolter rounds from the APCs.

The torrent of fire physically tore apart, shredded, and blew the wretched mob of degenerates to pieces in just a single minute. The Valkyries above didn't even have time to fly into proper firing positions before it was all over.

"Cease fire, cease fire!" he barked as the shooting died down. He then glared at the now evidently enemy force, contemplating what just happened. The fight had been too easy, clearly just a way for the enemy to test their resolve.

He mulled over his options in this completely unprecedented situation. However, the enemy decided to expedite his decision as another horn sounded. The archers in the enemy's rear let loose a volley of arrows before the infantry at the front charged in formation.

This time, Grigorovich didn't need to give the order. Once more the sound of hundreds of shotguns rang out along with the booms of bolter fire from the armored vehicles. Gouts of flame consumed the enemy as they neared into the range of the Repressors' pintle-mounted flamers.

Although the Arbiters far outmatched their opponents in terms of firepower, they were vastly outnumbered. Even as the Valkyries added their weapons to the deadly demonstration of Imperial might - cutting down hundreds in seconds - tens of thousands of human infantrymen rushed forward, engaging the Arbiters in melee.

The Arbiters had faced enemies far worse than a human army equipped with gear that wouldn't even be a match for armies raised on an Imperial feudal world though and in response, the Arbiters drew their shock mauls. Battling their primitive enemies in a vicious, bloody fight for survival, the plasteel armor the Arbiters proved to be virtually impenetrable against their opponent's arrows and swords.

But even the finest armor had weak points. Soon, the first Arbiter fell, a sword plunged between the gap of her helmet and chest plate. Yet another martyr who died in the Imperium's eternal war against all those who would dare challenge the Emperor's rule.

"Stand your ground in the Emperor's name! For Terra and the Imperium! HOLD THE LINE!" Grigorovich bellowed as he caved in the skull of what appeared to be an officer with his power mace, a weapon that was far more powerful than the standard shock maul, gifted to him upon his promotion to the rank of Judge.

He attempted to coordinate fire with the Valkyries, but the enemy decided that they'd had enough of the aircrafts' impunity blowing them to bits and sent what seemed to be small dragons with riders on their backs, armed with lances to combat them. Although the beasts would've easily been torn apart by the Valkyries' guns, the pilots were forced to dodge as they'd been focused on the ground.

Now, just as they had lost their air support, enemy cavalry on horseback charged out from the Gate, forcing the Arbiters on foot to withdraw further and further. The APCs became surrounded by enemy infantry as they climbed atop the vehicles, attempting to find an opening to reach the crew inside, the tracks of the Rhinos and Repressors clogged with gore.

Grigorovich attempted to rally the defenders but was struck by one of the cavalrymen. The enemy's lance failed to pierce his armor, but the force of the impact caused some of his ribs to break and he slipped out of conscience, now severely wounded.

With their commander incapacitated, their vehicles disabled, and deprived of their air support, it appeared as if the last remaining Arbiters would be overwhelmed and cut down. Another doomed last stand out many in the Imperium's, let alone humanity's, long history.

However, just as his servants protect his Imperium, so does the Emperor protect his subjects and so do...His Angels.

Charging in came legionaries of the 3rd Phoenix Blades, the 4th Steel Wardens, and the 7th Solar Wardens from the Space Marine garrison force that aided Custodians in protecting the Imperial Palace and further upgrading Terra's fortifications.

Firing their bolt guns and swinging their massive chain and power swords, the warriors of the Legiones Astartes turned the battle into a massacre.

Over the cacophony of dying men, desperate screams and weapons fire could be heard the distinctive war cries of each of the three legions, carried over the din of battle by gene-enhanced lungs and integrated helmet vox amplifiers.

"From the Ashes of War, We Rise!" "Steel and Doom!" The Sun's Light!"

The very presence of such a powerful force caused many of the enemy fighters to experience the full effects of transhuman dread. The infantry, realizing they could not escape, laid down their weapons and surrendered, pleading for mercy.

Mercy which the Astartes did show, not out of any feelings of compassion, but because they'd been ordered to take as many prisoners as possible for interrogation purposes to obtain any intelligence on the Gate and whatever lay on its opposite side.

The enemy cavalry, however, believed they could outrun the large, hulking armored warriors and broke contact. At full gallop, they made for the Gate, but to their horror, they soon found the superhumans—despite their size and heavy armor—could not only match the speed of their war steeds but surpass them.

As the Space Marines closed in on the horsemen, the invaders were turned into mincemeat by their bolters and when the Astartes were within arm's reach of the cavalry, the riders found themselves literally thrown off their saddles by the power armored men.

In the skies above, the Valkyries finally managed to eliminate the opposing flyers. Using their speed and altitude advantage over the reptilian creatures to distance themselves from the more maneuverable organisms before eliminating them with their multi-lasers. The riders of the beasts fell to earth to their—if they were not already—deaths.

The Arbites aircraft made rushed landings to pick up their casualties. The next destination for the wounded, such as their commander, would be the nearest apothecarion. As for the dead, the only destination awaiting their soulless bodies would be the crematorium, as there was no land left on Terra for burials.

Imperial Army regiments arrived soon after riding in Chimaera IFVs, securing the prisoners left by the Marines who were now patrolling and barricading the Gate.

In the Imperial Palace, an old, robed, and hunched-over figure leaning on a staff topped with a golden Aquila, thought over the events that'd just precipitated and sighed as he wondered how he would inform his liege and the rest of the Imperium's political elite of it all.

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