With the Alpha Legion's attempts to end the Paramar campaign with a surgical strike in shambles there was no choice but to mount a full-scale invasion of Paramar V.
The loyalist world had vast reserve of ammunition and fuel so a siege was out of the question for the XXth Legion. One massive assault with overwhelming force delivered as quickly as possible was their only recourse. With the resources of an entire Astartes Legion, one Titan Legio, a Forge World and two knight houses behind them the coiled serpent struck.
A race was now on. The Traitor fleet was well beyond the system and had to burn their engines without concern for safety to beat the Mechanicum forces of Gryphonne IV as they prepared to defend the system placed in their control. The Alpha Legion long range auspexes could detect the erection of void shields across Paramar V and as they got closes the thrumming pulse of Titan engines starting and pumping energy through the body of the massive war engines.
Slower moving traitor Mechanicum vessels were towed by the faster moving XXth Legion ships and soon the two enemies were obscured from each other by the detonations of planet rupturing lance beams on impregnable void shields and the explosion of ordinance in the thing atmosphere of the planet as counter batteries brought down anything the Traitors sent.
The attack of the Alpha Legion was multifaceted, however. Soon three frigates drove straight through the atmosphere of the planet, their weapons blazing but causing no more damage than the fire storm created by the friction between the massive ships and the planetary atmosphere.
With no way to target such close, fast-moving objects, despite their size, the planetary defenses were of less use to save the loyalist forces than the intrinsic gravity of the planet.
The massive ships started to come apart this close to the surface of the planet, ripped apart by their own massive weight.
Only one escaped but the suicidal attack was enough to tear a hole in Paramar V's defenses.
Soon massive landers were touching down on the planet's surface, their ramps shaking the ground as they fell to the ground.
The ground would quake again as the titans of Legio Fureans marched towards their destination.
Hearing the war horns of their enemy the crews of the War Griffons were shocked to see that the enemy contained fellow Titan Legions. As the sable and gold titans appeared the Legio Gryphonicus sounded their own war horns and stood their ground over the open desert near Landing Zone Secundus.
The
Blood Hunger strode towards the right flank of the line of loyalist titans. The heavy booming noise of the Mori Quake cannon firing overhead from
echoed down the plain as the shells landed among the enemy, blasting knight armours to pieces and shaking the ground where they stood.
In the center
Cyra Bazhirr backed up a maniple commanded by
Alfair Mustar. The mighty Warmaster titan strode behind the Warlord titan the glow of its plasma weaponry heralded the destructive force about to be unleashed on the loyalist line.
The deafening collapse of void shields ripped across the plain. A War Griffon Reaver was ripped apart by the plasma weaponry of
Cyra Bazhirr in one volley.
But the loyalists were not helpless in the face of the tide of enemy titans. The
Argentum Lamina charged towards the enemy, smashing a massive chainfist into the torso of the
Larine Mor, smashing through the armour before discharging its melta cannon at point blank range into the fusion reactor of the traitor engine. The Tiger Eyes' Reaver staggered backwards as its systems overloaded, shutting down one after another before collapsing backwards, sending rust-tinged dust into the thin atmosphere.
The rest of the loyalist center targeted
Alfair Mustar, ripping away the void shields from the Warlord titan. As the smaller titans fell and the Warlord was vulnerable
Cyra Bazhirr strode forward to take the brunt of the enemy fire.
Alone the Warmaster titan was able to destroy the loyalist Warlord but couldn't be everywhere and the
Argentum Lamina attacked the vulnerable rear of the
Alfair Mustar. After suffering repeated damage the Warlord couldn't sustain any more punishment and shut down when the melta-cannon from the loyalist reaver ripped away the internal structures of the titan's legs, power conduits hung uselessly and drained all the energy from the massive machine, its arm weapons sagged as the machine shut down.
It wasn't enough and, undamaged, Cyra Bazhirr strode towards the Nexus it's weapons undiminished in their destructive capabilities.
On the traitor right flank the waves of knights and titans met with success after success as the light loyalist maniple. The loyalists pushed back and the Tiger eyes were not unscathed as they caused the collapse of the Loyalist left.
The Alpha Legion tank column pushed on, moving to full speed now that the titan battle was over, eager to get into the Nexus itself to end the fighting in the Paramar system for good.
However, while their approach was devoid of titanic opposition, it was not to be uncontested . . .