Golg Skullhamma roared in fury. Not only were the humies' losses minimal, but they had lost a third Kill Krooza to a wing of Thunderhawks.

"I want dose humies dead! Now! Keep all gunz firing, you lazy grotz!"

"Boss, new ships incomin'! Looks like more humies!"

"Wot!"

The Ork stared at the opening rift into Warp Space. There were definitely humie ships coming through.

Battlefleet Solaris had arrived.

Admiral Vanardis smiled grimly as he caught a glimpse of the Ork fleet through the Warp rift. As his flagship, the Apocalypse-class battleship Imperator Magnus, entered normal space, he knew that the fight would be a tough one.

"Admiral, I count four Terror Ships, seven Kill Kroozas and many smaller vessels surrounding the planet. The Emerald Viper fleet has lost several escorts, and most of the ships have taken heavy damage."

"Very well. Signal the Diamond Asp that we are moving to engage the enemy, and order the fleet to enter attack formation."

It was going to be a tough battle. Even with Imperator Magnus, the Emperor-class Swift Fury and over twenty cruisers and frigates, they were still outnumbered and outgunned. The transports and escorts of the 475th Cadian would add to the battle, but…

"Sir! Savage gunships, incoming!"

"All lances fire! Stop them from getting a good salvo!"

The Imperator Magnus' lances spat beams of destruction at the Ork ships, shredding through them. Out of the fifteen attacking, ten were destroyed by the unrelenting salvoes from the fleet. The last five got off on volley before exploding from the sheer volume of energy.

"Status!"

"Shields are holding!"

"Diamond Asp welcomes us to the battle and requests instructions!"

Vanardis powered up the holo-display that represented the entire battle, and started bellowing orders. The battle for Paroliant was beginning in earnest.

"Ah, Inquisitor," said Master Selarus. "The Diamond Asp reports that Battlefleet Solaris has arrived, and the orbital battle is about to begin properly. Admiral Vanardis has requested that we attempt to forcibly retake the planetary defences in the Hive City of Tarnegris."

"I see," said Torlus. "I take it that Tarnegris is a contested area?"

"Yes," replied Kaltharus. "The Orks have moved in in force. The defence corps are trying to hold them back, but the city is mostly empty. The civilians got away before the Ork attack."

"As I was saying, most of our forces must remain here to keep a holding action against any further assaults. Therefore, I have asked Captains Kaltharus and Medasclo to lead an assault on the city. Strictly infiltrative – small units of snipers, devastators and assault marines."

Torlus cocked his head. "Assault marines and devastator squads are not traditionally infiltrative."

"Assault marines in a hive city are surprisingly hard to get to grips with," commented Kaltharus with a grin. "And we make sure that none of us forget our lessons among the scouts. The Orks won't stand a chance."

Torlus returned the smile. "This would be most interesting to watch. May I join the attack force?"

"By all means, Inquisitor."

There was a roaring from outside the command post, and Selarus looked up eagerly. "Excellent. The Thunderhawks made it past the blockade to deliver our vehicle support. The battle in orbit must be getting more vicious for the Orks' attention to be drawn away for long enough."

A servitor moved towards the Chapter Master. "Communication for you, Master," it said in the strange monotone of the cyborg constructs.

"If you will excuse me? Captains, move as soon as your troops are assembled."

Inside the structure, Selarus flicked a switch, and watched the forming hologram.

"It's you," he said with an impatient snarl. "I told you not to contact me until the Orks were destroyed."

"My apologies, Master," replied the other, pronouncing the title with a sneer. "I merely thought that you would want to know that our plans at this end are going according to schedule. We will be ready to move in a matter of hours. We need not obliterate the Orks utterly before acting."

"Don't you know the meaning of patience? I am pleased to know that you are nearly ready, but remember our deal. The Vipers would send the signal and set things running, not your automaton lackeys."

"As you wish," replied the figure. The hologram dissolved, and Selarus cursed the insolence of the other. No matter. It was one of the many issues that would be resolved soon.

"This is where we leave you," said the Marine piloting the Rhino. "Tarnegris is a matter of minutes away on foot.

Torlus nodded his thanks for the lift, and stepped out onto the ravaged plain. Faint sounds of battle filtered the otherwise eerily silent Hive city.

Devastator Squad Alpha moved towards the city entrance, with Torlus in the lead. Around them moved a total of twenty Devastators, twenty Assault Marines and fifteen sniper rifle-armed Scouts from various companies.

"Marines!" roared Kaltharus, who had left his prized Terminator armour for a jump pack. "Status?"

The fifty-five warriors checked their arms one more time, and with a resounding "Yes, Captain!", they were on the move again.

The moment they entered Tarnegris, they were under attack. A mob of stormboyz dropped from the high buildings, roaring battle cries.

With impressive synchronisation, every Marine raised their weapon to aim at the attackers, and fired. The Assault Marines' flamers torched most of the xenos, with heavy bolter fire from the Devastators shredding the rest.

"You know what to do," said Kaltharus, in such calm tones that it was as though the Orks hadn't even existed. The Assault Marines triggered their jump packs, and rose to the buildings. Scouts swarmed into the shadows, combing the area for targets. Finally, the Devastators moved forward, ready to eliminate anything that came their way.

"Fall back! Fall back, I say!"

Torlus' head snapped to look towards the source of the voice, and saw a group of routing corpsmen, hotly pursued by several Wartraks. "This way!" he roared as the Devastators primed their lascannons and plasma cannons.

The 'traks' shootas rattled, and two of the corpsmen fell. Spears of light smashed into the vehicles, obliterating three. The fourth somehow remained intact, before getting incinerated by a well-aimed plasma bolt.

The leader came to a halt in front of the Inquisitor.

"A thousand thanks, sir," he gasped. "Sergeant Garrison, of the Tarnegris Eaglehawks, at your service. They took us completely by surprise – we've usually been able to avoid the vehicles, but those overtook us. With the last anti-armour weapons destroyed a few hours ago, I thought we were goners."

"At ease, sergeant," replied Torlus. "What is the state of the city?"

"When the Orks first attacked, we were able to hold them off for a while with the wall bolter turrets, but they brought in something that I've never even heard of! The bolts just glanced off its hide, and it smashed through the walls like they were paper! Luckily it was too big to fit into the central district where the orbital batteries a stored, but we're down to guerrilla action there. The last time we were able to cut through the Ork jamming, there were about seventy men left there, facing around two hundred Orks. They had a good position, and were cutting through them like flies, but they just kept coming… for all I know, they're dead by now."

"And the rest of the city?" asked Medasclo.

"As far as I know, we're the only ones left outside of the centre. Too easy to get killed out here, and that behemoth is still roaming around – we had to avoid it a few times."

"What did this 'behemoth' look like?" asked Kaltharus over the comm. channel.

Garrison groaned. "Four legs, tusks the size of an man, teeth bigger than a lasrifle, and a small bunker on its back. Orks were swarming over the top of the thing, but they barely had it under control. Must have been three times the length of a Chimera."

"Squiggoth," said Medasclo with a sigh. "I suppose it was too much to hope for that they hadn't brought any of those monsters."

"We've dealt with them before," chided Kaltharus. "We'll just have to be careful, and concentrate fire when it does appear. Thank you, Sergeant Garrison. You have acquitted yourself well today. Leave the city and take refuge among in the Rhinos there. Make sure you tell the Marines there to be careful of the Squiggoth."

Garrison saluted smartly, and beckoned his men to follow him out of the city.

Vanardis swore brutally as the Swift Fury's hull buckled under the concentrated fire of the last three Kill Kroozas and a Terror Ship. "All ships, protect the Fury! Aft lance batteries, focus on that Savage Gunship!"

There was a flash, and a Falcion-class escort detonated as a volley of Ork torpedoes found their mark.

"Sir, Diamond Asp requests support – they've isolated a Terror Ship!"

Vanardis quickly looked for the Battle Barge on the holo-display, and noted that it was locked in one-on-one with the lead Terror Ship.

"Order Tyrant and Martyr to join the Asp!" he ordered. "The sooner we take down the lead ships, the sooner their force will dissemble into quarrelling fragments!"

Sparks flew between the combatants on the display, and another green Ork dot winked out next to the Imperator Magnus. Scanning the battlefield, he thanked the Emperor for how well the battle was going. Solaris would most likely be out of action for a while afterwards, but the Orks were taking catastrophic losses.

More sparks flew towards the lead Terror Ship, which began flashing to indicate critical damage.

Abruptly, more ships entered the system. The holo-display matched them to the Cadian 475th, with a Super Heavy Troop Transport closely followed by two Thunderbolts and four Firestorms.

"Sir, Cadian 475th requests that we split the Ork line to allow them through, then the escorts will join us."

Skullhamma finished punching the Ork who had reported the arrival of the Cadian forces. "Dat is not wot I wanted ta hear! Da Chaos boyz said dat it'd just be us an da Marine boyz! Now we gotta throw everything at dem!"

"Boss, we'z gonna get stomped!" whined the unfortunate messenger.

The Ork Boss punched him again. "We'z da Orkz! Orkz neva lose! Orkz…" A green speck caught his eye out of the viewports of the Terror Ship. It grew into a Thunderhawk gunship.

As though in slow motion, the gunship launched a spray of hellfire missiles. As it pulled away, the missiles grew until they filled the view.

Time snapped back, and the bridge exploded.

Vanardis smiled viciously as the silhouette of the Terror Ship winked out. One down, three to go. They could come out of this with honours at this rate.