The Droid Army had swept across the land but here it would find its first major setback.

The Word Bearer's human thralls had not been idle in the time that the droid generals had been marshalling their vast armies to rain down hammer blows upon them.

A regiment of Super Heavy Tanks had been formed up, along with numerous bombards, assault regiments and an entire tank army containing as many war machines as could be held in reserve for this offensive. In addition to these mortal forces, vast numbers of Chaos Spawn and Daemon Engines were being readied for war.

Alongside these marvels of engineering and industry was one of the constants of the armies of the Dark Millennium, a massed horde of fanatics and the damned, made ready to sweep down upon the droids in numbers hither too not seen.

Several million cultists and heretics had been secreted in positions that would give them the means to assault the Droid armies before they were readied in their full strength.

The goal of Arch Lector Farghast was to push back the droid armies so the city of Joyous service could be reunited with the others that were still under his control. He was one of the only Legionaries on the planet but his mortal servants had acquitted themselves well. In addition, he only had to hold out until Phelgathon brought with him a relief fleet.

Their enemy's lacked the ability to intercept or block astropathic transmissions and unlike the Necrons, could not blanket out the Sea of Souls. In truth they were an enemy unlike any other that Farghast had fought before.

The Droid Army had proven like so many other foes, completely numb to losses in combat and he had watched rank upon rank of battle droid charge at heavy bolter emplacements.

Yet they could be driven by back the prospect of a rush of heavy armor and the faith of his soldiers.

Farghast had been training up numerous mortal soldier cohorts for the Host's use in their wars with the Imperium. It was a sacred responsibility to bring humanity to the Dark Gods and he fulfilled his charge. Yet he wished he had a Legion Battlegroup to strike out and cause carnage behind enemy lines. In truth he had no more than a single squad of fellow legionaries.

Yet he had Baneblades and with them would go the hopes of this world. The massive tanks were supported by Doomhammers and a company of Baneswords. Alongside these would be the Daemon Engines that had proven so strong in other conflicts.

Hellblades and Helldrakes were being prepared to be unleashed upon the droid fighter squadrons which had proven so efficient at harassing his soldiers.

"Once the last sacrifice has been completed, give the order. May the Dark Gods bless our men, today their blood shall wash this planet of the enemy's sinful aspect."

Several prisoners were being crucified behind Farghast. Their blood would give him insight into the machines designs for defense. They had been laid out in a pattern that was pleasing to the Dark Gods, four smaller patterns dedicated to each member of the Pantheon making up the larger undivided sigil.

He would give this callow mortal flesh to the Gods and then they would spill the blood and oil of the army that had dared to trouble his world. Farghast had known Dark Mechcanicum adepts who would've seethed against this army of metal men, screaming about abominable intelligence, but to him, they were no more a threat than a horde of guardsmen.

Orbital Bombardments from enemy void ships were complicating matters. The arcane fields which protected their fortress cities were able to project to shield entire continents for periods. Yet to do so would expose those same fortresses to land based guns.

The Confederate Army was moving in and yet they lacked the sheer force to achieve a proper breakthrough, his numerous soldiers were able to push them back in several areas, and a few key ground to space batteries had been recovered.

If he raised the cities' shields into a bombardment shield, they could shelter from the Voidships and make sufficient headway that they could hold out until reinforcements arrived.

He turned to his generals, a mixed group of Astartes and lower than them mortals. While combat was glorious, in his eyes, their role was to lead the masses of humanity into the future and he found them well suited for use as generals and leaders as opposed to simple foot soldiers as the more lavishly equipped warbands would make use of them as.

"Give the order, I want general offensives to be conducted as soon as possible. You are to secure the anti orbital weapons at any cost and to destroy any enemy installations they are using to support their war effort. By the second month bring at least half the lost guns back online, if they destroy those guns, bring reports to me as soon as possible."

The goals and objectives of this operation were laid out over several hours, contingencies and various possible droid reactions discussed and debated. Enemy capabilities were not as well understood as they would like, but seemed consistent with several Imperial Guard armies, and in fact several forces akin to Imperial Guard had observed, human soldiers lead by droid officers and in command of droid tanks.

The enemy structure was strange, as they were a fairly conventional force with several oddball weapons and strategies that separated them from other forces. Like tyranids, they would employ chemical weaponry that did not harm their own troops and they would also deploy massive artillery barrages from highly mobile platforms, supporting staggeringly vast forces of infantry and light armor not unlike Orks. Yet if this didn't work, air strikes would be utilized and infiltrators deployed, or the various heavy assets they held in reserve be deployed.

Yet they had weaknesses, while they were highly coordinated, the majority of their soldiery was rather weak. In particular they struggled against heavy armor. What he would give for a few Lances of Knights to breakthrough the enemy ranks. But he had a large supply of super heavy tanks and they would do. He even possessed a handful of Baneblades and Baneswords but had held them in reserve. They had been captured during a raid on a Munitorum convoy and as they hadn't suited Adramlech's current strategy against the Indomitus Crusade they had been sent here.

They had to hold until one of the great machines that had been unearthed in the past few months could be unearthed. Some great cataclysm has buried one, possibly more of the God Machines below this planet's surface.

….

Several dozen armored companies were spearheading into the stalled Droid Armies. They struck at a point in the lines which had been weakened by its offensives against the defensive positions of the Chaos Forces.

Quake shells tore into droid positions, scattering bunkers and upturning tanks.

AATs were destroyed by the Baneblades as they made their advance, Maulerfiends and Chaos spawn charging forward as the mortal followers of chaos let loose their cries and beseeched their gods for blessings.

Miles lost to the droid advance turned into miles regained and several entire droid divisions were cut off, surrounded and defeated, gibbering horrors and zeal serving the plans of Farghast.

In places the sky turned red as turbo laser bombardments were deflected by the immense shield that had been raised. The trap had been sprung and in the weeks following the beginning of this offensive, numerous Confederate units were cut off, and many annihilated. Droids

Heldrakes served as formation breakers while the more numerous Dark Talons engaged the Vulture droids which harried the skies.

Yet several knots of fierce resistance remained.

….

"We are cut off, please send reinforcements!" Captain Volos shouted into his transmitter as a shells screamed down on his position.

They were an infantry battalion that had been cut off along with several others by the sudden chaos offensive. Mortars had been pounding his men for hours and monsters had come at intervals to die on their guns. Their guns must have been augmented by larger pieces because the blasts were becoming increasingly effective.

Several twitching mounds were writhing on the ground where massed fire from his men and their attached droids had gutted the beasts. A Crab Droid had dealt the final blow to one, its laser cannon scoring a hit that had caused the creature's chest to explode as all the water in its tissues boiled.

Numerous times enemy troops had attempted to reduce their pocket but they had held. They had sufficient ammunition for several more days but their D-1 Gun Droids were running low on their shells. They were being increasingly pressed into direct fire roles to destroy Daemon engines. Thankfully the majority of those ravening beasts had bypassed this point and were turning their attentions to those forces which were in full retreat.

"Captain, any word of relief forces?" Asked one of his soldiers.

"No, command has been quiet on that matter, but it'll change. The Star Hammer itself is in orbit above us. You saw the sky change colors the last time it fired its guns. They'll probably run out of juice sooner or later and it will vaporize those cultists."

"Captain, the Battalion Commander wants all officers, company grade and higher to attend him." A B1 runner said. It dashed off without waiting for a reply, saluting as it went to bring news to the other commanders."

"Alright I'll see what the Lieutenant Colonel needs and we'll see how well we do."

He jogged, moving quickly from his forward command post to the center of their holdout. Several Commando Droids stood on guard, multi spectrum binoculars scanning the environment for threats. Had he been Cultist, he'd have been picked off by Blast Rifles before getting within sight of the Battalion command post.

It was situated about two miles behind the front line, they had carved out a sizable pocket while their neighbors were being overrun.

The Tactical Droid was looking at a map of the area, it was a print out that had been provided to model the area. Around him were the other two human captains. Like volos they were all veterans of the Chaos Invasion of Kursk, and in the case of Vasielk a Veteran of Fredrick's conquest.

"Captains, we are in a precarious position currently, without more substantial resupply we will run out in ammunition in a matter of eight days at current expenditure rates. We can expect limited reinforcements provided any HMPs can make it through the enemy air screens."

E-55008 paused and pointed at a section of the map.

"Here there are several likely massing points for enemy armor and Daemon Engines. Captain Volos, your company is most exposed to such an assault and Divisional command is sending a platoon of D-1 cannons to reinforce your post, along with several Dwarf Spider Droids."

"Colonel when should we prepare for another offensive?"

"Based off current estimates from probe droids we have a few days before another general assault begins on us. Harassment is to be expected but fortunately we predict that the enemy's assault will not be coordinated enough for us to be unable to move reserves to problem areas before they are breached."

"What should we do in the event of super heavy assets being employed?"

"In the unlikely event enemy tanks or daemon engines larger than a Leman Russ tank appear radio in your position and break contact, allow the D-1s to slow or immobilize them. But to give battle with any of our troops is likely a waste of assets."

Multiple lesser droids were puttering around the command post, ensuring that things were running properly, and monitoring their remaining stocks of ammunition and power supplies. Generators were carried by all droid forces larger than a battalion and droid units would need to be rotated off the line to recharge.

B1 Droids while not the most useful for heavy combat had several advantages in terms of out of combat roles. The droids had an inhuman focus on their tasks and never stopped working to organize the army.

The brief continued for some time, with information be conveyed regarding how much ammunition they could expect, how many droid and human soldiers could be expected as reinforcements. Likelihood of reinforcement, and the various enemy actions that would affect it. How many guns could be called on to counter battery enemy weaponry and target infantry.

When Volos returned to his company, the mood of his soldiers was still optimistic. The coming days would strain that.

Time and time again, Word Bearers Cultists would launch attacks to harass them.

Larger weaponry had been emplaced and the shelling had intensified. On several occasions snipers had suppressed large areas, killing men and droids who were caught out of the deepening field entrenchments. That was one the advantages of having several Crab Droids in the company, they had claws which could grip and dig into several kinds of stone, digging into soil was child's play to them.

His Command post was located in a pit dug by one of the machines. Two of them, armed with heavy flamers were inactive nearby, a ready reserve he could activate in the event they needed to retake any of the pits.

Trench lines had been discarded as insufficient against any assault featuring Astartes, who would often exploit them to maneuver out of sight of large ordinance needed to kill them and get in close where their advantages were most pronounced. Targeting one with a tank at a kilometer was an exercise in gunnery, one at 10 meters was an exercise in which a man or droid reacted slowest and was killed.

Two times smaller Daemon Engines shaped like Spiders came on them. Spitting fire from their cannons they lead substantial cultist infantry and cost them even more men in sealing that breach off and retaking the lost sectors. The dense woods of this region had helped his men against these machines, the trees hindering them as they attempted to add to their bloody tally.

They had a tenuous existence in the face of the enemy, who seemed to simply be fixing them in place with minor forces and sending the bulk of their host to continue to devastate the rest of the Confederate Army.

They had limited armor assets being primarily an infantry formation, but had been blessed with many artillery droids and carriages.

The Earthshakers which had made up the bulk of Kursk's PDF's artillery arm had been rebored to suit the ammunition factories that had sprung up with the Confederate annexation. These had been liberally distributed to the formation and production of such pieces had commenced to address issues with the Droid Arsenal.

Such a weapon had saved his men on several occasions, blasting apart the Spider Engines when they had strayed into his sector.

Volos was hopeful and like his men, counted down the days until when the Commander had calculated a major relief effort. Even now, occasional supply drops from transport craft had kept them afloat.

….

What Captain Volos of the 352nd Mixed Infantry Division didn't know was that the several other pockets on the old front line were being ferreted out of their hills and forests. He didn't know that the forces which had swept the main body of the Confederate was stretching itself to collapse these pockets.