The Counter Attack on Spaceport Malevolus

The twin heresies of “democracy” and “freedom” loomed large in

the mind of the Obergruppenführer with each of the Secessionist
Republic wins over the last couple of months of the war.

The Empire counter attack was a two pronged strategy, the first
part of the plan was the invasion of Aquila Primus Fortress.
The second part was to attack the Spaceport Malevolus which is
situated north of the city of Kriegburg. This was a vital piece
of the grand design as the city was the Headquarters for the
entire Imperial war effort and if it fell, then the entire
world would be lost to the Emperor.
The United Republic of Planets troops were well dug in by the
time that the Space Marines arrived, but the main threat was
that the rebels had positioned all three of House Kostova’s
Knights at the fore of the battle line.

The High Command of the Imperial forces made the fatal error of
packing each dropship with as many space marines as possible in
an attempt to overwhelm the forward tactical objectives in the
battle. This was to prove to be a disastrous mistake.
The dropships thundered forward on the Empire left flank and
centre. The Knights advanced targeting systems snapped off
shots with their huge rapid fire auto cannons and filled the
air with shards of metal death.

Explosive rounds shattered against the armoured plates of the

four dropships as they sped ahead. Cockpit windows broke under
the barrage of firepower and the pilots were reduced to shedded
meat as their intestines were splatted down the length of the
dropship by the splinters of razor sharp glass. The hulls of
the troop transport compartments at the back were also
penetrated and the blood of Space Marines painted the inside of
the dropships as they were cut in half, with the unlucky ones
surviving only to slam into the the ground and burn alive.

Imperial High Command lost almost half their army in just

moments as three of the four dropships which were filled with
Space Marines were gunned down in-front of their eyes.
Empire dreadnought reinforcements moved down the centre to
bolster the front line but came under intense crossfire from
the rebel forces. All the while, Imperial battleships fought
their way through the blockading separatist fleet into low
orbit to unleash a barrage of fire onto the surface of the
planet. However the Empire reinforcements predicament became
even more dire once Republic agents aboard the ships redirected
the barrage onto the dreadnoughts instead.
No more help was to come from the battleships as intense gun
battles broke out in the ship bridges as they realised they had
traitors in their midst.

The shattered dreadnought frames oozed blood and vital fluids

as chunks of dead Space Marines slowly fell out of the broken
armoured walkers.
On the far left hand side of the Imperial lines, the Space
Marines tried to engaged in close combat with the Rebel Knights
in vengeance for their fallen comrades.
In response the Republic forces charged forwards their bike
squads to prevent the Marines swarming the Knights.
Fierce hand to hand fighting ensued with the bikes smashing
their vehicles into the bodies of the Space Marines and the
Imperial forces blasting back at point blank range. The Marines
ripped the riders off their bikes with their armoured hands to
dash their heads open on the ground.

On the far
right flank of
the battle
field was a
tense combat
for the road
watch tower as
a Republic
Mole disgorged
it’s assault
troops to take
the objective.
While all this
was happening a
Republican
dropship sped
behind the
Empire lines to
secure the last
objective.

This was the

death knell for
the Imperial
forces in the
battle. Almost
all of their
Space Marine
infantry had been killed and the new United Republic of Planets
tactics of not only a strong defensive of tanks and artillery,
but also fast moving squads ready to speed ahead to take
advantage of weak gaps means that the Empire must review how
they conduct the final battle. As now the Rebels push on for
the Imperial Head Quarters and the conquering of the planet.