The battle at Hamma Gates (Area H11)

When night has fallen, the sky is filled with thick, foul-smelling fog. Static electricity is the only sound that breaks the silence. Almost unnoticeable, an eerie chanting is heard. It is impossible to hear where it is coming from. Is it within the city borders or does it come from the desert? The town guards are scouting into the fog. What is going on? This is the question they ask themselves. Before it all goes silent…

The silence becomes deafening before the first tremor hits the walls. The sound of screeching metal cuts through the ears of every citizen in the district.

The sky was lit up when the first salvos hit the walls. Then the frightening towers come marching out of the fog. It's not the Titanic monsters. The fearsome dogs are marching through the city streets.

Before the guards on patrol managed to react, the first volleys of fire were laid down. Andire Xhul, second in command, leads by example and orders her fellow Moirax to take out a heavy weapon squad, leaving nothing but corpses. When done, she puts her focus on a scout sentinel trying to take cover inside a ruined building. Leaving the vehicle on one wound, she screamed into her vox-caster, “You cannot defend your home when you're dead! Surrender!”

This use of tactics proves useful, putting ice in the veins of the exposed commissar. When the Executioner opens up, there is no mercy, and the commissar is torn apart by the incoming fire from the War Dog autocannon. The final shot from the heavy stubber hits the Scout sentinel's leaking fuel and disables it completely. The attempt to wound the closest battle tank proved completely useless, doing nothing but scratches.

When the dust had settled, and the guards had gotten a partial overview, they tried to regroup and get the upper hand. Tactical movements from the infantry squads were made, as they saw no use in trying to wound the enemy. The tanks pushed forward to get range and firing angles. One heavy weapon squad put all their lascannons into Andire Xhul. She had made a tactical error that exposed her to those dangerous weapons. But to no avail, they hardly caused any damage to her chassis. But it angered her more than they might have expected. She screamed so hard that she spat blood.

The battle tank launched all its firepower into the exposed Moirax. Punishing it by being misplaced enough for it to be visible. The incoming damage was rough enough to make it harder for the Moirax to follow orders.

Pushing for a second wave, Andire Xhul screamed once again, “You cannot defend your home when you're dead! Surrender!” before she launched her punishing fire on the exposed infantry squad. Once again, it seemed to be useful, leaving nothing but corpses on the ground. The wounded Moirax made a tactical retreat, before it launched an assault on the heavy weapon squad placed on top of the city walls. It vaporized two lascannons, leaving just one. The impression of losing the rest of his squad proved too much, and he put a gun to his own head.

The Executioner continued its mission to take out the battle tank, but to no avail.

Running out of options, the guard pushed in to take out a threat, the damaged Moirax. The last infantry squad made a move to try to get behind the city walls, but stumbled on the move.

As the battle raged on, the guard noticed that the sight got worse. It got a lot worse to see the knights far away. What was going on? Was it a mind trick? Andire Xhul made a tactical move and hid from the closest battle tank.

Then, out of nowhere, the chanting grew stronger. A mob of cultists came out of hiding. What is this? Chaos within the city borders? How long has this been? And the flies! All of the flies! Are they the reason why the knights cannot be seen properly? The tension keeps rising among the defending lines when the crowd of madmen fires shots in the air.

While all eyes have been on the cultists, Andire Xhul has positioned herself to have a good view of the retreating infantry squad. Her salvo, accompanied by hysterical screaming, deletes the unit without mercy. There isn't a single missed shot! Carnage! The Executioner takes advantage of the Dark Mechanicus upgrade and adds wounding potential to the autocannon. It continues its tireless withering of the battle tank, but not much is done. The defensive lines are pushed forward to try to save the city lines, but it all looks a little bleak right now. The fog saves the executioner. Not much is done. Is this the end?

It looks like the end. It sounds like the end. The silence… The chanting has stopped. What is everyone waiting for?

Then the earth shakes. A blast of dust, stone and mud is thrown into the air, and a dreadblade is crawling its way out of the ground. The chaintalon squeals loudly, waiting for blood. The spear makes whizzing noises while loading.

Then it all breaks, the Stalker, Executioner, and Moirax launch all their firepower into the battle tank to make sure it kneels. “Die! Die! Die!!!!” Andire Xhul screams, spitting her everlasting drops of blood.

Seeing the smoke reaching for the sky, Major Borys Varence decides that the battle outside the city walls is over and retreats behind them to guard the entrance.

The cultists storm out to show that they control the territory, while the dogs position themselves to scout the area.

“You cannot defend your home when you're dead!” she says with an evil grin on her face.