| abstract
| - For it was in the rubble of the New Vassburg hive on the world of Amarah that something alien had manifested in the darkness. There, in the wreckage that had been strewn hours previously, a step-pyramid of strangely-angled green-black stone, riven with veins of pulsing emerald light, now rose up into the night, drawing bolt after bolt of lightning from the troubled skies above to strike its apex and causing it to burn with glimmering ghost fire. Around this pyramid had formed lesser citadels of the same maleficent stone, these being studded with arcane weapons emplacements and strange battlements connected to the main structure by angular trenches filled with glowing fog. Around the pyramid complex the skeletal figures of Necrons moved in tireless patrol and tides of Canoptek Scarabs and other constructs swarmed in and out, dragging a multitude of corpses and wreckage fragments with them to feed the pyramid’s hunger. Against this stronghold of the enemy Marshal Venner of the Imperial Guard's Death Korps of Krieg ranged his forces for attack, even as intelligence came in from forward observers of alien stars being seen in the rent-open storm above the pyramid through which blasted flares of emerald energy that surged up from its apex with deafening reports. As they moved into position, each of the men of the Death Korps assault brigade knelt in silent ordered ranks, crouching in the rubble and waiting for the call to battle as alien, viridian lightning flashed and flickered in the shrouded night. Between the ruins in which the Death Korps marshalled and the Necron defences lay was a rough kilometre of open ground, blasted flat and scorched, marking the killing zone they would have to cross to reach their objective. The signal was given at last and the Death Korps rose as one and began to advance across slowly, evenly gathering pace as they left the rubble and entered the blasted ground. Immediately the curving arcs of Sentry Pylons materialised on the walls of the citadels and turned to track the advancing human army, arcs of power visibly flaring along the strange Necron battlements. Then the killing began. Howling beams of emerald energy blasted great swathes of men from existence, while Tesla Cannons spat volleys of lightning that left anything they touched as burning cinders. Hundreds fell in the first few moments but the Death Korps line did not waver in its advance and now, from deep in the ruins behind them, their own guns spoke. Impassively, forward artillery observers had noted the range and disposition of the Necrons’ heavy weapons and marked them for destruction. Venner had ordered that no munitions were to be spared, no cannon left in reserve, and the Death Korps' Basilisks and Praetors answered his call with a furious bombardment, sending tonnes of shells into the air to fall like deadly rain on their targets. Instantly the pyramid and its sub-citadels were wreathed in a mantle of flame as hundreds of shells burst against the structure. The pyramid flickered for a moment like a miracle on the horizon before becoming solid once again, one of its outlying obelisk towers blasted to fragments in a stream of arcing lightning. Soon, as the bombardment lashed out again, great chunks of black masonry were torn free from the structure and an eerie howl cut across the battlefield, clearly audible over the thunder of the shellfire. The Necron firepower was quickly redirected upwards, sweeping the skies and blasting apart the shells before they could reach their target, and in the respite the Death Korps pressed their advantage, surging forwards while Venner’s tank companies held back until now, when they roared forth from the rubble at flank speed through the Death Korps lines towards their objective. As the Imperial troops closed to a few hundred metres, the ground before the citadels burst open, disgorging murderous Canoptek constructs directly into the oncoming Death Korps troops. The huge articulated bodies of the Canoptek Tomb Stalkers rose up and tore through the lines, whilst hundreds of smaller Canoptek Scarabs dragged men down, stripping the flesh from their bones. They were met with Bayonet and Lasgun, Flamer and Frag Grenade, and the Death Korps flowed like a tide around the killing machines whilst the tank companies entered range and opened fire with their Battle Cannons into the ranks of the shambling Necron Warriors that were beginning to stream from the citadels. On the left flank, a squadron of Macharius Omega plasma tanks unleashed blasts like miniature suns towards the defence pylons, heedless of their overheating cannons in their determination to strip the citadel of its defences. While on the right, Centaur carriers sped forth through a storm of Gauss Weapons fire, which blasted scores of them to shrapnel, in order to deploy their Quad Launchers as close as possible to the enemy. Thousands fell, tanks erupted into fire and a blizzard of shells was hurled against the black pyramid which began to break and crack, smoke billowing and actinic lightning playing sickly across its splintering surface. Behind the Imperial lines the companies of Krieg troops left behind to defend the artillery position found themselves beset and in a desparate battle to stave off twisted, blade-handed Flayed Ones that came for them from the shadows, just as Necron Attack Craft shrieked from the skies to strafe them into oblivion. The squadrons of Imperial Lightnings and Avengers that tore through the night to intercept the lethal Night Scythes were few, but bravely they dove straight into the heart of the enemy squadrons, their weapons blazing in the darkness, each pilot commending their soul to the Emperor and knowing that this would be their final battle. The die was cast, the battle was held in balance and there could be no holding back. Already tens of thousands lay dead on the blasted plain before him, but Venner did not falter in ordering forth the second wave. Raising his sword high and leading the charge himself across the deadly ground, the Death Korps filled the battlefield like a living tide of steel and fire, and crushed the remaining Canoptek constructs that barred their path, trampling the scattered scarabs into the earth. The Death Korps reached the outer citadels of the pyramid complex just as their own shellfire began at last to falter, but for the Necrons it was too late, the enemy was already upon them, the human soldiers swarming like ants across the alien fortifications. Surrounded, Necron Warriors were brought down in murderous crossfires and the machine creatures were driven back and destroyed one by one, as for every Krieg Guardsman the Necrons slaughtered, a dozen more took their place. Everywhere across the structure Breacher Charges were slammed into place and Melta Bombs were hurled into energy conduits and cracks in the armoured edifice. The violent detonation of the black pyramid blinded onlookers five kilometres distant and carved an ash-white crater out of the wasteland that was clearly visible to vessels in orbit above the battle-savaged world.
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