The battle raged on as more and more Federal reinforcements continued to pour in. As the terror bombing began, most Imperial elements were located at the outskirts of the city, with some individual units like 1355th Legion inside the city. Heavy anti-air theoretically had the entire city covered due to the range of the missiles. The enemy was however numerous and more than eager to silence any batteries that threatened their operations. The air units assigned to the city were seemingly not enough and for every Imperial fighter ace, there seemed to be at least three bogeys, sometimes even more. Therefore, the terror bombing took a terrible toll on the city, even though the bombers suffered casualties too. Buildings were smashed by the thermobarics and although Imperial architecture favors sturdy designs, that was hardly enough. Anyone not wearing power armor and caught within the blast wave of one of the bombs was promptly disintegrated.  Hundreds of thousands died within the hour. Legionaries fared better due to their power armor and heavy equipment, although a direct hit from the aforementioned weapons would leave nothing standing. As the parts of the city burned, legionaries took positions in the rubble, determined to throw everything they've got at the invaders.

The Federation's aerial effort to silence Imperial artillery near and within the base of the 1355th Legion didn't go so well. As enemy aircraft approached the carefully planned kill zones of anti air artillery and missiles, they were mercilessly cut down. Enemy numbers did mean that they eventually gained some success too, although casualties for them were severe. The sudden appearance of the sky ship did put the base's shield to a real test. The somewhat daring deployment of a skyship over a contested zone posed a danger for the vessel. Many of the missile silos around the city and in the base switched their targeting to this more imminent threat and the skyship was soon met with barrages of anti-ship missiles. It's mighty guns succeeded in bringing down the base's shield and most of the artillery positions. Even those guns wouldn't however have enough range to reach some of the missile silos farther away, thus the enemy would have to find another way to silence them

___________________________________________________________________________

 

''Allright, get 'em out of here.'' said Balshazzar to the comm. Another hovertruck filled with civies started heading south. All the main roads were filled with refugees from the city while multiple legions and auxiliaries advanced to the other direction. The hovertruck was the last of them, at least for a while. He was rounding up civilians in an upper class neighbourhood, judging by the houses and hovercars they left behind. Imperial citizens mostly, both local and with Aresian ethnicity. He hoped one day to live in a similar neighbourhood. A job in his cousin's company after gaining his citizenship would have guaranteed him and his family a steady income. Now things were taking turns to the unknown. He wasn't sure anymore if he'd return to Edessa alive.

Fighter jets battled in the area above them and thunder coming from guns echoed from the distance. That thunder would reach where he was standing in a matter of hours. Even then they had had to occasionally dispose of stray patrols of the Federation's gravatroopers, as their grav chute toting enemies were called. No mercy had been shown. A life for a life. A life for one hundred in this case.

Looking back at the distressed faces of the refugees, he could only feel their pain and suffering. He couldn't help but to think about his family on Edessa, other side of the Imperium. The fathers and sons of many of the refugees here were there, on Edessa, serving as auxiliaries. It was commonplace to post the auxiliaries away from their home planets in order to prevent local revolts. He hoped by Soturi* and their ancestors that the auxiliaries of Claustrum would have their revenge some day.

*A god of war revered in some easternmost worlds of the Imperium.

____________________________________________________________

 

The Legate was dead, the base in ruins, what remained of the 1355th Legion was holed up in the bunkers and tunnels under the base or fighting in pockets of resistance inside the still burning city. The elder tribune of the command cohort was now in charge and he had given the final orders for his men still inside the city. The enemy forces had finally crushed the base and its defences, leaving nothing behind but rubble. What they didn't know was that the base extended underground. In these bunkers, the newly appointed legate was giving orders. The operational strenght of the legion's elements at the base was less than one cohort, in the city, unknown.

''We'll head out and try to link up with the rest of the Imperial elements in vicinity. There are tunnels leading out of the base. Grab whatever weapons and equipment you find in our caches and group for departure at the main exit. We'll be taking mechs and scuttling whatever we have to leave behind.'' he said and glanced at the legion's signifer.

''Protect the eagle, at all costs.''

______________________________________________________________

 

Crenius had never seen a walker up close. Parades were commonplace of course, but now the beast was right next to him. And a huge beast it was, a Vesuvius-class walker stood tall. Firing another round from its main cannon and destroying a hovertank, he realized the gun itself was longer than the communist hovertanks coming at them.

Just one month ago he had graduated from the vigiles academy in the city. Always having dreamt of joining the law enforcement, he was put to service on the streets of his home, Lupus gate. The police force accepted subjects so his lack of a citizenship was no problem when looking for an honorable posting in the vigiles. Protecting the people had just been made a lot harder and he never expected to have been holding one of remaining pockets of resistance with actual legionaries. Armed with, instead of the usual sidearm, an assault rifle from a dead auxiliary soldier.

They were holding the square next to the Governor's palace. They were down to a few mechs for heavy equipment, but the palace held a moderately powerful shield generator, which had gotten them this far. A small building compared to the Imperial palace, it was still probably biggest around here, excluding the few arcologies located on the planet.

The mech fired another few shots, until it was finally caught by an aerial assault of a Federal fighter wing.

His comm crackled again. It was the tribune who was leading the defence for the Imperial forces. Ordering them to fall back to the palace he was now giving the rag tag force of local law enforcement a choice. Either fall back with them or surrender.

''The Imperium will remember your service regardless of your choice. You have done this far more that anyone has ever asked you. I salute you for that. As for me and my men, we will fight until the end. The choice is now up to you.''

Crenius was crouching behind a cover, looking at his rifle. Men like the one on the comm had probably come here long ago, claiming this planet for the Imperium. Now other men were coming, determined to spread their fould ideology and smear it all over the planet. As he concluded his train of thought, it was their fight, not his. For now, he would stay in the sidelines and let the genetically engineered, armor clad supermen do the fighting, he was just wearing an uniform and a beam jacket.

Ripping the sleeve from the shirt under his uniform, he used it to make a makeshift white flag. Other men did the same. Rising slowly from their cover, they hoped the enemy wouldn't shoot. Meanwhile, the legionaries used this short hiatus to make their tactical retreat to where they'd make their last stand.

_________________________________________________________________________

 

The reaction back on Aresia was confused. No-one believed the communist scum would have attacked and all seemed unreal. A few of the ordinary people paid much attention to it. Some conflict in the provinces, legions would be sent there as per usual and they would handle it. As. Per. Usual.

The emperor ordered forces to be diverted from other fronts and the Eastern Imperium for a counterattack. The Federation was expected to consolidate their claims now that they had crushingly won the first space battles thanks to clever espionage and sabotage. As the advantage in space was Imperium's in normal conditions, the navy was ordered to start countermeasures. They began preparing a counterattack and deep space fleets of light ships were sent to penetrate deep within the enemy territory. Working long durations, they would attack enemy soft targets, supply lines and etc. as the Imperium usually did to weaken an enemy in the war.

The Imperial leadership was determined to take back the contested worlds.