Arx Victoria:

The ground shook furiously under the sheer violence of bombardment. The air was filled with the atrocious whistle of shells and the whipcrack of exploding missiles and small ordnance. The Federal attack had started in the planet's Northern hemisphere with a violent orbital bombardment aimed at various Imperial military installations. The Imperial orbital defences had returned the favour, and soon the skies had blazed with the fires of a thousand missiles and particle beams. The space battle had grown even more savage with the Imperial counter-attack, and Federal warships had clashed in mortal combat with their Imperial enemies. Throughout the battle, stricken ships both Federal and Imperial plummeted to the planet's surface, flattening residential areas like a colossus would crush insects. Some exploded in the upper reaches of the atmosphere, showering the earth below with flaming debris.

In the end, the Federation, thanks to its superior numbers, was able to establish multiple beachheads on the planet's surface. There they ran into stiff resistance from Legionaires recently arrived there to take part in the counter-attack. The planet's defence systems were also still active for the most part, some being in special bunkers designed to withstand orbital bombardment. Despite this, the Federal troops fought with determination, meeting every attack with some of their own.

Arx Victoria, city of Trajanopolis:

"Keep on firing! For the Federation!", bellowed captain Keh'x, his Ming'hala intonations packing his order with inhuman clicks and hisses. A missile fired from a collapsed building to their right sailed over his head and smashed into the shattered remains of a marble statue, sending debris flying everywhere. With a hand on his helmet, the sergeant kept on encouraging his men and giving orders. The vicious whistling of FAAM fire and the more subdued fizzle of pulsar fire filled the air with deafening intensity. A siege tank, partially hidden behind a pile of smoking rubble, fired its coil gun with a slight burst of plasma from its fuming barrel. The fusion shell flew through the air and hit one of the apartment blocks the legionaires were hiding in. There was an earth-shaking explosion, and the ornate but scarred facade collapsed in a cloud of dust.

"Forward!", called Keh'x. His men and women followed his order and advanced, running from cover to cover. The advancing Federal troops were quickly met by a storm of pulsar fire. A female soldier was hit squarely in the chest and fell, her body cut in two, her mouth open in a soundless scream of agony. Thankfully, the Empire's particle weapons gave a swift and merciful death. Six more soldiers fell, reaped by the legionaire's fire like wheat by a scythe. One man stopped behind the twisted and charred carcass of a hover car and loaded a grenade into his underbarrel launcher. Others did the same, and launched plasma grenades into the partially ruined building.

"Fucking legionaires!", swore Keh'x as he threw himself behind a fallen wall, closely followed by his combat drone and several of his men. The drone, impervious to fear, kept on hovering above ground and firing at the entrenched enemy with its particle guns, its sensors giving the captain information about the location of his foe. The same siege tank from earlier hovered over the rubble that strewed the area, closely followed by a Valdor anti-infantry variant of the T-180. The Massalia pattern T-180's hull-mounted flamer vomited a stream of burning fuel into the building, setting part of it ablaze. Several police officers, who did not have the same protection as legionaires, threw themselves out of windows, screaming and burning as they fell to their deaths. The Valdor opened fire on the building with all its guns, a veritable deluge of fire that made all attempts at fighting back practically impossible.

"Take cover!"

An Aresian gunship screamed overhead and strafed the warzone with missiles. Men screamed as they were torn to shreds by the gunship's attack, and one soldier near Keh'x was reduced to a bloody pulp, coating his neighbours with blood. An anti-tank missile hit the Massalia squarely in the flank, but exploded without doing enough damage to immobilise the vehicle. The Valdor, which was equipped with AA missiles mounted on its turret, loosed several of said projectiles at the gunship, forcing it to retreat lest it be shot down. With the gunship gone, the Massalia resumed its attacks on the building, steadily knocking it down with blasts from its coil cannon. If the legionaires could not be crushed the normal way, then they would be buried beneath the rubble of their refuge.

"I'll be needing a drink if we get out of this shit alive", muttered Keh'x. His words were punctuated by the rumble of an Imperial bombardment somewhere behind enemy lines. The area he was in was soon engulfed by explosions, one of them even knocking the Valdor onto its back like a vulgar tortoise. As his men died around him, thrown into the air like insects by a blast of wind, Keh'x ordered a retreat to a more tenable position.

Peleas Plains:

The Federal beachhead on the Peleas plains was facing several Imperial legions with little to no cover. The plains were home to five major beachheads with orbital support, but two such beachheads had already been destroyed or forced to retreat after heavy Imperial orbital strikes or counter-attacks that had overrun Federal positions. The five beachheads that had withstood obliteration were now, like open wounds, pouring troops into the green plains of Peleas. Large tank battalions flew swiftly over the grass to meet the Imperium's mechs in combat while aircraft flew overhead to battle their Imperial counterparts. Explosions ripped apart the fertile earth of the plains and the burning wrecks of both mechs and tanks stood as markers for one of the biggest tank battles ever to be fought since the Great War for the Core.

Titus Augustus residential area, Arx Victoria:

The quiet, wealthy suburb was brutally wrenched from its slumber when Federal gravatroopers landed nearby, soon followed by regular troops and armoured units. The citizens fled in panic as the gravatroopers and tanks moved through the streets and squares, blasting their gated community open to the horrors of war and invasion. By the time legionaires arrived, the locals had already completely fled the area, leaving the supporters of the eagle and the Communists to fight over it in all impunity.

The battle for the Titus Augustus residential area started with a heavy Imperial bombardment that destroyed many buildings and killed many Federal troopers entrenched in said buildings. Reeling from the violence of the Imperial assault, the Feds were then forced to fight off a determined attack supported by mechs and air units. In the end, however, the Federal troopers held and drove their enemy back towards the hill that overlooked the residences, now reduced to burning rubble. Bolstered by reinforcements sent from orbit, notably gravatroopers and a cyborg unit, the Federation counter-attacked, slowly driving the Imperium from the positions it held at the foot of the hill. Hundreds died in the ensuing fighting, but the counter-attack was successful, and the Federal troops finally found themselves trying to rip the hill from the Imperium's claws.

Captain Melisandre Benett crouched behind a fallen eagle statue, desperately trying to call for reinforcements. The legionaires were pouring a veritable deluge of pulsar and missile fire from their positions atop the hill, and the Federals found it utterly impossible to advance. Corpses carpeted the hill, silent victims of the five previous attempts to take the hill. Sporadic Federal air strikes had done some damage to the Imperium, but far too little for any progress to be made. The T-180s supporting the attack on the hill stood further behind the infantry, strafing the Imperials with particle and coil cannon fire. Melisandre threw herself to the ground as an anti-tank missile hit a T-180, blasting its turret off its body. As the tank burst into flames, one of Melisandre's men crawled towards her, his teeth grit from tension and fear.

"We're almost out of ammo, comrade captain!", he yelled, his voice almost breaking over the din of battle, "we can't hold!"

"I'm trying to call for reinforcements!", answered Melisandre, but all she got from the comm was static. The Imperials were probably jamming communications.

"Incoming!"

Melisandre ducked again as a volley of missiles flew overhead before slamming into the ground around them. Shrapnel ricocheted around them, and a soldier fell to the ground, howling in pain. Melisandre could see the twisted, burning black pieces of metal that had embedded themselves in his flesh.

Again she tried to get through, and this time, someone answered.

"Oh thank fuck!", she said, "This is Captain Benett of the 144th Massalian, we need reinforcements, an artillery strike, an air strike...anything! We're outgunned and pinned, and we're getting mowed down!"

"We will send you reinforcements, but the Imperial air force is blocking most of our efforts. You will have to wait."

"But we can't wait, damn it!", yelled Melisandre. However, the comm link cut out again, leaving her with only static. Melisandre slumped against the eagle, blinking.

"So?", asked the soldier next to her.

"We're all going to die, comrade", said Melisandre.

"You're shitting me, right? You can't be serious."

"They told me to wait. We'll all be dead by the time they arrive."

"FUCK!", cried the soldier in anger and fear. Melisandre saw the sick fear and despair in his eyes. She knew that man had a family back home, with three children and a loving wife who worked in a car factory. She knew he would never see them again.

And neither would anyone else, for soon the Imperials would outshoot them and exterminate them like rats.

Melisandre glanced up at the hill, from which pulsar fire still poured. She thought of the men and women who would all die such dishonourable deaths, with no ammunition left to fight back.

And she snapped.

Her hand shot out and grabbed her regiment's banner, a deep red flag with the symbol of Massalia embroidered in gold thread in its deep scarlet folds. Under the astonished eyes of her comrades, she unfurled the crimson banner and raised it high, exchanging her rifle for her pistol as she did so.

"COMRADES!", she yelled, her voice hoarse, "DO YOU WISH TO DIE LIKE RATS IN THEIR HOLE? OR DO YOU WANT TO STRIKE ONE LAST TIME AT THE ENEMY? THOSE WHO DO, FOLLOW ME!!"

Eyes widened, mouths opened in soundless gasps, antennae twitched fretfully. Melisandre turned away and climbed over the crude barricade they'd constructed.

"FOR THE FEDERATION, FOR THE REVOLUTION, FOR YOUR FAMILIES, CHARGE!", she howled before hurling herself into No Man's Land, her boots scraping in the earthy rubbble of craters.

She did not expect anyone to follow her. As far as she could see, she was committing suicide. However, to her amazement, a roar rose from behind her, followed by the rumble of rushing feet.

She did not glance back. She charged on.

The enemy must have thought they were being sent a gift from the Emperor himself, and they received the Federals with a barrage of pulsar fire. Melisandre shuddered as she felt the heat of a pulsar beam hiss past her, scorching her cuirasse. Men yelled in defiance, those yells oft cut off by screaming as they fell. The Imperial attacks sliced through the ranks of the Feds like a hot knife through butter. The banner became tattered and torn as pulsar pierced its folds. Enemy shots hit the ground in front of Melisandre's feet, kicking up dustand smoke. A Ming'hala soldier running next to her fell to the ground, his head calcinated. A cyborg trooper thundered on nearby, shots glancing of his or her armour, not slowing the augmented warrior one bit.

And then Melisandre felt searing pain in her leg. She cried out and stumbled, feeling blood soak through the khaki fabric of her pants. Not bothering to look down, she grit her teeth and charged on, brandishing the red banner like a weapon.

"ATTACK!", she yelled as, miraculously, she reached the first line of trenches set up by the enemy. As she leaped over the battered edge, she gazed straight into the face of a legionaire and raised her pistol. Just as her opponent was about to smash her away with his rifle, she pulled the trigger and killed him.

The legionaire fell back and hit the back of the trench. Melisandre landed on top of him and saw that others had reached the Aresian positions. The screams, shouts and clash of metal on metal began to fill the air with the infernal concerto of melee. Near her, a soldier rammed his combat machete through a legionaire's neck armour, only to be slammed into submission by another foe wielding a heavy pulsar gun. Melisandre charged forward and fired several times, her particle beams hitting the legionaire in multiple areas and managing to pierce his colossium armour. The superhuman warrior was then finished off by another soldier's knife, driven through his neck armour.

The legionaires, taken aback by the brutality and savagery of the assault, abandoned the first line, attempting to regroup in the second line. Grenades from both sides were thrown, and Melisandre felt the hot deflagration of plasma grenades. Many were not as lucky as she was, and were incinerated by the blasts of plasma.

"Onward!", she yelled before chasing after the fleeing enemy. As she rushed through a zig-zagging communication trench, she was almost killed by a legionaire who fired his weapon at her. She ducked and hit the dirt hard, hearing screams behind her, the foul scent of burning flesh assaulting her nostrils. She fired a few times with her pistol, forcing the enemy to retreat, before pressing on. The pain in her leg grew with every step she took, her trouser leg now soaked with blood and encrusted with filth. Her face was slick with sweat. The second line was reached, more fighting happened. Things were getting blurry and indistinct, and she could barely make out what was happening. A cyborg trooper ripped a legionaire's arm off like a twig, a soldier found himself stabbed through the gut by a gladius...

And then, they reached the top of the hill. The enemy seemed to be folding in the face of their attacks, retreating. Melisandre walked on, took a few more steps...

And was hit with such force that she was sent flying backwards. Blinking, blood running from her shattered nose, she looked up to see the grim, terrifying silhouette of a legionaire, his gun aimed straight at her. As he pulled the trigger, she rolled out of the way and stood up gingerly. She lost her pistol in the previous scuffle, and thus drew her combat knife, trying to aim for the enemy's weak neck armour.

She lunged forth, but the legionaire caught her by her free arm and twisted it round so hard that the bones snapped. Melisandre screamed and twisted around, trying to writhe out of her opponent's iron grip. She was tossed aside like a piece of trash, and found herself too exhausted and in pain to get back up. She saw the enemy raised his pulsar, ready for the coup de grĂ¢ce.

"F...forgive me...I have failed...", she rasped in Francian.

But the blow never came. Instead, a chainsword came roaring down on top of the legionaires neck, eating viciously through his flesh and armour. Blood flew everywhere, and the man's head fell off and rolled on the ground with a muffled thunk. Gasping, Melisandre looked up to her saviour, and saw the armoured visage of a SUPRA cyborg trooper.

"Come, comrade", said the power-armoured man, extending a hand. Melisandre grasped it and was hoisted upwards with suprising force. Supported by the cyborg, she stumbled to an open area near what she took to be the burning remains of a mech. Weakly, she planted the flag into the ground. A symbolic gesture of victory.

"The enemy is retreating and help has arrived", said the cyborg. As if to prove his words, Melisandre heard the distant roar of hovership engines. She looked up and saw several hoverships heading towards the hill.

"Ha...ha...we made it", she said before her head drooped and she sank into unconsciousness.