Inside each Thunderhawk were Astartes of the Dark Knights' 2nd Company, alongside warriors of the Swords of Avalon and the Knights of the Lion Keep.
The gunships carried more than infantry.
Several Thunderhawks had been loaded with Scimitar-pattern jetbikes, their sleek forms secured within the transport bays and ready to be unleashed once the assault began. The engines of the machines hummed beneath their restraints, awaiting the moment they would be released.
Within the lead Thunderhawk, Grand Master Gideon stood among his warriors, his helmet already sealed and his weapons secured.
His voice came through the vox.
"Our objective is to chase any traitors toward the central tower."
His transmission was relayed throughout the formation, reaching the other two Masters and the officers of all three Chapters.
"Swords of Avalon and Knights of the Lion Keep, this will be the best time to prove to us your ability in the art of lightning attack."
There was a brief pause.
"Do not shame the name of the 2nd."
The response came almost immediately.
"We will not, Grand Master Gideon."
The two Masters and their officers spoke almost simultaneously.
Gideon gave a small nod.
"Then let us begin."
Below them, the city stretched toward the horizon.
Smoke rose from countless districts. Fires burned between the towering hab-blocks, while scattered gunfire flashed through the streets.
And at the heart of it all stood the control tower.
The Thunderhawks began to spread out.
The formation divided into several groups, each gunship heading toward a different approach to the city. They flew low over the outskirts, following the major roads that connected the surrounding districts to the city centre.
One by one, the Thunderhawks descended.
Their engines thundered between the buildings as they approached the roads from outside the city, descending toward the predetermined landing zones.
Inside the gunships, the Astartes prepared themselves.
Weapons were checked.
Magazines were secured.
Power armour systems came alive as targeting runes appeared across helmet displays.
Within several of the Thunderhawks, the Scimitar jetbikes were released from their restraints.
Their engines roared to life.
The pilots mounted their machines and waited.
With a heavy thud, the rear ramp of the first Thunderhawk slammed down.
"Go!"
The Scimitar jetbikes surged forward.
Their engines screamed as the machines shot out of the gunship and onto the road below. Almost immediately, their plasma cannons and heavy bolters opened fire.
Blue-white plasma streaked across the road, striking groups of Chaos cultists and Slaaneshi slaves caught in the open. Heavy bolter rounds followed, tearing through bodies and scattering those who attempted to flee.
The jetbikes accelerated through the chaos, weaving between burning vehicles and ruined barricades while continuing to fire.
For the riders, it was little more than a warm-up.
Their real targets were deeper within the city.
The Emperor's Children.
The Thunderhawks that had released their cargo immediately pulled upward, engines roaring as they climbed back into the smoke-filled sky.
Then the remaining gunships followed.
Their ramps slammed down.
The Astartes came pouring out.
Dark Knights in black armour moved first, followed closely by the warriors of the Swords of Avalon and the Knights of the Lion Keep.
They advanced in disciplined formations, bolters already raised.
The moment their boots touched the ground, the roads erupted with gunfire.
Bolt shells tore through the cultists swarming toward them. The three Chapters advanced together, their formations moving with practiced precision despite the chaos surrounding them.
"Forward!"
Gideon shouted as he charged into a mass of cultists.
His power sword swept through the first rank, cleaving through flesh and bone with each stroke. Bodies fell around him as he continued forward without slowing.
"We are the 2nd Company!"
Another swing sent two more cultists crashing to the ground.
"We are the Blackwing!"
The Dark Knights surged forward behind their Grand Master, bolters roaring as they cleared the road.
"Do not let the 1st look down upon us!"
His words thundered across the vox.
The response came from dozens of Astartes at once.
"For the Blackwing!"
Immediately, several Astartes surged past their brothers. They crashed into the enemy line with brutal speed, power swords and chainswords carving through the mass of cultists before them. Bodies were thrown aside as the Blackwings drove deeper into the enemy formation, their momentum breaking the cultists wherever they struck.
The rest of the 2nd advanced behind them, maintaining a steady firing line. Bolters barked in unison, their shells tearing through the enemy ranks and opening a path for the assault squads. Cultists fell by the dozens, their screams drowned beneath the thunder of gunfire and the roar of engines.
From the other directions, the remaining elements of the 2nd began their own attacks. They struck the traitors from multiple avenues at once, cutting off escape routes and forcing the enemy steadily inward.
Every street became another killing ground.
Every avenue became another path toward the center.
The cultists attempted to flee, only to find another squad of Astartes waiting for them. Those who turned back were met by roaring chainswords and power weapons. Those who tried to hide were dragged from buildings by the Astartes or cut down by the advancing jetbikes.
The entire battle was slowly being compressed toward the center of the city.
And at its heart stood the control tower.
"We're almost there," one of the Blackwings said as he stepped over the corpse of a cultist. His plasma gun glowed as he raised it toward another group attempting to flee down a side street.
The weapon discharged.
The cultists vanished beneath a burst of searing plasma.
"Where are the Emperor's Children?" he asked. "We can already see the center tower, but we haven't seen any of them."
Another Blackwing beside him swung his power sword through a cultist's torso before answering.
"Don't worry about them now. We'll meet them the moment we begin the assault on the center tower."
The first Astartes glanced toward the distant tower.
Smoke rose around its upper levels, while the sounds of battle echoed through the surrounding streets.
"Then they must be waiting for us."
The other Astarte raised his bolter.
"Let them." he said. "it will be their last opportunity to look the outside world."
Finally, the 2nd completed its encirclement of the center tower.
The remaining cultists had been driven into the town square, where they desperately sought whatever cover they could find. Some hid behind overturned vehicles, while others crouched behind shattered barricades and piles of debris. Their weapons fired wildly toward the surrounding Astartes, but their return fire was poorly coordinated and increasingly desperate.
They answered with discipline.
Bolters thundered from every direction, their shells ripping through the remaining cultists. Plasma weapons fired between the volleys, vaporising those attempting to gather in groups. Heavy bolters hammered the larger pieces of cover, reducing them to burning fragments and forcing the survivors into the open.
The 2nd did not immediately advance.
There was no need.
They simply held the perimeter and continued firing.
Slowly, methodically, they bled the enemy dry.
Every attempt to move was met with gunfire. Every attempt to regroup was broken apart. The square became a killing ground, filled with smoke, burning vehicles and the corpses of those who had moments earlier believed themselves masters of the city.
Then the firing began to die down.
Not because the Raven Lancers had stopped.
Because there were fewer and fewer targets left.
Gideon stood among his warriors, power sword held at his side as he stared toward the center tower.
"Prepare to advance," he ordered.
Before the order could be repeated across them, a deep mechanical sound echoed through the square.
The doors of the center tower began to move.
Heavy locks disengaged one after another.
The enormous doors slowly slid apart.
For a moment, there was only darkness beyond them.
Then came the sound of marching boots.
One squad emerged.
Then another.
And another.
The first figures stepped into the square wearing corrupted power armour painted in extravagant shades of pink, black and gold. Their armour was covered in trophies, flayed skin and symbols dedicated to their depraved god. Blades were held loosely in their hands, their surfaces stained with the blood of countless victims.
More followed behind them.
Squad after squad of Emperor's Children emerged from the tower.
The Blackwing immediately raised their weapons.
Across the square, hundreds of Astartes stood motionless, staring at one another through the smoke.
The Emperor's Children had finally come to meet their hunters.
And judging by the grotesque smiles visible behind their helmets, they had been waiting for this moment.
A voice echoed from within the tower.
"Welcome, cousins."
A heavily decorated Chaos Space Marine stepped through the doorway.
The warband's captain.
His armour was far more ornate than that of his warriors, covered in trophies and extravagant decorations. A long cloak made from flayed human skin hung from his shoulders, while a grotesque collection of skulls and severed heads adorned his belt.
He looked across the square.
Then his eyes settled upon Gideon.
A slow smile formed across his face.
"How wonderful."
Gideon raised his power sword.
"Blackwings."
The Astartes around him tightened their grips on their weapons.
The captain of the Emperor's Children spread his arms.
"Come, cousins."
His smile widened.
"Let us entertain one another."
For several seconds, neither side moved.
The square was unnaturally quiet.
Smoke drifted between the two forces, carrying the smell of burning promethium, blood and something far more unpleasant. The bodies of cultists littered the ground between them, forming a grisly boundary between the loyalist Astartes and the Emperor's Children.
Then Gideon raised his power sword.
"Attack."
Immediately, the 2nd fire their weapons at the Emperor's Children.
Hundreds of bolters thundered at once, filling the square with muzzle flashes and the sharp crack of mass-reactive shells. Plasma weapons fired alongside them, streaks of incandescent energy cutting through the smoke.
But none of the shots found their targets.
The Emperor's Children moved before the weapons even fired.
They twisted, ducked and stepped aside with unnatural precision, seemingly anticipating every shot before the trigger was pulled. Bolter shells screamed past them, striking the ground and the walls behind them. Plasma bolts burned through empty air, leaving glowing scars across the pavement.
For a moment, even the Raven Lancers hesitated.
Gideon immediately understood.
"Close combat!"
He surged forward.
His power sword ignited as he charged toward the nearest Emperor's Child. The traitor reacted instantly, drawing his own blade and stepping forward to meet him.
Their weapons collided with a deafening crack.
Gideon drove his shoulder into the traitor's chest, forcing him backward before swinging his sword toward the traitor's neck. The Emperor's Child twisted aside with impossible speed, allowing the blade to pass within centimetres of his helmet.
He retaliated immediately.
His sword flashed toward Gideon's abdomen.
Gideon caught the strike.
The impact sent sparks flying across the square.
Around them, the rest of the 2nd charged.
The Blackwing abandoned their firing lines and crashed into the Emperor's Children at full speed.
Chainswords screamed.
Power swords flashed.
Thunder hammers came down with enough force to shatter ceramite and bone.
The square became a brutal melee as hundreds of Astartes collided.
The Emperor's Children moved with frightening grace. Their bodies seemed to flow around incoming attacks, twisting away from blades and slipping beneath swings that should have struck home.
Even though the Blackwing possessed the numerical advantage and more advanced power armour, they were beginning to suffer casualties. Those who lacked extensive real combat experience struggled to keep pace with the Emperor's Children's unnatural reactions and incredible speed.
One Blackwing swung his chainsword, only for the traitor to duck beneath the blow and drive his blade through the Astartes' abdomen.
Another attempted to bring his power sword down upon an Emperor's Child, but the traitor stepped aside and struck him across the throat.
The Blackwing were veterans, but many of the warriors fighting alongside them had spent most of their lives training for war rather than experiencing it.
This was their first true battle.
And the Emperor's Children were making them pay for that inexperience.
Gideon saw what was happening around him.
He pushed his opponent back with a powerful strike, forcing the traitor several steps away. Gideon immediately turned toward the rear of his formation.
"Deploy the teleport homer!" he shouted.
Behind the fighting line, a Techmarine was firing his plasma gun in controlled bursts, covering several Blackwing who were struggling to hold their ground. His servo-arms moved independently, one gripping a weapon while another prepared equipment from his backpack.
Gideon pointed toward him.
"And tell the Scimitars to come back to us!"
The Techmarine immediately acknowledged the order.
"Understood, Grand Master."
He opened a secure vox channel to the Scimitar jetbike squads still sweeping through the surrounding streets.
"All Blackwing jetbike units, return to the central square immediately. Repeat, return to the central square. Prepare for close-support operations."
The Techmarine then activated the servo-arm mounted along his back.
The mechanical limb extended outward and slammed a cylindrical device onto the ground.
The teleport homer locked into place.
Its machine-spirit awakened.
A low mechanical hum began to rise from the device as its internal systems activated. Rings of blue-white light began forming around its surface, while streams of encoded data appeared across the Techmarine's visor.
"Teleport homer active," he announced.
The device begin to emit a signal to their fleet at the orbit.
Before long, silver lightnings begin to appear around the area.
Then, terminators begin to appear from those lightning.
Looking around, the Emperor's Children are surprised to see this much terminators in one place, and even more surprised when they see a terminator armor that even them, veterans from the Great Crusade and the Heresy rarely see appearing here.