Geratomran Reconquest - The Fall of Matua Superior: Ferried planetside by the heavy-duty landers of the Imperial Navy, both the 7th and 8th Paragonian Super Heavy Tank Companies were deployed to support the 477th's advance. Due to a malfunction of one of the landing claws, the 7th's command tank, the Hellhammer Ostrakhan's Rebirth remained locked in its transport position, forcing the three remaining super-heavy tanks of the company to advance without their commanding officer.Under the guidance of Honoured Lieutenant Corlaron Artem Lo Bannick of the Baneblade Cortein's Honour, the 7th Paragonian Super Heavy Tank Company spear-headed the assault on the city. Their task was to eliminate Matua Superior's most potent defences, a fortified battery of Macrocannons with direct lines of sight on the southern landing fields.Located in big, fortified bastions of ferrocrete, these towers posed a serious threat to the entire landing if not destroyed. Fortunately, the enemy was slow to turn this artillery towards the Imperials, a fact which indicated either a lack of training by the Planetary Defence Militia or a serious lack of manpower.As the first shells landed on the southern landing zone, the crew of the transport still holding Ostrakhan's Rebirth choose to take off despite Honoured Captain Hannick's vehement protests that he and his tank would not be ferried off-world again. Just as they took off, the lander was hit by a glancing shot by the Macrocannons, and it crashed back to earth and caught fire. Ostrakhan's Rebirth, feared lost, shot its way out through the burning debris of the transport and emerged more or less unscathed into the pounding rain.In retaliation, the company's sole Shadowsword, Lux Imperator, fired its mighty Volcano Cannon at the Macrocannon battery, neatly decapitating one of the towers and silencing its gun. As Ostrakhan's Rebirth churned through the mud, intent on rejoining the leading elements of its company, the general order to attack the city was given.The more advanced Baneblades, Cortein's Honour and Artemen Ultrus, were overtaken by the swifter Leman Russ Battle Tanks of the Paragonian 42nd Armoured Regiment and the 322nd Armoured Veterans. Lux Imperator tried to fire again, but the capricious weapon refused to comply, forcing both Baneblades to the fore in order to deal with the remaining Macrocannons.While it took them several shots to zero in, before long the Baneblades' Mega Battle Cannons were hammering the leftmost tower, slowly eating away at its wall before the giant gun at its top was toppled. The last remaining gun emplacement continued to fire, albeit more slowly than its counterparts. Three Macrocannon shells hit the landing zones, destroying two light landers and annihilating an entire Platoon of the 477th just as it was disembarking.Colonel Sholana of the 42nd Paragonian Armoured called in a Lance strike to silence the last tower, but the shot went wide, leaving the Baneblades to finish the job. A lucky shot killed the Macrocannon's crew, finally freeing the 7th Paragonian Heavy Tank Company to secure the landing zone. Now the attack on Matua Superior could begin in earnest.As the other regiments of Battlegroup Genthus deployed in their own landing zone, the 7th Company received new orders to link up with the Stormlords of the 8th Paragonian Super Heavy Tank Company and take out a big link in the fortifications protecting the city's approaches. This was a fort in the shape of a six-pointed star. Four of its branches featured turret-mounted artillery pieces firing at the regiments of the 2nd Gulem Recovery Force.After a quick exchange on the Vox, the two companies commanding officers agreed to deviate from the original plan and speed up the attack, the 8th following in the 7th Company's wake to better shield the complement of infantry within their hulls and without whom they would be unable to secure their objective. Lux Imperator was tasked with targeting the forts' main weapons and silenced all but one before another malfunction struck. The tank's Machine Spirit was obviously still not back to its normal self after it had been captured by the Orks on Kalidar.With their most potent weapon out of order, the Hellhammer and Baneblades would have to carry the load for the Imperial assault, but the fort was well constructed and at long range even the Mega Battle Cannon shells of Cortein's Honour and Artemen Ultrus simply ricocheted off its thick armour. The only option left was to close with the target so that the Baneblades' and Hellhammer's Demolisher Cannons could open a breach for the Stormlords. This meant daring the fort's complement of heavy weapons -- mostly Lascannons and Missile Launchers -- which could well harm the super-heavy tanks.Fortunately for the tankers, the Geratomran Planetary Defence Militia was not very experienced and failed to do any real damage. The 7th Company's three advancing tanks soon opened up with their own twin-linked, sponson-mounted Heavy Bolters, which targeted the fort's firing slits and forced its occupants to seek shelter. Combining their fire for more effect, the Baneblades and the lone Hellhammer fired all of their primary and secondary weaponry at once, finally opening a breach in the fort's armoured sides. As if on cue, Honoured Lieutenant Hurnigen confirmed Lux Imperator was ready to fire again and a second breach was opened.The Stormlords surged forward. Using their tanks' armoured weight as primitive battering rams, Honoured Lieutenant Lo Parrigar's "Lucky Eights" broke through the weakened portions of the fortress' walls, clearing the space behind with a thunderous roar and stream of shells from their Vulcan Mega Bolters. As soon as the weapons cycled down, the embarked troops emerged from the Stormlords' troop compartments and began clearing the fort. Soon the Company Standard of the 477th Paragonian Foot's 8th Company was flying over the fort, indicating its capture.The capture of the fort heralded the end of the fight. With their primary defensive fortification in enemy hands, the spaceport lost and the Atraxians pressing in from the north, the defenders of Matua Superior lost heart. Other regiments pressed deeper into the city and by the seventh hour of the landing, Matua Superior's lord civil sued for peace and offered an unconditional surrender of all his remaining troops.