Purge of the Contqual Sub-sector - Exploiting the Breach: The first wave of Valkyrie attack carriers had gone in. Nearly all the troop carriers had been destroyed, either on their long attack runs or during their attempt to return to base after dropping their contingent of troops. The reserve wings were already committed, hurtling straight into the line of fire and taking just as heavy casualties.Tactical feeds estimated up to a thousand Harakoni Warhawks had been deposited along the parapets -- enough to attract the attention of the hive cluster's garrisons, but not enough to sustain a position for any length of time. In the meantime, the 4th Galamoth Armoured was finally in range and had begun their artillery barrage.Nethata was incensed at the news. Had Space Marines been available they would have been able to punch holes in the perimeter far more efficiently than mortal drop troops. The lord general ordered the commanders of the Ferik main battle divisions to throw caution to the wind. He did not care what those regiments' casualties were -- they must close on the breach and commence the main Imperial assault.He knew that the Harakoni Warhawks were pinned down. Until the walls were secured, a ground assault would be a massacre. Once the Imperials were committed fully, it would be an act of cowardice if they withdrew now.In the southeast sector of the hive cluster's walls, the battle raged just as it had been doing for over a solar hour. The beleaguered Harakoni drop troops defended the areas of the walls they had taken, though their territory was being inexorably whittled away by the Heretics. Beyond the walls, out in the Gorgas, the Astra Militarum's Ferik tactical brigades struggled to make headway.Heavy munitions were dragged up into position only to be destroyed by the defence towers on the walls. The main Imperial assault on Shardenus Prime, for all its speed and daring, had foundered in a bloody mire of destruction. None of the Imperial commanders looked at these signals on the hololith covering the main table in their command bunker. All of them were focused instead intently on a whole array of light-points that had just appeared on the opposite side of the enemy hive cluster, moving fast.They had come out of nowhere, as if summoned from the very ash of the plains themselves. Without warning, the newly appeared enemy forces emerged from the western hinterland zone, overlapping with the walls on the far side of the Shardenus Prime hive complex.At that moment, the Astra Militarum command post received a brief vox message from Clan Commander Arven Rauth, ordering Lord General Nethata to maintain the assault and to disregard any losses. The Space Marines had engaged the enemy across sectors 9-6 on the southwest Melamar quadrant. The Iron Hands indicated that they did not require assistance.The Iron Hands' commander then concluded his brief message after acknowledging the sacrifice of Nethata's troops. Then the feed went dead, preventing any reply from the Astra Militarum. Much to his shock, the lord general realised that the Iron Hands had used the Astra Militarum troops simply as a diversion for the primary assault which they intended to carry out.