Donatos War - First Attack on the Valle Electrum: The next morning proved to be a rain-streaked one, the dark petrochemical clouds releasing a steady stream of hissing, acidic rain, perhaps a dark omen of what was yet to come. The Imperial army mustered itself for war, vast columns of infantry and tanks opening the way as the Noble scions of the Knight Houses seated themselves in their Thrones Mechanicum. Well over three hundred Knights mustered outside of the Imperial camp, the Knights of House Minotos filling the air with the heartrousing melodies of their martial symphonies. In great columns and followed by their Sacristan Crawlers, the Knight Houses of Adrastapol assembled according to the High King's plan. Slowly, hundreds of gun barrels -- mainly Basilisk artillery tanks -- were raised skywards, ready to unleash volley after volley against the enemy fortifications which loomed over no-man's land. Far overhead, the wings of Marauder Bombers and Thunderbolt fighters were circling, ready to add their bombs to the megatons of ordinance ready to be unleashed on the Valle Electrum. From the Throne Mechanicum of his own Knight, Fyreheart, High King Tolwyn gave the order and the Imperial batteries opened fire.For several solar hours, the Imperial artillery pummelled the enemy fortifications until High King Tolwyn gave the order to advance. Linking their Ion Shields together, the lances of Knights were easily shielded from the sporadic counter-barrage fire emanating from the enemy. As the Knight Houses advanced across no-man's land, they lost a single unfortunate Noble of House Pegasson to enemy fire. According to their initial battleplan, House Pegasson and House Wyvorn soon peeled off to take up their predetermined positions as the other Houses charged. The enemy's reaction had remained minimal, neither committing its numbers nor its best troops against the gathered might of the Adrastapolian Knights. It was only as the leading Knights penetrated into the Valle Electrum proper that things went awry.When the Nobles of House Draconis go to war, they do not do so alone but benefit from the support of their "Heavenly Host," a small army of cybernetic constructs called Cherubim whose Auspex-probes cover the entire battlefield and furnish the Nobles of House Draconis with a detailed and updated map of their surroundings. Once inside the Valle Electrum, the Sacristans around High Sacristan Polluxis noted an unexplainable spike in casualties amongst the Heavenly Host. First analysis suggested a noospheric anomaly, a parasite signal that forced the Cherub-Servitor into paralysis or shutdown. Worse yet, the ghost signal that plagued the Heavenly Host also befell Polluxis' own Crawler and soon swapped over to the Auspex and communication systems of the Draconis Knights. Filled with insane runic gibberish, these systems began an immediate emergency shutdown in the midst of the battle.Even as High Sacristan Polluxis battled against the invasive scrap-code, House Pegasson and House Wyvorn moved into position, and House Draconis pressed home the attack. As a mark of deference to House Draconis and its High King, House Chimaeros left the honour of the first charge to High King Tolwyn's House. Eager to join battle as soon as possible, House Minotos did not show this mark of respect and pressed on, easily outpacing House Chimaeros and leaving the Imperial rear vulnerable to enemy counterattack.