Geratomran Reconquest - Sacrifices: As the survivors of the ad hoc unit Ultra gathered around the two surviving super-heavy tanks, their mood was grim, for their losses had been severe.Righteous Vengeance had fared the best, but its attached infantry platoon had been badly mauled by the Emperor's Children. Through the noble sacrifice of Third Gunner Leonates -- who had thrown himself onto the grenade -- Lux Imperator had survived with sufficient crewmen to remain functional. All of its officers had gathered around Honoured Lieutenant Bannick as his wound was dressed by the Field Chirurgeon of Jonas' command squad. From the troop deck of the Stormlord, the Imperial officers looked upon the Black Templars as they too mourned their dead.Gathered around their two fallen brothers, the Black Templars recited a prayer before draping their bodies with Imperial scripture-covered shrouds. Their Assault Bikes were parked next to them and the location marked by a Locator Beacon so the Chapter's Apothecaries and Techmarines could return their gene-seed and wargear to the Chapter.While a small detachment of Black Templars had accompanied them since the beginning of the Kalidar War, it was the first time Bannick had encountered the Space Marines on the battlefield. Apart from Adelhard, there were only five of them, one carrying an ornate ebony sword, the Black Sword which marked him as an Emperor's Champion. Their ritual prayer concluded, Sword Brother Adelhard explained the reasons behind the Black Templars' arrival.Since the conclusion of their war against the Orks on Kalidar, one of the Black Templars, a Battle-Brother named Bastoigne had increasingly suffered from bleak visions he believed sent to him directly by the Emperor. The visions had shown him the face of the true enemy, legions of Daemonettes emerging from a gate of flesh on a world he knew and yet had never seen. This world had proven to be Geratomro. The visions had been accompanied by a prophecy: "Seek my light, so that it might banish the darkness." In High Gothic, the "light of the Emperor" translated as Lux Imperator.With Brother Bastoigne having been thoroughly tested by the Chapter's Chaplains, their was no doubt that these visions were true and that they would need the help of the Lux Imperator to save this world from its ultimate corruption. Adelhard pointed to the clouds. While the rain had lessened, black storm clouds still filled the skies. They swirled in a strange fashion and on their edge possessed a luminous quality that the Astartes explained was the telltale sign of an imminent daemonic incursion.The clear nervousness of even the normally iron-willed Commissars present was enough to convince Bannick that the Space Marine was telling the truth.Led by the Bike Squad of the Black Templars, the two remaining super-heavy tanks of unit Ultra advanced through the deserted streets of Magor's Seat. Guided by the visions of Brother Bastoigne, the small party continued their progress into enemy territory.Much to the frustration of the Black Templars, when they did encounter resistance, it was only smaller groups of ill-equipped militia, most of them too old or too young to serve in Geratomro's regular armies. Once their officers were killed, these soldiers of misfortune quickly surrendered. Of the Chaos Space Marines they had encountered outside of the city, there was no sign.On Righteous Vengeance and Lux Imperator, both officers intermittently checked the Vox to determine how the main body of Imperial troops was faring. While it had also reached the suburbs of Magor's Seat, the main army had encountered far heavier resistance. A grim realisation dawned upon Bannick: they were being herded. The enemy wanted them to penetrate deeper into the city.Bannick raised Sword Brother Adelhard on the short-range Vox, voicing his concerns that they were marching into a trap. With honest brutality, Adelhard confirmed that he was well aware of that, but as they wished to reach the city's center anyway he did not see any reason why he should not allow the enemy to facilitate their journey.As they reached an area untouched by the Imperial bombardment and the other ravages of war, the nervous crewmen of Lux Imperator and Righteous Vengeance noticed the hideous nature of their surroundings. From the lumen posts and windows of ten-storey-high hab-blocks, decorations had been strung up, delicate garlands of papier-mâché hung across the streets. Much to the tankers' incredulity, cups and the other detritus of a city-wide celebration littered the ground, almost as if the inhabitants of Magor's Seat had celebrated their own defeat instead of trying to prevent it.The feeling of incredulity was swiftly replaced by one of surprise as the super-heavy tanks passed a small public square. There they found the bodies of the revelers stacked in disorganised piles. Corpses, some of them skinned, had been crucified on lumen posts, the garlands now strung with human hearts and other organs ripped from the civilians' lifeless bodies. In the basin of a public fountain, the corpses had been piled as high as the fountain itself, all bearing the terrifying wounds of men and women locked into a bitter fight that ended with their mutual destruction. The tankers wondered what kind of madness had brought these people to kill their neighbors and loved ones in such a fashion. "Keep your eyes off the road," warned Adelhard as the group moved on in silence.