Broken, The - Confrontation: With wild abandon, packs of slavering Flesh Hounds of Khorne galloped across the Skull Chamber and threw themselves at the Ultramarines. Even though dozens were felled by the Ultramarines' overwatch fire, scores more made it to the Ultramarines' line, their powerful fangs able to carve even through ceramite.For the first time since battle had been joined, the Terminators were called upon to intervene, charging into the melee that had engulfed the foremost squads. Storm Bolters roared their own fury into the face of the hunting beasts. With great swings of their Power Fists, the Terminators helped their beleaguered brothers out.The Terminators' timely intervention helped to turn the tide, their intimidating presence stalling the enemy's advance and allowing the beleaguered Tactical Squads to withdraw. The Flesh Hounds were all dead, but they had taken a toll. Apothecary Philo was forced to bend over three slain brethren, retrieving their gene-seed with his Narthecium, ignoring the shots that whined past and clipped his armour.The lull in the battle only granted the Ultramarines a moment's respite. More of the Broken emerged from their fortress, directing the lesser warriors toward their Loyalist counterparts. One squad of Chaos Space Marine Havocs established a firing base and soon let loose with their Heavy Bolters while the bulk of the enemy's force advanced, waving their blasphemous banners and icons while hurling insults at their foe.Calgar understood that no conventional victory could be achieved, for the Broken were only toying with them. Still undetected, Inquisitor Drake and his small retinue were eager to join the fight, but Calgar ordered them to stand down. Calgar meant to upset the enemies' calculations here, on the field of battle, before they moved towards the fortress' postern gate. Put simply, the Chapter Master intended to kill more of the Chaos scum than "The Witness" intended to lose.As Brother Sergeant Starn's Terminators fell to serve as a reserve once more, Marneus Calgar watched with approval as Captain Galenus detached four brethren of 9th Company with Melta Guns and Missile Launchers to reinforce the Imperials' harried left. He had known scenes like this since he was a boy, centuries of carnage which his cold intellect dissected and analysed. He was able to identify the weak spots that were going to arise in the next few solar minutes of battle, and he was already planning for what moves needed to be moved after them.The Chapter Master issued his own stream of orders, as squads peeled off by fireteam from right to left, shifting the line sideways to block the enemy's path and goad the Broken to attack them rather than the diminished line of the Renegade Mechanicus. Standing tall atop mounds of dead, Hagnon-Cro's Battle-Automata and Skitarii were still in the fight, but the Magos Dominus had lost a third of his troops.Unless the Ultramarines focused the enemy's attention on themselves, the Mechanicus forces would soon be outflanked, as there was only a slim line of skirmishers left on the Mechanicus' right flank.Calgar was about to call up the Magos Dominus on the Vox when a strange sight stopped him. From the entrance to the great Skull Chamber at the rear of the Renegade Mechanicus forces, a new body of figures was marching out: columns of fresh Skitarii in scarlet cloaks, fast moving Sagitarii, yet more Kataphron Battle-Servitors and another maniple of Kastelan Robots.Hagnon-Cro was letting his front line bleed so that he could launch a surprise attack with his fast-arriving reserves. It was as well done as Calgar had ever seen, and he made a swift mental reappraisal of the Magos Dominus tactical abilities. The creature was able, cunning and ruthless. He would prove a worthy foe, if it came down to a last struggle between them.Quickly modifying his initial plan, Calgar contacted the leader of the Renegade Mechanicus forces and bid him to redirect his reinforcement. With the Ulramarines' movement to the left and away from the Blood Keep, they had created a gap between themselves and the Mechanicus lines.The enemy had stretched himself thinly as well, goaded into attacking Captain Galenus and his men. Using the Ultramarines own exposed flank as bait, the Magos Dominus could deliver a punishing counterattack. In this way, the Broken's second army could be thrown back.While difficult, 5th Company and Captain Galenus performed this delicate manoeuvre superbly. Confident that their fellow warriors would keep the Mechanicus forces occupied, the second Chaos army took the bait. But in the left rear of the Renegade Mechanicus line the reserve was building up, maniple by maniple. Calgar noted it with approval. There was one thing about Mechanicus troops; they could be counted upon to stand and fight, and die where they stood.The Ultramarines allowed the enemy to close, their lines reforming as they readied themselves to receive the enemy's charge before the Adeptus Mechanicus' countercharge hit home. While the Ultramarines chewed them up from the front, fast-striding Kastelan Robots and rumbling Kataphron Battle-Servitors sped ahead of the main Mechanicus forces and hurtled into the exposed flank of the enemy formations.The Chaos regiments tried to swing round to meet them, but that only confused their ranks more, and soon their battle-line devolved into a brawling, packed mass that the troops of Hagnon-Cro sliced into.The enemy advance was thrown into utter confusion, and into that confusion, 5th Company poured a torrent of fire, their line now well beyond the foremost enemy ranks. A terrible slaughter ensued, and the battlefield, which had begun to seem fluid, snarled up once more. Calgar watched it happen, saw how the Chaos forces were now irretrievably embroiled in a bitter close-quarters fight on both the centre and right of their formations. Knowing his moment had come, the Chapter Master gave the order to fall back.Both Chaos armies were now engaged against the troops of the Renegade Mechanicus while Calgar's own brothers were free of that murderous embrace. It was now or never. Calgar contacted Inquisitor Drake, ordering his Acolytes to make for the postern gate. The Chapter Master's own strike force would join them there, Brother Starn's Terminators rumbling into motion, moving as quickly as their cumbersome armour allowed.Leaving command of the remaining Ultramarines to Captain Galenus, Calgar ordered him to screen their movement and keep the enemy from following. Calgar then joined the six Space Marines making their way for the Blood Keep's postern gate. The final confrontation with the leader of The Broken drew near.Undetected by both Calgar's hand-picked veterans and Inquisitor Drake's small party, a third group rose from their hiding place. The small knot of figures wore robes that might once have been scarlet, but were now ragged and faded by hard service. They moved with the singular ease of those whose legs were not made of flesh and blood, following discreetly in the Ultramarines' wake.