Betalis III Campaign - Battle for the Tormus Delta: Company Retribution advanced warily into the Tormus Delta, its squads scattered amongst the tangled pathways. With medium to long-range vox-transmissions absorbed by the high walls of ice and rock, it was impossible to coordinate, let alone locate all the disparate bands of Guardsmen dispersed within the delta's midst.Barely having escaped the airborne assault and with no way to contact anyone not within line of sight, their officers followed the last order they had received -- locate and destroy the enemy.The Craftworld Aeldari had taken full advantage of their earlier airborne attack to disperse their forces within the delta. Alaitoc's Rangers, dropped in by the Aeldari Falcons now making their way north towards Company Vengeance, had already advanced into the ice labyrinth, tearing through its winding passages with unnatural speed before agilely scaling sheer sided ice walls, seeking any advantage they could gain against the oncoming Imperium force.Hidden under their long, flowing cameleoline cloaks, scores of Rangers were now positioned throughout the delta, coordinating Alaitoc's advance with lethal precision.They had been joined by hundreds of Aeldari Corsair troops who mounted hit and run attacks upon the Astra Militarum squads as they worked their way further into the delta. Using the element of surprise to their advantage, the bands of Corsairs stealthily worked their way along the tops of the canyon walls, then either fired directly down into the Human squads below them or dropped down and wreaked carnage in their midst.With the Imperium's officers unable to alert each other to the threat of ambush from above, dozens of Company Retribution's squads were completely wiped out by the vicious assaults of the Asuryani Outcasts. As Alaitoc's warriors joined in with the battle, the atrocities escalated.The most horrific fighting occurred in the north-west of the canyons. Eight squads of Guardsmen moving together were pinned down by sniper fire the moment they entered a large gorge. Firing at them from the overhanging cliffs, the Rangers forced the squads to seek what little shelter there was, their accurate shots hitting anyone who dared to break cover to fire at them.Hunkered down there was little the Guardsmen could do but pray that their frantic requests for assistance over the static-filled vox-net would be answered. What came though did not wear the uniform of the Cadian 6th Armoured Regiment or any of the other hastily assembled regiments from the system; instead one of the most terrifying facets of the Aeldari army unleashed itself upon them.The Guardsmen watched with disbelieving eyes as tendrils of bright white energy clawed into realspace, quickly coalescing into pools of retina-blinding light. Before the Guardsmen could react, a lethal cloud of monomolecular wire spewed from each portal. The razor-sharp threads scattered through the gorge, effortlessly penetrating any environment suit they came into contact with.Within seconds the canyon was echoing with hideous screams as the victims of the lethal strands were eviscerated, the only evidence of the carnage wrought within their bodies a spray of blood splattered across the snow as the filaments retracted.As each of the coruscating Warp-lights faded, the Warp Spiders that had manifested within them leapt into action, wielding their powerblades in great sweeping arcs which sliced cleanly through Human torsos, severing limbs and heads from bodies with consummate skill.Then, with their first strike complete, the Aspect Warriors faded back into the Warp, the afterglow of their departure dazzling all whose eyes were hypnotically drawn to it, etching their sight with chaotic, leering faces that gazed hungrily at them from the Immaterium.The gorge soon became little more than a charnel house as the massacre was repeated, despite the fierce resistance put up by those Guardsmen who had recovered the wit to do so.The Warp Spiders expertly traversed between realspace and Warpspace until their objective was achieved, then vanished completely. It had taken them less than three solar minutes to kill over eighty Guardsmen and there was no evidence that the Aspect warriors had suffered any injury in return.With battle joined, the forces of Alaitoc and Company Retribution clashed throughout the Tormus Delta, thousands on both sides fighting for their lives within its icy labyrinth. Craftworld Aeldari Guardians, having already seeded crossing points between the canyons with heavy weapons platforms, fired at any Guardsman that passed within their sights.The troopers mounted their own ambushes in return, risking the slippery ascent up the canyon walls to stake out the upper pathways. From there they threw Frag Grenades down into the paths of Aeldari war walkers who had been restricted to single file in the tighter confines of the delta.Then as the war walkers returned fire, the squads melted away, taking advantage of their lofty positions to leap out of danger and into the adjoining canyons.Death stalked the Tormus Delta, and who would win and who would survive was determined over the next few murderous solar hours.