Battle of Prospero - Thunder from Fenris: As the Imperial sanction fleet translated from the Warp and burned in towards Prospero, it became evident that the planet had strangely not activated its planetary defences. The Prosperine defence grids were non-functional at every layer of security, from the outer orbital defence platforms to the close surface planetary defence cannons. Individual cities were still screened by active defensive measures, but that was standard Imperial operating procedure and not a response to an approaching threat. There were signs that civilian ships had fled or were fleeing the planet and the star system in considerable numbers. Some of the escaping vessels were overtaken and boarded by the Imperial fleet. Their crews and passengers were taken captive and interrogated by the Space Wolves' Rune Priests, so that every useful scrap of intelligence about the target could be gathered.With no response from the ground, the Imperial armada moved into high orbital anchor above Prospero and assumed a geostationary assault pattern. Thousands of weapons were trained on the planet below: energy weapons, mass-drivers and kinetic bombardment cannons. The starships drifted sedately like grand liners in a regatta among the stars. Leman Russ' flagship, the Battle Barge Hrafnkel, opened the orbital assault, its massive weapons systems etching lines of icy light into the surface of Prospero. Moments later, the rest of the Imperial fleet opened fire.The first bombs from the Space Wolves' fleet struck Prospero just before dawn. The Prosperine orbital defence platforms were caught completely unawares. One minute their Augurs had been silent, the next a vast fleet of ships had appeared, a buckshot spread of torpedoes already arcing towards the orbital batteries and missile defences. Most were knocked out before they were able to launch a single weapon or power up a single gun. The lucky few that managed to get off a quick snap shot were bracketed and obliterated moments later. Though Magnus had chosen to keep his Legion blind to the approach of the Emperor’s vengeance as he wished to display his own repentance for his actions, the telekinetic Sorcerers of the Legion's Raptora Cult maintained a constant psychic "Kine-Shield" over Prospero's capital city of Tizca. Not even Magnus the Red could undo that protection without someone noticing and wondering why.The first warning anyone in Tizca had of the imminent Imperial attack was a hot wind that seemed to come straight from the sky, pressing down on the city like the pressure before a storm. It tasted of metal and burnt oil. Static leapt from the Tizcan pyramids’ tops, sparking from silver tower to silver tower. The grey, pre-dawn sky erupted in light as the lowered clouds were lit with an inner radiance. This was swiftly followed by the tremendous crash of atmospheric discharge, like thunder without the lightning. Multiple sonic booms from incoming hypersonic projectiles shattered the silence of the sleeping city, and those citizens of Tizca who still dreamed were shaken from their beds by the echoes as percussive blasts rolled across the urban landscape. Like a stabbing finger of raw light, the first energy lance from the orbiting Imperial fleet struck Prospero a kilometre northeast of Tizca.The total saturation of the target area ensured that the Prosperine capital city was completely engulfed, enough to level a continent’s worth of metropolises. Yet Tizca endured. The telekinetic Kine-Shields of the Thousand Sons' Raptora Cult were the strongest defences any city in the Imperium could boast. Harder than the thickest Adamantium and more unyielding than layer upon layer of standard gravitic Void Shields, the invisible umbrella of telekinetic protection soaked up the violence of the bombardment, though at fearsome cost to the Astartes who maintained it.Magnus the Red watched as the lightstorm blistered and burst over his beautiful city. The sky was stained a bloody orange as airbursting incendiary rounds burned the clouds away, and a tear fell from his eye as he watched the beautiful land around Tizca die. The forests were burned to ash and the wild grasslands blazed with secondary fires, reducing the unspoiled countryside to a wasteland in a matter of minutes. The Desolation of Prospero was complete. Now the Primarch knew how his father felt about his psychic intrusion into the Imperial Palace and his continued use of sorcery. He accepted his just punishment for his arrogance in flagrantly disobeying the Emperor's wise edicts.