Night Lords - Doom of Sotha: In the latter days of 010.M31 the brutal storm of war engulfed the isolated system of Sotha. The ragged fleets of the Night Lords Legion, fresh from the murderous crucible of the Thramas Crusade, shattered the orbital defences of the Ultramarines and seized control of this remote corner of Ultramar. Such an act would swiftly draw the ire of the Lords of the Five Hundred Worlds, whose warships outnumbered those of the Night Lords, and seemed an ill-considered onslaught if the prize was no more than a Frontier World on the edge of the Imperium. Yet, Sotha held something more valuable than resources or conscripts -- an artefact known as the Pharos. This device was the key to the Ultramarines' defences and a prize that would allow the warlords of the Night Lords to claim the favour of Warmaster Horus.One among these disparate warlords was chosen to lead the initial assault on the planet -- Claw Master Zaar Siakaar. A warrior whose ambition outstripped his caution, he boasted of the victory his troops would win at Sotha even as the assembled Night Lords looked on. Such a victory would see him rise high in the esteem of his leaderless Legion, with the Night Haunter missing since the final battle of the Thramas Crusade, and grant him a chance at true power. Yet, few of the more established captains of the VIIIth Legion cared for the braggadocio of such an upstart whelp. These grim veterans granted the claw master his opportunity, with several even offering their supply of warriors from the elite Atramentar to support his assault. Blinded by dreams of glory, Zaar Siakaar took them at their word and moved his ships to the vanguard of the fleet.Claw Master Siakaar's planetfall was preceded by a barrage of macrocannon shells and incendiary munitions, indiscriminately dropped among the habitation zones to demolish buildings and ignite a conflagration that quickly spread through the city of Sothopolis. Waves of Drop Pods and planetary assault craft swiftly followed, carrying the bulk of seven companies -- with Siakaar's company and the Atramentar at the fore.Thousands of missiles streaked up into the sky on trails of burning promethium, followed by volleys of laser fire from Sotha's anti-air batteries, turning the skies into a seething storm of fire. Yet, for every Drop Pod that perished, dozens more landed amid the outskirts of the city to disgorge their deadly cargo. Within a few short solar hours, the horizon was engulfed in black clouds of smoke as the Night Lords rampaged through the streets of the dying city, falling upon the hastily drawn up ranks of the Ultramarines' Aegida Company as it vainly tried to defend the city and its inhabitants.Claw Master Zaar Siakaar presided over the assault from his personal command Spartan Assault Tank, co-ordinating the actions of his warriors as they swept through the city. Serving as his personal guard were a cadre of the elite Atramentar Terminators. These vicious killers were drawn from the missing Captain Sevatarion's 1st Company, now spread out amongst the warbands and companies of the fractious VIIIth Legion to act as enforcers for the other warlords of the Legion.An armoured spearhead amassed around the command Spartan; Land Raider Proteus carriers and Deimos Pattern Rhinos carrying the Legion's assault troops, supported by swift Sabre Strike Tanks and heavily armed Sicaran Punishers. Siakaar sent a single coded vox-signal across all VIIIth Legion frequencies and the vehicle column surged forwards through the streets of Sothopolis towards the XIIIth Legion castellum defending the approaches that led to the mountain where the Pharos lay hidden.The invasion quickly became a massacre, the Night Lords venting the rage of their defeat at Thramas on the defenders of Sotha. Proteus Pattern Land Speeders and Legion Outrider Squadrons ranged ahead of the main invasion force to herd Sotha's fleeing population down the capital's streets and into the waiting blades of the VIIIth Legion. The revving of chainblades and the roar of bolters combined with the screams of the terrified population to form a cacophony of misery that echoed across Sothopolis. The Ultramarines engaged the invaders in a fighting retreat, buying time with their lives holding makeshift roadblocks in a valiant effort to evacuate as many civilians from the city as possible.The overwhelming enemy numbers began to tell and the Ultramarines rigged charges to send sections of buildings collapsing across the Night Lords' line of advance, crushing Legionaries and blocking the passage of armoured vehicles. Still, the VIIIth Legion came on, Siakaar and the Atramentar crushing all resistance beneath the treads of their mighty Spartan tank. Packs of Night Raptors ranged ahead of the tank formation, leaping over the wreckage using controlled bursts from their Jump Packs to land among the warriors of Ultramar and slice them apart with serrated swords and viciously hooked axes. One by one pockets of resistance across the city were surrounded and eliminated, with the wounded survivors often dragged away to suffer unspeakable torments in the torture pits of the VIIIth Legion.The tattered remnants of the Ultramarines' garrison chose to make their stand at Attican Square, a natural choke point where all the roads leading to the castellum converged. Centurion Vieron Ekarr, the last of the Ultramarines officers left in the city, took the opportunity to rally the withdrawing forces of his Legion as the Night Lords paused their advance to terrorise and butcher the civilians trapped within the city. Despite the chaos of the retreat, the disciplined centurion managed to assemble a sizable force of defenders -- from battered phalanxes of Breachers to the grim ranks of his Suzerain bodyguard.These vengeful warriors locked their shields together in front of a marble statue of Roboute Guilliman carrying the torch of Imperial Unity, determined to hold beneath the gaze of their primarch and delay the enemy long enough for those that had already evacuated the city to fortify the castellum against the Night Lords' assault. A pair of Deredeo Pattern Dreadnoughts took up position on either side of the monument, Ancients Menarrio and Argan training the barrels of their Anvilus Autocannon batteries to the skies, while alongside them, the few remaining Predator and Sicaran battle tanks of the Ultramarines blocked the enemy's advance towards the castellum.The Night Lords responded in a fashion typical of their cruel nature, herding hundreds of captured civilians into the square, each with their eyelids sewn together or their eyeballs plucked from their skulls. Behind the throng of unfortunate Sothans came squadrons of Night Lords Land Raiders and Rhino armoured transports, speeding into the square with the still-living bodies of captured Ultramarine neophytes pinned to their hulls with their skin flayed in agonising and depraved parodies of the Emperor's Aquila. The XIIIth Legion's tanks belatedly opened fire, stunned into inaction for a brief but decisive moment, and though several of the enemy vehicles disappeared in a storm of explosive rounds and plasma blasts, most crossed the square unharmed.The Night Lords assault group rolled over the stumbling civilians, leaving trails of broken bodies and rivers of blood behind them as they came to a grinding halt before the Ultramarines' position. Assault ramps dropped with a resounding crash and through the darkness of their interiors came the Despoiler and Terror Squads of the VIIIth Legion, scores of Renegade Legionaries charging towards the cobalt blue shieldwall with a murderous fury.Vieron Ekarr positioned himself within the front rank, a wave of gold and blue armoured bodies surrounding the last surviving officer of the Ultramarines, the shields of his warriors overlapping against each other to form a protective barrier. The order ciringite frontem was given and the well-drilled Ultramarines Legionaries responded by lifting their shields higher, bracing for the charge.The lead Night Lords lashed out with chainblades and Bolt Pistols, seeking an opening in the shieldwall that would break the formation. Many found themselves hurled from their feet by the press of their enemies' Boarding Shields slamming back as one. The shieldwall opened and the Suzerains cut the nearest Night Lords down with swift strikes of their legatine Power Axes before closing ranks again. The charge lost momentum and faltered, many Night Lords forced to defend themselves while others still pressed the attack.The Ultramarines fought in the disciplined manner their Legion was renowned for, blocking and thrusting with their gladii power swords to kill or maim their opponents. The Night Lords fought as brawlers and murderers, using the bodies of their fallen as stepping stones to jump over the shieldwall where they dragged their enemies to the ground, hacking at soft armour joints and firing their Bolt Pistols point blank into eye lenses.Xiphon Interceptors and Fire Raptors in the midnight-blue of the VIIIth Legion dived from the sky and flew through the streets to strafe the rear of the Ultramarines' positions with a hail of Avenger Bolt Cannon shells and Lascannon blasts, suicidally braving the castellum's anti-air batteries in an effort to drain their ammunition reserves out of pure murderous spite.Dozens of Ultramarine Legionaries were torn to bloody shreds and Predator tanks were reduced to flaming wrecks before a stream of armour piercing rounds from the Ultramarines Deredeo Ancients sent the enemy aircraft crashing into the fire-blackened buildings of Sothopolis. The Ultramarines' and Night Lords' dead littered the ground, the XIIIth Legion's defensive formation now reduced to just a third of its original size.The shieldwall reformed around the statue of Guilliman, its features now scarred by gunfire and stained with soot and blood; those injured Ultramarines fortunate enough to be dragged into the cover of the shieldwall by Legion Apothecaries fired their weapons over the shoulders of their brothers in the front. Time seemed to slow down to the warriors of the two Legions as they fought to a bitter standstill with both sides stubbornly refusing to yield.With the battle stagnating, a lone Spartan Assault Tank sitting silent among the Night Lords vehicles powered up its engines. The metal behemoth moved ponderously at first and then picked up speed as it drove towards the swirling melee at the square's edge. Sensing the Loyalists were now weakened enough by his expendable troops, Claw Master Siakaar and his aloof Atramentar guard deemed it was time to enter the fray and claim an easy victory. The Spartan crashed into the close press of Ultramarines and Night Lords, indiscriminately grinding armoured bodies into bloody pulp under its mighty tracks.The shieldwall broke and the Night Lords poured their numbers through the gap to swarm the beleaguered Ultramarines. The Spartan's hatches opened and out of them charged Siakaar and the Atramentar. Hulking warriors clad in debased midnight-blue Tartaros Pattern Terminator Armour, festooned with grisly trophies torn from Human bodies, the Atramentar lashed left and right with their Nostraman Chainglaives, butchering all in their path.Ultramarines were hacked down like wheat before the scythe and even Night Lords Legionaries who strayed too close to the claw master were not spared their wrath, the Atramentar showing little trust to their perfidious brothers since the fracturing of their Legion. Two of the Atramentar singled out Centurion Vieron Ekarr among his brethren by his magnificently sculpted Artificer Armour and lashed out at him with their Nostraman Chainglaives, seeking to claim a kill that would seal the battle's outcome.The Ultramarines centurion barely held his ground against the monstrous Terminators, his surviving three Suzerains rushing to their lord's defence. One of the Atramentar grabbed a nearby Night Lord and shoved him in the way of the charging Suzerains, delaying them long enough for him to shoot one of Ultramar's champions through the chest with his Plasma Blaster before crashing into the rest, wildly swinging his Chainglaive in wide arcs. Still engaged in combat with the other Atramentar, Vieron Ekarr failed to see the dark form of Siakaar step in behind him. The bladed fingers of a crackling Lightning Claw erupted from the Ultramarine officer's chest, tearing apart both of his hearts, before his helmet and head were ripped brutally from his body by the whirring teeth of a Chainglaive.With the death of their commander, the remaining Ultramarines were truly broken and the last of their number fell amidst the shattered armour and buckled shields of their brethren. Only corpses and ash marked the Ultramarines' brief stand in Attican Square, and Claw Master Siakaar stood upon the verge of glory, his position among the new warlords of the VIIIth Legion all but guaranteed by this triumph.As the claw master paused to cut his mark upon the bloodied, torn corpse of Centurion Ekarr, the Atramentar assigned to him by his allies closed about him, blades raised and bolters cycling. The hulking Terminators grimly followed the orders given to them in orbit, to eliminate the vainglorious claw master who had dared to step beyond his place. Siakaar had forgotten the strictures that the Night Haunter had instilled in his sons: glory and honour were worthless and victory was fleeting. It was only the will to wield the knife that mattered, that and the strength to direct where it fell.