Scourging of Kerrack - Aid Unlooked For: It was then -- in their darkest hour -- that chance finally smiled upon Kerrack's defenders. Long-dead orbital Vox channels suddenly came to life with the scrambled transmissions from an unidentified Imperial spacecraft heading to the beleaguered planet. Mahaur's small fleet had long since destroyed or chased off all Imperial vessels in the system, meaning this unidentified visitor came from beyond Kerrack's bounds. The faint embers of hope burned high as the news became known amongst the defenders. Most assumed that their prayers had been heard and that the newcomer would bring much-needed reinforcements. However, the Cadians' commander, Colonel Mortmar, had no means to contact this new vessel, as the Vox transmitters of the Calnix Garrison were not powerful enough for their signal to break orbit. Whoever the occupants of this new voidship were, they had no idea what was happening on Kerrack.Colonel Mortemar reevaluated his situation. Remaining on Calnix Island and focussing on rebuilding the defences of Sotha Beach seemed pointless, for Marhaur's troops still greatly outnumbered them, both on the ground and in the air. The enemy was currently in a state of disarray, which meant that if the defenders of Calnix Island intended to land one last blow, it would have to be now. If the voidship approaching Kerrack did carry possible reinforcements, then Mortemar and the defenders would need to make contact with them in order to coordinate their efforts, be it to mount an offensive against the Harvester or ultimately organise a retreat from Calnix Island. Kerrack sported only two relays powerful enough to guarantee interstellar communication -- the Governor's Palace at Calder's Ark and the Central Communication Tower at Ven Nys Spaceport. Of course, both installations were currently in enemy hands, but the defenders' best chance at survival would be to contact the unidentified spacecraft. An assault on Calder's Ark was immediately dismissed, as it was akin to suicide. Mahaur the Harvester himself currently resided in the Governor's Palace, and it was where the Slaughterkin had retreated to. The only viable option was Ven Nys. Reconnaissance flights indicated that the spaceport was mostly held by the Charnel Cult and that their numbers were far more limited than in other locations, for the enemy believed the defenders broken and trapped on Calnix Island. The Harvester believed the spaceport secured. It was time to show him the error of that assumption. Invigorated by this news, Colonel Mortemar began to muster every available man, woman and aircraft for one last strike.With the armies of the Harvester still regrouping and under cover of night, the assaulting Imperial forces had no difficulty in breaking through the scattering armies to set course for Ven Nys Spaceport. As for the assault on Algrist, the first wave of Imperial flyers was composed of Lightnings, Thunderbolts and the few Avengers available to Kerrack Air Command. Their mission was to neutralise the enemy air defences so that the Valkyries would be able to land safely. As these flyers closed in on their targets, they realised that Mortemar's intelligence on the Ven Nys garrison was flawed: the spaceport's Hydra and Manticore batteries were fully operational and crewed not by Charnel Cultists, but Renegade PDF. As a grey dawn heralded the rise of Kerrack's single sun, the sky was soon filled with tracer fire.Mortemar's first attack wave did not succeed in entirely knocking out the spaceport's air defences before they were called to intercept hastily scrambled Slaughterkin fighters. By the time the Valkyries made their approach, Lightnings, Thunderbolts, Hell Blades and Hell Talons had already started their deadly ballet in the sky. Unsupported, the lead Valkyrie's pilot chose to dive low, threading the needle and taking his transport right through the streets of the huge hangar complex that constituted the suburbs of the spaceport, dodging fire from the ground. Not every Imperial transport made it. Several were shot down or crashed into a building, but most were able to reach the heart of the spaceport facilities, disgorging their troops right at the foot of the central command complex. The Cadians quickly assembled into platoons and rushed the Chaotic defenders, taking control of the Central Communication Tower as well as the attending buildings and their gun platforms. The engineers who accompanied the attack force quickly set to work, making sure Colonel Mortemar's call for aid would be transmitted. As the last words were broadcast, the tower's Augurs detected a new wave of incoming enemy aircraft, the massive and unmistakable silhouette of a super-heavy Harbinger bomber at their fore.The lumbering behemoth that was the Harbinger closed in on Colonel Mortemar's position, impervious to the missile and cannon fire the Loyalists threw at it. The Harbinger's own twin-linked Autocannon-turrets opened up in retaliation, while its fighter escort joined the fray, shooting down many of the Imperial flyers trying to reach it. The bomber was finally brought down by the valiant efforts of Commander Neider. With both fuel and ammunition exhausted, Commander Neider resolved to make the ultimate sacrifice. Using his Lightning fighter as an improvised missile, he crashed his aircraft into the Harbinger's engines. Unable to maintain its altitude, the bomber went down, but the Harbinger's explosive payload still inflicted great casualties on the Imperial troops. Several outlying positions were annihilated even though the Harbinger had crashed a few blocks from the Central Communication Tower. Running dangerously low on fuel, the remaining Imperial fighters abandoned the sky to their enemy, Colonel Mortemar's troops scrambling to find cover before the Hell Talons and Hell Blades began their strafing runs anew.Effectively pinned down by the enemy's air superiority, the Imperial Guardsmen were powerless to prevent Mahaur's ground forces from encircling them. The assault of the cultists had left the Guard's position in tatters. Only isolated pockets of Imperial troops still held out, as their occupants desperately fought for survival. By midday, the refuelled and rearmed Imperial air assets joined the fray, heralding the arrival of a second wave of Imperial transports carrying much-needed reinforcements. The Lightnings and Thunderbolts tore into their enemy counterparts and momentarily tipped the battle in the Imperium's favour. Yet the greater numbers of the Renegade PDF and Slaughterkin flyers soon forced them to retreat once more. Knowing full well that they could not land in the contested spaceports, the Imperial reinforcements deployed by using Grav-Chutes. But calamity struck again when many of the reinforcing squads were shot down while still in the air. Only a fraction of the reinforcements successfully reached Imperial positions unharmed. With the Charnel Cultists closing in from all sides and ammunition beginning to run low, most Cadians mumbled prayers to the God-Emperor.Unknown to the increasingly desperate Guardsmen, their prayers would soon be answered. The unidentified spacecraft that had entered the system was indeed an Imperial vessel: the Fires of Salvation, an Adeptus Astartes Strike Cruiser belonging to the Star Phantoms Chapter. The Fires of Salvation carried the full might of the Star Phantoms' 5th Battle Company, which had been previously engaged in the Karthago Crusade to liberate the Karthago Sector from the Orks that had invaded it. The Star Phantoms had come to Kerrack with the intent of resupplying at the great Administratum stockpiles on Calnix Island, but not having received any response to his repeated hails, the company's commander, Captain Calphax, had ordered his Strike Cruiser to approach the planet covertly, not knowing that Kerrack was under invasion by the Forces of Chaos.Shortly after entering the inner system, the Fires of Salvation detected Mahaur's fleet in orbit above the Agri-World. The two main ships in the Slaughterkin's fleet -- the Devastation-class Cruiser Crimson Reliquary and a captured  Dauntless-class Light Cruiser identifying itself as the Harrower -- outgunned the Fires of Salvation, yet the Strike Cruiser did not retreat. At last receiving Mortemar's transmission, Captain Calphax's decision was set: the Star Phantom would take the fight to the Slaughterkin and rescue the colonel and his troops. Engaging its powerful thrusters at maximum, the Fires of Salvation closed with the planet, conducting a single pass above it in order to launch its own complement of troops before breaking orbit. Rather than trying to flee, the Strike Cruiser charged the enemy fleet head on, its Void Shields fully operational and its guns loaded and ready to fire. The Harrower tried to intercept the onrushing Fires of Salvation, but failed to stop it, the Strike Cruiser's gunnery masters stripping the smaller craft of its Void Shields before sending high-explosive shells into the Light Cruiser's stern and engine decks, effectively crippling it. Yet the Harrower 's broadside had caused some damage, as testified by the shimmering trail of debris the Strike Cruiser left in its wake. Its mission fulfilled, the Fires of Salvation headed to the safety of the inner asteroid belt, drawing off the Crimson Reliquary. The Emperor's Angels of Death had been unleashed on Kerrack.The first sign the besieged Cadians had of their arrival was the unexpected destruction of several of the Hell Blades. Using their superior firepower to clear a path through the Chaos aircraft, the Thunderhawk gunships of the Fires of Salvation made for the ground. As soon as they had touched down, the front ramps lowered and disciplined squads of white-armoured Space Marines left their transports before the Thunderhawks took off again. Alongside these eighty Space Marines, Thunderhawk Transporters ferried rugged-looking tanks which soon joined their brothers on foot in the counterattack. Both tanks and armoured giants wore the distinctive symbol common to the Star Phantoms: the skull-bedecked hourglass -- two powerful symbols of death, for in the wake of the Star Phantoms death walked the streets of Ven Nys Spaceport. The Charnel Cultists proved unable to match the fury of the Emperor's finest soldiers. A single venerable Storm Eagle pierced the sky and delivered Captain Calphax and his personal retinue to the battlefield. The fury of the Star Phantoms was terrible to behold and soon the armies of the Harvester preferred to flee before the Space Marines' onslaught, leaving the ravaged spaceport in the hands of the Imperium.