Siege of Vraks - By the Emperor's Wrath: As the 3rd Company successfully accomplished their objective, Azrael moved closer to the starport. Detecting a nearby enemy armoured column moving southwards from the starport, the Chapter Master directed his covering Thunderhawks to intercept, and ordered his own column forwards to engage. By the time the leading Land Raiders were directed to battle by the Land Speeder scouts, the flats were already shrouded in the drifting smoke of burning wrecks. The Land Raiders smashed into the remaining enemy tanks, Lascannons cutting through the Leman Russ tanks and Chimeras as the enemy sought to withdraw to the relative safety of the starport. Azrael's thrust cut clean through the enemy, and swept eastwards, circling the starport. The Supreme Grand Master had already received Master Orias' confirmation of the destruction of the first causeway. Now Azrael planned to attack from the east of the starport, draw the bulk of the enemy garrison to him, then move in 3rd Company from the west, catching the garrison between Orias' anvil and his own hammer.After the Ravenwing's Land Speeders reported back the best routes of advance into the city, Azrael sent forward his Vindicators, supported by Battle-Brothers riding in Rhinos and Razorbacks. The Vindicators smashed the building occupied by the enemy infantry before the Dark Angels disembarked and began clearing the ruins of any survivors. Azrael's strike force continued to move through the streets of the starport and unleashed unrestrained destruction upon it. Thunderhawk gunships that had already re-armed streaked overhead, remorselessly bombing the enemy from above. Whirlwinds fired salvo after salvo into the starport, their fire directed by the Ravenwing as they identified enemy concentrations before speeding away to safety. The enemy found themselves under constant attack as Azrael's armoured thrusts carefully advanced, clearing the way as they went.As night fell, there was no let up in the attack, and the Supreme Grand Master continued to push forwards in the darkness. By dawn, the Dark Angels had cleared the eastern approaches to the starport's northern landing fields, and the enemy had fallen back in disarray. Before dawn the 3rd Company was also in position, landing to the west of the main landing fields and deploying as the back stop against the enemy withdrawals. By first light, the enemy occupied the large building surrounding the landing fields, hangars, warehouses and maintenance sheds, turning them into strongpoints as the Whirlwind's barrage continued to fall about them. The roar of Thunderhawk engines could be heard again as the gunships arrived to deliver another payload of bombs upon the defenders. For the second day of his attack, Azrael contented himself with softening up the enemy and sending out fighting patrols to probe enemy positions, giving the enemy time to bring more defenders into the defensive ring. The Supreme Grand Master sought not only the quick destruction of the airfields, but the annihilation of the enemy forces defending the starport. The second day passed with sporadic fighting, but the starport continued to echo to the sound of Whirlwind missile impacts and the crash of the enemy artillery as it returned fire, although the Whirldwinds' mobility made counter-battery fire very difficult as they lighter artillery changed position after each salvo.By dawn of the third day, the landing fields were a veritable warzone, with rubble and masonry scattered about in piles around the streets. From the patrols conducted the day before, the Supreme Grand Master had an excellent idea of where he would attack in force. He mustered the battle-brothers of the 6th Company, mostly Tactical Squads, placed them under the command of Interrogator-Chaplain Belphegor and gave them the honour of being accompanied by the Chapter's Sacred Standard of Devastation into battle, handpicking veteran brother Anmael as its bearer. The 6th Company hooked southwards and launched an attack to seal the defenders in. Accompanied by Vindicators, Whirlwinds and Predators, the company jumped off its attack and was soon enmeshed in house-to-house fighting with the defenders. The dark green armoured figures could be seen advancing through the ruins, as bright orange tongues of flamer blasts burned the defenders out of their cover. After a day of fighting the streets were littered with the dead. Belphegor reported that the souls of 15 battle-brothers had joined the Emperor, but that the southern sectors had now been cleared of resistance.Day four of the battle began with Azrael again content to improve his position and bomb the enemy into submission. Azrael knew that the renegade forces now occupying the starport were effectively cut-off from resupply and reinforcement. After consolidating his position, Azrael called for his Company Masters together for a briefing. Gathered inside the Supreme Grand Master's personal Land Raider the veteran commanders discussed the best plan to destroy the pockets of enemy forces they had created. A plan of concentric attacks was decided upon, with the first attack coming from the east by Azrael's forces, then from the south by Belphegor's Company, then from the west by Orias' Company. Over the course of three days each force took its turn squeezing the enemy tighter. During Orias' attack, 3rd Company reported they had overrun several landing pads and identified and engaged a force of Traitor Legionaries -- treacherous followers of Arkos. Azrael wanted as many of the Traitor Legionaries captured as possible. This would be one of the objectives of the Deathwing assault come the final battle.Fighting for the Vraks Star Port for eight days, Azrael finally ordered the final assault. Leading elements of the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 8th and 9th Companies the Supreme Grand Master led his Dark Angels to finish the enemy's resistance and finally overrun the starport. Dismounting his Land Raider, Azrael led the assault as he plunged into the enemy ranks of militia men, his black blade, the Sword of Secrets, cutting a bloody swathe. As the Dark Angels were about to achieve victory, the duplicitous Alpha Legion sprung their trap. The Chaos Space Marines had been lying in wait, using the militia as bait to draw the Dark Angels on. As the fighting intensified Azrael saw brother Anmael fall, riddled with fire, and the Sacred Standard he was brandishing toppled. Azrael knew he must recover the banner for it could not be allowed to lie in the dust. Racing through enemy fire he reached the banner just as the enemy did. The Dark Angels and Alpha Legionnaires fought over the fallen body of brother Anmael, neither giving ground. While the other Dark Angels fought to escape the Alpha Legion's sudden ambush, Azrael cut down the last of his enemies and plucked up the sacred standard. As he did so, a massive armoured figure stroke through the smoke, his ancient Terminator Armour decorated with blasphemous runes and the heretical eight-pointed star of Chaos Undivided. It was Arkos the Faithless, the Chaos Lord of the Alpha Legion. An Assault Marine launched himself into Arkos' path, only to be cut clean in half by the stroke of the Chaos Lord's Warp-powered blade. The two mighty heroes, one of the Emperor, the other of the Dark Gods, clashed in a titanic close combat.Azrael was confronted by Arkos, and soon the two were engaged in furious combat. In one hand Azrael held his Chapter's Sacred Standard of Devastation, in the other the Sword of Secrets. The two rained down smashing blows upon each others' armour, until blood seeped through the joints of Azrael's suit of Artificer plate. The weight of Arkos' mighty blows had badly wounded the Supreme Grand Master in the one-sided duel. The Chaos Lord had the combined power of the four Chaos Gods with him this day. Arkos' blows forced Azrael ever backwards, weakening his opponent until a shoulder charge and a fast, low sweeping cut sent Azrael sprawling to the ground, the Sword of Secrets skittering from his grasp. Prone amongst the rubble, the banner still clutched to him, Azrael saw death approaching as Arkos loomed over him, raising his Darkblade for the killing blow.As he reached out to strike the blow that would see Azrael's reign as Supreme Grand Master end, the impacts of an Assault Cannon sent Arkos staggering backwards. Racing up the street came Deathwing Terminators led by Interrogator-Chaplain Belphegor, who, enclosed in his black Terminator Armour, charged into Arkos, his Crozius Arcanum swinging. Belphegor managed to strike the Traitor to the ground with a blow that cracked his Terminator Armour. Arkos fell dazed and bleeding. Concerned for his wounded commander, the Chaplain turned to aid him. When he turned back to face Arkos, the Traitor had vanished. Though the ambush had inflicted painful losses upon the Dark Angels, the Traitors were unable to carry the day, and soon drifted away as they had been recalled by their thwarted commander. The Dark Angels proceeded to hunt down and destroy the remnants of surviving militiamen. Their ambush had inflicted painful losses on the Dark Angels, with the loss of 200 Battle-Brothers, but the traitors could not win this battle alone. The Dark Angels had failed to take a single Traitor Legionairy alive, although theirBattle Barge's cells did contain many captured Renegade militiamen who would face the formidable Interrogator-Chaplains on return to The Rock. After ten days the starport was securely in the hands of the Dark Angels. They set about destroying the facility with demolition charges. Two days later, the starport was damaged beyond repair. Upon completing their mission, the Dark Angels strike force departed the Vraks System.