The Burning Moon

燃燒的月亮

Autek Mor's first deed in the assault on Tredecimmia was as symbolic as it was practical. As the Red Talon fleet speared towards Bodt it came upon its lone moon, a body possessed of a far-ranging and sharply elliptical orbit. At that point in its transit, the satellite was closing on Bodt, affording Mor a singular opportunity. The Iron- Father ordered that the moon be violently shunted but a fraction of a degree from its course using what remained of the Red Talon's stocks of high-yield void ordnance. As a result, instead of passing Bodt at half a million kilometres, the satellite was set upon a course that would strike the planet within hours with apocalyptic force far in excess of any weapon of mass destruction in the Red Talon's arsenal. The detonation that marked the altering of the moon's orbit was said to be visible from the surface, the staggering energy release casting a baleful halo about it that, though it was unknown to the witnesses, heralded the doom of an entire planet.

奧塔克 摩爾進(jìn)攻Tredecimmia城的第一步舉措同時(shí)具有實(shí)際意義和象征意義。隨著紅爪艦隊(duì)撲向Bodt，他們遇到了這個(gè)世界唯一的月亮——這顆天體擁有長距離且明顯呈橢圓形的軌道。這顆衛(wèi)星處于凌日的過程中，它正在接近Bodt，這給摩爾提供了一個(gè)難得的機(jī)會(huì)。鋼鐵之父下令，要求紅爪號(hào)使用彈藥庫中剩余的大當(dāng)量虛空炮彈炮擊這顆月亮，令其劇烈偏離軌道——（盡管）只是進(jìn)行程度很小的偏離。結(jié)果就是：衛(wèi)星不會(huì)再從五百萬千米的距離之外掠過Bodt世界，它被重新設(shè)定了運(yùn)行軌道，會(huì)在幾小時(shí)之內(nèi)撞向行星，其所釋放出的啟示錄般力量遠(yuǎn)超紅爪號(hào)武庫中的任何大規(guī)模殺傷性武器。據(jù)說人們在地表上就能看到這些標(biāo)志著月亮軌道改變的爆炸，彈藥爆炸產(chǎn)生的巨大能量使其周圍產(chǎn)生了一道邪惡的光環(huán)，盡管人們并不知道，但這一景象預(yù)示著整顆行星的毀滅。

The sight of Bodt's moon transformed into a flaming orb in the night skies is said to have caused the feral gun-clanners who infested the rad wastes to fall to their knees in collective, atavistic terror, an effect it is likely that Autek Mor fully intended. If the world's overlords had ever counted the gun clans as an operational element in any strategy to defend their world from external assault, the gun-clanners could certainly be counted in such plans no longer. The clanners rose up in primitive fury, driven mad by the burning omen that had appeared in the night skies, and the wastes erupted with gun fire and explosions as they unleashed hell upon one another. Some are even said to have expended their formidable arsenals on firing madly at the burning moon as it swelled in the skies above. The feral gun-clanners were but one faction that Autek Mor had need to subdue. While the World Eaters and their allies would no doubt be thrown into a state of?some disarray by the spectacle of the flaming moon, Mor knew that it would take a far greater effort to render them incapable of standing against the next phase of his assault.

Bodt之月在夜空中變?yōu)橐粋€(gè)燃燒的圓球，據(jù)說這一景象令星球上出沒于輻射荒原上的槍炮氏族們在返祖的恐懼中集體下跪這，可能這就是奧塔克 摩爾完全打算獲得的效果。如果Bodt的統(tǒng)治者們曾將槍炮氏族看作是保衛(wèi)他們的世界免受外來攻擊的戰(zhàn)略中的一個(gè)作戰(zhàn)要素，那么（從此刻起）這群當(dāng)?shù)厝丝隙ú粫?huì)再被計(jì)入此類計(jì)劃（的可用資源）中。氏族成員們在原始的怒火中奮起，燃燒的預(yù)兆出現(xiàn)在夜空中的場景令他們瘋狂；荒原上槍聲與爆炸聲大作，那是他們在相互殘酷殺戮。據(jù)說當(dāng)月亮在頭頂天空中越變越大的過程中，某些人甚至耗盡了自己可怕的武器儲(chǔ)備，朝著燃燒的月亮瘋狂射擊。但野蠻的槍炮氏族只是奧塔克 摩爾需要解決的一個(gè)要素。雖然這輪熊熊燃燒著的月亮無疑會(huì)令吞世者和他們的盟友不知所措，但摩爾知道，要做出更大的努力才能讓他們無力抵抗自己下一階段的進(jìn)攻。

This phase began with a precision bombardment of?targets across the region surrounding Tredecimmia, unleashed as Mor's fleet split into a dozen assault squadrons. Each barrage was targeted against one of?many surface-to-orbit weapons batteries, which, while they were nowhere near as developed as certain key worlds in the Imperium, nonetheless presented a threat to any attacking force. As the assault squadrons closed on their prey, heavy ordnance rained from the sides above Tredecimmia, entire chains of defence emplacements consumed in fire and plasma. It is likely that any mortal defender would have been defeated by the sheer fury of the bombardment, laying the world open to an unopposed planetary landing. But Bodt was defended by no such army of?mortals, but by the World Eaters overlord cadre and their Mechanicum Taghmata and Titanicus allies, none of?whom were subject to such base frailties.

下一階段的進(jìn)攻開始于對Tredecimmia城周邊區(qū)域各處目標(biāo)的精準(zhǔn)轟炸，同時(shí)摩爾的艦隊(duì)也分為了十?dāng)?shù)個(gè)進(jìn)攻中隊(duì)。每一次炮擊都對準(zhǔn)了諸多地對軌道武器炮塔中的某一座，盡管它們遠(yuǎn)不及帝國中的某些關(guān)鍵世界上的防御系統(tǒng)發(fā)達(dá)，但對任何進(jìn)攻部隊(duì)來說這些炮塔都是一種威脅。隨著進(jìn)攻中隊(duì)接近目標(biāo)，如雨點(diǎn)般密集的大量炮火從天空中落向Tredecimmia城的兩側(cè)，火焰和電漿吞噬了整個(gè)防御工事。面對著此等純粹的暴怒轟炸，任何凡人守軍可能都會(huì)被擊敗，讓敵軍不受任何阻攔地登陸這個(gè)世界。但守衛(wèi)Bodt世界的并非凡人軍隊(duì)，而是一群擔(dān)任霸主的吞世者軍團(tuán)戰(zhàn)士和他們來自機(jī)神禁衛(wèi)軍和泰坦禁衛(wèi)的盟友，他們不存在這種低劣的弱點(diǎn)。

Though accounts state that Tredecimmia's ground-to-orbit defences were pounded to ash and cinders within the hour, many of?its defenders must have been garrisoned in subterranean bunker complexes and protected from bombardment by nigh- impenetrable void shields. Defeating them would therefore only be achieved by a mass planetary landing, and as the attack entered its third hour, the next phase of the operation was set into motion.

盡管報(bào)告聲稱Tredecimmia城的防御設(shè)施在一小時(shí)之內(nèi)就被轟炸為了灰燼和焦渣，但很多守軍一定是駐守在了地下的碉堡綜合體中，幾乎無法被穿透的虛空盾保護(hù)他們免受轟炸的傷害。所以，只有通過大規(guī)模行星登陸行動(dòng)才能擊敗他們，隨著進(jìn)攻進(jìn)入第三個(gè)小時(shí)，行動(dòng)的下一階段也開始了。

The Talon Closes

利爪合攏

Pict-captures show that as the?doomed moon waxed in the heavens, the night was turned hellish orange by the light of its oncoming death.As if to?make the spectacle still?more soul-numbingly awful,?the descending moon was attended by countless smaller forms falling through the tortured skies ahead of?it. It was towards Tredecimmia star port, as well as several other key facilities located in its vicinity, that the bulk of the great landing force is known to have made planetfall.

圖像采集資料表明：隨著那注定帶來毀滅的月亮在天空中漸漸變大，夜空被（預(yù)示著）即將到來的死亡的光芒所籠罩，變?yōu)榱说鬲z般的橙紅色。似乎是為了讓這一場景變得更為恐怖到令人心驚膽戰(zhàn)，在月亮下降的同時(shí)，還有無數(shù)的小形物體從它前面飽受折磨的天空中墜落。在進(jìn)行登陸的大規(guī)模部隊(duì)中，大部分都撲向了墜向了Tredecimmia的星港，以及位于周邊區(qū)域的其他諸多關(guān)鍵設(shè)施。

As the massed drop pods descended ahead of the burning moon, those ground defences that had survived the initial bombardment finally opened fire. Halting such a drop was almost certainly impossible, but the sheer weight of fire sent up by the surviving defence batteries took a fearsome toll, especially on those drop pods slowing their descent in the last seconds before touching down, for this was the point of their greatest vulnerability. The wastelands that the attackers had chosen as their drop zones were consumed in fire, shrapnel and las-blast as the defenders reacted with all the firepower at their disposal, yet many of the attackers had been at Isstvan V and such losses must have meant nothing to them. Even if?a dozen drop pods crashed and burned, two dozen more set down in their immediate wake, and by the end of the fourth hour of the assault, Iron Hands and Imperial Fists Legionaries were pressing outwards from the burning drop zones, bringing overwhelming fire to bear upon the defenders.

在大量的空降艙沖在燃燒的月亮前方，墜向地面的同時(shí)，那些在最初的（軌道）轟炸中幸存下來的地面防御設(shè)施也終于開火了。阻止這樣的一次空降行動(dòng)幾乎必定是不可能的，但幸存的防御炮臺(tái)射出的密集火力還是對忠誠派造成了可怕的損失，那些在著陸前的最后幾秒鐘減緩下降速度的空降艙損失尤為嚴(yán)重，因?yàn)樗鼈冊谀莻€(gè)時(shí)間點(diǎn)最為脆弱?；鹧妗w濺的彈片和激光爆能束吞噬了被進(jìn)攻部隊(duì)選作空降區(qū)的荒原——守軍動(dòng)用了自己的所有火力來進(jìn)行反擊，但很多進(jìn)攻者都經(jīng)歷過伊斯特萬五號(hào)上的戰(zhàn)斗，他們無所謂于這樣的損失。即使有十多架空投艙墜毀燃燒，也會(huì)有二十多架緊隨其后；等到進(jìn)攻行動(dòng)第四個(gè)小時(shí)的末尾，鋼鐵之手和帝國之拳軍團(tuán)戰(zhàn)士沖出了燃燒著的空降區(qū)，將壓倒性的火力射向守軍。

The fury of Mor's ground assault was magnified by a simultaneous sub-orbital strike of?staggering proportions. The skies over the black, poisoned sea were filled with squadrons of Xiphon strike fighters ranging ahead of an entire wing of Storm Eagles and Fire Raptors. The first target to know the wrath of the combined strike wing was Tredecimmis primary defence bastion at the centre of?the poisoned sea, which towered above waters turned boiling from the bombardment and whose void shields even the initial orbital strikes had been unable to penetrate. Flying so low the shield domes were rendered all but useless, the strike craft unleashed such a dense rain of high explosive ordnance that no trace of?the bastion was left standing and a tsunami was reportedly unleashed upon the furthest reaches of the sea's coast.

在地面進(jìn)攻的同時(shí)，紅爪艦隊(duì)也進(jìn)行了一次規(guī)模驚人的次軌道突襲，以此來放大摩爾的怒火。黑色且有毒海洋的上空布滿了劍尾攻擊機(jī)中隊(duì)，其后還跟著一整支由風(fēng)暴鷹和火焰猛禽炮艇所組成的編隊(duì)。最先知道這支聯(lián)合進(jìn)攻編隊(duì)怒火的是位于有毒海洋中央的Tredecimmia城主要防御工事，這些建筑聳立在因最初的轟炸而沸騰起來的海水中，甚至連初期的軌道進(jìn)攻也未能穿透它們的虛空盾。這些進(jìn)攻飛行器飛得如此之低，以至于護(hù)盾的圓頂都變得幾乎毫無用處。它們釋放出一陣密集的高爆彈藥轟炸，工事被摧毀，沒留下任何痕跡；而且據(jù)報(bào)告稱，海岸的最遠(yuǎn)端已經(jīng)產(chǎn)生了一場海嘯。

Having reduced the central bastion to burning wreckage, the attacking craft turned northwards to support the?strike of two further sub-orbital wings closing on a mountaintop defence line identified as the?central command point for the entire region. Following in the wake of the bombing run, two Thunderhawk?insertion wings,one?of Iron Hands squads,?the other of ImperialFists, breached either end of the line so that the warriors disgorged from their assault bays could work their way along and together attack the entrance to the subterranean command bunker. This assault would rage for over an hour as the two forces fought their way along the mountaintop defences through hundreds of enraged defenders. At the last, the Imperial Fists breached the massive blast doors and plunged into the interior, evidently hungry for the honour of attaining their objective ahead of the Iron Hands squads. The effect was to decapitate the Traitors'?chain of command and to make possible the final stages of the assault.

在將中央防御工事摧毀為一片燃燒著的殘骸后，進(jìn)攻的飛行器們轉(zhuǎn)向北側(cè)，去支援正在接近某條山頂防御線的另外兩支次軌道飛行連隊(duì)的攻勢——此處被辨認(rèn)為整個(gè)地區(qū)的中央指揮處。在經(jīng)過轟炸之后，兩支雷鷹穿插聯(lián)隊(duì)（一支是鋼鐵之手，另一支是帝國之拳）突破了防線兩端，這樣一來，從炮艇的進(jìn)攻艙中沖出的戰(zhàn)士們就可以沿著這條路與數(shù)百名憤怒的憤怒的守軍激戰(zhàn)，共同進(jìn)攻位于地下的指揮碉堡的入口。最后，是帝國之拳們攻破了巨大的防爆門，沖進(jìn)了堡壘內(nèi)部，他們明顯渴望獲取趕在鋼鐵之手小隊(duì)之前完成目標(biāo)的榮譽(yù)。此舉的效果是砍斷了叛軍的指揮鏈，也讓進(jìn)行最后階段的進(jìn)攻成為可能。

To the south of the inner sea, Tredecimmia star port, as well as a number of unidentified Mechanicum facilities further east, came under simultaneous drop pod assault. The star port was attacked by a large Iron Hands force, which drew upon itself a large force of World Eaters whose reported ferocity, even for this most notoriously savage of Legions, was the first evidence of the unsanctioned implantation protocols the Worlds Eaters had been engaged in. The battle for the star port appears to have quickly devolved into bitter hand-to-hand fighting, but the balance was tipped in the attackers' favour when a second wave of Imperial Fists set down upon the port's western flank in order to assault the defenders from the rear. Even thus surrounded however, the World Eaters by all accounts showed no hint of dismay and fought savagely to the very last.

在內(nèi)海的南側(cè)的Tredecimmia星港，以及位于更東側(cè)的諸多機(jī)械神教設(shè)施，都同時(shí)遭到了空降艙突襲。進(jìn)攻星港的是一支大規(guī)模的鋼鐵之手部隊(duì)，他們引來了一大群據(jù)說極其兇殘的吞世者軍團(tuán)戰(zhàn)士——甚至在這個(gè)最為兇惡的軍團(tuán)中也是如此，這也是吞世者軍團(tuán)進(jìn)行了未經(jīng)批準(zhǔn)的植入過程的第一個(gè)證據(jù)。爭奪星港的戰(zhàn)斗似乎很快就演變成了苦澀的肉搏戰(zhàn)，但是當(dāng)?shù)诙ǖ蹏筷?duì)降落到星港西側(cè)，來從后方進(jìn)攻守軍時(shí)，天平傾斜向了進(jìn)攻者一方。盡管被包圍，但所有報(bào)告都顯示：吞世者都未表現(xiàn)出任何驚慌的跡象，而且他們野蠻地戰(zhàn)斗到最后。

The wastes surrounding the unidentified Mechanicum facility were the scene of the largest single drop conducted during the assault on Tredecimmia, where elements of the 1,522nd Cohort of the Agathon Solar Auxilia established a blocking line so that whatever machine horrors the Traitor Mechanicum might have spawned there would be interdicted if?they attempted to deploy. It was well that the Solar Auxilia's super-?heavy tank companies had been deployed in this manner,for even as their Stormhammer and??Baneblade assumed position across the wastes, a tide of?malevolent machine constructs is known to have exploded from a chain of formerly concealed bunkers. For the next hour, the 1,522nd fought a grinding and costly holding action against myriad Mechanicum constructs, many of which had never before been witnessed but which would become horrifyingly familiar to us in future campaigns. Possessed of outsized combat claws and propelled across the wastes by disturbingly articulated limbs, squadrons of these combat walkers sought to fall upon the super-heavy tanks and rend them apart in a welter of buckled armour. Even when engaged at range, they proved fiendishly difficult to destroy due to some manner of warp shield akin to, and still more effective than the atomantic shielding utilised by Legiones Astartes Dreadnoughts. Though it cost them dozens of super-heavies, the bold Agathonians fought hard to keep the Traitor Mechanicum monstrosities from fatally penetrating their lines and pressing into other zones where the Iron Hands and Imperial Fists were engaged against their erstwhile Legion brethren.

在對于Tredecimmia城的進(jìn)攻中，規(guī)模最大的單次空降行動(dòng)發(fā)生在了被未經(jīng)確認(rèn)的機(jī)械神教設(shè)施所包圍著荒原處；來自Agathon第1522太陽軍兵團(tuán)的分隊(duì)在此地建立了封鎖線，無論機(jī)械神教叛軍在那里制造出了怎樣的機(jī)械惡物，如果它們試圖進(jìn)行部署的話，都將遭到阻攔。太陽軍超重型坦克連隊(duì)已經(jīng)用這種方式進(jìn)行了（時(shí)機(jī)）良好部署，就在他們的風(fēng)暴錘和毒刃在荒原各處就位時(shí)，一大群惡毒的機(jī)械造物從一連串原本隱藏著的碉堡中猛沖出來。在接下來的一小時(shí)中，面對著無數(shù)的機(jī)械神教造物，第1522兵團(tuán)進(jìn)行了一場艱難且代價(jià)高昂的阻擊戰(zhàn)。其中的許多造物是之前未被目擊過的，但我們在未來的戰(zhàn)爭中會(huì)令人恐怖地熟悉起它們。那些戰(zhàn)斗步行機(jī)裝備著超大號(hào)的格斗爪，它們邁著自己那以令人不安的方式鉸接起來的肢體，穿過荒原；由此類機(jī)械組成的中隊(duì)試圖撲到超重型坦克車身上并將其撕裂為一堆扭曲的裝甲（殘骸）。即使在射程范圍對其射擊，它們也被證明是極其難以摧毀的，因?yàn)樗鼈冄b備了某種形式的偏導(dǎo)護(hù)盾，其類似于阿斯塔特軍團(tuán)無畏機(jī)甲所使用的原子護(hù)盾，而且更為有效。盡管損失了數(shù)十輛超重型坦克，英勇的Agathon太陽軍們通過鏖戰(zhàn)阻止了機(jī)械神教叛軍的機(jī)器怪物們穿透他們的防線，并且挺進(jìn)到了鋼鐵之手和帝國之拳們在與其曾經(jīng)的軍團(tuán)兄弟們交戰(zhàn)的其他區(qū)域。

It appears that wherever the Loyalists pressed their assault, waves of defenders flooded out to engage them. The frenzied gun-clanners coalesced into ragged masses across the open wastes and threw themselves at the attackers, seemingly driven beyond madness at the spectacle of the burning moon that waxed ominously overhead. Most were cut down by the massed bolter fire of?the advancing Loyalists, but many were so insanely driven to engage the Legionaries that hordes of them had to be scoured from the wastes by flamer-armed Tactical Support squads or simply butchered with combat knives and chain bayonets, which must soon have grown slick with their tainted blood.

似乎無論忠誠派向哪里發(fā)動(dòng)進(jìn)攻，都會(huì)有一波又一波的防御者涌向他們。瘋狂的槍炮氏族們在空曠的荒原上聚集起來，這些衣衫襤褸的暴徒們沖向進(jìn)攻者——燃燒的月亮在頭上不祥變大的景象似乎把他們逼瘋了。其中的大部分人都被前進(jìn)的忠誠派用密集的爆彈射擊所擊倒，但很多如此人瘋狂，他們與軍團(tuán)戰(zhàn)士們交戰(zhàn)，以至于忠誠派不得不用裝備了火焰噴射器的戰(zhàn)術(shù)小隊(duì)將他們從荒原中成群地清理掉，或者簡單地戰(zhàn)斗刀和鏈鋸刺刀將他們屠殺掉——這些近戰(zhàn)武器很快就因沾滿了污血而變得黏滑。

With the star port, command bastion and numerous secondary facilities across Tredecimmia either aflame or the scene of heavy fighting, Autek Mor instigated the phase of his plan which, when considered in retrospect, reveals his true intent in attacking the Traitor Legiones Astartes fief world in the manner that he had. That intent would be focused upon the heavily defended macro-provender silos in the north-west sector of the Tredecimmia region.

隨著星港、指揮堡壘和Tredecimmia城各處的無數(shù)次要設(shè)施熊熊燃燒起來或陷入激戰(zhàn)，奧塔克 摩爾開始進(jìn)行自己計(jì)劃的另一階段。從事后來看，摩爾在這一階段的行動(dòng)揭示出了他以這種方式進(jìn)攻叛變阿斯塔特軍團(tuán)的封地世界的真實(shí)意圖。而他實(shí)現(xiàn)意圖的行動(dòng)將會(huì)集中在Tredecimmia地區(qū)西北側(cè)由重兵把守的巨型地下儲(chǔ)藏庫。

Assault on the Macro Silos

突襲巨型地下儲(chǔ)藏庫

The assault on the silos is known to have begun in the fifth hour of the operation and represented the greatest moment of?risk for the attackers. Archival records suggested that the Legio Audax Titan presence on Bodt was likely to be massed to the north of the silos, but had yet to be located, necessitating the deployment of still more blocking forces to hold any Titan force that should appear at bay. One such interdiction force, consisting of Iron Hands Legion infantry mounted in heavy Mastodon assault transports and supported by mid-weight Mauler battle tanks, was dropped by heavy transporter to the east of the silos, while two more, one of Iron Hands and one Imperial Fists, were dropped still further to the north, beyond the immediate sector of operations. The instant the eastern drop set down,the large force of World Eaters stationed at the silos reacted as Mor must surely have predicted they would, abandoning any pretence at static defence and surging across the wastes to engage the attackers. In?the north meanwhile, the other two blocking forces reported only light opposition to their landings, scattered gun—clanners emerging from hidden crags in the blasted wastes to be cut to bloody rags in the rain of bolter fire that would meet them.

已知對于巨型地下儲(chǔ)藏庫的進(jìn)攻開始于這次行動(dòng)的第四個(gè)小時(shí)，這是進(jìn)攻者們最為冒險(xiǎn)的時(shí)刻。檔案記錄表明：出現(xiàn)在Bodt世界上的灰燼群狼軍團(tuán)泰坦可能是聚集在了儲(chǔ)藏庫的北側(cè)，不過進(jìn)攻者尚未將其定位，但他們需要部署更多的封鎖部隊(duì)來阻止任何似乎因陷入絕境而做困獸之斗的泰坦部隊(duì)。重型運(yùn)輸艦將某支此類部隊(duì)空降到了儲(chǔ)藏庫東側(cè)，其中包括搭乘著（數(shù)輛）乳齒象重型突擊運(yùn)輸車的鋼鐵之手步兵小隊(duì)和為其提供支援的拳擊者型中等重量坦克；另外兩支部隊(duì)——其中一支是鋼鐵之手，另一支是帝國之拳，被空降到了更北側(cè)，到達(dá)了當(dāng)前行動(dòng)區(qū)域之外。在東側(cè)的進(jìn)行空降的一刻，就像摩爾必定已經(jīng)預(yù)料到的那樣，駐守在儲(chǔ)藏庫處的大量吞世者部隊(duì)做出的反應(yīng)——他們放棄了靜態(tài)防御，沖過荒原來和進(jìn)攻者們交戰(zhàn)。同時(shí)在北側(cè)，另外兩支封鎖部隊(duì)報(bào)告稱自己的空降行動(dòng)只遭到了輕微抵抗——分散的槍炮氏族們從被炸毀的荒原上竄出，他們從自己藏身的峭壁間現(xiàn)身，結(jié)果迎面而來的爆矢彈雨將其化為了血淋淋的碎布片。

With the bulk of the defenders of the macro silos swarming eastwards to give battle to the Iron Hands heavy units deployed there, Autek Mor was then able to commit to the true objective of the entire operation. This phase is known to have been led by the Iron-Father himself attended by the iron- hard core of?the Morragul Clan Company 一spearheaded by Autek Mor's elite Gorgon Terminator units, a technology he had personally been able to replicate, even as an exile of war. As all-consuming battle raged across Tredecimmia, a blazing hemisphere of light akin to ball lightning flared into existence upon the wastes to the south of?the macro silos. Arcing plasma fused the sands as a mighty phalanx of?iron-black Terminators was revealed to have teleported directly to the surface from the Red Talon?teleportarium deck, a singular device of the rarest pedigree. Soon, the hulking warriors were bearing down on the western perimeter of?the objective, the only defenders that could oppose them the cortex-controlled gun-towers of the Sarum?Mechanicum. These defences gave the Iron Hands no pause, and soon the force was pushing through?the clustered ordnance silos towards the entrance to the subterranean stasis chambers.

隨著巨型地下儲(chǔ)藏庫的大部分守軍蜂擁向東側(cè)去與部署在此處鋼鐵之手重型單位交戰(zhàn)，奧塔克 摩爾現(xiàn)在就能執(zhí)行整場行動(dòng)的真正目標(biāo)。據(jù)我們所知，鋼鐵之父本人親自領(lǐng)導(dǎo)莫拉古氏族連隊(duì)鋼鐵般強(qiáng)硬的核心——精銳的戈耳工終結(jié)者們組成的矛頭來參與該階段的行動(dòng)。哪怕是在戰(zhàn)爭期間，摩爾也能復(fù)制出打造這些精銳戰(zhàn)士的技術(shù)。隨著吞噬一切的戰(zhàn)火蔓延到Tredecimmia城的各處，巨型地下儲(chǔ)藏庫南側(cè)的荒原中突然出現(xiàn)了一顆類似球狀閃電的半球狀光團(tuán)。電弧狀的電漿（能量束）融化了沙土，由鐵黑色的終結(jié)者們所組成方陣被從紅爪號(hào)的傳送甲板上直接傳送到了地面，使用的是一類最為罕見的獨(dú)特裝置。很快，這些身形巨大的戰(zhàn)士們就逼近了目標(biāo)的西部邊界，而唯一能阻撓他們的防御設(shè)施就是Sarum機(jī)械神教（制造的）由腦皮質(zhì)控制的炮塔。但這些防御設(shè)施并未能阻擋住鋼鐵之手們，他們很快就穿過了密集的炮塔，向著地下靜滯庫的入口處推進(jìn)。

Here, the attackers met an unanticipated mode of?resistance and the first of their number fell. The metal flanks of the vast silos reportedly appeared to shift at the Gorgons' approach, jagged, insect-like shapes detaching themselves from the machine- structures and dropping to the ground to land upon spear-tipped mechanical claws. Each machine-sentry bore a weapon of typically fiendish Mechanicum design, from irad-cleansers to lightning guns, which they quickly brought to bear upon the attackers from every quarter. Each a veteran of countless savage battles, the Gorgons pressed onwards through a twisted metal labyrinth crawling with the sentinel-constructs. Every shadow and crevice was lair to some new foe, and so the Gorgons increased their own weight of fire, shredding the structure about them and tearing apart any Mechanicum construct caught in the storm.

攻擊者在這里遇到了意想不到的抵抗形式，他們中出現(xiàn)了第一位陣亡者。據(jù)報(bào)告稱，在戈耳工終結(jié)者們接近時(shí)，巨型儲(chǔ)存庫的金屬側(cè)面似乎發(fā)生了位移，帶有鋸齒的昆蟲形物體從機(jī)械結(jié)構(gòu)上分離出來，它們落下來，并用帶有矛尖的機(jī)械利爪站在地上。每一臺(tái)機(jī)械哨兵身上都安裝了帶有典型的機(jī)械神教式惡毒設(shè)計(jì)的武器，從輻射凈化炮到閃電槍，不一而足；他們迅速從四面八方向攻擊者發(fā)起進(jìn)攻。但戈耳工終結(jié)者們也都是經(jīng)歷過無數(shù)惡戰(zhàn)的老兵，他們在布滿這些哨兵結(jié)構(gòu)體的扭曲金屬迷宮中前進(jìn)著。新的敵人們隱藏于每一道陰影和裂隙中，所以戈耳工終結(jié)者們增強(qiáng)了自己的火力，摧毀周圍（所有的）建筑結(jié)構(gòu)，用風(fēng)暴般的槍火撕碎所有被困其中的機(jī)械神教構(gòu)造物。

At last, Autek Mor stood upon the cusp of his objective. The entrance to the subterranean macro chambers is known to have been protected by blast doors constructed to withstand heavy ordnance, but which resisted the chainfists of the Gorgons for mere seconds. The burning moon looming in the tortured skies, Autek Mor ordered his warriors to form a ring of impenetrable steel about the entrance. With a curt order, he utterly forbade any of his warriors to follow in his wake, no matter what occurred either above or below. With that, he is said to have passed through the breached armoured portal and descended the steps into the stygian vaults below.

最終，奧塔克 摩爾站到目標(biāo)面前。據(jù)我們所知，保護(hù)進(jìn)入地下靜滯室的入口的防爆門能夠阻擋重炮的轟擊，但面對戈耳工終結(jié)者的鏈鋸拳套，它僅僅堅(jiān)持了數(shù)秒。燃燒的月亮在飽受凌虐的天空中向地面逼近，奧塔克 摩爾命令戰(zhàn)士們在入口周圍組成一道不可逾越的鋼鐵環(huán)帶。他下達(dá)的是一條簡短的命令：無論空中或地下發(fā)生了什么情況，任何戰(zhàn)士都不得跟在他身后。據(jù)說他穿過了被破壞的裝甲（防護(hù)門）入口，走下臺(tái)階，進(jìn)入了下方陰暗的倉庫中。

Blood shall have Blood

血腥鏖戰(zhàn)

Despite the storm of blood that the Loyalists had unleashed upon the Traitors, they would not go untouched by the hand of death. Across the wastes, the Traitors struck back and the wrath of the World Eaters in particular was a horrifying spectacle to behold. Waves of?Legion Inductii —rapidly-indoctrinated aspirants— poured forth from their fortifications to meet the assault, all notions of tactics cast aside in favour of raw ferocity. Where such forces clashed with the Iron Hands and the Imperial Fists, the dusty ground was turned slick with the blood of Traitor and Loyalist alike. What the Inductii lacked in skill and experience, they made up for in strength and savagery, and so while they would eventually be slain, it was only at a high cost in the lives of?Loyalist Legionaries.

盡管忠誠派們向叛軍釋放出了一陣風(fēng)暴般的血腥攻勢，但他們也并非未遭受傷亡。在荒原各處，叛軍們發(fā)起了反擊，尤其是吞世者們，他們發(fā)怒的景象是恐怖的。成群的軍團(tuán)速成兵——接受了快速（記憶）灌輸?shù)男请H戰(zhàn)士候補(bǔ)們——涌出防御工事來迎擊敵人，他們放棄了所有的戰(zhàn)術(shù)理念，以純粹原始的兇狠來取而代之。在此類部隊(duì)與鋼鐵之手和帝國之拳部隊(duì)發(fā)生戰(zhàn)斗刀地方，忠誠派和叛軍雙方的鮮血令塵土飛揚(yáng)的土地變得濕滑。速成兵們用力量和野蠻來彌補(bǔ)自己所缺乏的技藝和經(jīng)驗(yàn)，所以（盡管）他們最終都會(huì)被殺死，但忠誠派軍團(tuán)戰(zhàn)士們也為此付出了大量的傷亡代價(jià)。

A Traitor counter-attack came from an entirely unanticipated quarter, its accounting serving as yet more evidence of the crimes of?the Warmaster's followers. At one point, the Iron Hands' primary interdiction landing in the north of the Tredecimmia war zone was met with a wave of World Eaters Terminators, later identified as belonging to the so-called Red Butchers. The warriors of this cadre are known for the fact they are so broken in mind that their armour must be kept locked and immobile between battles lest they turn their fury upon their own battle-brethren when no foe is to hand. The Red Butchers who charged across the wastes to engage the Iron Hands were later determined not to be blood-maddened Traitors however, but Legionaries who had fought against the Traitors at Isstvan III and whose minds had been so destroyed by the experience that they no longer knew or cared who they were fighting. A great phalanx of?these tragic warriors cut a bloody swathe through the advancing Iron Hands and for a time threatened to push them back to their landing zones. Only the mass deployment of Mastodon heavy assault transports appears to have halted the Red Butchers' counteradvance, their cyclonic melta cannon scouring the wastes and burning the Red Butchers, and in some cases the doomed Iron Hands they were locked in combat against, to ashes.??

而叛軍們從某個(gè)未曾預(yù)料的方向所發(fā)起的反擊，則為我們提供了關(guān)于戰(zhàn)帥追隨者們罪行的證據(jù)。當(dāng)時(shí)，鋼鐵之手位于Tredecimmia戰(zhàn)區(qū)北側(cè)的主要攔截空降部隊(duì)遭遇了一群吞世者終結(jié)者單位，這些軍團(tuán)戰(zhàn)士之后被識(shí)別為紅屠夫部隊(duì)的成員。紅屠夫們的意識(shí)極其破碎混亂，以至于在非戰(zhàn)斗狀態(tài)下，他們的動(dòng)力甲必須被鎖閉固定，令其不能移動(dòng)，以防他們在手邊沒有敵人時(shí)將怒火發(fā)泄在自己的戰(zhàn)斗兄弟身上。然而，這些沖過荒原來與鋼鐵之手們交戰(zhàn)的紅屠夫們之后被確認(rèn)并非來自那些嗜血瘋狂的叛軍，他們都曾是在伊斯特萬三號(hào)上抗擊叛軍的軍團(tuán)戰(zhàn)士，這段經(jīng)歷對他們的意識(shí)造成了極其嚴(yán)重的毀壞，以至于他們不再知道和在乎自己的交戰(zhàn)對象是誰。這些命運(yùn)悲慘的戰(zhàn)士們組成了一個(gè)龐大的方陣，將前進(jìn)中的鋼鐵之手們成列地屠殺掉，在其部隊(duì)中撕開血腥的空缺；他們一度脅迫著鋼鐵之手們要撤回到登陸區(qū)。只有乳齒象重型突擊運(yùn)輸車的大規(guī)模部署似乎才阻止了紅屠夫們的反擊，這些載具的熱熔炮旋風(fēng)般肅清著荒原，將紅屠夫們化為灰燼——某些情況中，與紅屠夫們纏斗在一起的不幸鐵手戰(zhàn)士們也會(huì)遭此劫難。