The Hydra Strikes

九頭蛇出擊

The captain of the Anax-Rho?had waited too long. Auspex returns on Paramar V had begun to pick up the echo-flashes of heavy weapons fire at the Pharaeon, and the Alpha Legions hand was forced. The Anax-Rho ended the argument with the Tyche's Lament by unleashing a spread of fusion-warheaded torpedoes at their unsuspecting rival, before turning their attentions on the Nexus below. As atomic fire blossomed across the prow of the Iron Warriors battleship, the Anax-Rhos assault bays launched a wave of heavy Kharybdis Assault Claws at the Nexus primary terminal, the barbed landing craft burning like comets as they streaked ground ward. The Mechanicum outpost reacted to the fury unleashed above them with preternatural speed, but it was not fast enough; the terminal's void shield coursing to crackling life in the skies between the two, but too late to stop the meteoric descent of the assault claw wave which tore through the still-forming shields with flashes of pyrokenetic lightning as they streaked ground ward, the void shields slowly sealing shut above them. The Kharybdis Assault Claws, wreathed in the flames of their descent and trailing behind them streamers of torn lightning-plasma from the half?formed void shields, slammed into the upper towers of the Terminus Panopticon, their bladed grapples smashing into hardened Ferrocrete like murderous talons as they began to burn their way within.

阿納克斯—羅號(hào)的船長(zhǎng)已經(jīng)等待太久了。帕拉瑪五號(hào)上的鳥(niǎo)卜儀已經(jīng)開(kāi)始接收到重型武器朝著寶冠站開(kāi)火的閃光回聲了，阿爾法軍團(tuán)被迫采取行動(dòng)了。阿納克斯—羅號(hào)結(jié)束了與堤喀哀嘆號(hào)的爭(zhēng)吵：它朝著自己毫無(wú)防備的對(duì)手射出了多發(fā)熱核聚變彈頭魚(yú)雷，之后便將注意力轉(zhuǎn)向了下方的樞紐站。隨著原子火焰炸開(kāi)在鋼鐵勇士戰(zhàn)列艦艦首的各處，阿納克斯—羅號(hào)朝著樞紐站的主航站發(fā)射出了一波重型的海妖突襲爪，當(dāng)這些帶有刺爪的登陸艇朝著地面飛馳而去的，它們（的表面）就如同彗星那樣燃燒起來(lái)。對(duì)于這股自上方而來(lái)的怒火，機(jī)械神教哨站以不可思議的速度做出了反應(yīng)，但動(dòng)作仍不夠快；虛空盾噼啪作響，在航站與突襲爪二者之間的空域中開(kāi)始生成，但是生成速度太慢，以至于沒(méi)能阻止突襲爪們彗星般的降落——它們撕穿了仍在形成中的虛空盾，還帶著高溫（摩擦）形成的閃電所釋放出的閃光。虛空盾在它們上方緩緩閉合。海妖突襲爪們撞入了圓廳航站樓的上層高塔中，機(jī)身上還包裹著下降過(guò)程中產(chǎn)生的火焰，身后還拖著撕裂半成型的虛空盾時(shí)所產(chǎn)生的閃電等離子體尾跡；它們?nèi)袪畹奶鴰妥θ缤瑑磹旱墨F爪那樣刺入了堅(jiān)硬的鐵凝土墻面中，同時(shí)（熱熔切割器）開(kāi)始從墻壁中燒出行動(dòng)通道。

Far above, the Anax-Rho pressed its attack. While its dorsal lances fired on the Iron Warriors' escorts, scattering them,its main armament was turned groundwards. Built for close range orbital assault, the Anax- Rhos macro-bombard ment cannon began to rain down shell after titanic shell on the still powering-up defence shields, while its torpedo bays frantically reloaded with cluster warheads to press the onslaught further and overwhelm the Terminus by brute force now subtlety had been denied them. A second assault wave, already prepared, awaited to exploit any failing in the shield,no matter how brief—the Terminus could still be taken and Paramar V could yet fall with a single blow if this was so.

而在遠(yuǎn)處的高空中，阿納克斯—羅號(hào)也推進(jìn)著自己的攻勢(shì)。它用背部的光矛們向著鋼鐵勇士的護(hù)航艦們開(kāi)火，驅(qū)散開(kāi)這些飛船，同時(shí)將自己的主武器轉(zhuǎn)向瞄準(zhǔn)了地面。阿納克斯—羅號(hào)上用于近距離軌道突襲的巨型轟擊炮開(kāi)始將雨點(diǎn)般（密集）的巨大炮彈傾瀉到正在啟動(dòng)運(yùn)行中的防御護(hù)盾上，它的魚(yú)雷艙也瘋狂地重新裝填入集束彈頭魚(yú)雷，以推進(jìn)攻勢(shì)并用殘酷的蠻力來(lái)?yè)魸⒑秸尽柗ㄜ妶F(tuán)現(xiàn)在無(wú)法使用詭計(jì)了。第二波進(jìn)攻業(yè)已準(zhǔn)備好，只待虛空盾上出現(xiàn)任何可利用的失效狀況，無(wú)論這個(gè)契機(jī)多么短暫，只要它出現(xiàn)了，航站就仍然能被奪取，帕拉瑪五號(hào)也仍能被一擊而潰。

The Tyche's Lament, reeling and shrouded in a molten cloud of burning debris from its forequarters, began to turn under its own power. It had expected no battle, its gun ports closed and its weapon-capacitors empty when the treacherous foe had struck the mighty battleship, but even without its own shields fully powered, it had been far from defenceless. Metre upon metre of ablative armour plating added to the hulking warship by her bitter-hearted master had been splashed into jetting plasma by the fusion torpedo strikes, but the armoured core beneath it, fashioned in the forges of the Olympia shipyards, had been built to withstand worse, and that had barely been scorched. The colossal engines of the Iron Warriors battleship roared into sun-white fury and the Tyche's Lament leapt forward with brutal acceleration, its tortured superstructure screaming in protest at those onboard.

堤喀哀嘆號(hào)在蹣跚搖晃，并被前側(cè)船體上脫落的燃燒碎片所構(gòu)成的熔融云團(tuán)包裹住了。但此刻，它也開(kāi)始在自身的（引擎）動(dòng)力推進(jìn)下轉(zhuǎn)變航向。堤喀哀嘆號(hào)未曾料想到會(huì)發(fā)生戰(zhàn)斗，但背信棄義的敵人們進(jìn)攻這艘強(qiáng)大的戰(zhàn)列艦時(shí)，它已經(jīng)關(guān)閉了炮窗，并清空了武器電容。但即便是在虛空盾并未被完全供能的狀況下，堤喀哀嘆號(hào)也遠(yuǎn)非是毫無(wú)防御。她那位心懷憤恨的主人在這艘巨大的戰(zhàn)艦上又附加了數(shù)米厚的燒蝕裝甲板，雖然熱核聚變魚(yú)雷的攻擊將電漿體濺射到了額外的裝甲層上，但位于其下方的裝甲核心層是在奧林匹亞船塢的鑄爐中塑造成型的，其是被建造用于經(jīng)受住更嚴(yán)重的損壞，而且?guī)缀跷幢兀姖{）燒焦。鋼鐵勇士戰(zhàn)列艦的巨大引擎咆哮起來(lái)，噴射出恒星般白熾的怒火。堤喀哀嘆號(hào)猛然加速?zèng)_上前去，飛船的上層結(jié)構(gòu)尖叫著向船員們發(fā)出抗議。

Extant records show that though his ships targeting auspexes had been blinded and the bridge flamed about him, it was Warsmith Kyr Vhalen himself who threw aside his steersman and triggered the main drives at maximum power, shouting black and profane oaths aloud as the seven kilometre long warship hurtled like a burning spear at the Amix-Rho. Locked into firing solutions against the planet and the wounded escorts, the Anax-Rho could not recover itself in the short moments that the Tyches Lament devoured the distance between the two huge warships, and when its own main drives triggered to manoeuvre, it was already too late. The blunt-bladed prow of the Tyclie's Lament struck the Aunx-Rho amidships from directly below, shattering its void shields and smashing it aside in a storm of broken debris and venting atmosphere. The heavy assault cruiser 一itself forged to endure terrible damage had survived the devastating impact— barely, but now spun all but out of control, its own engine-thrust carrying it out of orbit in order to escape the scarred monster which was already beginning to turn again for another attack run.

現(xiàn)存的記錄表明：盡管飛船的瞄準(zhǔn)鳥(niǎo)卜儀被屏蔽了，艦橋上也燃起了大火，但戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)鐵匠凱爾 瓦倫親自將舵手扔到了一邊，以最大動(dòng)力啟動(dòng)了主推進(jìn)器；在他大吼著兇惡低俗誓言的同時(shí)，這艘七千米長(zhǎng)的戰(zhàn)艦如同燃燒著的長(zhǎng)矛那樣沖向阿納克斯—羅號(hào)。阿納克斯—羅號(hào)正陷入對(duì)于星球與受損護(hù)航們的進(jìn)攻行動(dòng)中，無(wú)法在堤喀哀嘆號(hào)快速接近的短暫時(shí)間中抽身迎戰(zhàn)，而當(dāng)它發(fā)動(dòng)主推進(jìn)器來(lái)機(jī)動(dòng)作業(yè)時(shí)，就已經(jīng)太遲了。堤喀哀嘆號(hào)的鈍狀艦首直接從下側(cè)撞向了阿納克斯—羅號(hào)的中段船體，擊碎了它的虛空盾，在一大團(tuán)碎片和噴射出空氣中將其撞到一側(cè)。這艘重型突擊巡洋艦勉強(qiáng)從這次毀滅性的沖擊中活了下來(lái)（它本身就被鑄造為能夠承受嚴(yán)重?fù)p傷的結(jié)構(gòu)），它的引擎推進(jìn)器推動(dòng)著船體離開(kāi)軌道，以躲避那只滿身傷痕的怪物——堤喀哀嘆號(hào)已經(jīng)正在開(kāi)始再度轉(zhuǎn)向，準(zhǔn)備進(jìn)行下一輪進(jìn)攻。

The Battle of?the Panopticon

圓廳航站樓之戰(zhàn)

Within the Panopticon far below, the Mechanicum were being torn apart. Shimmering azure-armoured Terminators smashed through one barricade and bulkhead after another, power fists crushing the life out of any of the Machine God's servants who dared resist their progress, bolter shells and plasma blasts scything down tech-thralls at their work stations as they blindly carried out their tasks heedless of invaders, and pounding automated defence guns to shrapnel in their wake. The Alpha Legion strike force pressed on relentlessly, their goal the Panopticon Narthex chamber from which not simply the Terminus but the entire Nexus facility could be roused to war——or pacified as its controller wished.

在下方的圓廳航站樓中，機(jī)械神教部隊(duì)正在被撕碎。身著閃閃發(fā)亮的碧藍(lán)色動(dòng)力甲的終結(jié)者們沖破了一段又一段的路障，撞穿了一扇又一扇的艙壁，用動(dòng)力拳擊殺掉任何膽敢阻擋他們推進(jìn)的萬(wàn)機(jī)神仆從，并用爆矢彈和電漿團(tuán)收割著那些位于自己工位上的技術(shù)契奴們——后者們盲目地執(zhí)行著自己的任務(wù)，毫不在意入侵者們的到來(lái)。自動(dòng)防御炮也被軍團(tuán)戰(zhàn)士們?cè)页娠w濺的碎片，丟在身后。阿爾法軍團(tuán)的進(jìn)攻部隊(duì)無(wú)情推進(jìn)著，他們的目標(biāo)是圓廳的前廊艙室——這里能喚起航站乃至整座樞紐設(shè)施（中的部隊(duì)）前來(lái)應(yīng)戰(zhàn)，或者是按照其控制者的意愿平靜下來(lái)。

What the invaders had found within the Terminus Panopticons armoured walls, however, had matched nothing their intelligence or experience had led them to expect and corresponded to no known standard schematic template. They had entered instead a true demesne of the Mechanicum, intended neither for the eyes or footfall of any not sworn to the Machine God's inner mysteries. It was a labyrinth,?a machine in and of itself,intricate and complex beyond belief whose structure shifted and changed as it functioned. It was the brainchild of the master of the Paramar Terminus, the Archmagos Suyria Nihhon and it was her will that now turned to destroy the invaders. The Panopticon began to respond as a living body responds when invaded by a hostile microbe, sluggishly at first but with increasing, indefatigable force. As one the thralls of the Panopticon disconnected themselves from their machine umbilicals and began to throw themselves against the Alpha Legion attackers, heedless of their fates as they died by the hundreds, but by their deaths swarming the impregnable, Terminator armour-clad Legionaries, slowing them down and making them expend time and ammunition to deal with the onrushing horde. The walls and bulkheads also began to slide and re-arrange themselves, not randomly but with malign intent, forcing squads of Alpha Legionaries apart, or trapping them in pockets and improvised prisons which had to be rent open with chainfist and power claw. Consoles and power junctions overloaded and exploded as they came near, metallic deck plates became charged with crackling lightning;snakelike mechanical tendrils shot out to ensnare them, companionways collapsed and deadfalls opened up beneath them, plunging them down sudden shafts into the cavernous darkness below. Slowly, the Alpha Legion began to die. It is testament to the intelligence and ruthlessness of Alpharius' sons that they saw this attack for what it was and fought to counter it, linking together and seeing their path clear through the shifting maze that confronted them. Alone it was unlikely that this attack would have stopped them, but it was merely the prelude to the Mechanicums true assault. Awoken from the darkness deep below the Panopticon, the beasts of steel rose up to meet their prey.

不過(guò)，入侵者們?cè)趫A廳航站裝甲墻壁之內(nèi)所發(fā)現(xiàn)的，與情報(bào)和經(jīng)驗(yàn)引導(dǎo)他們?nèi)ヮA(yù)料的事物大相徑庭，也不符合任何已知的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)示意模板。他們進(jìn)入了一片真正的機(jī)械神教私有領(lǐng)地，機(jī)械神教也并未打算讓那些不信仰萬(wàn)機(jī)之神內(nèi)在奧秘的人們觀賞和踏足此地。這里是一座迷宮，它本身就是一臺(tái)機(jī)器，錯(cuò)綜復(fù)雜得令人難以置信，內(nèi)部結(jié)構(gòu)隨著它的運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)而變化。它是帕拉瑪航站主宰者——大賢者蘇利婭 尼洪的智囊?guī)?，而且大賢者的意志現(xiàn)在轉(zhuǎn)向了消滅入侵者。就像人體在遭到有害微生物入侵時(shí)做出的反應(yīng)那樣，圓廳也開(kāi)始應(yīng)對(duì)入侵的星際戰(zhàn)士們，它最初的應(yīng)對(duì)很緩慢的，但力量逐漸增強(qiáng)且不知疲倦。圓廳中的技術(shù)契奴們不約而同地?cái)嚅_(kāi)自己的機(jī)械臍帶，并開(kāi)始撲向阿爾法軍團(tuán)的進(jìn)攻者們。盡管被數(shù)以百計(jì)地殺掉，但契奴們并不在意自己的命運(yùn)，他們的尸體堆滿了那些身著終結(jié)者動(dòng)力甲的不可戰(zhàn)勝軍團(tuán)戰(zhàn)士們面前的道路，減慢了他們的速度，并令其消耗時(shí)間與彈藥來(lái)對(duì)付這些沖來(lái)的人群。房門(mén)和墻壁也開(kāi)始滑開(kāi)并重新排列，這種變化并非是隨意的，而是帶有傷害的意圖：阿爾法軍團(tuán)戰(zhàn)士們們強(qiáng)行分隔開(kāi)，并被困在了用鏈鋸拳和動(dòng)力爪才能撕開(kāi)的斗室與簡(jiǎn)易監(jiān)牢中。而且隨著星際戰(zhàn)士們接近，控制臺(tái)和動(dòng)力連接處也過(guò)載并爆炸，噼啪作響的閃電擊中了金屬地板；蛇狀的機(jī)械觸手突然伸出來(lái)將其困住，樓梯崩塌，死亡陷阱從下方張開(kāi)，星際戰(zhàn)士們掉入黑暗的洞穴中。慢慢地，阿爾法軍團(tuán)開(kāi)始出現(xiàn)陣亡人員。這證明了阿爾法瑞斯之子們的聰慧與無(wú)情：他們看清了這些進(jìn)攻的本質(zhì)并開(kāi)始反擊；他們將一切聯(lián)系起來(lái)，看清了自己在這座不斷變化的迷宮的道路。單憑這些進(jìn)攻是不可能阻止他們的，但這也只是機(jī)械神教部隊(duì)真正攻勢(shì)的前奏。鋼鐵猛獸們正從圓廳地下深處的黑暗中醒來(lái)，起身前來(lái)迎戰(zhàn)自己的獵物。

Castellax and Vorax Battle-automata appeared as if from nowhere amid the invaders, hidden bulkheads opening to disgorge them directly into battle, roaring binarc war-cant in the distorted voices of the damned. Servo-clawed arms with the strength to pulverise tank armour hammered down to smash their foes or seized Terminators and rent them slowly limb from limb as their motorised sinews howled in protest. Bolt cannon and plasma blasters blazed a firestorm at point blank range, and power claws slashed through ceramite, severing sparking machine limbs and toppling the hulking engines of destruction even as the dauntless Terminators of the Alpha Legion fell before their onslaught. The attack degenerated into a score of desperate and savage melees and the Panopticon shook to the thunder of tortured metal and superhuman violence, blood and machine-fluids running in rivers through its vaulted chambers. Slowly, inexorably, the Mechanicum's Battleautomata began to gain the upper hand. A fresh engine of destruction rising up to replace each that fell while the Alpha Legion strike force, once more than two hundred Terminators strong, dwindled by the minute, though each life was bought dearly in its taking. The assault force, at first contained, was slowly being crushed.

堡星和鋸齒蟻戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)兵不知從何方鉆出，現(xiàn)身在了入侵者中間：隱藏的艙壁驟然洞口，釋放它們直接加入戰(zhàn)斗。機(jī)兵們用被詛咒的扭曲失真聲音咆哮出二進(jìn)制戰(zhàn)歌。帶有伺服利爪的手臂用足以粉碎坦克裝甲的力量將敵人砸碎，或者是捉住終結(jié)者，慢慢地將他們的肢體一條條撕扯下來(lái)——在這個(gè)過(guò)程中，機(jī)兵們由馬達(dá)驅(qū)動(dòng)的筋腱發(fā)出尖銳的聲音以示抗議。爆彈炮和電漿轟擊炮近距離噴射出火焰風(fēng)暴，動(dòng)力爪砍穿了陶鋼板，甚至當(dāng)無(wú)所畏懼的阿爾法軍團(tuán)終結(jié)者倒在機(jī)兵們的進(jìn)攻面前時(shí)，他們會(huì)斬?cái)嗝俺龌鸹ǖ臋C(jī)械手臂，推倒笨重的毀滅引擎。進(jìn)攻行動(dòng)演變?yōu)槭鄨?chǎng)絕望且殘酷的混戰(zhàn)，金屬被毀壞，超人戰(zhàn)士們兇狠反擊，其過(guò)程中那雷霆般的聲響令圓廳顫抖，鮮血和機(jī)油在在拱形艙室的各處匯流成溪。機(jī)械神教的戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)兵們開(kāi)始緩慢且無(wú)情地占據(jù)上峰，每一臺(tái)毀滅引擎倒下時(shí)，都會(huì)有一臺(tái)新的機(jī)兵來(lái)替代它；盡管每殺死一名軍團(tuán)戰(zhàn)士都要付出高昂代價(jià)，但阿爾法軍團(tuán)進(jìn)攻部隊(duì)的人數(shù)每分鐘都在減少——他們?cè)?jīng)擁有超過(guò)兩百名終結(jié)者的兵力。進(jìn)攻部隊(duì)起初是受到牽制，后來(lái)則是逐漸被擊潰。

Paramar V had also fully woken to the danger it faced, slumbering no more. In the burning skies above the two great wounded beasts —the Anax-Rho and the Tyche's Lament now circled each other, trading sporadic fire in search of a weakness, the other badly damaged Iron Warriors escort ships circling out of range of the lethal lance fire of the Anax-Rho, waiting for the opportunity to strike. That opportunity would never come, however, as without warning a dozen burning lances of hellish light struck up from the planet below and pierced the Anax- Rhos azure hull. For a fleeting moment the Alpha Legion warship became a burning star in the heavens, and then was no more. The first attack on Paramar V had been foiled, but there was little cause to celebrate either from the Mechanicum or the Iron Warriors, for their long range auguries clearly detected the burning drive-signatures of hundreds of new vessels now on a direct course for the world.

帕拉瑪五號(hào)也已經(jīng)完全蘇醒過(guò)來(lái)，不再陷于沉眠，以解決自己面對(duì)著的危機(jī)。而在熊熊燃燒著的天空中，兩只受傷的野獸——阿納克斯—羅號(hào)與堤喀哀嘆號(hào)現(xiàn)在彼此周旋著，雙方都在用零星的交火試探對(duì)方的弱點(diǎn)。但這個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)到來(lái)了：在毫無(wú)警告的情況下，十二道猛烈的光矛射線從下方的行星上襲來(lái)，擊穿了阿納克斯—羅號(hào)的碧藍(lán)色船體。在那短暫的一瞬間中，這艘阿爾法軍團(tuán)戰(zhàn)艦成為了天空中一顆燃燒著的明星，之后便不復(fù)存在了。對(duì)于帕拉瑪五號(hào)的第一次進(jìn)攻被挫敗了，但無(wú)論對(duì)機(jī)械神教還是對(duì)鋼鐵勇士而言，這都沒(méi)什么可慶祝的，因?yàn)樗麄兊倪h(yuǎn)程鳥(niǎo)卜儀都清晰地探測(cè)到數(shù)百艘新艦船熊熊燃燒著的引擎識(shí)別標(biāo)志——它們正朝著帕拉瑪五號(hào)直撲而來(lái)。

The?Fury from the Stars

自群星而來(lái)的怒火

The full-scale invasion of Paramar V was now an inescapable fact for the Alpha Legion, roused as the planet was for war; all that now was left to be decided upon was methodology. The relentless slog of siege craft and the bloody game of attrition was an anathema to them in these circumstances, and furthermore it would only play into the defenders hands, allowing them to bring more of the planet's vast stockpiles of munitions and war machines —currently inert in storage一 to bear on their attackers. The apocalyptic conflict that would likely ensue from this approach would also inevitably make the idea of taking Paramar V intact as a prize an impossibility, and such a failure the Alpha Legion would not countenance. Even at the distances which now separated the second attack wave of Alpha Legion ships and Paramar V,their auguries and occularis scopes could witness the Mechanicum's preparations for war turn with clockwork precision. They could see the corposant blooms of kilometre-spanning void-shields springing up to defend scores of separate facilities across the planet's surface, and could detect the thunderous heartbeat of Titan reactors striding forth from their deep forge-fanes concealed inside the mountainous mesas of the southern polar region. They had doubtless detected also the mass deployment of the Iron Warriors 711st Grand Battalion to the Paramar Nexus, before their damaged ships had fled the system, and knew well the speed and skill with which Perturabos sons could render this Mechanicum fortress yet more impregnable to assault.

現(xiàn)在對(duì)阿爾法軍團(tuán)而言，向帕拉瑪五號(hào)發(fā)動(dòng)一場(chǎng)全面的入侵行動(dòng)是不可避免的事實(shí)（需要），盡管這顆行星在為了戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)而醒來(lái)；現(xiàn)在還要被決定的就只剩方法了。在這種情況下，殘酷的攻城戰(zhàn)和血腥的消耗戰(zhàn)是阿爾法軍團(tuán)所深惡痛絕的，此外這兩種戰(zhàn)術(shù)也會(huì)令防守者們占據(jù)優(yōu)勢(shì)——他們會(huì)利用儲(chǔ)存在星球上的大量彈藥與戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)裝備（目前處于未啟用的封存狀態(tài)）來(lái)對(duì)付進(jìn)攻者。這種戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)手段可能將會(huì)帶來(lái)末日般的沖突，而不可避免地，完整奪取帕拉瑪五號(hào)也就會(huì)變得不可能的想法。這是阿爾法軍團(tuán)不能認(rèn)同的失敗。盡管阿爾法軍團(tuán)的第二批艦船目前與帕拉瑪五號(hào)相距遙遠(yuǎn)，但它們的占卜儀和觀測(cè)鏡都能看到機(jī)械神教部隊(duì)在進(jìn)行著如鐘表般精準(zhǔn)的備戰(zhàn)。他們能看到放電光球紛紛涌現(xiàn)出來(lái)——那是機(jī)械神教升起綿延數(shù)公里的虛空盾來(lái)保護(hù)星球地表各處數(shù)十座獨(dú)立設(shè)施的跡象，也能檢測(cè)到泰坦反應(yīng)堆那如同雷鳴般的心跳——神之機(jī)械們正走出它們隱藏在南極地區(qū)多山臺(tái)地深處的鑄造神殿。阿爾法軍團(tuán)無(wú)疑也探測(cè)到了鋼鐵勇士第711大營(yíng)向著帕拉瑪樞紐站的大規(guī)模部署行動(dòng)——該行動(dòng)發(fā)生在鋼鐵勇士受損的艦船撤離帕拉瑪星系之前，而且也很清楚地知道佩圖拉博的子嗣們能夠以迅雷不及防的速度和技巧使這座機(jī)械神教堡壘變得更加堅(jiān)不可摧。

Speed then was of the essence, and the fleets commander, known to the extant record as the Alpha Legion Harrowmaster Armillus Dynat, ordered his closest vessels to burn their drives well beyond safe thrust tolerances in order to press his attack as fast as possible. Where the great barques of his Mechanicum allies could not keep pace with the faster Legiones Astartes strike vessels, he had his own ships grapple and drag them, acting like improvised tugs and booster rockets to overcome their vast mass. This dangerous ploy was enacted to the damage and loss of several mighty ships, but Dynat cared not for its cost. So was the gap between the Alpha Legion's second wave and its chosen prey closed with frightening speed. Their attack began without preamble, the first torpedo salvos launched even as the assault fleet was still decelerating into orbit and unleashed in continuous waves as they closed. Defence lasers were loosed from planetside in blistering arcs and counter-missiles were launched from scores of hidden silos across the surface to meet the attack.

速度在此刻變得重要起來(lái)，艦隊(duì)指揮官——我們從現(xiàn)存的記錄得知其為阿爾梅留斯?迪奈特，命令自己麾下距離帕拉瑪五號(hào)最近的飛船們將驅(qū)動(dòng)器的動(dòng)力（水平）提升到安全推進(jìn)公差之外，以便盡快發(fā)動(dòng)進(jìn)攻。機(jī)械神教盟友們龐大的巨艦跟不上速度更快的阿斯塔特軍團(tuán)打擊艦船，迪奈特便讓自己的飛船們拖拽著機(jī)械神教艦船，充當(dāng)后者的臨時(shí)拖船與助推火箭，以此來(lái)克服它們的巨大質(zhì)量。這一策略導(dǎo)致了多艘強(qiáng)大飛船的損壞與損失，但迪奈特并不在意此類折損。于是，阿爾法軍團(tuán)第二批進(jìn)攻部隊(duì)與他們選定的獵物之間的距離以驚人的速度縮短了。阿爾法軍團(tuán)的進(jìn)攻在毫無(wú)前奏的情況下開(kāi)始了，甚至當(dāng)進(jìn)攻艦隊(duì)還在減速進(jìn)入（星球）軌道時(shí)，戰(zhàn)艦們便齊射出了第一輪魚(yú)雷，并在接近的過(guò)程中又不停發(fā)射了數(shù)輪魚(yú)雷。防御激光帶著熾熱的光弧從行星表面射向蒼穹，反擊導(dǎo)彈也從地表各處的數(shù)十座隱藏彈筒中發(fā)射升空，前去迎擊阿爾法軍團(tuán)的進(jìn)攻。

Soon the skies above Paramar were ablaze with kaleidoscopic fire, as all but a handful of the spent ordnance was intercepted before it could even pierce the planets stratosphere. But the barrage firestorm accomplished its purpose nevertheless; it blinded the world and its defenders to the exact disposition of the Alpha Legions attack. The attacking fleet now closed and added the weight of its batteries and lance arrays to the onslaught. The barrage reached fever pitch and, amid the covering blaze of fire, a wing of three Alpha Legion strike frigates swept in unthinkably low and rent through the storm, plunging deep into the planets thin atmosphere, the friction of the three- kilometre long ships' passing setting the air around them ablaze.

很快，帕拉瑪?shù)纳峡毡惚凰蚕⑷f(wàn)變的火光所照亮，因?yàn)槌松贁?shù)魚(yú)雷之外，其他導(dǎo)彈都在穿透星球大氣層之前就被攔截了。然而，這陣猛烈的炮火仍然完成了自己的目標(biāo)；它們令這個(gè)世界與其上的守軍們看不到阿爾法軍團(tuán)攻勢(shì)的確切部署。進(jìn)攻艦隊(duì)現(xiàn)在合攏了陣型，它們的炮塔和光矛陣列也加入到了（對(duì)于地面的）進(jìn)攻中。進(jìn)攻炮擊達(dá)到了狂熱的程度，而在密集的炮火閃光中，三艘阿爾法軍團(tuán)打擊護(hù)衛(wèi)艦組成的聯(lián)隊(duì)以低到不可思議的距離從空中突然飛過(guò)，它們穿過(guò)風(fēng)暴，深入到行星稀薄的大氣層中。當(dāng)這些三公里長(zhǎng)的飛船駛過(guò)時(shí)，產(chǎn)生的摩擦使周圍的空氣都燃燒起來(lái)。

Skimming the arid ground scant hundreds of metres above, weaponry meant for the cataclysmic interplay of void combat was unleashed to torture and shatter the earth in atomic holocaust as they targeted defence laser emplacements and ground installations in a great slashing arc near the southern polar region, ripping them from the ground like the hand of a wrathful god. Defences intended to strike at targets tens of thousands of kilometres distant struggled in vain to acquire these three meteoric harbingers of death, but the torturous stress of what these warships were attempting took its own toll. The first fell from the skies even as its kin plunged on their murderous course, its weapons still firing as it came apart, its superstructure disintegrating under the hideous gravitational forces with which it fought. A second toppled backwards as it tried to break back into orbit, its engines giving out and shattered a mountain where it fell. Only one of the strike frigates escaped back through the firestorm into the void, bleeding debris and plasma from its riven hull, but they had achieved what the suicidal mission had set itself as its goal; a gap had been slashed brutally into the coverage of the planets ground defences, a gap some forty kilometres to the south of the Paramar Nexus, and it was here that the true attack would fall.

打擊護(hù)衛(wèi)艦從干旱的地面上方僅僅數(shù)百米處掠過(guò)，原本用于虛空戰(zhàn)斗中那災(zāi)難性交戰(zhàn)的武器被釋放出來(lái)，毀滅性的原子爆炸蹂躪并粉碎了土地——它們瞄準(zhǔn)了位于星球南極地區(qū)附近的一片巨大弧形區(qū)域中的防御激光炮塔與地面設(shè)施。這些防御設(shè)施被從地面上扯了下來(lái)，就像是一尊憤怒的神明將之連根拔起。那些用于進(jìn)攻數(shù)萬(wàn)公里外目標(biāo)的防御設(shè)施徒勞地想要截獲這三個(gè)流星般的死亡惡兆，但這些戰(zhàn)艦所承受的巨大壓力也對(duì)其自身造成了損傷。當(dāng)它的胞親們?nèi)耘f沿著殺戮之途猛沖下來(lái)時(shí)，第一艘飛船便從空中墜落下來(lái)；當(dāng)這艘飛船解體時(shí)，它的武器還仍在開(kāi)火，它的上層建筑也在其所對(duì)抗的可怕引力（的作用）下瓦解了。第二艘飛船是在努力返回軌道時(shí)發(fā)生了向后傾覆，引擎失效；這艘飛船撞碎了墜機(jī)處的一座高山。只有一艘打擊護(hù)衛(wèi)艦穿過(guò)火焰風(fēng)暴逃回了虛空中，它被撕裂開(kāi)的船體上流出碎片和電漿體，但是它們已經(jīng)完成了這個(gè)自殺式任務(wù)所設(shè)定的目標(biāo)；這顆行星的地面防御系統(tǒng)被兇殘地撕開(kāi)了一個(gè)缺口，這個(gè)缺口位于帕拉瑪樞紐站以南大約四十公里處，真正的攻擊將會(huì)發(fā)生在此地。