Within ten seconds, the strike force had assembled on Nem­etus and was heading for the broken ruin of the secondary gates. Calls for aid from the facility occupants had drawn attention to their plight, and ­Aeschelus had agreed with Nem­etus that keeping one of the orbital elevators opera­tional was a strategic objective in its own right. That it was one of only a handful of relatively defensible positions on the whole planet made it an obvious choice for the drop assault.

‘We will be swift retribution,’ called Exelloria as the Space Marines sprinted towards the opening in the wall, weapons scanning the ramparts for any sign of the foe. They did not slow as they reached the disintegrated ruin of metal that had been the secondary gate but pressed inside at speed. The ground within had been sealed with ferrocrete, a stretch of about a hundred yards between the outer wall and the main buildings from which the immense sky elevators rose and fell. Gaihalius led them along a heat signature trail towards the closest terminal building. Other than a discarded lasgun a few yards from the gate there was no sign of the defenders, but muffled shouts and sporadic bursts of las-fire could be heard over the more continuous war-din from the other side of the compound.

Coming upon a row of tenders, their flat backs still piled with containers ready for orbital transport, Nem­etus signalled a halt. The squads broke left and right into a perimeter defence without any need for the command, their bolt rifles and assault weapons at the ready. Nem­etus could see that parts of the haulers were missing. Some had neatly scooped out arcs and almost complete spheres taken from chassis and engine blocks, while others were missing whole panels or tracks.

There was still no sign of blood, though discarded power packs still orange-warm in Nem­etus’ thermal gaze testified to an extended and recent defence of the position.

‘Some kind of phase field or disintegration beams,’ Nem­etus told his command. ‘Our armour may not provide much defence against such weapons. Be on your guard.’

They advanced in squads, covering each other while they crossed the rest of the outer transport park. A mesh wire fence provided a secondary barrier line but it had been ripped apart, the links cut through with weapons that left a perfect, shining end on every severed wire.

‘Incoming!’ Gaihalius’ shout preceded a whine of motors by just a second, as a trio of skimming constructs whirred around the corner of the nearest building’s roof.