The Lion Watches
| STATUS | Strike Force Lions of the New Order | Landing - Disembarking - Deploying |
| IMPFOR | Orinn Darge
Ronhar Tane
Lothar Braeyek | "Lion-Actual" |
| REBFOR | Garrion Der Rædwulf Kalit D'wari |
| Eternal Legion Shield Cohort I | Reinforcing the deployment zone. One squad as bodyguard for 
Augustus Tassar
. |
| Indomitus Legion | Deploying to the flanks. Minimal casualties due to terrain, weather and equipment. |
Horizon Corps
| Deploying artillery, fire focused on rear of the center. Dark Troopers suffering extreme casualties in their frontal advance. |
| Septim, Harrower-class Dreadnought | Landed. Troops disembarking. |
The ground was ripped open, hit with torrential rain and turned into a quagmire. A nightmare for typical imperial heavy armour, but less so for infantry. Craters, bad view, interferences and the myriad of other outside influences provided an ample cover and protection for the advancing Knight troopers of the Indomitus Legion. Everything else was for their armour and shields to handle.
Yet it was not their turn to assault. Tassar did not commit his troops while those in front were struggling to reform and renew their assault. There was no need for more confusion and chaos, both virtues every battlefield provided in abundancy.
Augustus ran between Junktroopers, Stormtroopers and mercenaries that were fielded for the assault, their tanks bogged down or hit, their unit coherency on the brink of collapse. He could not fault them. The smell of smoke, rain, blood, intestines and other bodily fluids was only outperformed by the noise the screams made, some were orders shouted, others were simply screams of pain, desperation, horror.
"Rally and reform! Rally and reform!" His amplified voice echoed beyond the background noise with firm resilience and confidence. The Imperial lines needed to renew their assault and the golden scheme of a man looked completely otherworldly in the midst of this scene. Augustus was fairly certain there was an easy victory here - it did not matter what these petty rebels had built. If they thought they could hold the mines, let them. Kessel was big and when the surface was Imperial, they could rot underground for all he cared.
The group moved further, with speed and purpose. Enemy fire became more apparent, blaster bolts cutting through the air, hissing when they hit pools of water. Explosions erupted nearby, showering them with mud, blood and occasional parts of imperial soldiers and armour. They were not made for stealth and subsequently, they would draw an increasing amount of fire. Shields and deflectors doing their work, but also the simple speed by which they advanced. They ran. Not like a human runs or even sprints, but swifter than it should be possible.
Within no time, they had reached the trenches. The noise of battle intensified, the tension in the air erupted nearby as people fought their lives with weapons, nails and teeth.
Augustus landed in a trench that was unoccupied, sinking almost to the knee into water. Whatever either side did today, the rain was already victorious. His large staff weapon moved with calm precision as he advanced in a small tidal wave, his bodyguard flanking and rear-guarding him. They moved around a traverse into a connecting trench, there was a firefight at the end of it, not slowing their approach, Augustus wanted to reinforce whoever allied unit was there.
Army troopers and two Stormtroopers fought against rebels, roughly twenty individuals clashed, the firefight had turned into a brawl. Augustus did not hesitate. The Talon pushed forward, the glow of its blue blade a scheme in the dirty air. A rebel fighter died almost being cut in two, his torso falling in two directions, but before the mist of blood cleared, the Imperatant had moved on. The butt of his staff smashed a skull, he shattered a breastplate, ribcage and probably spine with a single kick and moved on. The rebels melted with the golden demons joining the melee.
It was over in less than fifteen seconds. Twelve rebels lays dead or mortally wounded, leaning against the walls of dirt or drowning below the trenches waterline. Two Imperials had died, the Stormtroopers both seriously injured so they were patched up. It was lucky that this was not a siege or the conditions of these trenches would be far worse and a wound could mean death by infection.
They had to push on, break the enemy lines, cut off their head. One of the two that the trenches were not able to resist anymore and they could close this chapter of rebellion inside the graves they dug for themselves.