Changes

Laan's inaction's allowed the attackers, now identified as [[Necrons]], to slowly choke off Amarah, but rather then making a swift move on the sector capital , the mysterious foe simply halted their advance. This allowed Laan to bring in reinforcements from out-of-sector as well as build up the defenses of Amarah itself. The forces on Amarah had grown to colossal proportions: over 19 million [[Imperial Guard]], with ten times that number of [[PDF]] and militia. Foremost among the Imperial Guard forces were 2 million guardsmen of the [[Death Korps of Krieg]], spearheaded by the [[17th Line Korps]] under command of [[Marshal]] [[Karis Venner]]. In addition, several [[Space Marine]] [[Chapter]]'s had answered the Orphean call to arms, including the entirety of the [[Minotaurs]] and elements of the [[Marauders]], [[Red Seraph]]s, and [[Nemesis Chapter]] , which were en-route. The naval armada around Amarah included hundreds of [[escort]]-class vessels, over sixty [[Imperial Navy]] [[Cruiser]]s and Capital Ships (including seven [[Battleship]]s), and four [[Space Marine]] [[Battle Barge]]s. Seldom in the history of the Imperium had such a force been massed to defend a single star system.{{Fn|1b}}

On 3970992.[[M41]], the Battle of Amarah suddenly began with a massive gravitational flux unleashed on Amarah's star, causing violent solar flares. These flares instantly incinerated everything on the day-side of the planet as [[vox]] and auger traffic went dead. Even the orbiting Sentinel-4 [[Imperial Space Station|Orbital Defense Station]] burst into flames. It was then that the Necrons unleashed their wrath.{{Fn|1b}}The planet was quickly assaulted by a massive Black Fleet of alien vessels, systematically destroying the remaining battlestations in orbit. Missile Silos and [[Defence Laser]]s had little time to retaliate, for the Necrons had already landed in force. [[Necron Warrior]]s and their constructs advanced on the [[Hive]]s of Amarah as [[Scarab]] constructs burst from the sewers of the planets planet's star port. The largest hive on Amarah, New Vassburg, was bombed from the air with anti-matter bombs by Necron [[Doom Scythe]]s and [[Night Shroud]]s. Military outposts were also targeted by the Necrons, foremost among them the fortress of Bastion Militaris , which became besieged by a phalanx of war machines. The mighty fortress proved no match for its attackers, and a million Guardsmen were wiped from existence.{{Fn|1b}}

Despite being taken by surprise and outmatched, the defenders of Amarah fought back hard against the invaders by withdrawing away from open battlefields and into wide concourses. Using lines of [[Leman Russ Battle Tank]]s supported by artillery batteries of [[Basilisk]]s and [[Manticore]]s, the [[Tekran]] Imperial Guard defenders of places such as Callowsheen were able to decimate lines of incoming [[Necron Warrior]]s. Initially , not even the Necrons ' self-repair systems and mechanical endurance stood up to these repeated bombardments, but the Imperial Guard forces were forced to fire at such a high rate for so long that ammunition began to run sparse and guns began to overheat. Soon the [[Meltagun]]s of Guardsmen began to explode from repeated firings, incinerating all those nearby as the Necron Necrons employed [[Canoptek Acanthrite]]s to rain terror from above and outflank the Imperial firing lines. The tanks and self-propelled artillery, bunched close together, could not maneuver out of the way of these airborne Necron constructs ' attacks. Soon a slaughter erupted, and a hasty counter-attack against the Necrons by Tekran Commando units failed in the face of huge anrthopodanthropod-like constructs. Only a single Tekran Guardsmen survived the slaughter, and he was later himself executed for cowardice.{{Fn|1b}}

In the days that followed the initial assault, Amarah had been blasted into burning ruins and its primary hives had fallen to the invaders. The Necrons took no prisoners and offered no quartersquarter, massacring all they came across. Imperial resistance , however , was not completely spent, and the [[Death Korps of Krieg]] units were still fresh as they had only recently arrived on-world. The Krieg 17th Line Korps mustered on the ruins of the karalsa Karalsa plains, and the guardsmen used their skill in defense to take advantage of underground utility tunnels and warehouses to establish crisscrossing fields of fire. When the Necron assault finally came, the Krieg troops survived almost unscathed in the initial air attacks then emerging emerged from their shelters unharmed and engaging engaged the incoming phalanxes of Necron infantry with a grim tenacity. Marshal Venner led the effort, and his two hundred thousand Guardsmen backed by scratch-built attack craft dispersed into smaller groups, each taking control of an improvised assault points point and forcing the Necrons into narrow bottlenecks of ruins. The Krieg defenders were able to deny the Necrons their advantage in air superiority and long-range firepower, but Venner knew it was only a matter of time before his forces were to be isolated and destroyed. Faced with this prospect, Venner chose a quick and glorious death and ordered all of his Guardsmen to charge into oncoming ranks of Necron infantry and a [[Monolith]]. Venner became determined that he would take these massive pyramid-constructs with him into oblivion and had all of his tanks, aircraft, and artillery focus their fire on them. Guardsmen forces were decimated as they charged the Necron lines across open battlefield, but the Death Korps maintained order thanks to their stubborn discipline. Soon, the sheer numbers of Krieg troops overwhelmed the numerically inferior Necron ranks, and concentrated Imperial firepower succeeded in destroying a Monolith. Their mission complete, the Krieg fought to the last.{{Fn|1b}}

In orbit, the Imperial Navy attempted a counter-attack but it failed in the face of the superior Necron warships. Not even [[Battleship]]s and [[Battlecruiser]]s could prevail in the face of the monstrous power of two Necron [[Tomb Ship]]s, though several smaller [[Scythe Class Harvest Ship]]s were destroyed by Imperial forces in the engagement. Nonetheless , the Imperial forces continued their attack, now unleashing the entirety of the [[Minotaurs]] Chapter Fleet of three [[Battle Barges]] and eight [[Strike Cruiser]]s led by [[Chapter Master]] [[Asterion Moloc]] himself. Despite taking heavy losses, the Minotaurs ships were able to get close enough to the Tomb Ships to launch [[Caestus Assault Ram]]s, allowing them to board the Necron vessels. Onboard the alien craft , the Space Marine [[Terminator]]s faced horrific casualties from its defenders but nonetheless were determined to destroy the Tomb Ship from within. Just before being annihilated by a force of [[Triarch Praetorian]]s, the Terminators were able to send a signal to their Battle Barges that allowed for an additional thirty Terminator [[Veteran Space Marine|Veteran]]s and two [[Contemptor Dreadnought]]s led by Moloc himself to teleport on board. Battling to the ships ship's control chamber, Moloc did battle with the Tomb Ships Ship's [[Necron Overlord]].

The machine overlord slew all in his path and even defeated the Dreadnought [[Geryon]], but the distraction posed by the duel allowed Moloc to plunge his relic-weapon deep into the Necron Lords Lord's back. Soon the ships ship's hull gave way from all the combat, and both Moloc and the Necron Overlord were sucked into the void of space. Outside, the dying Minotaur Battle Barge ''Fedelitas Lambda'' plunged itself into the Tomb Ship, gravely damaging it and forcing it to flee from battle. With the rout of one of their capital ships, the rest of the Necron fleet broke off and retreated. With the fleeing of the Necron fleet, the attackers on the ground vanished with them. The Battle of Amarah was over, but it was a hollow victory as the planet had been completely devastated{{Fn|1b}}