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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
→Last Stand
With destroying Isstvan from orbit no longer an option and knowing Angron needed support against the surviving loyalists, Horus had no choice but to launch his armies back upon the surface of Isstvan III for a protracted struggle. The Emperor's Children under Eidolon were the next to deploy, landing near the scorched remains of the Precentor Palace and meeting fierce resistance from Tarvitz's loyalist Emperor's Children. Instead of finding confused survivors, the traitors encountered skilled and determined resistance and were forced to retreat, leaving dozens of damaged or destroyed vehicles in their wake. The rechristened Luna Wolves under Loken and Torgaddon launched a series of successful hit-and-run ambushes that decimated their traitorous brothers.{{Fn|1m}} The traitors next tried to use their air superiority to their advantage, but gunships and aircraft were vulnerable to ground fire and many loyalists would simply wait in hiding for them to pass on. Remaining loyalists were present even in the traitor fleet, as demonstrated when the Sons of Horus [[Strike Cruiser]] ''Minotaur'' was destroyed when a [[Storm Eagle]] unleashed its payload inside its hangar bay, its crew broadcasting "avenge the blood of Terra!" before choosing suicide over treachery. While Horus had succeeded in the initial phase of his plan to separate his traitorous Legions from their loyalist elements, the entire campaign soon spiraled into a disaster.{{Fn|1l}}
In the ensuing months of bitter fighting, the defenders made the traitors pay for every piece of ground gained. Eidolon launched multiple attacks upon the Precentor Palace but each time was beaten back by Tarvitz and his Emperor's Children. The [[Venerable Dreadnought]] [[Rylanor]] fought alongside Tarvitz, gaining infamy in the battles. Many times Rylanor was thought destroyed, only to always rise again and reap carnage upon the enemy.{{Fn|1m}} In one engagement, Eidolon was forced to scurry away after the loss of his [[Chaplain]] [[Charmosian]].{{Fn|2e}} Meanwhile, Loken and Torgaddon continued their strategy of mobile defence, proving too elusive to encircle and pin down. Roving bands of loyal World Eaters continued to harry the traitors, and to the northwest the loyal Death Guard stubbornly fought on in an intact bunker network.{{Fn|1m}}
However despite the determined and skillful loyalist resistance, their foes were too many and too well-supported by heavy armor, air power, and Titans of the Legio Mortis. It was only a matter of time before they were dwindled down to nothing by sheer attrition. The defending loyalists were well aware of this reality and had no delusions of surviving the coming struggle, but this did nothing to shake their determination to resist their foes. The only advantage that the loyalist could take advantage of was the eruption of violent storms across Isstvan III that were brought on by its destruction. These storms served to further delay the traitor advance.{{Fn|1l}} By two months into the conflict some 10,000 loyalists were believed dead, but they had inflicted twice that upon the traitors.{{Fn|1m}}
