[b]Agdemnar, High orbit
Moments before the fleet engagement 
Aboard the Battlecruiser [i]Divine Clarity[/i][/b]
Admiral Wallace Garza waited with anticipation as his fleet bombarded the surface, much to his dismay. Agdemnar has been deemed as the Holy Land, the gateway to eternal Paradise and Ascension, and now its hallowed ground has been soiled by the blood of heathens and the faithful alike. Nevertheless, sacrifices are to be made if the Ascendancy's goal is to be achieved, even if the Holy Land itself is scarred in the process. He simply prayed that his plan would come together, although reports on the surface paint a rather grim picture of the ground forces situation. He looked to one of his Comm Officers. "Contact Knight Commander Kiram." Garza spoke with a A gravely, elderly voice. "Have him pull his troops back and be put on standby. They won't survive long without our support." The Officer nodded in compliance and went to work sending the transmission. The battle on the surface would be put to a temporary halt, for now that is. Without the air cover provided by the fleet, it would be a total massacre then it already was.

"Admiral, Enemy ships within range." One the bridge staff called out. Garza grinned, they took the bait as he hoped they would. "Have the rest of the fleet jump in, we'll corner them like rats." In that instant, the remainder of the Crusader Fleet flashed behind the Commonwealth vessels. "All ships advance towards the enemy's position.”Garza ordered as the two halves of his fleet made their move, slowly boxing in the 8th Fleet, or so it seemed. Flanking the Admiral to his right was his second-in-command, Captain Selena Hanu. "We've may have just caught them by surprise, sir." Captain Selena Hanu spoke with an air of confidence to her tone, assuring herself of her Admiral's plan. The admiral simply nodded with a small grunt in response, his gaze ever so focused on the holo-projection in the center of the command bridge, a cluster of red dots representing the 8th fleet, and two pairs of green representing the Crusader Fleet. "On my command, all ships-" Before he could even give the order, half of the red dots vanished right before his eyes, causing a very brief moment of confusion and to a small extent, panic. 

Before Garza could even properly react to what just occurred, the enemy fleet reappeared once more, initiating their own deceptive plan as the remainder of their fleet was moved towards the second battlegroup, poised to attack. "This little maneuver may alter the battle, sir...” Selena said. Garza grunted with confidence. “We can salvage this.” Garza replied, soon followed by violent tremors as the 8th fleet begun their counterattack. “All ships! Return fire! Blow these heathens to stardust!” In the short term chaos, ships in both groups begun to oriante themselves towards the 8th fleet, all the while under repeated fire and eventually responded in kind, lobbing shells, energy bursts and torpedoes at their adversaries, losing a few smaller ships in the hailstorm.  Eventually swarms of strike craft emerged from the underbelly of the [i]Divine Clarity[/i], consisting of both older and newer generation craft, providing cover for the fleet and bracing for the inevitable dog fight to ensue.  

[b]737th Battalion Forward Operating Base
Agdemnar[/b]

"Push onward brothers and sisters!" Knight Commander Loris Kiram cried out, brandishing his sword before pointing it towards the heavily fortified commonwealth position. "Ashtas Vult! Crush these heathens!" His cries however, were drowned out in a hailstorm of gunfire and the anguished screams of his siblings-in-arms as they fell one by one in rapid succession. Not too long after, more armored vehicles followed behind, many incinerated by Commonwealth Gun Emplacements, but like the infantry, kept moving forward in the hopes that their numbers would prove overwhelming enough and that enough of them would survive the charge to render the enemy's defensive position moot. Despite this, his own forces made to score their own kills as more vehicles joined the fray, tank shells sending armored commonwealth troopers flying. "Onward!" He shouted, charging with a squad of fellow knights as they neared the trenches. However, Loris' "victorious" charge would have to wait. Several loud beeps sounding off in his comm-device, the knights turned to face their commander, no words needed to be said, each nodded to each other as the armored knights formed a protective circle around their Commander. "This is the [i]Divine Clarity[/i] to surface commanders." the Comms Officer spoke. "The Admiral has ordered all forces to pull back immediately, Orbital support is going dark, I repeat, going dark."

Loris developed a soured expression. "Godsdamn it!" He cursed. He was so so close, his moment of triumph was within his grasp, only to be snatched away once more...but his time will come. He and the rest of his chapter-brothers can soon walk the hallowed halls of the Ascendant Palace and be celebrated and praised by the people as Saviors of the Holy Land and to gain he favor of the Messiah herself. That time, will have to wait, but it will come, that he promises. With much hesitation, Loris gave the order. "All troops pull back! Pull back immediately!"