Five solar months since the battle on the Penal World, Lauf found himself traveling towards another warzone, something he noticed the Sorcerer seemed to enjoy traveling to, either purposely leading him to, or perhaps it was simply the will of the Emperor that his hunt was taking him to these battlezones. Whatever was happening on this planet to draw the sorcerer concerned Lauf. The last few times he had followed rumours of his prey to warzones, he had come across Chaotic rituals being performed. Was he being led there to stop those rituals or was the Sorcerer hoping that he would be dragged into them? He shook his head. Now was not the time to worry about these things. He read a data-slate containing information about the war zone he was coming to hunt for the Chaos Sorcerer. The warzone was a desert world plagued by an Ork WAAGH brought there by a crashed Space Hulk. The Orks on the planet were enough to call in regiments of the Tallaran Desert Raiders along with a force of Sisters of Battle.

Checking the data he now understood why the Sisters of Battle were sent. There was a humble monastery present above an oasis that held a sacred relic from one of the Imperial Saints. What exactly was the relic was absent from the report and that frustrated him. Lack of information had gotten his pack-mates killed and now he never trusted any situation where some critical piece of information was missing, Ha! I'm almost as bad as those pinching magpie Blood Ravens. Lauf grunted to himself. The fact that the Blood Ravens relied on so many librarians in their ranks, or that they had a penchant for 'finding' artifacts of so many other chapters in their armoury did not sit well with him. He was a Space Wolf and warfare should not be won through trickery and psychic powers. It needed to be won with strength of arms, honour and the skill of the men wielding the weapons. That was his belief and it showed time and again that these psykers were a scourge on the Imperium. The Sorcerer he hunted was a clear case proving this theory. At least that is what he believed. Lauf finished reading the data-slate about the current battle and set it aside so he could get some more rest. He knew he was going to need it when the fighting began. As he slept, his mind drifted back to Fenris and his home tribe. He remembered hunting, traveling and fighting with his kin. These dreams pushed back the dark memories of his kin's murder and helped him rest happily.

His sleep lasted all the way until the ship exited the warp and Lauf's heightened senses woke him when the ship left. Getting off the crates he had used for his resting place, Lauf moved through the ship towards the hangar where the transports were being readied to take supplies down to the surface. It did not take much to convince the bosun in charge of the crews putting supplies into the transports to let him onboard one of the first to go down to the planet. The supplies were quickly re-arranged to let him inside. The Valkyries had been stripped of all their weapons to make more room for supplies and lighten the weight. Walking into the valkyrie transport, Lauf stood behind the pilots' seats,

"My lord. We're ready to go. On your order." The navy pilot watched as Lauf nodded his consent,

"Valkyrie no. 183 ready to depart." The pilot pulled back on the controls causing the transport to lift off the floor of the hangar and flies out into the void of space between the ship and the planet. As they flew down, Lauf could see through the cockpit window the wreckage from ships floating in orbit and fires on the planet's surface indicating where the current battle-line was located. Already Lauf could see the effects of the fighting on the planet as they descended through the clouds. Smoking wrecks and craters dotted the desert surface while the valkyrie flew low over the desert towards the main Imperial base.

After a few minutes, Lauf saw the Imperial base coming over the horizon, but just as he relaxes a bit the valkyrie begins to weave through the sky,

"Pilot, what is going on?" He demanded as the pilots kept the valkyrie swerving and weaving through the sky with a look of fear on their faces,

"My lord. We have three Orks on our tail." He looked back to see three Ork dakkajets flying after the Valkyrie,

"What weapons do you have on this aircraft?" Lauf called over the whirl of the valkyrie's engines while the pilot kept the aircraft swerving over the sand dunes as the Ork fighters began to shoot wildly after them,

"My lord. We only have a humble stubber." The co-pilot pointed to a stubber stuck into the top of the roof. Lauf ripped the stubber off the wall and began to fire out of the side of the valkyrie after the dakkajets. The stubber rounds strike the heavy armour on the Ork craft and simply bounced off. Growling, Lauf fired with the belt. Right now he wished he had spent some more time training with ranged weapons. But it was only the Long Fangs who were trusted with the heavy weapons in the Space Wolves. For now all he could do was keep firing and try to hit the Ork pilots who were cheering madly as they fired and chased after the Imperial transport, heedless of the stubber shells bouncing off their ships and coming close to their target with each passing second.

While the dakkajets kept chasing them, Lauf finally managed to hit one of the Ork pilots with three stubber rounds into the head. The three shells strike after several rounds passed by harmlessly. The pilot flopped against his control panel as his jet served hard to one side, shearing the next dakkajet's engine in two. The sudden disruption of the Ork engine causes the two jets to explode in violent balls of fire and smoke. The other Orks did not seem upset by their fellows' deaths. Instead they roared with laughter at the large ball of fire as they kept chasing after the Valkyrie. The Ork gunner finally started to focus their fire on the valkyrie even while the pilot kept up his weaving tactic. A stream of Shoota rounds sprayed across the back of the transport that shook violently as the bullets ripped into the tail section and right engine of the valkyrie. Lauf shook and grabbed onto the side of the transport, losing the stubber at the same time. He looked to see the pilot desperately trying to control the Valkyrie's descent towards the dunes. Squeezing the metal so hard that it began to bend within in his hand, Lauf saw them falling towards a large dune, "Hang on my lord!" The pilot warned just as the Valkyrie hit the sand dune. The impact did not stop the transport, but it did manage to shear off the engines and remaining tail section. Lauf felt his feet come off the bottom of the floor while they bounced off the subsequent sand dunes like a rock skipped over a calm lake. This happened five times before the sand stopped the crash enough so they just slid along the sand a bit more.

When Lauf opened his eyes, he had to push a pair of supply crates off of his chest that had been tossed around during the crash. Pulling himself out of the mess of supplies, the lone wolf checked himself over.

Aside from a minor scratch on his shoulder pauldron, he was alright. The pilots! Lauf tossed a crate aside that was blocking access to the cockpit. Walking inside, he frowned. The two pilots were slumped forward in their seats. Gently pulling them back in their seats to see their fronts, he sniffed to see now long they had been dead. Based on their appearance and scent, they had been dead for awhile. Killed by broken necks. At least their deaths were quick. Lauf thought before he clawed his way out of the wreck. Looking around, he could see the trail of wreckage that marks the path the Valkyrie took in its crash. Boxes of ammunition and other supplies were scattered all around the crash-site and further back. He had to get a retrieval party back here to get these before any Orks did. But in order to do that, he had to get to the Imperial base. Sighing, he sets off towards the base through the sand.

Trudging on the top of the dunes, Lauf felt sand whip across his face from the wind. It cut into his skin and snuck into the joints of his armour. He had to raise his hand in front of his face when the wind picked up, hurling handfuls of sand against him. Continuing towards what he believed was the Imperial post, he focused behind the towers of the base and growled. A sandstorm was on its way towards him. When that got here, he would be completely blind and probably lost. Stopping on the side of a dune he was climbing up, he goes down on one knee and reaches back into his pack. Rummaging through it, he finds his helmet and pulls it out. Closing his pack first, Lauf tucks his bear against his chin before putting the helmet on. Lauf waited for about a minute while the helmet adjusted to his armour's systems and gained all the information it needs. Once the HUD in his helmet had completed its analysis of his power armour, Lauf began to lay down in the side of the dune.

As the first winds of the sandstorm hit him, Lauf was huddled in a small hole in the sand. He could easily travel through the worst of a blizzard. But right now he could only lay there as the sandstorm engulfed him fully. After nearly five hours, the sandstorm finally passed over, leaving a layer of sand on top of Lauf. He started to shake himself free of the sand only to freeze when some new scents came into his nose. The sound of metal tapping his helmet drew his attention to what was beside him,

"What do we have here? Sleeping on the job wolf?" Lauf tilted his head to get a better look at who was speaking to him. Five Sisters of battle, their pitch black armour glinting in the bright sunlight,

"Guess the wolf wanted to enjoy the warm sand. Must be all that cold he's used to. The sand's a nice change." A sister, different from the first said as she rested a heavy bolter in front of her,

"So wolf. Just going to….." Lauf shot up and glared at the Sisters in front of him. He was done with them putting him down here. He grabbed his helmet and tore it off, letting the sisters see his face and tell that he did not tolerate their insults,

"What are five servants of the Adeptus Ministorum doing out here?" Lauf looked at the woman. Two had their helmets on, but their sigils showed they were retributors. And they were heavily armed for combat. Looking around he sees the Imperial base still off in the distance but no sign of any enemy for these heavily armed Sisters and their Celestian to fight. Unless there was another reason,

"We are here because there was word of a valkyrie having gone down from Ork dakkajets. We were told to look for two pilots. Not some buried wolf in the sand." A retributor with a flamer commented with distaste in her voice. Lauf looked at the five,

"The Valkyrie is back that way. Both pilots are dead. Killed during the crash." Lauf pointed in the direction he had been travelling from. Surviving on Fenris had given him a good sense of direction. Especially useful in this almost featureless desert as two sisters looked ready to thank Lauf, only to go silent when the Celestian spoke up,

"How fortunate for you." She spat out with a glare, which was answered by a growl from Lauf. These Sisters were not getting on his good side and he was feeling ready to strike out right here and now,

"How unfortunate for the Imperium Celestian. The supplies in the valkyrie could help. If you retrieve them." Lauf said as he finally shook off the last of the sand from his armour,

"I will go speak to your commander and let them know I am on this planet. For my own reasons." He added before any of them asked why a Lone Wolf was on this world. He started walking towards the base while the sisters set off in the direction he had indicated. They must have thought he was too far away to hear them whisper,

"A emperor-forsaken wolf! Heretics and traitors. All of them!" One of the Retributor barked like a whelp out of the womb. He would remember that fact. But it was something to be dealt with at another time. For now he needed to focus on getting to the Imperial base, get a read on the forces present on this planet and present himself before the commanders of these forces and see exactly what state the entire planet was in.

The travel took longer than normal due to the shifting sand underneath his feet. A few times Lauf almost fell down when the sandy dunes gave out from the weight of his armour. But every time he was quick to adjust his footing and keep going. Finally coming to the top of the last sand dune in front of the Imperial base he removed his helmet, tucking it back inside the pack in the centre of his armour. Lauf shook out his beard, braided bright red hair flying right and left for a second before settling back on the front of his chestplate while the hair on his head fluttered in the light breeze that blew towards him. A calming facade for a horrific picture he thought before he began walking down to the flat plain surrounding the big Imperial defensive base. As he approached the line, guardsmen stood up in their trench with lasguns pointed at him, only then to lift them up in respect. A couple guardsmen climbed up and rushed towards the razor-wire in front of the trench. When Lauf got close enough, the guardsmen pulled the razor-wire aside to let him into the base. Once Lauf was inside, the razor-wire was set back into place and the guardsmen escorted the Space Wolf through their lines until he came to the main part of the camp.

Lauf looked around and saw the tent he needed to go to speak with the commander. Hopefully he or she would be more welcoming than those mouthy sisters. Walking across the camp, Lauf noticed the glanced looks and stares from the Tallaran guardsmen and some sisters who came out of the tents around the big command one he was going to. As he approached, the guards at the door of the tent dropped to their knees in respect to the lord Space Wolf,

"I need to speak with your general. Is he inside?" Lauf looked at the two, who nodded. He thanked the Desert Raiders and approached the door. Pulling the side of the door open he walked inside and surveyed the interior of the tent. There were several Tallaran decorations alongside standard guardsmen accessories hanging on the walls. Maps, lists, and other administration requirements for the running of this force were on many hooks that had been attached to virtually any surface around a large table where even more data-slates and maps,

"I understand your right to come and take command my lord. But these are still my men and it is my responsibility to make sure they stay alive." A man who had his back to Lauf stood over the large table speaking with someone who Lauf needed a second to determine. When he did, he had to suppress a growl of anger at the sight,

"Lord General. The Inquisition is able to call upon all servants of the Imperium if need be. And my information has led me to believe that there is something on this world beyond the Orks that threatens the safety of the Imperium." An Inquisitor lord commented nonchalantly as he looked over a data-slate on the one side of the table from the general. Lauf never liked Inquisitors, both from personal experience, and from his nature as a Space Wolf. He looked closely at the Inquisitor as he walks back and forth along the table looking at his data-slate. The man had the standard symbols of the Inquisition across his Ignatus power armour. Wax seals of the skull with an I through it holding pieces of parchment across various parts of his body. Lauf realized the Inquisitor was a member of the Ordo Hereticus, or Witch Hunters when he saw the Inquisitor's hat resting behind the man. First the Sisters of Battle, now a Witch Hunter Inquisitor,

"General. It seems that there is something else to turn our attention to. Specifically, this new appearance." The Inquisitor looked towards the door of the tent, making everyone else in the tent to turn to see what he was looking at. As soon as the shock wears off, the general and his staff dropped to their knees,

"My lord." The general says respectfully as Lauf nodded at the general, but still looks at the Inquisitor. Just as he was about to speak, a soldier rushed inside,

"Orks at the perimeter!" She said out of breath as the general and his staff stood up,

"We can talk later general. For now, there are xenos to kill. Guardsman!" He looked at the woman, who snapped to attention,

"Take me to where these Orks are." The guardswoman shouted yes my lord and ran out of the tent with Lauf behind her towards the front line of the base. He wondered how it was that the Orks had been able to sneak close enough to the perimeter in this desert. Shaking his head, he got rid of these thoughts for now while taking his weapons off his hips, blue energy crackling along the blades just as the tallaran woman led him into the trenches heading towards the breach area. Running through the trenches, Lauf passed by multiple fire positions as the desert raiders fight to push back the greenskin push. When he rounds a corner, Lauf sees the first of the Orks' breaching force cutting down a guardsman. The Ork yells WAAAGH in victory at its kill, only to be silenced when Lauf's frost-sword was stabbed through its neck. In one twist, Lauf decapitated the Ork and rushed towards the next greenskin while green blood spewed from the stump of its neck. Another Ork swung his choppa at Lauf, only to get blocked by Lauf's sword, followed by his axe splitting the Ork's head in two. He continued to hack, slash, and smash his way through the trench section where the greenskins breached. His rampage drew the Orks' attention away from the guardsmen which gives them the opportunity to form a new line and rip into the flanks of their enemy. This new attack begins to force the Orks back, but it is still a slog for Lauf and the guard to push the greenskins out of the base. Body-checking an Ork head-first, Lauf drives it into the trench-wall with an explosion of green gore and bits of bone-matter. Letting the Ork body flop to the floor, his attention is drawn towards a shout of terror further down the trench.

Private Ayyoob Jalai was manning his heavy bolter before just avoid getting bisected by an Ork from the side. Now he could only shout in terror as the same Ork stood over him, about to bring its giant axe down on his head. Closing his head just as the axe began to fall, a sound of energy hitting metal came from above him. Ayyoob opened his eyes and saw the Ork's axe blocked by a twin-headed axe with wolf-heads engraved across it. The next thing he witnessed was the Ork's stomach being split in two by Lauf's sword, "My lord! You saved us!" He spun around and put his head and his hands to the ground before Lauf as wounded Tallaran around the trench all began to bow to him as well,

"No guardsman. You saved yourselves. You are still alive." Lauf helped Ayyoob up off the ground before he looked around at the desert raiders all looking at him,

"Those of you badly wounded. Stay here and treat your injuries. Those who can stand, help your comrades. The rest of you, with me. We're closing that breach. And destroying every greenskin here!" He raised his sword into the air with cheers from those able to follow him. He started off towards the breach in the razor-wire again, now with almost thirty guardsmen at his back.

Rounding a corner in the trench, he just avoids getting hit by a burst of flame spewed down the trench. Growling as he grips his weapons tightly, Lauf howled and charged around the trench, running into a squad of the Sisters present on this planet. Stopping an instant from colliding with the sisters,

"So wolf. Getting into the hot-seat again?" The sister demanded with venom in her voice again as she stood next to the sister with the flamer. Lauf was certain that if there were no Orks right now, this Celestian Riviel would order her Retributor to fire again,

"Enough Celestian Riviel. Now's not the time." A Palatine walked through the group of sisters and put a hand on top of the flamer. The Retributor lowered her flamer while Riviel glared at the Palatine, but kept her silence while her superior looked at Lauf,

"Lord Space Wolf. We need to secure this base as soon as possible." The Palatine said and Lauf nodded in agreement,

"We know where the breach is located. Will you assist us?" She asked as Lauf grinned,

"Do you really need to ask Palatine?" He said, holding his weapons up in front of his chest,

"Just tell me where the breach is. Leave the Orks to me." The Palatine pointed towards the hole in the wire. Lauf set off with the sisters and Desert Raiders at his back.

Fighting towards the breach in the razor wire with the Sisters and Desert Raiders covering his flanks, Lauf cuts a swathe through the Orks swarming into the trench. Reaching the section of the trenches in front of the broken hole of the perimeter wire, Lauf lifts a Nob over his head and breaks its back across his knee. Following the distinct snap of bones, Lauf tossed it into a mob of boyz coming at him, knocking them over like bowling pins. Picking up his sword and axe, Lauf blocked another Ork's attack, deflecting the choppa to his side before hacking off both its arms. The Ork shouted in rage, creating a perfect opening for a frost-sword to stab through. Sliding the Ork off his sword, he looked at the broken chunk of razor wire. Climbing onto the top of the trench, Lauf steadied his breathing. His rampage through the trench was straining, even for his post-human body. Flexing his fingers to loosen the tension, he glanced back to see Tallaran guardsmen climbing up with him,

"Get this hole plugged up!" He ordered as engineers rush forward with spools of razor-wire in their hands. While the engineers begin to place the new wire out in front of the trench, the other soldiers reset their fire positions and began clearing away the bodies inside the position. Lauf waited on top of the trench in case more Orks came at the base. After almost two hours, the perimeter wire was back in place, the heavy guns were set up in their gun-pits and the bodies were cleared out of the trench. Lauf sat down on a bench next to some of the guardsmen while he drank a bit of water. Just as he puts his canteen away, one of the sisters walks over to him,

"My lord. The general and Inquisitor wish to speak with you." Lauf stood up and followed the sister back to the main camp in the centre. Once they arrived, Lauf went into the tent, leaving the sister outside. Inside the general and Inquisitor were waiting for him,

"Space Wolf. Good to see you. Now that those savages have been taken care of. We can begin work on dealing with the more important issue on this planet." The Inquisitor slid the data-slate he was reading earlier across the table. Lauf picked up the data-slate,

"So what is this all about Inquisitor?" He asked while reading the data-slate,

"Witches. Space Marine. Witches." That got Lauf's attention,

"Tell me everything." He insisted as the Inquisitor began to tell him and the general everything they needed to know.