Lauf looked over the data-slate as he stood around the Tallarn camp. This Inquisitor, Marfa of the Ordo Heretics was here to perform an 'interrogation' of the human population of this planet after word had come to him that this Ork invasion had was the result of someone trying to summon daemons, but had completely bungled up the summoning and instead had managed to bring the Orks. So now the Inquisitor intended to find out who it was that was trying to commit heresy and prevent a potential daemonic incursion on this world. He suspected that the only reason why the daemon had failed was due to the sacred shrine on the world. Whoever was secretly a heretic would be trying to destroy the shrine and the divine protection the Emperor and his saint provides through it. At least, that was the Inquisitor's theory. So he intended to leave the shrine relatively vulnerable. In order to give whoever the heretic was an opening they thought would allow them to destroy it.

Lauf had to grit his teeth. This plan was terrible. It left too much to chance in his view. Plus it cast far too much doubt and suspicion, if word ever got out amongst the Tallarn guardsmen that until the one the Inquisitor was looking for was caught every single one of them was being looked at as a potential traitor. One of many reasons why his chapter hated Inquisitors. Making the situation even worse, the Inquisitor was using the most radical of the Sisters of Battle present on the world to interrogate the potential heretics. Already these interrogations had begun and the results were not showing any chance of finding the heretic, as he suspected. But for now, he had to focus on preparing for the fight to come. The scouts reported that the Orks were massing for another attack. But the general in charge of the Tallarns was not going to stick around and wait for the attack to come. He already had his scouts out watching the Orks and was mustering the rest of his force to come out and hit the Orks where they least expected it, in their own staging grounds. The general was only using the guard for this attack, the sisters would stay to protect the shrine. At the same time, the scouts were searching for pockets of survivors that may still be alive somewhere out in the various settlements in the desert. Already a few dozen were being brought into the shrine and the destroyed buildings around it. He was not going to wait around for the Tallarn to kill the Greenskins on this planet. Lauf walked through the camp and headed towards the general's tent. Entering, he saw the man sitting drinking a cup of recaf. The minute the general saw Lauf, he got out of his chair,

"Can I do something for you my lord?" He asked as Lauf nodded,

"Yes general. You can tell me when you are planning to attack the Orks. Because when you do, I will be there at the front." The general looked at Lauf with respectful shock,

"My lord. I did not dare to presume that you would be willing….."

"Enough my lord general. I am a son of Russ and I will not wait on the sidelines like some Dark Angel." Lauf said with chest thumping pride.

"When the battle begins, my blades with taste Ork blood." He said as the general nodded. He was not going to stop the Space Wolf from joining the battle. It did mean that his men may have a better chance of victory with a Space Marine at the forefront of their attack.

"Thank you my lord. I will let my commanders know that you are going to be there. So they do not get in your way." The general answered as he looked at another data-slate,

"Actually my lord. There is a chimera heading out to the join the scouts getting ready to attack the Orks." The general did not get a chance to say anything more when Lauf left the tent and went towards the vehicle section of the camp. When Lauf got there, he saw the chimera getting ready to depart. He approached the two Tallarns on top of the chimera,

"Gentlemen. Are you leaving soon?" Lauf asked the two men when he got close when the Desert Raiders,

"My lord. Yes. We are heading towards the scouts waiting for us." The sergeant explained,

"Have room for another passenger?" Lauf watched as the two men immediately shifted some equipment around on the chimera. After they were done, they went into the chimera while Lauf clambered on board and sat behind the turret. When he was seated comfortably, the transport set out of the base through its main 'gate' section into the desert. Lauf watched as the storm of dust blew behind them from the tracks of the chimera chewing up the sand beneath it.

The travel across the desert was very quiet, the sun's light beaming down across the dunes and the top of the chimera began to rise in temperature. The energy from the sun and the barren sand caused heat waves to climb up around Lauf as he stayed sitting. He looked up to watch the few clouds crawling across the sky and let his mind drift. He could see a Fenrisian Wolf in one cloud, a heavy bolter spraying a burst of rounds in another cloud. It was a simple distraction as he waited for the chimera to come to the scouts' location. As they came over a dune, the tallarn opens the hatch of the vehicle,

"My lord. We're almost at the regiment's gathering point."

"Very good corporal. Let me off there and continue with your mission." Lauf looked down at his frost-axe in anticipation. Looking beyond the tallarn, he could see the desert raiders preparing to attack the Orks in the shadow of a mountain of dark brown stone in the middle of the desert. This lone mountain cast a shadow across the entire guardsmen force hiding behind it. Lauf looked at the stone. It reminded him of the Aett in shape. Thinking about Fenris before battle was a mistake. Lauf shook his head. He needed to focus on what he had to do.


Taking a couple breaths, Lauf readied himself when the Chimera pulled up and stopped under the stone mountain. When the transport stopped, he jumped off and landed in the soft sand beside the vehicle. He went over to the colonel ready to launch his attack. When he saw Lauf approaching, he smiled respectfully,

"Lord Lauf. Good to see you out here. Now we can begin." The colonel motioned with his bionic hand for the Lone Wolf to follow. They walked up around the mountain so they could look down at the Ork base at the other side of the mountain,

"My men have scouted the area. This is the only Ork base here. We destroy this. The Orks are gone from this planet." The colonel explained. Lauf nodded while he drew his sword,

"I'll start dealing with this colonel. Your men better follow shortly. I'll clear the way for them." He said before starting to slide down the side of the dune towards the Ork base below. The Tallarns hiding at the top of the dune watched as Lauf made it all the way down to the bottom and immediately began to charge at the Orks on the perimeter. Lauf slashed down the Orks that tried to stop him. Their focus on the Wolf meant that none of the Orks noticed the Tallarns coming down the dune towards them.

Lauf cut a Nob in two with his sword while a boy tried to hit him from behind, only to get three laser beams hit it in the head dropping the xenos. Lauf looked at the direction of the lasers and saw the guardsmen joining in the fight with the Orks with their heavy weapons on top of the dune, firing down into the Ork base. Slashing another Ork, he cleared the entrance for the Tallarns who began to fan into the base, getting into close quarter combat. The Orks had the strength, but the Tallarns' swords began to make a difference while Lauf searched for the leaders of this Ork band. Moving through the walled sections that made the base's pathways, Lauf cut down any greenskins that tried to get in his way. Climbing over the bodies, he kept searching for the Warboss and his lead Nobs without much success. He left the supplies and weapons of the Orks to the Tallarns. He had his goal and he could not be distracted.

Cutting down an Ork with a large flamethrower on its back, he saw a Nob with a unique banner coming out its back,

"Oi ya git! Ya gone killin' me boyz 'ere!? I'll kill yoo instead!" The Nob began to charge. Lauf guessed by the way the other Orks reacted that this was not the Warboss. But he was one of those lead Nobz he was hunting for. Waiting for just the right moment, he charged at the Nob, colliding with it just by the bodies he had killed. Frost sword and axe locked with Choppa and shoota. The big Ork tried to push Lauf down into the ground with his strength. He broke the weapon lock and drove his sword down.

The Nob screamed in agony when the Frost sword split its foot in two. The Ork was so focused on trying to remove the sword that it did not react to Lauf grabbing its jaws and pulling. With a squishy ripping sound, Lauf tore the Nob's head off and threw it aside. Just as the Ork's body hit the earth, Lauf was already running in the direction the Nob had come from. If the Warboss was anywhere, he guessed it was there. Getting through the pass-ways without much difficulty, he came to a central clearing right in the middle of the base where there were a group of large Nobz banging their choppas on the ground around a big pillar with a metal Ork skull on the very top. Standing before all the nobz was the biggest Ork Lauf had ever seen. The xeno was covered in plates of crude metal all over its body, making a steam powered power suit that had several poles sticking out the back with banners and skulls hanging off them. On its right arm there was an oversized 'shoota' with at least three working barrels and two that were rusted so much they seemed to be hanging onto the shoota simply because the Warboss wanted it. Which, given Lauf's knowledge of the Orks, was probably the case.

On the Ork's left arm, he could see a large power-klaw with two 'fingers' and a 'thumb' that the Warboss used to club a small Ork in the head after running up to tell the Warboss about the attack on their base,

"I know aboot t'e attack ya git." He grumbled before seeing Lauf and grinning,

"Well. Lookie' 'ere boyz! A Spess Marine! Get'em." The Nobz began to run at Lauf to carry out their Warboss' order. Lauf clutched both his weapons and charged into the mob of Orks. Blood and other smells filled his nostrils. Shouts, cries and screams rang in his ears. Dust, debris and green blinded his eyes. A sharp sense flying up his arms told him when he connected. Thuds echoed and informed him another enemy fell to his blades. This was the world Lauf was used to. Relying on all his senses at the same time, he was a whirlwind of blue energy and stinging metal as he chopped down the Nobz all trying to claim his head for their warboss. Finally decapitating the last Nob, he was alone with the Warboss. However, the Warboss was still fresh while Lauf was wear after fighting through so many of his Orks. Taking a few breaths, Lauf regained some of his strength before beginning to run at the Warboss.

Lauf swung hard, but easily caught as the Warboss raised his klaw and blocked his strike. Then almost lazily the Ork backhanded Lauf, sending him flying across the open area into some of the dead bodies. Struggling up, he charged again as the Warboss began to fire at him. The fire did not hit close to Lauf as he tackled into the Ork. The heavy armour of the Warboss stopped Lauf's charge as he followed it with another strike that knocked Lauf to the ground. The Warboss came and looked down at Lauf,

"So pat'etic Spess Marine. I expec'ed a good fight. But yer soo weak…" The minute the Warboss said weak, Lauf felt his vision begin to blur and the voice of the Sorcerer in his ear. The last thing he remembered was feeling his hands drop his axe and sword.


The Tallarns pushed through the pass-ways and reached the centre point of the base. The guardsmen had struggled through the base for most of the day, the Orks making them fight the whole way. When they got there, they stared in shock at the scene before them. Steam hissed from the heavy armour that the Warboss had worn. But when they came around, they looked at the Ork's body torn to shreds with both its arms and head ripped off by something with long claws and incredible strength. The wounds all across the Warboss' body looked like claws had ripped through the armour and flesh. The Tallarns moved past the body, afraid that whatever had torn the Warboss apart was still around. A sound coming from the side of the opening drew the guardsmen's eyes and las-guns in that direction. Then a few orks moved up and fell down when Lauf pushed them off him. He climbed out of the pile of Ork bodies he had been buried under, covered in blood. The Tallarns all cheered when they saw the Space Wolf while he picked up his sword and axe,

"Guardsmen. What's the situation?" He asked the nearest Tallarn who approached,

"My lord. The Orks have been scattered into the desert. Rough Riders are chasing them down as we speak. When the Warboss fell, the other Orks just started running away in different bands." The Tallarn explained as Lauf nodded,

"And how many men died?" He asked,

"The number has not been accounted. But it was high my lord." Lauf nodded. He had hoped his efforts had saved some lives like his lord the Great Wolf would have wanted him. He shook off the last blood and bits of gore from his hair and arms before he walked with the Tallarns out of the Ork camp while some were setting it on fire, purging any Ork spores that had been released. At least they hoped.

The men took him to the general, who thanked Lauf for helping his men destroy these Orks. The Inquisitor had joined them with a wicked smile that made Lauf's skin crawl,

"And thank you Space Marine. Your actions here were the perfect distraction for me to deal with the cultists. They never thought I would be able to swoop in with some Sisters of Battle and arrest them. Those Sisters' faith is very useful at times." The Inquisitor commented as Lauf wished he could punch this man right now. But he stayed his hand. The general continued with his thanks as he informed Lauf that since they wiped out the Orks, his men had found more refugees and had brought them back to the shrine of the God-Emperor. Lauf was relieved to hear that some more people were safe. The look in the Inquisitor's eyes made Lauf nervous though. Something was off, but for now he simply followed the general to a chimera that was waiting to take him back to the shrine. Climbing on board, he watched the Inquisitor who was standing by the table the general had been using. As the transport drove away, Lauf could not shake a feeling of unease as his hand rested on his frost-sword.


Later Laud stood before the shrine of the Emperor behind a small group of refugees that had taken refuge inside the shrine during the fighting they had with the Orks and the tiny cult that had been smoked out on this world. The Tallarns had performed admirably, purging the Orks while the Sisters had gone with the Inquisitor to eradicate the people who had been part of the Chaos Cult that tried to summon daemons and got Orks instead. Even so, the Inquisitor had ordered the entire force to undergo Inquisitorial debriefing, with the highly likely fate that most of the troops would die from the debriefing or being found guilty of some heresy. Lauf wanted to stop the Inquisitor from forcing the soldiers into these interrogations, but he was outnumbered by the more than 1,000 Sisters of Battle who were more than happy to help the Inquisitor with beginning the interrogations,

"My lord?" Lauf was pulled out of his thoughts when a young, heavily pregnant woman gets his attention,

"Are you alright?" She asked as Lauf gave her a small smile. The girl could not be older than 22 and from her scent, Lauf could guess that in the next couple of weeks, her child would be born,

"Yes I am. Is that your first pup?" He asked, looking at her swollen belly. She smiled back and gently rubbed her stomach,

"Yes. I hope my child is born healthy, like their father. He's a member of the governor's staff." She said as Lauf hid his sadness. The governor and his staff had been arrested for being unable to prevent the Ork infestation. He doubted they would be alive by the end. But for now, he stayed smiling at the young woman as she returned to praying to the Emperor and his saint to thank them for sending their saviours. The pilgrims especially thanked the Emperor for sending, 'One of his wolves to kill the coyotes that was coming for his sheep.' Lauf felt a bit better about that comparison. He still knew the Emperor was a man, but he was, 'one of his wolves' after all. The quiet praying was interrupted by sounds coming from the entrance of the humble shrine. The pilgrims all stood up and looked towards the door,

"Wait here." Lauf warned as he took his sword and axe off his hips while walking outside. When he went through the door, he stood outside the simple shrine among the destroyed buildings that had been devastated by the fighting here. In front of the door leading into the shrine, eleven sisters of battle, the worst of the worst in this fanatical batch, led by their senior Seraphim Riviel stood with their weapons out,

"What is going on here sister?" Lauf demanded. He had a very bad feeling about what they wanted and he adjusted his feet slightly to take a defensive stance,

"We are here to carry out Inquisitor Marfa's order to purge this planet of all chaotic taint. That means those filthy heretics that defile this holy shrine must be purged." Riviel commented, making Lauf's hair stand up while the pilgrims had crept out of the shrine to see what was going on. The young pregnant woman was in the front of the group, looking to see what Lauf was doing,

"Sister. I have checked over these people. They are pure of taint. They are simple servants of the Imperium. No threat to this world or the Imperium." Lauf warned, but he could see this was going to end badly. His weapons lifted slightly and his body tensed, ready at a second's notice to snap forward and attack. The sisters seemed to not be taking him seriously at all. All their weapons were held low and their posture was completely relaxed and that worried him even more,

"Our orders are clear. If the Inquisition orders it, so shall we do." Riviel stated as all of them now became dangerous in their posture. Lauf stood his ground in between the sisters and the civilians,

"Sister…." Before he could say another word, sister Riviel lunged forward, propelled by her jet-pack and fired one bolt round. It struck the young woman Lauf had spoken with earlier directly in the head and she fell to the ground, dead,

"Purge these…" One of Riviel's sisters started to shout just as Lauf ran forward and cut her arm right off with a howl of rage. The other sisters were caught off guard by this sudden fury and got frozen in shock. None of them moved when he charged and cut off the leg of a Sister with a flamer. One next to her tried to bring her bolter up. Too slow as Lauf slashed across her chest with his axe, the blade cleaving through the armour like a piece of paper. These sisters had made a fatal mistake. They had provoked a Lone Wolf and now they began to pay the price. He proceeded to slash and hack through the sisters until all but Riviel were lying on the ground with various wounds or limbs missing. Seeing the reality of her stupidity, Riviel tried to flee, only to be chased by Lauf up to a higher level of the destroyed building next to the shrine. She cowered before Lauf as he towered over her. The proud, haughty and holier than thou attitude that Sister Riviel displayed was now replaced with fear and a feeling a vulnerability, as the sister stood on both feet and unholstered her Chainsword, having no other choice but to fight her way out of this situation,

"So be it Mi'lord, if this is what you want, then I shall give it to you!" as she lunged, underhand swinging the Sword in hopes it would quickly end the Astartes,

"I don't wanna fight you!" The Sister shouted as Lauf scoffed. Almost casually, he caught the chainsword with his axe and pulled it away. Pulling all the strength he could from his arm, he back-swung his sword down. The blade cut into Riviel from the top of her skull, down across her left eye and her lip. It continued down, splitting her chin and cutting into the bone of her sternum. The armour did not stop his strike as it finished cutting into the top of her hip on the right side. Pulling his sword away from Riviel, Lauf felt her hot blood pour out from the massive wound, oozing out from between the cracks of the power armour that had split like a piece of cloth against the frost-sword. He left the Sisters lying in gathering pools of their own blood when other Sisters rushed to aid their wounded, not stopping Lauf as he made his way towards a waiting Valkyrie. He would remember the Inquisitor that had given this order to kill innocents. He fought xenos, daemons, heretics, and fanatics not just for vengeance and the people of the Imperium. He fought for his own honour. Because if he ever wished to return to Fenris, he would do it without feeling ashamed to call himself a Son of Russ again. He held his head high as he entered the Valkyrie and watched as it rose, heading towards the ships in orbit, ready to take him after the Sorcerer in the next system. No matter how many years it took, he would find that Sorcerer, the Thousand Son called Ramses, and make him pay for his kinsmen.

To be continued...