Standing proudly as a temple to the Omnissiah and a vital manufacturing centre on Grael Secundus, Manufactorum Primaris is the first and largest of its kind on the forge world. A fact the tech-priests of Secundus are quite proud of and will do whatever they can to defend this manufactorum. Inside the manufactorum, thousands of servitors and mechanicus serfs work on production lines producing Chimeras, Leman Russ tanks and several lines are producing Macharius heavy tanks. These large tanks are built inside the manufactorum and immediately are driven out by Imperial guardsmen right to the frontlines against the Orks. Some of the longer range tanks fire their guns the first time against the Greenskins before they've even left the inside of the manufactorum. On the front of the manufactorum, automatic and guardsmen manned defensive turrets create a 'light-show' of las-fire and bolter rounds at the Orks shooting from the wreckage of trenches and hab-buildings that the guardsmen had been manning before being pushed back by the xenos. While the Orks seem to keep coming, their bodies pile up in front of the current Imperial defensive positions as shell casings and spent energy batteries fill up the trenches around the guardsmen's feet while above it all, Imperatus Rex fires all its main weapons at main sections of the Ork army while the point defence lasers shoot down missiles and deffkoptas that come at it.

As one position comes under attack by more Orks, the guardsmen present desperately try to hold back the tide of greenskins rushing them. The heavy bolter present keeps firing non-stop until a clicking sound signals a jammed round to the utter horror of the guardsmen. The one on the bolter just manages to open the breech and gets the jammed round out before an Ork choppa splits his skull and other Ork weapons kill his friends. The Orks cheer their small victory over the hummies as one starts to reach for the heavy bolter when his arm suddenly falls to the ground. The Ork looks at the stump where his arm was but does not have much chance to contemplate what happened when a bolter round tears through his skull. The other Orks look as Lauf leaps into the position, cutting into the next Ork near him with his frost axe while the Sister of Battle Astra fires her bolter at the Ork near him. When another Ork tries to fire his shoota at them, the younger Sister Ashe shoots that Ork in the chest with her own bolter. Their calm and collected demeanors as they kill the xenos is quite different from the happily laughing heavy bolter firing Cassidy, happily shooting three Orks in quick succession in a large burst of bolter shells. The four clear the defensive position of the attacking Orks in a short order as Lauf checks the bodies to see if any of them are still alive,

"None of them could have survived this attack Wolf." Astra says sadly as Lauf gives the soldiers a final honour by folding their hands on their chest as a quick sign of respect before he stands up. He looks at the Sisters of Battle who start firing at the Orks to either side of their position,

"Do you know where the commander of the guard or your canoness is located?" Lauf looks at Astra and Ashe. The two seem to be the most likely to have the best understanding of the battlefield, despite the age difference between Astra and the younger Ashe. Glancing at Cassidy he notices how happy she is at blasting Orks away with her heavy bolter. She reminds him of himself a little when he was with his pack-mates, howling happily as he charged at the enemies of the Imperium. Right now her fire keeps the area completely clear of any living Orks while Ashe and Astra hop into the trench with him, looking around for any sign of these two leaders. Astra glances at Ashe as they each one direction of the trench,

"What do you think Ashe? Will she be over near the central point or by the front doors of the manufactorum?" Astra has to stop in the middle of her questions when the hellstorm cannon on Imperatus Rex fires above them. The sound was so loud that they could not hear themselves talk as the beam echoes overhead and turns hundreds more Orks into empty matter, burning away their bodies completely and preventing their spores from being released. Ashe pokes her head up over the back of the trench and looks out at the Imperial positions that are visible from their spot. She just manages to spot their canoness before she is pulled down from the trench by Lauf when a burst of bolter fire tears up the ground in front of where her head had been second before,

"I saw the Canoness! She's over by the centre-right section of that line leading our Sisters against the Greenskins!" Ashe exclaims as Astra nods, "Ok. We go down this side of the trench and we should be able to go in a straight line towards their position." "That is unless there are some greenskins trying to get in our way and I have to kill them." Cassidy says trying to hide her excitement at the prospect and failing. Lauf nods as he moves in front of the Sisters down the trench. His large frame serves as a good shield for them from anything coming down the trench towards their location while they can still shoot from either side of his body. He runs down the trench, keeping low to avoid attracting the Orks attention. Not because he is afraid of the dumb xenos. He does not want to bring a bunch of Orks towards him which would be followed shortly afterwards by Imperial fire turning the location where he, the Sisters and the Orks were standing into a pile of smoking dirt. As he moves low in the trench, he sees the many turrets firing from the defensive positions and the piles of Ork bodies forming another wall a few dozen metres from the Imperial trench that the still living Ork horde try to clamber up to attack the humans or rush through the holes made by large explosive shells fired either from the many tanks rolling out of the Manufactorum or from the basilisk artillery on the top of the factory's roof that are firing like mortars, the shells flying almost straight up before landing in front of the Imperial forces.

But fortunately for the guardsmen every Ork that pops his head over the top of this wall of bodies or runs through the small gaps in the wall gets cut down by the concentrated firepower of their positions. The Imperials thank the God-Emperor for the constant resupply of ammunition directly from the buildings behind them. This has allowed them to keep up this wall of lead and lasers that holds back the massive Ork WAAGH from breaching the walls of Manufactorum Primaris. Lauf finally gets past the piles of greenskin bodies and lets the guardsmen manning the line see they are friends as they move towards them. Many guardsmen cheer at the sight of some more Sisters of Battle and a Space Marine with them. Alexia's comment to him about his presence encouraging the guardsmen is clear when the soldiers return to firing at the Orks with an increased vigour they did not have a moment ago. It is clear that the soldiers do not want to appear wanting in the face of one of the legendary warriors of the Emperor's own blood. One Ork charge down the trench behind them, but a combined burst from the three sisters bring it down before Lauf can attack, but he gets a chance when another Ork tries to attack from above. Lauf catches the choppa before it hits Ashe in the head and twists it aside. As the Ork falls after his choppa he can only shout in surprise as Lauf's sword comes point first up at his head, driving through it with ease, leaving the body hanging like a dead-weight on the blade before Lauf lets the Ork slide off into the trench when he pulls it out of the wound. Lauf watches the path they came down as the three Sisters run by him into the Imperial frontline and he quickly jumps over the sandbags where five guardsmen lie against the wall with their lasguns aimed down the trench,

"Welcome to our joyous world my lord." One guardsmen jokes, only to get smacked in the back of the head by another guardsman who points out that the trooper should show deference and respect to Lauf and the Sisters. Lauf chuckles a little at the joke as he sees more Orks rush down the trench right where they had been. The five guardsmen fire their las-guns in concentrated volleys down the trench, shooting down the Orks that try to get towards them. Lauf looks back at Ashe,

"You saw the canoness Ashe? Show us the way." He motions with his axe-hand and Ashe smiles before she starts moving along the trench, with Astra, Cassidy and Lauf behind her. Moving behind the guardsmen positions, Lauf smells the exhaustion coming out of the guardsmen's very pores as sweat and other fluids coat some of their bodies. But despite their exhaustion, desperation, fear and worry, they stand their ground against the greenskins. Lauf can see each soldier is remaining at their positions, not because of the fear of a commissar's las-pistol but thanks to their faith in the Emperor and because of the presence of the Mechanicus, Sororitas and Astartes with them. Ashe moves ahead as she spots the Canoness standing tall and shouting orders out to her fellow Sisters firing their bolters and flame weapons against the Orks coming towards them as well as they charge the guardsmen. The Canoness gives another order to her Sisters when she notices Ashe and the others approach,

"Celestian Ashe. Where did you go? You were supposed to reinforce the guardsmen at guard point gammarus with Retributor Cassidy and Sister Astra." The canoness says sharply before looking at the other two Sisters that come up behind Ashe waiting for an answer from any of them. She looks from the three up to Lauf who stands behind them and pulls back a step in shock, but quickly regains her composure and points her bolter-pistol at him, causing Lauf to bring his weapons up ready to fight,

"What are you doing here savage?!" She demands as Lauf growls at her, "Fighting to defend the people of this world, zealot." He responds as the Canoness keeps holding her pistol at him, "Lower your weapon, or the next events will be something you will regret." Lauf's stance prepares him to move forward to charge, or back to get out of the Canoness' bolter fire. The situation looks ready to explode when Astra gently sets her hand on her Canoness' arm,

"Canoness. This Space Marine is here to help us. And right now, we can't afford to turn away any help." Astra comments as she looks from the Canoness to Lauf, who still keeps his weapons up in case the Canoness tries to shoot him in this moment of peace talk,

"Wolf. I need you to trust me here. This is not the time or place to fight each other. We have a much bigger threat." She motions towards the Orks that have pulled back from their constant direct charges, but continue shooting from their positions in the buildings, making a big firefight between them and the guardsmen. But the Orks' desire for loud noises and explosions shows as most of their firing flies wildly around the guardsmen. Only a few shots from each Ork position gets close enough to make the humans seek cover while the guards' weapons concentrate their fire on the buildings. Lauf looks back from watching the guardsmen fight to the Canoness before he lowers his axe and sword while the Canoness cautiously lowers her bolter,

"Very well. The greenskins are a more serious threat than your zealous madness. Which considering that you have not burned all these good warriors because they do not share your insanity of faith means you also can see that this is a more important issue." Even as he shows signs of offering peace, Lauf still shows his contempt for the Adeptus Sororitas as Astra keeps the Canoness from raising her arm while Celestian Ashe looks between the two,

"My lord. Canoness. We need to speak with the Colonel of the guard and plan out a better defence to protect the manufactorum." Ashe points out. The Canoness nods to her point as she holsters her weapon and motions for all of them to follow her. Lauf walks behind Astra, Cassidy and Ashe as they walk after the Canoness as she walks down the trench towards the guard command post. As they pass by some guardsmen carrying wounded soldiers on stretches, Imperatus Rex's weapons fire, again drowning out all other noises on the battlefield. Lauf rubs his ear to shake the small ringing he got from not being ready for the sound when they finally reach the command post as the Canoness enters with Lauf while the three Sisters wait outside the post. Inside Lauf sees the Colonel discussing his plans with some other guard officers,

"I want the tenth company on the top of the building directing the artillery. I have no intention of giving those green bastards any chance to catch their breath. And I want those guns to flatten any and all things that try to come within the perimeter." "Yes sir!" One young captain salutes before he runs out past the group as they approach the Colonel's table,

"Colonel Miketor. I have some news for you." Colonel Miketor looks up from his table and stares at the people in front of him. The Canoness who had been a great help with her Sisters to fight back against the Orks and…. A Space Marine,

"By the Emperor! My lord welcome to Grael Secundus!" Colonel Miketor says respectfully to Lauf who nods back to the Colonel before he looks back at the Canoness,

"Canoness Saroya. I was hoping to speak with you. I am preparing a counter-attack to drive the Orks away from the manufactorum." He says confidently while resting his hands on the table. Lauf can see the Colonel has several data-slates and a map of this area of the planet. Canoness Saroya crosses her arms as she looks at Miketor,

"Are you so confident that this is the wisest course of action Colonel? Your men are exhausted from constant battle. And the Orks have not retreated for a simple reason." Lauf speaks up before Saroya could say what she was thinking while Colonel Miketor looks at Lauf,

"My lord. I have no interest in just sitting and waiting for them to come back and attack my positions. I am going to punch them right in the mouth and not give them a chance to organize any sort of defense." Miketor does not lack for confidence by the way he speaks with certainty about his plan. Lauf is unconvinced and from her look, Saroya is not either,

"Colonel. The xenos have pulled back for a reason. They are not running. It was too well organized. Especially for the Orks. There is a strategy here and I have a bad feeling that we would be better preparing for another assault by them." Saroya states as she remains with her arms folded across her chest, "My Sisters can go ahead and start attacking. But your guardsmen should continue manning their positions. It would keep your forces in a strong location. And will keep them out of our way when we bring holy fire to the xenos staining this world." Obviously the Colonel and the Canoness are still able to butt heads even with a common problem in front of them. The Colonle looks about to argue, but Lauf's fist slamming into the table stops him and makes both leaders look at the Space Wolf,

"You two are arguing like a pair of angry pups! There is an army of Orks out there and you two are bickering here about what to do about it! You are both leaders of soldiers and their lives are currently being entrusted to you. But from what I am seeing neither of you is fit to lead a servitor latrine detail!" Lauf barks. He was young by Space Marine standards, but he had already lived longer than either this Colonel or Canoness had and he had the experiences of such a life,

"The Orks have pulled back to do something. The ones lying in front of your trenches are Goffs. I saw Blood Axes and other Ork tribes present when I came down. Their Warboss is clearly no fool. He must have realized that he cannot win by trying to charge head-long into your waiting guns. So now, he may try a different strategy."

"Strategy my lord? These are Orks you are talking about! Their only strategy is to keep charging until either they or we are dead." The Colonel confidently comments. Saroya just shakes her head,

"Colonel. Even I am not so foolish to think so low of the filthy xenos. The Orks may be brutisth, uncivilized, and be nothing more than a plague on this galaxy. But the leaders of their race do have understandings of strategy and planning. So right now we have to assume that their Warboss is planning something to negate our defences." Saroya states as Lauf nods in agreement while the Colonel thinks,

"Maybe….. I could send some teams down into the pipes that run underneath the surface? I have some defenses already established down there in case of an attempted breach so they should be alright for investigating." The Colonel thinks while Lauf steps back towards the exit,

"It is now your responsibility Colonel. I will leave you to it." Lauf steps out of the tent, followed closely by the Canoness who still gives him a wide berth. He walks away from her towards Astra and the other two waiting by a box of ammunition that Cassidy was taking belts from to restock her heavy bolter. Ashe sees Lauf first and nudges the other two,

"Lord Lauf. What happened in the tent?" Ashe asks while Astra helps Cassidy load the ammunition into the pack attached to the heavy bolter. Lauf shakes his head to indicate he did not feel it went well,

"Hardly anything was resolved Celestian. All I was able to see was that this Colonel is less respectable than your Canoness judging by his desire to throw his men's lives away. The Canoness and I did manage to dissuade him from this course of action. But I feel that it is only a temporary stall. While this Colonel dreams of glory earned by the blood if his troops, these Orks are probably moving into position as we speak." Lauf smells the air while he talks with the Sisters. The stink of dead Orks, gunpowder and human smells make it hard for him to see if there are any Orks trying to sneak by them. But when he takes a good sniff, he gets the different scents. There are definitely Orks trying to sneak around. But right now they are still behind the wall of Ork corpses so it does not matter much,

"Sisters. Come with me. I want to check on something inside the Manufactorum." Lauf says as he glances up at the giant gates that have barely cracked open to let more machines rolling out from the production floor to the guard lines. Ashe looks back at Astra and Cassidy as they finish reloading the heavy bolter. She motions with her head for them to fall in behind her and the two Sisters run after her as she follows Lauf along the trench. They walk past the command and medical tents in the back of the guard line up to the gate of the Manufactorum. When they arrive at the gate Lauf looks up at the massive Adamantium doors and the many defensive positions around it. Every window and opening on the wall near the gate has a large weapon coming out of it. It goes from a couple guardsmen with las-guns up to large turrets that resemble the point-defence turrets on Imperatus Rex's body. He steps aside when a Macharius heavy tank rolls out of the Manufactorum towards a position near the titan's right leg,

"Shall we Sisters?" Lauf asks, to the nods and smiles of the three Sisters. Lauf walks forward past the gate just as it closes behind them. A loud hiss followed by steam coming out of parts of the gate indicates the gate's completely seal together. Now only a heavy weapon like the Hellstorm Canon on Rex will be able to punch through them and from what Lauf saw, the Orks do not have anything like that. So those gates are not going to be the point of entrance if the Orks do manage to break into the Manufactorum. Lauf looks from the gate and gives a quick scan of the Manufactorum production floor. What he sees impresses him immediately.

In front of them there are large bays where the serfs and some tech-priests add the final touches to the tanks and other vehicles being built on the ten production lines the giant Manufactorum has inside it. Clanging and melting metal sounds tells Lauf of the amount of production this one building is doing without having to see them. While Lauf admires the production lines Astra, Ashe and Cassidy stare up at the top of the Manfactorum where they can see the sigil of the Adeptus Mechanicus painted across most of the roof. Beneath that a network of catwalks create a web where Magos and other high-ranking Tech-priests walk and look down at the production floor,

"Where do you want to go lord Lauf?" Ashe asks as Lauf points with his sword at one corner of the Manufactorum,

"Over there. We can get a better idea of the building from that." Lauf's direction points at a room that sticks out from the wall slightly looking down at the farthest production lines. Ashe nods. It seems like the obvious location to get a full schematic or at the very least speak with a Magos who can direct them around the Manufactorum,

"Lead on then my lord." She says before Lauf starts walking up the slight ramp leading towards the gate from the bays at the end of the production lines. When he passes by the finishing bays, two tech-priests see them and whisper between each other. The sounds they make remind Lauf of a cogitator passing data to another cogitator,

"Bloody walking toasters. Can't they just talk like normal humans?" Lauf glances back at Cassidy who is grumbling even as she follows behind Ashe. She adjusts the strap supporting her heavy bolter when Ashe gives her a smack to the stomach with her elbow while they keep walking towards the office like room in the far corner. They move between two of the production lines and avoid the serfs and servitors working on both sides of them. Astra glances up to see what is being made on the lines. On their left, Chimeras of the Mars pattern are rolling along on the track. Each one has a twin-linked heavy bolter in place of the multi-laser usually set as the main weapon of a chimera. On the right the manufacturing line has Leman Russ Exterminators being built. Their twin linked autocannons are very useful for the guardsmen outside the Manufactorum in this fight. As she watches, servitors move around the tanks fusing parts of the metal together while the turret gets attached to the hull as a serf fuses the two together with the fusion torch he has to carry. A shake of the entire Manufactorum stops the human serfs for only a second while the servitors keep working regardless of the actions around them,

"Want to check how much these cyborgs have been lobotomized?" Cassidy jokes as she looks at Astra and Ashe. Both do not look impressed by the idea, "Uh no Cassie. I'm not interested in becoming one. Considering some of the things I hear the Adeptus Mechanicus do to anyone who messes with their works. Including their servitors." Ashe says as Lauf finally reaches the ladder leading up to the extension on the wall. Lauf sees some figures inside the room, a perfect place to find a diagram or holographic map of the underside of the Manufactorum. Lauf starts to climb with the Sisters behind him. As he climbs up the ladder, Lauf looks down and smiles encouragingly at Ashe who is in the lead of the three,

"Alright down there Sisters?" Lauf calls down to Ashe looking up at him and smiles, "Yes my lord! Nothing to worry about here." She answers back as the three Sisters follow him up the ladder. Ashe in front, Cassidy in the middle and Astra bringing up the rear, occasionally giving Cassidy an extra boost as the heavy bolter pack pulls her backwards from the ladder thanks to gravity. When Lauf reaches the top of the ladder he turns around and offers a hand to each of the Sisters when they reach the top. Each one takes the hand with an appreciative smile and thank you. Cassidy adds a shoulder smack with her free hand when she takes Lauf's hand. The Sisters all walk towards the room after Lauf steps aside for them to lead on. Ashe goes up to the door and starts knocking on it. She waits for a short while before knocking again, harder this time. Still no answer from inside the room,

"Let me try Sister." Lauf walks over to the door and with a small growl, he hits the door with his fist, smashing it clear off its hinges. The door flies back into the room and hits the back wall as Lauf steps aside and motions with an arm towards the open door,

"After you Sisters." Lauf says as Ashe and Cassidy look at him with a bit of surprise at the action while Astra laughs a little,

"Still showing off Wolf." She walks past him but quickly recoils at the sight inside. When the others see her pull back in horror Ashe, Cassidy and Lauf rush inside with weapons ready and see what has shocked Astra. Two tech-priests lie against a cogitator panel with every single one of their implants torn out and used to hold the bodies up. The loss of the implants make the two corpses look like a mass of flesh instead of a human body. Also in the room are several serfs hacked to pieces scattered on the floor,

"I don't like this." Ashe whispers when Lauf hears something behind him. Spinning around he stabs into darkness and a squishy sound and resistance tells him he hit something. He pulls his sword out of the darkness and growls at the sight of an Ork Kommando skewered on his blade,

"I knew it." Lauf grumbles as the Kommando is still alive and tries to swing his own choppa at Lauf, only to get a bolter round through the head by Cassidy,

"They're already in the Manufactorum. We need to tell the Canoness." Ashe states when an explosion nears the room knocks all four of them to the ground. Lauf quickly gets up and rushes to the window to see what happened and his anger rises at what he can see. The back of a manufacturing line is now a pile of rubble as Ork Kommandos and Lootaz laugh and cheer as they grab some of the weapons being built,

"We need to get out of here!" Astra turns to the door and sees a pile of metal has now blocked the door from the explosion, "We're trapped!" She shouts at the other sisters and Lauf while he looks at the window,

"I have an idea." He says, grabbing the dead Ork's choppa and with a grunt he hurls it at the window, smashing it to pieces. He looks back at the three Sisters before he howls For Russ and rushes out of the new exit and tumbles down sides of broken chunks of metal that roll him down to the floor below. When he lands he charges at the Orks who stare at him. They had watched him come to the ground and did not think it was possible for a Space Marine to survive the fall like that. But quickly they start firing and charging at him looking to claim his weapons as their own. One Kommando swings his choppa and locks it with Lauf's axe,

"Yer axe looks like it'll be a good piece fer me Speez Marine!" The Kommando grunts as he tries to beat Lauf, only to grunt in shock when Lauf stabs him through the guts,

"I don't think so. Ork." He spits as he pushes his sword fully through the Kommando and stabs another Ork that was running towards him too fast to stop, impaling them both on the blade. When another Kommando tries to shoot, a spray of bolter rounds rip him to pieces as the three join Lauf on the ground and start laying down accurate fire on the Orks. While they shoot at the Orks Lauf pulls his sword out of the two Kommandos and swings his axe into the chest of a Loota that tries to fire his deff-gun at the Sisters. Ork blood spews across the floor of the Manufactorum as Ashe ducks behind a half-finished Chimera, Cassidy uses part of the manufacturing line as a stand for the heavy bolter. And Astra hides behind a hunk of armour that was meant for a Leman Russ tank. All three keep shooting at the Orks as they try to fire back with their deff guns only to be hit with either a frost sword or axe as Lauf closes the distance with the Kommandos or Lootas and attacks with all the fury of a true wolf. With the combined long range fire and close quarters assault the Orks fall quickly and all that remains of them are corpses and bits of bodies. Lauf wipes off the blood on the blades of his weapons with a piece of fabric from off of the body of a loota. He looks back to see how the Sisters fared in that battle and smirks.

Ashe helps Astra up from the ground as she has blood coming down the side of her face from a lucky slug that came from a Kommando which grazed her while Cassidy pushes a dead Ork off a manufacturing line. None of them are offering up insufferable prayers or incinerating everything in sight for being 'polluted by xenos' hands' as have the Sisters he's encountered in the past,

"That's just one more mark of pride for you Astra." Lauf points to the cut that's bleeding on her face, making all three Sisters chuckle a little while Lauf glances around, "Can anyone see where these Orks came into the Manufactorum?" He asks while the Servitors and chained serfs continue working on the manufacturing lines even as the fighting goes on around them. The cyborgs and serfs do not stop for to do so would be an affront to the Machine God and would result in punishment by the Tech-priests that ignored the assault by the greenskins and focused instead on the manufacturing lines, not even giving a nod of thanks to Lauf or the Sisters for killing the Orks attacking inside the Manufactorum. Their continued work keeps the supplies to the guardsmen outside not worrying about running out of ammunition, but it does frustrate Lauf because the chained serfs have no way of escaping if the Orks do manage to breach the walls. Then again, going by the Loota and Kommando bodies at his feet this is a redundant point at the moment as he calms himself down from attacking some tech-priest for their disregard for lives. He is drawn out of his thoughts about the tech-priests and the still working manufacturing lines in spite of the threat by Ashe calling out,

"Lord Lauf! I think we found where the Orks came from!" Lauf turns around and sees the three Sisters gathered around a plate that seems to be out of place on the floor. Ashe tries to lift the large plate off the ground but the heavy metal is very difficult for her to lift alone and Cassidy and Astra are too busy keeping their weapons at the ready. If this is the place where the Orks came out of they want to make sure that no other Ork comes rushing out of the hole while they're trying to expose it.

Lauf approaches and puts his weapons back on his hips. Reaching down he grips the edge of the plate and grunts. His armour groans as his strength, aided by his power armour strains to lift the large piece of metal. Slowly he pulls it up high enough for the three to check down the hole,

"Well that definitely was where the Orks came from." Astra comments as they can see three dead guardsmen with choppa and shoota wounds at the bottom of the hole, "Ok. We need to seal this hole right now. Cassidy…." Ashe reaches over and holds out a large grenade, "You can have the honours." She sighs as she holds the grenade out to Cassidy. The squeal of joy is so high pitched and loud that Lauf thinks for a second that his ears will bleed as Cassidy grabs the grenade and does a small jump for joy at the prospect of throwing the grenade,

"Not to put a damper on your joy. But this cannot hold up for long." Lauf grunts as his armour continues to whine and groan at the pressure of the plate against it. Cassidy quickly calms down as she flicks the switch on the grenade,

"Hey green boys! Catch!" She shouts as she drops the grenade down the hole and pulls away while Lauf drops the plate and dives away, covering Astra and Ashe. The grenade explodes and shakes the ground around the hole as they hear metal and debris collapse the hole,

"Hopefully that'll slow down the greenskins. And took a few of them out." Ashe says while Lauf gets off the two as Cassidy laughs, "Oh that was fun Celestian! Could you PLEASE give me another one to use? PLEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEE?" She begs with an exaggerated look on her face. Ashe opens her mouth to respond when Lauf suddenly feels the hair on the back of his neck stand up and a familiar scent fills his nostrils when he pulls Ashe and Astra to the ground just as a bolt of warp lightning misses them. He growls as he looks where the bolt came from and sees the blue armour with the flaming circle on the pauldron,

"Traitor." He snarls as he stands up and draws both weapons. The Sorcerer's face is impossible to determine hidden behind his helmet but he quickly runs down a hallway. Lauf chases after Ramses down the hall. He is so focused on chasing this coward that he does not hear the Sisters shout after him while the gate of the Manufactorum cracks open from an Ork battering ram that brings the fighting between the guardsmen, Sisters and Orks to the floor of Manufactorum Primaris. Right now all that is not important to Lauf. He is so close to getting his vengeance. He can feel it. Soon his pack-mates' souls will rest in peace as he races through the hallway and up a ladder.

Climbing up to the top of the Manufactorum, he sees Ramses standing with his back to him, "Turn and face me witch." He snarls as Ramses turns around, "I knew you would come after me. Predictable. Like the rest of your pathetic chapter." Ramses responds as Lauf glares at him, "Today I will send your soul into Morkai's waiting jaws coward." He says as his braids and hair wave from a gust of wind that blows between them, "Send my regards to your weak Emperor when you see him in the land of the dead." Ramses says as warp energy begins to flow around him. Lauf growls as he grips his sword and axe tightly, "For my brothers! Russ! And the Wolftime!" With that cry he charges.

TO BE CONTINUED…..