695.952 M41. Segmentum Tempestus, Sub-Sector Grael, Grael Major, Hyflala zone.
It had been one month since the encounter between the Sorcerer and Lauf. There had been no other sightings of Ramses since then, but the young Space Wolf stayed alert. He doubted the Sorcerer had left yet. He had badly wounded him and what he had learned about Ramses in this time told him that he would be back for revenge soon. Turning his mind away from the Sorcerer, Lauf looked over the maze of trenches, redoubts, firepits, gun-positions and trap systems the Armageddon Steel Legion had built in the time they had been given by this long delay. The last two weeks had seen them double their efforts to make these fortifications as defensible as possible. The scout ships Major Korrel had watching Secundus had informed him that the Orks finally had workable ships and were starting to depart Secundus in droves. They were coming for Grael Major as fast as their ramshackle vessels could move through real-space. Even though some Orks had the ability to travel through the warp, the defenders of Sub-Sector Grael were fortunate enough that their enemy apparently did not have any of the mechanics the Orks called Mekboyz who was intelligent enough to build such a device. So the guardsmen had some more time to prepare, and they had used it.
Along with the lines of trenches, the guard had also been busy recruiting thousands of inhabitants from the local cities and hives to fill the ranks and man defensive positions. Even the most incompetent among them was intelligent enough to be taught how to load, use and quickly fix a heavy machine gun. All these new recruits/conscripts and labour battalions the spire nobles provided the Guard to protect them with gave their commander, the young major Kaz, some breathing room in his plans. With these soldiers he could take more of his regular guardsmen from manning those positions and place them in the frontlines or in the armoured vehicles that they brought with them. As well as the manpower the planet had given, the manufactorums present had been turned over to producing necessary ammunition and weaponry to give the guard an even better fighting chance. Towering above all the preparations, Imperatus Rex stood ever vigilant, a reminder that the guard were not alone in this fight. The titan had moved around a few times when the guardsmen had been digging trenches near its feet, and Princeps Alexia had told Kaz over vox that she would help however she could. Lauf smirked as he watched another trench being finished by the labour battalions. This was the most amicable relation he had seen between the different forces in the Imperium during his hunts for Ramses, which was going to be vitally important when the Orks finally arrived. He shook his head before turning to look at the four sisters who came up from where they had been helping treating wounded soldiers and citizens.
They looked at him with small frowns on their lips as they got closer to the Space Wolf as he where he remained standing on top of the bastion's wall. In the past month, he had never spoken about what happened to him when he fought Ramses. Just thinking about what they told him about the appearance he had in the period where he had blanked out brought deep and regretful shame to Lauf. He knew only too well about the curse of the Wulfen, and that each and every one of the sons of the Russ had to face it in their lives. During his induction into his chapter, two of his fellow initiates had succumbed to the curse before they could become full-fledged Space Marines, and had to be restrained and taken deep into the Aett, to be released and unleashed only on the order of the Wolf Lords when they needed the raw strength of the deadly Wulfen. Lauf thought he had managed to overcome the curse's effects during his tests to become a Space Wolf. Now he wondered if instead of overcoming it, he had simply suppressed its effects all this time. The thought made him worry about his worthiness to be as a true son of Russ. This worry shamed him to no end, and he showed this shame by keeping his own counsel and avoiding talking to virtually anyone.
Seeing the four girls approach, Lauf turned to leave and keep away from them again when Ashe calling out stopped the Space Wolf in his tracks, causing him to clench his teeth. Walking away now would only make them suspicious and worried about him, and he could not leave them worrying about him. Not when an enemy like the Orks were coming.
Sighing and taking a moment to compose himself, he turned around and gave the girls a fake smile. "Pups. I'm glad you're alright," he said, trying to keep a façade of relaxed anticipation, as a Space Wolf was supposed to be. The four however had spent enough time around Lauf, even if it had only been a few months, to tell that Lauf was lying through his teeth,
"Big brother. Don't try that with us. We've been around long enough, and I remember how you were when we first met that we know something's wrong," Astra answered for all of them, earning nods of agreement from Ashe, Cassidy and Ella. The looks in their eyes told Lauf there was no point in trying to disguise his feelings like some Inquisitor snooping around.
His lips droop from the false smile to a low frown as he kept looking at the girls while they came up to form a small semi-circle in front of him. "You all know the encounter with that traitor witch a month ago?" Lauf asked.
The girls all kept looking at him, their eyes belying the same message, "Yes. What of it?"
He sighed again as he steeled his nerves. He never thought he would be so nervous to talk to regular humans. 'Why am I feeling like this? I am a son of Russ. Not some Lion-loving pansy who can't speak at the proper sound of my voice when someone asks me what I'm talking about in secret,' he thought while he leaned stood up to his full height.
"During that fight you saw I had….. changed. Into that creature," he started, still having the full attention of the girls. "That transformation…. Is called the curse of the Wulfen. The geneseed of our Primarch Leman Russ, the Wolfking, imbues us of the we Vlka Fenryka with many abilities among those other Space Marines possess. But there's a price. If you're unworthy to be a son of Russ, the blood we take in during our initiation turns you into a cursed wolf-hybrid, condemned to either be held in the deepest pits of the Aett, or the Fang, released only when the Great Companies go to war against the enemies of the Imperium. Or cast out to wander the frozen wilds of Asaheim, the only permanent continent on Fenris."
When Lauf stopped his little explanation he surveyed the girls' faces. Aside from Ella who understood most of what he said, Ashe, Cassidy and Astra all appeared completely lost with the conversation, "Uh big brother?" Astra spoke asked Astra.
"Yes?" said Lauf, urging her to continue through his tone.
"What is a Vlka Fenryka again?" Astra's question brought a laugh from Lauf that persisted for almost a minute. That one laugh released a month of anxiety and shame before Lauf finally stopped and explained each term to the girls. By the time he had finished they all understood and all looked at him with deep sympathy clearly visible in their faces.
"So this… curse. Can it appear at any time?" asked Ashe.
Lauf shook his head, "It seems that it only appears at specific times when I fight." He wanted to mention that he suspected it was whenever someone called him weak. But he was not certain that was the trigger. If it was, it could be very dangerous if he was called such a thing by an Imperial officer. So for now he admitted only what he knew for certain.
"So in other words. If someone gets stupid with you, you will tear them to pieces with freaky powerful claws. And nasty jaws huh? That actually seems cool!" exclaimed Cassidy, to which Ashe and Astra shot a glance at Cassidy her. Unlike the three light skinned (seems potentially offensive) former Sisters of Battle, Cassidy was interested in Lauf's change and how it could be helpful in a battle.
"That may be true young Sister. But it also leaves me an uncontrollable beast, as likely to attack a friend like you as an enemy," Lauf explained. "So it's very much a double edged sword."
"I guess I got over-excited at the prospect of tearing an enemy apart with my bare hands," Cassidy admitted, getting a light smack to the back of her head from Ashe.
"If someone dropped a las-cannon in front of you, you'd forget yourself to grab and test it out," said Ashe with a hint of a chastising tone in her voice.
Cassidy gave a small smirk while she rubbed her head where it had been hit. Ashe looked away from Cassidy to Lauf, "Big brother. Do we have to worry about you losing control about this? Should we inform Major Korrel and have him…"
"No!" exclaimed Lauf suddenly. The sharpness in Lauf's response made the four jump slightly while they could see Lauf's hands had tightened into fists before he took a moment to calmed himself.
"I'm sorry. But it would be better if Major Korrel did not know. He has enough to worry about without his men having to fear me losing control in the middle of a fight. When the Orks come I assure you there will be enough for everyone to be kept busy without being concerned about my control. As long as I am pointed at the Orks, only the greenskins have to worry about how much I keep control of my frost-axe and sword," said Lauf with a proud smirk, as he tapped the top of his weapons, bringing prompting the small smiles to form on the faces of the four. Astra stepped forward and wrapped her arms gently around Lauf's waist, much to his surprise, but he did not push her away.
The older girl held the hug for a little bit longer before she finally broke it off, still looking at Lauf, "I had no idea you had this sort of burden to carry big brother. You won't have to carry it alone. Will he Sisters?" Astra glanced back at the three.
"No you won't," Ashe said with a smile while Cassidy looked up from her fingernails which she had been looking at, a bit bored with some of the parts of the conversation.
"It seems that being around you will be much more exciting than simply waiting around here," said Cassidy grinned as she took a step forward to stand beside Astra and Ashe. All eyes turned to look at Ella who stood a bit behind where the three had been.
She looked into each of the older servants of the Emperor before finally looking at Lauf, "I was a girl lied to by the Ecclesiarchy. Stolen from my home, given a false identity and I accepted it. Now that I know the truth. I want to be around those who I consider real family." She smiled, "So big brother. If it means you will not lose control of yourself. I will happily be with you when you finally get that traitor in your hands." She said as she walked up to fill the empty spot with the three girls in front of Lauf. He had no idea that Ashe was thinking about the strange spectral figures she had seen when she had helped him turn back from the Wulfen form to his true body. She wondered who exactly they were and what they meant by the fact they could not help him, but Ashe and the other girls could. Unaware of the worry in Ashe's mind Lauf smiled at the four. Young girls and not with who did not have any of the enhancements a Space Marine had, but they had the heart and stubbornness of any other Space Marine. They reminded him of an old tale that came from his homeworld, of women who had fought alongside the Primarch Leman Russ before he had become king of the tribes. Warriors who had fought as hard if not harder than the men who were with Russ. But for the life of him he could not currently remember what those women were called. 'Allfather why could I not have a Skall here to remember that tale?' Lauf thought to himself, but kept the thought from his face as he felt the bond strengthen between them.
"Thank you. All of you," Lauf said as he looked at the four girls. A small smile creeped onto his lips as he brought them all into a group hug. Thanks to the number of them his strong arms and armour did not crush their bones by accident. The tender moment is suddenly ended when Lauf noticed a scent he had not smelled for several months come from the road leading towards the bastion. Turning his head to see the road his smile turned into an open frown while a growl came from his throat. He could see several vehicles bearing the colours of the local Adepta Sororitas Convent driving towards the bastion. Among the vehicles he could see a few Rhinos, a pair of Immolators and even an Exorcist. Gently letting go of the girls he moved so they could not see the vehicles.
"Wait here," he said before he started walking down the stairs from the wall of the bastion towards the gate. The girls all looked at Lauf walking away from them, confused about what was happening until they saw the convoy of Sororitas' vehicles. All four gave each other looks of fear and worry. If they were right these Sisters were coming for them. Lauf reached the bottom of the stairs just as several dozen guardsmen ran towards the gates. One squad ran past him up the stairs to get on top of the wall as he continued towards the entrance to the fort. His hands gripped the hilts of his sword and axe, ready to pull them out if trouble began. As he came through the gate he saw all the defensive turrets and firing slits in the walls had soldiers at them with weapons pointed at the Sisters of Battle as they rolled up to the gate. As he stood behind the line of guardsmen who had positioned themselves between the gate and the Sisters of Battle who stopped in front of them. Watching the Sisters Lauf could see an elite group of Sisters exit one of the Rhinos and establish a perimeter. Shortly after the last Sister took up a position the Canoness who Lauf had faced down before came out, followed by Seraphim Riviel and those Sisters he had not put down like the dogs they are. They all looked at the guardsmen as if they were bits of garbarge that stood on their path. Lauf was not the only one who noticed these looks.
Kaz also saw them but did not immediately mention them while he stared directly at the Canoness. "This is an honour Canoness. To what do I owe the pleasure of you and your Sisters arrival?" Kaz asked, ever the respectful guardsman officer even while the Sisters glared at him.
"You have some traitors in your midst Major. And I want them returned to my Convent to face punishment for their crimes," Canoness Galolis stated as her Sisters cocked their weapons, causing the guardsmen to hold their weapons up at the ready, aimed directly at specific Sisters. Even if the Sisters handheld weapons had a bigger punch than the guardsmen's las-rifles, there was more than a dozen guardsmen to each Sister present and with their heavy weapons they more than out-gunned the Sisters of Battle right now. So if they did something as stupid as try to force whatever issue they came here for, it would be a bloodbath. Lauf grinned as the Sisters clearly saw the reality of their situation.
Their fingers moved away from the triggers of their weapons while the Canoness kept her eyes focused on Kaz. "I'm afraid Canoness that I do not know what it is you speak of," Kaz commented, remaining calm and controlled. He stood with his hands folded behind his back resting on the point of his hips while his feet were kept slightly apart, showing how relaxed he was even with the Canoness glaring at him, "All that are here are my soldiers, the conscripts we collected to give us a better chance against the coming Orks and the construction battalions gifted to us by this planet's government. And of course my lord Space Wolf." He motioned to Lauf behind him with a slight lean of his head, making Seraphim Riviel and her dogs look at him with murder in their eyes. Lauf stayed in the same place while his hands rested on his weapon-hilts. The sight of the weapons made some of the Sisters shiver a bit in fear. Even with their faith and certainty in their own purity, they had seen and felt the bite of those weapons. Lauf's confidence in his own actions infuriated the Sisters who believed what they were doing was correct, and it was the only thing that was be correct.
But they held their tongues and fire while the Canoness spoke up, "Three months ago there was a raid on my convent. Three Sisters being punished for their failure were kidnapped from their repentance posts. There was also a young Hospitaller medicae who was kidnapped along with the repentents." The Canoness explained as she took a step closer to Kaz, "Some of my Sisters told me that a Chimera with your forces' colours was used as an escape vehicle. And the turret was manned by some woman with your colours." Lauf did not see it, but his enhanced hearing heard the sound of a hand slap tightly over a mouth. He had no doubt that was Fumes clamping Lazie's mouth shut before she said anything about the rescue. The silent mumblings he could hear told him Lazie did not appreciate her sergeant's action, even if he had done the right thing.
Of course none of the Sisters or Kaz had heard the small event going on behind them while Kaz brought one hand up to tap his chin, "Hmm… That is strange. Three months ago I had heard one of the chimeras I sent on a supply run had been taken by some young men and women of the nobility for a joy-ride. They might have decided to cause trouble for you my lady Canoness. I did speak with the Nobles of the spire. You know how they behave when you try to tell them that their scions cannot just take military equipment for their own personal use. Of course I got the Chimera and my soldiers back unharmed and the noble families promised they would deal with their children."
The Canoness clearly did not believe the story, but if she wanted to press it, she would now have to go speak with the Nobles who had barricaded themselves up in the spires of the Hive Cities. She did not want to speak with those spoiled, pampered pains right now.
"We both know that soon there is a horde of Greenskins coming to burn and pillage this world. If we don't stand united against this threat. Then we can die alone," Kaz calmly explained the situation, to the Canoness' frustrated agreement. She was not a foolish woman. She understood that they all needed to fight together, secure in their faith in the divine Emperor in order to defeat the Orks that were coming.
"Very well Major. My Sisters and I will depart to prepare. But I warn you, if you survive this battle we will be back to learn the truth about what happened here," she warned before turning and walking back towards her transports. As she did, Seraphim Riviel stood a little while longer glaring at Lauf before she followed her leader. The Sisters all loaded back into the Rhinos and as one the Sister convoy turned and drove away from the guardsmen bastion to the grinning pleasure of the soldiers from Armageddon. Their commander had just put the Canoness of those religious zealots in their place without a shot needing to be fired. It did a lot to boost the soldiers' already high morale knowing that the Sisters of Battle could not simply push them around whenever the urge hit them and their commander wouldn't stand by and let it happen. They waited until the Sisters' vehicles were out of earshot before some guardsman shouted, "Three cheers for the Major lads! Hip hip!"
"Hooray!" The soldiers all shouted their support for their commander while he turned around and walked towards Lauf as the cheers continued. Once he got close enough to Lauf he could see the Major was shaking a little bit. He was young and clearly had experience in combat, but even that was an ordeal for the Major.
"My lord. Thank you for letting me handle that. It did a lot for my men," Kaz said, respectful of Lauf still even here.
"Major. All my interference would have done is caused some of your men to be killed by those fanatics. That I would not forgive myself for. Besides, it does a lot to remind such a full-of herself leader like that Canoness and her Sisters that just because you're a guardsmen of the Imperium does not mean that you are worth any less than they are," Lauf said, making the Major smile slightly.
"I am thankful for that my lord. I have heard many stories of Astartes who see the guard as nothing more than a shield to absorb enemy fire while they proceed to go and win all manner of glory in the God-Emperor's name," said Kaz in response.
"That is not the way of the Vlka Fenryka, Major. My Jarl, Logan Grimnar, has no time for the Administratium, the Ecclisarchy, or the Inquisition. But for the regular soldiers and citizens each and every single one of us would take on an entire army to save a few thousand human lives," Lauf's statement could be heard by many guardsmen around the gate where the two stood. Lauf noticed they all held their weapons a bit tighter and stood more proudly on their spots at the wall.
Kaz also noticed the looks of his soldiers and smiled, "Thank you my lord. Your words and presence is going to do more than an entire company of any other chapter to boost my men's determination to fight."
Lauf knew this was mostly bluster. He would prefer having the rest of his Great Company and the Jarl of all Space Wolves here to fight against the Orks. But for now if his presence gave the guardsmen a boost in morale that did not come at the end of a Commissar's las-pistol, then he was fine with letting this belief persist, "When the greenskins finally arrive, I will show what a son of Russ can truly do Major. Now you best see to your men. We don't have much time before the Orks arrive, and every minute we spend preparing means some more dead Orks and a better chance for your men to live through this fight."
Kaz nodded as Lauf began to walk away from him back towards where he left the four girls. As he left he could hear the Major call out for his sub-commanders and commissar to get the final stages of their defences prepared. Lauf let his teeth show in a small girn. They would survive this battle with men like the Major to command the guard.
Back inside the section of the bastion they had taken as their own residence, the four girls who were now with Lauf sat around doing small tasks to help the guard. Ashe and Ella were wrapping bandages they had made from sheets they had 'requisitioned' from some abandoned houses after its people had fled into the relative safety of the Hive cities and their giant, heavily fortified walls. Already the two had managed to fill an entire wall compartment's worth of bandages and they had several dozen more sheets to turn into bandages, ready to be used for the inevitable casualties that would come into the medicae. While the two wrapped up the bandages, Astra and Cassidy were busy charging las-packs and loading ammo-belts into packs to go to the trenches. All four put their whole effort into the tasks they were completing, but their hearts were not in the tasks like they usually would be, not even Ella's. They had seen the Sisters arrive and expected at any moment to be dragged out of the bastion and back to the Convent to face punishment for 'deserting'. That thought did not make them all that excited to stay waiting there and made them very jumpy. When they heard the door begin to open Ashe and Cassidy jump out of their seats with small spikes they had made from pieces of metal they had put together, ready to attack whatever Sisters tried to drag them out of there. When they saw the colour of the armour that was opening the door they immediately calm down and smiled as Lauf walked inside the room. Ella put down the bandage she was wrapping into a ball and rushed forward.
Her jump and hug caused Lauf to gasp a bit in surprise as she put her arms against his abdomen in a loving hug "Big brother! You came to say goodbye to us?" she asked, looking up at his face, sneezing a bit when Lauf's beard tickled her nose, making Lauf chuckle as he moved his beard so it was not tickling her anymore while she continued to hug him as tightly as she could, her arms not able to wrap around his body and armour.
"No little pup. I am not saying goodbye to any of you any time so soon," Lauf explained as the girls all looked at him, confused by his certainty in his statement. Lauf noticed the confusion coming from the girls and continued smiling, "The Canoness had come to try and drag all four of you back to their little Convent to suffer for choosing to join us in actually fighting what is coming." He raised one hand up to silence the questions and comments that he could see where about to come out of their mouths, "Fortunately for all of us, the young Major has shown that he has more courage than arrogance. Which is quite a different state than what I have encountered with most guard officers. It is a nice change. And it gives me assurance that you will not be taken simply because the Canoness shows up demanding it." Lauf gave the four a very large grin, letting them all see his extended fangs and canine-white teeth, "We are all in good hands. And when the Orks finally do arrive. Which by now should not be too long, the Major will likely shame that Canoness to come out and join the battle. Either directly as he did today, or through his simple command of the defences. After all, no self respecting member of the Adepta Sororitas would want to let a bunch of guardsmen show them up in fighting against a bunch of xenos." Lauf laughed a little at the mental image he just created as he pictured the Major and his guard standing proudly over the pile of Ork corpses while the Sisters of Battle had to bow before them because they hid inside their Convent instead of coming out to fight against the Orks. The girls giggled a litte, able to see the image as well and making them feel a bit more relaxed alongside the knowledge that they are being protected from their former commander's attempts to drag them away.
Just as Ashe was about to speak they can hear an alarm begin to drown out all other sounds from outside the room, "Is that…."
"They've arrived," Lauf stated as he moved his hands away from Ella's sides and pulled the axe and sword from his hips before he began running out of the room followed by the four girls to see what was going on. As they came out of the inside of the bastion they could see bright lights in the sky, indicating the places where the large defensive batteries in the Hive Cities fired at the Ork ships which had finally arrived above Grael Major. Small burning flashes across the sky brought cheers from the guardsmen and conscripts when an Ork ship fell apart from that defensive fire even before the Orks had landed. Lauf spared the explosions above only a momentary glance before he started running to find the Major. He wanted to quickly confer with him before he went into the trenches and he wished to find out if anything had changed as a result of the confrontation with the Canoness. He took a few whiffs of the air, picking up the scent of the Major and ran.
He moved around groups of soldiers running towards the trench systems as he headed towards the Major's location where he could see several guardsmen officers standing around the Major listening to him give them some final orders. Just when he arrived the officers all left the Major to carry out whatever he had told them to do.
Kaz looked around and saw Lauf approach, "My lord. Time to see whether or not all these defences I've planned out will actually save a few more of my men's lives against these Orks. Especially now that I can see that there are far more Orks that I planned for," Kaz admitted as he looked over his planning map.
"You do realize that with so many Orks. It just means one thing," said Lauf, a humming sound comes from his axe and sword as the power-fields activate on them. "It just means that there are more Ork heads for your soldiers to collect at the end of this battle," he said with a toothy grin . "Now I'm going out to the front-line and show those little troops of yours how to truly kill the Emperor's enemies."
His purposeful over-confidence in his skills did help reassure Kaz and he nodded to Lauf, "Very well my lord. I will send a message to the commander there to let her know you're coming."
"Better make sure your commander also knows that I will do anything possible to kill as many Orks and save as many of your soldiers' lives as I can. Even if that means I have to lop their heads off to stop a stupid order," Lauf spoke honestly to Kaz. The Major had proven himself worthy enough to be told the full truth and understand the reality of Lauf and what he would do to save Imperial citizens' lives. Kaz had come to understand what type of Space Marine Lauf was and what he was going to do. So he was not going to try and tell the Space Wolf he could not go and do something. As the old saying among the guard went, "The best way to get a Space Wolf to do something was to tell him not to do it." Kaz knew this was a fight he would not win if he tried to pull any sort of rank over Lauf, not that it mattered anyway. As a Space Marine, Lauf did not have to answer to him or most Imperial guard officers. The respect he had currently been shown made Kaz feel very inclined to let Lauf do what he wanted/needed to do,
"I understand my lord. Take care of yourself. I hope to try some of that ale your homeworld is known for when this is over," Kaz smiled at Lauf as he started to put his rebreather helmet on.
"Don't worry Major. I will make certain you get an entire barrel after this," Lauf grinned before he looked up and saw burning lights flying across the sky. The first Roks to break through the defensive fire to come towards the surface of Grael Major. He smiled as his enhanced brain calculated the trajectory of the Roks and figured out they were heading exactly where the Guard had planned for them to land on. Lauf did not have to ask if the guard had figured this out too as the shockwaves from the earthshaker cannons in the bastion and within the trenches began to fire, "Time to show these Orks Imperial steel," Lauf said before he started off towards the trenches, running through the gates of the bastion just as they opened to let a platoon of conscripts out to make their way towards the support trenches where they would man all the static defences there and reap a bloody toll on the Orks who were coming.
As he ran into the trenches Lauf moved by guardsmen making all the last minute preparations in their positions. All these guardsmen stopped this and moved out of to the sides of their trenches when Lauf came through. Many cheers went up when the guardsmen saw him, but none were foolish enough to stay in his path as Lauf ran through the reserve trench sections of the guardsmen line. The steady fire of the earthshaker artillery made everything present rock slightly from their shockwaves and the ears of those who had never heard them before ring as the soldiers began taking their positions on the side of the trenches facing towards the place the artillery was firing at. Lauf felt the shocks and smirked. He had seen the aftermath of a guardsmen artillery bombardment. After this he imagined the area they were hitting was currently being turned into the landscape of an asteroid cratered moon. Turning down one trench Lauf got the chance to see the signs the guard had put up, "Helsreach point." And "von Strabb's home" the two signs said, indicating the start of the support trench lines and the trench latrine to be used only during emergencies, named in honour of the incompetent planetary governor of Armageddon who had very nearly allowed the world to be lost thanks to his stupidity and foolish military decisions.
'Seems even guardsmen have a sense of humour. Who would've thought?' Lauf joked to himself as he took the path towards Helsreach point trenches while passing a guardswoman on her way to von Strabb's home to 'leave a gift for the governor' as they called it. Running along the bottom of the trench Lauf watched as one guardsman showed two conscripts some last-minute pointers to help them man the heavy bolter they were in charge of handling. Such small incidents were occurring all along the support and reserve trenches that Lauf had run through as the veterans made sure their conscript charges were focused on their tasks rather than panicking over the coming Ork assault even while their artillery kept firing. None of the guardsmen were foolish enough to believe as some of the conscripts naively thought, that the heavy artillery was completely destroying the Ork invasion and thus they would not need to fight the Orks at all. The guardsmen of Armageddon had fought the Orks enough to know the greenskins were 'right tough bastards' as they called them and even with all those artillery firing, many Orks would still survive and come at them. And now they would angry over being attacked from such a distance when they could not fire back. And angry Orks were quicker to come looking for a fight. So they prepared for the incoming tide as best they could in these final minutes of 'calm' before the true storm finally arrived.
As Lauf ran down the trench towards the frontline trench called "Hades' Dominion" in honour of where the hero Commissar Yarrick made his stand against the Orks he could see the stern faces of the guardsmen more clearly as they climbed onto the firing step of their trenches. The soldiers nodded to Lauf as he passed. He smirked as he continued moving through the trench. He was glad they kept their weapons up and towards the location the Orks would be coming from. The sound of more artillery pieces opening up told Lauf the Orks were getting closer with each passing minute. A loud hissing sound drew Lauf's attention over to a Manticore artillery piece nearby as its missiles shot off its racks to unleash their deadly ordinance on the Orks. The missiles leave trails of smoke marking their path towards their destination while Lauf finally reached the frontline trench "Hades' Dominion" where he could see a Steel Legion Captain giving orders out to soldiers climbing back onto their side of the trench.
"Get moving you lot! You're not on the parade square like a bunch of Mordians strutting down the street!" A woman's voice comes from behind the mask. "You're guardsmen of Armageddon! You want to do something that Commissar Yarrick hears about and feels disappointed?" Her question gets a resounding "NO!" from the Steel Legionnaires in the trench as they finished setting up their weapons and manning their positions. The captain turned around and looked at Lauf, "There you are my lord. Glad you are here to join the party."
Lauf nodded, "I'm going to show you and your boys how to properly kill Orks captain."
He said, flashing her a grin that made her laugh, "Well my lord. Let's see you do it. In the meantime we're going to show you how guardsmen of Armageddon kill Greenskins." The captain stated when they can feel the ground begin to tremble, "Here they come." The captain drew her chainsword from her hip.
Lauf walked around the captain and climbed onto the side of the trench and glanced over the parapet beside a heavy bolter position. He could see the explosions from the guard artillery and now minefields were blowing entire groups of Orks apart as the tide of greenskins came running towards them. The main guard weapons stayed silent as a roar of "WAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!" erupted from the Orks as random bullets flew out of the Ork horde towards the Imperial lines, who kept running in spite of the dangers. Some of the Orks who were blown apart keep trying to crawl towards the guardsmen in spite of losing their legs or arms, or half their bodies from the Imperial artillery. As the Orks got closer more Imperial artillery opened up until all pieces from the heavy basilisks down to the individual squad mortars were firing at regular intervals, putting as much ordinance down on the Orks as they could. But still the main line held their fire while the Orks continued to charge.
When the Orks got within 500 metres to the guardsmen frontline Lauf heard the captain shout, "For Armageddon! For Yarrick!" All down the trench las-weapons and heavy weapon systems opened up, sending a hail of laser and slugs towards the Orks. The frontline of Orks fall to the ground riddled with holes in their heads and other parts that would be considered central organs. Lauf grinned as the guardsmen continue to fire in steady, controlled motions as the Orks pile up in front of their trenches. The Steel Legionnaires fire away as the Orks start to fire back with their shootas, rattling away with cheers of "WAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHH" from the greenskins as they continue to try and reach the guardsmen trenches. Any time the Orks try to split and attack from the flanks they run into another minefield the guardsmen had buried on the different sides of their trenches. Of course the Orks do not stop, simply running in the areas where previous Orks had already blown up the mines. Even with the heavy firepower and the piles of Ork building up the greenskin tide slowly moved towards the humans. The guardsmen do not panic as these approaching, raging and eager for violence Orks get closer. Instead they simply continue firing their weapons, stopping every so often to reload their weapons, taking them off the line for only a few seconds before they go back to firing away. Lauf held his weapons tightly as he saw them get closer. Soon the Orks would be inside the trenches and then the guardsmen would be in trouble.
But when the Orks get to within a few hundred metres melta, flamers and some of the buried tanks added into the defensive line unleash their terrible weapons. They incinerated Orks in the path of the weapons as the scene began to look like something out of a true Armageddon nightmare as fires, burning bodies, explosions and incredible amounts of ordinance being fired across the open ground. The screams of agony as Orks are burned, blown apart, shot through, or disintegrated managed to come over all other sounds while Lauf watched the Orks get closer and closer. Finally one Ork Nob managed to make it through the entire wall of Imperial guard firepower. He leapt into the air, choppa ready to come down on a guardsman's head. Just as he got close to the guardsman his choppa got blocked by Lauf's axe as he also swung his sword up, burying it through the Ork's gut. The Nob shouted in pain right before Lauf quickly let go of his axe and punched him so hard that his head flew into the wall of the trench. The Nob twitched a few times and then lay still. Lauf quickly picked his axe up and attacked the next Ork to rush into the trench. Tackling the Ork he knocked him against the wall and stabbed him through the neck when he grunted forward as an Ork choppa him across the back as another Ork came up behind him. Grunting he spun around, driving his axe into the Ork's head. The energy field surrounding the blade cut through the Ork's flesh, bone and brain matter until its head peeled open like a flower. Just as he took his weapons out of the dead Orks more Orks rushed into the trench and started to surround him. He spun around to attack the nearest pair when four Orks fell to the ground with bolter rounds in their heads. The guard in the trench had moved away from the close quarters' fighting so it could not have been them who had shot these Orks while Lauf decapitated the other two. As the heads fall to the ground he turned to see who had shot the other Greenskins,
"You think just 'cause we don't have our equipment we're useless big brother?" Astra demanded as she, Ashe and Cassidy all carried regular bolters they must have taken from somewhere else.
Even though they had the weapons in hand Lauf could see it was a struggle to continue holding them, "No I don't. I just did not want to bring you here when you were serving such a useful role back at the bastion." Lauf explained as the four joined him inside the trench,.
"Well. We're here now. And we're going to help these men and women to deal with these greenskin bastards!" Cassidy exclaimed as she eyed the heavy bolter manned by two guardsmen. Lauf looked at the four girls and was about to tell them exactly where they were about to move to when a sound made him look up at the sky. When he looked up he could see a light directly above them, "OUT OF THE WAY!" He lunged forward and pushed all four girls aside as a drop-pod suddenly crashed into the ground right where they just were. Lauf spun around expecting at first Orks to rush out of the pod. But his surprise was replaced with confusion as he looked at the drop-pod. It had Space Wolf colours on it, and with the emblem of the Great Wolf on the sides. 'Why is a drop pod of the Jarl here?'Lauf wondered as the doors of the pod opened.
Ashe ran up and looked inside. Whatever she saw inside made her smile, "Hey girls! Come inside here!" She shouted to the other three who quickly ran inside the pod, leaving Lauf alone in the trench. He wanted to peek inside the pod before he climbed back up onto the fire step to see over the trench. He saw another group of Orks coming towards him while other Orks ran towards other parts of the trenches. Stepping back down into the centre of the trench Lauf waited for the Orks to arrive with both his weapons at the ready. The dozen approaching Orks run into the trench and immediately rush towards Lauf. The first two that get close fire their hand-held shootas which miss him completely while he ran towards them and swung his axe and sword. Both weapons cleave through the greenskin flesh with very little resistance as he spun around and stabbed one Ork through the chest with his sword on his right while he swung his axe up to bury one side of the axe through the gut and inside its chest.
The Ork with his frost axe in its chest roared before reaching to grab onto Lauf while other Orks rush towards him as his weapons were inside the two. He growled while trying to remove the weapons to face these enemies. Just as one of these Orks was about to swing its choppa to cut through Lauf's neck there was a loud burst of bolter fire that tore the new Orks apart. Lauf grunted as he pulled his weapons out of the two Orks and smiled at what he saw. In front of the drop-pod he could see the four girls. But before they had mis-matched clothes and old bolters. Now they stood proudly wearing power armour and carrying well-crafted weapons. What made him smile even more was the colours of the armour. They were the dull grey-blue with wolf-pelts draped over their shoulders of the Vlka Fenryka. Ashe smiled at him as she held the new bolter with a snarling wolf on the barrel, "Did you come up with this for us big brother?" she asked as Lauf grinned while Ella approached. She did not have any weapon in her hands, just a large satchel carrying plenty of medical supplies,
"This was inside the pod big brother. It's for you," she said as she held a dataslate out for Lauf to read. He took it and carefully read its contents. As he read it Ashe and Astra watched both sides of the trench while Cassidy ran up to the firing-step and sprayed any Orks who tried to take advantage of this small lull with her new heavy bolter. After a few minutes Lauf put the dataslate away,
"I believe it's time to move. We need to stay with the guard as they fight. These Orks are not going to get this world. Not if we can help it," Lauf gave the command and the four gathered around him, "Come….. Valkyria." He smiled as the four all stood a bit taller at their new titles and fell in behind Lauf, running towards the sounds of fighting further over in the trenches. They knew this was going to be tough, but now the pack was together and the Orks would learn how much difference this would make.
Above Grael Major the few defence monitors that had not already been destroyed by Ork kroozers were trying to stop more Orks from being transported down to the planet's surface. But the second-line ships were barely a match for one kroozer, let alone several. While these ships fought for their lives a lone strike cruiser moved away from the planet. The crew of the Space Wolf ship grinned as their bombardment cannon hit one of the smaller Ork ships right in a weak point, causing it to disintegrate in the void. They had achieved their mission, dropping off the equipment Garjek Blackhand had built for lone wolf Redclaw and this group he had gathered and now they had some kills to go with it. Now they hoped their brother found his prey, kill him and return home to the Aett. But they did not think about for too long as the strike cruiser charged up its engine and flew into the warp, returning to other battles elsewhere in the galaxy.
TO BE CONTINUED…
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter has taken a fair amount of time to post and I apologise. Unfortunately the next 12ish months are going to make things very spotty for posting new chapters. I will still do my best to post as often as I can. But I ask that you all continue reading and please post what you think of the chapters. If you wish to offer suggestions to make new chapters better I always appreciate it. But I do not like people giving it scores. Everyone has their own opinions, and yours could be very different than mine.
Thank you, ICW.
