Desecration

Ok, to fill in the gaps on this one, originally the wolves were to keep fighting on Orpheous and part way through a battle the Grey knights landed in search of a demonic presence that they have detected on the planet and begin aiding the wolves in their battles. More recently the Grey Knights start attempting to assert command over the wolves and Ferrus doesn't take kindly to this, leading to the following. Also keep in mind Ferrus' faith has been shaken of late and he's turned some what brutal in mindset and actions.

Also keep in mind this is not canon, this is purely something toyed with using to end my part in the tale, but decided to use legacy instead.

Legacy

This the final Canon Tale fluff segment, theres one more to come, but this is how the story ends in the tale

Ferrus halted Tyr as they reached the encampment. Dark smoke billowed from some unseen object the other side of the prefab buildings in front of him. Ferrus dismounted, slowly treading forwards, behind him the wolf guard had followed suit and walked towards him until Ferrus raised a hand. He turned gesturing to Jaegor he ushered him over. Jaegor jogged as swiftly as his armour would allow with wolves in tow, crouching next to Ferrus trying to determine what had caught his interest.

“Jaegor, you have been preparing for this moment ever since you took your oath. Are you ready to do what is required of you?” Ferrus asked looking coldly into Jaegor’s eyes. With a slight touch of bewilderment Jaegor swiftly replied.

“Aye M’ilord, I shall carry out my duty as you have requested.” Ferrus nodded and walked slowly towards the building, Jaegor a few steps behind. They trudged slowly until they rounded the corner, only to be met by two more buildings. From here the smell of whatever was burning was incredibly pungent and even the strong stomachs of the marines felt somewhat unsettled. Ferrus turned to Jaegor.

“Take that side and on my signal, strike our foe. But, not before.” Jaegor nodded and as silently as possible walked round to the right. Ferrus watched as he disappeared from view, feeling the weight of his frost axe and shield he slowly walked towards the smoke column still hanging in the sky.

Mustering of Middenheim

Hi guys, apologies it has been a long time between posts once again. Since last the post the 40k tale has ended, due to most of us running out of will to keep on unfortunately. However, this does mean I will soon be putting up the final fluff entries to tie up the storyline of Ferrus' battles on Orpheous. Meanwhile I have been doing some delving into other systems and trying to reignite my enthusiasm in the hobby, as I've got to say the speed at which Game Workshop keep churning out release has taken it's toll lately. So recently I took a look at a game system called Infinity, by a company call Corvus Beli, I've yet to play a game, but having seen the models (which are incredibly nice) I can only urge anyone who hasn't already, go look up the website and give it a shot. It's a skirmish game so it's relatively fast pace from what I've been told, also there's no sitting doing nothing while your opponent takes his turn as the players take turn as active and reactive (meaning while the active player moves models the reactive player can act in response to these actions).

Also as the title suggests I've been delving into Warhammer Fantasy Battles, starting up an Empire Middenheim army. Starting at 1000 points it goes something like this:

Crucible

Skarvald sat in his seat, checking and double checking his bolter, saying a quiet prayer to it’s machine spirit as he did so. He continued to do so until the crackle of static echoed through the cabin of the Rhino, only to be broken by the sound of Ferrus booming in it’s place.

“Wolves, we are near the Dorviaus Rift. You all have your orders, you know what you have to do. Don’t deviate from the plan. We shall destroy the Xenos threat here and now.”

A cacophony of cheers and roars replaced the static as Skarvald turned to the viewscreen. Punching in a series of commands, the viewscreen flashed to life, displaying a barren grey landscape, characterised by a few gaping chasms in the ground and abandoned mining buildings. No sign of Necrons or anything  Skarvald thought, he felt uneasy, following their run in with the Dark Angels many of the wolves had become unsure of Ferrus’ leadership. Quiet murmurs had reached the ears of Tor, who had in turn quashed them and gained something of a quiet following in doing so. This also made Skarvald somewhat wary, but I am a warrior, these thoughts have no place, not in the time of battle. Looking to his brothers in the rhino he silenced these thoughts, turning to the viewscreen once more, the satisfying click of the bolter’s hammer silencing his thoughts, he smiled, once more into battle.

Tor looked across the battlefield, Ferrus and the Thunderwolves were taking their position between two mining buildings, just short of the garish open space, pocked by the many chasms, to their left the rhinos were parked up behind a building, their engines barely making any noise in an effort to maintain an element of surprise. The third Grey Hunter squad and Jaegor held down the right flank, the Grey Hunters taking up positions in one of the derelict mining buildings, with Jaegor stood a few hundred metres away with his wolf companions. Tor felt an odd energy pulsing through the air, it was close. The thing that it sought was close at hand now, soon it would be in it’s possession and the end game could begin. Casting his eye back over the Long Fangs he noticed Lief giving him an odd look, before Lief turned away. He suspects, he may need to be removed. Tor shook his head, the gift of channelling the runes had taken a greater toll of him recently, though he’d become more open to these occurrences, he knew it went against every oath he had made since joining the ranks of the Space Wolves, but a part of him wished to give in to the soft whispers in the back of his mind. Noticing Lief once more glancing over to him he silenced his thoughts, now is not the time, but accidents can happen.

Ferrus cast steady eye over his forces, everything was set, all that was left was to wait. Suddenly Ferrus’ vox link crackled to life and a familiar voice spoke.

“Ferrus, you hearing this?”

“Garrus? Have you completed the scans as requested?” A brief pause followed.

“Aye, they’re done and there’s some inconsistencies.” Ferrus’ face crumpled in slight confusion.

“What do you mean exactly?”

“Well firstly, I’m registering no Necron energy signatures at the rift, in fact no signatures within several hundred miles of your location, there is something heading your way and at some speed.” Ferrus signalled to the Thunderwolves who in turn readied their weapons. “There’s more, we recently noted a warp signature entering the system, we’ve been tracking them, but we lost them due to interference we haven’t pinned down.” The link died for a few seconds, before crackling back to life. “Ferrus you’ve got several inbound objects… can’t get a lock on them, they’ll be on you in a matter of hours.” As Garrus uttered the words several explosions pounded the ground near the Long Fangs as several bolts impacted on the outer walls of the building they occupied. On the horizon Ferrus could make out several black box shapes kicking up clouds in their wake, before Ferrus could make out anything more he found himself being thrown by the sudden movement of Tyr leaping out of the way of a Lascannon blast. Ferrus flicked his vox on as Tyr dodged a second shot, linking to Lief.

“Lief, we could use some covering fire.

Lief peered out of the window eying up the vehicles charging towards the wolves’ lines, before ducking back to avoid a rapid barrage of sniper fire.

“I hear you Ferrus, just got a little lead problem ourselves.” Chuckling softly at Ferrus’ gruff response. “We’ll do what we can.” Turning back to the window he peered to the far left of the battlefield, noticing a large cannon deployed upon the roof of a drilling platform. Turning to Tor and a pair of Long Fangs he pointed it out to them. “I  need you to take out that cannon.” The Long Fangs nodded and moved to better vantage points, Lief looked to Tor. “Time to bring the lightning brother.” Tor smiled nodding slightly, his eyes turning an electric blue as electricity crackled up and down the length of his staff before leaping from Tor’s outstretched hand, racing towards the cannon. The rockets impacted into the building, showering the cannon and it’s operator in debris, however the lightning struck the Cannon, doing very little from what Lief could make out, but not many could withstand Tor’s lightning unscathed. Turning his attention to the nearest black vehicle he watched as two lascannon shots lanced towards it, the first falling just shy of the front of the vehicle, the second blasting the hull mounted weapon, the main cannon letting loose a cloud of black smoke as the two guns either side glowed green before firing in response. Lief squinted slightly attempting to make out the symbol emblazoned on the side door, noting the cog motif with a skull inside, he linked his vox to Ferrus. “Ferrus, we need to make contact with the enemy commander, unless I’m mistaken, we’re not fighting Chaos, we’re fighting the Iron Hands legion.”

Ferrus received the communication, for a moment he did not know whether or not to believe it. Turning to his wolf guard he sought their advice, for the most part they could not believe the information. It was only when Berek spoke up that a consensus was met.

“We should fight to their commander and if he is as Lief suggests an Iron Hand there is a chance that we can resolve this madness.” Ferrus nodded, linking his vox to the rest of the company.

“Grey Hunters, hold your position, we need to hold this ground. Long Fangs, disabling shots where possible, take out their weapons. Jaegor, you run distraction make as much noise and do what damage you can, but if you find their commander I want him alive.” Turning to the wolf guard he clicked the vox off. “You’re all with me, we’re going to hit the enemy with our full ferocity, let us show them the fury of Russ’s legion.”

Having heard the vox Jaegor ran towards the enemy lines, his wolf companions running just in front of him. A barrage of bolter fire greeted them as they ran, mostly either bouncing off Jaegor’s armour and shield or simply missing all together. Jaegor roared as he leapt over a chasm and using the momentum from his jump launched into the nearest rhino, the wolves close behind. The lead wolf bounded off the front plate ripping the vehicle’s storm bolter in it’s jaws, the other ripped some plating with it’s claws, Jaegor grinned as he plunged his chain fist into the rhino’s hull bringing the vehicle to a shuddering halt. At the back of the vehicle there was a large bang, followed by several thunderous noises that Jaegor could only assume were footfalls. Climbing atop of the wreckage of the rhino he came face to face with a large amount of black armoured space marines as well as three black vehicles which Jaegor recognised as a rhino, razorback and a vindicator. Clicking his vox link to Ferrus, he yelled.

“Vindicator!”

Ferrus clicked an acknowledgement just as a shell from the vindicator landed just in front of Berek, causing his wolf to fall to one side with a bone crunching snap. The remainder of the squad smashed into the middle of a bike squad, tearing through them with ease as tooth, claw, chain sword and frost axe sliced through bike and armour with ease. Bringing Tyr about, Ferrus turned to face the swathes of black power armoured figures who in turn opened fire with bolters, plasma guns and melta guns. At first their armour held and shells harmlessly bounced away however the tide of bolts combined with the plasma bolts burning through the wolves’ armour slowly whittled down the wolves’ numbers until only Ferrus remained.

“Come out and face me!” He yelled. “If you are a true  warrior, come out and face me!” His response came in the sound of many bolter hammers clicking as fresh magazines were inserted.

Skarvald ordered his squad from their rhino, running towards the third grey hunter’s position. Several sniper bolts struck at them from across the battlefield, a few of the squad fell as some of the bolts found their mark. Skarvald leapt for cover as more explosions and shells impacted not far from their position. Peering from the outcrop he had crouched behind he saw a small black boxy looking vehicle flying overhead. Once more it unleashed a volley in their direction, in response Skarvald’s squad once again hunkered down waiting till the flyer zoomed overhead, slowing and turning as it took aim at the building the third grey hunter squad currently had taken refuge in. Skarvald stood firing wildly at the flyer, but made no noticeable impact, as it opened fire into the building.

Jaegor watched as the flood of black armoured figures forced their way across the battlefield, straight towards the third grey hunters’ position. In his fury he smashed the vindicator open with a swift slash from his chainfist, knocking a few marines close by off their feet with the explosion, he then turned his attention to the nearby razorback. As soon as he did two lascannon shots pierced the cloud of smoke, striking the vehicle with full force. The rear hatch slammed to the floor and several marines piled out, one with a cloak and some ornate decoration upon his armour. Jaegor growled, the enemy commander, that must be him. He charged toward the wrecked razorback, only to stop when he noticed three large blocks that he recognised to be thunderhawks, except they were neither red nor black. Suddenly the battlefield fell silent bar a forth thunderhawk roaring into position overhead, followed by a loud vox cast.

“"THIS IS EGIL IRON-WOLF, WOLF LORD OF THE SPACE WOLVES. IT HAS COME TO OUR ATTENTION THIS PLANET IS UNDER XENOS THREAT. CEASE ALL COMBAT NOW, OR FACE THE WRATH OF THE SONS OF RUSS"

Judgement

Tor stood sentinel atop a ruined tower, with the Long Fang at his side, as the Wolves advanced into the wreckage of the hive. It had been several days since their victory over the Necrons and the beginning of their trek to the Dorvious Rift and the passage had gone far too easily for Tor’s liking. Ferrus had taken the peaceful period to outline his plan of attack for the Rift, but had otherwise become somewhat complacent, such complacency often lead to mistakes.

The rhinos rumbled forward crushing the debris in their path, as the third grey hunter squad scrambled over the wreck of a defence emplacement, Ferrus watched warily as they did. The passage has become easy, far too easy. He paused and glanced over at Tor’s position, then to Jaegor and his wolves. Since his return to the pack Jaegor had remained distant, choosing to forgo the company of his fellow wolves barring a few until he had fulfilled his oath to avenge his fallen packmates. As much as it frustrated Ferrus from a tactical stand point, as a warrior he respected Jaegor’s oath, it provided the pack with an excellent example of a true warrior, indomitable and fearless. Ferrus smiled at the thought briefly before all hell broke loose.

From the west two black speeders appeared firing into the Long Fangs, at the same time a bright blue light flared up several meters from the Rhinos and several bone coloured Terminators appeared, followed by several bolter rounds and a green bolt of plasma flew into the Long Fangs position. The rounds impacted into the tower blowing a chunk of the wall, sending some of the Long Fangs sprawling, the plasma bolt impacted right on top of the squad, taking all of the squad barring Tor and a Lascannon wielding Long Fang. Tor shook himself, turning to the remaining Long Fang.

“You shall be the one to take those fools down.” Pointing his staff towards the newly arrived terminators as he spoke. “Show them the Sun Wolf’s fury.”

From Ferrus’ position he saw the attack as it was unleashed, he moved to rally the Thunderwolves in a counter attack, but before he could several black bikes appeared before them, firing round after round of bolts and plasma into the squad, at first both armour and storm shields held, but after several withering volleys the pack thinned out. Ferrus raised Rök before pointing it towards the nearest bike squad. “Forward, we shall crush these cowards and teach them to fight like true warriors.”

Skarvald watched as the ambush unfolded on the rhino’s viewscreen. Turning to a Grey Hunter he released the lock on top hatch.

“Come brother, let us show our enemy the price of attempting to corner the wolves of Fenris.” With a nod they pushed the top hatch open and opened fire on the terminator squad. “The jaws of Morkai await you!” Skarvald yelled over the sound of the gun fire. While mostly ineffectual,  some of the shots hit home, causing one Terminator to fall to his knees, only to rise once more to his feet. “Russ’ beard, they truly are relentless.” Skarvald chuckled.

“Aye, but they shall still fall like every other foe, by bolter and by the fang of our blades.” A resounding cheer rang out from the rhino, as the gunfire continued.

Ferrus rushed headlong into the bike squad, slashing with his axe as he went. Pointing his axe at the power fist wielding squad leader he roared.

“I challenge you to single combat, or do you wish to run like a whipped dog?” The reply came in the form of a cold stare, causing Ferrus to grin. “Words mean little anyway.”  Raising Rök high over his head he charged towards the oncoming bike, bringing it down just behind the front wheel, cutting through the steering veins, then forcing the axe in to an upwards motion cutting through the engine block sending the rider flying high into the air coming down with a bone shattering crack. Looking over his shoulder Ferrus saw that the rest of the Thunderwolf pack had dispatched the remaining bikes and were circling around to form up on Ferrus. Turning back to face the oncoming foe Ferrus stared hard in to the eyes of his next target, Tyr pawing at the ground in anticipation. This battle shall be glorious vengeance for our previous encounter he thought as he continued the deadlock stare.

Skarvald watched developments on the view screen. Panning across the field he spotted the two landspeeders backing up relatively fast firing as they went at a red armoured figure. Pressing a button on the wall a buzz of static filled the cabin, Skarvald leant over to the vox mounted on the wall, keying in the frequency for the second rhino he then spoke.

“Jaegor needs some assistance with some elusive quarry, go see if you can cut the legs out from under them.” A pause echoed back then the reply followed.

“Help Jaegor? Surely that is encroaching on his oath, which surely will not be something he will appreciate.” Skarvald growled.

“Help him, else you’ll be explaining to Ferrus why his company is only able to mobilise on foot!” An affirmative came back in reply and on the view screen the red figure was joined by a red rhino charging forward guns blazing at the two black land speeders.

Atop of the ruined defence platform the third Grey Hunter squad stood, firing volley after volley into the terminators as they marched across the field. Bolter shells impacted on armour,  explosions and shells bounced off, some impacting on the the terminator’s shields, creating a bluey flickering across the surface as they did. Beren ejected the empty clip, pushing the ejection button the empty clip fell to the floor with a metallic clunk and he replaced a fresh clip in the feed with a satisfying clack as the bolter’s hammer clicked back into place.

“Russ’ beard I’ve not seen a fight this fierce since we fought against the Thousand suns back on Fenris” He spat as he uttered that legions name, his fellow Grey Hunter turned to him.

“Maybe so, but fiercer fights make fiercer warriors and even better sagas to tell in the great halls.”

Beren laughed softly, the laughter was swiftly swallowed up in his throat when to the East he spotted a bone coloured Land Raider as it’s fore doors opened, disgorging lightning claw armed terminators right into the Thunderwolves. At the same time the other squad of terminators picked up the pace and charged into Thunderwolf pack. The combined force of both units took out the Thunderwolves to a man, leaving Ferrus stood alone and encircled.

Ferrus pointed his axe at the lead robed terminator.

“My name is Ferrus Stormwolf, of the Space Wolf Chapter, scion of the All father and you have just made your biggest mistake. I challenge you to single combat.” The warrior stepped forward bringing his shield forward, his hammer back ready to swing. Then it began, time after time, Ferrus and the terminator charged headlong into each other, neither making a definitive blow, either glancing off shield or being parried away . Sparks flew as hammer and Axe met over and over until a swing from the terminator’s hammer slipped through Ferrus’ defences catching his right arm. Knowing this was not a fight he could win at this time Ferrus turned Tyr, who leapt over the heads of the terminators encircling them and retreated a safe distance, still coming under fire from the remaining bikes. Loosening his grip on Tyr’s pelt, Ferrus steered towards the next bike and charged into it. Having dispatched it he then noticed the Land Raider bearing down upon him. It stopped in it’s tracks almost seeming to eye Ferrus down then it opened fire on him.

Beren watched on as the events unfolded. From his vantage point he saw the two Terminator squads split off again, one heading towards Jaegor and the second rhino, still currently pursuing the errant land speeders in a deadly game of cat and mouse. The second squad however, had not let Beren’s squad go unnoticed, they now advanced towards their position, somewhat ponderously, but relentlessly all the same. Beren’s  squad opened up on the oncoming terminators with little effect, only a shot from the lone long fang’s lascannon dealt any hurt to them, as it boiled through the armour’s shielding before obliterating the torso and right arm of the terminator hit. It was not long before the squad were upon them, scrambling over the debris in a clunky manner, some stumbling on the loose rocks.

“Aim for the rubble brothers, let the ground beneath their feet be their end.” The cry rang out across the Grey Hunter squad. At first there was little effect as the sense of urgency rose, given the proximity of the terminators. Then two bolter shells impacted at the very same time as a terminator’s foot came down on the already rickety rubble, the force of this caused the debris to give way,  sending the terminator falling to the ground only stopping as he landed in a nest of structural support beams, piercing his armour. A second fell as bolter shells connected with the servos on the armour’s knees, leaving the terminator an easy target as the entire squad lay their punishing barrage down. The remainder of the squad reached the Grey Hunters relatively quickly, only to find themselves on the receiving end of their counter charge, catching another terminator by surprise, sending them flying down towards the same fate as the others.  The last terminator stood and in a whirling dervish of fury cut into the squad with his lightning claws. Beren parried blow after blow, only to fall as well parrying an overhead blow, only to be stabbed in the chest by an unseen jab. Falling to his knees, Beren saw the world go black and in his last moments spat a globule of blood at the terminator before uttering.

“I’ll see you at the jaws of Morkai.” The terminator stepped forward, and sliced with both claws and Beren fell silent for the final time.

Jaegor chased across the field, still pursuing the land speeders furiously. He noticed the rhino that had joined his pursuit and while ordinarily he would be furious at such dereliction of his oath on a day like today he recognised the need for cooperation over isolation, oaths aside. Leaping to once side he narrowly dodged an incoming barrage of missiles and super heated melta shots. A grim smile broke across his face, he enjoyed the hunt, all space wolves did and the longer it went on the more satisfying the conclusion. A loud explosion broke his train of though and glancing to his right he saw as missiles impacted into the rhino, stopping it in it’s tracks. The Grey Hunter squad inside bailed out only to be met by further barrages of missiles and bolts of plasma from the second terminator squad as they closed on the hunting wolves. Jaegor sprinted towards the Landspeeders using the rhino as cover, over his shoulder he saw as a lone robed terminator charged into the Grey Hunter squad only to be cut down by chain swords, then disappeared in a blue flash of light. Jaegor growled at this, once more their foe was eluding them. Another day for them to fall to our might, he thought as he sprinted towards the land speeders.

Ferrus cut through the last bike, his axe arm aching from the amount of fighting he’d gone through  in such a short period. Glancing about he saw the Land Raider sitting watching over the rubble where the third Grey Hunter squad had deployed, he saw as Beren fell to the floor and as the high pitched whine of a lascannon sounded off in response killing the last terminator stood atop the ruin. Further afield Ferrus watched as the remaining terminators moved back towards their lines, for Ferrus it was too easy a target to pass up. Tyr launched into the air breaking from cover, dodging left and right as the land raider’s weapons came online and opened up on them, avoiding the barrage, they leapt into combat, Ferrus taking two terminators with one fell swing, turning to the last terminator he paused for breath for a second before charging in, as he did he raised his shield and his axe, bringing his axe down in a low swing only to connect with a power fist hitting him full force in the upper right of his torso, causing him to lose his balance briefly as Tyr spun around and ran back towards the safety of their lines.

Skarvald leapt from the top hatch of the rhino on to the top of the rubble pile, now covered by bodies of friend and foe alike.

“Cover Ferrus, keep their heads down.” He yelled over the sound of the rest of his squad following in his wake. In short order a volley of bolter fire roared across the field forcing the remaining terminator to take cover behind a dilapidated bastion. Further away Skarvald watched as the second Grey hunter pack was hit by a barrage of missiles and melta fire, when the smoke cleared none remained standing.  Uttering a Fenrisian curse Skarvald spat at the ground in disgust at his brothers being laid low. Looking about the battlefield Skarvald saw the a bright blue flash as the remaining terminator left the field. Similarly, the land raider and land speeders were moving away from the wolves. Taking the opportunity, Skarvald activated his vox link. “All space wolves, converge on my position and await further orders.” A flurry of affirmatives rang in his ear, then switching the link to Ferrus’s he asked. “What are your orders my lord?” A brief silence hung in the air before a short reply came back.

“Repair any damage, see that the wounded are combat ready, then we move out to Dorvious Rift.”

“It shall be done.” Skarvald clicked the link off, then turned back to the battlefield. The judgement of the enemy had cost them dearly, but the wolves had weathered the storm, barely. Now they would move to Dorvious Rift and hopefully uncover some answers.

Recovery

Battle Barge Valdrmóðr

Currently in orbit around planet Orpheous

Hald walked swiftly forth, his servitors ahead of him with a metal trolley covered with a sheet over it concealing what lay beneath. Blood Claws and Grey Hunters a like parted before him. For if Hald was walking the ship then whatever business he was conducting it was not worth getting in his way. The servitors stopped before a large metal bulkhead, then the Iron priest walked forward. Resting his armoured gauntlet upon a pad resting on the wall he punched a code into the screen just left of the pad. After a few seconds there was a hissing noise, followed by metal clanking as the bulkhead split in two, revealing the cargo bay that had been adapted to serve as Hald’s workshop whilst on the ship. The bay was cavernous, large view screens with various sets of telemetry and images flashing up on them adorned the walls, with a spread of work benchs ranging from some the size of an apothecary’s slab to some capable of taking a rhino or something of similar size on top of it. In the centre of the lab rested a small pedestal around 5 feet tall, flat topped with various implements produing from the sides of the pedestal before recoiling back and hanging over the top of it.

Walking into the bay the servitors took the trolley to the pedestal before stepping back and fetching various tools setting them upon the trolley. Hald, however stood at the entrance, his acute senses tingling at the obvious thing he had over looked. Glancing from surface to surface he meticulously recalled every item in the bay and it’s set place, in doing so he realised nothing had been moved yet something was out of place. Walking into the bay Hald turned to a panel pressing several switches and as he did the bay lit up fully illuminating the large red frame stood a several paces from the pedestal, that of the highly revered Thorvald the Relentless, one of the companies few dreadnoughts and a source of great irritation to Hald on many occasions.

“I believe I told you to wait until I arrived.” Hald sighed, Thorvald’s servos whirred as he walked closer to the pedestal.

“And I believed you said you had something of importance to show me.” Hald’s servo arm reached over towards the trolley, lifting the sheet to reveal a severed metallic skull, human like yet, elongated and emotionless.

“From what Ferrus has discovered this is a Necron, essentially a mechanical construct with military capabilities. However, this is not what we are interested in.” Hald paused, pressing several buttons causing several screens to change to blank blue that then changed, in some cases into a map, others into graph like telemetry.

“Then what are we interested in?” Thorvald leant forward slightly, attempting to get a better view of the skull.

“The Necrons are attempting to recover something and given their behaviour so far it’s safe to assume that it will be either a weapon or some other form of technology. On either count, it’s imperative that we can locate the dig site and attempt to recover the artefact or destroy it if nessecary.” Gesturing to the pedestal Hald continued. “This is a somewhat crudely modified sensor suite I’ve been repairing, with a few modifications that I recently applied, I believe we should be able to extract the required information from this skull and maybe more.” Turning to the servitors Hald nodded and the servitors obediently walked to the trolley carefully lifting the skull, placing it upon the pedestal, having done so they returned to their previous positions. Hald picked up a lead placing it into the spinal port of the Necron and at once the screens came alive, lines shot across charts, waves oscillated on scopes and the map slowly zoomed from one spot to another. Thorvald watched intently as all the machinery came alive, only taking his eyes away as he noticed the skull glowing.

“Hald? I believe your equipment maybe malfunctioning.” Hald turned back to the skull, before running to several screens, pressing sequences of buttons.

“This is nothing to do with my equipment, the skull itself is emanating a form of energy the likes of which we have never encountered.” Turning back to the skull, he could only watch as the light intensified, before the skull vanished, the lead plugged into the skull dropped to the floor. “That can’t be good.” Walking to the map screen the tracker had paused mid way through, but had stopped on a location - Dorviaus Rift. Turning to Thorvald he paused. “Take Graal and Henrik’s Long Fang packs and get down there as fast as possible.”

“Should I wait for Garrus’ approval on this matter?” Hald shook his head.

“Right now Garrus is captaining a Battle Barge for the first time in his life, the Battle leader needs as few distractions as possible. I’ll explain it all to him when the time is right.” Thorvald nodded and turned to leave the bay. “Oh and also.” Hald paused. “Take Jarick and his pack with you” Thorvald turned to face Hald, his confusion was apparent despite his lack of expressiveness given his being interred in a dreadnought.

“Are you sure thats wise?” Hald nodded.

“I fought alongside Jarick many a time while you were in your slumber, trust me if it was me going down there to aid Ferrus, I’d could think of no one better than them by my side.”

Warth

The quiet rolled through the ruins of the hive, not a living thing stirred as the wolves approached. On the advice of Tor’s divining Ferrus had contacted their battle barge Valdrmóðr, requesting a sensor sweep of the planet, specifically targeting the signature recorded from their previous encounter with the Necrons. For several hours there had been no reply, some of the men grew restless, turning to sparring to pass the time, until the vox link burst back to life notifying Ferrus of a relatively large massing of the energy signature, matching the necrons’ signature and only a days passage from their current location. With great haste the packs gathered themselves and head off in the direction of the signal, only halting upon arriving at several large ruined buildings.

“Picking up more signatures, Imperial by what I can make of them.” Skarvald leant over the Grey Hunter’s shoulder looking at the view screen of the Rhino, currently displaying large blocks of red some distance away, however closer to their position there lay several smaller blue dots, with the imperial Aquila symbol displaying next to some of them, others merely dots. Skarvald banged a fist on the Rhino’s hull and the door between the crew compartment and the troop compartment slide open.

“Open a channel to Lord Ferrus. Tell him we have something.” An affirmative growl came in reply, then the door slide shut once more. So the game begins. Turning back to his pack he barked. “Ready yourselves brothers, battle awaits.”

Ferrus and his Wolf Guard brethren sat poised on the left flank of their force, to his right the Long Fangs were readying themselves, treading their way through a crater, but making progress slowly. Further right lay the Rhinos, parked on the right most edge of the building, with Jaegor stood with his new wolf companions at his side. His plan was simply, like the previous battles he had managed to create the perfect opportunity for an ambush and he planned to use this fully to his advantage.

“Lord Ferrus.” The call came through the vox of his helmet. “We have Imperial signatures in the battle zone, what are your orders?” Ferrus was confused by this news, there were no obvious signs of any imperial forces in close proximity, though having walked into several ambushes laid by both the Alpha legion and Night Lords Ferrus had learnt that this meant precious little.

“Secure what you can, if there is anything we can use take, it otherwise leave it.” An affirmative bleep came in reply and Ferrus removed his helmet, holding it and looking closely at it. Before becoming a marine Ferrus had been a simple hunter in a small tribe on Fenris now he was once more fighting the emperor’s enemies upon another alien world. Much time had passed in between then and now, many brothers had fallen, but one thing would never change, Ferrus would stay the course and carry out his duty to bring the emperor’s light to the lost worlds of the Imperium, regardless of the cost. He would know no fear. He hooked his helmet to his belt, looking across the battlefield, for a moment he noticed something glinting in the half light. Odd, that would suggest that they know we’re here, but that’s impossible given our approach. A cry came up from one of the long fangs, the necrons were on the move. Ferrus growled angrily, his opportunity for an ambush was gone, however this meant are fair fight for the Necrons, though Ferrus doubted they would know what hit them.

A ready call was echoed across the voxes of every space wolf on the field, Jaegor felt his two hearts pumping faster as he replied to it. Looking across he saw Ferrus bare helmeted raise his Frost axe in the air and then the Thunderwolves all shot off out of view, the third Grey Hunter pack poured into the centre building with a call of some strange device being located in the centre of the building. The right most Rhino shot off in Jaegor’s direction gunning for the building to the right of him. Jaegor dug his feet into the ground and sprinted forwards his two wolves a little way in front. It was then that he saw them, twelve large metallic insectoid looking mechanical beings, some with long whip like appendages in place of the blades the others had. Activating his vox link Jaegor called out.

“Left flank, Wraiths!”

Ferrus picked up the call straight away, sighting them as he closed. He opened a vox link to Lief briefly.

“LEIF! Cover right!” A slight chuckle came back then Leif replied.

“We see them, consider them downed Ferrus.” The link cut and over Ferrus’ right shoulder the woohing sound of multiple krak missiles and hiss of lascannons flew past. The missiles for the most part spun off and impacted in different locations but one struck a Wraith directly in the abdomen exploding a second later, the Lascannon shots would’ve struck true but for reasons unknown the beams passed through the wraiths and struck the Arc sat behind, with one shot bouncing off the shield disrupting it for just long enough for the second shot to pass through taking out the shield generator. Ferrus grinned fiercely as the wolves powered on to the location of the second blue dot. Approaching the area Ferrus made out several flashing lights on the device, as they closed the lights flashed faster until when they were a few short metres away Ferrus realised what he was looking at.

“This is sabotage!” A second after the device fizzled and released a light cloud of smoke, as suddenly several other similar devices started flashing. “Kraken’s blood” Ferrus swore as he steered Tyr away from another device. Further up the field he saw a green orb forming on the prow of an arc, his brothers in front raised their shields as the shot was loosed and in a green flash there was lay two injured wolves with two unconscious space wolves thrown from their mounts. Then came the Wraiths, Charging in the first attack snapped Berek’s wrist taking his hand still clutching his Thunder hammer, furiously firing his pistol in response he was swiftly floored by a whip, a further wolf fell as the whips took a Thunderwolf’s legs from under it again leaving the rider sprawled on the floor. Ferrus parried the Wraiths blows for the most part, taking a lashing to his axe arm, but cutting through two of them, a further attack nearly made it for Ferrus’ head until a wolf flung its self at the Wraith knocking it backwards, the second latching on to the whips. In short order both were felled and Ferrus stood alone against the remaining three. Ferrus turned Tyr round and ran back, the Wraiths seemingly not expecting this response were slow to react. Rounding on them Ferrus moved back towards them then stopped, Tyr pawing at the ground. “Go,” Ferrus called out, “gather more of your friends, I shall fell you three as if it were no effort at all.” With that he charged at the Wraiths axe raised. By the emperor’s will let this work.

Across the field Jaegor dived behind the wreckage of a downed shuttle. A few metres back his wolves lay dead or unconscious, both had been hit by the same lightning weaponry that had laid so many wolves low in their previous encounter. Jaegor looked over the wreckage to see two hovering vehicles, again both similar to the vehicles he’d seen previously, remembering how he had failed in destroying them before he vowed on the honour of his pack he would do so on this occasion. Leaping from cover Jaegor ran round and charged into the nearest vehicle. Repeatedly punching his chain fist into it’s hull Jaegor let his fury take hold and after several strikes the vehicle fell to the ground exploding in Jaegor’s face, flinging him several metres away. Landing face first upon the rocky ground, he coughed bringing up a little blood. Turning his gaze to the other vehicle, he pushed himself off the ground and made great strides towards it.

“I am a warrior of Russ and I shall be your executioner!” He roared as he ran towards the vehicle.

Lief and Tor looked on as the Wraiths charged into the thunderwolves, turning their attention to the second squad, Lief turned to Tor whose eyes began to glow an icy blue. Raising his hand towards the Wraiths he attempted to channel his runic power, for s moment the glow intensified only to die suddenly. The mountain of a man turned red with rage.

“I shall not be denied!” Leif scowled.

“Quiet your tongue and watch how its done.” Raising his sword the Long Fangs readied their  weapons, then in harmony all fired on the falling of Lief’s sword. Once more the missiles mostly passed through the Wraiths as the Lascannons had previously though one connected, scattering parts across a large area. The Lascannons this time found their mark, one destroying the starboard weapons array, the second scoring a direct hit on the main gun, causing a minor explosion which Leif took to mean that the gun would stay silent. Once more a cheer went up as the shots hit home, Lief turned to Tor looking somewhat smug, Tor’s face remained a disgruntled mess as he muttered quietly to himself, Lief turned back to the Long fangs and prepared for the next target.

Ferrus charged headlong towards the Wraiths, jinking round the Wraiths as he charged his true target, the nearest Arc. Leaping over a pile of rubble Tyr charged headlong towards the arc just as Ferrus made his first swing, cleaving several chunks of the vehicle’s main cannon housing off. With several precise swings Ferrus managed to make massive gashes on the machine, exposing it’s main power core. Making one last slash Ferrus brought down his axe cutting straight through the necron controlling the vehicle and the power core itself, in a split second the vehicle was vaporised in the resulting explosion, Tyr leaping from it leaving Ferrus facing the Necron lord and his unit. Ferrus grinned, he had an opportunity to return the favour of the last bout where Ferrus had fallen to the lord, but this time it would be different. He charged forward, priming and throwing a grenade into the unit, killing one of the squad in the process. Then with a colossal jump, Tyr landed in the middle of the squad, Ferrus pointed his axe to the Necron lord.

“In the name of the All father I challenge you.” His words stuck in his throat as the world spun and suddenly went black.

Jaegor tore into the vehicle, his chain fist plunging into what he could only assume was sensitive parts of the machine as each successive blow caused larger explosions of sparks and smoke, till once again a large explosion flung Jaegor into the air. Landing once again with a bone crunching sound he somewhat groggily raised his head in time to see Ferrus leap towards the Necron lord, only to receive a sharp blow to the head. Jaegor howled in pain for his lord, feeling some level of relief as Tyr ran back towards the Space wolf lines with Ferrus still managing to stay atop of him inspite of his lack of consciousness. His flow of thought was suddenly interrupted as flashes of green flashed past his face. Rolling to his feet Jaegor raised his shield absorbing some of the fire, before throwing himself at the new threat.

Lief swiftly pulled his bolt pistol from his holster, in turn firing off several shots at the charging Wraiths. Having been evaded by Ferrus the Wraiths had gone for the next accessible target, the Long Fangs, who had been a little caught off guard by this development. Tor’s attempt to channel his powers once again merely fizzled, producing several dark curses from him, he similarly pulled his pistol from it’s holster and readied himself for the oncoming combat.

“Been a while since I’ve had to fight, man to man.” He muttered, Lief grimly replied.

“Same I’m afraid, though surely it’s no different to shooting a bolt pistol and even Blood Claws can manage that.” Tor managed a half smile. “Surely Tor the Squall, doesn’t wish to be seen as lower than a Blood Claw.”

“I’ll take more of them then you will.” Leif chuckled.

“Tor I would love to see you try.”

The barrage of rushed over watch fire rang out, all the shots either missing or passing through incorporeal Wraiths, then the forces closed. Tor’s staff was long enough for him to stay far enough away from the flaying whips and yet cause some damage to the machines. With two deft swipes two of the Wraiths fell leaving one, which in turn swatted a marine aside. The swirling melee paused for a second and the remaining Wraith cocked it’s head in a strange manner. Moving slowly backwards it attempted to retreat on to have Leif’s chainsword  plunge into it’s abdomen, leaving it to fall to the floor with it’s comrades. Leif turned to Tor giving a small congratulatory nod, then turned back to the squad. “Ready yourselves, this battle isn’t won yet.”

From the rhino Skarvald observed as the second unit of Wraiths charged into the building they had been using as cover engaging the third Grey Hunter squad. As some Wraiths passed through the wall, Grey Hunters from the upper balcony leapt on to them tearing with armoured gauntlets and chain swords taking two out of the fight. The melee lasted a few minutes leaving two Wraiths standing, the Grey Hunters lay sprawled some in far worse shape than others. Skarvald walked to the nearest hatch, banging once more on the wall and as before the door slid open.

“We’re going out there, provide covering fire and if necessary bring the Rhino in to secure the equipment.” With that Skarvald hurled himself through the port access hatch, landing on his feet bolter blazing. Soon the squad had joined him and the remaining Wraiths had fallen, though some over zealous brothers chose to be sure by emptying a bolt pistol clip into the machines. Skarvald shook his head. “Take up defensive positions, whatever is in here, theres a fair chance that those metal monstrosities want it, so we’re to ensure they don’t.” Suddenly the squad’s demeanour changed, from petty victory rituals to readying weapons and lining up potential targets. As they closed Skarvald pulled a grenade from his belt howling, “For Russ and the Allfather!” the cry echoed round the building only to be replaced by the sound of boltguns, flamers and plasma discharge. Skarvald looked over his squad, briefly feeling something equating to pride, then returning his thoughts to the fight, priming the grenade in hand and flinging it into the oncoming enemy unit.

Lief and Tor stood side by side as one by one the Long Fang pack fell to lightning blasts. The Necron lord and his unit were slowly making their way towards their position and even with the combined fire power of Skarvald’s Grey Hunter pack they were failing to do enough damage. Tor once more attempted to channel the runic power glowing a bright blue, he raised his hand.

“No more!” He howled at the top of his lungs. As he did the very ground before him parted, swallowing several necrons in the process. The necron lord failing to see the danger quickly enough found himself also sharing the fate of some of his squad, the last that was seen of him was his war sycthe as he attempted to stop the ground taking him too. Lief holstered his pistol, and charged into the unit sword at the ready.

“For Ferrus!” He yelled as he charged and once more joined a furious melee.

Jaegor dispatched the last of the Necron foot soldiers, they lay strewn about the field where the last few had attempted to run away only to be cut down in their attempt. He turned his attention to the last squad he could see, the squad standing sentinel over the centre of the battlefield. Charging towards the building lightning blasts intensified, some connecting and glancing off Jaegor’s armour, others missing all together. Bracing himself he raised his shield and smashed through the remains of the wall. Jaegor reached out with his Chain fist only to fall short of the unit, who in turn filled the space that Jaegor now occupied with lightning bolts. For the most part his armour absorbed the majority of the fire, however the sheer volume of shots proved too much and Jaegor succumbed to his wounds. My brothers, I have avenged you.”

Lief ducked deftly below a swing from one of the Necron squad. Bringing his chain sword round he sliced the head of one Necron clean off. The remaining squad members readied themselves to strike only to pause mid swing. Leif raised his guard, backing up a few paces, yet staying wary. The Necrons stayed till for a few moments before turning away and walking towards the remaining Necrons.

“We should pursue them, finish them off.” Lief turned to Tor shaking his head.

“No, we regroup.” Opening a vox channel. “All Space wolves regroup at the rally point, secure any equipment if possible.” 

Not long after Tyr appeared with a now partly conscious Ferrus still mounted on his back.

“Did we win?” Ferrus asked slightly distortedly, before falling from Tyr, Lief moved to help him to his feet. Staggering to his feet Ferrus steadied himself.

“Aye, we did.” Ferrus smiled.

“Good, this defeat should hopefully set back their efforts to dig up whatever they seek.”

“We may have a lead on that,” Lief produced a severed Necron head. “I suggest we pass this to Hald, and see if he can extract any information from it.”

“Agreed, make the call.” Lief nodded. “For now we should consolidate our position, then see where to strike next, we shall be a force to reckon with and we shall win the day, for Russ and the All father!”