Editing The 13th Black Crusade (section)

===Too Much, Even for Faith===

By the eighth day the walls of Kasr Kraf came under bombardment from artillery units stationed in the wastelands, causing further demoralization. Rumors spread amongst the ranks, and despite the BLAMing of the Commissars and the regimental preachers, morale dropped like a rock.

If not for Creed, the fortress would have long fallen, and the Lord Castellan quelled the fears of the men and women under his command not with mere words, but by example -- he fought with on the ramparts, ate with them, stole what furtive sleep he could with them. And where Creed went, Kell went as well, with the tattered colors of the Cadian 8th held high. Under the Lord Castellan's watchful eye, the Kriegan gates held firm, but at the Eastern defenses, the situation teetered on a razor's edge.

There was no end to the defenders' resolve, at least. The surviving Valkyrie gunships of the Howling 118th ferried the remnants of the Northern and Eastern garrisons behind Kasr Kraf's walls, and soon Battle Sisters joined the guardsmen on the ramparts. These were soon joined by the Ironwolves and Korahael's 4th Company survivors, though not all of the Ironwolves apparently deigned to join the airlift. Unconfirmed reports indicated that Wulfen had been unleashed on the wastelands, but Orven Highfell said nothing of these claims.