Editing The 13th Black Crusade (section)

==The End of Defiance==

===Unwelcome Company===

[[File:BFGA2_Urkanthos_at_the_Null_Array.JPG|thumb|Urkanthos comes knocking]]

A black bolt fell from the skies, as one of the bigger players of the siege of Cadia had decided to take a direct hand in its proceedings. But this was not the Despoiler himself, but rather one of his lackeys -- '''Urkanthos''', who until very recently was simply the Commander of the Black Fleet, but because of his victory against three Imperial Battleships in the void battles leading to the attack on the planet, had earned his ascension to [[Daemon Prince]]. The Scourgemaster was instructed by Abbadon to ensure the destruction of the fortress-world, and he intended to do it before the Despoiler lost his patience.

The Daemon Prince was soon joined by the Hounds of Abaddon, who hurled themselves at the Kriegan Gates, uncaring of their losses. Creed bellowed orders from the top of the barbican, and his soldiers slaughtered countless Traitors, but the Hounds kept up the assault. Orbital bombardment from the Black Fleet pounded the Gate indiscriminately, and slaughtered Imperial defender and Chaos cultist alike.

The Hounds were slowly making headway however, but eventually they were able to reach the gates. Demolition charges were placed, and the Kriegan Gates blew wide open in the explosions that followed. Urkanthos gave a roar of victory, and swept into the open gates, with the Hounds following close on his heels.

===All or Nothing===

[[File:Cadian_Blood.JPG|thumb|Send in the reserves!]]

When the Gates finally fell, it was up to the Kasrkin to shore up the defenses. Creed had three whole regiments in reserve, and he now sent them forth to hold the line. Battle cannons roared, lasguns flared, and the leading elements of the Hounds of Abaddon simply crumpled under the greatest single volley seen thus far on Cadia Secundus.

The Hounds however were undeterred by their losses, and slammed hard into the first line of bayonets. Urkanthos led them as they clawed at the defenders, with the mighty Daemon Prince's talons scything down a squad with each backhand swipe. With each kill, he felt himself grew stronger, as the blessings of the Blood God made themselves manifest.

As the Kasrkin battled at the gates, Creed sent out a call for all available soldiers to join them there. Conscripts fought beside scarred veterans, Mordians rubbed shoulders with Vostroyans, Cadian and off-worlder alike bled and died in the defense. But the numbers were not enough to hold back Urkanthos and his forces' daemon-fueled might, and wave after wave of daemonspawn, cultists, and traitor Legionnaires threw themselves at the ruins of the gates.

The Kasrkin of the 2nd died where they stood, but had given no ground in return. Others were less valorous -- the 33rd's morale broke once its Colonel was torn apart by [[Chaos Raptors]], and with their retreat went all hope of possibly holding the Kriegan Gates.

Outside, the Knights of House Raven fought an equally desperate battle against the remaining titans of Legio Vulcanum. Baroness Vardus and her fellow Nobles were simply outgunned and outnumbered, and while they had destroyed one Reaver and crippled another, it cost them four Nobles in return. What's more, they were soon running out of places to maneuver, which took away their single advantage to the bigger Titans. But the worse news was yet to come, as the ''Vessel of Damnation'' had rejoined the fight.

===A Change of Priorities===

Further south, Marshall Amalrichs [[Black Templars]] still continued their fight, despite being literally knee-deep in bodies. And yet their numbers were less than from the massed waves of the previous days. The marshall looked north, towards the embattled bastion and the storm gathering there, and finally experienced clarity. His peers were right in the end, and the might of the Templars could have made much more of a difference on the ramparts of Kasr Kraf.

Amalrich swallowed the last of his pride. It was still not too late to make amends. He ordered his surviving men aboard the Cruxis Crusade's remaining [[Thunderhawk]] Gunship, and finally abandoned the Martyr's Rampart.

Back at Kasr Kraf, the Hounds of Abaddon ran down the fleeing Guardsmen, and Urkanthos roared in delight at the slaughter. He had been tasked to destroy the Null Array so that the ''Will of Eternity'' could vent its fury upon the world, but he saw now an opportunity to claim even more glory. Maybe he can even one-up Abaddon and conquer Cadia itself in the name of his dark patrons!

Those pleasant thoughts were cut short however, as a massive volley stopped the advance of the Hounds cold. Where there had been fleeing rabble, Urkanthos now beheld a manned Aegis line as well as a wall of formed bayonets, and the grim and determined faces of the Cadian 8th. '''Cadia stands!''' came the lone battle cry, and it was soon followed by more voices. ''Cadia Stands!'' the assembled soldiers shouted, as defiance found footing once more in their souls.

And at the epicenter of all of this stood Lord Castellan Creed, with [[Colour Sergeant Jarran Kell|Jarran Kell]] still proudly holding up the regimental colors. One with their men, they bellowed the same mantra of defiance back at their daemonic foes. ''Cadia stands!''

===Delaying An Irresistible Force===

The Hounds of Abaddon slammed into the prepared ranks of the Cadian 8th, but found the resistance much tougher compared to that of the 33rd. Chaos Raptors screamed into the air and dropped straight into Creed's command line, thinking to repeat their prior success, but the veterans of the 8th were ready for them, and while scores died to take down every Raptor, Creed still survived to lead the fight.

The fight at the muster field ground into a bloody stalemate, but for once things were in the defenders favor. Creed directed his soldiers as if they were his own weapons, and struck at revealed weaknesses while at the same time withdrawing when the odds were not in his favor. He spent hundreds, sometimes thousands, of lives, but never carelessly, and with the blood of his Shock Troopers he bought precious time. Creed had already abandoned any idea that aid would arrive, but he also knew that every moment he fought on was a prize without price, and a wound on the Despoiler's pride.

Cadia still stood, but only because Creed was there with it.

And it was not just the Cadian 8th that showed their defiance. The Dark Angels 4th Company under Korahael fought side by side with the Ironwolves, while the scattered remnants of other Astartes Chapters put aside rivalries to fight as one demi-company. The Sisters of the Martyred Lady marched with the conscripts of the 111st. But the greatest and most welcome surprise came when the Thunderhawk of the Cruxis Crusade, its sides bellowing smoke and fire, plowed into the muster field, and disgorged its warriors unto the heart of the heretics. The Sons of Dorn had a lot to make up for, but each foe laid low was a step in the right direction.

===More Damage To Be Done===

As resistance stiffened once more, Urkanthos thoughts returned to Abaddon's orders: destroy the Null Array. He gathered the remains of the Hounds, and made cut their way towards the command bastion. There was little that Creed could do to delay the Daemon Prince, as another threat had made itself an immediate priority -- the traitor [[Baneblade]] ''Vicanthrus'' and the armored column it lead had just cleared the rubble of the Kriegan Gates. As the lead lines of Creed's men disintegrated from Demolisher Cannon fire, the Lord Castellan ordered every available heavy weapon to target the super-heavy tank.

In front of the command bastion, the conscripts of the 111st where barely a speedbump to the Daemon Prince, but they held the line to the last. The Sisters of the Martyred Lady were much more of a threat, but while the Sisters smote the last Hound with zeal and bolter fire, Urkanthos could not be denied, and he soon reached the Egressium Gate. Canonness Genevieve and Eleanor was there waiting, along with a host of Seraphim. The remaining Sisters fought hard, and the twin Canonesses were able to gravely wound the Daemon, but it wasn't enough, and as they died, nothing left stood in the way of Urkanthos destroying the Null Array.

Back at the muster field, Marshall Amalrich tried to muster another assault at the traitor Baneblade, but as the tank's massive guns turned toward the Cadian 8th's Aegis line, it suddenly froze in place. Its weapons suddenly opened fire, but not at the Imperials. Instead it cut down its escorting Chaos [[Havoc]]s, as well as the Alpha Legion predator beside it.

For a moment, neither side could make heads or tails of the Baneblade's sudden turn, and no one certainly noticed the [[Trazyn the Infinite|cloaked figure]] from whose hands flowed a stream of nanomachines that seeped into the ''Vicanthrus''. But that was all Creed needed, and he ordered led his troopers in the direction of the command bastion. On the way they passed through the bloody ruin that were scant hours before fellow soldiers and Battle Sisters. That was not a good sign, no matter how one sliced it.

Inside the command bastion, Urkanthos had just finished off Magos Klarn and his Skitarii maniple. With nothing in his way, the Daemon Prince dove down into the depths of the arcane technology keeping the Null Array functioning.

By the time Creed and his forces arrived at the Egressium Gate, it was too late. An explosion that signaled the destruction of the Null Array ripped across the Command Bastion, and Creed and his command barely survived its passage. The Lord Castellan knew what that meant, and grim determination once more set upon his craggy features. Regardless of the outcome, he knew his duty -- he, and every Cadian on world, would continue to fight to the very end.

Still, some of his frustration boiled over, and he took it out on one of his troops. But the trooper had seen something he hadn't, and as Creed turned to look himself, he found himself cracking the first sincere smiled he'd had in a decade.