Gunnlauger.
"It matters not how high your walls soar,
It matter not how many will answer your call,
It matters not how keen your blade glimmers,
Nor how bright burns your hearth fire.
The wolf waits,
The wolf waits in darkness for us all."
He could sense them from miles away. It made him reckless, eager. It made him feel as if he were a fresh Claw again, ready to take on one of the great Sea-Beasts on his own, ready to carve his own saga in the stars. Damn them.
Gudmundr moved uneasily, trying to reconcile himself with the way things were now. It wasn’t easy for him accepting these “lost brothers” into his pack. They had a peculiar effect on those around them. Whether it was for better or worse remained to be seen, he only knew they were the reason he was on this world. He turned to look at this forsaken planet. PTX-177 it was called. Another forgotten forge world. There was nothing on this planet that made it even look remotely real, let alone make you feel at home. It was the most boring place Gudmundr has ever seen. Everywhere he looked it seemed like he saw only the color grey, a lifeless sterile grey, there wasn’t a speck of color on it. It didn’t even have a scent. Normally you could smell it in the air, the fresh and exhilarating gruffness of Fenris, adventure beckoning, the remnants of glory, battle, and honor. He once was called to battle on a strange jungle planet that was infested by xenon, you could practically taste the hostility in the air, what a battle that had been. But here you can only smell “boring”. There was nothing in this place that could even remotely explain why they had been waiting here for so long.
“Gudmundr”, Vigdis shouted, “I have been looking for you”
He turned and looked at the Grey Hunter before him, Vigdis was old for a Grey Hunter. He was also the meanest bastard he ever had the pleasure meeting. But now he looked just as bored as Gudmundr.
“How is your Pack coping with all this damn excitement Vigdis?” he asked sarcastically.
“I keep them busy training the pup, you know how it is, he can barely see the difference between the front end and the backend of a sword” Vigdis spat menacingly on the ground, “so I’m letting them do some light exercise”
He felt sorry for the pup already. Vigdis his idea of light exercise was sparring until the pup fell on his face from exhaustion or won a bout. Only then could he get some rest, an ale and something to eat. Gudmundr knew for a fact that no one ever won against Trygve, Vigdis’s second in command. They called him The Jôtun. The biggest Claw he had ever seen, and now the biggest Hunter of the Company. Too much hair to be a boar, not enough to be a bear, but still a huge hairy giant swinging a gigantic hammer. The pup would not be getting a lot of rest.
“The pup will learn quickly, they always do”, Gudmundr grinned, “so what do you need me for?”
“Steinar needs to see you, didn’t say what for.”
“Probably some more reports about the activity in the region, where is he?”
“He’s near the Géir, it just arrived”
“Let’s go then” Gudmundr said whilst turning around to the camp.
All in all they were a very sizeable army, he could see everything from here, the three packs of hunters bantering and sparring. Next to them the 2 razorbacks with the assault cannons specially mounted for this specific campaign. The long fangs were a ways off to the right, they looked calm and ready, although not as calm as they used to be. They were of course closest to our newfound brothers. There were 7 of them in all, every one of them a savage giant in his own right. They wore pieces of armor combined with black leather without helmets, although it wasn’t the best protection they could have he could see why they preferred this. It made them fast. The sheer speed at which they moved was difficult to describe. It was difficult to believe that’s something as big as a Wulfen, as they were called, could move at the speed it did.
“It has been more difficult to handle the pup since they are here” Vigdis said, following Gudmundr’s gaze, “I caught him several times sneaking up to them.”
“mhh….” , Gudmundr nodded, “They are changing us, I can feel it aswell”
“Everyone can feel it Gudmundr, only the fangs don’t seem to mind”
“They mind”, he looked at Vigdis, “they can just hide it better”
Lost in tought both of them came up to the landing pad where Steinar was busy tending to a massive stormwolf, the géir. It came by its name in a massive battle against a tyranid splinter fleet deep within the void. Not content to leave the Tyranids to continue on their path deeper into the Imperium -- even though they were still centuries from the nearest system at sub-light speeds -- the Great Wolf launched an assault. Focusing on the Hive Ship in the centre of the cluster Grimnar wanted to plant a powerful Vortex Mine in the beast's synaptic core. In the ensuing battle a stormwolf with minimal crew saw an opportunity to strike, it hurdled itself like a javelin toward the hive ship, and just before they collided it fired off a massive blast from its hellfrost cannon and blew a hole in the beast’s side. It flew in with its nose and unleased a pack of wolf guard in its belly. The Wolf Guard fought their way through the nightmarish body of the beast as it awakened around them, disgorging thousands of Tyranid organisms to devour them. Finally, they were able to plant the charge and escape, detonating it even as the Stormwolf lifted off. Since then it has been known as ‘The Géir’ or the javelin.
“Steinar!” Gudmundr called “I am getting tired of reading your damned reports”
Steinar looked at Gudmundr, “Then you will be pleased to know I do not have any reports for you”
“Then why did you need to see me?”
“Tis not I that needs you wolf guard, but him” Steinar pointed to the ramp of the géir, the same ramp that unloaded that pack of wolf guard in the belly of the beast, it was slowly coming down and revealing a figure inside the stormwolf. A figure standing tall in the adamantium sarcophagus of the space wolves’ dreadnaughts. It was a sight beyond compare, the intensity resonating from its form. Gudmundr felt invigorated. If The Dreadnaught Gunnlauger was here then they were finally setting out. Gudmundr sniffed the air, he could finally smell something! It was glory beckoning them forwards. Gunnlauger stepped down the ramp, and made a tremendous howling towards the camp. He could see them all standing up, the Hunters, the wulfen even the fangs. It had called them to wage war.
“Together we shall become the Wolves that Stalk the Stars, and the beasts that crawl and feed in the darkness of the void shall come to fear us, and know themselves hunted."
