Navar Hef - The Luck of the Raven Guard: Trapped alongside the Space Wolves inside their defended compound, Navar Hef and his men found themselves in dire circumstances - having no idea of the Raptors-affliction, the Space Wolves immediately pointed their Bolters at their allies when, distracted, Hef had mechanically taken of his helmet. A tedious stand-off issued, with Raven Guard and Space Wolves aiming their weapons at each other before the situation was resolved peacefully by a member of the Space Wolves similarly afflicted by the degenerations of the Canis Helix and which saw simlarly-afflicted warriors in Hef and his companions. With the matter put to rest for the time being, both commanders could present themselves. The Space Wolves’ leader presented himself as Pack Master Arvan Woundweaver, entrusted by the dual authority of Leman Russ and the Regent of Terra -- Malcador the Sigilite -- to protect Corvus Corax from possible harm and act as his honour guard. For five long years he and his pack had travelled the galaxy in search of the XIXth Legion, having been unable to retrace the Ravenlord’s steps after the dire events of the Dropsite Massacre and the false news of his death. Perceiving the lie for what it was, Hef did not press the matter any further as tactical efficiency required him to work with the Space Wolves if he ever wanted to get out alive from the trap he was now ensnared in.Letting Woundweaver tell his tale, Hef learned how the situation had evolved, how while resupplying at this very facility the Space Wolves had been surprised by the Sons of Horus and intended to protect their secret base by luring the Traitors onboard their own vessel and then detonate its Plasma drives. It was this ill-fated moment that three of his pack had chosen to succumb to the curse of the Wulfen, the existence of which Woundweaver only reluctantly admitted. With the need to subdue their feral comrades and lock them safely inside one of the armouries, time was running short when the Wulfen used Melta Bombs to blow through the armoury’s blast-door and assail their former brothers. With no other means than to kill them, the Space Wolves brought the three Wulfen down, but the fight had been so time-consuming that the original plan could not be enacted. Fleeing onboard a gunship, the Space Wolves sent their ship outwards in the slim hope that someone may stumble upon it and trace its steps back to them; the siege had however been going on for some time and the Space Wolves had devised a new plan to eliminate the Sons of Horus: lure them within the facility’s walls and detonate the generators, killing hundreds of Sons of Horus in the process. Either way, it seemed that the Space Wolves were hell-bound and intended to sacrifice themselves in order to take as much as the Sons of Horus with them into the grave.Resolute not to give his life away in such a pointless act, Navar Hef convinced Woundweaver of another course of action: use the Raven Guard’s presence - of which the enemy was most likely still unaware - to attack the Sons of Horus from an unexpected quarter. The Fearless could probably eliminate the undermanned Strike Cruiser with ease and then bombard the position of the Sons of Horus from orbit, thus forcing the landing troops to rush the defendants and try to shield themselves from the bombardment by taking the facility. Woundweaver and his Space Wolves merely needed to hold the line long enough for the Sons of Horus to think themselves victorious before sabotaging the reactor and thus consign the Warmaster’s Legionaries to an explosive and all-consuming death. Rallying a pre-ordained extraction point, both Space Wolves and Raptors would then leave the moon and rendezvous with the Fearless which would take them back to the XIXth Legion.After his initial skepticism had been vanquished, Woundweaver accepted the plan - on the condition that the Raven Guard Lieutenant would swear on his honor to carry out that which he had promised. The Space Wolves would prepare accordingly, gathering what supplies and weapons they may need before mounting a diversionary attack which would allow the Raptors to cross back through enemy lines and contact the Fearless. This let Hef ample time to explore the facility; although he had done his best to conceal his true feelings from his ally, the matter set ill at ease with Hef: a lone unit of Space Wolves despatched to reinforce the Legion and watch over Corax, a secret base in an isolated system, an armoury hiding enough weapons and explosives to bring down everything short of a Battle Titan... All this led Hef to distrust Woundweaver and to secretly consider other options available to him. True to their word, the Space Wolves would cause such a commotion that all eyes would be drawn to them, letting the Raptors slip through the enemy’s earthwork. The plan was not without risk for the Space Wolves. The Sons of Horus might kill them. The bombardment might. Even the plasma reactor’s detonation might engulf them in fire. Perhaps he would not have to betray the Space Wolves at all.Reaching their gunship without further problem, Hef used the Raven Guard’s coded transmissions protocols to order the Fearless to conduct a stealth attack on the Sons of Horus Cruiser which was only manned by a skeleton crew, most fighters being already on the ground. With the enemy’s orbital support eliminated, the Fearless would then assume position over the facility and conduct an orbital bombardment of the Traitor’s earthwork, forcing them to mount an all-out assault on the Space Wolves to seek shelter within the compound’s reinforced walls. True to his word, Hef ordered the Fearless to leave an extraction corridor for the Space Wolves to leave their doomed armoury, secretly hoping that the sons of Russ would fail to meet them at the rendezvous point. As the horizon was illuminated by an enormous explosion, these hopes were crushed when Woundweaver contacted Hef on the vox network, exulting at the carnage they had wrought on the Sons of Horus. With a heavy heart, Hef and his men embarked on their gunship and went to meet with their brothers of the VIth Legion.Only three Space Wolves remained, one of them being Woundweaver. The others had all given their lives to lure the Sons of Horus in and thus seal their fate. As the gunship landed and the Raptors stepped out, Hef addressed Woundweaver, asking if he had been true to his word. As Woundweaver confirmed this, Hef said "For the record, I am sorry it has to come to this.", and ordered his men to open fire. Woundweaver’s two companions were cut down by Bolters before they could reach their weapons, but Woundweaver himself as quicker, rushing Hef and engaging him in single combat. Fighting honorably, Hef ordered his men to stand down: he would face Woundweaver alone. Hef parried the first blows of Woundweaver’s Power Axe with his Chainsword, and soon the weapon was not functioning anymore, but it still made for an effective bludgeon.As both warriors lost their weapons, their fight devolved into a brawl, the two Space Marines hammering at each other with fists, elbows and knees, their figures hovering, entwined, a few centimetres over the moon's surface thanks to its low gravity. Both were wounded, but they could not have been more different in composure. Woundweaver was fighting with savage abandon, ranting and cursing all the time at Hef's lack of honor and the deception of the Raven Guard whilst Hef remained utterly silent. But Woundweaver spoke the truth of it, that the Raptors and the Wulfen were not so different in essence, both cursed warriors, useful to the fight but in the end mere tools to be discarded and buried once their usefulness was at an end.As Woundweaver retrieved his axe and quickly gained the upper hand, Hef finally let go of his composure and used his claws to fight of Woundweaver. The thus far concealed mutation took Woundweaver by surprise, and now the situation was reversed, Hef attacking furiously with Woundweaver on the defensive. As Hef landed a blow on Woundweaver's face, his fate was sealed: having lost an eye, Woundweaver was thrown onto ground before Hef finished him with his claws.Still panting from his exertion, Hef explained his decision to his fellow Raptor: Corax's obstination was all that was keeping the Raven Guard in the fight. While the Primarch burned with righteous anger, the XIX Legion was a force to be reckoned with. But if doubts assailed him, if the Space Wolves' presence even could have raised doubt to Corax's true loyalties, even if the slimmest chance remained that the Ravenlord's efforts were not rewarded with the full support of Terra, then the Raven Guard would surely fail. This was a risk Hef could not take. Corax would have welcomed the Space Wolves with open arms, he had done so for every Loyalist they had encountered, but welcoming the Space Wolves would have caused the Raven Guard's demise. With his final order to all Legionaries present never to tell the truth about Woundweaver's fate, Hef and the Raptors silently departed.