House Draconis - Herald of the Storm: The festivities surrounding the opening of the Imperatus Dam were interrupted when an unidentified flying object pierced Adrastapol's skies and impacted close to the swarming camp of tents that housed the dam's countless workers and High King Danial's many guests.Fearing an assassination attempt on the high king's life, the Imperial Knights tasked with the camp's security quickly surrounded the crash-site while Danial and his closest advisors were evacuated in the high king's personal Aquila Lander.Danial was already airborne when the news reached him by vox that the unidentified object had not been a missile or a torpedo as feared but an Imperial landing vessel: the long-awaited Inquisitorial envoy had finally arrived on Adrastapol.As soon as their identity was confirmed the newly-arrived Imperial agents were brought before the high king who received them in his lavishly decorated tent. The newcomers' leader introduced himself as Inquisitor Tane Massata of the Ordo Malleus.Massata expected the high king's full and total cooperation during his investigation into the reasons for House Chimaeros' and House Wyvorn's corruption. He had also been tasked with determining if Adrastapol's remaining houses remained loyal to the Emperor. From the start, the Inquisitor had made it clear that if he found Adrastapol's loyalty wanting, he would not hesitate to order an Exterminatus action upon the Knight World.Without pause to consider the impact of that threat, the Inquisitor next explained how his ship had been thrown off-course by turbulence in the Warp. His vessel had translated into realspace only to find itself in the path of a gigantic Ork armada heading straight for the Majestis System and Adrastapol.No sooner had the Inquisitor relayed the nature of the new threat than the first warnings reached the high king that Adrastapol's auguries had indeed detected a large number of vessels entering the system.With grim determination, Danial transformed the meeting into a council of war. The Second Ork War had begun.As a squire, the future High King Danial had been quite the atypical warrior, spending more time pondering over old books rather than exercising on the training fields or hunting in the vast plains and forests of the Draconis' lands.As a child he had been obsessed with the tales of his father's grand action during the first Ork invasion of Adrastapol. This intimate knowledge of the Orks' tactics and destructive potential was now put to the test in drawing up Adrastapol's defences against WAAAGH! Killfist.The high king realised the folly of meeting the Orks head-on, and instead chose to evacuate the smaller, untenable settlements and focus on those fortified cities and other fortresses they could defend.A small force of House Draconis Knights would be needed to supervise the evacuation effort, but the majority of the house's Knights would launch attacks on the Orks landing sites to prevent the smaller bands from coalescing into a vast horde that could potentially destroy the less numerous Imperial forces.It was a delaying tactic at best, but it would keep the initiative in Imperial hands and offered the only chance to thin out the Orks ranks before the green tide became irresistible.With the council about to conclude, Inquisitor Massata reminded the high king that despite the approaching threat he still fully intended to travel to House Chimaeros' lands and determine if any trace of Chaos corruption still lingered.Inquisitor Massata asked for transportation, and the high king agreed and as a further courtesy provided the Inquisitor with an honour guard that included a full lance of Knights. The king's sister and first knight, Lady Jennika Tan Draconis, immediately volunteered to command the Inquisitor's honour guard, a favour Danial was quick to grant.