Knight of Ashes - The Rescue of House Minotos: Transported by the heavy landers of the Pegassine Air Force, the Knight of Ashes and his fellow Exiles landed directly on Heroes' Ridge, a large hill overlooking the Ironfields and offering a perfect view of the city of Minosaal and the seat of House Minotos, the Iron Maze. As Lightnings in the white and blue of House Pegasson battled Ork junk-aircraft, the four remaining Exiles assembled and took in the vista.The city of Minosaal was burning, little more than a ruined wasteland teeming with Orks. The city's great armoured gates had been thrown down and its walls sported great holes where Ork heavy walkers had forced their way through. Mobs of Orks and mechanised warbands swarmed the three highways linking the city to the Iron Maze.The great fortress of House Minotos itself was burning, black smoke rising from its many towers and redoubts. The innermost fortresses and bastions had clearly been overrun, crude banners bearing Ork glyphs hanging from its firing slits and battlements. Yet the exterior bastions were still fighting, pouring fire on the enemy. House Minotos was not yet beaten.After a rousing speech, Marchioness Lauret Tan Pegasson ordered her Knights to charge. The Exiles formed a single lance that acted alongside those of House Pegasson. As the Knights charged the Orks' vulnerable rear, the Pegassine Air Force raced overhead, Imperial fighters duelling their xenos counterparts while Marauder Bombers conducted perilously close bombing runs which consumed the Orks in large explosions or the great whooshing of igniting incendiaries. Thanks to this air cover, the Imperial Knights reached the broken walls of Minosaal without casualties, but by now the Greenskins had seen their approach and part of the horde surged back to meet them.The Exiles progressed along the easternmost highway, following the large road to their designated objective, a great plaza dominated by a statue of a minotos or minotaur as the mythical creature had been known on Old Earth. As befit a commander, the Knight of Ashes was at the front of the spearhead, Sword of Heroes leading Duty Unending and Wrath Inescapable.With no close combat weapon of its own, Crimson Death followed a safe distance behind. At first the streets of Minosaal were empty, but they filled in a heartbeat, mobs of Boyz crowding the ruined streets and buildings while Lootaz seemingly emerged from every window and rooftop, their heavy weapons firing down at the Exiles.Luk annihilated a squadron of Greenskin tanks and linked one their Heavy Stubbers to Sword of Heroes’ Machine Spirit which began targeting the Orks at the windows. Wrath Inescapable collapsed a tower right onto the on-rushing infantry while Duty Unending thinned their ranks with disciplined shots from her Knight's Battlecannon.A Gorkanaut rumbled through the surrounding debris, its rotary cannon spitting shells which bounced off the Lance's Ion Shields. Crimson Death quickly silenced it with a well-placed shot from its exotic weapons, but the utter devastation of their forward elements didn't even slow the Orks' momentum. As the Greenskins closed with their Knights, Marauders and Lightning aircraft came around for a second pass, annihilating those Orks in the open.Crashing through the front of a shop to Luk's right, a second Gorkanaut charged him, and the Knight of Ashes deftly parried the walker's claw with his Reaper Chainsword before sliding under his opponent's guard and slicing it off. The Knight of Ashes' return-swing decapitated the Ork walker, leaving it to crash into the street.Another Gorkanaut came at Luk while he side-stepped his falling foe but the heavy walker was intercepted by Lady Maia in Wrath Inescapable which slammed into the fat-bellied Ork walker, causing it to fall on its side before executing it with a point-blank shot from its Thermal Cannon.Grinning, the Knight of Ashes moved on. Luk saw on his strategic overlay that the Marchioness' own lance had almost reached the walls of the Iron Maze. The Pegassine Air Force was performing admirably, simultaneously protecting the Marchioness' flanks while supporting the flanking Knights against the Ork counterattack. Booming their Vox-horns, the Knights of House Minotos sallied forth from their own sections of the Iron Maze, trapping the Orks between twin fronts of vengeful Imperial Knights.As Sword of Heroes rounded the corner of the Imperial cathedral that dominated their objective, a powerful explosion snuffed out its Ion Shield, damaging its close combat arm at the same time. Wincing from the sympathetic pain he felt through the Knight's Throne Mechanicum, Luk steadied his Knight before scanning for his enemy."Baneblade!" one of the Exiles suddenly exclaimed. The former Imperial super-heavy tank was cowering behind the decapitated statue at the centre of the plaza, the barrel of its Mega Battle Cannon still smoking. On foot and Trukks more Greenskins charged at the Exiles. Crimson Death fired, scoring twin hits on the Baneblade, but the glyph and spike-covered super-heavy tank still rumbled forward despite the internal explosions ravaging its crew compartment.As the remaining Exiles scattered, Crimson Death fired again, but to no avail. In response, the captured tank's hull-mounted Demolisher Cannon snuffed out Crimson Death’s Ion Shield. Wrath Inescapable bravely stepped in front of the vulnerable Knight, catching the Baneblade's Lascannon-shots on her own shield.The Baneblade's main gun was tracking Crimson Death, ready to fire when Sword of Heroes killed it, shooting at very close range. The tank's explosion engulfed Sword of Heroes, scorching its painting and heating up the Knight's hull. The hull remained intact but Luk could feel the heat radiating from the cockpit hatch, hot enough to scorch flesh. His reactor was red-lining and the Knight of Ashes hurriedly shut down every nonessential system.With two Knights out of the fight, the Exiles played no further part in the battle. Duty Unending and Wrath Inescapable stood guard over their stricken comrades to fend off several smaller attacks, before the Vesserines and their own Sacristans secured the plaza. With the help of their walkers, the Sacristans attached to the Exiles began repairs on the two stricken Knights.Whereas most Knight Houses now favoured the heavy Land Crawlers also used by the Adeptus Mechanicus, these Sacristan Walkers were relics of the past. Only the more traditionalist Houses such as House Hawkshroud still made use of the old "Ironlegs." The Sacristan walkers were quadrupedal constructs and roughly equivalent to a Sentinel of the Astra Militarum in terms of height. They carried a mixture of heavy weapons for their own protection as well as robotic arms carrying the various tools needed to resupply and repair their masters' steeds.As the Exiles' Sacristans began their repairs on Sword of Heroes and Crimson Death, the Knight of Ashes followed the conclusion of the battle on his tactical vid-screen. Having cleansed the ruins of Minosaal of Orks , the three-pronged spear tip of the Pegassine assault was closing in on the Iron Maze, each formation following one of the great highways. They moved rapidly, their flanks kept secure by ground attacks conducted by House Pegasson's air force.But the greatest carnage was unleashed by the Knights of House Minotos. Two formations of Knights, one led by Grandmarshal Kurt Tan Minotos and the other by his herald, Sire Wilhorm Dar Minotos, charged the Orks as they turned to engage the approaching Pegasson Knights. Venting their fury on the Orks, the Knights of Houses Minotos and Pegasson routed the horde, then hunted its survivors across the Ironfields.