Siege of Vraks - Battle for the Cardinal Gate: Meanwhile, as High Commander Ortys and his brothers fought their way along the Pilgrim’s Road and into the St Leonis Gate, Inquisitor Lord Rex’s assault force was ready and assembled for its own attack upon the Cardinal Gate. Westward, already the rolling barrage of artillery that preceded the 158th regiment’s fresh attack was pummelling the hillside again, shrouding the Citadel above in a fog of thickening grey dust.Lord Rex’s assault force was ready, a handpicked team of the best troops he had available to him: eight Ordo Malleus Inquisitors and their full retinues, supported by the brothers of the Red Hunters Chapter, inquisitorial Storm troopers companies and reinforced by Krieg grenadier squads from the 150th and 158th regiments. Also in support was the Grey Knights strike force of Brother Captain Arturus, Terminator and Purgation squads mounted in Land Raider transports, the Brother Captain himself leading them. Thunderhawk gunships were already airborne and on standby to provide air cover as the attack closed in on the gate itself.The sound of battle were running down the hillside as Lord Rex stride [] between his waiting troops, who knew its respect for his rank. Rex’s personal priests followed in his wake providing a blessing to each man, a final vow against the terrible enemy they must now face and defeat. The Inquisitor inspired courage, taller by a head for even the Space Marines around his artificer armour bedecked and beautifully ornate symbols and seals, on one hand he carried the sacred Powersword Arias, gleaming silver white. Legend had it that had been blessed by the Emperor himself. In the other hand he effortlessly carried a huge storm shield, too large for a normal man to carry, let alone weld on battle, sculpted into the shape of the symbol of the Inquisition, the “I”. He was a giant of a man, a goliath, and it seemed that no foe could stand against him. Even daemons must qual before such a man.On the Inquisitor Lord’s word his me rose as one. The enemy awaited up the long hill, an enemy that loathed and hated him, an enemy that existed only to despise them and the Emperor that they served. Here was a test worthy for heroes, today great names would be forged in the heat of battle, great honours won and legends made.The ordeal began. The Inquisitor Rex signaled for the advance to begin, and the men move out alongside their armoured vehicles. Land Raiders and Rhinos rumbled forward at walking pace, the burnished red carapace of Red Hunter’s Dreadnoughts mixed with the dusty greys and black of the Krieg grenadiers. They began to climb as the skies blackened lika an omen of the approaching storm. Ahead of the lead squads the first artillery rounds began to land, blossoming in fiery flowers of yellow and orange around the Cardinal Gate.Above, the lightning storm broke with a clash of thunder that made the ground tremble. Great bolts of light flashed in the sky – the wrath of the gods were unleashed upon Vraks. But there was no rain, just coruscating waves of lightning leaping amongst the clouds as Inquisitor Rex and his me headed themselves upwards, ever upward towards their objective. It was dark now, unnaturally so, and a great foreboding was in the air. Inquisitor Rex’s psychically attuned mind felt that doom had descended upon Vraks, great deeds were afoot, maybe even his death awaited. So be it, he would go to his Emperor willingly, but only after the foe had been vanquished.And then, suddenly, the enemy was coming, pouring down from the Cardinal Gate to meet them, in a tide of red and brass, chanting their war cry "Blood, blood, blood, blood..." as the Inquisitor's men opened fire. But on they came, through the explosions, their chant ringing around them. Bloodlettters and Flesh Hounds, Juggernauts of Khorne and Brass Scorpions clanking and wailing, daubed in blood, their cannons belching molten brass and spitting death. They charged and the Inquisitor sent his men forwards to meet them, Arias shining, held high, storm shield before him. The two sides clashed. Hacking and slashing, grunting and screaming, the daemons shrieking as Inquisitor Rex cast them back to the Warp. Psychic power now encircled him, crackling about his armour, his very presence made the daemons shrink from him as he exorcised their blasphemous forms back into the realm of Chaos from which they had been summonedThe Grey Knights disembarked from their transports straight into battle, psycannons and incinerator units purging great swathes of the enemy ranks, force lighting flashing blue from their halberds. Overhead a Thunderhawk swooped in, its psychically infused ammunition flaying the red devils below- It was a pitiless fight, Inquisitors bellowed orders as the Storm Trooper squads maintained a steady fire, but the daemons would not be denied their harvest of skulls. “Blood, blood, blood, blood...” they chanted, and their hell blades left the hillside aked in gore. Inquisitor Rex forced his halo of divine power about him as he drove the foe ever backwards. About him many had fallen, savaged upon the insatiable fangs of the great red hounds that hunted the hillside in ravenous packs, but many men were still with him as he approached the gate Through it poured out still more foes, eager for the battle.There, they found only destruction at the hands of the Grey Knights who basted their own path after the Inquisitor, sweeping the daemons before them A great Brass Scorpion of Khorne was sent shrieking back into the Warp, a force halberd driven deep into its unholy workings, where the bodies of the sacrificed withed in torture within. Their Land Raiders were dose behind, all weapons blazing as the last of the daemons were destroyed. The battle had been savage and bestial, but brief, the Cardinal Gate now lay before them. It seemed victory must be theirs - until the Bloodthirster arrived...