Jennika Tan Draconis - Second Ork War: Barely five standard years after the successful conclusion of the Donatos War, Adrastapol was invaded by the hordes of WAAAGH! Killfist, unleashing what became known as the Second Ork War. The Ork Warlord Gorgrok Killfist of the Deathskulls klan was a far cry from the savage Skarjaw responsible for the First Ork War. Great Ork combat walkers, from Gorkanauts and Morkanauts to Stompaz and even Gargants, marched behind hordes of Orks in blue warpaint; whole squadrons of captured Imperial tanks kicked up dust alongside the Orks' own ramshackle creations.While High King Danial Tan Draconis' attempt to modernise the planetary defences and infrastructure of Adrastapol during his short reign had considerably bolstered his world's defences, the reluctance of House Minotos to comply with these initiatives left the Knight World vulnerable. Given fair warning of the Orks' arrival by the unexpected appearance of Inquisitor Tane Massata of the Ordo Malleus, the defenders mustered themselves for war and evacuated the countryside. While their actions inflicted significant casualties on the Orks, the Knight houses of Adrastapol soon found themselves cut off from each other and beleaguered in their primary fortresses.As the Greenskins landed in greater numbers, the Knights' secondary fortresses either had to be evacuated or were overrun. First House Minotos, then House Draconis were forced to fall back to the safety of their ancestral keeps, the Iron Maze and the Draconspire, respectively, both of which quickly come under siege.Defending the highlands and the mountainous plateaus of the Adraspotine Mountains, House Pegasson fared little better. It was then that the Knight of Ashes returned to Adrastapol. Leading a small band of Freeblade Knights, Luk Kar Chimaeros found the Draconspire already beleaguered but managed to briefly contact his friend High King Danial. Tasked with lifting the siege of the Draconspire, the Knight of Ashes and his small army travelled to the seat of House Pegasson, the Eyrie, where they were received by Marchioness Lauret Tan Pegasson. Quelling the dissensions within her own Exalted Court, the marchioness agreed to personally accompany the Knight of Ashes and pledged the support of her 50 Imperial Knights and the entire Pegasson Air Force, reputedly the finest pilots on Adrastapol.Using House Pegasson's fleet of heavy bulk-landers to transport their Knights to the lands of House Minotos, the Imperial reinforcements reached the Iron Maze, just as the Orks penetrated its outer defences. Disembarking on Heroes' Ridge, a tall hill overlooking the Ironfields, Marchioness Lauret led her Knights in a daring shock-assault, trapping the Orks between her force and the walls of the Iron Maze whilst her household air force made sure the Orks could not escape the hammer and the anvil. Despite heavy casualties, by the end of the afternoon the siege of the Iron Maze was lifted and the victorious Knights of House Minotos, humbled by the support of House Pegasson and the determination of the Knight of Ashes, joined the counterattack.Redeployed swiftly with the help of the Pegasson Air Force, both houses attacked Killfist's great horde as it lay siege to the Draconspire where Imperial resistance was on the verge of collapse. Just as the Knight of Ashes and the Adrastapolian Knights launched their attacks, Killfist's personal retinue of Meganobz broke through the final ring of fortifications.The Ork warlord and the high king clashed in the Draconispire's throne room. While Danial Tan Draconis ultimately killed the Ork warlord, this was only possible because the Knight of Ashes had broken through and routed the Orks in the throne room. While House Pegasson and House Minotos pinned the enemy's reserve in place, the surviving House Draconis Knights mounted up and led the final counter-charge which defeated the Orks' super-heavy reserves and routed the horde. Although follow-up operations lasted for well over a Terran year, Adrastapol was saved on that day and a new unity of purpose was forged between the three victorious houses.For her part, Adrastapol's other great hero of the Donatos War, First Knight Jennika Tan Draconis, played little part in the fighting but proved to be no less a saviour of her world than her brother the high king and the Knight of Ashes. When the Orks of WAAAGH! Killfist had fallen upon her homeworld, Jennika Tan Draconis reluctantly decided not to fight the invaders, instead attaching herself to Inquisitor Tane Massata who had arrived on the eve of this Second Ork War.This decision ultimately saved Adrastapol from destruction, for her exemplary conduct during the Inquisitor's mission made him reconsider his judgement of Adrastapol as a world hopelessly corrupted by Chaos and abort the Exterminatus action he had already ordered unleashed upon the Knight World.