Odi Sartak
Odi Sartak was a Wolf Lord in the Space Wolves Legion, who took part in the Horus Heresy's Siege of Terra.[1a]
History
He was among the Imperials who were able to retreat within the Sanctum Imperialis, as the Imperial Palace was overrun by Warmaster Horus' Traitor forces. Once inside, Sartak was given command[1b] of a Denial Company by the War Court,[1c] which was designated Denial 340.[1b] These were patchwork Companies of Legionaries who had also made it into the Sanctum Imperialis. They were grouped under commanders, whose task was to guard sections of the Delphic Wall, which served as a final defense against the Traitors trying to invade the Sanctum. To Sartak's annoyance and anger, however, the 340 did not take an active part in the defense as it was among the twenty Companies led by the Imperial Fist Praetor-Captain Honfler. Following orders laid down by his Primarch, Dorn, Honfler instead held his Companies in reserve until the section of the Wall they defended was breached or scaled atop of by the Traitors.[1b]
Once it became clear the Delphic Wall would fall to Horus' forces, though, the Denial Companies were withdrawn by the War Court into the Sanctum Imperialis, to prepare for its invasion. Before Honfler could give them their new orders, though, Sartak began walking away. He had finally grown tired of Honfler's tactics and stated he would go and defend the Wall, while the Praetor-Captain could keep talking. When Honfler told Sartak he was under the orders of the War Court, the Wolf Lord declared he no longer wished to follower their orders, as they had failed in defending Terra. Before Sartak could leave, though, the Blood Angel Nassir Amit, who commanded Denial 963, insulted the Wolf Lord and told him to get back to his position. While Sartak was angered by this, he reluctantly did so and Honfler's Companies were given their new orders. They were then separated into groups of Companies, who would be commanded by Honfler or his deputies as they protected certain sections of the Sanctum. The Praetor-Captain would take command of four Denial Companies and defend the Sanctum's Martian Approaches, with Sartak's Denial 340 being amongst his group. Before they dispersed though, Amit would apologize for what he said to Sartak, as it was not likely they would meet again. The Wolf Lord would not accept it, however, as Amit had truthfully spoken his mind. Sartak simply hoped that in the coming battles Amit's bite was worse than his bark.[1c]
As Honfler's group traveled to its position, he told Sartak that if the Wolf Lord did not swear to follow his orders from then on, then the 340 Sergeant Rewa Medusi would take command of Sartak's Denial Company. However the Wolf Lord assured Honfler that he would do as the Praetor-Captain asked. Problems soon arose, however, when they entered the Martian Approaches and found the section they were to be posted at had been blocked off by security gates. Though Sartak suspected they must be shut for a reason, Honfler countered that the War Court had decreed that no gates within the Sanctum were to be closed yet. Though the Wolf Lord then said it could be a breach, the Praetor-Captain dismissed this by stating no alarms or warnings had been given. He did relent to having the gates opened though and instead asked Sergeant Medusi and several of the 340's Iron Hands to open one of the gates' hatches. Upon doing so, they saw pure darkness and nothing within it could be made out.[1d] While he was alarmed by this, Honfler ignored Sartak's request to leave the gates be, as he now needed to determine if the Traitors were hiding in the dark. The Praetor-Captain then tried to contact the War Court, but their Vox was down and Honfler decided he would go alone to check what lied behind the gates. Sartak went with him, though, and both entered the darkness after Medusi opened the gates enough for them to pass through.[1e]
They saw nothing within it, but Sartak then touched the ground and realized it was bare dirt. This led the Wolf Lord to believe they were somewhere outside of the Sanctum,[1e] to the disbelief of Honfler. Sartak agreed with him, but he was sure in his judgement and asked the Praetor-Captain to retreat back to the gates and have them sealed once more. Honfler agreed once Sartak stated they would send word to the War Court about what they found, but as the two retreated back to the open gates they began hearing movement and laughter around them. With the complete darkness though, the two could not see what was causing it,[1f] but both knew they were now being followed. Thankfully they made it through the gates before anything occurred and Sergeant Medusi sealed the entrance once more. Honfler then ordered a message be sent to the War Court, but before anyone could do so, the top of the gates began to be hammered upon from the sides facing the darkness. This caused the Praetor-Captain to ready his Denial Companies for battle, just before frost began to appear on the gates.[1h]
But by that point, Terra had become so infused by the Warp, that the Traitor forces were able to materialize within the Sanctum Imperialis.[1g] This led Honfler's Denial Companies to be easily attacked from behind,[1h] by a horde of Chaos Space Marines and they had no way to escape, since the gates in front of them were sealed. Because of this, his Denial Companies suffered heavy losses, with Medusi being among them. At that point, Sartak argued that their fates were sealed and they should charge to at least take more of the Traitors with them. The Praetor-Captain agreed with the Wolf Lord, but before he could give the order, Honfler was grabbed from behind by a large tentacle. It had emerged from one of the hatches of the sealed gates and quickly pulled Honfler into the darkness, before any of his Denial Companies could react. Upon seeing what had occurred, Sartak rushed to aid Honfler, but more tentacles emerged from the gates' hatch to attack the Wolf Lord.[1i]
Sartak later discovered Nassir Amit, fully succumbed to the Black Rage, amidst a sea of loyalist corpses. He is about to try and take down the mad warrior when the insanity lifts and Amit returns to his senses.[2]