Skarp-Hedin
Skarp-Hedin is a Space Wolf,[1b] who serves in the White Wolves Great Company of the Wolf Lord Ottar.[1a]
History
During the 13th Black Crusade, Ottar led the White Wolves to aid in Cadia's defense[1a] aboard their Strike Cruiser Stiklestad.[1d] Most of the Great Company would accompany the Wolf Lord to the Fortress World,[1b] while a small amount of his Space Wolves forces remained aboard the Strike Cruiser.[1c] Skarp-Hedin was amongst those who joined Ottar and this gladden him, as Chaos Space Marines were among Hedin's most hated foe and their very appearance filled him with a primal need to tear them apart. This came to the fore,[1b] when Ottar led the Great Company against the Black Legion warband of the Chaos Lord Zufur, after the Wolf Lord saw them attempt to dig out one of Cadia's Pylons from the Elysion Fields. However during the battle, Ottar was separated from the Great Company by the Warband.[1a] Though he called the White Wolves to him, they could not reach the Wolf Lord,[1b] before he was killed by Zufur[1a]. Ottar's death sent Skarp-Hedin and the White Wolves into a vengeful frenzy and they tore into Zufur's Warband. Such was the ferocity of the Warband and Great Company's attacks though, that Black Legionaries from other warbands were drawn to the battle. By its end, Zufur and his forces were dead, but Hedin was the only member of the White Wolves that still lived. Though outnumbered by the remaining Black Legionaries, he fought on until the survivors fled the battle.[1b]
Afterwards, a mournful Hedin apologized to Ottar for failing to save him and then grabbed the Wolf Lord's power axe, Lightbringer. The White Wolves aboard the Stiklestad then warned Hedin that Cadia was lost, after the Blackstone Fortress Will of Eternity was crashed into the Fortress World, and he needed to evacuate before it was destroyed. Though Hedin knew he was the only one who could return to their Homeworld, Fenris, and tell the deeds of Ottar and the White Wolves, he was too eager to fight still. He chose instead to ignore the Stiklestad's pleas and sought more foes to kill. As he left the White Wolves behind, Hedin thought that the remains of Zufur and his Warband made a fitting cairn for Ottar.[1b] Though Cadia died around him, Hedin remained lost in a battle-haze until the Stiklestad warned it was about to flee the doomed world. This finally broke through to Hedin and he made his way to one of the White Wolves' landers and prepared to return to the Strike Cruiser. Before he did so, though, the Cadian Guardsmen Rath Sturm and Arminka Lesk appeared and asked to be taken aboard so they could escape as well. Hedin did not do so at once, as he thought they were weak humans that would only slow him down. Sturm's pleas for help further discouraged Hedin, but he changed his mind, after Sturm said they wanted to live and gain revenge for Cadia's loss. This convinced Hedin to aid the Cadians and he helped them aboard the lander. Once they were aboard the Stiklestad,[1c] the Strike Cruiser fled from the Cadian System.[1d]
Due to a Warp mishap, though, the Stiklestad emerged into the Chaos invaded Agripinaa System and then joined Admiral d'Armitage's Imperial warfleet in the Battle of Faith's Anchorage. It was at that time, that d'Armitage's flagship, the Grand Alliance, was being targeted by the Chaos invaders, after becoming isolated. The flagship would have been destroyed, had the Stiklestad not intervened and dove into the fray. The Strike Cruiser's unexpected appearance and attack, drove the Chaos warships off of the Grand Alliance and the Imperials would later win the Battle of Faith's Anchorage. In the Battle's aftermath, the White Wolves transported the Cadians Sturm and Lesk to the Grand Alliance and then left the Agripinaa System.[1e]
Trivia
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Ottar is not among the Space Wolves Chapter's Wolf Lords named, during the 13th Black Crusade. Either the author made a mistake, or Ottar and the White Wolves are meant to be part of the 13th Great Company.
