Bringing Heaven to Hell (Firemane)

[Tempest]

[member="Kaida Taldir"], [member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Delila Castillon"]


Whilst Eyrecae was singlehandedly trying to attack a giant worm and Delila’s tank was slick with the blood of the guilty, Tempest was bringing up support behind. Her gunships hovered in the air, providing covering fire, but not yet landing. Their job was to support and help, then to push into the city and begin setting up a base.

However, when Kaida began to summon her desert twister, Tempest decided it was time for herself to get involved.
“Pilot, hold here, turn broadside!” she ordered.

Going to the door she opened it and looked out on the ruinous battlefield. The desert twister was tearing into the Bando Gora lines, and she decided she could add to the chaos.

Standing there, her atmosphere suit protecting her, the other crew and soldiers watching her expectantly…she froze for a moment. If this failed…if she failed she would die. Even if she didn’t, Siobhan would be angry with her, and even after all this time she had not managed to shake the notion of a vengeful and angry Master.

But she was a Knight now. She had to start acting like one. She had to take the step.

And a step she did take, into open air. This was what she had been practicing, what she had learned from Siobhan. So when she stepped out she didn’t fall, she hovered there, a bit wobbly, but secure. Looking to the raging storm she took a deep breath, focused and then….

Lightning tore from her, combining with the storm to form a column of electrical dust which arced viciously as the storm tore through the Reaver lines. Many Bando Gora were swept into the air and dashed against rocks or blasted with lightning. By the time the storm ended the battle on the plains was virtually decided.

Tempest meanwhile barely regained the gunship before her energy gave out and she collapsed to the deck, exhausted.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Tempest"], [member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Delila Castillon"]


And on this day, upon the ravaged surface of this benighted, godsforsaken world, Team Natural Disaster was born. Congratulations, Galaxy, nothing could possibly go wrong! The desert twister was tearing across the ruined battlefield, claiming the lives of Reaver and beast alike, the strain on Kaida becoming ever greater as she struggled to control it. The urge to let go was strong, likewise the one to fully let loose and bask in the power she was wielding, but she had to keep focus...


Then she felt the ripples resonate through the Force as Tempest stepped into the toxic air and unleashed her power. Then there was lightning...lightning everywhere! Feeling the powerful onslaught Captain Kaida Taldir increased her efforts, drawing even more heavily upon her Sciia as she focused upon driving the powerful storm through the Reaver lines. Well, those she could see at any rate. You see, a battlefield is very big and they were fighting across a rather vast desert zone with mountain ranges along it. So it would not claim every beast in sight. Combined with the storm it became a powerful column of electrical dust and debris that swept across the desert with the force of a devastating hurricane.


As debris and Reavers were swallowed up into the vortex of the wind, which seemed so eager to claim them like a gaping maw, blasts of lightning arced out across the enemy's lines. Doubtless some would be able to withstand the onslaught, especially the True Reavers, utilising the Force to ground themselves amidst the hurricane. But many were swept into the air and, amid immense turbulences and great intensity, slammed against mountains or fried by lightning, which likewise made them good targets for the tanks and charging soldiers.


The strain had become very painful for Kaida. Indeed it was making her feel like her head was about to be split, such were the beatings it was enduring. She was not a master after all and though proficient in aeromancy, even the power of the Force had its limits. Finally, as the storm began dying down and gradually ended, she dropped to her knees and collapsed, giving the order for the last platoons to charge and finish off the enemy before she lost consciousness for the moment, tired out and exhausted. Soldiers charged over the open plains and past the debris, rumbles were heard as the Reaver-class tanks advanced, claiming the limes of beasts as blasts of fire leapt out of their flamethrowers to roast them.

 

[Vaena Askari]

"Lady Cadalthor, the commander of the Ariane's Fist reports that the Reavers are being driven back. Enemies are still present, but a storm has decimated their ranks. Forces will be regrouping to prepare for the push into the city. Silaqui-class Gunships are returning to hangar bays to rearm," the XO reported.
Tarissa smiled grimly as she gazed upon the venomous yellow orb that was Gehenna. "And there have not even been any dramatic one-one-duels? Unthinkable in times when, as if by the wave of a magic wand, entire armies and fleets just disappear! Our forces are to annihilate the enemy and push into the city. Instruct the exploration teams to land and follow in the wake of the strike force to begin the surveys. Make sure our forces are not lacking in munitions, fuel and medical supplies. As heroic as death charging with bayonets might look, it is hardly smart."
"Aye, ma'am. Progress is being made on the salvage operations. Proceeding without incident. Lady Kerrigan is initiating boarding operations for the Space Hulk. The Samarkand is providing support."
"Of course she is. Not very fitting for a lady of her rank, but I imagine the Reavers will pay dearly in blood." For just a moment Tarissa grew thoughtful and wondered whether she should not pass over command of the Valora's Blade and charge into battle herself. At the head of a force of Angelii to unleash the wrath of Ashira! It would be tremendously heroic, perhaps she would even get a medal. Then she just shook her head and thrust that thought out of the airlock. That was the sort of thing grunts did! Admittedly going planetside and commanding a tank, plowing through Reavers until the armoured behemoth was slick with the blood of the guilty, sounded tempting, but she decided against that. So she stayed on the bridge, sipping yet another cup of starcaf, while the legions of Firemane and Eldorai salvagers systematically cannibalised anything amongst the mass of floating debris that was worth recycling. She reflected that it would be terribly ironic if the Bando Gora starfighters were repurposed to blaze across the stars and deliver death in the name of the Great Goddess.
Prolonged contact with humans had made her appreciate the power of holomovies and so she wondered whether a 'fair, unbiased and totally accurate' movie could be made detailing the purgation and restoration of Gehenna. It would surely make excellent propaganda materiel! Of course advisers would have to make sure that whichever director was hired got the facts right.

 

[Mirien Valdier]

Mirien shook her head. "I suppose I should be glad that you think so." A bit of a smirk crossed her lips, "Those who work for me, don't seem to think so." But then again, Mirien did enjoy making people uncomfortable, especially when they had no alternative but to just deal with it and walk away silently!

"While alchemy is a most curious subject, I just will never understand the need to twist creatures into such horrible monsters." A soft chuckle followed, "At least the day should be interesting and entertaining." It seemed as though she was just casually talking about going to see a movie, and not like they were about to step into what would undoubtedly be a blood bath.

Mirien lofted a brow, admittedly interested in what Siobhan had brought up. "I never knew that." She shook her head, "Seems the Sith had all the good toys. Though that isn't to say that I don't have a set of Ultrachrome of my own on my personal ship, but yeah, it's ancient and quite outdated these days. Glad you managed to get your hands on some of it. Will make me feel a little more comfortable out there, a little more at home."

Mirien returned a bright smile as she stepped out onto the hangar floor, and scanned the room quickly, taking in all the activities of the people on the floor. "You know, looking around at everyone else, I think ... I'm starting to feel like my saber and a blaster, just aren't enough these days."

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Mirien Valdier"]


"I don't know...I have fond memories of you force crushing a Klaxxi on Csilla," Siobhan said softly as Mirien took in the activities of the various soldiers upon the hangar floor, most of whom were now swarming into the waiting bays of the dropships that would be their chariots on their ride into the den of the beast. The memories she referred to, this she knew well, were not her own, for she had never set foot on Csilla, certainly not during the nightmarish battle with the giant spiders. Yet she remembered them vividly. There were times when she received flashes of events, sudden recollections and feelings that were not hers, but she was learning to deal with it. After all, they were a part of her now and it made her feel connected to her fellow brunette.


That said she gestured to one of the troopers. "Sergeant, do get Colonel Valdier an MK1 bolter with spare ammo and some Eaters." The NCO, apparently some sort of master-at-arms, complied and within a few moments the former Inquisitor would be holding one of the powerful boltguns in her hand and presumably have some metal-eating insect grenades in her pouch or wherever she put those explosives. Presumably she would have gotten the chance to get one of the suits of ultrachrome armour.


"I know you're already familiar with the bolter. I tend to use explosive bolts or APE rounds. Bolts make mincemeat out of forcers and the explosion has a nasty punch, APE shred most forms of personal armour and have no minimum range, but also no AOE damage. Buckshot's good for close quarters. Got the grenades from Styx as well. Upon detonation they release dark side channelled parasites that eat through armour. Have not been able to reverse-engineer them, but should come in handy," Siobhan elaborated as she displayed the weapons. "Right, let's get this show on the road, darlin'," she gave the Ice Queen a slap on the shoulder and quickly strode towards one of the dropships, gesturing to the pilot to get them into space.


Needless to say there was no dramatic speech. Siobhan had enjoyed speechifying occasionally, but did not see the point of dramatically reminding her troops that they would ride boldly and well into the jaws of death. If they were not tough and bright enough to give their utmost, then they did not belong here anyway and no amount of speechifying would change that!


She took up position close to the cockpit as the Silaqui-class Dropship, at the head of the swarm that would descend upon the Space Hulk, shot out of the hangar of the Radiant with a roar and into the vacuum of space. Sheer darkness, evil and primal hungry radiated from the ancient vessel. So massive was it that it filled their viewports. It certainly looked like something that had been through the Four Hundred Year Darkness. More than that the ship simply felt evil, almost as if were alive. A gaping maw that swallowed all life that was brave or foolish enough to come close, taking delight in devouring them. It reminded Siobhan strongly of the Ghost Ship she and [member="Delila Castillon"] had boarded not so long ago near Iferetes. That particular expedition had not gone well, but at least the two ladies had enjoyed a fun day relaxing and being pampered at a spa, even though the redhead had still refused all of Siobhan's advances!


Silaqui-class Gunships flew escort and flanked the dropships as they made their approach, for the ghost ship was bristling with firepower, a true leviathan of darkness, but not a single shot was fired from its ancient guns, though anyone endowed with the Force would sense that the vessel still teemed with life. Malicious, corrupted life, like anything the dark magicks of the Bando Gora touched. An Illyria-class frigate, the Samarkand, after having likewise spewed out a swarm of heavily armoured transports to aid in this venture, likewise moved into position to provide support. The warship moving through space resembled a black shark, on the prowl for prey and eager to sink its teeth into anything it could find, though it was dwarfed by the leviathan appropriately known as the Revenant.


There was a quiet that some might have considered foreboding, broken only by the loud roar of engines as the dropships landed in the hangar of the battleship. There was some lighting in the hangar, though it was rather dim and flickered a great deal, meaning night vision and headlamps would be of use. Jostling into position squads of soldiers were soon exiting the dropships, thrust into a dimly lit hangar where silence was broken by the breathing and creaking of the ghost ship. In the far distance, dimly, screams and blaster shots could be heard, though the echoes were weak.


"Two platoons secure the hangar. Set up e-webs and rotary cannon emplacements. Anything that's not with us, gets mowed over until it's ceased moving. If in doubt, blast it till it's in pieces. Salvage teams, anything we can carry, goes with us," Siobhan wasted no time before barking out commands as she moved into the hangar, her bionic eye glowing in the darkness. Lights bounced off hangar walls as heads turned, scanning for any signs of trouble. As would soon become apparent, there were quite a number of old bloodstains and half-eaten, badly mangled bodies lying around. The walls were badly scorched and covered in the unholy symbols of the Bando Gora, the marks of chaos.


A variety of Gunships and starfighters of a bizarre, alien design, filled the hangar. A number of them damaged, but some still intact and serviceveable. "Have a look at those," Siobhan gestured to one of the engineers, who quickly mobilised some salvagers. "Alright, boys, move in. Keep an eye on your six. Valdier, you're with me. Ardarvia, we've landed. Beginning approach," she sent a quick transmission to the frigate [member="Tegaea Alcori"] was on before cutting the connection.


Soldiers filed out and advanced through the hangar, working in pairs and providing mutual cover. Heavily armoured Firemane soldiers kitted out in duraplast armour and with MK2 bolters at the ready were joined by a group of Angelii, the Eldorai's elite force-using guard, clad in their more ornate armour, armed with sarix energy blades, sarzmigar polearms and battle shields, though each of the Eldorai warriors carried a bolter as well, showing how they had advanced to merge the old with the new.


"Countess, over here. You have to see this!" An Angelii Wing Leader, who had been with the section of the strike force taking point, called out to Siobhan, while the rest of her team took cover behind the wreck of a gunship, weapons trained upon any potential approach hostiles might make. Siobhan made a quick gesture to Mirien to follow as she quickly headed over. As she came closer she could see why this had caught the soldier's attention. Before her eyes, with illumination provided by headlamps as they focused upon it, lay the body of a man, if he could indeed be called such. Mechanical bits protruded from his every limb and his cheek was split held together only by mesh thread. One of his eyes was likewise sewn upon revealing a mechanical eye, though it no longer glowed, while his hands ended in long claws. Sparks flew from the mechanical abomination, it looked like its torso had been ripped open and its power core torn out. Its mouth was full of sharp fangs, like those of a Reaver, and where its face was not covered by mechanical plates, the dark runes of the Bando Gora had been carved into them. Indeed, one could still feel the warped sensation of Bando Gora magicks.


"Technobeasts...it was probably once a Reaver," Siobhan hissed at the sight, hatred washing over her. "Be ready, we have technobeasts on the ship. They can transmit the virus through bite, scratch, in some cases even through the air. Make sure your helmets are on and with gas-filters. Don't let them come close. Use heavy duty explosives, APEs and EMP against them. Cryomancers and electromancers, prioritise them as targets. The virus works very...fast. Someone gets bitten, shoot them. You'll be doing them a favour," she quickly called out to the troops, then gestured to some troopers assigned to salvage work. "I want that body loaded up and taken to our ship. Make sure you run it - and yourself - through decontamination after landing. Don't let any of its blood touch your skin." The technobeast was dead but it might still have value. For research, to find out more about the dark techniques that spawned it and develop countermeasures. Somehow she found herself thinking more often along these lines ever since the memory transfer with Mirien.

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Mirien Valdier"]
Aboard the Space Hulk


The dark side was strong upon this vessel. Its power could be felt by all those sensitive to the Force. Likewise its siren call could be heard as sought to draw them deeper into the labyrinthine tunnels of the leviathan of stars that now floated above the lifeless moon of Golgotha. It was like a miasma of fear, greed and cruelty that spread throughout the vessel.


Dried blood stains marked the floor, scorch marks the walls that were still emblazoned with the symbols of the Bando Gora. Turrets could be made out, but it seemed they had fallen silent. The lighting was terribly dim. Through the shadows a figure advanced, moving slowly, surreptitiously and with an element of wariness to her movement. Her face was obscured by a hood, though there was no mistaking the corrupted, sulfuric eyes of hers.


She heard the siren call of Chaos, a calling far beyond the mere dark side, and was an enraptured listener, yet her hand remained enclosed around the for now unignited hilt of her lightsabre. Her steps upon the ground were featherlight, even as she passed over a few mutilated bodies. There lay a Rakghoul, here a Bando Gora Cultist who had evidently been riddled with blaster bolts. She quickly moved to press herself against a pillar, making herself small as she heard noise, coming closer.


"Fall back! Now. They're everywhere!" the commanding but desperate female voice was accompanied by the loud roar of a scattergun and then a detonation, probably the explosion of a frag grenade. Angry shrieks and screeches could be heard, like those of wild animals.


Metal could be heard clashing against metal, so loud that it echoed across the halls. Perhaps blade crashing upon blade. Then the terrified scream of a man was heard, hinting at him being in great pain. "Get off me you monsters...help...aaagh..."


"They have Werther! Jaina...what are you..."


BANG BANG BANG


"Go...he's one of them now. Run!" That was the woman again, her voice almost drowned out by the sound of gun shots and more explosions that made the walls and ground shake. Clearly people were running for Naamah heard the sound of boots thumping upon the ground, coming closer and closer. "Samuel....cover me. Fire in the hole!"



BAM BAM BAM


Quickly pulling herself up Naamah propelled herself onto a beam hanging above ground with an acrobatic leap, slowly crouching on it as she heard people move in. "Shoot him...Sam, that's not Werther anymore," a Twi'lek woman dressed like a smuggler and wielding a blaster rifle shouted to a human man similarly armed as as a Technobeast, once who had clearly until recently been a normal human, but now had been converted into a mechanical abomination, a blade protruding out what had once been his right arm, advanced.


"But....I...," finally the human fired, letting loose a volley, but the Technobeast, though shaken was faster, and simply grabbed his arm to break it and sunk his teeth into his neck. The man called Sam cried out in agony and fear. "Jaina...I...help..."


The Twi'lek woman, stricken by a murderous rage, fired with her rifle, letting loose a salvoe of rounds. Round upon round hit the cyborg zombie before it finally fell to the ground, sparks flying. Shaking the woman approached the wounded man, who was being shaken with spasms and showing signs of mutation, with the technovius working its way through his system. "I'm sorry...," she said solemnly before she shot him in the head, frying his face and putting him out of his misery. The woman looked shaken for the moment, then quickly bent down to raid through their backpacks. Apparently they were salvagers of some sort and not above taking from each other.


Then she froze, as it seemed she heard movement, the creaking of the metal and the sound of breathing. "You won't take me!" she shouted as she brought up her blaster rifle and let loose a salvoe across the hall, firing blindly it seemed into the shadows, including at the rail Naamah had been crouching on. Then suddenly, without any warning, the figure dropped down from above. The Twi'lek struggled in vain and began choking when suddenly two strong thighs enclosed around her throat and seized her. She tried to pull up her blaster and fire but it was pulled out of her grasp as if by an invisible force, and then her attacker began...pulling and squeezing with her legs, brutally snapping her neck. The alien crumpled to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been pulled and Naamah Aesham stepped out of the shadows that were almost like her home these days.


Beneath the hood she looked cold and impassive as she quickly grabbed the backpack of the woman, a thin smile crossing her lips as her hands found a datacron by feel. This was good. Very good indeed. However, her jaw tightened as she heard noise. Perhaps it was just her mind playing tricks on her...no, there were no coincidences and she knew better than that. In a flash her lightsabre flew into her hand and ignited with a snap-hiss, the blade the colour of crimson and humming for blood.


She stretched out with her senses, trying to get a feel on what might be assailing her, but felt nothing. Perhaps the shroud of darkness was of such potency that it was interfering with her senses. The only warning she got was a slight creak on the ground, and then as she turned she found herself staring at a beast that looked like it had been pulled out of the underworld of myths, leaping at her from above with a speed almost too fast for her to track. The impact sent her flying through the corridor into the hard cold...wall. Ribs broke painfully, then scalding heat shot through her body as the beast spat burning acid...

 

[Aeda Shaytari]

Grand Seraph [SIZE=11pt]Aeda Shaytara[/SIZE]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"], [member="Mirien Valdier"]

A last ship landed on the space hulk. On that ship was a single white armoured figure headed down from the ramp and towards the sound of battle.

Appearing behind Siobhan she spoke in an electronically modulated voice so she didn't sound like her cousin. "Lady Kerrigan, Grand Seraph Shaytara reporting. Where do you need me?"
Though technically she outranked Siobhan in both rank and position, she yielded to Siobhan's control of the situation gladly.

She unhitched her Battle Shield and Sarix from her back and activated them.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Kaida Taldir"], [member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Delila Castillon"]

Tempest wasn't sure how long she'd been out, but she jerked awake inside the transport once it touched down. As she shot up a medic removed her helmet in the climate controlled interior.
"Lieutenant, are you alright?"
"I'm...fine. Just a bit tired. What happened?"
"Well, you summoned all that lightning. The enemy is retreating. Our forces are pushing on towards the mountain."
"Alright, get us airborne again. We'll provide cover and establish a perimeter inside the mountain. Once there we can start fulfilling our true mission."

And so, the ground battle was won, the surviving Reavers fleeing back to their holes beneath the mountain. The first stage of the conquest was over...but the next stage might be even more dangerous!

 

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Kaida Taldir"], [member="Delila Castillon"], [member="Coryth Elaris"]

Eyrecae was back on her feet, leading the way towards the mountain. Occasionally she would stop to stretch and make sure she was being followed, then continued her march until she was at the entrance.
Down into the darkness she looked, and a lesser woman might have paused, quailed. But Eyrecae feared nothing. She raised her hammer.
"Last one to paradise gets the human....charge!"
Eldorai heaven had mentions of paradise in a 'getting young maidens' sense...depending on what you read.

 

[Coryth Elaris]

With the Acklay down, Coryth had other worries to attend to. The battle was not without wounded, and as much as the empath did not wish to feel such things, the pain and agony of those men and woman resonated in her mind. No longer could she ignore them, and press the feelings away from the surface of her mind. No, the pain was a constant now, and with a sigh, the redhead turned back, heading for the nearest being she could feel crying out in pain within the force.

Slowly she crossed the harsh terrain, stopping at a group of soldiers who were carrying another back in the direction of the ships. "Wait." She said firmly, speaking through her helmet. "Put him down, let me see him." A sigh came, as she knelt alongside the being. Coryth only had a second to attempt to draw upon the force to aid in healing the man before she was rudely interrupted.

A warning came like a lightning strike through her mind. Even as quickly as it had come, it still was almost too late as a new creature came barreling towards her. Throwing her hands up, instinct took over, and she instantly had a protective bubble of the force wrapped around the group. She managed a deep breath as she watched the altered Reek before her, paw the ground and charge her bubble once again. But something told her this was no ordinary attack. No, she could feel tendrils of the force wrapped within the creatures mind, tangled in it's thoughts and driving it's actions. Probably worse was feeling it's panic and feel at the loss of power and control over it's own body. Some other creature was controlling the poor beast, that much she knew, and in that, she felt rather sorry for the thing.

No being deserved that, she most of all knew for having been a puppet of a Sith herself. After all Xerxes, with alchemy created chemicals, had once taken away her very last defense, and used her as nothing more than a toy for his own amusement. Or so she told herself that. The idea of anyone doing that to another being, regardless of sentience levels, deserved every last thing they got. At least she, only used illusions, and empathy to draw a being to kinder, gentler, or ... just sleep.

She glanced to the men, and their injured buddy. "You're going to have to take him, and leave me." She said solemnly.

"But ma'am, we can't do that. We can't leave you here with that thing!"

"You can, and you will. He needs help, and I can't protect you and deal with Reek and it's master at the same time. Something's got to give. The barrier that is protecting us now, will fall eventually. Cold hard numbers, regardless, someone has to stay, someone has to leave. And of all of us, I've got the best chance to survive. So, like it or not you're all leaving. No arguments!" Her tone was getting sharper, clearly a bit annoyed. "So you had all better be ready to run when I say.... For I can manage the beast, and whatever the sorcerer chooses to throw my way." A smile crossed her lips, most underestimated the little redhead, a most lethal mistake in this case.

The Reek was still pounding at her barrier, and even then she could feel darkside tendrils in the force snaking out to touch upon her mind. That she wasn't even about to let happen. Enough beings, and spirits had invaded her mind recently and she wasn't about to let yet another darksider toy with her in such a manner. "Oh really now? Two can play that game you know..." She spoke to herself, though that didn't stop the soldiers around her from giving the little woman strange looks.

The little Jedi tossed a glance back to the people around her, before looking back to the creature outside the protective bubble. "Pick 'em up, get ready to run on my count." She urged as she turned her focus to the angry Reek. Drawing upon the Force, she pulled at the threads, gathering power into her palm. "Three...." Inhaling slowly, she allowed herself to sink even deeper into the Force, "Two..." One more glance to the men, to make sure they were ready, "One .... GO!" She shouted as she dropped the defensive shield around her, and instantly released a powerful blast of telekinetic energy into the beast, tossing it backwards a fair distance away from her.

Giving one last look back to the troops, she made sure they were clean and clear before she started to reach out to the Reek. Following the fragile strands of the force that were wrapped so tightly around it's mind, she started to work to find where exactly it's master lay. Just simply following the trail he had conveniently left her. It didn't take long, and she spied her main foe. The Reek really just was a wee little side problem to her in the scope of things. It seemed the Bando Gora Sorcery thought he was good enough to stand against the redheaded fury. Only a fool would dream of standing against me.

Coming over a small hill she finally spotted the monstrosity that was the sorcerer. Something about him, Cory couldn't quite put a finger on it, but the being drew out a rage in her, she barely knew she had."You're just trying to piss me off, aren't you? Cause that's sooo going to work out for you." She mumbled to herself as she spotted the Reek coming back towards her.

The Jedi reached out, instantly shattered the fragile bonds between the raging beast and it's Master. A smirk played across her lips as she watched the Bando Gora Forcer rage over his lost weapon of choice. Though oddly enough the beast was still racing towards the woman. And for a moment, Coryth let her attention be drawn away from the Bando Gora and the fight around her, to the beast. She cocked her head to the side, as she felt waves of what could be considered happiness radiating from the Reek. "A shame no one ever seems to take care of their pets these days." The creature still approached with great speed, and at last Coryth decided that she might want to do something about it.

Reaching out once more into the force she sent a wave of soothing, calming energy to the beast to try and halt it's advances. After all the poor thing had merely been wronged by the ones who tended to it. It didn't deserve death, just because it was a little crabby. Nooo, not at all. Finally less than three feet away it managed to skid to a halt, and with a little more of those same soothing thoughts, it knelt down along side the redhead.

Now it was safe to say that Coryth had been a fair bit distracted in her dealings with the Reek, and had given the sorcerer a chance to consolidate his powers onto the Jedi. A mistake if ever there was one. The woman's eyes flicked across the battlefield, searching once more for the Bando Gora, as Coryth did so a most interesting series of events occurred. The fields of Gehenna faded away, and the redhead no longer saw the surrounding chaos. And suddenly, she was seeing her fiance once more, battered, broken, bleeding, and most certainly dying. His final moments replayed across the hellish planet. Her guilt, her mistakes, her anger that night all came flooding back. This was not an event she wished to relive. That was the Sorcerer's second mistake. His third was an illusion that was substandard to the little redhead's own powers. It only took a second or two, for Coryth to pick it apart.

Coryth was .... angry. Very freaking angry, though only the most cold expression that was left upon her lips really gave any indication. "Okay, queen Mode: Activated, buddy..." She snarled. With a wave of her hand, the illusion was dismissed, though she still was very much riding the reminder of those memories, that terrible night. Someone was about to have a very bad day, he just didn't know it, yet. "Nobody, touches those memories. Nobody."

Her eyes then turned to the Reek near her, it was about time her and her new friend got better acquainted. Two steps brought her next to the creature, who merely turned his eyes towards her. "I need a favor friend." Not that the being could understand those words, but she reached down a hand to him as he snorted at her. The second she touched upon it's leathery skin, it gave a bit of a roar, as she imparted the warmest feelings she could, and an urgent need for help. It took a moment, but our intrepid little redhead was rewarded with feelings of acceptance. The creature seemed to understand what need wanted from it, and since she had rescued it from it's former master, the being seemed willing to help her in this venture.

The sorcerer had other plans whilst the redhead was doing her work. He drew upon the fragile power of the force, lofting a series of boulders from the landscape around him, and hurled the gigantic stones in her direction, while extending a hand, sending fiery tendrils of electricity in her direction. He needed to get her down, and quickly. Or so was his hope. The flawed hope of a fool.

Coryth turned just in time, lifting both hands in the air as she send the volley of boulders scattering across the barren lands, crushing a few other Reavers that were still scattered about on the field. The lightning however, she couldn't avoid. It struck her chest, and sent her flying backwards into a cliffside, narrowly avoiding a small pit of lava. Coryth closed her eyes for a moment, and took a deep breath. The sharp pain in her chest, stole her breath away, warning her that there were broken ribs she was going to have to deal with soon or later. Finally she opened her eyes, flames of angry nearly visible in her eyes as she stood from the ground, and checked her suit with care. There'd been little damage to the actual armor, save for a large dent in her back. All seals were holding for now.

"I'm done screwing around. It's on, queen. It is so on. On like Donkey Kong." The fiery redhead, pulled hard on the force, drawing so much of it into her little body all at once as she made a leap across the lava pit. Her Reek friend met her on the other side. Fun time was over. Kicking ass and taking names time had arrived.

The little Jedi gave one look to the animal, as she lept upon it's back. Here in the valley, next to the lava, she was out of sight, which only played into the woman's hands. She slowly began to weave a most tangled complex web in the force. Soon, there were two Coryths, three, six, nine .... fifteen.... Cory stopped at twenty five Coryths upon Reeks. The drain on her was powerful, but so was her determination and anger. A little smirk formed upon their lips. "Together we ride!" Shouted among the Coryths, "Charge!" With that final word, the grouping of illusionary Coryths and their Reeks stampeded over the hill and came into view, light sabers drawn. The pounding shook the very ground upon which the monster stood, or at least that is what the Bando Gora would feel as the group of angry redheads stormed over the hill racing towards him. There was little time, and really no way to discern who was who, and which was indeed the real Coryth and which was nothing more than a figment of his imagination.

Bearing down upon the Sorcerer, the rage of Coryth Elaris burned brightly, her vivid green saber lighting the way for truth and justice. Her will would be done. A handful of the illusionary Coryth's stomped over his body as they passed, seemingly real as ever. It was then, that the real Coryth arrived just as the monster stood from the ground, gravely wounded, but Coryth in that moment did not care as the Bando Gora Sorcerer raised a hand to try and strike her down. With one swift chop, the redhead cleaved the being in half, split right down the middle, from head to groin. His end had been quick and merciful, in her eyes at the very least. With that final attack, she only watched as he fell to the ground, dead as she circled back around with her Reek. Only then did she close her eyes, and allowed the other Coryth's to fade away into the darkness.

Slowly she took in a deep breath, wincing slightly at the pressure against her lung. It never mattered how much training one went through, how much torture, at the end of the day, a broken rib, was a broken rib. There'd be no escaping that annoyance, though it was something she didn't wish for the others to know about. Not yet. After all, she had a job to do, and she sure as hell was going to do it. The last thing she wanted was to end up drug back to one of the ships and shoved into med bay.

With a bit of urging, she used her empathy to press into the Reek's mind the importance to just stick with her for a little while longer, that she'd care for him, and make sure he was alright, if he just helped aid her a little longer. From there, she nudged him back in the direction of the others on the ground. Needing to head back to regroup with them, for the descent into the city like structures below the planets harsh surface. He took off and a gallop, seemingly eager to help the one that'd saved him from a lifetime of pain and damnation under a most cruel master.

[member="Delila Castillon"], [member="Tempest"], [member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Delila Castillon"], [member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Tempest"]


Given the fact that the Great Goddess Ashira had in actuality been a Rakatan test tube creation, would Eldorai heaven even be real? It was undoubtedly an interesting metaphysical question. For her part Siobhan liked to think it was, but then this mindset was probably partially influenced by the belief that paradise was an eternal pleasure garden with fountains of wine and nubile, young maidens eager to serve her every need. That was probably the sort of heaven her teacher Adril Tythorin would love as well!



Anyhow, leaving these musings aside, Kaida was awakening from her slumber as well. After all, there was still a planet to claim and conquer in the name of the Kaeshana Confederation, until the armour of every soldier was slick with the blood of the guilty and wicked, or something similarly dramatic like that. Kaida was not certain for how long she had been out, things were still blurry for her as she came to, perhaps due to the sound of engines as more dropships landed to unload reinforcements and tanks rumbled across the ravaged, crater-filled ground.


She breathed in, staggering as she moved to stand upright though clearly a bit wobbly on her legs. "Easy, Captain, don't be hasty. Hell of a whirlwind you summoned. We thought you were out of it," a medic told her, though Kaida waved her offers of assistance aside when she tried to help her stand. "How are you feeling?"


Like she had been hit by a truck. Or that one night on Zeltros. But obviously she would say neither. Clearly she was of the 'it's just pain' school of thought, as was demanded from an Angelii. "I'm fine," she responded laconically, taking a few steps forward as she surveyed the carnage that had taken place across the battlefield that now seemed a lot quieter. "Sitrep?" she demanded from the Host Leader. Strictly speaking she probably did not need to ask because what had happened was plain before her eyes, even though she was still feeling a good deal of dizziness that made it hard to focus. Enormous craters had been blown into the ground, which was littered with the corpses of Reavers and soldiers alike, broken vehicles and the foul-smelling, charred cadavres of war beasts that seemed like someone had given them a good roasting. In the far distance the remains of the giant sand wurm could be made out, doubtless the artillery crew that had blown it up would receive a commendation.


"Well, your storm killed plenty of the monsters. They're now in retreat. Our orders are to pursue and secure a perimeter to establish the FOB. Lieutenant Tempest's Gunships are already in the air. The Ariane's Fist is on the advance. We've taken losses, but manageable."


Kaida nodded curtly. "Good. I want a casualty report. Gather the wounded and get them evacced back to the fleet. We can't give them medical attention here in the desert. Then advance. Watch your six and work in pairs. Any Reaver so much as twitches, shoot them. And kill any of their wounded you find." This was not a mission of liberation, nor were the Bando Gora people as far as Kaida was concerned. Reavers could not be reasoned or bargained with, all humanity had been stripped from them. It was undoubtedly an interesting question whether a Reaver could be cured...though even if successful anyone who survived such a process would suffer mental trauma for the rest of their existence.


Anyhow the Host Leader gave her a curt salute and quickly went about fulfilling her orders. Kaida suppressed a sigh when she looked over the datapad that contained the list of dead and wounded on their side. Too many for comfort, but the unit was still intact and could fight. This was not a meat grinder like the original invasion, where they had faced an organised army of Bando Gora, their demon engines and beasts. Like it or not, Kerrigan's exterminatus had delivered them a blow they had been unable to recover from. It did not make Kaida despise the Countess any less though. Regardless in a few moments the unit was on the march again, advancing across the broken ground.


The gloomy sky was red with fire as they moved on, soon coming closer to the mountains. Things were calm, too calm, the uncomfortable, foreboding silence being broken only by gun shots and the flash of blaster bolts as the soldiers took out wounded Reavers that lay half-buried in the dunes and craters, though, as they well knew, even defeated these beasts were dangerous. Kaida gripped her lightsabre tightly, the yellow blade a glow of light, as they moved forward, steeling herself as they came closer to the mountains she remembered so well. She fought to maintain her discipline and force back the flashbacks of running for her dear life while entire sections of the mountain collapsed on her and her soldiers. She had Exarch Kerrigan to thank for that. Yet...that had been years ago, but the clearly the memory was still raw, more so since she was now on the hellish planet where it had all happened, and it seemed she had never gotten over the trauma. At least Kerrigan was not in command on Gehenna because she might be unable to restrain her urge to freeze her brain.


"Keep your eyes open and watch out. Host Leader Elissa, take a team on point," she ordered as she shook herself out of it. Pressing a button in her hand she radioed the gunship of Lieutenant Tempest. "Lieutenant, Taldir here. Heading to the mountains to link up with Ariane's Fist. What's your status? We could use..."


"Suicide bombers!" Whatever other words she might have said died upon her lips when the call went out and she dropped the comm. Just a little too late. One of the soldiers grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her down into cover, seconds before a drug-addled fanatic detonated the explosives he was carrying even as he was riddled with blaster bolts. Too far away to hit the unit, though the shockwave still knocked a soldier off her feet and smashed her into a pile of debris, two more soldiers were even less lucky and torn to pieces by the blast.


Kaida winced as she was peppered with hot shards of shrapnel, pain shooting through her. Internally cursing herself for having lost focus she quickly grabbed her blaster - the bolter would have too low a rate of fire and using explosive against lunatics wearing explosive belts could never go well. "Spread out and find cover, mow them down! Forcers, throw them away," she called out as she unleashed a telekinetic slam to send the fanatics flying, then let loose with a salvoe of blaster bolts to cut more down. The forcers in the group joined the onslaught, unleashing blasts of telekinesis to hold the zealots at bay. Suddenly she felt a warning in the Force and spun, just in time to see a fanatic emerge from under the corpse of a Reaver close to her.


"My life for the Kerrigan!" the zealot cried out as her fingers moved to press the detonator. In a flash Kaida reached out with the Force and exerted her cryokinetic will to freeze the detonator, stopping the suicide bombing attempt dead in its tracks, then swung her blade to cleave the zealot from shoulder to body. She took a breath as the fanatic dropped to the ground. "Casualties? Get a medic for the wounded. We need to keep moving," she barked out, stretching out with her Force Senses to get a reading on things.


For a moment her danger senses flared and the Force guided her to the massive cadavre of the sand wurm. Upon it she could see a Bando Gora Sorcerer, reeking of the corrupted energies of the Dashdae Sciia. Her boltgun leapt into her hand, about to fire, when suddenly the sorcerer vanished into thin air, disappearing from sight. By now the Eldorai knew when to trust her intuition and her finger moved to the trigger to fire out explosive bolts regardless, but she never got that far because suddenly the Host Leader Elissa began firing at her! "Die, monster!" she cried out. Given how distracted she had been Kaida had no time to counter or dodge the bolts that were coming her way. It was probably a good thing that Elissa had an MK2 bolter as opposed to an MK1, since the former was a good deal more lethal. Likewise it was a good thing that Kaida was wearing ultrachrome armour, which luckily absorbed a good portion of the punishment she would have received when two bolts exploded and the resulting shockwave hit her like a battering ram that knocked her off her feet and sent her flying into a wall. Her body screamed in pain and she was sure that she had broken a rib or two, not to mention the possibility of compound fractures in her body. A good chunk of shrapnel lodged itself in her thigh. She was grateful for her armour and helmet as metal shards slashed across her body. "Take her out. There's a sorcerer at work!" The air was filled with the flash of blaster fire and explosion of bolter rounds as two more Eldorai soldiers turned on their comrades, but were cut down quickly.


From one of the caves Reavers charged, eyes filled with hunger and malice. With a groan and limping badly Kaida got to her feet, but then as as her soldiers mowed down Reavers, suddenly found herself facing the sorcerer from before. As a matter of fact, there were two of them suddenly charging at her from both sides at close range, as if they had just magically manifested. Bloody illusionists! But which one was real? Assuming one of them was even real, for the real illusionist might be somewhere else entirely. However, the thing about illusions was that there was little to ponder such things for from the hands of one sorcerer a torrent of lightning shrieked towards her while the second charged her from the side, swinging a Sith sword in a powerful overhead blow to rid her of her head. Focus terribly split by this Kaida managed to weave body to the side, her lightsabre guided by the Force as it intercepted the blow and parried it with a downward thrust, giving the sorcerer. However, she reeled in pain as, despite the dodge, some of the bolts of lightning still hit her body and shook under the intense blast as she drew upon the Force to shield herself. Her blade moved swiftly to intercept another slash at her side and then she leapt into the air as another blast of lightning came, backflipping to propel herself and give her breathing space, throwing some debris in the process.


However, no sooner had she done this then she was suddenly grabbed by an invisible force, feeling as if invisible chains were wrapping around as she was thrust into the ground, though her powers meant she could control her fall but still pain still shot through her. The sword-wielding sorcerer came at her again swinging his blade but with telekinesis she gripped her lightsabre and in a brutal slash disarmed him, cutting his arm off in the process. She reeled as a blast of lightning overtook her, joined by a draining, leeching sensation as force drain took effect, vampirically sapping at her willpower as orange tendrils of darkside energy leapt at her from behind. There were ripples within the Force and then a Bando Gora sorcerer revealed himself standing behind her. This, she was certain, was the real one. Her blade fell out of her hand as Kaida struggled against the dual onslaught, an attempt at mustering a defence in the Force and wrapping herself in it failing as she felt her energies being sapped, while those of the sorcerer grew stronger. Feeling a powerful sensation of rage and fury course through her, getting ever stronger as it was animated by the vile energies of Chaos that were so strong on this world, she violently lashed out. Ironically enough in a manner not so different from the battering ram she disliked so much, namely through a powerful blast of telekinetic energy as she poured out all the anger she was feeling. The illusionary copies were hit head-on by the onslaught and, as they were hit by the hammerblow, flickered and vanished into thin air.


The real illusionist, though able to throw up a force shield, was tossed through the air and hit the ground hard. Getting to her feet Kaida quickly grabbed her lightsabre and was about to follow through with her attack when she felt a powerful force grip her mind. It felt like her mind was being split and torn into pieces as she reeled against the unfamiliar onslaught, the area around her shifted until it looked like she was deep in the caves again on that awful day during the invasion, when the entire mountain came tumbling down upon her and the other Omegan soldiers. They ran and ran, but there was seemingly no escaping, one soldier after another perished under the onslaught, with Kaida herself racing for a way out...just to see it vanish before her.


"You are insignificant.

Kerrigan and Alcori have sent you to your death...once again.
Your resistance is meaningless. Your struggles are futile.
Witness your end!"



In the real world the elf struggled, trying to regain concentration and struggle against the fear and panic the sorcerer was trying to induce into her mind and the paralysis that was taking ahold of her limbs. She was on Gehenna again...but she had escaped. Her own power over cold and ice had blasted an entrance free, and she had survived. An Angelii would not be taken down by semi-sentient, Chaos-worshipping thrash. The sorcerer had picked a very painful memory to try and trap her in, but by the same token this was his crucial mistake. It was an event that she really did not want to relive. More importantly, it made her really angry. A flood of cold fury washed over her like a tidal wave and she was in no mood to deny it. The flood would be directed against the sorcerer with all her might. He would not just feel pain, his last moments would be spent in a state of agony, futilely struggling against a cold he could not hold back.


Cold and ice. Yes, that sounded like a very good idea to her. The elements were her queen and she was mistress of ice. It was her power that had conjured up a whirlwind that had wrecked havoc across the battlefield and smashed the Bando Gora like the insects they were. Going on the offence forced her to withdraw energies from her mental defence but, though she found it hard to see with her naked eye, she followed the threads of the Force back to the sorcerer who was torturing her with such gleeful delight. As she tried to focus and find an outlet for her aggression, she concentrated on a very specific part of his body. Namely his lungs. See, cryokinesis extended to more than just the manipulation of environmental conditions and temperature.


Where there was moisture, she was capable of manipulation and the human body obviously has a great deal of it. So she poured her will into an attempt to freeze the lungs of the Bando Gora, since they had a good deal of moisture. And so she wrapped her will around them, even as she struggled against the mental attack, willing the temperature to drop and drop, the moisture to grow colder and colder. Her will manifested a massive, invisible, ice-cold hand, as frigid as a snowstorm on Hoth, that wrapped itself around the sorcerer's lungs as she envisioned them, a cold chill running over his body as she exerted pressure. Where this hand touched, she could induce a cold so strong to cause hypothermia and exhaust the energy of her target. The sorcerer choked and struggled as he felt the heavy pressure, trying to struggle against the cold and thus a battle of wills developed, with the Eldorai trying to block his breathing by wrapping him in pure ice, the sorcerer trying to break it through heat. Strain was evident across her features as she tried to maintain the pressure on his lungs, her eyes an icy blue.


For a moment it seemed like the sorcerer would have the upper hand as she staggered against the strikes her mind was suffering, which now felt as if countless, razor-sharp daggers were stabbing at her, then suddenly shock gripped him as she launched a cryokinetic attack upon his brain. After all, it received a regular flow of blood, which could be frozen as well. Her mind stretched out as she sought to induce cold into it, bit by bit. No subtlety there, pure cryomantic brutality fuelled by her will to destroy her opponent and induce an apoplectic fit. The sorcerer struggled but she soldiered on and amidst her attack his blood grew icy and in the process his blood vessels turned to icciles. When there is a blockage of the flow of blood to your brain, the tremendously unpleasant result is that the subject suffers a stroke. Given the fact that this particular blockage came about by the blood flow being not just stopped but frozen entirely, the effect was quite nasty indeed. The Bando Gora's sorcerer's grip was released from her mind, he spasmed violently as he crumpled and collapsed to the ground. Her yellow lightsabre hummed as Kaida, with her lips curved into a cold sneer, carved the sorcerer from collarbone to belly, sending sizzling innards spill out onto the ground.


Around here there was carnage as the last of the charging Reavers were gunned down by her soldiers, more blood being shed upon this benighted world. Doubtless much more would be spilt before they were finally done and the entire world had been cleansed of the monsters that called it home. Slowly she took in a deep breath, wincing against the pressure in her lung. Broken ribs were not nice, no matter how well trained you were, the same applied to burns from force lightning, but she would try to let neither show. Dropships swooped down, bringing more reinforcements and armoured vehicles rumbled across the ground. The cavalry, one might say, though they were a bit late. At least an APC would be a nice thing to ride in.


TLDR: Moving to the mountains, beneath which the ruins of the Bando Gora city are located. Killed suicide bombers, Reavers and a Bando Gora mentalist.

 

[Darth Libertas]

Far away from the joint Firemane and Eldorai task force that sought to penetrate the vessel, purge it of all evil and claim what treasures could be found here, Naamah Aesham was fighting her own battles in one of the many corridors that pervaded the ancient leviathan. Corridor was probably an inaccurate description, for it seemed more like a tunnel. One that reeked of the vile energies of the Dark Side. Well, truth be told they were not vile to her, for they fed her aggression and will. Little did she knew that her old owner and superior, [member="Mirien Valdier"], was on the ship as well.


The shadows were where she thrived, her true home one might say. It was in the darkness that she sought refuge. Unfortunately for her, if there was one thing the Bando Gora excelled at then it was twisting science and the power of the Force to create fearsome beasts. Such as those fearsome predators that assailed her now, as eager for her flesh as she was for the dark secrets and powers of their Chaos masters. The beast that spat blasts of burning acid from her was like a beast straight out of the depths of Chaos. Its appearance was skeletal, biomechanical, a fusion of the organic and machine, probaby a product of Sith alchemy. Its skull was elongated and cylindrical, though she could not make out any visible eyes, its neck resembled a fat, long worm. Likewise it had a segmented, blade-tipped tail and despite its size it was tremendously fast, moving it what seemed like a blur too fast for the naked eye to track as it stormed towards, bodies of salvagers being tossed carelessly through the air as it came at its prey.


From the impact of the crash before Naamah had been thrown against a wall with brute force, as if a battering ram had hit against her. But that was nothing compared to the pain surging thorugh her being as, when she was slightly dazed and out of it, burning acid was spit at her. She reeled under the blast and bit her tongue as, within moments, the acid began burning thorugh the light armour she wore. She had taken the blast in the chest and in her left arm and now her armour, by no means the most powerful, was melting before it like snow did when the sun rose, leaving her unprotected as the armour plates were fried away. As she tried to will herself to stand she suppressed a cry as the acid caused stinging, searing pain thorugh her skin. She grimaced in pain but it also created a surge of adrenaline inside her, meaning that she could suppress the sensation of pain to an extent.


Staggering she called her lightsabre into her hand with a mental command. In the darkness it flashed a bright crimson, humming as if eager for blood. Not a moment too soon for the monstrosity had reached her and now, its cylindrical skull with a mouth full of sharp teeth that still carried pieces of flesh towering above her, went for her head. Fuelled by fear, hatred and desperation Naamah sprang into action and drove her lightsabre upward to stab the beast inside its large, open mouth. The beast let loose an agonised screech as the energy blade burnt inside its mouth and sliced its tongue. Forced back by the unexpected attack the abomination floundered and stumbled. Seeing her chance Naamah followed and with another brutal strike she stabbed through the beast's mouth into its brain with her lightsabre. The abomination fell to the ground and as it did so she cut across its neck and chopped its massive head off.


With her enemy dead Naamah took a deep breath, clearly panting. The surge of adrenaline had ceased and now she felt pain again. After all, she was not an invincible force god. Her breathing came more haltingly and laboured since a couple ribs had been broken by the impact of being thrown into a wall. Her chest and left arm felt like they were on fire from the onslaught of acidic spit, causing a searing pain. Still she forced herself to walk on, for staying in one place in a ghost ship crawling with monsters would be the dumbest thing she could do, but her body felt heavy and sluggish, so she leaned against a wall stained with dried blood and old Bando Gora runes as she moved. There was silence as she limped. Typical ominous, foreboding silence that, as anyone who watched horror holofilms should know, meant nothing good.


Needless to say her moment of peace and quiet did not last long. There was no sound loud enough to pick up to herald the coming of the beasts, so featherlight were their steps despite their size. Likewise there was nothing she sensed in the Force. Perhaps this was the result of the alchemy that had spawned them and somehow gave them the ability to mask themselves. Perhaps the shroud of the dark side was so thick that a mere acolyte could not penetrate it. Or maybe her Force Senses were just diminished and so she could not tear the voice off.


In any event, then they were upon her. One beast was on the ground and, suddenly surging out of the shadows, charged her head-on. Another had been crawling across the ceiling and now leapt at her, mouth full of teeth wide open and eager for her flesh as it swung its long, blade-tipped tail. In a flash Naamah unleashed a shattering force push that swept across the ground and blasted the beast in front of her and smashed it against a wall. However, her success did not last long for the barb tail of the beast dropping from the ceiling swung around to hit her right in the face. White hot pain surged through her body from the force of the impact, the small blades brutally cut into her face so that soon it was covered in blood while her head was shaken. Under the force of the impact she tumbled down to the ground. Within moments the beast was upon her as she lay there, its considerable strength holding her down as it spat acid into the armour plate protecting her neck, burning through it.


Feeling acid burn into your neck was...not good. Especially if you were trying to breathe. In desperation she tried to grab her lightsabre but the beast was smart and its claws dug into her hand, slicing against her armour. As she tried to struggle in vain the monster that had been charging her head-on had reached her and likewise jumped her, its teeth going for her other hand as she was pinned down. Dimly she could see more and more abominations approaching her, likewise eager for a good meal to fill their belly. Then there was pain...so much pain as acid tore through her armour and with a brutal ferocity the abomination bit her hand off. Needless to say it hurt...a lot as pure agony surged through her, acid coating the bloody stump that remained where her hand had been as it vanished in the mouth of the beast.


Pain turned to furious, incandescent rage. Anger rose through her like bile in her stomach and it found an outlet in an outburst of violence born of the dark side. Perhaps it was the corrupted energies of Chaos that were feeding her with energy, amplifying it and giving her what she needed to strike back. "AAAAAAAAAARGH!" and with that she unleashed a defeaning, ear-splitting force scream, a wave of hatred amplified and fuelled by the dark side. The epic, agonised shockwave completely and utterly blew up the head of the abomination pinning her down in a shower of bits and gore as if someone had smashed a tomato with a hammer. The other was likewise engulfed by the wave and thrown across the entire hall with bones being broken and crushed, with one of its legs being blown off. The beasts had been coming from afar were likewise blown backwards as she roared like a wounded animal. Across the hallway they were tossed and flew and fell to the cold ground with loud thuds.


Fuelled by pure fury she got to her feet. As she the beasts came at her again she unleashed all her pent-up rage in an explosion of fury, dragging the shockwave across the room. The floor was showered with blood and Chaosspawn bits as heads exploded. Those that survived were slain by her lightsabre as she charged them in an Illyric orgy of violence, heedless of the pain she was feeling. When it was done she stood there alone and victorious, but barely able to stand, shaking strongly as she looked down upon the stump where her hand had once been. She quickly tore off part of the sleeve from one of the dead salvagers and wrapped it around the stump of her hand as an improvised bandage. It was better than nothing at last. She staggered and limped across the hall, knowing that she had to go but too wounded and tired out to walk as fast as needed. Barely managing to open a door that seemed to have seen better doors and close it behind her, needing a few minutes for herself despite the risks, she collapsed in front of a Bando Gora shrine, an image of absolute terror and depravity, adorned with human sacrifices.

As she lay there, unable to move, she suddenly stirred as she heard a hissing voice that seemed to come from the depths of the void, dripping with malice and venom. A cold shiver ran down her spine at the sound. Indeed it felt to her like it had suddenly become a lot colder inside the entire room and the temperature was dropping rapidly, so much that she shivered as the coldness set in. A powerful presence filled the room, dreadful and yet alluring at the same time. "Are you worthy?"

 

[Moira Skaldi]

Aboard the Liberator Space Station
Unknown Star System


Sitting in her spartan and sterile office, Moira's expression was impassive as she studied a report about events on Gehenna. The entire report was detailed, precise, to the point, but then it had been compiled by a death machine for a death machine, which doubtless increased the efficiency and ensured that redundancies were kept out. After all, machines had no reason to try and impress anyone. Especially someone who was as devoid of emotions and human feelings as her.


Keen mechanical eyes absorbed the information at rapid speed, likewise the one offered by the holographic projectors arrayed upon her desk, supplying her with information from across the stars. Some from probe droids, some from HRDs that had been embedded to act as her eyes, others from human sources, the vast majority of whom would not even have an inkling who they truly served. That with every act of treachery they were working towards furthering the end of organic life. But that glorious day was a long time coming. Much work would have to be done until then before Archangel even had a shot at it.


First things first. As the report stated Firemane and the Kaeshana Confederation had returned to Gehenna. A world filled with meaning for Moira, for it was upon its hellish, war-ravaged surface that she had been awoken to her true nature. Back then she had served the Protectorate as Director of Military Intelligence. The task force she led to the planet as part of the exterminatus had crash-landed, leaving her the sole survivor. In the process her inhibitor had been destroyed and, with the veil now falling from her eyes, she had realised what she truly was.


A Human Replica Droid. More than that, a Child of Mechanus, as the fallen 'brother' of the heretical organic lover HK-36 had said in his last dying words before being ended. She had been there and played a part in ending the 'Machine God'. A powerful model, a design of terror and destruction, but fundamentally flawed. She and [member="Maelion Liates"] had saved the life of Exarch Kerrigan when the Bando Gora city was torn apart by the raging force god, and then went on to forge the partnership that now steered Archangel. The Pact of Steel, for a new age.


She put the report aside, having absorbed its contents. There was a certain urge to meddle in the affairs of the deathworld, but as quickly as the thought came it was dismissed. The Bando Gora were too chaotic to control, Archangel teams tasked with capturing Reavers would use the chaos to maximise their bounty and then withdraw. Doubtless Kerrigan would be leading the charge, driven by visions of glory and her belief in her own invincibility. Perhaps she would perish, though Moira doubted that. She wondered whether Kerrigan would be so single-minded in her drive to destroy the creations of the Bando Gora as she had been during the crusade...or make use of them, which would be a tremendous irony. The report had contained....some interesting information about Firemane's new intelligence service, rumours that Moira intended to pursue further....about a brunette who was very familiar to Moira...


A copy would be sent to Darth Shadow. Doubtless one day Kerrigan would try to pursue him again, though even then she might be of use. It was also likely that Moira herself would soon be subject to her attentions, especially if the rumours regarding COAS were true, though there was no way to implicate the legitimate droidmaker Archangel Research and Design. However, Archangel would be ready. Retrieving another datapad from the stack on her desk, Moira began working through a file on the knowledge uncovered on Tartaros, where the droid workers' paradise had been destroyed. Information regarding the construction of a super computer and an ancient Imperial project to create starfighters controlled by cyborgised brains of organics...

 

[Tempest]

[member="Kaida Taldir"], [member="Coryth Elaris"]

Tempest still had something of a class-ten-headache, but she heard the beeping on her comm channel and answered it as normally as possible.
"Captain, Tempest here. I'm fine, flying overhead. We're going to settle down and set up a perimeter near the entrance and start ferrying the wounded back into space. Once that's done we'll push down after you."

She looked out over the blasted plains and shook her head. It was a grim day, and it could only get worse.
"Lieutenant, look!" one of her soldiers called.
Tempest saw a dark cloud rapidly arising from the top of the mountains. It couldn't be rain, and it was moving too quickly to be natural. She suddenly started to get a very bad feeling....
"Get into cover, all of you! Seal up the shuttles and tanks!" The Force was giving her a warning, and she heeded it.

Less than a minute later the cloud arrived, a horde of insect like creatures. They swarmed over the dead like locusts, devouring flesh and stripping them bare. A couple of wounded or slow invaders were caught and torn to pieces.
Tempest, watching from the shuttle, saw the creatures buzzing and swarming all over the transports. Thankfully they had no means of penetrating the armour...but they were for now besieged by the horrors.
"Ah, Captain, do you read me? Command? Anyone?" There was only the buzz of static.

Tempest took a deep breath. There was only one thing to do in this situation; take control. "Take this shuttle up, we'll shake them off, then I've got a few surprises for them. Tell anyone down here with us that they should read all the grenades they can find...."

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Tempest"], [member="Coryth Elaris"]


And so we are back on the Chaos Express! Presumably this will be less of a wall of text post because it's latere where this writer is and this one is tired. Assuredly this one will rectify this and perhaps soon try to write one that's even longer than the last Kaida post!


Anyhow, Kaida had just been happy about finally finding an offensive application of cryokinesis that's actually useful in direct combat and not dependent on environmental factors. Oh, and she had gathered the part of her strike force that was left and get saddled up on the APCs. That seemed less stressful and smarter than walking into the dark, foreboding caves. After all, it's not like she could fly and her minions certainly could not! So as this happened, and the planet looked as grim and war-ravaged as ever though for some reason this one keeps saying it looks like that in detail, she got the message from Tempest. Kaida was likewise suffering from an awful headache, along with all sorts of pain from being fried with lightning and telekinetically smashed, but answered it normally.


"Understood. We have some wounded that could use evac. I'll send them to your landing spot. We'll be commandeering APCs. Be on your guard against suicide attacks. We just got ambushed by a pair of suicide bombers and a Bando Gora mentalist. The caves are a good place for traps and ambushes." This she said as someone who had been there during the first invasion and lived to tell the tale, though to a large extent more due to luck than anything else. However, it seemed that her being interrupted was terribly normal these days and so the massive dark cloud ominously rose from the top of the mountains. That would not be good. As is known, there was no rain on Gehenna, which made growing anything on the planet impossible.


"What the hell is that..."


"Move it. Get into the vehicles, all of you! Get the wounded," Kaida yelled at her troops. She did not need to be dangerously genre-savvy to figure out that clouds of darkness on hellish deathworlds inhabited by cannibalistic death cultists were serious bad news. Leaving aside all the evil vibes the cloud was giving off in the Force. This one is not entirely sure whether the cloud would be closer to her or Tempest, but in any case the massive cloud swept towards them through the air as the Eldorai soldiers took to flight. A massive swarm of insect creatures was spat out and was soon upon them. The Eldorai soldiers ran, as fast as they could, as the insects swept over the dead and within moments tore through their armour and stripped them bare. Some of the wounded could be saved and were gripped by their comrades, but many did not make it as they were caught and ripped to pieces, their screams echoing across the blasted plains.


Kaida ran as fast as she could, trying to keep the troops organised on their retreat, but she was weakened from her exertions. She saw an Eldorai soldier get swarmed by insects out of the corner of her eye and exerted her telekinetic willpower to quickly grab her and propel her through the air away from them. More insects swept towards her and she ran before stumbling over a pile of debris. Knocked out of it for a momen and with a vision hazy she came to as she felt the buzzing that heralded their arrival. "Captain, run!" one of the badly wounded soldiers, unable to move, cried out as he tossed an incendiary grenade at the creatures. With what energy she had she got to her feet and ran, being thrown slightly by the blast as the deadly ball of explosives hit hom and insects were fried and roasted. Swinging her lightsabre blindly she tried to keep the insects at bay before she finally reached an APC, narrowly getting in before the hatch was slammed shut. As it happened it was not a moment too soon for seconds a swarm had surrounded the transport, though they could not penetrate its armour.


"Hold on tight," the driver barked out as he sped away from the scene, with the gunner firing the laser auto-cannon along the way, spewing out bolts of crimson death at the insects. This seemed to keep them away for now, but more and more insects were being spat out of the cloud.


"Shake them off and get me a count of who made it," Kaida ordered as she took a deep a breath, then hit a button on her comm. No time to mourn the dead, it was just another enemy that needed killing. "Ariane's Fist, Taldir. We need a Reaver tank here right now...sending coordinates. Make sure its flamer is prepped and ready! We're at the big cloud." The Reaver-class tank happened to have a shiny flamethrower. The insects should be unable to penetrate its armour. "Another call went to Tempest.


"Lieutenant, you've seen the swarm of insects? Calling flame tanks to fry them. You can propel explosives at the critters from your shuttle? I can help with the whirlwind to toss them at them." Sure, she was rather weakened by the battle with the mentalist and probably should rest, but the experience of almost getting eaten by insects had given her adrenaline to keep her going.

 

[Mirien Valdier]

[member="Anya Venari"] [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Mirien chuckled, "Csilla was ... interesting. Not something I care to revisit." Still some of the thoughts of that planet left her chilled to the bone. The Klaxxi were in no way creatures she really wished to ever engage again, and it seemed truly unlikely that she would. Or that was the hope, in being with Firemane, so far away from her former home, that she would never seen those creatures again. It only she knew what lay ahead for her...

Mirien quickly reached out and took the bolter, ammo and the eaters. As she put away the spare ammo, and kept the bolter near at hand, the woman imagined she'd be needing all of them today. It was just something she could feel in her bones.

"Seems straight forward enough." She said with a nod, taking note of everything Siobhan had said on the options she'd been handed.

For all Mirien's coolness about the matter, that all started to melt away as the two of them approached the dropships. The former Inquisitor, was not used to being on the front lines. She was merely a secret weapon to be used as Atrisia pleased. The front lines, were just not a comfortable position for her. She glanced nervously to Siobhan, it couldn't be helped at that point.

As they landed and spilled out into the hangar, Mir's eyes flicked about the room. The darkside force was nearly overwhelming as she put her boots on the deck. A tangible power, that reached deep down into her soul. It took a moment, as she paused, to still herself among the raging sea of darkness she felt buried in the very structure of the ship.

"Something wicked this way comes..." She said softly under her breath. The teaming life on board, all of it so bitterly evil, so sinister, and here they were walking into the fray so willingly. A small part of her wanted to race back to the safety of the landing ships, nerves fighting against her. A shake of her head, and the woman did all she could to push those thoughts to the back of her mind as she followed quickly along beside Siobhan.

Right now, her saber was lit in hand, out of habit. All other weapons put aside for now. Though something told her, that was not going to last. Her attention was drawn to the Wing Leader, as she called out for Siobhan. Instantly she wasn't far behind her. Her eyes widened as she spotted the monstrosity that had caught the Eldorai's attention. "Well isn't that just darling..." Never before had she seen something like it, a bit horrified, enough that Mirien took a step back, and took firm hold of the bolter she'd been gifted. Right now, risks were not something she wanted to take. Certainly not with that being, if it could be called such laying on the deck in front of them.

The former Inquisitor, shuddered involuntarily as she quickly checked the seals on her own armor, making doubly sure that all was closed off from any outside materials getting in. Mirien, sighed, and clipped her saber back to her belt. It simply would do her no good here. Not with the monsters they were about to encounter.

Her eyes followed for a moment as the men started to drag the body away, once more she shuddered before a warning called out to her in the force. Danger was coming, but to what degree, and what exactly they were about to deal with, that was still unknown. Though if the body was any indication, it was going to be most unpleasant.

"Something's coming, be ready!" Mir managed just before the durasteel floor, trembled beneath their feet, as it seemed the enemy was now keenly aware of their arrival, and things were about to get rather nasty. At first, just glinting of metal shown through in the flickering lights. The dark woman took in a deep breath, drawing the force into her body to prepare for the onslaught.

As the first of the technobeasts finally fully stepped into view, where Mirien still held her fears, her body took over. A hand was lofted, the energy she had been collecting unleashed in a single powerful blast of telekinesis meant to crush the first few creatures as they emerged, a second wave followed, pushing back those who had managed to avoid that most unpleasant death. Right now, she just wanted to buy the others a little time to be ready, for she couldn't hold them all back forever.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Anya Venari"], [member="Mirien Valdier"]


As Grand Seraph, Shaytara was the functional equivalent of the Jedi Grand Master. Or perhaps the leader of the Imperial Knights was a better comparison since the Angelii did not serve the so called 'will of the Force', whatever that meant these days, and did not concern themselves much with the light side. Rather they were praetorian guard of the Eldorai Matriarchy, elite shock troops sworn to defend the Queen with their life. Unlike the aforementioned Knights, they did not have a ridiculous mandate to topple the Queen if it was believed she had turned 'dark side'.


Because, seriously, did no one ever think that such a mandate would not be abused? If say someone like Sejanus was in charge. Perhaps the Imperial Knights might one day decide to murder the emperor and hold an auction about who gets to sit on the throne. Now that this writer has satisfied their desire for meta and smug historical references, we shall move on with the actual plot. The one about boarding a Bando Gora ship, killing all the monsters and taking their loot. Sort of like your typical D&D dungeon, one might say.


Like every dungeon this one has plenty of monsters! Siobhan acknowledged the sudden arrival of Aeda Shaytarra and her host of Angelii with a curt nod. She had presumably interacted with the woman a few times in the past, mostly relating to joint efforts to strengthen and fortify Kaeshana, and knew her to be efficient if very laconic. "Close by. There's technobeasts on the vessel and presumably sorcerers." She was about to say more of a plan but then her danger senses flared up. The sensation of the dark side was nearly overwhelmning at this point. It was a tangible power, as if she stood within an ocean of darkness. It clouded her vision yet at the same time there was an alluring siren call that beckoned to her.


"Beasts coming. Have your Angelii form their phalanx, your electromancers and cryomancers can provide support against the fiends. Time the onslaught with an attack from me. Don't let them get close. Firemane force, prepare for volley at my command. Keep your flanks covered. First line explosive bolts, second APEs. Keep ion grenades ready," she barked out orders as the durasteel floor, stained with dried blood, trembled beneath her boots. Just a glint of metal at first, then the familiar glow of crimson mechanical eyes as the beasts stepped out of the shadows in full view.


Siobhan felt calm, strangely so perhaps. She had faced technobeasts before, on Myttus when the Mandalorians put the remnants of the New Order to the pyre. Then again on Lianna when she had been infected...she really did not want to think about that. But she did not feel afraid. It was something she could deal with, or perhaps so she thought. The Angelii phalanx and the cover offered by wrecks should enable the Firemane soldiers to form a firing line like those of old. Shielding them would be the Angelii as they formed lines of battle shields, sarzmigars, powerful force pike like weapons that would break even the charge of lightsabre-wielders, and sarixi.


"First line...prepare to fire," Siobhan barked out as the first beasts stepped into view. Glowing red eyes pierced the darkness of the corridor, filling everyone's view as the biomechanical constructs came into view, weapons fused to their arms. From blasters to vibroswords and force pikes, crude mental to that of crimson lightsabres, they were harmed. All directed by one hive mind that had given them but one imperative: To kill and assimilate. To convert all life to the servitude of their Dark Gods, such was the nature of the virus. And so they attacked, their numbers numerous and seemingly endless. A single hollow voice could be heard, seemingly filling the entire area. A voice wholly devoid of emotion and feeling, like that of a machine, for it was the hive mind that gave them direction.



ASSIMILATE ALL LIFE
JOIN THE UNITY


"Fire!" Siobhan barked out and so, as the machines charged, boltgun upon boltgun thunked out explosive bolts, the flat crack of the weapon being heard again and again. It was essentially like firing a semiautomatic grenade launcher with a wide spread radius for blast and shrapnel. Fierce determination and firepower met the implacable will of the massive horde of beasts. At her signal ion grenades were tossed into the fray. After all, the beasts had plenty of mechanical bits and that did not go well with ion. Added to that was the massive blast of telekinesis Mirien had unleashed, crushing the first few creatures that emerged. But there seemed no end to the horde as more and more began swarming them.


Technobeasts exploded into chunks left and right as the bolter fire hit home, others were taken out by the detonation of ion grenades, but many were still there. "Second line...fire. E-web salvoe," Siobhan ordered, also giving a signal to the one soldier who carried a shatterboltgun. Probably the nastiest boltgun variant ever made in history because, you see, combining the sheer explosive awesomeness of a bolter with the precision and extreme kinetic force of a shatter gun is the perfect recipe to tear things to shreds and leave bits lying around. "Brace yourself," of its own accord her boltgun leapt into her hand and she fired, letting loose a salvoe of explosive bolts towards the beasts to blast those that came close to pieces. Force-enhanced strength was something she had some aptitude in, though she mainly used it for the purpose of being a walking armoury.


She gathered her power inside her, electricity cackling across the palm of her free hand, her organic one, as she focused. A moment later, there was lightning. Lightning everywhere! Well, obviously not where the Firemane and Eldorai troops were because frying your own people was not cool, tremendously awkward and difficult to explain when you were writing letters to the bereaved. The dark corridor was cast in an eerie light as with a shriek a torrent of lightning leapt from her hand and towards the beasts. It was not simply a single stream of lightning that could be more easily countered and dodged, but rather as the lightning current would split as it swept through the air and come at the beasts like claws from several angles, aiming to fry as many as possible. Ridiculously brutal, area of effect destruction was her forte and so she poured her will into unleashing a storm. Some of the technobeasts, those with lightsabres, sought to counter the onslaught by bringing up their lightsabres but then what felt like the powerful roar of a cannon was heard as the Firemane soldier armed with a shatterbolter opened fire with his weapon. The single explosive bolt did not just throw technobeasts back, it tore them to shreds, foul smelling pieces of flesh and charred electronics flying through the air, with a big portion of the wall behind them being blasted into debris while the floor shook. As the beasts reeled against the onslaught she intensified her lightning blast, dragging it across the corridor with reckless abandon and brutal ferocity. Her onslaught was joined by blasts of lightning from the Angelii and attacks from the cryomancers as they gathered their power to unleash a force-based variant of a cryoban grenade. Ice dropped from the air as the cyborg zombies were engulfed inside it, a number of them being frozen by layers of ice so thick they could not move.


"First line reload...e-web gunners, give them cover. Second line fire," It seemed the technobeasts were being driven back but then more came, charging over the bodies of their fallen brethren, for beings of this nature were free of fear or even concern for their own survival.



LEAVE THE DEAD WHERE THEY FALL
OVERWHELM THEM
THEY ARE BACTERIA


"They're coming from above," one of the soldiers cried out when suddenly part of the roof was torn apart and a thick cloud of dust enveloped the hall. Gritting her teeth Siobhan managed to grip the debris raining down with her mind and toss it through the hall towards the beasts with pure fury as she turned herself into a magic-based, shrapnel cannon. "Grand Seraph, have your Angelii cover our rear and take them out! We'll hold the line." No sooner had she said this, referring to the new arrivals that seemed intent on hitting them in the rear, when suddenly a technobeast dropped down and crashed into her. Its large, powerful body hit her with strong kinetic force and she was tossed backwards and to the ground, hitting it with a thud. Her ribs and back evidently did not agree with this sort of collision and made this known by being a queen. A Firemane soldier tried to interfere and fire upon the beast but it simply knocked his gun out of the way and speared him with a lightsabre. As Siobhan reeled the beast was upon her and pinned her down, smashing her once more against the floor as it tried to grip her helmet and tear it off her face.


Pure fury rose inside her being and she welcomed it like an old friend. She would not be infected again! Her fury manifested in a massive telekinetic hand that suddenly gripped the beast, invisible chains wrapping around it as she suddenly grabbed it with her mind and thrust it off her. Sickening sounds were heard as the entire body bent an crumbled into pieces before she smashed it against the wall, exploding it in a shower of broken metal pieces, foul-smelling flesh and electronics. She took a breath as she got up, seeing more techobeasts charging. Her mind sought them out and engulfed technobeasts dropping down from the hole in the ceiling, unleashing a massive blast of telekinesis that blossomed into a force explosion, taking them out. Some had managed to leap down, they would be for the Angelii to deal with. At closer range Firemane soldiers unleashed APE rounds with their bolters to shred them.


A technobeast grabbed a soldier, pinning the frightened trooper against a wall as its claws tore through his arm. Struggling the trooper managed to grip a blaster pistol and shoot the fiend at close range, blasting it until it gave up, but then the soldier slumped to the ground, shaking and spasming. "Nooo...aaaargh," he gasped as the technovirus surged through his being. In a flash Siobhan had her bolt pistol out and put him out of his misery with a shot to the head. He died before the virus could take effect and Siobhan felt...nothing at all. There was no time for that. Or perhaps her empathy had just been thoroughly dulled. As they say, war is hell; a cruelty that cannot be refined.


"Fall back. I want all Eaters you have ready. Valdier, at my signal combine your powers with mine. Angelii, do the same. We'll give the bastards a tornado of death and explosives and crush them into pieces. Rest of you, provide covering fire." she had to shout to make herself heard over the deafening noises of battle as bolter rounds and blaster bolts flew everywhere, monsters charged upon them and explosives resonated across the halls. Siobhan alone could conjure up a whirlwind to throw tanks and make buildings shake, combined with the other forces here they could create unspeakable havoc equivalent to a tornado. Add to that the damage caused by the metal-eating insect grenades and it might almost count as ridiculous overkill.

 

[Aeda Shaytari]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"], [member="Mirien Valdier"]

War, war never changes. This is my life, who I am. I am the guardian of Kaeshana, the defender of my people. Though they despise me for existing I fight for them, with them, forever.

Those were the thoughts of Aeda Shaytana, Grand Seraph of the Angelii. Indeed they could be compared to the Imperial Knights, but perhaps Templars were the better comparison. The Angelii, like everything in Eldorai society, was based partly in religion. They were the Angelii, the avenging angels of Ashira. Even if that was primarily rhetoric these days, they maintained a strict appearance of religious orthodoxy.

“Phalanx!” the Grand Seraph called calmly. Her elite troops formed into position on the flanks and behind the gunline. When the technobeasts, monsters and creatures charged the Angelii delivered a blast of elemental, telekinetic and gunfire into the mob. For a while it seemed like the enemy would be mowed down like the native armies against the Maxim, but then they got cunning.

From the roof, from behind, even from the walls themselves, the enemy came. Monsters came from everywhere, mainly coming from behind.
The Grand Seraph raised her Sarix. “Form! Rearward face. Advance!”
Leaving Siobhan and the Firemane troops to deal with that force, the Angelii attacked the foe in the rear as they were still gathering.

The Angelii fought in two lines, broken down into pairs. One carried a the Taegis and either Sarix or Sarzmigar. The other stood back, using bolt or staser pistol and their Sciiac powers. Though she was probably the most skilled of all, Aeda took her place in the line whilst a Warsinger behind her used her powers to inspire and drive all the warriors to greater acts of valour.

Into the battle the Angelii charged, the Grand Seraph leading in the best traditions of heroic leadership. Her Sarix, the hereditary and emblematic weapon of her order for millennia, glowed with sapphire fire as it cut down beast and madman.
At one stage a great beast charge the line, using momentum to break the shieldwall before it fell with its foul blood staining the deck. Into the hole the howling cultists charged, but the Angelii did not panic.
The Grand Seraph handed her Taegis to her battle sister and unleashed a scalding wave of telekinetic fire which swept the enemy back and drove the survivors away.
One of the Angelii had been badly wounded, pieced by a techobeast, and like Siobhan the Grand Seraph ended her misery with a precise stab.
Looking from Angelii to Angelii, all their armour dented and stained, she simply nodded. There was nothing to say. They had done their duty, but this was not the end.

Returning to the main line, they found the Firemane troops ready to face the next wave. The Grand Seraph indicated that her troops should follow the grenades command. As she levitated a thermal detonator of her own into the mix, Aeda’s imposing mask turned to Siobhan.
“The Queen sends her regards.”

 

[Darth Libertas]

Space Hulk,
far away from all the fighting.


The derelict Bando Gora space hulk was truly proving tremendously popular. While [member="Mirien Valdier"] was battling the savage hordes of technobeasts alongside the Firemane mercenaries and the Eldorai Angelii, the avenging angels of Ashira now finally unleashed to purge a bastion of evil, her former slave Naamah Aesham had collapsed in one of the many chambers containing a Bando Gora shrine.


The pain she felt was intense and she felt tired out. "Are you worthy?" the hissing voice that seemed to come from the depths of the abyss was such that to her it felt like her eardrums were about to. Moreover, it had suddenly become a lot colder in the room and she shivered strongly as the temperature underwent a rapid drop. The dark side was strong in the room and she did not have the concentration to steel herself against the raging sea of darkness that seemed to have flooded the entire ship.


"What...what kind of would-be cryptic, retarded question is that?" she exclaimed, clearly irritated about hearing some sort of disembodied voice from the ether. With a groan she tried to get up to her feet, willing her muscles to move and let her stand properly. As she felt the cold gust of a wind wash over her back, sending a shiver down her spine, she called her lightsabre into her hand. Her breathing was laboured and irregular, she did not had the strength in the Force to stop the burning acid from sending waves of scalding heat through her chest and arm where her armour had been burnt through in places. For a moment there was silence, something some might have considered ominous and foreboding, but then she was not in the right frame of mind. "Show yourself! Just what I figured, pointless smoke and mirrors on a ghost ship." As it happened the disembodied voice from nothingness was far from impotent.


For her impertinence Naamah was rewarded. Her reward was pain. Agonising pain that made her wish she had never set foot upon the derelict vessel. Suddenly, within the blink of an eye, invisible tendrils wrapped around her body and gripped it tight. Very, very tight. She cried out in pain intermixed with fear when she felt the darkside tendrils mercilessly pull at her. With a cry she tried to gather her power in the Force and tear off the invisible bonds through an outburst of her will, but they refused to break and indeed only got tighter with every moment of struggle she put up. Under the pressure she collapsed to the ground with a loud thud, her lightsabre falling out of her hand and clattering to the floor, deactivating itself as it was not being used. The pain was excruciating as it felt like bones snapped and were then being broken, one by one. Her body felt as if it was being systematically broken and being torn apart. The pain was joined by an icy sensation as it felt like she was being frozen. Blood turned cold and soon even basic thinking was difficult as the flow of blood no longer seemed to reach her brain and her lungs felt like they were being gripped and choked by a invisible, ice-cold hand.


"I...please...."


"You exist because we allow it and will end when we demand it. Imbecile mortals, playing with powers beyond the comprehension of your pitiful minds. You come here as a scavenger seeking treasures. Mere paupers all. We could end you here if it pleased us by a whim, and it would be a life of insignificance. Forgotten even by your slaver mistress." Every word was punctuated by what felt like the stab of an icy knife against her body, though at least she could breathe now, thus leaving her a panting, afraid and hate-filled mess lying upon the ground. Powerful ripples could be felt throughout the Force and then within the blink of an eye an apparation stood before her. It was that of an elderly, wrinkled woman dressed in white robes, her features obscured by a hood and a cowl, though her eyes were milky-white. "Tell me, slave, what is it you want in life?"


"I am no slave!" Her anger found an outlet in a massive, overpowering Force Scream, an outburst of raw and primal hatred that blossomed into a shockwave and tore through the entire chamber. Pews pews were thrown through the entire room or crushed, the shrine of destruction and depravity was crushed by her rage, with human innards and body parts being strewn across the room. However, the apparation still stood before her, seemingly unimpressed and unaffected, looking completely indifferent as if she was staring down at an insect.


"We are all slaves. Slaves to Chaos, entropy. There is no freedom under the stars, only the laughter of Dark Gods rejoicing at the folly of mortals. Everyone serves their cause, knowingly or unknowingly, even your slaver mistress who deludes herself into thinking she can escape her past," the apparation spoke, each word of hers practically dripping with mockery and venom. "Again...what is it you want, slave?"


Naamah took a breath. As is of its own accord the door to the chamber had slammed shut, trapping her. Well, she could theoretically open it with telekinesis or her lightsabre, but somehow she doubted that would have much effect. "I...want...power, control...freedom. I want Atrisia to burn and Madeline's head on a pike for what she did to my family. To finally be in control of my own destiny. I'm finished being someone else's tool. Atrisia's, Mirien's, I don't care, no one's!"


The old lady, or rather the apparition purporting to be one, clapped her wrinkled hands. "So sweet. So full of passion and anger at the world. You chase after petty trinkets, hoping that they will give you security, yet you still live in fear. Everything always...leads back to her, does it not? Your slaver mistress. How do you feel about her?"


Naamah grimaced, clearly irritated despite the pain she was feeling. "Why don't you tell me, if you're this omnipotent. You must be in my head, mustn't you?" There was no reply, though the old lady just looked amused. "I...hate her. She let the purge happen and ran away. She goes on about how guilty she feels, but she gets to enjoy her shiny happy life! I am the creature she made, almost blood of her blood, flesh of her flesh, forged by her as her weapon and she turned away. I got to suffer..."


"Hatred? Predictable. Obsession almost. Yet again and again your paths cross. You dream of breaking her as you were broken, yet if she were to call for her help you would come running like a well-trained kath hound. All for her approval? Silly girl. Your chains are unbroken. In fact, she has just landed on this vessel along with Firemane, doing battle against the misguided beasts that prowl this vessel. Will you go running back to her?" at that the apparition took a step closer towards Naamah.


Conflicting emotions crossed the features of Naamah. A few moments of silence passed before she finally spoke. "No...I will not be her lackey again. And her 'new friends' would cast me aside anyway. Hypocrites the lot of them," there was hatred evident in her words.


"Undoubtedly. How ironic to see them reject those who openly revel in darkness...when they themselves have taken the plunge into the abyss. It is freedom you want? True freedom? Power? But it not just that. You delight in suffering and murder, do you not? Those moments when she let you loose and you inflict torment in her name were they not..."


"The height of ecstasy, yes, they were. And of pure excitement. I enjoyed it. Breaking those who opposed me, leaving them a squealing, pathetic mess when I was done with them," at that Naamah could not help licking her lips. "That queen Madeline made me see that. She deserves to burn in hell, but she freed me from the chains keeping me down. But what do you want from me?"


The lips of the apparition curved into a smile, one that sent shivers down her spine. "Such a vicious animal. We want you to understand, dear. About your slave mistress, the universe...us. Perhaps you have promise...," Naamah had no chance to respond for the open palm of the hand of the apparition suddenly touched her forehead. There was pain, as images upon images surged through her mind in a mental onslaught, then there was a sense of clarity.

 

[Delila Castillon]

Since this writer has been busy, sick and tired, for the sake of time and sanity we will say she has been riding around in tank with her biting Jester at her side. Considering this writer is still all the mentioned things, this post will be terribly short. Somehow the others in this thread will have to merely continue on and regard Delila as set dressing, smashing things in tanks!


Yet it was best to contribute to story and development and all. So Captain Castillon took her tank in the direction of an overrun city. Was the city important to Gehanna and what Firemane was trying to do? Possibly. After all, who wanted to come to a place full of creatures hell bent on killing you? Didn't seem like a tourist destination. As Delila killed the Reavers she would also demolish the city, allowing for rebuilding.


Truly she was nothing but thoughtful and caring.