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"I wonder who will be triumphant over my reigning Champion Arrius? Most of you are to pathetic to stand in his shadow let alone mine, still this will be most entertaining. Prepare the challengers for combat on the arena!"

A large gate way opens in the center of the arena which the Warriors each enter to find themselves within a massive chamber, stacked with Gold, Books and Ancient weaponry and armour. Syrath's treasuries main vault, only he had ever seen this place. Syrath appears but distances himself from the combatants and lands next to Arrius, twice the size of the Daemon Prince he looks down and smiles. He has changed allot since Arrius had last seen him, his eyes a blazing firestorm of calculating evil.

"Chose wisely, and remember. Don't drink my wine!"

Lucian looks hrough the room seaching for a weapon. Then his eyes halt. A single blade, truly huge at least 7 feet long, lays in the hands of a suit of aincient Terminator armour. The sigil of russ upon it. Lucian fees a great wrenching in his gut, this was the armour of their primarch. Syrath probably stole it from whoever killed the great Wolf... Lucian growled. The blade itself was glittering slightyl, as if it wanted to be a part of the coming battle. Lucian strode towards it, allowing himself to morph into his daemonic form. He takes the blade gingerly. It burns his hands as if they were on fire. Eating away the daemonic flesh. Lucian grips the handle of the weapon harder, allowing the weapon to purify him. Eventually the burning stops as his daemonic body throws out the last vestiges of Lucians old form as a barrier between itself and the holy blade. Lucian growl in the semi darkness as the runes along the blades edge catch his eye:
"Niffliem, you will to battle once more"

Hearing the Horn Auvian lept from his tattered bedroll in the corner of the old warehouse, with an urgent whisper he woke the rest of the men as the sentry came in to tell them of the activity going toward what appeared to be the center of this purgatory. "Alright guys stow your excess kit and grab your weapons" Auvian said as he belted on his weaponry wishing he still had his Gauss Flayer he had scavenged a year before from a tomb world he had been on due to an inquisitorial mission, 'oh well' he thought 'No use crying over broken guns'. Returning from his nostalgic thoughts he saw the group assembled with their weapons staring at Auvian, slightly unnerved by his complete loss of focus Auvian snapped "What are you waiting for, lets see what these freaks are going towards!" With that the squad departed the warehouse following the mob of daemons.

Beltayn listlessly wandered through the treasury, pondering his fate now that he was just a fighting pawn for a greater being's sport. The entire situation filled him with a cold fury that he had not ceased to feel since he had seen Ludias' lifeless body laying in the snow of the polar cap. Beltayn saw many treasures, including many from his own people and around the galaxy, weapons and armor from every species and alien in the galaxy lay in this chamber, all keepsakes for a being who has approached the power of a god.

A whisper echoed in Beltayn's ear, causing him to turn around at its call. At first he thought it was just more whispers of the Warp but after it had passed he realized it was far less sinister. There on a mantle in the midst of other treasures stood two items which got Beltayn's attention, He approached them slowly, the whispers continuing to filter into his ears as he got closer...

A torso section of a great set of armor sat there on the mantle and beside it lay an ancient diresword of the aspect shrine of the Dire Avengers and the chest piece's matching helmet. Upon closer inspection, Beltayn marveled at how old and pristine the three were, he surmised they must have all come from at least the time of his people's fall or perhaps even before then...He unbuckled the sheaths from his swords, lay his rifle aside, and took off his ragged cloak, wincing at his shoulder wound that had since been treated but still flared. He stood there in his simple hunting attire and took from the mantle the armor piece and put it on as well as the helmet. He then took in his reverent hands the diresword and examined its graceful form. Beltayn frowned, it was missing something. The base of the sword was missing the soulstone of the warrior that had come before Beltayn, the blade was incomplete, without the stone, what gave the sword its power was missing...

Beltayn became curious, he took from his pocket the revered fragment and examined how coal black it was, he carefully fit it into the base of the sword where the soul stone would go and said a quick prayer as he moved his hand from the sword blade. The fragment suddenly blazed to life, glowing orange and one by one the many ancient runes along the center of the blade began to blaze a fiery red in response to the spirit of the god within the stone. Beltayn smiled, thanking Khaine himself for the blessing. He saw the look that the now human Lucian gave him as he held onto the blade's great handle.

"Not many beings know this, I'm not even sure if I told Ludias but I was a member of the Dire Avengers before taking the path of the outcast..." He said examining the sword's runes "With you, Rage of the Bloody Handed, I will know again what it means to have battlelust." He whispered to the blade

(now we have a pair of truly truly epic weapons, origionally I was going to wield the blade of an avatar of Khaine but I realised you would want to do something along those lines, then I thought of Nifflhiem and everything fell into place)

The Blades flames force Syrath to shield his face, the Daemon snarls but does not attack. He simply re-assures himself of the coming battle, he would place them opponents that they could not best, as they where herded into the arena Syrath stood up;

"I shall announce the combatants they are;

Marius against Lucian,

Bel'tyan against Mikal,

Shas against Kremlin,

Any others may choose their own opponents after the first round, let the battle begin!"

Lucian explodes into his daemonic form but does not charge the dreadnought, fully aware of Marius's prowess.
"Brother, can you hear me in that shell of yours? I only wish for peace here... I do not wish to harm you, it is only that wretch in the stands that I want!!!"

The dreadnought takes a step backwards his hands on the Blade of Fenris. His massive echoing vox caster booms out
"We are naught but shadows now... What help could we possibly be?"

(Warork help me out with this)

The Daemons move towards a massive arena where the sounds of battle can be heard, Chaos hordes move towards the arena eagerly seeking bloodshed.

OOC: By the way guys, I call dibbs on fighting Hunter...

IC:

Kais shakes himself awake, as he is pushed into the arena. He looks down at his body. He had been stripped of his upper armour. There was a bandage on his chest, and he was feeling farly week.
But there was something inside of him which urged him to carry on.

Rage. Rage at Hunter, his closest friend, who had betrayed him for all this time. He would feel his wrath.

Then, he saw them, Marius, and Mikal, who were his greatest friends he could ever have had. They were here, and being forced to fight his newest allies.

Kais was brought back into reality by the sound of the horn, and the announcement of the competitors in this barren arena.

He was fighting Kremlin, who he vaguely remembered as being the sorcerer who he had seen when he was first in the Eye of Terror. He would need a weapon to fight him, so Kais looked around the arena, and lay his eyes on two weapons his his segment. There was a rail rifle, fairly near him.

That was his first target. So he ran towards the weapon, and grasped the the butt of the weapon with his hand, lifting it up, and feeling its weight. Funnily enough, this was his personalised rail rifle, which must have been taken off him, and planted in this arena.

"Why thank you Syrath."

He quickly looked around and saw the other weapon, a spear, that must have looked ancient. Bonded with the power of his ancestors, from when they were but tribal people.

He would need that weapon. But suddenly, he caught a glimpse of Kremlin coming towards him at a blazing speed, already chanting dark Chaos spells.

A plan was forming in his head, so Kais raised his rail rifle, took aim on Kremlins legs, and fired.

Kremlin falls back as the shot slams into the knee of the marine, its force shattering his knee cap and forcing the marine to balance with his Force Sword but does not stop. He raises his right arm and unleashes a barrage of purple and red energy bolts that barley miss the Shas'O, his left arm is partially burnt.

A smirk grows on Syrath's face, a dark and shadowy one that conveys his evil and sinister intentions. Hunter arrives along with his Chaos Space Marine guards each with unique armour taken from their foe, the helms of Dark Angels and Space Wolves;


"Lord Syrath the portal has opened, Commoragh is under attack as we speak. I have my troops on their way to secure target Vect while the Sycroth have begun their conversion of the Incubi Shrines."


Syrath smiles and turns to Hunter;



"You have been a good servant Hunter, I believe you should be gifted for your loyalty thought the years."


Hunter rises into the air, his body explodes into a new form. His massive Daemonic body almost crushes the other marines, his horns curved and his dark blue skin rippling with Daemonic maws.

Kais grunts with the pain, but quickly strafes to the right and runs forward, pacing towards the ancient Tau spear.
Kremlin fires more shorts towards Kais as he runs, most missing him but one catches the side of his leg, and while it causes no real damage, it makes him roar out in pain, and fall, smashing into the ground, right beside the spear.

"I remember you," Kremlin says, his dark form swooping towards Kais, to rest beside his body. "You were the young Shas'ui who caused me all that trouble here not that long ago now. You were a major part in destroying the Titan. Now, I will feast on your-"

"No. No you won't," Kais says slowly, getting up, and removing the ancient spear, slowly, from Kremlins chest.

"What? How?" Kremlin asks, astounded the spear could cause mortal damage.

"This spear is marked with ancient powers of my race. I should know that, it belonged to my father. Passed down my every generation. Syrath must have got his hands on it, somehow," Kais says proudly, picking up his rail rifle with his other hand, and putting it to Kremlins head. "Now, tell me, what Chaos god do you serve?"

OOC: Uhhh...

... I still want to fight Hunter...

"Lord....Tzeentch...you foul being....I shall end you!"

Kremlin tries to slam his Blade into Shas's arm but the Tau side steps him and forces the blade right through the Chaos Sorcerers right lung and slams the spear through the spine of the Tzzentchicn servant. He groans in pain as he lies bleeding and desperately gasping for air.

"Then you shall return to him," Kais says, firing his rail rifle, aiming for Kremlins head, ending him. "Wretch."

He then disregards Kremlins blood-stained corpse, and looks around, trying to get a glimpse of Marius, Mikal, Bel'tayn, and Lucian.

(OOC) I believe we should wait till the others return.

OOC: Cool cool...

... and that was a quick fight...

... shows you not to feth with gladiator Kais...

This is why Tau do better in CC than ranged combat

Thier epic in both...

... Kais is more of a fast hunter...

... well, he has the instincts of one...

Warork, your back, we can continue...

... I expect an epic fight...

We have to wait till he posts.

I know that, don't worry...

... hehe, I still love my epic fight...

... dammit, keep making typoes...

OOC: Yep, I'm back, give me a few minutes...

Beltayn heard his name announced with that of another warrior who stood on the other end of the arena as the crowd roared for blood to be spilled. He faced the warrior, a Mon keigh in terminator armor, wielding a simply massive power sword colored ice blue in his hands. The man had a haunted look in his eyes as he stared down Beltayn and raised his sword. Beltayn's mind raced at the man's name. Mikal? He had heard that name somewhere...

The two beings circled each other. Beltayn's eyes darted from behind his crested helmet as he held the diresword which growled in the anticipation of blood. He saw the disgusting daemon form of Lucian facing off against another space wolf, this time a huge venerable dreadnaught. Beltayn shuddered, he was glad that he had been given this Mon Keigh to fight and not the death machine. As the two circled each other, anticipating the fight, Beltayn spoke.

"You are the great Mikal Halfblood are you not?" He asked. The other warrior hesitated in surprise.

"How do you know who I am Eldar?" He asked with curiosity.

"You and the one named Marius were the heroes of a saga I heard from a Farseer...perhaps you know her?"

"Knew her...she fell to the Darkness with Marius and was slain when I took his life."

"So I have heard, the thing I do not know is how the saga tells of you both falling that day in the snows of Fenris and yet here you stand before me."

Mikal's expression became bitter and angry, he revealed white fangs with a snarl. "The power of Syrath is great, greater than either I or Marius could stop." He said sadly.

"That is where you are wrong." Beltayn said with conviction. "No being is immortal, no being is invincible, Syrath is the same, you cannot defeat him because you have convinced yourself of his victory."

Beltayn barely had time to dodge around the warrior's lunge, the sword came perilously close to his helmet's crest and Mikal's backswing but him off balance so that he could not attack, Beltayn had to jump backwards to get away from another strike and brought his sword up to meet the giant sword of Mikal's Beltayn looked into Mikal's eyes, he saw pain and anger and bile all welling up in his expression.

"How would you know?! How would you know of what I have suffered?! I was once a great warrior of the Emperor, Marius was my best friend and mentor and I had to kill a piece of myself in order to slay him! Do you know what it is like to kill the only true friend you'd ever known?!" Mikal screamed as he swung his word and Beltayn lithely parried, finding no opening in the Mon keigh's defense. Beltayn backed away and gave himself some space from the terminator armor clad warrior. He panted but he was unbowed.

"No, I cannot say that I have, but I have lost the only friend I ever knew!" He yelled back. The suddenness of his voice took Mikal off guard but he didn't show it. "I don't know you, have only heard of you and your friend in story, but I am telling you now that there is no need for us to fight each other, Syrath took your friend away from you, Syrath caused all of your suffering, Syrath is the bastard we both should be fighting!"

Mikal shook his head, tears almost welling in his eyes. "I've tried, Emperor knows I've tried, there is no beating that daemon, he has eyes and ears everywhere, I've killed him more than once with my own hand and he just comes back each time. There is no beating him, there is no choice."

This time Beltayn launched the attack with a flurry of blows that Mikal could barely parry and get out of the way of. Beltayn's sword seemed to blaze with fury and growl or snarl every time the two blades struck, steam poured from their strikes as they fought, faster and faster became Beltayn's blows so fast in fact that Mikal could not keep up and seeing this tried to escape the Eldar warrior but was caught off guard by Beltayn's next swirling move which put Mikal off balance and sent him flying onto his back. Flashfreeze flew from his grip and as he tried to rise, he found the Eldar's sword at his neck, he looked up into Beltayn's blazing eyes and found a surprising amount of determination there.

"There is always a chance and there is always a choice my friend."

You have all the time in the world mate, for one of your posts...

Syrath keenly watched as Mikal was at his feet, he was irritated. The Eldar should have finished him by now, an easy blow would have looped of the head of the marine and ended him. He snarled and called up the newly ascended Hunter who bowed to Syrath;

"Yes my lord? What are my orders great one?"


"Kill the Wolf, and end the Eldar and then the Shas'O and make it bloody."

Hunter jumps down onto the arenas floor and charges towards the Eldar and Wolf.....

IC:

Kais spotted Bel'tayn and Mikal, who seemed to talk at first, before engaging, and starting a brutal fight.
This was wrong. They were being forced to fight people who should be thier allies and friends. He needed to think of a way to stop this. To put an end to all of this madness.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he noticed the Hunter, who seemed to be "blessed" with the powers of a Daemon, jump down, and begin to charge towards Mikal and Bel'tayn.

He had to stop him.

So he ran, pacing towards the battle, his ancient spear in one hand, his personalised rail rifle in the other.

"Bel'tayn! Mikal!"

Kais fired a shot at Hunter, the rail rifle blast making a neat large hole in his wing, before charging, and impaling him with his spear, rising him into the air, as if he was a trophy from a daring hunt.

"You will pay for your treachery, old friend."

Hunter slams his fist into the Shas'Os head causing him to fall and is grabbed by the neck by Hunter who snarls and sniggers;

"None of your friends will survive, you will become pawns in Syrath's arena!"

A blazing red blade arcs and slices through Hunter's deformed and powerful wrist, it is accompanied by Beltayn's leaping form that lands inf front of the now one handed Hunter and points his blade at the monster.

"We trusted you traitor! May your soul burn in the hall of rending fro what you have done!" He shouts in challenge as Hunter roars in pain.

"He is no traitor." A voice says sadly from Beltayn's side. He is surprised to see Mikal standing next to him with a cold fury in his eyes. "This being is not the same one that died on the Titan for us, its body may be the same, but just as Marius was taken from me, so has Hunter been taken from you, Shas O'. By the way it is good to see you again although I wish it had not been so."

Hunter laughs and sniggers;

"I never did, Syrath plotted and organized the entire thing! Syrath possessed Imperial officers and had you sent into the Eye, he stole Marius from reality and destroyed the Titan. I served him well, my Alpha Legion training did me well didn't it? Friendship and legends make it easy to manipulate fools like you, I conducted the Chaos Marines on Fenris. Who do you think had them lose? You? No I did, Kremlin would have probably succeeded. Your Legends, stories and actions are all false!"

"It is excellent to see you too Mikal, although definately not like this," Kais says emotionally, turning back towards Hunter, pointing his spear at his neck, slowly pushing it forward, drawing Chaotic blood from his neck. "It pains me to say this, but he is not like you. He has caused dours and Marius' demise. He must have been feeding Syrath information all this time, and I must be the one to end it."

Suddenly, Mikal lunges towards Bel'tayn, who is barely able to dodge the attempted strike.

"I am deeply sorry, Eldar, but Syraths control is too great. We must battle."