Peering Into The Darkness
Sweetie Belle shook her head vigorously as she closed her eyes and tore her gaze away from the golden plaque, a gentle tap on her left shoulder ripping her back to reality. Her senses returned in full force as metallic hoofsteps rang in her eardrums, her already white complexion paling further, her cheeks losing their color. She knew the guards had found them. They were toast.
She gulped audibly, swallowing her anxiety as she slowly opened her eyes. She began to turn around, but stopped dead and jerked her head back forwards, still too embarrassed and apprehensive to face the royal guards that were surely towering over her. For a moment, she considered just closing her eyes again, and pretending that this situation wasn't happening. It was so surreal in ways that she couldn't quite put her hoof on, getting caught like this. She breathed in trying to calm herself she elected to just get it over with. She knew it was the end of the line for her and her friends.
With a defeated sigh, she whirred around, letting her eyes bolt open to face the music. Yet, even though she could see what was before her, she couldn't process it, as she quickly looked down, staring at the ground in front of her before mustering the courage to look up slightly.
Though the room was dimly lit, the polished golden horseshoes before her still shone with an unearthly aura that immediately told her who was standing before her. Sweetie was shaking slightly now, as she bit back another surge of anxiety, forcing herself to stay calm.
Her eyes trailed up one of the pristine white legs of the pony, as her gaze came to a stop around the flourishing golden torc embedded with a purple gemstone in the center. Sweetie hesitantly forced herself to keep looking upwards, her view slinking past the engraved golden collar, up past the tall pony's long white neck, and finally Sweetie stopped as she met eyes with Princess Celestia.
The two stark white ponies simply stood there for a moment, gazing into one another's eyes, as Applebloom and Scootaloo shifted uneasily while they eyed the two grey colored unicorn guards flanking Celestia. Applebloom looked up at the guard in front of her, before looking down at the ground and shying away slightly, glancing over to Sweetie Belle who was still paralyzed. Scootaloo lost her confidence as she stood before the comparatively gigantic ponies before her, unable to keep herself from trying to shrink into her own skin, both out of embarrassment, and a little bit of fear.
Sweetie couldn't tear her eyes away from Celestia, whose own facial expression was slowly overwhelming her terror with befuddlement. The Princess's normally warm and inviting expression was now one of somber acceptance, with a twinge of regret sprinkled across her soft features, which only served to heighten Sweetie's building anxiety
But what bothered Sweetie the most was something that she couldn't quite put her hoof on, something about the Princess' complexion and demeanor were just ... different somehow. Sweetie finally managed to wrench her eyes away from the mutual stare as she noticed how tired and worn out Celestia looked, her eyes darting back and forth across all of Celestia and taking note of how drained she looked, and even her normally glowing white fur looked grayish and dull. She eyed Celestia's mane, and shuddered at how drab and grey it was, at how slowly it flowed, mirroring the princess' dilapidated state of being.
"It's okay my little ponies, there's no need to be afraid," Celestia spoke, her voice cutting through the silence with a resounding tone of reassurance. The three little fillies all converged on Celestia with their prying little eyes, as they sighed a collective sigh of relief. Yet, even as the three ponies began to feel less nervous, Sweetie Belle knew something was up and refused to let her guard down. She was determined to find out what was up with Celestia.
"P-Princess, i-if you don't mind me asking w-why do you look so tired?" Sweetie Belle managed to stammer out, her voice much shakier and anxiety riddled than she had expected it to be. Perhaps she wasn't as calm as she thought herself, and she immediately felt her anxiety return as soon as she had finished her inquiry.
Celestia blinked hard, her eyes remaining shut for a moment longer than usual, as a pained expression washed over her features upsetting the fillies greatly. The gold armor class unicorn guards shifted uneasily as one of them eyed the tremendous suit of armor towering behind the Cutie Mark Crusaders. It was almost as if even they didn't know what they were looking at.
Sweetie was instantly uncomfortable as she played with the thought, glancing over her shoulder to look back at the colossal carapace of armor standing over her. She didn't know what to think, as one single encompassing question overtook her mind, a question she desperately wanted a straight answer to.
What are you?
She returned her gaze to Celestia as she began speaking, but her tone was much different now. It was pained and regretful, her voice now matching her facial expression as she spoke.
"I'm not well I'm afraid. There have been some events as of late that I cannot handle in my weakened state. Don't worry though, that is why I have come here. I need help, for you see young ones, sometimes even the princess cannot do things on her own. That's why it is so important to have friends that you can call upon when the time is right," Celestia finished, figuring she might as well tell them the truth, seeing as they would witness it soon enough anyways.
Still she didn't want to scare them, and even as Celestia lifted her head up, looking into the blank eye holes of the massive suit of armor that dwarfed even her by twice her height over, she felt her uncertainty surge through her body in a wave of absolute fear brought on by ancient memories. She let her eyes glance downwards, at the golden collar she wore, brushing over the intricate grooves carved into the royal piece of jewelry, before eyeing the central purple gemstone with an uncertain, yet hopeful look in her eyes. Her fear was banished, however temporarily, by her hope and her resolve was restored.
Sweetie Belle shifted uncomfortably where she was standing, looking over at Applebloom for any kind of reassurance she might have to offer, but the earth pony simply shrugged uneasily, her eyes full of anxiety. Sweetie looked back up at Celestia who had shifted her gaze back up to the huge suit of armor, a look of stoic determination entangling her soft features and making her look far different than usual. It was an odd look Sweetie had never seen the princess wear, and it was almost scary to watch as the princess stepped forward slowly. Sweetie backed away to the left, joining Applebloom and watching Celestia with bewildered curiosity.
The alicorn princess stood before the masterfully crafted suit of armor, the point of her elongated horn barely reaching the bottom of the suit's broad chest plate. She looked up at the golden aquila emblazoned across the center of the figure's golden chest plate, and sighed audibly, as she rose, standing on her hind legs, and pressing down lightly on the large golden skull encircled by a ring of steel with her front hooves. She took a deep breath, looking over her shoulder, first at her slightly uneasy guards, and then at the three little fillies who watched her without any knowledge of what was about to happen.
She opened her mouth for a moment, considering just telling them what they were about to witness, but she turned her head back around as she closed her eyes, mumbling a single phrase under her breath.
"I'm so sorry ..."
Her hoof pressed into the golden skull forcefully as a burst of pressurized gas escaped from the center of the chest plate with an audible wheeze. Celestia stepped back slightly, as the moderately sized skull ornament swung outwards, as if on a door hinge, revealing a small diamond shaped slot within the thick plating of the armor's breastplate. She lifted her right hoof towards her torc, fiddling with it for a moment before dislodging the purple gemstone that was embedded within the center. Using one of her front hooves, she held it aloft before the armor, and it began to glow with a vibrant light.
The royal guards in the rooms gawked at the now glowing gemstone that was now firmly in Celestia's grasp, witnessing something truly incredible as she inched it towards the suit of armor. The normally purple diamond shaped stone exploded into a vibrant azure as she neared the suit, an unearthly glow emanating from the ancient artifact floating before them.
She looked behind herself one last time, understanding that this moment was the last moment of peace she might have. She knew that if she went through with this decidedly dangerous plan of hers, Equestria would never be the same again. She looked around the room at the other ponies standing in it, all of them, even her guards completely incredulous at what was unfolding before their very eyes.
Celestia's vision trailed downwards as she locked eyes with Sweetie Belle one last time. Neither of them spoke a word as swirling golden energy began to radiate outwards from the azure gemstone in Celestia's hoof, but they both spoke to each other in a way words simply cannot describe. It took every ounce of Celestia's willpower to tear her gaze from Sweetie, as she began to get teary eyed.
Holding up the stone in front of her face and shaking her head slightly, Celestia blinked back tears and suppressed her instincts to just drop the stone and leave it there, before slowly willing herself to stand on her hind legs, inching towards the slot in the golden chest plate. She had previously considered evacuating the castle, especially the field trip of innocent fillies slinking through the revered archives of Canterlot before trying this, but she knew, deep inside of herself that if this went wrong, there would be no escaping the consequences of her actions.
She had been dreading this day for so very long. Six hundred years of carrying the soulstone within her collar, six hundred years of not being able to sleep at night, knowing that one day, she would be forced to use it. Six hundred years that had all been leading up to today. It was time.
She steeled her nerves as she inserted the azure gemstone into the chest plate slot, as arcane wisps of golden energy began to crackle furiously around the stone. Celestia quickly slammed the skull ornament shut, pushing down on it forcefully several times to make sure it wouldn't open, and to both her pleasure and dismay, it remained locked tight, refusing to budge even an inch. There was no turning back now.
Celestia backed away from the hulking mass of metal as the ground began to shake slightly, dust inside the room being shaken loose and thrown about while the trio of little fillies struggled to maintain their balance as they retreated behind Celestia, trying to get as far away from the suit as possible without leaving the room. Even so, what came next made every single pony in the room want to simply turn tail and sprint as fast as they could down the hallway, even Celestia.
An audible rumbling began to echo throughout the room, as golden energy streaked through the massive carapace, revealing a network of grooves that ran all throughout the suit, from its absurdly huge metal boots, right up into its chest, out into its pauldrons and vambraces, and then back up into the crest of its azure helmet. The golden burst of light faded quickly as all of the energy spread across the suit seemed to retreat back into the chest, before it surged upwards into the helmet, where it coalesced inside the suit.
Celestia stepped forwards once more, knowing that it wasn't over yet. She still had to complete the final step in the process. She considered stopping right then and there, just leaving the suit to be worn away by the ravages of time, however many millennia it might take, but she had come too far now to back down. She had to keep going, despite her apprehension.
Although she had occasionally practiced the use of soulstones during her adventures with Starswirl the Bearded, she had never quite gotten used to the final step in the imbuing process. Even then, this was nothing like anything she had tried before. An imbuing on this scale was unheard of, and she was thoroughly surprised it had worked up to this point. She dearly hoped she was strong enough for what was to come.
An explosion of blinding golden light only she could perceive smashed into her, encompassing her and overloading her senses as she fell to the ground, writhing in sensory overload. Her mind thrashed and flailed inside her mind, waging a war of wills that overflowed into the physical realm, as she spasmed and twitched on the floor, trying to maintain some semblance of composure. She had known that this enchanting would take a far greater toll on her than anything she had attempted before, but she could not have possibly prepared herself.
To peer into the demi-god mind of a space marine is to endure the greatest horrors the galaxy has to offer. To endure the suffering and the trials of an Astartes isn't just torture, it is hell. As Celestia lay there on the ground, the CMC and her two guards eyeing her with a mix of confusion and horror, the princess' mind was engulfed by the experiences and memories of Ekene Dubaku.
Nothing in her immortal life could have prepared her decidedly mortal mind.
The weight of centuries of endless bloodshed and warfare was thrust upon the relatively peaceful Celestia, as memories of battles long past surged through her mind, terrifying and traumatizing her with each echo of the past.
A fleshy creature without hair lay before her, wires and metal tubes protruding out of them as they squirmed uneasily on a large table, their chest cut open vertically as a truly huge biped in stark white armor bearing a simple red helix on one pauldron observed the neophyte struggling on the operation table. Burning red eyes from within the figure’s helmet pierced her soul as he inserted a strange, black organ forcefully into the writhing patient. Bone and flesh melded, as nerve endings formed and encompassed the platelike addition, a slick film of black surging across the patient, before seeping into his skin and dissipating. The white armor clad figure turned for a moment, retrieving another oddly shaped plate of black and moving to insert it into one of the several pre cut openings in the patient. He stooped down, preparing to insert the organ, as the creature on the table writhed in world shattering agony, his face contorted into a grimace that soon blossomed into an outright expression of sheer torture as he let out a horrific, pain laden scream.
The scene flashed and transformed into another, the terrifying echo of the agonizing cry still fresh in Celestia's mind, as the same individual from the operating table stood in front of the very same suit of armor that she was imbuing. The creature looked different now though, as his whole torso was encompassed by a fleshy, yet armor like substance of black that contoured to his bulging muscles. The hulking creature took a step forward, gently caressing the center of the chest plate, and smiling slightly.
The vision exploded in another flash of white light as more memories zoomed by, slowing down slightly as Celestia watched the new experience unfold. A golden plated warrior charged forwards with what appeared to be a sword, ripping apart another figure who looked oddly similar in shape, except with far more skull ornamentation, and with two strange horns jutting out of its jet black helmet.
The foe fell to the ground, blood spurting from a grievous neck wound, as it desperately tried to fumble backwards only to be met with the thunderous smash of the golden warrior’s metal boot. The black armored figure’s head exploded in a shower of gore, blood and grey matter seeping into the earth as the golden juggernaut turned around, shaking his head slightly, before dropping to his knees. Before him, was another golden plated biped, laying motionless on the ground, his chestplate dented and rent open in several places. Blood of a much brighter shade of red than that of mortals flowed from the wounds, as the kneeling soldier came just close enough to lay his massive hand on his comrade’s chest, as he muttered something indecipherable under his breath, still shaking his head as if in disbelief.
The whole world around Celestia erupted in another violent shockwave of light, sending her hurtling deeper and deeper into the horrid memories. The scene slowed just enough for her to observe the same individual from the operating table, recognizing him by his face, as if she could ever forget it …
He knelt down beside a fallen biped much lither than himself, and plated in slick black armor that fit snugly against their form. His colossal fist came down, smashing open the cranium of the dead being, before proceeding to extract its grey matter carefully. Blood poured from the wound, seeping into the fertile earth of the jungle they appeared to be in. It was almost too much for Celestia to bear, and she could barely keep herself from vomiting as the golden clad warrior devoured the brain of his enemy, lapping up the juices with vigor, and making sure to eat every last chunk of its tender greymatter.
She sighed in momentary relief as the scene shifted, knowing that things would only get worse and worse. Strange creatures of steel and flesh that resembled the suit of armor before her smashed into similar beings who wielded exotic weapons that glowed with a hellish aura. The scene shifted and changed, as eldritch horrors shredded and tore apart their enemies with bioweapons, devouring everything in their wake.
Metal skeletons punished the ground beneath them as their weapons discharged with a green burst of light, cutting down wave after wave of bipedal soldiers firing orange streaks of light en masse, clad in green plates of carapace. The blasts of vibrantly colored shots rang out from both sides, arcing through the air before tearing into the ranks of each side.
Lithe, tall figures encased within sleek white plates of interlocking mesh dashed and sprinted about like ghosts, their fluid motions blending with the shadows while they elegantly performed their dance of deaths, energy crackling from curved white swords that cleaved through metal and flesh with ease. Crests of red hair fluttered in the wind, bolts of blueish energy soaring past in discs, as the sound of battle raged on, deafening explosions and eardrum shattering gunfire forcing Celestia to clutch her head in pain, as she desperately hoped she could hang on for just a bit longer.
Memories of terrible losses, pyyrhic defeats and horrific enemies smashed into Celestia in waves, sending shivers down her spine. Her senses became detached from the physical realm as she let her mind be fully encompassed by the traumatizing experience. The metallic smell of blood, and the corpulent, pungent smell of decay filled her nostrils as she gazed down on a field of slaughter so filled to the brim with golden armor plated bodies that she felt the overwhelming urge to vomit. But what troubled her on a deeper level, was the shifting tide of green that enveloped the whole of the ridge, almost as if it were alive.
She tried to calm herself, steadying her breathing that had rapidly picked up as the increasingly terrible echoes of the past ravaged her psyche. But something strange happened in that moment, as the lightning fast barrage of memories slowed to a crawl. Her perspective on the scene shifted as her vision raced downwards from the overview of the battlefield she had been forced to bear witness to.
As she raced ever downwards, her fears were confirmed as she began to spot the outlines of countless individuals shifting and writhing about in the seemingly endless sea of green that was bashing itself against great war machines that cut them down in droves. The green tide was comprised of an endless supply of huge, burly creatures that trundled along on two legs, hunched over and burdened by the ramshackle armor and weapons they hauled along with them. Earth shaking warcrys and howls shook Celestia to her core as her perspective descended down into the very thick of the fighting. Deep red blood splashed about every which way as the green monstrosities charged past her by the thousands, and Celestia could barely hold herself together by remembering that it was just a memory.
But as she struggled to keep herself calm amidst the chaos, she suddenly felt herself slip. She was losing the mental struggle from the moment it began, but now, in this instance, she truly lost. She couldn't explain it, but somehow, she felt less real in that moment, thousands of the green skinned monsters surging past her and into a hail of deadly projectiles that struck them down with an unearthly ease. Explosions rocked the ground, sending severed green limbs soaring through the air, ribbons of crimson trailing behind them. Another mental pang surged through Celestia, and again, she felt herself slipping, losing control over her mind in the maelstrom of memories, as she melded with the scene, becoming one with it...
The thunder of thousands of gunshots filled the air with an irrefutably ear bleeding presence, while the stomp of steel capped boots pummeled the craggy and rocky earth of the Mannheim Gap into submission. Orks spewed forth from every break in the rocks, surging forwards like a cohesive entity that threatened to overrun the massive Leman Russ tanks of the Imperial Guard 93rd Armageddon Steel Legion. Gas masked guardsman clad in tan trench coats returned fire from behind, and on top of their tanks as the main guns of the war machines recoiled back with every shell fired, their deadly payload exploding in orange fireballs that sent orks flying every which way. Severed limbs and a tremendous shower of gore rained down in the wake of every shot, hundreds of orks being completely obliterated each second the intense fighting raged on, but even so thousands more poured forth to take their fallen kind's place.
Amidst the sea of green and the line of tremendous armored vehicles accompanied by their mortal crews and soldiers that pressed forwards slowly, just barely managing to push back the green skins, a chosen few stood taller than anyone else on the battlefield, armored in the finest golden plate, and bearing the insignia of the Celestial Lions space marine chapter. The juggernauts of flesh, faith, and holy adamantine smashed into the orks with such vigor that limbs were severed on contact, makeshift armor crumpled like paper, and some just straight up exploded into a red mist. Space Marine bolters rang out across the landscape, their tremendously huge bullets throwing those they impacted stumbling backwards in the split second before the mass reactive shell detonated. Greenskins were ripped in half and completely shredded by the fearsome power of the blessed bolts, as the Celestial fought with a holy fervor that scared even the advancing guardsmen beside them.
But as the battle raged on, the ground flowing with a river of red, bodies began to pile up to the point where imperial guardsman could no longer trudge through the knee deep sea of corpses, and were forced to mount up onto the tanks that cut swathes through the endless horde that assailed the human forces. For every ork that fell, a hundred more raced past him, eager to get stuck in. Shouts of “WAAAGH!!!” resounded throughout the bloodied Mannheim Gap, filling the red eyed greenskins with unquenchable bloodlust that only drove them to greater heights of sheer insanity, as the green tide threw itself in waves against the slowly crumbling imperial line.
Lasguns refused to fire as they clicked, out of battery charge. Guardsman were cleaved clean in half by crude orkish blades, while others were sent sprawling backwards from the impact of orky bullets that tossed them into the next wave of stomping orks to be trampled into pulp. Men were gripped by the ankle by huge, meaty, hands that tugged and dragged them down into the riptide of orks that promptly eviscerated them, all while the guardsman fired their lasguns frantically, desperately hoping for salvation.
Guardsman dropped just as fast as their ork counterparts, while the stomp of the golden boots of Space Marines became softer and softer with each passing moment. Stikkbombs soared through the air as heavy shootas unleashed torrents of kinetic slugs at point blank range, raking through the armor of the valiant astartes. One by one, the bolters of the Celestial Lions fell silent, the ground eagerly lapping up the blood that flowed from the great rents in the Space Marines' armor.
Grenades cobbled together from scrap detonated in great plumes of dirty smoke that turned guardsman into nothing more but scorched heaps of mutilated flesh, while the golden armor of the Celestial Lions was left grievously damaged. Smoke billowed off of the wounded astartes, as they began to fall to the overwhelming force the orks brought to bear against them.
In time, the advance of the Imperium slowed to a brutal, bloody grind, and guardsman went down in writhing masses of blood and flesh, as green skins surged over the hardy Leman Russ tanks at the forefront of the assault. Tank hatches were pried open, and stikkbombs tossed down hatch after hatch, as armored vehicles went up in great billowing columns of smoke, their crew torn to shreds by the crude, but frighteningly effective grenades. Engine compartments exploded, tanks were engulfed in raging fireballs of orange flame as their doomed crews scrambled out, their tan trench coats alight, their gas masks muffling their agony filled cries.
Amidst the utter chaos stood a single figure, clad in a great suit of black armor that seemed to absorb light itself. Tattered, ragged robes of white besmirched by dirt and crimson splashes of blood hung loosely across the exterior of the massive space marine, as he smashed his crozius arcanum into an ork that dared to challenge his might. Flesh and bone crumbled into a pile of bleeding meat and dust that soared backwards, sending dozens of orks reeling from the forceful impact. The foul creature's blood ran down the tempered golden feathers of the imperial aquila that surrounded the stylized cross of the mighty figure's ancient power weapon.
The black armored space marine's pauldrons were a stark white that bore the cross insignia of the Black Templars chapter, while the spiked gauntlets, excessive skull ornamentation dotting his carapace, along with the distinctive crozius arcanum singled him out as a revered chaplain. He turned to his left, raising his other hand, which bore the weight of a full sized bolter, and unleashed a salvo of retribution upon the advancing greenskins, the large caliber shells detonating with a righteous fury, and leaving behind nothing more than useless hunks of ravaged flesh.
"Grimaldus!"
The chaplain turned back to where he had been previously facing, only to be smashed backwards. The full force of an ork punch sent him tumbling into the dirt, the savage force behind the blow visibly denting his pitch black artificer armor. The ceramite exterior of the chaplain's chest plate yielded to the unfathomably powerful strike, pieces of armor cracking as Grimaldus clawed at the ground and dug his boots into the dirt. Elbowing an encroaching ork boy in the jaw, Grimaldus trained his bolter on the intruding creature, before placing a single, precise shot into the creature's already fractured skull. Bone and flesh exploded outwards in a gory mess, as the stoic Space Marine managed to catch a glimpse of the xenos scum that had somehow sent him tumbling.
Standing there, literally head and shoulders above the rest of the orks was a massive, heavily muscled brute who's skin was such a deep shade of green, it could be mistaken for black. Its body was clad in the same makeshift armor that the other ork ‘ard boyz wore, but the set on this particular ork was far more complete, covering the truly tremendous ork in scrap plates from head to toe. Jagged bits of metal crudely fashioned into spikes jutted out from wherever there was space for them, and the rough metal was painted a bright red with black accents.
The huge warboss's grizzled and scarred face contorted into a devilish smirk, his pronounced underbite allowing him to show off his massive, tusk like teeth that were drenched in the blood of his foes. Deep, red blood seemed to ooze from the orks every pore, trickling down the battered plates of armor, and plopping onto the ground in thick viscous drops, as the dusty earth hungrily devoured the life force of the hundreds of guardsman the truly terrifying beast had slain. Rippling muscles bulged beneath the cobbled together plating, and the ground was torn apart with every step the tremendous warboss took, as he slowly advanced towards Grimaldus, taking his time and enjoying it.
Guardsman charged the creature from the right, only to be completely obliterated by the annoyed swats of the ork, sending them hurtling backwards, dead before they even left the ground. Stray lasgun shots deflected and were outright absorbed by both the fearsome set of plate the greenskin wore, and the orks own skin. The very same rifles that could blow a man's arm clean off failed to even break the skin of the warboss, instead only leaving behind a scorch mark, and an unsavory smell in the air on top of the overwhelming stench of ionized flesh.
A raucous laugh escaped the confident leader, as his gore caked boot smashed into the earth beside Grimaldus, who rolled out of the way, just barely managing to scramble to his feet in time. The two looked at each other for a moment, the burning red eyes of the massive warboss glowing even in broad daylight. Grimaldus returned the stare with an apathetic look, his simple yet intimidating helmet concealing his earth shattering, apocalyptically angry visage as he grit his teeth in frustration at being knocked down by a filthy xenos. The red glow exuding from his eye slots almost seemed to flare up in a subtle explosion of red light to match his demeanor. It was almost as if he was trying to match the greenskin's own ethereally red eyes, as Grimaldus barely managed to keep himself from going into a fit of rage.
Abruptly, the chaplain broke the fleeting exchange, his glowing red eyes flicking to a towering golden figure standing several paces behind the xenos. Grimaldus, even through the unholy din of war, could hear the distinctive roar of a chainsword tearing through flesh and violently dismembering the enemies of man. The figure stopped for a moment, the piercing yellow glow of his eyes directed squarely at Grimaldus, the two Space Marines exchanging a knowing look as they both nodded.
Another massive fist bore down on Grimaldus, the lumbering ork striking with frightening speed. The chaplain broke off the visual exchange and made a wide sidestep, his enhanced physiology allowing him to avoid the crushing punch with almost no room to breathe. He immediately raised his bolter and fired off his last few rounds with perfect accuracy into the neck joint of the recovering warboss, before bracing himself for another evasive maneuver. However, this was not the chaplain's fight, and his stoic visage smiled ever so slightly beneath his black helmet as a voice like that of a lion roared its words across the battlefield.
"In whatever underworld your foul breed believes, you shall tell your pig-blooded ancestors that you died to the blade of Ekene of Elysium, Lion of the Emperor."
The ork whirred around to face the towering Ekene, as the two exchanged fiery eyed glances. Ekene raised his blood soaked chainsword, and pointed it squarely at the ork's face, before pressing down on the grip trigger and revving it ferociously. The warboss took an imposing step forward before opening his maw and letting loose a shout feared across the galaxy.
"WAAAGH!!!"
Ekene seized the opportunity, surging forwards with lightning speed only an astartes could achieve as he raised his chainsword high, preparing to bring its mash of adamantium blades down with force. He tackled the ork, the whirring teeth of the sword biting furiously into the slightly exposed flesh of the ork's neck, as blood poured from the grievous wound in spades. The Pride Leader raised his boxy bolt pistol in his other hand, managing to squeeze off a single shot into the ork's upper chest near his neck, the detonation sending chunks of meat flying off of the greenskin, before a savage blow from the warboss smashed Ekene into the ground. Dust and rock went flying as he struggled to recover, noticing that both of his weapons had been thrown from his grasp. Frantically scanning around himself, Dubaku spotted his still whirring chainsword just to his left, and made a desperate break for it.
But with an animalistic bellow, the greenskin brought his fearsome power klaw to bear against Ekene, the crushing force of the pincers attached to the metal gauntlet seizing the marine tightly and lifting him up off the ground as the grip continued to tighten. The ork's features contorted into another toothy, evil grin as Ekene writhed and smashed his ceramite clad fists into the ork's arms desperately, the titanic blows capable of blowing the ork’s lesser brethren into bloody chunks only bruising its seemingly impenetrable flesh. Thinking swiftly, Ekene reached down to his side as fast as he could, just barely managing to slip his serrated combat knife free of its maglock, before plunging the blade into an exposed arm joint.
The ork reared back as 3 feet of monomolecular adamantium sunk deep into his arm, the long blade carving right through several nerve clusters and sending the brute reeling back, if not in pain, in reflex. It was forced to release the astartes, eliciting a howl of bloodcurdling rage that would have had a mortal man defecating himself in sheer terror. Ekene dropped to his knees as he fell to the ground, before promptly bolting to his feet and dashing towards his chainsword in a blur so fast as to be nearly invisible to the naked eye.
Snatching the invaluable weapon up quickly, he readied himself to charge the warboss once more, but stopped and dashed to his right, a glint of gold and crackling energy catching his eye, smashing through several ork boyz in the process. He stood there solemnly for the briefest of moments, gazing down on the freshly slain corpse of a Celestial Lions honor guard. His chest had been completely blown open, ribs torn asunder, organs liquefied, and bright red blood gushed from the undeniably fatal wound.
The body's right hand was still locked firmly around the grip of power sword, the faint blue glow of its power field dancing across the metallic surface of the slain astartes' power armor. Ekene considered leaving the holy relic there to rest with its proper owner but as much as he loved his chainsword and respected the Omnissiah, he knew it just wasn't going to cut it against the heavy armor of the warboss he so desperately craved to vanquish as part of his vengeance for his fallen brothers.
With a fleeting mental prayer to the weapon's machine spirit asking for forgiveness, Ekene swiftly knelt down, prying the deadly relic from the marine's grasp, before standing tall once more, a sword as long as a man clutched in each hand. He steeled himself for but a second, before rampaging forward, the energy sheathed power sword crackling with blue lightning that arced off of it in frightening bolts. Ekene dove under the ork’s clumsy guard, and drove the power sword straight through the warboss' stomach, while his chainsword deflected off of a slanted plate of chest armor instead of digging into flesh as the greenskin turned, unwittingly imposing a barrier between the rotating teeth and green flesh. The ork immediately responded, bringing his power klaw down on Ekene with a frustrated grunt.
But this time, he was ready. With a flick of his eyes and a surge of strength, Ekene withdrew the power sword and dashed to his far left, avoiding the power klaw before renewing his efforts and tackling the ork once more. His chainsword found a bit of exposed neck flesh to tear into, while his power sword slammed into the greenskin's chest, impaling him up to the hilt. Once again, the xenos retaliated in a fit of anger, as a gargantuan gauntlet was brought down on Ekene again.
Reacting as fast as he could, Ekene attempted to dash to his left once again, but as he did so, the ork's other fist intercepted him, striking him across his massive pauldron, stripping ceramite from his blessed armor. The brute force behind the blow sent Ekene tumbling into the dirt, while the incoming power klaw smashed his arm down, rending the chainsword from his grip as it skittered away, sputtering to a stop.
Ekene slammed his feet into the ground as he tumbled backwards, his metal boots grinding against the dusty earth as he slowed himself to a stop, his plated fingers still wrapped tight around the grip of the power sword as it crackled with hateful blue energy. He looked up, ready to make another assault on the warboss, but instead prepared to whirl around. Standing a few yards away, separated by a mass of orks, was Grimaldus who smashed his crozius arcanum into another slugga boy, sending the devastated greenskin rolling backwards in a heap of mangled limbs. The chaplain looked up for a moment, nodding at Ekene and pointing his bolter at a foe standing behind him. Ekene nodded as well, before dashing to his right to allow Grimaldus a shot.
Grimaldus steadied himself, taking careful aim at the head of the valuable target, before squeezing the trigger. Just as he managed to fire off a single round, a shadow fell over him, as the ork warboss pummeled him into the ground with a savage strike from his power klaw. The explosive report of the bolter rang out as a shell soared towards the towering ork, only to be intercepted by another passing slugga boy who stumbled forward awkwardly as the round exploded in his shoulder, obliterating it and most of the torso it was attached to. The intended target glanced over to Grimaldus, who had managed to right himself and back away from the warboss who had turned back to face Ekene, before returning his gaze to the row of Leman Russ tanks slowly making their way over mounds of gore towards the space marine vanguard.
The targeted ork was slightly bigger than the others that surround him, and his eyes glowed a strange orange that gave off wisps of dispersing energy. He was clad in the same scrap armor as that of his comrades, but was adorned with all manner of strange objects. Polished human skulls hung at his belt, while a cape of chains clanked loudly as he walked. His legs and arms were wrapped in tarnished rags, and he wielded a staff taller than himself in the hunched over position all orks ambled around in. His green skin was scarred, scorched, and his brain was clearly visible, the top of his head completely open where his skin fused into his exposed grey matter. With an excited grin, the ork weirdboy looked at the line of advancing tanks one more time, before stamping his staff into the dirt as pale green energies swirled around him.
"Ey boyz, dem 'umie gitz in da flashy tanks is stompin' us right good. Let's go show 'em who's da biggest, and da strongest! 'ERE WE GO, 'ERE WE GO, 'ERE WE GO!!" the ork bellowed in a guttural tone as the energies manifesting themselves around him shot forward and exploded in a flash of bright green light. The weirdboy smiled happily at the swirling vortex before him.
Another explosion rang out across the battlefield, as the exit portal appeared just behind the row of armored vehicles. The ork grinned mischevously before taking a big step back and gesturing for the other boyz to go and get stuck in. Dozens of orks piled into the unstable maelstrom of energy, as the weirdboy continued to attract more boyz eager to get they choppy on. But as he stood there triumphantly, a golden blur smashed into the weirdboy, sending them both soaring into the portal.
"Get offa me ya git! I'Z GUNNA SQUIG YA!!" the weirdboy shouted in an angered tone, as the two figures barreled through the unstable tunnel of warp energy. But something odd happened as green energies began to encompass the weirdboy, the strange and unpredictable nature of the power he was attempting to summon forth backfiring. With an earth shaking explosion, the ork's staff and his head exploded inside the warp tunnel, as the whole thing destabilized even further, leaving Ekene writhing there, the dead body of the greenskin still firmly clutched in one hand.
Back on the battlefield, ork boyz had stopped piling into the portal as soon as Ekene had tackled the weirdboy into it, as warp energies arced off of the vortex in bolts of green lightning that exploded on contact. One stray bolt streaked straight toward the ork warboss who was now rapidly approaching the portal. The lightning bolt smashed into the truly massive greenskin, exploding in a vibrant flash of light that didn't even phase the beast.
A salvo of bolter fire rang out as Grimaldus unloaded his bolter into the warboss' back, some rounds managing to penetrate and exploded, while others deflected off completely. As his bolter ran dry, the chaplain recognizing the click of the weapon as he squeezed the trigger, the ork continued to near the portal, now only a few feet from it. His eyes narrowed, observing the maelstrom of chaotic energies, before tensing up and muttering to himself.
"Don'tz yooz dare run frum me space mahreen ..."
With that, the warboss plunged into the decaying portal, as the amount of crackling lightning bolts increased and the vortex began to close. But even as he stepped into the maelstrom of energy, he failed to notice that the portal on the other end of the battlefield had long since vanished...
All was still in the extravagantly luscious nature retreat, housed in the center of the abandoned Castle of the Two Sisters. Cobblestone pathways curved and twisted in shattered mosaic patterns, branching out and around the entirety of the open roofed reserve. Carefully selected flowers of vibrant yellows and blues still lined the walkways along their edges, accenting the flowing nature of their design, while contrasting sharply against the unruly, natural grass that it grew upon. Yet time had taken it's toll, as the flowers had slowly branched out across the entirety of the garden, a few scattered here and there all around.
The self-contained garden was massive, stalwart trees having sprouted up in several places, just beginning to grow, while the thick trunks of age old oaks were positioned masterfully so that their dense canopy provided shade at key points scattered around the cobblestone path. The path itself was in fairly good condition, but overgrowth had retaken parts of the ill maintained cobblestone walkway.
The whole courtyard was shaped like a square, with the cobblestone paths eventually swirling and flourishing across the courtyard into two sets of massive metal doors that were situated directly across from each other. A few shallow marble steps led up to the platform that lay before each slightly rusted door, the platform itself bearing evenly spaced marble columns that wrapped around the whole thing, holding up an overhang of decaying tiled roof.
The sun beat down on the tribute to nature within the dilapidated castle, as golden beams of light streaked through the canopy of each oak tree, slivers of radiant sunbeams poking through and hugging the fertile soil below. For nearly two centuries the castle had sat empty, left to degrade and rot, and yet, this sanctuary of life had survived both the battle that had destroyed the majestic fortress, and the ravages of time itself.
A lone equine figure sat beneath the cover of a particularly large oak tree, her stark features seemingly radiating light despite being in the shade. She wore a gentle smile on her face, her multicolored mane blowing in a nonexistent breeze, the pale curls of hair swaying ethereally in tandem with her tail. She looked out across the courtyard filled with the beauty of nature, her eyes suddenly losing a bit of their warmth as she looked down into the ground in front of her. Her smile faded into a slight frown, as a brief and light breeze rustled her snowy white coat.
She sighed heavily before looking back up, her memories still tormenting her. Celestia had been revisiting her old residence in secret for many years now, unable to put the past behind her, yet full well knowing that coming here only served to remind her of the thing that hurt her most. The castle served as a gateway into the past, a portal to better times, before her hoof was forced to cast down her sister. It ached so much, just to walk through the destroyed hallways, to sit in the incinerated libraries, or to step into the mess of rubble that she had once called her throne room. She had tried for so long, to run from the past, and yet, she found herself running right back to it time and time again.
But there was something different about this place, about this bastion of life. She cracked the slightest of smiles as she took a deep breath, inhaling the fragrant aromas of the many flowers scattered about, the gentle wind carrying the fresh scents to her. This place was her candle of hope, her light amid the darkness, her island out in the never ending sea. She had never really appreciated the solace she could take here, until after that one fateful night so long ago.
She still remembered it like a dream, how she had limped through the crumbling ruins of her once regal castle, dodging smoldering debris as sections collapsed in plumes of smoke and fire. She remembered her cuts, her gashes and her wounds stinging sharply, her blood dripping onto the untarnished marble floors with sickly splats. She even recalled the very moment she stumbled out into this garden, the vengeful moonlight arcing through the trees and spilling forth in beams of silver that only reminded her of what she had just done.
Celestia closed her eyes, shutting them tight as she fought back the urge to sob, desperately trying to push the memories out of her head. Yet in her mind, she could still see herself, sitting there in the moonlight as she mended her wounds, her aura of magic illuminating her anguished features, as she bawled uncontrollably, looking up at the face in the moon, and talking to herself. She had asked for Luna to forgive her, for what she had done, but even to this very day, the white alicorn lingered in the past, unable to move on and blaming herself for every second of torture she had forced upon Luna.
She took another deep breath, calming herself, and opening her eyes, remembering that it wasn't Luna anymore, it was Nightmare Moon. Reassuring herself of the fact, she managed to blink back the tears, and enjoy the tranquility of the untouched garden. For a moment, all was at peace with the world, a gentle breeze blowing through the leaves of the trees, rustling the green grass and causing the vibrantly colored flowers to sway slightly in the wind. A serene tranquility graced the garden, as the light breeze died down, making way for something far more sinister.
The wind ceased, and all was still.
The silence carried on, and rapidly became more and more oppressive. Though Celestia did not notice this, as deep in thought as she was, the sounds of nature had ceased with the wind. The birds in the garden had ceased chirping, and the small creatures that dashed to and fro had disappeared from sight.
It was as though the world was holding its breath.
Even as distracted as she was, Celestia’s finely tuned magical senses did not fail to pick up a change in the metaphysical air, ripping her from her thoughts. She looked around in alarm, as a sinister presence tugged at her from the back of her mind, forcing her to pay attention. She failed to recognize it, but she knew instinctively that it was not friendly; no, it was actively malevolent.
And it was old. Older than anything she had ever felt before.
Suddenly, the sky shattered. Several hundred feet above the peaceful garden, a maelstrom of swirling green energy abruptly exploded into existence with a roar. Bolts of lightning arced off of the vortex of pale, crackling energies, as Celestia’s gaze snapped upward, centering on the unnatural disturbance. She squinted her eyes at first, struggling to make out exactly what it was, before her face was overcome with an expression of disbelief.
With a thunderous explosion, the vortex spat out two figures, seemingly intertwined with one another, as another deafening blast rocked the heavens, resulting in another figure being thrown out of the portal. Celestia's eyes widened in a mixture of curiosity, shock, and disbelief, as the maelstrom of lightning like energy sparked and fizzled, slowly growing smaller before blinking out of existence with a flash of green light and a final roar of thunder that echoed through the air for moments after.
Immediately Celestia's eyes shot over first to the two entangled figures rapidly descending, and hesitated for a moment, half expecting wings to spring into action, or magic of some kind to slow their descent. Her eyes widened even further upon realizing that no such salvation would come for them. She hesitated for a moment, remembering the terrible vibe she was getting from the portal, considering a course of action where she just let the creatures fall. Her compassionate and empathetic nature forced her to decide against it though, as she bolted up, instantly springing to her hooves and readying her horn, the pale golden aura flaring up as she reached out across the sky with her magic, attempting to catch the rapidly falling figures in her arcane grasp.
The same golden aura burst into existence around the two figures, catching them in her magic, but as a second passed, she felt something tug. The objects were far heavier than she assumed, far more so than even their immense size suggested. Her horn flickered for a moment, along with the energy that was encasing the two figures, as they fell a dozen feet before once again becoming wrapped in the golden light. Moving quickly, Celestia snapped her head to her left, extending her magical grip out towards the other falling figure in a frantic display, just barely managing to catch the object in her grasp before it would have smashed through a nearby section of tiled roof. Breathing a sigh of relief, she began drawing all of the entities encased within her telekinesis towards herself, before experiencing another tug, as if something was fighting her grip.
Once again, her horn flickered, but this time the aura disappeared entirely, sparks of golden energy fizzling out loudly, before fading. Both objects were still far enough up for a fall to be fatal, and Celestia couldn't help but cringe as they dropped like rocks, the figures on her left smashing into the skylight of a meeting chamber several hallways down, while the one on her left exploded through the overhang. She threw up a hasty shield of golden energy, her horn functioning fully fine once again, as debris surged outwards from the impact point near the left door of the garden.
Marble pillars cracked and sheared in two as the entire overhang began to collapse, it’s columns succumbing to the initial force of the impact, toppling in on each other in a domino like effect, while slate tiles began to slide off of the sagging roof, shattering into dozens of pieces. Then, all at once, the entire thing came down on the platform right in front of the aging metal doors, kicking up a plume of dust as tiles exploded, marble cracked, and everything collapsed inwards into a heap of rubble that almost fully obscured the door.
Bits of debris were thrown about haphazardly, the fairly small pieces of stone tumbling into the grass, or flying towards Celestia, before plinking harmlessly off of her golden energy barrier, the surface rippling like water with each impact. Celestia winced slightly at every impact near her face, despite knowing that her shield would easily repel the pieces of stone.
As the dust began to settle, the final column smashing into the ground with a resounding thud, Celestia leaned forward inside her bubble of magic, tilting her head curiously and squinting to get a better look at the heap of rubble, hoping to spot any signs of life. She knew better than to be overly optimistic about things, but even so, her magical aura of golden light burst into existence around several of the more whole stone columns, encasing them in the pale yellow aura, before being hastily floated away several feet, and dropped without much care for the grass or flowers they crushed. Celestia knew she didn't have much, if any time at all to help the creature caught underneath the utterly crushing weight of all that stone, and that was assuming the impact hadn't killed it.
Celestia's horn flared up with a burst of magic as she dug her hooves into the ground, focusing intensely and beginning to reach out to every piece of the pile of rubble with her arcane grasp, wrapping the whole thing in her magical aura over the course of a few seconds. But, just as she was about to lift the rubble off whatever poor soul was stuck underneath, a massive, meaty hand exploded upwards, literally pulverizing an entire section of stone column into dust and debris.
Realizing that the creature had in fact survived the devastating fall, Celestia promptly jerked her head to the left, as every single piece of stone and slate was lifted off the ground, before being floated away a few feet. The pile of rubble slammed into the ground with another raucous din, as Celestia lost her focus, her horn's glow flickering for a moment, before sputtering, the golden light fading away as she locked eyes with the creature she had just freed from it's crushing prison.
She stood there, her eyes unable to tear themselves away, as the positively colossal green skinned beast pushed itself off the ground with a claw of metal and wire that crackled haphazardly with orange energy. Not once did it look away from Celestia, it's burning red eyes glowing dimly in broad daylight. It took a step forward, as Celestia took one back. She could feel the electricity in the air, sense the aura of destruction around this creature, and yet, even as it spoke, she could not have possibly been prepared for what was to come.
"I tink it'z roight tyme ta geht bawk ta da violence. Do you'z 'appen to know where dat last gowlden space mahreen be?"
She managed to shake her head, her legs suddenly feeling slightly weak, as she backed up another few inches hesitantly, unable to look away from those blood red eyes. The beast took a massive step forward, putting it only a few hooves away from Celestia, as it lowered its horned head menacingly, and brandished its crackling claw with malicious intent.
"Oi, datz ratha unforwtunate ..." it spoke in a guttural, booming voice that was gnarly and rough, as it grinned revealing a fine collection of teeth more akin to tusks in it's cavernous maw, all of them dripping with a vibrant red liquid that matched it's soul destroying orbs that passed for eyes.
"... I'z gonna 'ave to krump ya now!"
Ekene pushed the ork corpse that was on top of him away, letting the burly body slump off of him, and onto the smashed marble floor. He sat up, shaking his head slightly, as he looked up, examining the shattered skylight he had fallen through, its fine glass now littering the floor around him in shards.
He looked around himself for a moment, surveying the room he was located in, realizing that he had landed squarely on a large, finely carved wooden table that had been blown into fragments upon impact. Small metal chairs were scattered around the room, having been knocked back by the explosion of the table. Ekene raised a hand to his azure helmet, tapping the tiny button on the side of it, as static resounded through his ears.
"Grimaldus?"
He held the button down for a few seconds, as only static assaulted his eardrums. He swapped vox channels, skimming through every single one, and finding that they all yielded only white noise. He released the button, and a feint crackling sound filled his ears, as he glanced over to his other hand, realizing that he was still grasping the power sword he had taken. He tightened his grip on it, thankful that he had managed to keep such a holy relic safe.
With a sigh of frustration he got to his feet slowly, gazing down at the mutilated ork corpse beside him, it's blown up head still leaking blood profusely, forming a large puddle of red around it, as it soaked into its scraps of dirty cloth. Ekene immediately reached down to his waist with his free hand, grasping one of three hefty yet ornate red cylinders that was big enough to be easily held in one hand. It detached from his maglock belt with a sharp snap as it broke free of the magnetic hold, before Ekene pressed down on the activation rune at the top of the cylinder that bore a roaring lion's head. He dropped the cylinder next to the ork with a weak throw, before walking away, the red bomb clattering to the ground with a sharp metallic thud, before rolling down the crater’s incline towards the corpse, and stopping as it nestled itself right up beside the green skin's midsection.
In an instant, the ork's corpse was consumed by a pillar of raging promethium as the room shook at the explosion of the inferno grenade, the holy flames flaring up to the ceiling as the grenade detonated, before settling back down into a less spectacular, slow burn that incinerated and purified the ork's flesh.
Ekene stopped for a moment at the slightly ajar metal door to the left of where he had landed, looking back at the fire that was slowly consuming the corpse, eating away at its hardy green skin , as flesh shriveled, and bone charred. He had done his best to stop the spread of the beast's vile method of reproduction through death triggered, airborne spores, but Ekene knew it was too late now, having failed to ignite its body during his descent. This place would be forever plagued by the green menace, and all because of that blasted aura of yellow light that had stopped him, grinding his movements to a halt, if only momentarily, but just long enough to prevent him from detonating an inferno grenade mid-flight.
Silently cursing whatever force had impeded his actions, Ekene raised his free hand, gripping the side of the door, as there appeared to be no handles or doorknobs on it, nor did it appear to be automated in any way. Strange. He glanced back over his shoulder at the destroyed skylight once more, his eyes narrowing at the vibrant blue sky, and the radiant golden rays that streamed through.
"Where has your heretical sorcery taken me abomination..." he muttered under his breath while turning back to the door, his speech slightly distorted by the vox in his azure helmet, which only made his voice deeper and more rumbling. It was both inspiring and intimidating to hear a Space Marine speak, even more so if it was through his vox.
Ekene pried the finely ornamented door open, letting it swing back towards him as he pulled it inwards, the door showing signs of resistance, futile as it was, and the slightly rusty metal creaking terribly as it showed it's age. He stepped out into the hallway, the slightly off white marble floor covered in the center by a long, winding red carpet that was tattered and moldy all along it's length, rips and tears in the faded fabric indicating the decrepit state of the building.
Turning to his left, he noticed banners, suspended by tarnished metal poles, some bent into awkward positions, with others still standing at attention. On one wall, hung tattered white banners shaped like triangles pointing downwards, emblazoned with a swirling sun motif that had been sullied by the ravages of times, holes marring their now dirty and discolored fabric. On the other wall hung banners in a similar state of decay, their purplish blue fabric having been eaten away at over time, the stark white crescent moon just barely discernible through the grime coating the cloth, and the numerous rips in every flag.
Deciding not to waste any more time with tactically irrelevant observation, Ekene shook his head slightly to stop himself from lingering on the appearance of the place, which although dilapidated, still held an air of what could only be described as peaceful hope. It troubled him greatly. Why would he gain this feeling from nothing? The situation stank of heretical taint to his honed intuition.
He proceeded down the vast hallway at a steady, yet cautious pace. His posture adapted into a close combat stance, slightly hunched forward, his knees bent and his eyes continuously darting from side to side, taking careful note of every shifting shadow. The sensors suite in his helmet showed him no life, and his advanced physiology did nothing to alert him to something that may have fooled the machine spirit of his armor. The heavy thud of ceramite boots was muffled slightly by the red carpet he was treading on, but was still loud enough to echo through the vaulted ceiling of the hallway every time he took a decisive, careful step forward, being wary to not let his guard down. He was no son of Corax, and had no inkling as to how to conceal the sounds of his passing, nor had he any desire to.
The Celestial Lion was many things, but coward was not one of them.
He was approaching the end of the hallway, two massive, slightly rusty metal doors of gray catching his attention. Suddenly a shadow caught his eye to his left, and he froze for a single moment, swiveling his body instantly to face it.
Chirp
His entire body relaxed as he looked up at the tiny, red bird that was perched on one of the straighter celestial banners' flag pole that jutted out from the wall horizontally. He watched it carefully for a moment, before it stared at him, locking eyes with him through his helmet. The curious avian broke it's gaze abruptly as a thunderous smash was heard through the engraved metal doors just to Ekene's right.
Ekene immediately sprang into action as the bird fluttered away down the hall, while he made a powerful dash to his right, nearly slamming into the wall lined with lunar banners, just barely halting himself as the huge metal doors exploded inwards, blown off their hinges completely.
The right side of the door flopped backwards off of it's hinges awkwardly, slamming down on the carpet and marble floor behind it with a loud thud, while the left side of it positively soared through the hall, before skittering across the hallway in a heap of crumpled metal, kicking up sparks as it screeched against the marble floor. But mixed into these sparks was something odd, almost like shards of shattered glass that slid across the floor smoothly, without resistance, as they began to dissolve into nothing, going up in tiny wisps of ethereal, golden energy that flowed like water, but floated like smoke.
The sound the door produced as it tore through the carpet with jagged edges and grated along the marble was less than pleasant to say the least, but it didn't seem to bother Ekene at all, as he remained locked on the white blur of fur that was embedded in the door, leaving a visible dent where it had impacted it. It was a pale white creature, a quadruped with hooves at the end of each leg, reminiscent of a horse, one of the few ancient terran creatures to survive into the 41st millennium.
It struggled to move, its limbs shaking uneasily as it painfully sat up, prying itself out of the dent in the door with a grunt, the elongated horn that jutted out of it's waving, ethereal mane glowing with the exact same aura of energy as the glass like shards that had dissipated just moments ago.
That's when it looked at him. It was still in the process of getting to it's hooves when it froze, her eyes refusing to leave him. Ekene had stared down enough evil eyed chaos sorcerers, bloodlust addled ork faces, and psychically empowered eldar to know a look that meant him harm. This was most certainly not one of them.
Her face was a strange mixture of confusion, shock, anger and pleading hope, all at the same time, and it confounded Ekene. She looked like she wanted to run from him, or to reason with him, but at the same time, it was as if she wanted him to help her. Not only this, but before his gene enhanced eyes, the wounds the alien sustained from the blow that threw her into the hall rapidly regenerated, surrounded by the same aura that encompassed its horn. It was a witch. Normally Ekene would have broken off the unspoken exchange with the filthy xenos witch with a salvo of holy bolter fire. It dares to look upon the glory of an Astartes, and beg for mercy and assistance?! Did it even grasp the gravity of its actions?!
But there was something strange about this one, he could see it in her rosy pink eyes that smashed through his stoic visage with frightening ease, causing him to blink in disbelief. Something disturbingly human.
"Ey, dere you'z iz!"
Ekene whirred around uneasily, barely able to rip his gaze away from the alabaster equine, as his stoic demeanor returned. There, standing triumphantly a few yards away was Ekene's last chance of redeeming the honor of the Celestial Lions. The ork's burning red eyes sized Ekene up for a moment, focusing intently on his power sword that was still glowing with a feint blue aura, crackling softly with destructive energy, before the greenskin's gaze flicked abruptly to the equine that had managed to recover it's poise, now standing tall further down the hall, despite her numerous smaller cuts and bruises.
"Geht ouhta 'ere ya git, diz iz betweenz me an 'im," The warboss spoke, his deep, gravelly voice shaking the hall slightly as Ekene glanced over his shoulder to see the creature standing firm a few feet back. Her fiery eyes remained locked on the warboss.
"Ah I seez wotz goin' on. Da little grot made a pwuny friend now didz he. Datz awlright, I gots enough dakka fer both o’ ya'z!"
The towering ork reached back with his hand that wasn't fused with his power klaw, struggling with something for a moment, as he tore an item off of the back of his skull lined belt. He smiled menacingly, eager to show off his massive tusks, as he brandished his kustom big shoota. It was easily as big as a normal man, and probably heavier, yet the beast was able to easily wield it in one hand. It was a ramshackle assortment of bitz and gubbinz all stuck together in an equally confusing fashion, then painted over sloppily with the color red. The end result was a boxy mess of a gun that sported two massive barrels, one right above the other, with superfluous muzzle vents, and two gigantic, slightly curved magazines jammed into each side of the gun. There were no visible sights on the behemoth of a gun, and the absence of a stock of any description was to be expected from an ork.
"Ya know, da flash gitz all seem to loike diz little byooty. Dey always be tryin' to steal it. I can't blame da grotz neider, cuz even doe you can nevah 'ave enuf dakka, dis one shoor got a lot of it!"
The massive ork raised the ramshackle contraption he called a gun, smiling wickedly as he did so. The moment the greenskin lifted his meaty arm, Ekene reflexively shot into a forward motion, charging forwards so fast that he was barely a blur of golden radiance, his left arm coiling up in preparation for a titanic blow.
WHAM.
An explosion of massive kinetic force rocked the entire palace grounds, kicking up a wave of dust and small chunks of shattered rock that floated in the air for several moments. The equine onlooker threw up a frontal barrier of blazing golden energy that rippled as debris careened and ricocheted off of the translucent shield, only letting it dissolve into wisps of energy as the cloud of dust settled, revealing a startling sight.
"You'z thoughtz ya was fastah den me didn't yaz, ya little grot," Chuckled the warboss in his gravelly, booming voice. Crackling orange electricity surged and arced across the metallic surface of his power klaw, as it clamped down on Ekene's left gauntlet, which was lodged firmly between the crushing pincers of the greenskin's terrible weapon.
The huge ork simply stood there for a moment, his grip on Ekene's arm tightening as the golden space marine was forced to the ground, dropping onto one knee and struggling to stand.
"Iz dat it den? Pafetic," he bellowed, clamping down even harder on Ekene's left limb, as the marine's grasp on his power sword loosened, before the blade clattered to the ground, its metallic thud echoing through the room for seconds afterwards, even as the soft crackle of it's energy field continued.
An incomprehensible sound grated out from Ekene's helmet, distorted heavily by his vox caster.
"Wotz dat again?" the greenskin inquired mockingly, grinning wickedly as he centered his huge shoota on Ekene's head, his grimy finger poised to sate his bloodlust. He failed to notice the small metallic cylinder clutched in Ekene's left hand.
"Burn kine."
BOOM
An inferno of bright orange and red flames engulfed the two, as the shockwave of fire from the explosion zoomed outwards, setting the Celestial and Lunar banners lining the walls of the great hall alight. A burst of golden light signaled the equine's shield being raised hastily, as the flames roared past her, the barrier visibly straining against the force of the explosion, as small hairline cracks appeared in several places around the bubble of golden light.
Celestia's horn sparked up as she put forth a massive amount of strength into maintaining her shield which was beginning to falter, hoping to outlast the roaring sea of scorching flames that raged around her. Beads of sweat ran down her neck as the fire finally died down, allowing her to relax with a sigh of relief, taking in the scene before her as she let her shield dissipate. She quickly sidestepped off of the moldy red carpet that ran the length of the hall, as most of it had been incinerated in a flash of fire, the small portion that had been caught within her protective shield now beginning to burn at the ends.
The whole hall was raging with hateful red flames that threatened to lash out in tendrils of fire, as thick black smoke choked the air. The shield didn’t keep out air, so Celestia coughed while she rubbed her eyes, trying to figure out what had just happened. She had to admit, even she wasn't sure she could survive something as powerful as the fireblast that had cracked her shield had she been caught in the epicenter of the explosion. Still, those two did fall from the sky, smash into the ground, and then got up nearly unscathed afterwards. Considering that, it wasn't too crazy to think they could survive an explosion, even one as violent and evidently catastrophic as this one.
Rubbing her smoke inflamed eyes quickly with one hoof, Celestia attempted to see past the wall of flames a few yards from her, half expecting one of those hulking beasts to come charging through it straight at her, the green one especially. But after a few silent moments of expectant waiting, the angry crackle of the roaring flames roused Celestia to action, as golden light once again encased her in bubble of magical energies.
Taking a deep breath, Celestia levitated herself a few inches above the ground, before willing the sphere of energy forward, into the wall of flames.
Tendrils of red and orange danced across the shimmering surface of Celestia's barrier, probing, trying to find a way inside, their erratic and mesmerizing motions almost beautiful, despite the destruction left in their wake. Waves of flames crashed into the shield, being broken apart and dissipated by the magical barrier, while the muffled sound of roaring fire still reached Celestia's ears within the bubble as she finally emerged on the other side of the raging inferno.
She had seen many things in her long life, faced terrors that others would shrink away from in fear, but never had she felt as intimidated by an unmoving corpse as she did now.
It just sat there, propped up against the wall, it's azure helmet looking down at the space in between its legs. The figure's golden shine had faded, replaced by searing scorch marks that ran along the entire suit of armor, making it look quite nightmarish in comparison to its previously noble stature.
Celestia turned her gaze from the corpse hesitantly, a sense of anticipation and anxiety regarding it still lingering within her as she searched hastily for the green menace. Her eyes darted about the room, desperately looking for the green one. While she wasn't exactly hoping it had died in the blast, she wasn't inclined to be rooting for it's survival either, considering the massive haymaker it had so gleefully bestowed upon her earlier.
DAKKA!DAKKA!DAKKA!
Celestia's horn sparked up furiously as a salvo of massive projectiles slammed into her shield, leaving dents in the construct where they had impacted. She struggled against the crushing force of the attacks, unable to maintain a full shield against the projectiles, and instead having to focus all of her power on a frontal barrier. The golden field behind her dissolved as energy surged forward, strengthening the wall of light in front of her, the dents in her magical construct bouncing back into shape. She focused her vision in the direction the attack had come from, preparing herself to say something.
"Heh, you'z tuffa den ya look ..."
Her ears perked up as she frantically searched the room for where the voice was coming from, the raging flames and thick smoke obscuring her vision as she began to get an idea of where her aggressor might be hiding. Her eyes narrowed as she began channeling energy into her horn for an attack, still managing to maintain a frontal wall of golden light. While she normally wasn't bothered too much by heat, something about these flames was causing her great discomfort, and she was sweating profusely. Between the intense temperature and the amount of energy she had to exert just to put forth a worthy defensive shield, Celestia was dripping with sweat. It almost felt like someone was breathing down her neck.
"...but ya'z ain't tuff enuf."
It took only a second for Celestia to realize what was happening, but by that time, she was already being lifted off of her hooves. A cold and crushing grip wrapped around her throat, meaty fingers digging into her flesh, plucking her off the ground in a single swift motion. Her limbs flailed about desperately searching for a way to release herself from the creature's grip, as her horn was engulfed in an aura of pure white light.
A burst of blinding light rocked the hall as the towering creature stumbled backward awkwardly, finding that it was no longer holding anything at all.
"Ah, yaz loike won o' dem sneeky grotz wif ya fanzy 'stealf'. Ya fink ya can run frum me?"
The mocking words floated out to Celestia, who was now standing uneasily in the courtyard where the beast had impacted. She grasped her chest in pain, gasping for air as her horn's golden glow returned, healing energies beginning to mend her internal injuries inflicted by the massive monsters grip. She looked up from the ground, peering back into the hallway.
She was staring down the barrel of the beast's "shoota".
"Der be no runnin'. I'z had enuf of ya'z." it said in an annoyed, clearly angered tone.
Celestia's eyes widened, her magic instantly surging forward from her wounds to create a hasty wall of golden energy. The first shot smashed straight through her shield, cleaving off a large portion of it and sending the projectile into the ground to the left of Celestia, where it kicked up a plume of dirt. Her shield flickered for a moment as she struggled to reform it, the shattered fragments of her construct quickly dissolving into wisps of arcane energy.
Another shot slammed into her shield, Celestia just barely managing to keep it from breaking through, the metal projectile slammed into the ground, leaving a massive dent in her barrier as she strained to keep her defenses intact. Another wave of magical energy sparked forth from Celestia's horn in a bright explosion of golden light, the energy overtaking her battered shield, bolstering its strength, repairing it as it glowed with a renewed aura of brilliance.
It was in that moment of Celestia's surging confidence, of hopeful strength, that a roar erupted from the creature. A battlecry that shook the ground with it's deafening presence. A simple, yet terrifying word rang out across the courtyard, accompanied by thunderous strides that cracked the ground with every step.
"WAAAGH!!!"
The beast stampeded forward, it's tremendous size betraying it's ludicrous agility and speed. The ground beneath it's feet exploded in showers of dirt and cobblestone fragments with every step, leaving behind a small craters.
Celestia's eyes widened in anticipation as her shield faded out of existence, her back legs coiling up while her wings shout out frantically. With a great burst of power, Celestia leapt upwards, wings splayed out and ready to carry her to safety. For a moment, it felt like she had finally escaped the raging monster below her, the cool wind in her fur so delightfully pleasant after being caught in the burning hall. She was about to sigh in relief as she began flapping her wings, only to realize another strange sensation had assaulted her. She was flapping her wings, yet she wasn't moving, not soaring up into the clouds like she had expected from such a powerful jump.
"I already told ya'z, der be no runnin'."
Her heart dropped like a rock as she looked back and saw the meaty hand of the brute wrapped around one of her hind legs. Had she been given a split second more, she would have attempted a teleportation spell, but as soon as those gravelly words hit her, she was yanked downwards forcefully.
She slammed into the ground before she could even throw up a shield to soften her impact, and for the first time in thousands of years, she felt true pain. Her whole body ached with a searing sensation that burned and slowly intensified as she lay there in the dirt, the debris from her impact settling while she struggled to muster her strength and focus into both a restorative spell and a defensive shield that she most definitely needed in her vulnerable state.
"Heh, ya'z just loike dem spoiky chaos boyz. Ya'z tuff an' meen when ya'z usin' ya magicz, but whiffout it, ya'z sawft an' weak."
Celestia grimaced in agony as she rolled over, staring up at the green monstrosity gloating over her, smirking at her, like it had somehow won. She couldn't let it win, if it killed her then...
A sudden wave of unrequited rage overtook Celestia at the thought of it rampaging through Canterlot with reckless abandon, it's eyes filled with the same bloodlust that looked down at her. She began to shake feverishly, as her horn burst into flames, the orange aura snaking down her body in fiery tendrils, her white coat glowing intensely before it too exploded into flames.
"THIS ENDS, NOW!"
The royal canterlot voice filled the air with vengeful anger, Celestia's words resounding clearly into the sky as she hefted herself up, ignoring the pain that wracked her body. The orange aura that surrounded her flaming body swirled around her malevolently, while an expression of pure rage distorted her facial features as her eyes were overtaken by an intense white light that burned with anger. Her horn crackled and sparked with bolts of fiery electricity as she channeled all of her anger, all of her rage and hatred into a single attack, her voice of compassion and empathy within her just barely restraining her from letting loose the murderous spell, magnified by her rage and incredible emotion.
She was now standing in front of the creature, who simply looked on in amusement. She stamped one of her hooves into the ground beneath her, which was now alight, and snorted angrily, attempting to calm herself down as her destructive magic begged to be unleashed. She jerked her head downwards, trying not to look at the beast in an attempt to not do anything hasty. In fact she could already feel her sense of compassion and reason coming back to he-
"Go a'ead. Take ya best shot ya grot!"
The sky burst in a shockwave of light and sound, as a massive beam of fiery energy raced downwards from the Sun, before smashing into the beast with an explosion that cracked the ground. Stone and dirt was instantly vaporized as the beam of golden energy engulfed the creature fully, obscuring it from view. Celestia pushed herself harder, jerking her head downwards in strain as the continuous beam of light and fire intensified for a moment, before ceasing.
Celestia's fiery appearance instantly fizzled, the light emanating from her eyes fading, while the orange aura surrounding her dissipated into nothing, the slightest trails of its arcane energy blowing away with the wind. She was looking at the ground, horrified at what she had just done out of blind rage. She had slain many beasts in her time, but never in her life had she acted so quickly, moved so hastily to deal the deathblow.
Was she ... evil for doing what she did? For jumping to conclusions like that? If she had just waited, tried harder to talk it out with the creature, it might have found a place in her kingdom, or at the very least, been able to return home, or help her learn of it's culture or ...
No, it had to die, given the circumstances. Still, Celestia's mind wandered, pondering all of the possible outcomes. She couldn't decide what path was the best one, but she was sure this path wasn't it. Violence was never the best answer. Sure the creature was violent and rowdy, but so were the minotaurs, and the satyrs and...
Raucous, mocking laughter filled the air, rousing her from her momentary contemplation.
Celestia's legs suddenly felt weak as she forced herself to look up from the ground, both greatly relieved, and terrified all at once. Not only had the beast survived, but it was still standing like nothing had even happened. It had already been horribly scorched and disfigured from the explosion earlier, but now it was completely black with burns across its body. It's skin was charred and cracked, with huge chunks of it in places having been completely incinerated, and yet it just stood there, laughing. Most of it's makeshift armor had been reduced to molten slag that dripped off of it in rivulets of metal and destroyed flesh. The ork was covered in molten rivulets of what looked like lava, like the heart of a planet. It was a grizzly sight indeed.
Oh my gods, what have I done...
But its face was the worst. As it calmed down, focusing it's attention on Celestia, one burning red eye filling her with a sense of dread. The other eye had been vaporized entirely, along with all of the flesh around it, the dark eye socket staring back at her, cementing that this creature was nigh invincible. She could barely tear herself away from it's hypnotizing eye to look at the rest of its ravaged visage. Blood soaked teeth had been charred a deep black, while it's flesh had been burnt away completely in several places, revealing the skull beneath.
She could only shake her head in disbelief as she backpedaled slowly.
"Pretty gewd shot, for a git like you," it spoke evilly, cracking it's neck in preparation, "But lemme tell ya'z roight nauw; ain't no wun" it leaned forward menacingly, brandishing it's scorched metal claw which had somehow survived intact, "tuffa" it put on the most dread invoking grin Celestia had ever seen, "den da orkz."
It was right in front of Celestia within a single, massive stride, it's one remaining eye staring at her, hungry for blood.
It raised it's claw, the pincers of it locked together tightly for a crushing blow, orange arcs of electricity dancing around the exterior haphazardly, as Celestia's horn was surrounded by her usual, golden aura of light. A bubble of magic burst into existence around her as she closed her eyes and braced herself for the titanic blow that awaited her, while also attempting to muster enough energy for a last ditch teleportation spell.
But the blow never came. She could hear pounding steps, heavy and dull, all paced extremely close together, one after the other in quick succession, like someone running. Opening her eyes, but reinforcing her shield with another wave of energy just in case, Celestia realized what was happening, and a wave of mixed emotions washed over her as the glint of golden armor hit her eyes.
The beast thrashed and swiped at its back with both of it's arms, twisting and turning as the creature on it's back pulled it down with purpose.
"This day is mine scum! Your head belongs to me!"
It's distorted, metallic voice sent a shiver up her spine. It was so emotionally unbound, so full of hatred and malice, and yet it resonated with a tempered control, as if it's words were more than that; a sword, cutting through the air with the force of a sledgehammer, and the precision of a scalpel.
Celestia stood there, frozen for a moment, watching the scorched, nightmarish form of the golden figure, clad in armor akin to a knight, attempt to wrestle a raging giant to the ground with it's bare hands. It was completely ridiculous, and terrifying for the fact that it almost managed to.
Just as the 'ork' as it had called itself, was about to toppled over, it made one last desperate grab at it's back, it's massive claw catching the knight's arm in it's cold grasp, before promptly yanking the interloper off, and winding up for a powerful throw aimed right at Celestia.
Realizing what was about to happen, Celestia dropped her shield in a hurry, redirecting her effort on getting out of the way. With a mighty burst of force, she dashed to the left, managing to escape the improvised projectile that smashed into the ground exactly where she had been. The knight slammed into the ground with tremendous force, skipping across the ground several times while rolling violently, unable to stop itself. It was only stopped by the courtyard wall, and even then, it impacted it with enough energy left to make a small dent in the wall, shattered bits of stone flying through the air as the wall collapsed in slightly from the damaged portion.
Celestia glanced at the golden figure for a moment, and the trail of ravaged ground that led to its slumped position, before grimacing, her senses suddenly flooding back to her, having realized that she never completed fully mending her injuries before she burst into flames. Her horn once again flowed with restorative magic, it's golden healing energy coursing through her as fast as she could manage it.
She swiveled her head to look back at the ork. She wished she hadn't.
With a sickly pop, it wrenched a sword that crackled with blue energy from its neck, as a torrent of deep red blood poured from the gash, splashing onto the ground. She could see it's inner workings through the gigantic hole the sword had left from being twisted around inside of it mercilessly, without any remorse whatsoever. Veins and arteries became grossly apparent as blood spewed out of their mangled remains, and yet it still refused to cry out in pain, refused to even be slowed down by what could only be a fatal wound. To the ork, it was just a flesh wound, a minor inconvenience at a best. It was baffling and horrifying that such an undying thing could ever come to be. Even hydras were easier to kill than this engine of destruction.
Celestia shook herself out of her mesmerized trance, completely astonished at the seeming invulnerability of her opponent. It scared her, very deeply, and yet at the same time, it gave her confidence, reassured her in the fact that normally lethal attacks wouldn't even slow this thing down. It was odd to think about, but she could go all out against this ork without having to worry about killing it. Surely it had a limit as to how much it could take before it was incapacitated, she just had to find that limit. Maybe she would be able to end things without killing anyone after all.
A determined grin crept across her face as she readied her deadly arsenal of spells, bright golden light swirling around her horn, just waiting to be unleashed in a salvo of fiery destruction. She spread herself out, digging herself firmly into the ground.
The ork held onto the sword, which looked like a toy in its huge hand, as the blood gushing from it's gaping wound began to lessen in volume. It once again coiled it's arm backwards, the scorched flesh rippling with power, before taking a massive step forward, slamming it's foot into the ground with such force that it knocked Celestia off of her feat, breaking her concentration and sending her flying backwards into a tree. She smashed into, or rather, through a nearby tree, a sharp crack indicating that she had been sent careening straight through it.
Her vision darkened as the world turned into a blurry mess around her, before a jolt of intense pain forced her eyes to shoot open wide, eliciting a cry of agony from her. The garden wall she had smashed into had managed to stop her, but it certainly didn't lessen the pain she felt as she flopped off of the wall onto the ground below, a few pieces of debris raining down on her from the impact crater she had left.
She could barely summon forth her restorative magic to tend to herself as she looked up from the ground, her vision once again blurring as she witnessed the scene come into focus before her.
The knight was propped up against the wall, it's legs bent, as if it had tried to stand up, before being forced back down. The sword the ork had thrown was now lodged firmly inside the breastplate of the knight, as unusually bright red blood seeped from the rent in the armor. Ludicrous amounts of the stuff was pouring from the wound, as if the sword had been plunged into...
...its heart. She stared at it frozen, for a moment, it's unmoving body a grim reminder of what she was dealing with. But before she had time to linger on her hopeless thoughts any longer, a gold clad hand shot up from the side of the warrior, grasping the sword by the hilt, and the power field surround the blade winked out. Then, against all logic, it slowly removed it, as another wave of blood gushed out, running down the scorched plates of golden carapace in veritable rivers of red. It's arm went limp, the sword clattering to the ground as Celestia observed it intently, not sure what she was hoping for.
That's when it made its next move, shifting uneasily, as muffled groans of gut wrenching agony, distorted in that same metallic, otherworldly manner that made her blood run cold. Slowly, but surely, it managed to stand, blood still oozing from the gash in it's chest plate. It lifted the sword, reactivating its crackling aura. With it's other hand it held the blood within its armor, pressing it over is wound and grunting softly. It just stood there for a moment, staring down the ork through its helmet.
The beast returned the stare with just as much intensity, despite having only one eye now. Celestia watched in anticipation, her gaze shifting back and forth between the two, thanking the heavens for the momentary reprieve as her healing magic worked hastily to get her into working order. She knew the silence, the eerie, dread silence wouldn't last long, but for the moment, she was content to observe patiently and listen to the wind blowing softly, rustling the blood stained blades of grass, shaking her head ever so slightly all the while at the absurd situation she found herself in. It was a violent tranquility that could not last, but she savored every last moment of it as healing magic flowed through her body.
It was the ork who spoke first, breaking the silence, as it lifted both arms out to its side and took a small step forward leaning in menacingly, a mocking tone laced in its words of provocation.
"Well? Cam on den spehss mahreen. Git ovah 'ere an' keel ole' Thogfang."
The space marine's grip on the power sword tightened noticeably, but the towering figure remained locked in place, even as its blood continued to seep through the rent in its armor, oozing through the gaps between its fingers covering the wound. It stood there stoically, doing nothing.
Celestia stamped one of her hooves into the ground and snorted just as much in pain as in frustration, as bones snapped back into place and bruises disappeared. Streams of blood still ran down her coat, but the wounds that they had poured from closed quickly with the sickly, fleshy sound of skin and flesh regenerating rapidly. Within a moment she was on her hooves again, ready to renew her assault, as healing magic transitioned back into volatile energy. She noticed that the ork had stepped back to where it was before it had issued its challenge, it's burnt and deformed face touting what she could only assume was a smirk.
That's when it looked at her, the golden knight, the 'space marine'. Its head turned slowly, almost dramatically so, as if it were trying to emphasize something, the burning yellow light emanating from the eyeslots in its helmet boring into Celestia with the intensity of the sun. Her mouth dropped open slightly, staring up at such a magnificently nightmarish sight. Her voice suddenly left her, the words catching in her throat as she was about to try and address it, suddenly finding herself being addressed instead.
"I am Ekene of Elysium, the Emperors' Lion, and by the Golden Throne of Holy Terra, that ork is mine."
A tremendous roar went up from Thogfang as he impatiently surged forward, closing the distance between Ekene and himself rapidly, the thunderous thud of punishing strides smashing the ground beneath him into submission with every step. Ekene quickly returned his attention to his foe, preparing to sidestep the charge, gritting his teeth as he pushed through the incredible pain in his chest.
But just as the ork was about to reach him, a blinding flash of light burst to the left of Ekene, and the greenskin was flung to the right by an explosive beam of golden energy that struck him right in the gut. It didn't quite knock Thogfang down, as he ground his boots into the dirt, slowing him to a halt, before charging straight at Ekene once more.
His attention still locked onto the ork, Ekene glanced over his shoulder at the strange equine, an aura of golden radiance surrounding the horn atop her head, the same color as the ray of light that had just knocked the ork aside.
"I require no assistance xenos!” he spat. “Stay out of this," Ekene spoke firmly, a terrible anger in his voice at the thought of a lowly primitive ripping his only path to redemption away from him. Thogfang streaked past Dubaku, who instinctively dodged out of the way with a weighty roll to the left. A searing wave of sharp pain shot through his body as his damaged primary heart hemorrhaged heavily, despite the Larraman Cells within his blood attempting to halt the bleeding. Pushing through a wall of agony that would outright kill lesser men, Ekene righted himself quickly, taking his hand away from his wound, and grasping his power sword with both hands.
"C'mere ya grot! C'mere so'z I can take dat shynee skull o' yourz, and 'ang it frum me belt!"
Ekene glanced at the writing engraved upon the power sword he was wielding before breathing in deeply, letting any doubtful thoughts, any notion of failure, be expunged from his mind, as he sprinted forward to meet Thogfang head on.
I am wrath.
The two freight trains smashed into eachother with an awe inspiring shockwave of energy, Ekene's sword finding a home inside the warboss's chest. The massive ork slammed down on Ekene hard with his power klaw, but he refused to notice the crushing force of the blow, twisting and grinding the sword into Thogfang with holy fervor, letting one of his hands slip from the grip of his power sword.
I am steel.
Ekene's free hand reared back, before shooting forward, propelled by hatred and the will to win. The colossal strike bored into Thogfang's upper chest, swallowing almost all of Ekene's arm before he retracted his fist just as the warboss's own punch was about to connect. Ekene halted the blow, catching Thogfang's hand with his gore caked gauntlet before planting a metal boot on the ork's leg and swiftly pushing off of the greenskin forcefully in one fluid motion.
The power sword withdrew itself from Thogfang's chest, a spurt of blood gushing out of the gash as Ekene flew backwards in a controlled arc, digging his metal boots into the ground to stop himself, before quickly recomposing himself. He stomped forward purposefully, power sword held tight in one hand, his other hand reaching for the last Inferno grenade clipped to his belt.
I am the mercy of angels.
With a final burst of speed, Ekene raced forward, pushing himself off the ground with a mighty leap, as Thogfang raised his power klaw, it's pincers snapping open, ready to catch him in a deadly vice. There was no turning back now, no changing directions while as he was about to come crashing down on the ork, right into it's klaw.
Another explosion of light filled the courtyard as a searing blast of heat instantaneously exploded on contact with the ork's power klaw, the power of the blast knocking the klaw aside just as Ekene slammed down in front of the ork. His power sword tore into the side of Thogfang's neck as Ekene forced the blade downwards, resulting in a massive gash that ran all the way down to it's chest, vaporizing massive chunks of already mutilated flesh, before he withdrew the sacred blade.
Thogfang stumbled backward, his charred hand reaching up in a pitiful attempt to cover the massive wound in his neck as gallons of blood poured from it, wetting the soil with a sickly splash, painting the grass red. His breathing was labored and erratic as he spoke, his red eye boring into Ekene with a burning anger that permeated the space between them.
" I'z dat ... all ya'z gawt?"
Ekene sensed no fear in his voice, no apprehension at the thought of death. Typical of an ork. The ork turned his head slightly to look at something behind Ekene, and Dubaku followed the path of his gaze as the white equine came into view. Its horn burned bright with the same golden energy that had made up the heat blast that had knocked Thogfang's power klaw aside. It wore determined expression, but its eyes remained as powerfully hopeful as ever, staring straight back at Ekene with an unnerving intensity.
"I told you ..." Ekene took a step forward in her direction, hunching over slightly "...stay out of this!" he roared in anger as he lunged at her, power sword poised to strike her down. Thoughts of failing his mission, having his prize torn away from him by some random xenos flooded his mind, driving him onwards, compelling him to kill the meddling witch that was too stupid to flee while it could.
Its eyes widened in shock as its horn flared up with golden light, before a sphere of energy burst into existence around it, and it's expression returned to confidence once more. Its faith in the shield protecting it was unduly placed.
The crackling matter disruption field surrounding Ekene's power sword hissed angrily, electricity dancing along the long, master crafted blade as the fabric of creation was forced asunder. It sliced through the defensive barrier without resistance before cutting into the equine's chest. The swift sword stroke was completed in a split second, faster than the mortal eye could follow. The bloodied blade hanging at Ekene's side as the long, viciously precise gash in its chest spewed forth a river of blood. Its legs buckled immediately as it fell to the ground, grasping its wound with its hooves desperately. Its breathing was shallow and labored, as white light swirled around its horn curiously.
Ekene edged forward, turning his power sword upside down and grasping it with both hands, before swiftly raising it over his head and thrusting down forcefully, a flash of light blinding him as he did so.
The sword dug itself into the ground, nearly up to the hilt as Ekene's vision returned almost instantly, his helmet's sensors' momentary overload nothing more than a mild inconvenience. Growling angrily, he withdrew the power sword from the ground without effort.
Turning to face the gravely injured Thogfang, Ekene grasped the power sword with both hands, holding it close to his body as he looked into the ork’s burning red eye. Underneath his helmet, Ekene's face was twisted into a pained grimace mixed with an angry glare, but Thogfang's ravaged visage only saw the angry, yet unmoving expression of Ekene's helmet.
As they stood there, each of them bleeding profusely, staring at one another, each looking one another directly in the face, neither one attempting to size the other up. Silent words of grim acknowledgement were exchanged.
This was it. Ekene had battled through hell on Armageddon, waded through the decaying piles of corpses of the humans he had fought so hard to protect, and seen his chapter nearly wiped from existence. Here he stood now, before the only thing that could bring him solace. He remembered the Tome of Truths, and the litany of purpose. It resounded in his ancient mind as he moved to attack.
The greenskin smirked, taking his hand away from his neck and taking a solid stance, the still crackling inferno raging in the destroyed hall well behind him the only sound still lingering in the air.
Ekene stepped forward, preparing for his final charge, glancing at the last few words engraved along the gleaming blade of his power sword closest to the tip, before surging forward without fear.
I am War. I am Death. I know no fear.
Celestia's horn sparked furiously as it glowed intensely, working desperately to repair the grievous wound in her chest. Much of her midriff had been completely disintegrated in the most agonizing fashion imaginable. Her lungs were completely gone, and had to be regrown before the lack of oxygen killed her. Her heart was gone as well, and also needed to be replaced. By all rights, she should have entered into shock, been killed outright, or fallen unconscious and bled out in seconds. However, by some miracle, none of these things happened. She retained enough of her consciousness through the fear and the unending pain to teleport herself away. Blood gushed out of the ghastly, but rapidly healing wound in spades as she gasped and sputtered for air, hardly able to breathe through her new half formed lungs. Her healing magic regenerated her organ tissue with great haste, before sealing the wound with a fresh coat of healthy skin.
Never before had she been so close to the fields of Elysium. She knew she shouldn’t be alive.
She could still feel the unbearable pain of that sword coming down on her, its charged blade disregarding her shield and ripping into her flesh without remorse as she touched the spot where the gash had been moments before, her blood still staining her dirty coat. Being thrown around and battered like a toy had done her appearance no favors. Her normally pristine white coat was besmirched by dirt that had been ground into it, the brown splotches of earth mixing with her own blood. Although she had been wounded and had then healed herself several times, she still looked just as beat up and broken with the gross amount of her own blood matting her coat, the red liquid glistening in the sunlight.
Not only that, but simply healing herself this much, using this much powerful magic, not to mention her outburst of rage or the massive amount of energy lost in her shields, had taken a toll on Celestia. As she attempted to stand, she found that even though her body was perfectly healthy, her wild exertion of energy had left her exhausted, and it definitely showed as she got to her hooves. She shook uneasily, wobbling as her head spun, a terrible migraine the only reminder of the agony she was in just moments before.
As the shock began to wear off, she tiredly trudged over to the side of the red tiled roof she had teleported herself on to, just moments before being impaled. She could still see the blade coming down on her, sheathed in pure power, metal that regardless of wounds inflicted remained unblemished by blood glinting in the sunlight. Then there was his voice, Ekene's cold, rumbling metallic voice cutting through the air as he tore into her. It all sent a shiver down her spine thinking of what might have happened, had she not been ready.
What she saw as she peered over the edge of the roof snapped her out of her grim daydream.
The two of them, Ekene and Thogfang, were just standing there, right in front of one another. She found it bizarre how they just stood there, frozen, so close to one another without doing anything. That's when she noticed the ork's power klaw, jammed inside Ekene's chest firmly, blood seeping from the wound. She glanced over to the ork, noticing a tiny bit of motion, a ripple of energy sweeping through the charred flesh on his neck briefly, before she realized what had happened.
Ekene's sword slid out the other side of Thogfang's neck, as the ork's head jerked slightly to the left, before sliding off in the same direction, the entire thing falling to the ground with a fleshy thud. His eye glowed red for a moment, before fading into blackness. He had a manic grin still plastered on his melted face as blood began to pool around the severed head.
She refocused her attention on Ekene, who was still standing there, the headless body of Thogfang still standing, its claw still lodged inside Ekene's chest. Celestia couldn't even fully come to terms with the fact that he had just killed a beast she doubted could be slain, with one fell swoop no less. She couldn't even begin to imagine how much precision that must have taken, seeing as raw power alone didn't seem to do much other than make it angrier and uglier.
He suddenly lifted his leg up, planting a metal boot on the corpse's left leg as he grasped the arm connected to the ork's claw with his free hand, before violently ripping himself free of the dead beast's clutches with a forceful heave and a powerful kick. The body fell backwards, toppling over with a heavy thud as it smashed into the ground, gallons of blood pouring from its stump of a neck. Bone marrow oozed out of it's destroyed spinal cord, mixing with the blood in a disgustingly visceral puddle of fluids.
Ekene clutched his chest weakly with his free hand, blood seeping out of his armor in ridiculous amounts. Whereas Ekene's first wound had been just a relatively small, narrow slit in his chest, this one had left a good sized hole in the left side of his breastplate, easily the size of his head in diameter.
Celestia froze in shock, and a little disgust, upon seeing how grievous his injury was, and yet he remained standing, trudging forward purposefully. He stopped in front of the ork's decapitated head, before reluctantly removing his hand from his chest, bending down and roughly snatching up Thogfang's huge head, cradling it in one arm. He turned back to face the headless body, looking at it dryly for a moment, before advancing on it, and placing the head on the beast's chest, blood still seeping from the severed head.
Ekene stared at it for a few moments after, and Celestia, after having almost been run through by him, had no inkling to approach him, not yet at least. It pained her to imagine how much pain, how much suffering and agony he must have been enduring just standing there, streams of blood escaping through the rents in his armor.
He turned and trudged away, a noticeable limp to his sluggish gait. He stopped a good distance away from the corpse, standing by a tree, before reaching down with his free hand, gripping a small metal cylinder attached to his waist, and removing it with a sharp tug. Ekene turned to face Thogfang's remains, a soft *click* resonating through the air as he threw the piece of metal underhand towards the body. It touched down a few hooves from the beast, rolling the rest of the way, and coming to rest just beside it's midsection.
Celestia's attention had followed the cylinder as it had rolled up to the corpse, and recoiled in surprise as a column of orange and red flames erupted out of nowhere with an explosion that could crack the heavens. The fiery explosion reached as high as where Celestia was, the pillar of flames snarling and hissing angrily at her before dying down to a much less intimidating size.
She peered down at the body, which was just barely visible through the intense inferno consuming it, and shivered as she looked upon the still grinning face of Thogfang as the cleansing flames ate away it his flesh, charring his skull all the while. It was a gruesome and creepy sight to behold, forcing her to rip her gaze away from the deceased ork.
Ekene came into view as Celestia swiveled her head to look at him. He stood there for a moment, watching the inferno rage, the light of the fire reflecting brilliantly off of his golden plate, despite it being pretty badly scorched. He fell backwards into the tree behind him ungracefully, as if all his strength had left him all at once. His back slammed into the tree forcefully, causing it to shake slightly as leaves drifted down from its branches.
He sat there, motionless for a moment, before raising his arm, turning his sword upside down, and stabbing it into the ground beside him, as the soft blue energy field around it faded, the crackling electricity that had been arcing along the blade vanishing with a hiss. Again, another interval of motionlessness after the blade had been planted. She could hardly bear to look at him, knowing what it felt like to die, as she had just experienced it moments prior.
Celestia stared at him intensely a flood of emotions washing over her as different parts of her mind told her to do different things.
Go check if he's alive!
No! It's too dangerous!
All living things, regardless of their actions deserve life!
You saw what that thing almost did to us, it deserves to die!
A torrent of possible actions flooded her mind with dozens of things she could do.
If we're going to save him, we have to heal him now! He's dying!
Celestia's horn swirled with magical energy.
No! It's just going to get up and try to kill us again!
We can just put him inside the sou-
Absolutely not! You know what Starswirl said about using that kind of magic!
Her horn continued to glow, the golden aura intensifying into white light as she looked down at the central purple gemstone embedded within her golden torc, still conflicted of whether or not to utilize its power.
Don't you even think about it!Think about what you're doing! What you're putting at risk!
Celestia disappeared in a flash of light.
Ekene's vision was getting darker as he shifted his head to look down at the blood still pouring from his injuries, still a bit incredulous that Thogfang had struck both of his hearts. But as he looked back up, he couldn't help but feel the smallest of smiles creep across his face beneath his helmet, witnessing the ork that had plagued his chapter for so long, the same one that had literally eaten his chapter master, going up in smoke.
It was a bittersweet deal, finally slaying the bane of his existence, only to be forced to die a slow, painful death. But at least he had done it. At least he had accomplished what he had vowed to do. Even if his brothers never learned of his great deed, at least Ekene knew that the Celestial Lions' honor had been restored.
He leaned his head back against the tree, ready to finally repay his debt to the Immortal Emperor with his life. He thought about whispering a prayer for a moment, but decided against it, instead basking in the sound of the crackling flames as he recited the litany of devotion in his mind, accepting his fate as he closed to his eyes and the world around him went black.
The crackling of fire was the only sound lingering in the air at first, but Ekene could hear alien footsteps approaching him, their soft thuds forcing him to open his eyes.
There was nothing directly visible as his blurry and darkened vision resumed, but as he turned his head to the right, he realized who had approached him.
It was the equine. Somehow healed yet again of its injuries. Even in death, he still harbored a deep seeded hatred for any xenos, especially for this particular one for its refusal to cooperate and stay out of his affairs, but seeing as the warboss now lay dead and burning in a heap, he allowed its presence, if somewhat begrudgingly as he had hardly the strength left to fight another foe, which angered him slightly as he thought about it. It was a terrible slight to his honor to allow it to exist in his presence. It was a blight upon the galaxy, and to allow it the pleasure of watching his final moments was almost more than Ekene could bare. It stood there for a moment, staring into his eyes through his helmet, and he could sense the creature's apprehension, feel the tension in the air as it spoke.
"P-Please, allow me to mend your wounds," it said, it's voice decidedly feminine.
Ekene pondered her request for a moment, considering it seriously, seeing as he was in such dire straits. As her horn lit up and a brief wave of relief suddenly flooded his chest, Ekene realized what was happening. He mustered the last of his strength, raising his right arm and pushing her away forcefully, sending her tumbling backwards into the dirt, the relief in his chest ceasing immediately and the golden light around her horn flaring up before dissipating instantly.
She managed to right herself from her spot in the dirt, and she looked at him again, with those deceptively human eyes of hers. She wasn't fooling him.
"Do not attempt to work your treacherous sorcery upon me xenos."
His statement was final, and the force of it lingered in the air for moments afterward. She continued to look at him, pleading for him to accept her offer with those, frankly, absurdly large and soulful eyes of hers.
He turned away from her, looking up into the sky to avoid her almost entrancing gaze. He could hear her approaching him again, and he grunted in frustration at her meddling nature.
"Please, just let me tend your injuries. You'll die otherwise."
Her ignorant statements frustrated Ekene as he formulated a response.
"Only in death, does service end. Only in death can we repay Him."
"You don't deserve to die like this. You fought courageously against that...“ He could her shifting herself to look at the burning body of Thogfang "...ork. No one who fights with such determination, such valor and resilience, should be forced to suffer like this, regardless of what you did to me."
She had a point, but coming from a xenos, a magic wielding xenos that was most likely in league with the dark powers of chaos that he would not acknowledge even in his mind, made her words mean a lot less to Ekene. He acknowledged her admiration for his skill in combat, it was only fitting after all, but he had no need for the praise of treacherous aliens. Undoubtedly she had some vile purpose behind her offer, and would seek to turn him from the God-Emperor’s light. He had nothing more to say to her, his left hand close to the hilt of his sword should she try ensorcelling him again.
All he wanted now was to die a good death. He couldn't stop her from taking his body once he was dead, which he was most certainly on track to being, but he would rather suffer such a fate than continue life knowing that arcane, possibly ruinous power had spared him. At least he could die knowing the alien could never determine the workings of his holy armor, nor ever wield his power sword. The machine spirits would rebel against non-human influence, even long after his death.
"Why do you wish such a fate upon yourself? Why do you so insist on your death when salvation is within your grasp?"
Ekene smiled beneath his helmet as he recited one of the truths the chaplain of the Celestial Lion’s scout company had taught him centuries before.
"It is better to die in service of the Emperor..." Ekene rasped, as he closed his eyes one final time, feeling the cold tendrils of death reaching out to him. He failed to notice the high pitched *clink* to his right as something fragile popped out of its socket.
"...than to live…" this was it, Ekene's final moments of mortality. It was glorious. Beyond his sight a glorious golden light appeared, it was more of a feeling than an actual vision, but he knew what it was. He knew Who it was. A soft crackling could be heard to his right. He mistook it for the fire. It was irrelevant now. Everything was.
"...as a..." he could hardly wait for death, to finally stand before his father and be recognized for his deeds. He was finally on the brink of release now as he attempted to choke out the last word, an odd swirling noise assaulting his eardrums now. He chose to ignore it, knowing nothing could change his course now.
The reward of the faithful… at long last…
A shockwave of incredibly brilliant azure light exploded outwards from the chest of the massive suit of golden armor, sending the three little fillies watching it curiously tumbling backwards through the hidden passage. The two guards accompanying Celestia were thrown into the small portion of wall on either side of the entrance forcefully, their metal armor crashing against the wall with a sharp screech and clattered noisily as both of them fell to the ground.
Celestia herself was thrown back a few hoofsteps as she emerged from her trance. She ground her metal slippers into the smooth floor, the golden metal screeching terribly as she slid to a halt. Her drained and drab mane fell over her eyes as she panted heavily, feeling herself sweating. She took a moment to catch her breath, before glancing behind herself at the dazed guards attempting to stand. She panicked a little when the Cutie Mark Crusaders were absent from the scene, but she breathed a sigh of relief as they all poked their heads through the portal simultaneously, looking at her with a mix of shock and excitement.
She returned her gaze to the massive suit of armor that stood before her. Celestia hesitantly trailed up the golden carapace of the armor she had spent centuries studying and restoring. Having been so viscerally reminded of her encounter with Ekene made her realize just how risky this course of action was. But it had to be done, for the sake of her little ponies.
Finally, Celestia's gaze came to rest upon the helmet of the towering form, and she swallowed hard as she stared into its blank eye lenses. She waited expectantly, a mix of emotions consuming her.
It's eyes suddenly exploded with a golden glow that filled the entire lens with a burning light. It remained unmoving, but its eyes bored a hole into Celestia's resolve despite it not even looking at her directly. A familiar sense of awed terror filled her as a shiver ran down her spine, and her blood frosted over in her veins as a deep, rumbling voice filled the room.
" ... HERETIC. "
