Beware the alien...the mutant...the heretic... ( DoW RP, Started/accepting in OOC )

[Envoy of Twilight]

Rex walked across the bloodstained wasteland he called home. He looked over and seen some Cultists talking quietly to each other, away from the group. "Sorceror", he said glumly. A chaos sorceror appeared from a blackish mist behind him. "Yes my lord?", he said anxiously, for he is not called often. "Do not make your presence known while you do the task about to be given. I want you to investigate what those cultists over there are doing and whispering about. There shall be no traitors in my army", he said as he began to walk away. The sorceror nodded and dissapeared again. Rex walked into what looked like a church. Altars and sacrifices to the chaos gods lay inside. As he walked in, he approached four doors. Each one had a different symbol of a chaos god on them painted in blood. He opened the door with the mark of Slaanesh on it. He walked in, the only noise heard was his heavy armor clanking as he walked. The wooden door was slammed shut, then began to glow. Blood seeped out from under the door. Nobody knows what goes on in that room...for it is between Rex..and Slaanesh.

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

Several high-ranking Tau Shas'O were standing around a holographic projection of a planet. The hologram had many icons and color-coordinated zones around it, along with arrowheads on the borders and around the planet.

A short man in his mid-20's with spiky-blonde hair, golden eyes, and a stocky build walked in, wearing a red bodysuit with armor on it.

"You summoned me, sirs?" The man asked as he saluted and bowed.

The Tau turned to acknowledge the man. "Yes, Commander Strongheart. We want to give you your latest mission."

"About time!" The man burst out happily. "The boys and I were getting REAL bored and-"

"Strongheart" noticed the seriousness of the room and resumed his stoic expression. "Sorry. I'm just excited that my unit gets to fight again."

"Yes. We do not regret the decision to sideline your contingent after that fiasco on YRP-169 a standard cycle ago."

"Umm...yes. That." "Strongheart" chuckled nervously as he hung his head.

"However, we have a situation involving one of our recent campaigns: We are losing M'rie."

"M'rie, sir? I thought the campaign was going over very well. In fact, a little birdy told me that the Ethereals were planning on creating a sept out of M'rie once the intergration was completed, along with T'los."

"Well, two standard rotational periods ago, we received our regular courier from M'rie, only to find it shot up and barely flyable."

"But isn't there a ceasefire regarding the orbitals around the world?"

"There is, but someone 'didn't get the memo', as you would put it. Ork forces have landed on M'rie, Eldar raiders have appeared around a site close to our territory, apparently guarding yet another connection to their infernal Webway, a warpstorm passing through a scant half-light-cycle away has caused rifts to open up on the surface of the world, allowing Chaos forces to emerge and take Imperial and Ork terrtory, and, oh yes, a derelict Necron tombship has reactivated near our outer colonies' borders."

"So, what's the problem?"

"Pardon?"

"We can allow the Impies, the Orks, and the Chaos guys to fight amongst themselves, while sending Water Caste emissaries to the Eldar. We recently recovered that shiny new weapon from one of their Feral Worlds that was under attack. We could use that relic as leverage to get them to assist us to shut down the Necrons and mop up the survivors of the other three factions warring. Then, set up a perimeter around the Webway and promise to guard it. Really easy."

"But, there have been...developments."

"Like?"

"Imperial forces have sextupled the number of troops in their enclave to compensate for the new aggressors, adding not only 11 Imperial Guard regiments and 5 companies total of Space Marines, including three companies of Ultramarines, but the Chaos forces seem to be firmly entrenched, unlike most campaigns where they hit and run. Even the reinforcements we sent recently won't be able to help. To make matters worse, a minor Tyranid fleet seems to be en route. Estimated time of arrival: 3-5 standard rotational periods, depending on whether they go after the moons of one of the local gas giants."

"So you want me to go in as well."

"Correct. Because we also have some more intelligence that concerns you."

"What?"

"The Yamatan branch of the Adeptas Sororitas has sent forces to M'rie as well, apparently in the hunt for a heretic who has hidden himself in the heat of the conflict."

"Strongheart's" eyes narrowed. "Kurohime." He muttered.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

While this was going on, A certain Eldar Farseer had hidden himself in the thick brush upon a rise which overlooked the chaos fortifications. The rise was maybe five hundred meters from the fortifications and, as such, the brush upon it was more than enough to conceal him. He was looking out towards the Chaos encampment, keeping watch while behind him a Webway gate was being constructed further back in the growth. The gate itself was over half completed and would soon allow the Eldar to make quick tactical moves against any chaos force that was seen moving from the encampment. Surrounding the gate in a defensive arc was a squad of Guardians that had prepared themselves to defend the gate if necessary. The Farseer himself appeared like any other Farseer, with one exception. He was not wearing a helmet and as such one could see his face quite easily, and as such something that set him quite apart from other Eldar was visible. His skin was a dark grayish color, almost like the Wraithbone. He also, rather than carrying the spear normally wielded by a Farseer, carried two curved Power Swords crossed on his back. He was simply surveying the area between the rise and the Chaos Encampment when the warlock commanding the Guardians approached him.

 

"Farseer Uru'tan." The warlock spoke in a hushed voice as the Farseer turned his head to look the warlock in the face.

"Yes, what is it?"

"I...I'm just a bit concerned that you aren't wearing a helm. Especially this close to Chaos."

The Farseer sighed quietly as he shook his head at the warlock before responding. "I am fully aware of the risks involved in wielding psychic powers without the protection of a mind-focusing helm. Regardless, I choose to look upon the universe with my own eyes."

 

The warlock nodded as Farseer Uru'tan returned to his vigil over the approach to the rise. He continually scanned back and forth over the open ground in search of any signs of an approaching foe. Even if the foe was hidden, his Psychic abillities would allow him to sense them coming. Despite his outward calmness, he was anything but calm inside. Truth be told, he was almost hoping that a few chaos soldiers would happen upon them so that he could continue to take his vengeance upon them for the death of his teacher. He also recalled a vision of an Adeptas Soritas Cannoness coming to that very area in search of something. Perhaps he could make a temporary ally out of her, and perhaps he would have to kill her.

[Envoy of Twilight]

(( OOC: If you guys want to change your appearance throughout the rp, you can post a pic of it your weapons will have to be changed by you typing it. [spoiler=Here is mine:]

))

 

Rex exited the tainted bulding looking somewhat stronger than before. He was standing straighter, and his armor had changed. He roared. The very noise crumbled tainted trees and and dead bodies around him. The Chaos Sorceror then appeared. He had in his hands two cultists, the very same ones that were whispering to each other. "I regret to inform you that what you had said before is true. These peasants are planning on joining a rouge cult out in the wilderness. Rex looked at the cultists. "So..you have chosen to betray me...the very person who gave you the power you posses. The very person who allowed you to live?", he said in dissapointment. "We can't have that now can we sorceror?", he said, smiling beneath his helmet. The Sorceror laughed a bit. "Not at all", he said with deadly intent. "Please! No! We are sorry for betraying you master! We will tell you anything you need to know about the cult!", one of the cultists screamed in fright. "Then tell me...now", Rex said as he became serious. They live in the jungle near the Ork base. They said they seen Eldar and Which hunters in the area!", the other cultist yelled as he began to sob. "Thats all I needed to hear", he said to them. The Sorceror let go of them and they dropped to their feet. "Thank you lord, thank you! We shall not dissapoint you again!", they said as they kneeled. Rex laughed. "I know", he said as he put his right arm up toward them. They were frozen now. "L-Lord, what are you doing?!", one of them yelled. "Making you more usefull", Rex said as they exlpoded into blood that scattered around the wasteland. Where they stood, there were now two obliterators. "Sorceror, take some noise marines and search the wasteland", he said, his head down a little. "For what my lord?", he asked with menace. "For three things...Eldar..Which hunters...and that rouge Chaos cult", he said, shooing the Sorceror away with his hand. He looked at the Obliterators and smiled again. "It's almost show time".

[Asriel Dreemurr]

OOC: Where did you go to make that, if I might ask?

 

Farseer Uru'tan noticed as a group of Chaos Space Marines were making their way out of the fortified encampment. He quickly turned around and rushed towards the Guardian squad, who were just about to come an inform him that the Webway Gate had been completed. The warlock looked quite worried as he saw the Farseer rushing towards him.

 

"Farseer, what is it?" The warlock asked, looking Uru'tan in the eyes as he did so.

"Chaos forces are on the move, It is possible that we have been discovered. Return to our forward base and come back with as many soldiers as you can find. Wraithlords and fire prisms will also be very helpful."

 

The warlock nodded his head as he rushed through the newly activated gate, followed swiftly by the Guardians he was leading. Farseer Uru'tan made his way to the gate itself and activated a cloaking device which, of course, made it practically invisible. One with psychic abillities or other Eldar would be able to see it plainly. He now made his way towards what appeared to be a Jetbike hidden in the foliage off to the side of the small clearing in which the gate had been built. He brought himself up onto the seat. He ignited the skimmer vehicle's engine and slowly brought it through the thick brush to a location further down the rise, from which he could better see the Chaos soldiers. He prepared his psychic abillities, specifically one which would unleash a storm of psychic power across a concentrated area which would be lethal to most soldiers caught within it. It wasn't particularly long range, but he was planning on waiting for the chaos soldiers to come to him. At the same time, he felt some sort of force calling to him from the warp which not only was the domain of chaos, but the source from which most, if not all, psykers drew their power. He shook the feeling off, recalling the image of Chaos Marines tearing his long time teacher and friend apart. He was more than ready for a fight, but he also knew that he would have to rely on more than just power to win if he was discovered. He was the only Eldar around for a few hundred kilometers, their forward base being well removed from the chaos encampment and even more effectively hidden from all.

[Envoy of Twilight]

The Chaos Sorceror had gathered five squads of five noise marines to come with him to investigate. Being quite the psyker himslef, he began to store his power. He turned and looked at his troops. "If we find the enemy and you run away or decide to disobey me, I will send you straight to hell myself", he said sternly. He then began to lead them into a direction he felt had 'psychic properties' within it. "Do not stray from my path. Stay behind me at all times. If the enemy should show themselves, you spread out, kill them, and then regroup. Understood?", he ordered. "Yes Sorceror", the marines said together, their voices sounding eerie and bloodthirsty. As they walked, the Sorceror often turned his head side to side. Maybe to test his new helmet. It supposedly reveals hidden troops, but not buildings. Maybe to look for enemies. It was obvious the marines were getting annoyed by the silence. "Rah..when do we attack?!", one of them yelled as the continued walking. "When we find the enemy you fool, now shut your mouth before I tear your soul out through your throat", he said quietly with anger. The truth is, the Sorceror was annoyed as well. He stuck his staff into the air and fired a blast which lit the sky a pink tint. "Come and face me cowards!", he yelled as loudly as he could.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Perhaps the Sorcerer would realize just how bad of an idea it was to openly call out Farseer Uru'tan to fight him. If he were to, it would likely be in the form of the sudden crushing pain that engulfed him in the furthest corners of his mind. uru'tan had changed tactics and was now attempting to simply kill the sorcerer or render him a mindless hunk of flesh lying on the ground. This was a technique known as "Mind War" which all Farseers were adept in using. "You asked for a fight, I'll bet you weren't expecting this," Farseer Uru'tan whispered into the sorcerer's mind as he began ripping it apart with the sheer force of his psychic powers. The sorcerer would likely realize that the psyker engaging him in mental combat was what the Imperium would rate as an Alpha Plus on the power scale. now, if the sorcerer had fought in the Thirteenth Black Crusade, he just might recognize the psychic power that now gripped him as being that of the Farseer Ve'Rosh Uru'tan who had only just begun to develop his psychic powers during the last of the crusades. It was unlikely that the Sorcerer would be able to do anything as his mind was torn apart from the inside out. Truth be told, he'd likely just fall lifeless to the ground from the strain.

[Envoy of Twilight]

The Sorcerer held his head in pain. He then laughed crazily. What the Farseer had not known, was that the Sorceror was not exactly ordinary. He had a beast inside of him. Deep within his soul, his body, and his mind. The beast inside was a greater deamon of Slaanesh, one of the great chaos gods. This was all the power he needed to combat the Farseer in mental warfare, for the deamon lent him the strength. The marines looked at the Sorceror strangly. "You ok?", one of them said, curiousity filling the air. As the Sorceror was engaged in the mental fight, he simply didn't hear the remark from the marine. He hadn't used much of his power yet, for the deamon was using all of its. "I bet you weren't expecting this, you alien", he whispered in his mind as the battle continued.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

The Farseer hadn't used all of his strength as he was not expecting such a foe to combat in a mind-war. Now realizing he was in for something a bit stronger than the average sorcerer, he redoubled his efforts. He placed still more of his power behind his strike, attempting to force the battle into the Sorcerer's mind. Despite the danger in it, Ve'Rosh drew on the warp to gather still more power. Though his mind was unprotected, his will was more than sufficient to prevent any Daemons from wishing to possess him as he did so and he could easily resist the callings of the Chaos Gods. As he drew on the warp to increase his psychic power, the pressure on the Sorcerer's mind would suddenly quadruple. Perhaps it would be enough to overwhelm the Daemon, and perhaps not. Either way, this battle was staying out of Ve'Rosh's mind.

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

"You're sending HOW many battles?!?" "Strongheart" gawked.

"Three. One battle of five contingents, each with five cadres from Vior'la, one battle with the same configuration, but from Sa'cea, and your battle, with a mixed set of 7 contingents. One of those is your Fal'shia Gue'vesa contingent, another is a standard Fal'shia contingent. Two contingents are from Tash'var, and have recently returned from a campaign against the Orks across the Damocles Gulf. One is from Kasi'm'yen, one hailing from Fi'rios, and one logistics contingent carrying two cadres from Ke'lshan."

"Where are you getting all of these forces?"

"Several of these groups are in straits similar to your own group: disgruntled forces that are enjoying an extended leave. The Tash'var sept contingents have only had a week of shore leave, but are willing to regroup and mobilize, albeit grudgingly. But the two battles from Vior'la and Sa'cea are recent graduates heading into their first campaign."

"You all are planning to send fresh, wet-behind-the-ears troops into combat?!?" "Strongheart" protested. "About 60% of this force you're proposing has never seen actual fighting!"

"They have trained for this day, and you are incorrect. They have veterans commanding them."

"And you are taking combat-fatigued soldiers and throwing them back into the warzone?!?"

"They are also willing to sacrifice themselves-"

"'-for the greater good'. I know. That's what I'm fighting for. But I will only join this on three conditions."

"What are those?"

"One: As the senior commander of my contingent, I wish to also manage my entire contingent."

"But I'm planning on leading your contingent!" An Air Caste admiral piped up.

"Not anymore. Besides, shouldn't you be doing...you know...Air Caste things?"

"Umm..."

"The correct answer is: Yes, I should."

"Alright. What's you second condition?"

"I'm tired of getting Commander Farsight's hand-me-downs just because my sept's colors are red, just like his. I want my contingent refitted with new equipment upon arrival."

"But-"

"Do you want me to save your electric blue asses or not?"

"...fine. And you final condition."

"Immunity to being court-martialed for anything I might do during this campaign. The whole 'Bad boy, Strongheart! Bad savior of the Empire! No medal for you! We'll see you in military court!' is getting tiring. So I want legal immunity."

"We can't guarantee-"

"But?"

"We can attempt to adjust any critics to your unorthodox tactics..."

"Deal."

"Your ships will be leaving within the rotational cycle. I would suggest you get moving."

"Yes, sir!"

"Strongheart" shook the leading Shas'O's hand, and left. One of the younger Shas'O spoke up. "Sir, why did we just do that? He's clearly a loose cannon! A wild beast we cannot truly control!"

All of the senior Shas'O sighed as the leader sat back down and faced his younger colleague. "As much as I hate to admit it, the current strategic situation for the Empire has become...strained. We are fighting on several fronts, and the M'rie conflict is getting worse and worse every day. All of our other commanders are diverted to other lines, and we can just barely spare these forces we've scrounged up without compromising our remaining defenses. Not to mention, when you look past all of the very negative citations and court martials on his record, his services have saved the Empire from destruction at the hands of its many enemies, and his profile states he is very loyal to the greater good, but he does use some human logic as well, and displays contempt for his fallen brothers and sisters."

The leading Shas'O rubbed his olfactory receptor as he tried to cope with the stress of the meeting.

"We deal with Commander Strongheart because, although he is incredibly dangerous, he is also incredibly dangerous to any enemy forces that get in his way, and frankly, he is our last resort. In his words, 'he's the only damn thing we've got left'."

[Envoy of Twilight]

The Sorceror soon realized he was up against no ordinary Farseer. He soon forced his own power into the battle, along with the deamons full power. He had to win this. He would be a useless fool in Rex's eyes otherwise, or so he thought. The marines soon realized what was happening, for Rex had told them of Eldar sorcerery. They quickly activated their noise cannons and fired in all directions. Of course firing blindly was a foolish thing to do, but they were clueless for what to do next. Meanwhile, Rex was having a wonderful time with newly tainted Space Marines. One of them, a Librarian. This could definitely be a good advantage for the Chaos.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Ve'rosh realized that he was going to have to draw on still greater power if he wanted to win this. As such, he delved deeper into the warp than was safe, even for one with his indomitable will. But still, he was driven by a mix of desire for revenge and fear of losing himself to Chaos. The force he was applying to the Sorcerer's mind suddenly became so great that in all likelihood he would be ripped quite literally to shreds by the psychic power. At this time, reinforcements arrived in the form of three squads of Rangers who positioned themselves throughout the brush. In moments, they were firing highly accurate shots from their sniper rifles into the heads of the Noise Marines, sending several members of each Noise Marine squad to their deaths with the first volley. Ve'rosh had released such psychic power that electricity was sparking off of his body into the ground around him and he had been driven to panting. If he had finally destroyed the Sorcerer, he would calmly stand up and make his way further back into the brush, where he sat down with his legs crossed as the Rangers picked off the Noise marines with their sniper rifles. Ve'rosh laid his back against a tree, relaxing and trying to catch his breath. He knew he had overdone it by a lot, and that he was lucky to have remained sane and functioning after delving into the power of the warp as he had.

[Envoy of Twilight]

(( OOC: I think the thing with the sniper rifles is kinda godmodding, for who says that the bullets might miss? Or perhaps they can detect hidden units from a distance, which they can. I'll have some die so the post remains relevant, and try not to say that my soldiers are most likely dead or about to be torn apart, etc, unless I verify they will/are. Sorry if that sounds mean! ))

 

It was obvious that the Sorceror was outmatched. He turned quickly in the direction of wich the psychic energy came from and fired a doombolt. He then exploded into guts and blood. The remaining Noise Marines used their new helmets to see the Rangers. "Fire!", one of them yelled as they fired their cannons at the rangers. Rex did not need to be informed of this death, for he could already sense it. He smiled. He knew it was a good idea to recruit a Librarian from one of the legendary Space Marine Chapters, the Blood Ravens. Rex was very busy with business at the main base, so he left the Noise Marines to deal with the problem.

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

"Strongheart" walked into a loading bay where several hundred Earth Caste Tractor Drones and Fio'la were loading up several transports with red-painted, Fal'shia-marked battlesuits, hovervehicles, and other machines of war. O'Ter're used to have three cadres under his command: His core "hunting" cadre composed of his four most trusted, most experienced Gue'vesa teams with a Kroot auxiliary team and a small Tau team for bait, several Gun Drone squadrons, Missile Support Battlesuits, and 3 Broadside teams, his "training" cadre of mixed Gue'vesa teams, mostly the newcomers, Vespid strains, newer Gue'vesa Battlesuit pilots, and newer hovervehicle drivers in Devilfish and Skyrays, and his "fighting" cadre of heavier Gue'vesa teams, and plenty of support vehicles and Battlesuits. Now, he could have his core units, plus two new training cadres and an extra fighting cadre, as well as a separate Kroot force.

"Boss!" A tall, muscular man with several scars on his body and face came out and greeted his superior, who was at least 2 feet shorter. This man had aged blue eyes, buzz-cut blonde hair, and a nasty scar across his eye.

"Yes, Shas'ui Harmon?" His commander asked.

"O'Ter're, we've got new stuff, already painted our colors! Several of our Shas'el just got promoted, and we now have enough forces to create six cadres instead of our usual three!" The excited sergeant suddenly turned sour. "What the f**k is going on?!?"

Shas'O Gue'vesa'O Fal'shia Ter're M'Yen'Shi laughed at his trusted NCO. "Isn't it obvious? We're going to war!"

"Where?!? And why so suddenly?!? We can't train the new pilots en route!"

"We're heading to M'rie. Command says we're f**ked there, and they need new troops for the meat grinder of a hellhole the world is about to become. We're the spearhead of a huge relief force, so we get shiny new toys, and with that comes some of our older vets that we've sent off to other Fal'shia units. Our contingent is doubling in size because we're going to be the first in a long line of contingents on a conveyor belt of death, and I intend to make sure the other forces can focus on backing us up."

"Why? We've always been part of an army fighting for the greater good! Why are we going into battle with our own support?"

O'Ter're looked Harmon in the eyes. "Because most of the relief force is either inadequate to fight, being rerouted from a desperately-needed shore leave, or fresh out of basic training."

"Where to we fall?"

"All of the above. We have two cadres of new Gue'vesa who have seen limited engagement, which is more than I can say for the bulk of two out of the three battles Command is sending. We also have been preparing to return for service for months, and this was our downtime. Plus, there's our down time to begin with, which was as a result of YRP-169."

"O'Ter're, that wasn't your fault."

"It was my fault! If it wasn't for me, the Empire might have actually completed that treaty! And Hime wouldn't be pissed at me!"

"The Ordo Xenos was planning on stabbing the Empire in the back anyways You saw the fine print! Sure, it would've been a ceasefire, but it was highly unfair to our side! Plus, it meant that we would all be returning to the Imperium in chains! Or worse!"

"BUT I HURT HIME!!!"

"I DON'T CARE! IT WAS FOR THE GREATER GOOD!!!"

"F**K THE GREATER GOOD!!!"

Most of the Fio'la and Gue'vesa had stopped to hear the "Kildar" and "Old Terry" yell at each other. O'Ter're looked at his subordinates.

"Get back to work!" He yelled as he left, leaving Harmon to continue directing the loading.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

((Hehe, sorry about that. I think I got a little bit carried away when I posted that. Anyways, time for me to post again. Also, the thing about the sniper rifles...they're in the hands of snipers...people trained not to miss. Also, I figured they'd take a few marines out simply because they attacked rather suddenly and all at once.))

 

Ve'Rosh was almost instantly aware of the Noise Marines firing upon the Rangers. Considering two things, the first being that the Rangers retreated further into the brush, out of range of the Noise Cannons. The second being the fact that the Noise Cannons themselves were bloody loud and you'd have to be dead or lacking ears not to hear them. He retreated along with the rangers as they quickly made their way back to the Webway Gate. The clearing surrounding the gate had filled with reinforcements, most notably a Fire Prism tank and three squads of Warp Spyders armed with Dual Death Spinners. The Farseer nodded approvingly as he looked over the forces amassed before him. He was quite convinced that they would be able to deal with the force of Noise Marines if they were foolish enough to pursue them into the jungle. He calmly beckoned the Exarchs in command of the Warp Spyder Squads. As they approached, he asked them a single question.

 

"If the enemy pursues us into the jungle, I want you to get in behind them and slay them from behind. How quickly can you do that?"

 

At his question, the three Exarchs chuckled, finding it quite humorous that, of all people, a Farseer would ask that question. One of them responded very simply.

 

"Instantly."

 

Ve'Rosh nodded in approval as he calmly made his way over to a tree at the egde of the clearing furthest from the rise, were he sat down, laying his back against the trunk. He knew that they had very little time if the Noise Marines had chosen to follow them.

[Envoy of Twilight]

The Noise marines stopped suddenly, then ran back to the Chaos HQ. Rex was there, talking to the newly recruited Librarian. To be perfectly honest, the Chaos needed all the help they could get. They couldn't rely on scaring the enemy for much longer. It had worked for some time, but the enemy seems to have gotten bolder. Rex felt he might even have to call upon the strength of Slaanesh...the full strength...to help him. This of course, was a last resort option. Rex smiled to himself as he thought about it. "Who would pose that much of a challenge", he wondered.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

It was truly an odd thing that the rogue chaos cult headquarters had not been discovered yet, considering what it was. Not even one hundred Kilometers from the main Chaos Headquarters, a colossal crash site dominated the landscape. The crater was three Kilometers across and half a kilometer deep. At the center of this crater was a structure that had once been an Imperial Orbital Research Installation. Despite having been the source of the impact crater, the installation was almost completely intact. An interesting thing about it was that it had been given an outer paint job of darkest black with golden trim along every edge. Blood red symbols were painted all over it, but where the Imperial Eagle had once been, now a symbol of two White Comets encircling each other had been placed. All throughout the crater, various dwellings had been constructed. Within them all sorts of soldiers resided, everything from Cultists to Space Marines. There were even a few corrupted Sisters of Battle living in the dwellings. There were hundreds of training grounds of all sorts in the crater, in which the various soldiers fought against each other to grow stronger, faster, and more agile. The crater was covered completely with chaos corruption and strange Daemons made their way about as if it were normal. They seemed to be combinations of the various Daemons of the Chaos Gods, though there were also unique ones. Primarily figures robed in black who seemed to levitate above the ground and that were armed with Daemon Hunter power glaives and storm bolters. Now, within the large structure itself, the walls and floors were completely covered with blood, and it seemed that hundreds of rotting corpses adorned the ground in a sick display of the warning to all who defied the master of this fortress. The walls were also covered with bizarre, purple glowing writings that continually shifted and changed. Down the center of all the hallways, a rivulet of every single bodily fluid ran thick and slow. Throughout the entire structure, echoes of screams of countless slain soldiers and innocents reverberated eternally. In a large circular chamber in the exact center of the structure, everything intensified. The blood on the walls and floor was deep enough that a space marine terminator would trod through it up to their ankles. Within the blood, there were pools where the bodily fluids of countless mortals and daemons commingled. Throughout the area, rotting corpses were impaled on stakes which stood up at odd angles, none perfectly straight, and forming a perfect circle around the exact center of the room. Various geysers of flame erupted and the flames constantly changed back and forth between every substance imaginable at completely random rates. In the exact center of this room, a pile of several thousand skulls from Humans, Aliens, and Daemons stretched up into the air. Atop this mound of skulls, a large chair upholstered with the skins of daemons had been erected and upon this chair sat a surprisingly human looking form. Everything about this being looked human, from the lightly tanned skin, to the brown dress pants and open white button-up shirt. His shoulder-length brown hair further attested to his humanity. However, two things made it apparent that he was more than human. The first and most obvious was the bright red glow emanating from his eyes. The second was the Katana laid across his lap, in the blade of which a Daemonic eye had been set near the hilt guard. He reclined, unmoving, upon his throne of skulls and seemed unsurprised when a figure dressed in a brown robe and carrying a simple straight stave made it's way into the room. It was only the size of a normal human, but it walked upon the surface of the blood within the room. As it approached the throne, it bowed deeply to the figure atop it once it had come just inside the circle of impaled corpses. It remained silent until the figure upon the throne spoke to it in a voice that was surprisingly human, and yet carried an after echo of four different voices, all speaking in Daemonic.

 

"You may speak."

 

The robed figure rose from it's bow, before it spoke in a voice that was that of a young woman.

 

"My Lord Xerran, word has reached us that the forces of Slaanesh upon this world have engaged the forces of the Eldar Craftworld Ulthwe. The Eldar forces fought back the Slaaneshi Noise Marines, and then retreated into the forest surrounding the Chaos Stronghold. In addition, only eight of the ten Slaaneshi cultists that were supposed to arrived today have come, the other two have been discovered and might have given away the location of our fortress, surprisingly no one has noticed us until now. Finally, we believe that the Adeptus Soritas are sending a battalion from the Order of Our Martyred Lady to the surface of the planet."

 

The figure who had been addressed as Lord Xerran simply nodded to the robed figure, who then bowed and made it's way out of the chamber by way of teleportation. The figure upon the throne now rose to his feet, lifting the Katana in his right hand as he descended to the base of the mound of skulls. He calmly made his way out of the room, walking upon the surface of the blood with bare feet. While he did this, he reached out with his mind to contact the Slaaneshi Champion on the world.

 

"Hail, Rex Sparkman. Hail Champion of Slaanesh. There is much which we may discuss."