Mada 'Plinth' Myrkul's Story

Elsewhere, Nearby the burning censer

Where the new Living Emperor had inquisitors to ensure the taint from demonkind or umbralkind did not infest Mankind the overbeing Myrkul had the Mada. Each forged from the last primal psi-seed forged by the Fallen Emperor to protect the people from the traitor he knew was in his midst. Still, death among that remained could not be afforded. The Mada were born of the Fallen Emperor's own blood and power tenuously held as psimass within a psi-seed so that they could never be tainted.

When Myrkul ascended by dismantling the soul of the traitor and consuming the trapped souls therein so too did the Mada ascend. Those hunter worms exploded with growth the very first held closely to the altar by Myrkul and birthed as half-mankind. On that day Myrkul was pleased mankind had not perished. There remained hope that others survived the traitor. Mada were given power to ensure an infection of demonkind could be driven from Mankind. Even the traitor as a flippant Dicta read from an long-ago to an attentive hunter worm.

At the quarantine line a Mada approaches a smoking censer in a long chain stretching out from the deep violet gauntlet. Horned steel mask to dissipate attempts to taint what was inside as well as keep their face obscured. A soft aria reached the guardsmen as the Mada sung her way to the the guardsman's eye line.

She recited the dicta as she went a human psyche forged like the gene-seed from Soldiers of the Living Emperor. The serious but thin voice had a warm pleasantness to the mind if one was untainted. Mada didn't know much of the Living Emperor yet but still her song helped pushed out any doubts of the Living Emperor's will or fear for personal safety in his pursuits. The tainted would find only suffering in it but with pain came strength to throw off their darkness should their strength be worthy to approach. Ferroplasm weave jacket fluttering just above the ground she stopped her song waiting a fair distance from the quarantine line as to recite the Dicta.

"If at all possible no Mankind should suffer the ignominy of death while under the taint of Demonkind. This is your first law.", The censer burned a scent of immolated blood.
"Suffer no threat to Mankind's purity to live be it beyond hope. This is your second law.", a grey smoke of a welcoming campfire rose.
"Ensure the purity of Mankind given Mada is unbroken and the Mada persist by the worthy, This is your third law.", this gave a deep red smoke of rose flowers lilting from her censer.

Her young quite human female voice echoed out from under the ferroplasm helmet, "I need to pass through, honored soldiers of the Living Emperor. My brothers Jinhai tell me there's Mankind suffering some taint by Umbralkind."

Drot.

The word flashed in front of his vision so suddenly and vividly, it actually caused the typically calm and cool Akio to take a step back in confusion. Instinct took over, and he immediately began to search for an origin point. But before he could, the connection cut off and Akio found himself staring at humans again, no longer shadows. He'd been kicked out of the realm only he'd been known to penetrate.

And that was not good.

"Damn," he muttered as he took in his surroundings once more...and hardened his eyes at what he saw. The seducer was now using her nails to dig into the man's flesh while the man was throwing punches left and right. A man to their right had his knife out and was chasing another, who had a cut on his cheek and terror in his eyes. A cop had puleld out his pistol and proceeded to gun down innocents. And the more he scanned around him, the more violence he saw...the more blood shed. Immediately, he pulled his Ancestral Blade and held it poised in front of him.

He may not have the shadows as guidance for now, but he did have another power.




The moment the final words of the incantation passed through his lips, the blade began to glow. And just in time too. An "infected" Guardsman had taken notice of Akio and was bringing his spear to strike him down. Akio parried the blow and countered with a quick slice to the throat, the armor doing nothing to prevent the metal from striking through it. The Guardsman collapsed and Akio moved on.

Sorry...

His attention was on the blade, which he noticed with each passing step was getting dimmer. He kept the blade in front of him, turning his body left. The blade grew brighter and brighter until it peaked after 60 degrees of turning. Akio lowered his sight on the blade and saw the man. Unlike other antagonists Akio had come across, where he had to discover context clues and sometimes dive into the shadows to figure out their true intentions, this man had shadows written all over him. If it weren't for his manner of reaction to the situation or his darkened appearance, it was his smile that gave him away. Mischievous...brutal...merciless...

All the things Akio loved to undermine and bring an ironic fate upon.

With a deep glare, the Wanderer made his way towards the man, sword held out crossed in front of him. He wasn't going to take an offensive stance...not yet. Anyone who could control the shadows better than he could was a dangerous foe.

Chaos erupted all around as civilians and armed persons alike began assaulting each other without warning or reason. As a man lunged at Ean he moved swift and with an ease that betrayed his practiced hands. Two blasts were fired from his charge pistol before anyone bearing witness had even realized he had pulled it.

He turned to Jinhai then and said "Unfortunately, it seems you gentlemen will be getting a demonstration first hand of the sort of skills me and my crew are known for. Stay close at hand if you would." Before flipping the barrel of his pistol, and striking at the charging ring with his palm, setting it spinning rapidly. In this manner he pulled the trigger and swung wide with the weapon, unleashing a flare of weak electrified plasma, strong enough only to disable the auxiliary nervous system of those who were struck by it.

As he continued to unleash blast after blast, he pulled a communications device from his pocket and fit it over his ear. As soon as it was on he began issuing commands to his ship. "Emily you need to get the Glaive up in the air and over to my position pronto."

On the other end of the line Emily began frantically issuing commands. "Sir, were not able to get up at the moment were still fueling and refitting, whats going on."

"I need backup right now Emily, some sort of riot or mass madness is hitting the civilians, they're going nuts."

"Best I can do is send a transports loaded with our boys out to you, maybe a few warlocks and shamans but those will take more time."

"I'll take whatever I can get, just get it here now"

"Sir, do you want me to send your gear"

Ean visibly winced at that, and shook his head before realizing she couldn't see him. "No, no... That won't be necessary, just send the guys."

After ending the conversation, The Captain began checking the crowd for Akio, not wanting to lose his first mate so soon after getting him. He spied The Wanderer wielding a sword and cutting down armed individuals who attacked him. Ean shouted at him "Back of the blade Akio! Do not kill unarmed people! Strike them with the back of your blade!"

Saying so was all well and good, but Ean was concerned as he noticed the nature of what was going on. He watched as a man assaulted another, who tried to run in fear, but after the assault the victim became enraged and began to attack of his own volition as well. "Madness of Chaos" The Captain muttered, once again blasting the rioters with his charge pistol.

Meanwhile, Aboard the Cobalt Glaive
Immediately following her conversation with the captain, Emily had scrambled two full transports of Imps, The Blue Glaives on board mercenary group. It took them minutes to grab their gear and get aboard, and the pilots transporting them expected to be over the site in fifteen. The head of the Platoon, Franklin Gord'ga, was a Thilui, a sentient bipedal species evolved from predatory pack creatures that lived on a planet far from it's sun. He stood at six eight, though that height was inaccurate do to his species humped backs. Quills on his back shivered as he spoke to his men. "Were going to be burning in at about fifteen thousand feet, as the locals have a quarantine to the area." He paused to breath, making a sound like a snake hissing. "We do not have much information. What we do know is that the Captain is on site, and he's calling for backup."

The entire platoon perked up at that. They all knew that if the Captain wouldn't ask for backup unless he was completely outnumbered, which meant for them that they would be dropping into a fight.

Franklin continued after taking another hissing breath "We're going in with standard weaponry, however there are civilians mixed with armed personnel, so watch your fire. The Captain also mentioned something about mass hysteria, and the civilians going nuts. Chances are there will be unarmed people coming at you, so if you can try not to hurt them to bad. We don't want to give this city any reason not to invite us back, got it."

"We got it, sir" Came the chorus of a reply.

Franklin hissed and nodded "Drop in five, get in gear."

Draco remained calm and collected the whole time, sipping from his water. He was not phased nor moved by the charges of the pistol fired at him, in fact they left no mark upon his person. His water remained in his hand and the glass did not break. The Rioters had a sort of....aversion to him, in the sense that the just didn't go near him.

As Akio lowered the sword in front of him, he didn't even look to the blade, and only paused for a moment before drinking, downing the last of his water and setting his cup on the blade itself.

"You are gifted, boy, in the ways of the Shadows. But your gifts will not save nor hide you from me." it was not the body of Draco that spoke, but the shadow of Akio that did so, using Draco's distorted, Ethereal voice echoed by millions of screams of terror and agony. Finally the man stood, and at his full height at over ten feet tall, he dwarfed the man holding a sword to him. Scales danced across his skin, thick and ancient, they would not be broken by some simple sword.

Finally, the man turned his eyes to stare upon Akio, coal-red eyes taking in the boy's form with indignation and distaste. "Ask yourself if this is something you really wish to be involved in." he paused for a moment before his coat fell away to reveal his swept back Draconian Armor, gleaming in the light of the city as his two swords descended from his gauntlets and into his hands, gripping the hilts tightly with the claws of his gauntlet. A low hum was emanating from the black jagged blades as Draconian lightning coursed through them. Draco then spoke finally from his own mouth, and his voice rumbled with malice.



With that, the Legion made its appearance. From every Shadow available, Hounds, and Slashers crawled forth to attack whatever they could, knawing on legs, slashing throats, and screaming in agony all the same. From alleyways, Battalions of Bashers in Roman Cohort-syle armor and shield marched, spreading out and blocking off all entrances and exits in a double sided Phalanx while the Watchers likewise cut off all exits, and began to shroud the whole district in Darkness.

The hounds were nothing special. They were merely random assortments of limbs from various creatures hurled together so that it would be able to move on its own. There were actual canines as well, but they were few in number, and hunted in packs of up to twenty, agile and quick, the Wolf-sized visual disasters raced around and attacked any in their path.

Slashers were long and slender, and moved as if they had very little muscle control over their heavier limbs such as their heads, which flopped around lazily while their other limbs flopped around, the sounds of bone and muscle tearing easily audible as they screamed in agony and attacked the nearest person not "conscripted" into the Legion.

As each body fell, their Shadows began to boil and twist and turn, small tendrils erupted from their shadows and began to drag their bodies down into the dark abyss. Their body would be broken down, their soul tortured, and their minds broken as they were conscripted into the legion of Shadows.

Draco didn't even blink.

His last attack on the city was only a single plaza. Despite how large said plaza was, it was only one. This attack dwarfed the other one; as lo and behold: He attacked an entire district of the city at once, and without mercy. Even within buildings the members of the Shadow Legion penetrated and struck down their prey. They didn't try and open safes or vaults, Draco had no interest in the petty currency of Man, they only did what they were told: Kill.

Draco's swords cackled as he snarled in Akio's face, his left hand bringing the same side sword up to smack the boy's blade away while his right hand raised to slash across Akio's body. Draco's own body weight would make blocking nigh impossible, after all, he was a Kaiju sized Dragon in human form. He could weigh whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. His sword was electrified with Draconian Lightning, making the edges sharper than one could ever hope to achieve with mere mortal magic, making parrying, likewise nigh impossible.

Bringing up his foot after his strike, he would aim to push kick Akio back, the force behind the kick would likely send him back upwards of fifty feet back if it connected cleanly. Internal damage was also very likely, as ribs at the very least bruised, and at worst, shattered entirely.

"You will come to Kneel before the Shadow King, or you will fall like the rest, and be brought to heel regardless."

The three regiments of guardsman soon gathered together and began to block off an intersection motioning for all civilians and armed personal that were not actively shooting or stabbing each other to get near them. "Hurry up! All personal behind the blockades! Avoid contact with anyone actively trying to kill you! They are infected by dark powers!" The guardsman after seein gthis firsthand knew what was going on.

Of course, as they got the remaining civilians safely inside the blockade they saw them once again...The Shadow Legion, the Space marines were gone leaving them to fight them.

"By the Emperor...We...we're going to die..."

"We will hold this line and protect these civilians to the last!"

"I don't want to turn into a creature of dark powers!"

"Emperor save us..."

The guardsman began to panic amongst themselves. However suddenly a light shone in the sky, a light that pushed away the darkness that surrounded the district. A figure of a drop pod, a large one at that covered in Gold. As the Pod landed in the district the guardsman looked at it in awe. Was it a space marine? No chapter had that much gold color on them.

As they wondered what it was the Drop pod open up to reveal a figure so well known in the Imperium, The Emperor Of Mankind stepped out of the pod with each step shaking the ground. Wilding a Flaming Sword, Golden power armor and standing at 15 feet tall. There he was, the savior of humanity in the flesh. "The...Emperor?"

The Guardsman all fell on their knees, despite the threat of the Shadow Legion closing in on them. "Brave Soldiers of the Imperium. Take these civilians to the nearby blockades. I will clear the evil that dare walk on these streets." The Emperor spoke in his booming voice and by raising his sword, he swung his sword unleashing a wave on cleansing flame in a direction burning the Shadow Legion soldiers. Their armor turning into little more then ash, Ethereal constructs would also be destroyed by the fire. And with that the Emperor ushered the soldiers forward as he channeled his Psychic might and shielded each of them with a psychic barrier.

"Draco...I am coming for you...You will pay for the lives you claim this day..." With that said the Emperor opened up a gate and his personal Honor Guard exited from the Portal, along with a group of Grey Knight Terminators. "Soldiers of the Imperium! Today we cleanse this district of this 'Shadow Legion'! Let it be known that I have returned to protect humanity! Let it be known that no evil shall be safe from our holy wrath! Charge for the glory of the Imperium!" The Emperor yelled as the yall charged across the district.

District Blockade

The smell of incense filled the noses of the Guardsman holding their position, soon a figure appeared covered up. Of course they had orders to not let anyone in however the figure in front of them reminded them of an inquisitor. Not taking the risk they let the figure in. "As you wish ma'am, be wary, dark magics have been seen in the area."

In slow pursuit of Akio, mankind of shadows

Behind Akio the Jinhai followed dutifully to locate the threat of Umbralkind. Second only to Demonkind in their habits of infesting mankind neither Jinhai had any problems with acting as tools of Mankind. When the fighting arose the Jinhai pivoted to one side then flipped inside himself. Dust and shroud simply reorganized in a different direction an action impossible for the conventionally bodied. Raising one hand Jinhai shot a pulse of new order across the ground rippling across the stone among grey light. Around two mankind order reorganized leaping up two quasi-psimass tentacles of concrete solidifying around their torso pinning mankind in place. Only Mankind was permitted to terminate Mankind the Jinhai would not permit the Tainted to. Waves of psychotransmutation erupted from the Jinhai's position as its eyes fluttered from target to target.

As true Umbralkind pushed through the weave between planes Jinhai was too concerned arresting the motion of what mankind were in range to notice the leader of Umbralkind kick Akio in Jinhai's direction. If he impacted Jinhai the creature would simply pivot forward instantly enveloping Akio in a thick black dune. Though they touched shadow it was not all that made the wellspring of motes a flying human might impact a shadowy planet like a flaming asteroid. Much like asteroids the earth would simply swallow Akio only the core peeking out from beneath its hood. They easily reknit the wounds of mankind cracks in the flesh sealing over but for the seat of one. Jinhai were denied reconstruction of the mind. Deconstruction flowed in a Jinhai's hands as much as that intent to rebuild as an arbiter of Order. Any hand of Myrkul had its native purpose as Ductu could become man, Wen were worn, but the Jinhai were wielded.

Near Ean, carrier for Mankind
The Jinhai near Ean with only several days of intellectual distinctiveness more than the other rotated its head at the center of its body a painful looking thing for the bodied. The Mankind made its request for a weapon to be at hand. They were not aware Mankind were informed of its nature but thought the request appropriate for this situation. So the Jinhai did what was asked.

The dusty voice verbalized its thoughts to Mankind as was custom, "As you wish, Mankind. I will keep you from being infested by the taint of Umbralkind."

Much the same would happen as to Akio as to Ean but in this case the black planet of intelligent grains of sand would envelop the asteroid instead. Jinhai simply walks toward Ean's shoulder intent to flow around the body to put its powers of reconstruction very much at hand. At such close range the mental effect would very much carry the feeling of being eyed by a desert full of a silent majority.

At the Barricade
The large horned helmet nodded at the imperial guard as over his head she felt an ill wrathful wind rush through the barricade. Shortly another holy sunrise landed traveling ever closer to burn fell shadow fog away. The Living Emperor! Clasping her hands her excited voice said confidently, "By the Dicta of the Emperors shall Umbralkind be cleansed. The Living Emperor has come to meet Umbralkind himself! Hold fast, warriors of Mankind, the Emperor of Mankind is with you!"

Raising her censer the inner light glows blue to shed threads of psimass swimming around it. She hovered it over the Mankind channeling holy order in rigid patterns of tendrils around their helmets. It would keep the taint out, for a time. Then the Emperor's holy blast wave washed over her channeled locus luminous golden strands poured out like they couldn't bear to be contained.

She mustered her blessing a stern mind and eye to give life to thoughtform with her smooth human voice, "By the will of the Emperor shall you burn away the taint brought to you by the unworthy. Be you the worthy and willful where the taint stands to sear darkness away by the touch of His holy Light!"

The patterns would settle like filigree on their armor pulsing with a familiar yellow glow. She couldn't stop to do more as the battle was joined. Without waiting to reply she hurried over them delicate feet stepping on their shoulders weightless armored tights among a dense cloud. Strips of her heavy armor danced around their helmets as she danced from shoulder to shoulder past the barricade and up the road. The golden light of her censer dropped two civilians where they stood. One dead the other looking at guardsmen in agony but no longer in wrath gagging out immolated shadowstuff that now pours out of them.

Akio flipped the drink off the blade just as quickly as it was set on, his eyes never leaving the man he was standing in front of...even if he had to look up to do so. His gaze held no vengeance against the tall, dark, Shadow King. His stance was not aggressive, nor was it passive. Even from the eerie whispers given to him by his own shadow coated by the agony-filled screams of the dominion this man claimed to conquer, his gaze never wavered. His face never softened. His stance never faltered. He held his own and he asserted his place in front of the Shadow King. Not even Draco's own words, spitting with fear and wrought with terror weren't enough to faze Akio, although Draco did get the claim of making him blink.

It was the summoning of the Legion of Shadows, the many coats of darkened arms that began to flood the already darkened district, the hounds chasing and slaughtering the already possessed innocents as well as the untouched ones, that made Akio drop his guard slightly. It was the showcase of immense power by Draco that made Akio gaze around him and drop his focus on the Shadow King. And that would allow Draco to get the first blow in.

Akio had only a split second to react, but he lived on a split second. He narrowly brought his blade in front of Draco's to block it, the strike sending Akio's blade backwards, but not out of his grasp. Akio could do nothing about the claw to his face nor the boot to his chest and so he took them, the impact sending the Wanderer back a good thirty feet. He hadn't expected the presence on Jinhai behind him, cloaking him from smashing against the buildings and bringing him to his standing position.

When Akio was revealed once more to Draco, the scar was prevalent. Three deep, rugged gashes across his left cheek, the middle one so deep it actually caused a hole to emerge and allow a close inspector to examine through it and into his mouth. However, Akio grinned...as easy as ever. Not to say that it didn't hurt, or that nothing truly hurt him, but that he was able to smile as classically as he did, despite it all. He brought his blade in front of him, setting himself into that same stance he held before. Ignoring the impact pain on his chest fading rapidly and the stinging of his cheek dissipating as the healing effects of Jinhai made him good as new, he managed a chuckle as his eyes locked on Draco. Hell, he didn't even comment to Jinhai or check to make sure he was behind him. He wasn't making the same mistake twice.

"Oh, an ultimatum," he quipped, feeling the energy vibrate into his blade...the spirits of his powerful line of ancestors charging the blade to maximum, "I love to ignore those."

And with that he charged forward, his blade humming with life as it glowed white. If there was a blade that could parry Draco's Sabre, this was it. It wasn't magic that the Shadow King was fated to contend with...it was faith.

Ean had to blink a few times as the Jinhai seemed to wrap itself around his body. "Oh... well, I wasn't expecting that but I suppose it'll work." He said, mildly surprised before continuing to knock the crazed civilians out cold.

And then literally all hell broke loose. Swarming devil dogs and creatures of nightmare, some coming so close all Ean could do was smack at them to knock them away, which with the Jinhai doing what it did, would bring them in contact with the shadow creatures first.

Ean twisted is pistols barrel again, then flipped it up and open. Pulling the trigger at that point caused the weapon to flare up, concentrated EM waves turned the immediate atmosphere into plasma, resulting in a literally sword made of flame. Ean used this to cut several of the shadow creatures down, before turning his attention to the massive, ten foot tall monster that had decided to make it's presence known with a monologue.

Ean Sucked his teeth and rolled his eyes. "Oh great, another one of you idiots coming to claim lives for your dark something or other." He shouted at Draco. "Get over yourself you basement dwelling scale sucker, there's enough of your like already in hell."

At this moment, a sound like thunder could be heard overhead, to which Ean smiled. "And here come the Angels to cast you back in chains."

For high above in the atmosphere, the drop ships had reached their destination, and the Imps had been launched from mag tubes into the atmosphere above the site. Fifteen thousand feet these men and women fell, an laser induced plasma field projecting a barrier around them, protecting them from the atmospheric resistance that would normally incinerate an object falling from so high. As they came closer to the ground, the plasma field was detonated, causing a shockwave that would buffer the soldiers, cutting their inertia in half. They used this to flip over, throwing their wing styled thrusters to full, to further reduce impact speed. This was the sound that was heard, as fourteen armored soldiers, who's helmets lack of features had given them the name of Imps.


As each came close to impact, they pulled out a small cylinder. This cylinder rapidly telescoped and shrank into a pole, at the top of which was a pulsating blue orb. When they crashed, they struck down with these devices, and then with a twisting motion they activated them. The orbs pulsed stronger then, creating a repulser field that would forcibly shove any unauthorized DNA signature. The signatures that were registered obviously included the Captain, although none of the Imps landed immediatly beside him. The troops themselves were registered with the repulsers, but unfortunately none of the unaffected civilians would find safety in the fields. Also unfortunate, Akio had yet to be registered, so his DNA profile would also be rejected, as would the Jinhai, as they had only just met with Ean.

When Ean had called them, he had only told them that civilians were going nuts. When they arrived however, it quickly became evident to them that there was more going on. This prompted a response from Franklin.

"What the fuck kind of shit have you dragged us into now you dumb bastard!" The Platoon leader shouted in Ean's General direction.

"Oh you know, same old same old." The Captain Replied, continuing to slash at the creatures.

Draco brought his blade up to stop Akio's counter strike in its tracks, his second blade aimed for a stab through the boy's Torso. His own stance didn't change in the slightest, using his weight to ground himself Akio wouldn't be able to move him if he tried. Stepping Forward, Draco's blade slid up against Akio's, the middle of the Wanderer's blade being caught in the grooves towards the hilt of Draco's sword as the Dragon began to twist his wrist, aiming to snap the metal blade in half and make it worthless. Draco's pushing power was that of four mountains all collapsing at once before being pushed back into place from beneath them,and then some.

"I'm still awaiting your answer boy." he growled as he took another swipe at Akio's body with his other sword, the humming of the Draconian Lightning grew louder as the swipe neared Akio's body, but it halted a millimeter away as Draco's coal red eyes caught sight of the Jinhai. Slowly blinking, reptilian Slits appeared within the Red orbs inhabiting his skull, and a low rumbling gurgled forth from his throat. His eye twitched, and from his chest, burst forth a swarm of Tendrils of Shadow, all reaching to either grab or smack at Akio in order to either bring him close enough so that he couldn't move, or push him far enough so that he couldn't do any damage.

"You....you are interesting."

Whatever touched them phased through them it seemed, based on the fact that Akio did just that. The great Shadow Lord didn't move, but he tilted his head in curiosity as his eyes narrowed, and he let out a curious hiss from his maw. From around the Jinhai, Tendrils of Siphoning Darkness. Physicality would not matter with these Tendrils, as they would begin to siphon at any physical, spirtiual, or mental fortitude that anything in the area had, as well as replacing it with Draco's corrupting darkness. It was then that he returned his attention to Akio, and smiled, licking at his lips with a devilishly long tongue.

"What say thee, boy?"

It was then that Ean's friend's descended from the Heavens, and where one of them popped up, two more Shadow Creatures appeared. Shadow Commandos. Obsidian Black armor with Coal Red Visors over their eyes. Most projectiles would only bounce off their armor, and their own bullets would strike back with the force equivalent to the last thing that hit the Commando's body. Sub-Machine Guns appeared in their hands and they opened fire upon Ean and his comrades. Should Ean and his friends decide to bring the fight to close range, each Commando would wield a dagger and sword each; both with serrated edges perfect for parrying, blocking, and cutting. They fought without noise, they did not falter, and they did not wince; they only kept going.

As the Heavens opened up and lo and behold the Emperor of Mankind appeared to challenge Draco, many of Draco's Legion were slain, only to be immediately replaced by quadruple the numbers, as they would begin to push outwards, to attack the Guardsman and other law enforcement and spread out along the entirety of the City if they could break through the lines. The Hounds and Slashers continued their rampage within the now battle scarred city, tearing whole buildings down if they needed to before moving onto the next and the one after that and so on.

Draco on the other hand ignored the so-called Emperor of Man and returned to fighting with Akio, in a flurry of motion, Draco's swords unleashed a maelstrom of lightning and metal towards the Wanderer. After the Flurry was over, Draco spread his arms out and from his mouth erupted a grand and terrifying sight: Shadowfire. Black and sickly green, the stuff spewed forth as if launched from a fire hydrant. It would not only burn everything it touched until there was nothing left, but also begin to erode and corrupt the very matter around it, turning the landscape into a wasteland within a matter of short minutes if allowed to spread. The Life Force of the very planet would fall victim if allowed, and Draco would only use it to fuel his Legion and allow it to grow even larger.

Crouching down, Draco stood and launched himself into the air, wings ripping themselves from his back and allowing him to hover as he stared down the Emperor of Man. The shockwave on the ground from where he launched himself would be the equivalent of a large Thermonuclear Detonation erupting in the center of the Business District, sending the shock wave outwards for miles, and making many buildings simply shatter. The Legion of Shadows would be unfazed by the massive shock, and would continue fighting, hunting, and corrupting.

Draco lowered a blade towards the Emperor of Mankind, a low growl gurgling forth once more as he smiled. "Another so called Hero of Man, come to contend with the Shadow Lord himself. You will find that I am nothing like what you have faced before." Draco growled before letting Tendrils hold his Sword for him as he clapped his hands and then pushed them up to the sky with a snarl, a great circle of Magic erupting from above his hands, ancient Draconian being the language of the seal. A great beam of purple light shot into the sky, and it then began to darken, and then rain. Lightning erupted from the clouds to the ground in bursts of one hundred bolts every fifteen to thirty seconds.

The Ancient Dragon was wise enough to know that his Shadow Magic would not work as he planned it to against the Light-Wielding Emperor of Mankind, but before Draco was a Shadow Dragon, he was a Storm Dragon with Black scales, and as a hatchling, he was already a master with his Draconian Storm Magic, and only grew more powerful as time progressed, as all Dragon-kind do. The concentration of power within the Dragon's body began to slowly rise, his human form becoming more and more deformed- more and more Draconian. His skin became scales, his skull reformed, his wings were no longer Ethereal, his hair had turned to horns, and his teeth to jagged points in many nasty rows as he never took his already Draconian Eyes off of his newly deemed opponent.

As Akio recovered from the shock wave of Draco's exit from his presence, he would find two Shadow Commandos waiting for him to get to his feet; their silence matched only by the black void that was their armor and swords as they stood and watched. They charged and attacked in Tandem, working as if two sides of the same coin, one feinting left while the other attacked right, or vice verse. They all did this with their opponents, whether it was Ean, Akio, or Ean's compatriots. The jinhai however were left alone to contend with the Tendrils of Siphoning Darkness, who were not only draining the realm around them of life energy, were feeding the Shadowfire and helping it grow.



Four Shadowlings, the only Four that Draco had ever created for battle and war, sat upon their knees and prayed. Their own Dark energies, granted to them by Draco himself, being funneled into a great sphere in the center of their square. The Sphere made the outer reaches of space look as though it were a star, the void peering out into the oblivious world as it grew and grew.

If completed, it would serve as a portal to the realm of Shadows itself, allowing Draco's entire Legion to pour through uncontested, and it would serve as a Conduit to the great Void; and thus further Fuel Draco's own power and body. It would also exude Darkness over the land, turning everything, including the sky itself, black. If left unchecked, this would bring about the end of Wing City itself, and eventually, Terra as a whole.

The Emperor Of Mankind

The Emperor sighed in annoyance as the massive swarm of Shadow Legion soldier he had just killed was now replaced by nearly quadruple their numbers. He found them more of a simple rock in his road, a minor obstacle in his path. Raising his sword, he impaled the ground in front of him and planted both hands on the hilt. Channeling his power a light coursed under the streets, all across the entire district.

The Light erupted as fast as it came, the streets began to glow and then everything above was showered with holy light burning away anything wicked, and surrounding the pure with newfound strength. The enemy could send as many soldiers they wanted, but mere cannon fodder would never prevail. He has faced a numberless foe, this was nothing.

Once the Emperor reclaimed his sword he looked into the sky just as a sudden force exploded. He remained unfazed like the rest of his forces who were already moving across the city to prepare for the enemy reinforcements that were sure to arrive. In the sky was his target, the leader behind this invasion. Draco. He aimed his sword at him, she shouted a threat at him. The sky began to darken as a purple beam shot into the air which was followed by rain then lightning strikes.

He chuckled, the man chuckled before Draco. Even as he began to reveal his true form. "Good then Dragon, it saves me the effort of forcing you to show your true self. I am not just a Hero of man! I am their savior to all that threaten them you beast! I will show you a new meaning beast, You will learn fear this day! And you will know defeat! Glory to the Imperium! Glory to humanity!" He then raised his sword into the air which began to glow with fire.

Grey Knights
The Grey Knights that accompanied the Emperor himself were focusing their psycic might together. They began to feel something, an unholy ritual was taking place. Together the Grey Knights began to interrupt their channel as they began to advance on the rituals location. They needed time to get to them, armed with Terminator armor or what some would say Tactical Dreadnaught Armor. They could not run, and they were slow to walk. However they were more than a match for anything follish or brave enough to stop them from arriving.

Adeptus Custodies
The Emperors Honor guard, the most prestigious and elite of any space marine. Armed with Golden power armor, light shining like the Emperor himself. Or for others, they would not even be armed with any armor. Their bodies riddled with scriptures, tattoos of religious symbols all acorss their body. They were all armed with Guardian Spears. And their mission wa to engage all hotile reinforcments and soldiers that remained or arrived.

In service of mankind Akio, wielder of Jinhai

The Jinhai did as what was in its nature while it is wielded and brought together ragged edges of torn flesh on Akio's face. Thin threads of black motes glide over the harsh mountainous terrain that was skin to their individually minute size. Individually they had tasks but in aggregate they maintained them. They swam through flesh like water no holes left behind them. Flexible Pincers holding on with pincers dragging flexible clay canyons back together. Others watched the rivers of energy flow distantly underneath those valleys diving low through flesh carefully minding obstructions paths there. Capable tenders in astral minutiae and like a sword only an implement. Jinhai were wielded in the sense that they made a weapon of mankind more effective.

In that same sense their efforts made a bulwark of the world as organizations of hexagonal motes built nerve-like structures to ensure the body had redundancy. That itself to regulate unwanted interferences. Most motes didn't notice the thunder of a structure fracturing around the sky but the ones forming the flexible shroud far above the skin's surface. Jinhai weren't built to keep objects from impacting the skin like Wen instead bludgeoning impacts dispersed better than sharp ones. They could resist the passage of the blade somewhat though it split motes like self-healing velcro. Their strength is in the billions of individual motes adapting their counter-efforts to them a very slow passage of an object crashing lightning through the sky. Macroscale the Jinhai existed in linear time but the individual motes were points of meticulously designed then evolved generic psionic potentials. Arcane structures evolved from now absent organic baggage as only physical structures they attached to. The motes that compose a Jinhai existed with an abundance of time to contemplate their next small action along the flow of Akio's energy.

Jinhai could not perceive the tentacles in the area but quite noticed the draw against the surface layer. Motes started balancing against corruptive influence as others on the outer surface started their own efforts to consume the tentacles and weren't the least bit shy at corralling the noxious energy that welled up in the surface layer returning efforts to consume the tentacles in kind. Arcane designs fluctuated and pulsed as what passed for an energy creature's immune system began to embrace, extend, exterminate. While motes engaged in a war of adapation Jinhai directed against it in aggregate.

As such the pulse from Ean's soldiers pushed at Jinhai but literally applying motive force to figurative memories of what should be. The Jinhai had an encoded knowledge of what human DNA should look like in order to repair it. Akio heard Jinhai's dusty voice in his ear both placid and unperturbed, "I can protect you, Mankind Akio, but know this is a deeper corruption. You can be recovered if you suffer this darkness, Mankind, but you will not enjoy it. Avoid spilling too much of your fluid or damaging the seat of Mankind I cannot replace either."

In the interest of Ean of Mankind

Ean's troops landed with a roaring pulse. Only traces of the living creatures they once were remained so against the repulsion motes wrapped around captain Ean gripped tight against the harsh wind. They crawled through cracks in the uniform to take refuge inside. Small double ended subworms crawled out from his cuff laying flowing lines of psimass like silkworms rewritten as they better understood the weapon when it fired. A sheath hardened around the emitter barrel and with the next shot glowed bright green a hard disjoining shockwave emitted with each round. A thing of calculated entropy Jinhai reasonable guess to its previous exposure to Umbralkind to help disperse an outer armor layer so plasma could get to work. The projection had a rather hard kick like a tensing muscle. Jinhai's mental awareness of controlling the vibratory minutiae of the weapon's existing and new inertia made available to Ean should he reach for it.

A thin web of notes reached up Ean's neck to his ear so Jinhai could emit a dispassionate tone despite the noise, "The Living Emperor attends to the Umbralkind. I suggest attending to other interests. Mada of 'Plinth' distinctiveness is upwind. She is our shipment's caretaker. We are unsure where exactly our eyes are not manifested."

Flung on arrival

When Mada arrived she found herself behind a landing sortie of troops from above a wake of screaming infected citizenry now merely screaming citizens. Temporarily inoculated against taint the ones with some sense made their way to the cordon vomiting out the blackness in hoarse heaves. Mada surged forward levitating quickly to where she saw the Jinhai in Myrkul's eye but an ill wind stalled her and the EM pulse pushed her hard and down. Her legs materialized under her armor as she swirled two lithe grey legs around to slam her censer into an oncoming hound. As the censer transmuted shadowstuff back into what it should be wet sounds ripped a haggard fleshy hole in the creature's shadow skin. Unable to tether itself to the nebulous creature parts of a now ruined living dog fell out of the shade.

Akio reacted as standard as ever...which was an incredible display of dexterous abilities on the Wanderer's part. The initial strike was blocked and the rapid counter was aiming straight towards his torso. A contortion of his weight to the right dodged the blade from entering flesh, his feet following the same direction as he took two steps. He felt a tug on the blade, the motion of Draco attempting to break Akio's blade, but he would find out quickly that he couldn't do it. The Shadow King may beckon great power and magical stamina, but blood was thicker than water. His heritage, his ancestry, his entire lineage was built into that blade. So long as it was in Akio's hands, it could never be broken, no matter how much force was applied. That being said, the force applied was great and if Akio didn't react accordingly, his wrists would be broken. So Akio reacted accordingly. Using the second blade Draco wielded as leverage, Akio stepped on it and flipped around the blade interlocked with his own, the same action breaking the connection between their swords. He felt the sizzling of lightning beneath his feet, but nothing had hut him. His own weight and force brought the Wanderer distance between the two and allowed him to take a second and regroup.

A second was all he had. Akio wouldn't answer Draco's question, but he would jump backwards as the Draconian Blade swiped towards his midsection again, aiming to cut him in half. It was a lucky choice too, as the Wanderer would notice it was a false strike, the real hit coming from the Tendril as it pushed Akio backwards, further from Draco. Had he blocked the blow and gone for the immediate counter attack, the tendril might've grabbed him instead of pushing him, placing Akio in a more precarious situation. He readjusted the blade horizontally in front of him, his hand grabbing his wrist for extra reinforcement.

"What say thee, boy?"

Akio's grin returned, winking at the larger foe, "Sorry, but I've got another boss I attend to now. Besides, I carry no respect for those who wish to bring their own dominion across the universe instead of keeping balance within it."

As he spoke, he could feel something...different. He was already reflexive, but somehow he felt more enhanced. His blade was already an extension of himself, only it felt more so. The answer came with a typically cryptic response from around him.

"I can protect you, Mankind Akio, but know this is a deeper corruption. You can be recovered if you suffer this darkness, Mankind, but you will not enjoy it. Avoid spilling too much of your fluid or damaging the seat of Mankind I cannot replace either."

This was the voice of Jinhai and the realization that he had enhanced his blade and bow suddenly became apparent. He checked his own grip on his sword before responding.

"That's kind of you, Jinhai. I shall keep your warnings in mind. Thank you," his attention refocused to the Shadow King, who was unleashing a torrential spur of Draconian Lightning and sword strokes in his direction. Akio perceived the flurry less like a mess of metal and energy and more like a calculations game, his mind keeping up with the speed of the blows and his reaction time put to the test against each blow. He caught the first strike, downward diagonal, and was spinning to catch the midsection strike. He took a step back, avoiding the strike at his feet, and brought the blade up to match the next stroke.

Backhand side, forward, uppercut, lightning strike to the right, left diagonal...

His singular blade began to feel like two as he caught each sword strike with precision, speed, and dexterity.These three attributes of his were further peaked by the effects of Jinhai being "wielded" by Akio through his sword, and he found it rather easy to anticipate the next strike. Unfortunate facts would begin to show for Draco as Akio began to shift his position on the swordplay from defensive to offensive, ending the flurry with a parry to the right, the sword of Draco's struck with enough force and skill to cause it to fly out of his hand if he wasn't careful with his grip or underestimating Akio's own abilities.

In the realm where sword fighting was a must, Akio was it's king.

When the separation occurred, the fire spewed, and the Shadow King launched itself into the skies, Akio found himself facing two other opponents left behind in the Draconian's shattered pavement...the Shadow Commandos. When they launched themselves forward towards the Wanderer, Akio caught on to the tactic almost immediately. It was the same method of strike Draco had used with his tendril to push him backwards. One feinted, the other struck. He caught the first actual blow with a glancing parry and dodged the next strike. His grin returned as his confidence surged. The third attempt would not go unpunished as he caught the Shadow Commander's blade, kicking the other one back. The blunt force behind the strike would be enough to cause separation from Akio and it's partner. Accurately and hastily, Akio spun and swung his blade in a dual spin strike, the force of the two blows would cause the single Shadow Commander to lose it's weapon as such a strike often did. The next stab would penetrate through the armor, the light of the blade piercing through the shadowed void as if it was nothing. And then, the Ancestral Blade would do it's thing as it's energy spread outwards in a spherical shape, blowing apart the apparition as if the Shadow Commander has swallowed a grenade. That took care of one of them.

The other was quick to retaliate as Akio swung the sword behind him, not even needing to turn his body as he felt the blade connect with the second Shadow Commanders. Propelling himself forward, he gained some distance before he turned to face his opponent who was already upon him. His stance would shift defensive as he parried the next blow.

Away from the inital battle, carefully observing the Shadowlings under command of her Beloved, Kethend noticed the slow moving enemy aiming to destroy the portal. Stupid mortals never learn.... She mused darkly seeing the Grey Knights moving towards the Shadowlings. She turned thoughtfully. Her daughter, Taris stood nearby, with her was her own Shadowling. "Taris, sweetie, Take Zendu and go to safety, Mommy has to kick some mortal ass." Taris nodded and with Zendu she disappeared in a plume of black shadows

Kethend turned towards the knights and stepped out of the shadows towards them. Mist formed in her hands as a pair of inkblack corrupted Swords of Eden formed in her hands, the twin swords leaked corrupted energies of black shadows. But they were also weightless, and in her hands, they were deadly. After all she had slain her worst enemy with them. kethend knew that unless these creatuers, these mere mortals, where blessed by Light herself, nothing could harm her or her beloved. With Draco ago directing the battle and fighting another mortal. Kethend turned her anger towards her slow moving target.

This was going to be fun

Fun in the sense of a battle unlike any other. The armor of the mortals may have been blessed by a mortal man. But kethend wasnt a Mortal, no, she was a Shadowblack Dragon, the beloved Queen of Draco. Kethend the daughter of Traeith the Black. a Powerful Shadowblack Dragon. She was ready.

And as her slow moving enemy neared her she smirked. Settling into a strange stance low to the ground she waited for long moments. Each thunderous heavy step of the mortals matched her heartbeat as she waited. Kethend used her shadows to barricade the Grey Knights from their compatriots. These were to be her playthings now. Their psykic abilites were no match for immortal shadows.

When the Grey Knights were a dozen meters away from her she waited until each had taken one more step before suddenly shrieking, her unearthly voice rang loud and clear, earsplittingly loud. Loud enough to cxause blood to pour from the unprotected ears of mere mortal men. She sprang from her stance, the twin corrupted Swords of Eden sang with an unearthly tone as trails of inkblack shadows like ribons on the swordtips trailed around her as she sprang without ewarning at the Grey Knights closet to her. The corrupted Swords were deadly to everything. And in her hands, they were fast A strange unearthly whistle came from the twin weapons as she mioved into the eight men

Their armor was strong yes, whereas she was dressed in her red, black and gold dress with no armor. using only her speed to keep one step aghead of the slow moving mortals. But their armor was tough, and her swords merely left marks, doing little if any damage to the suits of armor right off.

She smirked, time tpo up the ante! Shadows danced as she grew in size to match the Grey Knights. Now she could do more damage. Much more damage.

The twin Swords of Eden sang as she danced in the midst of the Grey Knights. her goal was twofold, distract, and destroy. Her only means of gaining information on a certain creatures current location was lost to her, and she had pent up anger and frustration to burn off. This was just the way to do it. Moving swiftly she kept one step ahead of the Grey Knights, using her speed and lack of armor to her advantage.

With the appearance of the two shadow commando's and the shadow dragon's departure, Ean let out an sound of exasperation "Oh for fucks sake" He said, firing another two rounds at the Commando's who immediatly exploded from the weapons fire.

This took Ean by surprise and he jumped back, looking at his weapon in confusion until the Jinhai Spoke.

"The Living Emperor attends to the Umbralkind. I suggest attending to other interests. Mada of 'Plinth' distinctiveness is upwind. She is our shipment's caretaker. We are unsure where exactly our eyes are not manifested."




"Well damn, You and I are gonna have to talk quite a bit when we get out of this. I wanna know how you did that, that was pretty cool" Ean Said in response, not sure if the Jinhai could hear him or not, or really whatever the hell was going on.

The Imp forces fired a few rounds into the forces that assailed them, recoiling from the psychic blow back. Franklin called out to them. "Pistols down, get the repulsars up and shove these things back."

Ean had a similar idea, for he shouted "Belay that, full power forward output, were charging straight through." He then turned and called out to Akio. "Akio we're pushing through, get over here and stay close, or get left behind."

Ean then directed the Imp patrol forces in the direction the Jinhai had told him their "mada" or whatever it was was at. Each of the soldiers took their repulsar fields, gripped them like spears, and began twisting the firing mechanism while pushing the shaping plates towards the orb. The result focused the repulsar's effect into a forward facing wall, that shoved everything in it's way back with the forces of a freight train moving at over five thousand kilometers per hour. A bit excessive, but the IMPs weren't taking any chances with the monsters they were forcing.

Shadow creatures, Commando's, walls, cars, buildings, it made no difference what was in their way, the IMPs moved forward as fast as they could while holding formation. Ean smartly got behind their line before they started, realizing moments after he gave the order that the Jinhai would have been forcibly ripped off of him if he was in the effect blast.

In this manner, Ean, the IMPs, the Jinhai, and Akio would make their way to find this mada.


Towards Mada's Position
The closer the IMP's got to a safe position, the lower they set the power of the Repulsars, until they shut them off entirely and broke formation into a sprint to get out of the AO. Ean quickly identified the individual the Jinhai had mentioned, guessing that most everyone else who wasn't going to need to be in the area, would have took off running when the Dragon made it's presence known.

"Hello there, You must be this Mada I've been told about. Listen, real sorry for the rush, but Me and my crew are getting the hell off this planet as fast as possible. Now if you wanna come with us, by all means, but it's gotta be right now, and it's gotta be real fast." Ean said, barely pausing in his sprint to help the armored figure up before started back stepping again.

Franklin and the IMPs got on the other side of the line of Imperial soldiers guarding the perimeter, where the Troop commander called for the Transport to pick them up again.

Draco snarled into a smirk as his Draconian Form hovered within the sky, looking down upon the Emperor with an amused look. "You make the mistake of thinking this will be easy for you, Emperor. A mistake you will wish you had not made." he smirked before his swords returned to their sheaths on his back, and he began to chant in Draconian.



The Purple Light began to rise from the very earth and into Draco's body as he channeled more power from the very Storm he created, and then once more drew his swords, she Shadowfire blades crackling with Cold Draconian Fire as his Wings flapped once, and within half a heartbeat, he was within three feet of the Emperor, aiming a double downwards strike with both swords, each one with the power of a full typhoon behind them as he aimed to slice off the Emperor's arms cleanly. Whether or not the blades struck was irrelevant, as Draco used the momentum to flip, smacking at the Emperor's face with his wings to make him blink, and then bringing a leg down over the man's head, the weight of his Kaiju sized true form behind it, hundreds of thousands of tons of muscle and scale and negative emotion, all in one point of his heel as it came down upon the Emperor of Mankind.

With the Commandos and their combatants.

While initially the Commandos would be obliterated by those they were sent to fight, Ean and his comrades, as well as Akio, would find that they would quickly reform, stronger than last time, and continue their attacks, with more ferocity and skill than before. Each destruction of their bodies only made them harder to kill; that is why Draco himself personally searched for suitable candidates for his Commando Battalion of Shadows.

At this point, they were there only to annoy and distract Ean, his friends, and Akio so that Draco could focus on the Emperor himself. And they would do their job well, and diligently.

Back with the Emperor

Darting backwards out of physical range after his initial flurry, Draco's scaled form bore an amused smirk while his wings flapped gently, keeping him hovering gently a few feet off the ground. His armor remained on his body, a black helmet appearing and coming over his head, encasing it in the Draconian Metal.

"Emperor....a fitting title for a worthy Opponent. But I'm afraid your reign will soon come to an end, your highness." Draco spread his arms and bid the good Emperor to look out across the landscape of the war-torn city. "Even if you defeat me and drive me from this land, I have already one. I have done what I set out to do: Collect bodies and souls for my Legion. The rest? It's just the icing on the proverbial cake for me." he laughed.

"Now then, Emperor of Mankind, Hero of the City. Strike me with your best."

On the front lines of the battle

The Bashers in Cohort armor continued their steady advance outwards from the Business district, most ordinary projectiles bouncing of shield and armor, or phasing through their bodies. Spears and swords launched forth from their formation and any caught in the attacking waves would be literally stomped into their own shadow, and conscripted into the Legion.

Within buildings, Slashers and Hounds continued their rampage as they harvested those who were hiding, none were safe. Safe rooms were found, Shadows turned against their own casters, and tendrils became commonplace, snatching anything unfortunate enough to get close. On and on the Basher cohorts progressed, a steady train of death and destruction. Each Basher felled would only bring four more into battle, and they had no heart. They did not care for their fallen brethren, nor did they care for themselves, they only cared about the harvest of souls and bodies for the Legion, and of the slaughter of innocents.

With Kethend and the Gray Knights.

Draco had noticed the movement of said Gray Knights, and while he did not yet sense the presence of his mate, Kethend, he did send her help. Screaming Minotaurs burst forth from every direction they could, fully armored and armed with their large rusted Axes, and screaming in complete and total agony, screaming for mercy as they attacked with all their might, self preservation instinct broken out of them by their service in the Legion. They were faster than the Gray Knights, but they only knew one thing: Attack. So when their axes didn't work, they only continued to swing, albeit aiming for what could be assumed to be weaker points in the armor; joints, and the like.

If that did not work, the Minotaurs would proceed to try to sumo the great Gray Knights and wrestle them to the ground before ganging up on them and using their combined weight to drag them into the abyss.

At the Ritual Site.

The four Shadowlings began to slowly straighten their backs. They were upon their knees and praying in similar fashion to those who practice the faith of Islam, bowing their bodies, and using that position to exude their dark power into the sphere as it steadily grew. The Ritual would end when all four began to hover, and were sucked into the orb. For now though, their backs were merely beginning to straighten, and their heads began to lull backwards as they sat up. They then began to chant in unison, the two male and two female voices mixing together as a rehearsed quartet, almost singing their chant as their eyes were closed and their dark energy leeched from their bodies into the orb.



And so their chant continued, quiet at first, but as time would progress, it would slowly, but steadily grow in volume. Around the plaza where the ritual was taking place, fifty Shadow Commandos stood watch, more of the Legion ready to pour to defend at a moments notice. The Commandos were equipped with the equivalent of 100 Calibur Sniper Rifles, that would blow the arm off an ordinary man if he tried to fire it. They watched the streets and buildings, silent, without fear or hesitation or emotion. Silent.

With Draco and the Emperor.

The Sky grew darker and the lightning around the city ceased. Draco grew silent and only watched. He was ready for anything the Emperor had to throw at him.

The Emperor Of Man

As the Emperor watched as the massive dragon began to absorb more strength, he simply raised his sword and waited for the attack. With one hand, he raised his sword above him as the two swords came down upon him. He easily blocked it without any strain in his muscles. However the dragon then used the momentum and tried to bring his heel down upon him.

"I have already given up everything being easy beast. However I have faced entities that far surpass everything you are capable of. If you think me to lose then by all means, use everything you have. It makes your defeat more bitter." The Emperor calmly replied as he raised his hand up and caught the heel that was brought down on him. However before he could act the dragon quickly darted back to avoid any possible counterattack he could make.

The dragon then began to make a speech of how he had already won, and how everything else was just adding more destruction. "Do all of you beasts always continue to gloat? It is irritating to listen to your voice. You want me to hit you with my best shot? Then by all means I wont hold back." The Emperor replied as he placed his foot forward. However instead of charging at the beast he used his psychic might and used the warp to shorten the distance. In an instant he was right in front of Draco's right eye with a fist prepared for him. He threw his punch, the force more powerful then any capital ship could even hope to rival. The force of the punch sent shockwaves which began to shake the city and it was aall aimed right for his eye.

Grey Knights
As the warriors of the inquisition lumbered forward, they saw another figure in their path. Knowing all to well to be the enemy they marched in unison. As soon as they got close the witch as they would have said let out a defining and ear breaking wail. The warriors shielded from this sonic assault stood still as they watched her charge them. They maintained a tight formation, keeping their flanks secured as they parried the blows the woman would deal to them, and even if they were struck their Wardian Power Armor was more than enough to defend them.

Of course they knew they were being tied up, they knew they were going for the portal. Soon they saw unholy abominations charge at them, minotaur's charging right at them. Raising their Power Halberds they countered the minotaur's easily with their strength. Using their halberds they sliced them apart with no effort, those that tried to sumo them would find their strength to be far more than a match for them, easily grabbing them and using their weapon to kill the beasts. "Brothers, the enemy seeks to stop our advance. Enemy position is located, prepare the assault. We will hold the enemy with our lives. Glory to the Emperor." One of the Terminators psychicly communicated with other battle brothers.

Ritual Zone
"Target sighted, begin operations." The Brother Captain spoke as they were psychicly inserted inside the ritual zone. He and a large group Of Grey Knights were inserted into the area. Paladins, Purifier Squads, Purgation Squads, Strike squads, Interceptor Squads and even a Librarian arrived on the scene. There were one hundred marines all with one purpose. "Purge the ritual! In the name of the Emperor!" They then began their purge of the area burning everything in sight and set their focus on the shadowlings.

Paladins and Purifiers went to work in the destruction of the enemy which surrounded the area, armed with Thunder Hammers and Wardian Power armor they quickly went to work. Purgation squads armed with incinerators infused with holy prayers began to burn all including the very shadows. Intercepters armed with Power Swords and Teliporter Packs quickly relocated around the area ambushing all they came across. Strike Squads began to open fire on the enemy and the Brother captain himself lef the assault.

Adeptus Custodies
The Honor Guard decsended all across the city, they began their fighting across the streets to counter the Shadow Legions efforts. They opened fire from every little blind spot, their accuracy pinpoint to rival even a sniper. They began to skirmish with the enemy seeking to eliminate as many of the enemy as possible.

Orbit Above Terra
In Orbit above Terra, multiple warp signatures were detected. Massive ships began to emerge from them all decorated with holy statues. Imperial ships had aarrived by order of the Emperor himself. Battlefleet Terran was assembled as positioned in orbit. Composed of Battleships and cruisers with a myriad of escort vessels. All orbital batteireis were primed on the streets of the District. "Battlefleet Terran has arrived, beginning purge of the district, avoid fellow battle brothers on the surface."

Knowledge upon the shoulders of giants

Upon Akio's thanks the Jinhai did not respond with no interest in appreciation instead attending focus to quietly shaping the ginsu tree. They did not interfere with a mind as the Ductu's psi-seed was for such things. Theirs was to passively serve but still they inferred. A contemplative watch from the edge of the mind's valley constructing defenses against storms outside. Such as the thin layer of silicon plates insulating Akio from electrical earth. They harvested dust and dirt wherever Akio put his feet leaving pure shapes where his footsteps had been. They knew where EM fields raged there was hostile conductance and little else of what went on. Motes adapted to conditions at developed contemplation by the whole. Still, motes of Jinhai were nonlinear things of order when working toward terrible concerts of energy potentials.

His chest and shoulder had interests all their own as ripples of psi conductance poured toward them. Ignorant of tensing mountains of muscle and bedstone supported underneath sparks raced along the ridge from their own points of mustering power. It located wells of force away from Akio's own as not to interfere with them in circuitous paths taken around moving spiritual force. At the shoulder's focus point from a warm lump under his clothes alit a psiblade from Akio's own motor memory the thought twitching to deflect away a blow from tentacles. The thin line of sharpness wavered at the fringes of voluntary mind before sheathing back to mind.

The ridges of dust formed on his chest did what it must as the deeper darkness of those tentacles had to be repelled from washing over the peaks and into Akio. Designs and tactics took place from one moment to another as a war between destructive potentials raged ignorant of the battle going on in their sky. Jinhai took some damage keeping their line but they did not purge corruption by fortification but by extinction. Akio's hand glowed with Jinhai building a sacrificial roads alongside his own the result glowing veins there like the target of a lightning strike. As the pattern enfolded corruptive energy left behind by the tendrils was its own potential. Motes leapt at the hazardous material self-immolating both into psionic energy in growing from waves of minutely different individuals mounting sacrificial counter-casting transmutations. A searing bolt of potential arcs from the locus point up toward Akio's shoulder. The rings surrounding the impact site an impatient cloud ready to transmute raw death into a bolt of disintegration dispatched by Akio's sword. Jinhai felt both Akio and the sword could survive conductance of the impending suffering. Feral arcane things of this like had to get out one way or another before corruption rematerialized lest it worsen the minor punishment it unleashed upon itself.

Behind Ean's force and will

Jinhai's response in Ean's ear remained calm and succinct as the wind died down behind the repulsar, "We are as yet inexperienced with the flow of your weapon. We appreciate knowledge at appropriate times."

The figure in the distance clad all in a dense metal weave swung a censer bleeding a crimson cloud that smelled of gunpowder, ozone, blood. A thing of iron will that was hard to place but for the odor of war. She sang a hymn of the fallen emperor in netherese the long dead language of their fallen emperor. Lilting her hymn sang by powerful voice shadows in her presence seared like fog at daylight several meters away so close to the living emperor as she was. Everything beyond the material plane shredded by her disjunctive wind an indiscriminate weapon against trans-dimensional aetherkind. The strike of her censer against weaker citizens or creatures either freed them into the peace of death or to survive into suffering to live as pure creatures. Dogs that turned to their living counterparts as the repulsar gale blew everything away. Interrupted in her hymn shadows returned as the ferroplasm helmet smashed backward hard into the concrete.

She rubbed her head the lilting girlish voice whining a little as Ean helped her up, "Eeeeh. Your force locuses really hurt. Oh! My brothers say you're a carrier? If this Aetherkind is here we totally need to move our things out of his reach!"

Her svelte legs disembodied their muscles partly to a whirling black smoke as she floated to her feet censer again a raging red, "Then let's go. Call me Plinth, I'll force the way through! For the Living Emperor!"

"Akio we're pushing through! Get over here and stay close, or get left behind."

Akio had just finished taking down the second Commando, using the momentum from the knockback in his initial downward diagonal stroke to double his speed as he twirled around, catching the Commando with a backhand side very very few beings had the ability to keep up with. The Commando felled easily, in two pieces no less.

"On my way!" he called back, but as he took the first few steps, another Commando was in front of him, sword aimed in a jab. His eye twitched slightly as he parried the blow and aimed for a neck slice, only to have it interjected by the blade of another Commando. The two resumed their positions next to one another and continued the same fighting tactic they had when he first encountered them. It was back to square one.

"I'll catch up!" Akio waved on Ean and his crew as he resumed combat with the two Shadow Commandos. Their tactics didn't change, and so it was like fortifying his own repetition towards them, although their resistance sure was on the up and up compared to the previous two. Not to mention Akio was beginning to feel slightly fatigued...but only slightly. He had fought roughly three thousand demon king samurai before and this was nothing in comparison with that day.

As the fighting continued, Akio could feel another power inside him. This power...it felt climactic. Like it was building up and waiting to be expelled by some sort of action. Akio didn't know what this power was, but he'd be damned if he didn't take a chance to use it now.

Akio brought the sword in front of him just as a bright pulse of energy shot from his figure and literally evaporated the two Shadow Commandos in a bright wave, dispelling them from this realm. Akio blinked rapidly, his mind racing as he realized what was happening. He was using...light? He never had control over light, never even bothered to touch it. This was the prophecy of Tai Chen to burden, not for him.

So where did it come from?

There were many questions on Akio's mind, but here and now wasn't the place for them. His hand stung slightly from the discharge of light, but he was fine otherwise. He had to catch up to Ean before more Shadow Commandos chose to hound him. Keeping his sword in front of him, he charged into the opening left in the wake of his troops's "wall" Ean directed. The gap was closing and Akio had to be wary not to let the "shadowed" people touch him. Before reaching the exit to the main plaza in the Business District, he couldn't help but examine the carnage taking place in front of them.

If one thought J. R. R. Tolkien's Battle of the Five Armies was epic, it had nothing in comparison to the conglomeration of individuals here. Many dark beings of all kinds and varieties were slaughtering the innocents and the warriors alike, as if it didn't matter to them. The valiant warriors of the Emperor fought back with incredible patriotism and magnificent skill, holding their own for the most part. That wouldn't spare the other innocent lives that the Shadow Army continued to purge, although they were giving it their best effort. Not even the Grey Knights, who currently had their hands full dealing with one superior woman in a dress who wielding two blades that whistled while they worked, could do much to protect this district. Akio even felt the urge to join them in battle, to give the Grey Knights the upper hand by taking on this woman directly. But he felt the pull of fate in the other direction.

"Tell me Ancestors," Akio whispered into the blade, "Are these people doomed?"

The blade held it's own language, one foreign and unidentifiable for anyone except the Hanatori bloodline. To anyone else, it would sound like very vague whispers that sounded like nonsense. Only Akio would her what they said. From the pained look on Akio's face, it wasn't good news.

"These people didn't deserve this fate," he said as he saw one man get tackled and mauled by one of the Shadow Hounds, "You can't expect me to ignore this carnage. I must fight."

The blade whispered back to him. Akio closed his eyes and bit his lip. He was silent for a moment.

"You're right," Akio finally said, a solemn chord in his voice, "The fates of the shadows told me to go with Ean Falcor. For that reason alone, I must. But I will avenge these people one day. I swear it."

With that, he blazed his trail out of the main plaza and towards Ean and company.

---

Akio's eyes lay upon Ean party a few moments later. He sheathed his sword as he approached and went up to Ean directly. "I made it," he said with a slight nod, "Where is your Cobalt Glaive?"

Ean eyed "Plinth" as she had said her name was with a raised brow. "Force your way through that? No thank's ma'am. We've got transports coming in" And here he turned to Franklin who responded with a "two minutes"

"Two minutes" Ean finished, going on to say "And those will be taking us directly to the space port, where we will be packing up and moving on from this planet. To put it frankly, we have no need to go through that" He put a bit of a venomous edge to the end of that sentance, even as he jabbed a thumb at the monsters and mayhem that continued to go nuts on the other side of the Repulsar wall.

As he looked to make the point to that sentence he spotted Akio. The wanderer was sprinting, and barely made it on the other side of the repulsar wall before the Imps threw it to full power. A good thing too, because once they were set off like that, nothing in this cosmos was getting past that wall.

"Akio, thank the stars. Was half scared I was going to have to leave you behind. We're going to the Glaive as soon as the transports arrive." Ean said, stalking up to the wanderer before wrapping him in a rough embrace. He took a step back then and turned to watch the massacre that was going on. "Damn. If it were up to me, we'd save the lot of them from this. But I'm not willing to risk my crew, my family, to stand amongst monsters and gods. Whatever mercy exists, I pray that it finds these poor souls."

At this time the Transports landed. They're appearance was like that of a sort of small whale, with a large rounded body, and two wings and a tail made of the same fashion that The Cobalt Glaive's were, being a metalic set of "bones" around which arced energy which gave both lift and thrust. The front of these vessels opened, a trio of plates popping and sliding open with a hissing sound. The troops loaded into the transports, and Ean would enter the fore most one, directing Akio and Plinth to do the same.

In a matter of moments the transports lifted up once again and set off over the district at a speed like gale winds towards the Space port. In this, Ean, his newfound first mate, and his newest employer, would leave the battle behind.

The Transports flew over the space port on their way to the Cobalt Glaive, who was already preparing for launch. As they moved, Ean stood in the cockpit, holding the radio as he gave instructions to Emily, the helmswoman.

"It should only take us a minute to get the transports locked down. The moment we are take the Cobalt Glaive up and out of the atmosphere." Ean said

"That may prove problematic captain, our scanners are painting a pretty nasty battle going up there, we might get caught in the crossfire" Emily responded, calling back over the radio.

"Jesus what is wrong with this planet, why is there suddenly a damn war going on out of nowhere!" Ean complained, before stating "Alright, ready up a full flock of fighters then, and throw in a squad of bombers to that. Once everythings ready then we'll launch."

"Sir." Emily cut the line.

Ean claimed down into the cargo and sat down hard in one of the benches along the wall. He sighed and started to dig into his pocket for something. "I'll tell ya something now so it don't come as a surprise to you later, Akio. As my first mate your gonna have your hands full trying to filter this crap. As captain, i like to know everything that's going on as it pertains to my ship, but I don't have time to hear every single detail. Your first priority is gonna be making sure that whatever reason I'm getting bothered for, is something that I NEED to be bothered for. If someone else can take care of it, then make sure they do."