Irral, the First Son.'s Story

A single, gentle shake.

The world around the Gardens shook gently, and for a moment everything was quiet. Then the air itself was torn asunder, a massive, roaring sound of fire and Draconian agony echoing across the land while a singular beam of Golden Light raced into the air, corrupted with swirls of glorious violet. The clouds parted and the Beam of Light went into the atmosphere, dissipating into the clouds as a golden dust of Holy Draconian Light.

The First Champion of Light, had returned.

In the epicenter of the glowing beam of light stood a singular man clad in Draconian Duradaeden Battle Armor; the menacing, towering figure still like a statue as the Golden Armor gleamed in the sunlight. For a while all he did was stand, before falling to his hands and knees, his helmet falling of his head, and revealing pristine white hair, cut short and neat. His skin was pale, evident that he'd either been kept somewhere dark for a long time, or spent much of his time in his armor. His eyes, were solid white for a moment, before reverting to their natural state - Golden Pupils with streaks of Corrupting Purple surrounding the vertical, Draconian Pupils. Sharp teeth parted as he let out a breath, steam coming from his mouth as he exhaled his first free breath in a long time.

Slowly he stood, his helmet vanishing in the wind as Golden Dust, and his back and other joints cracked in relief as he stood up fully at twelve feet in height. Numerous weapons adorned his body, two Ornate, Black Duradaeden Swords forged by his hand adorned the left shoulder, from the right shoulder, a powerful Draconian Lance, likewise of Black Duradaeden. Perfectly balanced, perfectly sharp, True Draconian Perfection. Adorning his thighs and upper arms were countless Throwing Knives, which soon faded into Dust as well, leaving only the armor. At the small of his back was a single Dagger, dubbed the Dagger of Light, made from Pure White Draconian Duradaeden. Its true power kept a secret by the only two who know of it, Irral himself, and his mother, Light. Other weapons could be summoned when needed.

Taking a deep breath, Irral closed his eyes, feeling the breeze and sun on his face. The Armor he wore made no sound as he spread his arms to enjoy the moment and to stretch his body. The Joints were still finely tuned, and extremely well protected by overlapping, scaled plates of Duradaeden.

"The world....so beautiful....." a bird came to land on one of the spikes of his shoulder pauldron, "...so peaceful.....but he is still out there...." He said softly, his voice, though gentle, deep and rumbling. His broad shoulders added to the power of his mere presence alone. He wasn't just tall, he was big. The fair skin that covered his defined jaw twitched and pulled back, his lips forming a small smile as a few more birds came to rest on the various spikes and protrusions of his armor. All was peaceful, until he sneezed. The sound of his Draconian sneeze echoing for miles, birds from across the city taking off from their perches in a panicked flight away from the Gardens.

Irral turned, slowly, however, his corrupted golden eyes scanning the area around him. He wasn't alone, after all.

Such a bright light...was it morning? Or did the big giant light in the sky suddenly grow brighter or get closer? Whatever it was it was really bright. And for a young woman sleeping in a nearby bush she was awoken with a quiet yawn. Of course as her surroundings became clear a sudden sneeze startled her heavily.

Instinctively she sat up quickly, causing the bush to rustle loudly. Using the cover of the bush she not so subtly peered outside the bush to look at her surroundings. What caught her attention was a very tell figure in armor, and he was looking around. He was so scary...She only let a surprised yelp as she not so subtly hid inside her bush, grabbed a small stack of leaves on the ground and put them on her head in an effort to hide herself better.

"Um...Ebba? I don't think...You know...Never mind actually. I don't think you are going to listen."

"Woah! That is one big thing. If it attacks lets beat the hell out of it!"

"Are you dumb? We are not fighting that thing, Ebba's safety comes first, we are retreating to safety if it attacks..."

"Bah! It only looks tall! And really strong probably but we can beat it up! And your calling me dumb you chicken."

"Digression is the better part of valor you idiot. If you wanna try to get us killed I'll gladly stop you..."

"You wanna fight!? Then bring it!"

As the two voices argued in the young womans mind, from across the city. The dragons entrance caused an uproar of the cities Imperial Guard forces in the area. A few mechanized regiments of Imperial Guardsman with Chimera troop transports and Scout Sentinels began to make their way to the Gardens.

"By the Emperor, another disturbance. All nearby units respond and find out what has landed!"

The disturbance in the bush was noticed immediately by the Dragon, and he turned his head to look directly at the girl in the leaves quickly. He didn't have to turn his head much, but he turned towards her a bit, standing at a forty-five degree angle to the girl. The draconian pupils focused with the shifting light and with a blink, his eyes began to glow brightly, and he could see her clearly.

"Hello there, child." He spoke, his voice though still deep, booming, and intimidating, held no ill-will to it. It did however command an air of respect. "I will not harm you, come out from there. Tell me who you are, where I am, what you can do....and why you choose to sleep in a bush." he spoke calmly, and gestured to the bush she currently sat in with his hand, the gauntlet clawed and menacing, though it didn't take long before another bird landed on his finger, chirping away. He lifted his hand and examined the bird for a few seconds, before blinking and turning his attention back to the girl in the bush.

"I am Irral. I exist to eradicate darkness wherever I find it, and I have been lost for a long time." he introduced himself, letting his arms fall to his sides to rest. Irral paid no heed to the sounds of the Imperial Guard mobilizing and making their way to the city. They were of no concern to him, and he was not here to fight.

"P-P-Please...I-I-I don't m-m-mean t-t-trouble...P-P-Please don't h-h-hurt me....y-y-your scaring me..." The Young woman stuttered heavily as her whole body was now trembling in fear. His voice was scary, it was deep and loud...she did not handle public situations well, and when she encountered a thing that was almost twice her side, covered in massive armor and with a voice that deep. The poor girl was now curled in a ball shaking in fear.

All the while the voice continued to argue...

"Let me at him! I'll kick that things ass!"

"No you fool, you'll get us all killed. I'll be the one to ensure her safety and...where do you think your going Lazarus?"

"This situation clearly requires a more calming touch. You two are going to cause trouble and---"

"Like hell you are taking over!

"I won't let any of you two take over. Defense is key here now."

Irral narrowed his eyes, sensing that there was much more to this girl than could be seen with a simple look. He took a step forward, his head righting itself and his eyes glowing a bit brighter. He could see....swirls of color in the girl's body, three larger ones, one smaller one, keeping the others at bay as they swirled around her, vying for control. He could not hear the voices in her head, but he could, in a way, see them.

"You are a troubled, lost child....scared and alone...." he said as he approached slowly. His voice was calm, trying to be soothing as he let it become a bit more gentle and soft rather than booming. He did not however raise or lower his pitch, it stayed deep. He stopped a foot away from the bush, towering over the frightened girl as he then slowly crouched, kneeling before the girl and letting her see that he looked every bit as human as she did.

"Perhaps not alone...no...there is more to you. But you wish for clarity...." His eyes lost their purple streaks, gold filling the iris's completely, and he reached out a hand, slowly and gently. "I can provide you with such clarity...if only for a short while....take my hand."

The air around him would feel warm, inviting, and calming, and his movements were all very slow, and deliberate, as to not startle the girl before him. His eyes continued to glow however, as he kept watch on the three "Voices" within her. He could not discern if they were friendly or hostile, nor what their intentions were with the poor girl. She would need to touch him for that to become clear for him.

As the being calmed his voice, the girl soon began to tremble slightly less. Only slightly of course, her whole body was still shaking. "Y-Y-You were...T-T-The scary thing...Your v-v-voice was scary...and loud...and very tall..." She managed to speak a bit louder now.

Of course, the being soon offered her...clarity. She of course knew not what the being spoek of so she had to ask."W-W-Whats Claridity? I-I-Is it...Like an Amburance?...O-Or...Is it something nice?..." She timidly moved one of her hands away from her face to look up at the being. He looked like the man she spoke to earlier. He looked...human...He seemed like another nice person...

The voices in her head soon vanished as they decided that the time for talk was over. They were now all duking it out to find out who would be the one to come to Ebba's aid.

Irral only smiled as she asked him what Clarity was. "It is something better to be experienced than to be explained. Take my hand." He said to her. He blinked slowly, the sounds of the Imperial Guard growing closer, much to his annoyance; with the vibe he got from them, they would ruin the moment of clarity he wished to give this poor child. His golden armor continued to gleam in the sunlight, and he nodded his head to his hand, still outstretched, he fingers curled ever so gently as to not show her the claws of his gauntlets, which wouldn't hurt her anyway, as he wished no ill-will against her

"You are....plagued by voices....different beings....I can see them. They try to overwhelm you....touch my hand....I can make them fade away...leaving only you, for just a moment." he said. He leaned forward a bit, the knuckles of his free hand resting on the ground as he leaned forward more to offer her his hand. "Come now, there are others coming that may not like my presence here. Touch my hand." he repeated, his voice still soft and soothing.

"O-Oh...S-Sure...Just please...don't hurt me..." The young woman spoke as she was slowly getting more calm. Her voice although quiet was not hard to hear. She moved her hand away from her face and reluctantly reached out for his outstretched hand.

She would soon touch his hand after at least a few seconds of hesitation.

Irral said nothing as she reached out for his hand, and as soon as her skin touched his hand, his eyes flashed brightly. A sudden wave of warmth would begin to wash over the girl, starting from the point of contact, then slowly moving down her arm to the rest of her body, and so on. As it reached her heart and head, she would feel a sudden sense of liberation and clarity.

Gone were the three voices that tormented her so, vying for control over the others and of her. Gone was much of her anxiety and shyness, and gone was the fear that came with it.

"Clarity. Now you know what it means." He said, no longer changing his voice to soothe her, seeing no need. After another minute, his eye twitched and he pulled his hand away, the purple streaks of corruption returning as he turned away and began to breath heavily. For a moment, he could hear the voices that she heard, for a moment, the clarity remained with her until he balled his hands into fists and stood, his body glowing and his breathing stabilizing.

She would have her voices back, but she would know what Clarity was, and what it felt like.

It would be then that the Guardsmen of the Imperium rounded the corner to approach the gardens directly. Irral drew himself to his full height and watched them as they sped down the street. Narrowing his eyes, he counted them. So many for just a simple entrance? They were on edge it seemed. Perhaps they'd tangled with another Dragon before?

He took in a deep breath. Ah, yes...Draco. He'd been here, he'd attacked this city and its people. That is why they were on edge. The city reeked of Draco's Corruption and Magic. That boy was sloppy with his work. There was another....his mate, Kethend....she was even more sloppy, though her magic was no where near as strong as her Mate's....he closed his eyes. He could feel the pair of them growing stronger by the day, building their forces, biding their time. It would only be a matter of time before they either brought darkness to this world, or created a portal to another.

Everything felt...strange. She was no longer scared, the arguments have gone away, and she felt...brave now...This was like those times when something inside her urges her forward to fight for herself. It was...great! She gave a small smile as the kind gesture until her timidness returned to her along her voices which went quiet. Of course her smile still remained. [color=]"Thank you...that was kind sir..."[/color] She spoke.

"What was...that just now?..."

"Everything went white for a second...What's going on?..."

"That was...something..."

But before they knew it, they heard footsteps and many other voices.

"This way! Stay in formation men! Keep your las-guns primed and ready! And keep your guard up! Whatever came here was in a physical means! The Gellar Field protecting this city thwarts those Shadow Legion bastards from popping up randomly! Whatever it is its probably hostile!" A Imperial Officer called out his order as the men armed with las-guns and Flak vests began to storm the garden.

The young woman of course suddenly turned scared however she suddenly felt something inside her give her a sudden boost. She no longer felt afraid, she even stood up straight. Where they bad people? Nonetheless the woman needed to be prepared to defend herself.

Irral's back straightened, and his head became surrounded in golden light, his helmet appearing on his head, resembling his own head when he was in his true, Draconian form, with the horns and swept-back design of the Duradaeden. He moved towards the sounds of the Soldiers of the Imperium. He stopped after about twenty paces, easily covering a meter with each step, as the Guardsmen came into view. His Golden Armor was a stark contrast to that of the Dragon they'd fought before.

"I will admit that your defenses proved rather difficult to navigate. I see now that you are trying to keep out another one of my kind." Irral spoke, his helmet amplifying his already deep and intimidating voice. "You will find that I am not as easily dissuaded from making my appearance when and where I see fit, and that I am only hostile if engaged or hindered in my task. So answer me this: Do you intend to attack me?

Slowly Irral's arm raised to the Draconic Lance on his back, and slowly it came forth from its sheath, before he twirled the thing effortlessly in one hand, slamming it upon the ground and sending out a small shock wave. Not enough to stumble anyone, but enough to be felt. He wrenched it from the ground and lowered himself into a battle stance, holding the Lance in both hands akin to how one holds a staff or a spear.

"If you do not intend to attack me, now is your one and only chance to lower your weapons, that we may speak on friendly terms. If you do intend to attack, then I hope you have made peace with your selves, because none of you will survive the engagement." He spoke with a cold exactness. This was not a threat, this was a promise.

The Imperial Guardsman surrounded the being, however they did not shoot. "Another one of your kind?...The last so called dragon that came here decided to massacre everyone in sight. Your kind is not welcome in this city fiends, too much blood has been spilt by your kind so we are going to ask you to drop the weapon or by the Emperor we will open fire!" The officer called out with Las-gun primed for fire.

Another damned dragon, already a vox was already sent to the orbiting fleet to be prepared for orbital stikes if neccecary. If they did not work the Space Marines were prepared to strike at a moments notice. Like hell they would haave yet anther damned creatre waltz up inside the city! Not on their watch!

"Sir! We have a civilian next to the creature! We might accidently shoot her if it engages!" Another Guardsman called out. With a small 'tsk' the Officer simply trained his weapon on the dragon. "Damnation...state your business creature and begone. We may die if you engage us but every life you take this day shall be another innocent that does not have to pay the price of your kind..."

Irral was silent, such evident fear of Dragons. Oh, Draco, you sloppy fool. Irral didn't move, either, aside to turn towards the Officer, staying in his stance with the point of his Lance aimed straight for him. Even while crouched, Irral towered over the men surrounding him.

"Your Emperor, your threats, this city, and you mean nothing to me. My purpose is to hunt the Dragon who attacked this city and stained it with his Dark Magic." Irral stated calmly. "If you intend to stand in my way, then you will be dealt with as easily as anything else you send my way. I make the Dragon that attacked your city look like a hatchling. I was born to put an end to darkness, and you have been tainted by the very darkness I seek to eradicate." Irral let go of his Lance with his foreward, hand, and pointed off to the side, to a singular Guard.

"You have a choice, child. Either I cleanse your body harmlessly, or I cleanse the whole city in an instant." he spoke, his now free hand moving to the small of his back, where the Dagger of Light lay sheathed on his back. His other arm, still holding the Lance, didn't move in the slightest, nor did the Lance in its grasp. Under the Dragon's feet spread a circle of warm, Golden Light, quickly expanding by the second, filling the air with a sense of serenity and warmth, but also with a singular sense of dread.

"Make your choice.

The General and her troopers moved closer using the terrain for cover as they attempted a stealthy approach. Keeping low and quiet as they moved to flank both the Imperials and the dragon "Who do we target ma'am?" Asked a trooper

"Whoever attacks first" ordered the General as she readied her sniper rifle.

A unkown star fleet warps into orbit and sounds a deafining horn which vibrates people on the ground.

A place hidden away a few city blocks from the Southern Wing City Gardens was wear Teddy had been sleeping. He slept with bad thoughts, his contact had never shown, this was the third straight day in a row! He was losing money and if he knew that if he didn't get another payment from a job, then he wouldn't be able to support himself or Ebba. He knew that perhaps was a good time to find a new client and a new job.

He noticed light entering through his eyelids as he slept, and was jolted awake by the sound of Irral's roaring! He grabbed a knife he had laid down nearby and brandished it! Nobody was there, no problem to immediately fight off. Catching his breath, and rendering himself fully awake, tired, but awake nonetheless, he turned to the column of light towering into the sky. Another occurrence he thought, some of Wing City's problems that it can take care of. He then begun to lay back down, and fading back into sleep, looking away so the light wouldn't hit his eyes. As the column faded, Teddy had begun to probe about where it originated. The light looked to have risen from the gardens, he entertains the thought...

...Until he remembered Ebba!

Teddy sprang up once again, what if Ebba was in danger! With a quick shift of his body, he hopped onto his feet and burst out of his hiding place! He had begun to maintain a stride as he raced towards the gardens, thoughts and fears racing in his mind. He saw obstacles in his path, the alleyways of Wing City were just filled with these annoyances. Luckily, parkour was part of his training to move around quickly in his feet, even with that burdensome armor. He vaults over an obstacle and hops and slides over and under others respectively.

He was nearing an entrance to the gardens when he skids to a halt and fades into a hiding spot. He recognized the vehicles and uniforms of the Imperial Guard. This was a nightmare come true for him, he had done a great job at evading the Guard, but it began to look like an encounter was all but inevitable. He checked the gear he was wearing upon his person. His pistol was cleaned and kept in good condition, he had two fully-loaded magazines for it, twenty-two shots in all, and a single fragmentation grenade. He had then planed that if the encounter became prolonged and the battle dragging, then maybe he could steal one of the soldier's laser weapons, lasguns as they called them.

The whole reason Teddy had been so evasive about the guard was that he had become a fugitive among the Imperium... Or so he had been thinking. During his travels, he had encountered one of the Empire's invincible Space Marines, or one of their enemies, the Chaos Space Marines, he genuinely didn't care which was which back then. Many of the things he had tried against that juggernaut he tried had barely fazed it, and he had to keep himself out of line of sight lest his Bolter of his sliced a gaping hole through his body and explode him for good measure. It wasn't until he had reached an RPG launcher and a good collection of grenades had he finally killed that colossus. But since he really could not tell which was which, due to unfamiliarity with the cultures, he thought he had become a wanted criminal of the Imperium for killing such a respected war machine.

In reality, if this was true, then maybe the Imperial Guard would run from him in terror, thinking he was some sort of beast. But he'd rather not take his chances. He begun to lurk in the shadows, looking for some gap to exploit and avoid a firefight, with his lack of ammunition and the Guard's numbers, he'd certainly be overwhelmed in a face-off. After minutes of skulking, he found a gap, protected by only the fence and sees a trashcan just in front. He limbered himself up, getting ready to make a break for it when the guards looked away.

Not yet... not yet... now!

Teddy made a mad dash! He sprinted towards the trashcan, leaps, and uses it as a platform to circumvent the fence and onto the ground past it, rolling as he hit the ground. He made himself scarce as the loud, metallic crash of the trashcan would certainly garner some attention.

At last he had finally come onto the scene just as Irral made his threat. "This is quite the circus sideshow," Teddy said under his breath, joking to himself, he had been a member of the circus once after all. He then begins to assess the situation: Imperial guardsmen, a lot of them at that, and... was that a dragon-born? He had only heard of these creatures in myth across various worlds, but he didn't think to see one this close. His eyes dart about the place, and sees Ebba, across. He knew that if he had to protect her, he was going to probably have to do something either very clever, or very suicidal.

Unfortunately, he did not account for the Terran Liberation Force taking cover somewhere as well...

"You damnable creature...If the Emperor can beat one of your damnable kind! Then we are prepared to lay down our lives! We already know your lies creature...you seek to help but no, tell that to the blasted 'diety' that decides to come in and made thousands of children alone, or has even let them die twice in a row! The Emperor's light is all this city needs to clense it of corruption! Our faith shields us yet! So if you intend to fight so be it! Even if one of us fall two more shall take his place!" The Officer stood his ground not making a move just yet.

Just try something you misserable dragon...This cities saftey was in their hands, they would never let anything try...what was that noise? The Inperial Guardsman went into defensive positions as they heard something topple over. "Unknown in the AO! Keep your eyes open and your guard up! Focus of the dragon if it tries anything!" The Imperial Officer ordered as the men resumed aiming their weaponons at the creature.

Damn prideful creatures. Always gloating! Always looking down at them! They faced the powers of Chaos before. The Shadow Legion, dragons and everything that dares threaten humanity was a more simple prospect.

Ebba looked at the situation that was going on. There were plenty of things pointed in their direction, but so far everything was tense. Normally she would be using the bush as a vain hope to hide herself however she looked much more calm in the face of danger. She scanned the area for whoever made the noise. Who could it be?

The unknown star fleet sends a sonic boom, trying to destroy the South gardens. mean while the man at the gardens dissaperes in a blink of an eye. The star fleet than sounds the deafining horn again hoping to confuse any threats on the surface. A voice booms out of nowhere "You people are such saveges you have dedicate you're life to war, how sad. The empire would have done GREAT as a ally but I can see now why so many hate you, and want to kill you, like that... Teddy. And you have even been told there was a civilian in the middle of this, general."

And with that the voice stops speaking.

As the unknown fleet sends their attack on the Gardens. The Cities Void Shielding easily displaced the would be attack that would have destroyed the Gardens. Of course this attack was an attack on the Imperium Of Man itself. An attack unprovoked? There would be fatal consequences.

"Attention hostile fleet, consider your lives forfeit now. This is Battlefleet Terran of the Imperium Of Man. From this moment onwards you are considered an enemy. May the Emperor have mercy on your souls." The Fleet Admiral voxed the enemy fleet and right after he finished speaking he gave the Word..."All ships fire...leave none alive..."




In an instant the Imperial Navy opens fire with Frontal Lance batteries. A few Cruisers begin to rotate Broadside and began to pound the enemy fleet with Heavy Bombardment Cannons. Other ships began to fire torpedoes at the enemy fleet. A few Space Marine Vessels, Mainly Strike Cruisers began to close the distance on the enemy fleet, using the Fleets massive firepower as a screen for their advance. The Emperors Angels of death, The mighty space marines prepared in the Telliportarium. Armed in mighty power armor, and armed with their mighty Boltgun. These weapons fired 1.00 caliber rocket propelled, uranium tipped rounds.

These heavily armed and armored superhumans were ready to commence boarding action as soon as possible once they got into range. Either from using the Telliportarium to easily access the enemy ships or via tactical insertion by Thunderhawk transports after they blast a hole in the enemy ships.

Of course...that is if the enemy fleet could withstand the brutal assault first...

---

On the ground of course, Imperial assets on the ground scrambled to defensive location and the Men at the Garden soon recived new orders. "All units report. Terra is under attack! All units scramble to defensive locations. Prepare for any hostile ground action immediantly. Imperial Command out!"

With that, the Guardsman reluctantly began to pull away from surrounding the dragon. "You heard Command! Double time it men! We are under attack!" The Imperial Officer yelled as the Imperial forces began to pull back from the area.

Teddy had flinched when the orbital sonic weapon fire had collided with the shields. He had fallen onto his rear, looking up, in this one instance, in one breath of a living being, all hell had broken loose. He looked up at the sky and to the engaging fleets, and felt utterly helpless. All he could do here was to watch. He sat there for a while, before regaining his wits and resuming a stance.

He looked over to Ebba, and then to the guards. He was going to regret this... It was an act of suicide at best and worst, but the threshold of desperation had been crossed...

He then called out to them as he had begun to walk out of his hiding place, hands in the air to signify that he was going peacefully. "Hey!" He called, hoping to get their attention, "I want to help fight against this threat! Like it or not, it will kill us all on the incredible chance that it should wipe us all out!"

He stood out, now in open view of everybody there. "This attacking fleet, will it make us all brothers?" He asked, looking at the guardsmen, Ebba, and the dragon-born.