Renalanus Phorixx's Story

It either did not notice the infectious spellplague or did not care. Neither did it use its engines to cease meddling in its task. A knowledge of interdimensional travel indeed, thought tolyl, as he wondered how they'd weather all points as one as such things implied to the learned. A signal of its own transection engine to travel between dimensional space projecting gate manifolds whined to life as Tolyl cast his own line afield to a place nearby. A conduit into the surface of the nearby star.

High energy readings exploded in magnitude as a white burning light of hot stellar plasma raced through its own immense energy channels shaping the energy and perturbing its good nature. As ports in its side advancing with the energy changed from white to a grey Tolyl, unbinder, destroyer of spaces and things, ender of pockets of time, opened his toothy maw once more the huge teeth and inner flesh gleaming with the ley channels of outer dragons. Pointed directly at the creature's ship loosed from its maw a grey angular stream of a stellar malediction. A flare from the coronal ejecta of a sun shaped to touch the founding basal planes that supported dimensional life. It did not care if the plane shattered underneath its target as the bow shock of the beam left cracking eddies of tendrils showing ruined planar space. A destructive bow wake advanced rapidly toward the dragon's ship.

Arrogance...A word the Imperium was more than familiar with. Many of their enemies have shown arrogance to mankind, be it they believe to be far superior. To believe their knowledge and technology was impeccable. This unknown fleet called them Primitive mortals, they boasted their knowledge. How Arrogant they were to not realize that the powers of the Warp was far more dangerous than one could comprehend.

Their mighty leader, the Emperor himself designed the Vortex Warhead. It took more than just trying to seal it away, if that was the case then such a weapon would have been useless. Once a Vortex Warhead activated...the only way to stop it is to wait until it collapsed on itself...

The tear that the fleet thought they had sealed tore open with a vengeance, with the gravitational force of a Black Hole it began to suck in the planet sized ships as simply as a spider catching a fly on a web. The great powers of the Warp now shown with utter horror. Almost as if the demons that were scared away was a mere prank. The great powers of the Warp began to posses some ships, horribly mutating lesser ships and consuming them into abominations of flesh and technology. Crewman lost to these ships had their souls sucked out like a straw.

Of course the Imperial fleet showed no sympathy, of course with such a gravitational force even their own fleet was slowly moving forward. Thrusters soon went on full throttle to buy them time for the gravitational collapse to happen. The Marshal soon arrived at the Bridge of the new Flasghip and opened up communication with the enemy. "Arrogent lizards. You may call us primitive but the Emperor has bee naround since your ancestors were mewling Lizards. Capable not even of complex thought. May your race be damned in the Warp for all eternity! A fitting end for you xenos filth!" The Marshal spoke.

Of course, they did not forget about the enemy they were origionally engaging with. However due to the uninvited guests they were forced to pull back for now to deal with them later.

Iliatorie was irritated. The rifts that her crew had assured her had been sealed had reopened, unleashing unsightly demons and other monsters into their midst. Of course the Draconids were immune to chaos influence, but still, they were disgusting to look at.

And the metal dragon that she still had not determined what she wanted to do with, had unleashed some sort of solar realightnment that was redirecting raw power from nearby stars into the area. Again, this was inneffective as her warships weapons were designed to manipulate powerful surges of energy to initate neurophysical attacks against the enemy. Thus, the solar energy unleashed on the vessel was just redirected into the power reserves to be used later.

She turned her eyes at the rifts, and with a thought, dissolved them. They had not been sealed this time, but the entire phase space that they had presided within had been moved. They would not open again in this sector. That nulled, She turned then to the metal dragon, and the gems coating the outside of the planet sized vessel were ignited, and a series of crystaline appearing shards and ribbons began to form, before launching at the metal dragon to stab and wrap around it like a massive cage.

These objects were crafted from neurophysics, reacting at the speed of thought and, like an idea, were immune to most all forms of attack. If the Metal Dragon Could break them, then truly it would be revealed as the more pressing threat.

The imperium vessels however had made a terrible mistake. They had ignored the boarding parties of the Arkos war engines. These would crash into the imperium vessels and "chew" their way into them, boring a hole to release groups of Agnur Beserkers.

Ahh... the Agnur Berserkers Iliatorie smiled. Interesting to see how these humans deal with them. Seven feet and near seven hundred pounds of pure strength and destructive fury. The berserkers will rip, claw, and tear their way through the vessel in a single minded attempt to destroy it from within.

Even as she thought it, the Arkos had disgorged it's passengers. Seven feet tall, seven hundred forty five pounds each. Six Agnur berserkers per Arkos, with eight Arkos launched from the warship. Each Berserker carried two scythe like warglaive with which they would twist and shred their way through the tight corriders of a ship and tear their way through it. Unmitigated, they would quickly disable and destroy whatever ship they were on. Adding to this, their particular conditioning made them especially difficult to deal with. The phrase it gets worse before it gets better comes to mind with them, as the berserkers become damaged they become even more wild and destructive, their forceful output increasing until they become quite capable of tearing through a ships hull bare handed.

And now they are aboard your vessel, oh noble primitives. Now... how will you deal with such destruction?

Tolyl experimentally torqued at the crystals as its armor redirected the force of piercing crystals at other crystals. Immutable things certainly could not pierce each other as its recursion damper rapidly reconnected points of impact among its armor to other points of impact stopping the attack with itself though taking innumerable pockmarks in Tolyl's armor. Momentarily curious at their response a knowing arcane eye could see how resilient they were to such forces. Breaking the planespace underneath him to damage the crystal's ability to exist was an option. At least the ability or want of the plane to keep such a destructive force inside it certianly was often lacking! There was a better use for such a cage anchored only to Tolyl. Slowly, as not to arouse immediate suspicion Tolyl seemed to drift slowly as the transection drive pulled at extradimensional plane space instead of propelling through it. The lesser of Myrkul's Vein re-oriented its long body with slightly upcurled foreneck on a targeting vector to the dragon's ship.

With a power word weakening the space underneath explodes a cloud of broken shards of light refraction to ensure the crystals had nothing of utility to cling to. Out from the broken spatial noise roared engines that went from false drift to near-luminal velocity. Its interiors were partially isolated spaces the humankind inside it would not suffer an impact that did not pierce them. A creature with armor already capable of surviving an such an impact with its armor now clad in a well-anchored immutable cage it knew full well wouldn't be easily broken. One could use that to advantage. The crystal spear shot across the space in a moment aimed directly at the center of the ship.

Boarding parties, the enemy had made a terrible mistake. The crewman of these ships were not simple humans. They were Space Marines, some of humanities best warriors. More than that these Space Marines were the Black Templars, they were experts in close combat.

These genetically enhanced superhumans in their mighty power armor weighed a ton and were seven feet tall as well. However their movements were beyond that of any human. As if their armor weighed nothing on these Space Marines stormed the enemy invaders with holy fury. Acting faster than a human could blink they opened fire with Bolt Pistols that fired 1.0 caliber uranium tipped rocket propelled rounds. If this did not kill the enemy then they would use Chainswords to rip and tear at the enemy. Alongside these warriors, Sword Bretheran, Veterans of the Black Templars in Terminator armor. These goliaths weighed twice as much as a Space Marine.

They were armed with power swords. These weapons were not ordinary, the blades in their hands were possibly centuries old. Passed down from a Sword Bretheran that had no doubt fallen in battle and passed down to a worthy warrior to weild them. These swords exuded a hazy, blue-coloured field of energy that wraped around the blade. This weapon separated the atomic bond of their targets. No matter the target, no one was safe from these weapons and with the strength of a superhuman capable of ripping apart tanks. Alongside Terminator armor increasing their strength. No doubt nothing would stand very long.

Even the Marshal himself was not sittinh hfor long, he stormed out from the bridge more than eager to kill his fair share of xenos. Of course the creatures would have quite a difficult time tearing apart the Imperial ships from the inside. Each ship was painstakingly crafted from the finest and blessed materials. Each ship was designed to withstand hours in combat, even focus fire from an entire enemy fleet the former flagship held on to fire one last weapon. These ships were tough to say the least.

The Mauhasinan fleet stayed at the ready around the colony of Pax Arcana. They where ever watchful of the battle waiting to see how it would turn out.
"Ma'am we have word from the planet two more defensive guns are online and the Stargate as been opened to the home world." Informed an officer.
Nefertari just nodded with a smirk.

Down on the planet below the Stargate opened thousands of Mauhasinan troops and tanks pouring though the event horizon anyone trying to attack this planet now would have a nasty surprise waiting for them.

With a terrible crack, another vessel of the Collective appeared in local space, emitting a tone towards the larger warship. Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished, only a discordant rippling of energy that quickly arced and faded remained of where it had come and gone.

Iliatorie growled with displeasure. She had wanted to toy with the mortals some more. But despite her desire, she was an Escion, and thus Duty and Honor bound her and her decision. Within moments, the crystals scattered about the hull of her warship flashed brightly, and with a sound like a mirror shattering, the vessel vanished, leaving behind arcing strands of energy that melted any vessels unfortunate enough to get caught in their erratic paths, the Arkoss boarding vessels, and the forty eight remaining berserkers who ripped and tore through stone and metal as though it was tissue paper.

Oh sure the black nights were brave and strong, but the Berserkers were fury incarnate. Every injury to them filled them with greater rage and power, and made them even more destructive. By the time the primitives would cut their way throuh the bulk of them, the remainder would be cutting through the dense hulls of their ships like a meteor through space dust, all empowered by the sheer rage and destructive wrath that burned in their blood.

Of this Iliatorie was certain, That ship would be crippled and forced to find repairs once the last of her berserkers were slain, and that would ensure they remembered this encounter, and spoke of it to others. The name of the collective would become known throughout this galaxy.

The Berserkers made have had fury, however the Black Templars were just as furious. All the berserkers had managed was damage their holy ships and injure a few Space Marines, for the Veterans they hardly had a scratch on them. The clensing on their ships were thorough and merciless.

The Space Marines would remember this encounter, however the enemy had better watch their backs. These religious warriors were burning with fury and hatred at these new enemies. Their blades wanted vengeance for the damage done to them. The dragons would know fear, they already had dealt with a dragon and they would do it again.

All enemies of man would be destroyed, and it was a manner of time until they wiped all trace of this new enemy.

The Emperor nodded at Light as she agreed to watch for the Forces of Chaos when they decided to appear. Of course, they soon arrived at a wooded area. With such forested areas long range combat would be far more difficult. However he was prepared for this, he knew he would need to have his men go into close combat. The Guardsman would have the most trouble, and vehicles would be hitting trees than smaller targets.

They would have to get through in the end, they were attacking through enemy territory anyways. They no doubt planned for any sort if invasion. For now they had to break through the woods, sending the vehicles first would result in them being attacked by infantry with anti-tank weaponry...Or the closest equivalent that the Shadow Legion had. So in that case, sending the warriors perfectly capable of close quarters combat would be the smartest decision.

The Black Templars Chapter, known Full well as experts in close quarters alongside other chapters. For this reason, he would send them up ahead first to clear out the area while the remaining forces advanced slowly. For this, the Marshal in command of the Black Templars would be leading this assault.

A Space Marine marched ahead cladded in Black power armor. Alongside him were plenty of Assault Space Marines armed with close combat weapons. ”We heed your call mighty Emperor. We the Black Templars Chapter Shall carve the path ahead of us.” The Marshal spoke as he took a hateful glance at Light.

Dragonkin...No Good always came with them. First was Draco, then came some in strange ships while they were engaging with some Xenos forces and opened fire on them...To work alongside them was hateful to say the least. Of course he took his gaze away as he motioned for the Space Marines under his command to follow.

”I had already expected something like this...The Black Templars have come into contact with other species of dragonkin in a less freindly of meetings. I apologize, however I shall move on ahead as well. We have to make sure our forces get through with as few losses from this point as possible. Especially our armored support.” The Emperor spoke as he also advanced. The remaining forces making a mental note to advance after a bit. Or until the order was given.

The Space Marines slowed their march down, these superhumans fully aware of hostile trying to dart around. Contrary to their appearance, they were lethally quick. Each Black Templar Space Marine gripped chainsword and bolt pistols as they assumed defensive positions. ”Never fear the Xenos! The witch! Nor the heretic! Let the enemy come to us brothers and slay them without mercy! Let these creatures skulk in the dark and when they meet the light of the Emperor they will know fear!” The Marshal roared as they all prepared to fight.

Of course the Imperials were receiving reinforcements. Penal Legionares soon joined the main army, hardened criminals forced into service. Of course these men were prepared to fight tooth and nail with nothing left to lose, unlike regular Guardsman these men did not have much to fear anymore. They would be willing to walk through the jaws of the abyss if needed for a chance at redemption.

So what better way to use a whole bunch of captured criminals in a warzone?

"Skulk in the dark? He thinks we're skulking. He is afraid. He is uncertain. He is wrong. We are within them. Each of them. the voices whispered around the troops as the Marshal barked out his orders. Each sentence from a different spot; revealing that they were entirely surrounded on all sides the moment they step foot into the forest. The ground shook and a mist rose from the ground, and inhaling it would likely begin to change the temperament of the men. Merely inhaling it burned, but then the air was cold, it reeked of death and disaster, but then the forest was merely a graveyard, it even tasted bad. Slowly the corruption would begin to spread within those susceptible, and their hearts would flutter gently with each violent thought. It was praising them for each violent, wicked thought. Each "Impure" thought that a man of the Imperium could have was praised and cultivated if the mist was inhaled.

But that was only the beginning.

Those who began to repent would feel great pain within their heart, as if they'd wronged the Emperor himself by thinking peacefully, and properly for a man and woman of the Imperium. The conflict within their minds and hearts would only be pressured and amplified, until it was unbearable, and their entire bodies began to writhe in pain. Stomachs were upset, lungs and windpipes constricted, tears welled up in eyes, and teeth began to chatter. Any exposed skin began to shrivel slightly, and their veins began to turn black with Corruption. Any inner demons would begin to stir, and fight for control over the body of those afflicted by the mist.

Immediately after, the silence was hardly broken, as the Shadow Legion's Hounds and Slashers swarmed the men of the Imperium and the Captains of Light. Paladins of Light slammed their staffs unto the ground in the center of each squad of Guardsman, a sphere of light enveloping them, allowing them to see the Demonic Shadow Legion troops with ease as they charged towards their targets from all sides. There was no eyes to speak of on the bodies of the Slashers, just wide-open mouths, slobbering black acidic saliva all over the place as they charged and squelched into each other, becoming stronger, or weaker, if they multiplied, but still, all the harder to hit as they moved forward like angry lions. As small as dogs or large as bears, the variety of sizes making it difficult to hit them all as they swarmed everyone, including the Space Marines. Clambering up the armor plates and scratching at everything they could, trying to wriggle their ways under the armor plates to attack at the men within the armor, and if possible, corrupt them into minions of the Legion.

The Black Templars stood steadfast against the mist, their helmets acting like a filter of the mist. Guardsman scrambled for gas masks while those affected began to fight back against the pain and thoughts.

However as the Shadow Legion finnaly has their soldiers appearing, the Space Marines charged with holy fervor. Despite the enemy numbers each Marine began to hack anything nearby with their chainsword while firing with their bolt pistol. Guardsman That we’re capable affixed bayonets and took firing positions and began to pour fire and of course be forced into melee combat.

The Emperor himself raised his sword and slammed it into the ground sending a massive surge of psychic fire ahead of him which began to burn a massive path ahead of him to help clear a flank. Guardsman sadly were not the best in melee...For a select few however. They showed almost as much ferocity as a Space Marine. No doubt Catachan Guardsman, armed with large knives hacked the swarm of creatures like a swarm of Tyranids.

Draco's voice echoed nearby; though truthfully he was still deep within his palace, watching over the battle with his Magic. Already he donned his Draconian Battle Armor, and his eyes glowed a deep Crimson. Finally he stood, projecting his image towards the Emperor, connecting their minds briefly, as if they were standing across the room from one another. Granted, Light was right next to the Emperor. Draco's eyes flickered towards the All-Mother, and he begrudgingly managed a small nod in greeting, his lips twitching and his hands curling into fists. His eyes returned to the Emperor, and he let out a breath. "You even have the All-Mother on your side... which means.... Irral.... and the Guardians of Light." he fell silent for a while, bringing his arms in front of him, his hands forming a steeple as his eyes became thoughtful, narrowing slightly. "Very well. May the better beings win." With that, Draco offered another subtle nod, and severed the connection. At least he was polite about it. There was definitely an air of respect for the power of the Emperor and of Light, and perhaps even the thought that if he wasn't bent on domination, he and the Imperium could have cooperated.

As the vision of Draco faded, the Emperor and Light would be greeted with the sight of the mighty battle going on within the forest, the Legion and the Imperium seeming to trade blow for blow, overwhelming numbers of Shadow and Darkness against the zeal and prowess of the Space Marines and Guardsmen. And now, the Guardians of Light themselves. The Army of Light, all of them clad in Golden Duradaeden Armor with shining swords, charged into the forest, summoned to the field by the Captains of Light who led them in the first place. Each regiment had its own flag, according to the Captain. There was one with an Eagle, a Tiger, a Dragon, and many other variations. Hawks, Pumas, Leopards, and even a Dove. As the Guardians of Light appeared so too did the Bashers of the Shadow Legion in their Black and Purple Armor, the Roman Legionnaire like armor gleaming in the battle as the two armies clashed and the bloodshed begin. Both sides so far were evenly Matched, with Shadow Commandos engaging Space Marines and Captains of Light, and the lesser Shadows engaging the lesser Guardians of Light and Guardsman. Nothing assaulted the vehicles of the Imperium yet, however; perhaps waiting for them to be at their most vulnerable within the Forest where their maneuverability would be at their least. Of course that would be the most common answer, and for now, it was the correct one. Limiting their options on whether or not they risk pushing through, bound to meet more resistance for every inch that they pushed forward.

The Four Shadowlings of Draco appeared, their wispy forms floating over the battle as they waved their hands like conductors, the Legion of Shadow moving to their commands. At the same time, an Orb of Shadow began to form, dense and powerful, over the main Imperium Force outside the Forest, mainly, their Siege engine. The faint sound of Chanting floated by, coming from an unknown direction, the sound of war drowning out the words and direction to all but the most acute of ears. Something was building up that Shadow Bomb. But where was it?

May the better beings win? For a corrupted dragon he seemed to have a small bit of respect. Of course it remminded him of the Servants of Khorne, bloodthirsty humans that engaged solely in melee combat. As such the only right thing to do was put such a creature down. For the time being, the Emperor began to annialate any creature even remotely in his field of vision as the Imperium troops engaged the Shadow Legion in the forest alongside their allies.

Of course from outside, the Main Imperium Forces was waiting in earnest, that was until they noticed the massive gathering orb of shadow forming over the Ordinatus Mars. It seemed that they were making a move to attempt to destroy it. Of course such a venerated and holy machine would not fall that easily. Spotters would spot the main battle going on however there was many areas where the gathering could be...So in a fashion, Imperial Guard spotters on the Ordinatus began to paint locations on as many areas where their intuition told them where to fire and far away from the battlefield, hundreds of Imperial Artillery opened fire with both shells and missiles bombarding the wide left side of the forest while the Titan armed it’s Apocalypse Missile Launcher and began to fire a salvo of twenty missiles into the fight flank along with its Gatling Blaster, a rapid fire weapon that fired 150MM shells into the right flank as well.

The Grey Knights in orbit of course assumed ready as they began to use their innate psychic might to locate and detect the exact location of the gathering. If blind fire did not work, they would have to use precision to intercept the enemy.

Teddy marched and hastened out into the battlefield along with the rest of his new brothers-in-arms towards the battlefield within the Despairing Woods of the Valley of Shadows. He gripped his weapon tight, began to hold his wits tighter, and tries to hold his heart the tightest. He was steeled and his instincts at their peak.

Then he got a glimpse of the outside world into the Despairing Woods.

He was in over his head, he felt for sure that Mizer had sent him to die. He refused, he refused to accept what is possibly a cruel and grizzly fate, as he briefly clenched his eyes shut and shook his head. He was going to find a way to get one of Draco's scales, and he will achieve it, for him, for Ebba, and for anyone else tied into this conflict between him and his worst enemy. He had to do it, he must!

When the mist became visible, everything he learned about magic like this flooded his mind and entwined themselves in his psyche. Nothing to shield himself with, but the gas mask he had been given. He rushes to put it over his face, fastening the straps securely. However, while he was no longer in a position to inhale it, the mist did began to cover and wisp itself over his exposed neck. Just that and that alone was already attempting to carry out its dreadful effects, though, absorbing it through the skin didn't seem to hit him with as powerful as inhaling it. His mind, his memories, his past began to subtly creep into his mind as he took cover behind a tree. He heard voices, voices that were attempting to tell him that he was better, that he didn't deserve any of this, that he should be free to instigate the madness he had kept away in its cage for so long. He found himself unable to move as the voices started to grow louder and more seductive. But before the spell could sink his claws, "No," was the word that left Teddy's mouth, "I am better, better than you. I'm nobody, I'm a traitor, but I am someone who's protecting my friend and anyone else who may suffer at Prometheus's hand!"

The voice was about to roar out in disapproval and malice, until the dark and draconic Hounds and Slashers began to swarm about. Teddy's eyes snapped back and forth, trying to make sense of this chaos, but was taken down onto the ground as a beast tried to bite and tear him to pieces! Teddy held his Las-gun horizontally, using it to keep the beast back, which was a little larger than an attack dog. It tries to throw its head back and forth, trying to rip the weapon out of his hands. Ursa kept his grip tight, refusing to risk losing his weapon. His hand left his weapon, but just as the demonic animal was about to toss it aside, he grabbed his knife and reached to the creature's neck with it, or at least, where he thought it was. The blade sank into the creature's skin, and Teddy began to heave the blade back and forth, sawing it as hard as he could. The creature's blood began to leak out and as it began to grow weaker, Teddy was able to pull his Las-Gun free and kicked it off, it rolling onto its back. He Teddy began to put himself back onto his feet as quickly as he could. He wouldn't be able to survive if more of those things chose to attack him! His mind instantly snapped to the tree he hid behind, so he dashed to it and hoisted himself onto the top, turning and looking down just in time to see that a few of those things had tried to chase him onto the tree. He took his Las-gun and fired upon the beasts and began to cut them down with well-placed shots. Thanks to his tree, he had a high leg up on the things around him. It was just now, though, that he parts of his armor corroded away by that creature's saliva, he knew then that he had gotten lucky.

He saw one of the four Shadowlings floating up in the air. He saw that by the waving of its hands and its movements, that it must be a greater intelligence controlling the abominations around him and his allies. It was simple, point and shoot, no worries of weather and distance.

If only it really was that simple.

He felt a force clinging onto his ankle and attempting to pull him back onto the ground! He took his eyes off of the Shadowling, and onto a Slasher trying to yank him back onto the ground to tear him to ribbons! He was pulled down a bit, but then began kicking at the shadow trying to pull him down, clashing his heel against its head and knocking it off, but more just replaced them! They were trying to climb the tree too and slash at him with their claws. This tree was getting crowded, and he needed to get off of it. That prized quarry he sighted was going to just have to live. He knew nothing else to do except jump off the tree onto the back of the largest Hound he could see! He put his Las-gun onto his back and stabbed his knife into the beast.

All he could do now was hang on for dear life, hoping no enemy any more powerful than this thing showed up to destroy him and one of his more powerful allies coming to bail him out...

Teddy's tree would find itself swarmed indeed as the Shadow Legion swarmed his allies beneath as well; the screaming and snarling of each Shadow echoing madly in his ear. Descending from the branches above, Monkey-like beasts of Shadow screamed at him as their long and slender arms snaked around the thick and sturdy branches, slithering across the strong wood as they attempted to swarm and kill him - to tear him limb from limb and devour his body and soul to be taken into the ranks of the Legion itself.

The mountains shook and mighty rocks were felled from the valley walls as the bombardment struck; and the forest went up in flames as the missiles all collided and exploded on target, but alas they hit not the target they were intended for: A Fifth, New Shadowling, cloaked in darkness and secrecy, behind the very lines of the Imperium, right under their noses where it would take them a while to finally figure it out. By the time they did, the Shadow Bomb was complete, and began to fall.

"Hmm nope." Light snapped her fingers, and with a flash of Golden, Brilliant, Blinding Light, Irral arrived, slashing through the Shadow Bomb with his Holy Draconian Lance. Staying in the air, the Corrupted Dragon turned, watching the bomb split into two, and then begin to crumble into thousands of tiny, equally powerful chunks. Twirling his Lance proudly, Irral by himself was able to deflect or cut up most of them into harmless sized chunks that merely made small pot-holes in the dirt where they landed, and maybe knocked out a person if it hit them squarely on the head. The ones he missed were intercepted by the Court Guards of Light, leaping from their positions on the Siege Engine, curved blades drawn and ready as they slashed the remnants of the Shadow Bomb, neutralizing the threat before landing perfectly on their posts. A sudden surge of negative emotion was felt as the New Fifth Shadowling emerged from his hiding spot, his featureless body and face proving that he was quite literally new, perhaps made earlier in the week by Draco. Spreading his arms out, another contingent of the Shadow Legion charged forth from the downed Watch Towers of Draco, the towers themselves proving to be the Shadows that they emerged from. Beasts of all shapes and sizes, Tendrils, Bashers, Slashers, Hounds, and even a few fully armored Screaming Minotaur, which if not engaging a Space Marine, would move to try and tear apart the vehicles of the Imperium, and cripple their advance to a crawl.

Within the forest, the chaos only grew in intensity as more of the Shadow Legions forces were simply wiped out by the Emperor himself. The Four Original Shadowlings, their bodies misty and ethereal, any attempt to shoot at them would first be met with the resistance of Shadows launching themselves from the tree tops to take the round for the Shadowling, next by the shadow Legion troops themselves already swarming and keeping the attention low and on the ground. If a round was set loose, it would phase through the Shadowlings, as they were not entirely physically present, using their close proximity to their Master, and their Source of Power, to continue their movements without a care.

"Very well! If the Shadowling cannot do its job, I will do it for them!" a Young, Naive, brash male voice rang out. It was echoed by the annoyed snarl of Draco; who perhaps had been trying to convince the young man to not go out and fight in such proximity to the Emperor himself. "You would just let it approach, Father? I wont! Emperor or not!" The Roar of a Young Dragon echoed out as he appeared on the Valley Wall.



"I see Draco Jr. Lives up to what I've heard. Brash, impatient, and full of pride." Light said, turning her eyes to see the young Dragon spread his wings and began to charge the Siege Engine.

"Shall I dispose of him?" Irral shifted his stance while floating in the air, grip on his lance tightening. Light said nothing, and thus Irral did nothing yet, before nodding and returning to a more relaxed Stance.

"DISOBEDIENT CHILD! DO YOU WISH TO PERISH?!" Draco's voice screamed over the battle, and for a moment, the One-Hundred and Seven Meter Tall Dragon appeared in front of his much smaller son, the thirty meter tall son of Draco freezeing in his tracks as his Father appeared before him, and swatted him from the sky like an annoyance. That same claw then extended and trapped the younger Dragon his back, pressing his weight against him as the older, more experienced, and powerful Dragon roared in his son's face. Well, there were worse ways to discipline a child. "Return to the Palace at once, and don't you dare attempt anything so stupid again while I still live." Saying nothing, Draco Jr. Would wriggle his way from his father's grasp, and with a cascade of Darkness, vanished from sight. Draco himself turned his massive head to look at the Emperor of Mankind, Irral, and Light herself. The Tension in the air was thick, and heavy. It made it hard to move; hard to breathe, and was thick enough to cut with a dull butter-knife.



For Teddy Ursa, who, for whatever reason, did seek one of Draco's scales, he would find that the task would be extremely difficult, with each scale being the size of a house, and likely as heavy as one, too. Slowly the Dragon of Shadows narrowed his massive Coal-Red Eyes, and his maw remained shut, throat visibly rumbling from his gentle, growling breath. Two things could happen: Either all out hell broke loose, or the combatants would continue their little game of chess, and wait until they reached the Fortress of Draco proper. Regardless, Draco's body slowly turned to face his enemies, great wings folded against his body, tail curled in a defensive posture, ready to lash out like a lightning bolt.

For a moment, the entire battle stopped, and all was still.

Main Imperial Force

The Imperial Guard had had their many encounters with the Shadow Legion. Of course from the great Commisar Ciaphas Cain himself, he reccomended the following: ‘The Shadow Legion seems to use numbers to their advantage. Stealing as many civilians and soldiers as possible while sending in hordes of what could be counted as lesser lifeforms in the Shadow Legion hiarchy. As such, we require more anti-personal weaponry which are supported by dedicated anti-armor.’ Was his wise words.

Of course since he knew since he would need to fight the Shadow Legion alongside the front lines, he would need plenty of research on their enemy. So with enough battles with them, it was easy how he and quite frankly many other members of the Imperium thought the same way.

As such, many of the tanks were the anti-infantry variants of Lemen Russ battle tanks. Lemen Russ Exterminators, armed with twin linked autocannons, a rapid fire and self loading ballistic weaponry. Although the knowledge to manufacture the old Autocannon shells being a bit larger than the 1.0 caliber rounds that the Astartes Bolt weaponry used, with the revival of the Emperor he was able to teach all long lost technology to the brilliant minds on mars and other such worlds.

As such many Exterminators began to tear through both the lightly armored and armored targets, however they were not the only variant, Lemen Russ Eradicator armed with the Eradicator Nova Cannon was well known in its service in the Imperium to be very efficient in cities, forests and dense terrain. It’s main weapon capable of turning whole structures and the infantry hiding inside it to little more than slag. And with a high caliber main gun and sub atomic charge for its ammunition. These tanks began to make quick work of groups of the Shadow Legion.

And finnaly, The Lemen Russ Punisher. Armed with the Punisher Gatling Cannon, the fasted slug throwing weapon currently produced by Imperium hands. These tanks roared with thousands of shells shredding apart the Shadow Legion creatures that stormed their positions. The Imperial Guard were known for being walls of iron that held their position, or a wave of bodies and steel when storming an enemy. The enemy would feel the full brunt of a almost literal wall of bullets coming at them.

Along with the Support of thousands of infantry and the support of a Titan, even if the enemy could cripple their vehicles, they would ensure they would not severely hamper the armored fist that would ensure full scale heavy fire support.

Of course, thanks to the aid of light...Their main siege weapon the Ordinatus Mars was safe or at the very least not about to be highly damaged or at worst have it’s main weapon disabled.

The Forest

Inside the forest, the story was the same. Guardsman being slaughtered by the dozen while also taking out a few of the Shadow Legion horrors with them. Minor explosives went off as well, likely from Guardsman full of zeal turning themselves into bombs by pulling pins on grenades as they were swarmed. Space Marines continued their relentless slaughter of anything that did not even remesble a human, some would be overwealmed by sheer mass and number that not even they could withstand. But many continued the fight ramming chainsword into Shadowlings tearing them into pieces or even simply using their armored fist to bash whatever came close.

Of course the Space Marine Marshal noticed what appeared to be a Guardsman stuck in a tree and surrounded by creatures of the Shadow Legion. Renalanus, if he could even laugh at simple things anymore given his nature as a cold, merciless warrior. The sight of a Pathetic Guardsman upholding onto a tree which was saving his life was almost an insult to the Imperium itself. However noting that he came from a penal battalion that just reinforced their position, he would take it that criminals like him deserved such a fate.

He decided to ignore the man, even if he was a fellow ally he had little respect for Guardsman in general. Few only held his respect, but a penal Legionare? They could die for all he cared. However by fate, or perhaps divine intervention, a few las bolts rang out as another fellow Guardsman bent a knee and opened fire against the creatures swarming the tree with impressive accuracy likely that of a veteran Guardsman. Teddy could see a familiar face, or rather the tattoos of Religious scriptures on his face. The man that he had met before was trying to save a fellow soldiers life. He seems to be muttering something under his breath but from the amount of fire and explosives going off everywhere, and how far away he was...Chances are there was no way to hear what he was saying in a million years.

But the icing of this war cake was complete with the arrival of Draco himself in his dragon form. He had personally come fourth to stop his son from committing what could have been an equivalent of committing suicide by trying to face the Emperor in battle. Of course the Emperor looked up, even with his rather massive height which towered over a Space Marine, the dragon was gargantuan sized. However he held no fear in his eyes, only a fire and determination to bring down this beast to rid Terra and her citizens of a threat once and for all. To show the people that the Imperium cared for humanities protection, and the protection of the innocent.

”Draco! Your time has finnaly arrived! No longer shall you continue to taint this word with your presence! Today we the Imperium! And I, The Emperor Of Mankind! Have declared our crusade against you! I will not leave no trace of your existence dragon! I shall destroy your mind, body and your very soul to ensure there will truly be nothing of you!”

The Emperor roared with such vigor, even the Space Marines had to stop to hear his holy edict. ”As your kind spared no survivors! Me and my men shall spare none as well! We shall storm your fortress which you have declared invincible to your own kind. We shall walk through your own halls, and I will finish you myself! This I shall see to personally, the lives you have claimed are far too many! The People Of Terra abandoned by their so called ‘protectors’ and left to rot in your presence! Today! The Imperium shall win victory! Steel yourself dragon! Your end is near, so if you want even the smallest chance to live face me with everything and know the true power of humanity!” The Emperor aimed his sword at Draco. Not to attack...But to indicate he had no trouble at all challaging Draco directly. A human, the leader of a whole nation itself with the power to fight being far beyond human understanding.

This, was the beginning of the end. The war between the Shadow Legion and the Imperium would be decided on this day, on this battlefield. The Emperors armored shinned a brilliant glow as he made his proclamation.

Teddy would have counted himself lucky if he could comprehend the fate he had just avoided when he had jumped out of that tree. He clung onto and fought with his grip while on the back of this monster, but when the silence came, when everything would suddenly stop to take in the magnificent event happening now, so did the large Hound. This completely took him by surprise, so Teddy, with the knife deftly pulled out during this, was thrown off absolutely by the monster he had clambered onto. He landed onto the ground on his back, then rolled onto his stomach.

As he began to work himself back into a stand, there it was, the Draco of Shadows. It was just there, with it and the Emperor declaring and posturing at each other. From here, Teddy could see the scales on that great beast he beheld.

He hoped they were just the size of dinner plates, but no, he got a whole house instead. How did Mizer expect him to bring one of those things to him!?

Teddy just looked, slowly shaking his head back and forth, he was in over his head. He was very, very much in over his head. For that one instance, everything was lost, he was dead, Ebba was dead, and Mizer seemingly won in his quest to have him destroyed so nothing could stand in his way. He knew then that he shouldn't have taken the task at face value, at Prometheus's false confidence in him for this impossible task.

The only solution he could now absolutely see was to wait out this war. He'd only be able to get one of the Shadow Dragon's scales if it was extracted from his corpse...

Golden, unyielding Light, against the cold, bitter darkness. The Challenge was issued, and the Dragon's eyes slowly blinked, his massive body suddenly crumbling in upon itself like sludge, reforming to its Human form. Ten feet tall, clad in Draconian Black Duradaeden, with twin blades gripped tightly in his hands. A Helmet of the same material formed around his head, the visage of his Dragon form displayed in the helmet. Irral descended to the earth, his feet touching the ground with a light rumble of the world from his weight. Light raised her hand, however, stopping her First Born Son from engaging. This was the Emperor's fight.

"I am Draco, Son of Tethir, Lord of Shadows, and Dragon of Death. It is you, Emperor, who will fall today. I will destroy your mind, corrupt your body, and assimilate your spirit into the Legion. You have the gall to attack my Fortress. My HOME, and bring such a meager force. Even with the Guardians of Light with you, you are doomed to fail." Draco raised the sword in his right hand in acceptance of the Emperor's Challenge, and extending his own. But in another instant he was gone, carving through the Imperium Forces, buzzing inches away from Teddy, moving to his Fortress, where the armies would continue their battle. As he passed by, all Shadow Legion Forces vanished, and pulled back, into The Ruinous Labyrinth, where the Imperium of Mankind would be hard-pressed to find their way through the endless maze with only one entrance, and only one exit.

"With all things, O' Emperor, I will make you work for it. If you want me, come and find me. I lie in wait within the Ruinous Labyrinth at the exit. Good Luck."

The next step on the siege of Draco’s fortress. A massive labyrinth, the Imperium forces were now at the pass of no return. It was time to knock on Draco’s front door. ”All ships, commence orbital fire on the Shadow Legion fortress. Concentrate bombings, use orbital batteries to soften up the enemy. We are making our way to the enemy.” The Emperor ordered through Vox communication.

The entire skies soon lit up as one hundred orbital Imperial Vessels began to focus orbital firepower at the Shadow Legion Fortress. Of course they were doing this more of a way to wake up their enemy in a massive show of force. And hopefully burning out hostiles up ahead that may be hiding already.

With the skies turned red and orange from orbital fire, the Imperial forces began to move up. Space Marines were in the front, followed by the Penal Soldiers behind them with the rank and file Guardsman behind them. Teddy would of course still be stuck in this battle, it was well known trying to retreat in battle now would lead to him being shot in the back by his own fellow troopers. Or more likely, a Commisar which would use him as an example of cowardice.

Still, the man that helped him out was by his side. “Welcome to the world of the Imperium, The horrors we face so that civilians will not have to face. This is our duty, and our life. And we criminals will either not be missed or labeled as martyrs who redeemed their sins with sacrifice.” He nodded grimfully.

The might of the Imperium now had to navigate the twisting labyrinth. This would no doubt take time and casualties as the enemy can assault them time and time again.