Kislev - Battlefield (Also, Nuln)

Linda looked back at Nyuu, before looking at the portal again. Might as well take cover in the back, with her- the Foilage could only hide her so much, and she would have slightly better protection. Slightly.

With a unearthly roar, the portal tore open and figures began to charge out onto the battlefield. Blood-red, horned figures carring blood-slick broadswords. Adronginous females with large claws on their hands and bird-like feet. Rotting, nauseating corpse-daemons that shambled onto the battlefield. Shifting, indefinable creatures that snapped and snarled at anything that moved.

This was only the first wave of these herald of the gods - the Daemons of the Ruinous Powers.

She could feel them- like her, but different. Different universe, different rules, as they say. Or would, anyway. They were approaching.

"Close your eyes. Please, you don't want to see this." Linda stepped back, and muttered;

"Argos." The shield of the argos, a blessing of the gods of greece was laid upon them. A shield, and a powerful one, was put between her and the beasts. It was an invisible barrier, one that she hoped would hold against the tide for a short time.

"This light is my own." She muttered the first verse to the reality marble of the thing inside her, preepared to go back to that...place.

Linda imagined the holy sword Caliburn in one hand, and the older, demonic sword Gram in the other. In one, she held a weapon of honor, and light. In the other, she held a sword cursed through its owners curse, doomed to forever destroy its master. Both swords were fabled to hold power, both said to be indestructable, and to cut through anything.

She'd have to put that to the test, certainly....
'
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(Gram)



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(Caliburn)

Nyuu, glanced around the tree at the daemons and pulled back. She shivered and closed her eyes tightly, her breath visible in the cold. She was scared, and something felt odd. It was almost as if another, hidden in her mind, was starting to come.

Along the Empire's battle line, the battle continued to rage. And it was not going well.

Despite the steady fire and steely resolve of the ranged detachments, for every Chaos warrior that fell, there were five more. Ten more. Twenty. And both they and the artillery that continued to fire at the rearmost echlons of the enemy army were beginning to run out of ammunition.

Despite Lord Aureus' bold charge along the Chaos' left flank in order to save his right, they were beginning to get bogged down. Some of the squadrons broke off from fights, only to charge in again, but the element of surprise was now well and truely lost and numbers were beginning to show.

Chaos warriors continued to crash against the Empire's left and bodies from both sides were beginning to pile up - both side's soldiers merely stepped over them in their attempt to get to grips with those still alive. A couple of firey Warrior Priests bellowed prayers of hatred as their warhammers smashed into Chaos skulls and ribcages.

And, caught within the chaos of the Empire's centre, Merrik hack away wildly at the enemy that were beginning to surround him. As men of the Empire tried to puch forwards and maintain the momentum of the attack, Merrik continued to bellow encouragement out to his compatriots.

"Fight in Sigmar's name!" he yelled ad he swung at a Chaos barbarian, the Runefang decapitating him. "Vengeance for our dead! VENGEA-"

His battlecry turned into screams of pain as a daemonic blade lanced through his shoulder, the Chaos Lord (and leader of the enemy army) who wielded it smirking from behind his helm as his foe fell to the ground; the Runefang clattered onto the icy ground.

"You have failed!" the lord taunted Merrik, who was struggling to reach his weapon. "Your pitiful Empire will fall!"

With the lord pinning his sword arm with one iron-shod boot, Merrik could do little, but close his eyes and hope that daemonic weapons kill their victims quickly...

"That is not for you to decide, kurr!" Saber released the wind barrier, revealing the sword Excalibur, in its glory. Radiant white light, from the most holiest of swords, shone from it, as Saber released her prana into her blade. She couldn't use the full power attack- but she could use it one handed. That should be enough, but not to much...

Light defracted from the blade, sending a prisim of colors from the tip of the greatest of swords, making it visible in all that was seen. Its glory was revealed now- the barrier, its sheath of wind, no long covered it, or made it invisible. Light bended and contorted around the weapon, as Sabers prana was converted into hard light- the attack was nearly done. She brought the blade down upon the Demon Lord, if not to stall time.

As the Chaos Lord prepared to strike Merrick down, a black figure took notice. Before anyone could comprehend what had happened, demonic chains ensnared the sword and yanked it to the side. A black figure with white markings and a red cape dropped from a nearby tree. The black clad figure had a demonic aura to him, one that only the priests would be able to sense, this one was different than that of Chaos though.
This black figure's cloak began to flail about as if the wind were moving it, but in reality, it was moving of its own will. She man in black glared at the chaos lord through his green eyes. The Hellspawn would await the Chaos Lord's attack.
~~~~
The men that were to hold the line that Lia was behind, were thinning dangerously. She had already been attacked by another five Chaos warriors, totaling seven bodies around her. She heard another shout of pain and turned toward the scream to see that she was dangerously close to a Chaos warrior. She fired her shotgun but it did little and the weapon had overheated from continuous use.
Before Lia could pull another weapon, the Chaos warrior had charged her. The Quarian rolled away, returning to a standing position and drawing the knife, but she was forced to dodge to the side and as she tried to escape the blade, an elbow connected with her helmet. She was knocked onto her back, dizzy and her head was throbbing from the impact of the back of her skull to the metal casing after the blow. As her vision refocused, she blinked twice and noticed the spiderweb shaped lines in her visor. The blow had been powerful enough to crack the helmets visor.
She avoided panic and instead she rolled to the side to avoid the descending blade. As the blade pierced the ground and the roll stopped, the Quarian managed to grip the pistol she had taken from one of the pods, her shotgun lying in the snow with the warrior between her and it. She raised the gun and emptied the clip into the chaos warrior, making him stumble back and fall, the rounds piercing his armor.
The Quarian woman forced herself to her feet, her head throbbing as she did so and looked at the crack. She muttered something to herself and applied some omni gel to the crack. She then recovered her shotgun.

"Taron. Split. Go with Linda. I'll stay and assist with the battle." Thom nodded, wiping out the rest of what remained of the Chaos by shocking them into ice. He shattered the ice by opening several fissures in the ground, each a few foot wide. Iced soldiers fell and cracked into thousands of pieces.

"Got it." she grinned, disappearing in a whirl of smooth pinks and purples. Thom was left alone in the centre of the wrecked clearing. Trees lay upturned, corpses motionless with the fallen timber on the soft, cracked ground. In an instant, the mage was gone, only to be stood atop the cliff that Taron had begun on. From here, he could see Chaos forces and Empire forces fighting for glory on the far side of the battle field.

Staff held high, grey red and orange haunted the tip with almost ghostly movements. They twisted and turned, spiraling like mad tendril of smoke. The mage rose into the air, a white symbol of the Order of Magick burning through him, bright white light, blinding to the eye. The symbol faded seconds later, Thom returning to the ground. The storm was coming.

Almost instantly, he directed his staff at the right flank of the Chaos army, using a type of energy he hadn't before. Directing magicks took skill, especially when their complexity was sealed by symbols of the Order. A wince of pain; A small cry of triumph and hurt. Thom's watched as burning rocks appeared as fine as dust in the air, glittering orange and red as they neared the atmosphere.

However, that act of magick was not his finale. The next thing he was about to do had a serious cost. A cost that could even mean death to him. It didn't matter though; Thom was without a companion. Nobody to love him or appreciate him. Kathryn was gone. Dead most likely. A single yellow orb orbited his staff now, a sad smile mocking Thom's face.

The warriors of the Empire facing the Chaos targeted by meteors were encased now in a yellow dome of light. It separated good from evil in a sense, yet it meant nothing of defense as of yet. It flickered white several times, but now Thom had gotten to grips with the situation. The shield pulsed yellow, knocking back the warriors attempting to break it with a manner of weapons. Again, it pulsed yellow. Then again. On the seventh time, the shield glowed gold, emanating light from its sheer existence.

A flaming rock smacked into it the shield bouncing off and slaughtering several enemy warriors with weight and force. A weak smile later, Thom watched as burning slabs of stone rained down ferociously upon the Chaos Army's right flank. The brutes were flattened, scorched, blown apart. Some tried to evade their doom, unsuccessful in their panic.

Casting a shield of healing upon himself, Thom fell from the cliff in a sudden last stand. His body padded against the soft snow with a sickening crunch. Taron's feet touched the snow too, though softly and beside Linda. She nodded to her, Lividity in hand, burning purple in it's sword form. It crackled with the occasional branch of pink tesla, but mostly it kept quiet in the silent desert of snow.

Leon's gun ran out of bullets, so he dropped the empty AK-47 in the snow and pulled his Silver Ghost 9mm handgun. However, the rounds proved inadequate against the Chaos warrior's armor, "Shit," he cursed, jamming a new magazine into his pistol.
~
Noble Six commenced using 'Gun-fu' on close in targets doing some moves you'd probably see in Haloid. Just for the sake of looking awesome. Actually, he was just cracking skulls with his fist before shooting said target with his M6G handgun which would cause enemy heads to explode into a fine pink mist after penetrating their armored helmets.

A wave of bloodletters surged forward from the portal, charging in the direction of Linda. Their swords raised. The daemons of Nurgle, Tzeentch, and Slannesh ambling behind them at a slightly slower pace.

"In this darkness I seek...... I shall see it ever brighter." The girl winced as the barrier she had made was pushed to the limit, slowly, the Daemons were pushing through the barrier, if not slowly. They had to make the final push through to that portal, and the artillery. That girl, and Taron, would have to follow. They'd have to fight their way through the Daemons, or evade them, until they could get to that site.

"No one can take it from us."

"Taron. We have to go- Now. Don't stop. Keep moving, or you're dead. Use the best magic you have, nothing but the best will even phase a demon. We'll go when you're ready."

As Nova opened fire on the crews that were manning the Chaos Hellcannon, the earth shook violently. Looking back, she noted several meteorites raining down on the Chaos warriors, leaving the men of the Empire completely unharmed.

With an enemy hurt and confused, this was their chance.

Bursting out of the snow, rifle gripped in her hands, she sprinted towards the portal, calling back to Seras, "Seras! On me!"

***

Unable to act for the moment, Merrik remained pinned under the Chais Lord as the enemy commander, rather then struggling against this newest attacker, merely stood there and, with a throaty, grating, chuckle, taunted, "Even you cannot stop the power of the Dark Gods! Even now, their scions approach and more are on their way! You may win a battle here, but you and the scum you fight alongside will lose the war!"

"Not. If I. Can help it!" Merrik gritted through bloody teeth as he tried to yank his sword and sword arm free.

"The pain we've endured." Linda stepped back, as she threw Gram to her side, firmly embedding to the ground, Valiburn in her right hand. She placed the Golden sword in her left, quickly throwing it to the left. As she began to make one, final projection. There was no way she could make a Noble Phantasm that was particulary powerful, unless it was weak, but strong in one way.

Of course; Gae Bolg would do perfectly. She would only have one shot- she needed more time to get close, and finish the chant for the reality marble, however.

She imagined the red lance in her right arm, using her magical circuits to their breaking point. The best she could do after this would to use the spell she had already prepared on her enemies- outside of her reality marble, that is. This was her only path. She had to hit them all- every last one, with a noble phantasm attack. There were at least five. Yes, Gae Bolg would work nicely, even if it didn't kill them, it would stall them.

She lifted the spear up, in a normal position one would throw a spear. It started to glow red, steam raising from the lance.

"Trace on...Set- Gae Bolg." The lance's ability was prepared. She just had to throw it- and it would do the rest. She had to use the second magic to replicate both of its abilities at one time.

Linda threw the lance, speeding towards the Chaos like a red comet, burning through the fridged air. It split, the Lance cascading into another, one for each Chaos- one missed, a Daemon dodging it somehow. But that wasn't enough. The spear had already hit the heart. It just had to arrive; this was the nature of Gae Bolg. The spear did not hit the ground, but reappeared infront of the Daemon, diving deep into its chest, where the heart would be. It would forgo all armor, all shields, as the lance was a reversal.

The Lance operated in the fact the second it was thrown, it had already hit the heart. It just had to physically arrive. Unlike when the Lance had to hit, and the heart was pierced; this was a reversal. Each Lance had found its target, exactly where the heart would be located in each Daemon, and each self destructed, becoming a broken Phantasm, making a violent explosion from withn the chaos. Smoke rose from each- a added feature, one Linda hoped to use as a screen through. She didn't know if she even killed one. And she did not want to know, nor did she care. At least they could pass.

But that was it. She was at her limit. After her reality marble, she could do nothing more than simply lay down- nothing more, nothing less. She had almost fried her magic circuits as is....

Linda made a dry run, leaving Gram behind for any to pick up. She kept Caliburn at the right, both hands clutching it in a death like embrace.

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Saber pulled Excalibur back, trying to vie for a position she could use to attack the Daemon lord, while it was in this position.

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Seras nodded at Nova, springing forth with her. That meteor thing had really weirded Seras out, though.

"Yes Sir!" She shouted, keeping pace with Nova, heading towards that crazy portal thing.

The chains that had pulled the sword away from Merrick quickly sprung to life again, wrapping themselves around the Chaos lord. The hellspawn moved closer, the living chains constricting around the human like a snake. "I don't fear your dark gods. Try again."
~~~~
Nyuu now had the palms of her hands pressed to her temples, as if in pain. A labored look was in the girl's eyes. Nyuu wouldn't be Nyuu for much longer. She was about to become someone very dark.

Malachi simply strolled through the battlefield, the moonbeasts he had just summoned earlier, were ripping men to shreds with their giant claws. Tentacles, suckers, and the like extended from his robes, ripping, tearing, bighting, and gashing into the enemy franticly and hungrily, while he calmly read the necronomicon. "To win the love of a woman..." He looked over in lia's direction, then back to the book, he folded the corner of the page to mark its place.

With the Chaos Lord occupied and his sword arm freed, Merrik siezed his chance. He picked up the discarded Runefang and charged the Lord.

However, he failed to notice the now-unencumbered Chaos Lord's shield arm .... and paid the price for it as, despite the blessed blade passing through the Lord's armour and fatally wounding the man, a daemonically-armoured gauntlet clamped onto his throat. Pure Warp power seeped into his head and, as his body began to shut down, the doomed Captain could do naught but scream in agony....

***

Stowing her rifle and retrieving her psyblade as she ran towards the rearmost echlons of the Chaos lines, Nova briefly went invisible before her glowing blade scythed through an unfortunate Chais warrior. The energy blade effortlessly decapitated her enemy, but Nova didn't stop to kill anyone else, choosing instead to continue running towards the tear in the Warp - whatever had been used to open it had to be shut down.

The Quarian had taken the rifle again, loading the only magazine she had left and prepared to fire. Then she noticed Malachi, his pets helping him carve a swath of blood and violence through the Chaos. She aimed down the sights and fired a burst into a large chaos warrior, spinning him to the side before firing again and knocking him down as the armor piercing the rounds tore through the armor and into his vital organs.
~~~
The hellspawn watched as Merrick was killed by the Chaos Lord, incapable of helping. The chains constricted, tight enough to cause the armor to begin to buckle. The suit fed off of its host's anger from his failure. The chains would crush until the Chaos Lord was crushed or died of blood loss, whichever came first.

Enraged by the death of their captain, the nearest soldiers redoubled their efforts, hurling themselves at the Chaos soldiers as they dragged Merrik's body and the Runefang out of the Chaos disciples' hands. Though the leader of the forces of Chaos was dead, the battle was not yet one - the scions of their gods were still pouring through and, if the tear in the Warp was not sealed in time, it would not matter who won.

***

Inch by inch, Nova dragged her feet towards the portal, the screams in her head becoming almost unbearable. She clutched at her skull, inwardly screaming at the voices that echoed in her head to get out as she forced herself towards the cabal that was keeping the tear open and the Daemons that, hooting and bellowing, poured out from it and sped towards the Empire's lines.

" Lets do this, Nyu, follow me, hold on if you must."

Linda was going to finish this without her reality marble. There was no telling what could happen if she used that near that portal- for good or worse. No point in taking a chance like that. No matter. She had enough energy now that the reality marble was disspeled for maybe a projection or two. Yes, she had her sword, the Jewel sword, if need be. And the Rho Ahias would be her shield. She could project them both- the question was, would it kill her?

Linda sent a Prana burst through her body, re enacting her reinforcments on her body, in preparation for the coming fight.

"Battle preparation, okay? Lets go."

Nyuu released her head and opened her eyes, "Nyuu." She stood and began to dollow Linda.

Taron watched as the horde of demonic freaks set out to slaughter. They held a sickening stench of blood that lingered, intruding her nostrils stubbornly. It was disgusting to anyone who smelt it and her nose wrinkled in a feeble attempt to rid of it.

Overcoming the smell, she decided that she too needed to run in the direction of wherever everyone else was going; it was most likely to the portal that stood ominously behind the freakish daemons. Cheating her enemy once more, Taron was enveloped in thousands of tiny flames, which grew until she was no longer there. One would have expected ashes, but instead she watched where she was whilst standing close to the portal.

Linda stepped into the clearing, noticing Nova slowly approaching. She reinforced her body to the literal max she could at the moment, and looked back in forth, waiting on the others to arrive.

Lia could see that she might not live long if she didn't retreat. She slipped the rifle over her shoulder and grabbed her shotgun again. The Quarian hoped she didn't have to use it though. She knew Malachi could handle himself, but she herself couldn't in this situation.
~~~
Nyuu stopped next to Linda and dropped to her knees, shivering in the cold snow. Her arms were wrapped around herself and she was breathing in heavy, labored breaths in the snow. "Nyuu."
~~~
The hellspawn, angry with his enemy, took to the trees once more. His chains pulled back into his suit, waiting to help its host exact his vengeance and bring him that much closer to his commanding position in Hell's army.

Spawn, was intent to close that portal first, and then massacre the warriors that stood against him.

Linda looked down at Nyuu, sad she could do little at the moment. She bent down, close to her, using a single hand to prop herself up.

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Samus could tell the battle was coming to a head, and silently descended from the snow, somehow not making a cloud of it descend, yet drifting down the slopes. She didn't want to use ball mode, as she had no idea what this enemy was. And outside of her bombs, she didn't have that much offensive power while using that.

Finally coming to a crest in the hill and where she could think somewhat clearly, Nova went prone onto the ground and, bringing her goggles down, scanned the horizon through the scope of her sniper rifle.

Below them was a blasted section of land marked with a giant 8-point Star of Chaos, where twenty-seven Chaos sorcerors stood, chanting in some foul tongue towards a writhing violet tear. Through this, misshappen ... "creatures" (daemons) poured out and made all speed towards the Empire lines.

This was the key, Nova realised. If they could kill the Chaos forces nearest to the portal, then the portal should, in theory, close, cutting the Chaos army off from their unholy support and maybe causing them to lose all moral.

With this in mind, she steadied her aim and waited....