The Witch and The Knight

[thatguyjames]

James issues Challenge to Ron

The weapon hit the ground with a reverberating thud. A small cloud of dirt kicked up by the massive impact, shrouding the landscape in a thin red cloud. Breathing a sigh of relief, the guardian stretched his arms, looking back to the silent figure who stood watch over him.

"Are there more Farseer?"

The cloaked Eldar strode past where the guardian had dropped the most recent find. A thunder hammer, insanely valued technology of the humanoid imperium. The collection of lost weapons and technology would surely provide an invaluable bargaining chip in bringing about the Farseers plans.

"There is but one more stockpile unclaimed guardian tal'dere. It is no more than a kilometer away. We shall retrieve the items while the rest of this barbaric technology is being fed through the webway. This lode is too large for us to carry, call in the avengers. We will use their waveserpent to retrieve..."

The farseer fell silent.

Glancing up at his master, the guardian felt a chill run down his spine. The sudden silence could only mean that something had interrupted the Farseer's thoughts...something sinister.

"Raise the troops, we are not alone on this planet."

"Farseer, is it the great enemy?"

The Farseer laughed coldly.

"Worse, humans."

*****
Ron Accepts

The Vetran Sergeant Terminator approaches the two towering figures before him. On the right a black terminator with a skull mask. Ancient as he is wise is chaplian Balnazaar. On the left is Another terminator in pristine red and white armor. he is master of these terminators. Grand Crusader Garithos, Master of the Flamestrike.

The Vetran Sergeant speaks up. "Grand Crusader, we have located the stockpile of supplies mentioned in the lexicon. However xenos have set up defenses around the cache and are trying to prevent us from aquiring them."

"Thank you Sergeant, we go to war. Prepare the Flamestrike" Says the Grand Crusader as he looks to the Chaplain.

With a nod the chaplain truns and walks down a dark cooridoor.

"War has come to you xenos, burn in the flames of the emporers wrath"

[thatguyjames]

Eldar Victory

It was a bloody affair.

From the first ripple of energy that permeated the battlefield, the humans were among them. Shen Tael, Farseer of the Eldar, knew the battle was not going to be easy. These were no ordinary humans. They were Space Marines, humanity's greatest warriors, mutated and overgrown with thick slabs of bone and muscle. Each man stood with the bulk of several Eldar combined. On top of that, each marine was layered down with sturdy armor plates that could withstand even the most punishing assault, bristling with deadly weaponry. The Farseer knew there would only be one hope for victory.

From the moment the first human soldier stepped through the warp and onto the plains, he came under immense amounts of Eldar fire. The constant hail of shurikens and laser fire cut the enemy down, but at a very slow pace. The armor the marines wore were blistering with embedded shurikens and black from the impact of laser fire, but still they pressed on.

Then he appeared.

A ripple of time space bought yet another group of terminators onto the field, but there was one among them who was different. Shen Tael sensed his presence immediately as he did hers. His mind was like a sun, raging in every direction with one emotion: pure and unrestrained hatred. Even for a non-psyker, it took the Farseer a moment to adjust to the storm that was this man's heart.

The battle raged on. A group of marines toppled the wraithlord who the Farseer had been providing sight for, and the group immediately rushed for the prize. In the middle of the field on a paved slab of concrete was a solid steel box, roughly the size of a car, which was adorned by a solid gold two headed eagle. Underneath the eagle, was only a single word: “Terminatus”. Shen Tael knew that they were running short on time. The marines began placing teleport beacons on the box, in hopes that it could simply be sucked back through the warp into the clutches of the humans. But before they could finish, the Eldar mechanized force swarmed in on them, cutting them down where they stood. Shen Tael smiled to herself and turned to call out to her comrades...

And the Chaplain came rushing at her.

His screams of hate amplified over his suit's vox caster, the Farseer barely had enough time to raise her own sword in defense as the man raged into her. Swinging like a thing possessed, the Chaplain struck her twice with his golden scepter, the energy crackling as it coursed through her body. Coughing up blood, the Farseer stood her ground.

Just a few more seconds, she thought.

Just as the man in black seemed to have the upper hand, something hit him from behind. He howled in pain, whirling around to see two dire avengers standing behind him, knives bloody. With a massive swing he cut both of them down, cursing them at the top of his lungs. He turned back to finish the Witch who lead his enemies, only to find her gone, as well as the armory container.

The Chaplain stood alone on the battlefield, watching the Eldar skimmers glide over the landscape, far away from him. The silence following the battle was unbearable. The last massive dreadnought fired his las cannon, desperately trying to catch up to the fading visage of the enemy as they disappeared over the horizon. All around, the only sound was that of the Chaplain's roar of fury.

Shen Tael watched as the smoldering fields faded away in the mid afternoon sun. Pulling her helmet off, she walked up the interior of the crowded wave serpent. The scorpions all knelt in silence, observing a moment of honor for those who had died to make the victory possible. Shen Tael lowered her head as well, waiting for the Exarch to rise. As he did, she bowed to him, her eyes lowered in respect.

“Thank you Exarch, you and your men were of critical importance today. What news?”

“My lady, the armory has been secured. The other Waveserpent is being used to transport it as well as the wounded, of whom there are many.”

“Have the soul stones of the fallen been recovered?”

“Yes Farseer, they will either live to fight on or join the infinity circuit. Also, the teleport beacons have been temporarily disabled as per your request.”

“The human leader, has he been left alive?”

“Yes.”

“Good. The humans must be allowed to retreat back to their Space Hulk to lick their wounds. They are not done fighting today.”

“My lady?”

“Have the convoy take a slight detour and find a place to land. We will unload the armory and reactivate the beacons, albeit with the new settings. This was just a primer Exarch. I need the humans angry, furious even, with us. I need them so angry that they would be willing to make a second engagement just for something as simple minded as revenge, and nothing tempts a human more than revenge. They were out for honor last time, this time they will be out for blood.”

“We are to engage the Space Marines a second time?”

“No Exarch, I think that task would better fall to our dark cousins, don't you agree? I've altered the teleport beacons so they will not only transmit the location to the Space Marines, but to anyone else who might be listening. The Bloody Handed Wych Kabal has meddled in our affairs for too long. It's time they turned their attentions elsewhere. And what better to divert their perverse pleasures than a full scale war with those brutes?”

“Surely you don't think the Space Marines will mistake those freaks for us?”

“You have not seen into their minds as I have Exarch. That man in the black armor, his mind knows nothing but war. He lives and breathes pure contempt for any but his own. Trust me Exarch, we are the enlightened race and our dark cousins are the fallen.”

Shen Tael smiled, “But that is not a distinction the Space Marines are willing to make.”

Challenge passes to Doug and his Dark Eldar

[Iron Warrior]

Doug accepted and Ron Challanges

The Chaplain in his bloodstained armor reached down and grabs one of the eldar corpses. "Wretched Alien" and throws the corpse hurtling to the ground 10 feet away. The vox in his helmet chirps with static then someone speaks.

"Chaplain Balnazaar, report!" it was the Grand Crusader. The Chaplain placed his index fingure on the side of his helmet near the jawbone of his skull mask and begain to speak.

"Grand Cusrader, the xenos have deceived us. They have retreated with the supplies to another location. My force was defeated in the attempt. If I am to persue I will need reienforcements....and I intend to persue. I will assure vicotry this time."

The vox was silent for a brief few tense momnets. The Chaplain was not used to defeat.

"I dont have to remind you how valuable and in limited supply our Flamestrike is. I will send you reienforcements and I will lead the Flamestrike personally." says the Grand Crusader.

The Chaplain clentches his fist. "Yes Grand crusader, I await your arrival."

A day later and miles to the north:

"The eldar have been located but only a minimal amount guard the weapons chache. It should be a simple task to wipe the rest out" Spoke the chaplian to the Grand Crusader.

The Grand Crusaders turns to the chaplain and nods. "I agree, it seems to be the remnants of the force you fought the other night. We will march into battle this time. We will not use the teleporters. These xenos move too fast, we need to keep our distance and use our firepower more effectively."

1 hour later:

A battle line of 32 terminators spread out in a line marched at a steady pace towards the weapons chache. Flanked by two mighty Venerable dreadnoughts. The marching stopped only when two flickering green portals opened up on the far side of the battlefield. Black metal raiders began to emerge from the portals and skim over the ground towards the terminators.

The Crand Crusader motionsed with his hand in the air to halt the advance and all went quiet for a few seconds. "Open fire" came from the Grand crusader.

Storm bolters opened up on the raiders along with the whirling sound of assult cannons spraying everything that moved. Light were flashing from the gun fire in the darkness illuminatoing the terminators for the brief seconds in which they fired. The fire soon ended and the smoke cleared. Wreckage and dead xenos filled the battlefield. It was only a matter of clearing out the rest of the survivors (which wasnt many) and the weapons would be claimed by the rightful side. Minor skirmishes broke out in the battle line but were quickly squashed with a counter assualt from the next squad in the battle line. The terminators moved again over the wreckage of several raiders and onto the concrete container.

"Place teleport becons on the 4 corners. This Prize is ours!" shouted the Chaplain. 4 terminators placed small flashing red becons on each corner of the container and prepared to return to thier ship. No more xenos came....with a sudden flash one by one the terminators along with the weapons vanished into thin air, leaving this world with thier prize. No xenos would stand in the way of the Scarlet Crusaders!

Marine Crushing victory!

[thatguyjames]

Eldar epilogue

The crack of gunfire echoed throughout the battlefield, permeated only by the occasional hiss of a dark lance or the whistle of shards. Bursts of ballistic fire from the Imperials lit up the dark dusky landscape where they did battle. In the fiery flickering light Shen Tael watched the forces clashing with animalistic fury. The Dark Eldar did their best to outmaneuver the bulky space marines, but the gunfire simply came from too many angles to dodge.

Even from the distance they stood away from the fight, the screams of the combatants was clearly audible. The humans shouted litanies of purity and hatred, the Dark Eldar responding in shrieking war cries. The raider ships crashed and exploded in fiery storms of metal and plasma. The dreadnoughts thundered across the plains, laying out a constant hail of fire. Eventually the fire dimmed, steadily growing smaller and smaller until finally it ceased altogether. The air was filled with the triumphant shouts of the human warriors as they placed the beacons upon the box.

The sun having dipped below the horizon some time ago, night was finally settling in. Standing in a field of tall grass far above the battle that had just taken place, the Farseer and her Warlocks stood in silence. They watched the space marines disappear in a flash of brilliant blue, one by one, until no living enemy remained.

Shen Tael spoke softly as the final terminator vanished.

“So then, our plan worked.”

One of her Warlocks turned to face her, a look of concern on his face.

“My lady, I still don’t understand. Why did we allow the enemy to better arm himself?”

Shen Tael was silent for a moment, mulling over the Warlock’s question.

“While I admit the prospect of switching the contents of the container for a vortex bomb would have made an amusing end for the crusaders, we couldn’t afford to arouse their suspicions anymore. We needed them here, fighting, for the genuine article.”

The Farseer turned, walking away from the smoldering wreck that was the battlefield.

“The Wyches will not tolerate this. They will haunt the space marines until only one or the other lies dead. This leaves us free to proceed undisturbed by either party. I gave the crusaders a piece of their valued technology because I still need them alive at the end of this bloody feud. They have yet to play out their part in its entirety.”

With that the Farseer and her Warlocks vanished into the webway, leaving the silent planet behind.