Despite his best efforts, their network was still under persistent invisible assault from an unknown assailant on the other end. That threat wasn't critical enough, but seeing how Vilhelm was the only one capable of fighting on this front, he decided to dive into it, trying to resolve it before returning to more direct duties. As he was searching through the code, he found a few traces of his attacker, not enough to gain much info about him, but enough to establish his coordinates within their network. As per old Terran saying, the best defense is a good offense, and with these clues in hand Iron Master decides to go on the offensive and see what kinda of damage he can deal. After all, traitor or not, but their networks didn't change all that much and were just as vulnerable as those used by the loyalists. OOC: Cyber-Warfare - Attempt to disrupt/attack the enemy Techmarine responsible for Scrap Code assaults.
As Kremnar Eranite slid into a crater, he could hear something over the vox, but the contents went in one ear and out the other. He had no time, not even a split second, to divert his attention away from the battle at hand, such had been the intensity of firefight that he would likely take a bolt shot or a superheated shot through his head should he take his metaphorical eyes off the ball for even a moment. The Thousand Son proved the sternguard veteran right when he appeared on the chimera nearby, weapons directed at him. Instead of taking the opportunity to shoot and end it, the enemy chose to taunt him further. Before Kremnar could respond, the vehicle chassis exploded upwards, causing it to flip over at him. Flatting himself to the ground, he watched as the massive chunk of scrap metal missed his head by inches, before rolling over and sprinting at the nearest cover. "I gave no excuse for what I did, Thousand Son. I've killed men, women, children, and xenos of all sorts, and I'll do it over and over again if commanded to. Unlike you, Son of Magnus, I don't hide behind some sanctimonious garbage to deny what I am." He fired another burst and watched with annoyance as the rounds either got incinerated or diverted by his sorcery. "You mistook my meaning, Prosperian. I kill out of duty, vengeance just makes it all the more satisfying." Kremnar said as he rolled into cover, and, pushing his momentum, continued until he came out the other side and opened up at his opponent with his double bolters, sending another wave of bolt rounds at the sorcerous pistoleer. "Worry not about the piles of dead on Olympia, Son of Magnus. It will be on the pile of Terra that your corpse will be piled, along with the rest of your traitorous brothers!" OOC: Balanced attack, defense on self.
After stumbling back as Cro's claws dug into his armor and flesh, Nathiel took a moment to reflect on the words of the traitor. Before speaking in his normal cold tone, he let out a slight laugh, "The Father I was knew is no more. The one whom believed he was of Iron bent to the words and influence of traitors. We are the Emperor's own faithful, not lapdogs of traitorous Primarchs and false gods. The truth shall be revealed in your death, filth." Feeling the weight of his loyalist brothers' honor on his shoulders now, and that of his true Father, Nathiel charged forth with a new vigor. Trying to teach the traitor to watch his mouth, Nathiel would swing his hammer twice at the mouth of Cro. After the attack, he would then prepare for the counter attack raising his shield to his chest. OOC: All out attack with Thunder Hammer. Extra action defense with storm shield.
Marcus was at least mildly pleased at seeing how he felt none of the pains that would come from such injuries, merely the stimulations required for him to know - alot with the warning symbols upon the right showing what parts of his 'anatomy' was damaged - that he was attacked. As metal was torn off and the adamantium hull shrieked out with each talon that tore through, Marcus swiped forward with his upper torso in attempt to headbutt the beast; whether it hit or not mattered little. From there he'd bring both fists up and try to grab at his foe - whichever could grab would do its damndest to keep a hold on it whilst the other reared back to give a powerful uppercut; even daring to slam down upon its shoulder and try to tear off a wing!! OOC: all out attack with fists, trying to tear off a wing if possible
"You are correct, but as I see now, while the path to Chaos can lead towards different places its final destination remains the same," Warsong came about, sailing towards the traitor's right arm, Seth wanting to put presure on the enemy's limbs now and make it harder to properly wield the big weapon. "Now I see it. You are not what I would become if I fell to damnation, you are what I would become if I haven't taken the black. You are an older rendition of me, but while you show me a possible future your mask is only on the outside. Am I wrong creature? Do you think such parlour tricks can work on those who have Iron Tyrant's blood flowing through their veins?" Gorehowl came next, going in low where the other axe went high, striking at traitor's legs. Soul Smith didn't know what this creature was but he knew its fighting style and if he wanted to win, he would have to be quick and brutal. OOC All out attack with Warsong and Gorehowl against evil Seth.
@DeranVendar Rocketing off, Dyzek would extend claws out, tips cutting into the earth, so that his entire body would swing about, until he landed in a crouch. Looking down at the gash in his plate, Dyzek dips a finger in the flow of blood that even now was halted by his advanced biology. Looking down at the drops upon his armoured finger, the man would rise up again, before swinging out his arms, and resuming his battle with foe. If this entity wanted a fight, Dyzek could provide, his claws moving swiftly in a series of flowing, and shifting forms. Closing towards the Hellknight, Dyzek swirls about, his figure only increasing in speed as he further focuses himself on the battle before him, before setting loose with an assault against this abomination. OOC: Balanced Attack on Hellknight, Defense on Self.
Head Spinning"Countless. Foremost among them being Xerxes of course. I have picked many things from his spirit you know. The soul makes a poor bulwark. Especially in your ilk." One of Xerxes erupted into a fit of screams as the wild barrage of Volkite javelins set an image aflame. The other corrupted manifestations laughed, copy cat playing up its death with appropriate theatrics. Force Spade flies forward in retaliation, attempting to stake Herchel in a leg with a blade that mists smoldering Warp energies at its edge. Thunder hammer hooks out and deflects it, knocking weapon upward. Spade spins overhead before chopping down and hacking into Herchel's back. Entire body jerks as if somebody took hold of his spine and gave a powerful yank. "It is a wonder he was so surprised you could not save him. This sort of incompetence is unbelievable." Xerxes glides forward with head raised and an arm outstretched; lightning sizzling within his palm. "Do your Emperor and myself a favor: and fail yourself as you failed- ME." Very last word became a scathing mirror of the brother that Herchel had seen die on Khazae Moden. Orb of arcing electricity explodes from open hand and swims toward the Terminator, veteran struggling to arrest his out of control spin. Weight and momentum join his foes and Herchel raises gun, only able to try and fire back rather than evade. Volkite pierces the orb and detonates it, black lightning grounding itself nearby and sending deadly serpentine sparks crawling out from the struck earth. Pyrcolast follows up and looses a torrent of promethium towards Xerxes and a nearby clone. One burns, other simply evaporates. Another web of strangulated pressure washes away the raging fire and washes it back at Herchel, dispersing jet of flame as well. "Stop. That." Herchel: 22 Conditions: Xerxes the Taken: 15 (80+ 2/3) Conditions: Xerxes has conjured up mirror images for 3 turns. This grants a 80+ save against all attacks, representing Herchel possibly hitting the wrong target. Xerxes has one free Force Spade attack each turn due Living Weapon. Blood For No God"I am no perverse reflection of Slaanmash. No howling slave yoked to a brass collar by Khairne. Nor a rotting caricature dripping with Nurgleth's paints. Not even the trickster beast Zeentek crafted me." Gorehowl the Elder met Gorehowl the Younger. Warsong sprung forth with youthful enthusiasm, hacking into Seth and earning a snarl as burning teeth clung to and dug through flesh. A battered gauntlet lifted from the axe still stained with Orion's blood and wrapped around the burning Excoriator's haft just above the Soul Smith's grip. "I am the lost battle. We are the boiling rage in our heart of hearts. Its teeth sank in deep here, it thrashed and brayed on the walls, then screamed and tore at the spirit upon the Black Knight's shoulders." Both warriors leaned in, faces illuminated by torch light of weapon oil and jets of sparks spraying from dueling Gorehowls. The noise was hellish up close, just as they had always liked it; it drowned out the dying, the thirst, the pain, it consumed all, including the snapping of Warsong's length. Excoriator buckled then shattered in Seth's grip. "Away with the upstart! We do this with he who was there at the start of our path, and he who still stands here at the end." Gorehowl the Elder rips back nearly disarming Seth of remaining weapon by mere violence of the tug. Walker of the Long Road raises high mighty weapon and slashes, sparks and fragments of ceramite, arma-plas, and even adamantium erupting from Chaplain's torso as deep, jagged wound now winds down from collar to left thigh. "Kill this destiny or not, we will always have and always will embrace it. Deny me, DO IT!" Seth: 15 Conditions: Bloody Rage: Attack Re-roll. Free Attack. Warsong has been destroyed. Seth: 18 Conditions: Bloody Rage: Attack Re-roll. Knight ErrantAstartes and fragments of wall went flying, Marcus toppling over and through the masonry. Warp Talon swipes both claws back and forth across helmet. Veteran allies and lesser Night Lords turned monsters both rise up in similarly violent displays: all hacking nails and flying fists. Contemptor twists and slams hanger on into a nearby pillar, Warp Talon is partially dislodged, a limb flailing out behind it while both of the Dreadnought's fists close the gap with torso. Storming back out beyond the gate Marcus drives the Soul Eater spine first into the ground. An arm with broken up power armor strewn through mutant flesh smacks off an arm, hand comes right back to grip offending limb. Other hand joins and, lacking any wings to tear off, former Apothecary settles for trying to wrench off a claw. Limb twists this way and that, bending into angles that should not even be possible, the new Dreadnought swears he can feel the monster's bones vibrating under the strain of his assault. Free talons pummel Marcus from above and below, carving deep furrows into his mighty hide. Soon even reality is cloven in twain, a rift into the Warp itself opened mere feet away from wrestling pair. Knight is forced to relent lest he be drawn into the hellish mirror realm, twisted influence trying to drag him into the depths of the Empyrean Sea and shoals of madness. Beast retreats into the myriad colors of the abyss. The Knight: 20 Conditions: The Beast: 20 Conditions: The Beast has retreated into the Warp and will have initiative on the next turn.
Dyzek RisingDiodotus drives forward with an uproarious bellow that is taken up by the other demons mustered against the Forty-Fourth. Hellblade is swept over Terra's ruined grounds, rising to meet Dyzek mid-charge. Trailing flame parts like a curtain for the Lieutenant, now sweeping in low with claws extended. Two swipes part chitinous mockery of power armor from Diodotus and spills boiling vitae across the land. Broadsword chases the Iron Warrior as he twirls away, blade tip shears through Dyzek's own talon prints and gets struck right back down by Dyzek's claws. For the briefest of moments loyalist sees the beast's image falter, hellish thing hiding behind Diodotus' visage peering out at him through a shadowed hole sitting dead center of former comrade's face before everything reformed into the once Sergeant's face and daemon cast out a hand launching a bronzed throwing knife straight into Dyzek's chest. "You were taught better than this Dyzek. You were spared here for a reason, are you worthy of it?" Another sizzling knife whips past to push the point that much further. Dyzek: 14 Conditions: Like the Wind - 2/4: Free Re-roll, Flamer - 2/3 Hell Knight Diodotus: 18 Conditions: Rising Fury - 2/6: Bleeding Strikes Black Exemplar"The truth is already known to I and the true masters of the universe!" Power claw batters side thunder hammer on its first blow. Nathiel thrusts out his shield, slamming it against Cro in turn and driving other Terminator back. Combi-plasma ejects emptied canister and Son of Horus loads in another while Nathiel continues to hold back on the defensive. Locking in fresh unit Cro begins to lumber forth, claw raised over head for an obvious and brutal swipe. "Come now Champion, what else do you have to offer me? Get on your knees and beg, pledge your allegiance to Horus, a true Emperor, a REAL FATHER; and perhaps you might be spared just yet." Strike fell straight towards Nathiel's shield, sharpened fingers curving through folded metal and with an unnerving shriek of tearing steel. Claw sinks deeper and takes hold of cybernetic limb holding the barricade steady, locking the duelists in face to face. Nathiel: 21 Conditions: Stalemate- Both combatants gain a free attack next round. Cro:23 Conditions: Stalemate - Both combatants gain a free attack next round. Overwhelm: Inactive Stern Guards and Stern Hearts"I am not a trench hound, war monger. I have not relished every moment of this hell like your Soul Smith or the Red Angel." Kaltoshien sends an explosive kinetic cantrip beneath his boots and propels himself into another jump, flipping over several of Kremnar's bolts. Words came with the unspoken superiority and certainty of purpose that the Iron Warrior was all too used to from those legions that oft looked down upon them. Infernus pistol sends a serpent of all consuming heat rippling towards him, legionary baiting the tracking strike left before ducking straight back rather than to the right. Footing becomes treacherous a moment, an armored head causing heel to skip a pace and dumping the veteran into a fall. Making the best of it bolters exchange shots with Thousand Son's other side arm. At least thirty shots pass between both parties before their falls end. Power pack grinds against palace floor, tiles cracking like glass as Iron Warrior enters a rough roll that leaves him crouching in front of a previously abandoned barricade. Kaltoshien lands opposite, blood dripping down around his feet from several shallow craters in his upper body. Head lifts and loyalist can hear his opponent muttering words of power, reinforcing his biology with more sorcery to speed recovery and banish pain. "Killing you and all your barbaric kindred will be the only part of this entire affair I enjoy." Both pistols snap up and Kremnar vaults back into cover and resumes running and gunning, while stacks of sand bags and bodies go up in smoke. Kremnar: 20 Conditions: Kaltoshien: 16 Conditions: Ignition - Kaltoshien gains a stacking bonus to hit for every previous attack that lands up to +5 for 4 turns.
To Slay the Hydra"Yes, step right into my parlor." Vilhelm finds himself submerged in cyberspace. There his rival awaits in a cocoon of scrap code. Decrepit orange-brown strings of letters and numbers extend outward like the heads of a hydra. As a courtesy enemy Techmarine presents credentials: Harthol Gant of the Alpha Legion. Vilhelm returns the favor with a blast of Purge Programs that wipe away vast swathes of his opponents shielding and clears out what had been a small mine field of hostile programs and viruses swimming around his landing in the digital world. With unimaginative brute force Iron Master had leveled the playing field and negated what would of been a very nasty trap to merely walk into. All while thought process was still divided across the Noosphere and the grand battle before the Eternity Gate. Below Vilhelm's position Fifth Squad of Fourth Company receives orders to reinforce the far-West flank. Unawares that their vox has been compromised and that the orders are coming from outside the house, Sergeant Kenemon leads his brothers into the open jaws of a Death Guard armored unit. Two Rhinos roll up and pintle mounted combi-bolters begin chewing into the ten strong unit of loyalist while more plague marines spill out the back. Fifth Squad is stripped of six bodies before they even know what hits them, remaining four dig in with the nearest friendly parts of the line while unnatural rot already sets in upon the fallen. Kenemon's angry demand for answers is strangled by the compromised communications and only more traitors answer the call. Deeper into the line Baneblade continues to stand against widening stream of hostile code besieging it. Powerful machine holds its ground, greater machine spirit spitting defiantly at the code until at last attack trickles off: Iron Master's bold and foolish assault on Harthol distracting the traitor from his duty. For now the super heavy tank shall continue to support its legion and the loyal space marines dug in before Gangaresh's mighty iron hide. Tides of War: Forty-Fourth Battalion (94) Vs. Death Guard Legion (Countless) - Minor Iron Warrior Advantage Action Layout: Loyalists - 3 Defense / Traitors - 2 Attack Command Options: ( 2 Picks) +Counter Scrap Code - Vox Channels +Coordinate Artillery - Long range bombardment is inbound. Vilhelm may guide it in for greater accuracy, or leave it to other sources, whom may or may not be terribly reliable at the moment. This option guarantees that nothing negative will happen for the Forty-Fourth at the least. +Cyber-Warfare - Attempt to disrupt/attack the enemy Techmarine responsible for Scrap Code assaults. +Deploy Techmarines: Autonomous Protocols - Techmarines will become their own event and act once each turn providing one of their other Deploy bonuses at random each turn for 3-5 turns. During this time Vilhelm will have no direct control over them. +Deploy Techmarines: Combat Orders - Adds 1 Attack to Loyalist side in attempt to change the Tides of War. +Deploy Techmarines: Repair Orders - Grant Defensive Re-roll on a failure, or Upgrade successful initial roll by one stage. +Command Turrets: Direct Fire - Allows Vilhelm to make two Attacks on specific targets in the field. This can prevent future events from coming to fruition, remove current events or effect the Tides of War in minor fashion. +Deploy Servitor Screen (2/2) - Grants a 5 Point shield to the Forty-Fourth Battalions 'HP' for D3 turns. Limited uses. +Deploy Skitarii (2/2) - Elite units of Skitarii combat units will prevent a single negative field event in development from coming to fruition. Limited uses. Events: (E) Death Guard First Company - Grave Wardens and other veteran Death Guard are putting pressure on the center line with extremely deadly weapons. Successful enemy attacks will inflict greater casualties. Lasts until addressed. (E) Alpha Legion Infiltration Team - ?????????. Lasts until ????????. (E) Harthol Gant - The Alpha Legion Techmarine will attack Vilhelm and create Scrap Code events while active. (E) Vox-Corruption - Provides a direct attack on Forty-Fourth Battalion that ignores defensive rolls each turn. Lasts until addressed via Counter Scrap Code option. (F) - Artillery Barrage - A friendly artillery barrage is incoming. If not guided in directly by the Coordinate Artillery option a random roll will determine whether it has any effect on either side.
Kremnar Eranite scowled as he popped out of cover again, firing repeatedly in a dive that his opponent mimicked, and the two gunslingers fired repeatedly at each other even as they fell. Listening to his words, he spat out his own reply quickly. "Then you came to the wrong place, traitor. Still, damn good you came. Now you get to die just like the rest of your misbegotten kind." The sternguard veteran dropped into a roll into cover after the dive, even as the image of his shots penetrating the enemy flashed onto his mind. Finally making some progress, he ejected the two clips from his bolters before slapping in two fresh clips even as the cover and bodies he hid behind went up in flames. Hearing the words of power being chanted by his opponent, Kremnar came out and fired another few bursts at the Thousand Son, knowing that he had to end the fight quickly. He had thought the pretentious arrogant astartes had been up to no good, and now he confirmed it; what the Son of Magnus lacked in skill, he used foul sorcery in order to make up for it. The sternguard had to end this fight quickly, before all rules of engagement, indeed of reality, got broken just so his opponent could place a melta shot or a bolt round between his eyes. Diving out once more, he unleashed a hailstorm of fire against him, this time pausing a bit more in order to aim more directly at the enemy and hoping that by the Emperor, he would light his opponent up. OOC: All out attack on Kaltoshen.
