Growing increasingly weary of the attacks from the Dark Eldar, the Emperor dispatches Russ and Khan to deal with this. Little do they know, they have a stowaway on board.
Growing increasingly weary of the attacks from the Dark Eldar, the Emperor dispatches Russ and Khan to deal with this. Little do they know, they have a stowaway on board.
So.... I decided to continue the series I was writing for fimfiction. What am I doing with my life?
"Happy Hearth's warming eve!" Applebloom said. "You going to see the play?"
"Don't have anything planned. So most likely." Cyrus replied. Ever since the final defeat of chaos, Cyrus was the only one who remained behind in Equestria. The others had gone on the mass expansion spree the Imperium was currently doing.
"Nice! I hope you like it!"
"I do too." Cyrus replied. "It wasn't often when I had an opportunity to do things like this."
As Ferrus Manus would put it, space marines weren't exactly made to be ordinary people living in ordinary lives. Even now, the scout marine still trained more recruits for the newly made Astartes legions. (Some chose to merge chapters and create a legion, others chose to stay as a chapter. Depends on the chapter master's decision. This of course, was a controversial topic.)
"Alright nice! In Canterlot?"
"Yes. I'll take the train too." Cyrus said.
"Not going to try and scale the mountain this year?" Applebloom asked.
"No. Last time almost ended in disaster." The scout replied. "Besides, the slopes are treacherous this time around the year."
Applebloom grinned underneath. She always liked it when Cyrus attended the play. He was the only one of his kind to do so and even after about almost two years on Equestria, still received awed looks over his eye and appearance. The good majority of the astartes remaining on Equestria commonly found some basement to make more plans for war or decided to stage a fight in the empty streets. Why they didn't like to sit down and not think about fighting for once was something Applebloom had trouble wrapping her head around.
"Happy Hearth's warming eve." An astartes said over the vox.
"You don't even celebrate the holiday. None of us do except for that Blood Raven scout."
"Just like saying it. So how are things?"
"Boring." The space marine replied. "Everyone's too scared shitless to as much as go near this place. Even Orks."
"Of course. They shall not defile the graves of so many of our battle brothers. If any enemies of the Emperor as much as show their faces, we're to fill them with bolter rounds."
"Surprised how they still bloom in the winter. Truly a.... strange thing." A Techmarine said. "Anyways, send to Terra that production is going up as planned. I took the liberty of installing a new telescope within an Equestrian observatory. Almost started a riot over who got to see it."
"Technology seems to amaze them. A civilization with only 1,000 years worth of history is attempting to make a leap forward."
"And their magic is useful to us. What exactly keeps our new webway gates stable? Now then, Manus gave us orders that he wants a gate in the Equestrian atmosphere by next week. Best get to work."
"Milord?" Cypher began as he walked into the throne room. "Leman Russ and Jaghatai Khan have returned."
"Excellent." The Emperor said clapping his hands together. "What news do they have?"
"We now have about another three hundred systems within our Imperium. And of course, they destroyed a few splinter fleets of Tyranids, purged a tomb world and drove away at least three ork waaaghs."
"Orks. The brutes never seem to give up." Luna commented. "So, how is everything else? What is the public opinion on everything?"
"I can only be one place at a time Sigilite." Cypher replied. "The Imperium is celebrating across the stars over your return and the defeat of chaos. Though of course, we still have necrons, tyranids, or...."
"Yes, I am aware. How goes the newly formed astartes legions?"
"A topic which spurs much debates." Cypher said. "Though overall, the primarchs have agreed to let each other do their own thing."
"So is everything stable?"
"At it's best." Cypher said.
"Good. You're dismissed."
The messenger of the Emperor gave a bow, and left the throne room. When he exited, the hulking forms of Khan and Russ entered to give a personal report.
"Our war goes well. It won't be long before the galaxy is unified." Khan said.
"There were many good fights! We had a great feast at the end of it all!" Russ said. "Many new races join our Imperium."
"I see people are willing to see reason." The Emperor said. "Good. The ideals of tolerance is a value that should be treasured."
"Indeed. We've formed at least eight more trade routes with various intelligent races, the Tau included. The Eldar craftworlds still give us the evil eye every time we go near them though."
"Eldar. They keep out of our business is all that I care for." The Emperor said. "So I take it all is well?"
"All is well."
"Excellent. Did you know today on Equestria is Hearth's Warming eve? It's when the Equestrians celebrate the unification of their planet. Join them. There is much more unification then just a simple planet that we're dealing with."
"As you wish."
"And we remain here... still." Luna chuckled. "Well, not that I like the celebration anyways. So, how goes the webway project?"
"We built small scale ones on almost every planet by now." The Emperor said. "I am testing the first large scale one, the type I can move fleets with over orbit of Equestria. In case something goes wrong, then at least we have a large supply of shards."
"I am fine with it as long as we don't have another mob of angry daemons."
"Probably not. The dark gods won't be able to as much as send a dust fleck at us anymore. Everything is the way it should be." ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
On the other side of Equestria. A single ship moved unseen by the astartes and the small fleet in orbit. It's captain had taken a interest in Equestria. Canterlot especially.
After the play was over, there was the feast within Canterlot castle. The mane six were there too.
"So, this going to be like two years ago when the snow was heavy to the point where we couldn't even get outside unless we melted it all?"
"No. Just lot's of snow, just enough to give the foals a nice treat and just enough not to trap any pony."
"Weather manipulation. That's something we could all use." Cyrus commented as he poured himself some wine.
"Safe and sound!" Rainbow Dash said. "Now if you excuse me, I need some cupcakes."
"ME TOO!" Pinkie said flying out of nowhere. Her subtly somehow managed to put Cyrus' to same until she burst out. Many techmarines and librarians had already given up attempting on how to explain Pinkie Pie. In fact, Pinkie Pie was officially labeled as a separate entity documented as Pinkipus Piecus. If anyone ever read said official document, it would include many questions, speculations and theories.
"The elements of harmony are on display." Fluttershy said. "Want to go see them?"
"That'd be nice. Where are they?" _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Cyrus always had found some hints of respect for the Equestrian royal guard. They seemed to be far better disciplined than most imperial guard regiments and are nearing par with space marine chapters in terms of that department. Whether or not they could actually defend Equestria from equation is up for debate.
Cyrus looked at the elements, his face didn't show it, but he was always in awe of these magnificent artifacts. To think that it had indirectly taken several gods to make this was mind-blowing. Their power would easily be able to omnipotent if somehow tapped into.
Of course, power always came at a price, perhaps that's why the Equestrians never seemed to poke around with their artifacts. The holy energies emitted from these stones soothed Cyrus and all around them. He felt a sense of inner peace. That was harmony.
The peace was soon shattered when a pink blob jumped in front of him offering cupcakes and telling him something about a "doozy." Cyrus could only frown and excuse himself as Pinkie stubbornly followed rambling about "importance". His timing was unfortunate. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The windows of the room shattered as dark armored figures broke into the room with terrifying speed and little warning. The royal guards stationed at that area were killed by terrifying weapons in an instant, they stood no chance.
The other half attempted to fight, but their lives ended all in a gruesome fashion. Panic and discord spread as some tried to flee the room.
Fluttershy tried to fly away, but her wings failed her. She did what she commonly did when she was scared. Hid behind her mane. She heard the screams, the maniacal laughter and the discharging of weapons unknown to her. Her mane parted just long enough to catch a glimpse of a pale face wearing a wicked grin and waving a cruelly cut knife in front of her.
Fluttershy fainted.
"We didn't even need any toxins or drugs to catch this one." The Sybarite said grinning wickedly to his Dracon. "Throw them in all with the others!"
"Let at this." The Dracon said at the elements. "Pretty trinkets. I shall take them and......." He heard a "plink" noise and turned around to see one of his men look curiously at a strange object. His face of depravity and greed instantly turned to a face of terror.
"YOU FOOL! THAT'S A GRENADE!"
The explosion scattered his squad. The doors swung open and the large form of a space marine entered firing shots from a sniper rifle with lethal speed and accuracy.
"Time we left!" The Dracon said. He would have grabbed all of them, but only had time to take a lightning shaped crystal. He ran for the broken windows, dodging all the bolter rounds and jumped out to where a ship awaited.
His men weren't so lucky. Almost all of them were shot dead before they as much as moved two paces. The last one bound for the window, only to be grabbed by the neck and flung back into the waiting jaws of Cyrus who grabbed him, and slammed him against the door, grabbing him in a chokehold.
"Filthy Eldar." Cyrus spat. "You think you will get away with this? I'll flay you alive!"
"Easy captain." A voice said.
"Do not.... oh... my lords! I apologize for my tone!"
"No need." Khan said. His face didn't show it, but he was seething with rage. "Dark Eldar scum. Pirates, killers, cowards. Tired of fighting with those who can hit back?"
The question was rhetorical. The dark Eldar just glared back.
"Where's Fluttershy?!" Rainbow Dash asked as she ran into the room. "Where's everyone else?!"
"Taken. To Commoragh." The Eldar said, his face becoming a wicked grin once again. "You're friends would be better off dea..."
"Silence!" Cyrus drew his fist back and punched the Eldar in the face, splitting nose and knocking several teeth out. The alien retaliated and attempted to wrench free, instead Cyrus drew and swung his knife with suck speed, it severed the left hand of the Eldar, through flesh and bone.
The screaming annoyed him. He sent his foot with crushing speed upwards and shattered his foe's jaw. Only odd groaning and sobbing remained.
"They have an element and a bearer." Russ said. "This is bad."
"Then I think it's time I asked for his lordship's permission." Cyrus said rushing downstairs to the mines.
"I am sorry milord. It is not like me to barge in on here without warning. I have news."
"I already know of it. But these two don't." The Emperor gestured over to Luna and Celestia. "Speak."
"At 1800 hours Equestrian time, Canterlot was attacked. A Dark Eldar raiding party had attacked the castle wounding and killing few souls. That is a relief. What isn't is that they have managed to steal a single element and one of the element bearers. My hunch is that they intend to use it's...."
"That's horrible!" Luna said. "The ele...."
"That's not even the bad part. Do you even know what the Dark Eldar do to their prisioners?!"
"Enough." The Emperor said. He turned to Cypher.
"I want the Deathwatch, the Space Wolves and the White scars." He then turned back to Cyrus. "Request granted."
"I thank you milord."
"Surely a rescue operation doesn't take an army now does it?" Luna asked.
"Oh no. The Dark Eldar have been a thorn in our sides for too long, they have plagued the Imperium with their wanton cruelty and evil for far too long. We take the fight to them now."
The Emperor turned to Cyrus. "Give Russ and Khan the following orders. Return with Commoragh in ashes, with it's back broken, and with freed slaves and it's denizens no longer a threat, or return not at all."
The first thing Fluttershy woke up to was not the comfort of her bed which she would have prepared. It was a nightmare after all and like all nightmares, it should have went away. It didn't. It grew worse. She woke to the comfort of screams and groaning, and she found herself staring face to face with a creature of monstrous beauty. It's face was the first thing that Fluttershy saw, and the first thing that unnerved her reducing her to an (extra) nervous wreck.
"This one amuses me. Perhaps I could play with it?"
"So long as she remains alive and not too scarred......" _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Lord Vect? I present to you this." The Dracon took up the lightning shaped element of loyalty.
"What is this?" Vect asked rhetorically. "Amusing. A gift?"
"Indeed. I give it to you as a token of my loyalty. Now may I collect my reward?"
"Huh? Oh yes, your reward. I'll let you HAVE IT."
His blow took the Dracon's head clean off. The Lord of Commoragh just sat back and laughed. How dumb were people these days anyways? That's probably the eighth time in a row someone fell for it. He chuckled to himself which made both his bodyguards nervous and his slaves extra-nervous. Taking the trinket, he held it to the side for now. It radiated with strange power.
"Now then, report please." Vect said to the warrior at the foot of his throne.
"We are fresh from the feast." The warrior replied. "We swooped in on a backwater planet and went about pillaging and looting. Until a mon'keigh showed up. Our leader, the one who lies dead at your feet was a fool who couldn't as much as realize the danger of an explosive even if it blew up in his face. That was actually what happened literally anyways."
"Really? You attack a backwater planet and come back with a couple of slaves and a single gem of relatively low material value? You'll be lucky if I still find SOME use for you. Beings on levels of your stupidly won't even make a good pin cushion much lest a pirate."
"With all......"
POW*
The dead warrior's head flew clean off from Vect's pistol shot. He turned to yet another one wondering if this one might actually have half a brain.
"Report. Give me a good one... or else..."
"After our initial landing, we broke into these primitive's fortress where they held some jewels for display. Some silly museum if you ask me. Seeing how these jewels were worth material value, our leader decided to seize them as well as take some prisoners. The room we had broken into held little amounts of any baggage worth of value, and the plan was to further plunder until a mon'keigh, a space marine showed up and began to savage our warriors. Judging from it's regalia, it was a captain. A mighty and worthy foe."
"And this lone mon'keigh drove you all back? Preposterous."
"Unfortunately, that is our story. Our commander was most incompetent. Our second in command was just barely better."
"Alright then. Your report will do. Now get out of my sight lest I have a change of heart."
The kabal warrior leapt out of the room in a flash not wanting to face the wrath of the lord of Commoragh.
"Bring me one of the captives." __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Fluttershy curled into a ball, finally he had stopped and was temporarily satisfied. She hoped he wouldn't come back and attempt to get any more. Oh he wouldn't alright. A single tall figure entered the room with some arcane machine.
"Come hither, whelp, and Lord Vect may go easy on thou."
Fluttershy quickly got up despite her fear. She hid behind her mane and allowed herself to be prodded and led through the dark corridors where the screams and depraved laughs echoed on end.
Even daemons couldn't possibly be this vile. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"What is this trinket?" Vect asked holding the element of loyalty.
"It's.... it's nothing." Fluttershy said. "Just a gem."
"Oh? Really? Are you telling me the truth?" Vect asked, face turned into a disapproving scowl.
"Yes! Please.... can I go now?"
"Why do you lie to me? Why do you lie to me when you plainly know your fate will be a hundred-fold more painless if you tell me the truth? Why is it po'neigh? Is it because of loyalty to your friends?"
How did he....
"Why so dishonest?" Vect mused watching the shocked expression of Fluttershy's face. "It's certainly doesn't put a smile on my face when someone lies to me...... or theirs for that matter. Would you like me to cut one on you?"
"No please! I am telling you, it's just a je....."
"I am feeling a bit generous today......." Vect said. "I think I'll let you off the hook.... for once. Tell me the truth behind it.... or all the magic in the universe won't stave off your suffering."
"Okay! Okay! It's an element of harmony!" Fluttershy gasped out. Vect's scowl turned into a smile. A happy one at that.
"Good.... good. I think I'll do a kind deed today..... AND NOT KILL YOU..... painfully......" The last phrase was said with a lethal, menacing undertone, yet Vect wore a jovial grin.
"I'll tap into it's power somehow." The lord of Commoragh muttered to himself. "But first.... let's see what I can do with you....."
The webway portal in orbit over Equestria has just been finished and we have prepared a sizable invasion force of about 10,000 astartes. The Black Templars, The Deathwatch, The Space Wolves and The White Scars.
"What's the Black Templar doing here anyways?
"Dorn sent them. He was planning to piece his legion back together, but either he didn't have time or decided he was going to have a paint shortage or whatever. They're still under his command. He just won't be going to Commoragh." ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Cyrus went to the area of the Everfree forest where he camped. It was indicated by a large box which he kept most of his belongings. Opening the box, he got out his Mark X sniper rifle and the rest of his gear.
"Back to the Deathwatch so soon Captain?" The Emperor asked.
"Yes, milord." Cyrus replied trying not to act surprised. Few beings could manage to sneak up on him. "It was my fault they took one of the elements and one of the element bearers."
"Pinkie Pie, heard that one can predict the future."
"Imagine how well, that'd have played out had she been there with us ten thousand years ago. Your lordship's values would have long spread to the stars and prosperity would have begun."
"True, true. But I am not here of course to ponder a "What if" scenario. I came here to give you this." The Emperor gestured at a crate. "I took the liberty of personally telling you and your brothers in the Deathwatch that I ask the Deathwatch to perform rescue operations over Commoragh, Tau, orks, human, anything. Get them out of that wretched hell-hole."
"I presume we may do some stealing?"
"Do whatever it takes. I just it be said that you and your brothers performs acts of heroism for the benefit of all."
"Very well then. I will not disappoint you."
"Excellent. I return to Terra now." And with that, The Emperor vanished. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Cyrus? You going with them?"
"Yes Twilight." The scout replied. "I lost the element and Fluttershy. I go to Commoragh to get them back."
"But it's not eve...."
"It is. I should of listened to Pinkie Pie. But I promise, I'll get them back."
"Well, good luck then." Applejack said. "You'll need it."
"With all those MASSIVE brothers of yours, what can go wrong?"
"I bet it'll be fun! I can throw a "Saved Fluttershy" party!"
"Where's Rainbow Dash?" Cyrus asked.
"Ah, I don't blame her. She was always close with Fluttershy. Probably off somewhere sulking."
"Well, tell her I am off. I'll be back." ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Cyrus went to his designated cell. Empty room like most others. All it had was a single bed where he could sleep and that was about it.
Putting his box down, he thought it rather odd. Being a Blood Raven, he had a perfect memory. As such, he remembered the exact feeling of the exact same weight of his old Deathwatch equipment. The box felt a bit heavier than it should be. It was scout armor after all didn't exactly weight a ton. Opening the box, he wondered if he left an extra sniper rifle inside.
He was surprised by a cyan blur. That's the second time today. "Thanks. Was getting stuffy in there." Rainbow Dash said gulping in air like water. "What?"
"Why are you here?" Cyrus asked almost groaning.
"I came to help!" Rainbow Dash said. "C'mon, Fluttershy's my friend and the element was mine so......"
"Well, I got no objections to be honest. I only fear the opinions of everyone else on board."
"Oh it'll be fine!" Rainbow Dash said. "I can be helpful!"
Vect finished his mocking of his new slave just enough to take extra amusement in the fact it had curled up into a ball and was weeping like a new born. Fearing he may break it before he intended, Vect decided he would stop. Of all his slaves, this one amused him the most. So easily afraid, so sensitive to pain yet..... wasn't despairing. Strange. Tugging the train around her neck, Fluttershy discovered it was going to trap her rather closely to her captor. She gave another whimper, wondering whether or not Vect had similar fetishes to the one before him. "So slave, tell me a story." Vect said.
"Wh-what?"
"What are you hoping for?"
"I hope to get out of here.... please?" Fluttershy did her best. Her eyes became the size of dinner plates and she tried the cutest expression she could make.
The black heart cabal really did live up to it's name as the only thing Fluttershy received was a slap in the face. "You're funny. How exactly are you going to do that?"
"My friends will come and get me.... monster." Fluttershy retorted, an undertone in her voice.
"Friends? You really think they can save you? Here in Commoragh, everything is mine. Even if they could fight their way through this dark city they'd have no way to reach you. Not even a god could save you now. Pray that I choose to be merciful. Go on, say it!"
Fluttershy shook her head.
"SAY IT." Vect exploded lashing out against the Pegasus.
"Please don't hurt me!" Fluttershy squeaked out as she gingerly rubbed her cheek where the Dark Eldar had struck.
"Good....." Vect replied. His anger easily warded off, he was grinning wickedly now. "About these elements............" ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"I am impressed." Leman Russ said watching the Space Wolves mill about attempting to catch the cyan colored Pegasus.
"Fast, quick and agile." Khan said as he watched her slid underneath another astartes. "Wonder what she can be used for."
"Is she making a cloud?" Russ asked watching as Dash scooped up bits of water vapor and threw the ball-shaped cloud at one of her pursuers. "Now that's a new one."
"Hmm.... I have an idea....." Khan said.
"Say it."
"They say there's a toxic river in the dark city............."
"Our plan will begin like this. Within the Dark city, there are many Dark Eldar webways set up specifically for the sake of ships and vehicles. Our first wave of Assault will be what establishes a foothold in the inner city of Commoragh. The White Scars will perform this daring action."
"When a good foothold has been established, the Space Wolves and Black Templars will begin their assualt. Understand that we are literally outnumbered millions to one. Our hope is that in the chaos and discord that we sow among the Dark Eldar, their slaves will escape and cause a massive revolt. Success or failure may even depend on this."
"Several Deathwatch kill-teams will then be assigned to attack the headquarters of the overlord of Commoragh itself. Retrieve the Element of Harmony and entity referred to as "Fluttershy" at all costs."
"Our primary objective is to retrieve such two entities. Our secondary objective will be freeing the wretched slaves of the Dark Eldar. Because it would be impossible for us to literally barge in and shoot everything up like a band of orks, we will have to hope that the commotion we create will allow the slaves to escape. This would cause enough chaos amongst the ranks of the Dark Eldar that they can not fully mobilize to defend their city. We can also count on the fact that some Dark Eldar will be fighting among themselves, we will have to use that to our advantage."
Thought of the day: An open mind is like a fortress with its gate unbarred and unguarded. A narrow mind is the seed of ignorance. Ignorance is the bane of progress.
"Understand that our enemies, the Dark Eldar are arguably the most depraved beings in this entire universe." The Emperor said as he addressed his legions below. "Now, I called you all here back to Terra temporarily not because I needed to tell you something I am certain you all know."
The legions of the Emperor stood silent. From her vantage point on the cloud Rainbow Dash could hardly fathom how 10,000 warriors remained perfectly silent and listened with perfect attention. Certainly not even the Equestrian royal guard held a candle to this.
"Our enemies should not the poor sheep of that serves the blind shepherds, nor our enemies are the blind shepherds either. Our enemies should always be the enemies of progress and reason. Chaos had stopped advancement. The inquisition which had been disbanded recently had stopped advancement and created ignorance. The zealotry that had gripped everyone had created ignorance. I am here to tell you, no more. Humanity must move forward and forget the ruination of the past, yet remember the valuable lessons it teaches. I hope through war, we may secure peace and advancement onto this galaxy. The true warrior is the one who despises war. Go to Commoragh, liberate the wretched and destroy the city and it's vile denizens. This is no easy task, I have secured the most advanced technologies of warfare for you on this mission. Return with the dark city in ashes, it's power broken, and it's evil no longer a threat, or return not at all." _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Okay, we are going to try how well this works." Khan said as Rainbow Dash placed on a haz-mat suit made just for her. "I hope you can still fly and manipulate things like vapor in that suit."
"I should be able to. Magic does carry over to anything I am wearing."
"Alright then. I will be releasing toxins into the testing chamber." The Techmarine said. "Whatever you do, do not remove the suit unless you want to go home in a body bag."
"Got it." Rainbow Dash said, her heart pounding so hard it risked breaking through her chest.
The lever was pulled. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Entity: Rainbow Dash, efficiency at 84.6% when operating under pressure." The Techmarine said.
"She doesn't crack under pressure. What other factors?"
"Efficiency at 73.7% when under stress. Efficiency at 105% when under adrenaline."
"Seems nice. What else?"
"164.3% when under peril."
"Under peril?"
"We sent her through an obstacle course full of explosives, flamers and bolters. She made it through...... faster.....then normal? What?"
"Define peril please?"
"A mixture of pressure, danger and adrenaline. I wonder if we could make use of any dru...."
"Not a chance." Rainbow Dash said walking in. "I HATE NEEDLES."
Fluttershy looked up at Vect. The lord of Commoragh looked back, burning holes into her head with his gaze. She looked back down, hiding behind her mane. The very thoughts of what had happened to her in the past few hours were enough to induce nightmares for multiple lifetimes. The indignation she suffered was unspeakable. And yet, her vile master found this all amusing. He found the torment of his victims amusing.
He knew about the elements too. That was what concerned Fluttershy. He was intent on tapping into their power. Unforunatly for the two of them, if anyone would know anything about the elements in Commoragh, it would be the yellow pegasus.
"So.... tell me Fluttershy.... what does one have to do to tap into the power of these elements?"
It didn't seem to matter how much Fluttershy attempted to beg, reason or attempt to answer his question. She didn't know, and there was no way out.
She wondered if she would ever escape this hell. She was alone, trapped in the palace of some mad tyrant who was amused by her suffering. Alone, trapped in the middle of an evil city. She had nowhere to run, and certainly nowhere to hide. She could only pray her friends could find her.
Even in her mind, she couldn't remain free. The foul potions of the Dark Eldar gave her nightmares and scares onto no end.
But in her heart, she was always free. She thought about as Twilight tried to deduce a way to open the webway. She about as Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie form a plan to get her out. She thought about, Cyrus, who held a sentimental attachment to Equestria, who had been at the final battle against chaos, who had been the one to reason with those of his race that intended to destroy Equestria on Day 1. She thought about The Emperor, and how he wished for the best for everyone. She wondered if he would help.
She had but one dream that night. It was just a voice. But it gave her what she needed to survive in the tender care of Vect.
"Sweet dreams?" Vect taunted the next... morning? No clue.
"Why are you doing this?" Fluttershy asked.
"No reason. Thirsty? Lick it up." Vect said as he poured wine on the ground, enjoying the sight of his plaything weeping bitter tears at her humiliation.
"Why? What have I ever done to you?"
"You see, death is my bread. I need it to live. But rather, pain is my meat and terror is my wine. I enjoy and relish those two. You should be glad that you are for the latter." Vect grabbed the chain and tugged it. "Now then, why don't we try something new today? Why don't we take a nice walk around Commoragh? The view is nice...."
"What's up with those Black Templar guys?!" Rainbow Dash asked as she bandaged her brow. "Are they ACTUALLY trying to kill me?"
"Probably." Cyrus said. "Is that foam on his mouth?!"
"Sure is. He was ranting about heresy and aliens for half an hour straight. Took about enough darts to put a void whale to sleep to calm him down."
"I think you should avoid them. They don't take too kindly to even us, and we've been fighting together for 10,000 years." Russ said.
"They still have awesome armor though........."
"Yeah, yeah. They're also zealots and fanatics who kill anything that slightly disagrees with The Emperor. But anyways, we are going to try a new tactic now."
"What is it?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"You know how teleportation works right?"
"Yeah."
"You see, we found a more efficient way that doesn't involve the warp or a psyker. Perfectly safe too. The Emperor was rather generous with giving out technology. I am wondering what else has he made."
"Like I always said to Twilight, he's an even larger egghead than her."
"Humph. It was made by Equestrian engineers and scientists in case you're wondering." ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"So, how do we know whomever's using this doesn't end up inside a wall?" Russ asked as he took out his trigger.
"We don't." Khan said. "We can only hope this works."
The Space Wolves primarch moved his men over to a massive barrel that looked more like a weapon than a teleporter. Gingerly, he pulled his trigger.
In the massive beam of light that followed, Russ caught a glimpse of his men disappearing into the light. On the other side of the ship, Khan was greeted by people appearing in bright flashes out of nowhere.
"Test is a success." Khan said looking over at the Space Wolves on the other end of the ship. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
They say Vect knew the weakness of every living being in the galaxy. They say there was no one better at exploiting weakness better than Vect.
That too was true for the case of a yellow pegasus. Inflicting injuries upon her.....was... unamusing after a while. She broke far too easily.
But Vect knew about the elements. Her's was kindness. How would one do the most harm to Fluttershy?
Easy. She always cared for every living soul, but as kindness goes, others first. Self last. Other's first. Self last.
Vect soon had his new way planned out. His new plaything was naïve (understatement of the century.)
He decided to force her to watch as his men torment a slave. That was the most interesting part. She actually got mad. That's when it got a little fun. Vect decided to play a trick. He made sure not to harm the slave too badly. Just enough so that it was painful yet anyone with even a clue with medicine would be able to fix said injuries. He then gave Fluttershy some "tools" to fix the slave up with.
The stupidity of his new plaything was hilarious. She ACTUALLY believed that Vect gave her medical equipment.
Looking over at the syringe, Vect allowed himself a laugh. That was the best poison to both slowly kill a victim and induce terrifying visions. It took time for Fluttershy to actually realize she killed her patient, and her reaction was beyond hilarious.
The Lord of Commoragh sat back on his throne as Fluttershy was once again leashed to it. He watched pitilessly as she tried to make eye-contact, in her fear, she slunk back down.
The Archon chuckled. He would have fun with this one for a long time.
But his own pleasure could wake. He was ambitious. That's the sole reason why he's leading the Dark city now.
Looking over the lightning bolt shaped gem. He looked at it carefully. It radiated power.
As we all know, pyskers draw the attention of she-who-must-not-be-named.
He had been paying attention to what was going on. True, the power of the dark gods had been shattered and their armies crushed, but who wanted to take chances? Psykers are still banned in Commoragh. As of now though, he has a way to use magic, without having his soul devoured by she who thirsts.
This will certainly be a good day. Going to his personal laboratory, he intended every bit on tapping into the power of this trinket.
It was a lovely day in Commoragh, there was rape and murder going on in the streets, slaves were being abused, scourges and hellions were fighting in the skies and gangs were shooting each other into swiss cheese.
The Dark Eldar weren't exactly used to being attacked in their own playground. As a result, the White Scars attack took them by surprise. The hundreds of drop pods sent down smashed apart buildings and deployed their deadly cargos. The astartes within made short work of the petty gangs in the streets and began to ransack sections of the city.
As White Scar tactics went. Hit fast and hit hard. Stormtalons commenced strafe runs, destroying key points nearby. This would buy time for their brothers on the ground to gain a foothold.
The White Scars struck with lightning speed, and it wasn't long before they leveled entire blocks of the city. Through the streets, many bike squads sent Melta rounds and mines through the streets, causing havoc and carnage.
Soon, the area was cleared. The Space Wolves and the Black Templars made their descent. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"What is the meaning of this?!" Vect asked angrily as another explosion leveled a building within view.
"Mon'keighs!" The scourge said. "They are attacking the city. They have already freed many slaves and riots are occurring all over the city!"
"Crush these rabble-rousers!" Vect said. "Kill the mon'keighs and the rest will be brought to submission."
"My friends have come." Fluttershy said glaring coldly at Vect. This caught him rather off guard but he regained his posture.
"Won't matter. Their corpses will keep you company." ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rainbow Dash waved a hoof at the man operating the airlock, and she was sent outside, her wings flapping defiantly against the wind. She soon headed for the massive lake, remembering Khan's words of not to touch the "water".
This would be tough. She would have to rely on only herself to create a tornade that would make a cloud of the lethal vapors. She was careful to avoid the fishermen.
Over the vox, she listened to the fighting. Khan had given her an earpiece so she may listen. Once her job was done, she would head over to provide as a spotter and a scout for the space marines in the city.
As of now, she concentrated on her current task.
This was so AWESOME. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"It seems the slaves got the message." Khan said. "We have found several battle zones outside of our beachhead."
"Great. I think it's time I got in to some of the fun? What say you brother?"
"No thanks. I will take command from here. Have fun."
Russ smiled and nodded as Khan readied his trigger.
"How much more time before we can breach Vect's headquarters?"
"About 3 hours."
"You got one. Get to it." ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Russ laughed aloud. He was amused. These pups thought they could harm him? Shards bounced off of his power armor harmlessly as he single-handedly barreled into a squad of kabal warriors, sending Dark Eldar body parts flying.
A raider sought to stop him, firing it's Dark Lance at him.
Fools.
His speed was legend among mortal men. The gunner could not hit him. He closed the gap between he and the vehicle in the blink of an eye and leapt aboard, right on top of the gunner.
The rest of the crew sat there stunned. Russ decided it was time for an amusement. Grabbing the gunner, he wrenched him from his seat and impaled him upon his own weapon.
"And tell Slannesh I am coming for him next." Russ whispered into his victim's ear as he bled out painfully.
He turned to face the crew, who abandoned ship in a heartbeat not wanting to be trapped with a primarch.
"I pity the mothers who gave birth to you lot." Russ muttered as he picked up a splinter rifle, and flung it like a spear, impaling an unfortunate individual. He promptly broke into hearty laughter as he opened up an canteen of the strongest fenrisian ale.....
In the middle of a battlefield. On a broken Raider, with a bunch of dead bodies. And being shot at.
The last part reminded him there were still scourges in the air. Taking his bolter, he clipped a few wings and listened to the cries of terror and the wet splats.
"Hey Rainbows!" Russ said over the vox. "How long is it?"
"Just a few more.... oh buck...."
"Well speed it!" Russ said as he took another swig. A stray splinter round broke his canteen and spilled his ale.
"DAMN IT! I AM GOING TO FLAY YOU ALIVE FOR THAT!" ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rainbow Dash glanced over her shoulder.
The "water" had touched her and had burned a small hole within the haz-mat suit. It wasn't quite high enough in the air yet..... and could she keep on going?
Whatever, Fluttershy need her. Hell, she wouldn't mind diving into a pit of angry Black Templars if that meant helping Fluttershy.
She doubled her efforts, unaware that the back of the suit was beginning to slowly corrode. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"INCOMI...."
He was cut off, as a gaping hole soon made itself visible in his helmet as blood poured out.
"SCOURGES! REAVERS! HELLIONS!"
"The Dark Eldar are massing their air force!"
"Don't just stand there! Fire!"
The Dark Eldar air force pounded the astartes, the astartes hit them back as shrieks and roars of pain echoed throughout the city from both sides.
"Where the hell is Rainbow Dash?!" _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It took a while, but Dashie felt a breeze down by her hind legs.
Uh oh.
This is going to be bad.
She flapped her wings furiously, trying to push the toxic vapors with the wind created. She knew best not to get close to the massive green cloud. ALMOST THERE.
Dashie felt a lightning bolt of pain on one of her hind legs. She put in more speed to her wings. The haz-mat suit was already corroding.
Panic gripped Rainbow. She didn't even want to think of what would happen soon. She decided now was time to put in her 110%.
Did you know, when poisoned you are supposed to remain calm? When the body is panicking, the heart begins to pump blood faster which would carry the poison all across your body.
Rainbow Dash just thought about that when she felt herself passing out, the toxic cloud shot in front of her. The world began to fade to back as she fell down to the ground below.
The world was in a black haze as Rainbow Dash felt herself regain consciousness.
Any of you been like this before? You know how you don't know your surroundings, a bit confused on what had just happened and everyone sounds like a wookie to you?
That's exactly how Rainbow Dash felt.
It took a while for her to get over her disorientation, but she did it eventually. She found herself looking up, making eye-to-eye contact with a human in bone-white armor.
"She's fine. Vital functions are normal."
"Good. That was the most impressive thing since Prospero." Russ said grabbing a splinter rifle and began to examine it. "It seems the good portion of the Dark Eldar air force won't be bothering us for a while. Will that cloud by any misfortune descend upon us?"
"From my calculations: No. Even if it did, it won't effect US when we have our helmets on. But I doubt the same can be said for any of the freed slaves."
"Alright then. So... how are the Dark Eldar defenses holding up?"
"Our scouts have done several sabotage operations, and the White Scars have caused enough carnage to allow several slaves to escape. Currently, riots are occurring over all the city. With no small-help from us after all. We were able to arm many of the slaves."
"Good, that will keep them off our backs for a while. Khan, should we begin with phase 2?"
"Let's start."
From out of nowhere, Russ pulled out a map of the surrounding area of Commoragh. One of which was circled in red.
"See this massive district? This is where Vect makes his base of operations. You know what we're going to do?"
"Run in there, kick his flank and then get Fluttershy?!"
"Seems like you speak my language. Khan, get ready. Rainbows, you're with me. Be my eye in the sky." _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
You see, Russ and Khan weren't the only ones who had been gathering intel on their enemy.
Vect had a spy listen to Russ's conversation. Now he sat down in frustration. He knew the weakness of every last being in this galaxy, yet no being's weakness would be harder to exploit than the primarchs.
Grabbing the element of loyalty, he quickly got to work, intent on tapping into it's power. Times were growing desperate for him.
A soldier walked in with a frightened expression.
"What is it?"
"The humans have begun assaulting and surrounding the entire district! A good portion of our air force has been decimated and the slaves are revolting almost everywhere! Our district is cut off from the others! We are surrounded!"
But as Vect worked, he thought about what it would be like if he were to triumph over his two foes. Then every being in the galaxy would have to bend knee to him.
Him: Vect, the destroyer of TWO of the galaxy's greatest warriors.
That would be nice. He quickly formulated a plan. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Russ had decided to partake in the storming of Vect's headquarters. There was a few Raider's that had attempted to swoop in down on them and rip them to shreds.
Russ decided to be sporting and not use his anti-armor equipment on ALL of them. Saving a few for himself, the Dark Eldar crews found themselves impaled, throttled, being strangled or crushed by their own vile tools of torture. A just fate indeed.
Turning to a group of freed slaves, the primarch escorted them out. Many were weeping tears of joy at being freed from the clutches of the Dark Eldar and were more than glad to find a way out through either the webway or by getting a lift. A few stayed back to aid their saviors in battling the hated Dark Eldar.
Cyrus took a shot, and smiled mirthlessly with cold satisfaction at the screams. Aiming again, he dropped another one of those damn Eldar.
Nothing really surprised the Dark Eldar more when about a hundred Deathwatch marines came out of nowhere right on top of them, shredding their defenses to let the rest advance.
Russ perched on the remains of a broken Raider, grinning viciously at the battle. Opening up another canteen, he took a long swig before wiping his mouth and belching loudly.
"I want another frontal assault." Russ said over the vox to his men. "Another charge, we barge in, slaughter them all and grind their bones to make our bread!"
The astartes gave their battle cries in answer. Unfortunately, Vect totally saw this coming.
Dropping down a few (insanely large number) literal tons worth of heavy weapons and soldiers, the lord of Commoragh made sure that he would continue his work undisturbed while the astartes battled his warriors.
The two armies were at a stalemate. Or were they? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
From above the massive slaughter, Rainbow Dash watched, trying to find any potential gap in the Dark Eldar defense.
There wasn't any. That was a problem. The two armies would be locked in battle for perhaps days on end before one of them broke formation.
"There's literally no opening." Rainbow Dash said after a few more moments of scrutinizing the Dark Eldar army.
"Then.... let's make this a bit more amusing." Khan replied. Taking out his trigger, he had two squads of terminators stand by the massive teleporter.
"Remember." Khan said. "If you want to go back, you have a personal one. Press your own trigger if you are in danger."
The terminators nodded. Their own miniature get-out-of-death-free card was a small device located on their chest. Small to the point where it could be held in one's hand.
The Dark Eldar were hit hard by the arrival of two squads of terminators who made mincemeat of anyone around them. The wretched aliens could only scramble to make a response as the Deathwatch teleported in the rest of the kill-teams, sowing havoc among the Dark Eldar.
Rainbow Dash looked down to see Cyrus among the kill-teams. She nodded to herself and flew on another path, perching on a rooftop.
Nearby, a raider opened fire with it's dark lance upon the space marines. Formidable as the power armor of the astartes was, it might as well as have been tissue paper when pitted against the vile weapon. One unfortunate brother just thought of this before being vaporized.
Leman Russ saw this. Running over, he jumped aboard and began to violently throttle the gunner. A lone sniper went to attempt on a pot-shot on him.
Rainbow Dash hit him like a bolter round as the Dark Eldar was sent flying into a wall. The Space Wolves primarch seeing this out of the corner of his eye and chuckling partly to himself, partly to intimidate this victim.
Said victim was as good as dog wolf food. Who knew Russ was so literal at times? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Vect grasped the element of loyalty tighter feeling some of it's power surge through him. Not enough. He need more. His greed and ambition drove him to go through whatever depths necessary to obtain this power. It didn't matter how many of his men died. All that mattered is that he achieved his goal.
Elsewhere, Fluttershy found herself surrounded by a group of Dark Eldar who had remained inside with their leader.
She gave a small whimper when she found herself being pinned to the ground.
From a top his raider, Vect chuckled to himself as he took a good view of the building exploding. It was a good plan. Now, it would be the astartes that were surrounded and cut off, not him.
Fluttershy could only stare in horror silently. She had saw Rainbow Dash go in to get her.
"Where are your friends now?" Vect gibed as he shook up the red liquid.
"Monster......" Fluttershy sputtered. Angrily.
"Indeed." Vect replied.
He was rather unprepared for what Fluttershy did next. She lunged over at him. And bite him. Why does she have fangs?!
It took a while for the guards to pry the two apart. Much to Fluttershy's surprise. Vect wasn't angry.
He was laughing despite the bite marks on his hand.
The laugh made angry Fluttershy turn back into regular Fluttershy.
"You're funny." Vect said. "Grab her by the wings."
She could only gulp as the Dark Eldar drew a long skinning knife. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Everypo... everyone okay?" Rainbow Dash asked as she helped pull rubble off a trapped space marine.
"Fine." Russ said rolling his eyes. "Alright. This was clearly a trap. A damn good one I might add. Now then... where is he?"
The astartes looked at each other. One of them gingerly raised his hand.
"Where?!"
"All the way.... off....in the distance......" The astartes said pointing at the vanishing dot.
Vect was having a good day, listening to the gentle weeping of a pegasus pony getting her feathers pulled out and drinking a cup of "just as planned" over how he successfully trolled the enemy..... for the bazillionth time.
Then of course, while sitting in his totally awesome throne in his totally awesome headquarters, he hears a massive explosion!
All he sees later is a blue streak and his personal Raider in pieces.
"Gods damn it." Vect muttered underneath his breath. Taking the red liquid he made sure it was safe.
"Fetch me my wargear." Vect said to a slave. The lord of Commoragh looked around. "Tomorrow, we will drink a toast from the skulls of enemies. Our enemy thinks that Commoragh is dying from their petty attack. Today, Commoragh is in ruins, tommorow, Commoragh will be RICH with spoils, with plunder and slaves!"
The cheering was deafening. The lord of Commoragh could only laugh to himself. He made his point. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"This is a bad idea! I know you're a primarch and all but... he's going to be stronger!"
"I couldn't care more actually. It's a good thing he will be." Russ replied.
"But... he's going to kil..."
"Just... stop your nagging." Russ replied. "When I distract, save your friend and take your artifact. I will meet you with everyone else. Khan, can you hear me? I want another frontal assualt on the city to Vect. He's not getting away.
"Got it."
"We attack in eight hours." The primarch said. "Get some rest while you can." __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Vect stood outside in the courtyard and listened to the screams and gunfire. His garden. Where death were the flowers and screams their fragrance.
Taking out his vial, he gingerly opened it, watching as a gas poured out and took form. The miasma soon wrapped around him and consumed him. And then, in an explosion of red colors, he was once again back. Though his eyes..... were a shade of blood red.
"So this is what it's like to be a god! Truly this is wonderful!"
His maniacal laughter echoed throughout the city.
It was just then when he heard the sounds of a massive space marine attack approaching.
Good. He will feast upon their souls tonight. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Leman Russ watched with amusement as Rainbow Dash crushed a Kabal warrior by pushing a rather heavy piece of loose masonry. Grabbing a grenade, he promptly flung it into the masses of the enemy.
Elsewhere, a predator rumbled through the streets, taking down several buildings. A squad of Black Templars screamed their war cries, foaming at the mouths with zeal.
The Space Wolves unleashed their wolves upon the enemy, the vicious hounds of war tore the Dark Eldar apart and used their bodies as chew toys.
After cutting his way through hundreds of enemies, Rainbow Dash tossed the primarch a meltagun. He thanked her and opened fire upon a door.
Vect was waiting for him. Klaive in hand and holding a dark miasma in the other.
"Come here do you? No matter, death would have found you soon enough, human."
Russ glared at Vect who mockingly gestured at the element of loyalty at his belt. A giant middle-finger to the Space Wolves primarch. Of course, Leman decided to humor the Dark Eldar. It's not often he get's a good fight like this. Time to savor it.
"You first." Russ said as he went into a defensive stance.
"Very well." Vect replied, making a mock salute with his klaive. The more to troll this mon'keigh with.
The primarch had expected for the Dark Eldar to rush him, and try and cut him to pieces with his blade.
Instead, the red miasma changed it's swirling form, and sent tendrils of blood and spikes at him.
The move surprised the primarch, yet did little to falter him. The spikes and tendrils hurt like hell, but did little to damage him physically, mustering his great strength he leapt forward and punched Vect in the face, sending him flying back.
The lord of Commoragh wiped blood off his face as he charged back and struck Russ with his blade. The primarch stumbled for a moment before retaliating with a blow to the gut. The Dark Eldar stumbled back, and sent the foul magic of his miasma back at the primarch who could only clench his teeth as the vile powers of the miasma sent his body aflame with pain.
"Coward." Russ muttered as he leapt forward and struck Vect with his blade. The Dark Eldar raised to parry, which broke off his attack, allowing the primarch to catch his breath as he rained blows down upon the Dark Eldar.
"You cannot win." Vect taunted. "When I have killed you, I will destroy all that you hold dear!"
"Let's see you try." Russ retorted as doubled his blows. The lord of Commoragh was a skilled warrior, and defended himself expertly before launching a counter-attack.
They were going to be fighting for a long time. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Cyrus heard the snap of bone as he dropped the Dark Eldar warrior he was strangling. Tossing the corpse out a window, he watched as his companions massacred the slavers, freeing their abused victims.
The scout captain couldn't help but feel a twinge of satisfaction in his heart. Kicking open the door to the next room, his comrades quickly cleared that one with little effort.
"Where's the element?" Cyrus asked as he found a survivor. "And where's Fluttershy?"
The Dark Eldar glared at him, cleared his throat, and spat into his face.
"Filthy Mon'keigh!"
Snap*
The two other Deathwatch marines both smiled at the sight of Cyrus breaking his victim's legs. The screams of the Dark Eldar adding to their grim satisfaction.
"Tell me." Cyrus said taking out his knife.
The Eldar only replied by making rather vulgar insults at the Space Marine's maternal ancestor. It didn't exactly help that Cyrus' comrades found it funny.
Shooting them both a baleful glance, the two quickly shut up though Cyrus could of sworn he kept hearing muffled sniggers. Taking his knife, he decided to cut off his victim's fingers.
"You think that's funny?" Cyrus asked rhetorically at the screaming alien. "Here's something funny. A joke. What's black and white and red all over?"
That awkward moment when you realize.... his armor is black....his skin is a pale white.... and Cyrus just got handed a power bat.
Vect nicked Russ on the cheek, despite his discomfort, Russ knew hesitating to nurse his injury would be fatal. He attacked with all the might, strength and fury of a primarch, driving his enemy back.
Vect could see that Russ intended to pin him to a wall. If he succeeds, then the primarch would have him exactly where he would want him. Spinning around, he moved to the side and positioned himself away from the wall and landed a heavy blow on the primarch. Russ stumbled backwards.
Little did Vect actually know, that was merely a feigned retreat, when he leapt forward, he was treated with a killer blow to the jaw. He could feel small things juggle in his mouth which was his broken teeth.
In hilariously bad timing for the two fighters, someone had conveniently decided to open fire upon them. In the massive explosion that occurred, the two found themselves flying straight into an active webway portal.
It was rather lucky that the webway portal didn't leave them in the middle of nowhere, for they only ended up in an empty arena in Commoragh, save for a few stacks of weapons.
"Khan, can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear, brother." Khan replied. "My apologies, it seems the Dark Eldar are rather treacherous."
That wasn't exactly news. But...... why the hell not, and treat it like he didn't know that? He was too drunk most of the time to listen to facts anyways.
"Yeah, yeah. You got your trigger ready?"
"You want to teleport back? But I thought he sur...."
"No. Just get the destination to set to random areas around Commoragh. I have an idea."
And it was excellent timing that Russ got his idea. For he saw Vect had begun to draw the full-power of his miasma. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Cyrus finally managed to break his victim. The wretched Dark Eldar led them to what looked like a coffin. When he opened it, the body that fell out..... it was truly a miracle this.... thing....was still alive.
Fluttershy was covered in bruises and cuts, worse was her wings were in pieces and she was missing pieces of flesh non-vital areas. How anyone could do this.... it just disgusted Cyrus.
Picking the bundle up carefully, Cyrus turned to his two companions.
"Set the charges. This place is going sky-high."
"Roger."
"I am getting you out of here." Cyrus said as he called for a dropship and an apothecary.
Fluttershy managed to give a weak yet sincere "squee." ______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Leman Russ got up as quickly as he was knocked down. He was laughing.
Vect was astonished at how this man was laughing at the beating he was taken. Did this mon'keigh's mind snap?
"What's so funny?"
"Your pathetic." Russ replied as he punched Vect with the broken handle of his sword.
"You puny being dare call me pathetic?! I will have you suffer for an eternity!"
"You just are." Russ said. "You just are."
Vect's eyes narrowed as he saw Russ grab a splinter rifle.
"You really think that's going to work? They aren't even loaded."
"Even if they were, what good would it do? I have become beyond the mere, power of trinkets like swords and guns." Vect said.
"Who said I needed them to be loaded?" Russ asked his hand slowly sliding across one of the rifles.
"Then what good will they do? You intend to beat me to death with them? Cause that won't work either."
"No. Of course not." Russ said. "How far pray tell, does this "power" get you?"
"Ha! You wish to see the true extent of this power? Let me tell you, I am beyond swords and guns, you can't hurt me. Perhaps only the mightiest of forces could do me harm!"
"How convenient. Cause I have one right HERE!"
Russ threw the splinter rifle like a spear, it's blade burying deep within Vect's arm. The lord of Commoragh screamed, trying to pull the indescribably sharp blade out, and failing.
"Khan! Now!"
In a massive flash, Vect found himself missing one of his arms. He glared at the primarch.
"You! You.... think even now you can defeat me?!.....I still have this!" From his belt, Vect held up the element of loyalty......
Only for it be snatched away by Rainbow Dash.
"Good job." Russ muttered. He charged right at the overlord of the Dark Eldar.
Vect gave a gasp of pain as Russ bounded over and hit him in the gut. Bringing his massive foot down, Russ was awarded with a satisfying SNAP.
Taking his other splinter rifle, he brought it down into Vect's chest.
To his surprise, Vect was still alive. Very well, that left only the main event.
"Again." Russ said.
It was a good thing Khan had a good place to put Vect.
Right in front of a collapsing building. And as far as the buildings in Commoragh go, a few literal million tons of rubble were upon Vect.
And in those moments, the Lord of Commoragh disappeared forever. Buried under a million tons worth of rubble. His bones grinded to dust under the tremendous weight. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Take a look at this." A space wolf said opening the doors of a vault. The light in the room was blinding, it's source, was mountains of precious metals and stones. "Enough gold in here to buy Terra."
"Start plundering." Russ said over the vox. "We're gonna need a good trophy for back home since I lost his head. Might as well as take something he owns." __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As predicted, following Vect's death, whatever order left in Commoragh went straight to hell. The kabals began to fight among each other like mad dogs, eventually, they would only destroy themselves.
The numbers were.... large, but it was later assumed that almost every slave managed to escape the dark city. Billions of souls would be safe from the lash and chain of the Dark Eldar.
The plunder brought home by Leman Russ was put to good use. It could fund for the construction of another victory armada, it could feed a few billion mouths, whatever. And in the hands of The Emperor, this wealth would easily be put to good use than being placed in a vault owned by a miser lord.
Despite her injuries, the apothecaries were able to restore Fluttershy into her old appearance and heal any injuries. Her mental state was a different matter........
This however too was fixed. It was decided that her memory would be wiped of this experience. It was for the best after all.
The element of loyalty placed back to where it belonged in Canterlot castle. Though this time, the princesses and The Emperor personally kept a good eye on it.
That's was when The Emperor commissioned a project to connect Equestria with Titan........................................
