NationStates Jolt Archive

The doomblade is a deamon weapon of limitless age and power, power that could destroy planets with a mere flick of the wrist. It has been located by the starviewer priests of Custardia Invictis on a small barren planet in a dead system, so uninhabited it remains nameless and uncharted. Either the lure of its power or the theat it poses are enough to attract many to the planet, the Custardites know that they will have to fight to rid the universe of this terrible artefact.

Marshal Curfius of the Templars Custardites surveyed the wasteland before him with his one good eye, the bionic replacement where is other had benn scanned for life-sighns, their was nothing, just a dusty grey rockscape occaisonal crevasses and rubble heaps broke up the wastelands, Curfius and his men were positioned amongst some rubble piles the sizes of small houses, the various valves and ducts within his titamite armour hissed gently as he paced and his yellow ironsilk cloak and tabbard flapped majestically in the slight wind, proudly displaying the orange custardite star. His face was rugged and his short blonde hair was blown this way and that in the breeze. He loaded his starpistol and thundergun and loosend his ornate cybersabre in its hilt. The doomsword was reportedly deep underground and if, when the inevitable rsistance came, the custardites were underground, their would be no escape, so Curfius and his men waited. his men sat in their squads, loading weapons, preparing armour and the like. A pair of priests came forwards, first was Maelian, the armies bishop generalius, his orange ironsilk robes seemingly trying to escape his slight form as the wind tugged at them. he had a bald, high domed forehead and a slighty crooked nose, one of his eyes rolled sickeningly in its socket, he spoke with a thin and nasal voice,
"The troops are ready, marshal, their armour and weapons have been blessed."
" Very well," replied Curfius in his deep, powerful voice. The priest urned and left, and was replaced by a muscular priest in the red robes of a psy-priest, his face was pitted and scarred, he had thick curly black hair and a roman nose, to curfius, he looked as if he was carved from stone, his name was Carmalitheses and was the only priest who took part actively in battle, with his psychic powers and his cybresabre, his voice was strong and imperious,
" Marshal, I have had a vision of impending war, it will not be long now, i can assure you. Might I recommend that the troops are made ready"
Curfius knew from experience that visions Carmalitheses had were always true and his tactical advice was sound, he nodded and the psi-priest left. The marshal motioned for his second in command and cousin, seneschal Cortius, who leapt tohis feet as fast as his armour would allow, he too wore the yellow tabbard and cloak bearing the orange star.
"yes marshal?" he asked with a slight incline of the head.
"Prepare the troops, enemies will arrive soon." Curfius commanded
Cortius was young, but by no means inexperienced and Curfius trusted him with his life. He had a slightly rounded face with shoulder-length blonde hair and blue eyes. He set off to do as he was bid.

The infantry was positioned in a rough circle, broken at regular intervals by dominator heavy tanks and retributor hover-tanks, within the circle were jump teams, jetspeeder squadrons, heavy infantry, purger light tanks and templar squads, right at the centre of this ring of defence were two templar squads, that of Curfius and his second in command and that of Carmalitheses, the psi priest. The templars were armed with thunderguns and cybresabres and wore titamite armour and yellow ironsilk tabbards.

"Is this the correct planet, sir?"

The young pilot stared hard into his boots as he asked this, as if to bore a hole through the hard material. It was preferable to the stern, malevolent gaze of the large figure seated on the pilot throne.

As the pilot asked this, the figure shifted, his eyes peering into the young face of the pilot, then past him an through the main veiwing window. It spoke.

"Yes. Assemble the fleet."

The pilot saluted, then returned to his console. He began casting a message to the bulk of the Sharf 64th fleet.

Package located, requesting assistance.

Something caught the pilot's eye. An enemy system ship, just out of firing range.

"Sir? Enemy ship has been spotted, i believe that that is a Custurdia Invictis ship."

"Assemble the fleet before taking further action against it."

"Sir? What if they have already despatched ground units to find the weapon?"

The figure stood, his immense height revealed. All 7'8" of the man strode forward towards the cowering man.

"Are you saying I do not know how to command my own men?"

"No sir, I, I... "

The man withdrew.

"You are correct, however. Dispatch the 442nd To ground level."

The pilots face shouted his relief.

"Yes sir, very good sir."

**********

Kommisar Stein of the 442nd Regiment was extremely tense, showing his belief that a battle was forthcoming. His army milled around him, a mixture of vehicles and bodies. The Kommisar's Heavily medalled chest heaved as he coughed loudly and deeply. His grizzled face twisted into an expression of malice as he poured over the few maps available of the planet.

"Vass."

Vass was the infantry comander. At hearing his name, he strode forward instantly, saluting as he reached his superior officer.

"Sir."

"Take your infantry in a direct charge. Do not worry, you will be extensively supported. One of these people knows the location of the doomblade, and must be captured ALIVE."

"So, they have come..." Curfius muttered to himself.
"Sharfs!" Cortius, next to him spat, the Custardites had a lngstanding grudge against the Sharfs, and it showed in every troop. Curfius stood as tall as he could and shouted,
"Men, the inevitablee has come and battle shall ensue, I assure you all, that it will be a Custardite victory!" his voice was carried to the further troops by comm link, and every single soldier saluted and cried together:
"Praise to Orion, faor the glory of Custardia Invictis!"
"Uncoil defence ring!" Curfius shouted. With that, the ring of soldiers and vehicles unfolded into a long line, the faster troops formed an arrowhead to either side and the two command squads moved into the front ranks.
"CHARGE!" Cried Curfius. The entire army, a mass of flesh and metal, hurled itself towards the Sharf forces with many cries of
"For the glory!"
"In his name!"
"For Orion!"
"Custardia Invictis!" and
"Our souls be saved!"
This day, thought Curfius, grimly, his foes would feel the wrath of Orion and the sting of his blade as one.

Battle was met in a barren rocky plain. Bones were smashed, screams were sounded, and metal was twisted out of recognition.

Vass' sabre sliced through dozens of fleshy bodies. His enhanced battle armour enabled him to dance through the enemy forces like an angel of death. His pistol spat death from its barrel, and dozens more enemies fell to the power of his gun.

Nearby, a squad of stormtroopers held their ground against a massive wave of enemy forces. Their assault rifles were keeping the enemy at bay, but the sergeant had already commended his soul to his various gods, and pledged to go down fighting.

On a high ridge overlooking the battle, Stein watched on. From the high ground, he could see that the tide of the battle was turning. He turned to the dropship behind him, watched by his personal honour guard, and retreived a personal radio. Switching it on, he cycled to Vass.

"Alpha 2-9 Foxtrot. Mother is coming to stay."

Down in the battlefeild, Vass answered.

"Copy, Sir."

Vass began to flee, his suit enabling assive leaps and bounds across the ground. As many troops as were able followed, firing at the pursuing enemy as they went.

*****

The commander of the Groundhog fighter squadron re-entered the coordinates. Confirming the location, he and his two wingmen veeered West, to see a cloud of smoke and fire, and hundreds of infantrymen. The pilot flipped up a plastic casing, and pressed the red button, his wingmen following suit. 3 500lb bombs of napalm were released above the battle, transforming the melee into the very fires of hell.

Stein's face twitched at the edges , and he boarded his ship, escorted by the Groundhogs away, away from the battlefield, away from the fires, and away from his men.

The fire was everywhere, thousands of troops were being turned into charre patches on the ground, the heat was intense and the air was filled with the smell of burning flesh. The psi-priest, Carmalitheses hurled up domes of protection around what was left of the command squads and anything else close enough to be included. The domes were not big, but the best trained warriors had been saved. Fortunately, most of the heavy vehicles had thick enough armour to protect them, but the army had now lost its speed, some of the troops had found cover amongst the rubble and even corpses.

Curfius saw a leaping figure and a ragged band of Sharfs fleeing the blaze. So did the sniper captain, Furlitix. The snipers had been hidden amongst the rubble heaps someway off from the main battle to pick off fleeing enemy troops
"take aim and fire" Furlitix whispered in his husky voice, he had always been emotionally strong, and had been able to tear his gaze from the raging inferno in which the marshal must surely have died in, he also had total command of his snipers. The squad rained perfectly placed shots on the fleeing troops until around half of them were dead or dying behind them. Now Furlitix took aim and, to the best of his ability, shot at the leaping figure, he couldnt be sure where he had hit from this distance, but he was sure he had for the figure stumbled and fell. Was the strange figure dead? Furtilix didnt know, but he and his team continued to throw hell down at the fleeing Sharfs.

Cpt. Cordilian and his veteran squad crouched in the rublle heaps muttering urgent prayers to Orion for their continued safety. They all knew they had been very lucky to escape the napalm strike, Cordilian had lighting reflexes due tomany bionic enhancements and had Been able to throw himself and his squad into the position in which they now crouched.
"Okay boys, we may not live through this, but we can still make sure those damn Sharfs dont get that sword, call for backup then lets get moving!"

Vass lay on the ground, clutching his leg. Blood was flowing freely, and staining the vile ash that fell like snow, but it seemed to only be a flesh wound, and the majority of damage had been taken by his armour. The acrobatic functions appeared to be disabled, but he was sure it would still protect him well enough.

Aware of the snipers that had taken out most of his men and the functions of his suit, Vass slowly reached to his back, retreiving the shotgun that he kept for such situations, and stowing his pistol. Attaching the sabre onto his shotgun in a bayonet fasion, Vass leapt behind the burnt out shell of a Custardia vehicle. Just in time. Several high powered shots whizzed past him.

Vass' eye was drawn to a large group of infantry moving towards him. Did they know he was here? Vass didn't wait to find out. he leapt around the wreckage, into the midst of the enemy. Firing his shotgun and slicing with his sabre, he was certain that the snipers wouldn't risk hitting their own men.

***3 degrees north***

The 22nd tank regiment was speeding across the plains, supported by numerous APCs and light vehicles. Their task was to destroy the remaining troops at the bomb site and await further instructions.

Cpt. Cordillian cut through the Sharf troopers with relative ease, he was much better trained and the Sharfs had lost their usual size advantage, but still his men were suffering casualties. The Sharf leader had seemingly impenetratable armour and, even with the blood pouring from his leg and the amount of highly trained veterans attacking him, he refused to die. Cordillian rammed a grenade down the throat of a nearby Sharf, who promptly exploded, Cordillian was spattered with gore but swung his whirring cybresabre through the legs of a second troop. Three Sharfs ran at him, seemingly thinking they could overwhelm him, but Cordillian stretched out his arm, one of the troopers was skewerd on hs blade, the other sthattered their skulls on his reinforced bionic arm. He just parried a viscious lunge of the Sharf leaders sword and ducked beneath a deadly swing, he plunged his sabre into where he thought the leg wound must be, he must have guessed right as the sword slid in easily, Cordillian heard a thud inside the armour, the sword must have gone right through the leg, the Sharf leader howled in pain and toppled onto Cordillian, the armour was very heavy, despite the graceful ease with which its user moved. The Sharf was obviously in more pain than Cordilian, continually cursing and attempting to heave himself up, which only increased the pain for both men. If it werent for Cordillians bionic lungs, he would have suffocated already, but still they dragged breath in. The Custardites still had the upper hand against the Sharf grunts, but without their leader, they were losing morale, still, though, they slaughtered the Sharfs like the filthy vermin they were, and Cordillian was continually coated in fresh splatterings of blood.

Curfius muttered a prayer of thanks for the protection of the psi-priest. The fire was smaller now and their were some gaps in the inferno,
"Move out!" cried the marshal
"Sir, yes sir!" came the reply
The Custardite force squeezed through the gaps in the flame. The vehicles followed suit. Once outside the fire, the army regrouped and moved towards the distant firefight they could see some way off. Suddenly the ground shook and huge landing craft thudded into the ground around Curfius. Excellent, reinforcements.

Vass twisted his firing arm behind him, until it was pointing at the head of the veteran Captain behind him.

"Now listen veeery carefully" hissed Vass.

The Custardians waited for their Captain to emerge from the pile of bodies. What they saw instead amazed them. Vass had emerged from the smoke, using their leader as a human sheild. Using a discarded assault rifle, Vass used his free arm to blow away the troops standing before him. He then threw away the assault rifle and pulled out his pistol. Aiming it at the Captains head, hwe stood and shouted

"Come near me, and he dies. Don't try coming behind me either: I'll see you, and ill blow his head off!"

Vass could only hope his ploy worked.

******

The 22nd tank company moved ever faster towards the battle. Radars indicated that Vass' beacon was only a few kilometers away...

******

Stein continued to converse with the fleet in deep space. The shadowed figure stood before him, speaking to the Kommisar.

"It is time to close the vice. We will engage the Custardian ship."

Cpt. Cordillian could do nothing but pray that Orion would accept his soul into the halls of his fathers, or could he. He reached slowly down to his belt and slid out a grenade. Then he yanked out the pin and thrust the explosive into the Sharfs chest. It was the last thing Cpt. Cordillian did, the pistol shot roared through his head, splattering his brains across the floor, split seconds later, the grenade went off the corpse was hurled one way, the Sharf the other.
"Orion take his soul!" said the veterans in unison

Out of the landing craft came a force very similar to that which Curfius had brought with him in the first place, but their were no Templars Custardite in this force, they were replaced by normal veteran squads, their was also, unfortunaetly, no psi-priest. At the reinforcement armies head was a tall, heavy built man in golden Titamite armour, in one arme he wielded a cybrehammer, which crackled ominously with blue lightening, in the other hand he held a thunder gun. He wore no tabbard, for he was not a Templar, but he did wear a red ironsilk cloak.
"Lord Commander Colthanius, answering a call for backup" He said in a low voice
"Marshal Curfius, commanding this force" Curfius replied,"It was not I who called for you but you are sorely needed" He continued.
"Enough talk," Said the Lord Commander "lets move"
The now very large Custardite force advanced in the direction of the firefight which still continued, suddenly, the fire stopped, a short while later there was an explosion and two figures were hurled in opposite directions.
"Looks like they need us, fast" Cortius said to the marshal
"Yes, yes it does" Curfius replied.

In the depths of space, a vanguard of the sharf fleet had engaged the Custardian ships, and were preparing to destroy. Massive plasma and energy batteries hummed as they were charged up, ready to be unleashed.

On the ground, the 22nd company finally reached the Custardian battle force. As one, their guns spoke, firing shells into the tightly bunched Custardians, creating such a maelstrom of fire and death that it must have been frankly terrifying.

Stein smiled at the head of his drakelord. The animal reared under his command, but was obedient enough to remain where it was. Mounted on the back of the dragon-like creatures scaly back was a harness, mounted with two heavy chainguns, and a missile pod. Stein grinned once again, and shouted a command. The creature flew into the air, leathery wings flapping, and sped off towards the Custardians.

The ground around the Custardites shook as the seemingly limitless bombardment from the Sharf tanks exploded around them. Many warriors had fallen, but many still fought back. Regular flashes of light showed Carmalitheses' efforts at destroying the shells before they hit. The Custardite tanks and heavy guns fought back, many Sharf tanks were destroyed but their were so many and they were vastly superior to those of the Custardites.
"BEHOLD THE WRATH OF ORION!" Curfius could hear the psi-priest screaming. Huge bolts of irridesent energy hurtled from the sky onto the Sharf tanks, decimating several of the vehicles. Speederbike squadrons flew over and around the Sharf tanks, firing weapons and dropping detocapsules plumes of flame erupting from where they hit. Tankslayers clambered over the enemy vehicles, placing more explosive and using disruptor keys to destroy the tanks' technical systems. The Custardites werent going to give up. But still the tanks kept coming. Lord commander Colthanius swung his cybrhammer and charged headlong into the steel tide. He slammed his hammer into the side of the nearest tank, fire burst forth from the rent it created, he leapt to the next tank, with similar results, and the next. Then his veteran command squad joined his furious assult, swinging their own cybrehammers. Then followed the other troops, carving holes in the tank and slaughtering the crews, wedging tank debris into the engines, hurling grenades under them, two tanks were thrown into the air by an explosion of psychic energy, the Custardites were doing well, but it couldnt possibly last, the stream of tanks was endless, if one tank was destroyed, two more would replace it.
"Requesting aerial backup!" Curfius roared into his comms link.
"Request granted marshal Curfius, bombers being deployed" came the reply.
A shor while later, the air was filled with engine roar and a large squadron of skyhammer bombers.
"Payload alpha, go!" the commander said
The load was released and the furthest tanks were reduced to burning rubble.

As the tanks grouped back together, seeking to confuse the bombers by mingling with their enemies, the APCs that had been traveling with the tanks disgorged their infantry on a high ridge near the battle. Sniper teams moved into position, and a platoon began constructing an AA battery behind the vehicles. Light vehicles remained behind to intercept any attacking forces.

On a signal, the snipers fired at the infantry units engaging the tanks. Eve with their high velocity rifles, they did not fear of damaging the tanks.

As this happened, the AA battery fired at the bombers circling overhead. Numerous missiles sped towards the planes.

In space, the Sharf ships encircled the seemingly lone Custardian ship.

"Prepare to board!"

sniper captain Furlitix saw the enemy snipers and battery deploying on the ridge, he knew he didnt have a hope in hell of hitting the snipers, but he could do his best against the battery crew.
"Take aim, fire on the battery crew" he commanded.
And so it was, a large clump of infantry around the battery collapsed almost instantaneously, the shout of 'Snipers!' went up in the Sharf language, but no-one could see them, Furlitix had always prided himself on his positioning skills.
more infantry were slain, and with no-one of high ranking was nearby, panic had begun: random shots were fired in all directions, some killing other Sharfs, some flying into nowhere, infantry ran in circles, too confused and terrified to man the aa battery. Excellent, thought Furtilix.

Several planes had gone down at the hands of the enemy battery, corkscrewing downs in blazing brightness, or simply exploding into magnificent clouds of fire, but suddenly, the firey explosions stopped, the battery wasnt firing. But down below, the infantry were being sniped.
"Squadron, divide!" commanded the squadron leader,
"Group alpha, sniper-seeking, group beta continue tank-hunt"
The squadron split in two, one half peeled away in the estimated direction of the snipers. The target relay system in the leaders cockpit, the transmission began.
"Squadron leader alpha group, sniper captain alpha here, we have targetting info on enemy snipers."
"Affirmative sniper captain alpha, please send"
almost instantly, the data came through, revealing the snipers location to the bombers.
"Data received" said the leader
The bombs cascaded on the Sharf snipers position, clouds of flaming death erupted from the ground and the snipers were hurled in all directions

Meanwhile, group beta continued the battle with the tanks,
"Payload beta, deploy" came the command
the bombs plummeted from the sky, destroying many more of the Sharf tanks.

Curfius was coated in blood and ash now, but still he continued, his sword like the lightening bolt of the Death God, countless Sharfs were cleaved apart by its screaming edge. An enemy bayonet nearly came down on the marshals head, but its users heart was skewered by seneschal cortius's blade, it spewed the precious lifeblood allover the marshals back. Colthanius swung his hammer through the skulls of three Sharfs at once, before slammin it into the hull of a tank, he hurled a grenade inside and leapt feet-first intothe chest of another Sharf, crushing him with his weight. Psi-priest Carmalitheses hurled bolts of lethal flame into the enemy, his hand was the tool of the apocalypse for his enemies, he hurled a concentrated shot into a tank, the resulting explosion seperating many Sharfs from their lives.

On board the Custardite ship, hammer of purgatory boarding response action was being taken, the onboard defence troops were heading to the breach, fast response droids were being activated, blast doors were being sealed, defence guns activated. The fighters and light cruisers were released from the ships hull. they were ready.

The APCs let off some more heavy machinegun rounds against the ragged remains of the bomber wing. Light jeeps and halftracks sped onto the battlefield, firing missiles and HMGs into the enemy.

The mass of tanks was a total gridlock. Each vehicle was completely trapped by its neighbor or a pile of wreckage. Knots of infantry held out between the metal monsters, stalking rival groups through the iron maze. The tank crews holed up inside, fearful of attacking in case the explosion destroyed their own vehicle.

The snipers rallied, and fell back into an APC, using binoculars to scan for the enemy. The dead eye of the squad, Tussl, spotted a gleam on a patch of barren rock- a gleam that looked very like it was curving around a sniper scope. Hell, thought Tussl, im never gonna run out of bullets... and fired. A man suddenly came into view, dodging the shot. It did not matter: Their position had been revealed.

***Above the planet***

Storm trooper lieutenant Vertan led his squad through the corridors forming the bulk of the enemy ship. They rounded a corner, and a platoon of enemy infantry immediately fired upon their position. Vertan threw himself behind a desk, the rest of his squad attempting to do the same. A few unlucky ones were riddled with bullets and lasers, and dropped to the floor.

"They're too well positioned!" Shouted Vertan. "Hold!"

Just then, a wall collapsed behind the enemy, and two hulking figures stepped from the smoke. They were men, in boarding suits, personalized mech suits perfectly adapted to close quarter fighting. The two figures raised their chainguns and fired upon the Custardians, causing themn to duck.

"NOW!" shouted Vertan, and he and his loyal squad hurtled into the melee.

on board the hammer of Purgatory the small defence squad was being crushed, the sergeant of the squad shouted a last command into his comms link,
"Defence guns, corridor 22859.1 activate plus EMP!" a bullet hurtled through the sgt's brain, but the command was carried out and, not only did the defence guns fire on the stormtroopers and the boarding suits, roof, wall and floor hatches opened and out clambered heavy repelant droids, bladesaws whirred, lasers fired, the alround positioning of the hatches meant the droids coul appear behind , beside, or even above the enemy troops. Then several EMP launchers appeared on the walls and launched crackling balls of energy hurtled towards the two boarding suits, which immediately stopped moving and firing, they were almost immediately cleaved apart by the repelant droids' bladesaws, pilots and all. Along with an extra squad of human warriors, the stormtroopers were stopped in their tracks and reduced to bodypiles and cover for the Custardites, but their must surely must be more.

The squadron of angelspear fighters swarmed over the much enemy ships like gnats on some herd of great beasts.
"Destroy all boarding craft!" came the order

"Morlica, request heavy reinforcements!" the ships commander ordered his starviewer priest
"Yes, my lord" the priest replied.
The ship could hold out for a while, but not for ever.

OOC: remember, anyone is welcome to join at any time!

"I tire of these games." snarled the admiral. His vessel, a Ragnarök capital ship, was called the hammer of might. It was enormous in the void of space, dwarfing both the Custardian ship ahead of it, and the Sharf cruisers milling around. Gun batteries on all sides fired on the fighters attempting to engage it, and a low hum began emitting from the center of the ship.

The deity cannon is mounted in the central spine of the Ragnarök, and is capable of firing for 1/2 of a light year forwards, destroying anything in its path. And right now, the deity cannon was pointed at the Custardite ship.

"How long till impact?" Asked the admiral, towering above the weapons operator.

"As soon as you order, sir. Predictions indicate that the ship will be blown apart by the weapon."

"Excellent. Fire the cannon. And ready the fleet, because i doubt that this will be the last we see of these pests."

The cannon fired. The power to the hammer of might was knocked out for a few seconds, and the only light on the ship was the enormous cyan beam splitting the void ahead of them. As for the enemy, their fate could not be known.

***the planet***

Stein reared his Drakelord, whom he called Grush. The chainguns were both oiled, and stocked with ammo. The missile pod was also fully loaded, with two drones ready to reload as needed. Stein smiled again, a smile containing no mirth, and pulled Grush into a steep downwards dive at the Custardian command, loosing off both chainguns. When the distance had been closed, Grush vomited a ball of searing flames, with properties not unlike napalm, at the same area, before pulling upwards and away, ready for another run.

it was all most of the Custardites could do not to scream and run from the hideous deathdealer which was swooping at them from the sky, but not Carmalitheses, he had seen far worse. Unphased by the terryfing creature, he hurled a flickering shockwave at the immense beast, the wave of energy severed the creatures left wing completely and the creature plummeted into the gridlock of tanks and APCs, it appeared to have destroyed several tanks as a cloud of fire and smoke appeared from its landing place, but as for whether or not the creature or its rider had survived or not, he could not be sure.
"Marshal, Lord Commander, the enemy leader!" he cried, pointing with his sword.
"Curfius and Colthanius nodded"
"with me," cried the marshal.
The two men and their command squad charged in the direction Carmalitheses led, and arrived in a clearing in the vehicles, evidently created by the falling creature, behind a curtain of smoke, they could see faint shapes.

The hammer of Purgatory was destroyed outright, but the last transmission was answered by a group of doomherald cruisers and a single obsidian class warship, Fist of Orion, it was probably the equal of the enemy Ragnarok, with countless weapons lining its surface, its main weapon, the void cannon, was being made ready.
"Orion protect us, that things as big as us!" admiral Durfilius exclaimed when the hammer of might appeared in the viewscreen.
"I can see it being a great problem" replied the tall psi-priest beside him
"It doesn't take your skills to work that out, Sopholeses" the admiral replied
"no" the Psi-priest said in his silky voice, "no it doesn't"

Grush reared from the smoke, screeching in pain. The combat harness still on her back, she swiped with her diamond hard claws at the Custardians before her, and covering them with more fire. Whilst the Custardians were in disarray, Stein, who had dismounted and crept around the enemy, unholstered his doom pistol. The triple barreled revolver could throw an elephant backwards, and was now trained on the back of a robed figure, who appeared to be a priest of some sort. Just as he loosed off an enormous slug, Grush brought her hand down on the Custardian troops.

***Space***

The Hammer of Might rallied its other ships around it, notably the super carrier SSV Extrodite, holding 4000 space fighters and dropships, and two Atlantis cruisers. A variety of smaller ships also grouped into formation, ready to assault the enemy.

"BROADSIDE!" Shouted the Admiral. As he spoke, the pilots obeyed, and the Hammer turned, so its side, and all the guns on it, were presented to the Obsidian. As one, the guns spoke, hurtling slugs into the void towards the enemy ship. The larger railgun began charging, ready for a shot at the Obsidian.Fighters were dispatched to harass the small scale defense guns and enemy fliers.

Carmalitheses sensed the danger and in seconds spun and hurled a cluster of shimmering panes of energy forwards, they slowed the shot through the air and it hit the Psi-priests hidden chest armour with much less force than it would have, neverthe less, he was hurled back into a pile of rubble, where he lay in intense pain. The Sharf smiled slightly, but it was cut short by the force of Colthanius's cybrehammer into his side, the Sharf was thrown into the side of a tank, blue electricity playing over his grim features. Colthanius spat after him.

At the same time, Curfius raised his sword so it was pointing directly into the massive creatures palm, he would have to time this just right. He did. The things hand came crashing downonto the blade and kept going. just as the creatures hand was skewered to the hilt, Curfius leapt to one side. The hand continued still, it hit the ground and the hilt was forced through, the being roared in pain as the blood sprayed from the gaping hole in its hand. Curfius grabbed his blood-covered sword and rolled away. All the Templars and veterans opened fire then, and a storm of slugs and laser bolts flew into the enraged creatures chest and neck.
"NOW!" shouted Curfius to Cortius.
the plan had been formed between the two in the seconds before the fight began. Cortius charged forwards, sword hed high, under the creature. His sword ripped through the beasts stomach and the young seneschal was showered in blood, he reached the end of the creature and jumped into the very same heap of rubble into which the Psi-priest had been thrown earlier.

As many of the fist of Orion's guns as were able let rip on the ragnarok, plumes of flame burst out from where they hit.
"Heavy plasma, GO!" commanded the admiral.
With that, the three heavy plasma cannons sent irridesent bolts of plasma hurtling into the enemy ship. The void cannon was almost ready.

Stein was not ready to die. He peered at the carnage around him, his beloved Grush being ripped open, and collapsing upon a number of Custardians, including the one who had assaulted him with the hammer.

Stein stood, eager to finish the job. He stalked towards the place his target had lain. As he reached the rubble, he started. There was a second figure, who had killed his Drakelord. Stein snarled, lifting up the bloodstained Custardian and throwing him to the hard ground behind him. Placing a heavy boot on the man's chest, he fired two slugs into the man's chest. Turning, gasping at the pain in his side, he moved to Grush's dead body, where the trapped Custardians were being kept in place by a squad of Sharf infantry, who had moved towards the commotion.

"How many more of your heroes will die here today?" Shouted Stein, over the roar of guns and engines. His face was twisted with grief and pain, and his hair blew over his face. His large black cloak flapped in the breeze as he reloaded his pistol.

"Let me tell you, at least two more."

***Space***

The gun batteries of the Hammer of might continued to pound the Obsidian. The railgun, finally charged, sent a massive solid slug into the Obsidian, and created an explosion of considerable size.

However, a whole gun decks had been put out of action by the Obsidian. Repair drones struggled to re stabilize the atmospheric processors of the ship, as the explosion in the Hammer's gun deck 2 had created a rent in the outer hull.

"This is indeed a challenge worthy of me." Snarled the admiral. "Engage fleet wing C and E."

Two more spearheads of the Sharf fleet circled the planet to engage the obsidian and the other Custardian ships.

"Excellent." stated the admiral. And then, a superheated ball of plasma struck the hull of the ship. The entire vessel visibly rocked, and whole decks of the ship blew away into space.

"dispatch cruiser fleet, enemy units threatening" commanded the admiral.
The Custardite cruisers formed a defencive wall and opened fire on the Sharf ships. A railgun shot ripped threw the ship, destroying a large chunk of the ship. Finally, the void cannon was ready. It launched a shot, not very powerful, but in its wake it made a psychic rent, converting anything unlucky enough to get in its way into psychic explosions. It roared towards the ragnarok, ripping it clean in two and pushing the parts adrift with psychic explosions.

The shock of the impact was felt even on the planets surface, waves of pychic discharge washed over its surface. It was these waves that allowed Carmalitheses his partial recovery, he stood unsteadily and manipulated the psiwaves into a beam of glittering death, it struck the Sharf leader square between the shoulders, and he flew straight forwards, directly into a heap of scrap metal and rubble

The back half of the Ragnarök still had power within it, but it could not last forever, and the admiral took full advantage of the precious minutes he had remaining. Heaving the shocked pilots out of the way, he manipulated all gun batteries to fire upon the Custardian cruisers. A massive firestorm of death engulfed the ships, but the explosions were so large that their fates could not be known. On this action, the admiral descended the stairs leading to the bridge, and strolled into the hangar bays. Selecting the fastest, most well armed fighter available, he took off towards the Obsidian.

Where the railgun had struck, there was a gaping chasm in the Obsidians hull, and it was here that the admiral chose to 'land' his fighter- he fired two lasers into a wall, crashing the craft through a thin wall and landing in a hall of some function. Stepping from the wreckage, the admiral drew his sword, complete with a machine gun built into the hilt, and stood at his full height. Ahead of him =was a Custardian retreival team, coming to fix the hole. Their fear was visible as the admiral jumped forwards, screaming in bloodlust.

***The surface***

Stein led in the rubble, blood filling his mouth and eyes. There was not long left for him, he could sense it. He looked up, and saw the man with the hammer underneath Grush's corpse. The man was struggling to get free, grasping for his hammer.

"Die." Hissed Stein. And he lifted his pistol, squeezing the trigger for the final time. A last breath left his body, and Stein was still.

The soldiers, seeing their prisoner about to be shot, turned to their leader's assailant. Firing bullets at him, they noted a shimmering in the air, and the priest was unharmed.

Across the field, the snipers still had an eye on the skirmish. They lifted their scopes to their eyes, seeing the flank of the priest, and fired as one, ten high velocity bullets traveling into the man's side.

Carmalitheses doged most of the sniper bullets, but the last one glanced off his thigh, sending him heavily into the dirt, he acted as if the shot had killed him as he didnt have the strength to dodge any more of the lethal shots.

Curfius watched in horror as the triple shot from the Sharfs pistol hurtled through Colthanius's torso, ripping it apart in a shower of gore. But the Sharf appeared to be dead. Thanks be to Orion, thought Curfius.

Meanwhile, the infantry continued the viscious battle against their Sharf counterparts, now gaining the upper hand, now losing it again.

On the ship, the small group were being slaughtered by the Sharf admiral, the gun hatches opened and let fire, a contingent of repellant droids arrived and attacked the admiral head on with their bladesaws. But they were fighting a losing battle.
"Breach in sector delta sir!" exclaimed a terrified security camera monitor
"A Sharf admiral I think sir! He's unstoppable, he just walks right through everything that confronts him" he continued.
"I think I should handle this," said the Custardite admiral, Durfilius.
"Sophotheses, come with me" he said, motioning to the psi-priest, who nodded his bald head and followed the admiral, the eteran guard going with them. When they reached the area of the breach, they were appalled; the walls, floor and even roof wer coated in blood and innards.
"Hes moved." stated Durfilius
"This way, admiral, I can sense his bloodlust" said the psi-priest, pointing down a corridor. At the end was the Sharf admiral, reducing yet another group of repellant droids to scrap metal.
"OPEN FIRE" commanded Durfilius.
the Sharf spun round and the squad let rip with their lasers, this was accompanied by a jet of irridescent flame from Sophotheses's palm.

The admiral sneered, and then vanished, flickering back into material form a few meters behind the Custardian party. He swiped with his sword once again, simultaneously squeezing the trigger of the machine gun built into the hilt. Jumping backwards, with surprising agility for his size, he sneered again.

Then he opened his mouth, and roared. A deep, heartless roar that reverberated with evil. He flicked more blood off his sword, and began to once again charge at the Custardians. His face contorted with rage as he shouted "THE DOOMBLADE... WILL BE... MINE!"

***the surface***

The ground shook, and two mamba tanks slithered from the planet's crust. These serpentine tanks were specifically adapted for drilling and surprise attacking, and their arrival coincided with the Sharf infantry being wiped out by the Custardians. The snipers reloaded their rifles with extreme precision, and zoomed in again again, each finding a target.

A hge portion of the veterans were evicerated by the Sharfs blade, and the rest were riddled with holes by his machinegun. Sophotheses hurled a glittering web of energy which would prevent the Sharf from teleporting but would not physically restrain him. Durfilius darted forwards with his sword but the Sharf parried with his own immense blade, Durfilius swung again, and once again, the Sharf parried. Then Durfilius ducked anjabbed below the Sharfs guard.

By now, the marshal and what remained of his troops had dragged theirselves from under the massive corpse and were making their way back to the main group of infantry.

the admiral smirked. So, he could not teleport? Well then, now they had no choice but to fight him head on. They would be eviscerated.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sword sticking into his chest. He grinned, and fell backwards. As the enemy stooped over him, they noted the blood seeping from the wound... was not there. Suddenly, the admiral swiped his sword upwards.

The two mambas continued circling the battlefield, searching for enemies. The snipers climbed once again into their APC, realising that the tanks probably had this covered.

***South pole***

The outpost had been built in a day, and it showed. gaps were prominent, and a room had caved in. Operations manager Ivan Rusk did not care. All he was worried about was the machine in front of him, slowly lowering a drill into the surface of the planet...

the 99th soviet fleet was on a normal check of a planet under the protection. The second officer said "Sir, there is a space battle happening 2 light years from here." The admiral said "lets check it out." The fleet entered hyper space and disappered. Within mins the ships appeared with there heavy metalic look there was a shimmer of light from the ships the fleet had 3 light cirusers and 2 battleships with the heavy battlestar ship in the middle the fleet.

Durfilius leapt back, narrowly dodging the savage swipe.
"What in Orions name!?" he exclaimed, delivering a huge gash across the Sharfs belly, again, nothing happened. There was a flash of multicoloured lights and the Sharf admiral was hurled backwards, the psi-priest, Sophotheses smiled slightly and hurled a dance ball of flame and lightning at the enemy. As it engulfed the Sharfs massive form, admiral Durfilius prayed it would have more effect than the sword blows.

Curfius and the group accompanying him- Carmalitheses, a depleted templar squad and the ragged remnants of Colthanius's veteran honour guard- finally reached the main group of infantry. the tank gridlock was being slowly cleared as the Custardites split into groups, one to fight of the enemy infantry, one to methodicallyy take down the Sharf tanks. Curfius saw the huge mamba tanks circling, he hoped they would not realise the scale of the fight going on in the tank gridlock.

In the bridge of the Obsidian, the sub-admiral, a tall woman named Selacius had had to take command.
"Fleet arriving from hyperspace ma'am, please advice!" came the voice of one of the multitudinous bridge staff.
"Send a transmission, ask them their reasons for being here." The sub-admirals voice was soft and gentle, but imperious and commanding as well.
"Affirmative ma'am" replied the man, "I'll get a starviewer on it immediately."

"Sir, we have a transmission." The second in command gave it to the admiral with out him needing to ask.
This is the 99th Soviet fleet and we picked up the fighting on our long range scanners. The transmission was sent at the same time as a small military force was sent to the planet through teleportation that gives off lots of enegy. The forced arrived in seconds and only 10 miles from the battle.
(ooc: I am writing this on my psp so i cant write huge one big post i will have to break it up.

The admiral stood from his crouched position, catching a fireball to the chest. As the flames sunk into his torso, he grinned and formed another fireball in his own palm. Launching it at his enemy, he ducked, retreived his sword, and spat another spray of bullets into the enemy. With a shout, he threw himself back into the melee.

Mamba tank A1, rearing above the battlefield, noticed the Sharf tanks being either dismantled or otherwise placed out of action. Inside the reinforced titanium cockpit, the pilots debated what would be done next. As they discussed with each other, tank A2 dived straight into the metal maze, determining minimal Sharf casulties.

At the south pole, Rusk stood in the full power of the arctic weather, wrapped in full arctic gear. The drill had been lifted, and the first mining team was entering the tunnel. A mamba tank lay coiled nearby, in case of drill or miner failure.

**************

On board the mars class cruiser, Beam of Light, the pilot staff had inercepted a transmission from a third faction.

"Do not communicate." Stated Guun, captain of the cruiser. "listen with their communication with the Custardites, then decide a course of action."

The Sharf fleet, their flagship lost, netherleless continued to pound the Custardite ships with lasers, plasma and solid slugs.

The main ship powered up its main shields and it fired a EMP cannon down at the forces below. The commander smiled and said "let them fight without there weapons" The force on the planet started to move to the other forces on the battle field and engaged shar forces