As the hatch opened, Gulgrim flung himself out of it, the earth buckling under his weight as he landed, stone and earth flinging outward from the force of falling Ork mass. In the split-second that these small bits of debris are rising, just before they fall, a green spark arcs from Gulgrim's form and dances and darts between the scattering detritus, imparting each bit of upturned terrain with an iota of Orky violence. Instead of falling as gravity bid, each flung speck of earth suddenly shot out in all directions as if fired from a gun, impacting violently against nearby shaitan and exploding in crackling green flame, a hail of meteoric WAAAGH!!! Grenades creating a cascading ring of popping detonations around the Warboss's impact site.

As Gulgrim rose from his crouched position, both his hands rose up holding one of his twin Big Shootas, Mork's Teef and Gork's Teef, and as they came up, they came alive, spitting death at rapid pace at any enemy unlucky enough to find themselves traced in the line of fire, the incessant DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA of Orky firepower playing counterpoint to the battle around.

From just outside the visible radius of the fight came a loud thumping boom and a crashing sound as thumpa grenades from Orky grenade launchers detonated in the distance, scattering Shaitan as Varog and his Beast Snaggas came charging onto the field, riding astride massive squighogs, enormous beasts made of sharp teeth and bad tempers, grenade launchers and sluggas blaring, choppas and klaws slashing, bashing, and snapping wildly in all directions, the hollering of Orks on the warpath ever-present. Varog himself, the largest and most heavily scarred ork in the mob, seemed to be plowing a path of destruction to try and clear the way for his Warboss, acting as the tip of the Ork assault's spear.

Far in the distance, the sounds of Orky firepower could yet be heard as the rest of the Orks touched down on the front lines, falling in Roks and descending on ships to greet the main bulk of the enemy army while the Companions and Varog's vanguard punched further in.

"Yeah, dis is what we like best!" Gulgrim howls, cackling madly as he unleashes hell on the Shaitan forces arrayed against him, bullets, blades, and Orky WAAAGH!!! energy thirsting for the escalation of violence that only a being so primordially designed for it could crave.

As the klaxon sounds and the hatch opens, the black pulsing mist at the back of the Aisgeim is forcibly sucked out by the air pressure difference.  Soul Reaver takes that as his cue and rushes to the hatch, hurling himself out feet-first.

He chants as he falls, and a white sphere of energy pulses into life around him before fading from view.  The black mists reform around him as he falls, swirling like a vortex with Soul Reaver at its epicentre.

One bolt of energy from the Shaitan forces glances off Soul Reaver's magical shield before he can reach the ground, but it fails to do any damage.

Controlling his fall, Soul Reaver lands in the midst of a cluster of the enemy, Blooddrinker already in his hands.  He lands directly atop one of the creatures, bearing it to the ground and simultaneously driving his crimson blade straight through it in a reversed two-handed grip.

The nearby Shaitan take a step back as he lands, and this gives just the room needed for the black mists to reach the ground around Soul Reaver's landing spot.  The mists coalesce back into physical form, and a troop of Cruelbeasts appear in a perfect circle around Soul Reaver.  In a single, coordinated movement, the muscled, spiked abominations each step forward and swing their weapons, cutting or bludgeoning down a Shaitan to consolidate their position.

Soul Reaver stands, spattered with Shaitan blood.  Out of the corner of his eye he can see Vee's dramatic arrival - it seemed she would more than hold her own in this battle.  Taking on a battle stance, Soul Reaver prepares to lead his Daemonic forces forward.

Jharm simply watches from a short distance away as the three large demonic figures emerge from the Warp Gate and acknowledge Soul Reaver, before they disappear into plumes of smoke.  It was not a decision he was fond of making, but his past choices and left few options for being picky about assistance.  He followed the other back onto the Aisgeim, watching the smoke plumes warily before turning his attention away and focusing elsewhere.

"General Drayvon, myself and the others will be en-route momentarily.  Are you managing to hold the front line still?

After a few moments he finally gets a response

"We managed to hold and have begun to finally push the Shaiton back closer to the fort with the assistance of the ones you call "Orks".  I must say though, their method of deployment is...haphazard to say the least.  Some of their landings have almost "landed" right amidst our forces, but one can not deny their motivation."


Jharm nods and then once more shifts his focus elsewhere.

"Lady Nethanya, how goes your forces?"

"All things considered we are doing better then anticipated.  Those Orks are proving to be ample distraction and helping to alleviate the pressure on my troops to protect against the forts bombardments.  I was unsure at first of the new devices you suggested but they are working quite well."

Vee on the other hand has already returned to the command deck and slipped back into the pilots chair.  She doesn't seem to pay much mind to Soul Reavers suggestion, though the warrior can almost feel like a presence somewhere around him is watching, almost monitoring the plumes.  Once all have boarded again, the ramp recedes and the hatch closes as the Aisgeims engines roar to life once more and the vessel rockets into the air and heads for the front lines.  It isnt long before they are flying over the battlefield, display monitors scattered around the ship seeming to show the outside view.  The surrounding land is in sharp contrast to the almost idealic terrain they were standing on but a short while ago.  The land itself looks almost lifeless, various shades of brown, grey, and black as opposed to the brilliant whites and golds.  What few trees can be seen are also just as lifeless, withered husks or shattered stumps.  Far below can be seen the two main armies with a sizable building, most certainly the target of current assault.  As the Aisgeim slowly starts to descend in altitude the battlefield becomes clearer. 

Battalions of Seraphs march towards the fort, clad in arrays of silver and gold.  Large devices looking to be crafted of seemingly a mixture of stone and steel reside on hills closer to the rear, occasionally the rear parts brightening quickly before the front end erupts in an explosion of light as an orb is launched far into the distance to come crashing down on the opposing forces while at the same time a multide of flashes and streaks of light can be seen as shields manifest seeming to block similar projectiles bearing a blackish purple color.  Further forward the front line can be seen, silver and gold crashing against a tidal wave of blacks and purples, blotches of green visible as Orkish Rokks crash into the ground and divulge their occupants.  Upon the top of the fort are large glowing crystals, flashing almost constantly as large beams of more blackish purple light blasts out, targeting the Orkish Armada in the air.  The Aisgeim slows significantly as Vee watches the battle unfold.

"Other then the colors, almost reminds me of home."

She then clears her throat and continues.

"While it looks like your fleet is certainly keeping their attention Gulgrim, I'll be damned if I'm going to risk flying the Aisgeim in close for any extended period.  Thus I recommend ya'll make your way down to the front of the hold.  There's a smaller hatch there that should make a rapid drop much easier, cause I'm sure once I fly in closer, those crystals wont hesitate to lock-on, or whatever it is they do, and start blasting out that purple light in our direction, say nothing of the forces on the ground potentially.  Thus, im not thinking your offer of artillery support will be very possible Phaerys."

Jharm nods and makes his way down into the hold, finding the hatch that Vee referenced on the opposite side.  Finding it leads to much smaller airlock its clear that should the lock be cycled that any within would either be able to jump (or perhaps depending on other factors, be sucked) out behind the Aisgeim as its flying.  Vee looks around for a moment to verify that any others on the command deck have also headed downwards.  Shifting in her chair she takes a few breaths and flexes her fingers.

"Alright, lets show them how we can truly fly."

Her eyes seem to glow for a moment as a few beeps can be heard from the console in front of her before she places her hands down on the armrests of the chair.  A moment later the temperature of the command deck starts to drastically plummet, ice forming around both Vee and the chair until it almost looks like she is frozen over.  From a speaker within the airlock Vee can be heard.

"Right then, I'll take us down, give ya'll a warning and then off you go to cause whatever sort of ruckus you can so we can try to get into that fort.  Don't worry about me, I'll be able to join you once ya'll are safely off and the Aisgeim is out of harms way.  Oh, I would recommend trying to hold on to something perhaps, since we are going in close, things could get quite bumpy."

After waiting for a few moments for everyone to make whatever last second preparations necessary, the Aisgeim suddenly surges forward and down, the engines rumbling loudly as the room seems to rock and shake about as the ship clearly seems to turning and rolling at incredible speeds.  A second later Vees voice is heard once more.

"Yep, those things are quite quick but we're holding our own for sure.  Gunna try to drop you as close to the gate as I can get, here we go!"

Then with a single emergency klaxon the outer hatch hisses open and all the occupants are likely either forced out by pressure/inertia or jump out to find themselves about 10-15 feet above the ground nad landing in an area awash in blood as its clear the Aisgeim blasted the area a moment ago to give the Companions a moment before battle occurs.  All around them are scored of heavily armored Shaiton, pitch black armor, lined with purple accents.  The enemy forces show no hesitation as they turn their assorted melee weapons against the sudden arriving group of attackers.

Jharm wastes no time as the hatch slips open, taking to the air before descending down to almost collide into the enemy forces.  His sledgehammer crushing the nearest Shaiton as if the armor was nothing, a shield of light shimmering on his other arm to block an incoming sword as a brilliant beam of light erupts around him, burning the surrounding Shaiton as he begins to work his way closer to the front of the fort, roughly 20-30 feet away or so.

"For the Light!"

Meanwhile the moment the Companions "disembarked" the Aisgeim rocketed upwards and out of range of the large crystals.  Back on the command deck the temperature rises once more as Vee seems to "thaw" out and lets out a heavy breath.

"Well now, time for me to join them."

She looks up affectionately towards the ceiling.

"You keep yourself out of harms way now, Who knows how accurate those Ork weapons are, not sure I'd trust them not to accidentally hit you or something."

The voice from earlier resonates from the speakers.

"Very well, do be safe down there."

She simply smiles and makes her way down to the cargo hold and to the back airlock where the others were a few moments ago.  Stepping inside, her eyes glow for a moment before metal plates start to slide up from her chest armor under her coat, moving upwards and covering her head.  A few seconds later another single klaxon sounds and the outer hatch hisses open.  Moving to the edge she gazes down at the battlefield a distance down as she slips the two revolvers from their holsters.

"And here we go...I swear this is reminding more of home then I'd like..."

She then swan dives out of the Aisgeim and starts rapidly descending downwards.  Gesture with her one gun-wielding hand a large chunk of ice manifests under her feet and she shifts, looking almost as if she is riding the frozen projectile downwards.  As the ground draws closer and closer she suddenly leaps off the ice and disappears into a shadowy portal, a similar portal appearing closer to the ground, only a few feet above the Shaiton forces and in close proximity to the other Companions.  She effortlessly seems to land on a Shaitons helmet, balancing perfectly before kicking off into a backflip as both the ice projectile crashes into the ground, instantly freezing those directly under it and piercing the surrounding area with razor sharp shards of ice.  As she is flipping through the air her revolvers bellow to life, the booms one could almost mistake for the sound of an Orkish weapon.  The woman begins to shift and move about, her arms twisting and turning so that any motion leads to one or both of her gun barrels blasting into an enemy in what could almost be described as a dance of death.

Much like the Seraphs, Phaerys was briefly caught off guard when Gulgrim's subordinate materialised out of thin air in a remarkably ungainly fashion. What information on the Warboss that Soul Reaver and Kitharsis had provided the Ataran during their travels together had made for an... interesting picture.

With everyone about as ready as they could be, it was time for them to depart. The Aisgeim looked to be a worthy craft for carrying them into battle intact. Had it not been such an improper time, Phaerys would have had more than a few questions for Veldanya about her ship. Of course, he knew better than to distract their pilot mid-flight.

Along the way, the Aisgeim would touch down to allow Soul Reaver to summon reinforcements from Inferno. Cruel, cunning, and utterly terrifying to the eyes of mortals. They were certainly powerful, the Ataran had no concerns about that. Rather, could they be expected to enact their part of the plan without slipping the leash?

Once Soul Reaver returned inside the ship to speak with its pilot, Phaerys followed close behind, with the intention to also offer a suggestion of his own for when the battle would be joined.

"Veldanya, if this vessel has a suitable vantage, I may be able to assist in surface bombardment prior to the assault. I believe it would increase our odds of successfully securing a foothold."

Soul Reaver nods, then proceeds down the ramp.  Even here, he can sense the influence of the Warp Seal generated by the distant crystals.

He had spent the journey thinking about what forces might be most effective in the coming battle.  Creatures that wielded shadow, darkness and poison would not be the best choices - he would instead rely on flexibility and raw physical power.

Standing amongst the white and gold landscape, he closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and exhales slowly.  Focused, he begins to gesture and speak the words of the spell that will call upon his chosen forces.

Space distorts inward and then tears open, red wisps of Warp energy licking around the edges of the newly-born Warp Gate.  A few moments pass before three hulking figures step from the opening.  To the left, the blazing form of a Fire Daemon, its massive axe wreathed in flames.  To the right, reflecting the flickering inferno, the metallic form of a Steelheart, wielding a two-handed mace the size of a full-grown human.  And at the forefront, his ashen brow framed with twin pairs of horns, a darkly majestic Shadowlord: a Daemon Prince.

Behind the three Greater Daemons, a small entourage of spiked Cruelbeasts and a couple of fat, waddling Daemonspawn emerge.

With a forced, fang-filled grin and glowing red eyes burning with barely-restrained malice, the towering Shadowlord gives a small bow toward Soul Reaver.

"We have come, as summoned, ready to serve."

The Warp Gate snaps shut and Soul Reaver looks over the squad.  On the journey here Soul Reaver had formulated a plan that would allow him to keep these troops close right up until they were in the midst of the enemy territory, where they could be more safely unleashed.

"Follow my lead, Blightwing."

Soul Reaver performs a different set of gestures, and the Shadowlord, Blightwing, contributes with casting of his own.  Suddenly, the entire group of Daemons dissolves into huge plumes of black smoke.

Soul Reaver strides back onto the Aisgeim.

"Vee, you will need to register several more passengers.  It would be safest if they stay here with me for now.  When we are ready to begin the battle, they can be released - air-dropped or otherwise."

Behind Soul Reaver, the qualms of smoke move with a will of their own, organically pulsing, writhing and flowing through the air until they form a roiling black cloud at the back of the ship.

Soul Reaver seats himself once more, staring straight forward and with jaw clenched.  Small beads of sweat can be seen on his forehead.

He did not summon Blightwing lightly - keeping it close would make it easier to maintain his grip over the creature.  But even so, summoning and controlling so many powerful Daemons as well as maintaining a mass Discorporate spell was proving taxing.  It would get easier once the Daemons' natural desire for destruction could be given more free reign.