The Eye of Terror: Ascent Into Madness

[Danyael]

Soul Reaver's intervention was not expected, but the Nephilim Lord was in no place to protest. Peculiar how the instrument of his near demise was now the bulwark of his temporary salvation. If he could laugh at the irony, he would. If he could laugh. He watched his former friend defend him and saw what he should have kept in mind. Everyone here, friends or otherwise, was dedicated to one goal: to beat back the darkness, no matter the cost.

He felt it come with the force of a hurricane, raging around him in ways that tantalized senses he'd long forgotten he'd developed. As he felt the power surge from Mary into him, he felt larger - larger than anything around him. He felt like a titan, in the most godlike of ways. It was as close enough to feeling whole as he could get; as close enough to feeling how he would if he hadn't spread his echoes throughout the Imperium prior to his rejoining the companions. It was power, as pure and wild as the universe itself.  His muscles tensed and hardened as sharp as stone. His veins pulsed and glowed with the coruscation of the cosmos. And when he could constrain himself no more,  his eyes and mouth erupted with brilliant, whirling golden light as he roared with the sound of pure power, rippling into the aether. The soundwave alone spread apart the stench of death and dead energy in an expanding spherical barrier that dissipated only inches before touching down to the surface.

He looked to Mary, who was barely clinging to consciousness at this point. He just wanted to take her and Kitharsis away from here. Take them back to Sanctuary. Even take them to Claimoh Solais. But neither would allow it. And he was never the kind to desert his brethren in arms. They were all shedding the same blood in the same mud.

There... that's... the best I can do."

"I thank you." A voice said that sounded like Danyael, but came from behind her. If she were to look up, she'd see another Danyael standing arms reach from her. "Stay here." a second voice said as another, more distorted echo of Danyael appeared, only to vanish in a flash of speed toward Soul Reaver. The original Danyael lifted Mary into his arms and leapt a safe enough distance away with her. Upon landing, the ground around them began to shift and twist, breaking apart down to their base molecular structure and reforming into a black crystalline material that expanded into a jagged cocoon around them. He could see the field through the prisms of the barrier, looking upon the strewn bodies around him, formulating a plan that would very well cross some moral lines if necessary. But if it protected Mary, then so be it.

A hand touched Soul Reaver and the other echo walked past him, his frame vibrating with such vivacity that he was practically a walking blur of motion - gravity shifting ever so discreetly around him as words of magick spoke in voices too numerous to belong to a single person. He proceeded to step in front of, then turned, to Soul Reaver with his arm reached outward. "Even." the echo said as it exploded into pure ether, shaving away the leftover energy bestowed unto him by Mary, swirling around the swordsman in a rejuvenating mist. It was only fair that the warrior be given what he'd deprived himself of. Whether or not the warrior would take the Nephilim Lord's offer was up to him.

The first echo landed a generous distance between Kitharsis and Soul Reaver, called out to both, aiming an inviting hand toward the closest Bloodthirster "Gentlemen. You game for a tag-team?" the rejuvenated depth  in his voice reflecting the strength he'd lacked only moments ago. But the words weren't meant to be as cavalier as they might have sounded. This was going to be hard.

[Veldanya Venalla]

The Seraphim wades through the chaos marine forces, the angellic warrior an almost veritable whirlwind of destruction through the forces of evil.  As his righteous onslaught continues, a warp gate bursts into existence a short distance from his very location.  From within the crimson depths crazed Khorne berserkers pour forth.  Their  crazed howls and shouts immediately draws the attention of Jharm, as does the appearance of the two Greater Bloodthirsters.  Turning he begins barreling through the Khorne forces, his angellic hymn matching the vile howls in volume as he smashes through the ranks of the malevolent soldiers.  Swords and axes crash against his shield as his hammer swings about, crushing and obliterating any foolish enough to stand before him as he draws closer to the two Daemons.  Then, without warning, he launches into the air as his hymn suddenly seems to amplify in volume, easily overpowering the multitude of cries, shouts, and curses from the two armies.  As the song reaches it's "finale" the Seraphim's glow magnifies and suddenly seems to explode outward in a brilliant, almost blinding flash of light.  The light washes over the armies beneath the angellic soldier, khorne berserkers and chaos marines screaming in pain as their flesh is seared, while loyal Space Marines and the Companions feel their wounds seal, in addition to shields of light manifesting around the companions.  With his hymn complete the Seraph hovers directly at eye level of the Bloodthirsters.

"Foul hellspawn of Chaos!  Face the might of the Light and fall beneath her righteous flame!"

Jharm then flies through the air as he works to divert the attention of the Bloodthirsters away from the other Companions as he slams down onto the ground beneath him, raising his shield as his figure glows, the gleam intending to keep the large creatures focused on him and oblivious to any actions that might be occuring behind them.

[Soul Reaver]

Blood spattered up his arms, over his chest, and speckled across his face, Soul Reaver counter-charges one of the Berserkers, spitting him on his sword, then lifting the massive armoured figure overhead and slinging him from the end of his blade.  A sanguine arc sprays across the ground and showers across the other Berserkers.  But they are unfazed and unafraid, too lost in their madness to feel anything but insane exhiliration even as their own comrades are hewn apart.

For a brief moment, Soul Reaver finds himself with some breathing room, with no Berserkers within swords reach or attempting to charge past.  It is in that moment that there is a touch upon his shoulder.  Soul Reaver whirls around to see Danyael walk past him, apparently healed.

He speaks the word "Even" before disintegrating into a scintillating mist of pure energy.

Soul Reaver shakes his head ruefully.

Not even close.

He stretches out his free hand and his eyes blaze red.  The mist floating around him is not the same magic he is used to using, but it can be repurposed nonetheless.  Like water finding a space to be filled, the mist suddenly collapses in upon Soul Reaver, suffusing his body and then vanishing from sight.

Soul Reaver feels the mana pour into his body, and refill some of his flagging reserves.  He should have enough now to allow him to safely expend some of it on his spells.

Speaking an arcane word, Soul Reaver indicates the area in front of him with a sweeping gesture.  On command, a roaring wall of superheated flame bursts from the very rock itself, blazing several meters high into the air.

As Soul Reaver had hoped, the Berserkers are too far gone to react logically to the Flamewall, and instead plunge headlong into the fires in order to get to Soul Reaver.  But these are no ordinary flames, and their armour offers them little protection from the immense heat.  Those that are not completely incinerated stagger blinded and charred out the other side, where Blooddrinker awaits to deliver a death blow.

Danyael - or perhaps another image of him? - appears nearby, indicating to both Soul Reaver and Kitharsis.  "Gentlemen. You game for a tag-team?"

Soul Reaver grips Blooddrinker tightly and nods in response.  He isn't sure he would be able to take the creature by himself at this stage, but with Danyael and Kitharsis at his side it should be possible.

The flames still burn high as Soul Reaver glances back upon the second roaring Greater Blooddthirster wading into the battle a bit further away, just visible behind the curtain of fire.  Soul Reaver sends a mental message to Cameron.

I've created a flame wall, and the magic fuelling it will last for some time yet.  Perhaps you can use its flames against those Daemons somehow?

Not waiting to hear the reply, Soul Reaver sprints around the perimeter of the Flamewall as a sacred hymn soothes his flesh wounds and causes a barrier of pure light to spring up around him.

Shortly he would meet up with Danyael and, hopefully, Kitharsis, and try to take on one of the two Greater Daemons.

[Kitharsis]

Kitharsis stabs through the torso of an unfortunate Chaos Marine.  His diamond tattoo is fashioned into a thick blade of energy, and with it he is rending Chaos Marines limb from limb.  His other arm lashes out with tendrils of energy, acting as whips to slice or bind his opponents.

A rather persistent Chaos Marine has managed to flank him from behind, only to meet his end by a glittering ball of flame as it pounds his chest.

The atmosphere shifts slightly, and Kitharsis has a nagging feeling that something is coming.  Mary shouts a warning before a legion of Khorne Berserkers pour through newly opened warp gates.  They are accompanied by two menacing Greater Bloodthirsters, foes threatening to turn the tide of this battle yet again.

Kitharsis is woefully close to one of the opening warp gates, becoming the first target the Khorne Berserkers focus on.  Chain swords and power axes roar as the berserkers swarm in.  A cloud of sand bursts through one of the pouches at Kitharsis's hip, obscuring his figure from view.  The Berserkers, in their fury, bear down and charge through the cloud regardless.  The sand acts as a physical extension of Kitharsis's senses.  It is childs play to counter each of the Berserkers inside the perimeter, and he does so with vengeance. 

As the sand clears he sees what appears to be a rejuvinated Danyael pointing to one of the Bloodthirsters.  The immense build up of energy Kitharsis felt earlier must have something to do with Danyael's new found vitality.  But thats a question for another day.  Before he makes a move to join in the fight a holy shield manifests around Kitharsis, surely Jharm's work.  The rejuvenating qualities of it are welcome, healing the inevitable wounds and fatigue from battle.  Kitharsis takes advantage of the additional protection and uses his wings to pull himself into the air. 

Should Jharm's diversion work in their favor, Kitharsis plans on making an assault from above.

[Cameron]

One of the two massive Bloodthirsters reels as the equally massive form of Sepher crashes into it. Sepher’s claws gouge into it, spraying blood everywhere. The creature almost falls backwards but manages to right itself at the last minute, pushing back against Sepher with all of it’s strength. It tries to force it’s massive axe between itself and Sepher. At the same time, it lashes out with it’s whip, trying to wrap up Sepher’s legs and bring him down.

The other Bloodthirster starts to make a move to assist his struggling ally, but suddenly finds his attention drawn to something else. Gulgrim’s verbal challenge to the Bloodthirster roots the creature’s eyes on the powerful ork. It roars in reply before charging forward. It lashes out towards Gulgrim with it’s whip as a feignt before attempting to split his skull in two with the powerful axe.

But Jharm arrives at the apex of it’s swing. His challenge distracts the Bloodthirster just enough that the axe blow meant for Gulgrim goes wide, smashing into the ground. Seeing Jharm at eye level, the daemon roars in his face before lashing out with the whip. The whip catches Jharm and sends him hurtling out of the sky towards the burnt out shell of a tank below. Fortunately his distraction is successful. The Bloodthirster is no longer paying attention to Gulgrim and also has not noticed Kitharsis, Soul Reaver, or the echo of Danyael’s approach.

Cameron and his makeshift squad have just finished wrapping up another squad of Berserkers when he receives a mental message from Soul Reaver. Glancing to his left, he sees the wall of flames separating himself from the Bloodthirsters. Most of the Companions seem to be focusing on one, while the other fights solo with Sepher. Cameron motions to the other Marines to stay put and leaps into the air. Gaining speed, he begins to fpin as he hits the wall of fire. The flames whip around him in a cyclone shape as they are ripped from the ground and follow behind him like a comet trail. Cameron alters his directory and makes a beeline for Sepher’s Bloodthirster. He strikes it from the side, tearing into it with his blades as the flames from the fire wall wash over it. The creature roars in pain. It is pushed free from Sepher, leaving it wide open for another attack from that direction.

Garr, Karyl, and and Kari continue to move about the battlefield, fighting off the other remaining Chaos forces and tending to the wounded Marines in the vicinity. Mary remains encased in the crystal structure with Danyael, still barely conscious.

[Veldanya Venalla]

The Seraphim is launched through the air by the giant demons whip, the gleaming knight crashing into the husk of a tank in an explosion of metal and earth.  As the dust settles an orb of glowing light can be seen as Jharm gets to his feet, gripping his hammer tightly in his right hand.  Twin orbs of light gaze up at the Bloodthirster from under the gleaming white helm.

"Foul monster of darkness....enough playing around."

Summoning the shield once more on his left arm the Seraphim takes off and charges through the air, straight towards the Bloodthirster.  As he advances, the Seraphs form begins to glow once more but then seems to shifts through his armor and down into his hammer until the head of the weapon becomes a brilliant white orb of light.  He makes no effort to disguise his approach, in fact it almost seems as if the warrior intends for the daemon to notice him.  What he lacks in intricate and destructive spells and attacks the Seraphim knows he makes up for with his restorative capabilities and his sheer survivability.

[Daccio]

   Sepher lets out a bestial roar as he crashes into the bloodthirster, rending at it with his claws. Blood sprays everywhere, all over his tattered coat, across his armor and coating the ground. He tries to force the creature to the ground, but the beast is strong, pressing back, trying to get its axe between the two.

   Sepher pushes forward, to prevent the axe from getting between them, even as the bloodthirster lashes out with its whip. Suddenly however, cameron is beside him, his blades and flame tearing into the bloodthirster. This tore the beast from Sepher, allowing him to recover from the counter attack, letting him prepare to strike.

        The Bloodthirster's attention shifted to Cameron, and this was its fatal mistake. Power welled up within him. Stepping up behind the bloodthirster, he drew back a fist and struck, the strength of Daemons behind him, right into the creatures back, with hopes of puncturing through the hide.

   Reach deep within the well of himself, he drew forth the power that was so feared by Deamons. Touch wasn't even necessary, but it helped. With his strike,  he unleashed a power, a blinding white light. It erupted from his entire being to envelop the battlefield for just a brief instant.

   "You are mine" Sepher growled, his words twisted from the daemonic form he currently held.

   And so he reached for the Daemon's soul, it's very being and tried to pull it into himself.

[Danyael]

Danyael cradled Mary cautiously within his arms as the barrier around them continued to reinforce itself with continous solidification. If it weren't for the fact that they were in the midst of a raging battle, this situation would have appeared a bit tender. He watched across the battlefield and saw the elementals fighting the Chaos forces, while Sepher and Cameron took on the other Bloodthirster.

In between Kitharsis taking flight and Soul Reaver bringing up the rear, time slowed down to a crawl around Danyael's echo as his alacrity began to take command, and thus he allowed the transformation to take place. He clenched his fists and the shadows around his fingers hardened into a solid black that expanded around his limbs, stretching from the tips of his fingers to the edges of his elbows. The blackness solidified into an armored, almost iron carapace to form bestial gauntlets around his forearms. Sparks gerded outward as he unclenched his fists and knelt low into a three-point stance, then burst off into the fray in a dash that dissolved the distance between the himself and the Bloodthirster, only to dash directly past the beast. Using his momentum, he banked hard, grinding up the ground as his direction shifted back toward his intended target. Clenching his fists hard as he increased in speed, did he match his own speed with that of the descending Jharm. As the Seraphim brought down the hammer, Danyael provided the anvil, hurling his armored fist in an volcanic uppercut for the creature's back, intent on creating enough concussive force from the Bloodthirster's rear as Jharm was intent on attacking from the front.

[Soul Reaver]

Soul Reaver knew of these Bloodthirsters, and he knew they were beings borne of the very essence of war and rage - and if memory served, they were magic resistant.  Although his powers had recovered somewhat, he still was not prepared to exhaust his mana stores in taking one on head-on.  Instead, he would resort to less strenuous and more underhanded tactics.

Leaping over a boulder, a bolter shell exploding against the golden shield around him, Soul Reaver chants a simple spell, but pours far more mana into it than normal.  A strange, irregular ball of an unrecognizable white substance materializes floating above his left palm, spinning and growing larger by the second.

Doing his best to avoid the Blooddthirster's gaze, he flanks it from its right, then thrusts his hand forward, launching the spell at the Bloothirster's massive hoof.

The spell would explode in a mass of restrictive, incredibly tough webbing, hopefully gluing the Daemon's foot to the ground.  It would find itself hard-pressed to take flight.  And at the same time, Soul Reaver leaps forward with a follow-up slash from Bloodrinker, aimed at the back of the Bloodthirster's right knee, with the intent to cripple its land-based mobility as well.

[Shadow Chorus]

"Oi! Ponce! Don't you ignore ol' Gulgrim!" The warboss shouted, continuing to fire at the Bloodthirster. He began to froth green energy from his mouth as he grew more enraged. After a moment of buildup, Gulgrim belched another blast of green fire at the daemon, continuing his march until he was at the creature's feet, where he began to lay in with his weapons in melee. While even his titanic form only came up to roughly the creature's knees or thighs, he would not let its size get in his way. He swung his Kutlass with wild abandon, aiming to cut through flesh, muscle, and bone with heavy hacks, meanwhile his gun was constantly firing up toward the creature's face, and green lightning was dancing about his form as he built up energy, preparing to teleport when the creature turned its attention to him for an attack.

"Come on ya big spikey grot! You'z ain't got da power ta match me in a fight! I'z taken on more o' yer kind den I ken count!"

[Kitharsis]

The assault on the Bloodthirster from his allies appears to come from all sides.  It almost didn't seem fair...  And yet.

Kitharsis grits his teeth as he folds his wings behind his back.  He begins to fall down to the ground, directly above the Bloodthirster. 

Jharm has the right idea.  Kitharsis wields his horseman's pick in both hands.  The tattoo on his left palm is gushing energy into the weapon as he descends.  Momentum carries him faster and faster toward the back of the Bloodthirster.  Should his blow connect with the Bloodthirster's back, the charged energy will explode with devastating force.

[Cameron]

The first Bloodthirster made a fatal error in focusing on Cameron, but the blades and fire were too much for it to ignore. It moves both weapons to try and ward off Cameron’s attacks. It doesn’t even see Sepher’s attack coming.

Sepher’s fist plunged into the daemon’s exposed back, ripping through flesh. The Bloodthirster shrieks, first in pain but then in horror as it feels the power from Sepher’s attack and realizes what is happening. It tries to escape but Cameron is there. He unleashes a psychic wave that drives the creature backwards, forcing Sepher’s fist deeper into it’s back. It loses itself to fear and pain. With nothing left to ground it, it’s soul is ripped from it’s body with ease, passing into Sepher. The lifeless corpse falls to the ground and begins to rapidly decay.

Cameron allows himself to fall to the ground. As he lands, he snaps a salute in Sepher’s direction.

“Good job. You’d think they would have figured out not to throw daemons at us by now.”

Cameron turns his attention to the other Bloodthirster just in time to see the coordinated attack from the rest of the companions.

All of the creature’s attention is pulled to Jharm as he charges headlong into battle. Almost blinded by the radiance spilling from Jharm’s hammer, the daemon brings both weapons to bear. Jharm’s hammer blow strikes the flat of it’s axe in a shower of sparks and ichor while it raises it’s whip to strike.

With this shift, it turns it’s back on Danyael’s echo completely. His uppercut to the spine catches it completely off guard as it rips through his weak rear armor, tearing through flesh and cracking bones. The monster loses it’s grip on it’s whip as it pitches forward directly into the path of Gulgrim’s green fire, which burns the daemon badly and draws it’s attention to the ork’s advance.

Realizing what is about to happen, the creature prepares to take to the air to try and avoid Gulgrim’s attack. But the repeated hails of gunfire aimed at it’s face cause it to falter and completely miss Soul Reaver’s approach. His spell strikes true and the Bloodthirster’s right foot is pinned to the ground by unnaturally sticky webbing just as it tries to leap. This causes it to stumble, and as Blooddrinker rips into the back of the creature’s leg, it drops to one knee.

A howl of pain rises from the crippled daemon, Gulgrim rips into it with his Kutlass and it raises it’s axe to try and bat him away. But it’s howl is abruptly cut off as Kitharsis strikes from above. Kitharsis’s overcharged pick strikes the back of it’s neck and the resulting explosion of force rips it’s head from it’s body. The rest of the companions who had been attacking this daemon are sprayed with a shower of blood and ichor as it’s corpse pitches forward to the ground. What’s left of it’s massive head lands next to Gulgrim. A foul stench rises as it begins to decay.

Seeing that his assistance is not needed, Cameron scans the rest of the battlefield. The Space Marines are mopping up the last of the Chaos forces and tending to their wounded. Cameron will need to join them and determine how many of them are still battle ready soon enough. But for now, he focuses on the other Elementals. All appear to be fine except for Mary, who is still unconscious. Cameron takes to the air and shortly lands next to the crystalline barrier that Danyeal created to protect her. Seeing Danyael inside it, Cameron speaks.

“It looks like this place should be secure enough for now. Is she okay?”

[Danyael]

The echo, or rather Danyael - as they were all still very much the same person in spite of being physically separate - stands in awkward silence, mystified at what had just happened. He neither expected it to be that easy, nor did he expect... well, this. His entire body was covered in ichorous gore from the Bloodthirster. Not even his face was visible. Just two slits for eyes looking through a body sized pile of blackened vitae. The marines that weren't fighting looked at him and he looked to them, then looked away, then back at them, then looked away into absolutely nothing. A shrug came, then he sheepishly punted aside what might have been an eye... or a testicle. It all looked the same to him. He then looked to his comrade Kitharsis and gave what might have been a mix between a shrug and an open armed invitation, slopping gew unceremoniously around him. "You down for a Man Hug?"

The barrier unfolded itself mechanically to reveal the Nephilim Lord holding Mary in as gently a way as ever. He knew Cameron probably still didn't trust him. But hey. As far as he was concerned, the only ones Danyael could really mingle with already knew who they were. "We're in the Eye. Nothing's secure." Danyael said in deadpan. His own 'eyes' were proof enough of that. "As for my..." he stopped and said little else. Cameron wouldn't approve of their relationship. Or maybe he didn't care. "Not a scratch." clearly referencing her. He stood softly, careful not to wake her, his everworld cloak now draped around her to keep her from harm. In his arms, he softly pooled neutral energy through the cloak and into her, as her body should be able to condense and reform it by way of healing and mending. They two were compatible like that. The Nephilim Lord appeared different. Rejuvenated, sure. But different. Older, perhaps. This was the first time he and Cameron shared space together in what would seem like a life time ago. Several lifetimes, in point of fact. All things now considered, he had no more words to say.

[Veldanya Venalla]

The Seraphims hammer crashes against the Bloodthirsters axe, a shower of sparks and energy crackle around the area as angellic iron meets demonic corruption.  The strike has the intended effect however, distracting the foul creature and allowing the other Companions to slay it.  Even standing amidst the viscera left behind by the daemons passing, covered in ichor and entrails, the armor of the Seraphim glimmers with an inner light.  Then a moment later the light intensifies quickly in a brief flash.  When it clears, Jharms figure is clean, not a single trace of the vile creature on his large armored figure.  His glowing orbs gaze over the battlefield.  The Space Marines seem to be clearing out the few remaining pockets of Chaos forces and tending to their injured and dead.  His gaze settles on Sepher.  Though he did not directly witness the warrior claiming the other Bloodthirsters soul, the Seraphim can almost sense that that is what happened.  Letting out a soft, almost imperceptible grunt of disapproval he takes to the air, moving off to assist the Marines with clean up and helping them take care of the injured.

[Soul Reaver]

A shower of black gore drenches Soul Reaver, and her rolls clear as the Bloodthirster's huge body pitches backward.  It barely misses him, hitting the ground with a shuddering crash.

Soul Reaver draws a tired breath of relief that the combined assault had gone so well, and quickly establishes that between them, Cameron and Sepher have slain the other Bloodthirster as well.

He rises to his feet.  The blood coats him still - with the exception of Blooddrinker, which remains pristine - but is quickly evaporating even as the Blooddthirster's body decays.

Surveying the area, it is clear that the loyalist Space Marines have won the day, with only a few scattered pockets of chaos forces still putting up a fight.

Jharm has already left to help the remaining Space Marines, and Danyael is giving Kitharsis an invitiation for a friendly 'hug', so Soul Reaver nods his appreciation for the assistance at the nearby Gulgrim.  He then hefts Blooddrinker onto his shoulder and runs to assist Jharm in putting an end to the last traces of Chaos resistance.

[Shadow Chorus]

"Feh. Zoggin' spikey ponces. Can't even fight proppa." Gulgrim grunted as he watched the Bloodthirster die before he got to properly set himself in motion. The area in general was quieting down, and Gulgrim's boyz were beginning to mill about, running out of chaos boyz to stomp as their numbers dwindled. The ork warboss spat on the dead Daemon's head before taking the time to look around.

"Lemme know when we'z movin'." Gulgrim shouted over to Cameron as the group began to commiserate and wrap up the battle as a whole. The kaptin himself thrust his kutlass into the ground, implanting it firmly so that he could reach down and pick up a discarded Chaos space marine helmet, the head of its previous owner still inside.

"Hehehe. Zoggin' 'ell, lad, somebody did a right number on you, eh?" Gulgrim chuckled, scooping out the largely liquefied head from the helmet. "Too slimy ta keep on me boss-pole, sorry lad." After removing the juice and gunk from the inside, he reached up and slammed the spiked helmet onto one of the many large wooden stakes that made up the trophy racks that lined his shoulders, adding yet another to his collection.

"Sooner or later I'z gonna 'ave ta start 'angin' dese less importan' 'elmets from me belt. Saw anuvva boss do dat, fought it was a kunnin' idea. Runnin' outta room on me normal racks. Gotta start savin' space fer da big kills." he mused to himself, brushing his hands off and taking his sword from the ground again before waiting for any indication that the group was moving on.

[Kitharsis]

His horseman's pick connects directly, releasing a satisfying explosion.  Realizing he may have over done it, Kitharsis rides the body of the bloodthirster to the ground as it crumples beneath him.  It's severed head lands next to the ever eager Gulgrim, who promptly spits on it for good measure.

Kitharsis hops down from the demon's back, keeping his distance from the goo covered Danyael.  His friend is gesturing for a hug while ichor and slop cascade their way down his body.  Kitharsis can't shake his head No fast enough, while waving the gesture away.

"Thought you all smelled before.  Please stay downwind until we find a shower."  His stony cheeks crack with a grin.

[Daccio]

As the soul of the Deamon passed into sepher, he could feel it's anger and rage flailing against his own self control. Will an iron will, he clamped down and soon found the soul of the Bloodthirster join the others in his mind, and he could feel the surge of power that came with it.

He looked up to see Cameron salute as he rips his arm out from the back of the Bloodthirster.

"What is theirs is mine" He grinned "What they haven't learned is their loss and my gain"

He turned to watch as the other Bloodthirster was slaughtered by his companions. The battle was quickly wrapped up but he finds himself the subject of an angelic gaze. He returned the stare, meeting the angel's eyes. He opened and clenched the gory fist a few times, showing he had complete control over his body before turning away. He had nothing he could do to help the wounded here.

Seeing as how some of the companions were already heading off to help finish mop up, he looked to Cameron for further instruction, in case something else was needed.

[Cameron]

Cameron can’t help but chuckle at Danyael’s comment about the Eye being secure. The slight distortion caused by his helmet’s external vox unit makes this sound somewhat ominous. If he has any reaction to the line that Danyael cuts off, it is hidden from view by his face being covered. His gaze lingers on Mary for a moment longer as his helmet scans her vitals. Everything seems normal. Cameron speaks directly to her mind briefly.

When you make it back to your feet, we need to talk.

Cameron simultaneously speaks out loud to Danyael.

“Thanks for keeping her safe. I have to rally the troops.”

Having excused himself, Cameron breaks away and walks towards the center of the courtyard. The remaining Marines are starting to congregate here. Seeing Cameron approaching, they clap their right arms over their chests in a salute. Cameron returns it.

“Squad leaders, report.”

A few men with more ornate decorations on their armor step forward and speak with Cameron. It would seem that this force is the combined vanguard of the various Chapter’s main assault force. The bulk of the Marines are still holding the Eidolon Wastes. Cameron begins barking orders.

“Brothers, this is the new rally point. Clear this mess out and get a comm station up and running. I need to communicate with the Chapter Masters and the Fleet. We’ll use this location to stage our final push on the Spire. Get moving!”

The Marines holster weapons and begin to work. Three Grey Knights begin assembling a device, while the rest work on clearing bodies and rubble out of the area. A number of Apothecaries, each from a different chapter, begin setting up a makeshift triage area for wounded Marines. A few of the Marines begin stockpiling discarded weapons and ammunition from the fallen Marines, though they refuse to loot anything from the dead Chaos forces.

Soon the Grey Knights have finished assembling the comm station. Cameron approaches it and removes his helmet. Now tied into the Voxnet, he can finally see the status of all of the allied Marine forces. He soon has an open secure channel with the Chapter Masters on the ground, and his friend Admiral Benden aboard the Imperial Battlecruiser Revenant, the flagship of the Grey Knights chapter. They are soon engaged in muffled conversation.

Behind Danyael, Mary stirs. She can feel fresh energy coursing through her. She looks up and sees Danyael standing over her, and for a second, she imagines that her ordeal is over. That they are both out of the Eye. Maybe somewhere temperate. But then her vision clears and she sees the sky beyond Danyael, and comes back to her senses. She can’t help but smirk at the absurdity of the thought preceding it.

“How come you never take me anywhere nice?”

Mary returns to her feet, keeping the Everworld cloak around her for now. She would return it once she was pressed back into service. But Cameron appears to be occupied, so she chose to stay put for now and use this brief moment of peace to collect herself. She knows Cameron has requested to talk to her, but that can wait.

Across the battlefield, another Elemental’s eyes narrow as he takes in this scene. The usually happy go lucky Karyl glares at Mary from just outside of her field of vision. Kari walks up next to him and her eyes follow his gaze.

“Something wrong?”

Karyl huffs.

“She’s been spending a lot of time with that dude.”

Kari turns and faces Karyl.

“So what?”

Karyl rolls his eyes.

“What do you mean ‘So what?’ I thought her and I had something special, but apparently she’d rather be with this dude that we only just met. He’s not even one of us!”

Kari smirks.

“I thought she just enjoyed shooting you down constantly.”

Karyl makes a face, which causes Kari to laugh. Karyl isn’t amused.

“So glad you get to have a laugh at my expense, babe. But I don’t really find this funny!”

Kari stifles another laugh before continuing.

“You do remember that she’s not even our Mary, right? She’s from 5 years in the future. Our Mary isn’t even here.”

Karyl looks back towards Mary. Kari has a point.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Kari smiles.

“See? It’s no big deal! You probably just have a different relationship with her 5 years from now! Maybe you already dated and broke up or something!”

Karyl frowns again.

“Wait. That’s just as bad!”

Kari has already come to the realization that she’s not helping.

“Uhhh.... Hey, don’t we have something that we should be doing? Let’s go find Garr.”

Kari walks towards where the Marines are hurriedly setting up a checkpoint. Garr is helping them. Karyl shoots one more glance at Mary before following. As he does, a smile returns to his face.

“That just means I have 5 years to work my ‘Blue Lightning’ magic, baby. We’ll see who comes out on top.”

As Garr follows Kari, Cameron finishes his conversation and shuts down the comm link. He reaches out to the companions and the Elementals with his mind.

“The Marines are going to fortify this position. This is going to be our fallback point in case something goes wrong during the assault on the Spire. I’m having our 1st Company of Terminators join us for the final assault. We should also have air support once the fleet is in position.They weren’t actually able to triangulate our position on the ground until now. Probably due to Chaos interference.”

Cameron looks up to the Spire, towering overhead.

“We have a few minutes until everyone is in position. Prepare yourselves.”

[Daccio]

Sepher stands where he is for a few moments, just breathing deeply, as if he were trying to catch his breath, but he did not appear winded. After a moment, he closed his eyes and the metal that formed his claws seemed to almost melt, forming into a liquid crimson silver that crawled up his arms, forming bracers. He shook his hands, blood from the bloodthirster. Opening his eyes, he looked down to his shredded coat with a sigh. He took it off, tossing it to the ground with not another look, his scale mail glinting oddly in the light here.

He turned towards Cameron then, who was staring up at the spire. Slowly moving to stand next to him, he folded his arms across his chest. He looked somehow older, as if this place were wearing on him.

"It's almost done then. One more push." he paused for a moment, then spoke again "Thank you for the assist back there, we make a good team."