reporting for duty

Having Khalara at his side definitely made it easier for Achilles to focus better on killing the incubi. At this point the incubi had left him quite roughed up. The damage his armor and mechadendrites received made him think about all the time he would spend repairing them after this was done.

An incubus managed to get inside and strike him on the shoulder. When the forge bolter turned around to shoot him, the xenos jumped out of its way, only to be electrocuted by the astartes' taser mechadendrite. The xenos became rigid as the potent electrical current ran through his body, which gave Achilles the oportunity to decapitate it.

The undead felt the tension leave his body once the last of the xenos was dead.

Meters away from them, Akhenaten fought what was probably one of the toughest battles in her life. The klaivex had done a great job at putting her between a rock and a hard place. Every single move of hers had to be executed within a narrow window of oportunity so as not to end up being torn to shreds by the xenos.

She knew she couldn't afford this to drag so long. For when exhaustion eventually slowed down her reactions, the xenos would take advantage of that to cut off her head. For all of their strenghts, astartes were not invincible. Akhenaten had been looking for a way in which she could defeat him without a great cost to herself, and found none. For klaivexes mere among the wickedest citizens of comorragh. They had perfected the art of killing over centuries of bloodshed.

If she wanted to walk away from this fight alive, she would have to accept that victory was going to cost her something. That was when she made her move. The astartes deliberately slowed down her reactions, leaving the xenos an opening. She suppressed a scream when his klaivex cut across her chest, and swung Red Lady to cut off the xenos' head of his shoulders.

Akhenaten wasted no time in casting a teleporting spell to get to the command center. She was in no conditions to keep on fighting after the klaivex had seriously injured her. The moment she arrived she walked towards the Celestial Geist's apothecaries. In this moment the biomancer was glad she was astartes. Were she mortal, she would be unable to function from the pain.

Achilles logged in into a familiar routine. He had fought incubi before, specially during his years in the Iron Warriors. Sometimes the iron warriors and the drukhari were fighting over a population they both wanted to enslave. Others, the iron warriors were fighting to avoid being dragged to Commorragh. Occassionally during those times he had been forced to defend himself from Incubi who wanted to his head as a trophy.

The undead alternated between using his mechadendrites and power axe to fight the xenos. He used to attack or parry blows from the foes closest to him, while the mechadendrites kept him from being taken by surprise by the furthest ones. Their movements were based on the information his sensors fed his HUD display.

Even with his skills, the incubi still managed to wound him. It seemed like they wanted to tear him to shreds before he sent into the maws of Slaanesh. He had deep cut on his side that would be hurting horribly were he not undead.

Meanwhile, Akhenaten kept fighting agaisnt the klaivex. Just as she had foreseen, it was a fight to keep her head on her shoulders. Klaivexes were the elite among the incubi. It was no different from those other times she'd fough his kind. In some of them she had ended up with severed limbs. Reattaching them had been a pain in the ass. It had involved eating great amounts of food and sleeping for hours in a safe place.

"I hope being together makes it easier to fight these sons of bitches!", he said as forge bolter shot dead another incubi who had jumped in the air to the strike the iron warrior.

The remaining incubi fought more aggresively. Achilles narrowly escaped being decapitated by one of them.

Akhenaten had managed to injure the on the side. She knew Klaivexes could take a lot of punishment, but she hoped at least it slowed him down a little bit. She kept parrying his blows, waiting for the perfect chance to lure him into a trap. That's when she would finish him. The biomancer just to had to hold on. She had killed klaivexes before, she could do this.

Achilles logged in into a familiar routine. He had fought incubi before, specially during his years in the Iron Warriors. Sometimes the iron warriors and the drukhari were fighting over a population they both wanted to enslave. Others, the iron warriors were fighting to avoid being dragged to Commorragh. Occassionally during those times he had been forced to defend himself from Incubi who wanted to his head as a trophy.

The undead alternated between using his mechadendrites and power axe to fight the xenos. He used to attack or parry blows from the foes closest to him, while the mechadendrites kept him from being taken by surprise by the furthest ones. Their movements were based on the information his sensors fed his HUD display.

Even with his skills, the incubi still managed to wound him. It seemed like they wanted to tear him to shreds before he sent into the maws of Slaanesh. He had deep cut on his side that would be hurting horribly were he not undead.

Meanwhile, Akhenaten kept fighting agaisnt the klaivex. Just as she had foreseen, it was a fight to keep her head on her shoulders. Klaivexes were the elite among the incubi. It was no different from those other times she'd fough his kind. In some of them she had ended up with severed limbs. Reattaching them had been a pain in the ass. It had involved eating great amounts of food and sleeping for hours in a safe place.

It was good that Khalara went back to them, for the drukhari sent the next best thing: Incubi. A group of five led by a klaivex stepped into the battleflield. The surviving wyches scattered, leaving the path clear for them.

They were bad news. Incubi were some of the deadliest warriors of Comorragh. Their combat was reknown for cold precision and unshakable discipline. Clad in suits of heavy armor and bearing enormous klaives, they served Comorragh's elites as bodyguards and executioners.

Achilles noticed they wasted no time in showing off. Instead, they advanced with the confidence of those who had killed mighty foes. He noticed Akhenaten's aura became nervous the moment she felt the Klaivex's eyes on her. The xenos had already marked her as someone dangerous, and therefore marked her for annhilation.

In the time it took for the incubi to reach the two, Khalara had already begun spinning his hammer. The large and heavy weapon could barely be made out against the blur it had quickly become. Getting hit by that would be certain death for a baseline or a grievous I jur to anyone who opposed him.

The biomancer put aside her firearm and unsheated Red Lady, a relic a beloved blood angel friend gave her a long time ago. The klaivex threw himself at her so quickly that she narrowly avoided being decapitated by him. Soon it became obvious what the xenos' strategy was: denying Akhenaten the opportunity to focus to launch psychic attacks. She would have to hold on until she found the perfect opportunity to strike. Unfortunately, it would mean there was a great chance she suffered severe bodily harm.

Achilles slung his autocannon to his back and unsheated his power axe. He looked at the xenos with grim determination. There was a great chance he woul be torn to shreds by the time this was over. If Achilles had struggled with the succubus, then he did even more with the incubi. The xenos had no need to show off. Every single move of theirs was precise and letal.

It was good that Khalara went back to them, for the drukhari sent the next best thing: Incubi. A group of five led by a klaivex stepped into the battleflield. The surviving wyches scattered, leaving the path clear for them.

They were bad news. Incubi were some of the deadliest warriors of Comorragh. Their combat was reknown for cold precision and unshakable discipline. Clad in suits of heavy armor and bearing enormous klaives, they served Comorragh's elites as bodyguards and executioners.

Achilles noticed they wasted no time in showing off. Instead, they advanced with the confidence of those who had killed mighty foes. He noticed Akhenaten's aura became nervous the moment she felt the Klaivex's eyes on her. The xenos had already marked her as someone dangerous, and therefore marked her for annhilation.

In the time it took for the incubi to reach the two, Khalara had already begun spinning his hammer. The large and heavy weapon could barely be made out against the blur it had quickly become. Getting hit by that would be certain death for a baseline or a grievous I jur to anyone who opposed him.

Akhenaten and Achilles turned around when they noticed the sounds of people being smashed coming in their direction. Khalara was approaching them. It felt nice to have his aid. Agile, armed with exotic weapons and the physically strongest of all the aeldari, the drukhari were among the toughest foes the Celestial Geists had ever fought.

Achilles focused on smashing the xenos with his modified autocannon. The weapon had been based on those carried by vehicles. The autocannon's barrage was complemented by the forge bolter mounted on his left shoulder.

His auspex alerted him to any upcoming ambushes. Those were taken care of by his flamer mechandendrite. Experience had taught him that employing overwhelming firepower worked agaisnt drukhari.

The scent of burning flesh alerted to him Akhenaten's presence. The biomancer was shooting the drukhari with a volkite caliber, a lovingly mantained weaponed she had kept through the years. She only used it when fighting difficult foes like the drukhari.

Already she could hear people screaming as they were trapped by the perfidious drukhari. Among the mayhem she could see succubi performing nearly impossible feats of acrobacy while they butchered people.

A succubus got a bit too close for comfort as she targeted Achilles. The astartes was not as agile as her, so it would be difficult for him to evade her strikes. His sensors warned him of the incoming enemy, and his mechadendrites attacked like furious serpents as their owner tried to get rid of it.

The succubi evaded their attacks with graceful movements. One of her hands carried a dagger, which she used to hit mechadendrites. Achilles cursed as his HUD display registered the damage. He knew she wanted to render him defenseless.

Rapid calculations fired through his brain while he thought of a way to kill the succubi. Previous encounters had taught him the drukhari were arrogant, so he would need to exploit that weakness to get ride of her.

The succubi purposely exposed vulnerable parts of herself while she attacked. So sure was she of Achilles' slowness, that she didn't care about putting herself in danger. She knew that he couldn't hit him.

Achilles deliberately slowed the movement of his mechadendrites to lure her in. The drukhari flashed a cruel smile as she moved to sever them, only to be shot down by an ammunition barrage from the forge bolter.

Her eyes widened. She had been too focused on the mechadendrites, that she had forgotten the forge bolter connected directly to his armor. Bolt rounds hit her directly in the chest before she could retreat. The xenos exploded in a burst of blood and gore that splattered the undead.

"Predictable.", was all Achilles said.

Khalara had put it upon himself to at least get rid of whatever cannon fodder was brought so the others could do some real damage. He would say getting stabbed in the joints did not hurt much, but the crooks of his armor were beginning to feel like burn wounds.

He then decided that being in the middle of the battle with no immediate support was not the beta of ideas, and in an extreme display of enraged hammer weilding, he carved his way back to where the troops and other Astartes were.

Akhenaten and Achilles turned around when they noticed the sounds of people being smashed coming in their direction. Khalara was approaching them. It felt nice to have his aid. Agile, armed with exotic weapons and the physically strongest of all the aeldari, the drukhari were among the toughest foes the Celestial Geists had ever fought.

Achilles focused on smashing the xenos with his modified autocannon. The weapon had been based on those carried by vehicles. The autocannon's barrage was complemented by the forge bolter mounted on his left shoulder.

His auspex alerted him to any upcoming ambushes. Those were taken care of by his flamer mechandendrite. Experience had taught him that employing overwhelming firepower worked agaisnt drukhari.

The scent of burning flesh alerted to him Akhenaten's presence. The biomancer was shooting the drukhari with a volkite caliber, a lovingly mantained weaponed she had kept through the years. She only used it when fighting difficult foes like the drukhari.

"Thank you for your generosity. "Arthur took the map and rolled it carefully before putting it underneath his cloak.

FLASH FORWARD

The Celestial Geists had divided their forces among the major population centers. Some of them had gone to Uoipoint, where Khalara and the Rogue Trader army were. Achilles felt more uneasy as this went on. He did not know when the drukhari would launch their attack. The best thing he could do was to prepare himself for the upcomming battle.

Each of her poisons had been perfected to work agaisnt different drukhari phenotypes. For a kabalite was not the same as a wych, nor a which the same as a scourge.

This was the calm before the storm. He could almost hear the faint voices of his long-dead and long-damned brothers making jokes to the open air. Their folly attempts to keep warmth within the ranks was… kind, and dare he think it- but Khalara missed that. Not the bygone age when everyone was walking on eggshells set to explode- but when his closest brothers were not meaning to kill him at the drop of a hat. Decimation ordered or not. Perhaps their primarch was simply asinine in ordering that, after all, about 155 years later….

The third week after the deal was sealed was when the drukhari showed their true faces. The rogue trader and the people closer to her were so dumbstruck when it happened, that when they finally were able to defend themselves the damage had already been done.

Reports of drukhari raids came from different settlements, some of them being the big cities in which the armies had been stationed. When Achilles saw the kabalites arriving to Uoipoint, he felt the urge to kill rising in his blood. Even if he knew the reason why the drukhari conducted raids, it didn't make him hate them any less.

He was making his way to where Achilles and Akhenaten were, and smashing in some enemy skulls on his way. But he didn’t trust either Astartes in any way, and this distrust made him want to play ‘supervisor’ for them. He would never admit that he also missed fighting alongside his brothers.

"Thank you for your generosity. "Arthur took the map and rolled it carefully before putting it underneath his cloak.

FLASH FORWARD

The Celestial Geists had divided their forces among the major population centers. Some of them had gone to Uoipoint, where Khalara and the Rogue Trader army were. Achilles felt more uneasy as this went on. He did not know when the drukhari would launch their attack. The best thing he could do was to prepare himself for the upcomming battle.

Each of her poisons had been perfected to work agaisnt different drukhari phenotypes. For a kabalite was not the same as a wych, nor a which the same as a scourge.

This was the calm before the storm. He could almost hear the faint voices of his long-dead and long-damned brothers making jokes to the open air. Their folly attempts to keep warmth within the ranks was… kind, and dare he think it- but Khalara missed that. Not the bygone age when everyone was walking on eggshells set to explode- but when his closest brothers were not meaning to kill him at the drop of a hat. Decimation ordered or not. Perhaps their primarch was simply asinine in ordering that, after all, about 155 years later….

"Thank you for your generosity. "Arthur took the map and rolled it carefully before putting it underneath his cloak.

FLASH FORWARD

The Celestial Geists had divided their forces among the major population centers. Some of them had gone to Uoipoint, where Khalara and the Rogue Trader army were. Achilles felt more uneasy as this went on. He did not know when the drukhari would launch their attack. The best thing he could do was to prepare himself for the upcomming battle.

Khalara paused for a moment, nodded back to the man, and pointed to the Southern most dot of the three. “Uoipoint. And this map will provide you with all the major cities and such of this system.” He spoke as though he had rehearsed his answers several times over.