The Dawn of War: Warhammer 40k - Open and Acceptin'

[Kaine Lowingrad]

/ VAE DAEDR IAD
| Eldar Warlock |

Vae Daedr Iad moved through the forest with his unit like ghost. Their movements seemed to be soundless, and their enemies will die just as soundlessly. Luckily for any enemy of the Eldar, Vae and his party were retrieving a message from one of their friendly bases. As an Eldar, he knew that many races look down upon them for them being 'xenos', or just because they exist. Vae did not despise any race, and wished that there would be more peace between the races. He moved without his Seers Council behind him this time, but he did move with a group of Rangers and a couple Howling Banshees. The group slowed down as they entered the vicinity of small base. He rose a hand in a sign of peace with a figure barely seen in the jungle-like forest. The figure was a Tau Pathfinder, and lowered his weapon when he saw Vae and the group. Vae and his unit moved forward in to the base.

He sat down with a few of the Tau and began to talk with them. The Eldar removed their usually heavy helmets and so did the Tau. The group sat around a small fire and spoke to each other of small matters. Vae figured the unit he was with had been worked hard enough. Him and his unit had been hiking for two days through a thick jungle to get there, so he thought his unit could rest for a night. The group told of old stories on the battlefield, and some of the funny things and members they had encountered. Vae would always tease one of the Howling Banshees, Ea Dien Ean, about how her strength as a warrior. She would always seem like she was angry, but it was all in the sake of jokes. Although, Ea would tease back to Vae that he must've been switched out with a Harlequin's mind. The Tau seemed to enjoy the Eldar's company, and the Eldar the same. They could have been enemies, but the Tau heard the plea for help, and they felt it was ignorant to ignore such. The Tau and Eldar on Kal'Thor could make an everlasting friendship, but could soon turn enemies depending upon their leader's will.

[knight-kun]

Kunas Kauyon had little of the same luck as his eldar allies. a barracuda had been making a standard scouting run over a part of the jungle near a winding and aggressive river filled with rapids and waterfalls. unfortunately for the barracuda, even they were not safe from the terror of the tyrinids, and neither was the Tiger Shark that followed with troops in it's bays instead of bombs. it was like the nids actually knew there were people in the ships when they attacked...


it all happened at once, and it all seemed to happen all so fast. several Screamer-Killers stood on top of a cliff side that ran along the river, looking down upon the aircraft that flew by on their scouting run. large fleshy cannon sat where one of their arms should have been, it took careful aim and let out a massive roar as it fired. several other Carnifexs let loos a hail of bioplasma that rained down on the aircraft like a meteor shower. the barracuda attempted to make a attack run, but was snagged out of the air by a massive crab like claw, and dragged down into the depths of the Forrest by a unknown that never revealed any part of itself save for the claw it used to snatch the aircraft.

the other aircraft, the tiger shark bugged out, pulling up sharply and sending out a distress call on a friendly channel, but it wasn't soon enough. a horde of lictors made a leap of faith onto the top of the tiger shark, and clung to it hard and fast. their scythe like arms tearing into the armor of the ship as it soared high into the air, all be it some of the monsters fell off during this move, several stubborn ones still managed to cling even as the rest of their brood fell behind them, but they moved as if they had a cohesive plan, almost like they knew exactly what to do to bring this thing down; and in a instant, they did it. three lictors attacked the main cockpit of the craft, killing the pilot instantly as their arms slammed into it and tour it open. without a pilot and the bastards now invading the interior of the ship, it wasn't long before the tigershark stopped going up and started going down... into a nosedive.

the ensuing chaos caused the tau on the ship to open fire with their weapons, frantically looking for a target. if it moved they shot it, if it didn't move, they shot it... if it spooked them, they shot it. it wasn't until one of the stray shots hit the fuel tanks and another simultaneous shot slammed through the Bombay door control panel that the ship seemed to split apart mid air, falling in two separate peaces as it scattered scared tau firewarriors across the sky like scattered droplets of rain. the lictors chasing after them even in this free fall just to snag a meal.... al be it possibly their last meal.

Kunas Kauyon was undeniably one of the tau inside the ship when this happens, and he was flung as well from the ensuing explosion. he held his pulse carbine close to him, curling almost into a ball as he opened fire during the fall. selecting targets in a attempt to keep them away from his comrades.there was nothing he could do for them other than keep the bugs away for a few more moments longer.

over the allied com system each of the tau were sending out frantic SOS signals as they fell through the air. Kunas Kauyon however kept firing.... he was too shaken for words to make a call for help... the way he was falling, the way he was spinning in the air... it was like a deep strike gone horridly wrong. wreckage from their transport falling all around them like a hail of hellfire all around them. flaming debris shined brilliantly through the sky as it streaked through the air.. it wasn't looking good for the lot of them, not looking good in the least, then again the sudden smack in his back didn't feel that good either. a odd lictor had tethered Kunas Kauyon with it's spears, pulling him in closer to feed. but what happens next Kunas Kauyon didn't expect. the attack had triggered his jetpack which until now he had forgotten he had. the sudden jets of thrust coming from his pack caused the two to spiral even more, flying around erratically through the air, spiraling and cork screwing through the maelstrom of debris as the ground grew ever closer. but the lictor wanted it's meal, it wanted it's prey... so as he drew himself in, Kunas Kauyon could only do so much. regaining control of their flight path he leveled out a few moments before he would have slammed into the ground. looking back he saw his comrades receive their fate. smacking into the ground with the flaming debris smashing on top of them.

"for the greater good, you shall die!" shouted Kunas Kauyon as he pulled up sharply and then dove down into the water like a dart, causing the same to happen to the lictor that had a hold of him, the beast whipped up and then slammed down into the rushing water.

it had not been a good day for Kunas Kauyon, or as he was once known, Nicoli Detzun. it had not been a plesant day at all. he had lost more of his comrades in battle, in a sneak attack none the less. and now he was being drawn down the river by it's strong current. whipped about by varous rappids, and drawn ever closer to a large waterfall at a breaking point in the river. ..

[Kaine Lowingrad]

^ VAE DAEDR IAD ^
| Eldar Warlock |

Vae turned to a group of Tau Pathfinders and Fire Warriors. The head of the group walked to Vae and begin to tell him about the S.O.S. call. He looked to his unit and they got back in to their warrior's tone. The group replaced their helmets and followed the Tau groups towards the co-ordinance of the S.O.S. call. The Tau would need the Eldar party after-all, since they knew these type of jungles a little more. The jungles of Kal'Thor were ones easy to become lost within. The Jungles weren't only treacherous for their ability to have one easily lost, but also for their massive area in which many nid colonies are spawned. Vae slowed down and his group did so as well..

Vae looked upon an old webway gate; the age shown by the rust and jungle grown over it. They looked around and saw not only weapons, but the armor and skeletons of their old comrades. He gave a sigh and hope they had found the other side. Him and his unit went back to catching up with the Tau. The group could now see smoke from the aircrafts that had fallen. Vae rose a hand in to the air and his Conceal ability closed over the groups. They would be much harder to disclose from the enviroment, even by the high sensors of some Tyranids, but only some. Even as a roar echoed through the jungle, they continued to look for the wreckage and survivors. Vae stopped and then walked to the Tau leader, "Ki'Yen, I don't believe there will be survivors." The Tau looked to him, "Why do you say that, Vae?" He pointed up to some high-rising treelines. He pointed to different spots, "As you can see, many tree tops are shaved, so that means that they were hit. The black markings and also some smoke coming off of the tree tops also means they were touched with fire. They were shot and dragged down, from the air.. They might not've survived a crash at the height of the trees on those ridges." The Tau nodded and Vae raised a hand, "But that does not mean there is possibilities, it is merely an opinion and one from past experience."

One of the Pathfinders raised a hand to the others to signal a stop. The groups stopped and the Tau made a twirl with his index finger. Vae looked to his unit and nodded, and everyone began to take a stance. Vae drew his blade and a Carnifex Primus smashes through a group of trees with a roar, and their Conceal falls as the trees do. Termagents rush in with him and the groups begin opening fire. Vae takes out his pistol and fires at a Nid rushing in at him, and slashes it down as it is nearly dead in front of him. The Carnifex Primus slams his arms in to the ground and causes the group of Tau to be tossed back. Vae fixes his pistol to his belt and raises a hand. Psychic energies build within his palm and his eyes glow a dark blue and red. The raw energy is unleashed upon the Nids and they are either fried or thrown back with some damage from the explosion in the center of their group. Vae rose his blade and pointed to the Nids, "Sisters, slaughter them!" He ran forward with the two Howling Banshees and began slashing down the Nids that had survived.

The group reformed with only minimal casualties; about three or four dead, and two injured, one critical. They began scouting for an possible survivors from the crashes. They looked around and the Tau forces used an echo technique. The technique was used to bounce a radio signal off of a fallen comrade to see their location, and would usually work, even in dense jungles as these. They were hoping that this would help them find the survivors. They did find some, but they were usually dead or in that process. Vae and his group searched for the survivors near the crash sites as well, and near some of the outlying crash debris areas.

[knight-kun]

the rushing river carried Kunas Kauyon down the river quickly, his body bouncing off of rocks and various enlarged pockets of earth. the lictor from before still had it's grip on him, still being towed along for the ride.... but that would soon end. up ahead a massive waterfall caused the water to speed up to a near unholy amount. a massive slope along with a vertical drop of nearly a hundred feet created a while beautiful, highly dangerous waterfall. and it wasn't long before the Gue'Vesa went over the edge with the lictor in pursuit. the momentum caused the hooks to snap off from their fleshy appendages, leaving the two to fall in different paths.

Kunas Kauyon activated his pack half way down the waterfall in a attempt to control his fall, but the thrusters were wet, and difficult to get to function properly, had he more time he may have succeed to a larger degree. smashing into the water just as his helm got pinged by a recovery signal, the gue'vesa struggled to get out of the way before the lictor smashed into the water just a ways off.... it was a difficult task but he fought against the swirling eddy he had fallen into (eddy, a term for "neutral" water where several currents create a dead zone that is difficult to escape). crawling up onto the shoreline he let out a series of sputtered caughs and wheezed as he struggled to rip off his helmet, the signal still pinging off of it and sending back positive life signs... his suit's internal systems. looking down on his helm he could see why he lost visuals, the helmet had been damaged beyond repair. the optical mesh that lined part of the hud was actually visible from the damage. a large gaping hole and several slash marks were etched into the helm, like a krootox attempting to carve a cake with a over sized chainsword it could barely lift. tossing the helmet aside he barely realized it landed next to a old webway gate, he was more concerned with a odd crimson shape coming out of the water and onto the shoreline... the lictor was still alive... and it wanted it's prey...

"you know.... i realy got to give you a name ya son of a b***h... you're stubborn as i am..." he noted with a cough... using the butt of his pulse carbine to help him stand up straight... his body was soar, and it was almost like he had the wind knocked out of him yet he could still breath. "think i'll call you the crimson king, that odd head crest seems to fit that just fine" he mused for a moment, trying to take his mind off of the pain he was in from the successive falls he'd taken. then again, the lictor wasn't keen on waiting around. in a blur of oddly shapen crimson colors the lictor leaped into the air and made to attack the gue'vesa.

the lictor had a oddly shaped headcreast, a sharp and jagged crest with a Erie crimson color that was like looking into a reflective abyss. the rest of it's body seemed normal save for a strange caprice growing around some of it's limbs. the normal tentacle face was replaced by a set of mandibles that created a single mouth, similar to a vespid's face. it's body covered in a strange fungus like mesh as it created a haze around itself of a florescent green that masked it's exact movements. the fungus that was excreting this Myst like vapor was a brilliant abyssal blue that seemed to not only give off, but consume it's own light. but it's eyes... those were clear, two orbs of a shining gold glared at Kunas Kauyon the entire way...

leaping back and to the side Kunas Kauyon held down the trigger, not letting up for a single moment as he let out a hail of fire like a machine gun, dodging around as the beast leaped after him time and time again, swiping at him with his massive arms and scythe like appendages, forcing the gue'vesa to duck else his head be taken off by the horrific creature. but the hail of pulse rounds did little to detour the crazed lictor. it had it's prey and it wanted it's meal. soon the lictor did away with the annoying pulse carbine that had been pelting it's body with rounds, and engulfing the creature in spurts of pain. both of it's massive scythe's came slamming down towards Kunas Kauyon, forcing the gue'vesa to block with his rifle lest he be sliced in half and done away with there. there was no more time for retreat, the human had to make a stand.

the power pack of the pulse carbine exploded into a brilliant ball of blue flame like energy. the plasma bursting into the air and sending the two back in the blast. the lictor's scythe's blown clean off... yet the regenerative process was already taking it's effect on the injured beast. the human however had been slammed back into a tree, water dripping off of him and his suit constantly, his hands gripping themselves lightly as he started to shift to using his flamers, so when the creature rushed him again like a angry knarlack, Kunas Kauyon whipped his arms around and attempted to douse the creature in flames, but there was no luck... the flammable gas would not igniht. all that was heard was a low hiss of the gass being released, but there was no spark to igniht them. he kept gripping his hands into fists trying to trigger the spark, but nothing. unable to dodge in time the lictor bashed him aside with one of it's powerful arms. gas being expelled during the entire journey through the air and the various tumbles against the ground.

still trying to igniht the flammable gas Kunas Kauyon kept squeasing his fists, triggering the flamers to try and give their spark, the flexing of his arms caused the release in gass but something was wrong with the igniters... it wouldn't light. he kept trying, dodging around, giving hard kicks to the lictor as it got too close to knock it back, but it wasn't working. every once in a while the lictor would grab hold of the gue'vesa's leg and hurl him across the area, like it wanted it's meal tenderized before it consumed it. all in all the fight was not going as planned. instead the air around them was becoming more and more difficult to breath, the stench of the flammable gas was overwhelming in the area, and the distorted haze it created was all too aparent to anyone familiar with it. a trained and experienced solder would be able to tell the creature's haze and the flammable gas apart, but that would be the experienced ones. then again, even a idiot could tell the stench of the flammable gas.

Kunas Kauyon was running out of options... he was battered, bruised, bleeding, and torn up. his sore limbs had to be forced to move despite pain throbbing through his body, and his opponent didn't seem to care about it's wounds. so in a last ditch effort the gue'vesa did something not many would be willing, or expect one to do... for the tau hated close combat, thankfully the Gue'vesa have no such hesitations. he rushed in as low and as quick as he could, his hand arm flexed and open as he ran. spewing a stream of flammable gas along his path.

Kunas Kauyon slammed his palm into the "face" of the lictor. the rushing motion had caused the air around them to dry the igniters. the result was a massive plume of fire, the surrounding Forrest area became alight with fire resulting in the explosion caused by the sudden ignition in the flammable environment, both parties were knocked back, both wer on fire to some degree. the human's arms had ignited in the process, forcing him to duck and roll across the ground attempting to douse the flames, while the lictor had simply been blown back into the water...

ground zero was a scorch mark, parts of the ground were still on fire and the trees themselves were a blazing inferno. the human lay near the center of the chaos still rolling on the ground to douse the fire on his arms before it ate through his armor and reached the fuel lines. it didn't help that he could hear Hormagaunts swarming the area in a attempt to feed.

struggling to get up the gue'vesa could only manage to prop himself up on one arm, his body was too numb and battered to be of much more use. still determined to take as many with him as possible he let loose a stream of fire at the oncoming horde of small bug like xenos. shifting angles and directions as best he could as they swarmed him in waves.

[Kaine Lowingrad]

^ VAE DAEDR IAD ^
| Eldar Warlock |

Vae and the others had heard the eruption from the gas igniting. The Tau looked at their ping radar and pointed in a direction, "Vae, that way! We've got vitals online, but increased heart rate. He may be in danger!" Vae, his group, and the Tau took off on the way to look for the survivor they pinged. The group stopped at the sight of a cliff and had to either choose to go down the steep side, or go around. They decided the quicker way would be to simply just slide down the steep side. The group jumped over the side and slid down the steep cliff, grabbing on to vines and rocks if they needed to slow down. As Vae came to the bottom, he left the slide and entered in to a run.

Ahead of Vae, he could see a small area in which an explosion had occured. He heard the usual insectoid sounds the Nids made and knew they were looking for something; something alive. He looked to his troops, "Ai, less e!" In a few words, he had said many in the human tongue. His unit spread out out with the Rangers taking one path and him and the Banshees staying together. Vae used his Warp-Spider Jump Gen. to appear above a Lictor and then with his blade slicing off a Hormagaunt's leg, arm, and front half of it's head. His shoulder-cloak falls around him and he shoots down a couple more of the Nids. Vae looks back to the gue'vesa as his Howling Banshees and Rangers begin their own assault in defense of the gue'vesa. He points in several directions and seems to shout demands in the Eldaric language.

Vae looks down at him and the face-plate on his helmet opens up. It moves upwards and shows his face to Kunas Kauyon. He holds out a hand and the other Tau's come in to view and launch a defensive perimeter around the group. He has to take his hand back to slash down a Hormagaunt. He points to a Lictor, "Rae, guith, id! Na non an, lae cuith ith." The Rangers open fire on the Lictor all in one and the Howling Banshees fall back to Vae. They keep their stance and one speaks to him, "Vae, wae muith ea!" He nods and grabs the gue'vesa's shoulderpad and pulls the Gue'Vesa Auxillary to his feet. He brushes off the Gue'Vesa's armor, "You need to move with us, can you run, or are you too injured?" He turned to the forest and let loose a smaller psychic blast as he had done earlier, but this one was smaller with his psychic powers still recovering from the last. The Tau begin trying to secure an escape route.


|| Gotta go, but I'll get back with you later. ||

[knight-kun]

"aye, i can move" responded the injured gue'vesa, "though it wont be pleasant" he noted, taking the eldar's arm and pulling himself up. "be wary my Allie, there's a stubborn lictor in the area... strange mutation strand as well. it doesn't want to die" he warned as he braced himself on vae for a moment or two. testing his own strength to see if he could actual stand on his own. unsure of himself but unwilling to give up, he made the effort to stand, though it was like standing on needles as a iron maiden wraps around you. each step he took was beyond his ability to describe. "oh yeah, i can do this... " he grumbled under his breath in low Gothic, his eyes focusing on the oncoming horde of nids that the eldar were attempting to fight back. letting loose one last stream of flames around them he quickly made a notion to retreat. "now would be a good time to fall back friend" he noted, still sticking as close as he could to Vae.

"a lictor that wont die? you cant be serious" retorted one of the tau in the group, a path finder giving a nod in agreement to the fire warrior's concern. their posture however didn't change much as they continued to fight off the horde of bugs.

"the fall didn't kill it, both of them" noted the gue'vesa who at this point was restricted to his burner to keep the nids at bay around them. the streams of flame killing entire swarms at a time, but for every one that was claimed by the flame, a million more were ready to take it's place. "not only that, but several bursts from a carbine didn't kill it, and i doubt the explosion of fire killed it... heck if it didn't kill me, that thing isn't dead" added Kunas Kauyon as he looked around for a possible means of escape. "there! a webway! fall back... eldar can you get it working?"