Betrayals (A Scythian Short)

[The Shadowscythe]

The sounds of boots against steel and calls to general stations as Lord Shadowscythe found himself teleported aboard another Scythian vessel - as the light faded away from his vision, he found himself in the cargo bay of a far smaller ship that the last few he had been on recently - the lights where dimmed to lower levels, casting arching shadows off of two carnivore drop-ships that took up most of the room within the low set bay.

"Lord Shadowscythe?" A voice called from the distance, a young but eager sounding tone levelled its way through the darkness towards his ears.

"Yes?" He replied, unsure as to whom he was talking, as a figure emerged from the crowd at the far end of the hangar, a Red Scythian uniform - ensign stripes, a dataslate in hand, and shortly cropped black hair over a young, smiling face - followed by an extended hand from the young man.

"Ensign Kato, I am your personal attache for battle-group Stormsword, if you have any questions sir - I would be glad to answer them for you." Kato shifted from one foot to the next, almost too eager to jump at the Lord's command.

"Very well Kato - give me the current layout and status of the battlegroup, and direct us towards the bridge."

"Yes! Yes sir!" Kato turned sharply and tore off as quickly as his legs would carry him without breaking a walking pace as his brain started to move off at greater speed than his mouth could handle "At the moment we are operating on call-signs Stormsword One through Six, Stormswords One, two and three are armed with Anti-matter projector cannons on both mounts as well as various other enhancements such as enhanced shielding and improved sensors. Stormswords Four and Five are operating with the standard Kentaurus class layout and no enhancements, Stormsword Six is equipped with Dual heavy Anti-matter missile launchers and a phasic cloaking device - all ships are loaded and locking down for FTL as we speak, the mission is ready to begin as soon as you are ready to give the order."

Kato and Lord Shadowscythe moved through the tight confines of the Scythian destroyers corridors, far tighter than those of the standard Monarch class battleship the Kentaurus was not a battleship designed for multiple roles - it was geared towards pure combat projection, and every ounce of possible space was devoted to power-lines, armour plating, structural supports and weapons mountings - every crew quarter onboard was shared between three shifts with no personal space other than a single individual locker and room for movement was kept to a premium - Shadowscythe was almost sure if they could have gotten away with not including gravity systems onboard to cut down on even more personal space then the designers would have done so in a heartbeat, regardless of crew safety.

Eventually they reached the bridge of the ship - a tiny, confined space - claustrophobically designed to have the entire bridge crew almost on top of one another and surrounded by as much data as humanly possible while maintaining the barest minimum of health and safety doctrines. Before Lord Shadowscythe laid a singular captains chair - lowered into the floor itself so allow another monitor system to be lowered down in front of each arm and a direct view through the main view-screen and holographic dias that each station was positioned around.

He moved himself around the seat and stayed on his feet as far into the bridge as he could afford to go and attempted to take in mental notes of the stations, tactical station, communications and engineering - their holders obscured by holographic lighting and computer stations - like many crews he had served with before - they would be faceless and nameless.

Just like Kialya.

He squashed that thought, that pain of guilt - confused for a moment as to his goals, he had never felt that way about another before now - and he could not afford to start behaving in that way now, he was a Lord of the Scythian Empire - a scalpel of force meant to split enemies asunder - he had fallen to failure once

Never again.

He focused himself - his mind back to the cause and spoke aloud.

"Katos - are we locked down to FTL yet?"

Kato looked down to his data slate and back up again "We are locked down and ready to go sir - FTL drives will begin spinning up on your order"

"Good, send a message to the Pride of Scythia that we are commencing FTL to the outer edge of the Haven system and begin the operation - have the Marine teams ready for combat immediately after jump and bring us in slow and stealthy."

"Aye sir!" Katos tapped further orders into his data slate as the other three bridge officers began commenting on orders and stages aloud as the six ships pulled away from the main mass of Scythian vessels and disappeared in six flashes of instant light, and emerged on the far side of the galaxy.

[The Shadowscythe]

Lord Haercer Kronus sat within the depths of his newly constructed office abord his new flagship, admiring the holographic dias display he had built into the centre of the solid Scythian Oak panelling - the office was darkened and lit only by the most basic of emergency lighting, he was surrounded by his most treasured library of tomes - books acquired from every corner of every empire, his required reading list of how to follow the missing Emperor and claim the power that was kept from him by birthright as his own.

Within the dias laid his current prize, the Flagship "Unbound" was the newest and most secretive ship built at the Rigel Kentaurus - or to be more precise, in the Kentaurus system - built in parts shipped from the primary shipyard in secret to the more illusive secondary shipyards within the systems expansive Oort cloud to specifications made by Lord Kronus himself under the S.O.N.I arm of control - it was the newest of the Deity class Super-Dreadnaughts, built to be almost a third larger than every other ship of its class - with every inch of its extra internal space devoted to power, weapon and shield systems - it was by far the single most expensive vessel ever produced by Scythian hands.

This was not however, what made this ship the pride of Kronus's handiwork - that would be the 24 separate stealth systems integrated within the ships vast hull - intelligence gathered from the Emperor and his stolen and re-worked systems had made its way back through Kronus's own network of spies - and the Unbound contained a mass of lower quality stealth systems placed into multiple redundant roles - achieving the same effect as the Emperors own systems through sheer weight of numbers - a true embodiment of the Deity's will - brute force and power delivered through sheer force.

He sat for a while, composing his thoughts - all he would have to do is wait as the pieces fell into place, he knew all the plots, all the actors, all the factions and all the stories - the Emperor had unwittingly set him on a path of discovery about himself, the Empire and the universe itself - and soon, he would have control over it all . . . all he had to do was wait-

The holographic dias before him paused and beeped an insistant tone as a face emerged in the air above the desk, it was young - short black hair and strongly cut lines, with almost Assyrian features and eyes so deep a shade of brown that no difference could be seen between Iris and pupil, and the face was etched into an almost permanent sly grin with almost radiated a meticulous rage and intelligent hatred.

"Lord Kronus, My assault teams are in position both on Genoad and Haven - the Genoans are about to come to us with open hands and we are awaiting your kill order. Lord Shadowscythe has just made the FTL jump to Haven, he thinks his battlegroup is hidden but we are tracking his phasic cloaking systems at the outer most edge of the star system." The young man spoke, fluently and with a malice that Hearcer couldn't help but encourage - his most trusted luitenant had a mind like a razor and the will to use it, no better prodigy could be found within his networks.

"Very well Karsur - you have full permission to break Lord Shadowscythe over your knee, make sure the Emperor gets the message of whom is in charge of his Empire now, but hold back on our own secret weapons until the time is right." Hearcer spoke slowly and carefully - his trusted minion picking up on the meanings behind the terms, as one sentence finished a cruel smile spread across the young mans face.

"Why of course, my Lord" Karsur spoke, and the comms chanel dropped silent once more - and the face was replaced by the hovering representation of the Unbound, Hearcer leaned back into his chair once more and mused to himself.

All he had to do was wait, after all - he never lost.

[The Shadowscythe]

Harkins awoke once more to a different world.

Instead of cool blue darkness, he was enveloped in blinding white light and surrounded by warmth and a cacophony of sound, voices layered one over another - steady beeping of machinery and the sounds of so much dizzying movements, he slowly attempted to open his eyes but found the light to be to painful for his senses to bear for much longer than a second.

"Woah there big guy, don't take it too quickly - its not often a Hardass like you comes back from the dead" a familiar voice spoke, deep and almost booming but with a friendly tone underlying the notes of speech.

"Well this is twice now, I get the feeling I should be keeping track" Harkins replied as his mind slowly started to return to itself from a drug induced slumber that rid him of most of his pain "That you Quaram?"

"In the flesh with added extras good buddy" Quaram replied with a soft chuckle at the end "You won't believe the shit thats gone down around here the last few days."

"Try me" Harkins replied weakly as his eyes closed for a short while longer, keeping out the harshness of the lights above.

"Well first me and Larrissa where stuck in that hellhole of a comms tower waiting for a dropship that got shot down en route as the battle in orbit turned to utter shit, stuff started coming down from the Navy comms lines we weren't supposed to pick up - like the loss of the entire battlegroup and the Britannians turning up to hammer the nails into the coffin - then shit just started getting weird." Quaram started his tale from the closest point Harkins could relate too. "The Ice started cracking up, people started clutching their heads screaming that something could see them, or hear them or some bullshit - other just dropped dead on the spot. Then the goddamn bugs turned up - we stayed as hidden as we could as people started to explode from the inside out - Scythian, Genoan, even the Immortals turned into walking sacs of blood and gore. Then all the survivors got teleported here, some kind of Assyrian medical ship - and you won't believe this BS, under the command of the Emperor himself!"

"What the hell would the Assyrian Emperor have to do with a bunch of Scythian grunts like us? and isn't their Emperor a chick?" Harkins managed to grunt out as his faculties started slowly returning.

"No dumbass, I mean OUR Emperor, came in with a massive fleet and beamed up every Scythian and Genoan marine from the surface and then destroyed the entire goddamn planet - I've been here for the last few days since the Assyrian meditechs patched me up and gave me a swanky new cyborg leg and watching the Emperors first marines walking around the place with a strut so wide you'd think they had dicks as long as their legs." Quaram said with a half sarcastic tone as he shifted his weight in the wheelchair - his dress uniform cut off just below the point where the cyborg leg met with the flesh that remained of his leg.

"What about Larissa?" Harkins grunted aloud.

"She's out and about with the meditechs, your rise from the dead scared the shit outta them"

"You keep saying those words y'know . . . how the hell was I dead?"

"Simple - something fried the entire back of your brainpan - you where clinically dead for three days after something set your entire cerebral cortex on fire inside your skull - you where wormfood until a few hours ago, apparently your entire brain is regenerating in a way that no one here can even begin to understand, and you ain't the only one either" Quaram told him with a now more uneven tone.

"Everyone who went down like that on the planet is getting back up again, the morgue is emptying out by the hour and the hospital floor is filling up, and no one can explain what the hell is going on" He finished "They also wanna test you for psychic potential as soon as you are able"

"Psychic potential?" Harkins muttered almost to himself as the memories of Loveless in the city cave came back to him in a flash -

So, Scythian - you could see me . . . this will be interesting . . . " the unknown assailant, Loveless . . . the name uttered through Harkins mind.

"I never knew the Scythian Empire had psionics . . . even low level ones . . . I'll add this to your list of new tricks, like making troopers burst from the inside out . . . "

The memory burned through him like a forest fire within his mind - the burning building, the bodies and the shape of the Immortal surrounded by a shroud of pain that forced his mind to recoil at the meerest image that formed of the scene.

"Woah dude - don't you black out on me again!" Quaram shouted aloud as the behemoth of a man leant out of his wheelchair and shook Harkins by the shoulders, shaking the memory out of Harkins mind.

"The hell was that?" Harkins muttered weakly as the memory faded away from his mind, leaving a dull pounding sensation in his frontal lobes.

"I have no idea man, but I am getting someone over here to check you out again" Quaram said as he reached down the side of the gurney and pressed the "call nurse" button until an Assyrian at the far edge of the room answered their pager and came half jogging across the room.

[The Shadowscythe]

In a flash of FTL after particles, the six Rigel Kentaurus destroyers of Battle group Stormsword exploded from the non-dimensions of FTL transit and where flung into real space mere seconds after jumping from the Scythian Emperors fleet.

Lord Shadowscythe stood aboard the bridge of Stormsword One as the front visual screen began picking out orbital relay lanes, planetoids and ships within the system from extra-long ranges, comparing ship silhouettes to known Scythian ship classes and civilian transit routes as Liners, freighters and other craft of over a hundred sizes and shapes where targeted by the system and categorised by threat levels into various levels of non-competency. Eventually the system tagged Haven itself and re-allocated its combat objective markers to the distant orb of green and blue light growing ever slowly larger as tiny red specs on the monitor screen where marked as Savager frigates and Monarch battleships of the Planetary defence forces.

The system tagged these as "Unknown hostile status" and moved on through the system - pausing for a moment on an unresolved image of a ship that faded away to quickly to get a scan on it due to another ship passing almost in front of it - a half silhouette was cast by the targeting system that couldn't resolve the class - and classified the reading as an error - moving onto the other traffic of the in system ships.

Across the darkness, darkened figures on a distant ship breathed a sigh of relief - their cover remained intact as they watched the six destroyers on their screens glide further in system by the second.

An hour later, the six destroyers had crossed halfway through the system and into the goldilocks ring, ahead of the orbit of Haven - holding a steady burn pace with the orbit of the world.

Lord Shadowscythe himself had left the bridge - leaving the ships of battle group Stormsword in the hands of Katos as he descended to the bridge's cargo hold - doors opened before him to teams of Scythian marines loading rifles and magazines into cargo netting and ensuring final equipment checks on Laser carbine rifles and battle harnesses, many of the Marine group turned for a moment and watched as the Scythian lord found his way to an unused locker and passed his palm over the biometric scanner and took the armoured harness from its rack and deftly shouldered the bulky marine armour - quickly tightening and securing straps and harnesses before donning the bulky marine helmet and securing it to his skull.

Finally he picked up the laser carbine rifle - the Scythian marines best friend and ally as he ensured the rifle and its spare charge magazines where at full capacity and testing the weapons Arm/disarm settings before finally pulling the shoulder strap over his shoulder and holstering the weapon.

By the time he had turned - he was fully prepared before some of the marines who had stopped to watch the so called "Lord" be combat ready before they had even finished their own checks.

"Marines" he spoke aloud as he made sure his voice carried the bay with authority "I will be joining you on this operation by the Emperors order - all battlefield operations will go through your superiors and then go through me, we have a specific objective no doubt you know about - but I am coming along to ensure that the information we need is brought back no matter what the cost."

He paused for a moment and let that sink in "Some of you may even know what the title of Lord is applied for and what we do - you don't need to be babysitting me so keep your heads down and eyes sharp. Glory for the maidens gentlmen."

A short follow of "Oohrahs" followed around the bay as Lord Shadowscythe took up position in the command seat of the first carnivore dropship as the other marines took up positions within the cavernous craft and awaited the final moments before landfall.

[The Shadowscythe]

The dropship shook hard through its decent into planetary orbit - every cloud and patch of turbulence seemed to fight back against the Carnivores armored hull as it made its elliptical path towards the ground site known as "Haven Facility 7" - the in situ command centre of S.O.N.I for this planetary sector.

Around Lord Shadowscythe the squad of 49 marines clutched their laser rifles to their chests as the flames around the outer hull passed into white clouds and clear blue skies.

*Data packets exchanged and confirmed, E.T.A to site is 15 minutes, last intel confirms the site is on a skeleton crew - Lord Shadowscythe, if you could open the data tablet next to your harness, you will have the extra intel you need, the rest of the team will follow your orders as needed." The Sargent at the far end of the dropships main hull spoke through the TEAMCOM system as he then moved to release his harness and moved into the dropships cockpit.

True to the word of the aged sergeant, a data tablet was enclosed to the right hand side of his seat, Lord Shadowscythe watched as the translucent glass warmed to his touch and then projected mission data a few short inches in front of his face.

His new identity for the mission - Lord Mearus, a lower level lord from Rigel Kentaurus - sent from S.O.N.I to retrieve "Above top secret war essential supplies" and return them to a waiting S.O.N.I sloop that was supposed to be waiting in low orbit - his team would simply assume the identities of his command staff and itinerary, walk into the building and then out again with the artifact without anyone ever questioning him.

Lord Shadowscythe looked across from his seat, as the jungle floor beneath became apparent - vast metallic spires in the distance rose from the jungle floor to the stratosphere - vast Arcology cities designed to maximize space and efficiency while not having to expand into the vast swaths of farmlands that made up the worlds equatorial belt - beyond that was endless, deadly jungles and forests - filled with violent, alien apex predators and killing machines.

Directly ahead of the dropships path was a small building in a concrete courtyard, a box roughly the size of a four story building with no remarkable features other than the triple layered razorwire around its outer edge.

As the dropship grew closer, red uniforms could be seen with the green shoulder sash that indicated members of the Scythian engineering and logistical core, moving outwards to the arrival point as the dropship lowered and the entire floor split apart and opened into a vast artificial drop into the earth beneath.

Lord Shadowscythe sat and watched as the dropship lowered itself into VTOL mode and descended into darkness.

-----

Once the bay doors where closed, the forest trees rustled ever so slightly as two figured emerged from their camouflaged positions, with a radio and laser designator in each hand, they swapped a mixture of hand waves and motions before packing up their equipment and moving onto the next location.

[Falk]

YES! IT CONTINUES!

[The Shadowscythe]

After another minute or so of agonizing descent, the Carnivore dropship eventually lowered from its vertical drop into a vast cavern, easily large enough to berth an entire Monarch class battlecruiser, as the tiny dropship moved through the vast space beneath its Doppler lighting cast overarching shadows and reflections off of various support struts and structures within the overwhelming space.

"This is your pilot speaking, we have AI permission to land within the bay, drop zone three - all crew prepare yourselves for arrival" The dropship pilot spoke sarcastically through the TEAMCOM channel as the ship lowered itself further down into the cavern, another kilometer down to be almost hovering over the floor of the gigantic, black space.

The craft stopped and hovered for a moment on the spot before the two main engines returned to VTOL position and lowered the troop carrier down onto a gray steel plate lit only by four guidance lights, one at each corner to finalize the last leg of the underground gauntlet.

"Marines, you know your jobs, act smart casual - await your orders from Lord 'Mearus' and do what you do best" The sargeant announced over the TEAMCOM before the dropship side panels dropped down and the marine team was plunged into darkness.

As expected of S.O.N.I bravado, no guide awaited them - only a blinking light from the open topped elevator shaft a short distance away, a single red hologram display panel from a cargo bedded elevator that lead further into the facility.

Marines burst forward, thier Laser Carbine rifles raised into their shoulders, with flashlights and night vision sensors engaged as Lord Shadowscythe hefted his way from the dropship harness to the center of the group and kept apace with little effort, watching as the darkness swallowed all light sources whole - leaving nothing but an empty, hungry void in every direction.

As the group reached the elevator, Marines moved around the four corners of the plate floor to secure the area as Shadowscythe moved forward, taking his glass holopanel display tablet and placing it atop the holographic display of the elevator and secretly praying that the authentication codes would allow them to pass and not set off the bases security systems.

A moment later, the red panel display burst into a glorious green light, and allowed the transit systems to be activated as the group moved around Lord Shadowscythe and began thier secondary descent to the central base.

[The Shadowscythe]

Before Lord Shadowscythe could get a moment to recover his wits the descending shaft burst from near darkness into pouring white light from all directions - around him he heard marines shifting in their footwork, rifles raised and lowered as the groups eyesight returned to normal and the depth of the secondary cavern system was revealed to them.

In every direction, white paneled metal sheeting plated every wall, floor and ceiling - forming an impenetrable EM shield from the outside world - one of the many unmarked KINGUNDERTHEMOUNTAIN class vaults that where spread in secret throughout the empire. Slowly but surely his eyes reached the area of the floor not to far from the open elevator entrance - a small conglomeration of platforms around a central dias which contained a single marble slab roughly the size of a Tarantula M.B.T - with a Single S.O.N.I operative waiting for them in a jet black uniform before it.

With a slow and deliberate "clunk" the elevator reached the open floor and locked into place, releasing the side constraints for the Marines - whom spread in every direction with their rifles shouldered and trained on their lines of fire as Lord Shadowscythe lowered his rifle and walked with a false pace towards the S.O.N.I agent with the sergeant shortly behind him.

As he approached he couldn't help but notice the odd, almost Assyrian-like features of the young agent, sharp facial lines and short cropped black hair - and a grin on his face that suddenly made Lord Shadowscythe feel deeply uncomfortable somewhere inside his soul.

He took these feelings and stuffed them into a corner of his mind, somewhere cold and dark to be revisited later as his revulsion crashed past him like a shore-side wave - he reached for the holographic tablet he had strapped to his right leg - deftly taking the slate and passing it to the waiting agent, who took it in turn with an almost audible huff of . . . anticipation? almost?

Lord Shadowscythe coughed aloud as he then spoke "Lord Mearus, on orders from section 3 for KINGUNDERTHEMOUNTAIN item transport" as the agent passed his eyes over the tablet before lowering it to his side.

Impossibly the grin on the agents face seemed to form an even more sadistic undertone as he spoke in almost a whisper.

"No no no . . ." he started " . . . you are Lord Shadowscythe, the Emperors pet prodigy"

Lord Shadowscythes blood ran cold as his gaze met with those cold, black pitiless eyes.

"And you have come here to die."

The world slide sideways into blood and pain.

[The Shadowscythe]

The lead Marines never had a chance at the forefront of the group - they found themselves cut down by Laser fire from four different directions the moment Karsus finished his sentence.

Five men dropped like heavy, bloodied sacks - dead and fried before they had even hit the ground.

The remaining marines formed their ranks, acquired targets and fired - and the air filled with ionized particles and flying electric death.

Lord Shadowscythe barely had a moment of recognition himself before the Sergeant behind him had lept forward and thrown him aside, his head colliding hard with the solid white paneled flooring, just in time to see a SIBAS powered Armour suit literally melt out of thin air - an active stealth system becoming disabled as the Sargeant had a moment of clarity himself - rifle raised at the front of the power armored trooper and about to fire as Karsus was suddenly in the fray - with an Immortal sheath blade in his hands.

That was the moment the Sargeants head hit the floor, separated from its owner before Lord Shadowscythe could even recognize that the assault had happened.

The rest of the body dropped to its knees, arms falling to its sides as Lord Karsus kicked the carcus solely in the chest and sent it flying away with an unholy look of glee on his face.

"KILL THEM ALL SLOWLY! MAKE THEM SUFFER! MAKE THEM BLEED! LEAVE THE ERRAND DOG TO ME!" Karsus howled across an open channel to both groups as another four SIBAS suits melted into the room, followed by another six behind those.

Lord Shadowscythe turned from his position and raised his rifle to fire at Karsus - but he was already too close - the Sheath blade connected with the barrel of the carbine rifle and lodged within the titanium shell - as Karsus forced his weight down upon him, laughing like a wild beast the whole time.

"HOW DOES IT FEEL HOUND?" Karsus bellowed "TO KNOW YOU WHERE USED, BETRAYED?"

Karsus attempted to kick down on Lord Shadowscythes chest and pull upwards on the blade at the same time - as Lord Shadowscythe released his grip on the rifle and rolled aside, then turning his own weight to kick Karsus's shin out from underneath him.

Karsus hit the floor with a solid thud as his eyes shot up to Lord Shadowscythe filled with an unholy hatred.

"YOU THINK YOU HAVE ONE OVER ON ME? WE KNEW YOU WHERE COMING FROM THE START - YOU ARE DEAD WEIGHT TO BE CUT FROM THE NEW EMPIRE!" Karsus continued to yell as he picked himself up onto his feet, as Lord Shadowscythe attempted to do the same.

Lord Shadowscythe didn't have time to think, he raised his fist and punched the Agent clean in the face, his fist aches as the Agents neck cracked backwards . . . and then pulled itself back again.

With that same uneering grin.

"Nice try" Karsus utterer "And now its my turn"

Two hammer blows punched against Lord Shadowscythe chest armour, winding him more than causing pain - and then a third blow came up and across - connecting with his nose and sending sharp red bursts of pain across his face - his nose fractured and bloody as he shuddered back stunned.

In the distance another eleven of Shadowscythe's men had been fallen by combined fire before they had managed to take out three of the SIBAS suited foes in turn - their powered Armour allowing them to strike with impunity against the lesser Armored marine foes.

His eyes focused for a moment as his vision cleared - at the rear of the group he saw a marine raising a single P.A.V.L to his shoulder a moment before a solid beam lurched from the deadly weapon - it arced its way through two more SIBAS suited foes and then struck the central DIAS behind Lord Shadowscythe as the entire platform exploded into flames.

Karsus however, wouldn't let this distraction get in his way and had closed the small distance between the two men and had his fists raised for another hammer blow.

Lord Shadowscythe did the only thing he could. He ducked.

The Agent was already mid swing - and unprepared for the shift of moment as he tumbled over Lord Shadowscythe and onto the floor - as Lord Shadowscythe rose afterwards and perpared to kick the agent.

That was when the elevator shaft exploded - along with an entire wall section from the outside.

The fight had somehow been joined by another force - The SIBAS troopers firing at another foe that was not his marines - who laid in the elevator shaft, burnt to cinders by an unexpected blast from above.

Lord Shadowscythe never had the chance to lay his eyes upon the unseen forces, a riflebutt appeared from nowhere and blackness encompassed all.

[alphafalcon541]

awesome can't wait for the next part

[The Shadowscythe]

- Planet Scythia -

3 Hours Later.

"And so, as the Immortal war drags on the Scythian war senate has met once again to discuss new stratagems and methods of drawing the Immortals to a halt to either end the expanding warfronts through victory or diplomacy - seeing as the Britannian empire has continued to push its expanding fleets into the Scythian northern sectors and the Assyrians have focused inwards onto themselves instead of answering the call for alliances many of the younger empires fear that Scythia may be the only light at the end of the tunnel against the Immortal threat - And now we have the Evening news . . . "

He stood, one of many in strategic places in the Scythian capitol cities - primed and ready for the next stage of the plan. As he stood in the crowded tube train he watched the evening rain streak down the sides of the window as it moved gracefully on anti-grav rails through the city - watching red and gray towers and gleaming metropolis complexes pass by the world.

His eyes returned inwards, the train was packed - evening commuters from the inner city, bureaucratics and middle level workers, people on their way home from their daily lives as the oldest and greatest cities in this end of the galaxy moved past them, their eyes never looking to see what he was about to secure, about to preserve.

At the cost of his life.

at the cost of their lives.

He looked down to the loose fitting watch on his left wrist - a countdown of holographic figures projected into his hand as he waited for the final countdown, and then back out to the window.

He reached down into his pocket with the other hand, and felt the trigger unit - a single black unit with a red biometric trigger on one end - his fingers wrapped around the metallic tube and his thumb around the end.

He looked downwards again to the wristwatch, the holographic numbers counting down to the inevitable zero.

He looked upwards to the security camera he knew was embedded in the far end of the carriage and yelled as loud as his lungs could carry his final statement.

"Immortales victoria!"

The train carriage vaporized in an instant, swallowed whole along with the track beneath by a dozen black hole grenades he had surgically placed inside his body - those few where the ones lucky enough to not feel the end as the rest of the fated train flew off the rails and down into the sub structures below - buildings leveled and fires wrought onto the streets as panic ensued.

Before this single event could be contained however - another blast levelled the Scythian stock exchanges on the far end of the city, and another in the Darkin Arcology, as a black hole bomb ripped off the towers tip, dozens of floors collapsed inwards into the tube structures innards, destroying even more and spreading further chaos.

Emergency and Military services rushed to the scenes, medical units and Scythian Carnivore dropships moved with precision and art to the devastated areas, and within an hour the systems where in motion.

The Scythian war senate however, where not in motion, in fact - they where waiting in the Scythian senate building - their meeting delayed by the emergent attacks, they watched and waited with baited breath as more of the Marine gaurds of the complex where called away to the emergency zones.

Which is when three dozen figures teleported into the building beyond the notice of electronic prevention methods, clad in dark black armour - they moved swiftly between rooms and corridors, silencing guards and secretaries as they moved simultaneously to the upper levels of the senate hall.

In swift moments, they reached their firings zones and had their weapons ready.

A second later, they arched up and over the podiums of the upper level and pepper sprayed the entire Scythian war senate with Flachette rounds.

It was swift and brutal, within 15 seconds - every Scythian General and Admiral not on a tour of duty or within the Scythian Office of Naval Intelligence was turned into thick and bloody mulch - slaughtered by a group of Immortal assassins who had beyond all measure managed to get past every Scythian detection grid and defense measure and then disappeared in equal light.

A moment later they where gone - returned to their teleportation sites and returned back to where they came from, leaving a city in chaos and a planet without unity.

-----

Lord Hearcer stood ready behind the captains chair of his flagship as the Unbound FTL jumped into Scythia orbit an hour later - ready to "prepare" the news for his remaining officers both in and out of S.O.N.I, the Emperor had slipped into a coma (courtesy of S.O.N.I finding a suitable body double and gene thesnuggly to fill the gaps), the homeworld itself had been attacked by Immotal forces and the War Senate had been decimated.

This was his moment to step out into the light, and as soon as his lieutenant delivered the news of Lord Shadowscythes demise then he could focus on the next stage of his plan.

A little longer and the game would be his for the taking.

[The Shadowscythe]

On Haven however, the far side of the galaxy - the battle was most decidedly not falling into Hearcers hands.

The intel that had been shafted from the Emperors grasp had been used to lure and trap Lord Shadowscythe and his puny team of marines - and they had been turned into red smears across the floor by Karsus and his stealthed SIBAS marines, he was moments away from being able split the errand dogs skull against his fist when the world had exploded into dust, concrete and flying steel.

The Immortals had somehow hit the exact same location at the exact same time - intel that they should not have had, at a time it should never have been given, they had split his few men asunder and then stolen his quarry from him - now he was left fleeing through service tunnels and gangways as the squad of Immortal troopers followed close behind, the occasional flachette round impacting off of the metal works behind him.

Kersus turned another corner and clean into a dead end - he had fled so far but he had no more time - the Immortal troops had slowed their pace to a walk as the turned the corner, rifles leveled at his torso.

"So then, I guess you got me" he said half-mockingly as he pushed his wrists out in a handcuff motion.

"Take me away then lads?" A swift and evil grin spread across his lips.

The Immortal troopers said nothing as they raised their rifle sights - all four of them aiming for the head.

"Good then, I didn't intend to come quietly anyway!"

The grin spread in an instant from ear to ear, shredding the flesh of his cheeks as his arms raised back and split from between the index and palm fingers down to the elbow, revealing a mixture of cybernetic and alien components across dull, gray inhuman bones, his spine twisted and his legs split and rejoined with another joint above the knee.

The Immortal troopers paused for a moment, a moment of horror and revulsion was just long enough.

The sounds of screaming and torn flesh echoed down empty hallways and cold, dead steel.

And then silence.

[Falk]

Thesnuggly. Gotta love the filter. Glad this didn't die Shadow! It gets better every installment.

[The Shadowscythe]

" . . . sitrep report?"

"Target has been retrieved alive. Marine retinue desceased. Secondary target not located."

"Unit seven was tracking. Contact lost. Presumed liquidated."

"Confirmed IFF tags unresponsive, Unit Eleven is en-route."

He awoke being pulled from under each armpit along an unknown steel plate floor, the world blurred and flexed before his vision as he saw a black arm extending above him in each direction, a pair of boots on each side placed thundering steps in his skull.

Black armored shoes leading to black armored shins and black armored legs.

He looked up into the corridor ahead of him as more black armored figures moved in each direction to and fro, some with rifles raised - others with medicare equipment and other various items.

Then his eyes focused onto what was before him.

He was restrained from each arm, and his body felt heavy - drugged heavily into submission as he was moved through what was near a batalion of Immortal troopers of varying type and ranks - his eyes focused on the figure at the far end of the corridor, black and silver armor, a black hilted sword in one hand that lead to a flaming sword that radiated heat, much like the bare white bone of his skull - ridden with lines of burning heat.

The single most wanted man in the Scythian Empire - dead or alive.

The slayer of a hundred worlds and the leader of the current Immortal incursion into the galaxy.

The image had been burned into his mind from the very beginning of the war.

Lord Warhead.

He turned to face Lord Shadowscythe, being dragged under each arm by two Immortal troopers - A grin emerged across the head ridden skull, a grimace of . . . satisfaction? He hilted his blade and stood some striding steps towards Lord Shadowscythe.

"And at last we meet" Lord Warhead began with a sly undertone to his voice.

"Lord Warhead? I guess you have a reason to be keeping me like this otherwise I would be dead right now"

"Correct." He replied as a single statement.

"And that reason is?"

"Simple, I need you alive to save the galaxy"

"Of course you . . . what?!" Lord Shadowscythe stopped dead in his track, lost and confused for a moment.

The reply was met with roaring laughter from the behalf of Lord Warhead as the rest of his troops stood silent.

"AHAHAHAahahaha! Oh that was delicious - its the little things in life that make it worth living" Lord Warhead paused for a moment as he stooped lower to Lord Shadowscythe's face and began again. "It is simple, your Emperor is not the only one in the universe who has access to information from beyond his grasp - and he is not the only one who knows what is at stake."

He paused again to let the realization sink in "I don't suppose he told you that he sent you here to die did he?"

Lord Shadowscythe stared back into the black, hollow pits of Lord Warheads gaze.

"The thing is, the information he is gathering, from the same source as us - is in constant flux, his version of events saw you dieing here to set another's chain of events into motion, it didn't involve us interfering and it didn't involve us saving your life, but our chain of events needed you alive."

Lord Shadowscythe's look simply changed to one of confusion.

"You see, I need you alive - This galaxy is a crux, events from both before and after this war are changing - some from this universe and some from many, many others, and I need your alliance in order to save this galaxy"

"And why do you need me for? To organise a meet with the Emperor?"

"I said I needed your alliance, not his - and we need to save this galaxy from The Shraag, the events from that timeline will destroy us all. Scythian. Immortal. Assyrian. Genoan. Every living being in this universe and every universe that creature can force its way into will die."

"And why would you care? Immortal scum"

"Its quite simple" Lord Warhead stated as he stood and turned "We cannot conquer this galaxy, this universe - if everything in it including us is dead, now can we?"

"We have a stealth ship in orbit" Lord Warhead began "And your ships are in orbit unharmed - my men where unable to kill Karsus and he has access to several non-Scythian technologies, including a teleporter system that is no doubt linked to his flagship which will be lurking somewhere in orbit, phased out and away from our detection. The moment he reaches his ship - everything on this planet burns, starting with your fleet and moving onto the cities of this world."

"The deal is this Scythian - we get you to your ship, you call off the guns of your taskforce fleet and we join forces, wipe the sub-creature from the stars and then move onto saving this universe and you may just gain a reprieve . . . all in good sport and all that."

"And if I refuse?" Lord Shadowscythe retorted in the lowest tone he could muster.

"Then you stay here, Karsus gets back to his ship and you, your fleet and your planet frys - we move on and the universe is wiped out."

"Tough game Lord Warhead - Fine"

Lord Warheads grin extended just a little.

"I accept, now get me out of these cuffs and get me to my ship."

[Colette]

Holy shit.

This could only get better if you somehow incorporated your sig gif into this story.