Operation Phoenix: Fade To Black *Judas Priest "One Shot at Glory" _Painkiller_ Sheridan walked towards the Stadium, Icingdeth in hand. His armor was holding together amazingly well (which meant the bloody thing still worked), and he knew that something big was about to happen. The BMWs were being beaten back by his comrades in their great BattleMechs, reinforcements were on their way. The only thing that troubled him was that in all this time, he had not heard from Windigo. "Computer, check comm-suite" "Comm-suite inoperative, sir" "By Khorne, can anything ELSE go wrong?" Khorne answered, as a huge section of frontal armor was ripped asunder. "COMPUTER: FULL SENSOR SWEEPS NOW!!" "Sir, nothing is registerin-*POP*" The computer was silenced by SOMETHING, which took another gouge out of the armour. "SHIT! I'm in trouble, I'm in trouble, I'm in trouble..." And then Sheridan had a brilliant idea. V'getz swung back, this time intending to crush the verminous human how had slaughtered an entired armoured squad of elite Aa'iei Clan warriors. She let swung her electro-claw at the tiny suit before her, and... It ducked! Sheridan swung Icingdeth with all of his might, and it shattered against the hip of the Devourer. "BY KHORNE!!" He dropped the twisted hilt and powered up his own Lightning-Claws, knowing that he had only a very little time before the armor's batteries gave out. The Devourer swung a mighty claw at Sheridan, who lept over it and fired his last burst from his assault cannon into the back of the great suit's neck. V'getz responded by wrapping her tail around Sheridan's leg and swinging him about, crashing him into a nearby wall. Sheridan scarcely had time to dodge the incoming salvo of death, but dodge he did. With a great yell, Sheridan lept up and dug his lightning claws into the sides of the Devourer's head, he then set the crystal batteries to overload while he unbuckled himself and locked the joints in place. V'getz then felt something on the back of her suit. "Who said anything about self-sacrifice, BITCH?" Sheridan then planted the Vortex grenade into the tiny hole the Assault cannon had made earlier, and he armed it. V'getz tried frantically to get the self-destructing Wrath of Arioch suit off of her faceplate while Sheridan ran like had never done before in his life. He ran behind a stalled car just as the armor detonated and the dimensional vortex openned, sucking the upper half of V'getz and the Devourer suit with it into another world. The legs and tail simply quivered, then fell. --MEANWHILE, ABOARD THE MOTHERSHIP-- --Back on Earth-- Sheridan allowed himself a quick sigh of relief and laid back, closed his eyes, and laughed. "Is there anyone who can face me and survive?" "Greetings, Terran. You performed admirably against the beasts. I doubt you'll be as lucky against me, though." *Ozzy Osborne "Diary of a Madman" _Diary of a Madman_ Sheridan sat up with a start, and looked into the glowing eyes of the gaunt being above him. Wearing a black silk cowled robe decorated with all manner of bizarre, twisted symbols and charms, Sheridan knew from the lore he had studied who he was up against... Charn'El, High mage of Lyra, summoner of the HellWyrm, and (arguably) the most powerful mage currently in this universe. Sheridan launched himself into the leering Lyran, and connected with nothing but air. Behind him he heard a wheezing laugh as arcs of lightning engulfed his body. Sheridan stifled a yell and rose to his feet, drawing Cinlach. The daemon had no time to react as a wave of pure force battered him into and through a concrete retaining wall. "Come on, Daemon Prince. I hope you'll fight back harder you are now. I'm trying to give my students a lesson and you are NOT helping." "Help this you Slaaneshi asshole!" Sheridan yelled as he drew his bolt pistol and squeezed the trigger. Charn'El merely waved his hand and the bolt missiles stopped in mid-air, and turned around. "Observant of you to discover my true allegiance. Of course, you'll not survive long enough to warn your comrades." He clenched his fist, and the bolts hurtled back into Sheridan. Sheridan prayed a word of thanx to Khorne that the bolts did not breach his chaos armor, and swung with Cinlach. The lyran didn't even flinch, confident that his force fields would stop the blade. He hadn't counted on Cinlach being a phase sword, though, as it phased through all his magical protection and tore into his chest. "IMPUDENT KHORNATE WHELP! DIE!" With one hand Charn'El grabbed his bleeding chest and began healing himself. With the other he cast a volley of fireballs at Sheridan, who took the brunt of the blow and grinned. "Laugh now, for I know your weakness, child of Khorne." With those words the Lyran launched a hellish volley of fire, ice, lightning, mystical force, acid and psychic thrusts. Sheridan, who could take individual magical attacks all day long and not bat an eye was overwhelmed by the onslaught the high mage of Lyra had summoned. Sheridan rose his head and tried to speak, but air only whistled and bubbled as three ribs had punchured his lungs. He could no longer move, for his back was broken in two places. Half of his face, along with his left eye, was nothing but a steaming mass. But with his good eye, Sheridan could see Charn'El standing above him, his fists burning with black fire and his yes alight with madness. "Now Sheridan, I send you to meet thine dark master. Tell Khorne that Charn'El sends his regards." Sheridan thought he heard Owsen screaming when Charn'El drew back his fist, but he could not be sure. Charn'El's fist came crashing down upon Sheridan... *Metallica "Fade To Black" _Ride The Lightning_ -- ================================================================================ Sheridan Iscarius, Daemon Prince in the service of Lord Khorne Shardik The Feral (NYAR!) of the Cursed Earth Division of the Maenads of the Holy Albino Warrior Poseiden Hephaestus of the Doberman Empire, Weapon's Tech/WEDJEE Major General Sheridan, N.O.R.A.D. Standard Military Units, Legion Of Doom St. Moire Erasmus, Patron Saint of The Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Motion Residing with the Kindred Children in the House of Eternal Night ================================================================================ "Do not waste your tears. I was not born to watch the world grow dim. Life is not measured in years, but by the deeds of men." ================================================================================ UP THE IRONS And remember... Jesus loves you, Cthulhu thinks you need A-1 Sauce ================================================================================