AoD Duel to the Death Battles

[Brother Tyler]

I hope to fight the battles tomorrow night. At this point, since I'm really short on free time, I'm only writing batreps for forum championship fights. This round counts as semifinals, so all I'll be posting is the results unless someone else volunteers to write the batreps. If no one volunteers by the time I fight the battles, I'll post the results here. If someone volunteers, I'll PM them the results and they can write the batreps.

[Brother Tyler]

Doomaflatchi (I hope I spelled that right) has very graciously offered to write the stories, so I'll send the results to him as soon as I get them done.

[Doomaflatchi]

Round 2, Duel 1: Brother-Captain Corineus vs. Grand Master Vorian

 

“Are you ready?” Grand Master Vorian’s voice echoed in the sudden silence of the practice ring. Acolytes and Battle-Brothers alike were clustered around the outer edge, all waiting in hushed anticipation to see the two most senior members of their order display their combat skills.

 

Brother-Captain Corineus flexed, his Terminator armor shifting seamlessly around his massive bulk. Hefting his new Psycannon on the arm-servos of his armor, he grunted appreciatively at the lack of weight he felt from the massive weapon. “Yes, Brother,” he said, spinning his halberd by the haft in his other hand. “I am eager to see how this new weapon performs.”

 

Grand Master Vorian nodded in assent, bringing the tip of his sword up to a ready position. A terse moment of silence hung in the air between the two warriors, and a collective breath was held by the observant throng.

 

With a sudden flurry of motion, Corineus leapt backwards, bringing his new weapon to bear on the Grand Master. The psycannon’s muzzle barked white fire, like harnessed thunder, as Corineus sent tight bursts of fire down-range towards his opponent. Vorian jinked left, then right, ducking as he slid underneath the stream of shells, leaving them to explode harmlessly against the mat behind him – but rather than exploding with mass-reactive fuel, as normal bolts did, these training bolts instead fractured on impact, spreading a contact paralytic gel (with an included pain inducer, of course!) across the floor of the training circle.

 

Corineus continued wheeling backwards, bringing the superior firepower of his weapon to bear in order to protect the distance between him and the Grand Master. But Grand Master Vorian’s form was blurring as he ran, and the natural psychic shrouding that was the birthright of his abilities made Vorian a hard target to draw a bead on. Furrowing his brow, Brother-Captain Corineus drew on his own internal reservoir of energy, subtly pulling his psycannon towards his opponent, aiming half in real space and half through the blurred shades of the warp.

 

Almost… no, there! Corineus’ inner eye lined up with the shining beacon of Vorian’s psychic presence, and he pressed his finger against the firing stud. The psycannon gave a throaty growl and threw a tight burst of shells towards the Grand Master. Vorian, unprepared for his opponent’s sudden shift in tactics, dodged away from the burst – but not far enough. The burst spattered against his side, and one of the shells caught in the hip-joint of his Terminator armor, fracturing and soaking his left side in the paralytic fluids of the training rounds.

 

Vorian grunted in pain and admiration. The lad’s good, he thought to himself. He’s picking up the skills of that weapon quickly. I’ll have to end this now, or be pressed back under the weight of fire… His eyes set in determination, Vorian raised his own stormbolter – for Corineus had yet to learn to compensate for the weapon’s inertia, and the burst of fire had pushed his weight farther back on his heels than he had intended. Vorian snapped off a single shot, the harsh report ringing out in the subterranean depths of the training ring on Titan, and the observers let out a collective gasp as the round punched right into Corineus’ left shoulder joint. The Brother-Captain’s gun-arm went numb, and he found himself suddenly unable to tighten his fingers around the firing stud of his psycannon.

 

With a surge of adrenaline, Vorian leapt forward, bringing his sword to bear as the fight closed into the close quarters melee that the Grey Knights were so rightly famed for. One-handed, Corineus spun his halberd in front of him, twirling the haft to ward off the flurry of blows rained on him by the elder swordsman.

 

Vorian, however, was undeterred. Launching forward with the blinding speed he had honed against the daemonettes of Slaanesh, the Grand Master feinted high, then just as quickly reversed his momentum and brought his sword up from beneath in a sinister angled slash. Corineus’ halberd was too far out of position to block the blow, and the ring of the flat of Vorian’s sword blade against Corineus’ side was like the ceremonial bell in Titan’s great Cathedral.

 

It was more than just a simple blow, however, for the Grey Knights had trained all their lives to fight daemons, the greatest of foes, and the best of them relied on more than their mere skill and strength to dispatch their opponents. As the blow connected, Vorian’s eyes lit up with white lightning, and tiny bolts arced outwards to his brow and cheekbones. His sword flared with psychic might, and Corineus felt the Grand Master’s spiritual power lash out at his very soul. In the face of the dread psychic might of this, the greatest of the Emperor’s militant servants, it was all Corineus could do to stay conscious. The psychic feedback of the lowest activation of the Grand Master’s famed force weapon left him dizzy, and his swimming mind could only just barely make out the sharp cracks of the flat of Vorian’s sword striking against his unguarded armored body again and again.

 

When Corineus came to, Grand Master Vorian was standing back from him, the point of his sword lowered to the ground. All around him, he could hear the murmured prayers of praise and thanks to the Emperor that two such formidable warriors fought under his auspice. Truly, the daemons of the warp had much to fear.

 

“You learn the new weapon quickly, and well,” Grand Master Vorian praised his brother. “But never neglect those weapons which were first a part of you. Only the weapons within truly have the strength to defeat the daemon’s might.”

 

Brother-Captain Corineus nodded, and then bowed deeply. “I thank you for your assistance, honored brother. You are right, of course.” Then, rising, Corineus held his new weapon in front of him, relishing in its weight and feel. Letting his eyes trace over the sacred texts etched into its surface, he smiled. “The artificers have done well. With this at my side, all sinners shall learn to fear the Emperor’s wrath!”

 

Grand Master Vorian wins!

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Round 2, Duel 2: Inquisitor Lord Darius vs. Inquisitor Lord Reinhardt von Brandt

 

Deep within the myriad tumults of the Warp, the daemon Tk’arrech was pleased. After endless planning and subtle schemes in the name of his master, Tzeench, Tk’arrech’s plan was finally coming to fruition. Something almost resembling a smile passed over his myriad mouths like an undulating wave, and with delicate tendrils he picked apart the fabric of space to watch the next step of his scheme unfold…

 

Inquisitor Lord Reinhardt von Brandt’s skin prickled with a faint sensation of restlessness. The heretic is close! He could feel the traitor’s psychic stench on the air. His bionic fist clenched at his side as he felt the rage building within. With a whispered prayer to the Emperor to protect him against the psyker’s unclean taint, von Brandt unslung his bolter, custom fitted with a consecrated under-slung stake thrower, and brought the weapon up to his shoulder, scanning the barren rocks around him.

 

Suddenly, he felt it – the sudden sharp intake of energy, a cold sucking and a subtle shimmer in the air that he knew presaged the eruption of bolts of coruscating energy. Spinning around, Inquisitor Lord von Brandt saw the dark outline lurking in the shadow of one of the boulders. Before his unseen assailant had time to unleash the dark energies he was gathering, von Brandt fired, loosing a holy stake etched in silver runes towards the foe.

 

The stake struck true, and von Brandt saw his hated foe stumble into the light with a pained cry. A cruel smile touched his lips. “Heretic Darius!” he spat. “You are called to account for the atrocities you committed on Formund Primaris!”

 

Gritting his teeth through the agony inflicted by the stake, which had punctured deep into the flesh of his thigh, Inquisitor Lord Darius held tightly to the concentration required to shape the energies he was gathering. “You’ll not blame me for your own crimes, Xanthite!” he shouted. With a mighty mental heave, he hurled the energies of the Warp towards his foe, lashing out with scourging whips of agony designed to flense flesh from bone. But the energies… would not come!

 

With a pained gasp, Lord Darius felt the stake in his leg grow cold as ice, and he could faintly see the glow of small crystals around the neck of von Brandt’s armor lighting up. With an audible whoosh, the energies Darius had been gathering fizzled, fading back into the Warp and leaving only a light breeze where they had once been channeled.

 

“Your witchcraft will not save you,” Lord von Brandt said levelly as he advanced implacably towards his foe. “You will face your penance at the edge of my blade.” As he advanced, von Brandt drew a heavy saber from his side. Blue tongues of energy licked up and down the blade’s edge when he activated the rune on the power weapon’s hilt, and the air hummed with tense excitement.

 

Darius frowned, shutting out the pain from his wound as he had been taught. Something is wrong, he wanted to scream. One of us has been misled! Unfortunately, it was a mystery that the Conclave would have to sort out later. Right now, I’ve got a traitor to decapitate. Darius drew his own power sword, a long, heavy thing of ancient design with a repulsor built into the hilt to make it light as a feather in combat. Yanking the stake from his leg with a grunt, Darius contemptuously tossed it aside and advanced to meet his opponent.

 

The two Inquisitor Lords circled each other, pausing only a moment before lashing out with the opening strikes of the duel. Von Brandt’s curved saber flowed seamlessly from one arcing attack to the next, rebalancing easily between defense and attack, but Darius’s heavy foil flick-flick-flicked faster than the eye could follow, first high then low, left then right. The ancient blades rang out as they struck each other, their conflicting energy fields throwing off sparks, and the air stank of ozone.

 

Darius knew from the first few strikes that he was outmatched in strength, for he simply could not match the power of his opponent’s bionic arm. But Inquisitor Lords are canny foes, and Lord Darius was not above taking a superficial wound to lay another enemy of the Emperor low – especially not one that pretended to such an austere and sacred office. He fell back before von Brandt’s lithe swings, gauging each one for its speed and tempo. Then, when von Brandt’s sword swung in from the right in a looping arc, Darius dropped the tip of his blade.

 

Inquisitor Lord von Brandt’s sword struck home in his foe’s pauldron, cutting deep into the flesh of Darius’s shoulder… but, with a flex of his shoulder joint, Darius shifted the plates of his armor, pinning his opponent’s blade in place. Von Brandt’s energy blade crackled as though in anger, and in that moment of surprise, Darius struck. Deftly flipping his blade from his injured arm to his fresh left one, Darius darted forward, burying his sword up to the hilt in von Brandt’s abdomen. The powered foil slid cleanly out the back side of the Inquisitor Lord’s armor, and Darius shouted with elation.

 

No sooner had he crowed his victory, however, than the mortally wounded von Brandt moved. With his off-hand, he grasped Darius’s sword hilt, firmly holding it in place buried in his gut. Then, with a speed that belied his injuries, his right arm released his trapped blade, and von Brandt thrust the fingers of his bionic arm into his opponent’s face. Before Darius had time to even cry out, von Brandt’s index finger opened like a blooming flower, the deadly ceramite petals sliding back to reveal a weapon of ancient and terrible design. In the time it took Darius’ heart to beat once, the power cells of the ancient alien device charged and ignited, atomizing Darius’ face with a blast of lance energy at point blank range.

 

As Inquisitor Lord Darius collapsed lifeless to the parched ground, von Brandt released his grip on his foe’s arm, allowing the foil to slide free from his stomach. But the blade did not come out drenched in the dark red of von Brandt’s lifeblood – it was instead covered in a black ichor, sliding across the blade’s surface like molasses. No… not molasses. Oil!

 

“The arm was not the only thing I’ve had replaced in my long career, fool.” Inquisitor Lord von Brandt snarled at the corpse. Sheathing his sword, he gave one last contemptuous glance at his fallen foe before he turned to start the long walk back to his gun-cutter. This heretic had superiors, von Brandt had discovered, co-conspirators to cover his tracks. It was von Brandt’s duty as an agent of His Majesty’s Holy Inquisition to uncover and exterminate these witch-lovers, wherever they were found… even if it was in the ranks of the Inquisition itself.

 

Inquisitor Lord Reinhardt von Brandt wins!

[Gentlemanloser]

Awesome stories! :)

 

And congrats Grand Master Vorian!

[Vor]

Well fought Brother-Captain Corineus. You did the Order proud.

 

And excellent stories!

[Brother Tyler]

Great job on the stories. :P

 

I'll need any special instructions for the championship battle within 24 hours.

[Myxx]

Fantastic write-ups! Made even better by the sweet taste of victory for the Emperor!

 

Well fought Inquisitor Darius, go forth to the Emperor's mercy...

[Inquisitor =D=]

Well fought indeed. :wallbash: Coulda gone just as easily the other way. :lol:

 

Good luck in you next fight oh lord.

 

=]D[=

[Brother Tyler]

Battle fought ... batrep appearing soon (maybe tonight, hopefully no later than tomorrow some time).

[Vor]

Oh the suspense... can't wait to read it!

[Myxx]

Aargh, I can't wait! It's a battle royale between Ordo Hereticus and Ordo Malleus...

[Vor]

Every few hours I tentatively check this forum! The suspense is growing with each visit! Good luck anyway Myxx. May the truest servant of the Emperor win!

[Brother Tyler]

I'm writing your batrep now.

 

I'll be honest, as soon as The Badab War - Part One arrived in the mail I dropped everything else to read it from cover to cover. I finished it last night, so now I'm getting back on track.

 

+EDIT+ I'm trying something ... different ... with this batrep. Hopefully it doesn't suck.

[Myxx]

Every few hours I tentatively check this forum! The suspense is growing with each visit! Good luck anyway Myxx. May the truest servant of the Emperor win!

 

I keep checking, too. But honestly, I'm a bit apprehensive to see the results. I mean, a GKGM is a pretty tough nut to crack, especially when you bring a x-bow to a machine gun fight ;)

[Brother Tyler]

Okay, the "something different" sucked so I mentally re-wrote the story as I cleaned the kitchen this morning. I'm going to set about typing the story up and hope to have it up this morning. This evening at the latest.

[Brother Tyler]

The Imperium of Mankind is a vast and byzantine empire with numberless servants toiling endlessly in order to bring the Emperor's dream to fruition. Under His watchful gaze, Mankind struggles to assert his rightful dominance over the galaxy, fighting untold enemies in constant war. It is ironic that at times, loyal servants of the Emperor fight each other. All too often, this is due to misunderstanding, for there are many shadowy organizations within the Imperial machine, and these organizations, or those who serve within them, are sometimes ignorant of those who are in reality their allies.

 

Such was the case on Artoil IV, when, at the very moment that the forces of the Imperium had triumphed over those who would cast their lot in with the Dark Powers, the two most potent leaders of the Emperor's forces came to blows. In the cavernous throne room of the traitorous planetary governor a Witch Hunter Lord and his forces suddenly found themselves facing a being for which they were not prepared. The Inquisitor had confronted the governor with his seditious crimes and was shocked to watch as the governor suddenly transformed into a towering monstrosity of bestial nature, wicked weapons within the beasts' hands. As the creature made short work of the Inquisitor's retinue, a new faction materialized within the room.

 

Grey Knights.

 

These were Astartes, but like no other Astartes that the Inquisitor had ever known, for each was a mighty psyker (anathema to Witch Hunters!). Though the dark creature felled four of the Terminator armour-clad warriors, the leader was able to banish the creature back to the Aether.

 

To the eyes of the Witch Hunter, though, it was not his savior that he looked upon, but another witch to be served up to the Emperor's needs or sentenced to death. This Inquisitor had faced Astartes before. Long years before, he had served as an Interrogator when the Tyrant of Badab had killed other servants of the Imperium. Under the battle flag of Inquisitor Frain, Rheinhardt von Brandt had come face to face with the horror of fighting Astartes, nearly dying at the hands of traitor Astartes. To his eyes, the Grey Knight was like those renegades he had face so long ago.

 

So it was that the Grey Knight was surprised to feel the impact of the Inquisitor's crossbow upon his armour as he completed the Benediction of Purification after beheading the Chaos Daemon.

 

Oh had that crossbow bolt not been cast! Had the bolt never been fired in anger at the Grey Knight, the Imperium's fighting might would not have been lessened that day, for these two great warriors would not have fought. Cast it was, though, and for that tragic mistake, a warrior of the Imperium was struck down. The crossbow bolt embedded itself in the thick tactical dreadnought armour, the tip penetrating just enough to catch itself fast without falling out.

 

The Grey Knight stood and turned to face his adversary, watching as the Inquisitor fast approached, screaming the Oaths of Purity as he fired his weapon. One of the bolts succeeded in finding a weakness in the armour, penetrating a joint between two pieces of the heavy armour and drawing blood. At this, the Grey Knight steeled himself for the inevitable.

 

As the Inquisitor reached melee range, the Grey Knight struck out.

 

In the years since that battle, the Inquisitor Lord looked back upon his folly with regret. His had been a long career, with many enemies of Mankind put to the sword. Over the centuries he had accumulated many scars of battle, some of which were psychic. On Salurai VIII he had lost a limb to the reptilian beasts used by the insurgents. On storied Gehel Prime he had been blinded in his left eye as the piratical xenos behind the Gehelian Insurrection at last revealed themselves. It was upon Artoil IV, though, at the hands of a Grand Master of the Grey Knights that he had suffered the most. One should never draw arms against an Astartes, let alone an Astartes as potent as a Grand Master of the Grey Knights, in error. In error he did, though, and for that error was crippled. To this day, he cannot move under his own power, his body being paralyzed from the neck down after being laid low by the nemesis force weapon of the Grey Knight. As an Inquisitor Lord, though, he has access to the most advanced technologies, and though his severed spine can never be repaired, an augmetic exoskeleton allows him to move, his mind linking with the articulated construct so that he can continue to serve the Emperor. However, he is no longer able to fight physically, and so is reduced to teaching and coordinating.

 

The Grey Knight he never saw again. After punishing him for his mistake, the Grey Knight gathered up the bodies of his fallen comrades and disappeared as he was teleported away.

 

 

Victory to Vorian, Grey Knight Grand Master

 

[Gentlemanloser]

WE ARE HIS HAMMER!

[Myxx]

Well, that went about how I expected... but I'll take second-place. (guess all those purity seals are really just red ribbons)

 

Congrats Grand Master! Go forth in the name of the Emperor and do the Inquisition proud in the rest of the contest!

[Vor]

Good fight Myxx. Was worried as I read through that at first. Vorian shall go forward with pride to represent the inquisition!

[Myxx]

I think there were only two hits. I got hit with the NFW, and then I hit the floor...

[Brother Tyler]

The actual battle was much closer than I portrayed in the story. When I get time later, I'll try to give you the play-by-play.

[Myxx]

I plan to make a capt.pike/walking wheelchair model to represent the after picture...

[Brother Tyler]

Play-by-play:

 

They started out 30" apart.

 

Reinhardt won the Initiative in Turn 1, moving forward and shooting. He hit twice and wounded once, but Vorian made his save.

Vorian also moved forward and shot, hitting and wounding once, but Reinhardt made his save.

 

Vorian won the Initiative in Turn 2, moving forward and shooting. He hit and wounded twice, with Reinhardt failing 1 save.

Reinhardt moved backward (2" - keeping distance to shoot as long as possible), hitting and wounding twice, but Vorian made both saves.

 

Vorian won the Initiative in Turn 3, moving forward and shooting. He hit twice, wounded once, with Reinhardt passing his save.

Reinhardt again moved backward 2". He shot, but missed both rolls.

 

Vorian won the Initiative again in Turn 4, moving forward and shooting. He hit and wounded twice, but Reinhardt passed both saves.

Vorian charged in (Reinhardt successfully passed his psyker test and used Perils of the Warp, but Vorian passed his Ld test) and assaulted.

Reinhardt's digital weapons struck first, passing their To Hit and To Wound rolls, but Vorian passed his save.

Vorian landed 3 hits, with all 3 To Wound rolls passing. I didn't even have to roll to see if the Nemesis Force Weapon worked (though it would have only Stunned the Inquisitor).

Reinhardt's bionics did not work.

 

So first blood to the Inquisitor, but the Grey Knight won at the end of Turn 4.

 

As you can see, the story didn't match the actual mechanics of the battle (I just couldn't see a Grey Knight Grand Master *mistaking* an Inquisitor for an enemy unless that Inquisitor was actually in league with daemons, and I didn't want to impose that kind of back-story on Reinhardt).

[Myxx]

Thanks Brother Tyler for all the work you have done for this. I have truly enjoyed it (as well as all the other sub-forums).

 

Since he was a GKGM and a DH, I'll just have to claim that I was the baddest WH contender. :D

[Vor]

The next round of battles have been drawn brothers!

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...p;#entry2551203

 

Looks like Vorian is facing a nasty little chap called Aru'Bael The All Seeing, a follower of Tzeentch. It's going to be a tough fight for Vorian I think, but I'm sure he'll try his hardest not to let you all down!

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...p;#entry2494222