Attelus Kaltos charges, his long, brown hair is blown from his sharp, pale features. His back flak jacket whipps and snaps in his wake. His expression is a rictus of rage as he activates his power sword in a blaze of blue.
Erdaku The Everchosen, laughs as he stands amidst a sea made of countless slain Imperial Guardsmen. The Chaos Space Marine, the champion of chaos towers over Attelus, he would have towered over the young, short Throne Agent even if bereft of his elaborately decorated and ancient, spiked. Red and black power armour. Erdaku's scarred, war torn features, grin ferally and his power clawed hands are almost as large as Attelus' torso; snap open and shut in eager anticipation.
Attelus doesn't baulk despite the fear repeatedly pounding through his skill like hammer blows and his heart hammering painfully in his chest. It only takes him a few seconds to cross the twenty metre distance despite having to step carefully around and over the still warm dead and the small sea of blood.
Erdaku punches out with such speed no mortal eye can follow.
But Attelus is no mere mortal as in mid-stride he weaves aside and cuts over head at the Chaos Marine's elbow.
Blindingly quick, Erdaku withdraws his arm out the way. But like water Attelus slips forwards, onto Erdaku's open flank and slices horizontally at Erdaku's armoured leg.
With grace belying his bulk, Erdaku side steps the arcing blade then throws a massively powerful kick.
Attelus ducks it, then darts in again, cutting for the Chaos Marine's planted foot but is suddenly forced back by Erdaku's swiping powerclaw.
'You are quick, little girl!' says Erdaku in the inhuman deep timbre natural to all of the Adeptus Astartes, as Attelus gathers back his balance. "It must have been a century since Erdaku the Everchosen has faced a mortal that has lasted so long against him!"
'Frigging stop that!" Attelus snarls through his gasping, he's already coated head to toe in sweat as adrenaline pumps through him, making his limbs ache and shake. Attelus has already been killing cultists for what felt like hours, as Erdaku has been killing guardsmen. But the Chaos Marine's highly enhanced physiology allows him to be barely affected by fatigue.
No, slaughtering, Attelus corrects, Erdaku has been slaughtering Guardsmen.
'Stop what, little girl?' says Erdaku, tilting his huge head in what may be wry amusement. 'Stop calling you a little girl, little girl?'
'No,' Attelus breaths, 'stop referring to yourself in third person, it's frigging annoying.'
Erdaku throws back his head and booms out a laugh so resonant, so strong Attelus' organs seem to shake in his slender frame. 'That just makes Erdaku want to do it even more! Erdaku looks forward to adding your skull to his ever growing collection, even if you are a little girl!'
Attelus barely has enough time to clench his jaw and sigh before Erdaku is upon him and swinging out a crackling power claw.
Attelus is forced to back step and it misses him by such a small margin the onrush of air almost knocks him off his feet.
Erdaku follows with a front kick which Attelus desperately darts under and he slides into a diagonal cut at the Chaos Marine's ludicrously large shoulder pad.
Erdaku turns, his huge claw trailing after the Throne Agent with astounding speed, but he is still too late as Attelus' master crafted power sword slices through Erdaku's armour, then his shoulder like parchment.
The Chaos Marine roars, but whether it's in pain or rage Attelus hasn't a clue and he throws himself to the dirt just before as Erdaku's arm is flung from it's bloody stump and through the air like some sick parody of a stick thrown for a canine.
Not even slightly deterred by the loss of a limb, Erdaku stomps his huge boot to crush Attelus into mush.
The young Throne Agent just manages to roll out the way and barely keeps hold of his power sword during the desperate act.
Attelus clambers to his feet and made clumsy from exhaustion he begins to back away but his heel hits a corpse and he falls onto his back so hard it forces the breath from his lungs.
Erdaku towers over him, the Chaos Marine is made no less frightening by his missing arm, in fact it just makes him even more terrifying. That such a crippling injury could have such little effect just emphasizes his inhumanity all the more.
The Chaos Marine laughs that barking bellow again and raises his remaining power claw.
'Erdaku is not even mad,' he says. 'Erdaku is even impressed you managed that. But it is all for naught, little girl. You are just going to wind up yet another skull in his collection and the Four will just give Erdaku a new, even better arm. Tell Erdaku before he kills you, what did you hope to achieve in challenging Erdaku, The Everchosen of Chaos?'
Attelus then hears the vox tap echo from the microbead in his ear and it makes him smile.
'In all honesty, Erdaku," Attelus sighs. "I hoped to stall you long enough for my sniper friend to get into position.'
Erdaku's black eyes only have time to start widening before his head is evaporated into oblivion by a hot shot round.
Gasping for air, Attelus wearily climbs to his feet, using his deactivated power sword as a lean-to and he opens the vox link.
'Good shot, Hayden,' he says.
'Are there any shots I make, that aren't good?' replies the sniper, but without arrogance, it's a cold, simple statement of fact.
'Well, those would be the shots that weren't good, because they'd have missed," says Attelus.
Hayden's reply comes after a few seconds of silence, 'you just had to taunt...him, didn't you?'
Attelus shrugs, 'was worth it just to see the expression on his ugly face,' he says before looking down at Erdaku's huge, horizontal form.
'Erdaku, the Everchosen of Chaos?' Attelus snarls. "Should've been Erdaku, "Ever the Idiot" for forgetting to wear his frigging helmet!'
Then he gives the power armoured corpse a vicious kick.
An act which he immediately regrets.