Severath gasped as he and the rest of the prisoners walked across the ramp. One of the penal prisoners gagged and threw up, only to receive the barrel of a gun to his back, pushing him onwards. If the ship they were on was large, then this thing in front of him was massive. The ship hovered in the air before the massive complex which defied Severath's perception. At best he could describe it as a palace which stood on the roof of a very large tower. Looking down besides the ramp he saw that the bottom wasnt in sight as a red pinkish mist or fog obscured it. He had little time to enjoy the view as his captors urged him onwards, shouting what was most certainly insults at him. The complex was a myriad of activity as just besides the ramp a deranged eldar was putting needles in a humans face, the slave malnourished and screaming. Trying his best to ignore it he saw that from the fences, which were twisted in their shape, a procession of eldar cheered the arrival of the raiding party. The aliens were beyond counting and they could easily form a small army. They were right to cheer... for this was their victory... Severath thought as he clenched his fist in anger, his head still pulsing with pain. Looking sideways he saw that two other ramps were lowered, each transporting a considerably larger amount of human prisoners than the 8 that held the central ramp. Once they were off the ramp they were led up some stairs before they arrived at the gates of the palace. They were flanked by a crowd of eldar but what awaited them was no ordinary alien. The thing at the gate had a black robe and had four arms. It was bald and looked sickly, but it was quite obvious that underneath it held unholy strength.

"Halt!" it said, stretching its unnatural hand as the two flanking groups of humans arrived behind Severath and his group. The aliens then started talking in their foul tongue which Severath held no chance at understanding.

"You arrived before us?" the guard that first met Severath spoke in his vile tongue, standing next to the captives and raising his eyebrow at the hemonucleus before him.

"Yes Ker... you took your time limping across the webway in the Pains pleasure... the archon was mildly annoyed." the "doctor" spoke. Ker frowned at him in annoyance.

"Are we late?" he asked. C'kreg looked at him with his eyes, evil by even dark eldar standards as the metal mask covered his face bellow his eyes.

"No, be thankful for that..." he said as he shifted his gaze towards Severath. The human, unknowing what the two aliens spoke tried to have as natural posture as he could muster. The hemonucleus spoke once more "So the mon'keigh your sister wanted me to save has made it through..." he burst, ignoring the affirmative nods and words Ker spoke. Most of his kind detested healing as they existed to do the polar opposite of it, yet C'kreg was somewhat of an oddity amongst his kind, for he found great joy in holding someone's life in his hands, be they eldar or human... that however could swing both ways. Regardless right now it was in his best interest that the human lived for gaining the favor of the archon's wyches was most useful to him indeed. Still locking eye contact with the human he spoke in gothic. "Human, I hope you had a chance to talk to your emperor when you were dead, since I took such a pain bringing you back to life..." he spoke, his gothic sounding unnatural, even more so than when the rest of his kind spoke it. For his part Severath stood there in silence watching the creature before him with spite in his eyes. The crowd was still cheering on the victors and he was about to conjure up a response he felt himself being shoved sideways but that very same hand gripped him.

"Will he live! Will he fight as strongly as he did before!" Severath saw Kujica holding his arm as she spoke to the being in gothic, for which he was thankful. It stood there motionless before reaching out with one of its hands to grab Severath by the head, grabbing the injured, swollen portion and pulling him closer to him. Severath screamed as the creatures nails dug into his injured flesh but he knew that to offer resistance meant suffering worse pain. Examining him the creature brought up its other arm, holding a needle and inserting it into the injury. Severath felt as if his head had suffered a explosion, but a good one. He exhaled with ecstasy as he saw blood pouring, or better yet splattering from his injury, shooting hard and covering the creatures arms. The pressure which his head endured so far was gone. The pressure and pain which he didnt even know plagued him were gone. Was he so used to it that he failed to notice it.

"The part of his brain tasked with recognizing face's is gone... or well most of it" the creature spoke, as if he was a perverted version of a adeptus mechanicus techpriest, only his voice was not only mechanical but it was also... menacing. "He will have some difficulty recognizing familiar people and he might suffer some temporary memory loss but I assure you wych, he will fight as he did before the injury for the rest of his considerably short life..." the creature pushed him away as it spoke the words and Severath gasped, trying to take in all the information he had just heard. The wych giggled with delight as she turned around and walked away. Nothing more was said in gothic and the human could only wait as the column formed a line behind him. Turning his head Severath saw that behind the warriors of the imperium the ship was beginning to unload its more meek cargo. The crowd was even more thrilled with this new raw meet and everywhere Severath looked he could see these new slaves being auctioned off or tortured. What really made his stomach curl was the fact that there were children amongst them.

"The emperor be praised" he uttered. Just then he heard a loud metalic sound of the gate opening. The bloody thing was massive, easily between 10 and 15 meter's in height. The creature entered first and disappeared inside as the group of humans was lead towards the courtyard. If this was a human world then the sight that was before him would be considered beautiful to say the least. Exotic plants and animals littered the courtyard and a fountain depicting two humanoid forms having sex was in the middle of it. There was little time for sightseeing as they were led towards a large menacing building at that was some kilometer or two from the gate. The march was awful and the humans were dragging their feet as they failed to make a uniformed pace. The eldar on the other hand marched with ease, their noses raised high. The silence was broken with the occasional moan of a human struggling to drag his feet. Finally arriving at the building the large metalic door before them opened. It was easy to see that this wasnt the main entrance as there was another, much larger door down the way. What worried Severath was the fact that when the door opened, he saw stairs leading downwards. Meekly he sighed as the guards shouted at him and his group. The humans proceeded downwards until they were met with another metalic door. He and Sergej were forced to open it as they were the only humans in the group which didnt have manacles on. Once the last human was inside a large "THUM" was heard with the metal door slamming shut, followed by the sound of their captors locking it.

"Greetingsss!" Severath heard as the group formed a line, further proving to him that all its members had at least some basic military training. Facing them was a tall, large hooded figure surrounded by 3 scantily dressed, beautiful yet depressed looking human women. The face of the figure was hidden behind a large hood, from which a muzzle like mouth stuck out, blue greenish in color. Yet for all its deformity it was still human... or at least Severath thought so.

"Figures the mutant will love the alien..." Sergej hissed into his ear. If the hooded figure heard it, he ignored it as everyone stood in silence, anticipating its next words. Even the penal troopers lacked the balls to say anything.

"Our mastersss are grateful enough to ensure you... their most esteemed guessstss are treated well during your brief stay here." It bowed showing it had clawed scaly hands, which made Severath wonder if the thing was truly human in origin. Someone shouted something along the lines of "why are we here" and the creature gracefully answered. "You are here to perform in the mastersss most esteemed event! Tomorrow our princessss will see if her bethrod iss truly worthy of her hand in marriage. The archon of the kabal of Levati is most interested in marrying his son to the daughter of patriarch of the great house of SSSSmrtnichi indeed." It seemed that even this creature spoke a twisted version of gothic... as if it had learned it but never used it before, however Severath was most certain that wasnt the case however. The creature raised its clawed hand "However in order to prove his worth the young Levat prince mussst prove that he is able to beat such a lowly and unworthy race such as yourself! For indeed master does not want to have a son in law which cant even handle simple mon'keigh... and besssidesss this tradition of the winner in the gladiatorial arena being offered the princess'ssss hand in marriage isss an old one indeed... and massster would like to sssee it passssed down." So they are suppose to be a sacrafice? Great... Severath thought.

"But Im not a lesbian! And Im most certainly not into xenos!" The large, penal woman who still made Severath wonder how she was able to grow to 2.5 meters on a paradise world spoke. Her face bore no anger but mere annoyance, as if this was just some other prison she was being sent to. Despite himself Severath smirked at the remark. Thankfully there were no eldar around to mutilate her for her insolance and the creature seemed to be unmoved by her words.

"dont be ssstupid mon'keigh... while this duel isnt just formality and it actually includes some level of challenge YOU are not expected to win." he told her bluntly. It was then that Sergej spoke, demonstrating his assessment of tactical adaptability.

"I see there are 25 of us here and I wager we were all members of the guard. Tell us, what weapons will we have? How many will our foes number?" he asked, his voice calm for the hatered which boiled in him. The creature rubbed its chin at the questions posed to it.

"Im not sssure! But sssince I am feeling quite generousss I will asssk massster and tell you later on... Thessse women will heal you and wasssh you. Eat and ressst for tomorrow you die..." It said and walked out of the huge room, walking through the door on the opposite end from the one from which they came. The three women led them in silence towards a very large table which held all manners of food. Severath didnt recognize almost any of it but that didnt stop the penal troopers and the rest to practically jump at the table and begin devouring the contents offered to them. He turned around to face Sergej and the commisar, as if wanting their approval. Sergej merely pointed bellow his nose and Severath felt liquid drip over his mouth. He used his exposed arm to rub off the liquid only to see that it was blood. One of the women approached them and she spoke in a silent voice, meek and gentle.

"My sister will take care of your commisar..." she nodded over to the bloated form that still held the taters of a once proud uniform of a member of the commisariat. "you two should sit down and eat tomorrow..." she nodded in acknowledgement. Great... did everyone expect them to die tomorrow? Then again life such as Sarasan would lead if he would survive by some miracle is probably worse then death... Chills went through Severath's spine as he recalled the torture which other human slave's endured. Perhaps it would indeed be better for him to die properly tomorrow. Another woman did indeed come and she took the bloated creature away. Using this moment to test the truth of words that the 4 armed monster spoke to him, Severath focused hard on the woman's face. He saw all the details but couldnt comprehend them, he saw her face and her curly orange hair, but he was unable to differentiate her from the other two women. Sighing he followed her along with Sergej as they seated themselves besides the giant woman. He was hungry true, but his body and his mind were far more concerned with his imminent future than with nourishment. Sergej nonchalantly dragged fried meat and some bizzar vegetables on his plate and the woman ate like a barbarian, drinking some redish substance like she had spend the last few days in a desert. Finally bringing himself to eat he did discovered that the meat was indeed tasty, in fact it was better than the grox he used to have on Akvilaris.

"The Eldar have tasty food for being such poshed up aliens Ill give them that!" the woman spoke, her voice strong yet feminine. Sergej looked down with disinterest as he cut away at the mean, talking once more in the monotone voice.

"These are no ordinary Eldar, these are dark Eldar..." he stated. That single sentence stimulated Severath's brain and he suddenly remembered. He remembered all the information he used to know of the eldar craftworld, exodites and the dark Eldar but he still could not remember where he had learned all of it. At least it will give me an edge tomorrow... Severath thought as he ran over the list of the dark Eldar weapons he knew of.

"Is there a difference?" The woman asked, devouring the meat as he fed her huge form. Her voice was dignifying and it was at least good to know she wasnt the scum that usually formed penal legions, this hypothesis was yet to be proven but considering that tomorrow they will all most likely be dead rendered the information pointless.

"There is..." Sergej spoke, passionately cutting the meat and enjoying its taste, despite himself. "What normal Eldar are to us, that is to say arrogant, supremacist and all that, dark Eldar are essentially to Eldar what the Eldar are to us, the worst of the worst." he said, demonstrating he knowledge but obviously not wishing to elaborate.

"In that case I have a feeling that I will fit right in" The woman huhed. Severath wasnt sure if the two were talking only to evade the fear of death or... just then a loud metalic screech symbolized the entrance of someone. Shooting his glare upwards he saw the same hooded figure which was with them mere moments ago now approaching them. Severath noticed the entire room glowed, that is to say he was able to see clearly in it yet it held no windows what so ever and he was unable to locate any source of light. Xeno's technology...

"Human!" The figure declared standing across Sergej. "I asssume you are an officer." it said, as if demanding confirmation. Defiantly Sergej took a handkerchief and wiped his lips before replaying coldly.

"Yes I am. Sergeant Sergej, formerly of the 2nd Akvilaris planetary defense regiment. " he said proudly and he received a nod.

"Excellent!" the creature declared. "Masster sssays you will face 5 opponentsss, you will be unarmed and your opponents will be... if the Levat princeling isss unable to beat sssuch an easy challenge he iss not worthy of owning hisss own ssskin much lesss the hand of our fair lady!" it spoke, its voice utterly uninterested in the fate of the humans. "Who here holdsss any rank as a commander!?" It asked and Sergej, the woman and two others rose their hands. Not knowing what commpeled him Severath spoke.

"We also have a commisar but he was taken away by the women..." he spoke and the creature looked at him, that is to say Severath assumed that much.

"Yes sir." a woman spoke gently nodding towards the other end of the room. Severath looked there and he saw Sarasan's now naked mass being washed by the other two women in a shallow pool.

"Mossst excellent! You are to form into squadsss and ssstimulate real combat! Yoursss isss to pleassse the crowd, for my masster would be mosssst... disapointed if you dont do ssso..." it said, its voice utterly without emotion. "remember, death isssnt the worsst thing you can receive..." and whit that it left once more. Severath let his instincts kick in and he started eating, trying to forget all of this. Sergej wasnt so lucky and he closed his eyes, as if meditating or praying to the emperor.

"So whats our plan?" the woman asked, still chewing away at the meat. She had wild unkempt blond hair which pointed towards all directions and was slightly longer that shoulder length. Aside from that and a scar on her face Severath was unable to recognize anything more, his head still hurting slightly, but nowhere near the agonizing pain it once held. Sergej looked on as he spoke.

"I do not know... escape we cannot, rebel we cannot, all we can do is pray to the emperor and fight tomorrow..." he spoke before turning to face the woman. "What is your name?" he asked. Funny thing too, Severath noticed that the people in the room didnt bother introducing themselves to each other. Perhaps it was better not to get attached to the people who will most likely die tomorrow.

"It is not important!" she swung her hand. She was muscular, that much Severath was certain. "Call me 138." the woman said. She was using the number of her unit as her name and before either he or Sergej could say anything she continued. "Im just another woman betrayed and abandoned by the imperium... one amongst countless the imperium left behind to rot in prison and feed on growth hormones and chemicals and this is hardly worse than any penal facility I have been in..." she spoke firmly, emotions were present in her voice but so was control. 138 was obviously a psycho or at least thats why Severath's intuition told him but Sergej betrayed no interest in the woman what so ever.

After they had done eating Severath Sergej the woman and a few others proceeded to bathe and a few others started doing exercises. The women for their part patched everyone up and one of them applied a lotion to the injured side of Severath's head. It worked and he felt even further relieved of pain and while he lacked a mirror to check himself by simply touching his injury he determined that both sides of his head were now approximately the same size. Time passed painfully slow but when the night came, or at least when Severath thought it was night judging by his weariness he fell asleep rather easily. By the time he closed his eyes most of the other soldiers had fallen asleep, but then again he was out cold for the past 3 days. Closing his eyes shut he prayed to the emperor in vain that this was some bad dream from which he will wake up in the morning.