Fallen Warrior.
The battle had been raging for a few hours now, and over everything the Space Lords were winning! The enemy's forces were just too weak! It didn't make any sense, it was just too easy.
Naganemnom had gone on ahead, whilst Citrus and the rest of them held off the soldiers that were guarding the temple which the Chaos Space Lord God, Belial, was residing.
Citrus could feel that there defiantly was something wrong. But what? What could it be?
"Skree," Citrus called as he plunged the blade of his sword into the enemy soldier he was fighting, "call for a relief force to take over for us. I believe that we should go and see if Naganemnom has found Belial yet."
"Will do sir," Skree replied.
After about five minutes, two troop carriers began to appear flying towards them. Carma and Brom pulled out flares to signal where the carriers could land, whilst the rest of the squad gave them covering fire. As Citrus took aim and fired at the enemy, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Mace was clutching at his head and was squeezing his eye closed, as though he was having a headache.
"Mace," Citrus called to him, "are you alright?"
Mace opened his eye.
"It is time, Mace" came a whisper. A whisper from a voice Mace had come to know all to well; Belial's, "The time has come for you to begin to take your vengeance upon those who caused you pain."
Citrus watched as Mace straightened up, and turned towards him.
"I've never been better," hissed Mace, picking up a plasma pistol near him. Mace quickly spun on the spot, and pulled the trigger as he aimed at Brom. The beam of energy shot through the air so quick, it was almost impossible to see. As the bolt hit Brom, he let out a cry of pain, which stopped straight away as he crumpled to the floor in just a mass of armour and bones. As quick as a flash, Mace had already taken aim and fired at one of the carriers as it just began to land. The beam, once again, hit its target. The left engine of the vehicle exploded into a ball of fire, and the carrier came crashing down, almost on top of Skree, who dived out of the way of Mace's next shot, once more just missing by an inch.
Mace quickly turned back to face Citrus, and took aim. But Citrus had already acted. Pulling out his own command pistol, he fired, but not at his chest or head, but at the gun. The bullet from the command pistol hit the plasma pistol, and knocked it flying out of Mace's hand. Mace took a step back as all of them turned and aimed at him. As he stood there, he just smiled.
"I believe that your Great Leader is in need of some support," hissed Mace once more. Then before any of the men could react, Mace had turned to smoke and was gone.
"Why the hell did that bastard do that? Why?" yelled Carma, as he stood over the remains of Brom's body. As the troops from the lasting carrier, Citrus turned to face the temple that Naganemnom had gone into.
"Come on," he ordered them, as he began to walk off towards the building. The men followed, and as they did, Citrus whispered to himself:
"I can't believe it. Why, old friend… why?"
-X-
The door burst open. Citrus, Skree and the rest of their squad charged into the room with their swords ablaze. Swinging the blades they cut down their enemy with ease. Then, as they continued forwards with the momentum they had, they saw the two omnipotent figures of their leader, Naganemnom, and his adversary.
The Chaos Space Lord God, Belial, looked towards them and suddenly they were knocked off their feet, and landed with a crunch, that echoed around the hall. Belial turned back to face Naganemnom.
"You were foolish to try and face me on your own," he said with a snarl, "you're not going to survive."
"I already know my fate, as do I know yours. But now we fight with our own powers," replied Naganemnom, holding up the Eye of Insight in his hand.
As if in response to this, Belial held aloft his staff. Citrus began to feel the room starting to shake. Suddenly, all the glass in the windows above them shattered, yet instead of falling to the marble floor it all began to glide as if the gravitational pull of the planet had been cancelled out. Rubble and bodies lifted off the ground, but both Naganemnom and Belial stayed held in place.
However, when Citrus looked over to his leader, he noticed something was wrong. The Eye of Insight shattered abruptly into thousands of pieces, and Naganemnom flew backwards with immense speed, hit the wall behind him and was held aloft against it, by Belial's power.
Gradually, Belial walked over to where his opponent had stood, still looking at him, and then he began to laugh. Citrus's blood went cold as he began to see Naganemnom turn steadily to dust. As his body dispersed into the air Naganemnom turned his head, and looked at Citrus.
"Don't let them consume him," he said, and his voice carried on throughout the building in an echo.
Naganemnom closed his eyes and smiled, before he burst into a cloud of dust, and was gone.
"NO!" yelled Citrus, as everything came crashing back down to the floor.
Jumping to his feet, and seizing the nearest blade, he dashed towards Belial. Belial looked at Citrus and laughed, before vanishing in a whirlwind of black smoke.
"There are many more you will lose, Citrus," whispered Belial's voice, in a hiss, starting with Mace."
"What do you mean?" Citrus yelled at the emptiness.
"He isn't with you any more. He has joined us."
"No, he won't have. He never would," he shouted back once more, but this time no reply came.
After a couple of seconds, Citrus walked over to the pile of dust that was Naganemnom. Sinking to his knees, he yelled out in anger. Each moment that passed seemed to last a lifetime.
Everything went silent.
"What can we do now?" he asked himself, as he looked around at his unconscious comrades.
-X-
For the first time in weeks, since the beginning of the war, the Council Halls and the Temple of Peace were empty. The silence throughout the buildings was immense. A group of Kallacal birds took flight off the top of the Tower of Dawn, and flew off towards the hills. The Caidoz River was flowing quickly along within its banks, as though it was eager to reach the Amabo Sea. White clouds drifted across the mountains as a fog began to engulf the city of Oiprocs. The sun was slowly drifting of to the horizon, about to tuck itself behind the mountains, and continue on round the world. The rays from the sun filled room at the top of the tower, lighting up every dark spot. The day of Naganemnom's ceremony was almost over, and the light was about to fade from the world altogether. But, just like the sun, something would happen. The light would return to the world again, and this time it would not fade. The day was ending, and the ceremony had finished. The city was empty, and for the first time since the beginning of the war, everything was peaceful.
-X-
Citrus sat in the Hall of Justice with a look of solemn on his face. Although the war, and the battles against the Chaos Space Lords continued, back on Notforc, the planet's inhabitants were paying their respect the their fallen leader. Three days after Naganemnom's passing, Citrus had been given full command of the Space Lords' forces as their 'Great Leader', and now on the forth day, as he sat there, he wished over everything else, that he didn't have to follow the path that was now set out before him. Naganemnom had told him that once Citrus had become the Space Lord God, he would understand what must be done to end the war. The fate of the universe now rested on his shoulders, and no matter what, he couldn't fail. He couldn't let the planet become over run by the enemy; not like their old home: Ultramar.
They had to flee the planet. So many of those living there had perished, and many soldiers had given their lives to protect those that managed to escape. But now the planet was a floating piece of rock, stripped of all life, and just left uninhabitable, by the Darkness that had consumed it.
Nineteen days had passed since Naganemnom had told Citrus of his fate, and now only one remained before the ending would come. But still a bigger question lingered in Citrus' mind; could Mace be saved.
He had heard Naganemnom say: 'don't let it consume him.' Did that mean that Mace was continuously changing inside, and that there was still a chance to save him? Whatever happened, Citrus wasn't going to give up on his friend. He would save him, and free him from the Darkness.
-X-
Mace looked out around at the army that stood before him and his master. Six billion men: imagine the destruction he would create with this force at his control. Each and every single man, weapon and vehicle was his to command, and he would make them pay; all of them. Citrus, Skree, Carma, Torosa; each one, would all perish at his hand. But not before he'd made them suffer, and wish they'd never been born into this world. Citrus would be the first. No matter what, Mace wasn't going to fail. Everything was ready.
"I know what you plan on doing, Mace," said Belial, "go ahead. The plans for revenge are your own, so you choose what and how you do it."
"Thank you, my master," replied Mace, "I will take my leave then. I have an old friend's wife and son that I need to visit."
And with that, Mace turned and began to walk away, before evaporating into smoke.