The duel had begun and Yasin was already on the move, breaking into a run to close the distance. Ares was far more cautious advancing slowly to the center of the ring to meet his quarry. The crowd roared with excitement as the two Astartes blades clashed for the first time, Yasin sidestepping at the last second and attempting to plunge his blade through Ares' neck.
Even without his memories and former training, Ares was still a space marine, still a superhuman warrior of the imperium. His reflexes easily brought up his blade to deflect and square off again against his opponent. Now it was his turn to strike, he decided to attempt to slash the forearm of his opponent, thinking that if he could sever the tendons and stop Yasin from wielding a weapon he would be much easier to grapple down.
Such moves were way beneath Yasin's level of experience, he danced out of the way and scoffed "you will have to do better than that!" never giving up the pressure Yasin struck out again his left hand throwing a feint to the face followed by the blade in his right. Ares parried the blade, lifting his own weapon to cover his face and in turn blocking his own vision from the follow-up strike. A low roundhouse kick struck Ares' knee, the rock hard shin bone smashing into the soft tissue around the joint. It was not enough to slow down an Astartes but Ares knew that if he continued to fall for such simple combinations he would eventually get worn down and broken.
Yasin grinned having landed the first strike but it only made Ares redouble his efforts, he went on the offensive thrusting and slashing his blade rhythmically as he tried to force his opponent into a corner. Ares began to make progress, the continued assault was actually pushing Yasin to a corner, slowly but surely the Astartes was running out of space to execute is viper fast maneuvers and dodges.
From the crowd, Taber could see the trap laid out as if it were a neon sign. he tried to shout to his battle brother and warn him he was walking into his own demise, but his voice got lost in the crowd. He looked around for a way to try and get the message across but saw nothing of use. What he did see however was the veteran Shrike standing only ten meters from him. in the midst of all this excitement was the perfect time to try and speak to the terminator about what he knew, if anything about the Ordo Templaris.
In the arena, Ares' confidence rose. Yasin was nearly in the corner now and with nowhere to go except into a wall of Astartes, Ares would use this chance to smother his opponent and take the fight to the ground. It was right in the last moment before Yasin would be stuck that he made his move. Grinning at the success of his bait, he dropped his body low and set his feet wide, using his front foot as a pivot he swung out sideways underneath a wide slash of Ares' blade leaving the initiate completely exposed.
The blade master swung his massive fist, hooking the shot right into Ares' exposed temple. The shot stunned and Yasin took the moment to begin slicing the flesh of his opponent across the right shoulder and back, opening half a dozen lacerations with no sign of stopping.
Ares did his best to cover his vital organs and face as he turned to face the onslaught but that did not stop his limbs from becoming a ribboned mess of open wounds. His genehanced physiology was desperately trying to keep up with the new injuries, trying to clot the blood and being to heal however it was too much even for an Astartes. Ares knew the end was coming if he didn't do something quickly, that's when Taber's voice came to mind "if you can catch him you can beat him." he remembered.
Ares took a breath and mentally prepared for what was to come. Yasin's blade was being thrust straight towards Ares, but instead of blocking Ares let the Blade pierce his left shoulder. fighting against the pain Ares grabbed the arm holding the blade and held on like a vice. This was his last chance, running on adrenaline and instinct he swung his body under the arm putting Yasin at his back for just a moment, then with a mighty heave, he pulled on the arm and twisted his body, slamming the body of Yasin into the stone floor.
Without a moment's hesitation, Ares climbed on top of his opponent's chest and in a rage began to swing his fists into Yasin's face again and again and again. The blade masters head began to bounce between the stone and Ares' powerful strikes. It looked as if by a miracle Ares would once again be victorious with Yasin's face swollen and split, nose broken and skull fractured.
The crowd had dropped into near silence now. The duel had descended from a parade of martial skill into an animalistic fight or survival. No space marine of the Red Hunters wanted to see brothers fight like this, yet these were the rules and they could not look away. Taber had taken the time to position himself next to Shrike and stepped into his view to get the terminator's attention.
"Honoured veteran." he began. "I am Ikanis Taber of Achillies squad." "I know who you are Brother. Achillies is an old friend, how are you?" The veteran was too relaxed for Taber's liking so he decided to cut right to the chase. "Brother I come to you today because I need your help, I believe there is heresy rooted deep within the chapter and I'm hoping that you have information that can uncover it." Shrikes' face hardened. "That is a bold claim, especially from someone who has just had their mind cleansed."
Taber's hearts began to race, Shrike could turn him in right here and now. he decided to take an all-in gamble. "you are right, I was supposed to be mind-wiped but for reasons I can't explain here, it has not worked. will you help me or not?"
Shrike's brows furrowed as he mulled over what he had just heard. "For Achillies, I will give you the benefit of the doubt. leave me now, I will have you summoned to me when it is safe to talk." With that Shrike stepped forward effectively ending the conversation and resumed watching the duel.
In the seconds past Ares had been solidifying his victory, Yasin barely able to move, his face unrecognisable, he would surely slip into unconsciousness any moment.
Taber approached the edge of the ring just in time to see the most unprecedented thing happen. In his rage, Ares had dropped his combat knife next to Yasin's head, a fatal error no experience warrior would make. But that was not Ares he was still new to being an Astartes and he had just lost all his memories on top of that.
In between punches Yasin's hands had been fumbling around trying to find the blade and finally find it they did. with one precise strike, Yasin thrust the blade into Ares' throat, a fatal blow even for Astartes.
Hiren dived into the ring as fast as he could and snatched up Ares' limp body like it was nothing due to the strength provided by his terminator armour. Brother Yasin is the victor he shouted. The Red Hunters clapped and congratulated their brother as apothecary Havel rushed in with a gaggle of medical servitors and serfs.
Hiren lowered Ares onto an Astartes size hospital cot while Havel helped Yasin to his feet. "make room!" yelled Havel as the serfs began to connect Ares to stabilising machines and wheel him to the apothecium."
As they disappeared lieutenant Gregorio approached Achillies. "I know this is not a good time brother but I have come to inform you that your squad will be sent on a mission once we reach Lomea, it is required that you double your training efforts to make sure your squad is combat-ready by the time we arrive."
Achillies was still only fresh since the mind wipe and could only respond with "of course lieutenant we will be ready."