As Inquisitor Ahdriean Stroheim von Ur'iat was coming to assist in a battle with some Eldar,
the Tyranids seemed to surface from no where. Both Human and Eldar forces took horrid losses,
and what had been a war for some unknown territory or finding had turned into a flight for
survival. Ahdriean was protecting some humans who were being escorted off the planet, while
killing as many Tyranids as he could. But something else that day happened, and has been
something he prefers not to talk about to this day...
----------------
Throwing the now useless melta gun to the side, he used the power armor's strength to fire
two storm bolters into the mass of insectine bodies. Ahdriean knew aiming was futile, after
all, he could only miss if he tried. There were just too many too soon. With Magus Dmitri
Furinax investigating some odd signal from the north, the Inquisitor knew he was on his own.
After the last woman and child were on the skif to the main ships, Ahdriean used his wraithly
telekinetic voice to speak. Since his lower jaw was torn off in a Daemon attack in his youth,
and though it was replaced cybernetically, he never had a voice box installed. He prefered to
to speak with telepathy. For other occasions, he used finely tuned telekinetic power
to vibrate the air. The result was like the wind speaking. His mutation was mostly psychic in
nature, but the physical side effects were blue skin and golden/amber eyes. Once considered
beautiful, before he was horrifically scarred by daemons.
"Are there anymore survivors?" He said as quickly as he could.
"i...i thought i saw someone.." A little girl had answered.
Switching to his more cultured psionic voice, he replied, "Where?"
"over the Glass Ridge.."
He nodded. "Get to your family, I will see to the survivor."
He walked out and grabbed some weapons from a dead space marine. To
the other marines in the skif, he broadcasted. "Lift off, I will be
fine. Now go!"
Nearly surrounded by Tyranids did not add credibility to his statements,
but the marine followed his order to leave. Running and performing a
telekinetically enhanced leap, he made it over most of the immediate hoard.
Acid ate away at the armor of his left leg and his Inquisitorial Badge from
an attack from a Tyranid he passed. Firing a flamer and a storm bolter, he
killed only those that he couldn't move around. Leaping discreetly, he was
nearly sliced in half by a very large insect who's specy he wasn't sure of,
but he only fired enough to keep it from giving chase with the others. It
was seemingly by pure fortune that he not only found a wrecked ship, but the
survivor was indeed that. They were alive and roughed up, but not found by
the genestealers and worse. Underneath what what once ornate armor was clearly
a feminine form; however, Ahdriean only time to pick her up swiftly and
continue moving.
She had come to while he was hiding and maneuvering and still said nothing. He
probably would not have heard anyway. He did not have time to look over her
mind, he just thought about getting them both to safety. Eventually coming to
the other side of the Ridge, the Inquisitor found another skif unattended and
seemingly deserted but surrounded by thick forest. Night had fallen and Ahdriean
was exhausted. Setting her gently down, he wondered about making a dead sprint
to the skif. There was no telling what was waiting, though. Tyranids were
smarter than they appeared. Letting out the small sigh did not help to loosen
his shoulders or mind. Then he heard a faint musical sound.
"aferajim.......torama....finn'el tedo..."
Looking back at the form in the armored suit and the blood from her wounds, he
felt something in him soften.
"Shhh...it is all right. I can help."
Silence again, but soon she nodded. He kneeled next to her and let his power flow
out through his hands. The blood slowed under the crimson haze of energy and then
stopped altogether. Her wounds started to seal themselves as sweat started to form
on Ahdriean's face. After her recovery, he took off the helmet of his armor and
looked around.
"It still appears clear, Mi'lady. How do you feel?"
A quiet musical voice seemed to resonate from her. "I am...fine. Do you believe that
you can make it there?" She stood and looked over at the skif. It did not seem as
far as it was, or rather, was it farther than it seemed?
"I do. I'm not leaving a soul to Chaos...or Tyranids."
"That is a sentiment I hope is true."
"You had a very unique ship. I do not recognize that one amoung our ranks."
"Indeed, it is very unique..." He could feel her smiling, and would be suspicious
if some instinct told him it was nothing.
"The Tyranid are too quiet. They are probably waiting for us to make our move. By
now they can smell my blood."
"You are injured?" She almost sounded embaressed to ask.
"Tyranid acid. The acid covered section is gone but the damage remains. It will not
hamper my movement too much, but the scent will lead them to me eventually."
"Put your helmet back on, we must leave before they find us. I will get us through
any traps."
"Are you certain you can?"
"As bad as this sounds, trust me?"
He could not refuse that sing-song voice. "As you wish."
Taking his hand, she lead him into and then through the trees and rocks.
It seemed as though she could see in the dark, and had more more grace
than he did. He kept up as best he could with the storm bolter in hand
and the flamer to the side as a back up weapon. Once they reached halfway
down the Ridge, some Tyranids burst from underground hiding places and
let out bizarre clicking wails. Still following the almost inhumanly swift
woman, Ahdriean was trying to figure out how to get them off of this planet
safely. His armor underneath the power armor was wasted from battle earlier
and matters were not looking up.
As they made it to the skif, he told her to get it working while he provided
cover. When he heard the engines powering up, he cast aside the emptied bolter
and flamer. Raising his hands he felt power start to swirl around him. Then,
a tree was torn from the ground, and dropped to begin rolling down. Tyranids
screeched their displeasure. He nearly fell to a knee from the exertion and lack
of rest. Breathing harshly, he gathered a red and orange flame-like energy around
his hand and threw the psi-bolt into one of the advance creatures. After throwing
one more bolt Ahdriean found strength dwindling. The skif started to rise and with
what remained in him he threw himself into the air, telekinetically assisting his
leap. It was the extra strength of the torn up power armor that allowed him to
raise himself into the open door on the side. Collapsing onto the floor he panted
for breath.
"Gurunam..." If he were not so tired he would have asked what dialect she was
speaking. It sounded almost like a curse. Whatever murmur he said seemed to issue
a lighter sounding response. He felt himself pass out.
Freya Ra'o Filon was going to leave the thing to the Tyranids, but he was helping
her, odd as it was. At first she thought her comrades were coming to pick her up.
The mostly scarred armor made it hard to tell. But once he took his helmet off,
she thought that Chaos had claimed her. The oddly kind and soft voice, if you
could call it a voice, was startling. She had mystical sight and strengthened herself
to look at his essence had felt an odd absense of Chaos. His appearance was the
opposite of his strangely pure spiritual state. However, she was not naive. After
all, such things could be hidden. Instead, she was going to use him as a distraction
to take off in the skif. If she were better armed she would have killed him herself
once he was revealed to be anything but Eldar. He could be, his ears have a point to
them, but he is too...changed. So she was going to let the Tyranids have him.
Unfortunately, he had more power than she suspected. That and in her haste she had
forgotten to close the door.
Now it was lying unconscious on the floor of the skif and Freya was not sure of what
to do with him. Best to just summon her own power and end his pain now. The helmet
she was wearing was starting to irritate her, and she used that irritation to help
her through the pitiful task. Setting the autopilot to the hidden Eldar ship above,
the Eldar summoned her energy into the palm of her hand. The bright green color
gave the battle torn armor of the unconscious form a sick and rotted look in the
small dark cabin. As she lifted her hand to fire, a vicious impact through her into
the wall and she hurriedly went to the pilot's seat to try and regain control of the
descending craft. Freya managed to keep it aloft for a while but lacked all ability
to break atmosphere or even ascend. Spotting a lake in the middle of the forest they
flew above, she tried to ready herself as best she could. The impact jarred with a
whiplash like force. The body of the armored man flew into the control panel and
shattered the reenforced plassteel window. Time felt fluid and heavy for a while and
after what felt like an eternity she realized that she had probably passed out. Her
restraints kept her in place through it all, and when she came to the realization
that they were alive and had landed she sighed with relief. Releasing the restraints
and openning the door, she breathed in the air with exhiliration. From the trail
behind them it seemed that they skipped across the lake like a pebble and the trees
'caught' the skif.
A popping noise caught her attention. Freya didn't know how long she was out but
she searched quickly for any kind of weapon. A lasgun was secured in a compartment
and had two reloads. Human technology, but it was better than nothing. Looking
around, she could not find anything. Another crack. She realized that it had a wet
sound to it. Looking down at the crumpled form on the floor, Freya realized that he
was alive! And stranger, was healing slowly right in front of her. He must have been
doing it for a while now. She would put an end to it.
"What are you?" She demanded first in the Eldar tongue, then in Tau, and eventually
in the Human language.
A groan. And then the voice seemed to come from within.
"....human.."
Freya frowned. "Name and Rank."
Ahdriean did not think that he would find himself like this. He had saved her life
and now she was pointing a gun at him. He knew his looks were unsettling to many but
he thought that his actions were more representative of him. Then he realized his
foolishness. There was no guarentee that she was an Imperial citizen. In fact, the
little girl who he asked gave a mental image of looking at the wreck from a distance.
Death comes to the ignorant, and the unfortunate.
"Ahdriean Stroheim von Ur'iat de Angelus Sanguine. Inquisitor."
Freya thought the name was vaguely familiar. Something she had heard about a Chaos
hunter from a rogue merchant. A human Inquisitor would potentially make a good prisoner,
but they were not to be trusted. "I will let you go, for now."
Ahdriean nodded. "My apologies, I did not realize that you did not want rescuing."
She smiled under her helmet. The situation was a little humorous. "Your mistake was that
you came to the aid of someone not of your kind."
Watching the lady remove her helmet, Ahdriean's eyes widened ever so slightly. Her hair
was tied in an ornate braid and shone in the sunlight with a fine purple sheen. Blue eyes
looked at him as he stood. Her inhuman beauty added an element of intimidation to her
presense. He had rescued an Eldar. But a lasgun might not penetrate what was left of his
armor. Not only that, she probably did not know about the twin force swords he kept attached
magnetically to his forearms. "Are you certain you wish to pursue this course?"
The Eldar nodded. "You cannot continue to fight the Eldar. This planet was ours until you
assumed you could take it. And now the Tyranids. I cannot let you return to fighting us."
"My duty was not to fight you but this has changed my options. I wish to survive this
situation most of all and I imagine you do as well. Even if it were unintentionally, healing
you is not something I regret. You may go live your life."
Freya felt that something had changed. Letting her go live her life? He had to have something
up his proverbial robe sleeve. "What are you plotting..?"
Ahdriean's power lashed out and the lasgun was jerked from her hands and if she were not
surprised, she knew she would have kept track of such slow human movements. His skill must be
great indeed to still slip past her. The blade of the force sword stopped close to her throat.
Something far stronger than him had robbed him of the spirit that drove his blade. Like the
old Terran myth that the sword does not bite its true master, or his allies. But what was this
that held his hand?
"I should take advantage of this....and I know I should." He was trying to convince himself,
but that was going badly. His 'voice' failed him. Was she doing something to him psychically?
Ahdriean felt odd thoughts..from her vision? Her thoughts? His telepathic powers never flared
so strongly by themselves. She was looking into his glowing eyes with a look of similar
confusion. No fear, but confusion.
Freya felt something. Her mind and his were sharing flittering thoughts and she was not sure
what to make of them. She could feel minds around her with effort but had never done so by such
reflex. He, no, Ahdriean was not going to harm her. And she was starting to doubt herself as well.
Ahdriean looked at her. The silence was thick and she....Freya...was not sure of what was going
on. The force sword's blade faded away and it retracted to its sheath. They both looked down slowly,
and he took off his helmet, hooking it onto his belt. "Freya...I'm sorry." He had blanked on
anything else to say.
Freya swallowed. "It's all right, i think," she bit her lip nervously. "Does this make me your
prisonor of war?"
Ahdriean turned and walked to the door. "Pick up the lasgun. It is one of the few weapons we have.
You are no prisonor, not now."
If she hadn't feel his thoughts like she did before she would not have believed him. She nodded.
"We must find a way off this planet," she said while picking up the lasgun. Freya looked at the
cloth that covered his face. Tempted as she was to ask, she thought it better to leave that alone.
"Do you have any other weapons?"
"One more force sword. And two vortex grenades." Without more than a moment's hesitation he handed
both of the grenades to her. "Use them well."
"What will you use?"
Both found this much more comfortable to discuss than what had occurred between them.
"I have enough power to do signifigant damage. Unfortunately, we will probably encounter much more
than what my powers can handle. What do you think of your chances?" He asked curiously.
"A lasgun is far from enough to fight them. If it were an Eldar prismgun than I would say my
probability of survival is much better. As much as I appreciate the grenades, two are not enough.
In the end, we are better off working together." Her exact feelings on that course were hard to
tell through the lyrical beauty of the language she murmured. "Let us hurry."
Ahdriean nodded and followed her as she walked outside. "If memory serves me correctly, we need to
head to the northwest toward a landing site. If nothing else, we may alart others that we are still
alive on this planet."
They travelled through the forest region during the day. Avoiding Tyranid warriors as much as
possible, they had only one encounter in which they had to fight. Tending each other's wounds
while telling stories over a fire, they tried to take the night as the only one that would be.
Conversations, arguments, and a myriad of other topics were used to get their minds off the pains,
hunger and exhaustion that played on them. Keeping information personal to avoid any serious
arguments and culture clash, they used that same personal information to try and explain any
trouble points. It had worked out surprisingly well. More surprising was that most of the
conversations were broadcasted by thought. While they sat in the case they were using to hide in,
he told her about the attack when he was young, and the marks on his body. Only after some pleading
did he remove the cloth that hid his face. Freya gave a startled breath and he looked away. Ahdriean
never felt so selfconscious about it but she smiled and said that he lived and should be thankful for
that. He was, but it had certain frustrating points. She told him that she wished him the best in his
hunt for Chaos, for it is a plague to the Eldar as well, and of times when she was practicing her
skills and someone, accidently, shot her in the rear with lightning. They both laughed hard at that
one, until Ahdriean told her about the double lightning shot in the crotch he received once hunting a
Chaos cultist. That she laughed harder at.
The next morning, they continued their dangerous trek for another ship off the planet. The Inquisitor's
mangled cloak flapped slightly in the breeze as they creeped silently through the now dead forest lands.
Ahdriean told her that they must be close. The landing site was on the other side of the small collection
of mountains ahead of them. It was there that their problems turned to the worse. Large insectine
monstrousities were seen in the horizon. All were racing toward the mountains with a ravenous desparation.
Ahdriean had let the glow fade from his eyes, allowing the golden amber color show through. He looked at
Freya, and she returned the gaze of fading hope.
"What do we do now?" She asked.
"The mountains will slow them but not for long. We must get through these mountains in a more expediant
manner." Surveying his surroundings, he decided to try something risky. "Forgive me, Freya."
Confusion in her eyes, she was startled when he picked her up and jumped from mountain. Screaming at him
all the while, he drifted across the gap to the moutain ahead of them. Glad for the added strength of the
armor, he ran with her slung on his shoulder. Freya kept hitting his back while Ahdriean leapt again
when he had found the right point for another jump. More Eldar cursing was screamed in his ear as she
saw them leave the ground again. A piercing shriek was heard some distance behind them. Freya called for
him to run faster. From her mind, the image of a winged Tyranid hunter was coming after them. It flew up
above them, claws gleaming both sharp and coated with slime. As he reached the closest point to the other
mountain, Freya called again that it was swooping down. Jumping again, he let his powers fade. The sudden
loss of energy cause them to plummet, while the flying creature screeched its rage at missing a meal.
Calling his strength to bear, Ahdriean ceased their descend and levitated them back up only to start
running again. The ear piercing call of the flying Tyranid was heard coming. It must have been looking
for a way to come back around. Exhaustion briefly overcame the fleeing Inquisitor as he fell, dropping Freya.
Rolling to her feet, she pressed a button on one of the vortex grenades. Freya disregarded Ahdriean's
call to run and hide. She had an idea. As the Tyranid freak flew down toward her, she threw the grenade
at it. Bringing the lasgun up, she fired a single shot. The red light dashed right into the grenade. In
a burst of unearthly energy, the explosion blew a tear into reality. The flying creature could not cease
it's descent, causing it to ram straight into the vortex. Its death roar echoed as the vortex faded away.
After making sure that there were no other surprises waiting to swoop down, Freya walked to Ahdriean.
"Next time, you ask permission before picking up a lady," she said, tapping his armored chest with the lasgun,
"And a warrior. I am not helpess and have made more than one of your army meet death."
Frowning to himself, in a sense, Ahdriean chose not to say anything. Tempted as he was to argue with her
about the skill of the Imperial armies, he wanted more to just keep moving. His mind was feeling more used
up then his body. When she asked, he lifted her up, cradled in his arms. While they were airborne from the
next jump, he weighed the idea of dropping her. Not that he would but right now it was a very pleasing fantasy.
After a while, it was hard to keep up the pretense of masculine pride.
Freya knew that he was tiring and almost felt bad about making him carry her. The sheer fact it bothered her
at all was a little unnerving. She chalked it up as a side effect of whatever power he had used on her a day
or two ago. As he floated down from the last mountain, she felt his power fading out. Luckily, it was not a
far fall but it did hurt much. Landing on the Inquisitor had broken her fall, somewhat. As she returned to
her feet she watched the blue skinned man. He had reached on knee; however, was having trouble standing. It
might have been better to leave him there to delay the slavoring insects. No, she realized that to her it
would not have been.
"Rest yourself and we will keep moving." She said a little sharply.
"i....graciously accept your offer..." His panting for breath makes the voice sound a little off. Speaking
and breathing like that made him seem a little eerie. The sarcasm in his projection grinded at her nerves.
"Maybe I should just leave you here to them." She almost snarled.
"And how far would you get? If anything, you are the reason that I would die here! I came for you!"
Ahdriean was almost at his wit's end. Her curt demands and condescending tone. As musical as she is,
if that music is ugly, so is her intent. Her arrogance needs to be whittled down.
"No! You came to save a human, not an Eldar! You care not about me or us! Do not be so high and mighty!
That is how humans are. They think that their Emporer gives them the right to own the universe. There are
older things than you and yet you disregard them or think that they are to be destroyed. This planet was
ours and then you claim it, as if it were for sale. Well, Chaos damn you and your people!" At this point
she could not hear herself shouting.
"And what great thing can you claim? Who cares how great of a race you were, it is now that matters! And
what you left us is death. You are secretive and remote. How are we supposed to know anything other than
the terrible little surprises that you either leave or show up with. You want nothing more than to have
us replace you as the dying ones!" His mind raged back at her.
Laughing wickedly, she said, "You speak of death? You?! You should be dead. Look at yourself! You are a
Chaos demon that someone took pity on and used as a weapon. Such as you are to be purged and terminated.
In fact, perhaps we are fortunate, as to avoid your degeneration into a laim animal. A laim, filthy,
daemon-warped monster! Your parents should have just left you to them and saved themselves the pain of
looking upon the horror that your race is becoming!" Even to her, this had become something worse than it
should have been.
His eyes burned with psionic energies. The yellowish glow to his eyes seemed worse than the green light
of his force sword. It seemed to fulfill the wish of its master by simply coming to his rage. Raising
it, the situation seemed about to turn into a bloodbath, when the threw the force sword to the side of
her. Distracted, the wind was driven out of her when he weakly tackled her. Her rumpled armor was grinding
against his while they rolled around, trying to get to each other's throats. After a while of bumping
into a couple of rocks and trees, they were too worn out to kill each other. Eventually, they were even
too tired to keep struggling with one and other.
Looking up at the sky, Freya had her head on Ahdriean's chest. There was a bruise on her face from
something she couldn't remember. Without looking, she said, "i'm so tired."
Ahdriean was looking up as well. The confusion was back. He had his hand around her neck, almost had
her, and them his strength failed him. She almost smothered him when she roll/fell onto him. He wondered
what her hair felt like through his guantlets. He blamed that thought on being weakened being tired.
Running constantly, the stress of using powers to their full extent to fight, and no rations made Ahdriean
think that an odd thought or two were permissable.
Freya thought to herself, 'I must be losing my mind. I'm enjoying laying around on the man I tried to kill.'
She felt she must have lost it already to not kill him when and with every chance she had. Her hair, loosened
from its braids, was pooled mostly on his armored chest. Hysterics she thought of as being less pleasant than
this. 'If only his guantlets were off so I could feel his hands in my hair,' and at that, she picked herself
up in haste.
"What did you do to me?" At his questioning stare, she reiterated herself. "What did you do to me, Inquisitor
Ur'iat?"
"A question I should ask you. I had you at the end of my sword not long ago. Not many walk away from that.
Then you stopped me with some sort of telepathic effect." Ahdriean knew his powers reacted to, not initiated,
to whatever she did. In fact, they kept insisting it was the other. "What if neither of us did, or did at the
same time?"
"I don't follow."
"We reacted to each other, not an attack. Our instincts and mystic sight are telling us something."
"It has nothing to do with this feeling, unless..."
"Yes, we both feel it. And our souls are touching each other. Touched since that first time." It sounded
like a romantic idea, something he had read once for amusement. The reality was much less warming and comforting.
This was frightening.
And Freya seemed to feel the same. "Such is impossible."
They left it at that for a time. After finding and picking up his sword, they continued their trek to the landing
site. They could hear the advancing hoard pouring through the mountains. Picking up what speed they could they
felt the situation change to a race to get to the site. As the forest gave way, the silvery glints of metal came
into view. The landing site was peaceful, almost serene looking. The brownish earth beneath them shook. The
Tyranids were almost there. Taking her hand while they ran, Ahdriean summoned his strength and leapt into the
air...without landing back down. He flew straight for the site. In mid-flight, the tattered cloak was nearly torn
off but Freya held on with her free hand. After floating down into a launching pad, Ahdriean was reluctant to let
her go for a moment. Until the cries of hungry insectine warriors let them know that they were spotted. Running
to one of the small ships, Ahdriean had her enter first. Once she turned back, Freya noticed that Ahdriean was not
joining her.
"Come, Ahdriean, hurry!"
"I cannot, Freya."
"Please, let us go." Panic slipped into her voice. Inside heart and soulstone, she wanted him to come with her.
Ahdriean shook his head. "I cannot, not as I wish I could. Please at least keep that part of me that we shared
in your mind and heart, and I will do the same." Tearing off a large remaining piece of his cloak, he then took
off the force sword on his left hand. Wrapping it in the cloak, he gave it to her. "It has my personal sigil on
it. Take it, and know what it means. I will not forget you."
"Nor I you..." Putting her hand on his cheek, she pulled down the cloth that hid his face. Looking at him for
a moment, she kissed him. In their minds, he was returning that kiss with the same passion. "Do not let this mask
of yours become your real face. Walk the razor's edge and do not fall down either side. If my gods and your
Emporer are more forgiving, then perhaps we will meet again and be able to once again share as we have on this
planet. I...I wish you good bye, and fare well, Knight of Man."
"And you. May your gods watch over and protect you. I fight not only to free my race and I of the ravages of
Chaos, but you as well. I now know the true extent of why I combat the Darkness in our Galaxy. Now go, Lady
of Eldar, go and save yourself. Your people need you, more than I..." The buttons pressed themselves as the
door closed.
Freya watched him for a moment, and then with grim determination she started up the small ship. Once she was
in the air, she looked back down at him. His remaining force sword was out. She recognized the gesture of
respect. The force blade was near his forehead in a salute. Then, with the Tyranids visibly starting to overrun
the base, he ran to another building. She bit her lip and began climbing altitude. The Tyranids were tearing
the structures apart, and the sea of them went on to the mountains Ahdriean and her have travelled through. Then
a large report echoed beneath her and another small ship had burst from its hanger and rammed through several
warriors. Smiling to herself softly, Freya set coordinates for the Eldar ship that was hidden among one of the
moons of the planet. Ahdriean, in his own ship, smiled to himself mentally. Freya was alive and would thrive
amoung her people. He had a duty to his, and first off was to order the Rite Extermitus on this planet...
----------------
Konsita 1 was viciously assaulted by Imperial forces, and the Tyranids purged from that world. Inquisitor
Ahdriean Stroheim von Ur'iat de Angelus Sanguine was commended for his survival (alone, officially) in such
extreme circumstances and purging the alien threat.. He never mentioned Freya to the Imperial forces, save one,
Jariel Zantos. Jariel looked at his surrogate son, and said "I knew you'd find a nice girl somewhere,
but why couldn't you settle for something less exotic". Jariel kept his son's secret. Ahdriean somewhat
replaced the force sword he gave to her. On the newer one, he etched 'Freya' on the handle. And it was
not long after that he received another call to duty...
the Tyranids seemed to surface from no where. Both Human and Eldar forces took horrid losses,
and what had been a war for some unknown territory or finding had turned into a flight for
survival. Ahdriean was protecting some humans who were being escorted off the planet, while
killing as many Tyranids as he could. But something else that day happened, and has been
something he prefers not to talk about to this day...
----------------
Throwing the now useless melta gun to the side, he used the power armor's strength to fire
two storm bolters into the mass of insectine bodies. Ahdriean knew aiming was futile, after
all, he could only miss if he tried. There were just too many too soon. With Magus Dmitri
Furinax investigating some odd signal from the north, the Inquisitor knew he was on his own.
After the last woman and child were on the skif to the main ships, Ahdriean used his wraithly
telekinetic voice to speak. Since his lower jaw was torn off in a Daemon attack in his youth,
and though it was replaced cybernetically, he never had a voice box installed. He prefered to
to speak with telepathy. For other occasions, he used finely tuned telekinetic power
to vibrate the air. The result was like the wind speaking. His mutation was mostly psychic in
nature, but the physical side effects were blue skin and golden/amber eyes. Once considered
beautiful, before he was horrifically scarred by daemons.
"Are there anymore survivors?" He said as quickly as he could.
"i...i thought i saw someone.." A little girl had answered.
Switching to his more cultured psionic voice, he replied, "Where?"
"over the Glass Ridge.."
He nodded. "Get to your family, I will see to the survivor."
He walked out and grabbed some weapons from a dead space marine. To
the other marines in the skif, he broadcasted. "Lift off, I will be
fine. Now go!"
Nearly surrounded by Tyranids did not add credibility to his statements,
but the marine followed his order to leave. Running and performing a
telekinetically enhanced leap, he made it over most of the immediate hoard.
Acid ate away at the armor of his left leg and his Inquisitorial Badge from
an attack from a Tyranid he passed. Firing a flamer and a storm bolter, he
killed only those that he couldn't move around. Leaping discreetly, he was
nearly sliced in half by a very large insect who's specy he wasn't sure of,
but he only fired enough to keep it from giving chase with the others. It
was seemingly by pure fortune that he not only found a wrecked ship, but the
survivor was indeed that. They were alive and roughed up, but not found by
the genestealers and worse. Underneath what what once ornate armor was clearly
a feminine form; however, Ahdriean only time to pick her up swiftly and
continue moving.
She had come to while he was hiding and maneuvering and still said nothing. He
probably would not have heard anyway. He did not have time to look over her
mind, he just thought about getting them both to safety. Eventually coming to
the other side of the Ridge, the Inquisitor found another skif unattended and
seemingly deserted but surrounded by thick forest. Night had fallen and Ahdriean
was exhausted. Setting her gently down, he wondered about making a dead sprint
to the skif. There was no telling what was waiting, though. Tyranids were
smarter than they appeared. Letting out the small sigh did not help to loosen
his shoulders or mind. Then he heard a faint musical sound.
"aferajim.......torama....finn'el tedo..."
Looking back at the form in the armored suit and the blood from her wounds, he
felt something in him soften.
"Shhh...it is all right. I can help."
Silence again, but soon she nodded. He kneeled next to her and let his power flow
out through his hands. The blood slowed under the crimson haze of energy and then
stopped altogether. Her wounds started to seal themselves as sweat started to form
on Ahdriean's face. After her recovery, he took off the helmet of his armor and
looked around.
"It still appears clear, Mi'lady. How do you feel?"
A quiet musical voice seemed to resonate from her. "I am...fine. Do you believe that
you can make it there?" She stood and looked over at the skif. It did not seem as
far as it was, or rather, was it farther than it seemed?
"I do. I'm not leaving a soul to Chaos...or Tyranids."
"That is a sentiment I hope is true."
"You had a very unique ship. I do not recognize that one amoung our ranks."
"Indeed, it is very unique..." He could feel her smiling, and would be suspicious
if some instinct told him it was nothing.
"The Tyranid are too quiet. They are probably waiting for us to make our move. By
now they can smell my blood."
"You are injured?" She almost sounded embaressed to ask.
"Tyranid acid. The acid covered section is gone but the damage remains. It will not
hamper my movement too much, but the scent will lead them to me eventually."
"Put your helmet back on, we must leave before they find us. I will get us through
any traps."
"Are you certain you can?"
"As bad as this sounds, trust me?"
He could not refuse that sing-song voice. "As you wish."
Taking his hand, she lead him into and then through the trees and rocks.
It seemed as though she could see in the dark, and had more more grace
than he did. He kept up as best he could with the storm bolter in hand
and the flamer to the side as a back up weapon. Once they reached halfway
down the Ridge, some Tyranids burst from underground hiding places and
let out bizarre clicking wails. Still following the almost inhumanly swift
woman, Ahdriean was trying to figure out how to get them off of this planet
safely. His armor underneath the power armor was wasted from battle earlier
and matters were not looking up.
As they made it to the skif, he told her to get it working while he provided
cover. When he heard the engines powering up, he cast aside the emptied bolter
and flamer. Raising his hands he felt power start to swirl around him. Then,
a tree was torn from the ground, and dropped to begin rolling down. Tyranids
screeched their displeasure. He nearly fell to a knee from the exertion and lack
of rest. Breathing harshly, he gathered a red and orange flame-like energy around
his hand and threw the psi-bolt into one of the advance creatures. After throwing
one more bolt Ahdriean found strength dwindling. The skif started to rise and with
what remained in him he threw himself into the air, telekinetically assisting his
leap. It was the extra strength of the torn up power armor that allowed him to
raise himself into the open door on the side. Collapsing onto the floor he panted
for breath.
"Gurunam..." If he were not so tired he would have asked what dialect she was
speaking. It sounded almost like a curse. Whatever murmur he said seemed to issue
a lighter sounding response. He felt himself pass out.
Freya Ra'o Filon was going to leave the thing to the Tyranids, but he was helping
her, odd as it was. At first she thought her comrades were coming to pick her up.
The mostly scarred armor made it hard to tell. But once he took his helmet off,
she thought that Chaos had claimed her. The oddly kind and soft voice, if you
could call it a voice, was startling. She had mystical sight and strengthened herself
to look at his essence had felt an odd absense of Chaos. His appearance was the
opposite of his strangely pure spiritual state. However, she was not naive. After
all, such things could be hidden. Instead, she was going to use him as a distraction
to take off in the skif. If she were better armed she would have killed him herself
once he was revealed to be anything but Eldar. He could be, his ears have a point to
them, but he is too...changed. So she was going to let the Tyranids have him.
Unfortunately, he had more power than she suspected. That and in her haste she had
forgotten to close the door.
Now it was lying unconscious on the floor of the skif and Freya was not sure of what
to do with him. Best to just summon her own power and end his pain now. The helmet
she was wearing was starting to irritate her, and she used that irritation to help
her through the pitiful task. Setting the autopilot to the hidden Eldar ship above,
the Eldar summoned her energy into the palm of her hand. The bright green color
gave the battle torn armor of the unconscious form a sick and rotted look in the
small dark cabin. As she lifted her hand to fire, a vicious impact through her into
the wall and she hurriedly went to the pilot's seat to try and regain control of the
descending craft. Freya managed to keep it aloft for a while but lacked all ability
to break atmosphere or even ascend. Spotting a lake in the middle of the forest they
flew above, she tried to ready herself as best she could. The impact jarred with a
whiplash like force. The body of the armored man flew into the control panel and
shattered the reenforced plassteel window. Time felt fluid and heavy for a while and
after what felt like an eternity she realized that she had probably passed out. Her
restraints kept her in place through it all, and when she came to the realization
that they were alive and had landed she sighed with relief. Releasing the restraints
and openning the door, she breathed in the air with exhiliration. From the trail
behind them it seemed that they skipped across the lake like a pebble and the trees
'caught' the skif.
A popping noise caught her attention. Freya didn't know how long she was out but
she searched quickly for any kind of weapon. A lasgun was secured in a compartment
and had two reloads. Human technology, but it was better than nothing. Looking
around, she could not find anything. Another crack. She realized that it had a wet
sound to it. Looking down at the crumpled form on the floor, Freya realized that he
was alive! And stranger, was healing slowly right in front of her. He must have been
doing it for a while now. She would put an end to it.
"What are you?" She demanded first in the Eldar tongue, then in Tau, and eventually
in the Human language.
A groan. And then the voice seemed to come from within.
"....human.."
Freya frowned. "Name and Rank."
Ahdriean did not think that he would find himself like this. He had saved her life
and now she was pointing a gun at him. He knew his looks were unsettling to many but
he thought that his actions were more representative of him. Then he realized his
foolishness. There was no guarentee that she was an Imperial citizen. In fact, the
little girl who he asked gave a mental image of looking at the wreck from a distance.
Death comes to the ignorant, and the unfortunate.
"Ahdriean Stroheim von Ur'iat de Angelus Sanguine. Inquisitor."
Freya thought the name was vaguely familiar. Something she had heard about a Chaos
hunter from a rogue merchant. A human Inquisitor would potentially make a good prisoner,
but they were not to be trusted. "I will let you go, for now."
Ahdriean nodded. "My apologies, I did not realize that you did not want rescuing."
She smiled under her helmet. The situation was a little humorous. "Your mistake was that
you came to the aid of someone not of your kind."
Watching the lady remove her helmet, Ahdriean's eyes widened ever so slightly. Her hair
was tied in an ornate braid and shone in the sunlight with a fine purple sheen. Blue eyes
looked at him as he stood. Her inhuman beauty added an element of intimidation to her
presense. He had rescued an Eldar. But a lasgun might not penetrate what was left of his
armor. Not only that, she probably did not know about the twin force swords he kept attached
magnetically to his forearms. "Are you certain you wish to pursue this course?"
The Eldar nodded. "You cannot continue to fight the Eldar. This planet was ours until you
assumed you could take it. And now the Tyranids. I cannot let you return to fighting us."
"My duty was not to fight you but this has changed my options. I wish to survive this
situation most of all and I imagine you do as well. Even if it were unintentionally, healing
you is not something I regret. You may go live your life."
Freya felt that something had changed. Letting her go live her life? He had to have something
up his proverbial robe sleeve. "What are you plotting..?"
Ahdriean's power lashed out and the lasgun was jerked from her hands and if she were not
surprised, she knew she would have kept track of such slow human movements. His skill must be
great indeed to still slip past her. The blade of the force sword stopped close to her throat.
Something far stronger than him had robbed him of the spirit that drove his blade. Like the
old Terran myth that the sword does not bite its true master, or his allies. But what was this
that held his hand?
"I should take advantage of this....and I know I should." He was trying to convince himself,
but that was going badly. His 'voice' failed him. Was she doing something to him psychically?
Ahdriean felt odd thoughts..from her vision? Her thoughts? His telepathic powers never flared
so strongly by themselves. She was looking into his glowing eyes with a look of similar
confusion. No fear, but confusion.
Freya felt something. Her mind and his were sharing flittering thoughts and she was not sure
what to make of them. She could feel minds around her with effort but had never done so by such
reflex. He, no, Ahdriean was not going to harm her. And she was starting to doubt herself as well.
Ahdriean looked at her. The silence was thick and she....Freya...was not sure of what was going
on. The force sword's blade faded away and it retracted to its sheath. They both looked down slowly,
and he took off his helmet, hooking it onto his belt. "Freya...I'm sorry." He had blanked on
anything else to say.
Freya swallowed. "It's all right, i think," she bit her lip nervously. "Does this make me your
prisonor of war?"
Ahdriean turned and walked to the door. "Pick up the lasgun. It is one of the few weapons we have.
You are no prisonor, not now."
If she hadn't feel his thoughts like she did before she would not have believed him. She nodded.
"We must find a way off this planet," she said while picking up the lasgun. Freya looked at the
cloth that covered his face. Tempted as she was to ask, she thought it better to leave that alone.
"Do you have any other weapons?"
"One more force sword. And two vortex grenades." Without more than a moment's hesitation he handed
both of the grenades to her. "Use them well."
"What will you use?"
Both found this much more comfortable to discuss than what had occurred between them.
"I have enough power to do signifigant damage. Unfortunately, we will probably encounter much more
than what my powers can handle. What do you think of your chances?" He asked curiously.
"A lasgun is far from enough to fight them. If it were an Eldar prismgun than I would say my
probability of survival is much better. As much as I appreciate the grenades, two are not enough.
In the end, we are better off working together." Her exact feelings on that course were hard to
tell through the lyrical beauty of the language she murmured. "Let us hurry."
Ahdriean nodded and followed her as she walked outside. "If memory serves me correctly, we need to
head to the northwest toward a landing site. If nothing else, we may alart others that we are still
alive on this planet."
They travelled through the forest region during the day. Avoiding Tyranid warriors as much as
possible, they had only one encounter in which they had to fight. Tending each other's wounds
while telling stories over a fire, they tried to take the night as the only one that would be.
Conversations, arguments, and a myriad of other topics were used to get their minds off the pains,
hunger and exhaustion that played on them. Keeping information personal to avoid any serious
arguments and culture clash, they used that same personal information to try and explain any
trouble points. It had worked out surprisingly well. More surprising was that most of the
conversations were broadcasted by thought. While they sat in the case they were using to hide in,
he told her about the attack when he was young, and the marks on his body. Only after some pleading
did he remove the cloth that hid his face. Freya gave a startled breath and he looked away. Ahdriean
never felt so selfconscious about it but she smiled and said that he lived and should be thankful for
that. He was, but it had certain frustrating points. She told him that she wished him the best in his
hunt for Chaos, for it is a plague to the Eldar as well, and of times when she was practicing her
skills and someone, accidently, shot her in the rear with lightning. They both laughed hard at that
one, until Ahdriean told her about the double lightning shot in the crotch he received once hunting a
Chaos cultist. That she laughed harder at.
The next morning, they continued their dangerous trek for another ship off the planet. The Inquisitor's
mangled cloak flapped slightly in the breeze as they creeped silently through the now dead forest lands.
Ahdriean told her that they must be close. The landing site was on the other side of the small collection
of mountains ahead of them. It was there that their problems turned to the worse. Large insectine
monstrousities were seen in the horizon. All were racing toward the mountains with a ravenous desparation.
Ahdriean had let the glow fade from his eyes, allowing the golden amber color show through. He looked at
Freya, and she returned the gaze of fading hope.
"What do we do now?" She asked.
"The mountains will slow them but not for long. We must get through these mountains in a more expediant
manner." Surveying his surroundings, he decided to try something risky. "Forgive me, Freya."
Confusion in her eyes, she was startled when he picked her up and jumped from mountain. Screaming at him
all the while, he drifted across the gap to the moutain ahead of them. Glad for the added strength of the
armor, he ran with her slung on his shoulder. Freya kept hitting his back while Ahdriean leapt again
when he had found the right point for another jump. More Eldar cursing was screamed in his ear as she
saw them leave the ground again. A piercing shriek was heard some distance behind them. Freya called for
him to run faster. From her mind, the image of a winged Tyranid hunter was coming after them. It flew up
above them, claws gleaming both sharp and coated with slime. As he reached the closest point to the other
mountain, Freya called again that it was swooping down. Jumping again, he let his powers fade. The sudden
loss of energy cause them to plummet, while the flying creature screeched its rage at missing a meal.
Calling his strength to bear, Ahdriean ceased their descend and levitated them back up only to start
running again. The ear piercing call of the flying Tyranid was heard coming. It must have been looking
for a way to come back around. Exhaustion briefly overcame the fleeing Inquisitor as he fell, dropping Freya.
Rolling to her feet, she pressed a button on one of the vortex grenades. Freya disregarded Ahdriean's
call to run and hide. She had an idea. As the Tyranid freak flew down toward her, she threw the grenade
at it. Bringing the lasgun up, she fired a single shot. The red light dashed right into the grenade. In
a burst of unearthly energy, the explosion blew a tear into reality. The flying creature could not cease
it's descent, causing it to ram straight into the vortex. Its death roar echoed as the vortex faded away.
After making sure that there were no other surprises waiting to swoop down, Freya walked to Ahdriean.
"Next time, you ask permission before picking up a lady," she said, tapping his armored chest with the lasgun,
"And a warrior. I am not helpess and have made more than one of your army meet death."
Frowning to himself, in a sense, Ahdriean chose not to say anything. Tempted as he was to argue with her
about the skill of the Imperial armies, he wanted more to just keep moving. His mind was feeling more used
up then his body. When she asked, he lifted her up, cradled in his arms. While they were airborne from the
next jump, he weighed the idea of dropping her. Not that he would but right now it was a very pleasing fantasy.
After a while, it was hard to keep up the pretense of masculine pride.
Freya knew that he was tiring and almost felt bad about making him carry her. The sheer fact it bothered her
at all was a little unnerving. She chalked it up as a side effect of whatever power he had used on her a day
or two ago. As he floated down from the last mountain, she felt his power fading out. Luckily, it was not a
far fall but it did hurt much. Landing on the Inquisitor had broken her fall, somewhat. As she returned to
her feet she watched the blue skinned man. He had reached on knee; however, was having trouble standing. It
might have been better to leave him there to delay the slavoring insects. No, she realized that to her it
would not have been.
"Rest yourself and we will keep moving." She said a little sharply.
"i....graciously accept your offer..." His panting for breath makes the voice sound a little off. Speaking
and breathing like that made him seem a little eerie. The sarcasm in his projection grinded at her nerves.
"Maybe I should just leave you here to them." She almost snarled.
"And how far would you get? If anything, you are the reason that I would die here! I came for you!"
Ahdriean was almost at his wit's end. Her curt demands and condescending tone. As musical as she is,
if that music is ugly, so is her intent. Her arrogance needs to be whittled down.
"No! You came to save a human, not an Eldar! You care not about me or us! Do not be so high and mighty!
That is how humans are. They think that their Emporer gives them the right to own the universe. There are
older things than you and yet you disregard them or think that they are to be destroyed. This planet was
ours and then you claim it, as if it were for sale. Well, Chaos damn you and your people!" At this point
she could not hear herself shouting.
"And what great thing can you claim? Who cares how great of a race you were, it is now that matters! And
what you left us is death. You are secretive and remote. How are we supposed to know anything other than
the terrible little surprises that you either leave or show up with. You want nothing more than to have
us replace you as the dying ones!" His mind raged back at her.
Laughing wickedly, she said, "You speak of death? You?! You should be dead. Look at yourself! You are a
Chaos demon that someone took pity on and used as a weapon. Such as you are to be purged and terminated.
In fact, perhaps we are fortunate, as to avoid your degeneration into a laim animal. A laim, filthy,
daemon-warped monster! Your parents should have just left you to them and saved themselves the pain of
looking upon the horror that your race is becoming!" Even to her, this had become something worse than it
should have been.
His eyes burned with psionic energies. The yellowish glow to his eyes seemed worse than the green light
of his force sword. It seemed to fulfill the wish of its master by simply coming to his rage. Raising
it, the situation seemed about to turn into a bloodbath, when the threw the force sword to the side of
her. Distracted, the wind was driven out of her when he weakly tackled her. Her rumpled armor was grinding
against his while they rolled around, trying to get to each other's throats. After a while of bumping
into a couple of rocks and trees, they were too worn out to kill each other. Eventually, they were even
too tired to keep struggling with one and other.
Looking up at the sky, Freya had her head on Ahdriean's chest. There was a bruise on her face from
something she couldn't remember. Without looking, she said, "i'm so tired."
Ahdriean was looking up as well. The confusion was back. He had his hand around her neck, almost had
her, and them his strength failed him. She almost smothered him when she roll/fell onto him. He wondered
what her hair felt like through his guantlets. He blamed that thought on being weakened being tired.
Running constantly, the stress of using powers to their full extent to fight, and no rations made Ahdriean
think that an odd thought or two were permissable.
Freya thought to herself, 'I must be losing my mind. I'm enjoying laying around on the man I tried to kill.'
She felt she must have lost it already to not kill him when and with every chance she had. Her hair, loosened
from its braids, was pooled mostly on his armored chest. Hysterics she thought of as being less pleasant than
this. 'If only his guantlets were off so I could feel his hands in my hair,' and at that, she picked herself
up in haste.
"What did you do to me?" At his questioning stare, she reiterated herself. "What did you do to me, Inquisitor
Ur'iat?"
"A question I should ask you. I had you at the end of my sword not long ago. Not many walk away from that.
Then you stopped me with some sort of telepathic effect." Ahdriean knew his powers reacted to, not initiated,
to whatever she did. In fact, they kept insisting it was the other. "What if neither of us did, or did at the
same time?"
"I don't follow."
"We reacted to each other, not an attack. Our instincts and mystic sight are telling us something."
"It has nothing to do with this feeling, unless..."
"Yes, we both feel it. And our souls are touching each other. Touched since that first time." It sounded
like a romantic idea, something he had read once for amusement. The reality was much less warming and comforting.
This was frightening.
And Freya seemed to feel the same. "Such is impossible."
They left it at that for a time. After finding and picking up his sword, they continued their trek to the landing
site. They could hear the advancing hoard pouring through the mountains. Picking up what speed they could they
felt the situation change to a race to get to the site. As the forest gave way, the silvery glints of metal came
into view. The landing site was peaceful, almost serene looking. The brownish earth beneath them shook. The
Tyranids were almost there. Taking her hand while they ran, Ahdriean summoned his strength and leapt into the
air...without landing back down. He flew straight for the site. In mid-flight, the tattered cloak was nearly torn
off but Freya held on with her free hand. After floating down into a launching pad, Ahdriean was reluctant to let
her go for a moment. Until the cries of hungry insectine warriors let them know that they were spotted. Running
to one of the small ships, Ahdriean had her enter first. Once she turned back, Freya noticed that Ahdriean was not
joining her.
"Come, Ahdriean, hurry!"
"I cannot, Freya."
"Please, let us go." Panic slipped into her voice. Inside heart and soulstone, she wanted him to come with her.
Ahdriean shook his head. "I cannot, not as I wish I could. Please at least keep that part of me that we shared
in your mind and heart, and I will do the same." Tearing off a large remaining piece of his cloak, he then took
off the force sword on his left hand. Wrapping it in the cloak, he gave it to her. "It has my personal sigil on
it. Take it, and know what it means. I will not forget you."
"Nor I you..." Putting her hand on his cheek, she pulled down the cloth that hid his face. Looking at him for
a moment, she kissed him. In their minds, he was returning that kiss with the same passion. "Do not let this mask
of yours become your real face. Walk the razor's edge and do not fall down either side. If my gods and your
Emporer are more forgiving, then perhaps we will meet again and be able to once again share as we have on this
planet. I...I wish you good bye, and fare well, Knight of Man."
"And you. May your gods watch over and protect you. I fight not only to free my race and I of the ravages of
Chaos, but you as well. I now know the true extent of why I combat the Darkness in our Galaxy. Now go, Lady
of Eldar, go and save yourself. Your people need you, more than I..." The buttons pressed themselves as the
door closed.
Freya watched him for a moment, and then with grim determination she started up the small ship. Once she was
in the air, she looked back down at him. His remaining force sword was out. She recognized the gesture of
respect. The force blade was near his forehead in a salute. Then, with the Tyranids visibly starting to overrun
the base, he ran to another building. She bit her lip and began climbing altitude. The Tyranids were tearing
the structures apart, and the sea of them went on to the mountains Ahdriean and her have travelled through. Then
a large report echoed beneath her and another small ship had burst from its hanger and rammed through several
warriors. Smiling to herself softly, Freya set coordinates for the Eldar ship that was hidden among one of the
moons of the planet. Ahdriean, in his own ship, smiled to himself mentally. Freya was alive and would thrive
amoung her people. He had a duty to his, and first off was to order the Rite Extermitus on this planet...
----------------
Konsita 1 was viciously assaulted by Imperial forces, and the Tyranids purged from that world. Inquisitor
Ahdriean Stroheim von Ur'iat de Angelus Sanguine was commended for his survival (alone, officially) in such
extreme circumstances and purging the alien threat.. He never mentioned Freya to the Imperial forces, save one,
Jariel Zantos. Jariel looked at his surrogate son, and said "I knew you'd find a nice girl somewhere,
but why couldn't you settle for something less exotic". Jariel kept his son's secret. Ahdriean somewhat
replaced the force sword he gave to her. On the newer one, he etched 'Freya' on the handle. And it was
not long after that he received another call to duty...