Outside the Citadel of Chaos...
Chaos. That was the perfect word to describe what battle had devolved into. Where before the forces of Chaos, had initially fought in ordered lines, waiting to spring their trap, and the Forces of Order charged in with violent precision, now the two sides abandoned all forms of strategy as the battle shifted in a massive melee. When the command structure of the forces of Chaos fell, any coordination between the various armies collapsed. Rather than fighting together to flank and outmaneuver, Imperial platoons had turned into individual bands of soldiers who either chased after the retreating Geth or retreated themselves from heavy resistance.
Meanwhile, the forces of the Covenant dug in and halted their advance. The lack of orders from above confused and frightened the smaller alien infantry as squads began calling a non-existent command for orders. And as this fear spread out through their units, the aliens began to draw the attention of the Grimm onto themselves. While the Grimm followed their initial commands of hacking through the Geth, there were no other Sith or Dark Side Acolytes outside of Tartarus there to force them to continually obey. And Tartarus was far too busy fighting Tassadar to care about commanding the Grimm. When presented with a target that actually exuded fear and negative emotion, rather than the emotionless synthetic Geth, many of the Grimm turned on their allies.
And so the battlefield collapsed into something of a three way fight between the Geth, the Grimm, and the Imperials/Covenant.
As these forces fought on a macro scale, several smaller duels were occuring between the heroes of both sides. With a flash of red lightning, Templar Commander Meredith Stannard chased after Wynne. With superhuman speed, Meredith dashed after the mage, leaving behind a trail of crimson lightning in her wake. Once she was in striking range Meredith unleashed a powerful swipe intent on cutting off the mage's head.
Wynne was barely able to dodge as she fell back, clumsily rolling on the ground to avoid the attack. As she got to her feet, she extended her Staff of the Magi and launched a Chain Lightning spell, firing an orb of crackling electricity right at the Templar. However, Meredith used her Red Lyrium sword to deflect the magic, sending it flying away into a crowd of Grimm and Geth, where it exploded and killed all of them.
The attack nullified, Meredith advanced once more. Dashing forward, Meredith cut the distance between her and Wynne in an instant, her sword raised high. Before she could strike, Wynne created a barrier between them, a powerful ward that caused the lyrium blade to bounce off.
Growling, Meredith channeled the Red Lyrium inside of her veins and called upon her Templar training to dispel the barrier. Through sheer willpower, Meredith shattered the Wynne's barrier, leaving the mage vulnerable to her attacks. Meredith swung her blade again, this time striking true. Between her Aura and her armored robes, the cut was shallow but stung nonetheless. Wynne backpedaled in an attempt to gain distance, firing off an Arcane Bolt purple-white magic at the Templar, but Meredith simply dispelled those as well.
"Your heretical magics won't save you now mage!" Meredith hissed as she pushed forward after Wynne. "I can dispel anything you throw at me! You are nothing before the power of my faith!" Meredith then raised her sword again, this time aimed for Wynne's unprotected head.
Before she could strike however, a blur of steel slammed into her as the power armor wearing Sgt. Johnson tackled her away. Meredith flew several feet, landing on her side as she was completely unprepared for the impact. Before she could recover, Johnson aimed his Spartan Laser right at her and fired.
Eyes widening at the incoming attack, Meredith barely had time to raise her Red Lyrium sword and absorb the laser. Her sword grew an even brighter red as she deflected the part of the laser she couldn't absorb away. Growling Johnson holstered his Spartan Laser and switched to his shotgun, but was so focused on the Templar that he didn't notice the large shadow creeping up on him.
Johnson was completely blindsided by an Ursa, which pounced on him from behind. Johnson fell to the ground, losing his grip on his Shotgun as the weapon went flying. Johnson and the Grimm wrestled on the ground, his T-45d power armor letting him fight hand to hand with the monster and not instantly get shredded. Batting away its claw, Johnson then grabbed onto the skull mask with both of his pneumatic hands and squeezed. Under the pressure from his hydraulic fingers, the Ursa's head popped like an overly ripe fruit, turning into pulpy black mush as the Grimm then began to disappear.
The immediate threat was gone with the Grimm, but unfortunately for Johnson, the moment's distraction the Ursa provided was enough for Meredith to recover and attack. Before Johnson could react, Meredith was already upon him, trailing red lightning once more as she dashed in front of him, sword poised to strike. With inhumane speed and power, Meredith then drove her blade into Johnson's chest.
Johnson gasped as the blade pierced his torso, feeling his lungs pool with blood as Meredith fell upon him with a feral grin on her face, her bloodshot eyes burning with crimson lightning.
"I have seen the Maker given flesh! And he finds you all wanting!" Meredith howled as she twisted the blade within Johnson.
Johnson screamed in pain as blood poured into his mouth.
"Meredith!" The sound of Wynne's shout drew the attention of both the Templar and the dying Johnson. The two looked to the mage and saw her cradling the Sergeant's shotgun, aimed right for Meredith's head.. "Dispel this you crazy bitch." She then pulled the trigger.
Meredith's eyes widened as she tried to pull her blade out of the sergeant to block the incoming slug. She found herself unable to however, as Johnson grabbed onto the sword with the last dregs of his strength holding the blade within himself. Meredith's mouth moved to curse him, but she never got the chance to speak as her head was turned into a fine mist by the 8 gauge shell.
Meredith's body collapsed limply onto Johnson as she died. Immediately, Wynne made her way to the sergeant, ready to heal him. Unfortunately, she only found the empty eyes of Johnson's own corpse staring back at her.
Wynne cursed at the death of her comrade, but shoved down her feelings of pain and anger. She was still in the middle of battle. Looking around, she saw the Geth around her were not doing well. They were outnumbered to begin with, and more and more were falling to the Imperials and the Grimm.
Shaking her head, Wynne decided to leave behind both Johnson's body and the Geth currently holding the line as she moved to meet up with the rest of her wayward allies.
While Wynne, Johnson and Meredith fought their death battle, the alien generals Tartarus and Tassadar fought their own grand duel of fate.
Backpedalling, Tassadar dodge a swipe from Tartarus' gravity-hammer as he countered with a psi-blast of his own. The telekinetic energy knocked the Brute backwards, sending him stumbling and breaking his guard. Taking advantage of the situation, Tassadar charged forward with his psi-blade alight. With a swift move of martial prowess honed over centuries of combat, Tassadar sunk his blade into Tatarus' shoulder, almost slicing the whole limb off.
But before Tassadar could remove the entire arm, Tatartus jerked back and kicked the Protoss in the stomach. Tassadar grunted as the impact struck true, separating the two combatants and forcing the blade out of the Brute's shoulder. But Tartarus wasn't finished yet. Focusing on the pain, Tartarus howled as he entered a berserking range and lunged after Tassadar.
Tassadar was unprepared for such a savage assault, and took the full brunt of Tartarus' tackle. The Protoss was sent stumbling back in a reversal of positions, as it was Tartarus' turn to press the advantage. Uncaring for the pain in his arm, Tartarus gripped his gravity hammer and swung hard. The hammer slammed into Tassadar's torso, sending the taller alien flying through the air as both his energy shield and golden body armor shattered.
Tassadar landed several dozen feet away. Slowly, he pushed himself up, hand clutching his bleeding torso. The impact rocked his brain and he was definitely seeing double. A savage roar pulled the Protoss out of his confusion, as Tartarus charged after him, howling and braying like a wild animal. Shoving the pain out of his mind, Tassadar focused his psionic might into his hands, summoning crackling lightning at his fingertips. Before Tartarus could close in, Tassadar hit him with a storm of Psi-lightning.
The stench of burning hair and flesh filled the air as the lightning slammed into Tartarus. But despite the obvious damage being seared into his flesh, Tartarus kept going forward. The combination of both his Brute physiology and the Dark Side of Force fueling his berserking state meant that pain was meaningless to him. With over half his flesh now charred meat, Tartarus was finally in melee with Tassadar once more. Tartarus swung his gravity hammer, which exploded impotently into the ground as Tassadar stumbled back with a dodge.
Changing strategies, Tassadar then used his psionic powers to reach out and into Tartarus' mind, creating two illusionary copies of himself that existed only in the Brute's perceptions. The two illusions jumped to Tartarus' left and right in an attempt to divide his attention. Meanwhile, Tassadar himself moved forward simultaneously with his illusions looking to strike at the Chieftain while he was confused.
Unfortunately for Tassadar, such illusions lost their potency against Force Sensitives, as of the three Protoss attacking, Tartarus only sensed danger from one of them. Raising up his gravity hammer, Tartarus blocked the psi-blade with his weapon's shaft. He then quickly counter attacked when he stepped forward and shoulder-checked the Protoss. Tassadar grunted in pain as the illusions dissipated and he was once more forced to retreat.
Continuing his advance, Tartarus swung his hammer for Tassadar, looking to finally put him down. But even in his injured state, Tassadar was graceful and dextrous in his movements. Bending back, Tassadar avoided the Brute's wild swing, quickly side stepping with a spin as he moved to Tartarus' flank. As he spun, Tassadar brought his psi-blade low, slashing at the back of Tartarus' leg. The Chieftain howled as the blade sliced through his calf and he fell to one knee, no longer able to support his own weight.
Taking in the pain, Tartarus used it to fuel his connection to the Dark Side. The Force collected around him, focusing within until it exploded out. Tassadar was slammed backwards by the wave of telekinetic Force energy, taking him off his feet as he was sent crashing to the ground.
Snarling at the fallen Protoss, Tartarus took a slow, limping step towards Tassadar, raising his gravity hammer to execute his opponent. Before he could drop his weapon however, Tartarus was then impacted by a massive figure crashing into him. The two fell back and collapsed on the ground in a heap. It didn't take long for Tassadar to identify who was flung into his opponent. White armor currently stained with blood, and one of his wings broken off, Dominus Ghaul groaned as he pushed himself off of the Brute.
The sound of boots hitting the dirt beside him stole Tassadar's attention briefly. Looking at the source, he saw a ragged looking Cayde-6, clothes slightly smoking as he put out his solar flames.
"Hey there T, how you doing?" Cayde asked as he reloaded his revolver.
Pushing himself up to stand beside his colleague, Tassadar remarked, "All things considered, it could be going better."
Meanwhile, Tatarus roared as he threw the injured Ghaul off of him. "Get off me, fool! You are in my way!"
Ghaul rolled on the ground once before the Dominus was able to stop his momentum and snarl at Tartarus. "That's what I should be saying you dumb animal!"
Tatarus growled in response to Ghaul's insult, taking a step forward before a light appeared below him.
"You know, growling isn't exactly the best way to prove you're not an animal." Church quipped as his hologram appeared between Ghaul and Tartarus. He then turned to face the Dominus and said, "Also, you're both pretty dumb for having an argument in the middle of a battlefield."
The two warlords looked down at the AI in confusion, before they then both turned to look back at their opponents. Standing together against them was not only Tassadar and Cayde, crackling with psi-lightning and Solar fire respectively, but the Clone Commando Sev as well, currently hefting the Meta's Bruteshot and aiming right at them. Before the two villains could say anything, the three heroes fired everything they had at the duo. Fire, lightning, and fragmentation consumed the area, creating a cloud of acrid smoke that stung Tassadar's eyes. Once said smoke cleared, all that was left of Tartarus and Ghaul were charred meat and burnt chunks of armor.
The death of Tartarus immediately sent out reverberations throughout the nearby Covenant forces. What Grunts, Jackals, and even low ranked Brutes that were still alive suddenly found that with their leader dead, there was very little reason for them to stay and fight on this hellscape. Fear blanketed the Covenant as they ran, fear that attracted more and more Grimm to them, giving the Legionnaires a moment of reprieve as the forces of Chaos collapsed in on themselves.
Now having a chance to catch his breath, Tassadar turned to Cayde and Sev and asked, "Where are the others?"
Cayde shrugged. "Last I saw, Rylanor was fighting against that Dragon. No clue where Wynne or Johnson are."
When they looked at Sev and Church beside him, Sev shook his head. "Six didn't make it."
Cayde muttered a curse beneath his breath while Tassadar only stoically nodded. As this happened a massive impact stole all of their attention as Rylanor dropped from the sky and landed between all of them. Within Rylanor's power claw, was the form of the Grimm Wyvern, thrashing and screaming as it flailed with torn wings.
The Grimm snapped at Rylanor, but he kept a strong grip upon its neck. The impact of the fall having snapped off one of his legs, Rylanor pulled himself forward as he aimed his assault cannon at the Wyvern's head. Barrels spun with violent purpose as bullets roared out of the gun. Within moments, the Wyvern's head was hollowed out and Grimm's violent thrashing ceased.
With the beast dead, Rylanor pushed himself up so he was seated in front of his allies. "I… have returned." the Ancient One boomed out.
"That you have." Tassadar flatly responded, not thrown off by Rylanor's entrance.
Church's hologram appeared next to Rylanor, examining the damage to his legs. "Damn big guy, I don't think we're going to get you moving anytime soon."
"It matters not, little machine spirit." Rylanor grunted. "Use me as a defensive position. I may not be able to move, but I can still serve as a turret, if nothing else."
"Works for me, but what's the plan now?" Church tilted his head as he looked at Tassadar. "Casualty reports from the Geth are not looking good. It'll only be a matter of time before all the platforms we brought are all gone."
Propping himself up on Cayde, Tassadar looked out at the battlefield, watching as the Grimm collapsed not only on the Geth, but their allied Covenant and Imperial forces. "We will hold this position. Our power is concentrated here, and the Grimm are too numerous for us to escape, but we can at least rest and fortify this area while they are distracted."
As the others nodded, another voice called out as they took a minute to rest.
"There you all are!" the harried voice of Wynne huffed out as she ran to their position. "It was a good thing I saw Rylanor dropping from the sky like that. He was a rather good lead for me to find all of you."
Wynne's eyes then widened as she looked at them and saw the extent of Tassadar's injuries. Immediately she ran up to him and began casting a healing spell. As Tassadar's flesh knit, he looked at Wynne, then behind her, as if looking for something.
"Where is the Sergeant?" Tassadar asked, looking back down at the healer.
Wynne looked up and met Tassadar's inquisitive gaze with a sad one of her own. Wynne shook her head, her face becoming hard as she focused back on her work.
The group was silent for several moments, until Church broke the silence with a quiet, "Fuck…"
Tassadar sighed as Wynne finished her treatment. Standing, he looked at his allies around him, tired, beaten, but still standing.
"Legionnaires. Our task is not over yet. We have lost much, friends, allies, and we will lose more before the day is done. But we stand here knowing that we are doing our duty, holding back the tide of darkness and chaos as Shepard and the others finish this fight. And though we may perish here today, our enemies will know loss and pain a thousand times more than they inflict! And when we pass into the next life, we shall pass knowing that we did not retreat! We did not cower! But that we fought for the right of life for all who come after us. And let those who will exist long after we are gone know, that we held the line! En Taro Adun!" Tassadar roared as he raised his psi-blade into the air.
Around him, his allies cheered in unison before turning around to face the encroaching horde of darkness around them.
Pyrrha felt her face fall as she watched Shepard's broken form float, suspended in the air by the Amalgamation's powers. Commander Shepard, the person who for all intents and purposes, had become Pyrrha's rock and best friend here in the Final Destination, was hanging limp as the Amalgamation crushed her body. Without a second thought, the monster then threw the Commander's broken form away, her body ragdolling before ingloriously slamming into a pillar. When the commander's body hit the ground, Pyrrha heard a scream.
She then realised that it was her screaming as she charged for the Amalgamation, tears streaming down her face. Pyrrha leapt at the Amalgamation, swinging both her blades wildly as she kept screaming. Rage suffused her entire being as she decided she would tear this monster apart with her bare hands if she had to. Pounds and pounds of burnt, blackened flesh melted off the monster's body and fell to the floor.
Galen joined the attack, not wanting to let Pyrrha fight on her own. He swung his own lightsaber, each slash cutting off limbs and bone as he hacked at the Amalgamation as well. But the battle looked pointless. Every pound of flesh removed was soon regenerated with another pound of blackened meat. Every limb cut off only produced two that regrew to take its place.
In retaliation, the Amalgamation roared, surrounding himself in black miasma as he swung his staff, creating 3 orbs of purple magic. Pyrrha and Galen jumped back to avoid being choked by the gas, and the orbs flew after Pyrrha. With a backflip Pyrrha leapt away and gained several feet of distance. But the orbs of light chased after her with frightening speed and autonomy.
With a twirl, Pyrrha would dodge one ball, only for a second to strike at the end of her movement. When Pyrrha deflected that orb with her lightsaber, the third orb would strike at her from behind, hoping to catch her unaware. Pyrrha would jump and flip over that attack, only to be continually harried by the first two orbs returning for more.
While the orbs tied down Pyrrha, the Amalgamation coated itself in a cloak of flames as he howled again and charged at Galen. Galen hissed as the monster moved far faster than a creature of its mass should as the body of Nihilus atop it swung his lightsaber at him. Bringing up his own lightsaber, Galen parried the blow, but the Amalgamation followed up with the golden staff he held in his left hand. Using the Staff of Magnus Galen held in his own off hand, he blocked the follow up strike as well, but the raw weight and power behind the swing sent Galen flying back. Galen crashed into a black stone wall, cracking the material as he fell to the ground as well.
With the two Legionnaires currently taken out, the Amalgamation turned to the fallen, broken body of Shepard. Shepard's gaze, weak as it was, slowly flicked over to the approaching Amalgamation. The Commander couldn't feel anything below her chest, and every breath was labored and painful. But regardless, she still found the strength to hold up her shotgun with one hand and fire a plasma bolt at the Amalgamation. The searing superheated gas did nothing to the monster as it kept running at her. Shepard lined up another shot and fired again. Once more, the plasma had no effect.
The Amalgamation closed in, and Shepard closed her eyes as she accepted the end that was about to come. But before death could take her again, the sound of a lightsaber activating echoed through the chamber, followed by the sound of the Amalgamation screaming.
Opening her eyes, Shepard saw the form of Thane, dual-wielding a pair of green and red lightsabers, currently sliding the down side of the Amalgamation as he dug both blades into its side. From the shadows of the ceiling above them, Grey Fox jumped down and joined the Drell, dual-wielding his Fox Blade and a crimson katana that he too sunk into the back of the Amalgamation. The Amalgamation howled in pain, bucking and thrashing trying to throw them off. When neither assassin proved willing to move, the Amalgamation forced their hand by diving into a shadowy portal in the ground, making them to leap off lest they be sucked into the Abyss as well.
Thane landed beside Shepard, concern covering his face as he approached her. "Commander!" he called out as he moved to kneel beside her. It was only now that Shepard saw the staff on his back, the same staff that Grand Admiral Thrawn had used to drain Lileath of her powers back in the Temple of Order.
"Focus on the fight!" Shepard snapped at him with what force she could project. "I'm done for, finish this!"
Thane froze midstep, his face becoming hard as he nodded and turned back around, focusing on the monster before him. Deactivating his lightsabers, Thane reached for the Scepter of Ragnos on his back, gripping it tightly as he aimed it at the demigod. With a roar, Thane activated the staff, and a bolt of orange lightning shot out of it, slamming into the Amalgamation's grotesque body. The Amalgamation roared in return, not in fury like Thane, but in pain. The Scepter had an immediate effect on the monster, not only slowing it down, but the Amalgamation seemed to physically deflate, and its jet black, almostly oily flesh seemed to lose its sheen.
The rest of the Legion did not stand idly by as the Amalgamation howled in pain. With both swords in his hands, Gray Fox charged forward once more, having an easy approach as the Amalgamation couldn't attack. With a flash of inhuman speed, Gray Fox appeared in front of the Amalgamation and spun, becoming like a buzz saw in appearance. The first cut sliced off the left hand of Nihilus, causing him to drop the golden staff he was carrying. As Gray Fox fell with gravity, blackened limbs and flesh went flying as Fox blended his way down the Amalgamation.
The Nihilus half of the Amalgamation looked down on Gray Fox, rage contorting his very form. Despite the pain, the Amalgamation spun, it's bony tail whipping Gray Fox. Fox's blades dug into the tail before it struck, but there was just too much mass behind the attack, and the cyborg ninja found himself unable to block. The tail slammed into Gray Fox's chest, sending him crashing into the ground. Reforming Nihilus' left hand, the Amalgamation then sent out a wave of Warp fire to consume Gray Fox in both body and soul.
Right before the fire struck however, Gray Fox was coated in a black glow, and found himself dragged away, his metallic body scraping against the obsidian floor. When he finally came to a stop, he looked up and saw the armored form of Pyrrha, who was able to destroy the orbs of fire harrying her, standing above him. Gray Fox gave a silent thanks to the Patriots for making his exoskeleton magnetic.
As the Warp Fire hit nothing but stone and air, the Amalgamation hissed as he tracked Gray Fox, focusing on him and Pyrrha. The Amalgamation took one step towards them when he was then blasted back by a telekinetic wave.
Falling to the ground, the Amalgamation turned to the attacker as saw Galen rapidly approaching. The hand of Nihilus extended and attempted to fling the former Sith assassin away with his own Force powers. Unfortunately for him however, the Force did not seem to heed his call. The head of Nihilus looked at his hand in confusion, before he clenched his fist in rage as he turned to look back at Thane, realizing the scepter was stripping him of the Force itself.
Before he could chase after the Drell however, Galen arrived and stabbed into his flank once more with his lightsaber. The Amalgamation roared, turning Nihilus' body to face Galen as he sneered. Knowing he couldn't draw upon the Force, he instead drew on the power of the Warp. Chaotic lightning coated his arm and he flung it at Galen. Withdrawing his lightsaber from the monster, Galen used it to absorb the electric energy, but impact alone was enough to send Galen flying away once more.
With the Jedi gone, the Amalgamation continued his pursuit of Thane. Eyes widening as he saw the Amalgamation's attention was solely on him, Thane picked the wisest of options and stopped draining and began running. Turning around and sprinting as fast as he could, Thane could hear the Amalgamation crashing through pillars and stonework as he chased after him. The entire throne room shook as the monster threatened to bring the ceiling down on their very heads, burying them underground.
Behind Thane, the rest of the Legion charged in once more, Hell bent on stopping the Amalgamation before he reached their friend. Without hesitation Pyrrha, Gray Fox, and Galen all jumped into the fray, weapons raised as they all aimed to kill the monster in front of them.
Time seemed to slow for the Amalgamation as he saw the Legionnaires converging around him, each thrusting their weapons forward to run him through. And for a creature at least partially borne of the Warp, time very well might have been. Before any of the attacks could hit, the Amalgamation called upon his power borne of Kairos Fateweaver. Reciting words penned by Tzeentch himself, the Amalgamation tore into the minds of those around him, befuddling and cursing them.
Thane, Galen, and Gray Fox all fell to the ground, screaming as the hallucinations began to take root in their minds. Gray Fox screamed like he was on fire, patting and smacking himself as he rolled on the ground, while Galen swung his lightsaber wildy at enemies that didn't exist. Thane fell to the ground and began convulsing, vomiting all over himself as his mind seemed to break.
With all of his enemies fallen before him, the Amalgamation stood triumphant over the Legion. All but one of the Legion. Turning, the Amalgamation looked at the only warrior of order still standing, Pyrrha Nikos, her body glowing gold as the Blessing of the Lady rendered her immune to the sorcerous wiles of the Amalgamation.
Seeing she was the only one still standing, Pyrrha growled softly, knowing it was now just up to her. And so despite the exhaustion of her body, Pyrrha charged once more into the fray. Focusing her Aura into her legs, Pyrrha launched herself at Nihilus' body. The Amalgamation reacted quickly, bringing up his lightsaber to block Pyrrha's attack.
The two crossed blades, the righteous rage of Pyrrha clashing directly with the primal, destructive nature of the Amalgamation. Pivoting quickly, Pyrrha pushed Nihilus' lightsaber to the side and stabbed him in the flank with Miló. When the Amalgamation cried out in pain, she moved to silence him by thrusting her lightsaber straight through his throat.
Before she could accomplish this however, a blackened hand gripped her wrist from behind. Twisting her head, she saw that two new limbs had grown out of the body of the Amalgamation, one grabbing onto her arm to stop the attack, and the second gripping her leg. Before Pyrrha had a chance to react, the hand gripping onto her leg threw Pyrrha down to the ground, slamming her into the obsidian floor once more.
As Pyrrha's body bounced off the ground, the Amalgamation then released a storm of lightning to put down the huntress. But Pyrrha's own supernatural reflexes kicked in as she used her Polarity to move Akoúo̱ in front of her, interposing it between her and the attack. The lightning splashed across the face of the Plasma-reinforced shield, only stopping when the Amalgamation saw it was not working.
When the Amalgamation dropped his attack, Pyrrha immediately countered, flinging Akoúo̱ forward with her Polarity. But instead of hitting him, Akoúo̱ went wide, circling around the Amalgamation as he telekinetically ripped control over the shield from the tired Pyrrha. Akoúo̱ then slammed into Pyrrha's stomach, the impact alone cracking the ground beneath her as she felt her own crimson Aura break from the impact.
Tired, injured, and out of Aura, Pyrrha looked up defiantly at the Amalgamation. But even with all of her years of experience combined with her divine blessing, Pyrrha couldn't help but see the battle as hopeless. She alone was standing against the Amalgamation, and she wasn't strong enough. This monster was just too much. Everything that they threw at it was just shrugged off as an annoyance. It was just a being of such a different order of magnitude that she questioned why she was even there in the first place. These thoughts continued to roll around in her mind, dragging her down as despair set in. That is, until Pyrrha began to glow with a soft, blue light.
Then, all thoughts of despair and hopelessness disappeared from her mind. In its place was simple, cold focus and pure determination. Unknown to both Pyrrha and the Amalgamation, Shepard, who was still off to the side and ignored by the Amalgamation's psychics attacks, glew a similar blue. Half conscious and barely clinging to life, Shepard called upon her Semblance, Battle Meditation to strengthen Pyrrha's resolve and bolstering her skill.
Pushing herself up, Pyrrha and the Amalgamation stared each other down. The Amalgamation could feel the resolve coming off of Pyrrha, and they both knew that the next exchange would decide the battle. Despite the lack of Aura protecting her, Pyrrha could still call upon her Semblance, and used her Polarity to levitate Miló, Akoúo̱, and her lightsaber around her.
Then Pyrrha reached out and with her Semblance grabbed the two weapons that had the most effect on the Amalgamation this whole fight, the Staff of Magnus from Galen and the Scepter of Ragnos from Thane. The Staffs flew into Pyrrha's left and right hand respectively as Pyrrha felt the weight of all of her friends' lives on her shoulders. This was it, she would have to stop the Amalgamation here and now, or all would be lost. And she would not lose. Pyrrha charged forward one final time.
Swinging his arm in defiance, the Amalgamation threw a ball of Warpfire at Pyrrha. As it flew towards her, the fireball grew in size, eventually reaching a diameter that exceeded Pyrrha's own height. As it approached, Pyrrha extended her left arm, raising the Staff of Magnus high. Calling upon the magic artifact, a beam of crackling blue energy extended from the staff, slamming into the fireball. Upon making contact, the Warpfire began to shrink, until it ultimately dissipated completely.
With the fireball now gone, Pyrrha continued her charge forward. Growling in agitation, the Amalgamation extended his hand out once more, time creating a storm of orange lightning as he attempted to drain Pyrrha of her very life force. As the Amalgamation did this, Pyrrha countered by extending the Scepter of Ragnos and releasing her own Force Drain.
The two conflicting storms of Force Drain slammed into one another, and ultimately cancelled each other out. With this attack stopped as well, Pyrrha was able to get into melee with the monster once more. Without hesitation, the Amalgamation swung his lightsaber for Pyrrha, but with a quick thought, Pyrrha's shield moved to intercept. At the same time, Pyrrha stabbed the Scepter of Ragnos forward, the two prongs at the end of the staff piercing the torso of Darth Nihilus.
With a roar, Pyrrha began using her Force Drain upon Nihlus once more, this time draining him from the very inside of his body. The Amalgamation shrieked in pain as he felt his connection to the Force once more being stripped from his very body, twisting and flailing as his body began to gray and lose life. But Pyrrha wasn't done yet. With the Staff of Magnus in her other hand, she twirled the magic artifact and thrust it into the meaty, slug-like body of the Amalgamation itself. Once more drawing upon its power, Pyrrha began to drain the Warp-based and Divine magic out of the Amalgamation.
With all sources of his power being taken away from him, the Amalgamation felt something he hadn't felt since first forming, fear. Without either his magic or his Force, he no longer had access to the powers which sustained his regeneration. He was vulnerable.
In a mad, almost panicked attack, the Amalgamation swung his lightsaber at Pyrrha, hoping to kill her through an overwhelming flurry. But with the almost computer-like efficiency Shepard's Battle Meditation granted her, Pyrrha was able to call upon her Semblance to use Akoúo̱ to protect her from all of the Amalgamation's attacks while she stripped the Amalgamation of his powers
Pyrrha's shield moved to block his lightsaber, the plasma shielding around it allowing it to defend against the plasma blade. Meanwhile, Miló and Pyrrha's lightsaber rose up behind her crossing in an X behind her. The blades reoriented themselves, aiming right for Nihilus' neck. With a final thought Pyrrha crossed the blades, severing Nihilus' head from his body.
With such a mortal wound, combined with the lack of regenerative powers, the Amalgamation's body began to flake away, dissolving as if he were turned to ash. With that one final attack, the Amalgamation was dead, and with it, the soul of Kairos Fateweaver was sent back into the realm of Chaos. The game between the forces of Order and Chaos was finished in their favor.
However, all that paled in import as with combat finished, Pyrrha immediately ran over to Shepard.
"Jane!" Pyrrha cried out as she slid to knees beside Shepard. Gently placing her hand behind the Commander's head, Pyrrha turned Shepard to look at her.
Shepard blearily met Pyrrha's tearful eyes, and gave her a small smile. "Hey Pyr, you did it." she weakly congratulated between wheezing breaths. "You're a big damn hero."
Pyrrha couldn't help but chuckle at that between her tears. "I couldn't have done without your help. Without everyone's help." Pyrrha briefly turned to look at the others, who were all groggily standing up. With the Amalgamation defeated, so was his hold on their minds broken.
"We helped, but you got the killing blow Pyr." Shepard coughed again. "You're a hero Pyrrha, like I always knew you were. And don't you forget… it…" Shepard's head fell to the side as she lost consciousness.
"Commander!" Pyrrha shouted at the top of her lungs to no avail. And to Pyrrha's horror, Commander Jane Shepard's body began to dissolve away in her hands.
As the Commander's body disappeared, Pyrrha looked at the floating dust around her in horror, as she then realized that the entire Citadel of Chaos around her was dissolving as well.
Outside of the Citadel, Tassadar, Sev, Wynne, Cayde, Rylanor, and Church all stood back to back, surrounded by an unending horde of Grimm. Grim faced and focused in their resolve, the Legionnaires were all ready to face their doom, when suddenly the Grimm began to die. It began slowly, with a few Beowolves or Ursai, but suddenly a wave of death exploded through their ranks as Grimm just began to fall over and dissolve.
The heroes only had a brief moment to ponder their confusion when the thunderous sound of crashing stone stole their attention. Turning towards the source, they all watched as the Citadel of Chaos was dissolving, causing chunks of obsidian to fall from the colossal structure and crash to the ground.
"They must've done it!" a bloody Wynne cheered as she watched the Citadel collapse. "They killed the Amalgamation."
Tassadar nodded his head at Wynne's words. "Our allies are strong. It does not surprise me that they saw this through."
However, not all present seemed to share the enthusiasm of the others.
"Aw man." Cayde moaned. "First Oryx and now this? How come I never get to be the one to kill the big bad guy anymore?"
A holographic Church patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, maybe you'll get to do it next time." As he said this, Church noticed that his holographic hands began to disappear. "Speaking of though, I have to say it's nice to be on this side of the happy ending though. I'll see you all later. You can catch me chillin 'with T3, Six, and Johnson!" and with that Church's form blinked out of existence.
Cayde looked at the spot that Church once occupied, before noticing he was vanishing as well. Glancing at his transparent hands, then at the others around him, Cayde gave them all a sad smile. "Yeah… next time." And Cayde faded away.
Sev stumbled forward, feeling his soul being pulled next. Looking to his allies, he said, "I have to say, while you weren't my brothers, fighting with all of you, wasn't that bad." With that gruff statement, the hunter vanished from sight.
"For what purpose is this melancholy?" Rylanor's mechanical voice boomed out as the mighty dreadnought too began to fade. "We are victorious against the Great Enemy, and for that we shall take our places amongst the Emperor's finest! Do not mourn, but celebrate, for we have done our duty. And it is now that our duty ends." With Rylanor's proud and honorable words echoing through the sky, he too vanished.
"I swear I will never understand that one." Wynne chuckled at Rylanor's words before she turned to Tassadar, as they were the only two left. "I suppose this is goodbye friend. You better take care of yourself in the future, I won't always be there to heal you." With that playful scolding, Wynne then faded away.
Tassadar, now standing alone, looked back at the collapsing Citadel of Chaos. "Congratulations, Commander. The abomination is dead, and the universe, safe. May Adun watch over all of you. Goodbye, and good luck." And with that, Tassadar passed on once more.
Back inside the Citadel of Chaos, the rest of the surviving heroes gathered around Pyrrha, watching as their commander disappeared from this world.
"You did it." Galen breathlessly said as he looked at Pyrrha. "You beat him. We won, and the realms are all safe."
It was then that Galen noticed the dissolving world around them. At his surprise, Thane and Gray Fox noticed as well.
"And it appears that with the Amalgamation gone, so too are the Forces of Chaos that were holding this realm together." Thane noted as his hands began to fade. "With them gone, Lileath should be able to return and reforge the Final Destination back into what it was supposed to be, a Haven for lost souls, and escape from this twisted game."
As Thane faded further, he turned to the final resting place of Commander Shepard. "It appears our positions are reversed this time, Siha. I will admit that this is not something I am happy with. But even so, this is a good end." The assassin then looked to the rest of his comrades. "I think I've had enough fighting for a good while." And Thane vanished from their sight.
"It is such a strange thing, for good to come out of all this violence." Gray Fox spoke next as he dissolved away. "Now that this is done, perhaps I can finally know peace." Gray Fox opened up his helmet to Galen and Pyrrha, and gave them the first smile they'd ever seen on his face before he disappeared.
Taking note of his own disappearing body, Galen put one hand on Pyrrha's shoulder. "I suppose I'll see you in the next life." Pyrrha looked up at him sadly. "Goodbye Pyrrha, and may the Force be with you, always." Galen then vanished, leaving behind nothing to indicate he was ever there.
As the world faded away around her, collapsing into nothingness, Pyrrha couldn't help but feel… content. Despite everything that happened, all of the losses and hardships she and her friends had to endure, they had done. She had done it. Pyrrha helped stop a great evil, and saved the multiverse! For the first time in both her and previous life, she truly felt like she was a hero.
"Boy do I have a story to tell Jaune and others next time I see them." Pyrrha smiled to herself as she faded away as a hero.
A/N, 9/20/21: Well here we are, the end of the road. Writing Legion of the Damned has been a time, and even now I don't know how I feel about it. On one hand, this story was my first real attempt at fanfiction over 2 years ago, and my first attempt at writing long form fiction in general. And as the saying goes, you never forget your first.
But to be honest, I had fallen off interest in writing this story like… last year. But I made a promise to myself when I started writing this story that I would finish it, and the fact that I didn't want to leave all the readers hanging without a big conclusion was a big part of it too. Now, like I did with Jaune Arc, Lord of Hunger, I'm going to do a little post mortem on this story to go over what I think I did right and wrong, so I can really learn and grow from this.
Post Mortem.
What I did good:
Finishing this Story. This was a beast of a story that, at times, flew by the seat of its pants. But I did it, and I'm damn proud of it.
The outline. Similar to Jaune Arc, Lord of Hunger, the outline is what saved this fic. I ran out of motivation and steam writing this story about a year ago, and if I didn't have my outline to actually draw upon, I wouldn't have been able to actually pump out the rest of the chapters.
Action scenes. Half reason I started this fic was that I wanted to have some kick ass Final Fantasy Dissidia/Super Smash Bros/Deathbattle fights between some cool characters, and I think I accomplished that. There are tons of scenes I love in this fic, the sparring match between Galen and Shepard, Pyrrha going full Magneto during the battle of the Temple of Order, Rylanor punching a Reaper in the shin, lots of fun times were had.
The characters. I feel like I got a really good feel over some of the characters. Shepard, Pyrrha, and Church were some of my favorites to write. Funnily enough, I picked too many stoic, badass characters for the OG squad, which resulted in me not knowing what to do with them outside of combat until I figured out how to play with them.
What wasn't so good:
The general story. I went into this fic with an idea. I, somewhat arrogantly, wanted my first fic to be an original story, but didn't really realize how much went into creating something like that and I feel like the general plot of this fic was rather mediocre. This is also combined with a lot of inconsistent pacing throughout due to me not really knowing how to properly structure a story.
Not enough time World Building. Ironically enough, I created the Final Destination as an amalgamation of different worlds because while I wanted an original story, I didn't want to put the time into creating an original world, so I combined a bunch. However, this resulted in a bunch of other work I had to later do to figure out the hows and whys the world worked, a lot of which was hand waved away anyway.
Future Plans:
Unfortunately, unlike Jaune Arc, Lord of Hunger, I probably won't do any other stories in this world. I had fun with it while it lasted, and learned a lot for writing a story, and I am happy to put Legion of the Damned on the proverbial shelf and continue on to other stories. If you are interested I currently have 2 WIPs, a RWBY+Skyrim Crossover Spinner of Webs and a Worm+W40k Crossover called Flesh is Weak, in addition to a few other projects.
Special Thanks:
I would like to thank everyone who has followed, favorited, and reviewed this story. There are a few constant reviewers I'd like to shout out, including ptl, Slim A Lou Prime (this guy is actually the one who commented and got me to write more interactions between characters), TheDoctor1998, Dekuton, Brother Bov, MarauderPrime12, Hunter Zickafoose, nilochristou, djmegamouth, and many others! You guys have been regular commenters and I'm happy I was able to entertain all of you.
So with that, all I can say is this story has been a time, and I'd like to thank you all again for reading. I hope you all enjoyed this story, and I'll see you all in the next story!