12-09-2015, 04:01 PM
As Tartaros angrily tried in vain to tear his way through the wreckage, his vision slowly faded, to be replaced with only a single image in his mind... The blazing figures of hundreds, thousands of men, women and xenos alike, charging headfirst through darkness into a black abyss. No heed of their own lives, shouting prayers and battle-cries whilst flinging themselves towards the advancing tendrils of the dark. Yet, with each light that faded away, the abyss was driven back further... After what seemed like hours, the pitch-coloured darkness was left a minuscule shadow of itself, and the burning figures faded as they uttered a final cry.
"De tenebris lucem! De tenebris lucem! Nobis non enim timemus!"
"Argh!"
Greeted by a disturbed spasm and the all too familiar feeling of cold sweat dripping down his face, the Astartes awoke to find a familiar, knitted face obnoxiously grinning on the sterile white ground. He was back in the Nexus, back to the beginning...
"Took ya long enough, big guy. Must have really taken a beating from that kid to end up back here. Could walk to the arena and back with how long you been out."
Tararos rubbed his newly-burned face in a mix of pain and confusion. "Oh... it's just you. Yeah, little bastard really wanted to make sure I stayed down. Was sly about it too, trying to act all innocent and scared."
The puppet let out a short, shrill laugh, not entirely dissimilar to the whooping of a gibbon. "Hah... Well, life's a bitch sometimes."
Shrugging, the marine's mouth twisted into a small half-smile, "All too true, all too true..."
"So, the hell we heading to now?", the sock-monkey leaped onto his shoulder, "suckas need to be taught a lesson 'bout messing with us! Let's move!"
Leaning against the Fountain, Tartaros looked across the vast wasteland of marble that was the Nexus. Nothing but white for miles around. Nothing seemed to change around here... The only sounds were of footsteps in the distance, the only smell was one of icy stone, even the dust gently falling to the ground simply... evaporated. There was only peace.
Reaching into his bag, the Tartaros spoke again. "Hrm... you know what? We could just stay here a while.", eventually, he pulled out a single grey plastic dataslate, "And besides, I have something I'd like to check."
"Dammit man... Fine.", the puppet whined, "But can ya make it quick? I got a few... erm... wagers I'd like to keep up on."
"Right, if it'll shut you up for a moment.", Tartaros grumbled, tapping the device's screen.
The dataslate began to whir for a moment, before bursting to life. The man dragged his index finger across the screen, clumsily attempting to navigate the depths of the Dataverse. "I swear... there should be some coverage of that tournament around here..."
"A-ha! Found it!", searching a page of brackets, Tartaros found only two names he recognized. The Bandit With No Name and a one Okor Paleblood. "Well I'll be damned", he said with an amused tone in his voice, "she got him..."
Just as the Astartes began to pass the device towards his companion, a strange beep came from its speaker. Drawing his eyes back to the screen, Tartaros found a single, bright pop-up in its center, with the image of a smiling yellow face on it. Underneath the strange icon were two sentences, in white block capitals. A line saying "Pesteromni - The Brand New Program For All Your Messaging Needs!" above it, and a button saying "Install now." below it. Out of pure curiosity, the man pressed the latter.
"De tenebris lucem! De tenebris lucem! Nobis non enim timemus!"
-----
"Argh!"
Greeted by a disturbed spasm and the all too familiar feeling of cold sweat dripping down his face, the Astartes awoke to find a familiar, knitted face obnoxiously grinning on the sterile white ground. He was back in the Nexus, back to the beginning...
"Took ya long enough, big guy. Must have really taken a beating from that kid to end up back here. Could walk to the arena and back with how long you been out."
Tararos rubbed his newly-burned face in a mix of pain and confusion. "Oh... it's just you. Yeah, little bastard really wanted to make sure I stayed down. Was sly about it too, trying to act all innocent and scared."
The puppet let out a short, shrill laugh, not entirely dissimilar to the whooping of a gibbon. "Hah... Well, life's a bitch sometimes."
Shrugging, the marine's mouth twisted into a small half-smile, "All too true, all too true..."
"So, the hell we heading to now?", the sock-monkey leaped onto his shoulder, "suckas need to be taught a lesson 'bout messing with us! Let's move!"
Leaning against the Fountain, Tartaros looked across the vast wasteland of marble that was the Nexus. Nothing but white for miles around. Nothing seemed to change around here... The only sounds were of footsteps in the distance, the only smell was one of icy stone, even the dust gently falling to the ground simply... evaporated. There was only peace.
Reaching into his bag, the Tartaros spoke again. "Hrm... you know what? We could just stay here a while.", eventually, he pulled out a single grey plastic dataslate, "And besides, I have something I'd like to check."
"Dammit man... Fine.", the puppet whined, "But can ya make it quick? I got a few... erm... wagers I'd like to keep up on."
"Right, if it'll shut you up for a moment.", Tartaros grumbled, tapping the device's screen.
The dataslate began to whir for a moment, before bursting to life. The man dragged his index finger across the screen, clumsily attempting to navigate the depths of the Dataverse. "I swear... there should be some coverage of that tournament around here..."
"A-ha! Found it!", searching a page of brackets, Tartaros found only two names he recognized. The Bandit With No Name and a one Okor Paleblood. "Well I'll be damned", he said with an amused tone in his voice, "she got him..."
Just as the Astartes began to pass the device towards his companion, a strange beep came from its speaker. Drawing his eyes back to the screen, Tartaros found a single, bright pop-up in its center, with the image of a smiling yellow face on it. Underneath the strange icon were two sentences, in white block capitals. A line saying "Pesteromni - The Brand New Program For All Your Messaging Needs!" above it, and a button saying "Install now." below it. Out of pure curiosity, the man pressed the latter.