Sup everyone. I haven't been around for a while. But I came back with an extra-long one. Hope you like it
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The war had fractured the skies over Mount Othrys and the ground around the mountain, turning it into a landscape of violent destruction. The Titans on one side and half of the Greek Pantheon on the other. Across five fronts, the battle erupted chaotically, meant to put an end to the order as the world had known it to this date and establish a new one. One under the authority of Neoth.
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North-Western Front — Demeter & Custodes Primarch Antonius vs. Iapetus
The IVth Custodes Legion advanced in an unbreakable phalanx formation, their Auramite armour glinting in the light of explosions and attacks from Helios in the sky. Primarch Custodes Antonius, towering over his brothers, implacable, moved at their head. Beside him stood Demeter. She created two sickles, which she held raised and ready for the attack. Her demeanour had changed from her usual one. For some reason, the experience she had changed something in her. Here was someone, her brother Neoth, who was powerful, but to whom she wasn't uninteresting or unimportant. From all their siblings, Neoth had recreated her, Hestia and Hades first. So he saw something in her, and that made her happy for some reason.
Having entered the right mindset, every movement radiated the fury of a goddess who had been wronged. Her father had swallowed her whole and forced her and her siblings to remain in his stomach for ages. Together, Demeter and the Custodes Primarch faced Iapetus, Titan of mortal life, whose aura corroded the immortality of all it touched.
Antonius lunged, his Adrathic Spear flaring with an immense heat as its beam pierced across the field. The air shrieked as the shot hit home, tearing through Iapetus's left shoulder and unravelling matter, spraying golden ichor through the air.
"AAAAHHHH!" the Titan roared in pain.
Demeter used this moment instantly, her voice a sharp cry to the earth, causing the ground itself to erupt, spearing up thick, thorned vines. They coiled about the Titan's legs, tightening until the bark split and drank of divine blood, making them a bit stronger in the process.
"YOU INSECTS!"
Iapetus's roar was a loud detonation, the shockwave hurling the attacking Custodians from their feet. The plants which Demeter created blackened and collapsed into ash under his aura of mortality. Yet the IVth did not pause, the Custodes fanned out in perfect formation, each warrior exploiting a different angle of attack.
Sentinel Guards advanced, creating shield walls, locking their Praesidium Shields to draw the Titan's gaze while their brothers moved high on jump packs, raining bolter rounds into Iapetus's face and body. Aquilon Terminators hammered at the Titan's flanks with Adrathic Destructors, cutting steaming arcs into the old Titan's armour.
At the same time, the swift forces circled wide, firing their weapons to herd Iapetus toward Antonius' killing zone. Their teamwork was impeccable, and despite setbacks or losses in their ranks, the mission was all that counted. Amid this orchestrated storm, Antonius was already a blur, moving forward and closing the gap. Iapetus turned to the attackers and sent out a wave of decaying energy, which was used to strike at him.
Antonius' Guardian Spear slashed through the air, cutting precise and merciless wounds into the Titan's flesh, upward sweeps that opened his ribs, downward cleaves that shattered bone.
"AAAAAHHHHHHH!!" the Titan roared in great pain, as his body was carved up.
The pain caused Iapetus to lose his focus as each of Antonius' blows was a masterstroke of killing technique, as if honed across centuries and now unleashed without restraint. Every strike was done, to do the Emperor's will, driving the god of mortal life back step by step into the waiting spears of the IVth Legion. The Custodes rammed their spears into the dying, bloodied body of Iapetus and made him drop to the ground.
Antonius stood above the Titan without delivering the killing stroke. His eyes locked with Demeter. Seeing the Custodes Primarch look at her, while she created thousands of vines to bind the Titan, unnerved her a bit. She still had PTSD from their encounter before.
"Finish him. It will matter later, the Emperor commands it," Antonius said, his voice low but unyielding.
Demeter raised an eyebrow.
"Uhh, it's not possible to kill a..." she started and then stopped, remembering what happened.
"How would I kill him. I am not capable of that," she said.
"His end is not your goal. You need to feel victory, strike him down, use your power to defeat this one," Antonius said.
Demeter nodded. Her sickles flashed through the air, guided by her rage at feeling inconsequential under Zeus' command and because Neoth had given the order. She leapt forward and drove both blades deep into the Titan's neck. Iapetus was healing at a visible rate and was starting to regain his consciousness. But he wasn't strong enough to do anything about the bindings at that moment, so his eyes widened helplessly as the sickles plunged into her neck, and his ichor burst out.
As the Titan gagged and choked, Antonius stepped in close, his gauntlet gripping her forearm to steady the kill stroke.
"Now, draw it in, take his ichor, his divine essence. The Emperor wills it to be so, for you to end him. It will strengthen you for what comes next."
Demeter's eyes widened, but she obeyed, channelling her power through her blades. The vines tightened, pulsing as they siphoned golden ichor and the raw vitality of Iapetus' life itself into her. The energy flooded her core like molten sunlight, burning yet strangely empowering, weaving into her own divinity. Normally, this wouldn't have been possible, but Antonius had used a special device, created by Neoth himself, to facilitate this process.
With a wrench and a cry to the earth, Demeter tore the god of mortal life down, his body dissolving into dust as the IVth declared the fight their victory.
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Northern Front — Hades & Hasturias vs. Atlas
From the north, the IXth C-Legion attacked. Custodes Primarch Hasturias was a storm, his Guardian Spear cutting arcs of death, while Hades moved like shadow and death as well. They worked well together. Atlas slammed his foot down with the weight of a falling moon, the earth shattering under his feet, and sending a shockwave through the Custodes ranks.
Hasturias met the god of strength and endurance head-on, spear against fist, sparks flying as the wargear of the IXth - which had been reinforced with Sage Force-crafted grav-lock bracing and shock-absorbing actuators explicitly built to counter the Titan's raw strength - absorbed the colossal impact. Still, the Primarch felt that blow a lot and was thankful that the wisdom of his Emperor had created gear that could withstand the onslaught.
Each Custodian in the front ranks bore reinforced Praesidium Shields layered with kinetic dispersers, groaning as Atlas' fists crashed against them with force that could shatter the tallest mountains with ease. Behind them, Custodes used their pain and unleashed volleys of attacks at the large Titan, their weapons tuned to punch through divine hide, while Aquilon Terminators fired coordinated Adrathic Destructor salvos to sear away the Titan's outer armour and dissolve him.
Hades struck from Atlas' blind spot, his blade cutting deep into Atlas' flank.
"AAAHHHHH!! CURSE YOU!"
A black flame hissed along the wound, even as the Titan boomed and retaliated. Atlas spun with impossible speed for his size, launching boulders the size of siege towers into the Custodians' formations, shattering earth and stone. Dozens of them were pierced and crashed into one another, but those behind filled the formation again, continuing their attack.
Atlas' fists blurred, one hammering into Hades' side with bone-cracking force, causing a rip to pierce his lung and sending the god of the Underworld hurtling across the charred earth, smashing Praesidium Shields and sending shockwaves through the ground.
Right afterwards, despite the damage he had suffered just now, Hades managed to duck under another swing and answered with a slash across Atlas' chest. The wound was smoking with death energy and fire. Hasturias saw the opportunity and pressed the assault, rushing across the ground and driving his spear into the Titan's knee with such force that the impact broke the femur bone, the patella and cracked the ground for meters around.
"RAAAHHHH!!" the titan roars in pain.
This forced Atlas down just as Hades' flames spread from the deepening cuts, not having gone out, wrapping the god of endurance in a sheet of shadow and pain.
Atlas roared defiance, even on one knee, his colossal, mighty fists smashing craters into the ground to force back the Custodians. But the IXth closed in again, their reinforced wargear deflecting killing blows.
Hasturias jumped across a collapsing ridge and landed beside Hades, addressing him, just as Antonius had addressed Demeter.
"Now, Hades. Use your power and absorb his ichor, his endurance. The Emperor wants you to grow, as endurance and strength are needed for a god who will rule the Underworld."
Hades' helm tilted in grim understanding. Nothing surprised him anymore. Not even the fact that the Custodes weren't bothered about his Helmet of Darkness. Black fire surged anew along his blade as he stabbed deep into Atlas' neck. Shadowy tendrils poured from the wound, siphoning the Titan's divine essence into the god of the Underworld. Atlas' roar turned into a strangled gasp as the last of his strength bled away.
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North-Eastern Front — Grey Knights, Paladins & Tybalus vs. Oceanus
The Xth C-Legion fought alongside the silver-armoured, newly established Grey Knights, sigils of warding blazing. Custodes Primarch Tybalus led the charge.
"No mercy. Strike until the sea heretic yields and breaks."
Oceanus rose from the sea, his voice like a grinding abyss as he hurled walls and spears of dark water into the advancing lines. Tidal waves rumbled down on the Custodes lines, but not one of them was worried. The Grey Knights' crests suddenly shone and charged with psychic power meant to crush both body and mind. From them, a white sheen of psychic energy rose and created a dome, protecting them from the masses of water.
The Custodes moved through the mist, every motion anchored by their limitless devotion to do the Emperor's will, while the Grey Knights locked their formation. Aegis armour flared in a silver light that stopped Oceanus' massive water waves. The amount of psychic energy they used to create the wards shimmered in the air around them, turning the water into harmless steam, which hissed.
Paladin Dvorek chose his moment, darting in between Oceanus' water attacks to hammer his Nemesis Force Halberd into Oceanus' foot. His two brothers, the other two Paladins, followed suit, each blow slicing through the Titan's divine flesh before retreating under the cover of the psychic barriers. Custodes Primarh Tybalus advanced through the maelstrom like a beacon, his golden armour streaming with boiling remnants of seawater and attacking furtively. Grandmaster Ignatius stepped forward. His presence was like a star to those who were physically inclined. His power was second only to Neoth at the moment in terms of sheer psychic power, but there were others who were still fresh and would grow strong in time. He narrowed his eyes and channelled his power, unleashing titanic psychic blasts that boiled the sea around Oceanus' torso, forcing him to stagger back.
"AAAHHHHHH!!"
Once again, a Titan roared in terrible pain. But this was a pain that assaulted the Titan physically as much as it did psychologically, so it was far worse. The Grey Knights' Librarian raised both hands, his will splitting the sea itself into towering walls, creating corridors for the Custodes and Grey Knights to storm forward.
Oceanus retaliated with a roar, biting through his damaged psyche, summoning a whirlpool that dragged men and wreckage alike into its heart. The Custodes anchored themselves with Sage Force-powere grav-lock boots, hurling psychic beams into the vortex to disrupt it, while the Paladins leapt from eddy to eddy, each landing punctuated by a strike to cripple joints or sever tendons. It was unreal and seemingly impossible what they could do if they put their minds to it.
"Now — drive him down!"
With a coordinated surge, golden and silver warriors slammed into Oceanus' chest and legs, toppling him into the deep. As he thrashed, Tybalus' voice rang in their minds, carrying Neoth's command. The Custodians and Grey Knights formed a ring around the fallen Titan of the Sea, their psychic powers linking into a single lattice.
Together they unleashed a focused, spiralling vortex of psychic power which shot directly into the Titan's core, peeling away his defences layer by layer.
"NAAANNHAAAAAA...", Oceanus screamed, the roar drowned beneath the psychic torrent, as his divine power and the essence of the endless sea were torn from him in ribbons of blinding light.
They literally ripped the Titan's divinity out of his being. Under Neoth's unseen guidance, they wove the stolen energy into a compact sphere of churning deep blue and gold radiance, its surface flickering with waves and storm clouds. When the Titan's body finally collapsed, depleted of all his power, the orb hovered between them and floated into Grandmaster Ignatius's hand, to be carried back and placed into their Emperor's waiting hands. Their job there was done.
The first mission of the Grey Knights was a massive success.
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Southern Seas — IInd C-Legion, Desh & Constantin Valdor vs. Helios
In the south, the sea boiled as the enraged Helios descended like a star, melting the attacking frigates with beams of divine solar power. Aboard the Aquila Invictus, the Captain General Constantin Valdor stood beside Custodes Primarch Desh. Desh had been among the 20 who received Neoth's gift of being enhanced to Primarchs, but so had Constantin Valdor. Valdor, previous to the enhancement, had already been roughly on the level of 'normal' Primarchs. Now... there was no comparison to what the Captain General was capable of.
"Enough. Bring him down," Valdor ordered.
Kataphraktoi roared from the decks, the Sage Force-enhanced bolters and power spears flaring as they hammered Helios' flank, but the Titan of the sun was relentless. Blinding lances of light appeared in the air and sliced through Custodian crafts and armour alike, melting Auramite and flesh in equal measure. The IInd Legion fought on with unbreakable discipline, but every beam left new wreckage sinking into the boiling sea, every incandescent sweep of Helios' arm sent warriors tumbling, armour smoking, no matter how much damage he received in turn.
Primarch Custodes Desh charged forward through the storm of explosions, using his impeccable instincts and skill and arriving where he wanted, striking a molten line across the Titan's chest, yet even that wound was met with a retaliatory blast that sent him shooting back across the air. Their losses increased, the Legion's formation beginning to loosen slowly under the relentless onslaught. It looked as though this would not be as clean a victory as they hoped, if it would be one.
But then the tides suddenly changed. The Captain General had seen enough.
In a glint of golden light, Constantin Valdor himself arrived. His expression unreadable, but he was displeased. Teleporting into the fray, he met the Titan Helios head-on, his Apollonian Spear crackling with the Emperor's will and massive power. He grunted with pride and pulled back his powerful arm. Then, with a single, devastating thrust, he plunged the blade deep beneath the Titan's ribs, twisting until divine armour's body quelled and ichor splashed in fountainous waves. The wound staggered Helios, his light flickering for the first time since the battle started.
He looked at the Captain General with fury and grabbed his shoulder, wanting to kill him right then and there. But all he received was Valdor plunging his spear further in and sucking out Helios' energy, with a power fist smashing into his face a split second later.
Desh rallied the IInd, their Guardian Spears, striking down the Titan in unison. They pressed the advantage, hacking, firing, and blasting at every joint and seam, each blow chipping away the Titan's broken and beaten flesh until, with a final bellow that split the sky, Helios fell from the sky, with Valdor still on him. Constantin Valdor rode the defeated and dying body of Helios down and crashed on the ground.
Without a change in his expression, Valdor pulled out the Apollonian Spear and moved forward to the next battle.
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Neoth turned his gaze toward the open plain in front of him, where the moonlight bent unnaturally. There, Selene, Titaness of the moon, descended from the air in a silver arc, her presence turning day to a cold twilight. Before her stood Hestia, the flames of the hearth in her hand, gold and crimson in colour, her stance steady under her brother's watchful eye. Usually, Hestia would never do something like this; it wasn't in her nature to. But something had changed. Something fundamental. Only slightly, but enough to make a drastic impact.
Selene struck first, lances made of lunar light crashing down on Hestia like spears, creating craters in the earth where they hit. Hestia swept her arms wide, her fire answering, creating walls that blocked the silver beams and turned them to nothing. The two powers collided again and again, each exchange creating a clash of heat and cold radiance.
Selene's silver blade slashed through the air, forcing Hestia back step by step, revealing her nonexistent battle experience. That was until Neoth's voice was suddenly heard in her mind. He spoke to her, guiding her footwork and strikes, and taught her the precise moments to unleash her full power and how to use it effectively. He seemed to know her better than she did herself. He stood there, observing her fight and all other fights simultaneously, while guiding her calmly as if he had everything under control.
Flames flared into towering pillars under Hestia's and Neoth's command, searing through Selene's guard, while arcs of magma burst from the ground to hammer at her legs. The Titaness retaliated with a beam of pure moonlight that hit and hurled Hestia into the rubble. A gentle golden light appeared on Hestia.
"Stand up. Come Hestia. You can do it. Show the world your inner strength. The power of the eldest of the Greek Pantheon."
The goddess rose again, her fire burning hotter and brighter as a slight golden shimmer was seen, fuelled by the belief in Neoth. Hestia had started to believe in Neoth and his power. At her brother's urging, she poured her will into the flames, shaping them into chains that lashed out, binding the surprised Selene's arms and legs. She pulled the chains towards her and, with a final cry, Hestia unleashed a concentrated pillar of divine fire into her foe's chest. The thin beam of power melted a hole through the Titaness's chest and reduced her to almost nothing. With a final wail, Selene fell to the ground.
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The Titans were falling — and with them, the old order of the world.
Far above, on his obsidian throne atop Mount Othrys, Kronos observed everything. He had been observing all the fights like Neoth had, but unlike the God Emperor, he needed to use his powers and looked at everything through the veils of time. His eyes narrowed, seeing his generals falter and die. It seemed as if fate itself was shifting, threads snapping and reweaving beyond his or anyone's grasp. For the first time in an age, the Lord of the Titans felt something he had not known since the day his nameless son tore free from his gut.
Doubt.
And fear.