Problems

 

Shaka was not feeling good about himself at all. He wrote a check that his @ss couldn't cash, and everyone in Commorragh knew it. At the Arena, his fight vs. Nebula was the main event. The most highly esteemed Jade Emperor decided that each of them would only carry one close combat weapon. Osiris convinced him to allow Nebula to keep her holo-field and Shaka his armor, after all if she disguised herself as a regular Dark Eldar, upon her victory many would try to destroy the house of Shaka by mistakenly perceiving its weakness. Besides, every Kabal on Commoragh would wonder what the Liquid Sword's connection to the Harlequins were, and that would keep them all confused. To make a long one short, Shaka got his @ss kicked up and down the arena. He was outclassed, and the fact that she was a blur of fury didn't help his case at all. He didn't even slow her down. She took everything he threw at her. Maybe a better usage of combat drugs would've...oh well. In any event, the crowd went nuts, plus he received word that the Jade Emperor put a large amount of the Liquid Sword treasury against him. To his surprize, many Dark Eldar had respect for him for having the courage to battle a Solitaire. In actuality, he was originally bluffing in order to save face and he only fought because his master told him to. No one needed to know that though, especially in light of this latest defeats on the planet Vanlin.

The debriefing left everyone demoralized, including the Jade Emperor. Fighting the Chaos and Plague Marines was utterly disastrous. The first objective was to destroy key bunkers and then take and hold the centralized bunker that the Marines kept. It was obvious that the Liquid Sword was strategically brilliant, but the numbers wouldn't support this. They stayed getting their @sses kicked. They had such a competitve advantage compared to most Kabals that it was ridiculous to lose at this point. The Obsidian Knights were pretty much wiped out, but that tends to happen a lot since they are the front troops. That is why they got paid the most. The Emerald and Cobalt Knights were being utilized as heavy support in order to provide better maneuverability for the Scourges, but they weren't doing their job. Apparently, the curse of the 'lance was in full effect. What wasn't effective at all though were the dark lances. They destroyed the bunkers, of course, but they just couldn't get rid of the Chaos Marines. What power did these demon seeds have to neutralize the dark matter of the lance? The Jade Emperor didn't want to believe that the lances were so ineffective, but the spy-cams that were secretly installed in every helmet of his army did not lie (how else would the Jade Emperor know if any of his troops were lying?) The Plague Marines were even worse. Several hundred shots were fired and yielded almost no results. He was tired of losing. He now had the Kabal that he dreamed of, but he was still unsuccessful in the grand scheme of things. It was no longer good enough to be a contender on Commoragh; there's a whole galaxy out there. Disgusted, he sent all of them away except for Osiris. He and Osiris discussed the possiblity of utilizing Death Jesters to help out with heavy support. Then Osiris was sent away as well.

While all alone, the Jade Emperor drank bloodwine until he was quite inebriated. He picked up his personalized splinter pistol, and played with it for a while. He also played with the idea of putting it under his chin and pulling the trigger.