Shootouts and Rumbles

 

 

The Kabal of the Liquid and the Kabal of the Violent Mist have a classic love/hate relationship. The relationship is mostly hate, but they will work together and screw eachother just for the hell of it. They can be the staunchest of allies and the deadliest of enemies, depending on what day it is or what mood they're in. They don't care who they hurt and who they drag into their intrigues willingly, unknowingly, kicking or screaming. It would appear that Lord Scarab found out about the astoundingly embarrassing defeat that the Liquid Sword received against the Army of Cerebrate, a Tyranid force taking quantum leaps in adaptability. It would appear that there was Tyranid activity in many of the areas where former Liquid Sword outposts were. That pissed the Jade Emperor off. He would show Comorragh that Lord Scarab was not the only one with allies. He sent Shaka to negotiate with a rampaging Orc army called Groznatz's Boys. Shaka promised Groznatz scores of Dark Eldar in exchange for helping the Liquid Sword defeat the Tyranid threat. He didn't, however, tell Groznatz that the Dark Eldar were from the Kabal of the Violent Mist and would have to be taken by force. One should pay close attention to semantics when dealing with the Liquid Sword...

As the 4 armies gathered on planet Somec, the Jade Emperor knew that this place would provide a very intersting battle ground. There were hills everywhere. Since Groznatz was already pumped up at the idea of any stupid bugs fighting better than him, he was clearly going for the 'Nids. That was going to be one hell of a rumble: angry plants versus hungry bugs. To the direct east of the Liquid Sword was the Violent Mist, but the Jade Emperor still deployed with the Tyranid and Orc armies in mind...just in case.

The Violent Mist moved first. They sent forth a bunch of grotesques as an ingenius distraction - for a bullet came out of nowhere piercing through one of the Emerald Knights. As he coughed up blood and fell, the entire squad ducked out in fear. Then, a dark lance shot vaporized a Liquid Sword grotesque. The Jade Emperor shifted view to Imhotep's cam. There appeared to be Kroot mercenaries working for the Violent Mist. That's where the magic bullet came from. Scarab never seemed to run out of ideas. Where the hell did he get Kroot mercs from? This was not going to be easy. The Jade Emperor had no time to check up on Groznatz. He sent forth the Monster Squad to meet up with the 'Mist grotesques or anything else that had the heart to advance. Everyone else shifted south and southeast to attempt a flank move. The wytch raider took a shot at the 'Mist raider, which appeared to have wytches also. It hit, but the curse of the lance was in full effect. Fuck, that, J.E. thought. He ordered the Obsidian raider to fire also. That shot destroyed the 'Mist raider and killed a wytch in the process.

Scarab utilized 2 Talos, a red and a black one. If Scarab thought that it would intimidate the Liquid Sword and draw all of the fire, he was wrong. A Haemonculus also appeared from behind the grotesques and moved towards the Liquid Sword. The 'Mist wytches moved west and the 'Mist troops killed 4 more grotesques. The curse of the lance didn't seem to be working on them today. The Emerald Knights continued to get lit the f*ck up by the Kroot and retreated. J.E. was not pleased. They had never seen Kroot mercs in action, so the entire squad would only receive a severe punishment. A crew of Reavers glided southwest towards Graznotz's Boys in order to help out the Army of Cerebrate. There were 'nids all over the place, and didn't appear to need help. J.E. wondered how that would turn out. There were already shrieks, screams, and bodies all over the western hemisphere of the battlefield. The 'Boys were severely outnumbered though, and appeared to be in trouble.

The 'Mist wytches, still disoriented and probably wired off drugs, fired and missed...whatever the hell they were shooting at (probably the raider). The Talos fired at the raider too but the raider maintained. The Cult of Misery took the opportunity to dismount, and the raider shot at the Talos: direct hit, no damage. The curse of the lance, once again. The Cult of Misery then fired upon the 'Mist wytches and wiped them all out before they got a chance to assault. The Leopard Squad was nowhere to be seen. The Obsidian Knights dismounted from their raider, using it as a shield. The Zulu Squad then moved slowly but surely towards the enemy, using the Obsidian Knights as bait.

The 'Mist grotesques, without anyone to lead them, just sat there and looked stupid. Both Talos began to shoot at the wytch raider but only shook it up. The Violent Mist warriors shot at the Obsidian raider, but did no damage. The curse of the lance began to manifest on them, too. The Reavers that went towards the Orcs just stopped for no apparent reason. It had to be the drugs because that sh*t made no sense. Scarab's Archon made plenty of sense though, as he flew towards the Obsidian Knights and flanked them. Meanwhile, the Red Talos and Haemonculus charged the Monster Squad. It was obvious they wanted Imhotep, but the 'Mist Haemonculus took damage from his combat drugs. The red Talos cleared a path by tearing apart 2 grotesques. The Black Talos shifted west and attacked the 'Horns, tearing two of them to shreds.

To the west, the Orcs were maintaining but barely, so J.E. changed his strategy. When the Leopard Squad arrived, he sent them towards the Army of Cerebrate. He had to quickly consider going after the either the Hive Tyrant or the Tyranid Warriors. He also wanted them out of the way of Cerebrate's famous abomination, known as Wen-diegh according to the Black Library. He saw the Orc dreadnoughts moving slowly in order to flank, so he left the Hive Tyrant up to them. The Leopards arrived and landed on target and killed two Warriors in a shower of splinter cannon fire. Meanwhile, the Cult of Misery intercepted the 'Mist reavers and fired upon them. The reavers maintained against the fire and snapped out of their apparent coma.

To the east, the Obsidian Raider blasted a grotesque to oblivion while the Horns managed to damage the Black Talos. Their augmented strength via combat drugs was working. It didn't stop the Talos from tearing them to pieces, though. Scarab's Archon, taking note of the quickly approaching Zulu Knights, tore into the Obsidian squad in order to avoid them for a time. Shaka was pissed and cursed aloud, he has been wanting to try the Archon for a very long time. In his anger, he grudgingly opted to back up Imhotep and he lept towards the Red Talos-and tripped [rolled 5 1's out of 6 motherf*cking piece of sh*t dice]. Thanks to his combat drugs, he was able to maintain his balance and coordination from the ground and tore the Talos apart from its belly on up. His new punisher claws, developed by the Haemonculi, were magnificent. The 'Mist Haemonculus killed off the last grotesque and suddenly realized he was still outmatched severely by the Zulu Knights, who were coming for his @ss. Though unafraid, he utilized common sense and drove away on his jetbike. The Zulu Knights pursued him and were on his @ss [missed by an inch!]. At that point, J.E. was pleased that his army created some balance in the battle, but realized they were fighting for no reason at all other than a warped form of sibling rivalry. That was stupid in his opinion. He decided to tele-com Lord Scarab:

Scarab: Have you contacted me to beg for mercy? It is obviously in your best interest to do so.

J.E.: Riiiight. Like the Liquid Sword hasn't single-handedly balanced out this battle. With my support of Graznottz's Boys, we both know that it could go either way at this point. The battle is only halfway over.

Scarab:......What do you want?

J.E.: If we are going to go at eachothers throats, don't you think we should have a better reason other than our deservedly inflated egos? No matter who wins, it will ultimately make us both weaker. That makes the other Kabals stronger. How about we both retreat and meet up at the slaughter-fest at the tavern on planet Frie Daigh?

Scarab: Sure, and what of our...respective allies? <smiling in a half mock gesture>

J.E.: F*ck em. <They both laugh>

On Somec, the two Archons flipped each other the bird, saluted eachother, and simultaneously gave the order to retreat. The other two armies continued to fight until the Hive Tyrant noticed that his reinforcements never came in. When the Warriors telepathed to...it that the 'Mist reavers suddenly stopped, took fire, and then went the opposite way, it know that something was up. It convinced Graznotz to take revenge by teaming up together and exacting revenge against the miscreant elves. The funny thing was though, that no one could find them. Oh, well...

DRAW-Slaves captured: none.