Buanna Ra

     Isdel Creidann's psychic probe found its target and he invaded the Space Marine Commander's mind. The lines of fate had already decreed that the man was doomed, so the result was no surprise. A twinge of pride filled the farseer as the enemy died a horrible death, his brain boiling within his skull. Isdel quickly quelled the feeling, knowing that any emotional extreme was an invitation to the Great Enemy's attentions. He centered himself and examined his rune stones. Everything was going as foreseen.
     On the left flank the greyhunter pack had been drawn into a firefight it could not win. The withering fire from over a dozen tulean was taking its toll as the guardians set up a crossfire with the Dire Avengers of Mor-Shelwe. On the right, an ambush by Morangau and his brightlance had put an end to the Space Wolf Rhino and its marine payload. The Swooping Hawks of Hannharoth had silenced the enemy support weapons. Only the center remained in contention as each side's close combat troops played a deadly game of cat and mouse in the ruins. As Isdel examined them, the stones of fate flashed and a great howl emenated from the ruins.
     Space Wolf Bloodclaws charged into combat on white-hot plasma as their jump packs kicked in. The attack was so quick that the sisters of Zargrech could not issue their battlecries and the mandiblasters of Jainas Karan could not be brought to bear. Only Buanna Ra was unsurprised as he strode forward to meet the charge. Many of the marines landed about him, seeking to cut him off from escape. The exarch showed them the error of their ways.
     The first bloodclaw was decapitated as he landed, The Executioner slicing through armour, flesh, and bone like tissue. As the remainder rushed the lone Eldar, the rest of the battlefield appeared to slow and quiet as if to focus on this one combat. Buanna Ra moved so quickly that he appeared to blur as he dodged the snap shots of the marine's boltpistols. Where he walked, Death followed. One bloodclaw was eviscerated with a quick but subtle twist of the powerful weapon. Another was cut in half at the waist, the blood gushing from his torso to mix with the hydraulic fluids from his power armor. The fourth marine managed to bring his chainsword down in a two handed arc upon his foe's head, or would have if the Striking Scorpion had not brought his weapon up impossibly fast to parry. Buanna Ra's counter left half a dozen ragged wounds upon the corpse of his enemy. He sidestepped and the air where he had been crackled with the energy of the Bloodclaw sergeant's powerfist. The press of his opponents hemmed Buanna Ra in and he slipped on the entrails of one of his victims. for a moment it looked like he would go down. The marine howled in triumph as he raised his powersword for the killing blow. His howl was cut off as Buanna Ra focused all of his hatred into one mighty upwards sweep. The Executioner cleaved the man in half, from crotch to head, and the two halves fell apart to the ground. The Marines engaged with the Scorpions and Banshees took one look at this and despite all their traiing, courage, and devotion, they broke. As they turned to flee they were cut down to the last man by the victorious Eldar. No mercy was shown as the last survivors were hunted down and dispatched.
     Through the aftermath one figure sat with legs crossed, unmoving. Buanna Ra appeared to commune with his weapon, contemplating it. No Eldar dared disturb the exarch but some spoke in hushed tones about the ritual. Some said that it was introspective, that the exarch learned by commmitting the battle to memory. Some said that some last vestige of humanity within the killing machine wept silently for the destruction he had wrought. A scarce few talked of a darker more sinister significance to the ritual. They said that "The Reaper of Souls" was just that and that he was devouring the souls trapped in his dread weapon. These few were scoffed at, but deep in their hearts the naysayers feared the truth.
End.

Buanna Ra

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