Week Three, Match Two - Aun'O'Vader v Overlord Dranehk

[Inquisitor023]

The Arena exploded into life. The Void Shields, seperating fight and crowd, kicked into life. The Cheap Seats began to fill with vendors prowling them, looking to sell their wares.

"Welcome back folks!" Inquisitor began, "We're here with the Week Three of the Arena Tournament, which I feel is going well. Our body count is already nearly in the double digits and it's week three! Spectacular, truly. Hired help isn't expensive or anything..."

Dropping from the skies once more came Aun'O'Vader. "Welcome our Ambassador of the Greater Good, ladies and gentlemen - twice victor, Aun'O'Vader."

Teleporting in to the tune of the Necrons from Winter Assault, a freshly restored Overlord Dranehk. "And we welcome the Overlord. It took a lot to restore him from the rust of last match and, sadly, luck isn't going his way. Perhaps it will turn!"

"Stipulation time!" Inquisitor declared as the sands began to stir beneath them. Large panels of glass began to rise. "This is the House of Mirrors. I felt like screwing with your heads a little. Most of these won't show you want you want. The battlesuit behind you is nothing but a phantom! But sometimes, it won't sure you what is actually there... Sometimes it shows nothing at all. Sometimes a warped world. Sometimes, exactly what is there. Which is which, my dear Gladiators? And Aun, that Manta of yours can't see either. So don't expect any help there."

He paused, "Oh... And one final thing... I released some shadows into the mix. They could be in the form of anything... Some will wound, others will not. Try to see which is which."

[Aun O Vader]

A chapter Master in a straight up fight, then an inquisitor in a bar brawl, then finally, a metal robot without normal senses in a hall of mirrors? I think this Inquisitor really has it in for me Aun'O'Vader wasn't disgruntled as such, but the battles he was being drawn in seemed to be playing to the strengths of his opponents, it simply heightened his belief in the overall supremacy of The Greater Good that he had prevailed in his previous fights.

Nervous of a surprise attack, he couldn't even see the necron at the moment, Aun'O'Vader ordered his three shield drones to expand the boundary of their defensive perimeter, to try and give him more warning, the intelligence he had gleaned regarding this robot was that it was quite cumbersome and relatively slow, so it was unlikely to be able to get through his perimter without being intercepted.

He glanced aroun him then sent two gun drones on a searching patrol, one flew into a patch of inky blackness, simply hovering in the air, it's code vanished from his HUD, the drone had disappeared utterly. Aun'O'Vader sighed and ignited his honour blade, searching through the myriad reflections surrounding him. In front of him three necron overlords appeared, one facing away from him, obviously searching, two others quite obiously spotted him, one entered a defensive stance, the other charged.

[Aun O Vader]

((OOC, anyone got any idea what's happened to my opponent?))

[GroxGlitch]

((Sorry, my internet's been having a retardation aneurysm. I'm working on it now.))

[GroxGlitch]

Dranehk was scanning his immediate surroundings for the Ethereal. He was fairly frustrated at the loss of the previous two battles. Siravva had gotten lucky, no more, and the fight against the plague marine was obviously a doomed failure from the start. He clutched his weapon tightly, vowing that it would not happen a third time. He heard movement from behind, and turned to see two copies of himself facing the Ethereal.
"Hrumph," He sighed, raising his warscythe. He had to dispatch these shadows first, not that they should take much. The advancing one met it's end first, dispelled by a raging bolt of gauss fire. He advanced upon the one in a defensive posture, cleaving it in twine from behind.
"Now then, Ethereal, shall we get on to the task at hand?" He turned his gauss weapon to the Ethereal, ending one of his shield drones with an aimed shot before advancing, firing from the hip.

[Aun O Vader]

His remaining shield drones were surrounded in a coruscating field of blue and green as their shields dissipated repeated blasts of incredible gauss energy, one began to smoke from it's shield generator but it continued to hold out, barely.

A stray bolt passed the drones and sparked against Aun'O'Vader's shield, he grunted as the residual burn off sparked from the inside of the shield against his armour. He watched the ponderous approach of the necron lord and smiled inside his armour, it's not often that I get to face of against someone even slower than me! The smile faded as one of the shield drones passed too close to the robot and was smashed to pieces by a single swipe of the massive blade in it's hand, of course, he's probably even stronger than that Space Marine!.

The Ethereal passed his blade out to his right-hand side and held it away from his body, guarding against a reverse-strike. He knew he could bring his blade back in time to block a forehand, but he offhand was weaker. The two gun drones hovering behind him suddenly popped up at a moment at which their AIs had determined that their chances of attack were maximal, then unleashed a barrage of pulse fire interspersed with photon grenades against the necron. The flashes from the photon flares reflected crazily in the mirrors temoporarily blinding sensors and eyes alike.

The circling shadows on the other hand seem to be drawn to the lights and the combatants.

[GroxGlitch]

Dranehk engaged a visual filter and his Phase Shifter, hoping to avoid most of the incoming fire. He got nailed by the first few shots but the rest missed, passing through him harmlessly to impact upon the mirrors behind him. Unfortunately for the Gun Drones, they had placed themselves in Dranehk's optimal range, and he disabled his phase shifter and unleashed a storm of Gauss fire upon them. One fell to the ground, ripped apart. The other recoiled, smoking of the several holes in it's shell. He turned his attention back to Aun'O'Vader. The most damaged shield drone tried to ram into him, and he cleaved it in half, his Warscythe penetrating it's already malfunctioning shield.
"You're running out of drones, Ethereal." Dranehk said, knocking another Shield Drone aside with his free hand. He brought his Warscythe in a decapitating swing, only to have it ricochet off O'Vader's personal shield with a blinding flash of light. He stumbled and grumbled angrily, not expecting a personal shield. Attempting to keep O'Vader from capitalizing on this opening, Dranehk swung with the blunt of his Warscythe; it was easy enough to parry, but it would hopefully take O'Vader's attention long enough to recover.

[Aun O Vader]

Seeing the butt of the warscything cutting in towards his groin Aun'O'Vader threw his empty hand downwards to catch the blow, instead of parrying or dodging it. Although it was impossible for shock to show on the Necron's face it did somehow seem surprised. The force of the blow almost dislocated his shoulder, but the power allowed him to jump upwards and over the top of the Overlord, cutting downwards with his honour blade. At the last moment the Necron suddenly became insubstantial as it engaged it's phase shifter and the blade cut harmlessly through the air and shadow of a robot. Then Aun'O'Vader felt his body temperature begin to drop rapidly, whilst he had been distracted by the attempt to hit the necron he had passed too close to one of the closing shadows, he suddenly chilled and fell to the ground, insensible.

In his dazed state he barely had time to look up in time to see the warscythe cutting down for another decapitating slice, but this time the blade passed straight through his shield, then straight through his body, not impacting at all. The shadow had temporarily rendered him insubstantial!

Not wishing to know how long the good fortune would hold the Ethereal pushed at the ground to stand up and his hand went straight through the ground as if it wasn't there, he simply was unable to contact anything around him, he swung his blade at the Necron and it passed straight through his opponent, as if his phase shifter was activated. "Not pleasant to have the tables turned on you is it?"

Aun'O'Vader stood with using anything to support himself, and tried not to think about what was stopping him falling through into the catacombs below, he desperately didn't want to have to face Kellen too early! Now all I need to do is work out how to hurt him... and hope this doesn't wear off at the wrong time!

Aun'O'Vader threw himself through his opponent and away, fighting to gain space.

[GroxGlitch]

"Ha, you're not fully grounded." Dranehk said, not even budging as O'Vader flew through him ineffectually. "The tables are hardly turned. You're incapable of receiving blows, but you're incapable of giving them as well. You're entirely dependent on your Drones for combat until it wears off, and-" Dranehk turned and blew apart the other remaining gun drone. "-as of now, that's a pipe dream at best. So tell me, Ethereal, what do you intend to do now? Until you either loose your phase shiftment or die of old age, we're at an impasse."

[Inquisitor023]

Aun'O's phase shift began to flick. The Ethereal realized this and resigned himself to the fight, his honour blade held tightly in one hand. When he returned to reality, he pressed an assault against the Overlord - who parried most of the blows. The pair began to duel proper as the crowds cheered for blood.

The duel broke off a minute later. Aun'O was breathing heavily while Dranhek seemed scorched from some impacts with the Ethereal's blade. Dranhek pressed the advantage rather than step back. Caught unawares, Aun'O clumsily blocked the first blow only for the second to slice him from the throat to hip. The Ethereal fell, dead.

"Victory by cutting," Inquisitor announced, having to yell over the roaring crowd, "Overlord Dranhek!"