The Seeds of Chaos

							The Seeds of Chaos				Pt.2 of Lifa's timeline
												Occurs roughly 200 years before Part 1

	(40k, eldar guardianXspace marine, brutal sex, blood licking, memory scrying, oral vaginal, begging, sensory overload)




	It was time. Lifa dashed from around the corner and opened fire. Shurikan disks augured through flesh and sinew alike, embedding themselves in cold granite behind the daemon. Light caught and refracted off her soul stone in a brilliant panoply of colors. The horned monstrosity opened its maw and screamed terribly at her, drawing its wicked, moaning blade. In a series of quick, agile motions, Lifa somersaulted over the creature laying the tip of her rifle against its head. The daemon turned, one gleaming eye staring down the barrel of her shurikan catapult. She pulled the trigger. A substantial torrent of gore erupted out the back of a perfect hole in the daemon's head. The warp twisted abomination dropped heavily to its knees, the fiend's weeping blade slipping from grasp. With a mournful clatter, the blade met the unyielding floor of the monastery, keening balefully at its master's demise before fading along with its keeper back into immaterium.

	Bolter fire rang from across the vaulted chapel. Artemis was close by, holding the daemons at bay. Lifa sprang forward gracefully, bounding up the steps leading to the ancient dais with barely a whisper of noise at her approach. An embellished double headed eagle framed a rotting tome resting upon the pulpit. The high ceilings began to displace heavy shadows in high relief as the bolter fire drew closer. She did not have long. Desperately, Lifa scoured the pulpit, looking for any discrepancy that would allow the release of the treasure she sought. She found nothing but sculpted stone and the relic text, the latter of which she pounded in frustration. An audible click sounded as her lightly armored fist pushed the book seemingly into the obsidian pulpit entirely. Lifa froze wearily; gears clanked, chains hissed, and levers turned. The pulpit sank into the floor, while an elegant spire rose to take its place.

	Lifa stepped forward as the spire came to a stop. Small hinges graced a small section of the spire's exterior, which Lifa unlatched immediately, throwing open the robust door behind. The door swung smoothly upon its polished fulcrum. A steady crimson glow emanated from within the confines of the spire. Lifa quickly retrieved the object of her search, sealing the door once again, watching as the spire sank steadily below the floor once more.

	Hoarse shouts reached the eldar from her station upon the dais. Time to go.

	"Artemis, come! We must retreat to the gunship!"

	The marine did not respond well to these words at all, grimacing stoically as daemon after daemon erupted from the miniature missiles he fired into them in quick succession. He could deal with a tactical regroup, or even falling back, but the girl just HAD to say retreat. He told her not to use words like that around him because it affected his conditioning and made it harder for him to respond when he knew he needed to.

	Firing three last rounds into the cranium of the final charging flesh tearer brought the creature and skirmish to an explosive halt. Artemis turned and stalked towards his eldar companion. Muted thuds marked the Astartes' passage; his power armor did not slow him in the slightest, the joints and segments gliding over one another with mechanical precision. When he reached the dais where Lifa stood, he loomed over her menacingly.

	Lifa turned her excited face upwards to Artemis, her jade eyes gleaming joyfully as she lovingly cradled the object of their search. Lifa had left her helmet back on the ship; she was not fond of wearing it. The glowing crimson light from the vial she held cast her face in bloody relief. Artemis growled slightly, angry at the eldar for her repeated use of words that triggered him to do the exact opposite of what she asked. He poked the girl in the chest plate abruptly with a broad armored finger and she stumbled violently by the force of the impact, clutching wildly to the vial in her hands. He knew there was no danger of her dropping it, she probably would not be able to due to her inherent dexterity and grace. He lumbered forward ponderously, ground quaking slightly at his advance. The girl trembled at his approach, stuttering incoherently about the treasure. He payed no attention to her frantic mutterings, and poked her once again, harder this time, and she dropped to the polished floor gouging deep scratches in its surface as she slid across it.

	"A-a-a-arte..." she had to swallow and start again, her terror interfering with her ability to speak. "Art-t-t-temis, puh-please."

	He continued to advance, as she lay trembling upon the cold surface of the cathedral floor. Tears streaked down her delicate face as he halted directly above her and stared down, the deep fiery glow of his helmet's eye lenses locked upon her.

	"Puh-puh" she hiccupped before struggling to continue as her vocal cords tightened. "puh-please, y-you are g-going to h-h-hurt m-me h-harya oore yaana." She knew he would not mean to, but he was so much stronger than she was sure he realized, and it was times like these that he terrified her.

	"YOU!" Artemis bellowed angrily at the eldar, kneeling and poking her gently again to get his point across. She screamed at the impact as the granite beneath her crumbled. "I've told you time and again NOT to say words that go against my conditioning!" He paused watching as the girl trembled violently, clutching to their prize. She really needed to hear this even if he scared her. He hoped it would help her remember.

	"Every time you say something like that, it puts YOU in danger! I need to be able to run to your side at a moment's notice, and a careless word could stop me dead in my tracks! I WILL NOT have you die by my own incompetence! Yell at me in your language to get my attention if you have to, not MINE!"

	With each mighty bellow, the marine had poked her chest plate again and again, driving her deeper into the stone floor. Lifa was sure the guardian plating would crack, but it effectively absorbed the impacts, redirecting them to the ground beneath her. Tentatively, she reached up to the Astartes, sniffing back tears as she did so. Artemis grumbled slightly, but he could not bear to see her upset. Gently, he picked the eldar up and cradled her as she wrapped her arms around his massive neck and cried into his chest. It broke his heart when she cried. She was so tiny and fragile, and most of the time she was so happy when he was around.

	"A-amin nuata.." Lifa muttered sullenly, continuing to cling to the astartes.

	Artemis carried her thru the twisted crumbling passageways to the outer world where they had landed, speaking to her in calm loving tones. He kept his eyes peeled as he did so, alert for even the slightest discrepancy. Nothing seemed more out of place than expected in the surrounding broken city, but he still trekked forward cautiously. Lifa had come around slowly and returned to her more cheerful disposition, and presently Artemis set her down. He still dwarfed her considerably, but with her superior reflexes, he had little to worry about her getting hurt.

	They picked their way thru the long dead city, the marine's steps crumbled all but the largest of the debris that lay before them while the eldar balanced atop the surrounding jagged edges and precarious surfaces effortlessly. Though no living presence lingered, the ghosts that haunted this world took the form of warp twisted monstrosities. The planet was home to a fallen chapter long ago before they had turned to chaos and relocated to the Eye of Terror. The two of them turned their steps further south, trying to imitate the ghosts they wished to avoid. Lifa's pointed ears pricked up and she froze mid stride, Artemis mirroring her actions. He had heard nothing besides his own passage, but knew the eldar was listening to what he did not. His hearing was attuned to the sibilant hissing dialect of daemons and the slight crackling that preceded their commute between planes. He brought his bolter to the ready and waited. Lifa had not yet brought her foot down, remaining immobile as she searched for the source of the disturbance; only her jade eyes stirred.

	A diminutive furry snout poked from behind a pile of shattered stones. Tiny whiskers danced up and down in tandem with the creature's rapid sniffing. Artemis' bolter was trained upon the rodent, he did not want to turn away only to have the cuddly critter mutate into a slavering skaven. Lifa's mind lightly touched his consciousness, and presently he heard the whisper of her thoughts.

	'No trickery lies within this beast. It is as it appears to be. Do not loose a bolt for we may yet continue unmolested in our silence... If you can refrain from grinding to dust every rock in your path from here to our ship.'

	'Why is it here?' Artemis thought gently, still feeling the touch of her mind upon him.

	'Goddess willing, the planet may be reverting to its prior state before the corruption. We can pray this is so. It is a good sign for our journey. There is hope yet that we may restore peace to the galaxy if we succeed.'

	Lifa unlocked her muscles and released her mind from the astartes. She continued her graceful traipse across broken bricks and battlement. The tiny rodent looked up with its beady little eyes before scurrying off to its hidden den. Artemis continued his march forward, more cautious of where his feet fell to save the silence.

	After an uneventful few hundred meters, the ship slowly came into view. It was well hidden, and its sleek design and elegant contours made the craft seem smaller than it in fact was. The shuttle was of Eldar make and exceptionally fast. The mounted scatter lasers at the entrance hatch immediately marked the pair as friendly and the bay door slid open seamlessly allowing them access to the interior. As the doors slid closed behind them, they both relaxed slightly. Artemis removed his helm and followed the eldar up a flight of stairs and down a hall to the cockpit. She slipped into the fitted seat at the helm and touched a button at the control panel and the ship jumped to life. No sooner than Artemis had taken their newly acquired prize from her and sat in his own specially crafted chair, Lifa pushed the throttle to its limit and the ruined city disappeared behind them in a flash. The ship screamed through the atmosphere at a frightening pace, and within seconds, they were in the cold blanket of space.

	 The eldar set their course for the webway and leaned back in her chair slightly, closing her eyes. She felt like she needed a shower, and she wanted to take her hair down. Artemis had told her it would be more efficient if she cut it, but the thought repulsed her. He had told her once that her hair could be used as a weapon against her. She had responded saying anyone skilled enough to strangle her with her own hair would more than likely be able to kill her however they wanted anyway. He had agreed with her and spent the next hour learning how to braid her hair for her. She loved him immensely; she was still shocked and upset at his outburst earlier. They had known each other 150 years now, and he maybe only raised his voice at her once a decade. It was indeed a rare occurrence and served to make her realize just how much she had rattled the Astartes.

	Lifa opened her eyes and looked at the interior of the cockpit. It was mostly bare, the window before her allowed near full sight of the surrounding and encompassing vacuum of space. Stars littered the view in every direction, save a one small void far to her left; the Eye of Terror rested there. Soon another void would linger before the ship, but this void was part of the interstellar passageway linking different segments of the galaxy acting as a bridge between stars. It was a tear in the fabric of their dimension that allowed near instant transport from one side of the milky way to the other, and everywhere between. And it was safe. There were of course thousands of uncounted cities strewn throughout the webway, creatures of all types and nations existing in the heart of nonexistence. However, despite the nameless trillions that claimed the webway as home, most of it was bare, and that was where they were headed.

	The eldar turned to look at Artemis and found him sitting hunched over studying the vial in his hands. It cast a red glow that filtered softly throughout the cockpit. She had found it lovely as well when she had first laid eyes upon it. She got up from her chair and crossed to the much larger seat that held Artemis. He raised an armored hand up and gently placed it on the girl's back, stroking softly while inspecting their prize.

	"We were lucky." Artemis spoke softly. "Never before have we found one so quickly... We must be getting good at this. Do you think it untouched from the corruption?" He asked, turning to view the delicate creature at his side.

	"I cannot say. It is doubtful it has been used since the fall, but either way, we will bring it to the craftworld to have it inspected and cleansed if found tainted."

	 Lifa stroked Artemis' face softly where a light beard was beginning to grow. Parts of him looked carved from stone, such as his proud jaw and chin, angled fiercely. He had intense eyebrows, and powerful cheekbones, his nose seemed to have been broken several times, yet held true to its original grecian look. It was not so crooked anymore since Lifa had been there to reset it after he had brawled with an Ork at a sleazy little bar off in a backwater system. Artemis' eyes were soft and compassionate and quite different than most. One was a light blue, while the other was deep brown. They were striking indeed. His dark brown hair gave way to the thick wavy locks that grew when he spent long enough away from his chapter, as he had been now. She knew his somber lips to be soft and giving, and delighted in every moment they found themselves upon her.

	Lifa ran her hand thru his thick hair, admiring his strong features before breaking away and walking to the exit of the cabin. She stopped and spoke to the astartes over her shoulder in her elegant voice.

	"I go to wash the battle from my body. Do not stare too long at that, you may go blind."

	"I'll get new ones installed." Artemis said distractedly.

	"Do not joke like that!" Lifa gasped, whirling to face him. She crossed to him and held his face in her tiny hands. "Never say such a thing! Your body and its attaching limbs are NOT meant to be thrown away carelessly, no matter what Imperial decrees state! You are mine, not the Imperium of Mankind's. I love every part of you and it hurts me to hear you say such things so casually."

	Artemis laughed, setting down the glowing vial and pulling the fragile eldar in closer to him. He had eyes only for her now. "I'm sorry Lifa, I didn't mean anything by it. I was about to put it in the stasis field until we bring it to the craftworld. You must admit, it certainly is interesting to look at though." He started to reach up to touch her face before seeing his plated hand and stopping. "Now go take your shower, I have to get out of this armor. It's too easy to hurt you when I wear it. Didn't we make a rule about this a while ago?"

	"Yes. Twenty three years ago I believe. After the battle of-"

	"The battle of Geidi Sigma. I remember now." Artemis leaned his head against Lifa's chest, pushing her back a few feet. "That was a few days after your 177th birthday wasn't it? That was a nice place, Geidi Sigma. Maybe we should go back there again before we go to the craftworld."

	Lifa struggled to support the astartes' head and gave a quick reply, "You have to go back to your chapter in a few days time. We cannot. Perhaps next time. Now please, you are squishing me."

	Artemis looked up and winked at the girl, planting a quick kiss upon her lips before taking the vial and rising to his feet, towering over her. Lifa growled in agitation at him. He was purposely toying with her and getting her worked up. She stormed off down the hall to the bathroom. Once the door slid shut, she looked at her reflection and sighed. They did not have much more time to spend with each other before he had to leave again for she knew not how long. She had kept him for the past six months, but it never grew any easier for her to part with the Astartes. Lifa always feared he would be shipped to some planet and killed over some meaningless battle for some meaningless bridge, and it was showing in her bearing.

	She took several deep breaths to calm herself. When she opened her eyes, she began removing pieces of her armor. It was standard guardian class armor, and as light as it was, she still thought it may slow her down more than it helped keep her safe. Thinking back to when Artemis had poked her, she reconsidered. Within moments, she had shed the bulky back plating, quickly followed by the breastplate. She took the soul stone from its groove in the armor and pulled out a thin chain she wore around her neck, with a thin interwoven chain net at its lowest point that she slid the stone into. Next she slipped off her skin suit and turned on the water to the shower, slipping in. She heard heavy footfall as Artemis lumbered down the hall.

	Artemis held the vial gently in his armored fingers. The gene seed they had recovered was amazing to look at, but as this was the seventh they had found, it was not as remarkable as it had first been to them. Seeing as this one had rested upon a chaos touched world for uncounted centuries, he thought it best to put it in stasis instead of staring into its gleaming depths. If his chapter or her craftworld ever pieced together what they were doing, they would both be killed immediately without question. The thought did not phase him. There certainly were some ideas that did no one any good, and if what he was doing was heretical, than he would be gladly branded as a heretic. They still needed thirteen more samples of gene seed, one for the remaining original chapters, and then had to ensure their purity before moving on to the next step of their plan. He did not believe either of them would live long enough to see that day. So far, their quest mainly served to fill their time, and it was entertaining to think about, if nothing else. If they could live indefinitely, surely this was as good a distraction as any to mark their days by. And it had a conceivable goal at the end. It was certainly fun exploring the depths of space and travelling the galaxy for clues and hints toward where the next sample may lie. And they often took long detours just for the sake of it. Being allowed to leave his chapter for long periods of time to search for ways to ensure the Crimson Fist's continued survival was a task Artemis viewed with a very broad interpretation of what that exactly entailed. He slept just fine at night.

	His steps placed him before the small cargo bay through which he lumbered to a small alcove set into the sleek wall. The room was surgically clean, and as he thought about it, the whole ship was for that matter. Lifa had called it 'efficient', in a tone of disgust. They both thought it plain. The room they shared together was far livelier than the rest of the ship, save the small kitchen, which sometimes held live creatures when they were low on food. That was always fun. For him atleast. Lifa preferred to play with the creatures that they would capture when times were lean. She did not like to kill them, and sometimes she was sick when they would eat. He always tried to flavor her food better than his to keep her mind from lingering on what was at the end of her fork. There was one resident animal that Lifa would not let him kill, despite the fact that at the time they had not eaten for several days. It was shaped like a chubby beaver, with a stubby elephant like trunk and small wiggly tail. It had smooth skin covered in soft downy fur and viewed the world around itself with warm innocent eyes. It waddled about awkwardly and made funny cooing noises when it was happy. Despite being barely larger than his own foot, the creature frequently would nestle up to Artemis and wrap its goofy trunk around his arms or legs affectionately. He figured at the moment the dumpy animal was probably sprawled out on his pillow, making a nice space elephant beaver shaped depression that would bother him terribly when he tried to go to sleep. He sighed hopelessly. Lifa had never cried so hard as when he placed the animal on the cutting board, its trunk lovingly wrapped around his wrist, and so therefore it now sat happily and very much alive on his pillow. It was a fairly cuddly creature, yes, but he did not know why it did not wallow on Lifa's pillow instead. She certainly gave the creature much more affection than he did.

	Artemis tapped a panel on the wall, and it slid open revealing the stasis chamber where he promptly set the gene seed. He tapped the panel again and it slid closed. He then began the process of removing his bulky royal blue armor, starting at the ridiculously oversized pauldrons. They covered his whole shoulder, from the neck to his fore arm and bore the crest of his chapter in bright crimson paint. They took a minute to get off being as cumbersome as they were, but finally they came free. After setting them on a shelf, he slid off the encasing armor covering his arms, then his leg plating. His boots and chest plate followed next, then his backpack power unit and finally he was done. The power armor all came off in great chunks, and now freed from them he stretched, groaning contentedly. He grabbed a towel from the rack he set his armor on and made his way to the bathroom to join Lifa.

	He watched the door slide open at his approach and stepped inside. He could make out her blurred image behind a foggy glass panel. He set his towel on top of the sink, and stepped in behind her. She was breathtakingly gorgeous. Her generous firm ass and curvy hips sparkled from the water running down them. The girl's long silver hair was splayed down her gently muscled back, and stopped at the base of her spine. She ran her hands thru her hair, washing it thoroughly. Artemis stepped forward and wrapped his large knotted arms around the elf, one hand rubbing her lower belly, the other kneading at her firm breast gently. Her arms found his and caressed them lovingly. He pressed himself to her soft form, his manhood pressing against the small of her back. She hummed happily and turned to him pressing herself against him.

	 She took a cloth from a depression in the wall and ran it over his bulky well defined chest, which was level with her head. To her, it was akin to washing stone. She felt his rippling muscles beneath her touch as she worked the cloth across his skin. Even though he said it did not cause him any pain, she was very gentle when it came to the uplinks embedded in his flesh and muscle. The metal sockets caused her unhappiness, the way they had mutilated him just so he could wear power armor. She remembered before he had them, though it was indeed a long time ago. Scars both ancient and fresh snaked across his chest and abdomen, some less defined than others. Every time he left and came back to her, new ones covered different sections of his body.

	The cloth found its way over his etched torso, then back up to his blocky shoulders and down his monstrous arms. Artemis stood nearly chest and head over the eldar, but his bulk far surpassed her own. She stood at precisely five feet ten inches, and while well built, was much slimmer than the astartes by comparison. His corded frame stretched to an impressive three and a half feet at the chest, and he was nearing seven feet five inches in height. The man before her was built and forged in war; it was astonishing to find him more compassionate about his fragile female companion than his own stalwart Emperor.

	 He picked the tiny girl up and embraced her as gently as he could, lowering his head and lifting her until their lips met. The cloth fell to the floor, forgotten completely. Lifa wrapped her arms around Artemis' neck, running her hands thru his shaggy hair. Her powerful legs wrapped around his massive torso, just barely meeting at the other side. She would miss him so much when he returned to his chapter. Her tender lips sucked at his gingerly, savoring his fiery taste. While the Astartes did harbor venom glands, they were not active. It was due to a defect in the gene seed he had been infused with. She had never seen him spit venom, but twice before when he had cut the inside of his mouth from being punched he had refused to kiss her for several days afterwards on both occasions until his mouth had healed, and she had seen some of the blood that leaked out etch into the surrounding stones they stood upon.

	As her tongue danced against his teasingly, she felt a sharp coldness touch her lower lips as her vagina ran across one of his uplink sockets. Her hips bucked slightly at the sensation, and she looked down. Blood covered the astartes' chiseled stomach from where her vagina had been resting against him. Her heart skipped several beats and she gasped, both in shock and fear thinking she had been cut from the metal socket. Artemis glanced down, curious at the sight.

	"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck," The eldar muttered hysterically as Artemis set her down. She reached between her legs and gently felt around her blossom for anything painful. Her eyes were clinched tight in fear, bracing herself for pain she was sure would hit her any moment now.

	"What happened Lifa? You alright?" Artemis asked concerned. He looked at the scarlet socket the girl had slid over and felt it for any protrusions that could snag or slice the girl. He did not feel a thing.

	When the pain had not been forthcoming, she slid a finger inside herself before pulling it out. It was coated in a layer of blood. Relief began to spread thru her body and she answered sounding relieved. "I thought I had cut myself, but I am fairly sure it is just my time." She sighed slowly, releasing the tension and fear that had spiked so quickly.

	"Do you want me to make sure?" Artemis questioned sincerely, looking into her bright eyes, her color slowly returning to her face.

	"No....Yes..But be very careful Artemis, please be gentle."

	The astartes squatted down on the floor of the shower. The girl's blood had been washed from him after he had set her down. "Okay. Put your leg up," he said, tapping his right shoulder. She put one athletic leg up, draping it over his shoulder and spread herself slightly with her fingers. Her lips looked just as perfect as they always had, maybe a shade darker as a thin trail of blood ran from them. He raised a finger and traced her elegant folds gently, looking for any sign of damage. The girl felt her face flush slightly as his fingers explored the petals of her flower. This was an embarrassing position to be in. Despite herself, she began to grow warm, and it was not from the water cascading down her back.

	He began to prod at her lips gently. "Does this hurt?" he asked curiously.

	"N-no. It does not. It must be my time. It happens so infrequently, I forget wh-" Lifa hissed slightly as one of Artemis' fingers slid into her. Just as quickly, it slid back out, covered in a layer of blood. "Commoragh has more decency than you!" Lifa snapped, embarrassed. "I have just said- wait, no, Artemis DON'T!" Lifa shouted, but it was too late.

	Artemis had done the unthinkable and stuck the bloody finger in his mouth, licking it clean. As Lifa stood before him, her mouth open in shock and disgust, Artemis' Omophagea gland sparked to life. The Rememberer.

	In a second he was gone, a heightened level of consciousness overtook him. He saw countless inconsequential memories fly past him like looking down a row of mirrors, each different and each flowing over him in startling haste. The girl's words Commoragh whispered still in his mind, and he grasped at one of the fleeing memories, trying to make sense of it. He stood as the girl had ages before in the heart of a towering endless shadowed city; black suns shed their malevolent aura over the arches and flanged spires, tides of creatures from all corners of the galaxy swept past like an ocean, tossing the elf like flotsam caught in the current.

	The memory faded abruptly, and while he still felt more coursing thru his mind, they were weakening perceptibly. Artemis blinked and saw the girl's bounty still perched before him, her shapely leg draped over his shoulder. He had been gone but just a moment, and he wanted more.

	Lifa could not believe he had just licked her blood from his finger. She found it repugnant, yet something stirred within her that she could not control. He had tasted a part of her that should never have been made available to him to begin with, her own life force from her sacred life giving womb. As she was fumbling to find the words to say, he reached under and behind her legs, cupping her firm butt cheeks with both of his massive hands, and pulled her forward to his eager lips.

	"N-no!" she cried, shortly followed by an explosive, "YES! Yes, yes, yes, oh Isha fuck! Please, yes!" as his tongue danced across her silken folds hungrily. Lifa felt as his tongue buried itself between her outer and inner labia, cleansing the crease that separated them from one another before doing the same to the other side and finally ending in a swirl under the hood of her clitoris. Her hips bucked as he directed his tongue across her and she gasped feeling strangely dirty and horny at the same time when his slick wandering muscle made its way in between her parting lips. Her hands grasped at his hair desperately and she bit her lip strongly, groaning in confused pleasure. If she had been cleaning her outer body before he entered the bathroom, he was more than certain going to clean her inside for her as well.

	Artemis lapped as his tongue entered the eldar's silken vagina. Her sweet flavor which was always present was now infused with the sharp metallic bite of blood. He wanted to saturate himself as deeply as possible before diving into the torrent of memories that echoed thru her genes once again. His tongue pressed deeper into her parting, sucking thirstily at the nectar flowing from her flower. Her hips continued to buck, but her body wanted it so badly her vagina burned against his lips. Artemis squeezed her pillowy ass roughly and she gasped, half in pain at his ferocity, the other half in intense pleasure from his extreme need of her body. She could not move her leg that was draped over his shoulder if she wanted to, he gripped her so tightly. Lifa's soft belly began to shudder and clench, building up as pressure grew from the depths of her vagina and her eyes glazed over as if she were in a trance. Artemis' tongue pushed inside her further, licking her steadily constricting walls as thoroughly as he could. The elf could take no more, her sharp ears flattened themselves against her head and she felt a powerful release rack her body as her back arched and she screamed in uninhibited pleasure. Lifa's love juices filled Artemis' mouth, and threatened to spill over his lips. He swallowed deeply, and the blood present washed down his throat. He could resist the tide of genetic memories that washed over him no longer.

	He saw himself as a tiny eldar gazing into a bright amber soul stone clinched between delicate hands. The mind of the child pushed forward towards its inky depths and the touch of cold empty loneliness pressed back. Everything was dry, barren, and stagnant. He could feel tears run down the child's face.

	The girl was older now, creeping across a thick lush forest happily. She loved the surrounding beauty and wished to live here forever. It was so much more free than where she had grown up and life blossomed all around her wonderfully. He realized with a jolt that he knew this place as well, they had been here together before.

	She ran down endless hallways, the harsh clatter of bullets biting into the jagged stone walls around her. She clutched a recovered gene seed sample tightly, her heart pounding as a host of roaring Orks pursued her.

	The endless twilight city loomed around the girl once again, the lifeless body of a pale eldar warrior garbed in sullen spiked armor was borne past her. She stared in horror, lamenting the fate of the broken warrior's soul.

	She looked deeply into Artemis' differing colored eyes longingly. The love he felt emanating from her threatened to consume him. It was a wonder she could raise her hand to his face and stroke it gently as she now did.

	He felt the girls head throb as she cracked her eyes open uneasily. She was in his arms, and he was running thru a field of barley, looking back over his shoulder every few strides. She smiled and closed her eyes again, knowing she was safe with him.

	The same warrior who she had seen dead before her several days ago now walked past her in the street. She called to him and he sneered back at her. It was a lucky shot he said, he would be repaid in blood for his humiliation.

	She contorted her body and went through the different poses, focusing her mind to the exclusion of all else. She had been shunned for breaking from the path. She would not be again.

	Her dreams were becoming more vivid. She began to question if they were dreams at all. She had to try harder to master her control over her emotions. Maybe they would stop then. Every night a storm always loomed on the horizon.

	Artemis yelled terrible things at her, but she only understood some of what he said. She responded angrily in her own tongue. His arms were bare and were not marked with the uplinks he now bore.

	The chaos marine stood over her, axe raised for the killing blow. She threw up a hand before her desperately, crying out in fear. So this is how her life was to end, forgotten and alone on a frozen ice world. Her ragged emotions touched something deep inside her she had never felt before. Something clicked into place within her. Crackling blue lightning arced from her finger tips and tore the warrior before her apart. She looked at her fragile hand in awe.

	Artemis gasped as Lifa's form appeared before him, his lips trembling lightly against her delicate entrance. His mind reeled at the flood of memories that had consumed him. 'By the Eye..' he thought. He still remembered fondly when they had first met as well; it was a wonder how close they had grown since. And he had seen Commoragh. Lifa had always refused to take him there. And the first gene seed she had stolen before she convinced him to help her. It was a shock at first and he did not believe her until she had shown him the sample before he had agreed out of curiosity, thirst for adventure, and the desire to protect her. Her hips pressed against his face softly and he blinked, clearing his mind.

	Artemis lowered himself so her leg could come down. After it had, her knees buckled slightly and her legs clinched together as tiny spasms of pleasure still rippled through her. She breathed shakily, and the water hitting her bronzed skin was too much so she pressed a button to stop the deluge. She took a tiny step forward, her arms tucked in at the sides clinched against her breasts and raised into fists which she rested her pointed chin upon.

	"W-what w-was t-that?" Lifa asked unsteadily, still riding the wave of ecstasy.
	Artemis scooped her up into his arms and carried her out of the bathroom. She wrapped her arms around his broad neck weakly. "I don't know what got a hold of me. I saw your blood and had to taste it.. I saw Commoragh for the first time. It was amazing to see it through your eyes." Artemis spoke to the eldar gently. Lifa's eyes flashed opened in horror as she stared up at him. She had forgotten how he could look into glimpses of memories from genetic material. It unnerved her at how different the two of them were. While she neared perfection both mentally and physically by birthright, Artemis was molded into an apex predator through selection, upbringing, training, constant testing, and the augmenting process of surgical implants.

	"Did..Did you enjoy it atleast?" she nearly whispered the words. "When you found yourself pleasing me, was it for me or for you to explore my memories? I..I had thought...I had thought you wanted me.."

	Artemis raised an eyebrow at the girl in his arms. "I couldn't help myself. I wanted to taste you, and more than just physically. The desire to please you drove me even further over the edge.  It was close to tasting the essence of who you are. I wanted to submerge myself in you completely. I couldn't have done that without making you cum. That was all for you little one." He smiled warmly at the girl, and she slowly smiled in turn.

	Lifa replied softly, nuzzling her face against his scarred chest. "Hanta Iluuvatar.. Artemis, do not do that again. Ever. If you wish to see my memories, allow me to show you. Do not take them from me. They are the only things I can truly possess. As much as it pains me to speak it, even you do not belong to me. And there are some things in my mind you are not meant to see, things you would be unable to understand despite seeing them clearly. Our minds ARE different, no matter how similar our forms. Just as I do not understand why you act as you do even after you have told me, or how I have described the feeling of my soul to you, there are some things between us meant to stay separate."

	He continued down the hallway. While the experience had been extraordinary, he agreed with the eldar in his arms. She was too complex for him to want to go diving through her memories again. It left him feeling dazed and out of sorts, the soft whisper of her thoughts echoing in his head far longer than they should have. And there had been times in their long span of years where they had not been together, sometimes willingly and others times thru circumstances they could not control. They had been with others, and he did not wish for Lifa to gaze into his past and see the women he had been with. Being an Astartes, the most gorgeous women from every corner of the Imperium threw themselves at him, nearly worshiping the ground he tread upon. He knew the memories would pain Lifa terribly if she saw them, and knew how angry he himself would be at seeing a wimpy cultured eldar male delighting in Lifa's perfect form. No matter who had come before or after he had met the alien he now held, none came close to the position he held for her in his heart. His only words in response to her was a quick satisfied "Okay." and that ended the discussion.

	He carried her up a flight of stairs, and their bedroom door slid open at his approach. A soft cooing issued from his pillow. Artemis grumbled slightly while a smile tugged at Lifa's lips as she watched his face. Their shared room was shaped as an elongated oval. The ceiling and walls were one and the same, as they flowed together forming a dome. The fused walls differed between the sleek plasteel, which at the moment was covered in vibrant exotic tapestries, and near the top clear psychoplastic glass that allowed them to view the void of space they travelled. The floor was inlaid with beautiful wood panels, and there were several intricate rugs strewn about, providing their room with much needed warmth. Their bed was very large to accommodate both her and the astartes' tremendous frame. At different intervals along the walls, soft filtered lights lent their radiance to the room at large, bathing the room with a gentle warm glow.

	 Artemis turned his pace towards their bed and gently deposited the tiny elf in its center upon their pile of thick fur covers. The tiny creature that had been wallowing on Artemis' pillow waddled up to Lifa, its stubby legs having trouble traversing the wrinkles and folds of the covers it walked upon. Once it reached her, it prodded at her face affectionately with its wandering trunk. Lifa smiled warmly and picked the animal up, pulling it into a soft embrace. She spoke to the creature lovingly.

	"Vedui Tobias! Sut ier lle maksa er? I have missed you today. Did you miss me as well?" The small animal cooed contentedly and wriggled happily in her arms. Artemis fell into bed beside the eldar, mumbling something about his pillow. The space beaver named Tobias wiggled out of Lifa's arms and nuzzled up against the astartes, flailing its snout against him playfully.

	"Get outta here Toby." Artemis grumbled, placing the creature on the floor out of reach from him and the eldar.

	"Artemis!" Lifa chided in her lyrical voice. "Do not be mean to Toby. He loves you. Look how pitiful he is now! All he wants is his father to play with him."

	Artemis frowned at the elf laying next to him. "If that thing is my son, we've got problems." He watched as Tobias feebly attempted to crawl back on the bed, the creature's trunk grasping at blankets in an effort to pull itself up the side. "Besides," Artemis added, "that little guy has gotten too liberal with that trunk of his lately. Starting to creep me out." He glanced over at Lifa, her bronze skin still glistening slightly from the shower. She smelled like the forest after a storm, and her wonderful soft scent filled the room. A smile tugged at Lifa's lips as she caught him looking at her.

	"You have always been fairly liberal with your trunk as well." She said to him. "You do not hear me complain about it."

	Artemis laughed slightly and looked into her deep green eyes. "Whoa, hey now. That's a whole different story. We may not be the same race, but atleast we still look the same. And watch what you call a trunk, you don't hear me calling your lady lips any funny names."

	Lifa's delicate hand reached out and worked its way over scars, metal, and muscle before grasping the marine's proportionally large penis. "What is wrong with me calling your cock a trunk? Does it offend you Space Marine?" Lifa's exotic eyes glazed over and her soft pink lips pulled back in a taunting grin, revealing her perfect glossy white teeth. Her hand tightened around him. "Do you feel embarrassment from my words? You and your big, throbbing, shiny, mean, angry, ugly-" The marine was on top of her in an instant, pinning her fair arms to her sides. Lifa did nothing to resist him, instead writhing sensually beneath him, her mouth open slightly, her lips glazed with a thin sheen of saliva in anticipation. "What?" she said breathlessly, "did something I say upset you?" Her bronze legs struggled to rub against one another as his immense weight bore down upon her. "Are you going to punish me? Are you going to ravage me like a whore you filthy mon'keigh? Teach me a lesson with that disgusting thing between your-" Her breath rushed out of her as he shifted his weight forward.

	Artemis knew she was in some kind of mood tonight. The tiny eldar NEVER talked like this unless she wanted it bad. She was trying to work him up into a rage, and he knew it. The thing was, she was too fragile for him to be driven over the edge like she wanted. Some seventy odd years before when she had done something similar, he had broken her leg, arm, collarbone, and several ribs on accident. While she would still taunt him from time to time, he could not lose himself again. He had to maintain control. Oh, he would teach her a lesson alright, but he would have to be very gentle about it.

	The elf stared up at him, biting her lip. Her shimmering hair was splayed out beneath her with her pointed ears just barely poking through. Her firm breasts rose and fell slightly as she fought for breath beneath his oppressive weight. Artemis rumbled in constrained anger, "Whatever creature in the warp it was that made you decide to say that, you will wish IT was punishing you instead of me by the time I'm done." Lifa's green eyes lit up with savage lust at his words, and her heart began to pump faster in apprehension. Now she would allow herself to become scared, to truly experience what wrath her lover would exact upon her delicate and beautiful body. She had shared herself with him thousands of times, but to give up all control and let him ravage her brutally was the deepest form of love she could share with him. She knew how easily he could kill her without meaning to, and to push him over the edge was her putting her life in his hands. She trusted no one more in the galaxy than the astartes on top of her. And she wanted him to take her, where only his self control and love for her would decide if she lived or died. Her stomach clenched in fear as she uttered the words that would leave her mouth along with the rest of her courage by the time she was done speaking.

	"I would prefer t-that daemon t-to you, filthy heretic mon'keigh."

	Lifa froze in true terror, watching Artemis' differing colored eyes closely. They grew wide in shock, and grew clouded quickly after with rage. Her first words were to build him up, but the last ones.. calling him a heretic would ensure he did not fake this. She had never called him such before. But they both knew it was true. She hoped she had not pushed him too far.

	Lifa turned her head away just as his enormous palm made contact with her cheek. The sound of her neck cracking from the blow filled her ears. Her head swam, and she could not think clearly for several moments. When her eyes cleared she realized once again she was in her bed, and she now felt the astartes' hand wrapped around her throat. She was scared, but she could still breath, and took this as a sign he was still in control, if barely. Her slender fingers wrapped around his wrist, but just as quickly, he pinned both of her arms above her head with his free hand. He released his hold upon her neck, and brought both of her legs up to his hips. Lifa looked down and watched as he tugged his hand back and forth over his massive length. Her heart raced now not only with fear, but excitement as well. She winced slightly as his grip tightened on her wrists. Her left eye was going numb and she knew it was beginning to swell up already. She regretted calling him a heretic.

	Lifa watched the astartes place the tip of his massive penis between her legs, and felt it prodding against her entrance. She breathed as deeply as possible, trying to relax as much as she could in her current state. Her mouth jerked open as he began to slowly slide into her. It was still painful to the elf, but it hurt in the best way possible. The pain would usually fade within a few moments of growing accustomed to him. Without warning, Artemis lunged forward angrily. Lifa screamed from the sudden change she felt inside her.

	"Ah! Artemis, slower plea-"

	The astartes' other palm collided with her face, snapping her face into her pillow, her silver hair fanning in an arc about her wildly. The elf struggled to focus her eyes, and her jaw felt stiff and heavy to her. Her soft pointed ears were ringing, and as they began to clear she heard Artemis speaking to her as if from far away. She felt dull impacts reverberate up her spine from her hips, and feeling began to return as her vision cleared. Something was clenched against one of her firm breasts, constricting painfully. Her vagina was wrapped tightly around a large foreign object that was moving inside of her powerfully. Lifa blinked a handful of times, and saw the nude marine on top of her, his slab like muscles bathed in sweat. One hand was upon her breast; the other had returned to pinning her arms above her head. Her sensations all came rushing in at once, washing over her like a tsunami. She gasped tremendously, and her rich voice whined in uncontrolled pleasure upon her exhale. Whatever words the marine had spoken to her were lost in the tide of confusion that followed the second slap. And they were forgotten completely as the fiery tingling of lust and ecstasy crept through her body.

	"I said beg." Artemis spoke coldly, burying himself deep inside her and pausing.

	The first attempts at speech failed her miserably, babbling complete nonsense as she was recovering from the shock of both blows and the wave of pleasure that followed immediately after. Coherency took a minute, but finally it came.

	 "Wha...." Lifa worked her jaw slowly, wincing in pain at the stiffness in her muscles. "What?"

	"I told you to beg me to fuck you. Tell me to fuck you with the 'ugly, disgusting thing between my legs'. Beg for it xeno slut. Make your ancestors weep" A smirk spread across Artemis' lips. They had had endless passionate and loving sex, and it was always amazing, but mixing in new things was always an exciting endeavor for the two of them, especially since they had been sleeping together for nearly two hundred years.

	Lifa's emerald eyes locked upon Artemis' blue and brown ones. She opened her mouth to reply, but only a moan came out in answer to his request. Having him buried so deeply inside her interfered with her ability to talk. Eventually she was able to squeak out a short breathless "Please!"

	"What was that eldar? I don't think I heard you?" He felt Tobias grope his foot hanging over the bed with its smelling appendage. "get outta here Toby.." Artemis whispered, wiggling his foot out of reach. The animal was really getting too inquisitive for its own good.

	"Please!" Lifa moaned louder. Artemis tightened his grip upon her breast. The eldar drew a shuddering breath, then whined longingly, "Please fuck me!" Artemis only pushed deeper inside her longing folds.

	"What? I think I heard something, but I wasn't sure what." He spoke curiously, releasing Lifa's sculpted breast and running his broad hand across her sleek belly. The elf began bucking in spasms as his fingertips explored her soft form, aching in anticipation.

	"Oh fuck, please, please, PLEASE! Fuck me please!" Lifa whimpered. Her eyes were glued to his hand traveling across her smooth bronze skin.
	"Hmm?" Artemis questioned, raising an eyebrow at the quivering eldar. His hand did not cease its gentle teasing, and he saw her begin to glow faintly. He knew she would not break. She wanted this to play out exactly the way he had planned. Forcing herself into his mind would ruin it for her. Thin blue strands of static electricity began to break out across her skin. He could feel her vagina clench tighter and tighter around him.
	"Sweet goddess, PLEASE! FUCK ME! I need it, I love it, I love your cock! Ravage me mon'keigh, I need you to fuck me! Oh, Isha, PLEASE ARTEMIS!"

	Thin bolts were beginning to arc from her; Artemis thought it best not to deny her any longer. He wrapped his previously wandering hand around her neck and constricted gently, renewing his ruthless thrusts into the elf. Her mouth opened in silent ecstasy, unable to force a sound past his restricting fingers. She gave in completely to his brutal pumping, lying on her back defenselessly and taking it joyfully. Her sopping wet vagina gratefully accepted his assault upon her, squeezing upon him vigorously. Her head began to tingle, and slowly, her vision began to darken as blood flow to her brain was running short. Her exotic eyes locked upon his worriedly. He looked at her and nodded; she relaxed slightly, blinking once and nodding back as much as she could with his massive fist circling her elegant neck. She let go of her nagging fear, and her eyes began to see dark spots. Her fingers and toes tingled slowly at first, then almost painfully; tiny pricking sensations crept up her limbs in increasing intensity, the sound of a rushing wave crashed upon her ears, and everything went blank.


	Intense feeling flooded back into her. Sweet cool air filled her lungs. Her body tingled as if she had fallen in a nest of crawling insects. Everything was fuzzy, and she felt her body jerking back and forth in rhythm to a powerful force shaking her in concussive bursts. In the back of her mind, this room was familiar to her. She knew it intimately, but did not know where she was. Her eyes drunkenly glanced downward, and she relaxed immediately; Artemis was with her. She was safe. But he was naked. Her skin jumped to life, and she felt him inside her thrusting powerfully. Her pussy clenched abruptly; the touch of soft blankets beneath her, a warm loving hand encasing her thigh, another upon her delicate ear, the gentle whisper of air upon her skin. Her back arched and she screamed in mindless ecstasy, her lungs emptying themselves over and over again as her body writhed and her mind slipped from thought. She rode the cusp of insanity as waves of intense pleasure wracked her body mercilessly. A deep throbbing answered inside her vagina, hot seaman coating her interior violently. Her body shook and spasmed. Lifa vaguely felt herself rolling around, but could do nothing to stop it, nor did she care to. Thick powerful arms encased her, and she shivered uncontrollably in their sheltering embrace, violent spasms contorting her frame periodically. She rode out the wave blissfully for several minutes.

	 When she cracked her eyes open, she found herself wrapped tightly in Artemis' brawny arms. She still shook slightly, but had regained function of her limbs for the most part. Her delicate hands reached out, stroking the encasing arms lovingly. Lifa whispered softly to the astartes pressed against her back.

	"I love you."

	Artemis hummed deeply. She rolled over in his arms to turn and face him. It was then she noticed he was covered in blood.

	"Artemis!" she gasped "Agar ilya vanwa!" She jumped up quickly, only to find even more blood across the sheets. Artemis looked up at her.

	"It's yours." he said. "The blood I mean. It's from your period."

	Lifa sighed in relief, then blushed slightly studying the vast amount of it. She did not trust herself to speak at the moment. It looked as if someone had been murdered in their bed. Tobias waddled over to her and began petting her calves with his stumpy trunk. She picked him up before returning to bed and snuggling against Artemis' tremendous frame. She nestled her head against his bulky chest and hummed contentedly. Artemis reached behind himself and grabbed a thick blanket, pulling it over the three of them. Tobias' trunk grasped feebly at his nose. Artemis could care less at the moment. Unless that creature crawled up behind him in the middle of the night, he did not care what it did. Lifa opened her sparkling eyes lazily to gaze upon her lover. A tear made its way down her face as she looked at his handsome features.

	"I do not wish for you to leave me again.." she whispered sadly.

	Artemis opened his eyes slightly to look at her. "Then I won't" he replied gently. "I'll stay here and travel the stars with you for the next twenty years. We can say we got caught in a warp storm. Who's to say otherwise?"

Lifa laughed softly. "I wish it could be as you say. I miss you terribly when you leave. Promise me you will return safely?"

Artemis pulled her close and kissed her soft pink lips gently. "I promise."
Within minutes, the three of them were asleep, Tobias wrapped around Artemis' corded neck fondly.



	They awoke with the ship's proximity alarm blaring incessantly. Groggily, they rolled out of bed.

"What the fuck is that damn alarm going on about? Emperor's ass that's annoying." Artemis grumbled, prying Tobias from his neck.

"Come. Let us solve this mystery quickly. The sooner we can return to bed." Lifa replied. The pair of them made their way to the cockpit. As soon as they sank into their seats, Lifa jolted forward in horror.

	"Artemis grab your gear! An Ork war party is bearing down upon us!" Lifa cried, dashing to their shared bathroom where she had left her guardian plating from the day before. The marine bolted down the corridor behind her, amazed as always at her superior speed. As she darted into the bathroom he passed her, continuing until he reached the cargo bay. Once inside, he immediately began gearing up. After he had donned his power armor he looked for his helmet, but could not find it. "Perterabo's piss.." he muttered. He picked up his bolter and slung a leather strap he had attached to his gun over his shoulder. He decided to give up searching for his helmet and return to the cockpit. He did not have any time to waste. As he turned around, he started slightly; Lifa stood before him fully clad in her guardian armor, soul stone gleaming on her chest plate and his helm in her slender hands. He laughed lightly.

	"You're too quiet for your own good you know that? Thanks love." He kissed her polished helm quickly and immediately the pair set off for the cockpit, their steps hurried but confident. Upon reaching their destination, Lifa checked the sophisticated scanner that had alerted them.

	"Artemis," she whispered nervously, "I do not believe their ship is an Ork craft.. I hope I am mistaken.."

	"Well what do you think it is then?" Since he could not make any sense of the scanner, his gaze was focused on the window before them. "And why are we headed towards that asteroid? Don't tell me you're planning on fighting them on that rock? We have to be nearly to the webway by now, why not just out run them?" Lifa adeptly maneuvered the sleek eldar craft towards the asteroid, searching for a good spot to hide upon its pockmarked surface. "Lifa, what in the warp are you doing?"

	"The ship they possess is faster than ours, and so heavily armed we cannot afford a direct hit.. Artemis, they are chaos marines. The gene seed we stole, we cannot let it fall back into their hands."

	A sudden calm washed over the astartes. He checked his bolter with a practiced eye and began quietly blessing each of the individual bolts in the Emperor's name. He unstrapped the knife at his side that a lesser man would have called a sword and sharpened it slowly. His grenades were all in order, two fragmentation on the right side and two kraken on the left. He had six spare clips in different pockets attached to his waist and thighs. Lifa landed the craft in a cave on the lower lip of a sheltered crater. It was time.

	They ran to the air lock and once the door behind them had closed, to the asteroid's surface beyond. Artemis saw Lifa dash lithely across the uneven surface towards a clustering of boulders to their left. Her voice sounded in his ear over their vox-system telling him to hide. He wanted to shout obscenities at her for her poor word choice that caused his muscles to lock up, but managed to refrain from doing so. He found an 'advantageous position' to the right and quickly made his way towards it, hunkering down when he arrived. He sat motionless, waiting to see if the denizens of chaos would find them. Two minutes had passed when the small cavern began to vibrate slightly. From his vantage spot, Artemis watched the twisted and malformed ship descend at the mouth of the cave. He could understand why the eldar had at first mistaken it for an Ork ship; it was bright and garishly colored and while the craft was originally human design, grotesque and crude protrusions branched from the ship. Presently, the entrance hatch to the ship belched forth seven Space Marines. Even from afar, the differences were great enough for a normal space farer to tell something was disastrously off about them. Three of the group had severe mutations and another had a pair of additional malformed appendages springing from below his arms forming a set of intermediary limbs. The other three seemed closer to his own appearance, but their armor was misshapen in certain areas and spikes and horns could be seen jutting from their plating. The band of warriors made their way towards where Lifa and Artemis lay waiting in ambush.

	Lifa slowed her breathing and closed her eyes, listening to the gentle beat of her heart. She was ready for them. Their voices carried through to her own vox-receiver, and what she heard startled her. One spoke happily about how pleased Slaanesh would be if they brought an Eldar back to the Eye with them. Several of them groaned in exasperation while one rebuked the Chaos warrior and told him to focus on their instructions.

	"If we capture any Eldar, fine, we can bring them back to the Eye with us. I'll just let it be known that I plan on shooting any Eldar that I see."

	The giddy voice from before spoke up. "Oooooh, I don't care if it's a boy or a girl, I still plan on playing with it all the way back to the warp! Slaanesh will be so proud to have another Eldar to devour, and for me to have brought it to Shis Majesty! I will surely be rewarded!"

	A stuffy voice answered. "Why doesn't 'Shis Majesty' just go and grab Isha from good ole papa Nurgle then huh? If Slaanesh had any power to spare, he would certainly spare it from your dumb ass. Nurgle cages an Eldar goddess and Slaanesh is too much of a bitch to go and get-"

	"Hold your pus-laden tongue! I will hear no more about-"

	"Can it you two. We've got work to do." Several of the marines were still laughing at the bitter Slaaneshi follower as they made their way to the sleek craft.

	Lifa's eyes were wide open in outrage. She heard nothing after the plague marine had spoken of Isha's captivity. Just as she poised to spring from behind the boulders, a tremendous blast tore through the crowd. Artemis had tossed all four of his grenades at the group and was now opening fire from his vantage point. Lifa pounced over the boulder and added shurikan discs to his deadly bolts. Though the blast had been spectacularly devastating, four of the band were climbing to their feet, seemingly unfazed. They opened fire on Artemis' position, his own bolts only leaving small craters in the Chaos followers' armor. The Slaaneshi warrior was having trouble regaining his footing, and Lifa wanted to carve a path to him as quickly as possible. The plague marine that had mocked him was leaking torrential puddles of goop from a large rent in his corroded power armor and stood in the way barring the eldar's path. Her shots would have to be precise to have any effect. Closing the distance in three bounding strides, she jammed the tip of her shurikan catapult underneath the plague marine's jaw and tapped the firing mechanism. Though no exit holes were visible from the blast, the marine's eyepieces burst open and a mixture of maggot filled gore spewed forth. He dropped heavily to his knees before toppling over. Lifa snatched a dagger from the fallen warrior and leaped on top of the slowly rising Slaaneshi marine, landing with her slender feet upon his shoulders. Her weight upon him seemed to not have affected the man, and he gripped one of her arms tightly, giggling madly in joy. She ceased his laughter, swiftly plunging the plague marine's dagger into the thin area where his neck was exposed. She sawed the knife savagely around the opening, and his grip upon her ceased, his body clattering lifelessly to ground.

	As she turned to pounce upon the other two remaining Chaos warriors, she felt an abrupt stabbing pain in her frail hand that held the dagger. She dropped the blade and was shocked to see an angry mouth with devilish teeth upon the handle. It continued to chomp its fangs impotently from where it lay upon the ground. The blade screeched at her, and she was surprised to find she could hear it even in the vacuum of space. The two surviving Chaos marines could as well. They turned towards the noise in unison, and locked their malevolent eyes upon the eldar, realizing for the first time she was there and beholding what she had done. Abruptly, Lifa loosed a torrent of shurikan disks at them, but very few seemed to have any effect on them. She charged the nearest marine, leveling her shurikan catapult at his left eyepiece. They both fired at the same time. Her shurikan disks entered the Chaos marine's brain the same moment his fired bolts penetrated her guardian plating and exited out the other side.

	 She stepped towards the final marine, but her feet would not obey her. He took one look at her and turned back to where Artemis was hidden, firing at his hidden position. Lifa looked down; there was a hole the size of her fist were her heart had previously been. Her soul stone began to glow brilliantly, and that was the last thing she saw before she found herself blanketed in an oppressive ocean of inky darkness. No sound reached her ears, and the air around her was dry and stagnant. She reached up to touch her pointed ears and felt nothing. No hands to reach hear ears with, no ears to touch, no eyes to see the hands she did not have, no mouth to taste or breath the stale air with. She realized with horror what had happened. If she could have cried, she would have. For the time being, she would have to 'endure'.







List of Lifa's Xeno words

"harya oore yaana"  -  my heart's sanctuary
"amin nuata"  -  I swear
"Hanta Iluuvatar"  -  Thank God
" Vedui Tobias! Sut ier lle maksa er?"  -  Hello Tobias! How are you furry one?
"Agar ilya vanwa!"  -  Blood every where!