Mathias, A Warhammer 40k Story

part 4

Flipping his power switch and closing the tech panel, Mathias runs full force towards the titanic creature. The ax roars to life. Gore and scarred teeth grind themselves together in anger at being awoken once again. Seeming to channel the very essence of Mathias - the ax's mechanized head begins to glow with a sickly, deep, violet-red color. Cracking his neck and preparing for the melee to come, the mindless rabble surrounding the monster begin bellowing savage roars and firing the motors of their own chain axes. Only one thing can hold the interest of the 10th; murder. 
The ax still thrumming loudly in the air, Mathias brandishes his weapon above his head with both hands and lets out an incredible roar. His shout seemingly reverberates off the walls of the crater. The monster responds in kind. Immediately, leaping from the massive boring hole it made in the ground and lashing out at the foot soldiers surrounding him. Those not quick enough to dodge were eviscerated by the talons and protrusions along his body and tail. The circle adjusts itself to allow in the full size of this monstrous titan. Ground artillery and support grind to a full halt and all disembark to view this spectacular bout of Monster vs. Mathias. Servitors and warp smiths are slammed to a halt as if the machines they care for demand to witness the conflict themselves.
        Mathias grins and opens the channel to his assault champion, “Come Onaicious, we have faith in the true gods to spread.”
“I am here.” A edge-worn voice seeps out from under his respirator, his head violently cracks from left to right before shaking one final time. Onaicious pushes himself towards the center of the ring, long talons stretch and grind their tips against the ground. Pink scarred flesh is seen under the cracked ceramite plating to his power armor, a constant sweaty coating shines in the heat of the binary stars. His helmet has since warped and engulfed his face, the side breaking off to expose a cheekless jaw, while saliva steadily drips from the gaps. A pair of horns sit, crooked and offset from his forehead. Ever-open eyes gaze wide and horrific, the scarring from the self removal of his eyelids still pucker the sides of his sockets. By the time Onaicious enters the center of the ring, his momentum is enough to easily carry his jumping lunge straight into the creature. 
 Beginning a charge of his own on the right flank of the monster, Mathias ends his final gait with a tremendous push of kinetic energy; flying him towards the face bones of the creature. Having been surprised by the newcomer, the titan responds by lashing his tail forward to this other bi-pedal threat. Tiny, razor-like scales shoot past the marines, impaling the armor of both surrounding marines and tanks alike. As his weight shifted to lash out with his tail, the titan sensed the man-thing launching through the air.
      Unable to fully stop his assault, the biological titan careens his head to the side, slamming Mathias in the air mid-jump and knocking him off course. Mathias is thrown but manages to grab hold to one of the monster's massive tunneling claws. Mathias swings down with his massive battle ax as the tiny saw blades chew deeply into the claw he is holding. A dark viscous material leeches out of the bone and onto Mathias. His armor screeches and pops as the corrosive material oozes over the rusted and scarred metal. With a grunt, Mathias rips his ax from the claw and reaches back to find purchase in a softer target.
Onaicious wastes no time for the ensuing battle. Using his own hardened talons, Onaicious meets the counter attack mid-swing. Crossing his forearms in an 'x' he uses the momentum to push the spike into the earth and launches himself on top of it. Quickly striding the length of the bone spike to the meaty abdomen, lashing his malefic claw into the side of the beast. Being rewarded with the same thick acidic ichor. Hissing at the discovery, Onaicious springs backwards and begins cleansing his talons with the blood of the audience. Swiping the elongated claws through whatever was standing by. 
With a harsh howl of pain, the creature responds to the pincer movement by these two elite warriors with another of his favorite attacks. Gathering in his focus, fighting through the pain; the gigantic creature explodes with a volley of his armor piercing protrusions.
      Mathias is completely blown away from the body of the titanic beast. Flying backwards toward the crowd - their numbers now slightly thinned by this new surprise attack. Mathias lands on his back with a crunch, crushing the bodies of several foot soldiers beneath him. Grunting with the first amount of exertion he has felt in some time. Mathias raises the gifted battle ax as he revs the motor to its breaking point.
      This ax however, is much more finely crafted than the otherwise useless chain axes of his Legion. Upon nearing its failure point the ax suddenly begins to glow a bright red, the color pulsing in time to the rotation of the engine’s pistons. As the pulse quickens the color changes from a dark red to a brighter red and then brighter to orange, then yellow. Finally, the head of the ax bursts into flames as the entire length, from head to pummel is now made entirely of a bright and sickly radioactive green flame. Blue sparks of lightning shoot in small arcs as slime drips down the head of the ax and over Mathias' gauntleted fist. The slime drops, pooling around the feet of Mathias as he stands, facing his prey. Small whisps of smoke furle out from the eaten plasteel. Mathias grips his weapon in both hands, rearing back the green glowing ax head. The titan shakes open its boring talons, letting the full sight of his mouth catch the light from both suns. Applying all of his force downwards into his eight arachnid legs, it springs out towards the man-thing.
      Mathias and the monster crash into melee combat in the air, meeting each other with a savage flurry of blows. Everything was a wash of color and blurring movement, then as suddenly as it began, everything stopped. The creature fell to the ground, all eight limbs spread towards the sun. Looking at his enemy, expecting a new trick - Mathias approaches the body of the monster. From the back right of the creature, directly under a convergence point for three of the bone spikes - a giant chunk of scrap metal sticks out of the creature. The acidic blood heaped and pooled around the object, causing the metal to screech and warp as the mass of the titanic creature crushes it into the ground. Mathias looks up to see Onaicious’ right arm, remaining in his follow-through swing.