In the back of my awareness, an alarm rings out. 'Ah, year two. This should be the year they either sell me to the highest bidder, kill me, or send me to die in the arenas for slaves. Joy.' I think to myself. I admit, I'm a tad nervous, but it is out of my control. If they want to kill me, I'm detonating my reactor and drowning everyone for miles in demons.

Ah, my reactor. It is an actual possibility that if it goes up, it will create a rift to the warp. Just another... perk. On the other hand, it does make my body stronger, so... that's a win I guess? sigh

The more I learn of my new body, the more worried I get. It is not like piloting a knight, it is literally my body. I 'see' through my sensors, I feel my ammunition load, can feel the electricity crackling on my fist. I feel the oils and other fluids moving through my body. But I can't feel pain, nor hot or cold. Neither can I feel touch. It is... difficult.

But, at the very least, my body is back to its old appearance. Noble and powerful, I feel pride still. Maybe I will earn my title back in time. Now the only thing I need is a coat of paint. Perhaps some dark greens and blacks? Or maybe bold reds and yellows. Hmmmmm. Something to ponder.

The sound of the large gate opening draws my attention, so I shift my head in the direction. Oh, how I want to walk.

Through the gate, a new eldar comes sauntering in. 'Do these xenos not know how to walk like a normal person?' I think. I digress, and follow her movement with my head. She stops a few feet in front of me and looks into my eyes.

"So how have you liked your accommodation so far?" She inquires, a smirk on her lips. I respond with my favorite word. "SUBMISSION." I state, and look down. Will they finally let me find out my fate? I swear by the emperor, I WILL flood this accursed city with demons.

Her smirk turns into a full on smile at my word. "Good, good. You will follow my orders, yes?" She asks. I nod, and she continues. " Your duty is to fight In our pits, and win. If your good, maybe I'll get you someone to talk to." She states.

'So, they are banking on the isolation to have broken me. Well, it was honestly a good bet.' I think to myself. Looking at the woman, I bow my head low. It pains me, but I would prefer not to die unnecessarily. With my honor stained, I've much to do yet.

_____________________________

A few days later, I got my first fight. The eldar removed my chains, and I was able to walk once more. I took a moment to try to walk about, but I nearly stumbled. I was so eager to walk once more, I almost forgot I weighed well over 50 tons, and while I was warped, the laws of reality still held sway. My mass and momentum would take time to adjust too.

Soon enough, I was let of my dark cell and into a waiting area. In front of me, were another set of large gates. These probably led to the arena itself. The side of the room held many small cells and doors.

In these cells were drukari, some snake like creatures, humans, tau, kroot, and even more strange creatures. There was even an astartes in full armor. As I waited, I turned my head to the space marine, studying him.

His armor was gray, as if his iconography and chapter colors were deliberately removed. Otherwise, there was very little damage to his armor. With him, he carried a marine sized, drukari styled monomolecular sword, a bolt pistol, and a combat knife. He stood, looking at the wall, unmoving.

He might be someone to know. Suddenly, I feel a mental probe. I'm shocked! When I track where this probe originated, its... the marine? Cautiously , I begin raising my mental defences and prepare for a battle of wills.

Slowly, examining every detail I can glean without directly touching the probe, I figure out its purpose. A message. After a full minute of examinations, I figure it's safe enough. I accept it into a segregated section of my mind.

'Are you loyal to the eagle?' The message states.

Well, the eagle likely means the Aquila, and he is asking if I'm loyal to the emperor. Is he an enemy? Could I trust him to not be a heretic? There... is a way. I could examine his mind and soul. Later, even his body. But that is for later.

'I AM LOYAY TO THE EMPEROR, LONG MAY HE REIGN.' I state, then send my own message probe to him.

'By the emperor, my voice is damned loud. I need to adjust. Did my Psy-rating increase? My voice had this weird... undercurrent.' I thought to myself. To the marines credit, he doesn't even flinch before sending a message back.

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'I am Brother Karros of the Ultramarines. How long have you been here? Do you have a plan of escape?' He asks. Our conversation goes on from there, and we trade information.

He is a trainee librarian, and was captured when his squad was disabled somehow. Seriously, how do you capture 10 marines. He has been here for 6 ish months, and from his mental tone, he wants out, and to find his brothers.

In trade, I told him my new name, how long I've been here, and my experience thus far. I debate on telling him my plan, and decide not to. Instead, he gave advice.

'Listen well. There are things in this city that even gods would fear. I have no plan except survival at this juncture. The xenos are vicious and enjoy your pain. You need to pretend to break, to have fallen into despair so deep you can't get out. Otherwise... well, the Haemonculi always want flesh.' I state.

Just as I turn towards The gate indicating that i'm finished speaking, One of the secondary doors on the side wall opens, and a wych comes out. With her come guards, and she begins taking tau and the snake things away.

Another message probe comes to me, but I cut it off. Normally, I wouldn't be so rude, but I'm taking no chances they can detect our communications, no matter how remote. He'll, it isn't even remote.

When they leave again, I connect a proper mind bridge. "I MEANT WHAT I SAID BOY. THeRe are worse fates then death here. They can rip your soul out and torment you forever. They can break your mind and body until you are but quivering flesh beging to do their bidding. There are worse fates by far then this." I state.

"Watch your words, knight. I would rather die tryingto save my brothersthen languish here." He states the nerve of him! Did he ignore me?

"There is no way to get to them. You will die before you get out of the building." I state. "We are in the heart of the enemy marine. We must play our hand cautiously lest we lose everything. And even then I do not expect to truly come out of here alive. The only way to have a chance is through guile. We must bite our time, Brother Karros, and when the time is right, we must strike." And with that, I cut the connection, as an eldar walks in. She comes up to me, and with clipped high gothic, orders me through the gates.

As I walk forward, the gates open, and I'm move through them without hesitation. The ramp makes me stumble slightly, but by the end, I got my feet back under me. When I reach the exit, I find an open gate, so I figure I should just walk out.

What I find is an open, circular arena, with 3 other gates. At each of the gates, there is an abomination of flesh and metal. They were about half my height, but knowing the kind of things the Haemonculi do for fun, I'm genuinely worried.

I check my weapons. My fist and cannon, fine. Stubber and melta, fine. If they get in close, they are probably faster... shit.

'They need to fight each other. In this confined area, this is going to be... bad. Especially if I get rushed by all three. May the emperor watch over me.' I think.

As I wait, readying my weapons, there is an announcement over the area. I only then notice the arenas stands are filled with dark eldar and the snake things. The announcement fills the air with noise, And it is completely incomprehensible to me. Obviously, I'm just the show, no need to inform me of rules. Joy.

When the speaker finally stops, I hear them saying singular words. When he, as it sounds male enough, stops, the beasts bolt forward. I wait where I stand, hoping they would kill eachother so I could sweep up. Unfortunately, it seems I didn't have that option.

"GO FIGHT YOU FOOL BEAST! GO OR YOU WILL BE SENT DO THE PIT FOR THE REST OF YOUR SHORT LIFE!" A female voice calls out, irate. It seems my 'Masters' want a show.

So, willing or not, I advance slowly, watching the 3 rip into each other. The arena was a full kilometer in diameter, so, the fight is 500m away. I decide to fire my melta into the fray, and with a quiet pop, a lance of fire is ejected to the beasts. While it is almost out of range, it still has enough power to vaporize the outer layers of the beasts, causing them to howel in rage. I continue to advance, firing every 100 meters. Each shot does more damage then the last, causing muscles to liquefy and steam away, drugs to burst into flames, and the abominations to scream louder.

When I'm 100m away, I decide do open fire with my cannon. My stubber would do nothing against these beasts. My cannon fires, recoiling back into its housing. After one and a half seconds, it's ready to fire again. I shoot twice more, aiming for each.

Each shot hits its target, and one is blown up into paste, flying everywhere. Another has its lower body severed, yet the two pieces move independent of eachother. The last has its arm ripped off, almost a clean miss.

After the shots land, I charge.

"RRROOOOOOOAAAAAAARRR"

I roar a challenge to my two foes, and fire my melta at the head of the severed one. It dodges but sacrifices its limb in trade. I Focus on the mostly intact abomination and slow down to shoot my stubber at it.

It tries to bat away the rounds, then realizing the ineffectiveness of the shots, charges me. Meeting a second later, it tries to grab my cannon with its one remaining arm. I twist my body, moving my cannon away while clawing at the arm. Bolts of lightning flash as I rend the arm into pieces, then I round my body, back handing the thing with a Thundercats, sending it sailing away. I keep twisting, and find the second beast charging with its legs in tow behind it. I back away from the two beasts, and fire my cannon, striking the torso, pasting it. I then advance, and stomp on the legs, crushing them.

I turn to my last foe, and find it impeded in the ground, struggling to get up. I advance slowly, letting warp fire drip from my helm for show. As I reach it, it looks up. The head was once human, now shattered by my fist. I reach down and grab the creature in my fist. Holding it up, I squeeze. It screams briefly, then goes silent with a crunch.

I throw it to the floor with a roar, then wait. Soon enough, I'm led back out and into my cell. For a first match, I must say, it was stress relieving, as well as disgusting. Having to fight things that were once human, now twisted like that... I hope the marine learns his lesson.