The shape began to pivot towards her in mid-air, the scrambling attempts of it to claw it's way through the air towards her ship seeming successful against all physical probability. Kit'Au turned again, siphoning power from both shield and weapons to redouble her speed and put as much distance as possible between herself and this abomination. However, this appeared to enrage the creature, and It being swimming and clawing its way towards the Manta with redoubled speed. Her gunner began swearing as he rained shots into It without success, and she gritted her teeth as she felt it slam into the wing. The damage sensors immediately began blaring about structural cracks to the fuselage and wing strut, but Kit'Au's more pressing concern was the scrambling and thumping she heard along the wing coming towards her. The last thing she saw was an emaciated, weeping, human-like face in her viewport, before there was a smashing sound and a rush of wind.

Far below, Khârne the Betrayer was leading a brotherhood of Bloodletters into battle against the weakling Tau battle suits, when he was distracted by the crunching smash of a destroyed Manta hurtling into the perimeter of their skirmish. His helmet sensors had barely time to register there was movement within the wreckage, when Khârne felt something slam into his ceramite pleading, cracking a shoulder pad and hurling him against a rock outcropping.

As he leaned forward and stood, he could see a blur of motion turning the skirmish into a charnel house. Whatever was amongst the combatants cared not for Chaos or Tau, and instead slaughtered all with bludgeoning, brutal efficiency. A new emotion sparked deep within Khârne's chest: envy. He gunned the teeth on Gorecleaver, and roared out a battle cry to attract his foes attention.

The shape stopped, revealing itself in that moment to be a slender, pale, human-like figure. Certainly nothing more frightening than Khârne had ever seen amongst his travels within the warp and his witnesses to the perverted atrocities of the gods of Chaos, but nevertheless it held something that still terrified the razor slim sliver of human instincts he had left after his transformation to a Space Marine and then the right hand of the God of Slaughter had washed away everything else.

The entity was a blur again, smashing into Khârne and pulling at plates, hoses, helmet, and weapon faster than mere vision could track. Khârne instinctively swung and felt Gorecleaver bite into flesh, the teeth sticking and slowing as if caught in tar rather than meat and bone. He gunned the engine again, but by the time his fingers had responded to his mind's directive, the entity was behind him this time, pulling and yanking at his pack on his armor: bloodless, tattered fingertips creating streaks and gashes and dents as they scrambled to pull and tear at any exposed piece they could.

Again, Khârne acted without hesitation, the plasma pistol spinning around and glowing an eye-searing blue as it thundered into the being at point blank range. The berserker howled at the damage the Betrayer had inflicted, the momentary respite giving Khârne time to turn to face his opponent again.

Five clicks distant, Earth Caste missile technician Fio'vre Nem'sha was racing to press his data pad into the hands of their Ethereal commander. Breathless with excitement he explained "The main Chaos general, one our sources tell us is named The Betrayer, and the primary source of what statistics are displaying as greater than 15% of all casualties in our siege against the Chaos forces, has engaged with the entity we detected coming out of deep space. The entity has already destroyed a Manta and the Crisis battle group that was engaged with the general and his retinue, but appears to be in a stalemate for the moment with the Betrayer. I would suggest that we act swiftly to unleash all available firepower and artillery we have to spare, to end the threat now before he has a chance to move again."

The Ethereal considered the data pad for a long moment, eyes passing over the images of both combatants, before nodding solemnly.

Khârne was panting, feeling the exertion of battle in a way that made his blood race and heart pound with exhilaration. He had not been challenged in combat, truly challenged by a foe of this magnitude, since the heresy, And now, on this inauspicious planetoid, he was being tested in the colosseum of battle by this strange monster. So focused was he on attacks and counter attacks against this creature, that neither he nor his counterpart noticed the thousands of streaking blue lines overhead, as the missile barrages from hundreds of Sky Rays came hurtling towards them.

Long minutes had passed. The skirmish ground, once covered in blood, was now a blackened, glassy hole, blue flickers of plasma fire still looking at the edges. The Earth Caste technicians had a trio of camera drones focused on the smoke, to confirm the destruction of both the Chaos general and the strange berserker creature. But as the smoke cleared, a single ragged figure was seen at the center of the crater. The sigil of Khorne began to glow into existence, a stark and bloody red overwhelming the remnants of blue at the bottom of the crater, centered beneath the feet of this lone figure.

In a voice of thunderous triumph, the Blood God's declaration rang forth in a demonic tone even the Tau could comprehend in their terror:

"I have chosen a new champion."

Although no one would survive to record it, the technicians could have sworn that they could also hear a distant, quiet sobbing.