[hider=The Meeting of Kaldun and Eiohsa]
[b]Event Name:[/b] The Meeting of Kaldun and Eiohsa.

[b]Location:[/b] Terra, Sector Solar, Segmentum Solar.

[b]Date:[/b] 0.330.840.M30

[b]Parties Involved:[/b]

Legio XV Primarch Kaldun the Golden Conqueror
Legio XVI Primarch Eiohsa izva Bronakavh
Imperial Retainers

[hr]

Kaldun walked through the halls of the Imperial in his finest steel plate. It was more decorative than it was designed for battle, with gold inlaid into it in elaborate runes and swirls. He was in awe of the massive golden architecture that surrounded him. It was far greater than even the most brilliant architect on Baalros could come up with and he laughed at the incredulity of it all. Here he was, the conqueror of Baalros. A feat that no man had ever dreamed of achieving before him. And still, the impressiveness of his dream was laid low by the mere existence of the Imperium that his father had put together. It both humbled him and filled him with pride at the same time. 

As his eyes finally turned back down from the pillars and the roof above him he saw a human woman in a flamboyant, silky red dress that hugged her figure, covered in intricate gold and silver stitching and decor, waiting for him at the end of the hall. Probably one of his father’s attendants, though he must admit she was tall for many of the humans he had seen on Terra. Then, before his very eyes and with a mischievous grin of her own, she grew another four feet. 

Kaldun stared at her, nonplussed, then broke out into another laugh. He sped up his pace to a quick walk and threw his arms out into a hug. “You must be one of my sisters! I am Kaldun, the Golden Conqueror of Baalros! It is a great joy to meet you!” He lifted her into a bear hug, grinning up at her. “And what might I call you!?”

Eiohsa smiled broadly, spreading her own arms wide to meet her brother, and pulling him into a tight embrace of her own. “I am Eiohsa izva Bronakavh, the Lady of Iron, Lady Premier of Saravata, Scion of Kayaamat, and the Spear of Ultima.” She grinned, “There are more titles too, but who cares for those? It is good to meet you, brother. I have heard little of you, but already you brighten the room! Come, speak with me! I know only of you and your home from Imperial reports!”

“It is a frozen world with strong martial people! Baalrosians only respect strength and power and I have that in spades!” He laughed again, his voice booming across the hall. “Of course I do! How can I not, with who our father is!” 

He set her down, grin still in place. “But talk cannot truly tell us of one another! No! The truest expression of the self is combat! We must duel! Then we can know who the other is! Now! Before we have time to over think it and lie to the other unintentionally! I have my spear for just the occasion!”

“Er- I’m sorry, what?” She paused, visibly baffled, “Forgive me, brother - but what did you just say? You wish us to duel? Have I offended you in some way?” She turned to the aides following them, seeking some assistance or advice. They stared back, equally perplexed. She turned back to him - feeling out with her mind. She was unprepared for the bright, golden beacon of energy that deluged her, and stumbled slightly as she walked. 

For a moment she was silent, before she burst out laughing, clutching at her stomach as she bent double, unable to contain herself. 

“I had thought I insulted you, dear Kaldun!” She exclaimed, wiping a single golden tear from her eye as she pushed herself upright against the wall. “Your home is a strange one indeed, but I have known stanger! Dueling as a means to get to know each other!” She giggled more, casting a sideways glance at their retainers, who looked on with hopelessly confused expressions, inciting only more giggling. “What a peculiar custom!” She declared, “I accept!”

“Excellent! My spear! Who has my spear?!” He looked around and saw two beleaguered retainers carrying his massive iron spear between them. It was crafted specifically for him by his human father, King Calan, and took two humans to carry themselves.

 “There you are! I was worried I had lost the two of you!” With a few quick strides he met them and hefted his weapon in one hand. Turning back to his sister he waited a few moments, before turning his head in confusion. “Are you not going to get your own arms and armaments!?” He paused, a realization popping in his head. “Oh! You wish to brawl with fists! Of course! Very well! We shall save the weapons for later!”

Eiohsa grinned. “No, no, brother, there is no need.” She rolled her shoulders, muscle rippling beneath her skin as she prepared herself. “Sayuti, would you be a dear?” She turned to one of her aides, pulling off the elaborate, beautiful dress she had worn in a single, deft motion. “It would be a shame for this to be destroyed, I don’t want to break poor Satam’s heart.” 

She turned towards Kaldun, “Use your spear, brother, if it is what you feel most accustomed to! I have no weapons suitable for such a task at hand - and it has been far too long since I felt some blood on my fists!” She cracked her knuckles, then frowned, “Perhaps we ought take this out of our father’s pristine halls, however.”

Kaldun shrugged. “If you insist!” He readied his spear, approaching her. He paused, perplexed at her request. “Why?! It is a hall! You greet visitors and honored guests here do you not?! Where else would you duel?!”

“Dueling grounds, brother.” She said, smirking. “Much less expensive to repair.”

“Our father’s halls are covered in gold! I do not think coins are an issue for him!” Kaldun looked around at the increasingly nervous retainers and courtiers. “But, nonetheless, it appears that this is not the place for a duel! Lead on sister!”

She laughed, “Believe me, brother! Those resources are better spent elsewhere! Take it from one who has built her own grand buildings, the paperwork alone is a headache even for me!”

“What is paperwork!? Do you not have scribes?!”

She laughed, leading him on with a cheerful beckoning finger. A short shuttle ride later, and she faced him across the bare stone of one of the dueling grounds of the imperial palace. 

“Are you ready, brother!?” She called, an easy grin on her face as she watched him, anticipation building in her blood.

“I am always ready for a fight, sister!” He twirled the spear in his hand once, beaming back, before moving towards her with quick strides. The spear shot forward towards his sister’s chest, moving as an iron blur.

As a blur of motion herself, she ducked under the thrust of his spear. The whoosh of air above her head as its blade scarcely missed her filled her with a thrill of excitement she had scarcely felt before. Against her father’s champion, Valdor - she had been outmatched. And yet she relished the thought of another who could challenge her. She lunged for him, driving a right hook towards his exposed midsection. “You’ll have to do better than that, brother!” She laughed, revelling in the thrill of excitement that ran through her. 

His laugh matched her own as he stepped to the side, the knuckles shearing off a piece of his steel plate, and turned his thrust into an upward swing of the base of the spear towards her face. “I intend to!” Finally, there was someone who could match him that wouldn’t just outright surpass him like their father. The excitement of a good duel was something he hadn’t felt since he was a boy first training with his father’s knights years ago. He relished this opportunity.

Eiohsa grinned, deflecting her brother’s spear with one hand as she rushed towards him, laughing out loud. “Yes, brother!” she cried, “Show me what you can do! Show me the Golden Conqueror of Baalros!” Sparring against a peer was a new experience for her. Amongst the people of Kayaamat, she had only known the barest trace of a challenge in her earliest days and against the most savage and ruthless of pit fighters. For a time, like in many regards, she had considered herself robbed of the experience of a true challenge. She had downplayed her own skill simply to relish the sensation of being hit by her opponent, feeling the rush of adrenaline surge through her being. And so she drove her fist once more towards him, aiming for his jaw.

Kaldun stepped back as the fist whistled past his chin and bared his teeth in a smile at her. “Good, good!” Not ending a fight in seconds because the challenger was only human was something he hadn’t realized he had missed. He hefted his spear above his head and drove it down towards Eiohsa’s face.

Instead of dodging or blocking, Eiohsa threw herself into the tip of the blade, feeling its razor tip impact her skin - and glance aside. She laughed, thrilled, as she felt the pain from the blow - here was an opponent that posed a threat, that could offer a real fight. "By the great one!" she cried, "This is what I have missed all my life!" She grinned widely at her brother, rushing past his guard with the element of surprise and driving a savage uppercut towards his jaw. 

Kaldun blinked in surprise as instead of going into his sister’s face, the spear bounced off of Eiohsa and skirted to the side. That was unexpected. Aside from himself and his father, no one should have been able to- [i]Ooooooh.[/i]

 That moment of surprise and realization cost him and her fist connected soundly with his jaw. He stumbled backwards, the first real physical pain he’d felt in ages blooming across his chin. He bared his teeth in another smile, blood from his torn upper lip outlining them in red. 

“I should have known that you would be as indestructible to iron as I!” He hefted his spear in one hand and cocked it back, throwing it at her with all his might.

Time seemed to slow around her, the spear hurtling towards her face far faster than her brother had previously attacked her with it. Eiohsa acted purely on instinct - it was bad form to simply allow it to strike her once again, and it was too fast to dodge out of the way now, not without opening herself to his follow up. Instead, she reached out, striking aside the weapon with a fist as she prepared herself for his follow up.

She scarcely noticed as her hand struck the finely made head of the spear so that the hardened steel shattered on the impact. All her focus was on the fight, now, and she laughed out loud. “Yes, brother! All twenty of us are all but immune to base iron and steel! I shall show you the weapons of the Imperium, once we are through!”

Kaldun was striding towards her to follow up his spear throw with a punch of his own when his spear shattered. His spear. His spear that King Calan had had made specifically for him. Gone in an instant. Fury at the last vestige of his adoptive father being destroyed so easily and without a second thought filled him to his core. 

Golden lightning crackled across his entire body and with a furious shout he shot a bolt straight towards Eiohsa. Not even glancing to see if his sister had successfully blocked it or not he rushed over to the shattered remnants of his spear and knelt before it, staring at it. After a few moments, he began to weep at the sight of it.

The sudden white hot burst of fury caught Eiohsa off her guard, and it was all she could do to summon her own prodigious psychic might to counter the lightning bolt that had been hurled her way. She whirled on Kaldun, adrenaline surging through her veins - and froze.

She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. She raised a hand, then lowered it.

Slowly, silently, she approached him, letting her guard down. She stood behind him, watching in silence for a moment, analyzing the emotion that flowed from him. It was a family heirloom, she realized - a gift from adoptive father to son. She had known, via empathy, the bond between family, but it was never something she had experienced herself. The experiences of mortal humans around her were always… less intense, than her own. Her understanding was limited - she understood the significance, of course, but had no true way of relating to it personally.

At last, she knelt beside him, resting a hand on his shoulder. “I did not know.” She whispered softly. 

“It is not your fault. I should have known better than to throw it at someone as indestructible as I.” His tearful words were quiet, perhaps the quietest he had been since arriving. He gave a rueful chuckle. “I apologize for attacking you with lightning. I always tend to let my emotions get the better of me, something my fath-my adoptive father reproached me for. It seems I have not picked up upon his lessons and will not for some time. Our father tells me that some of our other siblings are thinkers and cautious planners. I shall leave that to them. I am not suited to ruling or planning, much to my adoptive father’s despair.” He gathered up the pieces of the spear, giving a forced smile towards Eiohsa. “I am good at breaking things though.”

Eiohsa’s expression fell as she listened to him. She remained silent for a time after he had finished, watching him with a steady, even gaze. “Unfortunately,” she said, drawing a deep sigh, “It is a… gift I share as well. The Empero- our father wishes me to be his hammer, to sunder and shatter all that stand before us. And yet…” she stared off into nothing, “I do not want to. I have never known family, brother - not until now. And even so, it is not the same I know, not in truth.” She turned towards him. “I dream of creating. Of building beautiful things. I was gifted such wondrous abilities by our father - yet he sees fit only to train me for war. Perhaps it is that I have already achieved what he needs of me outside of such. Perhaps there is room for me in this Imperium beyond war.” Golden tears trickled from her eyes as she spoke, her gaze remaining fixed on the horizon.

She remained silent, then reached out towards the shattered pieces of his spear. “Perhaps our Emperor sees fit only for me to destroy - but I [i]can[/i] mend. I can create. Please, brother - let me repair the spear for you. And let me craft a new one to serve you in its stead.” She gently picked up a shattered piece of the spearhead. “Let this spear, once reforged, stand as a testament to the man who made you who you are today, conqueror of Baalros. And let me forge you a new spear, fit for the Emperor himself, that you might join me as conqueror of the stars.”

A thin smile came to her lips, and she looked up to him. “Will you let me?”

Kaldun’s eyes filled with grateful tears and he carefully placed the shattered remnants of his spear down and embraced her again. “Golden conqueror, sister. I am the Golden Conqueror of Baalros.”

Eiohsa smiled as she embraced him in turn, golden tears of her own filling her eyes, “It’s a bit of a mouthful, however, brother.” She teased, “I think…” she trailed off, releasing him and turning to the spear. “You are more than the conqueror of a single world, now. You are one of the spears of the Imperium, Golden Conqueror.” She smirked, “Golden Spear - that’s it. We will call you Kaldun, the Golden Spear. And I shall forge you a weapon fit for one with such a title - fit for the Emperor himself!”

[b][...End Log.][/b]
[b][...Terminating.][/b]
[b][Imperial Thought for the Day: Unity is strength. One spear alone may fell a man. A million will topple empires.][/b]

[/hider]