Editing Chosen of Hecate (section)

====The Great Joust====
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Against his own expectations Radcliff Kaden of the Chosen of Hecate legion now stood in the arena, at the beginning of the final bout to decide upon the champion of the Lord Linares “Great Joust”. The Lord of Ale sat on an immense throne above the arena, stein in one massive hand happily watching the duels take place. Radcliff Kaden thought back briefly to the meeting with his Primarch. Lambach Kropor had informed the young captain that his brother of the Silver Blades sought to host a tournament. He bade that each Legion send a great champion to Kadir, to partake in a series of bouts until a winner could be decided. 

Kaden was surprised when Lambach had requested that he go and represent the Chosen. He knew he had a certain talent with a blade and considered himself an above average combatant but to be selected to duel with the best the other Legions had to offer was both humbling and an immense honour. Radcliff Kaden had accepted and swore to his Primarch he would return with no stains on the Legions honor.

Many of his bouts had been very close calls, Chanka of the Golden Mountains and Bzaa-Drakk of the Forge Lords in particular had come very close to overwhelming him with their sheer size and strength. Scurlock of the Gunslingers had fought dirty with two pistols, using every trick up his sleeve. He’d almost been undone by the awe inspiring skill of Sahir Al-Halib of the Sentinels and Diaz of the Silver Blades, and the frightening speed and ferocity of Crazy Grox who hailed from the Soaring Host again almost had him beaten. But despite all of these amazing combatants Radcliff Kaden had prevailed, he held to his diligent training and dogged surefootedness to carry him through and now against what he considered all the odds Radcliff Kaden stood before his final opponent and the last step between himself and a great and honorable glory for his Legion.

Zamalash of the Smoke Stalkers stood patiently waiting for the match to start. Kaden had witnessed Zamalash take several opponents that had underestimated his skill due to his lack of vision. The Stalker moved with a languid, almost relaxed grace. His twin blades flicking out only to make telling blows, not to say Zamalash himself had not had struggles reaching this vaunted position. 
The Smoke Stalker champion was perhaps a foot taller than Kaden, who, himself was by no means a short man, but did not match the Chosen captain in bulk. Both had trained their bodies to reflect their respective fighting styles and while Radcliff Kaden had the stocky build of one who favored a defensive fight everything about Zamalash screamed he was a duelist. 

The pale orbs of Zamalash’s eyes unnervingly followed Kaden as the Chosen captain circled gripping his spear tightly and hefting his shield reflexively. Kaden played the game of patience with his opponent. Both favored allowing their opponent to strike first and then react accordingly. 

Lord Linares raised his stein and said “The two of you have proven the best of the best, regardless of the outcome both of you have fought with honour and skill and do your Legions proud, but there may be only one winner” with that he slammed his stein down signaling the match had now officially started. 

Kaden advanced on his opponent warily, knowing it was exactly what Zamalash wanted but confidant that armed as they were he had the advantage of range. With a suddenness that caught Kaden completely off guard the Smoke Stalker champion launched himself directly at Kaden. His intention was clear and understandable. He too had studied his opponent and knew that Kaden preferred to keep his enemy at length. Zamalash planned to get inside Kaden's defensive stance and in doing so eliminate Kaden's ranged advantage.

Zamalash feinted towards Kaden's left hand side then quickly darted right chopping his twin blades towards the haft of Radcliff’s spear. Kaden predicted this move though as he knew it was a favored tactic to deal with a warrior armed as he was. He let his spear arm fall and rolled with blow, expecting to slam his shield into the back of Zamalash's head. A slower adversary would have been concussed with the force of such a strike but Zamalash was far to swift to be caught off guard. The Smoke Stalker dove to the side avoiding the hammer blow of a shield bash. The two fighters again separated, Kaden gave Zamalash a curt nod out of respect before realising the gesture would probably be wasted due to Zamalash's lack of sight and immediately chided himself for his lack of respect. Then to his surprise the Smoke Stalker returned the gesture. 

The two warriors circled each other for a moment before both diving into an attack. Kaden swept his spear towards Zamalash's legs in an attempt to trip the sword master. When the Stalker jumped over the strike Kaden expertly followed up with a thundering uppercut from his shield arm. The blow caught Zamalash off guard and sent the Legionnaire sprawling. With a shake of his head Zamalash recovered just in time to dodge the full momentum of Kaden's follow up bull charge. He twisted to the right catching Kaden across the back with the flats of both his swords this time sending Kaden over. Deftly, Kaden rolled back into a recovery pose but lost his spear in the process. Zamalash pressed his advantage raining blows down onto the Chosen of Hecate Captain. Kaden struggled to fend off the onslaught. Taking as many hits as he could with his shield but for every blow he warded off two more opened his armour causing great wells of blood to splash onto the arena floor. With his vision blurring Radcliff Kaden let out a mighty roar and drove to his feet. He grabbed Zamalash around the throat with his free hand and rammed his head with full force into the Smoke Stalkers face, shattering Zamalash's nose and dazing the Smoke Stalker before hammering his shield into the Stalkers unprotected face twice. Kaden hurled Zamalash away from him and swept up his weapon. The Smoke Stalker was quick to recover, regaining his composure and opting for a defensive duelists stance. Both opponents were clearly on their last legs and it was obvious to the onlookers that if the match didn't end soon one of the champions would perish. None dared interfere though, for to do so would besmirch the honor of the duel.

Kaden noticed Zamalash was not moving as surely and seemed less confident in his footing. The silent warrior’s blind eyes still unnervingly followed Kaden's every move but Kaden picked up on slight shakes of the Smoke Stalkers head. Radcliff Kaden made a gamble on the guess that the repeated blows to the head had in some way damaged Zamalash's hightened senses. The Captain of the Chosen of Hecate hefted his spear and hurled it directly at his opponent. Zamalash cut the weapon from the air with his twin blades but with his dulled senses was just not swift enough to avoid Kaden's follow up charge. The Smoke Stalker tried again to dance away but this time Kaden, braced behind his shield, barreled into Zamalash and smashed the air from his lungs. Kaden drove his opponent to the edge of the arena. Zamalash gave a final push back and the two astartes locked in a brutal scrimmage. Slowly, inexorably Kaden's superior strength won out and he was able to push the Smoke Stalker from the ring. Zamalash landed on his back with a heavy thud as a great cheer rose from the assembled onlookers.

Lord Linares was on his feet. Applauding the performance as Kaden, close to blacking out sunk to his knees with exhaustion. Radcliff Kaden Captain of the Chosen of Hecate had just won the Great Joust. With a smile on his lips Kaden closed his eyes for a mere second that felt like an eternity as the situation set in. When he opened them again Zamalash stood over him, the silent warrior seemingly staring right into Kaden’s soul with those unseeing, unnerving orbs. Kaden was unsure of what to say and so remained silent until the Smoke Stalker offered his hand. Kaden took it and Zamalash helped him to his feet. Barely above a whisper the Stalker champion spoke for the first time. "You fought valiantly son of Kropor, there is no shame in losing to you only a great lesson for which I owe you my thanks".
"And you brother, such skill I have never witnessed. This fight could easily have been yours, it was an honor to face you Zamalash of the Smoke Stalkers".

That night Lord Linares held a feast to honor all those who had participated in the tournament. Each warrior was addressed by name and Linares spoke with each about the highlights of their fights. No detail had he missed for he greatly appreciated the martial arts. Food and Drink was plentiful and each warrior swore an oath of brotherhood to each other. At the peak of the night Linares gifted the tournament winner with a magnificently crafted Shoulder Guard that he had had constructed specifically for the occasion and in the direct wake of the tournament painted and tailored to the exact specifications of Radcliff Kaden. At the same time announcing that in ten years time another great Joust would be held. No Chosen of Hecate warrior would ever go on to win again. Though some came close, none ever matched the honor attained by Captain Radcliff Kaden. The first champion of the Great Joust. 
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It would be almost twenty years after their renaming that the Legion could stand on their own. The Chosen of Hecate would fight alongside the Silver Blades, Ussaran Liberators and the vaunted Emperor’s Dragoon during the compliance of a xenos controlled system. Little documentation survived on this conflict save for the fact the previous First Captain was slain in the battle and Radcliff Kaden was unsurprisingly promoted to the position. It was after this that Lambach decided his legion was strong enough to stand alone and retake the reigns of the 414th fleet.

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