《Art of Tau'va (A Warhammer 40k Series)》 Awakening Awaken brave warriors and rise up to throw off the shackles of the oppressed. Your service is the beginning of the Greater Good, and delays our end. Thump Thump Thump Thump Every time his heart beat, he caught a snapshot of the outside world. Once every rotaa he could catch a word or two of conversation and people would jerk in and out of his vision. Sometimes he would blink and blackness would overtake him. In that time, kai¡¯rotaas could pass, or maybe just a few decs. From inside the cryorest chamber there was no way to tell. He could feel his mind working at normal speed even while the world moved in these jerky motions like a corrupted holovid. With these snapshots of reality came dreams that filled his half awake half asleep mind. These were made by the ship¡¯s onboard computer feeding him something like training simulations. It was more of a hypnotic suggestion process than a built virtual reality. Like a parent reading a story to a child and the child¡¯s mind translating that story into their dream. Shas¡¯La D''yanoi Mira, was making the transit for his first campaign, some planet on the border between Empire and Imperium space. Before entering cryo rest he had been briefed on their target, a small backwater Gue''la world that hadn''t even bother to industrialize. The water caste had tried to enact the silken conquest by sending merchants and speakers to convince the local population to throw off their own yoke and join the Tau¡¯va. They had shown the results through a holorecording of the events. The first expedition landed, villagers had gathered around, farming implements in hand, the water caste delegate present at the briefing narrating the events laid out before them noted that at this point the Gue''la were showing signs of concern and confusion. The ramp lowered and the water caste merchants departed, unarmed, wearing fine robes, the villagers'' expressions changed to shock, then horror as the speaker addressed them in gothic. Finally it culminated in anger, the villagers rushed the ship, tools raised high to be used as improvised weapons. Normally, played on public holofields, the feed would cut sparing the audience the violence and gore, but they were Firecast; violence and gore was their tradecraft, so the holovid played on displaying every detail of the event in the center of the room. These primitives used their tools as effectively as any other weapon, the feeble frames on those water cast tau had no chance to defend themselves. The lucky ones had their skulls cut open by the sharp heads and an overhand swing, one unfortunate speaker was beaten to death with blunt staves, his screams becoming an artifact for the remainder of the video. The video didn¡¯t end until they had begun to burn the ship, loading it full with wood and hay, and igniting it. The picture began to lose resolution, distort before finally cutting out, its final frames show casing the villagers tossing the bodies of the merchants into the pyre. The next feed showed an identical ship landing, farther back from the village, and this time the merchants and speakers were guarded by Gue''vesa auxiliaries, Humans who had already accepted the Tau¡¯va and who did most of the speaking. They were dressed in strike team armor specially designed to fit their bodies, and boasted their status as free tau empire citizens with a doubled headed Gue''la bird grasping the symbols of the greater good in its talons, giving it the appearance of it being perched. The native Gue''la were not as horrified seeing their comrades dressed as aliens, though at first there was still tension and shouts of the gothic word ¡°traitor¡± being thrown at them. They began smoothing things over by showing the miracles of the technology brought with them, which to any of the auxiliaries or tau present, were common items for every day use. Trade was established, first with the construction of a small outpost for the merchants and auxiliaries, then for meaningless resources. Lumber, mud bricks, things that the natives were making anyway and wouldn¡¯t be missed, food was offered up but never taken. This time instead of the villagers slaughtering this peaceful delegation, proper soldiers appeared to lay siege to the outpost. The recording showed a small skirmish between The Gue¡¯vesa sentries and the retinue of soldiers. The men were clad in metal armor, all of them had this around their breast and some form of protection on their head but a few had additional armor on their legs and arms. Mira thought he had seen something like it before in his historical teachings about early expansions of the greater good and the origins of his caste, from the days before they were a space faring civilization. Although it had been built by the native villagers, the outpost had been reinforced by tau technologies. Its wooden walls were topped by shield parapets and backed up by plasteel composite armor, made of same materials each of the fire warriors would be wearing themselves. The speaker had mentioned that the siege lasted several rotaa and showed short clips to highlight the escalation in the fighting. At first most of the native soldiers fought with primitive bows and firearms and were kept at bay with drone fire. Their artillery, primitive cannons, were able to blast holes in the wooden walls but was ineffective against the true plasteel wall behind. The arrival of the local regular forces was apparent when the defenders began to get peppered by laser fire. The speaker mentioned that these weapons were a local design so their power and effectiveness couldn¡¯t be measured against baseline until after we had made first contact with them. Missiles, autocannons, laser weapons of various sizes and power levels were tested against the wall. Even the dreaded bolter rounds were not enough to breach the small outpost. Mira began to wonder why no mention of them relieving Gue''vesa was made in the briefing. Then it became ultimately apparent. After nearly a Ky¡¯rotaa under siege, a shape began to materialize in the distance. It was bipedal and from the lower half had a strong semblance to a Gue''la, but its upper half was far too broad in shoulders and while it had one complete arm, the other ended about half way down. It was hard to judge from the distance but it appeared to be a large weapon of some sort. Its posture gave it the appearance of a hunchback, Mira tried but couldn¡¯t make out a head anywhere on it. Not fully unusual for the Gue''la, a few of their crude battle suits didn''t implement a sensor housing in the form of a head. Mira made sure to note that visually, the approaching battle suit would have large blind spots. As it came closer and grew larger in frame, a hammerhead fired its rail gun, the distinct whip-crack of the overgrown rifle ripped through the speakers but to the gathered fire warriors horror, the monster still came forward not even slowed by what should have been a killing blow. A slight shimmer was all the evidence that the Hammerhead hadn¡¯t missed, it fired again and missiles were launched but nothing seemed to slow the oncoming beast, let alone stop it. It remained a shadow enveloped by fog until, finally, after minutes of tension, it opened up with what was reveled to be its gun arm. The flash of the rotating muzzles as the propellant cast their shots forward illuminated the figure. It became clear that it was a battle suit of some kind, giant in nature, clad in armor plates and decorated in brilliant colors. It seemed primitive yet somehow advanced at the same time, but that was a common feature of the Gue''la. All of the technology and even their fashions clung to their past and spoke in contradictions. The rounds impacted throughout the outpost and proved too much for the armor and shields that had long protected the defenders. The Mechanical monster didn¡¯t stop when it fired but instead pressed on, one leg slamming into the ground after another. As it closed it would open up with a new weapon. Molten metal was fired from a gun in-bedded in its shoulder, rockets bombarded the fort from a launcher on its back, and even a flamer was built into its gatling cannon, sweeping the field to its right as the Gue''vesa attempted to put up resistance. It even used its feet as a weapon to stomp those that dare stand their ground. The hammerhead gunship fired a round in defiance, this time managing to stagger the monstrosity but it recovered to quickly for a follow up round, turned its attention on the tank, and shredded its hull with it primary weapon, leaving the burning wreck in its wake. It didn¡¯t destroy everything, but anyone left alive in its path was quickly engaged and overwhelmed by las fire and advancing melee troops. Mira was horrified yet fascinated as he watched one Gue''vesa be struck by three arrows, then be engaged in combat by multiple troops with spears and shields. They came up quickly trying to take her by surprise, she turned, fired the last burst of her pulse carbine into the first combatant, drew her pistol and dispatched 2 more. One of the spearmen managed to knock the pistol out of her hand, she in turn, grabbed the spear by the shaft and pulled herself closer to her assailant. She then used the butt of her carbine to bash the spearman in the head and push him to the ground before dispatching the warrior with an overhead blow to the head. She threw the weapon aside and drew a long knife. Tau squads carried something similar but the bonding knife was mostly ceremonial while the ones each of the Gue''vesa and the Gue¡¯la carried was built for war. Not only could they use it but expected to, some even expressing a preference to it rather than engaging at range. Mira had watched several training videos where Gue''la soldiers in their version of a Firecast would stop shooting as the enemy continued to approach to fix these long blades to the end of their gun. Then instead of bounding back and giving ground, they would use their weapons as spears and fight hand to hand. This one in the feed fought like an animal, Mira made another mental note of always leaving a route to escape lest the enemy be resigned to death and continue to fight when they might have fled. The Gue''vesa fought on, slashing and stabbing anyone who drew too close to her, but it was no use. No matter how furiously she fought, eventually she was surrounded and stabbed to death by the spear wielding soldiers. Even then, several spears impalled into her flesh she still continued to try and fight till she breathed her last. The rest of the holovid saw the destruction of the outpost and the few water caste survivors escaping to their craft. The Cadre was silent, this was nothing they hadn''t seen before since their first lessons but a tension of anger boiled inside each of them. It wasn¡¯t the assault that angered them, it was the brutality of the slaughter. It wasn¡¯t enough that their machines had broken the tau outpost and that its occupant would be forced to flee, they also had to slaughter those inside. Not just warriors, but traders, diplomats, and workers too. It was barbaric. Thump Thump Thump Mira had noticed that the world seemed to catch up with his mind. People and drones he would see outside his cryo tube stopped coming in and out of existence and instead took on jerky movements. When he blinked, the world wouldn¡¯t change as rapidly, although he felt the darkness was enveloping him more often now than what seemed like a few minutes ago. Thump Thump Thump He could follow muffled conversations outside his chamber now, or at least pick up what was being discussed based on context clues. He was seeing less drones and more people moving back and forth. Was it his mind slowing or the world catching up? He was having a hard time thinking clearly, his internal voices and images were shrouded in a fog. The earth caste woman had mentioned something like this, but it was all so much, happening all at once, he couldn''t focus and remember what she had told him. The briefing, the gear loading, the final rotaas and decs of training. Running through drills again and again. Then this beautiful earth caste nurse explained what would happen as he fell asleep and woke up. Why did that need explaining? He had done so at least a dozen times before. Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump A group was gathered around his pod. Was that good or bad? He couldn¡¯t remember, he couldn¡¯t think. A voice called out to him, was it from within his mind or external? You¡¯re beginning to panic. Find your center. Remember the mountains? The mountains. Throughout his few Tau¡¯cyr, the mountains were his center of peace. It was the one place he felt he could escape the pressure of the world and society. He wasn¡¯t alone in appreciating their beauty, it was something he was taught from a young age. He was raised to be a warrior from birth just as those that went before him. And many of those before him engaged in the combination of serenity and exhilaration that came with mountain climbing. Many touted it as the purest mixture of brut strength and endurance as well as intelligence and problem solving. Four traits that his caste highlighted the importance of. Mountains were a common sight on D''yanoi. Most rose up high above the plains but his mountain rose from one of the few bodies of water. It was an island that wasn¡¯t too far from shore, but far enough to dissuade most from attempting the crossing. But to Mira, the hike to the shore from his habitation, and the act of swimming out to the island was part of his meditation before he even began to climb. If he was water caste he might have taken a boat instead, but he was Shas. While they appreciated cleverness they respected the brute strength response. The memories of his childhood acted as intended, calmed his body and he began to breathe easily. Thump Thump Thump ThumpStolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Thump Thump He felt mostly in sync between his mind, body, and the world now. He could also feel something physical, a downward suction in his tube. As the fluid level receded his feet touched the floor for the first time since going into extended hibernation. Immediately he could tell his legs wouldn¡¯t hold the growing weight but as the thought was forming the tube began to tip and his back rested against the bed. The rest of the fluid drained and Mira took his first real breath since the start of his journey before his instincts rolled him onto his side and he began vomiting the fluid. His chest and throat burned from the sensation and for a while he laid there and listened to his breathing echo off the sides of the chamber before the earth caste staff pulled the bed from the tube exposing him to the bright world outside his tinted glass home. ¡°Tau ol¡¯dec Shas¡¯la. Did you enjoy your slumber? Can you say something for me?¡± ¡°It¡¯s too bright,¡± he groaned between coughs. He was correct, it was too bright, the world around him was flooded with white and he couldn¡¯t make out any details except for the shapes of tau hovering above him but even still, they only appeared as if they were standing in a dark corner. Mira attempted to shield his eyes from the source but his hand was forcefully pulled down to his side The dispassionate voice of a nurse who had repeated the same procedure several dozen times before reaching him filled his auditory senses ¡°I know brave warrior and I offer contrition because I¡¯m going to have to make it a bit worse for a Rai¡¯kor. How are you feeling?¡± As the attendant asked this she shined a light into Mira¡¯s eyes. His instinct worked against him now and screamed for him to turn his head and rip his hand away from whatever was holding him down, but his discipline won out and he stayed still. As he analyzed himself to answer the question he realized he was freezing cold as his body began to shiver so badly he feared he was about to have a seizure. ¡°I.. I feel cold. Why is it so c-c-cold¡± ¡°Your blood has been in storage just as you have. The fluid was keeping you stable but now that you''re exposed to the air it¡¯s normal to feel chilled. The rest of you looks intact, I¡¯ll throw a blanket over you and check up on your comrades.¡± The attendant did as she promised and walked away to the next warrior being pulled out from his slumber. Mira looked up to the ceiling and forced himself to adjust to the world as the weight of the blanket pressed down on him and warmed his body with the aid of a small heated fan that was built into the table. The attendant was right. It was his blood that felt cold but it was deeper than that, it wasn¡¯t just that his blood was going into storage and being replaced with the fluid that also filled the tank, something about the chemicals in the fluid leaving his body also seemed to strip even the memory of heat with them. Decs passed and he was starting to warm up and his vision became more clear, the light no longer assaulted his eyes and rather did as nature intended, illuminating the world around him. He was exactly where he had gone to sleep, in the med bay of the cruiser D''yanoi Reh¡¯aiy Sho¡¯ur Mu¡¯gul ¡°Strength as One¡±. As he looked around the countless rows of cryo tubes he realized he might be one of the first groups of fire warriors to be awakened, alongside the other members of his la¡¯rua. They were certainly near the target but how far out was impossible to know from within the cryobay. He wasn¡¯t being woken up with the main body of troops but he also couldn¡¯t tell how many had been woken up before him. For all he knew, he could be getting woken up with the commanders and their body guard and still have several rotaa before they even decelerated from light speed. An alarm behind and to the right tore Mira from his thoughts, he snapped his head over to the direction of the disturbance. One of the tubes was the cause, the earth caste attendances rushed over and hit an emergency flush button. Fluid rushed from the tube onto the floor, before it could fully drain one of the attendants pulled the tube back and unsealed the top before pulling the bed out, a rush of medical jargon passed his auditory senses ¡°No heart rate¡± One had stated ¡°Patient hasn¡¯t expelled preserve from his lungs. We¡¯ll need to tube him " Another had said in response "Oxygenated blood levels dropping rapidly, we need to force air-" A third had started talking over the second. "Stop!¡± The last voice that cut above the others as well as the alarm, it must have belonged to the lead doctor on the team. He wasn¡¯t looking at the warrior on the bed, instead he was looking at the data read on the tube. ¡°Scan his brain for activity.¡± He ordered ¡°Yes Fio¡¯vre.¡± a long silence passed as the attendant pulled a data pad and held it near the warrior''s skull. Finally she gave a saddened ¡°No activity Fio¡¯vre.¡± ¡°Then he had died during transit and his body just now caught up with his mind. There¡¯s nothing more to do for him. Reseal the stasis pod and prep the corpse for deep storage. Then resume your work on the living patients.¡± A chorus of ¡°Yes Fio¡¯vre¡± passed as the slab was pushed back into the tube. As one of the attendants moved away, Mira saw the warrior''s face. It was a member not of his team, but of a sister la¡¯rue in his cadre. They had gone through the same academy classes, and while Mira didn¡¯t know him personally, it still weighed heavy on his heart to see a brother pass in such a way. Cold and alone, he had died during the journey for any number of reasons. It was a fate every fire warrior feared, to die in battle was easily attributed to the cause of the Greater Good. But to die in stasis, it was hard to justify in their minds. He reached his hand out in the direction of the pod, as if to grab the hand that couldn¡¯t reach for his, and when the body disappeared into the tube again, Mira pulled back his, formed a close fist, and pressed it to his chest, above his heart. No other members of the cadre would pass in their sleep, Mira didn¡¯t want to dwell on the one that had too much. He was alive, and he was given the opportunity to fight. Mira once more faced the ceiling and closed his eyes to meditate. He mostly concentrated on running through battle drills in his head over and over and over again before finally being disturbed once more. ¡°Brave warrior? Can you open your eyes for me?¡± Mira opened his eyes and looked to the origin of the voice. It was the attendant once more. The team had dispersed to focus on one warrior each, they were talking to his la¡¯rue currently. ¡°Fantastic, now can you sit up for me?¡± Mira nodded and threw his legs over the side of the bed, propping his upper half of his body up on this right elbow. There was some weakness in his body that was fading fast as his tendons remembered how to support his weight as well as stiffness in his joints as the fluid began moving around his body once more but he didn¡¯t experience any cramps that sometimes followed waking. The attendant slowly grabbed his arm after he had fully sat up and began to check it for movement and feeling the hard mussels that formed the distinct figure of a fire warrior. Their physic was a mix of lean and built, each muscle group on his body was formed over tau¡¯cyr of training not just casting the thick ropes of muscle but also to give those muscles memories to act on allowing his mind to focus on surrounding factors. Compared to the earth caste attendant, whose genes made them short and stocky, built like either a stone or a xi¡¯cain from the plains of their shared ancestral home, he was tall and toned with muscles defining each part of his body, but none of them over taking any feature. A combination of strength and speed, a physical representation of fire warrior tactics in battle. ¡°Be fast so that you may strike first, be strong so that there won¡¯t be a second strike¡±. Her eyes looked over his torso, checking for any burns or any other injuries that could have formed during his sleep. ¡°Any discomfort?¡± ¡°No,¡± he stated plainly. Nothing that was worth mentioning, although his manors may have taken an injury during the trip. After she checked both his sides and his back, she asked him to stand up. He pushed himself off the side of the bed and dropped to the floor. His foot pads landed and he had to bend his knees to catch some of his own weight but quickly recovered. She led him through some bends and stretches to both show that he was physically fit enough to proceed to active service and to help loosen up his appendages that had spent several Tau¡¯cyr floating in one position. He was handed his robes that he had hung up in the attached locker when he went to sleep and while he dressed himself, the attendant asked a series of questions. Some on how he was feeling and others to test his mental state. Finally his data pad was updated to reflect a full health chart, and he was dismissed to his station. The others of his cadre had also finished their examinations and were also heading the same way. He reached the passageway that contained each of the la¡¯rue bays. His was one of hundreds of cadres just aboard this ship and so he passed dozens of doors before finally reaching his bay. When he finally reached it, it was exactly as he had left it. Drones had spent the journey maintaining every aspect of the ship along with the few crew that also made the journey awake and that included keeping dust off of the surfaces. It contained 12 beds and lockers, each bunk stacked 3 high in 4 rows with the lockers forming the end caps. 3rd row, leftmost locker had the inscription Shas¡¯la D''yanoi Mira 1st La¡¯rue of Hunter Cadre Inspired Wind He pressed a series of buttons on the right side of the door and it made a small chime as it opened. Others had made it in before him, and more still were filtering in. Shas¡¯Ui Eldi, their team leader, had apparently already been in and left his locker door open. Mira pulled out the first article of his own clothing, his combat fatigues. It was a simple one piece suit with belt loops and other attachment points for his armor and other equipment. He pulled it on and as he secured it to his body he appreciated it as one of the several tiny miracles made by the earth caste that they all took for granted. The suit was loose but not overly so as to catch on anything, and skin tight where it needed to be but also flexible enough not to impede movement. It trapped heat in the cold and kept his body cool in the heat, all without any power. It worked with his armor to provide an airtight seal that allowed him to work in the vacuum of space in a limited fashion. Generations of engineers designed this suit before it even touched the first fire caste body and generations more have improved it in who knows how many millions of tiny ways. Almost every aspect of tau society was built with these tiny miracles, the product of the greater good, a whole species working together to not just better things for themselves but all life they encountered. His belt came next. It was slightly awkward to put on, the loops on this uniform came undone so that he could put it on or remove it without needing to remove the pouches already attached. But it left him in a place where he had to re-secure the loops while still holding his belt, the individual loops generally didn¡¯t have the strength to hold up a fully loaded belt.. He preferred to just reattach the pouches but in the field he wouldn¡¯t have that choice if he needed to drop then reattach his gear. Every fire warrior had developed a way to manage their gear without the aid of a fellow, Mira would lay down on the ground allowing gravity to work for him while he set up the belt and closed the loops, then tightening and standing up. Next he sat down on a nearby bench and pulled his boots on. They resembled the hooves his ancestors had before evolving into the fire caste member he was today. Then followed his knee pads and leg plates before he pulled over his vest and secured it to his sides and chest, more pouches and general equipment were added to this. Each piece of gear was the same story as the suit, generations of cooperation to ensure that the next generation was better prepared for what they would face. Another member of the La¡¯rue came up to help him with his shoulder plates and elbow pads, Mira made the sign of the grateful recipient and the team mate made the sign of the eager volunteer. Nirva had not only gone to the fire academy with Mira but they had actually been Shas¡¯saal together in the same training La¡¯rue. With the exception of the Shas¡¯Ui, this was the same La¡¯rue that had trained on D''yanoi. The main difference between now and what they had already experienced before was sitting in the back of their mind slowly traveling to the front, that this wasn¡¯t an exercise and that any mistakes would be taught with blood and death rather than stern instruction from an elder warrior. Once Mira¡¯s upper armor was fully secured to his body, Nirva turned to accept help with his own. Mira couldn¡¯t stand the silence that penetrated the bay¡¯s air and decided to make a lame joke. ¡°Did you sleep well, brave warrior?¡± Mira asked. Nirva chuckled at this as his brother tied on the left elbow pad. Brave warrior was a political term for the fire caste, who¡¯s warriors near universally hated it. But the Ethereals had issued it alongside other terms for members of the other castes. ¡°Wind Sailors¡± for the air caste ¡°Voice of Tau¡¯va¡± named the water caste ¡°Pillar of life¡± the earth caste. Other names might describe members of those same castes that performed specific jobs or functions. Mira didn¡¯t know how they felt about their formal address but he knew he and many others of his caste hated being called Brave Warrior. So it had become a joke amongst the fire caste, instilled first by the instructors at their academies. ¡°My brother don¡¯t you know? I dreamed that we had already won the war. We¡¯re here to direct traffic rather than fight¡± he collapsed his hands in the sign of the pleased jester ¡°With tales like that I think you are more a member of the water caste. Perhaps news reporting should be your chosen career instead of war since you like telling stories so much¡± Mira gave him a firm pat of his shoulder indicating that he was done attaching the armor. ¡°And you tie knots so well, perhaps an earth caste tailor is better suited. You are certainly thick skulled enough to be one of them¡± This got a chuckle out of the other Shas¡¯la in the bay. The Shas¡¯Ui walked back in just as Mira was about to sit down.. ¡°Attention!¡± one of the other Shas¡¯La yelped. The whole bay stood up, faced the Shas¡¯Ui at the door and bowed slightly. He wore the same armor they did but rather than the colors of their sept, a light brown that resembled the dry grass plains of D''yanoi, his instead was the darkened colors of those fire warriors who served aboard the many ships of the protection fleet with his helmet, slung under his arm still white with light blue stripes, indicating his rank of Shas¡¯Ui. ¡°Stand as you were, all. I trust you all had a good rest?¡± This produced polite chuckles at the joke they all had heard a dozen times by now. ¡°Stow it, I know it¡¯s a bad joke. The Ethereal opened with it during the briefing.¡± Chuckles and soft conversation halted, the bay fell into a strange silence of disbelief. The Shas¡¯Ui had been briefed by an Ethereal, it confirmed Mira¡¯s thoughts that they were some of the first to be woken up. Not only that, it was rare for any fire warrior to see an Ethereal in person let alone hear them speak so whatever was going on had to be important. ¡°What did he have to say?¡± Shas¡¯La Vash asked, his jaw still hanging in awe. ¡°He gave a speech at the beginning of the briefing,¡± Eldi said as he made his way to a stool near his bunk, groaning softly as he sat down. ¡°He told us how this was not a mission of vengeance but rather of liberation. How the Gue''la empire had kept this planet locked in the Mont¡¯au era for hundreds if not thousands of Tau¡¯cyr. And how we were not only bringing them the Tau¡¯va but also modern medicine and eliminating famine and drought from their lives.¡± Then mention of the Mont¡¯au had sent a chill down each warrior¡¯s spine and forced them to all stand up straighter. They gave each other glances from the corner of their eyes. It was a reaction of fear. The Mont¡¯au, time of terror, was the darkest period of their history, a time when Tau killed Tau, before the Etheraels came along and showed them the Tau¡¯va. Behind the fear was a feeling of honor to pay to the humans what the Ethereals had paid for them. The Shas''Ui continued ¡°Then Shas¡¯O Shass¡¯ang spoke. His words were more focused. No inspiring speeches of what we are here to do and why. In fact he didn¡¯t even speak about planet fall.¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t?¡± Mira asked. He was getting confused, a briefing that didn¡¯t include the first stage of any invasion? ¡°I was also confused.¡± Eldi continued, adjusting a strap on his leg ¡°Instead he talked about the current situation alongside the Kor¡¯O.¡± ¡°Admiral Farwind? I would have thought he would still be on the bridge. Especially with the majority of his crew waking up.¡± ¡°Apparently we¡¯re still in transit. So it was easier to persuade the fabled Admiral to come out and speak. The plan, as they put it, is to punch through the surrounding void militia, most of which consists of armed merchant ships, and begin our landings immediately. But there are some orbital defense platforms that we will need, it¡¯s the only area on the entire planet with any space traffic, and by extension the only area with the infrastructure to support our larger craft. To top it all off, they plan to arrive within weapons range. Maybe a few Tor¡¯kan out at most, so either way there will be no time to train for what comes next. The ship cadres are being used as boarding parties with the invasion cadres being moved into reserve. We will be forming one of these reserve cadres. We will board an orca dropship and stand by to reenforce any of the boarding crews as needed.¡± Another silence filled the bay, this time in contemplation of what was just asked of them. They were a young squad, all of them except the Shas¡¯Ui, had just graduated training two Tau¡¯cyr ago. The lessons of the academy were fresh in their minds but they all knew just how different that was from actual combat experience. They could see it etched in the faces of their instructor and their Shas¡¯Ui. ¡°Chin up warriors. We can and will take this task with pride and honor. Besides. I¡¯m assured that the boarding crews will be well equipped to handle the threat we scouted. This isn¡¯t a major port, they export a low number of goods to their empire, and they do not have the anchorages their navy would need to justify stopping over here. We will spend the fight inside the hull of an orca as I lament at the lost time that could be used training for the real war. So enjoy the time off you lazy By¡¯souns¡± The joke broke the tension and allowed the strike team to laugh fully for the first time since waking up. But even as Mira joined in, he couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that they may find themselves having gripped the ti¡¯groun by the tail. According to plan When events pass according to plan, this is when you must be on your highest vigilance. It is in these moments when our greatest lessons are taught to us through defeat. Kor''O Fal¡¯Shia Shir''Vah was typical of admirals in the protection fleet, in that he hated leaving his bridge. Even for the honor of speaking with an Ethereal and personally briefing him on the battle plan, he still wished he could do so from the comfort of his bridge. But the thought of bringing personnel other than air caste onto his bridge tied his stomachs together. Perhaps they could have briefed from the central command center next time. He smiled at that plan, it felt like the perfect idea. He would still be in position to command his vessel but without intruders to his sacred space. Sacred. The Ethereal wouldn¡¯t approve of such a word but that¡¯s what it was to him and every other Kor that commanded any vessel. Just as a battle suit cocoon is sacred to a fire warrior, his bridge was something he had worked for his entire career. He had served on many bridges, command centers and cockpits throughout that career, but none of them were truly his, despite what he would claim at the time in those positions. This bridge well and truly belongs to him and him alone. Any order given there was given under his approval. Even an Ethereal would struggle to give an order without his crew subtly looking to him for a nod of approval. When he returned to that sacred place he finally relaxed. Everything was just as he had left it a few decs ago and it made him feel at peace. The very center of the room was the command station, a collection of sofa seats as well as a circular pad for the Captain to stand on while observing or commanding the crew. The sofas were primarily for him to sit if he was going through or sending reports but the Captain and honored Ethereal also had a seat of their own there. The ship¡¯s second would be located deep within the ships command center so that anything but the most obliterating strikes would only take out one of the two crews that commanded the vessel. In front of the command station were two crewtau for navigation. One was in charge of physically moving the ship and the other plotted their course, currently the plotting crewman was the most employed. With their ship on the ascent path from the ether, that space between spaces, plotting became an incredibly sensitive task having to predict and track the movement of objects and communicate the needed adjustments. The ZFR was more common and the preferred propulsion method, even when moving through but his plan required the use of both of them and so demands were increased on this one crewmember. The ship pilot was only required to make small adjustments as they came up on the plot. But his station would too become tasked to its maximum. The weapons station to the right was a cluster of crew responsible for designating targets and plotting solutions and another cluster to monitor armor and possible weakness. They were also tasked with communicating with the watercast contingent deep within the ship who would be intercepting communications and searching the images of the ships for any hidden weaknesses ciphered by the Gue¡¯la¡¯s brutish language. The bridge was just one part of the whole vessel. Across the ship were dozens of centers packed with stations and crew serving their purpose. From the outside the ship seemed to fight as a single entity but it was actual the perfect representation of their Empire¡¯s philosophy of the Greater Good. He strode over to the ship captain and stood to his side. ¡°Any changes?¡± The question was a formality, if anything requiring his attention had occurred then he would have been informed regardless of what would be interrupted. Elemental council and briefings be damned, his fleet, and more importantly the ship he stood on came first. And if any Ethereal had a problem with it then he would gladly submit to censure, as soon as both their bodies were pulled from the void. ¡°No Kor¡¯O. Everything is just as it should be.¡± The Captain continued his own scan of the stations, looking over the crew shoulder¡¯s and glancing at the monitors. Nothing of note was on the main viewscreen. Occasionally they might catch a glance of some shape that looked like a face or some other anomaly. Officially there was nothing in the stream, the space between spaces and anything seen was just a reflection from real space or possibly the next dimension over. But Shir¡¯Vah held a secret belief that their could be life that existed in the inter dimensions. But it was not his place to theorize, so long as whatever was out there never made itself a threat to his fleets. ¡°Perfection. My compliments to your crew. My compliments across the fleet when we return to real space.¡± Even with most of their faces turned away from his, the Admiral could see their pride at the words of approval. Backs straighten, shoulders rolled, side glances exchanged between station mates, the simple words were a balm against the long shift that marked the end of a long journey. The added pride of hearing it for themselves before the fleet and especially before the rest of their ship, these crew would brag about it to their mates at the mess tables. Just as he had felt those long Tau''cyr ago. ¡°Just another microdec till we arrive. Sensors tell us we are rising through the plain and dropping speed. Projections show the warships arriving just within weapons range just as intended. Transports are rising faster while maintaining speed with us. At their rate they¡¯ll enter normal space at the same time but several million tor¡¯kan behind us. Exactly where your calculations said it would; right on their doorstep and instantly in action.¡± The captain''s tone was flat, not for a lack of admiration or pride in execution of complex orders, but rather was an example of his training for this post. It was Shir¡¯Vah¡¯s turn to smile. Other admirals had come up with similar equations but all before his were inaccurate or inconsistent. The common acceptable practice was to arrive in realspace rotaa out from the target and approach using stealth to achieve surprise. It was every admiral''s pursuit to come up with the formula that would allow their ships the ability to appear in normal space within, or close enough to weapons range to engage their targets before they even have a chance for the crew to enter alert stations. If they could achive that, tactic theorists predicted that they could then use these dives not only as a means of travel, but in combat to flank or dodge attacks. If the Gue''la could do it, certainly the air cast could as well. He had formulated a theory that involved the use of both drives onboard the ships, The ZFR drive brought them as close to light speed as the laws of nature allowed and was highly accurate, able to place a ship as exact as they felt like plotting. But it was relatively slow and ¡°lanes'''' had to be plotted out and maintained by pathfinder fleets. The ether drive on the other hand was lightning quick, allowing them to cross the entire empire in a matter of rottaa instead of ki¡¯rotta however it was inaccurate and prone to mishaps at best and disappearance of entire fleets at worse. His theory was to use both: The dive into the ether and plot a rough exit point, but while still in the ether use the ZFR to regain plotting precision. If his equations could be proven correct, then he would be remembered in the history of the greater good as an Admiral that revolutionized battle strategy and might even spark a third sphere of expansion. ¡°Captain, we¡¯re receiving probe data now¡± a crew member reported from his station. His dreams of being the father of a new era had to wait for the actions of the current to finish playing out. ¡°Very good. Sort through and relay to appropriate stations. Update me if there is anything of importance.¡± a yes sir was sounded from the station as he buried himself in his task. ¡°Has your crew been woken up?¡± Shir''Vah asked to the captain ¡°Yes admiral, all hands are awake and manning their posts. I¡¯ve preempted them to stand by for action stations.¡± The captain responded ¡°Perfection captain, as expected.¡± The two senior officers stood shoulder to shoulder chests thrust forward and chins held high. The Water caste liked to pull security footage to show the air caste in action when distributing news of victory, this knowledge stayed in the back of every crewmember¡¯s mind and would cause them, for lack of more poetic words, to pose for the cameras while on duty. Junior members of the aircaste would even refer to going on duty as ¡°Getting my picture taken¡± as a form of comedy. For Kor¡¯O Shir¡¯Van his pride wasn¡¯t just for the cameras, this would not just be a victory for the Empire, this would be his victory, his contribution to the greater good. His posting in the protection fleet had kept him far from the actions in the Damocles Gulf expansion, but here and now in the far eastern fringes of the Empire, he would make his mark. The microdecs passed by slowly. Shir¡¯Vah passed the same a little easier reading reports from other captains in the fleet. No one was falling behind. No one was out of position, and while all ships had lost crew in transit, the numbers were far below projections. Everything was as it should be, better than anticipated, and that started to worry him. It was a problem for everything to be this perfect, it couldn¡¯t stay this way, there wasn¡¯t an operation in the history of any fleet that had gone this well before. And sure enough, as the thoughts formed in his mind, almost as if it was also planned, the unexpected and impossible occurred. ¡°Captain, probe 1682 is sending back unexpected data¡± the information was sent to the Captain¡¯s monitor, who raised it to the admiral''s attention. ¡°Inform the Shas¡¯O. This¡­ complicates things.¡± --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mira had heard the waiting was the worst part of war, and so far he would agree. His la¡¯rue was standing outside the armory waiting to draw weapons. Before that they had been sitting around waiting for orders to go to said armory. When the Shas¡¯ui returned, there was sarcastic cheering from the Shas¡¯las, as if seeing their leader return triumphant from a duel. He smiled and waved his hand dismissively at them before speaking.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Alright, alright settle down. I¡¯ve got equipment lists for you all. The strike team is being modified to better suit possible action. Nirva, you¡¯re taking the breacher element as lead and team assistant to myself. You¡¯ll have Sholt, Kriitan, Alvah, and Korso. My element will consist of Mira, Bakah, Thunn, and myself of course. Mira and I will take pulse carbine, Bakah and Thunn will take pulse rifles and the entire breacher element will draw CQB helmets and pulse blasters. Everyone will take pistols as well.¡± Even as he spoke, most members of the la¡¯rue were picking up their gear and heading to the armory. A strange mix of excitement and nerves filled the air. This would be his la¡¯rue¡¯s first fight as it would be for many of the cadres¡¯ la¡¯rue. But there was something else proving the unease, the prospect of this not only being their first fight, but if they went into combat it would be in the void. They had trained for this of course but not to the point of naturalization as they had with other fields of combat. Now it felt as if they had plenty of time to review their training as they waited in line to receive their designated weapons and new helmets for the breachers. The standard strike team helmet, which Mira had slung onto his pack, was a testament of the Tau¡¯s ability to overcome physiology with technology. Tau were naturally nearsighted and so the helmet compensated for this with the display showing not only the picture being relayed to them via the primary optic but also ranges. The helmet would track their eye movements and display the range exactly where their eyes looked as well as reading out barring and location data. Messages could also be relayed and a dozen other functionalities that took years of training to use to their fullest. The Gue''vesa also used modified versions of the standard helmet, better suited for their head shape, but since they volunteered for service in the auxiliaries in their adulthood, it was very rare that they would have the technical skills to fully utilize their features. It also contained a second video lens that contained the black sun filter. This filter allowed the fire warriors to see on the heat spectrum as well as the visible light and highlighted targets painted by marker lights or black sun radiation. The breacher helmet was a much blockier version of the strike helmet to make room for more sensors specially fitted for their close range role. These included short range highly tuned motion sensors that could not only track multiple single targets, the strike helmet version tended to merge motion contacts together, but also gave limited predictive movement. Giving the breachers something of an advantage in hand to hand combat, at least enough to allow them to disengage and return to their blasters. A 3rd lens was fitted to the helmet as well that worked in conjunction with their blaster. All tua helmets linked to their weapons to provide a reticle but the pulse blaster had two indentations in its trigger. The first, painted the target in negatively charged ions and even without the helmet''s special lens, a warrior could see the slight glow it gave a target. The second indentation fired the positively charged ions, the ones that would tear through armor and rip off unprotected limbs. The harmless negatively charged ions served to attract the positive shot, giving it somthing of a seaking ability. The helmet highlighting the target gave a fire warrior one last second to adjust their shot before firing. Making their way through the armory line they pulled the last of their equipment, long guns, pistols, and ion grenades. Plus pouches of ammunition they clipped to their appropriate attachment points. Finally they were on their way to the next waiting point: The drop ship. They marched down the ship corridors in silence as more la¡¯rue joined them in utter silence save the sound of boots pounding against deck plate. Each warrior processed his thoughts on the job to come, Mira himself wondered if they each harbored his secret wish. That they wouldn¡¯t be needed and they would wait out the entire battle in the drop ship, never making contact with the enemy. He also wondered if this made him a coward, but he kept these thoughts to himself as they walked. He told himself that everyone was having these thoughts and that courage was that he continued to walk forward regardless of his fear. But somewhere in his mind he could hear a voice tell him that it was all a lie. That the only ones who thought these things were cowards and that as soon as they took contact, he would freeze and flee. He was a coward and he would get his comrades killed. When they entered the hangar, packed with aircraft from fighters, bombers, drop ships, and even some mantas, they found themselves in a sea of people. Junior air caste personnel, easily spotted by standing head and shoulders above the firecaste warriors, were directing la¡¯rue as they could find them, and those la¡¯rue were fighting their way to their assigned craft. The air caste were tall and lanky, most of them spent their entire lives on spacecraft so on top of being strange looking, many of them lacked social skills when interacting with other castes. But Mira had also been called a cultureless brute before by a water caste speaker so he checked his judgment of stereotypes. In the academy it was said that air caste bones were hollow and could no longer survive in normal gravity environments. At the time he believed it, but as he grew older he started to realize the redicuality of it. If they couldn¡¯t survive with 1+Gs just standing on planets, how could they pull upwards of 20+Gs with their fighter pilots dog fighting in atmo. He chuckled to himself about the absurdity of the rumors that crop up not just in the academy. There was an old saying: The Water Caste speaks in riddles The Earth caste speaks to machines The Air caste doesn¡¯t speak And the Fire Caste speaks in rumors Mira understood it though, rumors were the best source of entertainment. A fire warrior''s life could be summarized by waiting. He figured if he tallied up the total time in training he had spent waiting it would outweigh the amount of time he spent learning or practicing something. Maybe that was the point, one of the first things they were taught was how to spend down time meditating on the greater good followed by thinking on battle doctrine. ¡°Any one of you could dawn the hero¡¯s mantle and one day become a commander. Puretide taught us that since every Commander starts as a cadet, even cadets should theorize battle plans.¡± and so in this final dec of waiting just before the battle, Mira began to theorize on the battle. Any action they would commit to would be in the void. While he was no expert in zero g warfare, he considered that the average fire warrior probably had more training in that environment than the average Gue¡¯la soldier, even those that lived aboard the ships. He wondered if the air caste could commit a targeted strike to disable the gravity allowing the fire warriors to use their magnetic boots not just to stay connected to the floor but rather selectively toggle them so gain the maneuvering advantage. Something to file away and consider later. Too late to suggest that now. So what would he face? Tight corridors for sure. Both the fire warriors and the gue¡¯la would use this to their advantage and tightly pack those corridors with gun lines. His briefs contained images of gue''la warriors carrying large shields with a notch carved into them specifically to place their weapon so that they could shoot from their mobile cover. Facing any of those would be a challenge. Pulse grenades set to detonate in the visible light spectrum rather than electromagnetic could be enough to disorientate the gun line long enough for the breacher teams to engage and form gaps. In these gaps the strike team could surgically eliminate those who are then exposed. Depending on their discipline they could reform and counter attack but the confusion would more likely lead them to fall back in good order at best but more than likely confusion would give way to fear and they would break and run for it, presenting their backs to the fire warrior gun line. An air cast crew member came up and addressed their Shas¡¯ui ¡°Are you with Cadre Inspired Wind¡± She asked without looking up from her datapad ¡°Yes, we are 1st la¡¯rue, will you direct us to Orca 473?¡± Eldi had to crane his neck nearly to the limit of its extension. Partly blamed on the hight of the crewtau but mostly to do with how close she had stopped infront of him. ¡°Negative Shas¡¯ui, you¡¯ve been retasked. You will make your way to Orca 3 and report to your Shas¡¯nel there. Please do so quickly, your orca is scheduled to depart shortly after we resurface.¡± Before the Shas¡¯ui could ask any further questions the crewmember had walked away to find the next La¡¯rue to direct. The Orac¡¯s had large numbers painted on their sides and were stationed sequentially. Mira¡¯s team started moving to the front as quickly as they could, maneuvering through the mass of bodies staging at each of their craft. During training, Mira remembered how cadets would get stuck on eachother; their armor would catch and interlock or in general they would bump and shuffle into each other during drills. But that was part of the training. It taught them so that every warrior serving the Empire instantly knew how to move in even much larger groups than this. How to twist and turn to efficiently move past people, when to give way and when to push through, and what bits of armor to cover with your hands as two slid past. He had come to appreciate the little things that training had taught him both directly and passively. Eventually they made their way to the assigned Orca, where commander Shasa, leader of this entire expedition was waiting for them. The Shas¡¯la stood in awe of this man who had used his life to protect and expand the greater good, now stood before him. While not a household name like those of Shas''Os Shaserra, Kais, Shovah or especially Puretide, he had been made famous to the members of his expedition. After graduating from the fire achedemy and reciving their assignment, they transitioned directly into preparing for this expedition under direct tutalage from O''Shasa and his staff. Shas¡¯ui Eldi kept his wits about him enough to bow and greet the commander. ¡°Shas¡¯O, a pleasant surprise to see you here. How can we assist?¡± The commander returned the bow and placed his hands on the shoulders of their Shas¡¯Ui. ¡°Shas¡¯Ui D¡¯yan Eldi. A pleasure. I only wish our reunion was under better circumstances.¡± Mira knew that Ui''Eldi and O''Shasa had never met, yet the commander spoke to the veteran as if they were the oldest of friends. ¡°If you bring us orders for battle, I can think of no better circumstance.¡± Eldi made the sign of the couched spear as he spoke. ¡°I do indeed, both bring you battle orders and think of better circumstances. I think after this I will need to make arrangments for those ideas. Something involving a cantina and a drone with a malfunctioning drink dispenser gauge." The Lau''rue chuckled at the joke which earned them a small glare from Eldi. The commanders face harded when they regained their composure "The air caste has detected something unusual in orbit above our planet. It appears to be a Geu¡¯ron¡¯sha scout ship.¡± a death chill passed over the fire warriors present, any smile that retained on their faces fell at the words. Mira was sure that he had misheard it, the commander said it so casually. That word had started to make its way into the genetic memory of the firecast over the past few decades of increasingly regular encounters and inevitable conflict. They were ruthless killers who not only rejected the greater good but were incapable of being shown its light, the Etherals even proclaiming them incompatible with the tau¡¯va. They were weapons made of flesh and blood and nothing more. They did not think or feel or breath and so they knew no fear. They were, Space Marines Martyrs Blood From time to time, fate demands that the great tree of the Imperium is watered with the Blood of Martyrs and Xenos. Arakiel Dracos, Honored Chaplin for the 4th Company of the Angels Vigilant, a warrior of 3 centuries and veteran of innumerable battles, was bored. He sat upon the command throne of the ship ¡°MARTYRS BLOOD¡± his skull faced helmet off and his armored fist pressed into his cheek as his head rested upon it. The bridge crew stood at their stations in silence, only pierced by the sounds of brief comms traffic of one ship reporting their arrival or departure or someone making a maneuvering turn in this direction or that. They were already docked and there was nothing for them to call out or communicate, they simply stayed at their post ensuring that each item continued reading as normal. The captain stood with his back to the hulking marine, desperately trying to ignore Arakiel¡¯s presence on his bridge. He wasn¡¯t here for glory or honor, save for the honor of his chapter, but instead was going around collecting potential candidates for Astarties ascension and chapter serfs to serve in their fleet. They had just come off crusade and desperately needed replacements. Their veteran core was able to be replenished and the battle line companies held most of their squads intact, but it had all come at the cost of the reserve companies which had dwindled down to just enough Battle Brothers left to stand up the bones of their squads and hopefully stay alive long enough to train a new generation of Angels. The bloodline of the Angels Vigilant was in danger of going extinct and so it sent out squads of representatives made up of their most impressive warriors to take tithes from the planets of the imperium. They were to go to places whose tithe hadn¡¯t been paid forward to the wider Imperium for some time and take willing volunteers for aspirant trials or to become serfs within the chapter. If any were to refuse, as had been the case at an unwise planet known as "Sharpe''s Folly", that information was easily forwarded to the administratum who would dispatch a compliance fleet. With any luck, the Angel''s Vigilant would be apart of that fleet and their novices would wet their blades with the blood of those who added traitors, by refusing to replenish the Imperium''s forces. Normally the tithe would be held at a world that they had fought on and simply demand that a portion of the survivors come with them to replace the blood spilt on their world for its security. But many of the worlds they had recently fought on had no survivors to cull and those that did were so few in population that to take any would be saving the world just to doom it in the same breath. So the expeditions were sent. They had already visited several worlds, taking on many surfs and potential aspirants. Soon they would be taken to the fleet to be put through the trials and then inducted into the chapter. Forging the future of the chapter was an honor, but it was equally incredibly boring. There were no battles to be fought, very little glory to be won, nothing to do. Well not nothing, he was still chaplain so his duty to minister to those in his charge remained. His brothers appreciated the words he brought and the aspirants were filled with zeal when he preached to them, so he was lucky to have that duty bestowed to him. The others for the most part simply had the duty to stand tall and represent the Emperor¡¯s Angels. Chaplin Drako¡¯s expedition included a Veteran Sergeant, the man actually in charge of the force, 2 other marines, a sanguinary priest, a terminator librarian with two companions, a sternguard veteran, and a Sanguinary Guard. Eight other identical expeditions had been sent out, each aboard a sister frigate, they each made a truly an impressive retinue that may inspire worlds to send their sons to serve among such heroes of the Imperium. During their time on planet they would arrive to one village or the next and complete some deed, slay some monster that threatened them, or some other local contest of arms that needed doing, afterwards they would spend the next few weeks assisting the locals in building homes or repairing this and that around their villages and towns. But for men as themselves it was trivial work unworthy of their talents. Sergeant Daminan Tamor, the true leader of this mission, seemed to find purpose and fulfillment in these tasks. Besides, Chaplin Drakos wasn¡¯t even necessarily supposed to be on this expedition but he had been given another mission his duties required to carry out. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. A noise he at first didn¡¯t fully register broke him from his bored thoughts. It was a member of the bridge crew speaking to the captain. The Master of Auspex ¡°Captain, we have a subspace disruption at the edge of our sensitorium range. To large to be a single ship¡± The crewman had looked back briefly to adress their Captain, before spotting the Chaplin in the throne and snapping his head forward once more. ¡°Master of vox, check with the station if they have a warp convoy scheduled for arrival.¡± The Captain strode forward to observe the reading on the auspex for himself. ¡°Forgive me captain but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s warp translation. There¡¯s no portal forming. Space is instead, bulging¡± The Chaplin sat up on the throne at this announcement. Furious recognition sparking in his eyes. ¡°Master of Auspex speak plainly, what is happening.¡± the captain said with the typical agitation of his position. Naval captains had a certain tone of irritation whenever they didn¡¯t immediately understand what their subordinates were saying. ¡°Captain, I don''t know beyond what I have said. It looks as if something is buried under the galactic plain, like a cat hiding under a rug.¡± Oh yes, Drako did indeed suspect what was coming. His eye teeth extended in anticipation, his mouth became wet and his blood heated in his vains ¡°We will know what it is soon enough.¡± The Chaplin''s voice rumbled through the bridge. The crewmen who didn¡¯t break discipline to look at him, only to look away immediately, tensed their shoulders at the sound. ¡°My l-lord. Have you seen this before?¡± The Captain, a steadfast man of several decades of Astarties Navis service, stammered out. It was those decades of service and discipline that had let him speak after the sudden rise of transhuman dread. Frigate captains rarely interacted with Astarties directly, this may have been his first experience with one looming over his shoulder for an extended period of time. That he only stammered slightly was an impressive feat and spoke that he may one day have the courage to command even a strike cruiser. ¡°I think I may have. Please, exercise patience. Whatever is coming this way will reveal itself soon enough. And from knowledge the course of action will become clear.¡± Each member of the bridge crew held their breath as the minutes dragged on. Eyes switching between the growing distortion of the auspex and the black of real space in which they expected something to happen. Many wished for the ¡®something¡¯ to happen just so that they could move beyond waiting into action. Chaplin Dracos spoke into his vox ¡°Brothers stand ready. We may have a task ahead of us.¡± as his brothers acknowledged and stated their intent to meet him on the bridge, the waiting ended. There was no flash, no sound, nothing to indicate that something was coming. But a stretched blur of color that suddenly took the shape of a spaceship that looked to be inspired by a shark or some other aquatic creature. Chaplin Dracos smiled to himself as the captain of the ship called out to the bridge crew ¡°Run out the guns and light our shields, master of vox alert all orbital defenses and ships that the enemy has appeared and we are to have action this day." His hand reached over and depressed a lever on the ships general loudhailer. His voice echoed strong and clear across the ship "All hands, this is the captain, man your battle stations and beat to quarters across the ship. Clear the decks for action.'''' The captain turned to the chaplain and spoke to him as alarms blared on the bride and throughout the ship, in the background the messenger of the watch called out the pre battle rituals. ¡°General Quarters General Quarters all hands stand to your action stations. Let furry be our voice. Set condition Zulu throughout the ship, seal all hatches and scuttles. Spirits of this machine heed our words and fight with us not against us this day. Aft and down port side fore and up starboard side. The Emperor Protects.¡± ¡°It seems we have our answer lord¡± The Captain made the sign of the aquila and bowed at the waist. The chaplin¡¯s smile disappeared under his grim skull vistage as he pulled the helm over his head and simply spoke one word. ¡°Tau¡± Inspiring wind Let your words and warriors be carried on inspiring winds. From the Earth all things come, and to the Earth all things will go. Space marines That was the Gue¡¯la term for the genetically altered warrior class of their empire. A Gue¡¯la was already taller by a head and had more bulk than the average fire warrior, and a Gue¡¯ron¡¯sha dwarfed even those. Mira had been trained on holos and stories of Veteran''s encounters with them, much of that training focused on what didn''t have an effect against them and most of what did was only found mounted on battle suits. ¡°The good news is a ship of that size will only hold a few of them. Less than 10 but we can¡¯t be certain. But even a single one could disrupt one of our boarding actions. We cannot allow this, so we are going to tie them down while the rest of the fleet goes into action. Our gunship will launch first, take control of their hanger, then move throughout the ship. As such I¡¯m taking control of your la¡¯rue and your greater cadre.¡± Commander Longsun continued. ¡°It will be an honor to fight by your side, Commander,¡± the Shas¡¯ui said, bowing slightly. ¡°Was it not a great enough honor fighting at my side?¡± a voice called from the shadow of the Orca¡¯s passenger compartment. The Fireblade, their expedition infantry commander, stepped into the hanger bay light and down the drop ship¡¯s ramp. Mira thought that he must have spent the journey awake, as some senior officers choose to do, as he looked much older than Mira remember seeing just a few days ago, or at least what felt to him as yesterday. Even still he protruded the confidence and peak image of a fire warrior. He wore the same armor as the rest of them, though his was much more battered and worn, a testament to the decades of service he had given the empire. Draped over his armor was a magnificent white cloak rimmed in the ochre of the Tau sept. Shas¡¯Nel T¡¯au Nel¡¯thun always managed to make an impression when he arrived anywhere. Not only from his armor and uniform that he kept, those were standard amongst the Fireblades, but the most impressive part of his kit was, rather than the standard bonding blade that would normally be carried, but instead he wore a long curved sword of alien origin. He greatly enjoyed finding the cadre sitting around cleaning gear and talking amongst each other and joining the group to tell stories. His favorite was the story of his sword. ¡®Gather round young warriors. I have a story to tell you.¡¯ The cadre always gathered to listen. You had to be rather new to have not ever heard the story but there were few who didn¡¯t enjoy the retelling, and none would publicly voice that opinion. It was a story filled with action, peril, and a duel to the death. In which their hero, Fireblade Skysword, would be victorious each and every time. In his other stories he would point to a battle scar that marked his armor or his body and ask ¡®Do you know how I achieved this wound?¡¯ Sometimes an older member would speak up ¡°It was on campaign against the greenskins Honored Blade.¡± or some other foe he had faced. His council was highly valued among even the most honored Ethereal. He had faced each of the empire¡¯s enemies in turn and even fought with a few of them as allies. A true living legend among the fire warriors. As he reached the bottom of the ramp, it was the commander that spoke up ¡°My dear friend it is always an honor to fight with you once more. These young Bu¡¯kons have simply taken it for granted. One day they will look back and regret not taking your lessons to heart.¡± Skysword threw his head back as he laughed ¡°It has been too long since we brought the fury of the greater good to the enemy old friend. I will gladly take you into my cadre once more.¡± The two warriors embraced. Mira wondered how far back their bond went. It was obvious they had served in the same La¡¯rue at some point, perhaps even their first La¡¯rue. The bond they displayed here was an amplified and public display of how Mira and Nirva felt as comrades. The whole interaction was broken by the ship wide intercom. ¡°Attention, this is the Admiral, we will enter real space in 15 minutes and the Gue¡¯la ships will be within weapons range. All hands man your stations and stand by for contact.¡± The rest of the cadre had arrived and with the announcement over the intercom they formed files by la¡¯rue and began checking over each other''s equipment. Fire warriors tugged on bits of kit, did com checks, and jumped up and down to ensure that nothing was loose. The air was filled with the soft continuous roar of general chatter that died into hushed whispers. Mira looked over his shoulder to see what was causing such a reaction. Before he could even see who approached he knew what was coming. The tips of the Ethereal Honor guard spears could be seen well above the heads of the crowds gathered around the orcas. That crowd parted like the sea and bowed from the waist in respect for the young woman who walked in the middle of her two honor guard. They were larger with more muscle than the average fire warrior. They were bred with the one purpose in their life, even more singular than most firecast: To guard the Ethereals with their lives. He had seen some guarding high ranking Ethereal¡¯s chambers when he was training back on Tau. They had been dressed in ceremonial armor and weapons, they looked as if they had been lifted straight from the Times of Troubles and placed in their posts. These ones here and now looked different. They wore standard fire warrior armor, fitted for their build with ceremonial robes draped and wrapped around them. They held their honor blades across their chests and were spaced exactly apart so that the tips didn¡¯t touch but came as close as they dared. The woman in between them, an Ethereal obviously, was a slight and slender woman, younger than any of the Ethereals Mira had seen from afar and on holofeeds. But that didn¡¯t matter, he was awestruck by her presence all the same. She walked up to the commander, holding a hand up to the guards who immediately stepped to the sides of her and faced each other, their spears moving to their sides then their arm fully extended forward so that the spears returned to their supported angle. The commander bowed low from the waist. When she finally spoke it was as if honey flowed through the air. His worries of cowardice and his fears of the battle that was coming melted away as her words passed his auditory sense. ¡°Honored Fire warriors.¡± She spoke loudly and clearly. Addressing the whole of the hanger. She had every warrior¡¯s full attention. ¡°You are about to embark on a battle that will live in our people¡¯s history forever. These Gue¡¯la yearn for the freedom of the greater good and you will arrive as their liberators, their children¡¯s children will thank you for your actions you take here today. However their empire does not wish to relinquish their control on this world. They will have poisoned the minds of the people, you must be the cure. In all your actions in the days to come you must be paragons of the greater good. Show mercy and kindness when faced with the opportunity. But ensure that you also show the ruthlessness of the empire. Let the population see that we can not only liberate them but keep them safe from their oppressors. Show this death cult that it is us who are eternal and inevitable, that we shall unite the galaxy, forever as one. For the greater good¡± The whole hanger replied, ¡°For the greater good!¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. With her speech made, she turned to face the commander directly. The rest of the cadres were loading into their gunships but ours dared not to move past the Ethereal to board. She spoke again, this time without the resounding voice that filled the air of the hanger, but in a soft low tone that only we could hear. ¡°I wish you good hunting on this expedition, Hero of the empire.¡± Her soft words were even more beautiful to hear. Mira was desperate to hear the next syllable to escape her lips ¡°You honor us with your words, your grace.¡± The commander touched his right hand to his left shoulder softly and bowed again, not as deeply when he had first been approached but still filled with reverence. ¡°I understand that you are embarking to engage a Gue¡¯ron¡¯sha ship¡± she was shorter than the commander, shorter than he expected, but her authority lifted her far beyond her physical presence. ¡°Yes, honored ethereal, there is a scout ship. We do not know how many warriors are on board but we can not risk them disrupting the rest of the operation so we shall engage them directly.¡± The ethereal nodded. No doubt she already knew all of this but she still at least gave the appearance to be intently listening. ¡°This is an extraordinary effort involving extraordinary courage. I shall accompany you to the vessel.¡± If it weren¡¯t for discipline Mira was sure that the entire cadre would have screamed no at the idea. An Ethereal was to be protected, and to willingly take one into the heart of the enemy, where they held their most elite warriors, it was incomprehensible. ¡°Honored Ethereal I must protest. To bring you along would be to place you in grave danger. The Gue¡¯ron¡¯sha are dangerous alone but not only will we be fighting a group of them, but also the crew of that ship. We will not be able to guarantee your safety¡± It was Skysword who had spoken up against the idea. Although he looked almost chastised at having spoken against one so honored, he held firm his belief. ¡°Noble Knight, it is not your job to protect me. That is what my guard is for, just as it is my job to inspire and lead you on the path for the greater good. And if I can not do that in the dangers of combat then I do not deserve to do some from safety either.¡± She was determined, and there would be no persuading her to not come along. The commander spoke up ¡°If that is your interpretation of the greater good, then who are we to disagree?¡± Mira couldn¡¯t read the expression on his face. There was sadness for sure but maybe confusion as well? He couldn¡¯t tell. It was as if he did not wish to speak with the ethereal or be in her presence. There was something on his mind as well but what it was he couldn¡¯t guess. Maybe the commander didn¡¯t even know how he felt. ¡°As for your defense, we shall just need to be diligent in our engagement of the enemy.¡± Skysword looked as if he desperately wanted to say something but held his tongue. ¡°I welcome you aboard our craft. Please board quickly, we will be entering combat space soon and are to launch with all haste.¡± As the Aun and her guard boarded the craft, the cadre followed. The commander, his guards, and the cadre XV-8 pilots mounted in their battle suits down the center of the passenger compartment, followed by the three strike teams in the front most seats closest to the pilots, the Kroot auxiliaries positioned between them and the path finder teams more towards the ramp. The Aun took her seat behind the two pilots who sat side by side. Her guard remained standing on either side of her. She spoke some words to each of the pilots before sitting down. Her defense would be their assaults upon the ship''s crew. The rapid killing blows would be too much for the gue¡¯la to ignore and divert resources to find a path they had missed to attack the hanger, besides, it was unlikely they would know that the Ethereal was there or their importance. Finally, the air caste crew closed the ramp, sealing them in the hull. Each fire warrior pulled his helmet on, sealing their suits and fired up their huds. Then ran test after check on their systems and technology, ensuring each vital system blipped gold in turn.
Each member of the expedition knew when they had returned to real space. There was a sudden change in gravity and momentum as those two physical laws of the universe returned from the theoretical existence of slipspace and came back to reality. The air caste crew on the bridge of the flag ship, of course knew better than anyone else in the fleet. They surfaced just barely within their rain guns max range. Gunners on the bridge began to call out targets and firing solutions navigation began to track targets, allies, and make corrections, ships never came out of this space between spaces in the exact same location so the opening of any battle was reorganizing into something that resembled a battle line. This time was different as they emerged already in combat range, so rather than taking the most efficient route to formation, the first priority was to get clear of friendly ships so that their weapons could fire. Admiral Farwind stood motionless on his bridge. Observing all that was unfolding in front of him. His flagship was the first to open fire and that first salvo cut through a small frigate that was still trying to charge their shields. The railgun round had penetrated their hull and the explosive warhead detonated as its sensors detected it was embedded deep within the ship. If their shields had been up it would have been a hard blow. With their shields down¡­ Admiral Farwind had seen the results of the gue¡¯la preferred tactic of ramming. The wounds inflicted by a railgun shot with no shield to even slow it were devastating. ¡°Mark that ship for suppression for our bomber squadrons then relay it to the boarding parties. I believe they are out of the fight. If they make serious maneuvers or attempt to fire their weapons, rengage.¡± It was a waste of shot to continue plumeling it. None of the warships in orbit could match even one of their ships but if they swarmed, then a thousand cuts can still kill the beast. It was best to continue to engage at range and let the boarding parties do their work. ¡°Captain, make sure you do not exclude the merchant ships from our fury. Immobilizing shots preferred but if you see it necessary, destroy them before they can act. The Gue¡¯la are fanatics and while their merchants are unarmed, they can still do serious damage in a collision.¡± The captain gave his acknowledgment in between orders to his crew. They had been in real space for less than a dec. His maneuver was going perfectly. A messenger spoke up ¡°Admiral, the water caste listeners have an initial communication report.¡± ¡°What do they say?¡± ¡°The Gue¡¯la were communicating about detecting us before we re-entered realspace. However they deduce that their detection was just before we reentered and were filled with confusion until they had visual confirmation¡± Farwind furrowed his brow. This was good, but it needed perfecting. Perhaps reentering just outside of weapons range. They needed to maneuver anyway and if they weren¡¯t detected until just before they resurfaced then they could still have the element of surprise. He tucked the thought into the back of his mind and focused on the now. The man at the sensor station looked as if he had a message to deliver as well ¡°Speak pilot.¡± ¡°Admiral, the armed ships are making turns towards us, their shields are starting to come up and we believe their weapons are charging. They are closing to engagement range.¡± ¡°Very well. Thank you.¡± Farwind pulled up the communication tab and selected the small traffic controllers. Before he began to transmit, he decided to add the additional frequencies of each of the crafts. It was his moment to make a small speech. His pilots would appreciate hearing his voice and the Shas¡¯O wouldn¡¯t mind the well wishes. ¡°Hanger control, this is Kor''O Shans''et Shir''Vah. All flights are cleared for departure at your discretion. We are relaying targets to you. Strike hard and strike fast. Good hunting all. Kor¡¯O out.¡± he closed the coms channel and let the gold blips inform him that all had heard him. He faced back towards the main screen to continue to observe. He wouldn¡¯t interfere and give orders just yet. He would let the captains show their skills and clear their paths. Then, once things had calmed down a bit, he would reorganize and bring efficiency to his fleet.