Mont'ka
A slight sting in the back of neck initiated the change. The suit and he now where one, he could move it as he pleased.
It was a strange procedure, if he wouldn't have lived through the horrors of combat as a Shas'la before, one might think it was all a game and dying would just mean waking up, to open the eyes safe somewhere in a Fio'rashk, a command centre, and take some time off, before taking on a new suit and going back to battle.
His Vision jumped to live. There were several additions: an altitude meter, a ammunition tracker, a countdown till the drop time, even a small radar, marking nearby troops, two dots were close.
He saw before him two of his comrades, both of them having fought with him since almost 2 years, the even where Tal'lessire, Blood brothers, having done the ceremony. As long as one of them lived, they all lived, the were one, as the were one with the whole, the Greater Good, the unity of the Tau.
"Check arming. Drop in 2 Rai'kor." He raised his hands, not the one attached to his body, the ones of his new body, the hands of the XV-8 Crisis-Battle suit. Attached to them was on the right arm a plasma rifle, a long barrel shining with green light and attached over a cable to a small chamber, where the plasma, liquid fire, was stored. The other arm carried a somewhat similar device: two barrel one smaller ending with a torch, the other bigger open at the end and linked to a gas chamber, ready to spit out its cargo and igniting it to make up for its name: flame thrower. On his shoulder mounted was a rather small shield generator, that would right after the drop deflect most incoming fire. Besides that the Fios had just installed a cybernetic multitracker, that enabled him to control his targeting system for each weapon separately, helping his aim. And there was the new experimental device, he hoped he wouldn't have to use it.
"All systems ready, check" The voice came from one of his comrades, Nar'vesh.
"Same here, ready to go." Gorat, the second member of his team.
"Ready. Commander open drop floor." His voice was carried over the commlink.
Before them in the middle of the Deploy ship a trap door opened. Beneath them was a imperial city, scarred, shattered, in ruins. A Grey void, lighted only by gunfire. On one side, the Tau moving deeper, to reach a centred command post, which held the last of the defenders: Humans of the Empire, a race separated in itself, where some were ready for the teaching of the Greater Good and accepted it, evolved. And some stubborn, resistant to change, clinking to their believe of their god emperor. Must be some guy, who is neither able to hold his fellows in line nor be ready to at least open a sense full dialogue with other races. It didn't matter, these savages stood in the way of progress and it was best to shorten their suffering in ignorance. He and his team would be the bringers of change.
The countdown started flashing, any time now the would have to make the jump.
"Ready, One after another and make it fast. Activate counter burst at 300, they won't know what hit them."
"Understood" the voices of his squad members came in unison.
Then the counter hit zero. He jumped, then air and as well the sound of battle carried by it engulfed him. He could almost feel the breeze, it was amazing every time, how it was possible that even while his real body was behind a solid armour, the neuro-transmitters gave him the possibility to feel what happened to a dead machine, that was surrounding him.
"Lock on target, try to get as close as possible. Height 800" He turned to the cathedral, that was a small dot in the middle of the city and now came close and grew rapidly. His jump suit activated and pushed him more and more into it's direction, altering the fall.
"Right behind you, height 500." Nar'vesh had jumped second.
"Locked on and ready, height 400" Gorat was last.
"Activate." A jump went though him, as the counter burst put a stop to the free fall and changed it into a slowing descent towards the citadel.
The window of the citadel was a gigantic glass mosaic of at least fifteen feet in height and five in wide. It displayed a angle descending to mankind, to bring them salvation. The humans at the bottom were displayed as fragile beings in mud covered clothes, faces in anguish and above a celestial being, in shining armour, clad in light.
Kayne was a soldier of the Imperial Guard, he had fought Orks more then once and even was in a battle against the sinister Dark Eldar and survived. And now the Tau, he had only seen them in reports so far and there they were displayed as savages, who slaughtered everything that did not decide to place itself under their rule. They must be beast! Of this he was certain. He looked up to the angel, yes they were real, the god emperor was the living proof, that there was salvation for the human kind. The fires behind the glass gave it the impression of live, made it more than just a picture, but something far more real. Then a shadow placed itself over the face of the angel, he looked more angry. The anger broke lose. The glass shattered and through it entered the heavenly rage. Three warriors with blazing shining weapons, armoured in pure light and gold. The last thought of Kayne was, whether this was the way to salvation: purged by fire from an angel.
"Clear the area! Let none of them escape!" He did not really shout, as his comrades heard him clear, even above all the gunfire and screams around. He had just emblazed a imperial soldier, the flames had engulfed the Gue'la, the squishy pink human and reduced him to a black burning piece of flesh on the ground within seconds. He raised his vision there was a squad of Gue'la stumbling over one-another while trying to organise themselves behind a set of wooden banks to find cover. How pathetic. Small circles formed around them, the multitracker marked its targets. A impulse from him let the machine rise its right arm and send a volley of plasma fire into the squad. It did not matter whether they were hunching behind wood, standing in the open or even covering each other with their bodies, the shoots burned through cover and flesh alike. He hit all but one of his target, the Gue'la had leaped out of his fire line he raised his lasgun. A red flash of light darted towards him. All he felt was a small static shock and he saw in his vision a bar jump to life. The shoot stopped a few inches before him and gave vision to the shield surrounding him. The face of the Gue'la changed. The corner of his lips had been drawn up and now they dropped and his mouth opened a slightly bit. What that expression meant?
A blue burst of light brought a sudden end to the soldier, bursting open it's armour and chest cage behind, leaving a hole of burned flesh.
"So the shield generator is working fine I guess, but you shouldn't test it to often, pal!" Gorat stood behind him, burstcannon raised and still steaming.
"Will keep that in mind.", he answered with a smile. "Area clear, target is just ahead, probably behind those walls."
His Crisis raised a arm and pointed towards a wall. His map had marked the room behind as the place where transmission appeared to be send.
"Let me knock." Nar'vesh was a hothead. Through the air sailed a missile and reduced part of the wall to a hole big enough even for a Crisis to move through.
"Enter and engage!" His voice was filled with haste. Three jet suits jumped to live and despite their immense size the squad covered the distance within less then a second and slipped through the gap. Behind was a large room. In it there was on the right a Gue'la in fine clothing, possible a commander, a secondary target with three men behind him, one of them holding a kind of small device to its ear connected with a cord to a large one on his back. A radio operator, one of the primary targets.
Without further investigating the room the massive Crisis raised its arms and flames surrounded the four Gue'la. If this wasn't enough there where as well several shoots of plasma and pulse fire ripping apart the unfortunate beings that seemed like living torches.
"Primary target eliminated, we as well took out one of the leaders of the Gue'la." He had widened the range of the channel and addressed the commander of the operation.
"Well done, you succeeded in your Fire trial Shas'ui, report back to…chhhrrrr..zzzzz" The connection broke.
"Impressive, but your to late. Now fall before the rage of the angels of death, the Adeptus Astartes. Fell the Emperors fury!" The voice came from the right corner of the room, the dark side of it. And with the sound of the voice the air was suddenly filled with gunfire. From the darkness embarked massive warriors in heavy armours, carrying huge bolters, that ripped of chunks of the Crisis-Armour, gnawing their way slowly through to the pilots inside. At their top was a helm-less one. A oversized Gue'la head was set between the massive shoulder pads and he swung in his right hand a kind of sword, like the one used for the Tal'lessire ceremony, only it did not seem very much intended for ceremonies, but for carnage. Strange lightning's shoot over its surface. In the other hand, pointed directly at Nar'vesh was a pistol with a bright green shimmer irradiated from it.
"Nar'vesh watch out." His warning came to late. The shoot hit dead centre and burned even through the solid armour. He heard his friend scream for a split second before the commlink-connection broke as well.
The bar, keeping track of his shield energy started dropping rapidly as several bolter shoots hit right into it. Luckily he was giving cover for his remaining friend.
"Evasive actions." Gorat's and his jet pack activated again and both of them darted through the air, back to the entrance they had made themselves. Just as Gorat was about to pass through a shadow hurled himself at him. How could these Gue'la run so fast, faster than normal ones and even carry such a heavy armour. He checked around. There were at least twenty in the room. The only way out was blocked by the massive Crisis in meele with the Gue'la, who was only armed with a knife but definitely extremely skilled with his weapon. A burst came from the back of the Crisis as the knife cut into it.
"He disabled my jet pack!" Gorat sounded more angry than desperate. Every training they had have, told them never to go into close range, always favour distance as this was were they could make us of the weapons that were mounted on the suits. But there was only one way…The one Path of the Tau'va, it called for unconventional actions, it called for sacrifice. He leaped forward turning his body so he could fire the flame thrower behind him and separate Gorat, the Gue'la and him from the rest of this Adeptus Astartes with a wall of fire. With the right he grabbed the Enemy and pulled him close to him, releasing Gorat from dangerous range of the knife.
"Run." His voice was totally calm, he was calm, he had made his choice. The sensor head of the crisis seemed to node, then the massive suit leaped through the hole and vanished.
"Farewell, brother." Gorats voice was pressed, one could feel the sadness covered beneath it.
His vision died, the Gue'la had ripped bare handed off the sensor head.
"Pathetic Xenos!" He could hear the voice now in a strange distant way, with his real ears. This was it. All it took was simple twitch of his finger and the experimental device triggered. The room and all those in it: The Crisis manned with a Tau, engaged in melee with a foe far more capable and the remaining Warriors of the Adeptus Astartes, some already stepping through the gap in the wall to pursuit the remaining Shas'ui carry the information of their presence were blasted to pieces alike by the explosion. There was no difference between them, no Tau, Xenos or Human, Gue'la all died the same in the blink of an eye. The Tau in the centre of the explosion had completed his Fire trial, giving everything he had for the Greater Good, in the knowledge that as long as a single Tau lived and followed the Tau'va, the One Path, he lived as well and thus Shas'vre Sac'cea Mar'kor would never die!