The Greater Ideal
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are the intellectual properties of Rooster Teeth and Games Workshop respectively.
Shas'la Ruby Rose adjusted her position on the ground in what had to be the fourth time in the past five minutes. For all the advanced technology of the Tau Empire, they were still somehow unable to keep rocks from jabbing the abdomen in the gap between her armor plates. Pathfinder gear was supposed to be light, but she couldn't help but think that a little extra padding for comfort would have been a good investment.
What's worse was that this was a job suited more for Stealth Suit teams. But their teams had all been picked off by abnormally observant patrols or sheer Imperial overkill. So here she was, lying on the ground, spying on the enemy and hoping they don't find her and her team out.
"Are you alright, Shas'la Rose?"
The voice of her Shas'ui filtered in through her comm piece. Apparently her fidgeting hadn't escaped his notice. She relaxed her gaze from her rail rifle's targeting optic and answered back.
"I'm fine, Shas'ui. Just a little uncomfortable here."
Her lecture senses started tingling even before the comm clicked with his impending response. His tone was gently chiding.
"Your momentary discomfort serves a purpose, young Gue'vesa. Keep a sharp eye and an even sharper mind, even as you bear through it."
"Of course, Shas'ui," Ruby responded. "For the Greater Good."
"For the Greater Good."
The young woman focused through her optic again. The scene hadn't changed much in the short period of time that she looked away. Imperial vehicles lining up and the men and women who fought in or beside them preparing themselves. Honest, courageous warriors who had yet to see how much more good they could do fighting for the right side. Even as vassals to the Tau, they too could climb to a position of prestige. No one had expected a human to be accepted into the renowned Pathfinders, but here she was.
It wrenched her heart to have to kill good men who didn't know any better; but until they opened themselves to the truth, she would do her duty.
There was a sudden spike in activity in the staging area. Officers and Commissars alike were shouting orders in greater numbers as Guardsmen piled into their transports and tank crews shut their hatches. Turning her weapon, she could see their Basilisks loading rounds.
"Shas'ui," Ruby spoke, "They're starting to move out. Enemy artillery is preparing to fire."
"Acknowledged," the Tau squad leader said. There was a moment of silence as he was likely transmitting the information back to command. The comm clicked back on and Ruby prepared to hoist herself up for exfil.
"New orders: We are to infiltrate the enemy staging area and destroy or cripple their artillery batteries. Acknowledge receipt."
Ruby froze as the rest of the team acknowledged their new orders. Infiltrate and destroy? As in, they get to sneak behind enemy lines? An excited grin formed under her helmet.
"Rose, acknowledge receipt."
She couldn't answer fast enough.
"Acknowledged, Shas'ui! For the Greater Good!"
It was a glorious day, decided Pyrrha Nikos. The reason being that her and her squad had been attached to the Aun'el's security detachment. This was a high honor for any Fire Caste member, even more so for Gue'vesa like her and her men. It was an opportunity to further prove her commitment to the Greater Good, and a step closer to having her voice heard in the higher echelons of the Empire.
A step closer to bringing her race onto the righteous path of the Greater Good.
So it was with eagerness that the redheaded Shas'ui and her men simply stood in place at their post, pulse rifles and lasguns in hands. It was simple guard duty, but the implications behind it were great. It also had the added benefit of lowering their chance of clashing with their brethren. While Pyrrha whole-heartedly believed in the Tau'va, she did not relish in striking down fellow Humans, regardless of how they felt about her.
There was a click from her comm piece and her immediate superior's voice came through the general channel.
"Increase your vigilance, the Imperium moves against us. Our comrades will hold them at bay. Ensure you do the same should the worst come to pass."
Pyrrha toggled her comm, "Acknowledged, Shas'vre. No harm shall come to the Aun'el."
As she returned her hand her pulse rifle she whispered quietly to herself, "I swear it."
A Vanquisher-variant Leman Russ rumbled through the streets of the city, following and followed by other armored vehicles of His Most Glorious Imperial Guard. Inside, its crew was only marginally occupied. The tank was a very simple machine, and having rode it into battle many times they hardly needed to be focused while merely moving it from point A to point B. Even the Commissar riding in it did not bother to give the crew a hard time about their laxity. For he had rode with this particular tank and its crew many times. He was well aware of how efficiently lethal they were.
Well, that, and he was a remarkably relaxed Commissar to begin with. He lead with a quiet assurance and made examples of cowards with cold silence. Truthfully, his disposition was more unsettling to the rank and file.
"Hey, Renny, how come we don't get to be at the front this time?"
Unsettling to all but one, that is.
Commissar Lie Ren turned his gaze down into the hatch and met the bright blue eyes of the war machine's gunner, Nora Valkyrie. An insouciant and undisciplined soldier who he would have executed long ago were he any other Commissar. But he wasn't, so he didn't. Those who might question it received a bolt pistol to the face for insubordination. Those who tried to imitate Valkyrie's informality received a bolt round to the face. It had long become accepted by everyone that her insubordination was acceptable, but only hers.
And didn't that create rumors.
As long as he didn't push too hard, though, the Officers and grunts alike were content with looking the other way. He was allowed his 'pet' as long as he understood the unspoken limits now placed upon him.
"That's Commissar Ren, Guardswoman Valkyrie," he corrected without any real reprimand behind the words. "And we are not at the front because we will need your Vanquisher and others like it to quickly take down Xenos armor without being immediately endangered. The other tanks will bear the brunt of the first assault, then we will punch through with all of His Majesty's fury."
A frown formed on the gunner's dirt and soot covered face, "That's dumb. Why can't we just punch through to start with?"
Were she any other soldier or he any other Commissar, her brains would have painted the inside of the tank before she could even finish saying 'dumb'. But Commissar Ren merely smiled lightly at her.
"Yours is not to question why, Guardswoman Valkyrie. Yours is but to do and die," he said chidingly.
Nora blew a raspberry and returned to looking through her cannon's optic, "That's also dumb. I'll just make the enemy die instead."
The Commissar looked back out towards the front of the column and responded, "Then fortune is with you today, Guardswoman Valkyrie."
Up ahead, a Chimera and its crew received a rail slug courtesy of the alien enemy.
"5 minutes to drop!" came the voice of the pilot over the vox speaker.
Jaune Arc took in a deep breath to steel himself. He felt his gorge rise on the exhale which he instinctually forced down. It had taken many lashings from the drill abbots to finally be able to control his motion sickness.
"If you're going to vomit, do it on the enemy!"
The blond Stormtrooper turned to his right and met the teasing violet eyes and wide grin of Scion Yang Xiao Long. An undeniably beautiful woman, but an unbelievably lethal combatant. Her volley gun - currently slung in an easy to reach position - had a truly respectable amount of kills to its name. She was a fierce soldier, an asset to Emperor and Imperium.
"I don't believe a vomit strafing run is in the Primer!" Scion Winchester shouted over the noise of the Valkyrie.
A low wave of chuckling passed among the squad. Individuality was deeply frowned upon by those in charge of the Militarum Tempestus, and usually snuffed out at the start of training. Jaune's class, however, had been unfortunate - or fortunate, rather - enough to be subjected to a particularly diluted batch of dirus. Their memories of their pasts were muddled, but not erased. That meant that their personalities remained more or less intact; something they had quickly learned to hide from their handlers' watchful eyes. Out in the battlefield, however, they were allowed a little more leniency in personal expression. As long as their orders were completed quickly and efficiently, their thinly-veiled individuality was easily ignored.
"2 minutes to drop!"
The stormtrooper checked his chrono, idly noting that the rest of his Tempestus brethren should be knocking out the Tau's AA emplacements at this moment. Theirs was a suicidal mission, one that would guarantee few, if any, made it back. His team's mission was doubly so, however. One did not simply walk up and casually kidnap an Ethereal, after all.
Jaune turned and pulled the hatch lever, opening up the rear of the Valkyrie. He peered down at the earth, spotting the bright flashes that signaled that the battle had begun. A sliver of anxiety wormed its way into his heart, an unfortunate flaw that even the infamously harsh training of the Schola Progenium couldn't stamp out entirely. There was a sudden nudge from behind and he turned to once again meet the Scion Xiao Long's eyes. This time they were firmly supportive. The message was clear.
'I've got your back.'
The anxiety faded into nothingness and he nodded his appreciation towards his subordinate. She winked in return, a casual gesture of her's.
"30 seconds to drop!"
Jaune adjusted his grav-chute one last time before turning to his men.
"Let's show these Xenos why they should fear the Emperor's children! Forward!"
The light at the lip of hatch turned from red to green.
"Green light! Drop, drop, drop!"
Without hesitation and with only a marginal amount of fear, Tempestor Jaune Arc jumped out of the aircraft, followed closely by his men.
The roar of battle was evident even from a distance. It was simply an observation, though. The open battlefield never called to Inquisitor Blake Belladonna. Her work was more easily completed from the shadows, something that endlessly frustrated her retinue of Sororitas.
Speaking of...
Amber eyes turned to regard the Battle Sister at her side. The snow-haired woman eyed the horizon with crossed arms, her face seemed composed but her eyes were slightly narrowed. A sure sign of frustration to anyone who spent an appreciable amount of time with her. Unlike the Blake, Sister Superior Weiss Schnee longed for the fury of open battle. Alas, the Inquistor's word was law, and so her power rapier remained inactive at her hip.
As if sensing her gaze, Sister Schnee glanced over momentarily and spoke up.
"I am fine, Inquisitor. I cannot lie and say that I do not wish to be out there, delivering His wrath to the inhuman cur out there, but my place is at your side."
Blake smiled lightly and turned to observe the distance again, "And I am ever grateful for your loyalty. We have but to wait for this battle's conclusion before we can move on."
At the reminder of why they were there, a scowl crossed over the Sister's face.
"I beg your pardon, Inquisitor, but I must question why you would like to add mere Guardsmen to your retinue. They're crass, ill-trained, and prone to cowardice."
"Exaggerated assertions, Sister, but not entirely unfounded," Blake conceded. "Which is why we're not here for mere Guardsmen. We're here for their elite."
"Then perhaps it would have been best to not send them on a suicidal recovery mission," Weiss pushed.
The Inquisitor move her head slightly to stare chidingly at the other woman, "If they cannot survive a simple snatch and grab of a low-ranking Ethereal, then I have no use for them. Any further questions, Sister Schnee?"
Realizing that the raven-haired women had reached the limit of her patience, Weiss wisely and gracefully backed down.
"None, Inquisitor. Thank you for enlightening me."
Silence returned as they both simply waited out the conflict.
There was a sudden tickle at the back of Blake's mind. A small brush against her psychic mind that informed her that all was not well. She slowly turned her gaze towards the thundering batteries not seven hundred meters behind her.
"Sister Schnee," she said, "Call your squad. It seems you will have your blood today."
A/N: Eeeeyyyy. My writing has taken a nosedive because I have a job that requires a long commute, and I've finally decided to regularly go to the gym. So don't get too excited.
This came about because NaNoWriMo is here and I decided to try and get back on track. However I severely overestimated the time I would have available for writing, so I lost before I even started. I kinda like this idea, so I'll try to post another chapter or two. It's just something I cobbled together so there's no context in the grand scheme of things. No mention of when or why this is happening (as if war really needs a 'why' in 40k), so don't go asking me when this is happening and don't try to figure it out. Doesn't look like it'll be a long term thing but who knows.