Anxiety, anxiety and tension filled Ellarian Anathir. His hands tightly gripped his shuriken rifle as his Guardian squad waited for the signal upon a forested hill. The air was damp and humid from the warmth of the air and the frequent rain of the surrounding woods; they were concealed underneath the brush their bright silvery armour would have given them away had it not been for the holo-field emitters shrouding their bodies.
He hoped the silence of the forest would not give them away for the ambush depended on complete surprise, his hands grew slick with sweat and fear began to creep into the back of his mind, and then he heard the roaring. The crude yet powerful guns of the enemy launched a barrage of miniature explosive rockets which obliterated many of the trees and foliage, there was also the roaring sound of chain blades cutting through the foliage which were getting closer.
Ellarian looked down the hill to a clearing where the kill zone was made and soon he saw the enemy, large lumbering brutes in black armor wielding a mix of handguns, blades and powered gauntlets, shouting angry oaths of vengeance towards the foe they chased. The Guardian saw their army's leader the Autarch leaping and skipping from tree to tree like a child of the Laughing God despite her heavy armor and the Spider's jump pack, her banshee mask emitted a taunting laugh at the brutish humans chasing her and firing at the humans from twin death spinners each creating clouds of razor sharp webs. There was a subtle charge in the air and the Guardian knew the Farseer enacted his spell; the Autarch gave a loud false shriek of pain amplified by her Banshee mask and stumbled onto the clearing, illusionary blood burst from an imaginary grievous wound to her waist, all part of the ploy.
A trio of massive humans equipped with jump packs crashed through the forest canopy and landed near the Autarch's prone body, their swords gleamed with energy and their pistols were all aimed at the Autarch.
"Wait for it" came the calm telepathic voice of the warlock guiding their squad.
An anti-gravity platform armed with a distort cannon slowly moved closer preparing its aim and had begun to slowly charge up, more of the black armoured humans soon came into the clearing, each wore a white cloth garment over their armor with a black cross in the centre, some of the humans were smaller and were more lightly armored but each bore similar weapons as their larger brethren.
One of the humans, whose regalia suggested him to be a champion of sorts planted his right foot on the Autarch's chest and spoke something in the human's language his heavy gun pointed at the Autarch's head, the Autarch spoke something, but was too distant to hear and then she began to laugh
"Now!" Came the warlock's voice and the distort cannon opened fired, sending a bolt of warp lightning into the humans.
At that moment before the bolt struck the Autarch disappeared in a flash of light teleported to safety and when it hit, a tear into reality opened creating a vortex that hurled many of the human warriors into it, the smaller ones were lucky he supposed, their bodies were ripped to shreds by the vortex, but the larger ones were hurled into it along with various bits of earth, plants and stone, some managed to hold on to the trees and the earth fighting for dear life, the jump pack equipped ones attempted to fly away but were soon dragged into the warp along with the others to suffer a fate worse than death and then came the whispers.
Thousands of ethereal voices promising a mix of pleasure, threats, violence, wealth, power and so many other things began to bombard the mind of Ellarian, he knew his squad felt the same but they were ready for it, each Eldar steeled their minds from the whispers, whispering mantras of their own or focusing their thoughts, some even outright responded to the whispers with defiance.
The Farseer gave the command to attack as soon as the vortex closed and the assembled squads of Guardians opened fire, Ellarian's shuriken rifle spat a stream of fully automatic death at the humans, each shot having not much effect on its own against such heavily armored targets, but the sheer weight of fire from the five guardian squads along with the psychic assaults of the warlocks and the star cannons of the other grav-platforms quickly cut down the human warriors.
Most of the humans were slain in the barrage, only the leader survived roaring his defiance at the Eldar and charged forward towards Ellarian's squad, he did not get far for he clutched his helm in agony as the seer attacked his mind and the Autarch teleported once more behind him, the human swung his sword at the Autarch who took the blade full on with it crashing against her Force Shield, the Autarch launched a quick riposte with her mirror swords that severed the human's sword arm and his throat.
Blood spurted out of the human and was quickly decapitated without mercy or hesitation from the Autarch, the sounds of the human guns were still roaring in the distance but this time there was also the sounds of energy weapons being discharged, "Our allies need aid" said the mental voice of the Farseer, the Guardians obeyed and dispersed, moving slowly ahead of their grav platforms.
The Guardians moved past the slain humans , a group of bonesingers teleported into the clearing and began playing their instruments and constructing a webway gate, Ellarian was unsure of their purpose but his mind became occupied by the coming fight. He felt oddly giddy at the prospect of fighting alongside their allies and was greeted with a fearsome sight, from a distance in the forest he could see blue flashes of energy bursting from the guns of their allies, short ochre armored warriors called Tau, many wielding long rectangular rifles firing well aimed volleys at more massive black armored humans who seemed to ignore their shots, the humans were quickly engaged by massive Tau walkers that moved with surprising agility, the machines had either fired bursts of blue energy that vaporized the armor of the humans or gouts of flame from massive flame throwers, each having jump packs to either close in or move out of the way, one even landing its foot directly on to a human's face.
The weapons of the humans either impacted against or exploded harmlessly upon energy shields created by disc-like machines, the humans fought on mostly with blades intent on close quarters. Ellarian's squad positioned themselves beside one of the Tau infantry squads hiding behind the roots of a great tree, one of the warriors turned its head towards him and quickly turned back to the humans and began firing, he wondered if the Tau were a species with an eye in the center of their heads and a lower one beneath, an odd idea of evolution.
He took cover beside the warrior and opened fire at the humans, a group of four of the humans charged forth towards the squads of both Ellarian's and the Tau, the humans shouted prayers and mantras amplified by their helmets, they seemed to ignore the many bolts of energy and shurikens striking them. One of the Tau soldiers was hurled back by human bolter round which struck against the root it had taken cover behind, another Tau was struck in the heavily plated shoulder by a bolt round and bleeding a heavy amount of cyan colored blood, one of the strange disc like machine with a single red eye quickly went to the warrior and began administering medicine unto the wound, Ellarian was thankful that the Warlock was using his power to conceal them from the human's sight, pity that it did not extend to the Tau.
The humans were now closing in and Ellarian grew terrified, he knew the tales of these fell warriors, one of the humans finally fell to the mass fire from the Guardians and the Tau soldiers, one was charged by the Warlock, the two going sword to sword with each other, another was suddenly struck from the side by a gangly bird like creature armed with twin blades, but the last was coming straight for Ellarian and the Tau who looked at him earlier, the human wielded twin chain blades he swung at both the Guardian and the Tau, Ellarian grabbed the Tau he was beside and leapt back, they landed ungracefully to the muddy ground but were able to avoid the human's blades, the human stepped over the tree root and charged forwards shouting a promise of death to the two but was met head on by the Farseer who hurled his spear at the human.
The human parried the spear but was struck with a volley of warp lightning from the seer, Ellarian quickly primed a plasma grenade and hurled it at the human, the black armored warrior survived the Farseer's lightning assault, and was on one knee, breathing heavily, he did not have time to register the grenade before it exploded upon the human at point blank range.
With the human dead, Ellarian helped the Tau to its feet and corrected himself for he noticed it had hooves, he was about to ask the alien if it was all right but quickly stopped, reminding himself it would not understand Eldarin, he quickly went for his rifle and the Tau grabbed its own, it nodded towards him and pointed to the battle still raging, the warlock was slumped beside the great tree, bleeding heavily from a grievous wound while the Farseer tended to him, golden light emanated from the seer's hand and the warlock's wound began to swiftly heal, the strange bird like creature cawed triumphantly over the human it fought, many shuriken holes and scorch marks were etched onto the dead human's armor, Ellarian nodded back to the Tau and the two rejoined the battle.
Night had fallen over the forest, the planets twin moons were up and the Eldar sung songs of victory over the humans, they shared their base with their Tau allies who seemed to also be in high spirits but were less celebratory as they went over their dead, the bird like creatures of which Ellarian learned were called Kroot gruesomely celebrated away from the Eldar and Tau first by feasting on their own dead and then the humans. Ellarian also quickly learned that the Tau were a blue or grey skinned species with two eyes, two slits for what he supposed were nostrils, a single mouth and also some had what was probably hair upon their heads.
Many of the Tau listened with rapt attention to the songs of the Eldar, Ellarian was still wearing his armor like most of the other Eldar some with helmets on others with helmets off and he was not sure if the Tau were enjoying the music or not, he used his lyre and played a song of mourning near where the Tau were gathering their dead in large plastic bags.
The losses of the Eldar were negligible as the Guardians were protected by both their warlocks, the cover of the forest, the subtle suggestions of the Farseer and the mighty guns they brought, he had learned that the Guardian squads along with the Autarch, the Farseer and his council were there to perform a decapitation strike on the humans, the leader slain by the Autarch was a champion of sorts and one whose body and armour held great religious significance to the humans and one they would attempt to retrieve at all costs, something the Autarch, the Farseer and the Tau Commanding officers were planning to use to their advantage. When Ellarian finished his song, the Tau gave respectful thumps of fists across their chests a salute he guessed towards him, he honestly was not sure if the Tau were genuinely appreciative or if they were being polite, he gave them a respectful bow and went off back to the side of the base the other Eldar were on.
As Ellarian made his way back, he noticed a curious Tau observing some of the Eldar Bonesingers playing their songs and repairing damaged equipment, he went to the Tau intent on attempting to strike up a conversation with the creature, he had always been fascinated with the idea of meeting other species, but now a days in a galaxy where almost everything seems to be trying to kill you, it seemed that only the Tau and their allies were the only beings an Eldar could at least talk to and perhaps even reason with.
He came up to the Tau warrior who still wore its armor and helmet, he wasn't sure why but he felt this was the same one he fought besides against the humans earlier, the Tau seemed to feel the same because it's head tilted and it looked at him for a long time, Ellarian was not sure of the creature's expression even though he would not be able to tell, so out of courtesy to the alien he gently and slowly removed his helmet hoping it would have some sort of dramatic effect on the Tau.
He noticed the Tau was doing the exact same thing as he was and as soon as his helmet was off he saw the creature's face, it looked just like all the others with a flat face, short black colored hair, blue skin, red eyes and that strange Y shaped slit upon where its forehead should be, he noticed some of the others though had a single I shaped slit and had no idea what it meant. He struggled with what words to use and simply decided to use his name, he spoke to the creature as regally as he could trying to make a good impression, he gave the alien a respectful bow and said
"I am Ellarian Anathir Musician of Craftworld Valseris."
He suddenly felt a bit foolish thinking the alien would not understand and likely get his name wrong, the Tau closed its eyes, placing a fist on it chest and spoke
"Shas'la Tau'…"
It paused and was silent for a while, Ellarian noticed the creature's voice seemed more feminine and decided for now that it is a she, the tau looked down on the ground, he believed the tau may have been thinking on her next words, the tau looked him in the eyes with a looked that seemed warm and finished
"Sheia. Shas'la Tau Sheia".
The Tau gave him what seemed to be a smile, Ellarian returned the gesture giving a smile of his own, the two stared at each other in a slightly embarrassing silence, in the end he gave the Tau another respectful bow and the Tau saluted him and the two were on their way.
The following morning, Ellarian prepared his gear as the Guardians were ordered to head back to the Craftworld, the Aspect Warriors would take over from there, the Tau were to still fight a war over the planet against the humans, but with the arrival of more Eldar and their heavier equipment from grav tanks to super heavies, Ellarian felt almost sorry for the humans.
As preparations were still being made, Ellarian went back to the Tau's side of the base looking for Shas'la'Tau'Sheia even asking some of the Tau who gave shrugs or puzzled looks, eventually he asked one of the other Tau an older more grizzled looking warrior with a scowling like look who pointed to one of the circular buildings the Tau used as a barracks.
Ellarian stopped in front of the alien structure unsure which is the door when a hole opened from the front and out came the one he had been looking for, Shas'la'Tau'Sheia was wearing a different suit of armor, one that looked lighter and she carried a rifle that seemed smaller but with a second muzzle below, he noticed from the battle the day before that the Tau officers carried the same guns so he assumed Shas'la'Tau'Sheia got some sort of promotion in rank. The Tau smiled to him and he smiled back, Ellarian quickly put his hands in one of his bandoliers and pulled out a small pendant which carried a rune which symbolized new friendship, although it was intended for one Eldar to another, Ellarian's desire to meet other species made him feel that it was appropriate.
Shas'la'Tau'Sheia took the pendant in her hands and gave it something that Ellarian guessed to be a quizzical look, Ellarian pointed to where his collarbone is and the Tau gently placed it around her neck, she gave him a smile and raised a hand to him, she too went for her bandolier and pulled out a disc looking icon with the insignia of the Tau Empire upon it, he took the icon smiled and gave thanks to the Tau, the two looked to one another now giving each other a warm smile and nod before leaving. Ellarian quickly lost sight of the Tau amidst the many soldiers and prayed for a safe return to wherever the Tau's home is.
Many Cycles had passed since that day, the Eldar and the Tau won a resounding victory against both the human warriors of the Space Marines and the lesser warriors of the so called Imperial Guard. The Craftworld mourned the loss of the dead which were fortunately few but celebrated the victory and return of the others. Amidst this time, Ellarian composed songs for the triumphant warriors, gaining the eye of a mature maiden from the Fire Dragon Temple who wished to show him a thing or two about "playing with fire", he also made inquiries about a certain Tau female from the returning warriors, and a few from the Rangers and the Scorpion temple mentioned having fought or reconnoitered alongside a Tau scout that he learned were called Pathfinders who bore an Eldar rune.
In time peace would return to the Craftworld, all knew that of course it would be temporary but one they should enjoy, but for some like Ellarian, peace was hard to come by, his mind was filled with thoughts of the greater galaxy he wondered about other worlds, stars, nebulae and other species, of exodites, lost treasures and such and soon he began to find life aboard the Craftworld to be a bit too restrictive.
After a long and careful consideration especially after a few cycles with the Fire Dragon who went by the name of Marelthies, she eventually convinced Ellarian to follow the path of the Outcast, it turned out that Marelthies had once traveled such a path and had been a Ranger and Corsair and had been a successful one at that, but later grew tired of the Outcast path. She gifted him with an old but well maintained Long rifle, a dagger and a cloak as well as words of advice and knowledge on the life of a Ranger. After passionate and memorable farewell Ellarian made sure to inform his friends and family his desires and prepared to leave the craftworld.
At the docks of the Gate of Welcoming Returns he looked up at the glass ceiling watching the stars pass, he smiled and looked down to his right hand at the icon given to him by the Tau Sheia for he had learned that Shas'la Tau meant that she was part of the warrior caste of a beginning rank and from the Tau's homeworld of the same name. He looked to the webway gate and took a deep breath, he was going to see the galaxy, the stars the worlds and other civilizations and cultures and he would be free to be himself and do whatever he wished, and what he wanted most right now was to see and to learn firsthand what the galaxy had to offer.