The wind rushed against his bare face as he tightly held onto the handle of his attack bike. His eyes were closed as he felt that rush of euphoria and exhilaration which would always come during a glorious mass charge like this. All around him, he could hear the mighty roars of engines as his battle brothers shouted war cries and praises to the Khan and the Emperor.
Opening his eyes, Brother Captain Temurin of the Steel Storms saw the bright yellow sun of this world was shining down upon them. Off in the horizon he watched as the enemy approached, both armies were out of the effective range of each other's guns but in a few moments all that would change. With a snarl of disdain, Temurin searched amongst the enemy lines for their leader.
All he saw were the squadrons of red armoured xenos who appeared as a mass of blurry images. Cowardly aliens, thought the Captain as he and his men drew closer, it mattered little anyway for they were Steel Storms! Descendants of the White Scars and the Primarch Jaghatai Khan! They were Space Marines! The Angels of Death, demigods of war, where they went, victory was assured for the Emperor was-
All of a sudden, the combat bike of Temurin began to jerk about in its movements. Its pristine blue-white paint was now spattered in gore as the Captain's once noble features had been reduced to the grisly stump of a lower jaw. The upper part of his head had exploded in a gruesome shower when a powerful laser bolts had struck his skull.
The now deceased Space Marine captain still held on to his bike's handle with a vice like grip, the biker marines around him were shocked to see the sudden death of their leader but soon there was a sudden series of explosions which struck the bikers at the front of the charge. Several explosives detonated from the ground underneath them, hurling bikes and bodies about in pieces, the Steel Storms then realized that they had just ridden into a minefield.
Already, several of the Space Marines tried to veer way but it was already too late for many of them. Their enemies, the Eldar of Saim-Hann glided onwards with a series of loud cheers as they opened fired upon the Space Marines. The amount of shuriken fire from the Eldar which was combined with volleys of warp lightning from their warlocks and the assorted weaponry of the Vypers proved to be devastating to the Steel Storms whose charge was now broken.
Upon a cliff, away from the high-speed battle which was unfolding, Ellarian grinned underneath his helmet as he saw the tide turn against the Mon-Keigh. It was an excellent shot he thought, he would not have succeeded were it not for the spell of Guidance from the Saim-Hann Farseer. With a glance towards the Farseer who gave the Ranger a curt nod, the Saim-Hann leader called for his own personal transport.
Finding the enemy leader proved to be surprisingly simple, for there was only one Space Marine whose vehicle was so heavily decorated with gold. There was also the fact that the Space Marine leader himself had carried a massive banner on the back of his bike and his armour was significantly more decorated than those of his comrades. The Space Marine commander might as well have been holding up a large sign towards Ellarian or any sniper which has "shoot me" written on it.
An open topped vehicle soon came towards the cliff, it had the chassis of a Falcon but the top turret had been replaced with a open cupola. Upon the cupola, a group of red robed warlocks awaited the Farseer, it was likely that it was intended to allow the Seer and his council a mobile platform from which they could unleash their powers. There was still a battle to be won now and Ellarian knew well enough that making only a single shot would be wasteful.
Removing the spent power cell of his Long Rifle and popping in a new one, he heard the hum of energy as his weapon was ready for another shot. This time, Ellarian sighted down upon another Space Marine, a helmetless officer who also carried a banner upon his back. You all are just making it easy for me, thought Ellarian with amusement as the cross hair of his rifle locked on to the Mon'Keigh.
Adjusting his aim because the target was moving, Ellarian fired another shot and just like the Space Marine leader, the officer's head exploded in a shower of gore. It was going to be a long day thought Ellarian.
The sun was now setting upon this world and the Wilder Riders of Saim-Hann raised their weapons to the sky in triumph. The helmets of Space Marines dangled from the sides of several Jet Bikes, some of which still dripped with blood, signifying that it was not just a helmet which had been taken. The camp of the Saim-Hann was a typical Craftworld military camp which was composed of various Webway portals.
Several structures were now relocating back into the Webway where they would likely be used in some other war zone. As of the Wild Folk themselves though, the kin of Saim-Hann were boasting of their accomplishments while the dead which thankfully were few, were carried with reverence upon anti-gravity biers.
Holding his Long Rifle by the strap which was now over his right shoulder, Ellarian felt a sense of satisfaction for this victory was his as well. Noticing a presence behind him, he turned around to see the Lady Autarch which had led this army. The Autarch was clad in heavy wraithbone plate armour and she carried a powered spear which was deactivated at the moment, her ornate, battle scarred helmet had the barrels of two mandiblasters on the sides, clearly the Autarch had once been a Striking Scorpion.
'You have my gratitude Outcast' spoke the Autarch in a genuinely grateful tone. The Autarch removed her helmet to reveal a rather comely faced matron who was probably twice of Ellarian's age. 'You may tell Eorlianeth that Craftworld Saim-Hann appreciates his assistance and care to its people and that we look forward to a continued patronage of the Crescent Wings' she then said as she hooked her helmet on the side of her belt and she extended her free left hand.
Clasping the Autarch's arm bellow the elbow while she did the same, Ellarian had a feeling that the Lady's "friendship" with the Prince was the kind which had… "benefits". With a nod and a respectful bow, Ellarian gave the Lady Autarch the same respect as he would give to one of the Highborn of his own Craftworld 'I will be sure to relay the message to the Prince, My Lady.'
The Lady Autarch nodded to him and bid farewell to the Ranger, she joined the rest of her army as she walked into a webway gate. All around him, the Webway gates which remained were powering down with only the shroud generators remaining active. Looking up to the sky as the sun was setting, Ellarian went towards the Webway gate and back to Vaul-Anarath.
Within the botanical garden which served as the "Throne Room" of Vaul-Anarath's Palace, Ellarian stood at attention in the presence of Corsair Prince, Eorlianeth Ansgar. The Prince languidly laid upon a mound of soft cushions as he was clad in loose robes of golden silk, his hair which was now the colour of midnight black was undone to allow it to flow around his shoulders. In one hand he held a clear, crystal goblet of Exodite wine while the other hand was laid over the shoulder of one his "slaves".
Around the Corsair Prince, the scantily clad human women which often attended the Prince were also lazily lying down upon the cushions around the Prince. Their bare arms were decorated with fine jewelry of Eldar-craftsmanship and each of them wrapped themselves around the Corsair Prince's body, each piece of the jewelry they wore had the strong possibility of being a cleverly concealed digital weapon. The human females regarded Ellarian coolly with mixed expressions of friendliness or faint interest.
Once Ellarian may have thought this display as of being rather inappropriate and vulgar but after seeing what the Prince's "slaves" could actually do, he felt more than a bit wary. The Ranger now saw the human women as of being more like tamed, predatory animals which were just ready to pounce and strike at him if he were to attempt anything harmful to the Corsair Prince. The fact that he had seen them kill Space Marines in a mêlée fight reinforced the Ranger's opinion would not wish to start a confrontation with any of them.
'Splendidly done, dear boy' grinned the Corsair Prince in a fatherly tone as he raised his goblet towards Ellarian, one of the slaves handed Ellarian another goblet to which the Outcast took with a word of thanks. 'You know, you are making yourself quite the asset to our merry band' the prince then said as he took a sip of the clear red liquid.
'You honour me, Prince Ansgar' Ellarian said with a respectful bow.
'Indeed' The Prince then said with a grin as he gently swirled his goblet. 'At the moment, I have another task for you' he said 'one which I think will prove rather… intriguing.'
'What would you ask of me Prince Ansgar?' asked Ellarian with curiosity for he had just arrived back in Vaul-Anarath.
'I have a… message which needs to be delivered' he said with his usual cryptic manner. The Prince rose up to a seated position, his slaves still held on to him as their hands gently stroked the body of the older Eldar. Ellarian was not sure what else the Corsair Prince did with his slaves… he probably didn't want to know.
'What sort of message is this?' Ellarian then asked for this would not be the first time since taking up the Path of Outcast where he had to do some courier work.
The prince looked to one of his slaves of whom was shorter, compared to the rest with pale skin and small eyes, the human lifted one of the cushions and produced a crude data-slate of Mon'keigh manufacture. The slave handed the slate to Ellarian who gently took the device. With a curious look at the screen of the device, he saw a brief message written in the script which humans called Imperial Gothic.
He had no idea what the message was, for Ellarian had recently only begun to learn how to speak the crude language of the Imperium. Looking to the Prince with a curious look, the older Eldar explained 'It is coded dear boy, if you could understand; it would seem as merely a message of gratitude.'
'And where will I be delivering this message then?' asked Ellarian as he continued to study the data-slate.
'A world called Nussara Seven' replied the Prince as he took a sip from his goblet and he then continued 'in recent passes it has seceded from Imperium in favor of the Tau Empire'.
'A Human world which has joined the Tau Empire?' questioned Ellarian for he has heard of such things happening, yet the mere idea of Mon'Keigh joining an empire ruled by another species was a bit hard for him to believe.
'Oh there was a bloody civil war you know' said the Prince with a smile and an odd look of nostalgia on his face 'the Imperium had lost the planet as well as several regiments of Imperial Guard and even a company of Space Marines during the whole campaign'.
'I see then' nodded Ellarian a bit skeptically 'so where on Nussara do I deliver this message?'
'A place called Jasserus City' answered the Prince 'over there, you will meet a contact named Eisha who you will give the message to, once you are done you are free to return here to Vaul-Anarath… or perhaps you could stay there in Nussara until I have need of you again, do not worry, the humans will not attack if you behave yourself'.
'Sounds simple enough then, I shall accept this task' nodded Ellarian who inwardly felt more than a bit excited at the idea of going to an alien world for he had heard about how the Tau Empire naïvely welcomed many species.
'Good, I had a feeling you would' grinned the prince as he moved his goblet to the side and allowed one of his slaves to refill the container. With gentle clinks from their goblets and a word of good fortune from the Corsair Prince, the Outcast soon left the palace and began making preparations for his latest task.