A/N: I'm baaaaaaaaaack.
Man...how long has it been? Much too long indeed. I kind of lost my drive for fanfiction during and after college, but after seeing the amount of people still updating their stories years after joining and publishing stories, I kind of hit my muse again.
Now...this story, I adopted from another writer, steinerdavion2183, and it was originally named "Unusual Alliances" if anyone here remembers it. You can still find it by searching either steinerdavion2183 or the original name.
I adopted it about two and a half years ago, and only now I feel I've drummed up enough inspiration for a story. I'll be taking it in a different direction, so apologies in advance to the original fans. However, most characters' names will remain the same...Maybe a slight tweak here and there.
Overall? It's good to be back. PM if you have any questions.
Alilara ran. Though not accustomed to sprinting like her banshee sisters, she was conditioned. The armor of a striking scorpion was heavier than a banshee's but lighter than a reaper's or shadow spectre's. Warning runes flashed in her helmet, indicating her armor's integrity was falling. She had taken a direct hit in the chest from a light bolter only a couple of minutes earlier. If it had been a heavy bolter, her soul would have transferred to her spirit stone in an instant.
The hit had thrown her to the ground and left an aching feeling in her chest. She was sure that there was broken bones and maybe ribs, but she was adept at ignoring the pain. Scorpion armor was better equipped to keep the wearer alive.
She slowed and crouched near the base of a burnt tree. A moderate fog covered the trenches the Orks had hastily constructed for hundreds of yards in front of her. She could see them ducking in an out of the fog, grunting and yelling at each other in the lowest form of language possible. Alilara knew she was quickly approaching the front line, and she would was sure to encounter more of them.
She could hear the idling drone of the Ork gunship's engines in the distance. The mission had required stealth and as much speed as Lileath would afford them. The plan was to circle the Ork lines, penetrate the rear, and plant an anti-matter bomb on one of the landing craft that routinely shipped supplies to the surface from the gunship.
Their stealth was compromised quickly, as was to be expected, but Alilara was infuriated that it had been a lowly grunt that had screamed and squealed long enough to alert its larger cousins. In the one and a half seconds it took for Exarch Nu'Xes to silence the creature, Orks from hundreds of yards away arose at the sound of the alarm.
Her shrine immediately split up, each of them a decoy for Alilara, the real bomb carrier. If they had stayed together it would have been easy for the Orks to concentrate their fire and obliterate them.
She whispered prayers for all eight of her shrine, including the soulless Nu'Xes. May the entire pantheon of Gods and Goddesses watch over them.
The Ork gunship had somehow made it through the atmosphere without crash landing. It was a space borne ship despite its small size and was currently using its unmatched firepower to blast away at her kin's lines.
A swordwind was on its way from Biel-tan, but they would not arrive for some time and by then, it might already be too late for these Exodites. Kies'Duran owned no heavy weaponry to combat the mechanical monstrosity in the sky. Anything with weapons large enough to harm the vessel was also a big enough and close enough target for the Ork gunners.
The tree she was perched next to marked the beginning of the descent into the Ork trenches. It was not an ideal situation, to put everything into chance when turning each corner, but there was no other way. Morning would soon come and with it, renewed attacks.
She sized up a path through the trenches with the area her optics could see. With a slow breath, she made her way down the slope. Though heavy in her armor, she moved with a grace unmatched by any other warrior in the galaxy. Her footsteps were tactical, and silent. Throwing herself over the initial barrier, her boots narrowly avoid cracking a stack of wood. She shook her head and pressed on.
A shadowy figure watched Alilara dip into the fog. Its blood red eyes analyzing her movements. After a few moments, it followed her into the fog.
Nu'Xes' gamble had paid off. These Orks were taking a break from their battle lust to recharge and refuel before their final onslaught. The exarch anticipated that these Orks would not so willingly throw themselves into the grinder due to their low numbers.
"A smart Ork is more dangerous than a thousand of this dimwitted comrades," the exarch had said during their planning of the mission. Alilara had asked if this mean't that a greater Ork might be leading the assault, but none of her shrine could be sure.
Her helmet's HUD highlighted the gretchin even before she saw it. She could see its various organs pulsing in its malformed body. It remained oblivious to her presence.
Lighter than air, Alilara got down on all fours and bear crawled until she was not two feet behind it. Alilara wrapped her hands around the gretchin's neck and quickly broke it. Careful not to raise yet another alarm, she laid it to the side of the trench and covered it with the various tools and supplies around her.
She could see the gunship more clearly as the sun rose and began to clear away the fog. Soon its sight would be clear and it would begin yet another murderous bombardment.
Ahead of her was an entrance to an underground bunker, and the only visible way that didn't involve running across the top of the trenches. Against her better judgement, Alilara entered.
There were a few fires that Orks appeared to use as light in the dark, but Alilara's HUD illuminated the bunker as if it were broad daylight. The sound of heavy footsteps forced her to side of the causeway, and dampening the light from her eye ports.
A troop of heavily armed Orks was jogging through the bunker perpendicular to her. Their bodies were adorned with shells as large has her hands. In each of their hands they held a massive, bayoneted weapon.
While Alilara could have easily slain all of the unsuspecting beasts, it would take too much time and draw too much attention. Too many easy targets, not enough scorpions, she thought to herself. Once the Orks were out of earshot, she continued on, constantly scanning each corner. The bigger Orks she could spot, it was the little gretchins that were constantly catching her off guard.
After a few agonizing minutes, Alilara's HUD finally led her to the exit. To her right was a small view port that had been carved out of the rock. She could almost see the front lines from here, but the fog still covered the landscape.
Then, what sounded like a sonic boom echoed across the sky. The gunship's engines flared. The attack would resume, and Alilara was nowhere near the resupply zone.
She heard the Ork before her sensors alerted her. She dove away just as the massive beast slammed its axes down into the cave wall in front of her, causing rock and stone to fly in every direction. How it had managed to sneak up on her, she would have to put away for another time.
She fired off a quick set of bursts from her pistol at its head, but the Ork angled its shoulders and shook off the shurikens. It roared and charged forward. Alilara dove as it did, slipping between its legs and dragging the chainsword against its right leg, but it only sparked the thick metal.
The Ork turned around and Alilara swore that a grin was forming between all of its broken teeth. The greenskin was armored from head to toe with no obvious weak points.
Like many of Alilara's victims.
The Ork spread its arms and charged again, clearly intending to cut the amount of space Alilara could maneuver. She returned the Ork's grin behind her helmet. As it approached, the scorpion feinted forward, just enough to give the Ork the impression she was going to meet him head on. The Ork swung and cleaved nothing but empty air. It swung so hard that its momentum carried it forward towards her.
Alilara ducked to the side as the Ork wen't gallivanting past and into the cave wall, causing a tremendous crash as more rock and stone collapsed, partially burying the Ork. It let out a low groan as it shifted on its feet.
"Stupid creature," she spat and exited the bunker as quickly as she could. Looking up, she saw the gunship moving away to the east. She cursed herself. Her brief encounter with the Ork had only put distance between her and the gunship. There were sounds of gunfire in the distance from elsewhere in the trenches. She hoped that her kin held the same luck her had.
With a quick inhale and exhale, she holstered the pistol and checked the bomb secured on her backside. Once she confirmed it was stable, she took off towards the gunship.
Stealth was no longer an option, but she could stick to the trenches that would inevitable point in the direction the gunship was going. Her HUD would give her a couple of seconds notice whenever she was coming up on an Ork or gretchin, but at full speed, Alilara was yards ahead of them before they even had time to react.
She rounded yet another corner.
The Ork saw her in plenty of time and wasted none of it but firing his bolter widely as she sprinted forward. Alilara slid on her knees in the murky water and let the chainsword glide across the Ork's unarmored belly. The beast coughed and sputtered as half its midsection was torn away.
Alilara made the mistake of glancing back to confirm her kill instead of focusing on the corner ahead of her. As she turned around, a nob, even larger than the one she encountered not minutes earlier emerged in the sunlight.
But before she could react, the Ork reared the flat side of his axe and slapped it against her chest. Alilara was lifted off her feet by the immense strength of the Ork. She tried to position herself in midair, but a moment of panic resulted in her flying ungracefully through the wall of a rundown burrow above the trench.
The bomb detached itself from her armor and rolled into a corner.
Ignoring the integrity warning symbols in her HUD, she rolled to her feet just as the nob came barreling through what was left of the wall. Alilara just managed to get the chain sword up to deflect the momentum of the Ork's axe, sparks flying as the teeth chattered against the Ork metal. The Ork raised his other axe, but Alilara was ready and dodged out of the way. Like the greenskin Alilara had encountered in the bunker, this one seemed to be a victim of its own strength.
The scorpion rolled away, but the Ork now blocked the exit, where she needed to go. The sound of more beastial grunts further lowered her spirits as three more Orks entered the burrow from their own makeshift entrances.
"War calls, death wakes, blood flows," she whispered to herself, and thumbed the trigger for the sword. As it sprang to life, the Orks roared in unison and charged. The nearest Ork misjudged the range of Alilara's sword as it came rushing towards her from the left. With a flick of her wrist, Alilara drove the sword up into its chest, bisecting its face as she finished her stroke.
A screech and a squeal from above alerted her to the sound of a gretchin falling through the ceiling. Alilara tried to get out of the way, but the bony creature latched onto her helmet, pounding on her helmet while screaming its head off.
For a moment, Alilara allowed sheer panic to overcome the stability of her mask before firing the mandiblasters. The chin mounted shurikens severed the gretchin's hands and its grip from her head, but splattered the creatures blood all over her eye ports. She tried to back away.
The most intense pain of her life shot across her abdomen as the tip of the nob's axe just barely managed to catch her chest piece. Though the most armored part of her body, it was no match for the strength of an over-sized Ork. The beast continued his swing and severed her left arm.
Alilara didn't even scream. The sheer shock of what had just occurred seemed to overwhelm all feeling in her body.
I've lost. I've failed. It's over.
The nob kicked her as she doubled over and slid across the floor. It laughed and said something in its own bestial tongue. Alilara stared straight up at one of the smaller holes in the roof, just as the gunship was beginning to come into view.
Kies'Duran would be saved by the swordwind, but not before it was already lain waste to. I've lost. I've failed. It's over.
The nob pushed the smaller Orks out of the way as it lumbered over to her. Alilara raised her head and locked the mandiblasters onto the Ork's face, ready to give one last spit in the face of death.
At first, the sound of another chain sword was a welcoming sound to Alilara's ears. Was it the Exarch? Or maybe Cayn, or Saeril? Or was it her own sputtering into lifelessness.
Her comfort quickly turned to confusion, and then, horror. The chainsword's motor was not smooth and refined like one from the shrine of Faceless Judgement. The sound was crude and grinding, far less pretty than any Eldar weapon. There was only one other species in the galaxy that manufactured chainswords that made this tune.
Mon'keigh. She turned her head just in time to see a black armored human crash through the wooden walls.
It was a space marine, the most deadly and virtuous warrior in the human empire. One of his shoulder pauldrons was blue with a familiar horseshoe white symbol on it. The other was made of a silver skull and crossbones.
He was wearing a jump pack. His momentum carried him into the smallest of the three Orks, sending it sailing through the air over Alilara. The space marine didn't stop there. The Orks were still turning around to face this new enemy.
The marine swiped at the knee of the next Ork, the chainsword shredding flesh and bone as the Ork howled. The human reversed his swing and drove the chainsword through the toppling Ork's face. The smaller ork finally hit the back wall after flying through the whole room. The space marine aimed his bolt pistol and fired at the nob. The Ork lowered his armor and shook off the explosive rounds. Enraged by the sight of a new opponent, the Ork clanked his axes together and charged.
The human let the Ork charge across the entire room. Alilara knew these space marines were impressive warriors, but this one was a couple feet away from letting the Ork cleave him.
The Ork raised his axes and the space marine lunged forward, driving his chainsword through the chink in the nob's armor. The nob's momentum pushed the two of the back a little bit, but it came to a halt. The human squeezed the trigger and the chainsword splattered blood in every direction. The nob screeched.
With a swift and seemingly calculated motion, the space marine tore the chainsword downward, almost separating the Ork's arm from his body. He sidestepped the Ork as it attempted to grapple him with the other arm. He climbed up the greenskin as it began to lurch forward and drove the sword into the back its neck, just below its helmet line.
As he rode the nob onto the ground, he swiveled the pistol, pointing it straight at Alilara. He paused for a moment before angling it above her and firing. A single round punched into the Ork's face behind her just as it was getting back up. He was still for a moment. His heard turning side to side so as to check for new threats, but the ruined house was silent once more.
He stalked over to Alilara, taking but a moment's glance at her. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable stomp from his foot.
It never came.
Instead, the marine leaned down and grabbed the bomb. It had rolled into a corner near her, but for a couple of seconds, she'd forgotten all about it. He retreated to the breach he'd made in the wall. She tried to stand, but the pain her abdomen and the stump that was now her left arm stayed her. Alilara knew a few words in the human language. She had started learning it at the behest of Nu'Xes. Their undercover missions into human territory warranted it.
"Human," she croaked.
The marine stopped and looked up at the hole in the roof. The drone of the gunship was growing louder. He looked at the bomb and paused for moment.
"Affirmative," he said coolly, tapping the side of his helmet.
To Alilara's complete shock, he began the activation sequence. It wasn't too difficult, for an Eldar, but the marine pressed the runes on the control panel as confidently as Alilara would have. Her shock increased when he confirmed the countdown.
The bomb began to pulse red. A six minute window to get clear of the blast.
He turned the side of his helmet towards her, one red eye looked at her for a moment before turning back. He crouched down and ignited his jump pack, the boosters propelling him through the roof.
Alilara rolled onto her stomach. Her suit's damage control systems were nearly spent, but she managed to shakily rise to her feet, clutching her abdomen. She stumbled over to the spot the marine had occupied a few moments earlier and looked up. The gunship was taking up almost the entire view of the sky. She identified the marine by the heat plumes from his jet back as he flew closer and closer to the gunship.
Her thought processes were so filled with questions and open ended statements, Alilara almost didn't notice Cayn enter through the back of the house.
"Alilara! Thank the crone, I thought I lost you," he said. Alilara turned to him, growling at the pain. Cayn slowed to bring her remaining arm over his shoulders. "We must get you to the natives immediately."
They were about to exit out the back when the massive form of Nu'Xes blocked their way. Cayn instinctively reached for his pistol but exhaled sharply.
"The weapon, Alilara, where is it?" he asked.
Alilara could barely form the words in her head let alone speak them. She inhaled sharply, but dropped her head.
"If I must bring it to the gunship myself-" the exarch began.
"Run," Alilara gasped.
"What?"
"Run. Run." Alilara looked at Cayn. The exarch looked up at the gunship. Cayn looked at the exarch. Alilara growled, "We must...run."
"Yes, agreed," the exarch replied and turned away, leading the path down the hill. The trenches to the side of house were deserted and they moved as fast as Cayn could help Alilara. They didn't get far before a massive shockwave threw them to the ground, just before Cayn lowered Alilara into a deeper trench.
The gunship bulged momentarily from within before its midsection blew apart in a fantastic display of color. Before the severed sides of the gunship could even begin to drop towards the ground, both exploded as well. The Orks were never keen on securing their ammunition.
The battlefield was awash with the cries and roars of surprised Orks as debris began to rain down all around them.
"We cannot stay here," Nu'Xes said and climbed to his feet. He surveyed the remains of the Ork ship some distance away. "Can you stand?"
"I can manage exarch," Alilara breathed.
Cayn once again helped Alilara to her feet. "May I ask sister...how did you get the bomb aboard the Ork vessel?"
Alilara was silent, she was trying to focus her breathing now that her suit's life support systems were failing, but she also knew the exarch was listening as well a few paces ahead.
"I didn't."
Sometimes, she caught herself scanning the fog on either side of her. Her suit might be damaged, but its sensors were still working. She wondered if the human was still out there, if he had survived the explosion. A flash of pain made her growl and she clenched her side harder. If the exarch was surprised, he didn't show it. Alilara stared at his back the entire journey back to friendly lines.
When the Swordwind arrived to an Ork force already in disarray, she knew there would be explaining to do.