Author's Note: Ok, there's a little combat in this, not too much, but I promise, these first few chapters are just to get things started before the real battles begin. You'll see what I mean after reading this chapter.
Battlegrounds: Awakening – Chapter Three Refined Chapter Three – Revelation
Tau'cyr – M41 936.12_Kai'rotaa 1/6_Rotaa 63/80_Dec 5/10_Rai'kor 6:30_ Elite Fire Warrior Shas'Vre Vior'La Or'es Var-Mission group 2_Log...
"Or'es! Or'es! Are you here!? Or'es!" The sound of a voice shouting over his comm-link shook Shas'Vre Vior'La Or'es Var into life. He groaned as he stretched his back, before replying weakly, "I...I'm here, who is this?"
"It's Suam! I'm here with Mont'yr and we're protecting M'yen, he's unconscious and we're being attacked by wave after wave of imperial guardsmen, I don't know where Fio'Tak is, or whether we can hold out for much longer. Wait...Mont'yr! Do you see that! Behind them! It's Fio'Tak's indicator, he's behind the line of guardsmen..." Suam's voice trailed off as she began shouting in joy.
"Suam! Suam! What's happening? What was that about Fio'Tak?" Or'es said as he cleared his throat, coughing roughly.
"That sneaky Fio'Tak, ha," Suam laughed heartily, "He was behind the attacking guardsmen, before he detonated some Imperial explosive he found at a camp due south of our position, or so he says."
"Wait, why can't I hear Fio'Tak? Or Mont'yr?" Or'es Var asked warily to the only person he could communicate with.
"The squad channel was scrambled with all kinds of frequencies after we broke through the canopy, but ours is a direct two-way link between our suits, so it looks like it's just me and you, nice, isn't it?" Suam said, ending with a flirtatious comment.
"Oooooh, look who likes Or'es," Fio'Tak's unexpected voice teased over the once private channel.
"Fio'Tak, how are you on this channel? I thought you created a two-way link between mine and Suam's suits?" Or'es Var asked, perplexed, and a bit annoyed.
"Hey, I created the channel, if I want to use it, I can, but this would be the first time," Fio'Tak replied coolly, "Anyway, where the heck are you, Or'es? And what about Cal Mont'da?"
Or'es Var was on his feet by now, checking to see if his weapons were still working. The mention of Cal Mont'da suddenly brought it to Or'es Var's attention, and he replied as he looked around for him, "He's just...By Acaya'Va'Denta..." Or'es' voice trailed off as he stared at the gruesome sight before his eyes. His eyes grew wide as his mouth dropped open.
Cal Mont'da's body was hanging lifeless, held in the air by a thick vine shared by two trees. Obviously, he had gotten tangled as he broke through the canopy in creepers, and one had wrapped itself around his neck repeatedly, squeezing off his helmet to reveal his white, bloodless face. Or'es had not been sick once in his whole life, but now a sudden urge to vomit was ever present in his stomach as he fought to hold it back.
All life had been squeezed out of Mont'da, and as that pressure had been forcefully pushed out, so too had his eyes, which were no where to be seen, leaving nothing but two deep, black abysses. Or'es Var quickly turned away before the sickly feeling could overwhelm him. With a deep sigh, Or'es Var replied, "He is no longer with us."
This sent shockwaves through the remaining members of the squad as Mont'yr was given the bad news. Several moments passed before anyone was able to speak, it was Fio'Tak who spoke up, "What happened?" He asked weakly.
"I'll spare you the gruesome details, but...he must have hit creepers as he broke through the canopy, and one of them found his neck," Or'es Var replied sadly, holding back vomit as the image of Mont'da's lifeless body hung suspended in the air flashed across his mind. He quickly erased his thoughts as he said, "Fio'Tak, can you give me a location on your position, the thick trees are blocking all of your indicators and I don't think I'll be continuing alone..." Or'es broke off.
Without speaking, Fio'Tak sent a signal of his and the rest of the squad through the link, and as soon as it had been sent, a green blip appeared on Or'es Var's helmet display. "Thanks, I'll be there in five, hold your position" Or'es said, before picking up Mont'da's ammo that lay underneath his hanging body and began silently weaving his way through the trees as the green blip guided him to the rest of his squad.
Or'es Var broke through the trees at a sprint into the clearing his squad was in. "Quickly! A squad of Imperial Storm Troopers are coming this way; they haven't spotted us, and let's not risk anymore casualties, so take cover and don't move!" Or'es barked over the now fixed squad channel as he vaulted the low stone wall everyone else had been using for cover, before merging himself into the thick grass with the rest of his squad.
Everyone watched through their visors as a squad of five Kasrkin clad in green carapace armour, all wielding Hellguns with Targeters, paced carefully into the small clearing already littered with Guardsmen corpses. In a standard V formation, all of the squad swept their weapons across the once-lush ground of the clearing; before they stopped twenty metres from the low wall Or'es Var's squad were hiding behind.
Or'es heard a low grumble coming from beside him, and realised that M'yen was standing up after regaining consciousness. Or'es did not want to endanger the rest of his squad, and so let his squad leader stand up. "Hold it! Xenos scum!" shouted one of the Kasrkin as the squad aimed their weapons at the seemingly-defenceless Tau. M'yen immediately raised his hands, revealing one Pulse Pistol in his left, aimed at the Kasrkin leader.
"No!" Or'es screamed as M'yen pulled the trigger twice, melting the Kasrkin Sergeant's head and helmet into one, before his body slumped to the ground.
Or'es immediately tackled M'yen to the ground as the rest of his squad began firing at the remaining four Kasrkin; but it was too late.
Rolling off of M'yen, Or'es noticed two holes in the side of M'yen's helmet. Quickly pulling off his squad leader's helmet, Or'es saw what he feared: two large, gruesome burn wounds scarred M'yen's temple. Unbelievably, M'yen was still breathing despite his severe injuries, and Or'es scrambled frantically for the field medi-kit on his belt. He ripped it from his belt and opened the small pouch, emptying the contents at his side. "Keep firing, but remember the protocol; keep the surrendered alive!" Or'es yelled at the rest of his squad over the comm channel as he fumbled to open the small cylinder containing cauterizer serum.
M'yen's hand brushed away the container. Or'es sat incredulously at the gesture just made by his Shas'El.
He wanted to die.
"But..." Or'es began to say, before a wave of M'yen's hand silenced him. It was clear he only had minutes left of his life, but yet he refused to continue living. In silence, M'yen reached for the scabbard on the front of his left shoulder, and removed from it the weapon that connected the whole squad, and placed it in Or'es Var's open palm. Or'es was lost for words as M'yen folded his fingers around Or'es' palm, symbolising the unofficial field promotion.
Or'es closed his eyes as M'yen's grasp loosened, and fell to the ground, lifeless.
Bowing his head, Shas'El Vior'La Or'es Var recited the rite of passage to Aun'o'T'au Acaya'Va'Denta silently, before removing a 6 inch blade from a scabbard on his belt and tossing it aside, then sliding the Bonding Knife into the scabbard; it fit perfectly . Or'es felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Suam with her hand laid gently on his shoulder, helmet held in her other hand, with a comforting smile on her perfect face. Or'es placed his hand over Suam's and stood up, looking down at Suam, "You saw that?" Or'es said faintly. Suam merely nodded, and then turned to look to her left, as did Or'es. Two of the Kasrkin had surrendered and were now sitting on the ground, talking to Mont'yr.
Still holding each other's hand, Or'es and Suam made their way over to Mont'yr and the two Kasrkin. "Get up," Or'es said, releasing Suam's hand and waiting for the Kasrkin to stand up. "You two surrender, do you?"
"Yes. We do not wish to-" One of the Kasrkin began, before out of nowhere, a whirring chainblade was chewing up the man's intestines, and a Pulse Pistol was aimed between the eyes of the other Kasrkin. Or'es held his face inches from the pained Kasrkin, "I did not ask for your reasons, dog!" Or'es snarled, before ripping the chainblade upwards, splitting the man's torso in two. He kicked the torn corpse to the ground, before turning to the remaining Kasrkin, the Pulse Pistol still fervently pressed to his head. "And what about you, hmm? Do you wish to join your brethren in death? Because that can be arranged," Or'es growled, before spinning both of his chainblades for emphasis.
"Shas'Vre-" Mont'yr began to try and reason with Or'es.
"Not anymore! I received a field promotion from M'yen shortly before his death; I run this squad now, and you follow my orders, understand!?" Or'es half-yelled. Mont'yr nodded weakly, before Or'es lowered his head. "I apologize, Mont'yr, that was uncalled for, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."
"I understand your anger, Shas'El, you have no need to apologize," Mont'yr replied more coolly. With a deep sigh, Or'es pulled the trigger on his Pulse Pistol, and the Kasrkin's face could no longer be recognized.
"Where is Fio'Tak?" Or'es asked, before a shimmer of light caught his attention, and he turned to see Fio'Tak standing next to him.
"I've been here all the time," Fio'Tak replied, no longer in the happy mood that usually accompanied him. Or'es nodded once in acknowledgment, before retracting his chainblades, holstering his Pulse Pistol, and removing his Pulse Carbine from its strap on his back and gripping the trigger with one hand while letting the Carbine swing freely at his side. "Fio'Tak, do you still remember where that Imperial Camp was that you took the explosives from?" Or'es asked in a more uplifting tone of voice to attempt to change the mood.
"Yes, I marked it on my radar. I'll transfer the marker to everyone's HUD," Fio'Tak replied, and as soon as he had finished, a red dot appeared in the northwest space on Or'es' radar, indicating the Imperial Camp.
"All right, we're finished here, let's move towards the camp and see what we can do from there. Fio'Tak, you take point, I'll sweep left, Suam, you sweep right. Mont'yr, you cover the rear. Four metre spread. If we run across any enemy patrols, let them pass, we're already down on two squad members, we can't afford anymore casualties. Let's move out!" Or'es barked over the squad channel, before everyone took up their given positions and made their way due northeast.
"Hold up!" Fio'Tak whispered over the squad channel, and the whole squad halted in their paths and dropped to their stomachs, weapons in front, scanning the immediate area. "Fio'Tak, what is it?" Or'es asked, guessing that he had seen the camp, since they were close to the red blip on their radar.
"It's the camp," Fio'Tak said, Or'es smiled.
"Everyone converge on Fio'Tak so we can decide how we're going to do this," Or'es said, before he, Suam and Mont'yr moved silently up beside Fio'Tak. Or'es looked around the camp, taking in every detail. A large, grey, three-storey rockrete building sat solemnly in the centre of the camp. Smaller two-storey rockrete buildings linked by second-storey corridors surrounded the entire perimeter of the larger building, which were further surrounded by a ten-foot chain-linked fence topped off with barbed wire. To the east side of the large building, a long dirt road stretched into the forest, on which supply trucks came up and down to and from the camp. Or'es watched as they drove round to the west side of the camp and off-loaded their cargo at the back of the surrounding buildings.
That was their best bet.
"All right, listen up," Or'es began, "Those trucks arrive at the camp at fifteen minute intervals, and leave at the same time. If we can jump into the back of one of the incoming trucks, we can infiltrate the camp and gain the upper hand, because after all, they won't be expecting an attack. We're too far away from the original drop zone.
"However, we'll have no chance with all of those cameras dotted about the camp. There is a main generator on the south side of the main building, closest to us. Fio'Tak, you have to take out the generator before we exit the cargo truck. Once out of the truck, Suam and I will make a dash for the main building, while you and Mont'yr enter the closest perimeter building and sweep the whole way round, before joining Suam and I in the main building. The fighting should be heavy, but they're shouldn't be too many Imperial Guardsmen. This camp is too far from any city to have real defences, and that will make it less of a priority to the enemy. I have no way of knowing for sure, though, so we can't take any chances just because of a hunch.
"We can't afford any mistakes here, if even one thing goes wrong, we'll all be dead, and I sure as hell won't go out today. Now let's do it," Or'es finished, before he, Suam and Mont'yr crept silently away towards the long dirt road, while Fio'Tak waited silently for the signal to cut the power.
"It's been fifteen minutes since the last truck passed; the next truck should be...Wait! I see the headlights, get ready," Shas'El Vior'La Or'es Var said to the three members of his squad who crouched next to him, waiting for the truck.
50 metres down the dirt road from the camp, Or'es Var, Suam and Mont'yr saw the headlights of an approaching truck as it slowed to turn the sharp corner, just before its front-left tire was blown out by a shot from Suam's Pulse Pistol. Immediately, curses and mutterings came from the two men in the front of the truck. The two men opened the doors to the truck and stepped down to inspect the problem. "Aw, crap! Looks like we got a popped tire. Baako, get the spare from underneath while I remove this one," One of the men said with a heavy accented voice, before he took a strange tool from the front of the truck and began removing the wheel, while the other man, Baako, scooted underneath the truck on his back to remove the spare tire.
Meanwhile, Or'es Var sprinted from the cover of the trees to stand by the back of the truck. He silently opened one of the two doors at the back of the truck, and then motioned for Suam and Mont'yr to climb in, before climbing in himself and closing the door behind him.
In all of ten seconds, Or'es, Suam, and Mont'yr had climbed into the back of the truck, and had taken up positions while they waited for the two men driving to fix the flat tire. With the slamming of doors being shut, and a loud rumble of the engine, the truck resumed its journey to the camp.
Feeling the truck stop for the second time – the first being when they passed through the gates of the camp – Or'es quickly gave Fio'Tak the 'Go' to cut the power, just in time. As soon as he did, the doors on the back of the truck opened. Or'es saw the two men as they turned, confused as to why the lights in the camp had gone out; because it was night, and there was no light at all now.
Or, at least not for the two men.
Or'es Var quickly loosed off two low-power shots into the back of each of the men's heads, before they dropped to the ground, kicking up dust as they hit. Or'es Var hopped out the back of the truck, quickly followed by Suam, and then Mont'yr. They all scanned their immediate surroundings and, after finding no other threats, Or'es Var keyed his comm-link, "Nice work Fio'Tak, but make sure you take control of the station, we can't have them using their backup power." Turning to Mont'yr, he said, "Wait here for Fio'Tak, he'll be here soon."
Signalling for Suam to follow him, Or'es Var took off, covering the hundred metre sprint to the wall of the main building in fifteen seconds, with Suam hitting the wall three seconds slower. She turned to face him as they switched to their private channel, which for once, actually was private, because Or'es had forced Fio'Tak to make it impossible for him to hear or talk through.
"So what's the plan?" Suam said eagerly, and Or'es could swear she gripped her Rail Rifle even tighter; she always did have a fiery passion for battle.
"There's a maintenance door ten paces round the corner to our right, that's our best shot. No one will be guarding that door, and from there we can follow the signs to the control room where we can see if there's anything valuable stored in the camp. Understand?" Suam nodded, "Go!"
Being the faster of the two, Or'es Var reached the door first and tried to open it, but to no avail. He pressed harder, but it wouldn't budge. "The door won't open. It's been sealed shut or something, hold on, I'll break it down," Or'es said, as he took fifteen paces backwards, and braced himself, before charging at the door.
Smacking into the door with his full strength, the door couldn't hold. Or'es Var fell onto his knees as he rammed the door off its ceramite hinges, before picking himself up, and rubbing his probably-bruised right shoulder. The noise would have made the forces inside alert as to an attack, though without light to see, they enemy would be merely wandering blind men. "Come on, we have to be quick, no doubt they'll be trying to fix the lights, and, now they know we're here...probably," Or'es said as he and Suam began following the signs on the walls, looking for the Control Room.
Mont'yr crouched silently on one knee, perched at the edge of the back of the truck, searching the area in front of him for any sign of Imperial presence. An Imperial Guardsmen would have trouble seeing in this darkness, but Mont'yr's squad all had hardwired blacksun filters, which lit up even the darkest spaces. A sudden shift of movement caught Mont'yr's eye, and he aimed his weapon at the now-visible Fio'Tak. "Ready? It's just you and me on this channel. Or'es Var and his partner are on their private channel, and since El'Or'es forced me to make it impossible to join or hear their channel; it looks like we'll just have to score more kills than them, so it's lucky I have you," Fio'Tak said in his usual cheerful tone. Mont'yr merely shrugged, and jumped down onto the dusty ground to stand beside Fio'Tak. "Who takes lead?" Fio'Tak asked, before continuing, "Wait, you can, you have more battle experience. Well, lead the way."
Mont'yr shook his head and began jogging towards the nearest perimeter building. Beating him there, Fio'Tak had overridden the lock code on the main door and was already inside, waiting for Mont'yr to enter, before he shut the door behind him. Mont'yr and Fio'Tak made their way up the short corridor, where at the end it branched off at either side, with both sides leading up stairs. "Fio'Tak, you take the right set of stairs, I'll take this side," Mont'yr said over the comm channel, before they both began their ascent up the stairs.
Suam and Or'es turned the corner left, and finally found what they had been looking for. Ten metres in front of them stood a door, with a sign hanging above it that read 'Control Room'. "This is it, the control room!" Or'es said eagerly as he jogged the rest of the way to the door with Suam.
"Now let's see if it's open," Suam said, before Or'es – Pulse Pistol in one hand, both Chainblades ready to be activated – pushed on the door. The door moved open, and Suam and Or'es strode in, scanning the room for any danger. "Wh-who's there? Don't move or I'll shoot you!" Or'es Var immediately swung his pistol towards the direction of the voice, and sure enough, there in the far corner of the room, was a curled up member of staff holding an auto pistol in one hand. Or'es turned to face Suam, before raising his index finger in front of his lips, indicating silence, before moving the hand to his shoulder, and clenching his hand into a fist, signalling that she stay where she is.
Silently, Or'es crept along the opposite side of the room toward the terrified staff member, who still had his gun pointed in Suam's direction, only not knowing she was there. As he approached the sitting man, he eyed the auto pistol, before, in one swift motion, kicked the auto pistol from the man's hand and lifted him up, inactivated chainblade inches from his throat. "Ah! Please! Don't hurt me, I just control everything in the base, I don't know anything about what they're keeping here, I swear!" pleaded the middle-aged man. Although he didn't realise it, the staff member just made this infiltration interesting. Or'es didn't really know what he was talking about, but he decided he should act like he does, "You said you control everything? There must be files containing details on what they're keeping, can you open these files?" Or'es said, before keying his comm-link, "Suam, contact Fio'Tak, tell him to give power to the Control room only."
"Sure thing, Or'es," Suam replied, before a barely audible click resounded in Or'es' ears, which signified that she had left the channel. Soon enough, the lights flashed on in the room, and the staff member gazed in shock at the sight of the Tau in front of him, shortly before seeing the chainblade held inches from his throat. He began screaming at once, before Or'es slammed his back against the wall behind him, shutting him up. "Now, can you?" Or'es said menacingly.
"Well, no...I, uh"
"Then you are of no use to me," Or'es said with a sigh, before dropping the man to the ground in a heap, and turning to say aloud so the man could hear, "Kill him." Suam realised the intimidating tactic Or'es was using, and so drew her Pulse Pistol and began walking towards the staff member to hold the barrel against the mans head, as Or'es walked slowly away. "Wait! Wait! I can open the files, I lied, ok. I can open them!" The man half-shouted. Or'es stopped with his back to the man, and keyed his comm-link, "Good work. You know me well, Suam. Let him do his thing."
Holstering her pistol, Suam hoisted the man up with some difficulty – unlike Or'es who had lifted him effortlessly – and pushed him towards the long machine that spanned the entire side of one wall in the room. The man moved to the farthest away part of the machine, closely followed by Suam and Or'es, before taking a key from around his neck and inserting it into a slot on the machine. Two monitors overhead that were black lit up, and displayed a wealth of information. Neither Or'es nor Suam could read Gue'la, and so Or'es activated the video-uplink feed on his HUD, and began recording all the information.
Or'es switched to the squad channel, as did Suam, and he sent the video to Fio'Tak, who watched intently, before replying a few minutes later. "You won't believe the amount of information they have here. It turns out, the labyrinths built underground here aren't of Imperial origin. It says that they're millions of years old. You know what this means..." Fio'Tak trailed off.
"Necrons."
Author's Note: Ok, so you should easily see what I mean. The next chapter has about the same level of combat, but after that, it'll be battles 90% of the time, for all you blood-crazy readers.