Major Jerek Kalman, veteran of the Inquisition Stormtrooper Corps and formerly of the 112th Hydraphur Mechanised Infantry, stared at the smiling xeno. It – she, he supposed – was looking him right in the eye, and if her body language was anything like human she was at least as uncertain of how to proceed as he was.
He looked closer. It was almost heretical how human these Asari looked; this was the first time he had seen one up close, and if not for the blue skin, the tiny scales and the tentacles? – Throne, no – on her head she might have easily passed for human. With a helmet on it might be unsettlingly difficult to tell the difference. Kalman looked around at the rest of them. Three more Asari of presumably varying ages and a… Turian, he remembered, dragging the word from the memory of the initial theatre entry brief.
They must have been the forward observation unit shouting for air support earlier, and Davies seemed to have been giving them the basics of what must have been a fairly confusing situation. So they had survived, then. He supposed that was probably a good thing, though he wondered what the Navy close air support lads would say when they were informed they had risked their lives to save xenos.
He decided it was time to break the awkward silence.
"Lieutenant." he said, walking over. "I take it that these xe- uh, people, are the missing scout section?"
The man came to attention and saluted, and Kalman made the sign of the aquila in return.
Davies cleared his throat hesitantly. "Yes sir, as mentioned in the brief this morning." he said. The marine officer had been somewhat in awe of the Imperial forces since arriving for liaison work - awe, tempered with a healthy amount of fear, which Kalman felt was only appropriate.
"I've given them the necessary lingual updates sir, so you should be able to talk without difficulty." he said, gesturing to the leading Asari who stepped forward, extending a hand.
"Captain Aeona V'Tari, 56th Commando Reconnaissance. I offer my sincere gratitude and that of my team for your intervention. Your arrival undoubtedly saved our lives."
Kalman made a closer appraisal of the xeno female. She was definitely young, or at least appeared so, and had clearly been through some significant fighting recently. Pale blue skin, green eyes, slightly shorter than him and quite a lot shorter than the marine next to her, though she was at least managing to hide her nerves better than he was. Clearly competent, honest, and apparently friendly to humanity, but, well…
Still not up for shaking hands with any xenos. He decided to settle for a nod of acknowledgement.
"Major Jerek Kalman, Inquisitorial Oversight. You were fortunate we made a detour away from the main assault - we detected a weak Imperial signal and were investigating when we received your call for assistance. Your own forces pulled out some time ago – I imagine they believed you to be dead – and we started the effort to retake this sector this morning now that the fleet is committed in orbit."
"Bastards." muttered the older-looking xeno. "They might have checked first"
V'Tari ignored her. She had quietly dropped her ignored hand without drawing attention to the fact.
"Thank you for the help, Major. It's an honour and a pleasure to fight alongside humans again, even if your own… organization is unfamiliar to us."
The asari stared past him for a second before meeting his eye again. "I want to thank you, on behalf of my squad and my people, for coming to our aid in our darkest hour. I have to ask: you say your fleet is committed? Do you intend to save Thessia?"
Kalman watched a hopeful expression dawn across the battered faces of the xeno soldiers, as well they might. He'd been on this rock for a week and it certainly didn't look as if the Asari were getting out of this on their own. According to his notes they had historically liked to play the 'elder civilization' card a lot, but even with Terra under siege humanity still appeared to retain more fighting spirit than all of this blue-skinned crowd put together.
He kept his face impassive. "The Imperium is here to deliver Holy Terra – Earth. This expedition has been a useful opportunity to get acquainted with the foe, and though so far-" he prodded a dead cannibal with his armoured boot, "-we have not assessed any extremis threats, I suspect it's going to come down to numbers in the end. There are few of us available and a great many of the foe.
"To achieve our objective we need the cooperation of all remaining military assets in this galaxy. We will preserve this world to the extent necessary to bring your fleets into play."
A flash of indignation passed over the face of the older Asari and she opened her mouth, but before she could speak the xeno with the enormous rifle stepped forward.
"Fuck it. Sir, I don't care what your reasons are, but help us kill every Reaper on Thessia and we'll be right behind you when you push for Earth."
The old xeno glared daggers at the sniper, but V'Tari spun round to cut her off. "Get a grip. Sokari's right. We can't win this alone, and I think I'm capable of swallowing my pride for the sake of preserving thousands of years of civilized culture. We have a common enemy here."
She turned back to Kalman. "Major, please continue. You mentioned a fleet?"
The Turian spoke up as well. " And what was the giant machine that tore that destroyer in half?"
Kalman smiled almost imperceptibly. It looked like some of them were trying very hard to restrain themselves from hurling a barrage of questions at him, and to his surprise he found himself sympathising. It must be a bizarre experience to suddenly find both your world and your basic assumptions about the universe changed in the course of an hour.
He supposed he could relate. It was less than six months since it had happened to him, after all.
Maybe it was the fact that these asari looked and sounded and acted so very much like real people, and it was taking him off guard. He'd seen an Eldar once – not a reiver, a true one – and there was none if that race's proportional and inherent wrongness. The rest of T'Vari's squad displayed human-like expressions of interest, whispering quietly to each other every time they spotted something new. Except for the skin colour and the... hair... tentacles they all looked so very ordinary, not unlike the awkward Alliance officer who had been standing off to one side with an uneasy expression for the past five minutes. He wasn't the only one feeling awkward. Kalman had no idea how to talk to these aliens, and even though he was acting in accordance with his orders he felt slightly heretical just standing here.
Well, most of the xenos looked humanlike. The Turian at the back still looked very much the xeno beast, though its eyes glittered with obvious intelligence. Kalman recalled from his background reading that they'd warred against humanity when it had first reached for the stars in this galaxy, yet they had been the first xeno race to fight alongside mankind when Terra had fallen. Perhaps not entirely beyond redemption, even if they did look like a stretched kroot, but he nonetheless made a note to shoot the creature if it ever appeared to pose a threat.
The turian caught his eye and nodded in acknowledgement. Kalman blinked, cleared his throat, and continued.
"That was the Warlord-class titan Omnissiah Victrix, part of the Legio Ferrus, and currently spearheading this part of the offensive." He allowed himself a small grin. "Rumour is that the Princeps has been thrilled to finally find an enemy to fight that's on the same scale as himself."
He started off towards the row of vehicles at the base of the rise. The Asari followed, their heads turning to follow a gunship as it landed in a clear area with a scream of turbines, more troops piling out with boxes of equipment.
"The flotilla is dispersed. The cruiser Divine Retribution is holding position near your Citadel, accompanied by the destroyer Basilisk, while our troopship and dropships have travelled here with our other two Dauntless-class destroyers to break the back of the enemy offensive over your world. In this we are honoured to accompany the frigate Polux, of the Adaptus Astartes Crimson Fists."
He heard Davies whisper something about 'blue giants' but ignored it when the last of the Asari finally spoke. "Only three warships?"
Kalman looked pointedly at the burning wreck of the reaper destroyer. "Yes, only three. Our means of travel placed constraints on ship numbers, but even with only three units the Navy and Astartes were more than capable of punching a hole right down to the surface and keeping it open while we do our job planetside."
The xeno coughed gently. "Your point is taken, sir. If I may ask, where are the 'Astartes' now?"
"The Space Marines keep their own counsel, though I suppose the usual rules apply. If you want to find them, look where the fighting is at its most terrifying and find the largest heap of enemy corpses you can. They'll be on top of it." Kalman grinned openly this time as he saw the xenos exchange glances. "Pray you never meet them on the battlefield. It's a sure indication that you're unlikely to survive the day."
V'Tari spoke again. "And these men?"
"The Steel Legions of Armageddon. Bane of the ork, fearless in defence and the best urban warfare specialists you'll find in the Segmentum Solar. I fought alongside them at Helsreach, and there's more than a few veterans of that battle tearing through your cities today, though Emperor knows there were few enough survivors.
Kalman halted abruptly as he reached one of the Chimeras. "Captain, I have pressing business to attend to, and I recommend you contact your regiment and request instructions. I have a Valkyrie departing for the Joint Forces Command later today. They can transport you there for onward passage to your individual unit." He nodded, politely. "The Emperor protects, Captain V'Tari."
He was interrupted as he turned to leave. "One more question, Major." It was the older one, he saw.
Kalman pausing, gesturing for her to continue.
"Your references to your Emperor. I thought you humans didn't have organised religion any longer?"
Kalman could see Davies' face freeze in an expression of sudden panic behind her, but the xeno continued, her tone flippant.
"As far as I understand you revere him as a living god, but I haven't ever seen a reference to any of this in anything I've read about humanity before. Is this a genuine belief, or just a state religion, or what? Does it have anything to do with all the eagle iconography everywhere?"
Kalman paused for a long while, trying to control his breathing, before finally answering. How dare this alien speak like that? He had allowed himself to forget the essential wrongness of this creature in its apparent familiarity, and his finger twitched reflexively towards his hellgun trigger.
"The God-Emperor of Mankind is the absolute and immutable ruler of the Holy Imperium of Man, the master of mankind and the protector of humanity, the shield against the predations of the enemy. Countless armies and trillions of people live and die in His name every day.
"I have watched men perish, cities fall, nations crumble and planets burn, both the innocent and guilty alike. I have seen with my own eyes the unimaginable heresy of the Archenemy, the brutal horror of the innumerable xenos, the perfidy of the mutant and of the traitor. Over thirty years in the Guard and ten in the service of the Inquisition I have witnessed the true terrors of the universe, nightmares amongst which your reapers are near the least.
"It is by the will of the Emperor that mankind prevails. It is His indomitable soul blazing out the last remaining light for humanity, and it is only by His unfailing devotion and wisdom that we continue to hold out against the encroaching darkness. Is this a genuine belief, you ask? A mere religion?"
He spat the words, mounting fury in his eyes.
"It is life itself. The Ministorum teaches us that it is better to die for the Emperor than live for yourself, and I have witnessed time and time again that when called upon to act there is not a man or woman in the Imperium who would not uphold this commandment to the last.
"We have stood our ground and spat our contempt at the worst the galaxy can throw at us for ten thousand fucking years. We will do so until the end of time itself, or we will drag the rest of creation screaming to its death with us in the final battle.
He met their eyes, one by one. They were wide open, and V'Tari's jaw was hanging slightly. Davies had gone stark white. He'd had his own eyes fixed on the Major's right index finger.
"The Emperor, in his infinite knowledge and justice, has deemed it necessary to preserve the existence of your species. It is by His will that we are in this place, and it is by His command alone that we come to your world not as liberators - and not as conquerors.
Kalman turned and strode away.
"Be on your way."
….
Twenty minutes later and Jerek Kalman was beginning to calm down. The arrogance and presumption of the xeno had angered him, but his ingrained mental regimes of self-control were reasserting themselves.
He watched their gunship depart and put her out of his mind.
This galaxy may have been beyond the Emperor's light, but even if he was prohibited from changing much he could at least banish the impious ignorance of the people here. The Alliance, certainly, could be uplifted, and if the xeno races must be preserved then they could at least be vetted for their attitude towards humanity and punished or… rewarded accordingly. It was a shame, he mused, that the Batarian species had already been virtually destroyed. Their swift and total annihilation would have been an agreeable first step into this galaxy.
He thought back to those all-too-recent days. The humans of the Systems Alliance, though initially confused and terrified at the Crusade Fleet's arrival had in any case displayed the good sense to accept such help as was offered regardless of the source. Many had volunteered themselves to act as liaisons and thousands of translation cogitators had been supplied and issued to the Imperial forces, subject of course to emergency approval by the Archmagos Seniorus.
Kalman glanced at the unassuming grey box affixed to his left wrist. About the size of a matchbox, it had a quiet but potent machine-spirit that somehow rendered all languages and dialects into intelligible Low Gothic without the need for mankind's sacred tongue to actually be defiled by xenos. High Gothic did not translate, he had noticed, but he suspected that had been a security consideration. No need to tell them everything, after all.
There had still been some interesting cultural misunderstandings. He had witnessed a foolish and arrogant xeno mercenary of the Krogan species actually attempt to headbutt a space marine on the Citadel, and the Astartes had hurled the alien through a wall before anyone could intervene. The body had been quietly recovered and no one had said anything further, though certainly nobody had tried that a second time.
Kalman paused to survey his surroundings, looking around again at the xeno cityscape. He had to admit, it was an attractive enough city, or had been. So unlike the worlds of the Imperium, but not dissimilar from picts he'd seen of occupied Terra. Was that down to alien influence or was it simply a primitive predecessor to STC architecture?
He over to where the reassuringly blocky, robust, Imperial forms of Leman Russ tanks were lining up at a staging area. The crews had disembarked to stretch their legs, check the hulls, and share stories of the engagement. Beyond them the horizon burned, the sky already lit by the glow of a city on fire. Occasional streams if fire from strafing aircraft twinkled in the distance as the shape of a Warlord titan crossed a distant gap between buildings.
He wasn't the only one appreciating the view. One black-clad tanky was sitting on his turret and taking the opportunity of a few minutes' downtime to take a few holopicts of the burning horizon. Kalman wondered what the man would do with them. Sell them to some shipbound Naval rating the next time they made shift, perhaps?
Kalman smiled properly for the first time in half an hour. Say what you like about life in the Guard but it definitely took you to some interesting places, and he'd always been a curious soul. He'd collected rocks from every planet he visited, once, but had to stop after an expedition to a world tainted by the Archenemy. Still had the collection somewhere.
No matter. He turned back to the command tank, exchanging a friendly wave with the officer by the rear hatch.
Time to see where he was headed to next.
I apologise for the delay in updating. Real life has, as always, made its own demands and I've struggled to find time to sit down and write. I also spend half my writing time shuffling bits and pieces of the story about, further increasing the time it takes me to make any headway.
Thanks for the comments / criticism / advice. All suggestions gratefully considered.
A word on tech disparity: 40K is so far beyond ME that it's not even funny. Despite the schizophrenic approach to technology frequently displayed, the very existence of things like las weapons, space marines, enormous warships and commonly available cybernetics point to a degree of scientific mastery that's borderline inconceivable. I don't believe that the AdMech are mindless drones perpetuating the same old crap over and over again, either - creation of the materials at the very least implies more than an IKEA furniture level of knowledge.
This is also why the Crusade is an order of magnitude or two smaller than the usual size. How do you get armies and spacecraft from one end of space and time to the other? I bet it'd be bloody difficult, so no reason to send any more than you absolutely need. Besides, a ship that can smash a hole in a planetary crust will not need fifty of its mates to take out a reaper or two.
I'm going to be incorporating various other cultural elements of the Imperium, but I'm wary of overextending myself. I've seen a lot of stuff on this site try to beat War and Peace for cast size, and I've no desire to replicate that soap opera. I'll try to get any requests in if I can.
I'm only sticking to one Chapter of Astartes though. I can't think of a justification to bring a lot of them on what might end up as a one-way trip...
Right, well, hope you enjoyed it. Don't be too hard on the most recent addition to the cast - somewhat bigoted, as you'd expect, but not all that narrow minded. He's just had his view of the universe shattered fairly recently, and besides that he hasn't got a clue how to talk to aliens.