Edits made: Description of the Grey Knight
Chapter 8 – Reunited
Falco felt the ground shake underneath him as the drop pod landed roughly into the hill, sending sand and rock flying high into the air. He, Katt, three Fire Warriors and a Broadsuit Battlesuit were slowly advancing forwards; gradually cutting down the relatively small Chaos forces. O'Shovah turned towards the direction of the drop pod, and zoomed in to see that Krystal was standing before it.
Before he had the chance to open his communication channel in order to express his surprise…
"Hey, did you feel that?" Falco cried out loud as he swung his pulse rifle and clubbed down a Cultist, before bringing it down it on his head again and splattering it.
"Yeah!" Katt exclaimed amidst all the gunfire.
The broadsuit targeted the nearest Chaos Marine squad and launched a volley of missiles, sending them all flying, where one landed before the suit, which extended it's foot forward and crushed his head into the sand.
"It felt like something hit the ground from above," a Fire Warrior cried out, "Almost like a…"
"A Space Marine drop pod!" O'Shovah exclaimed loudly, "Landed just across that hill near the Cerinian…and more or less saved her life."
Faclo turned to see that a few yards away near Krystal's position the Space Marine drop pod had launched. But instead of the ultramarine-blue coloured pods they had seen in the past, this one was coloured shiny grey.
Falco's eyes widened as he continued to fire, "What the hell…?"
He was interrupted when a Cultist came at him with an axe. He frowned as he was interrupted once again, where he swept-kicked the Cultist off his feet and onto the sand. He then aimed his carbine down at him and discharged it into his back, blowing out his chest and giving him his much earned and undignified death. He fired again and killed another Cultist, and then swung the butt of his rifle against another and knocked him out.
They heard a mechanical roar and saw that the blind Defiler sensed another psychic presence. It roared and tore up the hill up the hill, knocking any Tau and remaining Chaos forces in it's path as it headed straight for Krystal and the drop pod, just as it's occupant emerged from the pod.
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Krystal's eyes widened as she stepped back from the drop pod and the Space Marine standing before her. But this one was different than the other Space Marines she encountered in the past, radically different. The armour was a shiny grey colour with golden trimmings and right shoulder guard inscribed with runes. This included red coloured purity seals with a blue loincloth situated between his armoured legs, covering the crotch area, which carried the Omega Ultramarine insignia. His left arm featured a storm bolter built into his left hand. In his right hand carried a large gold-encrusted Nemesis Force sword, which brimmed with pure clean Psyker energy. His helmet looked almost medieval in appearance with dark green eye-ports. To top it all off, he also wore a flowing blue cape held with a brooch around his neck.
And with the Grey Knight insignia (a sword in a book) on his left shoulder plate and the golden Inquisitorial seal located on his chest plating, in all he reassembled a futuristic medieval knight.
What immediately caught her eye was the green emerald necklace that dangled from his neck over the brooch. A necklace, which she thought she would never see again, the same one that was given to a dear friend just before he parted from her that year ago.
"Jacques?" Krystal cried, feeling happiness well up within her, a smile forming on her face, "Oh my God!"
The 'Grey Knight's' head jerked up and saw the Defiler heading straight for him and the vixen. He raised his bolter upwards and begun firing at the mechanical beast, it in turn cried out in pain as it felt the armour-piercing rounds tear through it and hit the daemon embedded within it. Krystal spun around and saw the Defiler, gripping her staff and aiming at it
The Knight stepped forward and without uttering a word gently pushed her behind him, surprising her. He then suddenly charged at it, almost at the speed of light, gripping his sword with the full intention to drive it through the Chaos war machine. The Defiler sensed the Knight approaching and swung it's arm at him, he ducked his head and avoided his blow, before he swung his sword and hacked off it's left hand. It roared again in pain and fired it's flamethrower at the Knight, who was unfazed as the flames engulfed him.
The Knight roared with might and drove the sword through the 'torso' of the machine, cutting into the daemon and slicing upwards. The daemon felt itself leave it's shell and let out a blood-curdling scream as pain shot through it's spiritual form. The Knight swung again and struck the daemon through it's head. A bright crimson light surrounded it as it was sent back to the Warp. The empty Defiler exploded in a large fireball.
Krystal watched horrified as the flames engulfed the Knight, as did the Tau from the other side of the hill. Jakob saw this from his vantage point with amazement. He looked over at the Tau force and saw that the Chaos forces now lay dead at their feet, Cultist and Marine alike. He turned back to the remains of the Defiler and the flames around it, and felt his mind snap with disbelief as he saw the Knight walk out the flames, still holding his sword and right fist clenched, unfazed by the crimson flames.
Jakob saw that he was walking towards Krystal, instinctively raising his rifle and looking through the scope, seeing that his right shoulder plating bored the Imperial Inquisitorial mark. He narrowed his anger.
'To think it would be a cold day in Hell I'd see a damn Grey Knight itself in my sights,' he thought bitterly, 'Time to correct that right now!'
He finger tightened on the trigger, which immediately loosened when he saw that Krystal was stepping towards him as well, a contented look on her face. He lowered the rifle as he noticed that she was now standing right before him, looking up at the Grey Knights face, him in return gazing down at her, his hands clenching and unclenching, almost like he was nervous.
"What is this?" he said to himself.
The Tau forces quickly turned to face the Grey Knight in the distance. They immediately aimed their weapons at him and each of their trigger-fingers were itching to deliver death to the oppressive smooth-skinned mammals known as humans, starting with this lone Inquisitorial-aligned Space Marine. But when they noticed that Krystal did not try to fight or run from the Grey Knight, they felt compelled to lower their weapons slightly and edge their fingers away from the trigger.
O'Shovah curiously zoomed in the Grey Knight, and contemplated why he was not charging forward to smash him into the rocks, but rather to witness what would happen next.
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Krystal looked closely at the Grey Knight and his dark-green eye ports, her mouth agape slightly as she struggled to find the correct words to greet the Knight, who had just saved her from a blind, berserk Defiler. It would appear the knight in return was in the same state, as they stared closely into one another's eyes, and almost in their souls.
"J…Jacques?" Krystal finally said, feeling her eyes beginning to tear up as a short smile appeared on her face.
The Grey Knight continued to look at her in a hesitant matter, before he spoke in a slightly deep, distorted yet recognisable voice.
"Krystal."
Krystal extended her hand forward and placed it on the side of his helmet, hoping he could sense her touch through his armour. He moved his hand to hold onto her caress, holding it there for a few seconds, where Krystal sensed him breathing in deeply, as if savouring her touch even though it was on his helmet.
"Jacques. Is it…is it really you?"
The Grey Knight nodded, removing Krystal's hand from the side of his helmet and holding it between the both of them. He quickly realised how to address her…
"Princess Krystal of Cerinia."
The Grey Knight dropped his sword onto the rocky ground and stretched his arms outwards as Krystal moved forward and embraced him, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her head on his shoulder, her heart beating very freely and very joyfully within her chest. The Grey Knight moved her arms around Krystal's back in return as the tears now flowing freely from her eyes, only that now they were of immense happiness, also evident by her smile.
"I missed you, Jacques," she sobbed, wiping the tears from her eyes as she pulled away from him to look into his eyes, "God, I missed you so much."
"As have I," he responded kindly, "Dear Krystal."
The Tau forces a few yards away watched the exchange between the Knight and the Cerinian, lowering their weapons when they immediately saw Krystal had dove for him and they were now hugging amidst the bodies of the Chaos troops. They had been overwhelmed by the Tau's superior firepower from the start and had no hope of capturing the Cerinian.
Falco squinted to make out the Grey Knight, "Holy shit! Is that who I think it is?"
Katt shook his head and smiled gently, "Well, what do you know? And in the nick of time, too."
Jakob on the other hand, was understandably confused by all of this. He thought about plugging the Grey Knight right here and now, but he did not want to hurt Krystal in the process. He stood up and slung his rifle over his shoulder. The other two Pathfinders watched as he begun walking down towards them, where just as they soon parted, the both of them turned to face the Tau force, who was all looking curiously at them. The Grey Knight, identified to be Jacques, looked over away from the hill and saw that the last of the Chaos Predators was driving off into the distance. He pointed towards the tank, the Tau Force turning to see it trying to get away.
They immediately fired their weapons at it; especially the Crisis Suits as they emptied their missile pods, the deadly projectiles hurtling towards it. They quickly hit the mark and blew it apart, releasing warp-driven energy, which dissipated, into the air. Falco crossed his arms and smirked.
"Guess the bastards thought they could sneak away, eh?" he remarked.
"They could not," O'Shovah agreed with finality, "They tried, but they could…"
Suddenly large tentacles emerged from the sands of the desert and the wreckage was pulled under. A deafening roar followed as Falco's smirk promptly faded from his face, replaced by a rather worried frown.
"Er…was that meant to happen?" he then asked.
"Not it was not," the heavily distorted voice of Jacques Mortensen replied as he and Krystal, followed closely behind by Jakob, stepped up to O'Shovah.
O'Shovah looked at the Grey Knight closely, wanting him quickly identify himself or face being vaporised where he stood. He asked, "And who may you be, bold invader from Terra?"
"Who I am is not important at the moment, Commander Farsight of T'au," the Grey Knight responded, crossing his arms, "As of right now you are all in danger."
Krystal's eyes widened as she stepped away from his side and stood before him, "What?"
"My, this is a way to greet yourself after falling down from the sky and finishing the battle," Katt stated, "You remember me?"
"Lombardi mentioned you a couple of times, Katt Monroe," Jacques explained, "But like I said, all this talk is irrelevant at the moment."
Jakob decided to join the conversation, in the process almost confronting the Knight.
"Why is that, Imperial?" Jakob questioned loudly, "What's so important right now?"
Immediately the desert sand half-a-mile away erupted like a volcano, spewing the hot ground high in the air. Katt, Falco and Krystal turned towards it, startled. Jacques, O'Shovah and Jakob looked at it calmly. Jacques raised his hand and pointed at it calmly.
"That…is more important," Jacques replied quickly.
Emerging from the sand was what appeared to be a massive skeletal bug like creature, much like the one Team Star Fox encountered on their last visit here ten years ago which took Slippy hostage after he was literally sent hurtling down towards it's surface.
"By the Greater Good!" the Shas'ui of Jakob's squad exclaimed as he and team ran to join them, "O'Shovah, that beast is HUGE!"
Immediately hundreds upon hundreds of smaller insectoid-like creatures identical to the large creature raise themselves up from the ground around the behemoth creature, each one letting out a shriek as they exposed themselves to the hot air of the planet, having not being able to for nearly hundreds of years. O'Shovah zoomed in on the smaller ones and saw them crowding against the large one, as if for protection.
"Tell me what the fuck I'm seeing?" Falco groaned, "Someone please tell me."
"Just what I exactly foreseen," Jacques replied, before drawing his sword and clinching his right fist and prepping his bolter, "The Warp-driven emanations from the Chaos Sorcerer have reached the remains of this planet's long-dead fauna and have resurrected them."
"In other words?" Falco quickly added.
"Those things are undead!" Krystal exclaimed, "Mutants! Zombies! Whichever you may call them!"
O'Shovah and the Tau readied themselves for another attack. Of the two hundred Tau that had started out fighting against the first wave of the Chaos forces, only sixty-seven lost their lives in the most horrible fashion of being turned into mincemeat at close-range. The remaining one hundred and thirty-three stood their ground as the mutant shamblings, led by the massive behemoth insect, charged towards them from nearly half-a-click away.
"Statistically, there's no way we're going to survive this!" Jakob estimated, then turned to Jacques and continued rather calmly, "Thank you for dropping by, anyway."
"Oh you with little faith," Jacques addressed him, almost sympathetically, "Stand here and watch your salvation fall from the skies."
Suddenly upon saying that, a blast of high-powered energy shot courtesy from a lance cannon shot from the clouds above and devastated the mutants and cutting through the behemoth and blowing it apart, in the process vaporising all the creatures who stood around it. Falco cried out in shock as they saw with wide eyes what appeared to have been a lance-cannon blast wipe out the entire group of bugs. Immediately more groups of mutant shamblings appeared from beneath the sands in droves, each one led by a behemoth version of the creatures.
"Suppose you can call this Round Two?" Katt remarked cynically.
Immediately they all heard what sounded like the high-powered engines of atmospheric aircraft coming from behind. Jacques turned around and looked up at the sky, followed by those around him. They were immediately shocked at what they saw flying above them.
Valkyrie transport ships emerged from the clouds and begun swooping around the area, escorted by Vulture gunships, a few of which begun to lay down suppressing fire on the approaching mutant hordes, with the Tau force watching the show. They then saw the Valkyries touching down on the rocky hill, where immediately human Imperial Guardsmen poured out.
The Guardsmen were equipped in dark green flak armour, where their camouflage fatigues was a mix of palm green and lime. They had the familiar Imperial Guard insignia on their right shoulder guard, which was a housed human skull, but on the other was a different insignia.
It was green-coloured hand gripping a green-blue coloured planet, with a sash over it. It had the word 'Eden' written on it.
The Tau's communicators and radios picked up the chatter over the Imperial com lines.
First and Fourth squads secure left flank, Second and Third secure right. Fifth and Sixth squads on me. Cover the Tau force and prepare for immediate engagement of mutant contacts.
Sir, yes sir.
Right away, sir.
The Tau force was situated in the centre of the hill where they immediately cleared out of the way as a drop ship hovered above and landed roughly on the hill. The doors opened and out stepped a rather tall, dark browned haired man in his early forties dressed in a grey military uniform with a full suit of carapace body armour with a green-coloured battle raiment. He had what appeared to have a red-glowing vision enhancer situated over his left eye and was armed with a chainsword in one hand and a plasma pistol in the other.
He stepped over towards O'Shovah accompanied by twenty Guardsmen, the Tau commander turning to face him.
"We'll take it from here," the Imperial Officer's first words to him were.
O'Shovah stared down at him and asked, "And who are you, human?"
"Governor-Militant Lukas Alexander of the 1st Kronus Regiment," the officer addressed himself and his men, "Military arm of the Children of Eden. We're here to give you a hand at the request of Commander Mortensen."
O'Shovah's communicator buzzed, which he answered, "Armoured Platoon, report?"
Shas'O Shovah, Imperial aircraft have been sighed in your vicinity. Are you alright? Shall we engage them from here?
O'Shovah glanced over at Alexander, who crossed his arms as he awaited a response.
"Negative," O'Shovah responded sharply, "Bring yourselves to our position immediately and reinforce us. We have bigger threats that need be neutralised."
Affirmative, Shas'O, the Hammerhead tank pilot acknowledged, We're on our way.
The Hammerheads and the Battlesuits with them moved forward towards the mouth of the canyon. They begun to navigate themselves through the narrow path, oblivious to what await them on the other side.
The hundreds of mutants that were had managed to avoid the barrage from the Imperial aircraft continued to advance. The Imperial Guard quickly got into permission and aimed their weapons at the incoming horde as they advanced across the sand towards them. The Tau quickly reorganised themselves and raised their weapons, facing the incoming enemy force.
"Hold your ground, Shas'la!" O'Shovah exclaimed, "We shall make quick work of these abominations, just like we did of those fallen humans!"
O'Shovah then looked down at Alexander. If it weren't for his helmet, he would have smirked.
"The more the merrier, Governor," O'Shovah blurted.
Alexander nodded and returned the smirk. He then shouted as he raised his chainsword into the air, "Liberators! Prepare to fire on my command!"
Jacques raised his sword into the air, clinching his right fist at the same time. Falco, Krystal, Katt, Jakob and O'Shovah aimed their weapons as well. Alexander looked over at O'Shovah with a rather soft look.
"I'm sorry we haven't introduced ourselves formally yet," Alexander said, "But I assure you, we come in peace."
"I'm sure of it, human," O'Shovah responded.
Before any of Star Fox and even the Tau had a chance to realise it, they were now being joined and supported by sixty normally hostile Imperial Guardsmen, each one equipped with weaponry ranging from lasguns, grenade launchers and plasma rifles. Krystal looked both ways and saw the line of defenders standing beside her.
I apologise our reunion has been cut short and to be like this, she heard Jacques speak to her mentally, On the field of battle on a Death World.
Krystal smiled as she gripped her staff and responded in thought, 'No need to apologise, love. At least you're here now.'
Jacques was surprised at hearing her refer to him as 'love.' He shook his head, immediately reasoning that it was a sign of affection between the closest of friends, or more like spiritual siblings. He was glad as hell that the both of them were together again, but he had wished that their reunion could have been somewhere…less hostile.
Alexander gritted his teeth and lowered his fist, shouting at the top of his lungs, "FIRE!"
O'Shovah followed in kind, shouting, "FIRE WARRIORS, OPEN FIRE!"
Jacques lowered his sword and opened up with his bolter, immediately joined by the Guardsmen and the Fire Warriors, who let loose both laser, pulse and plasma against the incoming mutant hordes. The mutants cried out in pain as they felt themselves get ripped to shreds at range, pieces flying everywhere and their exposed hearts exploding in their chests, followed by their bodies. The Imperial Guardsmen at once all let out battle cries as their fingers tightened painfully against their triggers.
"KEEP THE LASER COMING, MEN!" one Imperial sergeant cried out, "FOR THE EMPEROR!"
One insectoid mutant leapt high into the air and landed before Krystal, where Jacques was quick to swing his sword and relieve it of it's rotting head, before kicking the body down and driving the sword through it's heart. He then continued firing his bolter at the apparently suicidal mutants as they charged their guns. Some more mutants made it through, only to be engaged by Krystal who charged their way and swung her staff at the nearest mutant and driving it through it's chest. She backflipped in the air to avoid a rotting claw, before performing enough swing and relieving them of all their heads at once.
'These things…are disgusting,' she thought unpleasantly, 'Just like the Aparoids.'
The bigger mutants moved forward slowly. Alexander tapped into his headset communicator and ordered, "All aircraft. Focus your fire only on the larger mutants. We're handling their spawn beautifully."
Affirmative, Governor-Militant, the pilot on the other line confirmed.
The Vulture aircraft formed and passed over the defenders on the rocks, then headed straight for the nearest behemoth mutant and launched their payloads of missiles at it. It screamed out loud as they struck his chest and heart and exploded it from the inside, scattering pieces of rotting bug flesh and ribcage everywhere.
But still the mutants kept on charging, though their numbers were now dwindling.
'By the Emperor, these things are relentless as Tyranids,' Alexander and Jacques thought as one.
A group of slightly better armoured creatures managed to get a few meters from the Imperial Guard/Tau force, prompting Jacques to step forward and stretch his palm towards them. Immediately a blast of powerful psychic energy shot forth from his hand and sent them all flying into the air, where the aircraft targeted them as they were airborne and fired their vulcan cannons at them. They squealed as they exploded.
Ten seconds later the sands before the rocky hills were completely filled with the remains of thousands upon thousands of dead mutant insectoid-like creatures. Which was all the result of the Cornerian barrage upon the planet eons ago, mixed with the Chaotic emanation from the Warp-crazed fallen humans that had established a presence on this Death World.
Jacques knew this for a fact as he sheathed his sword, amidst the cries of cheers of victory from both Tau and Imperial. He felt Alexander give him a friendly pat on the shoulder, smiling slightly before exhaling gently.
"Well done, Mortensen," Alexander said, "Shall we introduce ourselves to the Commander Farsight now?"
"Yes, Governor," Jacques responded, "The sooner they know of our reasons here, the sooner they may want to fight beside us against what is to come, now that Chaos taints Lylat."
Alexander nodded as the both of them turned to see O'Shovah, who was immediately standing before the both of them, accompanied by a battlesuit and a broadsuit. Six Imperial Guards rushed to back up Jacques and Alexander. The cheers of both the Imperials and the Tau immediately faded as both factions immediately took both sides of the hill and faced one another down.
Falco, Katt and Krystal found themselves in the middle, along with O'Shovah, Jakob, Alexander and Jacques.
"Now that these hostilities have been dealt with," O'Shovah remarked, sensing that the Hammerhead Tanks had now made it through the hill and were joining them, "It is time for you Imperials to explain yourselves."
"Of course," Alexander said, "Just so long we'll be hearing your story as well."
"Gladly," O'Shovah responded, slightly vehemently.
Jacques crossed his arms, "I think I know what needs be taken cared of right away."
He faced Katt, Krystal and Falco; the trio feeling uncomfortable that someone that sound like Jacques, yet at the moment doesn't even remotely look like him was possibly looking into their minds and staring into their souls. Jacques stretched his hand forward in a friendly matter towards Falco.
"How would you judge our descent onto the battlefield?" Jacques asked, sounding rather humorous.
Falco's eye widened, before he narrowed his eyes, smirked and shook his hand firmly, "I'd give it an Eight."
Jacques surprisingly chuckled, "That is a shame. We should have come sooner then."
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"Damnation. I was miles off…"
The Chaos Sorcerer known as Artemis frowned as he got off his knees to stand firmly on his own two feet in the dark chamber, his helmet on a nearby steel table. Just like any other Chaotic human face his was worn and emancipated through thousands of years of living in the Other Side. But one could see that his eyes were a vile sludge green colour and his red hair, arranged in a mohawk, sprouted from his head.
He opened his crimson glowing eyes and reached over and put his helmet back on his head, where he then heard the steel door leading into the chamber open loudly, a Chaos champion standing in the doorway and holding a green-splattered sword in his right hand.
"Sorcerer!" the Champion snarled, "Your pet undead bugs just tried to break into the base. We've lost ten Cultists, and two Marines have lost their legs."
"Oh, dear," Artemis faked a cringe, "It would seem when it comes to possessing the fallen, Chaos is without restraint."
The Champion narrowed his eyes, "The Lord hopes that those shambling mutants have torn those Tau into pieces and have at least not dismembered the Cerinian."
Artemis shook his head gently, "No, they have not. And they will never again, seeing as how the Imperium has decided to join the fray."
The Champion's eyes widened, before he growled, "The lapdogs of the False Emperor?"
Artemis smirked, "Not of the Imperium, actually. But what they believe to be a cause that would no doubt be in the name of the Emperor."
"ARTEMIS!"
The Champion nearly jumped at hearing the Chaos Lord shout out loud, while Artemis didn't so much as flinch. He walked past the champion out the door, revealing he had been kneeling in an abandoned silo-like supply depot. He stepped onto the yellowish blood-encrusted asphalt of the base, the bodies of the mutants scattered all over, mingling with ten mutilated Cultist bodies.
He noticed a helmetless Marine standing over a moaning mutant creature, where he aimed his boltgun straight at the mutant and fired a fifty-caliber rocket propelled bolt into it's skull and blowing it apart. The Marine then spat on the corpse, before being shoved aside by Lord Ezekiel as he stormed, nearly fuming, towards the Sorcerer.
"Just what do you call this?" Ezekiel demanded, "You said they would be under our control!"
"A minor setback, I must admit," Artemis responded smugly, "But it's nothing compared to what has just landed on this world barely minutes ago."
"No need to tell me, Sorcerer," Ezekiel growled, "I have sensed Imperial presence as well: One solitary Delta-level Psyker of a Grey Knight, and an entire contingent of Imperial Guard. Add the Tau presence the strike force reported earlier before they met their deaths and we are cataclysmically overwhelmed."
Artemis frowned, "Then we should request reinforcements, my lord."
Ezekiel shook his head, "The Despoiler, and the entire Crusade would see us as weak. If we think of begging for aid the Gods will abandon us. We will simply engage this mixed force, even if it would mean the cost of our lives."
"We die purely out of honour?" Artemis queried.
Ezekiel frowned and quipped, "If you were to tame your pet mutants, then that would not be an issue."
Suddenly, a winged mutant resembling a wolf-crossed with a housefly flew over the wall and darted towards Ezekiel and Artemis. The Marines in the compound raised their weapons, the Chaos Lord gripped his scythe, and they prepared to face the bug, just as Artemis chuckled quietly and raised his staff towards it. Immediately it stopped itself in midair and retracted it's claws, landing before the Sorcerer. Artemis then stretched his hand forward and stroke the furred mutant.
"No, my lord," the Sorcerer groused, "It would not."
Ezekiel smiled, realising that he had just gotten through to the Sorcerer, who in return had finally gotten through to the mutants, which they had in fact released onto this world.
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In his private chambers at his desk sat Aun'shi of the Ethereal Caste, his fingers bristling his chin as he thought about the events of what was transpiring. Who would have known that his years worth of searching for the traitorous Farsight Enclaves themselves would bring him here to the 'furry' sector: The Lylat System? Four of those furries were on board this ship, one of which had just endured surgery to remove a fridge handle from his chest.
Who else would have known that the Forces of Chaos were operating in this sector? And were now gunning for them, and in response had sent the legendary Shas'O Shovah – Commander Farsight himself, and his Enclave followers to deal with them. One of those Lylatians also happened to be a Cerinian; a member of the long dead spiritually and physically perfected race of foxes, all dead because of the Imperium's greed and hopelessness.
He sighed through clinched teeth and closed eyes as he tried to focus his mind, but to no avail. He contemplated sending a distress call to the homeworld T'au and calling for reinforcements, knowing that they must stop Chaos here or they would spread to the other parts of the universe. That was the Tau's mission: To preserve and unite life.
Ethereal, his com beeped, We have a situation in the control room.
"What is it?" Aun'shi asked.
Imperial forces have landed on the planet and have engaged O'Shovah and the Lylatians.
Aun'shi gasped, but managed to keep it as a mere squeak, "The Imperium?"
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"Are you guys for real?" Falco demanded, somewhat enthusiastically.
"I never thought it would be possible," O'Shovah added with slight glee, "The Children of Eden? The survivors of that doomed peaceful world?
Katt, Krystal, Falco and Jakob sat firmly on the rocks as they listened to Jacques and Alexander explain themselves to them and the entire Tau force. Every one of those Fire Warriors listened eagerly, almost beginning to sympathise with these humans, who had now revealed themselves to be a misplaced, persecuted, desperate group.
Jacques explained, "We are not part of the Imperium of Man any more. We are the results of the Inquisition pushing us in the wrong direction for the last time, and as a result the surviving downtrodden and persecuted have elected to strike out on their own, with us as their leaders."
"We're more or less refugees," Alexander further explained, "It's gonna sound cliched as hell, but all seven-thousand of us travel from system to system in search of a new home, with the Inquisition in hot pursuit. Me and the four-thousand strong and proud 1st Kronus Regiment serve as the protectorate of the three-thousand remaining Eden folk and…have our work cut out fighting anything to stands in our way. From the Orkish hordes to marauding Dark Eldar pirates…even the odd Inquisitorial Stormtrooper from time to time."
Krystal rubbed her forehead as she made sense of everything, "You're homeworld was this planet called Eden?"
Jacques nodded, "Yes. It was nearly a perfect world with everyone living in peaceful coexistence. Human, Eldar, Tau, and other races that were yet to be known to the Imperium…before they were all wiped out in a matter of hours."
"Strange," Krystal pondered, "I thought you said that only you and most of the human children were the only survivors when your planet was blown up."
"That was what I thought as well," Jacques stated, "Until I was…"
Suddenly Valkyrie dropships descended from the atmosphere, the roar of their engines disturbing the talk and sending every Tau warrior onto his feet in preparation for their landing. Upon touching down, the transports dispensed more troops, heavy weapons and vehicles. Heavy Weapons squads mingled with elite masked Kasrkin stormtroopers as they hopped off the ships and onto the hot sand, alongside the Leman Russ tredge tanks, the multilaser-equipped Chimera Armoured Personnel Carriers and the two-legged Sentinel walkers. They all immediately felt the heat of the planet upon making contact with the surface, one Kasrikin sergeant wiping his forehead, before adjusting his headset communicator and reporting to Governor-Militant Alexander.
"Sir," the sergeant said saluting, "All squads and armaments ready for deployment."
"Thank you, sergeant," Alexander responded, "Prepare to move out."
"Yes, sir."
The sergeant passed by Jakob as he rejoined his squad, as the seated young Gue'vesa begun to feel uncomfortable and nauseous over seeing so much Imperium gathering around him and his people. Jacques glanced over at Jakob…
Be at ease, Shas'la Jakob of Calth, he projected his thoughts into Jakob's mind, We are here to aid you against the Forces of Chaos. Be at ease.
'I will, once you get out of my mind,' Jakob thought vehemently and hoping he would hear him, 'And you Imperials remove yourselves from our presence.'
We can not do that, Jacques countered, As long as Chaos exists; so do we.
Jakob glared over at Jacques and sat up, before walking over to his Pathfinder Team. He looked over at Krystal, Katt and Falco, realising something very important about his friends. He stepped over to them, and they turned towards him.
"Fox McCloud and Slippy Toad," Jacques said, "Where are they?"
Falco rolled his eyes and said, "Slippy's pissed off with his old man and his girlfriend to some research facility and Fox…he's…"
"Incapacitated," Katt added, "When we crashed…"
Jacques raised his palm, signalling her to stop talking. He expressed, "No need to tell me. I just already knew."
Katt glared, "You read my mind without asking me?"
"No, it is a typical scenario when it comes to crash landings," Jacques lectured, eyes downcast in sadness, "There is always at least one casualty. But I think we should thank the Gods he is still alive."
"Heh, the Gods," Falco chuckled mirthlessly, "Somehow religion is the reason we're all screwed right now."
"Relax, Lombardi," Alexander observed, crossing his arms, "It's the Chaos Gods that are your enemies. You should have faith in whomever you worship. What was his name?
Falco frowned, "God."
"Yes," Alexander narrowed his eyes, "Him."
O'Shovah moved closer to Alexander, "I do not think that Aun'shi would appreciate your company, seeing as how you once fought against us ten years ago."
Alexander downcast his eyes, "Don't remind me. It was our victory that costed us nearly our lives. We secured Kronus, but that really pissed the Blood Ravens off. And it's because of them that we've decided to join the refugees and their everlasting pilgrim across the universe."
If it were ever possible, they would have seen O'Shovah frown madly at him. They saw his vehemence through the way he extended his blade and edged it towards Alexander's head. Several Guardsmen noticed this…
"GOVERNOR! LOOK OUT!"
…and they rushed to his aid. Alexander looked behind himself and waved them down with his hand. He then turned to face the battlesuited Tau Commander.
"We will never forgive you for what happened on our colony world, Governor," O'Shovah threatened, "And if wasn't for the fact you just saved our lives and plan to help us rid this planet of the cultists, I would have relieved you of your head."
Alexander smirked, "I wouldn't mind if you did, Tau. To me life is now nothing more than an empty grey stillness, ever since I lost my commission and our ties with the Imperium has all but severed. All we have now is our weapons, and our faith."
Getting annoyed from playing little part in this conversation, Jakob asked, "What happened to you and your troops anyway?"
Alexander glanced over at Jakob and was about to respond when O'Shovah's communicator beeped.
"Shas'O Shovah here," O'Shovah acknowledged the transmission.
Shas'O, what in the Greater Good is going on over there? Aun'shi cried from his line, Our sensors detect Imperial activity near…wait…at your position.
"A disenfranchised Imperial Guard company has just aided us in dispatching the remnants of this planet's mutated wildlife," O'Shovah explained, "Their commanders are Jacques Mortensen and Lukas Alexander."
LUKAS ALEXANDER? Aun'shi practically shouted in disbelief over the coms, GOVERNOR-MILITANT ALEXANDER FROM KRONUS?
"The very same," O'Shovah responded, "But I can assure you, he comes in peace."
The first chance that dictator gets, he will kill us all, Aun'shi shouted, You will engage him and his men immediately.
"I'm afraid that's impossible, Ethereal," O'Shovah said, glancing over at everyone and seeing they were looking at him, "They outnumber us a hundred to one and besides, they want to help us destroy the Chaos forces here."
Am I not making myself clear? Are my words not comprehendible? Is our situation not critical enough as it is? I command you to…O'Shovah heard static come in over his communications, where he begun switching channels, but finding each one is overridden with white noise. Not wanting to overload his sensor he switched them off.
Jacques head jerked upward, sensing taint in the air. He drew his sword and readied his bolter
"The foul taint of Chaos is at work," Jacques sneered, "They must be interfering with your communications."
"Then screw all this reminiscing, let's go kick their asses already," Falco cried, "The sooner we finish off these remaining rotting tin cans we can get off this dustbowl."
Alexander nodded and dialled his communicator, "This is Alexander to the Augustus. Drop status?"
All four hundred requested troops and ground armour have landed at your position, the other line responded, Reserve units are standing by in case things get more dicey down there.
This was confirmed as he looked around and saw all the troops around him on stand by and awaiting orders. He smiled and said, "Thank you, Augustus. Keep in touch and inform us if Chaos makes another move."
Sir! the other line exclaimed, Chaos warship detected in our vicinity. Permission to engage?
Alexander frowned, "Granted. Make sure Chaos doesn't even think of trying to get out of here alive."
Roger that. Fleet is moving in to engage.
Alexander switched off his communicator, and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Kronus Liberators, Children of Eden! WE ARE MOVING OUT!"
The Guardsmen all saluted and immediately begun to pile into the Chimeras. Another sergeant reported to him.
"Sirs," he addressed both Jacques and Alexander, "The Mobile Command Centre has landed."
Alexander smiled, "About damn time. I'm starting to smell my own soles cook from this sand."
They looked up at the sky to see a large eight-wheeled armoured vehicle equipped with multiple cannons and bolters descend from the sky, lifted by two Valkyries. It featured a few radar antennas, dishes and an observation window. It touched down on the sand just as the other Imperial vehicles begun to move out.
"Care to join us?" Alexander said to the Lylatians.
Falco shrugged, "Beats being crammed into an overflowing APC stuffed with a dozen human bigots."
"Commander Farsight?" Jacques spoke, "Will you be joining us for the assault?"
"Gladly," O'Shovah nodded his 'head,' before relaying to his troops, "WARRIORS! WE ARE MOVING FORWARD TO ENGAGE CHAOS!"
The Fire Warriors, Battlesuits and Hammerheads sprung into action as they filed up and proceeded to move alongside the Imperial vehicles north where Chaos awaited them. O'Shovah turned to Jakob just before he and his squad could join their brothers.
"Accompany our 'guests', Shas'la," O'Shovah ordered.
"Yes, Shas'O," Jakob responded, before narrowing his eyes and realising Jacques and Alexander would see it as his back was turned, "Right away."
Alexander, Jacques, Fox, Krystal, Katt and Jakob walked towards the MCC and up it's steps into it, where a war room greeted them, with technicians at work at the computer consoles situated against the walls.
"GOVERNOR-MILITANT ON THE DECK!" a sergeant cried out with authority.
Every technician and Guardsmen present stood up from their seats and stood to attention.
"At ease," Alexander said, "Back to your stations. Prepare to move out."
The door into the command centre closed behind them, where immediately it begun to move forward and join up with the Imperial and Tau convoy. They sat at the table, Alexander taking one end and Jacques taking the other. All the while, Krystal looked at the Grey Knight as if she wasn't sure that it was really him, even though he wore her necklace, which had been her parting gift to him a year ago. She felt she had to see his face before she can be convinced that it was really her spiritual brother.
Jacques knew that without having to look into the cerulean vixen's mind, but somehow he felt like he couldn't. At least not right now anyway.
'Soon, Krystal,' he thought privately to himself, 'Maybe soon.'
"So," Falco was the first to speak, and with a short smile, "What's the battle-plan, Governor-Militant?"
Alexander clasped his hands together and put them on the table, "We already had a plan to deal with Chaos, but now that …"
He looked at Jakob firmly, and with a smile.
"…you Tau are here, things are now complicated. In a good way, that is."
Jakob faked a smirk, "You honour us, Imperial. What's the plan and the rules of engagement?"
