The knife slipped easily between the thin material covering the Eldar sentry's neck. Blood spurted out in a thick, hot stream as the alien's body slowly sank to the ground, the dull gurgling it made drowned out by the sound of hovering tanks. Ardo quickly knelt down and took off the Eldar's helmet as a trophy. Ardo added insult to injury by spitting on the now cooling corpse, then turned and motioned his squad forward. Esahc, Abhay, Varen and Yusuf all moved forward in a crouch, even though Yusuf's red armor made the gesture futile.
The high whine of an approaching grav-tank caused them all to hit the ground. Ardo saw it first, quickly identifying it as a Fire Prism, an Eldar tank that wielded extreme firepower. Ardo didn't move a muscle, knowing that the main gun alone could turn his squad and the ground beneath them into a steaming crater of glass. Ardo could hear movement at his left, but his senses told him it was Yusuf.
"What are you doing, Brother?"
Yusuf's voice was different, changed by the vox amplifiers of the helm he wore, but Ardo could hear the words with extreme clarity.
"From what I have learned so far, I think I can disable the machine spirit of that vehicle."
Ardo shook his head and grabbed Yusuf by his shoulder pauldron.
"Let it pass. If you make a mistake, you will be killed."
Yusuf turned to Ardo and replied, "If I let it pass, others may be killed later."
Ardo nodded and let his brother go. He watched as the Techmarine Adept that had once been his twin snaked toward the now idling vehicle, then crawled underneath it. When Yusuf was underneath, he flipped over on his back and began to tinker with several instruments on the underside of the vehicle. He finished and was preparing to move back to the others when the Fire Prism moved and he came under the guns of a dozen Eldar Guardians.
At that same instant, dozens of high powered lights came on, illuminating Yusuf and the rest of the squad. Reacting instantly, Esahc stood and unleashed a flurry of rounds from his heavy bolter, which easily tore through the light armor of the hollow boned aliens. Ardo looked towards the Fire Prism and smiled grimly as its main weapon powered up. Suddenly, the Eldar grav-tank exploded in a brilliant flash of azure light, and Ardo instinctively dove into a prone position. Shrapnel fell around him and excited cries rang out within the forward base of the Eldar. Ardo keyed his vox-bead and smiled as he spoke one simple word.
"Charge."
Roars went up from around as one hundred heavily armed scouts assaulted the Eldar from concealed positions. Shotguns unloaded their deadly rounds into the chests of the lightly armored aliens, heavy bolters chattered away as they delivered their lethal payloads to their targets, and the crack of sniper rifles echoed their victims' screams.
Ardo dodged a clumsily swung sword and answered with a finely honed thrust of his combat knife. He impaled the hapless alien on his blade and smiled as it held its hands out toward him in a plea for mercy. Ardo felt a twinge of doubt, but he quickly pushed it aside. Raising his bolt pistol, he blasted the creature off of his blade and watched as its body fell to the ground in bloody tatters.
Ardo heard a scream behind him and turned in time to see a Wraithlord, a walking engine of destruction housing the soul of a long dead Eldar warrior, pick up Abhay and attempt to crush him. Rockets flew towards the Wraithlord, some impacting on its heavily armored legs, others completely missing. Ardo charged forward and leapt onto the left side of the Wraithlord and climbed up to its knee joint. He pulled a krak grenade from his belt and pulled the pin, then jammed the grenade into a small crevice in the joint. He leapt away from it and landed on his side, then turned towards the creature, which had carelessly dropped Abhay and was turned towards him. It began to reach out towards him, but at that instant the krak grenade went off, shearing through the Wraithlord's leg at the knee. The off balance beast began to fall, and Ardo realized it would crush him. He quickly scrambled away from the falling creature, but he knew he wasn't going fast enough. As the Wraithlord impacted into the grassy soil, Ardo closed his eyes, ready to embrace the cold darkness of death. It took him several seconds to realize he was alive, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that the head of the creature was inches from his feet. He laughed to himself, but it was cut short by a low growl from the Wraithlord. Ardo stood and leaned toward the fallen warrior, sure that he could hear it speaking. With shocking realization, he realized it was speaking. He tried to understand what it was saying in its low growls, and he could make out a few words.
"Why… do we… fight, Human? Do we not…have… the same… enemies? Come closer… Human. Good…"
Ardo screamed as visions filled his head. Hundreds of planets, millennia of war. And then, his tiny, insignificant life. Only, not tiny, not insignificant. He was a burning star in the galaxy of time, a guiding light. As the information continued to pour in, Ardo felt himself growing weaker. Shouts rang out around him, and he heard a dull hiss, and then a sledgehammer force knocked him from his feet. The visions were instantly cut off, and he looked around, letting his eyes fall on the now destroyed Wraithlord. He could see rocket scarring and he said a quick prayer to the Emperor for protecting him.
Ardo stood and turned to his men, then smiled and spread his arms as he said, "Brothers, today, we are truly Space Marines!"