Four days later...
The Farseer had joined the members of the Bonesingers' group aboard the Craftworld on the trip down through into the Webway Nexus. Always an eerie experience, even for those that are so used to travel through it, the trip ended within moments. The distance between the Nexus and the ship itself was a few thousand kilometers, not worthy of mention, quite honestly, so it was pretty fast.
The woman, however, had felt something as they re-materialized atop the mountain and in the midst of their little makeshift base of operations. She turned over to the Nexus, watching as it flickered and arched with the currents of the Webway. While she had been fairly familiar with the concepts and history of the criss-crossing system of transport tunnels, the Farseer had never seen a Nexus act in such a way before.
Perhaps it had to do with the Realm of Souls being a calm realm, not the Hell that became the cradle for the birth of the Chaos Gods. Perhaps it was the fact that the Nexus and the gate on Ilroh'ynn were the only two active Webway gates currently, but, that added another question to be asked:Was the Webway truly there? or had they been lucky to utilize the ebbing currents of the Realm of Souls to travel so far and the 'Webway' was nothing here but a dream...?
She paused, watching a flicker in the flux inside the Nexus as it danced. A small black spot in the shining sea of light, an empty area perhaps, or... Isha and Khaine only knew. The device's dark flicker grew in size, almost encompassing the entire entrance to the Webway for a moment, as if something moved to exit it. The Bonesingers, the Spiritseer, the Farseer and their escorts readied their weapons, pointing them toward the darkness and powering them on. They felt, nor heard nothing from their comrades or the Craftworld about sending someone else through...
But the Farseer stopped as she saw what appeared. With a golden mane of thick fur, its side coated in dripping blood and covered by a nasty gash, a small feline creature hobbled toward the Eldar, staring with two wide, blue eyes at them as if shocked by what it was seeing. Faen lowered her spear, awed by the sight before her, before she watched the tiny one fall onto its side, weak.
With a gasp, the Farseer approached the little one, kneeling beside it and petting the top of its furry head. Its ears parted, allowing the woman to pet the small creature, to ease its pain. She looked back to the Spiritseer and ordered "Travel through to the Craftworld! Tell them of this... And tell them to be careful when travelling. I will not send it back through!" before she picked up the creature and said, "I shall go to the humans... perhaps they can..."
"Farseer..." The Spiritseer looked to her. She looked back with the eyes of a scared, angry mother at him. With a nod, he said "Tell them what it is... I feel like they all should know."
"Yes..." The woman said, before mounting one of the few jet-bikes set atop the mountain for fast travel. She set the creature on her lap, ensuring it couldn't move while blood seeped out of its hip. She pet it, feeling its ragged breathing and hearing its quiet meows, as if they were pleas for help. She spoke to it calmly, "Stay awake, little one... I hope our new allies can... Help..." and she looked up as they approached a human checkpoint. The bike halted with a harsh roar, stopping just short of the checkpoint gate. She turned to one of the guards, then said "I need to see one of your healers... Preferably someone specialized in animals."
The soldier looked down at the creature in the Farseer's lap. Raising a brow, he looked to the man operating the gate and gave one hand signal, before turning to her and saying "Take the road straight for one mile, then turn first to the left. Stop at the third building on the Block... I'm not sure if we can help your... Space cat... But the local veterinarian can at least try, since her Clinic went mostly undamaged by the Covvie attack... Guess even they dislike shooting at pets."
She nodded, "My thanks." before speeding ahead, past the open gate, just as she was guided by the human. She slowed down to take the left turn as she hit the 2 mile mark, then stopped suddenly. She saw the building, bearing a slightly charred paw-mark as its sign. She got off the vehicle, holding close the creature, and rushed inside. The woman at the counter sat there for a moment, wide-eyed, before the Farseer started "Where is your doctor?"
".. Oh... Oh, right! One moment!" The girl snapped out of it, leaning forward and speaking into a microphone "Doctor Rose! We got a new patient coming in. Her... Are you her owner?"
"Uhm..." The Farseer looked down at the animal as it stared up at her. In a flash, the Farseer felt the memories, the sadness and the pain of the cub she held in her hands. It almost overwhelmed her, but she steeled herself, holding close the wounded pet as she felt a slight pain in her side. She nodded, "Yes, yes I am..."
"Alright... Her owner needs help immediately" She nodded, then watched the doctor step out from the back. An older, grizzled woman with greying gradient red hair and silver eyes filled with kindness. The woman noticed the gash on her new patient's side, then gasped.
"She'll be in good hands." The silver-eyed woman assured her as she approached, "Wound doesn't look too deep."
"Thank you... How did you-"
"Know the gender of your pet?" She smiled, "Well... She looks alien, but she still has the anatomy of a female cat." and she took the creature out of the Farseer's hands. She motioned to a chair in the waiting room, then said "Hang tight. I'll bring her out once I've assessed the damage and sown her wound." before stepping off toward the back of the house. The Farseer sat herself down, rubbing her eyes as her mind worked through the faded memories of her little pet. The poor creature was in pain... It was as if it-no, she had been hunted. She was afraid.
She had a name. Andúnë. Andúnë had been hunted, indeed, but by what...?
"So..." The girl at the counter spoke, taking her out of the trance. She looked at her, then at herself, to see the stain of blood on her robe. Sighing, she nodded to the girl to continue. And the question she asked was surprising, "Why'd'you folks look like us and... Are you all okay after what just happened?"
Faen sighed, leaning forward, before saying "For the first, I do not know... For the second, we are fine, just... A bit shaken."
"I see... Uh..." The girl rubbed her arm, "Thanks. You... Kinda saved a lot of us."
"'tis what we should do, both for you and for ourselves." The Farseer turned cryptic for a moment in her own tiredness. She sighed, then looked down at the floor, unwilling to continue the conversation. The girl seemed to have taken that well, smiling and turning back to her work. The Eldar hummed to herself, then said "It's a Gyrinx..." getting a raised brow from the girl. Faen, still avoiding eye contact, said "The feline... She is a Gyrinx. Her name is Andúnë."
"I've never heard of that species before." The assistant admitted.
"Unsurprising... They are generally found next to..." She paused , raising her head as she murmured to herself with pure shock on her face, "Aeldari... The Webway..."
The realization struck her like the thunder-hammer of one of those Mon'Keigh Space Marines. The Webway did exist. Her worry over Andúnë overwrote her desire to find out what in Isha's name had transported her here. The Webway here existed. And, if her freshly-born theories were correct, they had just reactivated several of the Webway gates built around this Galaxy, but... How?
She sat there, pondering the idea. She'd take this up with the High Council, maybe convince them to mobilize the entire fleet on a search operation through the Webway later. Right now, though, she awaited patiently for Andúnë to return from her operation. An hour and a half worth of waiting gave her plenty of time to think, both on the theories, to narrow them down to but two and to think of what she would tell the Council.
A happy meow resonated in her mind. She looked at the door as the creature emerged, with the Doctor bearing a single scratch on her hand and a smile on her face. She spoke calmly, "Your little pet is quite a ruffian. She scratched my arm when I tried to put a leash on her, but she's a fighter... She should heal now, if she isn't already. Do be careful what you feed her."
"Apologies, but Gyrinx are not too keen on being leashed." The Farseer stood up, "What do I owe you?"
"Oh, it's on the house." The jovial woman said, "For those who saved our lives."
With a thanks, the Farseer motioned to the space kitten to join her side. It graciously moved forward, purring as the fur on its side, as well as its wounds, began to heal. The Farseer felt a minor psychic connection with the beast, realizing that they had bonded when they looked into one-another's eyes. She knelt by its side and pet it, before the two thanked doctor Rose again with a simple nod each and walked away. The doc wanted to comment on a cat of all things nodding at her, but elected not to. Instead, she sat there, fascinated as she saw the little creature quickly healing its wound now that it had been patched up and stabilized.
The Farseer walked to the jetbike, mounting it again and helping Andúnë up. She looked at her, tilted her head and a single thought coursed through to the Farseer. Happy. It was one word, but she felt the feline's feelings as her own, as the bond began to grow. The Farseer smiled at her pet, scratched her behind the ears, then started driving back to the Aeldari's base of operations.
As they rode back up to the mountain, the Farseer caught a glimpse of two sets of fresh tracks. She hummed, veering ever so slightly as they reached higher and higher. Upon reaching the topside again, the woman stopped her bike and looked to see humans had come up. They were wearing different uniforms to the Marines', these ones grey and black, with a pyramid symbol on their left shoulder.
She hummed, showing Andúnë to follow and readying her spear. The two marched forward, watching as the Spiritseer exchanged words with the men. She cleared her throat, garnering their attention to her and her Gyrinx as they approached and the leading man, a grey-haired fellow, seemed interested. He turned to her, then said "Ah, Farseer! A pleasure seeing you again."
"Colonel Ackerson..." The woman seemed less-than-pleased in the way she voiced his name, "I wish I could say it was mutual... Have your men come to interrogate mine yet again?"
Ackerson wrinkled his nose at the woman's reaction. He sighed, then simply said more diplomatically "We've only come to talk, like last time. I had heard that your people gained approval to utilize New Alamos Mountain for your own Forward Operations Base here, on the planet and I came to see for myself."
The man was a disgusting enigma to unravel to the Farseer. His mind was as closed as it was small, with his only focuses seemingly being the goal of outdoing his opponents, no matter if they were political or otherwise. He was cunning, but as shortsighted as any human. Had they been enemies, the Farseer would've gladly ended this man, but alas, they were allies. He would do a favor to the UNSC in ending him, but they more than likely wouldn't see it as such.
She simply said "Leave... IF your scientists wish to learn of our mode of transportation, we will teach you, but currently? We've our own matters to attend to."
"I see. Perhaps we can-"
"No." She cut him off. "Leave. Now."
Her Gyrinx hissed, bearing long, sharp fangs at the man. With a scoff, he led his team out of the place and toward the two black warthogs, departing moments later. She sighed, arranging her robes and looking to the Spiritseer. She approached, then said "I may need to exchange or clean these robes... Andúnë bled on them a bit as we travelled..."
"I see." The Spiritseer smiled faintly behind the mask of black. The man knelt in front of the Gyrinx and pet it, garnering a purr of contentment from the creature, before he stood up and said "She seems to heal well... And she has bonded with you, Faenbrynn."
"Yes, well..." The woman smiled, looking down at her baby Gyrinx, "Saving her life probably inquired the bond... I am happy to see her kind here, even if it raises a thousand more questions than answers in regards to the Webway here... Speaking of..." She turned to the Spiritseer and asked, "Have you had any talk with the Council? The Webway here is active. It exists and it has just spawned a creature here."
"The Council is as dumbfound as you and me, Farseer." The Spiritseer admitted as they walked toward the Nexus, "A cursory psychic scan of the Webway here proves it to be much like the one in our home Galaxy, yet... I do not know how. With the Realm of Souls here being so calm, I cannot believe that the War In Heaven occurred. If it did, its effects were far less damaging than our own ancestors' war."
"Concerning..." Faen murmured, "Very concerning... But, at the very least, we can utilize our ships' own travel systems instead of relying on the humans'. The Craftworld and her escorts can open a path for us to the next theater of warfare, if the humans provide coordinates we can translate. Until then, I want our people to continue to study the Webway here... Send exploration teams through, ensure that wherever they go is safe and monitored. And keep an eye out for our own..."
"We have over 200 ships in the fleet, Farseer... Should we, perhaps, leave some here if we are to go?" The Spiritseer raised a brow, "I doubt the Covenant would halt their attacks just because we have pushed them back once... This world may very well be the target of a retaliatory strike soon, from that same fleet we have defeated." and she looked up at their own fleets, now moving into high orbit.
The Farseer sat there, thoughtful for a moment, then nodded "You are correct... We need to destroy that fleet as soon as possible, to send a clear message."
"Will you establish contact with the Human admiralty about this?" The Spiritseer asked.
She nodded, "I will. Through the Sergeant, if possible. If not, I shall see."
The Gyrinx meoewd and for a moment, the Farseer could swear she had spoken to them. She looked to her, the leaned in and pet her, before the two bid a good day to the Spiritseer and his escorts. Returning to town via Jetbike, the Eldar and her space cat arrived at the UNSC Forward Operations Base yet again, only to see that craft were being cycled from orbit down to the base and back again, with Marines and crew waiting on the landing pads.
She caught a glimpse of the Sergeant, his squad and another platoon of Marines exiting the base, led by a woman with black hair. The Farseer and Gyrinx approached the Sergeants, with Reaver stopping and smiling at her, while the one to his immediate left stared with curiosity and disbelief. The Sergeant chuckled, noticing the cat to Faen's side, then asked "Since when do you roll around with pets?"
"It is a long story, Sergeant." The woman offered, "I presume you are being mobilized?"
"Yeah. Covvie fleet's on the run, but that don't mean we're out of a job just yet." The woman, another Sergeant, noted. She waved, then said "Hi there. I'm Sergeant Lopez and you must be that Farseer that Mike's been tellin' me about."
"That, I am." She nodded, "Hello to you as well, sergeant Lopez."
"Huh." Lopez looked to Michael and quipped, "Thought you said her and her people are also a bit xenophobic."
"Oh, they are. She's the one with the least offenses in that regard." Reaver smirked, then he looked to the confused Farseer and asked "What's up? You stopping us for a reason?"
"I wish to talk to your Admiral. One of my people suggested that we send a message to the Covenant." The Farseer noted. Lopez grinned.
"I already like whoever said that, Farseer. How?" She quipped.
"We strike the fleet that is currently retreating from this star system." She responded, "Destroy it before it has a chance to escape the gravity well of the star, leaving just the wreckage as a warning for any further assaults on this colony."
Lopez looked, surprised, at the 'Seer, then murmured "Damn, Mike. You didn't mention the 'Seer and her people are this hardcore."
Mike laughed, "I didn't know either, though I should've figured the moment I saw them going up against the bastards in melee. C'mon with us, Faen. We'll get ya to the Admiral so you can pitch the idea. I'm sure he'll fuckin' love it. You have a talk with your leadership about this first too?" and, with a nod, the Farseer and her cat followed the Marines to the transport ships.
The two Marine platoons split between the vehicles, with the Farseer going aboard Reaver's bird. She had sat herself down, with her cat now sitting in her lap. The creature had a minor wound, the Sergeant noticed, on its side, but it was healing incredibly fast. He leaned in toward the creature, extending a hand. It looked up, tilted its head and sniffed the hand, before leaning into it.
Out of Weiss's mouth, the strangest sound you'd hear from a Marine escaped. "D'awwww! She likes you, Sarge!" and it got a few laughs out of the Marines around her.
He continued to scratch behind the space cat's ears with a smile on his face, while Faen looked at them, curious. The creature's psychic imprint gave off a feeling of joy. Faen leaned back into her seat, staring out the back window as the vehicle took off and moved at an angle, up into and past the lower atmosphere. She felt the gravity of the planet below fading as the Capital turned into naught but a lightshow below.
Within almost thirty minutes, the craft was in high orbit above the planet, its thrusters arching to get the ship into trajectory flight for the UNSC's battle group. Small-craft flew by them, both Eldar and human, as the Farseer leaned forward. Staring out of the front of the cockpit, she caught a glimpse of the UNSC Starfleet present. One hundred ships of varying sizes hanged in geosynchronous orbit, facing toward the Eldar fleet of two hundred. No weapons, nor shields were charged, despite the tension the Farseer suddenly felt.
The black UNSC ships resembled their firearms in shape. One would not be wrong to think of them as just massive guns, since the spinal mount of the ships had the humans' best space combat-available weapon, the MAC. A magnetic accelerator cannon that fired massive, high-caliber ferrous slugs into their targets, with the barrels protruding clearly out the front. In the midst of the massive fleet, she caught a glimpse of the centerpiece. The heavily armored, angular warship sat in the center bristled with missile tubes, guns and hangars, as well as heavier armor than most of its counterparts. It was also escorted by 4 smaller vessels resembling its design.
"UNSC Peak Conditions, this is Pelican Charlie-Romeo Five-Zero-One, requesting permission to land, Ident Code Romeo dash Foxtrot dash Two-Five-Niner, we're carrying the new Marine platoon assigned to your contingent, plus times one Eldar representative, here to see the Admiral." The pilot noted. He probably saw her board with the Marines. A short bout of communication that the Farseer couldn't make out later, the aircraft banked and the Pilot responded, "Copy that, thanks. Five-Zero-One, out."
Flying in close enough to see the weapon systems tracking an Eldar ship every so often, the craft entered one of the large hangars in the side of the ship, touching down on the hard metal landing pad closest to the exit. The rear hatch opened and the Marines stood to their feet, marching forward and escorting Faen and her space cat down the ramp. The hangar was highly active, with Marine unites arriving and going via transport craft. Each man and woman of the UNSC Navy went about their business calmly and professionally, rearming, refueling and preparing.
Entering the hold through a bulkhead door, under heavy Marine escort, a man clad in an admiral's uniform approached the team. He stopped just short of the Marines who now formed a line and greeted their superior with a salute and postures straighter than ramrods. The man saluted back, then showed them to stand at ease and made eye contact with the Sergeant. Calmly, the old man spoke "Sergeant Reaver, Lima-9. Welcome aboard."
"Sir." He nodded, "Glad to be here."
"Good to hear, Sergeant. Report to the Barracks on deck seventeen, you'll meet your new El-Tee there. And..." He looked over to the Farseer, "You, miss. Please, follow me over to the bridge."
She complied, only turning to give a thankful nod to the Sergeant before they went on different paths on the ship. The walk to the bridge gave the woman time to see and understand the interior design of the UNSC ships. Panels of titanium lined the walls, stripped off to reveal the bare wiring inside only where engineering crews worked. Bulkhead doors separated the main compartments of the ship and each room served a purpose, be it minor or major, to the UNSC's overall work aboard. Past that, she could see strange support struts taking honeycomb shapes across the outer layer of the hull, only disappearing as they went deeper inside.
She felt Andúnë's slight discomfort at being inside the UNSC ship, but eased once the two began to feel the calm among the UNSC troops, their thoughts drifting to their work. A few steps later and the group arrived on the bridge, where multiple crew operated consoles ranging from telemetry down to weapons and engine cooling. In the middle, there was a holo-table sat in a pit of sorts, showing both fleets belonging to their respective factions.
Approaching the front of the bridge, where windows coalesced and formed an observation port with two gunner seats at the front, the woman found herself facing a communications console and a holographic pedestal on which a single, small figure resided, clad in white robes and made of shimmering light. The Admiral turned to face the woman, as did the dozen-plus officials on the screen.
And the old man offered her a kind, thankful smile as he extended his hand. He spoke calmly, "Farseer, I am Admiral Harold Reyes, of the UNSC Navy. Welcome aboard the UNSC Peak Conditions, command ship of this Battlegroup. When the captains of the defense fleet above Miridem reported your presence so many days ago, we thought they were losing their minds."
"We're happy to know they weren't." A woman on the screen, old and tired-looking, spoke.
"I presume you would be some of the UNSC's high command?" She asked. All seven members present nodded, six on the screen and admiral Reyes here. She bowed, then said "A pleasure to meet you. I am Farseer Faenbrynn of the Craftworld Ilroh'ynn, whose fleet currently stands before your battle group, Admiral Reyes. I have come to discuss with your people a matter of importance... Regarding this Colony and perhaps others."
"We are all ears, Farseer." A man with the physique of a bear spoke. He had the rank pins of a Vice Admiral on his collar.
"... The Covenant Fleet that attacked Miridem." She started, looking between the Admirals, "We shall send a message by eliminating it... For attacking my people and for trying to destroy yours. I only ask that you lend part of your Battlegroup and allow 15 Ilroh'ynn Warships, which will be left in defense of this Colony afterward, to assist you. Our admiral, Benelim, should be willing to end their little fleet... I shall speak to the Council if I get your agreement on the matter."
The Admiralty exchanged some looks that the Farseer couldn't get, but Reyes responded "Give us some time to talk, Farseer... Until then, if you wish to visit the ship, I will assign an escort to you."
Faen hummed, then nodded approvingly. They could let the fleet get away, but this was a matter of importance to her. The Covenant had shot first.
The Eldar do not forget aggression. And they do not forgive it.