Tales of the Amber Vipers 132
*Bork'an Sept*
The city of Vis'un was a shining beacon of the civilisation. Graceful domes swelled under the stars, their sweeping curves almost organic in texture. Spires punctured the sky, streaming reams of information to orbit and back. Parks and reservations were set aside to preserve the biodiversity of the planet and the roads were wide and well-designed, built from inception to manage the city's growth for thousands of Tau'cry to come. And there were universities, so many universities.
The planet of Bork'an was famed for its multitudes of academic centres and places of learning. The Earth Caste had established great domes where cutting-edge research was carried and many great strides had been made on this world. Developments in A.I. technology, physics, chemistry and mathematics, indeed many weapons used on the front-lines of the Empire's expansion had been designed here. Famed for its rational and calm demeanour Bork'an was counted among the most peaceful and prosperous septs, but it was far from defenceless.
Across the planet Fire Caste Communes dwelled, where armies were born and trained. Vast numbers of war machines oft ranged over remote areas of the planet, practising mock wars. Extensive training academies taught young Tau the ways of war, the fluid and adaptive tactics of their race and chastised those who became rigid and inflexible in their nascent strategies. Ion cannons lurked under shimmering shields, pointing to the stars above, many of which were themselves defence orbitals and shipyards for the Air Caste's Kor'vattra.
Bork'an had good reason to be watchful. The Sept had been attacked many times, by Orks, by Tyranids and by the Imperium. Bork'an's value to the Tau was how it drove the advancement of their technology and many hostile powers would squash that shining beacon of progress, preferring ignorance and stagnation. So vast armies of Fire Warriors stood ever ready, prepared to fight at a moment's notice. Yet not all of them were on guard all the time.
Walking through the outer districts of Vis'un Alohvar was looking to enjoy himself. He and his companions were on leave, awaiting the summons from their superiors. Given time to relax, he and his bodyguards had elected to explore the city and sample its delights, as did many others. The heart of the city may be dominated by universities but the suburbs were rife with drinking and musical establishments. Here young scholars of the Earth Caste sought epic levels of intoxication, Water Caste merchants raised cups to successful deals and Air Caste pilots sipped nervously at their drinks, unaccustomed to natural gravity. Yet none of them were as boisterous as the Fire Caste: groups of fiery young hotheads filling the bars with exaggerated boasts of their heroic. The Fire Caste was aggressive by nature and that extended to their free time, those who faced death daily grasped life tighter than any other.
Teq'ila looked upon a bar and commented, "Everywhere's full."
Alohvar sighed, "We'll find somewhere, be patient."
They carried on down a wide street, passing many bars filled to the brim and Spiy'tus muttered, "Don't any of these people have labours to perform in the morning?"
Bruch'ich commented, "Desperate people seek relief anywhere they can."
Spiy'tus pressed, "What do you mean?"
"Look at these crowds," Bruch'ich elaborated, "Look at the way they drink and sing and dance like there is no tomorrow. It's because many of them think there is no tomorrow. Dark times are closing in, the shining destiny of the Tau seems further away than ever."
Alohvar knew it was true. The Tau race believed innately in their destiny to spread across the galaxy but recent times had cast a pall across that optimism. Brutal wars with the Imperium had only been the start of their problems. Tyranids crossing the borders, Orks massing in the heartlands, undying metal men stirring from their tombs. The Third Sphere Expansion had come to a crashing halt, the Fourth Sphere Expansion had met with a self-inflicted disaster and the Fifth Sphere Expansion was embattled beyond the wormhole of the Startide Nexus, as Alohvar was painfully aware. A supposedly effortless advance had turned into a gruelling meatgrinder and it seemed even at the heart of the Empire that doubt was starting to creep in.
"This is too maudlin," Teq'ila scoffed, "We came out to forget our woes. Let's try this street."
"That's an alien district," Spiy'tus protested.
"We're all equal in the Greater Good," Teq'ila snorted.
The foursome set off down the new street and Alohvar saw a team of Fire Warriors on civil security detail standing outside the alley, casting jealous gazes at their comrades getting drunk elsewhere. This street was built in the same manner as the rest of the city but the atmosphere was different. The air was wet with alien smells, faint odours of non-Tau perspiration mixing to create a spicy aroma. Strange foodstuffs bubbled in cauldrons and voices in frequencies they could not replicate echoed. Many races were on display, amphibious Glag squatting around an ultraviolet light that attracted flies for them to lap up with their long tongues and willowy Ji'atrix floating through the air on gossamer wings as they sang to each other. Squat Demiurg hunkered under their pot helms as they down kegs of fermented beverages and insectile Vespid chittered loudly as they inhaled hallucinogenic vapour from a steaming kettle. There was even a party of Tarellians, the reptilians sticking their fanged snouts into bowls of raw meats and lapping them up with relish. It was a heady mix of noises and smells and Alohvar found it overwhelming.
Teq'ila however didn't seem daunted as he pointed out, "There are some seats!" Indeed an open bar in the side of a building had a number of stools available and the Tau hurried over to claim them before they were taken by someone else. A Water Caste purveyor glanced at them and noted the elaborate rings of their top knots and without being asked poured four liquors into four cups and slid them over. Alohvar nodded in appreciation, knowing the Merchant desired to curry favour with a Shas'El but expected the next rounds to be paid for in full.
The four gripped their cups and grinned as they knocked them back in one. The alcohol was clear and potent, with a slight tang of citric fruit, just as the Tau liked it. The hops and barleys other races flavoured their drinks with were offensive to their tongues and Alohvar as a young Shas'ui had nearly choked on one while showing off. It had been like chewing wood. Yet this drink went down well and tickled his throat without burning making him sigh in contentment.
Alohvar tapped the bar for another round, spilling some coinage into a bowl to keep them coming, as he said, "It is good to take some time to reflect."
"It is better to be home," Spiy'tus commented, "Too long at the sharp end of battle dulls one's spirit."
"Do you not believe in advancing the Greater Good?" teased Teq'ila
Spiy'tus retorted, "I serve as my station, requires but one must have perspective. Look at this place, bustling with all forms of life, many races united in a common purpose. The Greater Good teaches that all must be celebrated and respected, that all species have a contribution to make. This is the picture of the Tau way and proof that different races can get along, a reminder that our common destiny is undeniable."
"We saw little enough of that in the Nem'yar Atoll," lamented Bruch'ich.
There it was, Alohvar grimaced, no matter how they tried to forget, the memory of that bitter conflict never left them. They had fought in the Fifth Sphere Expansion, claiming new worlds in the Nem'yar Atoll beyond the wormhole daubed 'Startide Nexus'. Many planets had been conquered but a terrible adversary had opposed them, a dissident faction of the Imperium known as D'eth Gurd. Or maybe they were mercenaries for hire or an independent pocket empire, nobody truly knew and the Water Caste were tying themselves in knots trying to determine the relationship of these breakaways to the more familiar Imperium.
Alohvar had seen many horrors in the Nem'yar Atoll, many impossible events and logic-baffling nightmares but the most shocking had been the survivors of the Fourth Sphere Expansion. Thousands of castaways clinging to the ruins of their ships, traumatised and disturbed by events they could not explain. That some calamity had overtaken them was obvious but their stories were contradictory and so embellished as to be insane. All that was certain was that few had survived and they had developed hostility and paranoia towards non-Tau. Among the relief forces whispers had spread that their predecessors had lost faith in the Greater Good. Experience had taught Alohvar a different truth however, after what he had seen those tales didn't sound nearly so far-fetched and paranoia seemed a more sane reaction than delusions of peace and goodwill between races.
Teq'ila was eyeing several bottles of stronger liquor behind the bar and said, "I don't think we are nearly drunk enough for this. Let us drown our sorrows properly."
Yet Spiy'tus muttered, "I think we want our wits about us, look at that."
Alohvar turned his head and spied a new group wandering into the street. Taller than Tau, with hairy heads and long features, hands with more fingers and sharp, predatory eyes. Humans, Gue'vesa, here on Bork'an. They wore the soft colours of the human enclaves established in Tau space and looked completely at ease among aliens, unlike their Imperial cousins, but their presence created a stir. Many eyes saw them enter and a sharp tension rang through the races present, all suddenly on edge.
"Gue'vesa," Teq'ila snapped, "They dare show their faces!"
Bruch'ich admonished, "They aren't Imperials, they were born in the Empire, as committed to our way as any other."
Yet Spiy'tus growled, "Irrelevant, don't forget how easily they turned on us in the Nem'yar Atoll. So many of them betrayed us and swore fealty to the D'eth Gurd. Even those who kept to their oaths fell victim to chemical bombs and weaponised-diseases, only to rise from their deathbeds and set upon the uninfected."
Alohvar conceded, "The Gue'vesa did seem more vulnerable to the wiles of the enemy than any other race. It is distressing how easily they are subverted by those shambling warriors."
"There is a madness within that race," Teq'ila hissed, "Latent in some but merely waiting to bloom. A mere whisper seemed enough to corrupt them, sending them on mad rampages against friend and foe alike."
Bruch'ich snapped, "We shouldn't be talking about this! The Ethereals ordered that these events are restricted. We don't want to spread panic."
Yet Teq'ila retorted, "Panic?! That is nothing, I remember Gren'thul Refugee Camp, where Gue'vesa floated above the ground without drones or jet packs. One second they were nothing but infected refugees, the next a hundred flew into the air and burst open and from the blood rose shambling things that had no business existing. Clutching rusted swords and laughing ceaselessly as their single yellow eye boiled in their horned skulls. I remember what it took to stop them and what it cost."
Alohvar's prosthetics throbbed in phantom pain at the memory and he barked in admonition, "The Ethereals have commanded us not to speak of these things. The last thing we want is a riot."
"I think it's too late already," Spiy'tus hissed.
Alohvar looked and saw the humans were being confronted by the Tarrellians. The reptilians loomed over the shorter mammals and their fangs were bared but foolishly the humans refused to back down. Both races spoke a pigeon-dialect, their mouth organs mangling subtle inflexions and dropping contextual clues, yet their anger was obvious. Alohvar groaned in sorrow, Tarrellians as a species had a long-standing grudge against the human race, their worlds being stolen before the Tau had first left their atmosphere. The Tarrellians were demanding the humans leave, but the mammals refused, citing they had every right to be here. The Tarrellians then accused the humans of being agents of the hated Imperium but the Gue'vesa denied any association with that body, claiming they served the Greater Good as any other.
"This is about to turn ugly," Bruch'ich muttered.
"We should do something," Spiy'tus urged.
But Alohvar found he didn't care for the fate of humans and sniffed, "It's none of our concern."
Bruch'ich blinked in shock as he spluttered, "But…"
"They can sort this out themselves," Alohvar retorted.
Suddenly the Tarrellian lashed out with a clawed hand, the human ducked the clumsy blow and from somewhere pulled a short knife, which he drove into a scaled flank. Abruptly the street exploded into violence, Tarrellians and humans flinging themselves at each other. Claws flashed, knives stabbed and fangs bit as green and red blood flowed. It wasn't only them but the other races too, suddenly caught up in the violence. Glag, Demiurg, Ji'atrix and Vespid all piling into the fray with wild abandon.
The four Tau were forced to duck under their stools as a thrown bottle smashed upon the bar and the merchant hurriedly pulled down a shutter over his establishment. Alohvar was stunned by the sudden outbreak of violence, the eruption of hatred surging out of nowhere. Moments ago these races had been residing in peace, now they blew up into storm of fury.
"What's overtaken them?!" he gasped.
"Humans!" Teq'ila spat, "I told you, wherever they go madness follows, infecting all others with their brutal hate."
"This is no time for philosophy," Bruch'ich snapped as a Demiurg rolled past with his hands locked around the throat of a Glag, "What do we do?!"
Alohvar knew he had to act and said, "We stand together and try to…"
Suddenly there was a high-pitched whine as a drone flew overhead, shrieking loudly. The tones were painful to the ear and many combatants fell down clutching their heads as the wail pierced eardrums. Hot on its heels came a team of Fire Warriors, charging into the fray with shock-batons and stun-guns in hand. They set upon the brawlers with stern discipline, beating resistors down and breaking skulls where necessary. Like a bucket of sand poured over a fire they suppressed the riot, the violence in the air dissipating as quickly as it had appeared.
In moments the riot was over and the street was filled with bleeding and groaning bodies. Alohvar stood up and dusted off his attire as he stepped over a moaning Tarrellian. The leader of the Fire Warriors, a Shas'Ui, spun about with shock-maul raised but pulled up short and gasped, "Honoured Shas'El!"
"Be at peace," Alohvar replied, "You have done well. I trust capture-vans are on their way?"
The Shas'Ui straightened as he replied, "Summoned already, these disgraceful louts will be spending the night in a cold cell."
"Keep the Gue'vesa isolated," Alohvar cautioned, "Trust them not."
"Why?" came the confused answer.
Alohvar found he had no way to explain his mistrust, not to one who hadn't seen what he had. This sheltered Shas'Ui had no idea how dangerous humans could be and would treat them as if they were any other race. Alohvar could not tell him what was occurring beyond the Empire, the horrors that walked abroad. All he could do was turn his back and walk away; leaving his kind to a fantasy of peace he could no longer share.