Chapter 22(OB)
"If this wheat is poisoned, we WILL come for you," one of the eldar corsairs warned Jen and Seth as the eldar stole their entire harvest of wheat.
"It's mixed with some yap-yap..." Seth admitted feebly.
The eldar snarled and savagely beat Seth up, but didn't kill him.
"You will then use this grain to grow fresh wheat for us, you will not eat it on pain of death. Poison any more grain again and you won't get a second chance," the eldar corsair warned with deadly threat.
"Yes lord," Seth whimpered feebly from where he lay beaten on the ground.
Jen knelt down next to Seth to aid him as the eldar arrogantly returned to their wave serpent. The eldar paused to let one of their number, a so called "bone singer", create some type of surveillance structure next to the house to let them know what the Renwick's were doing from now on, and then flew off to rob the next farm.
1D8V-44 was now enslaved to the eldar corsairs, the entire population reduced to slaves who grew food for the Eldar on pain of death. The planet was still technically part of the Imperium of Man, but until said Imperium mustered a military response, 1D8V-44 was in reality a vassal of the eldar.
The imperial merchant ships still came periodically to sell things, and to secretly buy bliss grass heroin and other drugs, but the eldar didn't raid these ships, as they used the Wsuioo shipping lane, and carried the poisonous crops of Wsuioo among their food cargoes. The merchant ships routinely deliberately secretly mixed the Wsuian grain in with the grain from other planets to kill any eldar pirates who stole and ate it.
Jen helped Seth to his feet, hindered very slightly by the growing weight of her pregnant belly.
The cold season was over at last, and Jen was amazed that she had even survived it. It had been horrible, horrible from the cold, and doubly horrible from the eldar corsairs of the Sunblitz Brotherhood. Jen had come so close to freezing to death so many times, but had somehow survived unscathed to see the end of winter and a return to the usual sweltering heat of the rest of the year.
1D8V-44 orbited it's local sun faster than Terra orbits Sol, and the years were slightly shorter than one Terran year. The seasons here were slightly shorter than the 3 month seasons on Terra too, for which Jen was profoundly grateful!
Jen's alarmingly large biceps helped Seth up to his feet, and she almost dropped him from the shock of noticing the bulging muscles under her borrowed white short sleeve tee shirt! Jen had been on 1D8V-44 for months now, and the brutally high gravity was starting to affect her formerly highly feminine physique!
She still wasn't as far gone as one of those gross female body builders, but she was certainly getting rather... Athletic, in physique! Jen didn't know how she could stop her transformation, every slight movement in this high gravity was like a weight training exercise! Just walking around at normal speed required a lot of muscle power here!
The hunger over the cold season had helped to slow the muscle growth down, but hadn't stopped it entirely. A diet of over 99 percent yap-yap, with trace amounts of other vegetables when she could get them, also wasn't ideal for muscle growth, yap-yap certainly did have protein, including every essential amino acid the body needed, but not in very great quantities. It was mostly just carbohydrates and dietary fibre.
Jen remembered her beaten up husband, and stopped fretting about her unfeminine physique. Seth was roughed up, but nothing was broken.
"I'm ok, just bruised. I will be fine," Seth reassured her bravely.
"Yes husband," Jen replied, programmed to not be a bother.
Seth limped over to circle around the strange new eldar surveillance structure, then he froze! A pair of shuriken catapults on the structure had folded down and were tracking Seth's movements!
Seth didn't move a muscle, and the guns just kept silently pointing at him. Nothing at all happened, the structure was still and silent as a statue. For a long time Seth did not move, and Jen wondered if the structure had stopped working. Seth then dared to edge slightly to one side, and the guns silently tracked his tiny movement!
"I think it's not going to shoot," Seth said eventually, and slowly backed away from the structure.
Seth walked further away from the structure than Jen was, and the guns instead pointed at Jen!
Jen panicked and ran away, but the guns did not harm her, merely tracking the movements of whoever was closer at a given moment.
***...
Jen flinched as Seth tried poking the structure with a fingertip, but it still didn't fire.
"It's safe," Seth told her.
"I know you savages find eldar technology amazing, but keep your filthy fingers off our listening post and start planting that wheat already!" An eldar voice said arrogantly from speakers in the structure!
Seth cried out in fright and ran away, as did Jen. They hid fearfully behind the house, terrified!
"Plant our crops for us or I will activate the weapons to target civilians!" The eldar voice threatened from the speakers.
Jen and Seth scrambled to obey, loading the quad bike trailer with all the wheat it could carry, and driving off to plant it.
30 minutes later Jen was still terrified as she helped Seth scatter the wheat all over a suitable patch of bare ground, they dared not go home until they had sown all of these wheat seeds! That structure with the guns was right out the front of their HOUSE!
Seth was currently driving off to reclaim manure from the yap-yap fields to fertilise the wheat, the wheat wouldn't grow without fertiliser. With all the new yap-yap fields, and old fields all still in use growing bliss grass, the Renwicks had no choice but to start completely new fields for all this extra grain that would usually be sold or eaten. The farm wasn't short of space, but most of the lifeless soil was barren without at least a tiny bit of manure.
Jen wasn't sure if they would even have enough manure for all of this extra wheat, those wheat plants sure were greedy for fertiliser! 1D8V-44 was not yet an agri world, and was just not yet equipped to grow the amounts of food the eldar seemed to expect the local farmers to grow for them!
Seth and Jen should be focusing on the bliss grass cash crop that actually paid their bills, but were instead wasting all this time and labor on something they wouldn't even profit from!
Jen felt dismayed as she flicked the seeds all over the muddy clay ground, this was costing them dearly! The eldar had caused so much hardship to everyone, people had DIED from the Eldar's greed!
And it wasn't like it was just about feeding the locals either. 1D8V-44 was required by law to send huge amounts of agricultural produce to Terra every year as the planet's annual tithe. They were also required to send over a hundred men a year to the Imperial Guard, usually young men born in the towns to the few women available, but with all the recent deaths, this would also place a terrible strain on the already low local labor force.
In a few months time a ship would arrive to collect the Emperor's due, and 1D8V-44 would somehow have to cough up over a hundred of the very best young men, as well as an impossible amount of food! Jen just prayed that the Emperor would accept yap-yap for his food tithe!
Jen felt really discouraged. WHERE was the Imperium military?! WHO was going to rescue them! It had been months now! MONTHS of being robbed and threatened by these xenos filth! Where was their salvation?
***...
Jen and Seth were exhausted by the time they dared to return home. It had taken working all night long without sleep, with nothing but yap-yap to eat, just to get the entire stock of wheat sown and fertilised!
The eldar structure tracked their movements as they returned, but didn't even thank them for all their hard work.
Jen and Seth didn't even eat, but just flopped down in bed and went straight to sleep. Jen passed out the moment she lay down.
Jen was still not fully rested when Seth urgently shook her awake. The radio was at full volume and a horribly familiar type of Wsuian accent was speaking over the radio, the distinctive voice of a Wsuian S99 line officer pedigree model male! The mere sound of the accent triggered powerful fear in Jen's memories!
The S99 officer was making some sort of speech over the radio, and Jen forced herself to listen.
"Imperial citizens of 1D8V-44 rejoice. For those who are just tuning in, I am Imperial Guard Colonel A1A-9A6-AA0-2A1-A34-89A-AA7-A5A-AAA-S99 of the 302nd Wsuian Light Infantry Regiment. You may call me Colonel A1A for short if you wish." The Wsuian S99 voice was saying.
"At my command are 50 thousand fine Wsuian soldiers. We have already retaken the space port and surrounding towns, and the Departmento Munitorum has ordered that we retake this entire planet from the xenos filth!"
The S99 then got into a rousing propaganda heavy speech designed to stir the population up into a xenophobic frenzy, speaking with fiery zeal that was carefully designed to sway the listeners to bend over backwards to help the Wsuian forces.
"We're saved!" Seth exclaimed with almost worship in his voice.
"Husband, an S99 is now loose on this planet..." Jen said quietly, going pale with dread.
"He will set us free," Seth insisted.
"Husband, it is not in the nature of an S99 officer to set anyone free. We will be merely free from the eldar, not free. The sooner the Imperium sends these Wsuians elsewhere, the better it will be for us. Hopefully they will bring swift victory and then leave," Jen said numb with horror.
"You make it sound like they are worse than the eldar," Seth said in confusion.
"They ARE worse than the eldar, so HORRIBLY worse!" Jen lamented, and started to cry.
So SO much WORSE!
***...
The sounds of explosions and gunfire could be heard off in the distance a week later as Jen cowered in bed with Seth. The RAT-TAT-TAT of auto-cannon fire, the CRACK of grenades, and the SNAP-SNAP-SNAP of lasguns could all be heard from a battle that got closer all the time.
Jen trembled as yet more eldar aircraft flew overhead. The eldar were bombing and strafing the Imperial ground forces.
The eldar clearly had air superiority, but the 302nd Wsuian Light Infantry Regiment were implacable. The Wsuians were simply trying to shoot the aircraft out of the air with auto-cannons mounted on standard portable Wsuian Sabre Pattern Gun Emplacements Jen guessed by the sounds she was hearing. That was the standard Wsuian combat doctrine for Light Infantry faced with enemy air superiority.
It had been days now, and according to the radio gossip, the 302nd Wsuian Light Infantry Regiment Guardsmen were trying to hack access to the eldar structures with the Wsuian combat engineers, to either commandeer them or at least to gain military intelligence about the eldar.
The eldar didn't seem to approve of this, and were now fighting to destroy their own structures, forcing the eldar into pitched battles to prevent the Wsuian combat engineers from achieving partial interface. After over 30 years of work trying to genetically engineer breeds of domesticated eldar and isolate the eldar genes responsible for interfacing with eldar technology, Wsuioo was starting to breed genetically altered human combat engineers capable of limited interface with Eldar technology. If the eldar didn't swiftly destroy their own bizarre structures under human occupation, then these combat engineers WOULD eventually gain control of them.
Colonel A1A might have orders to fight for Imperium interests, but every fibre of his genome would be compelling him to pursue Wsuioo's interests at every possible opportunity without directly breaking Departmento Munitorum orders. He was CERTAINLY not here for the well being of 1D8V-44!
S99 officers were EXTREMELY dangerous to civilians, where they went, slavery soon followed. Assuming that Colonel was merely a baseline model of S99, then he would have an IQ of no less than 200, be an extremely high functioning sociopath without a conscience, be so charismatic that he could talk masses of people into stuff that was not in their best interests, and be utterly loyal to Wsuioo alone.
Given enough time, Colonel A1A would gradually transform 1D8V-44 into a satellite vassal realm of Wsuioo, a place that funnelled money and resources directly into the treasury of Wsuioo, with a psychotic disregard for what effect this might have on the local population! The eldar only stole their food, Colonel A1A would steal EVERYTHING!
At the moment at least, the Wsuian's were currently far more interested in trying to commandeer the priceless eldar technology. Wsuioo was all about making money for itself, and the eldar structures were currently the most profitable things to steal on the planet. Once these priority targets were gone, the Wsuian Colonel would turn his attentions onto the local civilians!
Seth then broke her rising panic with a suggestion that turned her panic into full fledged terror, "do you think that we should put some distance between us and that eldar listening post in front of the house?"
"The house! It will be blown up! What are we going to do!" Jen lamented.
"Shit... We can't stay here. Gather up everything we can, all the stuff we can't replace, and load it in the nearest shed! FUCK!" Seth exclaimed in alarm.
Jen scrambled to obey, they should have thought of it sooner!
***...
Jen was absolutely exhausted as she and Seth unloaded yet more of their belongings from the quad bike trailer to the floor of the shed by the river. It was mid morning the next day and they were still emptying out the house of all they could.
The infant oxygen tent had been the first thing they saved, followed by the radio equipment, quad bike recharging unit, heroin lab, hydrolysis room equipment, and everything else that they absolutely must not lose. They had worked down a list of descending priority items, and were now unloading tables and chairs and similar nonessential stuff.
The fighting was getting closer now, had been all night, and it had been a race against time to save all the stuff that couldn't be quickly replaced. Now at last they had only nonessentials left in the house.
Jen finished unloading and moved to get in the quad bike trailer, but Seth stopped her with a hand on her arm.
"No Jen, we can live without the rest. Let's not risk going near the house again, not until after..." Seth said sadly.
Jen nodded grimly.
Seth started loading air bottles into the quad bike trailer, and Jen looked at him with numb curiosity.
"We need to take shelter in the canyon, there might be shrapnel," Seth explained.
Jen nodded and helped him load. They made several trips to the canyon, making a big pile of bottles and supplies down on the lip of rock Seth used for mooring boats. The 8 foot tall canyon walls would be ample protection against any shrapnel from the bombs that were surely coming...
Jen and Seth cuddled together in terrible sadness as the sounds of the fighting got steadily closer.
"Whatever happens, we will rebuild. We can always build a new house. We have the rest of our lives to rebuild," Seth quietly reassured her.
"Yes husband," Jen said with maybe a hint of hope.
There was little else to be said. They were in the horrible situation of having to wait for their house to be blown up, what can you really say in that situation?
The stream trickled merrily beside them, it's cheerful sound almost obscene in this time of terrible sadness. The water was the lowest Jen had ever seen it, the farm needed some rain soon...
The canyon they were in seemed to be made of sedimentary rock, sandstone or something similar. The water had carved it out over long years, the way that water did over geological timescales. It was a boring detail, but it helped take some of her mind off the current situation.
It was such a tiny little stream, not even 10 meters wide. It was currently only a few inches deep, ridiculous for boat travel. Even Seth's tiny little boat would struggle with water this shallow, it was laughable to expect cargo boats to get here when it was this shallow.
The lip of rock they were sitting on was clearly a natural feature, currently a good two foot above the current waterline, but just as clearly below the waterline when the stream got higher during the infamous wet season. Water marks on the rock of the canyon suggested that the water could get up to about 4 feet deep at the highest point, submerging the lip of rock in over a foot of water.
The sounds of battle got closer, and Jen fearfully focused on the merry stream.
"Do you think the Imperial Guard will win?" Seth asked, listening to the growing din of gunfire.
"I hope so, it sounds like they are winning I think. I think that they will win the battles this close to the space port, close to their base of operations and supplies. Further afield it might be much more difficult." Jen opined.
"I guess you have a point there, they sure are burning through a lot of ammunition by the sounds of it! Hear that really deep bang bang bang, that's auto-cannon fire. That ammo weighs heaps to carry, I'm amazed they haven't already run out!" Seth exclaimed.
"They will be commandeering local boats and vehicles to maintain their supply lines. The locals around the space port will already be indentured as unpaid workers in the industrial area to produce more ammunition for free. The longer this goes on, the more people will be conscripted to do unpaid work making ammo and supplies," Jen explained.
"I guess that's fair, there is a war on after all." Seth allowed.
"It always does sound fair, S99's have a particular skill at making things sound fair and reasonable. The other planets Wsuioo fought on all thought so too, even when they were put in chain gangs it sounded reasonable, it's what S99 officers are bred to do." Jen warned.
"But they are saving us," Seth protested.
"He will keep us safe, just as Wsuioo keeps it's slaves safe. He will make 1D8V-44 strong, just as Wsuioo is strong. Safety, security, strength, but as slaves. Remember who these people are," Jen warned.
"But you and Z8C are Wsuian, and you are not bad people. Maybe this colonel will be ok too?" Seth suggested.
"The only reason I am even able to warn you is because I am a 679 line who is imprinted on her husband. Z8C is an S41 line, his submission genes make him as utterly obedient to an S99 line officer as I am obedient to you. Z8C will even break the law if commanded to by an S99!" Jen explained.
"The 679 line is the ONLY line capable of disobedience to an S99 line. My highest loyalty is to my imprinted husband. No matter how evil an S99 is, he will be obeyed without question. They are the ruling caste of Wsuian society. The current governor of Wsuioo is an S99, everyone in a position of leadership is an S99, they are the ones who make Wsuioo the place that it is!" Jen squeaked fearfully.
"Fuck... But maybe this Colonel A1A will be one of the good men? Surely SOME are decent people?" Seth reasoned fearfully.
"If he is, then he is the first I have ever heard of. These men are bred to not have a conscience, they don't know good from evil, except how to use such concepts to control other people. We must pray with all our might that the Wsuian soldiers are called away to fight on another planet as quickly as possible. They must NOT stay!" Jen exclaimed.
"Well, should we warn people?" Seth asked.
"We will instantly be shot if we do," Jen said sadly.
"What do we do?" Seth asked fearfully.
"Get the locals to buy 679 line wives, as many people as possible, the wives will warn the husbands themselves. The S99 is programmed to approve of thousands of people buying slaves from Wsuioo, he will have no choice but to do everything to not hinder commerce to Wsuioo. If the entire population then just refuses to believe the honeyed words because of wives saying "that's bullshit" every time the S99 tries something, then the S99 will not be able to enslave us. The commissars will summarily execute the Colonel on the spot if he openly tries to conquer us by force instead of honeyed words," Jen insisted.
"Jen, you are a GENIUS!" Seth exclaimed.
Jen smiled at the praise.
They were then interrupted from their celebration by the sounds of eldar aircraft dropping rocket propelled bombs...
Jen and Seth huddled fearfully against the canyon wall as terrible explosions came from the direction of their house. Shrapnel flew over the canyon, and some of it hit against the opposite side of the canyon and fell down into the stream with small splashes, hissing from the heat of the fragments.
Jen just about wet herself when a badly mangled partially molten chunk of the listening post landed in the stream in front of her with a sudden splash!
It was probably safe to leave the canyon now, at least safe from bombs, but Jen and Seth weren't in any hurry to leave the safety of the canyon. The sounds of fighting was still getting closer, and a small canyon was probably the safest place they could be right now.
The sounds of war were all around them, and these civilians could only cower in terror, and wait to return to what remained of their house.