Authors Note: Sorry about delay and also thanks for all the reviews guys, really helping me along!
The Mechanicus column loomed above everything around it, the tens of thousands of mechanical warriors marching in perfect formation.
Dwarfing all everything in the Imperial column were the huge Ordinatus machines, constantly swarming with Tech-Priests muttering prayers to the Omnissah. As the first of 3rd Liberation Army under Lord-General Macin, General Nacin's brother, had left its encampment at Khergit they had come under immediate attack. As if General Nacin's costly victory in the East had been a signal, the Tau forces had counterattacked all over the planet.
The 1rst and 2nd Armies had to give ground beneath the well coordinated attack, trying to stop the Tau wherever they could.
The only army having no trouble with O'Ro's attack had been the 3rd, its massive force of Adeptus Mechanicus breaking all attempts at stopping it. As the Tau and their allies would emerge from hidden positions, or ambush points they would unleash a deadly salvo of fire into the front of the Imperials meaning the Mechanicus.
Dozens of Tech-Guard were mowed down by the first volley of pulse fire. As the super heated particles struck augmented flesh, spurts of oil, lubricants and watery blood would erupt, swiftly followed by the sound of whining gears as the semi-mechanical soldiers retaliated.
In asnwer to the Tau ambushes, las, missile, plasma and cannon fire stormed trough the air, guided by advanced sensors and targeting sensors. Tau bodies exploded in clouds of gore or were turned into puddles of molten flesh by plasma and energized weaponry.
The ranks of the Tech-Guard, still being butchered by the Tau, formed ranks and marched in perfect formation through the fire.
They destroyed the Tau's hostile advances with overwhelming firepower that would have made any commander proud. Sa'cea Firewarriors ducked into cover before that cover and them was obliterated by the amount of fire coming from the Mechanicus troops.
Each attack was soon turned into a rout by the super efficient and limitless forces of the Machine-God. And as the Tau would retreat back towards whatever camps they had great cleanup machines would arrive onto the battlefield.
Scooping up the shattered and bullet ridden corpses of the Tech-Guard the machines would transport them back towards the giant Ordinatus machines, which housed reprocessing facilities to turn the dead flesh into nutrient paste and destroyed machinery into new weaponry.
Every advance the Tau made to try and push back the Imperial's was met with the same results, hundreds of Tech-Guard and Battle Servitors destroyed while the Tau had only lost a few dozen. Even with these rates of casualties it was obvious who would run out of troops first in the meat grinder of war.
Shas'el Yr'Nan looked upon his defeated forces, his face masked beneath is Crisis Suit.
They had just returned from yet another defeat from the Aloh Gue'la, as his men now called the foe. They had marched through his counter attack and ambushes with almost no effort, their massive guns laying low even the mountains that surrounded them.
For every ten that his soldiers killed, another twenty was there to take their place. Marching forth from their massive vehicles it was like a army of ants being awoken from their nest.
He bit his lip with the unusual amount of helplessness he felt. Nothing had ever laid him low in his time fighting for Tau'va, now he could barley keep his forces alive.
I will stop them here, or die.
As he surveyed his regrouping forces he knew what he must do to buy enough time for his brethren in the next city to prepare themselves.
"Shas'vre what is our heavy armor assault capabilities?"
Yr'Nan's lieutenant swiveled his shaved head towards him before saying, " Besides our own Battlesuits Shas'el and the Krootoxes we have almost no assault armor because of the inability to transport some to us in time for the counterattack. Well… except for the Gue'vesa's vehicles."
The Shas'el chuckled at his lieutenants' obvious dislike of the primitive human vehicles. Sitting towards the sides of Yr'Nan's Cadre encampment was a armored company of Gue'vesa Leman Russ's.
Resting they look like huge steel beasts, ready to eat those around them with their stumpy cannons and weaponry. Even though they were slow Yr'Nan would have to use them with their full fire soaking capabilities to help make his plan work.
"I understand your dislike of the machines Shas'vre but we must use them to have any chancel of success."
"Yes Shas'el."
"Ready the troops, and arm yourself."
As his Shas'vre strode to reireive his Battlesuit Yr'Nan turned,"Also fetch Shas'ui Kunas'Ka and his Stealthsuits."
" Yes Shas'el, for the Tau'va."
"For the Tau'va."
As his lieutenant hurried away Yr'Nan looked upon his assembling forces again with his angry gaze.
For the Tau'va let us hope this works.
He flexed his arms, feeling the servos whine in his suit with his movement.
Shas'ui Kunas'Ka lurked in the shadows of the huge crawler vehicles with his and another four squads of Stealthsuits, there complex stealth fields protecting them from Imperial sensors. Kunas'Ka looked upon his squad mates, seeing his visage reflected in their helmets.
In four of their hands was small Burstcannons while in the fifths, Shas'la Doran, was a Pulse cannon. The spherical weapon able to take down heavily armor opponents and light vehicles with ease. Firing large blasts of energy the weapon was the best infantry tranported anti-armor weapon the Tau had.
Since being developed on the world of Canticar, the weapon had spread widely throughout the Tau military. Its versatility was its greatest asset and Tau commanders employed it in every theatre of war . All the scout squads had been armed with them on the action to destroy the Ordinatus machine, for the firepower the weapons had were perfect to take down the Mechanicus forces.
Around the Shas'ui Gun and Shield Dones hummed while clustered with the Stealthsuits were the remaining Kroot and Vespid not being used in the distraction. He opened his comm link to his force under his command, "All Shas'ui, Shapers and Wing Leaders, be ready to breach, set Plasma Charges… now!"
The Tau carrying Kunas'Ka's charges, Shas'la Savon, clamped them onto the concealed access doors in the crawlers sides before backing away hastily, the blast radius of the charges were pretty large.
All the along the length of the machine the same sight was repeated as the Tau prepared to attack. Then as Kunas'Ka waited for the signal he began to get worried, his mind playing tricks on him.
Maybe they were delayed… or captured. No! Don't think such thought, the Shas'el will show.
Time stretched on, each moment another chance for the Tau to be caught. Then just as Kunas'Ka was about to pull out he heard the sound of missiles and pulse rounds opening up behind him, along with the throaty rumble of the Gue'vesa armor.
"Blow Charges!"
The sound of hissing detonations echoed around the area, and then loud alarms as the vehicle recognized the intrusions upon it.
"Inside, go!"
Kunas'Ka and his squad ran into the murky depths of the Ordinatus machine.
Shas'el Yr'Nan felt truly alive as he descended upon the Aloh Gue'la forming into battle lines. Lasfire, the roaring of massive cannons, hisses of plasma and the detonations of missiles were all around him and his Shas'vre's as they fought.
The Missile pods on his shoulders spat out explosives while his heavy Burstcannons and Plasma cannons vomited volatile death into the advancing Imperials. Around him his lieutenats fired their own weapons, housed within their heavy Broadside and Crisis Suits, though none could really match the artistry of the Shas'el's heavily modified suit.
Broadside Rail Cannons roared into life as they punched through ranks of Tech-Guard a dozen deep, melting through their metal enhanced bodies. Flamers and short range Pulse weaponry thudded powerfully into the first ranks of Tech-Guard slaughtering them wholesale. Behind the striding Battlesuits were hundreds of Kroot Packs and Krootox's, Firewarrior and Pathfinder Squads and Wings of Vespid.
They emptied their weapons into the mechanical warriors, ripping through the air with their fire as though wounding it. And then the armor of Humans rammed into the battle.
Leman Russ's and Destroyer's led the way, there stubby cannons shooting along with Heavy bolters, Lascannons, and Flamer mounts attached to their hulls. The charge carried Yr'Nan and his men into the heart of the Mechanicus formation.
Yet it was at the height the Tau's charge that the tide turned.
Suddenly hundreds of heavy Battle Servitors, drove into view. Their skulls were covered in heavy targeting arrays, while they hefted saws, drills and massive hammers on their limbs. Rotating on their other arms were large rotating cannons or blazing laser weapons, but no matter what the armament, all were firing at the Tau.
The Shas'el and his his forces were steadily being slaughtered by the sheer numbers and firepower the Imperium had brought to bear. Yr'Nan looked up in worried anticipation at the nearest Mechanicus machine, hoping that Kunas'Ka was doing his job. Then all thoughts were washed away ina tide of violence as he and his bodyguards hit the first wave of servitors.
The first one he came to was hefting a whirring drill that was attached to its arm while firing hundreds of shots from its cannon every few seconds. He allowed his frontal armor, which was his thickest, to absorb the impacts before darting forward and pulverizing its head with a quick burst of pulse fire. He turned sharply, his movements seemingly impossible so in his mechanized suit of armor. He brought up his flamer and roasted another of the robots, feeling his armor come away in parts from its saw which it had struck into his plates.
He darted to one side as one of his bodyguards planted its feet and fired off a stream of energy from its Rail cannons. The servitors stuck by the Broadsides beams were destroyed in explosions of energy, and those caught on the edges by its weapons lost chunks of their body.
He fell back towards the safety of friendly covering fire as thousands more of the tech augmented soldiers poured forth towards his men, a curtain of fire slamming into his forces. Through hsi visor Yr'Nan watched as the Gue'vesa armor was advancing through the Mecahnicus lines, firing their cannons and side mounted turrets, blasting apart Tech-Guard and Battle Servitors.
"Follow me Shas'vre! We must buy enough time for Kunas'Ka!"
If his lieutenant replied it was drowned out by the sounds of battle. Yr'Nan advanced once more into the fray his weapons firing, lashing out at the Imperials.
Kunas'Ka strode forward through the confines of the Ordinatus machine, his Burstcannon rattling. Beside him his squad members and Gun drones were firing also as they advanced behind the Kroot and Vespid.
For the past few minutes Kunas'Ka's had advanced, destroying turret emplacements which seemed to cover just about every area of the massive vehicle, all the while fighting Servitors, Mechanicus Adepts wielding pistols, and even Tech-Priests. Leading the combined forces of Kroot and Vespid was Shaper Yurt, his twin billhooks flashing in the light as they decapitated and tore through mechanical warriors.
"Hurry this way! We must stop this machine.!"
The Tau hurried forward, firing all the while at the many defense turrets. Up ahead was some sort of centre for the vehicle, no doubt the control room. It was ringed with machines, servitors connected into them. Around the are seemed to be where the resistance was thickest and all Tau forces were headed towards it, knowing it was their objective.
Kunas'Ka ducked down behind a fallen pipe, his squad following him. Bolter rounds from the turrets around them striking the metal, creating sparks and dents into the heavy fixture.
"Shas'la Doran!"
"Yes Shas'ui?"
"Use that Pulse cannon you have and silence the turrets! Use the Sniper Drone to help you!"
"Yes Shas'ui!" Doran placed the barrel of her Pulse cannon over the lip of the pipe, taking aim. By her side a drone with a Rail rifle slung under its body aimed as well. Then there was a dual report as both weapons fired and series of small explsions and crashes.
The fire coming against the Stealthsuits cover stopped.
"Good shot! Now go!" The Tau ran back out into the fight.
Shaper Yurt was enjoying himself with this fight. Around him packs of Kroot fought and died against the Battle Servitors and defense turrets. His twin billhooks flashed in front of him and ripped out the throat of a servitor, sending pale blood and oily fluids over his hands.
He did a quick summersault through the air, avoiding a group of bullets which tore apart another one of his pack members. He drove the point of one of his billhooks into the servitors head, grunting as it powered through bone, flesh and metal.
He spun on his heel and delivered a thunderous kick to the servitors chest, freeing it from his weapon. A group of Vespids landed before him,, their talons flashing and loped apart a Tech-Priest along with several servitors. Solid rounds fired from the Kroot rifles busted heads and put holes in bodies.
The control center loomed in front of the Shaper, the metallic sides of it reflecting the light of gunfire. Dozens were dying, their last moments reflected in its depths. Yurt ran thorugh the fires of the battle, forming his men into counter charges and firing lines. He led groups of warriors thorugh the raging combat, slashing thorugh his enemies with quick slashes. Blood spattered his face and those around him.
Striding towards the battle was a group of Tech-Priests with what looked like a high ranking member of the Mechanicus in its middle. They formed a wedge intot he heart of his forces, hacking them apart.
He turned towards the Kroot and Vespid nearest to him, their weapons firing into the mass of enemies. Yurt was suddenly mesmerized by flash of their guns and the fine drizzle of blood misting the air. He shook his head and retured back to the present.
"Keep me covered, it is time to end this fight,"
The assortment of warriors nodded their assent and turned their weapons towards the enemies in front of the Shaper. Firing with renewed effort, taking that as his que the Kroot officer ran forward.
Yurt sprinted, dodging under bullets and blades, hopping over the heads of both sides. As he neared the group of Tech-Priests he saw that the senior member of the Mechanicus in the middle was nearly as tall as Yurt himself, who like all Kroot were quite tall. Not only that he was a lot bulkier too, and carried two large cannons on its arms.
Yurt bared his bloodstained teeth. Finally, a real challenge. The sonic blasts of Vespid guns, the whine of pulse rounds and the shriek of Kroot bullets passed by Yurt as he pressed onwards.
For even with the heroic actions of many the fires of war never stopped.
Magos Jadinar strode through the illogicalness that battle brought. His many implants which replaced his ears, eyes, throat, brain and most of his primary organs fed him a constant amount of data which helped him understand his environment.
Eight Tech-Priests stood around him, carrying Power halberds, and a variety of guns. As he advanced he catalogued and observed the hundreds of xenos that compromised this hostile attack on the Ordinatus machine. Calculating the data he was receiving from outside and from in the confines of the machine, the Magos came to the conclusion that this attack was not meant to succeed just damage the machine in some way.
He then solved another formula which showed his success rate of stopping such a endeavor.
89.04%
The number appeared before his logistics implants, he had a good chance to stop the creatures. He powered up his Deflector shield, a bubble of energy surrounding him, while also powering up his weapon systems.
In the revered language of the Omnnisah, binary code, he told the Tech-Priests around him to ready themselves for combat.
He then reviewed the battlefield, seeing a single Kroot organism running towards him at a high velocity, obviously with hostile intentions.
He raised his dual Molecular Cannons and locked on to the incoming mass of enemy troops. The Molecular cannon was a unique weapon which Jadinar had developed himself, jsut for a combat like this.
He had used captured Tau pulse technology and combining that with the solid ballistic munitions of the Imperium, created a great weapon. In each of the cannons four barrels there were thousands of small caliber bullets, each one a little smaller than the size of a thumb. These bullets when fired would be super charged with high amounts of energy, making the specially modified bullet casings heat up on a atomic scale, they could melt through Power Armor with ease.
The cannon fired at a rate of five hundred bullets a second and were perhaps one of the deadliest infantry weapons ever created in the universe.
The only problem was the amount of highly advanced materials needed in its construction, but he was confident he could work that part out.
With the screaming of a daemon the weapon opened fire. Thousands of bullets screamed through the air, cutting apart both servitor and xeno. As the Jadinar strode forwards any that escaped his fire were hacked apart by the Tech-priests halberds, the steaming chunks of bodies flopped to the ground.
Yurt was now very angry as he ducked beneath the bullets of the Magos, the heat of them burning his back.
Already his entire force had been forced to retreat, most of them dead. He hacked his way through the Mechanicus lord, his blood singing in his veins.
He parried with his billhooks the first halberd of one of the Tech-Priests, gasping as the power of the blow traveled through his body. He ducked beneath the next swing and brought up his weapons in a arc which buried themselves in the flesh of Priest before ripping them out in a brutal move which sent his opponents broken body on the floor.
The Kroot lashed out with a fist that sent the next one flying back before dodging back from another blade, the disruptor field crisping his skin. He dashed forward and ripped its face off with his sharp teeth, tasting its foul blood in his mouth, before slashing open its chest with the cruel edges of his hooks.
He turned to the Magos itself, his target. The machine-thing was still advancing, firing its weapons into his troops. Killing them without thought or emotion.
He leapt forward, swinging his weapons to kill the unnatural being, but found his blades stopped by a barrier of energy. His weapons broke on contact with the force field, flying out of his hands in pieces which cut his skin, drawing blood.
He was dumbstruck at the event, his face a comical expression at the circumstances.
Then his face disappeared in a flash of light.
As the headless body collapsed to the ground, the Lord Magos turned back to his gruesome work.
Magos Jadinar laughed as he resumed his killing, a ugly rasping sound through his vox impalnts.
The Kroot thought it had come so close to killing him when it was killed by one of the myriad amount of tiny lasers which covered his metal shell of a body. The defense weapons were highly focused beams of energy which could punch through anything short of Terminator armor because of the short range. Jadinar knew it was a wise decision ot get them installed, even if it had cost him several ships that he had docked at Mars.
Jadinar completed his thought processes by surveying the room, the fighting over. Blood pooled around his ankles, carrying along small parts of viscera which created a real charnel house smell, though none of its occupants noticed it at all.
He ordered the Tech-Priests around him to begin repairing the damage done to his Ordinatus machine and clean up the mess. As they went to begin their tasks Jadinar allowed himself a brief moment of triumph, a small human emotion, to enter his being before shutting it out and striding to control room.
Work still needed to be done.
Yr'Nans forces died as the Shas'el watched, his hopes of completing his mission evaporating. He had heard the report of Kuna'Ka's defeat, knowing that now all that remained was to fight and die.
The Ordinatus machines fired soon after. The massive Sonic cannon technology they carried carved through the valley tops, sending thousands of tons of natural debris on top of the Tau forces.
Hundreds of Tau and their allies were crushed by the wreckage, smashed to paste beneath the weight of ancient trees which had been there almost as long as life itself and groups of boulders. Yr'Nan watched through his optics as his Shas'vre was crushed, the Broadside suit he was in buried beneath thousands of pounds of hard packed earth.
He ejected out of his own suit, watching from the air as it was buried, nature reclaiming what was its due.
He unclipped the restraints from his ejection seat, before taking up his Chainsword, the sharp teeth of the sword already buzzing. He looked around him, his body feeling somehow naked without his suit as he felt hot air swirl around him, bringing him the stench of death. Limbs or partially buried bodies of both sides surrounded him, almost like a paritally ocmpleted graveyard.
He saw a group of Tech-Guard advancing towards him and felt a calmness settle over him as he accepted his fate.
He charged towards them, sword raised above him. One of the leading soldiers raised its Grenade Launcher and let loose several grenades. He rolled forward hearing the small explosives fly over his head and explode behind him.
Yr'Nan jumped to his feet and let his sword chew through the Grenade Launcher toting human. He let his power carry him through and cut off the arm of the next one before following up and decapitating it. He dodged back from a beam of lasfire before eviscerating the shooter. He hacked aorund him, letting his rage fuel his power.
Then a drill punched through the Tau commanders back, ending his fight for The Greater Good. The heavy Praetorian servitor shook off the frail body of the xeno, looking for a new target.
Shas'ui Kunas'Ka stumbled back away from the slaughter of Shas'el Yr'Nan's cadre, his wounds burning with agony. On his back he carried Shas'ls Savon, his leg a crisped mess while pieces of shrapnel riddled his body. Beside his stumbling gait walked Shas'la Doran her broken arm clutched to her chest, blood weeping from several wounds. As they had escaped from the battle in the Ordinatus machine he had lost his other squad mates, their deaths burned into his mind. Even though he knew that he would have been supposed to rejoin the fight he had headed off towards the Tau held city of Swadia, knowing he had to warn them. No matter what the dishonour it needed to be done. As the remains of Yr'Nan's cadre stumbled along towards the city of Swadia, they swore that the massacre would be remembered.
The estimated casualties for the Battle of The Pass, as it would come to be known, was unbelievably high.
Nearly six thousand combined Tau, Kroot, Vespid and their human allies had been killed. While a total of about eleven thousand Mechanicus troops had been destroyed, as the term suited it better than killed for the cyborg like troops.
But unlike the Tau, after the wreckage of battle had been cleared another fifteen thousand Tech-Guard and hundreds of other armor vehicles marshaled out in front of the Imperial formation, ready for battle.
The way to the prize was open and the Mechanicus never lost its prize.
Farseer Ashafares looked upon the might of the Alaitoc, the graceful warriors moved silently thorugh the heavy brush of the valleys of North Yanir. The passage of the Eldar force was silent, barely a rustle of leaves or grass when they moved by.
Ashafares had seen in her visions what the Mon-Keigh would do once they stumbled upon the Undying Ones. They must be stopped no matter what the cost.
The power of her emotions transmitted to the physically sensitive Eldar around her, making them feel the heat of her conviction. Many different aspects were represented in the Alaitoc forces, but the bulk of the army was made of Guardians and their vehicles along with the legendary Alaitoc Rangers. Those same rangers flitted about the edges of her forces, scouting ahead.
She stood perched on the lip of a Falcon Grav Tank, feeling the smoothness of its hull beneath her feet. Crouched at the bottom of the vehicle was the Exarch of the Dire Avengers aspect. The warrior in his blue and yellow armor radiated a sense of barely contained physical power, the disticntess of it echoing in her mind. Every moment the coruching figure seemed ready to explode into action, his weapons always near his hands.
"Rise Exarch and tell me your news."
"Farseer it has been confimed by our Rangers that we are closing onto the location of the Undying Ones."
"Good. Tell them to further reconnoiter the area."
"Yes Farseer."
"One more thing Exarch."
"Yes?"
"If the things I have seen do come to pass I charge you with the task of destroying the Mon-Keigh, to make sure they never repeat such a mistake again."
"Yes Farseer, as you command."
Even though his face was hidden behind his helmet Ashafares knew the warrior was smiling.
Authors Note: Woot!!!! Eldar!!!!
North Yanir On Road to Hive city of Swadia 03:00