Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187
0315 hours (Approximate planet time)
L-Day -1
With an incredible amount of noise from it's engines, the Valkyrie came to a stop, hovering a mere five feet above the building. Corporal Gazik wasted no time. He released his safety harness and jumped from the dropship even as the ramp was still being lowered. Following his lead, Yasir jumped after him. Having done this before, Gazik landed on his feet with only the slightest hint of discomfort. Yasir, however, landed on his feet only to loose his balance and fall over. Before Gazik could berate the Trooper, the Valkyrie was already taking off into the sky.
"Get your Warp damned ass up!" He said in a sort of loud whisper. Yasir stood and took in his new surroundings. They were on the roof a tall building, and it was dark out. Looking to his right he saw the planets two moons that provided the only natural illumination. It felt cold, and Yasir remembered hearing in a briefing while on the ship that this planet was in it's winter months. There was no snow, but he could see his breath as it left his mouth. Dark as it was, he could make out the edges of other buildings around theirs. In fact, as far as could see there were buildings stretching into the distance.
Behind him he heard distant explosions, like rolling thunder. Looking in the direction of the sounds, he saw the other thing lighting the sky. He had felt the Battleship he was on shake with the force of it's orbital guns when it started the bombardment, but he had couldn't have imagined the destruction they were causing. He kept watching the salvos slam the planet until Corporal Gazik tackled him. Yasir opened his mouth but the Corporal put a hand over it. Looking up, he saw why.
It wasn't any bigger than a Valkyrie, and hovered in the air like one. Rather than the sharp edges of a Valkyrie, however, this airship was all smooth curves and a dirty tan color. Two dog sized disks floated through the air next to it. All three flying machines had bright spotlights that darted up and down along the buildings. 'Devilfish' he thought as the tan airship rounded a building and disappeared from sight. Gazik released him and stood, walking towards the door in the roof. Yasir glanced back towards the bombardment area. He heard the sound of the door being wedged open behind him, then the Corporal's voice.
"C'mon Fish! Nothing over there for us over there until the Landers touch down."
~/~/~
Inside the building, Yasir quickly realized that this was the Tau's version of an apartmendim tower. They ran down several flights of stairs, the walls bare concrete, but still that dirty tan color, quickly and as quietly as they could. Finally Gazik stopped at a landing and inspected a marking on the wall.
"Cover me." He said, taking out a small blue book and flipping through it until he found the section he was looking for. He looked back at the symbol, then back at the book. After a minute, he nodded to himself and shut the book. "C'mon," he said to his spotter. "This is our floor." He grabbed the oddly shaped handle and slowly pushed the door open.
The hallway that they entered was even less lit than the stairwell, with only a faint blue light escaping from lamps set into the ceiling. It seemed that the Tau didn't care much for interior decoration. All the walls were bare, tan colored concrete. Similar colored doors lined the hall, and Corporal Gazik counted the doors off quietly to himself. At the 20th he stopped, starring at the markings on the door.
Unlike the runes that operated the Imperium's machines, the Tau had small square plastic things the Techpriests called "keys." Again he consulted his blue book, looking at the set of "keys" set into the door as Yasir looked up and down the hallway to make sure that none of the blue skinned Xenos saw them. After a moment, Gazik slung his longlas, drew his bayonet, and pressed some of the keys on the door and it slid open.
"Quickly Fish!" he said in the same loud whisper he'd used earlier as he dashed into the room. Yasir turned around and followed several paces after him. As he entered the room, he immediately took in the simple apartment. A small bed sat against one wall with a large cabinet opposite. Directly opposite the door was a large glass window that ran from the floor to the ceiling with the curtains drawn.
Before he could go to the curtains to see what was behind them, a wet sucking noise grabbed his attention. Looking back to the bed, he saw Corporal Gazik on top the bed, his bayonet in hand stabbing down into a lump in the bed. His other hand held over one end of the lump. A wild smile on his face. It took Yasir a full minute to realize just what he was doing. He was killing whatever was sleeping in the bed. The lump had begun to struggle, but with a final, longer stab, it went limp. Gazik stopped smiling, stepped off the bed, then looked at Yasir.
"Throw 'em in the closet there." He motioned with his bayonet as he grabbed a blanket from the bed and began wiping the Xeno's blood from the blade. Yasir gulped, then slung his lasgun and walked up to the bed. He paused, looking at the now bloody lump. Red blood had seeped all over the sheets and he could make out the outline of the Xeno's hoofed body. "Today New Fish." The Corporal said, already pulling the curtains back from the door. Yasir swallowed again, then reached down and slid his hands under the body, lifting it from the bed. He made the three steps to the closet quickly enough, Gazik had already opened the door, and placed the body inside beside several pieces of hanging clothing, and shut the door. The unholy blood had gotten all over his hands. Following the Corporal's example, he wiped his hands on the bed sheets. Corporal Gazik was busy lifting the mattress off the bed. "Give me a hand here. We've only got," he consulted his chrono. "26 hours."
~/~/~
Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187
0547 hours (Approximate planet time)
Landing Day
They were ready. After Yasir had put the body in the closet, he and Gazik had placed the mattress against one wall, and the closet on it's side to cover the other wall. They now laid on the floor in the center of the room, looking out the open window into the city below. They had been laying there for and entire day, watching the Tau. Waiting for their target to appear. The Landers wouldn't hit until the first light, still an hour away. It was as dark as it had been when they had arrived on the planet. Every once and a while, one of the airships and the smaller things Corporal Gazik's book said were called "Drones" would fly past. Their searchlights scanning for any sign of the Imperium, but never looking through the one window in this building that housed two of it's soldiers. Gazik was asleep. He had delegated shifts for them since they would be there for more than a day, and it was Yasir's turn to keep watch. He glanced over at the Corporal sleeping behind his longlas when he noticed something.
All Vardan's he'd seen in this campaign, himself included had the number 902 stenciled on their left shoulder. For the new fish like himself, this was the only marking, aside from their name, on their uniform. Troopers who had been with this unit in other campaigns, also had 902 on their right shoulder. A sign that they had faced the Imperium's enemies before. Corporal Gazik, however, had the number 42 stenciled onto his right shoulder. Yasir hadn't noticed it before, but he couldn't remember seeing 42 on anyone else's shoulder. He bit his lip, wondering just what the number might mean when a glance at his chrono cut his thoughts short. 0603. The Landers would be just leaving the ships now. He reached out and put his left hand on the 42, shaking the Corporal's shoulder. He must've been a light sleeper, because his eyes snapped open instantly.
"What is it?" he asked. His answer was the sudden lack of sound from behind them. The Navy had stopped their bombardment. Gazik nodded and pulled his rifle up, looking through the scope. "Double check the range." he said. Yasir grabbed his rifle and pointed it at the building they'd been watching. He flipped the switch on the rangefinder and watched the numbers tick off as the invisible laser shot out of the device and bounced off the building and back to him in their building.
"Just under 1200 meters Corporal." Yasir said reading from the rangefinder. Gazik took a deep breath, held it for a second, then slowly let it out. After few seconds, he nodded to himself and turned his head to look at Yasir.
"OK, listen. After I take the shot you watch to make sure he's dead. Make sure you see him fall. If I miss or he doesn't fall, tell me right away. When I do kill him, make sure he's dead, then tell me right away. Once he's dead we'll have to move quickly." Yasir nodded. "Do you understand?" Yasir nodded again. Corporal Gazik make a gesture, rocking his head forward quickly and opening his eyes fully. Yasir took the hint.
"Yes Corporal." Gazik shook his head and turned his attention back to his primary task, bringing the scope back up to his face. Yasir watched the building through his binoculars. For several minutes the both of them simply watched the entrance to the building. It was a full fifteen minutes before there was any sign of life. A pair of Devilfish emerged from around another corner, swooping out of the sky to land on the ground on either side of the Building's entrance. Nearly a minute later, a larger more ornate Devilfish flew into the area from the same place that the other two had come.
"Get ready." Corporal Gazik said. Yasir watched as several forms left the devilfish. They were man shaped save for their hoofed feet and they wore full body armor that was the same dirty tan color as seemingly everything else on this world. Their helmets were oddly shaped, and had only two circles, one red one blue, in place of a viewport. Each held a similar colored rifle. Longer than a lasgun, and with a scope of some kind. Each weapon also seemed to have two muzzles protruding from their barrels. 'Fire Warriors' Yasir remembered learning about the Tau's soldiers during a briefing aboard the ship before they'd arrived in the system. The Fire Warriors formed into two files on either side of the buildings entrance, bringing their weapons up in front of them in an emulation of the Imperial position of 'inspection arms.' No sooner had they formed up when the door opened and the target stepped into view.
This Tau was taller than the others and wore what looked to be a long flowing dress. Polished stones and gems adorned it's belt and jewelry. It held a long staff in one hand which had a thin blade on the bottom end, and a set of metal fins with another polished stone on the top. 'An Ethereal!' Yasir nearly jumped at the realization of what they were about to shoot. No sooner had he realized what the Xeno was, then he heard Corporal Gazik inhale deeply. He held it for a beat, then exhaled slowly, letting all the air leave his lungs. Then, more relaxed then Yasir had ever been while he shot, he slowly squeezed the trigger.
Yasir heard the sound of the lasbolt leaving the weapon half a second before he watched it burn into the Ethereal's chest. The hole it burned was small. So small that at over a kilometer away Yasir couldn't see it. He did, however see the effects of the lasbolt. The Ethereal's dark eyes grew wide and the Xeno took a step back, searching for it's balance.
"Fish…" Gazik called still looking through his scope. The Ethereal dropped it's staff to grab the wound. "Fish, is it?" He asked. The red xeno blood began to drip from it's mouth and the Ethereal fell to the ground. "FISH IS IT DEAD?" Yasir lowered his binos.
"It's dead Corporal." Gazik nodded and stood up.
"Then it's time for us to go." he said, already running for the room's exit.
~/~/~
Corporal Gazik slammed his body into the door at the top of the stairs that led onto the roof, causing it to fly open without breaking pace. Yasir ran up the stairs a few paces behind him, glad now that the Corporal had ordered him to turn in his armor. As he stepped onto the roof, he glanced to his right and saw the most spectacular thing he'd ever seen.
Dozens of Landers had landed where not an hour ago the Navy had been bombarding. He watched as countless guardsmen charged out of the Landers, lasguns cracking the moment they stepped off the ramp. Another kind of Lander, this one longer and not as tall as the others was offloading tanks. Yasir watched as a Leman Russ drove out of the Lander, it's main gun belching out round after round. A giant tan colored machine stepped out from behind a collapsed building to oppose the Imperial Tank. Yasir had never seen a Battlesuit in person, and seeing it felt a flash of terror for the tank. He looked back at the tank, and saw it was firing as it charged forward, and the tan Battlesuit staggered and wobbled as round after round slammed into it's center until finally one shell exploded through the Battlesuit. The great mass of metal fell and crumbled to the ground.
Looking back to the Infantry, Yasir saw that their advance had been held up by a thick line of Tau Fire Warriors. The Tan colored soldiers had taken cover in the ruins of the destroyed buildings that covered the Landing Zone. The Guardsmen were fighting back, but without sufficient cover, they couldn't bound up to the Tau lines and he watched several grey and green bodies fall to the ground. Just as Yasir saw the problem, he heard the deafening screech of a squadron of Marauder bombers. The green Imperial war machines flew right over Yasir's head and dove in for the front of the Tau line. The Bombers dropped a carpet of bombs onto the Fire Warriors, destroying their frontline and breaking the stalemate that had formed only a minute ago. Already Yasir could see the peaked cap of a Commissar leading a charge into the broken Tau lines. Corporal Gazik stopped and looked behind him to see Yasir starring at the battle.
"FISH!" he yelled. Yasir immediately snapped out of his trance and resumed following the Corporal. Gazik shook his head and started running again. "You get distracted too easy."
~/~/~
Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187
1350 hours (Approximate planet time)
L-Day + 3
"Wait here." Corporal Gazik told Yasir when they arrived at the large partially destroyed building that flew the banner of the Vardan 902nd.
"Rodger Corporal." Yasir said, no longer simply nodding as he'd done before. Gazik smiled to himself at the young man's grasp of titles before he slung his longlas and stepped past the sentry and into the building.
All the walls, those not charred black by lasbolts from the battle days ago, were the same dirty tan he'd become familiar with. But now maps, charts, and equipment covered most of the disgusting excuse for interior design. This building had been some kind of government office for the aliens once. The entry room was large and Gazik saw the pedestal where a statue of some alien had once stood. Now, only a single hoofed leg told him that the Alien was Tau. Staircases branched off on either side of the room as well as multiple doors. Now the room was a bustle of guardsmen and servitors. Hardcases and ammunition crates lined the walls, and a pair of Techpreists were busy with some kind of machine. Gazik passed through a set of doors and began making his way through a room crowed with desks and vox equipment. Dozens of guardsmen sat at the casters and arrays, and Gazik heard only pieces of the transmissions as they relayed information.
"…Copy, 3rd Platoon, 2nd Company has reached the power station…"
"-are encountering minimal resistance…."
"Basilisks are clear to fire."
He left the room no wiser to the situation then when he had entered. The next door had led him to a hallway, this one lined with equipment and ammo as well, and found his way to a set of offices. After asking the sentry which office belonged to the man he had come to see, he knocked on the correct door.
"Come in." An older voice said from the other side of the door. Gazik opened the door and walked up to the desk. He stopped directly in front of the desk and brought his right hand up to his face in a crisp salute. The grey haired Major returned the salute. "Was your mission successful?" he asked. Gazik nodded.
"Yes sir, the Ethereal fell three days ago." He said as he dropped the salute.
"Good," the Major motioned to a map spread out on his desk. "I am reassigning you and your spotter to the 4th Company."
~/~/~
As Gazik stepped out of the building, he heard the roar of a Lander's engines as another regiment landed onto the planet. He watched the Lander drop towards the landing zone several kilometers away until his view was obscured by the buildings still standing in this area. To his left a Commissar was directing a group of Guardsmen who were dousing a pile of Tau civilian corpses with fuel. With a look of indifference, the Commissar lit an Eithostick and tossed the match into the pile, igniting the bodies.
"Fish!" Gazik called. Immediately a young guardsman looked up from a conversation he was having with two others and ran to him.
"Corporal." Yasir said as he reached him. Gazik reached into his greatcoat, took out a pack of Eithosticks and put one in his mouth.
"Time to go."