Author's Note: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews, they mean a lot to me.
Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187
1330 hours (Approximate planet time)
L-Day +200
423 Kilometers from the landing zone
'Tau don't defend.' Gazik had said. 'They attack.' Now they were attacking. Days ago the remainder of the fleet in orbit had been smashed by a Tau battle fleet. The Xenos hadn't just brought lost of ships either. They had brought troops as well. Now they were the ones on the defense. Yasir thought about Gazik's words as he lifted another pile of dirt from the bottom of the trench he was digging. He was always thinking, but more and more he wasn't letting it distract him from the task at hand, whatever it was. He stuck his entrenching tool back into the dirt when he noticed that the Corporal had left the trench. He looked up to see that Gazik had climbed out of the trench and was looking at a Tau sign on the side of a building, and holding the same blue book he'd had in the Apartment building back when this war started. Come to think of it, Yasir remembered seeing Gazik take the book out on more than one occasion. And, just as he was now, The Corporal was writing something into it, as though he was copying down the Xeno characters.
"Uh, Corporal?" Yasir interrupted Gazik's concentration and the unshaven face turned it's attention to him. "I think that this is deep enough." Yasir accented his point but placing his arms at the level of the ground against his chest, showing him that the top of the trench came up to his name on his chest. Gazik nodded.
"Alright, you can stop." he said, already turning his attention back to the sign and his book. Yasir tossed the entrenching tool on the trench's lip and pulled himself out of the trench. Sitting on the lip he observed the defenses he'd helped create.
The official statement put out from the headquarters back at the Landing Zone said that "All offensive operations were to cease, and all Guardsman, on pain of death, were to defend and hold all captured areas of the City until the fleet returns." This order had found Yasir, Gazik, and all of 4th Company at the top of a cliff. The City was apparently so massive and had grown so fast, that the Tau had not bothered to level all the ground, creating sudden drop-offs in certain areas. That wasn't to say that there wasn't a way to get from the cliff to the ground. There was a large staircase and buildings on both levels.
'Once the staircase and this entire district,' Yasir thought poetically, 'had probably been beautiful to the dark Xeno eyes.' Now, the Imperium had gone to work, building the area into a hard defensive line. The buildings to the sides of the cliff had all been collapsed. Destroyed so that they fell in and blocked the streets. The only way through now was the hardpoint they'd created at the staircase.
The Staircase it's self was fairly large. 200 feet from the bottom to the top, with landings every 50 feet. Tan, not that anyone had expected any other color at this point, and wide enough that four chimera's could come down side by side. Statues and plants had once graced the landings, but now they were home to heavy bolters, Auto cannons, Missile launchers, and more sandbags than he had thought that they could fill. Closer to the top, he saw a pair of Leman Russ Demolishers dug into positions on the last landing, and at the top, a line of Basilisks came into view, barely on the crest of the hill. Yasir turned his eyes down to the bottom of the hill. Where he was.
Despite the defenses on the stairs, he and the rest of the Company had been at work the entire day digging lines of trenches and heavy weapon positions. The one that he had just completed he judged to be at least 50 meters from the stairs, and made up the front line. There was really no telling just what the Tau would throw at them. The only thing that was certain was that they would come. Yasir realized that he had let himself become distracted again and picked up the entrenching tool he'd set down. Gazik's words echoed in his mind as he hopped off the lip of the trench and went to return the entrenching tool to the supply sergeant he gotten it from.
'Tau don't defend, they attack.'
~/~/~
"Corporal?" Yasir said in the kind of tone that conveyed the single word as a question. Gazik turned his attention from the distant city in front of him and to the Trooper in the trench with him.
"What is it?" He asked. It was dark but, as Yasir had noticed every other night on this planet, there was plenty of illumination thanks to the world's two moons, each at about half tonight. Yasir swallowed before speaking.
"I was just wondering. What's that blue book your always writing in?" Gazik's dark form looked slightly taken back, but Yasir had trouble reading body language in the semi-dark. The Corporal cast a glance out towards the city, then turned his head back to Yasir.
"This," He said in an uncharacteristically proud voice, removing the book from his trench coat's inner pocket. "This is it. Everything that I've learned about those vile blue-skins is in here." he opened the book and flipped through some of the pages. "I've translated some of their language, drawn up information about their vehicles, their technology, everything that the Imperium is still learning, I learned on Saira years ago." Yasir frowned and shook his head.
"I think…" The Trooper took his time. "I think that everything I need to know about these aliens the Commissar's have put out." Gazik's mouth moved in an expression that Yasir couldn't discern.
"Perhaps." he said flatly, the pride from his voice gone. "But, did the Commissant put out anything about the Tau Stealth Teams?" Yasir cocked his head to one side at the unfamiliar term.
"Stealth Teams?" Again he said the words in the tone that conveyed them as a question. Gazik was already flipping through the pages.
"Tau deploy a special type of powered armor, in groups of four or five. The armor isn't too strong, but it generates a sort of stealth field around it." He found the appropriate page and turned the book so Yasir could see it, though in the dim light he could only faintly see the drawing the Corporal had made. "If you were to look at one, you'd see straight through it." Yasir leaned forward and studied the drawing. The most notable difference between this Tau and the other Fire Warriors he'd seen was the upper body and head. Except for it's legs and forearms, the suit consisted of a single bulky curved piece with a single large circular viewport, similar to the colored circles on the Fire Warriors helmets. "The trick," Gazik continued, "is to look for the shimmer. See, the cloak isn't perfect, you'll see a sort of shimmer or more likely a distortion. When you look at it, you'll get the feeling that something just isn't right." Yasir gulped, uncomfortable with the prospect of invisible enemies.
"Do they…have a lot of these teams?" He asked. Gazik tilted his head slightly.
"No, I've only run into them when in a static defense." He glanced around the trench. "Just like this."
~/~/~
Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187
2142 hours (Approximate planet time)
L-Day +203
423 Kilometers from the landing zone
Yasir was tired. His watch was nearly over, less than 20 minutes before the next Guardsman would come and stand in the trench for four hours starring into the semi darkness ahead of them. He moved his feet to restart the circulation in his legs. Three days since the Company had finished construction of their defenses and still no sign of any alien life. 'Those ships in orbit have got to be off-loading troops and equipment.' he thought, yawning. His eyes closed for a second with the yawn and as he opened them a second latter, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. At first he wasn't sure he'd seen anything. He had been standing here for over three hours, he reasoned, as he turned his head to the right where he thought he'd seen something. Looking next to him in the trench, he saw it again. Yasir could see further down the trench, but the image was distorted, bent. He could just feel that something was there next to him in the trench. That was when he remembered Gazik's warning days before. It was also when a distorted arm slammed into his stomach.
The metal clad fist wasn't properly aimed, missing his stomach and hitting his left side instead. The metal connected, however, and Yasir doubled over and deopped his weapon. He fell to his knees and looked for his dropped lasgun, spotting it only two feet away. He reached for it only to see the distorted outline of a hoofed foot step onto it. Yasir looked up to see the outline of a thick armored arm being raised above his head. Yasir cringed and closed his eyes.
As the arm began to fall Yasir head the sound of a auto pistol being fired. He opened his eyes to see a pair of bullets strike the air above him. The solid rounds hit something Yasir couldn't see, and cracks appeared in the air above him. Two seconds after the first two hit, a third bullet hit the unseen alien and the tan colored warrior shimmered and became visible.
Like the drawing Corporal Gazik had made, the Stealth Team Tau was dressed in a bulky one piece body and head suit. The first two bullets had struck high above the lens, but the third had blown through the red lens, shattering the viewport and whatever was inside. As the metal body slumped over, Yasir turned to see Gazik standing on the ground above the trench, Auto Pistol in hand. He looked down at him and leveled the pistol at him. Yasir didn't have time to panic as Gazik squeezed the trigger. The bullet traveled out of the weapon and over Yasir's right shoulder. The Auto Round slammed into the air, and Yasir saw cracks appear in the air where it had hit. The Cracks moved behind the young trooper, and Yasir felt angry at having been surprised by these aliens. He spun around and reached out with his left hand, finding a rounded shoulder and gripping it. With his right hand, he made a fist and punched the Tau where the cracks were.
Immediately, he realized the uselessness of the attack on the metal body and retracted his hand in pain. The distorted air swung at him and he took a step back. This turned out to be all the opening Gazik needed as another pair of bullets struck the Tau. Like the first, the body shimmered, turned visible, and fell to the ground.
"Get your Klecking Ass down!" Gazik yelled, reaching for another magazine for his auto pistol. Yasir did as commanded and dropped to the bottom of the trench, looking for his lasgun. He found it sitting next to the dead alien. As he grabbed the weapon, he saw another shimmer out of the corner of his eye, this one jumping out of the trench towards Gazik. Yasir didn't have time to think. Instinct took over and his thumb moved the selector switch. He jumped to his feet and brought his weapon up as he rose above the edge of the trench. Gazik had seen the shimmer as well and had dropped his unloaded auto pistol. Yasir watched his bayonet slide out of the scabbard even as he lunged at the unseen Tau. Yasir looked down his sights at Gazik's foe, when another stealth suit caught the moonlight. Time seemed to slow down as Gazik drove his bayonet into his stealth suit, and the outline of the Alien behind him raised hit's heavy arm. Yasir twisted his body to face the second Alien, lining up the sights on it's upper body. He took a deep breath, held it for a half second, and let all the air in his lungs leave him. Then he squeezed the trigger.
The bright red lasbolt cracked as it left his weapon, flying from Yasir in the trench over Gazik's shoulder, and into the invisible alien. The bolt seemed to have been stopped by the air, and the moonlit outline stepped back in surprise. Yasir squeezed the trigger again. And again. And a third time. This last shot brought the suit into the visible spectrum, and a final shot pierced the armor and burned the blue flesh inside.
Yasir turned his attention back to the Tau Gazik was wrestling with. The Xeno had dropped it's cloak and was grappling with the Corporal on the ground. The Tan suit brought it's left arm up and Yasir saw an odd looking weapon mounted onto it. The arm let out a wild burst over his head and Yasir heard a deeper report than that of the Tau pulse weapons. He climbed out of the trench and ran up next to the grapplers. Gazik saw him approach and twisted, putting the alien on top of him. Yasir placed the barrel of his lasgun against the top of the metal suit and pulled the trigger. Almost instantly, the alien went limp. Gazik rolled the body off of him and stood, pulling the bayonet from where it had become lodged in the suit. He replaced the blade in the scabbard and noticed Yasir looking at him.
"Good job." he said casualty. He bent down next to the tan colored armor, as though looking for something. "They could have shot you," he said with his hand on the odd weapon. "but they didn't want to raise the alarm. Luckily for us, Tau are no good up close." He let go of the arm and stood. "Still believe that the Commissars put out everything you need to know?"
~/~/~
Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187
1158 hours (Approximate planet time)
L-Day +204
423 Kilometers from the landing zone
"Get ready." Gazik commanded. The dozen or so Guardsmen in the trench all nodded and turned their attention to the city ahead of them. The buildings ahead of them had all been destroyed in the days before, and only rubble laid out in front of them.
'It was from this direction,' Yasir thought. 'that the Tau would come.' Gazik had relayed the Stealth Team's actions the previous night to the Commander, but he had told them what the probe meant long before anything was put out.
"This is classic for the Tau." he had said only hours ago. "They always send in stealth teams before a big attack, let's them scout out the area." Up and down the lines of trenches, Guardsmen were coming on line, looking into the city in an attempt to spot the Aliens before they came within range.
"If they come today," Gazik began again, "They'll come now, at the hottest part of the day." A Trooper standing nest to him began putting his bayonet onto his lasgun when Gazik's hand stayed him. "Don't bother." he said. "Tau don't get that close when they attack. The only things that they'll send up close are their Battlesuits," he tapped the Troopers blade. "And this won't help you against them." Yasir heard footsteps behind him and turned to see the peeked cap of a Commissar along with a trio of troopers carrying the pieces and ammunition for a tripod mounted Rocket Launcher. The Commissar dropped into the trench and Gazik let go of the Troopers bayonet and moved to attention.
"Squad, Attention!" The Corporal called, moving his right hand to his face in a quick salute.
"At ease Corporal." The Commissar said returning the salute and looking up and down the trench. "Are you overseeing the defense in this sector?" Gazik nodded, catching the three troopers setting up the missile weapon out of the corner of his eye.
"Yes Sir, I believe that the Tau may be advancing on us right now." The Commissar, who looked no older than Yasir, pursed his lips and slowly nodded.
"Do you now?" Gazik nodded quickly.
"Yes sir, Tau like the heat, and it is the hottest part of the day." Yasir saw that the Launcher was now set up and the three troopers were standing by it, watching the Commissar.
"Tell me, Corporal, what would make you think that these Xenos are so sensitive to the heat?" All eyes fell upon Gazik, who for his part seemed surprised, but unconcerned at the Commissar's challenge. Withholding information about the enemy was a serious crime, though only Yasir was aware that he was guilty of it. Gazik's right hand reached into his pocket and pulled out a slender blue book. Yasir's eyes were wide until he recognized the silver Aquila on the cover.
" It's right here Commissar." He said without any trace guilt. "The Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer says that the Tau are much like bovines which, I'm sure your aware Commissar, are very susceptible to the heat. I only naturally inferred that the most likely course of action the Xenos might take in regards to an attack, is to attack during midday." The Commissar appeared taken back, obviously not expecting the Corporal to have derived such a conclusion, and perhaps mentally scolding himself for overlooking such a conclusion himself. He regained his composure quickly however, and nodded slowly once more.
"Very good Corporal," then to the rest of the Guardsmen. "Corporal…Gazik here is right, the blue skinned Aliens are expected soon. Fix bayonets." All dozen Guardsmen in the trench hesitated for a split second, but Gazik covered the pause quickly.
"You heard the Commissar, I want a blade on the end of every barrel!" Before Gazik had even completed his statement, the Troopers had bayonets out and locked onto their weapons. As the Troopers returned to their observation of the City ruins in front of them, The Commissar Grabbed Gazik's shoulder and spun him around.
"Corporal, you have obviously dealt with the Tau before," he pointed to the 42 on his right shoulder. "and I am aware of Saria's fate ,but I am the one leading these men here, is that understood?" Gazik moved to attention.
"Yes Sir Commissar." The Commissar nodded once.
"Good, now I-"
"Commissar!" One of the troopers the Commissar had brought up yelled. "Commissar, I see tan." The dozen Troopers inside the trench all pressed themselves against the side of the trench, bracing their weapons against the earthen lip. The three Guardsmen on the Missile launcher took positions behind the weapon, and the Commissar made his way to the edge of the trench.
"Let me see.." He grabbed Yasir's binos from his kit and brought them up to his eyes. "Where did you see…Tau Battle Suit's!" He dropped the binos and in one motion grabbed his chainsword, thumbed the activation rune, and raised the moving blades above his head. "Men of the Imperium, Prepare for Ba-"
The Commissar never got to finish his statement. Exactly three seconds after the chainsword had left the Commissar's scabbard a beam from a pulse rifle blew through the young nose and burned out the Imperial brains. Looking at the Commissar's headless frame next to him Yasir remembered a passage from the same book that Gazik had shown the Commissar only minutes ago, one dealing with lost limbs.
"If Shock sets in, the victim may not feel any pain. He may become unaware of the battle raging around him." Covered in the Commissar's blood, Yasir wondered if that applied to those that had lost their head as well. Yasir watched the Commissar's body hold it's final position for a moment, then it toppled over. Yasir watched it fall and he realized that he had become distracted again. He shook his head and saw that the rest of the Guardsmen in the trench had ducked below the trench line. Yasir felt a hand reach up and yank him down by his greatcoat's collar. He found himself face to face with Corporal Gazik.
"Warp blast it Yasir! You HAVE to keep focused." More, larger pulse blasts rang out, and Yasir saw the edges of them fly over the trench to impact on their targets on the staircase. Inside the trench, the other Guardsmen also saw the pulse blasts.
"Whatdowedowhatdowedo?" a frantic one said.
"Shut up!" Another yelled, punching the first in the shoulder. "We've got aliens to kill!" The first one shook his head franticly.
"They shot the Commissar!" He yelled. The second one stood above the level of the trench.
"I will not run in the face of the-"
'Another statement forever unfinished.' Yasir thought as this Man's head exploded as well. More troopers began to panic, their voices merging into a single mur. Gazik stood in a crouch, keeping himself as high as he could without allowing himself to be exposed to the Tau snipers.
"SHUT YOUR WARP FUCKED MOUTHS!" He yelled in a voice that would have made the dead Commissar jealous. The Guardsmen all fell silent. The sound of the pulse guns continued but a new sound joined the chorus. The steady chug of the heavy bolters and the boom of the Basilisks and Demolishers. The Imperium was returning fire. Gazik moved to the center of the trench where the Commissar's headless body laid. He reached down and picked up the chainsword. "Get your shit together. We are the Imperial Guard, and I will burn in the warp before I cower before some blue skinned aliens."
"T-Then what do we do Corporal?" The same frantic Guardsman asked. Gazik raised the chainsword and moved it with each syllable he said.
"We let them get close."
~/~/~
Yasir glanced at his chrono. Five minutes since Gazik had taken command of the Trench and outlined their next move. Looking down the trench, he could see the other Guardsmen. All of them had taken up the standing crouch that Gazik had introduced, and all eyes were towards the frontline. They could still hear the pulse beams, but as the minutes ticked off, the impact sounds became quieter, while the report from the weapons grew louder.
"Remember, when I say to, everyone will pop out of the trench, bring their weapons on line and prepare to fire." Gazik said in his loud whisper. "Do not fire until I give the order. We will not stand a chance unless we volley fire. Is that understood?"
"Yes Corporal." The group responded in the same tone. Gazik held up his left hand for silence and everyone listened. The sound they heard wasn't mechanical, but rather animal. Like a hundred horses were walking towards them. Yasir grit his teeth in anticipation, as the hoofed feet came closer. He watched as Gazik slowly, but smoothly moved the chainsword so that it was pointing at the sky. All eyes were attracted by the moving sword, and when Gazik had eye contact with the entire squad, he nodded.
"SQUAD, ON LINE!" he bellowed, standing and holding the heavy sword above his head, his longlas slung on his back. The entire trench seemed to move as every human in it stood and pressed themselves against the dirt wall, lasgun barrels and bayonets pointing out towards the advancing enemy. Yasir brought his weapon up as well, and looking down the sights, he was surprised by what he saw. Not because he had expected something else, but because it looked exactly like he thought it would.
There were hundreds of them, all wearing their tan armor and carrying their long pulse rifles. They were walking in a sort of staggered line, several ranks deep, and they were already within a hundred meters. It was impossible to read any kind of expression from their helmets, but their body language showed that they were not expecting Guardsmen this close. They stopped and Gazik bellowed another order.
"GET READY!" A dozen or so thumbs moved their selector switches from SAFE to SEMI. One hundred meters away, the Aliens began to kneel. "FIRE!" The lasguns cracked and red bolts flew out towards the Tan enemies. They seemed to all impact at once, taking those standing in the stomach, and those kneeling in the face. The Tau line took the full force of the volley, all of those hit falling to the ground. However, the Tau still living reformed their line, the remains of the first rank kneeling, the uninjured second coming up behind them. Both ranks raised their rifles.
Behind him, Yasir could hear Gazik pacing down the trench. "STEADY…FIRE!" Again, red bolts danced out towards their targets, and again tan bodies hit the dirt. This time however, they returned fire. As the pulse beams always did, Yasir barely saw the white beams. They did, however, impact with the same power as the Imperial volley. Yasir heard two men scream out in pain and drop to the bottom of the trench, wriggling in pain. "SWITICH TO FULL AUTO AND FIRE AT WILL!" Then to the three Guardsmen the Commissar had brought up. "You three! Get that launcher up! The battlesuit's will be up next. Yasir flicked the selector switch on his lasgun with his thumb, starring at the tan colored line in front of him. The Tau had abandoned volley fire as well, firing as the Guardsmen were. Yasir noticed that most of the Guardsmen were firing wildly, most already on their second magazine. Yasir placed his iron sites on one of the few Fire Warriors still kneeling. He breathed in, held it for a moment, then let all the air in his body leave him. His thumb pushed the selector back to SEMI and squeezed the trigger. The red bolt burned into the tan armor directly below the neck on the alien's chest. Yasir smiled to himself as the alien fell and looked for another target.
The Tau continued to attack, and they were weathering their casualties better than the squad in the trench. Already seven of the Guardsmen lay dead, while the Tau lines showed no sign of breaking. Yasir heard the boom of the Launcher and a missile exploded into the center of the Tau lines. The Fire Warriors standing there took several steps back and Yasir thought that they might be breaking when he saw them peel off and form up behind their comrades. The space they created was now occupied by an alien that Yasir had never seen before.
They were tall and black. They wore no armor, only ammo pouches and each had several black fins jetting off their head. They held simple looking rifles with blades on either end. These new aliens raised their weapons and fired. No sooner did Yasir realize that they were shooting pulse beams like the Fire Warriors, then they were charging them. The closest were already fifty meters away.
"Warp spawn!" Gazik cursed. "Kroot! Everybody, fall back, FALL BACK!" The remains of the squad didn't need further prodding, they turned and climbed up the back lip of the trench, a couple firing bursts over their shoulder as they made for the next trench. "Get to the next trench. Yasir! That includes you!" Yasir had been focusing on the new aliens, unaware that the rest of the squad had already broken contact. He turned around to see Gazik standing on the reverse edge of the trench. He jumped for the top, tossing his rifle up before him, and catching himself with his elbows. He lifted himself up and grabbed his lasgun, looking up just in time to see Gazik swing the chainsword at him.
Yasir ducked under the swing, and the chain-linked blades cut the air above his head. Yasir couldn't understand why Gazik had attacked him until he heard the blade cut into something solid. Yasir crawled out from under Gazik and stood, seeing Gazik finish cutting through one of the new aliens. He drew back the chainsword, and began walking backwards. Yasir brought up his lasgun and copied the Corporal. More of the Black Aliens were in the trench and they began climbing out after the Guardsmen. Yasir flipped his lasgun back to full auto and let off a burst into one that was climbing out of the trench, sending it back in head first. Another one came out of the trench at Gazik, wielding it's bladed rifle like a staff, and swinging for the Corporal's legs. Gazik hopped backwards and swung down, locking weapons at the edge of the rifle's blade. The surprised Alien looked up at Gazik and with a sneer, the Corporal punched the alien's face with his left fist. The black Xeno reared back, dropping his rifle and Gazik went for his auto pistol. He drew the pistol and leveled it at the black head. The metal bullet blew through the alien's head and it fell backwards into the trench. Yasir fired another burst into the mass of Xenos climbing out of the trench at them, but even as the shots hit, he saw more aliens entering the trench from the other side.
'We're done for.' Yasir thought as he ejected an empty magazine. He pulled another one from the pouch on his chest. Even as he pulled the metal rectangle out of the pouch, he saw more of the aliens climb out of the trench towards them. He began to place the magazine in the well when his hand slipped. The closest of the aliens swung it's rifle like a club, intending to impale his side on the curved blade on the end of it's rifle. Yasir abandoned trying to reload the weapon, and brought it across his body, deflecting the blade with his lasgun's bayonet. The alien swept the deflected barrel of the rifle over Yasir's head and brought the other end, which was also bladed, up towards the young Guardsmen's stomach. Yasir swept his lasgun back, this time, though, the blade caught it's self on the lasgun's buttstock. The blade stuck and Yasir yanked back, whipping the rifle from it's hands. With a scream, he raised the lasgun above his head and drove his bayonet into the Alien's chest. The Xeno began to convulse, and Yasir removed the blade and took a few steps back. Gazik had stepped back as well. The two Guardsmen found themselves fifteen meters from the next safe trench, and with more than a dozen of the black aliens about to rip them apart. The closest of the aliens jumped towards them, and was shot out of the air.
Both the guardsmen and the Aliens turned their heads to see an Imperial Sentinel walker. The Walker's multi-las wined and began spilling out red energy into the black group. In less than a minute, the entire group was dead. The Sentinel leaned forward, and through the thick glass windshield Yasir saw the vehicle's operator look at Gazik. The Operator brought his right hand up to his face in a salute. Gazik slowly returned the gesture, and the operator lowered his hand. The Sentinel turned towards the enemy and Yasir heard the sound of heavy mechanical footsteps, turning around just in time to see two more Sentinels charge past him. All three of the walkers charged forward in a wedge formation crossing the trench they had just left and making for the enemy.
'Sentinel's!' Yasir thought. 'By the Emperor, Sentinels!' A cheer went up from the trench behind them, and Yasir raised his fist and yelled as well. That was when the walkers exploded.
The fireball created from the three walkers kicked up an incredible amount of dirt, clouding the Imperial Machines from view. Yasir slowly lowered his hand as he heard heavy mechanical footsteps once more, but this time, the walker that the sound belonged to wasn't dark green. It was tan. The Battlesuit came into view before the dirt cloud had even settled. This one was bigger than any Battlesuit Yasir had ever seen. At least twenty feet tall and in place of the normal pulse gun or burst cannon, there were two massive weapons. The looked like the pulse rifles that the Fire Warriors used, but made for a giant. The battle suit stepped out of the cloud and stopped. It took a heavy step with one foot, then with the other, seemly rooting itself into the ground. The two massive weapons rotated to point up at an angle. With the same sound the pulse rifles make, only louder than Yasir had thought possible, the weapon fired. The young Guardsman traced the attack to the stairs and watch in horror as the Leman Russ Demolisher dug in there exploded. For the second time that day, Yasir felt Gazik's hand on his shoulder.
"We need to go NOW!" he yelled, pushing Yasir towards the trench the Imperium still held. The two Guardsmen closed the distance quickly, jumping into the trench that was only twenty feet from the stairs. "Who's in charge here?" Gazik asked, competing with the noise from the massive Battlesuit's guns. Yasir spotted a few of the Guardsmen from the last trench in this one, but most of the faces were new. They looked from Gazik to a man wielding a power saber and wearing a cap with silver Captain bars on it. Gazik approached the Officer. "Sir, we've got battle suit's and a lot of Fire Warriors moving up, and their using Kroot to get in close." The Officer looked at him and frowned.
"Kroot?" he asked more than said. "What do you mean, Kroot?" Yasir took the opportunity to reload his lasgun. Gazik shook his head and grabbed the Officer by the collar of his greatcoat. He drug the Captain up to the top of the trench and pointed to another trench forward of his position.
"There!" he said, indicating the Tan lines of Fire Warriors. The Tau soldiers were exchanging volley fire with the Guardsmen in the trench. Like before, the Aliens in the center of the formation peeled off and formed up behind their comrades. Just as before, The Black unarmored aliens filled the gap, bring their long rifles up to fire.
"What in the Emperor's name are those?" the Officer exclaimed, watching them charge the Imperial position. The Aliens closed with the trench and jumped in without fear. From their position, they could only see the bladed rifles swing and hear the human screams.
"Those," Gazik said gravely, "are Kroot. The Tau use them as close combat troops." The Officer was visibly taken back. From somewhere ahead, the massive Battlesuit fired another salvo. "Sir, we need to fall back, we don't have the numbers in the trenches to stop them. The Officer looked at Gazik, then at the men in the trench, then back towards the Tau lines.
"VOX MAN!" he yelled. "Get me a Vox Operator!" The call went down the trench and a gaunt faced Guardsman ran up from around a corner of the trench, a Vox Caster strapped to his back.
"Sir!" the Guardsman reported. The Officer looked towards the Tau forces a final time.
"Get a hold of the Basilisks." he ordered. "Have them prepare to fire on the trenches." The gaunt faced Guardsman starred at him with a look of confusion. "You heard me. Have them ready to fire when I give the order." The Guardsman began talking into in his Vox headset and the Captain turned to Gazik. "Corporal prepare the men to fall back to the stairs when-"
"Sir!" that call came from down the line. "Sir Tau soldiers in the frontline trenches!" The Officer nodded to Gazik and started down the line.
"All Troopers, fire at will, and focus on those black aliens." The Greatcoat clad men all stood above the trench line, releasing red bolts of energy at the aliens. The Tau, Yasir saw, were using the Imperium's own trenches for cover, returning fire with their pulse rifles. Yasir spied an unhelmented one giving orders. Breathing the way Gazik had told him to, Yasir aimed down his sights and squeezed the trigger. He didn't see where the bolt hit, but the blue head jerked back and dropped below the trench line.
'At least,' Yasir thought, 'I'm getting better at this.'
~/~/~
Gazik was the first one to spot the Kroot. The black fins giving them away even behind the Fire Warriors. "Sir!" He called.
"I see them. First Squad, shift fire to the Kroot. Heavy Weapons, suppressive fire on the rest of the Tau. Everyone else, prepare to fall back to…the…Stairs…" The Captain's voice trailed off as a sound like air rushing towards them broke through the gunfire and he saw something even worse than the Kroot break through the Tau lines.
That is to say, the Tau Gunships flew in. passing barely ten feet over the heads of the Fire Warriors, their sides brimming with missiles. No sooner had they cleared the smoke, then the missile pods opened up, releasing their deadly payload onto the trench line. Yasir watched them walk the missiles up the line, exploding as they hit and sending the grey clad men near the explosions flying. Looking back at the Gunships, he realized too late that another was targeting him. Yasir froze as he watched a missile fly into the ground twenty feet from him. The last thing he would remember would be the sensation of being lifted into the air.
~/~/~
Yasir slowly opened his eyes. He began to move, but found it difficult, his chest and arms sore. As he began to sit up, he cringed from a massive headache. He rubbed his head in attempt to relieve the pain and took in his surroundings. He had been laying on the floor of a small room, much like the one he and Gazik had been in on the eve of the invasion. He saw a few other Guardsmen and spotted the Sniper looking out a window, the Commissar's chainsword in a makeshift holster in his belt. He glanced over his shoulder at him.
"Good, your up." he said, "I was beginning to wonder if pulling you from the trench was the right decision." Yasir shook his head.
"What happened? Where are we?" Gazik snorted and pointed an accusing finger at him.
"You got really friendly with a Tau rocket. You've been out for nearly two days." Yasir rubbed his head again. "Once the Gunships showed up," Gazik continued. "it was over. I dragged you out of the trench and over to this building. The Tau broke through, destroyed damn near the whole company." Yasir noticed the Gaunt Faced Guardsmen from before fumbling with his Vox-caster. He stood and approached the window.
"So then this puts us-" Yasir began.
"Behind their lines. Correct." Gazik finished. Yasir reached the window and looked out into the street.
From the window they had a view of the trenches and the bottom of the stairs. The Tau had mostly moved on, but there were still some of the black aliens that Gazik called Kroot wandering about. Yasir watched one climb out of the trench, pulling a dead Guardsman behind him. Clear of the trench, the Kroot knelt down next to the body, and began eating him. Yasir recoiled back in disgust, but Gazik didn't move.
"Kroot evolve by ingesting their enemies." Gazik said unemotionally, "On Saria they had eaten some of the flying wildlife and were growing wings." Yasir still felt sick.
"What would they want from humans?" he asked. Gazik shook his head.
"Could be anything, our immune system, our senses, hair." Yasir shook his head again and turned away from the window. "Any luck?" Gazik asked the Vox-Man.
"No Corporal, The Vox is fine, but it's like my signal's being jammed." Gazik nodded.
"Doesn't surprise me. Tau know how to jam our Vox's. We've stayed here long enough. If we can't make radio contact then we better get moving if we want to get back to the Imperial lines." Gazik said, turning away from the window and making for the door. "Tau move fast when on the attack." Yasir found his lasgun next to the spot he'd been in and swapped out the power packs. For some reason, as he followed Gazik and the three other men out of the room, he wondered what ever happened to the rest of the fleet that had left before the Tau ships had arrived.