Edits made: Number of Tau troops
Colour of Grey Knight's cape.
O'Shovah's battle plans and war cries.
Removed Author's Notes
Chapter 7 – Rocky Defence
As they were led through the facility with Jakob as their guide whilst passing by Tau personnel as they went about their daily business, Krystal, Katt and Falco studied the design and architecture of the facility's walls and technology. While the Imperium's was that of a somewhat neo-Gothic palette, the Tau appeared to be that of technological mecha.
Noticing what they were doing, Jakob smiled and asked, "What do you think of the decor?"
Falco shrugged, "Heh, no different than the endless hallways and corridors back at the Cornerian Army HQ."
Jakob frowned, "I sense sarcasm, Lombardi."
Katt smirked, "You better get used to it. With Falco, sixty percent of what comes out of his beak is either sarcasm, cynicism or a disturbing mix of both."
"Gee, thanks," Falco rolled his eyes, "Nicely put, Katt."
Krystal looked with slight disbelief at both the feline and the avian. She was both amazed, and uncomfortable, about the fact that even though Corneria was being made uninhabitable with each passing second and that Fox was lying grievously injured in the infirmary they can still find ways to humour themselves, despite everything going to Hell around them.
She thought reasonably, 'I guess you have to keep your spirits up in these times of 'peace.''
"Jakob?"
"Yes, Krystal?"
"Where are we, anyway?"
Jakob looked over his shoulder, "We're on board the 'Infinity', it's an 'Explorer' class starship, built for observation, data-collecting and, of course, exploration."
"And where are we exactly?" Falco added, "I didn't notice we left the planet when you put us into the hold of a dropship along with a heater and some doonas."
"We're underground, Lombardi," Jakob explained, narrowing his eyes as he felt Falco's mouth beginning to wear him down already, "We've hidden the ship beneath the sands, seeing as how the surface is hostile even to us."
Katt avoided bumping into a Tau engineer, before asking, "How many of you guys are here?"
"Two-hundred Earth Caste scientists, engineers and technicians," Jakob explained furthered, "With one-hundred Air Caste pilots and air crews keeping this ship running. We also have ten Water Caste diplomats on board. And all of them are supported by a Hunter Cadre of five-hundred Fire Caste Warriors, including myself."
"You know that can be considered overkill," Falco chided, "I didn't think you need to bring a small army to 'observe, data-collect and, oh of course, explore.'"
Jakob chuckled, "Overkill? I agree with you. The five-hundred Fire Warriors I mentioned along with me are part of Aun'shi's personal guard as we scoured the universe for the Farsight Enclaves, which consists of two-hundred of his Shovah's own loyal guard."
Falco's eyes widened, "Holy shit! So there's really two companies of troops on this trip?"
Katt's was shocked, 'Of course. I should have known. Commander Farsight was an outcast, along with his forces. Why would the Empire risk sending one of their highest to find him?'
"Anyway we figured the denizens of Lylat were still at each others throats following Venom's and Corneria's civil wars. And of the suspected Imperial activity going on here, which we assume no longer exists. You'll understand why we had to bring the little extra muscle."
"Instead we have the Forces of Chaos drenching this system in our blood," Krystal pointed out grimly, "The same people who probably masterminded Venom's last insurrection."
Jakob looked over his shoulder again at Krystal, "Is…is that so?"
Krystal still couldn't believe that this was even happening. The death of Andrew Oikonny, the devastation of the Venomian Remnants and the destruction of the last Chaos Temple plus the Daemon Gate should have been the end of it. She remembered those words she thought that night when Jacques parted from her once again.
Thank you, Jacques. You've guaranteed the future.
Now, there possibly wasn't any future to be guaranteed now. Jakob noticed Krystal silence, where suddenly he stopped, and they found themselves standing before the door into the infirmary. One could easily tell that it was a place of healing with what appeared to be a medical symbol was hanging above the door.
The door opened and they stepped in, where they found ROB at Fox's side, where the robot was standing by his bed and looking down at the sleeping vulpine. Krystal was overjoyed at seeing her Fox was still alive. Not even a rod through the chest can bring Fox McCloud himself down, which was what she thought.
ROB turned their way and said, "Greetings. It would appear you had survived the downing of the Great Fox II."
Falco smiled and patted ROB on the shoulder, "Same to you buddy."
He then looked down at Fox.
"What's the deal with him?"
"Vital signs are stable," ROB informed all within earshot, "It would appear he had been operated on in order to remove the metre-long refrigerator handle from his chest cavity."
"Yeah, we were quick about it," Jakob admitted, "That's why we rushed him ahead of you guys and yanked it out just in time. Though, we had to crack his chest open a bit to get to it properly."
"Well we're sure Fox'll like to thank you once he wakes up," Katt grinned, before she seriously asked, "Which is in?"
Fox coughed out loud, startling them. He painfully opened his eyes, instantly fixing his gaze on Krystal, where he smiled painfully and stretched his hand forward towards her. Krystal accepted it, where she got on his knees down to his level and grasped his hand, as if he would he die if she were to ever let go.
"Hey," Fox said painfully, "How's…?"
"Don't speak, Fox," Krystal said, caressing his forehead gently, "You're ok, now. The Tau are taking care of you."
Fox's smiled faded as he suddenly remembered through his chest pains, "Tau? Corneria?"
Krystal's eyes downcast followed by Katt and Falcos. Though Jakob felt nothing towards the loss of Fox's homeworld, his eyes still revealed a slight tinge of sympathy.
"I…don't think there is anything we can do now," Krystal admitted, where she sighed painfully, "Unless…"
She turned to Jakob, he was slightly taken back at seeing the vixen's blue eyes penetrating through his exterior and into his soul. Falco howeve didn't achieve the same effect, as he also looked his way as well.
"Yeah, unless you guys decide to give us a hand while you're out here 'on research,'" Falco chided, adding emphasis on the last two words of his sentence.
Jakob scratched the back of his head as he eyed Falco sternly, before he replied, "We agreed to help you along your way and that's all, not take on the Forces of Chaos. I hate to say it but once you're out of our hands…"
He looked down at Fox, where his sympathy returned.
"…I'm afraid that you're all on your own."
Falco narrowed his eyes with contempt, "That's pretty harsh, Jakob. And may I officially add unfair?"
Jakob shrugged, "Besides, I don't think Aun'shi and O'Shovah is gonna go with trying to liberate a potential Blood Shrine that used to be a planet and get themselves killed in the process. Though we always strive to serve the Greater Good…"
He continued with a sigh.
"…throwing ourselves before a entire army of blood-crazed Cultists is not the way to buy our tickets to a united universe. Besides, O'Shovah's still on bad terms with the Ethereal Caste and sees war as not the perfect way to gain their favour."
Overwhelmed at what Jakob had just said, Katt muttered, "Fair enough, Jakob."
----------
"I think this time you have really lost your mind, Shas'O Shovah!"
Aun'shi looked at the mecha-clad commander as if he was crazy, before anger built up within the Ethereal councillor that O'Shovah and the Ethereal Chamber's guards swore they could feel the heat of it emitting from him.
"You have us fight the Forces of Chaos entrenched in this part of the universe?" Aun'shi asked again, "The Ethereals sent me to find you and your Enclaves and to bring you all back to T'au in time for you to explain your actions, not to wage war on the Forces of Chaos. We will all die following the first battle's end."
Within the darkness and the cold of his specially modified battlesuit, O'Shovah frowned despite the Ethereal not being able to see it. He argued, "Councillor, from within the confines of this suit I have worn for hundreds of years, I can hear the screams and cries of torment of these innocent people through my communication systems. I can not stand idly by and listen to any more death."
"And you plan to do this by charging Chaos head on?" Aun'shi asked, "And banish your only chance of redemption in our eyes?"
"If that's what it takes," O'Shovah responded, "As we are the Farsight Enclaves. And for the Greater Good, we must save the Lylatians from the twisted servants of Chaos. Only then can they be brought into the fold."
"What makes you think they would want to be governed by us?" Aun'shi demanded, "I've known Lylatians to be quite aggressive when it comes to forging alliance with those outside of their piece of the universe."
"They would have no choice but to become part of the Empire if they want to survive," O'Shovah reasoned calmly, "With the destruction of Lylat's capital world their government system will soon collapse. They will see us as well as the Greater Good as a blessing from the Heavens, rather than enforcement on their wills."
Aun'shi crossed his arms, "And you plan to start with these few Lylatians which are roaming around within our halls?"
"Yes," O'Shovah replied, "I would imagine that they feel as if they have nothing left now, especially the Cerinian girl. I noticed right away that she may be the last of her stock, following Cerinia's unfortunate demise."
"Do not even think of making me sympathise with her loss," Aun'shi growled slightly, "I do not plan to have myself killed fighting for a system which is now more or less teetering on the brink of complete and total destruction by Chaos. I tire of war, Shovah, and this is the last we shall speak of the subject…Commander."
As Aun'shi turned to leave the chamber, O'Shovah called out, "Medusa V was rough on all of us, Ethereal."
The councillor froze in his steps, hearing the name of that cursed world, which he remembered quite vividly of that now dead planet. Where months before it's destruction from a massive Warp Storm they had sent an expedition force under Aun'T'Pel to collect information on the Warpm, the main source of the Imperial's so-called mystical powers, as well as the fuel for the Forces of Chaos.
Whilst they had established a massive presence on the planet through their secret research facilities it was ultimately a disaster. As they had found out it was nothing more than a massive battlefield.
As Aun'shi remembered, all of this was just months ago. Space Marines, Imperial Guard, Eldar, Dark Eldar, Orks, Chaos, Necrons and Tyranids were all fighting on that dying rock. Each for their own reasons, which the Tau gradually came to realise some time after barely escaping the planet with the data they collected.
The oppressive Imperials to evacuate their people and to finally stop Chaos on it's own ground.
The mysterious Eldar to make sure their Webway Wraith Gates were sealed from the spread of Chaos.
The hedonistic fallen Dark Eldar to enslave as many poor souls as they could to bring back to their mysterious home world to use as torture slaves.
The savage Orks were just passing by when their Space Hulk has broke down. Whilst they had been repairing it, they decided to just grab a piece of the fighting, and they fought as hard and as merciless as any Ork before them.
For the evil Forces of Chaos, it was to transform the planet into a Daemon World, where it would have made an excellent staging point for more attacks on the Imperium, and quite possibly Terra itself.
The undead Necrons, as always, to harvest the souls of all those on the planet, whilst at the same time trying to halt the coming Warp Storm.
The vile Tyranids had come to strip the planet clean and to absorb something called the Death Leaper's genetic code.
Through all of this massive conflict, the Imperium emerged the victors as they smashed the others factions, and especially the Forces of Chaos. The Tau had managed to escape with most of their lives, where many humans had decided to join the Empire, but not before inadvertently leaving some of their comrades to die on the planet. After this, Earth Caste scientists dictated the further research into the Warp would be unfeasible. It was that they had been clearly shaken by the loss of their closest friends and protectors.
Aun'shi exhaled, glancing over his shoulder at O'Shovah, "Your point being?"
"Do not let our failure to grasp the Warp and other complicated subjects affect your judgement, councillor," Shovah reasoned, "Besides Chaos will not stop once Lylat is under their control, and it would seem the Imperium has no idea that this is happening right now."
Aun'shi's eyes widened as he realised the truth, "If the Imperium is destroyed, we will be next."
----------
With alarms going off all around them and equipped with their notoriously outdated yet powerful and mutated weaponry, the Chaos Marines flooded the narrow hallway as they made their way towards the hangars of the Repulsive cruiser. The sounds of their own heavy metal boots impacting with the floor mixed with the messages spewing forth from the P.A. system.
All for Chaos, All for Chaos. Everything in this universe belongs to Chaos. For the Dark Gods: Khorne, Nurgle, Tzeentch, and Slaanesh. We of the Alpha Legion, Chaos' silent Hydra, shall win this day, or we are damned to face the Despoiler's wrath.
The Chaos Lord Ezekiel was waiting for his legions, alongside the Sorcerer Artemis. He smiled as they each stood to attention. Ezekiel saw that every ten Marines led by a single Champion. His scythe glowed with deadly, crimson energy. He raised his weapon into the air, where he inhaled sharply, where he stood ready to inspire his men.
"Ever since our formation at the beginning, we have not been given the respect and awe we so thoroughly deserve," Ezekiel boomed, "Unlike the other cowardly legions who fled into the Eye, we stood our ground and elected to continue fighting the injustice. And that is the Imperium and the False Emperor, the ones who stand between the Gods and our path to glory."
The Traitor Marines all begun to feel uncomfortable as they felt their impatience begin to rise and their blood boil just by standing here and listening to their lord continue. But just out of obligation they listened on, unaware by what he would say would draw their applause.
"We are the Hydra of the Traitor Legions. Our enemy may cut off one of our heads, but will we always keep fighting. We have proven that time and time again we have always returned from the brink of oblivion to deliver death to the Loyalist scum. Now we finally have the chance to gain the favour of the Gods once and for all."
The Marines listened on…
"We must ascertain the last daughter of Cerinia, the Crown Princess of that dreaded blue planet Cerinia. The Gods will grant us the power and vengeance we crave once we spill her blood upon the Despoiler's Alter. And then…"
He smiled wickedly.
"…we, the Alpha Legion, shall be reviled the true bringers of the universe's END!"
The Chaos troops of the Alpha Legion suddenly all cheered loudly and wildly. They raised their clenched fists into the air as they chanted out loud the chapter's alternative battle cry at the top of their lungs…
"Hydra Dominatus. Hydra Dominatus! HYDRA DOMINATUS!"
----------
Jakob, Falco, Katt and Krystal remained in the infirmary long after Fox had fallen back asleep, where Krystal didn't want to leave his side and the others were fine by it. They had each pulled chairs up and were sitting some distance away from Fox's bed. Except Krystal, who sat by Fox's bed, holding his hand in hers.
"So what's your story, Jakob?" Katt asked, sitting down legs crossed on her chair.
"Huh?" Jakob queried, "My 'story'?"
Falco smiled slightly, "Why is that you're the only human we've sent amongst this gang of blue-skinned pacifists with weird accents?"
Jakob's eyes widened, before he scratched the back of his head and replied, "I'm a auxiliary of the Tau Empire, a Gue'vesa. That mean's 'human helper.' Hundreds of years ago my ancestors were abandoned following the outcome of an ill-fated Imperial Guard campaign, the Damocles Gulf Crusade. They were offered a choice by Shas'O Shovah, AKA Commander Farsight."
He looked at both the feline and the avian with seriousness.
"Join the Tau and become part of the Greater Good, or live out the rest of their existences as Prisoners of War."
"I'll assume they choice Option A?" Falco queried smartly.
Jakob frowned, "Most did. The others weren't keen on abandoning the religion that was shoved down their throats at birth and spent the rest of their lives in those damn 're-education camps.'"
"So technically you're not Imperial born," Katt dictated.
Jakob held back the laughter, where he instead chuckled mirthlessly, "Heh, you crazy? The Imperials hate the Tau's guts, and especially the Gue'vesa, which they like to call traitors in the eyes of the so-called God-Emperor of Humanity. I think there's no harm in telling you that…"
He sighed, before he peered in close to Falco and Katt and narrowed his eyes in a mean way. Krystal's head jolted up with interest upon hearing all that and looked over her shoulder, seeing that both Falco and Katt started to feel uncomfortable.
"If I ever see any other human that flies the Imperial colours, I will immediately bring hell down on him," Jakob swore, "The Imperium is the worst thing to ever happen to the universe."
Krystal shook her head, "That isn't true, Jakob."
All eyes turned to her, where Jakob's eyebrows queered, "Huh?"
She smiled sadly, turned her seat away from Fox, and faced the group, "There's this one human who was part of our team, you would have liked him a lot. He had always believed that all forms of life can coexist as one, and the way he fought to save everybody in Lylat proves his point."
Jakob crossed his arms and smiled, "I'm starting to like this guy already. What's his name?"
"Jacques Jeán Mortensen of the Ultramarines," Krystal answered with finality, "My spiritual brother."
Jakob's smile faded and his eyes widened, where for moment he couldn't make his mouth work. When he did he asked, "Did you say 'Mortensen?'"
"Yes," Krystal nodded, when her eyes flared up and she queried suddenly, "Why? Do you know him?"
Jakob quickly shook his head and hesitantly responded, "No, sorry. I…I…that name just surprised me, that's all."
Falco smiled, "Yeah, I was surprised that anyone would want to go through life with a name like that. It sounds too...pompous."
"I reckon that name oozes with nobility and vigilance," Katt cut in, a quaint smile on her face, "And I'm sure J.J. was those things and hell of a lot more."
Krystal's eyes narrowed, where she asked with slight contempt, "Was?"
Katt quickly shut her mouth, where she squeaked embarrassingly, "Sorry, Krys. I didn't mean it that way."
Jakob looked at both young women with curiosity, where he then noticed Krystal looking at him with a questioned look, probably how he stuttered over hearing the name of the Space Marine, as if he did know him. He then suddenly noticed the vixen starting to feel uncomfortable, before she suddenly gasped out loud and caught the attention of the others. She then wrapped her arms around herself as she suddenly felt coldness engulf her and making her hair stand on end.
"Krystal?" Jakob questioned, "What's wrong?"
"It's Chaos!" she exclaimed shivering, "They're here!"
Falco groaned, "Shit. Are you sure?"
Alarms begun to sound off outside the infirmary, as well as the sounds of heavy footsteps from the others Fire Warriors as they passed by the door. Jakob got up from his seat and spun towards to the door, where he immediately felt beads of sweat roll down his face at the thought of the Ruinous Powers of Chaos. The others could tell he was scared, and were surprised at how he could hide it from them.
They then sensed him sucking down his fear, as determination crossed his face before he grabbed his helmet off a nearby medical table and put in on. He turned to the others, whom just sat there and looked up at him curiously.
"If it's the mad Cultists of Chaos we're gonna be up against, we could use the extra hands," Jakob reasoned with them, "Or should that be paws?"
Falco nodded and stood up, "You got it, man."
"Same here," Katt got up and announced, "Give me a weapon and we'll give them Hell."
They turned to Krystal, who had managed to relax herself and control her senses. She nodded slowly and stood up, calmly putting the seat back near Fox.
"O'Shovah will probably be expecting us in the war room," Jakob said, "So we better double-time it."
"Lead the way," Krystal said.
They ran towards the door, where Krystal stopped in her tracks. She looked back at Krystal and slowly walked back towards him, the others watching her slowly and surprisingly. She got on one knee next to Fox, where she grasped one of her hands in his. Jakob watched curiously as she moved her face forwards and kissed Fox gently on the forehead.
"Get well soon, Fox," Krystal whispered into his ear, before smiling gently and stepping over to the door, where they left the infirmary and Fox.
He immediately opened his eyes painfully, noticing the door into the room closing.
"Krystal," he said softly.
----------
Aun'shi stepped into the control room of the Infinity explorer craft, where immediately he was greeted by a hologram of the ship which projected in the centre of the room. The ship itself was radically different than any other craft outside the Lylat system, where the mecha design was evident on it. Several plasma batteries were built into it's hull, as well as two Ion Cannon situated on the front of the craft. And true to Jakob's word, the ship was buried beneath the surface of the planet.
The long, tall slender Air Caste personnel stood up in the presence of the Ethereal, where Aun'shi waved his hand downwards and the crew sat back down, except for the captain of the ship.
"What is the meaning of this?" Aun'shi asked roughly, "Why is the Infinity placed on full alert?"
"Our sensors have detected a singular large Chaos starship in orbit above the planet," replied the captain known as Kor'vash, "What appears to be enemy dropships are descending from the ship and down towards the planet. They don't appear to be headed for us, however."
"It would seem they are searching for our guests," Aun'shi ruled out, "I might have known."
O'Shovah stepped into the control room and said, "We must prepare our forces immediately if we are to survive the day's end, Ethereal. It would only be a matter of time before they detect us beneath their feet."
"Just what I was unfortunately thinking, Commander Farsight," Aun'shi responded bluntly, "You and your Enclaves can handle them. My own guard will stay behind to protect the ship. But if it will do any good, I will dispatch my battlesuits, vehicles and Pathfinders to help clear the way for you."
"Of course, Councillor," O'Shovah replied, where he turned to the Air Caste personnel, "Keep the plasma engines and vectors on stand by in case we need to make a speedy departure from this world."
"Yes Shas'O," the Air Caste all replied as one.
----------
Jakob, Falco, Katt and Krystal were the last to arrive at the large into the war room, where a singular guard stood watch, where he stepped in front of the group, much to their surprise.
"Farsight Enclaves only," the guard announced, raising his hand in front of Falco's face, before turning to Jakob with a smile on his flat, blue face, "Gue'vesa Shas'la Jakob. You and your team have been assigned to this operation, hence you must be present for this briefing."
"Yeah," Jakob moved his eyes over at the Lylatians and said, "I think the Lylatians have a right to be present, seeing as how Chaos is here for them."
"Sorry, Gue'vesa," the guard argued sharply, "I was given strict orders from Ethereal Councillor Aun'shi himself to…"
He stopped talking and quickly stood to attention when he saw O'Shovah standing behind the group, where they spun around and were greeted by the mecha-clad commander. Somehow they could feel the soul within that armour stare down at them, evident in it's glowing eyes as it zoomed in on them, the sounds of machinery being heard.
"La'Jakob is correct, Shas'la," O'Shovah spoke with finality, "Let them pass and be part of the plan."
The Shas'la nodded, before stepping aside and allowing the door to open sideways. They all went through and were immediately greeted by the two hundred Farsight Enclave members in what appeared to be a small arena with a speaker podium in the centre. Instead of the previous Fire Warriors they had encountered with their yellow suits, these warriors were equipped in red-coloured suits and armed with what appeared to be wristblades. The Fire Warriors had their helmets off as they conversed with one another, before being silent as O'Shovah, Jakob and the Star Fox members made themselves known.
"Farsight Enclaves, all rise in the presence of Shas'O Shovah," the Shas'ui all sounded off together.
The Fire Caste all stood from their seats and placed their palms over their hearts in a salute, where Jakob stepped over towards his Pathfinder squad and did the same. Krystal and the others felt awkward, standing next to O'Shovah as he received their salutes. The Fire Caste all lowered their hands.
"Be seated, brothers."
The Shas'la all sat down as O'Shovah made his way down the walkway towards the centre, leaving Krystal, Katt and Falco standing there by the doorway. Falco took the hint and leaned against the wall next to the door, arms crossed. The girls got comfortable standing up as well, seeing as how none of the other Fire Warriors is going to give up their seat.
O'Shovah reached the centre of the 'arena' and stood at the podium, making sure that his suit's audio speakerphone channels were adjusted and set so that all around him can listen to what he had to say. And he had to say a lot, the news of which was grave indeed.
"Fire Warriors of the Farsight Enclaves," the renegade Fire Caste Commander begun, "We are faced with a dire event that we are unfortunate not to have foreseen before coming here to Lylat on our never-ending quest for knowledge and virtue."
Falco rolled his eyes, which Krystal and Katt noticed, 'Here we go.'
"It would seem that the Forces of Chaos, the mad Cultists spawned from within the Eye of Terror itself, have gained a foothold here in the Lylat System. If I, and the Ethereal Councillor, did not know any better it would seem that the evil one himself has decided to direct his next Black Crusade here."
'Black Crusade?' Krystal thought alarmed, 'Against Lylat? That's…that's pure madness!'
"I have not yet decided whether we should stand our ground here in this system and against the Despoiler himself, and the fallen Space Marine legions under his command, but it would seem we would have no choice. As I speak to you right now, a company of Chaos Marines is descending towards the planet surface, intent on hunting down our Lylatian guests."
They all looked over their shoulders at the Lylatian standing near the doorway, where Katt instinctively waved gently and smiled. As they faced the front again, some Shas'la shuffled uncomfortably in their seats, while others begun gripping their weapons protectively and to themselves. Some more felt slight fear and uncertainty wash over them, where they had not expected to fight the dreaded Forces of Chaos themselves, only being told before leaving their place of birth that they would be going on a mission of knowledge, not that of war or conquest.
"As I have said I have not decided whether we should stand our ground and come to the aid of the Lylatians in repelling Chaos," O'Shovah repeated himself, then continued, "But we must engage the Cultists once they land here on the planet. That would be the correct course of action as they would immediately come down upon us if we try to unearth the ship and leave now."
Krystal nodded in agreement and said softly, "Of course, even though they would pursue us to the ends of the universe."
"We have engaged Chaos before on many fronts," O'Shovah continued, "They may be able to wield the unseen power known as the Warp, but they are still flesh and blood. Flesh can be torn apart and blood can be spilled."
He paused for a moment, letting his words sink into his people's minds.
"We will engage the Chaos forces as we always have: Both at range and in melee. All Pathfinder squads will be equipped with rail rifles and provide our main ground force with cover, where Battlesuits and Hammerheads will support our warriors. Any questions?"
Silence came down upon the Tau.
"We will deploy a team of our own Stealth Suits to pinpoint the landing zone and position of the Chaos forces. Afterwards we shall deploy with a selection Aun'shi's own armoured weapons and elite Pathfinder Team, where will see to it they can never harm existence ever again," O'Shovah said, "You all have fifteen minutes to be ready, while our point team will be deployed in five minutes."
"HEY!"
O'Shovah's mechanical head jerked up and faced the back, as did all the other Fire Warriors, where they along with Katt and Krystal saw that Falco had just called out at the top of his lungs. Now that he got the attention he needed…
"Mind if we tag along?" he called out, "We've got a score to settle with those rotting meat in rusted tin-cans."
Jakob smiled from his seat, where he put his hand up and called out, "I think we should include them in our initial attack, commander. Besides, I believe a few extra guns wouldn't hurt."
"It never does," O'Shovah agreed, sounding smirk, "Be ready for the combat, brothers. For the Greater Good!"
"FOR THE GREATER GOOD!" all the Tau in the chamber responded in a massive cheer.
----------
The Chaos Thunderhawks touched down behind the steel wall, on the asphalt of the ruined, long forgotten Cornerian base, which was nearly a small town in itself with it's large number of structures ranging from barracks to supply silos to vehicle garages. Already there were troops and vehicles on the ground, Chaos Marines and Cultists, running about as they prepped themselves into formation, led by the Aspiring Champions, whose power sword and chainswords were thirsty for blood.
The mobile armour consisted of the demoniacally possessed crab-like Defilers, Dreadnoughts, each of them wielding a mutated left 'arm' as well as the standard weaponry including a flame-thrower and a lascannon, and Predator tanks, equipped with Warp-infushed lascannons and side-bolters.
Chaos Lord Ezekiel and the Sorcerer Artemis stepped off one of the Thunderhawk; immediately all of the Chaos forces stood to attention. Immediately an aspiring champion stepped up to the Chaos Lord; got on his knees and bowed his head.
"My lord," the champion grovelled, "We have detected an unknown anomaly two miles north from our position."
"That would be the Cerinian," Ezekiel grinned, "If she think she can hide from us on this fleck of sand they call Titania, she is gravely mistaken."
He frowned and looked over at the Marines and Cultists standing before him.
"Bring her back to me, alive," the Chaos Lord ordered, "And preferably intact. If not, I'll make you all eat your champions."
The champion's pupils all diluted, where one of the Cultists let out a slight gulp.
"NOW GET TO IT!" Ezekiel ordered.
And with that about fifty Marines and about a hundred Cultists piled into the Rhino transports, which supported by three tanks and two Defilers, drove out of the abandoned base and into the sandy wilderness. Unaware from a cliff face overlooking the base, a team of five black-coloured XV15 Stealth Suits armed with heavy burst cannons watched them carefully.
"This spells trouble, brothers," one of the stealth suit's reasoned, adjusting his vision to zoom out from the deadly convoy as it drove towards, then under, their position, "I stand corrected."
"They are heading the Infinity's way," another suit replied, "We have to warn them immediately."
----------
Discomfort was evident on Krystal's face as she, Katt, Falco and Jakob once again were walking through the hallways of the starship, with Jakob in the lead. Falco quickly noticed this and tapped her shoulder.
"What's up?" he asked, "You've got that weird look again."
She frowned and replied, "Must be because Chaos is only a couple of miles from us and can probably sense me here."
Jakob looked over his shoulder, "Hang on. We haven't heard from our scouts if the Cultists have us in their sights."
They suddenly froze when the public announcement system was active…
This is Point Squad Vior'la reporting. Chaos has landed two miles north from the Infinity, and has deployed an armoured convoy, possibly heading towards your position. Please make a note of it, over and out.
Jakob nodded, "That's our cue. You guys better load if you plan to send them to their long-overdue graves."
"The armoury, then?" Katt asked, hands on her hips.
"Where I'm leading you," Jakob responded, "Let's go."
They stepped through the next door to the left of the hallway and into a room completely stuffed with state-of-the-art, high-tech armaments, which was unlike the Cornerian weapon and radically different than to what the Imperium had to offer. Falco nodded his head softly, smirking gently.
What he next said drew weird looks from those around him, "Let's shop."
Falco stepped forward and grabbed a pulse rifle of a rack, which he studied carefully. Katt followed suit, where she grabbed a plasma rifle and held it firmly in their hands. Jakob smiled and crossed his arms.
"You'll find that those are good weaponry," he pointed out, "They have none of the flaws of either the Imperial or your standard Cornerian arms."
"Yeah, I'm sure," Falco responded, where he slapped a clip into the rifle.
Krystal frowned slightly and stepped back; Jakob turned her way.
"Problems?" he asked.
"Yes," Krystal replied, unsure, "Normally I fight usually armed with a…"
Jakob's eyes widened, where he slapped his own head, "Damn, am I stupid. Here…I think this…"
He reached into a storage compartment built into his leg armour, where he pulled out Krystal's retracted staff.
"…. I think this belongs to you. I found it earlier on board your ship, but I forgot to hand it over to you.
Krystal smiled appreciatively as she accepted the staff, which protracted in her hands and causing Jakob to duck slightly. Krystal cringed, where she retracted her deadly weapon and sheathed it on the back of her blue body suit.
"Thank you, Jakob," Krystal said kindly, "For a minute I thought it was lost forever."
"Really?"
"Yes," she nodded, "A friend gave it to me. A dear friend."
"Oh, and also before I forgot…"
Jakob suddenly clapped his hands loudly, where immediately faint buzzing could be heard, before what appeared to be steel cage bursted open behind Katt and startled him. Three floating disc-like robots each armed with a pair of plasma carbines equipped underneath them emerged and floated before the group. Katt and Falco stepped back some.
Gun Drones ready for deployment. For the Greater Good!
"Relax," Jakob smiled, "These are Gun Drones, automated weapon platforms designed to accompany the Fire Warriors into battle. They have possibly the most advanced AI in the entire universe and are voice operated."
"Is that so?" Falco snided, "They don't look like much."
Alert! Alert! Negativity from loudmouthed avian detected! Engaging…The drones then suddenly beeped violently at Falco, where one rammed itself into his gut, knocking the wind out of him and startling him immensely. Jakob smirked and crossed his arms, where he shook his head softly and closed his eyes, trying not to laugh but failing in that.
"Careful, Lombardi," Jakob insisted laughingly, "They have very fragile feelings."
"Yeah…sure," Falco stammered as he held his gut, "I'll…remember…that…fuck me that's smart."
Just as both Krystal and Katt stifled back giggles, more alarms could be heard outside the armoury, which was their cue to step out armed with the Tau weaponry and back into the hallway, just as Fire Warrior were matching down the wide corridor. They awkwardly joined in the long march through the ship, where they next found themselves in what appeared to be a large motor pool.
"Whoa," Katt spoke softly, eyes widened and overwhelmed at what as before them.
Long rows of about ten battlesuits and another ten heavy XV-88 Broadsuit battlesuits stood before them. The Broadsuits were notably armed with heavier weapons including plasma cannons and shoulder-mounted missile launchers. Ten powerful Hammerhead tanks were also stationed here, being refuelled and maintained by the Earth Caste technicians and engineers, who was also directing the chosen Fire Warriors towards the suits and helping them into these powerful pieces of ordinance.
All Fire Caste personnel prepare for immediate engagement, the announcement system sounded off, Chaos cultists en-route to our position. Prepare to send these abominations back to whence they came from…Hell. For the Greater Good!
The Fire Warriors, accompanied by a dozen Gun Drones not including the Lylatian's drones, marched through the motor pool towards these massive doors at the end of the pool. It slowly opened for them, revealing what appeared to be a massive elevator shaft. Katt, Krystal, Falco and Jakob stepped onto the lift alongside about a hundred other Fire Warriors, where the doors then slowly begun to close, sealing them in.
"Er…where exactly are we?" Falco questioned.
"We're in the main elevator to the top of the Infinity," Jakob's Shas'ui responded, "In other words…the surface area."
They looked up the long shaft to see the ceiling doors open slowly, revealing the red-orange sky and sand brewing over the shaft. The Fire Warriors felt the pits of their stomach vibrate slightly as the machinery worked the elevator upwards ascend upwards on the elevator, gradually feeling Solar itself shine it's rays down on them. Soon they found themselves on the surface…or what appeared to be the surface.
Katt looked down at her feet, surprised that it felt like she standing on steel, yet what she was seeing was the sand. They stepped off the elevator, where the elevator descended downwards to transport the next one hundred to the surface. She, like her friends, was surprised to find that O'Shovah was waiting for them; his weapons armed and ready.
"Like I said, Monroe," O'Shovah expressed, "The ship remains hidden beneath the sands."
Krystal looked around, seeing that they were in the centre in what appeared to be an old, abandoned mining base, situated on a cliff. And that the ship had somehow dug itself beneath the base despite the buildings foundations.
"We deployed these pretender building constructions ourselves," O'Shovah clarified, noticing Krystal's puzzled expression, "Just as an added precaution."
She nodded, "I should have guessed."
"Burying yourself in a mountain wasn't enough?" Falco asked, cynically.
"How do you think we got past your border defences?" Jakob responded with his own question, where he then bragged, "Our stealth technology is the best in the entire universe."
"No doubt," Katt emphasised, "No doubt about that."
----------
'I don't believe this,' Fox thought as he laid on his bed, 'I don't believe that this is happening. This is complete bullshit!'
The vulpine groaned out loud as he realised that he was stuck to the bed all because of his rough landing here on the Death World. He once again tried to get up, moving his hands to grip the handles on the bed, but the pain forced him to lie back down. He let out another groan, followed by an angry grunt.
He closed his eyes and exhaled, ashamed that he couldn't do anything at the moment, while at the same time Chaos was probably extending it's grip on his own home system. He knew that Corneria wouldn't be the last planet that would be tainted, and that billions more innocent people awaited cruel fates courtesy of these Cultist butchers.
"Dear God," he murmured, "If you can hear me…don't leave me like this."
I hear you, Fox.
Fox gasped, where immediately he gritted his teeth as he chest heaved with the pain. He struggled to keep his eyes open and to not pass out once again. His widened his eyes as best as he could, feeling shocked.
"J…J…Jacques?"
----------
Half an hour later and sweltering under the desert heat with their rail weapons firmly gripped in their hands and their tanks and battlesuits following close behind, the Tau Strike Force marched over the desert. Jakob and his team had gone ahead, where the Tau known as Tash carried a portable scanner in his hands, where it's beeps were starting to drive Jakob insane with anticipation. The Shas'ui looked over at Tash.
"Anything, Shas'la?"
"Nothing yet," Tash responded, "Hey, Jakob?"
"Yeah?" the 'Gue'vesa Shas'la' replied.
"You sure you're furry little friends won't get in the way?"
"I wouldn't know," Jakob restated, "I haven't seem them in action yet."
"Hey…HEY!" Tash cried out, his scanner beginning to beep louder and quicker, "I got something…half-a-click."
"Let's move it, then!" the Shas'ui ordered, "Now!"
The Pathfinder moved faster across the sand, with Jakob now in the lead. Soon they had come across a large rocky hilled range, which they looked up towards it, before looking at one another. They each nodded and begun climbing the second tallest part of it. Jakob felt that familiar adrenaline rush pump through him, and with a rail rifle strapped to his back it became slightly more intense. About six minutes later they reached the top, where Tash immediately pulled out his scanner and it was beeping like crazy.
Jakob produced his binoculars and zoomed out north into the distance. He saw a convoy of Chaos troops and vehicles slowly moving to their position, where if they had to pass by them they would have to go through a narrow pass that led through the entire area. The Tau realised that to them it was a tactically unsound predicament.
Lowering his binoculars, Jakob exhaled gently and called out to the Shas'ui, "Should we contact O'Shovah, Shas'ui?"
"Already done it, Gue'vesa Shas'la," the Shas'ui responded, tapping into his communicator.
Not far from their position and coming in from the south was the main Tau strike force. Falco, Katt and Krystal were riding on top of a Hammerhead, where by chance the tank passed by O'Shovah, Falco called out.
"Yo Shovah. Wouldn't it make more sense to fortify our position back at the Infinity?"
"The Tau do not look kindly upon defensive strategies, Lombardi," O'Shovah responded flatly, "We engage the enemy as we move, and I suspect we will strike them from a tactically sound position just up ahead."
Just then O'Shovah communication channel buzzed, where he tuned it in.
Commander, the other line blurted, Chaos forces heading our way. They will have to go through a pass cutting across the hills in order to get by us.
"Then we will beat them to it, Shas'ui," O'Shovah responded, "In the meantime, take up position there and prepare to engage them at will. As they try to make their escape, we will intercept and pummel them until no tainted human is left standing."
Affirmative, O'Shovah. Out!
----------
The Chaos forces consist of about fifty Chaos Marines, twice that many number of Cultists and about two Predator tanks and two Defilers. Amongst the Marines were five heavy-weapon specialised Havocs, the same Marines to have brought down the walls of the main starport back on Corneria. Each and every one of those Chaotic individuals felt like they had the time of their lives destroying a mostly defenceless world and slaughtering their citizens like cattle.
One of the three Aspiring Champions, who was up at the front of the force, remembered quite vividly how he had sliced the throat of a Cornerian male dog and bled him out, right before his own family. He then set his squad of Cultists on the family and committed their screams and cries of mercy to memory. He swore that he was almost aroused by the amount of death around him, and that made him smile pleasantly.
"Champion," a Cultist disturbed him off his thoughts, "We are approaching the ranges of the planet…AWKKK!"
The champion ran the Cultist through with his sword, angry that he had bothered him out of his fantasies. As the body fell to the sand, he saw that they approaching the near mountainous terrain. He raised his hand, and the convoy stopped in their tracks.
"What is it?" another Marine demanded, "We have we stopped?"
"What lies ahead is the perfect place for an ambush," the champion snapped, "The narrow path through the ranges is bound to a have hostilities waiting for us."
One of the other champions, slightly angry, walked up to him and stormed, "What is the meaning of this?"
The Marine turned to him and answered, "He believes an ambush awaits us if we continue forward."
"Why don't we go around the ranges?" the objecting champion suggested, "Just as a precaution."
"It'll take us another hour to get to the Cerinian," the other champion notified, "Lord Ezekiel will not allow us to see another moon fall if we keep him waiting. Besides what can the remaining three members of Star Fox do to us?"
----------
Through the scope of his rail rifle Jakob could see the two champions arguing down below at the mouth of the narrow path through the ranges. He shook his head softly, trying to read their lips and understand what they were saying, but he could guess immediately that they were contemplating whether to go through the path of not.
All the while, he mind kept drifting back to that cerulean vixen known as Krystal, and according to her words the last surviving Cerinian in existence. He thought about why he asked her if they had met before, which he hope it was wrong or imposing to have asked her that. Somehow she did seem familiar to him, as if they had met in a past life or something.
He tried blinking those thoughts away as he concentrated on the matter at hand…
"Hey, what are those Chaos creeps doing?" Tash asked, looking through his own scope, "Lovers quarrel or something?"
"They don't seem to be wanting to come our way," Jakob agreed.
The Shas'ui fronwed from behind his helmet, before he loaded his rifle and zoomed in on one of the Aspiring Champions, where he growled, "Oh, they will now!"
He pulled the trigger, and immediately sent a straight rail beam at one of the champion, whose head exploded and splattered brain and skull matter all over the other champion, who eyes instinctively closed as the matter begun to run down his face. He then moved his hand to wipe it off himself, the headless corpse still standing, but letting go of it's bolter and power sword.
Calmly, the other aspiring champion looked up ahead at the hills and spotted the Shas'ui. He narrowed his eyes and raised his chainsword up at him.
"Blueskins!" he called out, "Up there!"
He quickly swerved his head as the Shas'ui fired again, instead blasting a hole in another Marine and downing him. The aspiring champion raised his bolt pistol up at the hill, took aim and fired. The Shas'ui recoiled as the bolt struck him in the shoulder, where he cried out in pain as it tore through his armour and his shoulder.
The aspiring champion gritted his teeth and stormed, whilst referencing the Tau's involvement during the 13th Black Crusade and Medusa V, "PURSUE THEM! THEY WILL SUFFER FOR IMPENDING OUR CONQUEST OF THE UNIVERSE
----------
"ARGH! DAMNATION!"
The Shas'ui cradled his shoulder wound, where he hopped backwards from the edge of the cliff, as did Tash and Jakob.
"They've found us!" Tash exclaimed sarcastically, "You're plan worked just like clockwork, Shas'ui!"
"Shut up, Tash!"
A barrage of bolter fire tore through the edge of the cliff and out of the ground, they took this as a hint to move completely away from the cliff. Before a bolter round destroyed it, Tash's radar was beeping like crazy, telling them that the Chaos troops were moving towards them, weapons blazing. Jakob's head jerked upwards to see six jetpack equipped Raptors descending from the sky, chainswords in hands.
"A bit too well, if I may add!" Jakob cried, raising his rail rifle.
As one of the Raptor's boltpistol blasts skimmed the side of Jakob's helmet, he pulled the trigger and shot one of the Raptor's jetpacks. It caused him to fall out of the sky and land back down on Earth, the force of the landing and the weight of his armour more or less crushing him to a pulp. The remaining five Raptors landed on the cliff and charged the Pathfinders.
"LA'JAKOB!" the Shas'ui cried.
Jakob nodded and charged forward, dropping his rail rifle. One of the Raptors swung his chainsword at the human, where he bent his torso backwards and avoided the attack, before sweep kicking the Raptor off his feet and grabbing the heavy chainsword as it flew from his hands. He parried with another Raptor, and then swung the blade to relieve him of his hands. With his might he struck the Marine with the chainsword, slicing him across the chest and downing him.
The Marine he swept-kicked was about to get up when Jakob brought his foot down on his neck and crushing his wind pipe, snuffing him instantly. The three remaining Raptors raised their boltpistols just as Jakob skidded onto his back, allowing the Pathfinders to take them out with their rail rifles, quickly finishing the job.
The Raptor that had led the attack fell to his knees with a hole through his chest. Jakob stepped up to him, looking down at the pitiful creature.
Coughing up blood, the Raptor asked, "I thought…you Tau prefer range."
Jakob shook his head softly and took off his helmet revealing to the Raptor that he was a smirking human being, who then responded, "Not me."
He made a fist with his left hand, where a short stabbing blade extended from his armoured hand. He drove it through the Raptor's neck, hot blood spewing from the wound where the Raptor quickly drowned in it before toppling over sideways, dead.
----------
Mercifully the main Tau force was approaching the ranges, seeing that the action was starting to head up, as they saw the Raptors had descended on the group, where they were then surprisingly dispatched.
"Hey, we're missing the party!" Falco cried, gripping his pulse rifle, "Can these tanks hover any faster!"
With that the Tau picked up the pace, the hammerheads and the battlesuits begun to accelerate faster. The Fire Warriors begun to dash forward, feeling their need to preserve the 'Greater Good' kick in within themselves. O'Shovah engaged his suit's engine systems and begun hovering faster, catching up with his troops before taking the lead.
"TAKE DOWN THESE TAINTED HUMANS!" O'Shovah stormed out loud, "FOR THE GREATER GOOD!"
A few minutes later they were before the mouth of the path leading through the hills, where the Tau scanners detected the Chaos forces moving slowly from the other side. The radars also picked up that the Pathfinder squad was withdrawing and under heavy fire as artillery from the Defiler's begun to rain down from them. Falco, Krystal and Katt got off the tank they were riding.
"That's sounds like the skies falling down on those poor bastards!" Falco exclaimed, "What do we do now?"
"We divide our forces and scour the rocky hedges," O'Shovah responded, "Attack them from all sides! Battlesuits continue forward and support our troops! Hammerheads remain here and make sure no Chaos forces get through these hills! GO!"
The Fire Warriors accompanied by their Gun Drones quickly split up into squads of ten and begun to scour the hills upwards, followed closely behind by the battlesuits and the hover tanks. Krystal, Katt and Falco joined the battle, each joining a different squad, each of which received a warm welcome from the squad. Krystal's senses went haywire as the area was tainted to the extreme with Chaos activity.
Meanwhile Jacob and the Pathfinders where fleeing from the advancing Chaos forces, who had decided to not go through the narrow path through the hills and had quickly elected to climb the hills, whilst their tanks and Defilers stayed back the hedge. They were narrowly avoiding the bolter fire, where the Shas'ui still had his hand over his arm wound as a foot-long bullet was lodged within it.
"Come on!" Jacques shouted, "The rest of the force is just up ahead."
By chance the unnamed Pathfinder that had been part of the team caught a bolt in the leg, tripped over and landed flat on his face. Immediately upon staying in one place for too long he was riddled with bolter fire, whilst his companions continued to run, Jakob immediately feeling terrible about not stopping to help his friend, but if he did, he would have joined him in death.
He could hear the laspistol-packing Cultists pursuing them scream out obscenities and curses, the Traitor Marines following close behind and repeating over and over again their battle cry…Hydra Dominatus. Jakob turned around, aimed his rail rifle at the nearest Cultist and fired, blowing his arm off. Just as the Cultist were a few yards away from bringing their short swords down on them, the two hundred Fire Warrior emerged at the top of the hill, O'Shovah leading them.
The Cultists had little time for their fear to rise, as the Fire Caste forces immediately rained down pulse and plasma death down on them, tearing most of them to pieces while about forty others managed to escape and reach the bottom of the hill. Jakob and his squad picked themselves up from the ground, which they had dove down to in order to avoid the friendly fire, and joined up with their comrades.
"We held them as long as we could, O'Shovah," the Shas'ui stated, before groaning as his shoulder still hurt like hell.
"We will take it from here," O'Shovah announced, where he saw that the Fire Warriors and the battlesuits were all lined up across the rocky-hilled ranges, their weapons pointing down at the Chaos forces down below.
The forty Chaos Marines stepped forward towards the edge of the hills, the remaining Cultists joining up with them. The two Aspiring Champions looked up at the Tau nestled at the top of the hills, one of which frowned with indefinite annoyance.
"There is no way they are going to blast at us from up there," he growled, "So we are going to show them our definition of Hell up close. DEFILERS, DIRECT FIRE TO THEIR REAR!"
The daemons within the Defilers complied with the order, letting out their mechanical roars as they fired their deadly artillery, which landed behind them, forcing them all to step forward. O'Shovah immediately knew their game, where immediately he engaged his large blade.
"FORWARD!" O'Shovah ordered.
'Here we go,' Krystal thought bitterly, 'Again.'
The Chaos Marines and Cultists at the bottom of the hill charged upwards, most with their blades drawn, their tanks firing their lascannons upwards at the Tau. With the artillery stopping them from withdrawing, not that they wanted to anyway, the Enclaves, accompanied by their Gun Drones, charged forward with their blades drawn. Katt looked through the sight of her rifle and blasted a Cultist upside the head. The Marines, Cultists and Fire Warriors engaged each other at close-quarters, wrist blades and rifle butts against warp-infused swords.
The Pathfinders stopped in their tracks towards the middle of the hills as Shas'ui grabbed Jakob by the shoulder and prevented him from continuing forward with the main strike force. He shook his head softly and handed him his rifle.
"We must cover them from up here," the Shas'ui notified, before he pointed at the firing Defilers, "But first we have to silence that damned artillery!"
"Got it!" Jakob exclaimed.
He quickly took aim at the closest Defiler's controlling helmet which was situated on top of it's 'head' and fired, shattering it and injuring the daemon within it, causing it to scream out in pain and stepped around backward in a blind frenzy. The next Defiler redirected it's fire towards Jakob's position, where he immediately took action as he and his fellow team mates dove out the way, but the resulting explosion lifted him off his feet.
He instinctively pulled the trigger, sending the rail bolt towards the Defiler and hitting it's artillery pods, destroying it. The daemon within it roared in anger and begun taking it out on one of the tanks, tearing it into chunks and throwing them forward towards the battlefield. The end result was that the Marines and the Fire Warriors were now fighting a divided melee skirmish all across the hill, which the Fire Warriors were not prepared to deal with.
The first casualties of this close-quarters battle were four Cultists and two Traitor Marines, which were taken out by O'Shovah who had swung his blade sent them all flying. He then received a blast to the chest by one of the tanks, but was still standing. He retaliated by firing his large plasma cannon at it and blowing it apart.
One Fire Warrior discharged his pulse rifle into the chest of one Marine, but not breaking through the armour quick enough and allowing the Marine to drive his shot sword through the Fire Warrior and killing him.
One of the two remaining Aspiring Champions had joined the battle, where he was now fighting Falco. The avian narrowed his eyes and avoided his deadly punches courtesy of his Power Fist, where he swung his rifle and struck the fallen human's unguarded face, breaking his nose the process. The aspiring champion roared out loud and dove at Falco, his fist clipping the side of his head.
Falco grunted in pain, before simply grabbing the would-be champion by the throat and reaching for his blaster in it's holster. He aimed it at his head and he managed to catch a glimpse of the champion's frightened eyes before pulling the trigger and blowing one side of his head off. He turned around and saw that Katt was firing her rifle at a pack of four Cultists that were charging her, blades drawn and blood-frenzied smiles on their little faces.
"COMIN' THROUGH!"
He ran towards them and dove forward, where before they noticed he was coming he knocked them all down, sending them falling down the hill and landing painfully at the feet of the last remaining Aspiring Champion. The Cultist looked up at the champion and his frowning facem, and he smiled nervously, even the champion extended his foot and crushed his head under his boot, the sickening sound of crushed bone assaulting the sound waves.
He looked over at Krystal fighting alongside two other Fire Warriors at the far end of the hill. He smiled and drew his power sword, he then turned to six other Marines and ten Cultist, where he nudged his head towards her. They nodded and they begun to charge up the hill towards him. Jakob from the vantage point at the top of the hill noticed they were heading in Krystal's direction, and where she was already giving the Force of Chaos hell, as she had already taken down six Cultists and two Marine with her staff. He shuffled across the top of the hill away from his comrades until he got a better view of the vixen, just as she pulled her staff out from the chest of another Cultist.
Before he could take aim and engage the Chaos troops moving towards Krystal, three Cultists lunged at him from behind, where they had snuck behind the Tau force and barely avoided the tank fire from behind. He swung his fist and knocked the closest Cultist flat on his back, he then drove his rifle into the gut of another and finished him with a roundhouse kick across the head. The last Cultist pulled out his laspitol, only to be relieved of his hand when Jakob swung his wrist blade. He screamed in pain, before Jakob drove the point of the blade through his head and his brain.
All the while he was distracted, Krystal continued fighting. The two Fire Warriors with her were blasted to oblivion by the incoming Chaos troops bolters. Krystal gasped and spun around to see the Aspiring Champion and his men standing before her, guns aimed at her. She gripped her staff and put up a shield, but the troops didn't fire their weapons.
"You can relax, Your Highness," the Champion crossed his arms, "We have been commanded by the Dark Gods to bring you alive back to Corneria."
Krystal looked angry as she growled, "You Chaos sicken me! Is that all you madmen do? Extinguish every little bit of life that comes your way?"
"All for the Dark Gods, milady!" one of the Cultists expressed, smiling crazily, "All for the Dark Gods."
Noticing that none of the other Tau forces had noticed them, the Aspiring Champion cried, "GET HER!"
The Champion charged first and swung his power sword, breaking the shield. Krystal elevated herself into the air using her staff and kicked him in the chest with both her feet, knocking him down. The next Marine swung his blade at her, whom she deflected with her staff, and it then connected with the Marine's head, knocking him down also.
She engaged her ice blaster, froze two Cultists in their tracks, before dodging the fist of another Cultists, and drove her staff through his chest in return. Falco finally noticed from his position yards away that Krystal was in trouble. As he begun to run towards her, a Cultist lunged at him and tackled him onto the ground. He kicked him off and reached for his neck, crushing it with his bare hands.
After dispatching the Cultists that jumped him, Jakob's focused back on Krystal, where his eyes widened as he saw that she was surrounded by Marines and Cultists, her swinging her staff all around her to keep them at bay. He shook his head, focused, and concentrated on giving her some cover. Suddenly, another Cultist lurked up from behind him, he cried out in fright and dove out the way of his laspistol blast. He squealed and charged at him, Jakob immediately shoved his rifle into his mouth and the Cultist gagged painfully.
He growled as his fingered tightened on the trigger, "You little bastard!"
He then discharged the rifle and the Cultist's head exploded. Krystal slightly panicked when she realised that she wasn't being given any cover, immediately she felt a Cultist's blade skim across her blue-coloured chest armour. She gritted her teeth and retaliated with a sharp kick to the face, breaking his jaw. She then swung her staff and knocked him off his feet.
Another Marine fired his bolter at the vixen, where she put up a shield and the bolter round harmlessly bounced off, as did the swords of the other Marine as they rushed her. Once the Marine ran out of ammo, she charged him and she struck him across the face, the power emitting from the staff breaking his neck and snuffing out his life.
Just as another Marine was about to swing at her, he felt a rail blast pierce his chest plate and his heart, exploding it and the blood spurting out from the wound. Krystal finished him off with a kick to his metallic chest. Her luck finally ran out when she was tackled from behind by another Marine…
"GAHHHHH!"
…who pinned her down on the sand, where he aimed his bolter down at her chest, before looking up at the hill and towards Jakob's position.
"Alien scum!" the Marine cried out, "Put down your weapon or the vixen will catch a bolt in her pretty blue face."
Jakob gasped, before he frowned and put his weapon down, before standing up at the top of the hill with his hands above her head, where immediately he saw eight boltguns and four laspistols trained on him. The Marine kicked the staff out of Krystal's hands, before a Cultist picked it up and studied it with much curiosity. He scratched his forehead.
"One Cerinian staff can do this much damage?" the Cultist queried.
"Well, it won't be causing the Dark Gods any more harm any time soon," the Aspiring Champion snapped
He snatched the staff from the Cultist and held it firmly in his free hand, the other holding a chainsword. He smiled down at Krystal, revealing his yellow, rotten teeth and his black-coloured tongue, which immediately make her physically sick.
"But on the other hand, my dear Cerinian beauty," the Champion went on with much glee, "Once we are done with you, you will cause the Imperium of Man and the False Emperor much deserved harm, even death maybe. No scratch that…"
He laughed out loud, where the other Marines joined in.
"…you WILL kill the False Emperor!"
Suddenly something struck right in the ground behind the Marines and Cultists, sending them all flying and especially the one who was holding Krystal down. The vixen covered her eyes to protect them from the hot sand rising up from the ground. The Champion cried out in pain as he landed on the ground and dropped the staff, where as he and the Marine picked themselves out, they gasped at what they saw.
"What in the name of…" one of the Marine cried, gripping his boltgun
"LOYALIST SCUM!" a Cultist screamed, "INQUISITION!"
Completely forgetting about Krystal, they drew their swords and rushed over to what appeared to be Marine drop pod, where immediately it's door flew open and detached where it struck the Cultist over the head and sending him onto the ground, dead. Krystal gripped her staff as took notice of the fact that the Marine's weren't focused on her. She charged and drove her staff through the armour of one Marine, before putting her feet up on his chest and pulling it out, just as he toppled backwards.
She dodged a few bolter rounds as she fired off a few fire blasts of her own, and hitting another Marine off his feet, before rushing over and driving her staff through his skull. A Cultist took a swing at her, before being blasted through the chest courtesy of Jakob's rail rifle. Suddenly the last Aspiring Champion reared up behind her, and Jakob fumbled as he pulled the empty clip out of his smoking rail rifle.
"Damn it!" he cried.
Krystal's gasped as the Champion smacked her against the face with the blunt side of his blade, intending to take her alive whilst the other Marines and Cultist dealt with the drop pod. But before he could reach for her throat with his rusted metallic hands, he felt several storm bolter rounds tear through the fabric of his being, ridding him full of holes. Krystal rolled over on the ground and out the way as the corpsd toppled over forward, before picking herself up and seeing that the person who had just saved her life had just emerged from the drop pod. Dead Chaos Marines and Cultists laid at his feet as his grey armour appeared to shine like the heavens, and the wind made the blue cape flow freely from behind him.
Krystal's eyes widened in disbelief, seeing whom it was, where she softly said, "My…God."
The same disbelief affected Jakob as he removed his good eye from the scope of his rifle, not believing what was standing before Krystal, where in his left hand he was holding a glowing power sword and his right, armoured hand had a storm bolter built into it.
His mouth was wide open with shock, as he realised what was emerging from the pod, "No way!"