Disclaimer: I do not own Warhammer 40,000 it is owned by Games Workshop.

Death in the East

Chapter 3

A rustle caused a patrolling trio of Tau Pathfinders to aim their burst carbines in its direction. To their mild embarrassment, they found it was a fairly large feline of some kind, with white fur and a long and bushy tail. Triangular ears pressed back against its head as it snarled at the Tau in warning, the feline backing away slowly. At a gesture from the lead Pathfinder, the trio lowered their burst carbines.

No point in needless bloodshed, especially when it was they that had disturbed a local predator in the wild during a hunt.

At another gesture from the lead Pathfinder, the trio continued on their patrol, burst carbines held low but ready, slowly sweeping their surroundings to allow their helmet sensors to pick them apart for potential threats. Then, while the other two Pathfinders were looking in other directions, a shimmer moved through the air behind the rearmost Pathfinder. Moving with catlike grace, it stalked behind the Pathfinder, always in its blind spot, and then reaching up and around its neck, slit the Tau's neck open with all-but-literal lightning speed.

The Pathfinder collapsed with a gurgle, blue blood exploding from slit arteries to spray from their compromised armor. Already, the other Pathfinders were turning in their fallen comrade's direction, their communication links warning of the other Tau's failing lifesigns. Metal flashed and a second Tau fell, a monomolecular blade spinning through the air to bury itself into their forehead.

Simultaneously, the last Pathfinder gasped as pain erupted in his chest, moments before losing feeling in his limbs which quickly spread over his body. Looking down, he saw a sword sticking out of his chest from where it had been stabbed through from behind. Struggling to warn the rest of his unit, he only managed a gurgle as the sword was pulled out with a wet noise, the Pathfinder collapsing limply to the ground. With the last of his strength, he looked up, darkness filling his sight as shimmering forms prowled over his and his team's corpses in the direction of the hidden supply outpost.

"It appears these wretches have a number of machines guarding their base a little further in." a thought slipped into the minds of the Eldar Rangers as they stalked in the direction the Tau had come from. "I can take them out, but only once you're in position to deal with the rest of the wretches guarding their base."

"Noted, Mira." Nalya replied in kind, peering around a cliff to the Tau outpost upriver, nestled into and built atop a series of metal platforms next to more cliffs. "How many Tau are there?"

"Two in light armor, and one in a lighter variant of their battlesuits." Mira said. "Hmm…I've encountered those before. The latter, that is. They might be able to see through our cloaks."

"Thoughts?" Nalya asked.

"...let's switch roles." Mira replied. "I'll take out the guards, while you take out those drones."

"Be ready, then. Moving into position now." Nalya said, drawing another monomolecular blade while her fellow Rangers drew their long rifles. "...now!"

Laser beams lashed out, taking down a quartet of Tau Recon Drones, with a fifth drone going down as Nalya threw her monomolecular blade with lethal precision. The Tau at the outpost were already scrambling as their armor warned them of the drones' neutralization, but then they started panicking as their Shas'Ui was killed by a laser beam blowing through the faceplate of his XV25 Stealth Battlesuit. Another laser beam killed a Pathfinder a second later, causing the last Pathfinder to dive for cover and off the platform. Landing in a crouch, he rushed towards the shadow of a nearby boulder, only to be blown dead off his feet by another laser beam.

"...nice shot, Lyrion." Mira remarked.

"You're losing your touch, Mira." Lyrion said while pulling his long rifle back behind his shoulder.

"I can shoot you from here, as you well know." Mira snapped back, though there was no real venom behind it, Lyrion only replying with a telepathic burst of amusement which Mira returned in kind. "Now then, the rest of the teams…Kyrla, Sairen, how are you doing?"

Kyrla placed a foot on a dying Tau's head, and pressed it under the flowing water of the stream, looking on dispassionately as bloody bubbles flowed up to the surface for a few seconds before stopping. "We're just about finished here, Mira." she said, before looking up at the now-undefended Tau outpost. Then, bringing up her long rifle, she fired once, the laser beam destroying the satellite uplink at the center of this outpost. "I cannot speak for Sairen, however."

As if in response, there was an explosion in the distance, sending a plume flame, smoke, and debris rising into the air. "Very subtle, Sairen." Kyrla sarcastically replied. "You'd fit right in with the mon'keigh, or even the Orks, for that matter."

"I'd like to see you try and subtly destroy stockpiled fuel cells and other munitions with melta bombs." Sairen replied just as sarcastically. "Besides, it wasn't just the Tau stockpiles that were destroyed. I took out quite a few of those flying insects the Tau have working for them. It seems as though the Kroot managed to sound the alarm before we managed to kill them all, the insects were waiting for us."

"Vespid, I believe they are called." Mira cut in. "No matter, the supplies are destroyed, the Tau satellite uplink for this province destroyed, and their communications compromised. Fall back and rendezvous with everyone else."

"We aren't going to set a trap for when the Tau check in on their suddenly silent outposts?" Sairen asked.

"The Humans will have noticed that explosion." Mira replied. "As per my mother's directives, we must not tip them off to our presence before the proper time to strike."

"...I understand." Sairen replied with a mental sigh. "I do not like it, but I understand, and put my trust in the Farseer in this matter, just as the Court of the Young King has."

"...if it makes you feel better," Mira added. "It's not our way, as Humans are wont to do, to simply end the fight now. Our way is to end the fight in a proper manner and time."

"This is true." Sairen admitted.

"So it is." Kyrla agreed, already leading her Rangers back into the wilds of Balor. "Now, let's get moving before the Humans or the Tau arrive."

"Quite," Mira agreed. "But, do not grow sad, Sairen. There's more that needs doing before we're finished with this world."

About an hour later, and over forty kilometers away from where they'd destroyed the hidden Tau outposts in the countryside, Mira and her team of Rangers joined the others at a prearranged site. Holo-fields and energy fields protected it from detection and long-range attack, along with Guardians and Rangers, the former supported by heavy weapons ranging from shuriken cannons to brightlances.

In addition to Mira and the other Rangers, there was also the feline which the Tau had stumbled on earlier. Only, it wasn't a wild animal like they thought (and may even have been smarter than any of the Pathfinders at the time), but a gyrinx bonded to Mira herself.

Those of the Rangers present who'd met and worked with Mira before were used to the gyrinx - Lyla - but most of them (and the Guardians) still glanced at the majestic and intelligent feline with a mix of awe and envy. Eventually, one of the younger Rangers worked up the courage to approach Mira as she rested and fussed over her familiar.

"Your pardon, Mira," he began. "But if I might ask, where did you first meet your companion?"

Mira chuckled while scratching the fur below Lyla's jaw, the gyrinx looking and radiating smug satisfaction at the act. "Her name is Lyla," she first said. "As to your question…my father presented her to me as a gift when I was a child, and she was similarly just a kitten."

"Your father?" the other Ranger asked.

"Yes." Mira wistfully said before eyeing the other Ranger. "Father…he was acquainted well with a choirmaster who had a bonded gyrinx, the latter of which recently had kittens. He was able to prevail upon the choirmaster to part with a kitten, and the rest, well, you can see."

"So I do." the other Ranger said with a nod before tilting her head curiously. "But, choirmaster? I sense you do not refer to one of those that walk the Path of the Artist, of the schools of song and tales."

"Perceptive," Mira said with a nod of her own. "Tell me, do you know what an Astropath is?"

The other Ranger frowned. "Astropath…" she echoed, licking her lips as she mimed the sounds of the alien language. "...that is a Human term, I believe."

"It is." Mira said with another nod. "Psykers strongly bonded to their Emperor, which allows them to telepathically communicate with each other across the stars. However, as you might be aware, Human psykers mostly tend towards being weak of mind or power, perhaps even both. To that end, they form choirs to collectively send and receive thoughts across the void, with those of strong power and mind leading their fellows as choirmasters."

"I see." the other Ranger thoughtfully said before offering a small smile. "Your father must have a Corsair of princely means and reputation, to be able to deal with…Humans, in the way he did."

Mira laughed. "So he was." she said, and the other Ranger gave a small nod.

"Thank you for answering my questions, Mira," she said. "I apologize for disturbing you, I take my leave now."

Mira nodded back, and the other Ranger left. "Well," she thought to herself while stroking Lyla's back. "It wasn't a complete lie. Father's position in the Imperium should be analogous to that of a Corsair among our people. That, or I'm just excusing myself…what do you think, Lyla?"

The gyrinx just gave her a knowing look, and Mira laughed again.

"You have all done well." Eleria said, speaking to the leaders of the various Ranger strike teams on Balor via hologram from her ship, the Immortal's Blade still lurking cloaked in the void above. "Already the Human forces press their advantage, hammering the Tau vermin back to the major cities. But like all vermin, the Tau cornered are turning to bite with desperate cunning and ferocity. This cannot be allowed. The Humans, the Imperium, must win here and now on this world, or it will burn, starting a conflagration that will spread across the stars to the Maiden Worlds along the edges of this region of the galaxy."

Eleria paused, her visage disappearing to be replaced by maps, images, and locations of the Rangers' new targets, along with who had which assignment. "Most of your new goals remain similar to those before." she continued. "Those of you who have thus received what information you need, may go."

Most of the Rangers left, leaving Mira and five others behind. "Kyrla," Eleria began. "Your target will be here. This valley here holds a secret, a buried Orca Gunship which my visions point to as an escape craft for high-ranking Tau in the event of this world's fall. Destroy it, along with the Tau forces guarding the valley."

Mira frowned at that. "Orca Gunships don't have…ether drives, as I recall they're called." she said. "With all due respect, mother, it doesn't make sense."

"It doesn't need to have one." Eleria clarified. "My visions also point to it possessing advanced cloaking technology. Not enough to hide from us, but from the Humans? It will be enough, and together with the vastness of space, the vermin can simply wait until another, bigger ship arrives to take them to safety. See that they do not get the chance to begin with, Kyrla."

"It will be done, Honored Farseer." Kyrla said with a bow.

Eleria nodded and narrowed her eyes. "For this task," she said. "You have permission to open and use temporary Webway portals to quickly come and go. Indeed, doing so will prove necessary, to keep those tasked with destroying the ship itself alive at the end."

Kyrla nodded. "I surmised as much, Honored Farseer." she said while gesturing at the map and image of their target. "Rest assured, I will make certain no precious Eldar lives are lost in the cause of my task."

"I'll leave it in your hands, then." Eleria said with another nod before turning to her daughter. "Now, as for you, daughter, your mark will not be another hidden lair or stash of the vermin, but one of their precious leaders. An Ethereal…"

Eleria's face twisted in contempt, and Mira couldn't blame her. She had been there, centuries ago as her father's people recorded the passing of years, when the Tau's Ethereals had met her mother and other leaders of their people.

And they had the gall to call on the Eldar to submit to their wisdom and guidance.

What wisdom and guidance could these…children, offer us?

My mother's ancestors were singing songs of lamentation when the Tau's birthworld was nought but a blasted waste.

And for all their flaws, my father's ancestors were exploring the stars and crossing blades with the other half of my lineage when the Tau still went about in skins.

Such arrogance…the utter presumptuousness…!

"...an Ethereal will be meeting with the soldiers on the front line." Eleria continued. "A fairly low-ranking one, but an Ethereal still for all that. And we both just how slavishly devoted the vermin are to their pretender-sages. Kill him like a dog."

Mira smiled, a cruel and vicious smile that would not have looked out of place on a Kabalite's face. "It will be a pleasure, mother." she said, and Eleria smiled back just as cruelly and viciously as her daughter, if not more so.

But of course; she was a Farseer now, of Craftworld Biel-Tan, but she had not always been one of them. What was it that her father had once told Mira?

Oh, yes, now she remembered.

You can take a woman from Commoragh, but at heart, she'll always be a Commorite.

Then again, only a Commorite would lie with a Human, so I don't really mind.

I wouldn't exist otherwise, after all.

Whistles and sirens sounded through the air, as a train slowed while rolling up to the station in the newly-liberated town of Red Crossing. Thankfully, the train was built with and used non-profane technology, if lacking proper iconography and consecration, at least at first. The tech-priests had performed and added the basics, enough for safe use, with military necessity dictating that additional rites be performed while or when the train was not in use.

Now, it was being used to move troops from the Imperial rear echelons to the front, with Red Crossing becoming a major Imperial supply station and forward base. A rather surly one, to be sure, with too many of the locals having been indoctrinated by the Tau, with the Ecclesiarchy having its work cut out for them bringing them back to compliance in the future, but there were just as many who were properly grateful at the Imperium's return. The older generation mainly, with a number of people cheering and waving Imperial flags by the station as the train rolled up.

Guardsmen waved back, and even flew their regimental flags from windows, before disembarking. Support personnel at the station directed units to where they needed to go, and it wasn't long before the 5051st Autonomous Stormtrooper Battalion was parading down the avenue leading to and from the train station. Commissar Risha Singh, along with the battalion's senior officers, rode horses at the head of the parade, Stormtroopers marching with high steps behind them platoon after platoon.

Twin ranks of infantry serving as honor guard and security force alike stood on either side of the avenue, their uniforms identifying them as 632nd Qingdao Light Infantry. Behind them, loyalist townsfolk cheered and flew Imperial flags, while others held aloft icons of saints and the blessed.

"LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR!" a loyalist shouted.

"GLORY TO THE IMPERIUM!" another loyalist shouted.

"KILL THOSE GODLESS BASTARDS!" a third loyalist shouted much to the roaring approval of the crowds. "PURGE THE ALIEN!"

And then, of course, there were the xenos sympathizers, borderline traitors and heretics that they were. An overripe tomato flew through the air and narrowly missed Colonel Dane van Winkle, who glared and spat a curse while looking to where it came from. Risha placed a hand on her plasma pistol in its holster while doing likewise, spotting a group of youngsters with faces painted blue and heads shaved but for a single lock of hair.

Aping the xenos invaders, no doubt, Risha recognized in disgust.

"GO AWAY AND LEAVE US ALONE!" one of the xenos sympathizers shouted.

"TAKE YOUR EMPEROR AND HIS WARS AND GET OFF OUR PLANET!" another xenos sympathizer shouted.

Nothing more could be shouted, as loyalists descended on them with clenched fists and proudly wearing Imperial Eagles on their persons. Soon enough a brawl had erupted, only to be just as quickly interrupted as men from the 632nd with MP armbands waded in, pulling the loyalists away and talking them down, while others dragged the xenos sympathizers away.

"Off to mind-scrubbing for that bunch." Captain Luis van Doorne remarked.

"They got off lightly, if you ask me." Captain Jannie Henckel chimed in. "If I had my way, traitors like those would get lined up against the nearest wall and then shot."

"While I personally agree," Risha said in her turn. "Duty demands we set aside personal bents and act with reason and prudence. Yes, their support for the xenos occupiers is heresy, but the form of heresy brought by the Tau is rather superficial compared to other, more insidious forms of corruption."

"Mind-scrubbing ought to be enough to turn them back into loyal and productive Imperial citizens?" Van Doorne asked.

"It's a start." Risha said with a nod. "Faith will be needed to ensure it not only sticks, but permeates their souls wholly and cleaves them to the Emperor's light. But, that is no longer our purview, and that of the Ecclesiarchy."

Van Doorne nodded. "True enough." he said. "Best not to get sidetracked, and to instead focus on our role in the Emperor's grand design."

"Yes," Risha said with a nod of her own before smiling at the captain. "After all, there's still a war going on, isn't there?"

That got a laugh from the other officers, Van Doorne nodding several times. "That is also true." he said, Risha inclining her head at his words.

A/N

Yes, gyrinxes, while usually associated with the Eldar, are also known to bond with Human psykers as well.

Anyway, we get to see what the Eldar are up to, and they do what they do best. When the enemy expects the obvious and straightforward, they strike from the shadows with a thousand blades of treachery and deceit, leaving the enemy reeling and dying without even realizing who delivered the killing blow.

Well, in this case, enabling the Imperium to deliver the decisive blow, although just in case, there's also an Eldar fleet waiting in the Webway. All to prevent a future cataclysm spreading from Balor and potentially harming Maiden Worlds in this region of the galaxy.