Chapter 18

Guest- After translating all that into English, I can say go ahead with whatever you want and feel is best for you. Good luck on your stories. Also, the Warhammer factions here are just Chaos-affiliated factions, the Eldar, and the Tau along with their client races. Nothing else aside from a few mentions here and there.

Also, no on the more unknown races. I'm not doing that. Sorry.

Also, no alternate takes on this story as well. Too much work for so little.

Guest 2- We'll see both the Migrant Fleet and Omega eventually. Just not right now.

Guest 3- We may see them do that. Have to be careful about that though for many reasons.

Guest 5- Yeah, they were always meant to appear though. Sorry.

Guest 6- Rather not. Sorry.

Guest 7- Maybe. Yeah maybe.

Paytonkraft1102- Yes.

.311- Yes. Yes, he would. And who knows what Tzeentch actually wants? A way to win the Great Game? To extend it? Or just to do it for the heck of it. Who knows.

Fehl Prime

Arra'kon

"Have to admit, I'm impressed with the speed and skill your people displayed today." Said Captain Toni as he read the report from his men. "We didn't even lose a single soldier and we captured over several dozen Batarian soldiers. Granted, only one of them is an officer, but still. That's impressive. Batarians are difficult to capture alive."

"I believe that has to do with the swift way we eradicated them, Captain Toni." Said Arra'kon as he looked over his own report of the Batarian attack. If it can be called that. The forces under Arra'kon's command have utterly devastated the Batarian forces. Not only did they wipe out the Batarian fleet before they could get even a single shot off at the human colony, but they also decimated what ground forces the Batarians managed to land on the planet before they could do anything to the human forces and civilians. In fact, the only real involvement that the humans had in the battle that can be worth bringing up in any way was them assisting the Tau forces in capturing and dealing with the Batarian POWs they managed to capture after the one-sided battle.

There weren't that many, honestly. While many Batarians were killed during the battle, a good chunk of those that survived had committed suicide to prevent themselves from being captured, especially surviving officers. It was only through sheer luck that they managed to have even a few officers left between the suicides and those killed in the battle. Captain Toni theorized the suicides were more of a result of the Batarian soldiers fearing repercussions for their families once the Hegemony learns of their failure and their still being alive as well as repercussions for themselves as well if they return back to Hegemony space. Arra'kon agreed with that theory. From what Arra'kon knew of the Batarian Hegemony, he had to agree with the human. They seemingly weren't the kind of government that tolerated failure, no matter how forgivable the failure was. It was Arra'kon's hope that the Farsight Enclaves will bring an end to the Batarian Hegemony and change the Batarian government into something more peaceful and friendlier to the rest of the Galaxy. Or at least a government entity that didn't have slavery as a quintessential component of their government structure and policy in everything. That was what Arra'kon wanted, but he doubted will be done anytime soon. Not when the Reapers were a very real threat to not only the Farsight Enclaves but also the entire galaxy.

According to both Tau and Geth analysts, the Reapers were a force that required every sentient species and their militaries for them to even stand a chance at defeating. And even then, the odds weren't in their favor. Even the Tau, with their powerful military and technology, would be overwhelmed by the sheer number of Reapers that they estimated the ancient machines had. Thus, much to Arra'kon's chagrin, they must let the Batarian Hegemony remain as it was unless they were given no choice. At least for now. In the meantime, Arra'kon was going about how to properly give these captured Batarians the treatment they deserve as well as showing them the error of their government's ways.

He was about to ask Captain Toni for advice on this matter when he suddenly received a transmission from one of his subordinate commanders.

"Commander Arra'kon, the Batarian prisoners are arriving at the colony now." Said the commander as soon as Arra'kon accepted the transmission.

"Excellent. As soon as they arrive, transport them to whatever holding cells that the humans have set up for them. If they don't have any, we'll simply have to create our own. After that, proceed to conduct sweeps of the areas around the Batarian base. There may have been some that have escaped our attack and I wish them found." With that, Arra'kon ended the transmission and looked at Toni. "I assume you have proper facilities for holding prisoners of war according to current laws regarding the treatment of POWs, yes?"

"It depends on how many you're bringing." Said Captain Toni. "The colony has a small incarceration facility for lawbreakers and the occasional criminal, but nothing real serious. If you have dozens of prisoners, we'll have difficulty managing them all in that facility."

"Understood." Said Arra'kon. "I'll have my people create some temporary prison fields just in case they're required. In the meantime, have your colonists remain in the shelters. There may be a second wave of Batarian ships arriving or there is an unknown factor still active that may pose a threat to them."

"Of course." Said Toni, agreeing with Arra'kon. "Until we're one hundred percent sure there is no threat to them, the colonists will remain hidden in the shelters."

"Good." Said Arra'kon before discussing other, essential things with Captain Toni.

Meanwhile

Kharez

Normally Eldar never curse, finding such things beneath them, but Kharez felt the temptation to do so as he saw the Chaos Marines of the Thousand Sons legion advancing closer and closer to the ritual site with nothing impeding their progress much. Including the Eldar's own attempts to do so.

As Kharez had predicted, the Eldar defenders were far too meager to provide much more than an inconvenience to the Chaos Space Marines, who brought dozens of their kind along with four of their crazed brethren with them to deal with the Eldar. A force more than adequate to deal with the Aeldari defenders. Even worse, their most powerful Psykers were still performing the ritual, meaning they were still vulnerable to attack. Unless they stop soon and teleport to safety, they'll be killed or worse, captured and interrogated by the Chaos Marines. Something that Kharez knew that no one desired. The Mon-Keigh known as the Nightlords weren't present in this galaxy, thank Isha, but Chaos Marines were still quite capable of torture. And that wasn't taking into account the usage of Psychic powers for interrogation.

Thinking about how to generate more time for the Farseer and her seer council, Kharez was considering what to do with his limited resources and the unfavorable terrain when he heard the voice of the Farseer in his mind.

"Kharez, has the Thousand Sons approached the ritual site, yet?" Asked the Farseer, having used her considerable psychic powers to contact Kharez telepathically while she performed the ritual. Having been informed that the Thousand Sons have arrived, the Farseer contacted Kharez to demand a report on the situation they were in. She hadn't foreseen the Thousand Sons arriving so soon. The Farseer and the other Eldar Seers had foreseen them inevitably coming to investigate, but they didn't think it was this quick. This unforeseen outcome could spell doom for their people in this galaxy. An outcome that the Farseer refused to allow to happen. She will not.

"They have not, Farseer, but they will soon." Said Kharez as he formulated two plans in his mind. One to perform a delaying action to have the other, his last attempt to give the Farseer and her peers more time to complete their ritual before the Chaos Marines reach them. "Our attempts to delay them have so far been minimal. They are simply too powerful for us. As a result, I've gathered our remaining defenders to perform two plans to give you and the council more time to finish the ritual. One is to give time to the other as well. But Farseer, we cannot hold them for much longer. You must complete the ritual soon. We do not have the forces to repel them for long."

"Give us as much time as possible, Kharez." Said the Farseer. The fact that she was using his name only spoke of the urgency of the ritual. "I know I have no divulged the importance of the ritual to you as much as you would like, but I assure you, it's essential that we complete this ritual, or else all this is lost for our people here." Kharez, upon sensing the urgency in the Farseer's thoughts, sent assurance he will do what he can before ending the psychic link between them. With that, Kharez looked upon the group of Chaos Marines approaching, steeling himself for what was to come.

Meanwhile

Ahriman

"We are close." Thought Ahriman as he and his Warband approached the Eldar ritual site. The Chaos Marines had been marching toward the ritual site since their arrival. Since then, they've been marching toward the Eldar ritual site. The Eldar, as predicated, attempted to stop them from approaching any further to the ritual site. However, their forces must have been meager and scattered as very few Eldar forces actually tried to stop them, some of which they killed without much issue due to their psychic powers and the terrain being unfavorable to the Eldar. Either that or they were consolidated around the ritual site as a last line of defense. Either way, it doesn't matter. The Eldar will either die or be captured to help them determine the location of Kelbor-Hal. The Forces of Chaos will not be denied.

Eventually, the Chaos Marines saw the Eldar ritual in front of them a fair distance away. The Chaos Sorcerers, including Ahriman, sensed the power coming from their ritual, which was creating a psychic storm around those casting the ritual. Realizing their prize was near, the Chaos Warband began to march with more vigor toward their target. They were around a hundred meters or so from the ritual site when they were hit with a barrage of fire from the Eldar defenders, using their remaining transports to fly toward the Chaos Marines.

The Chaos Sorcerers, having sensed this beforehand, used their considerable psychic powers to protect them and their fellow legionaries. After the first barrage of micro missiles and lasers hit their barrier, the Chaos Marines retaliated.

The four Hellbrutes, armed with powerful weapons called Lascannons, aimed at the Eldar transports. Firing powerful lasers at the Eldar transports, the Eldar vehicles dodged and weaved the shots as they came, their holo-fields helping to disorient the enemy Hellbrutes from firing an accurate shot at them. While the Hellbrutes roared in rage at this, the Chaos Sorcerers began using their psychic powers to destroy the transports for though their Holo-fields help augment an Eldar's illusiveness and inability to get hit, they can't help against attacks that hit a wide enough area.

Combining their powers together, the Sorcerers created a psychic storm around the general area of the Eldar transports known as a Falcon Grav tank. The psychic storm they created tore the Falcon Grav tanks apart along with the inhabitants inside the tanks.

Suspicious at a such wasteful loss of life, something that should never happen with Eldar towards other Eldar, Ahriman then realized why this was, when they were suddenly set upon by several more Falcon Grav tanks from above them. The ones they destroyed were mere distractions for the main Eldar attack.

Firing while they passed the Chaos Marines, downing a few Rubric Marines, the Falcon transports then opened their hatches, and out came several squads of Eldar that belonged to the Howling Banshees Aspect Warrior Shrine, female Eldar that have dedicated themselves as mobile melee combat experts, once the Falcons lowered themselves enough for the warrior women to jump out safely.

Highly mobile and armed with Eldar Power swords, the Howling Banshees were upon the Chaos Marine the moment they touched the ground. As if they were dancers, the Howling Banshees weaved around the Chaos Marines, stabbing at key joints or weaknesses in their armor, all the while dodging whatever attacks came their way. While the Chaos Sorcerers were able to dodge most of the Howling Banshee attacks, the Rubric Marines were not capable. Essentially just automatons, the Rubric Marines required constant commands and attention from Sorcerers to do even the simplest of tasks. As a result, they were poor close-combat fighters. While they can fight in melee and can be a danger to those unskilled in close-quarters fighting due to their bulk, they're quite slow and don't have the reflexes or experiences as actual Chaos Space Marines. Thus, the Rubric Marines were having a hard time dealing with the agile Howling Banshees. The Eldar women managed to take down four Rubric Marines before Ahriman had enough and sent out a psychic shockwave that sent everyone in the immediate area but the Chaos Marines to the ground. As the Howling Banshees tried to recover from the psychic attack, the Rubric Marines were upon them along with the Hellbrutes. Whether it be by bolter or through their fists, the Forces of Chaos dealt with the Howling Banshees. With one more nuisance gone, the Chaos Marines resumed their march to the cave system.

They hadn't marched for even three meters when they were set upon by another Eldar attack. This time one that was of a psychic nature.

While most of the other sorcerers hadn't sensed it due to the massive usage of psychic energy nearby, those that did create a psychic shield around the Thousand Sons Warband. They created it just in time when storm clouds formed above them. When they fully formed, bolts of psychic energy descended upon the Thousand Sons, impacting their barrier. Although the barrier seemed to be holding, the sorcerers creating it were nearing exhaustion, showing the power of the Eldar Eldritch Storm, a powerful psychic power known only to the Eldar. In time, the Eldritch Storm would break through and kill all those under it. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on one's point of view, only a handful of Thousand Sons sorcerers, including Ahriman, were casting the psychic barrier around the Thousand Sons. As a result, those sorcerers that weren't powering up the barrier began using their own psychic powers to teleport the Warband out of harm's way. Dividing the Warband amongst themselves, the free sorcerers teleported parts of the Warband with them to various locations away from the Eldritch Storm. One sorcerer, however, failed to cast the psychic power on account of a major wound on his flank from a Howling Banshee power sword that found a chink in his armor, resulting in his demise along with a few Rubric Marines and a Hellbrute. The rest of the Warband, however, was fine.

Annoyed with yet another attempt to stop the inevitable, Ahriman used his psychic powers to find who cast that Eldritch Storm. When he found them and realized they were about to depart, Ahriman let loose his own psychic power in something called Doombolt. Sending out dozens of bolts made out of his own spite and loathing, Ahriman watched as the bolts landed near a crater, destroying it and sending debris and dust everywhere. Ahriman then marched towards the area with several Rubric Marines and another sorcerer. Upon arriving at the crater, Ahriman saw the corpse of an Eldar Warlock, the one that cast the Eldritch Storm. Satisfied at the dead Eldar, Ahriman went back to his Warband, which was now regrouping. Once they did, they went onward to the ritual site, where the last Eldar defenders are present along with their Seer Council, running the rest of the way.

Later

Farseer

"Farseer, Warlock Kharez has fallen." Said a Black Guardian as he approached the Farseer still performing the ritual along with a handful of other Eldar. Upon hearing that, the Farseer gritted her teeth in frustration and shock.

"No, we haven't yet completed the ritual yet." Said the Farseer. "We haven't yet found our people yet."

"Farseer, we must evacuate!" Yelled the Black Guardian. "We don't have much time left. We must return back to the ship. We cannot afford to lose you or the Seer Council." The Farseer was about to protest when the sounds of gunfire and energy blasts started to erupt near them. The Chaos Marines were upon them.

Realizing that she now no longer had the time to finish the ritual, the Farseer cursed the puppets of Chaos before psychically contacting her brethren and telling them they must stop and flee. Following her instructions, the Seer Council stopped the ritual and began to float back down. Just as their feet touched the ground, the Seer Council was beset by a powerful figure.

"Eldar." Said Ahriman as he fought the remaining Eldar defenders, which were depleting at a rapid rate. He had been fighting when he sensed the ritual ahead of his Warband abruptly ending. Realizing this, Ahriman looked forward to seeing the Eldar Seer Council along with their Farseer landing on the surface of the moon they were all on. Believing they were preparing to leave, Ahriman immediately teleported to their location, using his considerably psychic powers to do so.

Upon teleporting to their location, Ahriman began to either murder or seriously cripple the Eldar Psykers. He didn't need all of them after all.

Starting with the Farseer, Ahriman launched a Doombolt at her. The Farseer would have been killed by the attack if it weren't for an Eldar Guardian pushing her to the ground and taking the attack instead. Not taking time to see this, Ahriman was upon the other Eldar, focusing on wounding a few while killing the rest. The Eldar Psykers tried to fight back, but the ritual had enacted a heavy toll on both their minds and body, leaving them practically defenseless against Ahriman, who, despite being exhausted from blocking the Eldritch Storm, was still capable of taking them all on without much problem given their current state. The Farseer, meanwhile, was casting a psychic power to teleport her to safety. Ahriman, sensing this, was about to stop her when several nearby Black Guardians, seeing the Seer Council being murdered, intervened, stopping Ahriman from preventing the Farseer from escaping.

"No!" Yelled Ahriman as he blasted the interfering Guardians for causing him to lose his main prize, Ahriman then went back to focusing on capturing the Eldar Seer Council. What was left of them after his initial attack on them that is.

In the meantime, the Farseer that escaped found herself near the ship that she and her people used to transport them to the surface of the moon, which was a fair distance away from the ritual site. Exhausted from the ritual and the sudden usage of her remaining psychic energy, the Farseer remained on the ground while two Guardians came to her aid, having been left to tend to the ship along with a few others. As they helped her up, the Farseer ordered them to head for their star cruiser. Although they protested this, the Farseer was adamant. The others were as good as dead or worse. Staying any longer and they will join them.

As the two guardians brought her to their starship, the Farseer thought about this recent turn of events and what was she to do now.

"Kharez is dead. Along with my Seer Council." Thought the Farseer as her ship took off and headed back to their starship, which was in orbit around the moon, carefully hidden so as not to attract both the Tau and the Chaos Marine vessel around the moon as well. "The Chaos Marines will no doubt of the location of their prize soon and disaster will befall my people unless they are forced to leave the system. They must not learn the location of Kelbor-Hal. They cannot. There is only one option remaining."

With a heavy sigh, the Farseer ordered a communications line be opened to their ship, swallowing the bile that was coming up from her stomach. Her pride be damned now that the Eldar were in a perilous situation that can spell doom for their people.