Chapter 19

formlessdream- Yeah no Orks. Sorry.

TheRightPrice- You do know that all your criticisms and questions can easily be dealt with by just thinking. Right? Because I believe it's fairly clear that the first chapter was mostly in Shepard's perspective. To him, and his team, Farsight was a machine until they eventually learn that he isn't from it either being confirmed to them or by the Codex entries the Tau provide for the Citadel People. That whole thing with Farsight was meant for the people that only know Mass Effect and not 40K. Makes them think is this guy a machine or organic? You know. Something like that. The Tau FTL thing is their warp skimming tech, but I believe that with the warp so calm, warp travel is much faster than Mass Effect FTL travel without the relays.

As for the Terminus system thing. That's is something you have to think about. Think about it. The Tau have bypassed all the fleets and ships guarding the way to the Citadel, one of the most heavily guarded places in Council Space, without anyone knowing, with a sizable fleet of ships that outsize anything the galaxy has seen before. What does that give an impression of?

Now with all this being said, if you still think that this writing is poor, I recommend not going further if those things are something you criticize. I really doubt I'll have the improvements you seek. Like at all. Especially since the Chaos Marines are now in the picture. Their motivation and whatnot. Probably some other things too. So yeah, I don't recommend reading further. But that's fine, I'm sure there's other stuff in this site that can keep you entertain and invested. Probably more likely too.

Asterlanus- Yeah, I understand. Having multiple factions of 40K can be quite overwhelming and kind of unfun for some people.

taintedahab- More like inspired by it, but yeah functionally the same and probably just as awful and dark.

Pridefallen- Yeah, no. All Eldar do this, especially Ulthwé. I mean Eldrad literally caused so many wars that the Imperium has to fight to literally save only thousands of his own people in exchange for billions of humans losing their lives. And he's from Ulthwé. Not Biel-Tan. Heck, he's the reason the 2nd War for Armageddon happened in the first place. So yeah, I disagree with the notion that only Biel-Tan would do what the Eldar are doing right now.

alerx09- Correct. That's kind of spoilers to answer that question, but here's one answer. Tzeentch.

Ahzek Ahriman

The Chaos Sorcerer known as Ahriman was quietly seething inside as he psychically interrogated an Eldar Seer, one of the few that they captured alive, the rest were being held both psychically and physically by his warband, awaiting their turn to be interrogated by the powerful Chaos Sorcerer. Although Ahriman had quite a few Eldar Seers to interrogate regarding the mission of the Eldar as well as the possible location of Kelbor-Hal himself, Ahriman was still annoyed with the fact that he had failed to acquire the Eldar Farseer, who managed to slip away from his grasp at the last second. If he had managed to capture her, then surely all their questions regarding how the Eldar are here in this galaxy, what their objective was, and where they have their main base located in would be answered. But since he didn't, then Ahriman had to hope that those questions, among other things, would be answered by those Eldar they captured. Otherwise, they'll continue to face annoying attacks from the Eldar. Very annoying attacks. And then there was the possibility of the Eldar using the races or even the Tau to do what they wanted, something that the Chaos Marines didn't want at all. Thus, Ahriman desired to wipe them out quickly before that can occur. Unfortunately, that may not happen today. Hence his frustration.

Finishing his interrogation, Ahriman brought out his bolt pistol and shot the Eldar, killing them. The Seer had plenty of information that satisfied Ahriman somewhat as it explained how the Eldar came here and what their objective was.

"Interesting." Thought Ahriman as he thought about the information he had just gleamed. "Very interesting. That would explain a lot. It appears we have another goal along with what we came to this galaxy for in the first place as well as finding Kelbor-Hal." With that, Ahriman began ordering everyone to begin a ritual that will take them back to their shop. There was nothing more for them here and staying longer will only increase the risk of uncovering their existence, thus bringing complications that the Forces of Chaos didn't need at the moment. The Tau were weak, but their numbers were enough that they were a distraction that the Chaos Marines could ill afford. Not to mention the cost of actually facing them will end up making everything the Chaos Marines did so far in this galaxy meaningless in the end. Thus, Ahriman liked to avoid fighting them as long as possible.

Gathering their prisoners and the warband together, the remaining Thousand Sons sorcerers conducted a psychic ritual and had them all teleported to their ship in orbit around the moon. Once everyone was accounted for, Ahriman contacted the bridge and informed them to leave the system after performing an orbital bombardment of the general area of where the Thousand Sons teleported onto the moon as well as the locations of where they had fought the Eldar. They had already recovered the remains of their fallen brothers and the Hellbrute as well as taken what spoils they desired from the Eldar. Thus all that was left was to rid whatever evidence remained that could lead the Tau or the aliens of this galaxy to uncover their existence. The Eldar may try to convince the Tau or anyone they could find to do their job for them, but they'll be hard pressed to get anyone to help them without evidence to back their claims. The joys of an actual reasonable society.

Walking to the bridge, Ahriman ordered the Eldar prisoners be ready for further interrogations once they were in relative safety and out of the system. He also warned that they be kept under strict and heavy guard at all times. Eldar can be quite dangerous opponents, especially when cornered.

Meanwhile

Arra'kon

"Alright, keep them all separated into groups of six, Vega." Said Captain Toni as he talked with one of his best marines concerning the captured Batarians. They had finished bringing them all in and were about to divide them into small groups so that they don't try to plan a mass escape. "Make sure that each has more than enough soldiers guarding them so that we don't have any problems if any of them get rowdy. If you need more men, notify me so I can inform Arra'kon that we need some of his men to help guard the Batarian prisoners. Same if we need them to make any makeshift holding cells for the Batarians. Even though they've already done more than we could ever reasonably ask them to do for us, they're willing to help us even more. I can't ask for a better ally, even though I know that we can't fully repay them for everything they've done for us." While Toni was talking with one of his marines, Arra'kon was thinking about the battle with the Batarians. Specifically the weapon that had caused the Batarian Flagship to be destroyed. During the fighting, he had the video recording sent to the Earth Caste engineers amongst his fleet with orders to verify if it was indeed laser weaponry that had destroyed the flagship. He also desired to know if the weapon that destroyed the flagship matched anything from those that they knew came from the people from their old home.

It was a longshot but one that Arra'kon feared greatly if the weapon was indeed something that came from any of the organizations or empires that originated from the Farsight Enclave's old home. One that must be confirmed before the Tau can decide their next move in their new home. This fear was founded for a wide variety of reasons.

The most obvious was that any of the major factions from their old home could prove to be a disastrous enemy for both the Enclave and the Citadel Races. Whether it be the Imperium of Man, the Orks, and even, perhaps worst of all, the Tyranids, any large force of the Enclave's foes can bring about such death and destruction to this galaxy that it wouldn't matter if the Enclave and their allies won against these foes or not. The sheer casualties and spent resources fighting either of those three foes will drain the galaxy so much that they'll likely be easy pickings for the Reapers when they eventually come. Thus, Arra'kon had to know for certain if anyone from their old home was here and had caused the shot that caused a fight to occur between the Batarians and the Enclave and their human allies at the moment. So that the Enclave can plan to deal with them accordingly as well as preparing their allies for a difficult fight.

As Arra'kon waited for the results to arrive, he suddenly received a message from the fleet in orbit around the planet.

"Commander Arra'kon, we're receiving a transmission in an open frequency." Said the Air Caste officer that contacted him. Upon hearing that, Arra'kon immediately sprang into action.

"What do you mean by that?" Asked Arra'kon, catching Toni's attention. "Who is broadcasting on an open frequency?" The response Arra'kon received surprised him.

"We don't know, commander." Said the officer. "All we're receiving is a repeated message on an open frequency. But the frequency doesn't match those by anyone within the Citadel Council Forces nor those used by the Batarians. At least those that we know of." Arra'kon pondered on this, wondering what this could mean. Could this be the workings of Cerberus, trying to do something against the Enclaves by making the Batarians go to war with them? Or was this simply someone from their old galaxy coming to talk with them? Something that Arra'kon found difficult to believe. It was then that he decided to have the message be played.

"Have the message be played to me and myself alone." Said Arra'kon to the Air Caste member. "I need to hear what it has to say before I can decide what to do regarding this."

"Of course, commander. Transmitting the message now." Said the Air Caste officer before relaying it to Arra'kon's personnel battlesuit. Upon hearing the message, Arra'kon was stunned to hear that it was done in the Tau language. Granted, he heard that the Citadel Council was in the works of making a workable translator program for the Tau language, but it was still a work in progress from what he heard about it. This message, however, was not only done in perfect Tau, but also spoken without the typical robotic tone that came with translation programs. But those two things were nothing compared to what the message actually contained. That stunned Arra'kon even more.

"Greeting Commander Arra'kon, I am Farseer Caerys. I'm contacting you because I have information that you will find most necessary to know. Information regarding your people's survival in future conflicts. If you are as wise as your people claim you to be, then you will come to trace this message to find my current location so we can conduct talks. Bring as many guards as you desire. I care little. Just know that you will be a fool to disregard what I have to say." That was the message said and in perfect Tau. Arra'kon stayed silent as he pondered what this message said and what it meant.

Farseer. He had heard of this term from his Gue'vesa allies. It was a title for a race of Xenos called the Eldar. Though the Farsight Enclaves have never encountered these Eldar before, he had heard stories from Gue'vesa officers and citizens. None of which paint the Eldar in a positive light. The stories typically paint them as manipulators and tricksters. Xenos that will gladly kill millions of people from other races in order to save a handful of their own kind. Even the most generous of stories of the race had this impression of the Eldar and that spoke to him.

Thus, he wasn't sure if he should follow through with what this message asked him to. And yet, his strategic mind told him to follow through with it. The Farsight Enclaves needed more information about these Eldar. To see how much they are a threat to their future as well as if they're a possible ally or not. Then there was the unfortunate reality that Arra'kon needed to confirm if they were the ones that provoked the Batarians in the first place.

Given their reputation, Arra'kon theorized that they fired on the Batarian flagship, thus potentially starting a war between the Tau and the Farsight Enclaves. A war that could be ill-afforded due to the impending arrival of the Reapers. However, he needed to confirm this. The Eldar are manipulators according to the Gue'vesa, but Arra'kon wanted solid proof of that first. He will not condemn potential innocents just because of their reputation alone. Even if they have a reputation that left Arra'kon cautious around them. Plus, this information they claim is for the survival of his people. Arra'kon will not deny that he was curious about it. Though a part of him believed it was a trap, another part told him to hear them out. To at least hear what they have to say. If nothing else, this can provide him an opportunity to gauge the strength of the Eldar and how much of a threat they are to the Farsight Enclaves. Eventually, after much internal debate, Arra'kon decided to meet with the Eldar Farseer.

Contacting the fleet to trace the location of where the message was sent, Arra'kon also ordered them to send additional Cadres to the surface as well as having a frigate on standby to provide orbital fire support just in case. He then contacted the Cadre commanders already on the surface to provide him a large security detail. This Farseer allowed him to have as many guards as he pleased. Why not capitalize on it to ensure any attempt of betrayal would go poorly for her?

After doing all this, he turned to Captain Toni and spoke to the human officer, curious on what caused him to speak out loud before.

"Forgive me, Captain Toni, but something has recently come to my attention that requires my personal supervision. I'm afraid, however, it is something that I cannot bring you or your people up to speed. At least not yet." Said Arra'kon, catching Toni off-guard, surprised at him conveying something he had no obligation to do to the human captain.

"What do you mean?" Asked Toni as he looked at Arra'kon. "Is it something related to the colony?"

"It may well be." Said Arra'kon as he tried to convey what he was about to say to Toni carefully enough that he won't do anything rash. "However this is something only my people can do, I'm afraid. I'm sorry, but please understand. This is something that we must do alone." Toni frowned at that, not pleased to hear that his people were being left out of something that can potentially affect them and the people of this colony. Arra'kon must have seen this because he spoke up to assure Toni. "Rest assured, Captain Toni, if what I uncover does indeed affect your people, I will let you know as soon as possible. For now, though, have faith in me." Toni sighed at that before speaking.

"Alright, but this better not blow up in our face." Said Toni. "I don't want to lose any of the colonists or my men because you decided to keep something secret to us."

"Understandable." Said Arra'kon. "Just in case, keep your people within the colony's walls. That will keep them safe." With that, Arra'kon left the human command center so he can go prepare to meet with this Farseer and her people.

Later

Hundred miles east of the Fehl Prime colony

It had taken some time, but the Tau managed to trace the message towards the east of the colony around a hundred or so miles from it. Not taking any chances, Arra'kon took a full cadre with him toward the location. As they flew in their Manta and Orca transports, Arra'kon wondered what information the Eldar wanted to speak to them about. It was likely nothing good, but Arra'kon needed to know what it was if the Enclave wish to be prepared for it. A small part of Arra'kon hoped it was something good, but the logical side of Arra'kon found that to be nothing more than a pipe dream at best.

Soon, while he was in his thoughts, the pilot of the Manta he was on contacted him.

"Commander, we're detecting a small group of organisms up ahead." Said the pilot, catching Arra'kon attention.

"Are they the Eldar?" Asked Arra'kon. He didn't know much about what the Eldar looked like or what they had for weapons, but he knew that they looked like humans. Just slimmer and had knife-shaped ears.

"I do not know, Commander, but they're giving out strange energy readings that we cannot discern. They don't appear hostile, however." Said the Air Caste Pilot.

"That's a good sign, I suppose." Thought Arra'kon before ordering the pilot to land now. They'll walk the rest of the way. With that, the small fleet of aircraft began landed to the rocky terrain of Fehl Prime, offloading Arra'kon and his accompanying Cadre. Once the entire Cadre was on the ground, Arra'kon ordered half of them to remain with the aircraft while he took the rest to meet up with the Eldar. Even with the frigate in orbit around the planet to provide orbital support, Arra'kon felt it was best to have as much security as possible just in case the Eldar try to do anything foolish.

Thus, Arra'kon and his security detail began marching towards the location of where the Eldar were, provided by both the traced message and the Air Caste pilots. Within minutes, the Tau forces found themselves looking at a group of human-like warriors, wielding weapons and armor that they have never seen before. At the front of them was a female, judging by her more feminine appearance and chest compared to her compatriots, wearing armor that was half battle armor and half robes with a skirt etched with runes that Arra'kon has never seen before. Wielding a staff in one hand, the female looked at Arra'kon as he approached with his security, a black helmet masking her face though Arra'kon noticed she had red hair due to the ponytail sticking out of the back of the helmet. Once Tau stopped a few feet from the group of Xenos, the lead female spoke.

"Greetings, Tau." Said the female in a melodic and beautiful-sounding voice that also sounded condescending and arrogant at the same time. "I am known as Farseer Caerys and I thank you for actually being wise to heed my message. Now, shall we begin?"