Heart of Darkness Episode 2

Emissary Class Warship in orbit Vival. Shas’el Briefing Room 1535 hrs

The clean, almost antiseptic room was illuminated only by the holographic display in its centre. Dark clad figures peered at it intently, the dark grey coveralls and knee high black boots which marked the dress uniform of a stealth team. “Shas’ui  Kauyon Mal’Caor stood slightly forward of his men , his bonding knife proudly displayed on his utility belt, the spider tattoo that was part of the reason for his name visible even in the low light on his finely featured Tau face.

“How long since we had any contact with the Pors or Aun’kius?”

The Shas’el hesitated before answering; the mere possibility that an Aun was lost disturbed him greatly.

“Over 60 standard time periods since the site,’activated’ and we lost all contact with those inside”

Kauyon frowned, his spider tattoo unnervingly seeming to move as his facial muscles contracted.

“How do we know he still lives Shas’el?”

“Like most Aun he carries a personal transmitter, in case of …well emergencies, we cannot locate him but his vital signs are good, under stress, but good”

“How prudent of him, how do we get in?  I guess walking up to the front door and knocking is not a good idea”

“Considering the amount of causalities we took when the doors sealed no. We have located a small opening what we believe to be a waste chute in the lower west side this is your way in”

“How apt we go in with the sewerage. Normal stealth insertion method?”

“ The Tiger Shark is prepped and waiting, one more thing Shas’ui, to cover your insertion Fire caste troops are going to make a demonstration attack on the front gates, we expect heavy causalities”

“I wonder which cadre has volunteered for that honour”

“My own, don’t let their sacrifice for the greater good be in vain”

Level 4 Vival site archaeological dig…1540 hrs

Aun’kius ran, like he had never ran before, the taste of Tau blood still stung his sensitive olfactory glands. He was Aun , not Shas, he was no warrior but he was also not without skill. The Aun’Bork’an’Retha had taught him many skills to help him survive and remain calm.  Twice already his honour blade had seen service, his skill honed through years of practice in the ritualistic bloodless duels that the Aun used to settle disputes. Remaining calm was becoming difficult, all around he sensed the deaths of fellow Tau as the creatures awoke from their ancient slumber to destroy the trespassers, the death calls were lessening now as few remained alive within the tombs. He snapped out of his introspection just in time as he almost ran into two of the skeletonal warriors, which seemed the most common type of creature. He slowed and went into a fighting stance, balanced and posed making use of the grace and dexterity his caste were gifted with. His face emotionless as iron discipline took over, his foes incapable of showing any emotion, the dull glow of their eyes shining from unmoved faces. With a grunt they lunged forward the axe blades on their exotic rifles swinging in clumsy but lethal arcs. The Aun reacted with grace, his attack precise, neither rushed nor sloppy, he ducked under the first blade and severed the arm from the wielder, his blade turning in his wrist to neatly slice the head from the second warrior. Before it hit the floor him had spun around in a fluid motion and drove his blade deep into the forehead of the first warrior, the glow in its eyes dimmed and it fell to lie immobile. The creatures died without uttering a sound, the Ethereal let out a deep breath he had survived another encounter but how long must it go on? Moving on quickly he steeped out onto a high ledge, he had become lost long ago but knew he had to keep moving, a breathe of wind on his face alerted him to the fact the ledge was high over a cavern. He glanced down and his heart nearly stopped, below him was rank after rank of warriors, motionless and as yet inert, large spider like forms scuttled around them as if cleaning and preparing them, a strangely parental act for the many legged mechanical creatures. This was no empty tomb; this was a staging ground for an army.

Tiger Shark fighter-bomber, 25000ft above surface of Vival. 1600 hrs

. “Shas’ui  Kauyon Mal’Caor hung on the drone racks on the underside of the Tiger Shark. The wind speed could break a limb, the temperature and wind chill would strip unprotected flesh from bone in seconds and to top it off there was little breathable air at this altitude but his XV15 suit allowed him to function. Its enhanced sensors could pick out the rest of his also hanging onto the belly of the fighter-bomber. His Sept had perfected this dangerous but effective method of air deployment; the Tiger Shark was much faster than the normal Orca transport less likely to arise suspicion among enemy ground forces.

“Approaching drop zone Shas’ui”

The air caste pilots voice barely audible over the turbulence.

Mal’Caor slowed his breathing, knowing his team needed no word of command and would be doing the same, bonded as brothers they had done this hundreds of time on many worlds. Silently they dropped like angels of death from some ancient Tau legend from the Tiger Shark, black and grey shapes hurtling at tremendous speeds towards their target, the technology of their stealth suits and method of insertion guaranteeing the element of surprise. Mal’Caor enjoyed free fall, the sensation was exhilarating sometimes he thought he must have some Air caste in him, soon his jet back would kick in and his rate of descent would slow. Far below he could see the flares and flashes of the attack on the front gates, so it begins.

Heart of Darkness Episode 3

 The surface of Vival. 1600 hrs

Shas’vre J’aara Ru sat quietly in the command seat of her Hammerhead battle tank, a three-D display in her cockpit displayed the battlefield outside the sealed vehicle, the flat terrain and the rising mountain before them, her squadron appeared as blue markers, spread out in the classic ‘Hunting Shoal’ formation each battle tank at a slightly different angle from its comrades giving a good field of fire. The display also showed the other Tau forces in the assault, fast moving Tetra scout vehicles of the pathfinders weaving ahead of the formation scanning for enemy positions and traps. Once the battle began they would illuminate priority targets with their marker-lights allowing the formidable Hammerheads to become even more lethal. Not the heavy handed storm of fire favoured by the Gue’la battle tanks but a precise surgical strike, each pass by the fast moving skimming tanks of the Tau slicing the enemy formations apart, dividing them into piecemeal parts to be destroyed with ease.

  J’aara Ru was proud of her Hammerhead, a masterpiece of engineering, its smooth clean lines, its quiet efficient engines allowing it to skim the surface of whatever battleground she was called to fight on for the greater good.  Not for her, the call of the glamorous battle suit teams, the heroes of the fire caste to many, no for three generations her family had served the greater good as Hammerhead crew, the work horse of the Tau battle armour.

      All was quiet before her, the display showed none of the red markers indicating enemy forces, it was the calm before the storm, her last storm having served for several campaigns it was time for J’aara to under go the Ta’lissera Ka’sha the bonding of marriage. Her chosen partner was also fire caste and they would both gain well-deserved leave to spend time together and raising a family. She wondered what challenges motherhood would hold and although she knew that the raising of children also served the greater good she was sure she would miss the thrill of combat. A warning beep brought her out of her musing, the low light sight showed there was movement and the tactical display now had several red markers appearing rapidly increasing, it seemed someone was home after all.

   Small fast moving vehicles were emerging, like the Tau vehicles they were skimmers but much smaller than the Hammerhead battle tanks, a fusion of warrior and armoured skimmer the Necron Destroyers poured out of the mountains exits like angry wasps. Their assault was furious rapid fire weaponry stripping the flesh from the forward pathfinders, eating into their Devilfish transports, the fast moving pathfinders had little time to flee and less to fulfil their function and target the enemy for the waiting battle tanks. J’aara’s Hammerhead rocked gently as it huge Railgun opened up, where the Tau guns hit the Destroyers shattered in a cloud of metallic debris, but they were few, like sharks fighting a shoal of barracuda they were being mobbed to death. Destroyers wove around them, blasts hammering into the tanks vulnerable rear armour; the battle became a swirling melee of armoured vehicles.

“ Secondary weapons open fire, squadron stay tight we must provide each other support fire”

Shas’vre J’aara Ru was barely holding it together, this battle was like nothing she had ever seen, the night sky was filled with blasts of gauss energy, and burning wrecks, the night sight useless as the level of ambient light outside was now staggering .Her Hammerhead’s burst cannons fired constantly, targets everywhere, she slammed the tank hard right to avoid a fellow Hammerhead spinning wildly out of control, Necron warriors clinging onto it like grim parasites. Shards of metal bounced off the hull like rain, any pathfinders out there on foot were long dead no mortal infantry could survive in the tempest of death that raged outside. Another hail of metal rattled against the hull as the burst cannons tore apart a Destroyer in mid air. There must be some fault with the tactical display she thought, as red markers would disappear destroyed only to reappear shortly afterwards if they had never been hit.

“All units fall back to drop zone, repeat all units fall back”

J’aara didn’t need to her the command twice; only one other Hammerhead from her squadron remained she intended to save what was left.

“ Follow me, my Hammerhead will lead the way”

The engines whined under the strain their air intakes functioning but clogged with debris, organic and inorganic, the battle tank spun and thundered back towards the Tau lines. Seeing the danger too late J’aara watched helplessly as the tank slammed into a destroyer its metallic body shattering its left engine.

“Brace for impact”

The lights in the cockpit dimmed and the crew compartment filled with the unreal sound of metal fragments bouncing around inside, halted only by soft Tau flesh, the once sterile air now tasted of smoke and oil and the metallic taste of Tau blood.  Like a huge wounded fish J’aara’s tank bucked and slid, out of control, hitting the surface and bouncing to crash down in a crazy dance, several times as it rolled towards the Tau lines. Blood misted her eyesight but at least her world had stopped spinning, J’aara tried to assess damage but it was difficult to tell that her crew had ever been alive let alone if any survived. Her leg was trapped and she smelt fuel, the tank crews worse fear of been burned alive rose in her mind, burning electrics filled the crew compartment if the fuel reached them. With great pain she freed her leg and stumbled out of the side hatch. The battle still raged not far away, the assault had failed. She never saw the remains of the destroyer under the tank slowly reforming, the dull red glow returning to its eyes, the blast that killed her came from behind, her last thoughts of her partner and the children she would now never raise.

 The Shas’el turned away from the strategic display, across it the blue of the last Tau armoured units were fading. Hardly representative of the true cost of the assault, his people had died down there, he knew that at times such sacrifice was necessary for the greater good but that did not heal the pain in his soul. Somewhere out there was J’aara Ru his partner, his love, his future, he knew in his soul she had not survived. Part of him had gone cold when her saw the blue marker that represented her squadron fade out.

“Shas’ui  Kauyon, do not fail me , do not waste the  time that has been bought with the blood of our people”