Admiral Strongchild expected many things when his fleet returned to Au'Taal Prime. Perhaps a message from Aun'Eldi, the ruling Ethereal of the Sept greeting him and the ethereal keeping an eye on everything for the Greater Good, Aun'H'an. Remembering the devastation wrought by the unknown alien race' enormous spaceship as it entered FTL, he was also prepared to see the Au'Taal Sept ravaged, the Kor'vattra in ruins and its people slaughtered. What he wasn't expecting to find arriving at the system' edge was of a Be'gel invasion unfolding in full force, the Au'Taal Sept' fleets mounting a desperate defense with the alien ship a little bit off to the side, neither engaging the Be'gel nor assisting the T'au. Attempts to communicate anyone failed at first at the sheer chaos going on, but then they were hailed by an alien vessel.
"Hello? Can you hear me? I just saw your fleet come in and you appear to be from the T'au Empire. I'm Simul Zetta of the Ascentron Circurrency, currently assisting your people in Au'Taal Sept fight back against the Orks? Or was it called Be'gel? Hold on." An awkward silence passed for a micro-dec before the alien came back on the line. "I'm going to use the term Orks since that seems to be how they refer to themselves. Anyway, I'm going to patch you in directly to the secure network now." Several encryption keys were sent over which was quickly verified by the Water Caste on-board, the familiar face of Aun'Eldi appearing as a holographic projection on the ship' bridge.
"Admiral Strongchild. It is good to see you. We will have to forgo formalities for now. The Be'gel had come without warning in an enormous space hulk and our Kor'vattra has suffered greatly in defense of the Sept. I will let High Admiral Nightstorm know of your arrival." Aun'Eldi cut the connection before Strongchild could so much say a word in edgewise, his usually sharp mind dulled by the bevy of surprises coming his way one after the other.
"Admiral Strongchild, have we arrived at Au'Taal Sept?" The melodious voice of Aun'H'an entered the bridge, followed soon after by the heavy thuds of her muscle-bound Ethereal Guards. "Have you managed to contact Aun'Eldi yet?"
"Master Aun'H'an, we have indeed arrived at the system, but it is under attack by the Be'gel. Communications with Au'Taal Prime proved impossible at first, but then-" Strongchild hesitated as his mind struggled to find the right words to say. Fortunately, a Water Caste diplomat stepped forward and took the burden from the admiral, explaining what had happened and the current state of things in Au'Taal Sept.
"This is most alarming. We must get to Au'Taal Prime immediately. How soon can the fleet rejoin the local Kor'vattra in their defense efforts?" Just as Aun'H'an posed those questions to Strongchild, a Water Caste tasked with monitoring incoming transmissions notified the Admiral of one coming from Au'Taal Prime.
"Patch it through immediately." Strongchild commanded, the Water Caste obeying in turn. Soon, a grim-faced Air Caste appeared on the bridge, his face aged as though ten tau'cyrs had passed. The weariness on display alarmed Strongchild, and he found himself worrying about the true scope of the battles that were unfolding in the depths of space within Au'Taal Sept even now.
"Admiral Strongchild. Master Aun'H'an. My apologies first for a breach in decorum, but I'm afraid we must attend to the situation at hand immediately." Aun'H'an nodded and took her place at the bridge' command throne, just above Admiral Strongchild' own. She nodded at the Air Caste below her, and Strongchild focused his mind solely now to listen to what needs be done, for the sake of Au'Taal Sept and the people under his command.
"We have been forced into a defensive posture centered around Au'Taal Prime, with many orbital habitats and colonies on other planets forced to fend for themselves. The Ascentron Circurrency, a new alien race which we have made first contact with only several days ago, have agreed to help us repel the invaders by leading an elite strike-force using their advanced stealth technology to infiltrate and destroy the Be'gel's space hulk, preventing it from colliding with Au'Taal Prime. Until that happens Admiral Strongchild, you are to engage the Be'gel at Kor'vash'a and act as a major distraction to direct Be'gel forces to your location until such time that the Ascentrons have achieved their objective, or the situation changes once more."
What was left unsaid was that to catch the attention of the Be'gels in the first place, Admiral Strongchild' fleet would be forced to fight all on their own, with no hope for reinforcement or repair until the whole thing was over. It was a drawn out order for suicide in essence, but Strongchild did not waver. He didn't even blink. He gave a short nod to his peer and once High Admiral Nightstorm left, Strongchild got to work organizing his fleet for the grueling campaign ahead.
Madorkok was having the time of his life. When Warboss Grozbakh gave the signal to ram the Red Stikk, he and his krew had taken the opportunity to detach a kruiser he was building in secret from the Boss' Rok and went off on his own to terrorize the sleepy little hamlet of Aloh'sha. It was a barely habitable moon orbiting off a rather small gas giant in the system, and the Earth Caste' terraforming efforts had only just managed to create a breathable atmosphere and a weak magnetic field that fizzled out whenever the system' sun sent a solar flare their way. Still, a tundra-like ecosystem had managed to establish itself by careful introduction of microorganisms, genetically-modified flora and fauna, and a series of orbital mirrors which concentrated enough sunlight to sustain all of the above. All of which was now in ruins with the arrival of Madorkok and his krew' arrival.
His Mekboyz had taken command of the last two and a half orbital mirrors which the T'au hadn't managed to self-destruct once they realized the orks were coming. The greenskin tech savants were now in the process of welding everything together in orbit, which had so far had gone off without a hitch to the constant surprise of everyone involved. Madorkok let them be, as he knew inzentives was important where Meks were concerned. You give them stuff, they give you shootas, bombas, and sometimes even zappas. Even Stompas if you got enough scrap lying around. And the puny grots him and his boys was krumping right now had fine scrap for Meks.
"Waaaaaaggghhhhhh!!!" He roared as he swung his kustom choppa faster than the XV8 Battlesuit before him could react, bisecting the machine and its occupant with great force. A splatter of machine lubricant and T'au blood hit the Madorkok, which only served to rile up the ork big boss even more. His violence inspired more displays of wanton aggression by his like, and soon the few Fire Caste of Aloh'sha was extinguished. With this battle over so soon, the orks turned their attention to whoever else as left, as much to satisfy their bloodlust as it was for their own personal enjoyment.
That was until transport ships appeared out of nowhere, deftly dodging the ork' point defenses and flak batteries as they flew close enough to the ground for their cargo to step off without so much as a hitch in their stride. New enemies have arrived to the orks' delight, and by the hailstorm of projectiles that cut down many of the slower greenskins down, ones that would give a great fight. They bore passing similarities to T'au Battlesuits, but no T'au would fit in their torsos replete with weaponry. Some walked on two legs, some on four, and others hovered while a rare few hugged the ground bearing heavy weaponry on their backs. They were all colored a stark red that stood out on the icy moon' surface, somehow managing to bring attention to themselves even with the complete void of space looming overhead.
There were only about a hundred or so Ascentrons to the remaining orks' present thousands, with even more orks on the way as every greenskin on the moon felt an instinctive pull towards the rush of battle. That wasn't even counting the mechanized Ork vehicles , for a loose definition of the word, turned around and filled the air with every kind of projectile and energy discharges known and unknown. A few Ascentrons found themselves hurled out of position by a Traktor Kannon, the orks howling with glee as they closed in to finish off their new victims. Several micro-missiles and plasma blasts later, the ashes of that charge choked the lungs of several orks dumb enough to inhale at the wrong time, pausing their movement long enough for them to be vaporized in turn. It was a massacre and the orks grew ever more wild in response.
"Git the Red Stikks!" Madorkok bellowed as he charged the nearest Ascentron; a weapons platform on six legs bearing three weapons on its back on a radial symmetry. The seeming lack of a head or any other conventional weak points didn't deter the ork big boss one bit. His Power Klaw crackled with volatile energy, and it hit true against one of the Ascentron' legs. An invisible shield came into view, light distorting into prisms of colors named and unnamed before the clash was over, neither the power klaw nor the shield having made the other give up in any way.
A Stormfire Autocannon slid into place targeting Madorkok' head, the ork big boss realizing the danger about half a second before the burst fire began. He threw out the thick armor-plating of his cybork left arm to take the brunt of the heat before tossing a Krakk Stikkbomb right off another ork' still steaming corpse. The blast wave buffeted Madorkok nearly off his feet, and to the greenskin' annoyance, had done no damage to his enemy, but did seemed to have stunned the mech somehow, which just as good in the ork's mind.
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"I can't believe it. That actually hurt." The Ascentron that bore the brunt of Madorkok' Krakk Stikkbomb spoke out loud, not that the orks around him could understand what he was saying. His body moved automatically to kill orks as his mind assessed the extent of damage done to his body, however meager. He then turned his eyes towards the greenskin responsible, Madorkok, who in turn was now hefting a Thump Gun off another dead ork' hands and grinning maliciously before firing off an enormous explosive payload.
At such a close range, it was inevitable that the explosion would throw off even the hulking Madorkok' into the air, and its results on the Ascentron at ground zero was far less kinder still. One Stormfire Autocannon was slightly askew, and a charred layer of residue had formed atop the unyielding armor plates of the Ascentron. A few seconds later, a silver liquid flowed out to cover up said imperfections, resting upon them for brief moments before retreating to reveal the damage done was now undone.
"Oh zog." Madorkok managed to say before his head was promptly blown apart by a burst of projectile fire. His fate and similar ones befell all the orks of Aloh'sha, the Deth Lazer the remaining Meks had managed to cobble together from the remaining orbital mirrors shot down from the ground by several precision strikes from Marauder Missiles. The kruiser the orks had came with was left alone as it fired up its engines and made a speedy retreat, mainly because several T'au ships were already on their way to Aloh'sha as well.
A short message was then sent to the few pockets of T'au left on Aloh'sha, which brought relief and questions in equal measure, for now a new ally had come to their rescue: the Ascentron Circurrency.
At Au'Taal Prime, Aun'H'an wandered restlessly through the secure underground compound that kept most of the planet's ethereal caste safe. As important as her kin was to the war effort by their simple presence and unmatched wisdom, none would dare intentionally expose harm to the ethereals by their lack of foresight or skill. And so aside from a relatively few number needed to keep most of the populace placated and focused on their tasks, the rest of Au'Taal Prime' ethereals were hidden away in fortified bunkers in all but name, even with all the amenities the Earth Caste provided them. For most, they were fine with this treatment, but they were not Aun'H'an, who had been given a mission by Aun'va himself.
Locate the alien race that left Numenor Point and judge if they are worthy of being inducted into the Greater Good. She repeated in her mind as she passed other ethereals staring back at her with curious gazes. She had tried and failed to leave as even her ethereal guards had to defer to the authority of the High Ethereal of Au'Taal Sept in emergencies. So now she was on the search for Aun'Eldi, who seemed remarkably lax in his treatment of the Ascentrons, if the records were to be believed. A personal duel with the High Commander and then a personal tour by the High Planner of their Battlesuit manufacturing facilities? Not even the Kroot was given so much leeway, and they are one of the T'au' oldest and most staunch allies in the galaxy. Something odd is happening to Au'Taal Sept, and it all comes back to the Ascentrons.
She found the High Ethereal engaged in conversation with an alien species she had never seen before. Their voices were low so as not to catch attention, but the body language of Aun'Eldi and his guest was relaxed as much as one can during wartime. They were in-between tasks it seems, and a part of Aun'H'an balked at the idea of being seen as an intrusive busybody. But the words of Aun'wei echoed in her mind and though he was not present in body, the spirit of his wisdom washed away Aun'H'an doubts and steeled her resolve, enough for her to step into view of her two targets.
"Aun'H'an, it is good to see you. Have you met Peny Cotting before? She's a Shroudwalker from the Ascentron Circurrency. She has come to assists us in our defense efforts against the Be'gel' mind-science." Aun'H'an let her eyes gaze over the alien guest. Its head was covered by a red veil, a small and simple headdress resting atop it. Long, voluminous red robes covered every part of the alien, all the way to the floor were the excess fabric converted into a crimson star. There was no way to discern what lay beneath simply by using her eyes, and Aun'H'an felt trying to go further might alert the alien to her deeper intentions.
"Greetings, Master Aun'Eldi, Calm Sage of Au'Taal." Aun'H'an gave her senior the gesture of humble entrance as well as deep respect, keeping her eyes locked onto him for now. "I'd like to speak to you in private, if you're not too indisposed at the moment?" The younger ethereal then let a gaze flicker towards Peny Cotting, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly that an unobservant mind would not have caught it. But the Shroudwalker noticed it, as she turned to face her host proper.
"It is perhaps time for me to retire to my room, Aun'Eldi. You were a most engaging conversation partner." The alien made move to leave, but surprisingly the Au'Taal High Ethereal gestured for it to stay. A red veil gently swung left and right as the Shroudwalker pondered her options, before deciding to remain for the moment, slightly bowing at Aun'H'an in what it supposed was a gesture of apology.
"I know what you wanted to ask of me. Did you think I was not aware what you tried to ask of the ethereal guards? As eager as you might be to lend your hand to the war at hand, the situation is under control. Even now, the Ascentron' elite strike force are wreaking havoc through the Be'gel' space hulk and will soon find and eliminate their leadership. The Au'Taal Sept and Admiral Strongchild' fleets are holding on admirably in the meantime, while our Fire Caste ranks are bolstered by Ascentron arms."
Aun'Eldi sighed as he saw an undercurrent of outrage discreetly run under younger peer' serene face. "There will be time for the proper forms to be observed regarding our new allies, Aun'H'an, but in the middle of a war is not it. Did Aun'va impose a time limit upon you to reach your conclusions?" Aun'H'an's mouth moved to answer, but stopped as she realized the truth. In her haste to prove her worth, the young ethereal had almost made a grave misstep that could have endangered the Greater Good. The shock weakens her footing and she nearly falls were it not for the Shroudwalker gently guiding Aun'H'an to an empty seat and producing a container of fresh water from somewhere on her person. Without prompting, Aun'H'an drinks and the liquid cooled down her heart and calmed her mind.
"You are wise to fear change, Aun'H'an. The unknown is a realm full of danger and paths best forgotten, but it is also where one can take their fate into their own hands and change the future. Though we are worlds apart in many things, I believe the things we have in common dwarfs such differences into irrelevance. Tell me, would the T'au Empire of old have ventured beyond their home if they knew the cost it would take from their people and their way of life? You are as much an alien to the past as I am to you. Let us set aside the fear and hope for a better tomorrow, together." Aun'H'an listened intently, barely phased by Peny Cotting' perfect command of the T'au Lexicon and focusing instead on the meaning behind her words. The young ethereal found no fault in them, either in fragments or as the whole. It was an offer made in good faith, as far as Aun'H'an could tell, which frightened her tremendously.
Everything has a price, after all. For the Kroot, weapons and opportunities to acquire new genetic stock to evolve their lineage further. For the Nicassar, protection and new places to explore and reach. For the Vespid, their submission and complete obedience was a rarity which was not replicated again. The Demiurg? Trading partners, but nothing more.
And most notable of all, the Gue'vesa, formerly of the Imperium of Man but now under the T'au Empire' shadow. Theirs is an assimilation slow and purposeful, with victories both by silken ways and martial might. The new against the ancient, the youthful against the decrepit, the fearless against the paranoid. Each time the T'au had met something new, there was an equal chance of things going well, and of countless rivers of blood spilled in the name of an idea called the Greater Good.
But the Ascentrons? They arrived out of a hole in reality from one of the greatest tragedies in T'au history. The entirety of their civilization is contained in a ship the size of a planet, dragging along behind it an artificial singularity of similar size. Theirs is an empire of machines, but filled as well with organics of all kinds, and treated more or less the same. They were equal, and there lies the danger in Aun'H'an' eyes. Already, she could feel less sure of the guiding principles of the Greater Good, not when an alternative presented itself before her with the fruits of its labor well and clear for all to see. Left alone, there could well be a time that the T'au Empire becomes fractured under the competing visions of those that would follow the Greater Good and those that would follow the Ascentrons way of life.
The Ascentrons could not be made to follow the Greater Good. Aun'H'an decided in her mind. They have something better, as blasphemous as it is for me to admit. I must warn Aun'va, tell them all that-
What would you tell them of us, Aun'H'an? The younger ethereal' eyes widened as she felt something intrude upon her thoughts; a rustle of silks and red and purplish-fear. She made to turn towards Peny Cotting, but found her head was frozen. Indeed, even her eyes was stuck open, a frozen still of Aun'Eldi and the Shroudwalker dominating her vision. But there was someone else, a blurry shadow picking itself up from the depths of Peny Cotting' velvet robes and now matched gazes with Aun'H'an with eyes that were white as ash.
I told you fear is unbecoming of your like. A leader should never cower before the dark, much less the light. And honestly, fracturing a unity like yours to replace it with ours? Perish the thought; we would never abide by such violence. And more importantly, our place lies elsewhere, beyond this broken, maddened and sinking ship you call home. Our alliance to you is a respite, Aun'H'an, not an obligation. We would not overstep where we are not wanted, and we will keep to ourselves even when a system will be made available to us. Her mind laid bare as she was at her birth, Aun'H'an could taste every crenelation and crease of the truth on her mind, and she wept for nothing now could save the T'au Empire. The Shroudwalker' mind-science has ensnared her.
I don't often do this, for I feel an uninvited intrusion is too much like a violation of someone' being. But the path you were about to make real is the one where your greatest fear is made real. You yourself would have put the T'au Empire against the Ascentron Circurrency, and so doomed us both to a slow death while the real enemy basks in our misery. Such is the irony of foresight, and such is the folly of mortals. The blurry shadow of Peny Cotting embraced Aun'H'an until all the young ethereal could see was static and ash eyes burning from within. This is only going to hurt once, young one.
And then there was pain.
