Disclaimer: I do not own Warhammer 40,000 it is owned by Games Workshop.
Death in the East
Chapter 5
Humming echoed through the forest at night in the wilds of Balor, all but inaudible over the sound of water flowing over rocks. Starlight shimmered in the dark, holo-fields masking a Vampire Raider as it brought its passengers as close as it could to their target. Sliding over water and rocks, the Vampire Raider quietly slid to a halt in a clearing by the river, holo-fields disengaging with a flicker of rainbow light a moment before the passenger compartment slid open.
Lyla was the first out, the gyrinx lithely springing out of the transport before briefly halting to sniff at the air and take in their surroundings. Then she was gone, prowling ahead of her companion and her companion's companions. Behind the gyrinx, more Eldar emerged from the Vampire Raider, cloaked and hooded with weapons held low and relaxed. The Rangers silently took in their surroundings, and as one, prowled forward, seemingly melting into the shadows under the trees with not a sound.
"
We will continue as planned." Mira telepathically communicated with the Vampire Raider's pilots. "
Khaine guide our blades, Cegorach blind our enemies, and Asuryan smile on us all."
"
See you at the rendezvous, Mira." the pilot replied in kind, the Vampire Raider's holo-fields coming back to life as the transport quietly vanished and moved to leave.
Mira took the lead, her fellow Rangers moving along her flanks and to her rear. Up ahead, Lyla scouted forward, sharing her senses with Mira through their bond. From the sense of things, it seemed the forest was empty, at least of sentient life. Birds of dozens of species slept in their nests up above, while nocturnal predators lurked or prowled in the shadows.
The Eldar avoided the latter, having no reason to tangle with the beasts of the woods, their eyes set on other prey. "
How far away is our destination?" a Ranger asked telepathically.
"
From here it should take us six turns to reach a Human ruin which sits along an abandoned route up the nearby mountain." Mira replied. "
Then another two turns up the mountain, to a point from where we have a clear line of sight to our target when it arrives."
"
And when will it arrive?" the Ranger asked.
"
In just over a solar cycle of this world." Mira replied. "
We should have the time to have a meal, then…but only after we reach our destination."
"
Of course."
Mira slowly nodded, focusing once more on making her way through the woods with no hint of her presence to be seen or heard by anyone who might be present. With only Humans or Tau potentially present, that shouldn't be too hard.
The ruins were…strange.
No…not strange.
Familiar.
Mira had heard the stories, read the legends, the musings and imaginings of what her father's people called the Dark Age of Technology. When the Children of Terra had reached the apex of their power and achievement, such that the Imperium of a Million Worlds of this day and age paled in comparison to. And, much like her and her mother's people, was brought down by their own hubris, the soulless machines they had crafted to serve and fight for them turning against them.
Still, it was a part of their history. Humanity's legacy. And…for one such as her, a Child of Isha with a few stanzas of Terran gene-song in her blood…her heritage as well.
The architectural styles were different, functional and idealized in a way that Imperial architecture was not, but it was still clearly of Human design and make. And some things had never changed at all, not in the tens of thousands of years between then and now, as shown by the broken statue of a nude Human female standing at what might have been a fountain once. Or the ruined temple near the center of the town, just a shattered husk of a building around a pair of idols, a long-haired Human male and an equally long-haired Human female seated cross-legged next to each other.
It was also crawling with Kroot, and from the look of things, the Tau had once been excavating here, and almost certainly had ransacked the ruins for any tech relics that might be of use to them.
Rage exploded then, deep within Mira, only the discipline drilled into her by her mother ever since she could walk and talk keeping it under control. Even then, she felt her Spirit Stone burn cold against her chest.
This was her heritage.
Her legacy by dint of descent from House von Drachenfels.
And these…
vermin dare despoil it with their filthy hands? Desecrate the lost glories of her father's people's ancestors?
They would pay.
Their blood would soak the ground, and be as a funerary offering to all those that had died here to their own creations' betrayal. Only then would they sleep once more in peace.
Mira gestured sharply with her fingers, the other Rangers understanding without anything needing to be said. "
Keep it quiet." Mira pulsed, and the others pulsed wordless understanding. If they felt her anger, they said nothing about it, perhaps interpreting it as typical Biel-Tan contempt for lesser species.
Well, it was close enough to the truth, she supposed.
Slinging her long rifle behind her back, Mira reached down, and drew a Huskblade, the Commorite weapon a gift from her mother. A relic of a time from before she walked the Path, and had secretly kept even after she had left the Dark City.
Moving soundlessly from shadow to shadow, the Rangers slipped unnoticed from the forest and into the ruins. There were a dozen Kroot guarding the ruins, led by a single Shaper. Mira went after them, slipping past guards blinking and turning watchful eyes along possible lines of approach, but never looking up, and never into shadowed corners, always expecting the obvious and straightforward, and not the dagger in the darkness, waiting to strike at a turned back or exposed side.
Well, perhaps that was a little unfair, she admitted while looking down through a hole in a ceiling, as the Shaper pored over a map on a table, guarded by a trio of Kroot Carnivores. Slipping back over the roof, Mira quietly dropped down to the ground, and creeping over to a window, slipped through to crouch down against the ground.
Breath held and muscles tensed like a gyrinx, she pounced, a Kroot Carnivore barely having the time to widen its eyes as her hands grabbed its head and jerked sharply, breaking the creature's neck. By now, the other Kroot in the room had noticed, but it wouldn't save them.
Wraithbone flashed and another Carnivore went down, a monomolecular-edged blade flashing from Mira's sleeve and into its head. Bone crunched and the third Carnivore collapsed, gasping for breath as a punch from Mira collapsed its throat.
Snarling in fury, the Shaper lashed out at Mira, who dodged the clumsy swing of the creature's blade, before blocking the follow-through with an arm against its arm, while her free hand stabbed her Huskblade into the creature's chest. The Commorite weapon punched through the primitive leather armor the Kroot favored, and cutting into flesh, sucked the creature dry in an instant.
Mira sniffed as she slipped back into the shadows, leaving the Shaper a mummified corpse on the ground. Across the ruins, it was more of the same.
Elsewhere, a Kroot Carnivore stood proudly on guard, never noticing the Eldar hanging down by his legs behind it, not until the Ranger had snapped its neck.
Another Ranger plunged a monomolecular blade into a Carnivore's eye from behind, and when its partner turned in the Ranger's direction, another Ranger threw a blade from the shadows behind it, and into the back of the second Carnivore's head.
A Carnivore fell as a poisoned dart struck its neck, causing the creature to fall, foaming and twitching. Snarling, its partner hurled itself over the wall, only to promptly meet a monomolecular-edged sword rising in its direction and bisected itself into bloody halves.
A pair of Carnivores chasing after a noise ran into a trap, monofilament winding around them and reducing them to bloody chunks of meat and offal.
The last Carnivore broke and fled, only to die with poisoned darts in its back, the creature falling forward foaming from the eyes and mouth.
Looking out from an upper floor window, Mira nodded in satisfaction at the sight. It was the smallest vengeance yet for the desecration of these ruins, but the rest was up to the Imperium in the days or weeks to come. Once this world was fully in its grasp, any Tau or Kroot left on this world would only have a mass grave or two to look forward to.
For now, though, Mira had more important things to do.
"
What did the Humans carve these stairs for?" one of the Rangers grumbled as they made their way up the mountainside.
"
...religious reasons, perhaps." Mira mused before gesturing at one of the time-worn statues of women on plinths by the stairs carved into the mountain. The women were all but nude, wearing only clothing that could pass for Commorite wychsuits, along with what could probably have passed for ornate crowns of some sort. "
These statues resemble those in the temple in the ruins."
"
I see…so the Humans have never always worshiped that seer of theirs?" the other Ranger asked.
"
No, at least from what I gathered in my wanderings." Mira replied. "
That seer of theirs as you call him, the Emperor, only took up the reigns of power after the Humans' first civilization fell to the betrayal of soulless machines…not helped by our own folly."
"
...I'm not comfortable with the notion that we had anything to do with the Humans' fall." the other Ranger dryly remarked. "
They need no help to ruin themselves."
"
Perhaps," Mira admitted. "
But we need not be blind to our own flaws, lest we repeat the mistakes of the past. Especially outcasts such as ourselves, who dance in the shadows between the Path and the darkness that reigns in the heart of the Webway."
"
Even so…"
"
No." Mira interrupted firmly. "
This is something my mother made sure I understood early in my youth. We are the Children of Isha. Heirs of the Old Ones' legacy, victors of the War in Heaven, the Lords of All Creation. It is only meet that we think so highly of ourselves…but it was also the belief born of that, that we could do as we please, and take all that we desire without consequence, that brought us low. Or do you think we wear Spirit Stones and willfully shun our gifts for no good reason?"
There was silence, and Mira nodded. "
Just as our achievements, successes, and greatness elevate us above others in this galaxy," she continued. "
Our failures and damnation cast us down lower than anyone else. The Humans' fall is nothing compared to ours, when our ancestors' hubris cost us our ancient crownworlds forever, and birthed the most twisted of the gods of the Great Enemy into existence."
"
...I understand, Mira." the other Ranger admitted with a sigh. "
It is difficult to admit, but I understand."
"
I know." Mira said with another nod. "
It was difficult for me as well, but my mother would not relent, and in hindsight, she cannot be faulted for that. It is an important lesson to learn, a piece of wisdom to be held in our hearts."
"
Your mother is wise." the other Ranger said, and Mira smiled fondly.
"
She is."
The vantage point from where they would assassinate one of the Tau's pretender-sages was high up on the mountainside, a short stretch of cliff clear of vegetation along the edge. Getting there wasn't particularly difficult, but not without challenge.
The roaring of crude rockets tipped the Eldar off, the Rangers scattering as a Tau XV25 Stealthsuit dropped down in front of them, accompanied by a pair of gun drones. External speakers blared out something in the Tau's uncouth tongue, but the Eldar weren't listening.
Mira's long rifle cracked off a shot while two other Rangers opened fire with shuriken pistols. Mira's shot blew off the battlesuit's right arm, and depriving it of its only weapon. The other Rangers' shots took out the gun drones, and then a thrown monomolecular blade punched into the battlesuit's head, taking out its sensor cluster.
In the next instant, a trio of Rangers had closed in, and stabbed the battlesuit with monomolecular-edged swords from three directions. Gurgles could be heard from its speakers, while blue blood dripped down the Eldar's swords and down to the ground. Then they withdrew their swords, the battlesuit lifelessly collapsing to the ground.
Wordlessly, the Eldar dragged it off and out of sight, before scattering across the clearing. In the distance, the hidden Tau base could be seen, camouflaged enough to mask it from orbital sensors, but this close and against Eldar eyes, it was obvious. In any case, they still had some time before their prey arrived, more than enough time for a quick meal. Afterwards, the Eldar spent the following turns in various ways.
While some were always on watch duty, others slept, meditated, and played simple mind games with each other to pass the time. Day passed into night, and night began giving way to the day, then finally, their prey arrived.
Crude plasma engines burned white-hot as a heavy Tau transport arrived, veiled from Imperial sensors by Tau disruption tech. The Eldar watched in silence as it flew over the mountains, and then hovering over the base in the distance, slowly descended to land. Already, the Tau in the base had turned out to greet their pretender-sage, assembled in neat squares and lines on the ground below.
Wordlessly, Mira shifted into a prone position, her long rifle braced on a bipod and its scope lined up with her eye. She quickly swept the target zone for potential complications, before zeroing in on the transport. For several minutes, nothing happened, and then with the whining of primitive machinery and the hissing of equalizing pressure, a hatch opened.
Painfully-slow, but it opened, and in moments, the pretender-sage emerged, a wizened creature practically buried in gaudy robes dripping with equally-gaudy jewelry. So much so, that the creature couldn't stand on its own legs, the pretender-sage needing a grav-platform of its own to move. In its hands, the creature held a staff of office, while to its sides, a pair of Tau warriors walked just a step behind, an honor guard of sorts for the pretender-sage.
There were no cheers from the assembled Tau, just shows of reverence and murmurs of awe and anticipation. Slowly and with affected gravitas, the pretender-sage and its honor guards proceeded down an aisle formed between the assembled Tau, drones flying around and overhead on the lookout for any sign of danger.
Mira breathed in, steadying her aim, and then pulled the trigger. Air cracked as a beam of blinding white split its way towards the target, and punching into the pretender-sage's chest, reduced the creature's torso to bloody chunks and hot mist.
There was a moment of silence.
Then the Tau screamed, most of them clutching their heads in shock and terror at the sight of their pretender-sage's death, many collapsing to their knees in despair. The honor guards even went so far as to draw their sidearms and putting them against their heads, committed suicide.
Most of the Tau wept or wailed or even both, while some beat their heads against the ground or nearby walls. A few clawed at their eyes and faces, leaving bloody marks in their wake, screams and alarms echoing across the wilds as anarchy consumed the Tau base.
Mira just snorted at the sight. "What a pathetic sight." she sneered, while crawling back and away. "Let us depart, we are finished here."
Several turns later, and the Eldar were piling back inside the Vampire Raider. As the hatch sealed and the transport went on its merry way, a display lit up and displayed the image of Farseer Eleria.
"Is it done?" she asked.
"The pretender-sage is dead," Mira began. "And the vermin tear at themselves in despair. Pathetic…"
"Of course they are." Eleria agreed. "They are vermin."
"What must be done next, mother?" Mira asked.
"Proceed to the capital city," Eleria replied to Mira's surprise. "And infiltrate it before awaiting further instructions."
"It's almost over, then." Mira said.
"Yes," Eleria said with a nod. "But remember, vermin are most dangerous when backed into a corner. We must prepare for that eventuality, such that when it occurs, we can force them into the open, and allow the Humans to hammer them freely."
"As you say."
"Still," Eleria continued. "We must not forget that this world, and the events that even now take place, form only part of a greater tapestry that must be woven to ensure the security of our worlds and loved ones. The Imperium's victory here will not be enough, and the next step must be of a subtle nature. Prepare yourself."
"I understand, mother." Mira said with a nod. "At times, a sword or a hidden dagger is needed, but at other times, a scalpel would be more appropriate."
"Or a net, as it were." Eleria said, and causing Mira to tilt her head in surprise. "Patience, my dear. You will know soon enough. For now, rendezvous with the other Rangers, and proceed to the capital. When the events of this world reach their climax, you will be needed there, this much is certain among the ever-shifting paths of the future-present."
"It will be done." Mira said with another nod, and then Eleria ended the communication. Mira said nothing more, trusting in the Vampire Raider's pilots to know where they needed to go. That said…
"...a net…" one Ranger muttered. "...is the Honored Farseer after something or someone?"
"Our mission here is to prevent the Great Enemy from threatening the Maiden Worlds in this part of the galaxy." Mira pointed out. "As we are all aware, it only takes one to sow the seeds of the Great Enemy's corruption. Perhaps that is what my mother intends to catch?"
"It would seem so." the other Ranger said, but Mira said nothing, already suspecting her mother intended something else, but what?
We will know soon enough, I'm sure.
A/N
And it's assassination time, with a lot of gratuitous violence on the side. Plus Mira getting very unhappy at Tau poking around Golden Age ruins on Balor, although there really isn't anything left there. Still, watching upstarts like the Tau trespassing on her father's people's ancient heritage (and hers as well, as she describes herself as a Terran-blooded Child of Isha) really pisses her off.