NationStates Jolt Archive

Easten fringe of the Gaxlay, Tau empire, sector 43, sphere of expantion 6

After the Emporor was taken by the Second and eleventh legions of the space marines, and then the insuing warp storm that froze time for them for 10,000 years the Imperium of man fell into the hands of Chaos. However, chaos is Chaos and over the milenia the might Imperium collapsed into thousands of tiny empires, each fighting the others in the hopes of gaining the most favor with the ruinous powers.

In the 40th milenia their is only war, and in this time of complete Chaos and Anercy only one force remains which matchs the disipline of the old Imperium. In the Easten fringe's of the Galaxy, the Empire of the Tau stands as a piller of reason in an other wise Chaotic Galaxy. Spreading the Greater Good spoken by he Aun, or Etherials, they have expanded much into the outer reach's of the old Imperium, taking planet after planet from the Ruinous powers and giving those humans who would accept it the Word and peace of the Aun.

Once again the Tau empire has begun to gather its forces, under the command of the supreem Fire caste leader, O'Shovah, or Farsight in the high gothic. It is he who will once again lead the Tau to victory, this time leaving the relative safty of the Easten fringe and striking more towards the core. Their he has been orded by Aun'Va, the Greatest of all the Etherials to set up a small selection of colanies, under his control, to act as a millitary base for future conflicts.

Ahead of the main fleet the "Burning Flame", Farsight's personal command ship is necceled inside a Nebula, spying on something the thought they would never see active in this day and age, a fleet of Space Marine Battle Barge's.

Suddenly, and without warning, the banks of Rail Cannons and the many Torpedo tube's of the Battleship came to life, moving on their many turret systems to target the Anchent ships. With several flash's a salvo of Rail bolts were fired of, traveling the AU between the ship and its target at 0.5c. As they came close to the target a second set of flash's could be seen leaving the "Burning Flame", however, these were not projectiles, they were Orca Dropships, carrying score's of Drones, fire Warriors and Battlesuits. The Fleet would be boarded and its crew determined. They would find out if the one the humans they had helped called Emporor had returned, and if he had what his intention in this new Galaxy were.

The Battle-barge Malleus Imperator was not prepared for a sudden ambush. It had been in the system to repair damage caused by a particularly fierce warp storm that had caught the fleet by surprise and forced it out of the immaterium. The Tau weapons fire was perfectly aimed, disabling the weapons and shields of the Malleus. Interference from the nebula prevented the combat surveyor systems of the accompanying escorts from getting a lock on the Tau battleship.
The Malleus' crew just had enough time to arm some of the Marines not assigned to various duties and gather a smallish force at the likely points of entry of the Tau. At the centre of the front rank of a squad of gleaming white and gold Terminators stood a towering giant form far more imposing even than the surrounding marines. A giant, clad in gleaming golden armour wielding a flaming sword, crowned with light so bright it illuminated the darkest corners of the Battle-Barge.
An alarm wailed. The electronic voice of a surveyor machine-spirit spoke through crackling speakers.

Incoming Xenos forces. Ten seconds to contact. Prepare for boarding action.

The marine forces stood ready, bearing a terrifying array of guns and melee weapons. Ancient bolters centuries old, vicious chainswords and power fists buzzing with destructive energies. The smell of the incense burned by damage control Enginseers filled the air, floating in thick greasy clouds.

"Marines, stand ready. Whatever faces you will not be able to stand your wrath. You are Space Marines, my finest children. You will stand your ground and slaughter whatever cruel alien or warp-spawned beast that opposes you."

The Orca's streamed towards the crippled ship, their engines at full speed. Inside each and every warrior was engaging their weapons, loading ammunition or conecting their battle computers to the main network to recive updates. However, inside ever helmet, in the left hand corner of their vis screens was the image of Commaned Farsight. Suddenly their was a small alert next to the picture, and at once every Fire warrior froze, their entire attention on their commaneder.

In his personal command Orca O'Shovah spoke to very warrior, "Today we fight as always for the Aun and the Tau'Va (Greater Good). We give all our selve's for this Great cause willingly and without regret, so say we all!"
Every Fire Warrior Responded in unison "So say we all!"
"My brothers" Continued Farsight "Today we face an enemy that has existed longer than our entire specice, the Humans. However, they are not the foul Chaos spawn that we have Faught time and time again. Thses could well be the surivivers of the SpaceMarines....Yhey may even have the lost Emporor of humanity. Surely these foe's are worth of our cause and so we must try to bring as amny of them to the Tau'Va, especialy this Emporor of theirs if he is with them. If not then we shall for once have an honorable battle with the force's of Humanity. Let us work together for the Greater Good..."
Once agin the Fire warriors responded in chorus"Lest we Die alone!"

Moment later the Orca's reached the enemy ship. Each ships weapon banks flared, cutting sizeable holes in the ships hull, allowing the troops within them to enter the ship at points without requireing docking bays, which would be heavily guarded. Once the hull was breached Drones were sent to discover what the condition within the ship was. When the all clear was given then both Crisis suits and normal Fire warriors quickly disembarked.

It was fate that dictated that Farsight personal transport would cut the hull almost exactly at he point were the Emporor was. With a rush of escaping air the back of the transport openned and 12 gun Drones exitted, noting immidiatly the large mass of enemy troops that were in the vercinity before openning fire on them.

The power of the Tau weapons was proven quickly, as the Terminator standing immediately next to the golden-armoured warrior collapsed, a hole punched into his armour by several direct hits from a pulse carbine. It did not take long for the Marines to act, their superhuman reactions coming into play speedily. The Terminators covered the advance of the golden warrior and two of his trusted guards, spraying the Tau warriors with lethal explosive bolts and autocannon fire.
Soon, the three were upon the Tau lines. The flaming sword of the golden warrior moved in great sweeping arcs, whilst his two bodyguards brought bolt pistols and chainswords to bear. The Tau could not hope to rival fully the close combat prowess of the Space marines and their haloed companion, but soon enough a blade flashed in the gloom, and a bodyguard fell. The other, surrounded by fire warriors fell soon after, leaving the golden warrior surrounded and alone.
This did not seem to bother him. In fact, he seemed amused, laughing with a great voice, charged with psychic power. Once he had finished giving voice to his amusement, he simply stopped fighting. Raising his blade in the air, he began to shine, with an intensity that would cause Space Marine helmet systems to filter it out or risk damaging the eyes of the superhuman fighters.

"Go back, aliens. None of you can fight me, none of you pose any challenge. You will not take this ship, and you will not defeat us. Go back!"

Thankfully the Tau's helmets contained image filters and had spared their retina's the blinding elaments of the light, but they still held up their hands to cover their vis cams. After the Emporor had yelled his challange they began to fall back, staring in awe and fear at the God of Mankind. Only one stood fast, his blood red crisis suit glittering in the immence light. "In the name of Aun'Va and the Tau'Va, I challange you to single combat Human. The Tau will not be made a fool of!" Said Commander Farsight, his Dawn blade's Aura begining to shine with energys in the visible spectrum, making the air around it shine like the northen lights of Terra

"Your bravery is impressive, alien. It serves you well, but certainly puts you in the way of forces beyond your comprehension."

With that final syllable, the Emperor turned the tip of his blade toward Farsight, and with the briefest of thoughts, unleashed a tiny portion of his psychic power in the form of a blast wave calculated to knock the Tau down rather than do any harm.

"If you truly wish to challenge me, you will die. This is my promise."

As his battlesuit was knocked over the auto stabalisers imidiatly engaged his jet pack, bringing him back to his feet before he even hit the ground. "Impressive Human, you can trip up your enemy with your mind, now let me show you what i can do with my blade."

Turning to the wall Farsight lifted his arm and charged his Dawnblade. With the speed and percision that only a battlesuit can offer he quickly cut into the hull, slicing through it like it was paper, then jumping back and aiming in a split second he fired his plasma rifle, forcing out several peices of the hull, leaving the symbols of both Voir'La and T'au cut into the hull, the blackness of space visible through the smoove cut holes. "I believe we have shown off enougth Human, it is time to duel!

"Well, you've certainly showed me what your battlesuit and that blade can do. Their makers should be proud. Now, let me show you what mankind is capable of."

The moment he finished speaking, the Emperor charged at Farsight, calling on his psychic power to augment his already superhuman speed and strength. Before he slammed into the battlesuit he stopped, and swung his sword with great strength, so that the flat of the burning blade would impact with obscene force on the battlesuit's chestplate. Swiftly, he followed up with another psychic blast, this time using a little more of his power; perhaps enough to damage the battlesuit.

The Force of the blast was enought to push Farsight's suit back across the floor. Thankfully his sheild stopped his suit from suffering any major damage, but its chest plate had been dents. "I am Impressed oh Emporor, you weild the same might that Chaos sourcers use. Now, let us see if you are as strong as the your subjects say you are!"

And with that a great battle eurpted. A battle that lasted three whole days. Nether The Emporor of Farsight managed to draw first blood, soon after the battle began the warring Fire Warriors and Space Marines stopped their fighting, instead watching the alsmot dance like grace that their leaders used in their fight. Eventualy ration paks were taken from the Orca's and the Battle Barge's gally, and these were shared ammonge both sides unknowingly, this was one of the first acts of cooperation between the two race's, and it would not be the last.

Eventualy the fighting slowed, and eventualy stopped. Both fighters armour was chipped and scored but nether was breached. Over three days nether side had managed to defeat the other and this had managed to foster a mutual respect for the other. Finaly, Farsight was the first to speak after three days. "I see that you are a most formidable opponent. Were you Tau I would have been honored to call you brother. I sujest a truce, as their is little likly hood that ether of us will over power the other anytime soon. Come, I will take you to T'Au to meet my master, Aun'Va" He said, gesturing towards his awaiting Orca.

The Emperor grinned at the words of the Tau commander, thankful for the respite. The injuries inflicted on him by the traitor Warmaster Horus were great, and it would be a long time before his full strength and speed could be returned. Kneeling for a second to recover from the various aching injuries that lay beneath his armour, The Emperor dropped his sword and held out his hand to the Tau Commander in a gesture he hoped was recognised universally.

"You are certainly a greater fighter than any of the Xenos I have fought before, and tales of this duel will be told for many years to come. I will come with you to meet your leader, but I will have to ask that you allow some of my Custodes to accompany me, and a Battle-Barge to escort your ships."

Heaving himself to his feet, the Emperor wiped the sweat from his forehead and gestured to a pair of Terminators, who immediately moved to either side of him.

Reaching out to grab the Emporors hand he gladly shook it, knowing that this was one of the many way that Humans showed respect towards one another. "By all means you may bring your Honor Guard and ship, though I believe that it is only fitting that we repair it for you first, as our attack has ruined its majectic appearance. As the Leader of a Race you deserve a ship that is is awe inspiring as you are." Then turning to a waiting Drone he linked it to his neural network, sending instructions through its transmitter to the main ship. Preper the partical foundarys for action, and bring the ship within distance of the repair Drones. We damaged this ship and now Honor demands that we repair it! Then, turning to the Emporor said "Do you have any engineer's who can provide my Drones with designs and material specifications. With these we will soon have this ship glowing almost as much as your self" he said, smiling to him self. He would make sure that Honor's demands would be fulfiled, and fulfiled well!

One of the Enginseers who had come to watch the battle shouted out a string of particularly vulgar protests at the suggestion of allowing aliens to touch holy technology. The Emperor turned to the Techpriest and gave him a look that put him in the Apothecarium for several weeks.

"What my esteemed servant meant to say, is that our machine-spirits are not compatible with alien repair techniques. Our ships require incantations, litanies and incense as well as welding torches and repair patches. My priests will be able to handle the repairs, but I thank you for the offer. I'll have a pair of destroyers instead of the Battle-Barge."

The Emperor and his escorts entered the indicated craft, noting with some admiration the design.

With silent grace the Orca took of from the damaged barge, heading towards the capital ship. During the trip several attempts to make conversation with the Terminators was made by the two Crisis Shas'Vre that acted as Farsights body guard, but they were ether ignored or answered in one word. Finaly O'Shovah turned to the Emporor "I see that your Guards are rather Tight lipped. Tell me, why have you only just reappeared after 10,000 years? Your people fell to Chaos when you disappeared and now fight amongst them selve's because you were not their to lead them....could you explain to me what happened?"