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The gue'la were on their knees before the fire warriors. They were bloodied and bruised and defiance was in their eyes. They did not speak but even with limited knowledge of gue'la facial expressions, Tai'cen could see their hatred, it was clear from their slitted eyes and wrinkled proboscises. Noses? Yes, noses, a nose, that was their word for them, a typically crude and dumb sounding gue'la word. Tai'cen rolled it around his mouth a few times, quietly repeating it under his breath like a mantra that became more exaggerated with every retelling. Their language was like baby noises, their bitter defiance was also childish and like children they had stood no chance against the calm, methodical and disciplined ranks of fire warriors; even their kroot allies, despite some unsavoury habits, faught nobly but these gue'la warriors, these, Imperial Guard, they were savage and cruel. They were barbarians, just like the orks Tai'cen thought, and he doubted if they would ever find a place in the Tau'va.

One of the gue'la caught his eye and spat on the ground. Tai'cen's revulsion must have been obvious because the Gue'la smirked and even straitened a little, proud of his little victory. Children indeed.

From behind the line of fire warriors another Tau emerged. Shas'O T'olku Va'koro, the Good Heart, most beloved leader, moved through the parting Fire Warriors in his battle suit like a spirit of nature, his aura projected ahead of him, gently moving aside his warriors. The head of the battlesuit turned slowly from left to right, Va'koro assessing each gue-la before him. If it were possible, the battle suit seemed to take a deep breath and then the commander spoke.

"Imperial warriors, your war is over. You have been defeated, your armies broken, your fleet scattered." Va'koro knelt down, the knee of his battle suit sinking into the soft earth with a thump. Closer to the eye level of the human soldiers he reached out with one mechanical hand open and palm up. "I now offer you a choice. Humans and Tau should not be enemies, we should be allies who stand shoulder to shoulder against the true perils of the galaxy. The Tau'va, The Greater Good, is all that matters and it cannot be achieved alone but only through unity. My offer to you is the hand of friendship and nothing more. You will not need to abandon your people. You will not need to abandon your Emperor. All you need do is acknowledge the truth of the Tau'va and join us as friends and then you may go back to your people, tell them what has been achieved here, tell them that the Tau are not enemies but allies. May I know your answer?"

Tai'cen felt his chest swell with pride at the noble words of his commander. The gue'la had fought savagely and in the long months of the war they had committed many atrocities. Other Tau would offer these prisoners only one thing: death. The Good Heart was different, he was a true sone of T'olku who knew the truth of the Tau'va and embodied its teachings in his every word and deed. So, he offered these troops friendship. The gue'la exchanged glances and one of them near the end of the line readied himself to speak.

He looked into the twinkling lenses of Va'koro's helmet and rested his hand upon the hilt of his sword. Instantly, pulse rifles were aimed but Va'koro held out his arm and calmed his shas warriors.

"No, let him speak." The human inclined his head and cleared his throat. Slowly, carefully, he drew his sabre. It was a simple metal blade and not one of the energy sheathed weapons some gue'la officers were known to carry. The human held it in his hands and studied the shining blade for a few moments before looking up again.

"I have heard it said, that long ago, when one human commander was defeated in battle by another, honour could be served if the defeated officer gave up his blade. It was a sign of respect and humility. You offer friendship, you offer life. You ask us to join you and to then spread word of your, Greater Good, to other humans. I am sure you see this 'choice' as a good one, a noble one even." The gue'la held out his sword, hilt first to Va'koro, but before the commander could reach forward and accept it, the human began to speak again.

"Never, would a true Imperial servant yield to the xenos. Never, would a true Imperial servant foreswear his oaths to the Emperor and damn his immortal soul. Never, would a true Imperial servant go back to his people and spread the poison of alien propaganda just to prolong his own life. You ask for my answer, xenos filth?" The officer quickly flicked his gaze across his men who began to nod and speak as the moment built to its climax. There were 'yes sir's and 'Emperor be with you's and some of the gue'la roughly wiped away tears from their eyes.

"This is my answer!" The human rammed the sword tip into his throat and with a strangled cry of pain dragged it sideways. Blood gushed from the terrible wound and the human slumped sideways with a gurgle. His body began to spasm violently and a soldier beside him, unheeding of the Tau weapons brought to bear upon him, lunged to cradle his dying leader, holding him tightly to his breast so that his dying sight would not be of the horrorfied faces of the Tau.

"Damn you blue-skinned bastards!" Another gue'la stood and was clubbed back down by a fire warrior but Va'koro's amplified voice cut throught the rising noise and silenced them all. The humans slumped back, each one as ready to die as their officer.

"Commander?" A shas'ui looked up to his leader for guidance.

"This saddens me greatly. You humans do not need to die." For once, Va'koro seemed at a loss for what to say. The human holding the dead officer, his beard matted with blood, looked up at Va'koro with eyes filled with tears. "No man who dies for the Emperor dies in vain alien. We all may perish here but the Emperor's Wrath will find you. It will find you, and you, and all your blue-skinned brothers and sisters, all your slit faced xenos kin will be exterminated."

"No human, you are wrong. Your Emperor has no power over us. Your Emperor has no power over you. If he did, why did you lose here, would he have not aided you and given you victory if he were capable of such a thing?" Va'koro's voice was etched with grief. The gue'la looked unsure, but he shook his head and gave an involuntary sob, a bark of sadness but also of firce resistance.

"Alien trickster, the Emperor is with us." The human looked to his fellows who all looked lost and he spoke to them next. "The Emperor is with us brothers. He. is. with. us! He calls us to His side."

Va'koro was about to speak again when one of the fire warriors gasped in sudden alarm. The battle suit's head turned to find the Tau but the fire warrior was staring into the sky. Every face turned to see what he had already seen and in the pale blue there was a speck of light which grew brighter and brighter with every moment. Other specks appeared around it until a dozen could be seen. A squawk of interference passed over the Tau's communication network before a paniced voice came through.

"Commander? Comamnder Va'koro?! Come in Commander!"

"Va'koro here, report."

"Commander... The humans..."

"What, what about the humans, come in!" Around him the fire warriors became agitated as the lights in the sky came ever closer. The human soldiers were getting to their feet, staring alongside the Tau at the onrushing lights but Va'koro ignored them.

"The humans have returned Commander." The voice on the line was subdued, defeated. "Their fleet has overwhelmed us. Kor'el Bi'tonen is dead. They boarded us and nothing could stop them. I am directing the Graceful Blow from the engineering deck and covering the retreat. You must get out now Commander, you must-" The line went dead and a chill of fear ran down Va'koro's spine. He could hear more voices over the communication net, devilfish pilots desperately trying to reach them but Va'koro watched the lights.

They looked like flaming meteors but as they came closer he could see that they were boxy gunships, burning furiously from re-entry. They were diving onto their position almost vertically. It was something no Tau would ever do but with every passing second they came closer and closer, so fast, so very fast. In autopilot Va'koro stood and began to back away. He heard himself issue orders and waited until the shas around him were running before he turned. He did not look back.

The Tau army, stood in victory, now disintegrated. The incoming gunships screamed and howled as they came on. Here and there, pockets of Tau stood and faced the threat. They could not all run otherwise they would be slaughtered and the enemy were so few. Va'koro was already directing the efforts, shaking off his momentary lapse, determined that his shas would get away from whatever was coming but the speed with which the enemy had appeared and the paniced voices of the fleet transmitting to all his ground troops had overwhelmed his forces without a shot being fired. He would not abandon his loyal shas though, it was his duty and his responsibility.

The gunships were now close enough to open fire and the boom of cannons and the chug of hard round guns added to the deafening aural assault of the burning, screaming aircraft. Explosions tore through the retreating Tau lines, pockets of defense obliterated. Va'koro was physically dragged back by shas who milled about him like children. Tai'cen was one of them and he begged his commander to flee even as Tau died all around them.

From above, unheard abover the roar of turbo-jets and the howl of burning ceramite armour plates, came the grind of ramps opening. Jump pack wearing assault troops dived from their thunderhawks. Eighty Astartes warriors who came head first, arms back so as to speed their descent. Each warrior created a ripple of sonic booms that further terrorised the fleeing xenos. One of them did not have a jump pack.

Vieve Satres, Mashayikh - Chief Librarian, of the Prophets of Hatred wore ornate terminator armour that allowed for no jump pack, but then, he did not need one. As his body plummeted to the ground his spirit did likewise in the madness of the Empyrean. From his back, spectral wings spread until he took on the aspect of a bird made of pure flame.

The ragged Imperial soldiers cheered and wept as the space marines crashed down on the Tau. With geysers of dirt the Astartes hammered into the ground, their jump packs barely slowing them in time. Almost close enough to touch, the thunderhawk's threw up great plumes of grit and dust before screaching back into the cerulean sky. Ahead of them all was Vieve and with an eagle cry he sweapt over the Tau, an Aquilla of Fire, Emperor's Wrath, Angel of Death.

Not bad at all. I particularly like the first half, and the opening piece that really shows the hatred of humanity really comes across well. It adds a degree of hypocrisy to the Commander's speech, or of inexperience to the narrator. Both versions work well, but I prefer the former, as I've always seen the Tau a a bit hypocritical myself, in many ways just as fanatical as the IOM but more carefully hidden. So I like the idea that the Commander offers peace but it is obvious that the other tau have nothing but contempt for the humans.

The suicide of the IG commander was an interesting piece, certainly built up well. I almost feel that most IG would rather make a mad dash and try and die fighting than just commit suicide, especially if there was a commissar nearby, but on the other hand, I do like the idea of nobility and honour. Did you have a particular regiment in mind when writing this? I can see a Mordian probably caring about honour, whereas a Catachan or Valhallan would just die fighting.

The perspective seems to shift in the last couple of paragraphs, seeming to come more from the SM point of view. It works, but I think that scene would be well-served by continuing the Tau viewpoint, as I can see the fear that came across well in the communication between the ship commander and ground commander reaching crititical levels. You could probably do a lot with the idea of psychic powers from a tau POV as well, as it;s something they wouldn't understand. Seeing an unexplainable power coming down on them would provide a nice contrast to the mocking, contemptuous hatred of human weakness at the start.

As I said, though, this was good read, and well written.

Thank you very much for the comments, much appreciated.

I did not have any particular regiment in mind so I think I shall leave it up to the reader to decide on that point.

I agree about the Tau being hypocritcal. I shall take the line that they are basically 'good people' but good like the Romans thought of themselves as good. I have always had the impression from the background that the Tau do feel superior to other races even if they co-opt them; in fact they probably think the other races need them and they are actually doing them a favour by taking over all their worlds! I forget which Last Chancers novel it is now (Kill Team I think) but the Tau character is basically so ignorant about the Imperium he doesn't realise that one decent sized hive has more humans in in than there are Tau in their whole Empire but Kage doesn't have the heart to tell him. I like the idea they feel like responsible adults coming in to sort out the children when they are one of the youngest races around and know very little about how terrible the galaxy is.

I think my suicide idea was largely inspired by Sean Bean in Black Death. Basically they have the choice to renounce God or die horribly, naturally, as good God-Fearing men they chose the latter option for the good of their souls. I think the premise for the Tau is a bit of theatre though, although, having not made any Tau characters before I came to like Va'Koro very much over those few paragraphs and I think he is a 'good guy' but offering 'friendship' is really just a motion to go through to proove to themselves they are better than the humans who would just kill everyone even though they have no intention of letting these men live per se. I like to think that the feral and aggressive nature of the Tau/Fire Caste is just below the surface and they have to go through these processes to try and contain their real selves.

I don't think the shift in perspective quite works if I'm honest and keeping it all from the Tau perspective probably would have been better. The whole story is based on the Marines attack though and that was the image I had in my mind and have had for quite a while. I think in my head the Guard were still fighting and about to be overrun and then the Marines literally fall our of the sky with this huge flaming Aquilla ahead of them and wipe out an army in short order.

I'm glad the idea translated pretty well onto the screen though, cheers

If you're not sure on the perspective, you might like to try writing the same scene from different views. So from the Tau POV you have these terrible visions descending and hopelessly outmatching them, for the IG you could have a sense of salvation and relief that they just might make it, and for the SM you could get in a sort of contempt to mirror that which the Tau shows in the opening.

I find when writing, having multiple versions of exactly the same event can be very effective, especially in something like this where the perspectives are three completely different entities.

I might try that. I was thinking of just leaving this as done but, since I would like to use the Tau again I might continue this from their perspective as they flee.

As always, thank you for commenting, greatly appreciated.

Tai'cen was in shock. He was finding it hard to breathe and his limbs felt like they were filled with rocks. He felt tired and caught himself looking around for a spot to sleep in. A large hand rested on his shoulder and he stifled a cry as he looked up into the softly glowing helmet lenses of the Good Heart. The small sensor head regarded him for long moments and then gave a nod.

The fleet, what was left of it, was stalling for time whilst the ground forces were recovered. A treacherous thought crept into Tai'cen's mind that said that that would be a quick job now that so few of them were left.

He had heard that the gue'la had elite soldiers that wore battlesuits. He had imagined some terrible mockery of the graceful machines used by the Tau, something brutal and artless like most gue'la technology. He had half believed that it was all just propaganda, given the religious connotations with which these elite soldiers were described. The truth was so horrible he was having difficulty coming to terms with it.

The gue'la elites had literally dropped onto the Tau army, that was so conveniently lined up for them, with all the speed and deadly power of a tsunami. Tai'cen was 'Fire' Caste but these gue'la warriors had harnessed that elemental force and shaped it into an icon of destruction. The bird of prey symbol that the humans used so profusely was brought to vivid, flaming life and came ahead of the gue'la warriors, a mighty holocaust of burning devastation. It was a power that Tai'cen could see projected by no weapon or device, the flames simply sprang into life and consumed dozens of fleeing Tau. He had seen his fellow Fire Warriors torn apart by burning talons, shredded by a molten beak and carried into the sky before being dropped as screaming meteors of flesh. The thing had not just burned, it had attacked with a will of its own. It was unnatural and the hulking warrior in his gleaming blue steel armour had stalked through it all, unleashing yet more otherwordly attacks.

The other warriors were more conventional. Their armour was a dark red, heavily battle damaged. They had jump packs and skimmed across the battlefield cutting down Tau with roaring chainswords or crackling energy blades. He had seen one grapple in the air with one of their own battlesuits. Tai'cen had recognised the veteran as Mai'var'natal. He was an old warrior who had fought in many campaigns and who passed on his skills in war like an old master dispensing wisdom to an apprentice. Mai'var'natal was also known for his dry landscape gardening, creating places that evoked the ancient plains of T'au and by extension the heart of the Tau'va. The old tau would often work silently and would only greet a visitor with a smile. The gardens were personal works but he never stopped anyone from using them. The armoured gue'la had torn off one of Mai'var'natal's battlesuit's arms with his bare hand, a feat of strength that had made Tai'cen gasp. The gue'la had attached some device where Mai'var'natal could then not reach and dropped away from his adversary, killing more shas and not sparing a glance for the old veteran whose battlesuit was almost completely vaporised in a huge explosion.

The gue'la elites had swarmed over the routed Tau and never stopped to check the wounded but then, there never were any wounded, every shot, every strike, every hit was a killing blow. When the devilfish had arrived things changed. The distraction of the transports gave the shas time to move ahead of the gue'la and some managed to escape. Burst cannons and drones had seen some of the gue'la go down but incredibly they shrugged off the impacts and continued on. Most, shrugged off the hits that was. With some hope Tai'cen was aware that some of the gue'la did not get back up. Like his new enemies Tai'cen spared no backward glance for the fallen and making some attempts at a fighting withdrawal alongside the commander, they had managed to get aboard a devilfish, the commander having to crawl in, since his battlesuit was not intended to board such a vehicle.

The ignominy of fleeing and leaving his fellow Fire Warriors to their fate was like a blade of ice in his gut and Tai'cen wept bitter tears. As the troop carrier raced away Tai'cen looked back at the slaughter ground and saw explosions as devilfish went down and many good Tau with them, but many more were managing to flee, outpacing the slower gue'la troops. They had not yet got beyond the reach of the gue'la elites though, their own gunships would be able to reach them and then their fleet was waiting in orbit. Tai'cen's one hope was the lack of numbers of the enemy; their attack had been devastating but they were few and could not be everywhere at once but even so, if they lived long enough to get away from the system it would be a miracle.

Nice. You're really captured that fear of the unknown that was a little bit lacking in the first story. Cool stuff.

Also, seeing as I keep forgetting to mention it, the flying termie armour is awesome!

This is very good, I've found new interest in the Tau, cheers. Nice work with both factions as I'm warming to both sides and yes, your librarian is awesome.

 Themanwiththeplan wrote:
This is very good, I've found new interest in the Tau, cheers. Nice work with both factions as I'm warming to both sides and yes, your librarian is awesome.

Agreed

I normaly frown upon all things Tau, but this was good, very good

Well for me, I love to hate the Tau. They are cool, and I quite like them, I even have a few models knocking around and I've become attached to these characters but I so hate them!

I'm glad everyone has enjoyed this, and if it even made people enjoy the Tau as well then that is most gratifying. Thank you

Vieve, the Librarian, is a very old character of mine. Having re-written the background for my Chapter the Reclusiarch character no-longer exists and their Chapter Master was killed in a huge Inquisition war, collaborative fiction story but Vieve survived it all. When I finally get around to making a model for him, I've always imagined using some Grey Knight parts (assuming I don't truescale him, which I probably will) and having him floating off the ground summoning a giant ball of psychic energy so that's where I get his levitation from.

Vieve watched the Tau flee. They had taken a mere ten months to subdue this world; Solsha was the local name for it and in their dialect it meant 'paradise'. This 'paradise' had not known war for three hundred and eighty-eight years by Imperial reckoning. Out here on the Fringe many human worlds passed their time peacefully, as this one had. Solsha was a world of no strategic value, it had no resources the Imperium, or its enemies, needed and its population was low, just under a billion humans. Ten months to conquer a world... Vieve mused on it and, having watched the Tau's every move since they had first entered the system, he had to say, he found them impressive.

The Necc Duct had received the Solshan astropathic distress call three weeks before the Tau had arrived. The Prophets of Hatred had stormed from the Empyrean ready for battle but the system had been empty of the alien transgressors supposedly there. There was one system monitor, so far to the solar north of the jump point as to be completely blind to the Astartes presence and around the world itself a handful of transports were anchored. There were no orbital defenses in the void or on the planet. The Contumax had drifted over Solsha for days while her adepts infiltrated the world's communications grids. Civilian traffic was unencrypted and quickly parsed. Military channels were protected but it had been childishly simple to break into their secure network. A single regiment of Imperial Guard was stationed at the world, apparently forced into a curcuitous route to the Narthan Cluster due to warp-storms; Peltan Brorsk, The Contumax's Navigator had shrugged at this information and according to him there was some slight disturbance of the Sea of Souls but nothing to warrant the regiment's diversion here. A media network had several reports of altercations with Solshan PDF.

Solsha and its people were weak. On the Fringe, the Emperor found the horizon of His sight and so not all of His people could be blessed by the Eternal War that He had started; was it not said that the final blessedness of believers is attained as the fruit of victory? How could Solsha know victory when it languised in peace? So they had waited, the Contumax powered down to all non-essential systems. The ship had tumbled around Solsha like debris and watched as the Tau fleet prepared to attack, had listened as the human defenders were beaten back. For ten months they had observed as the fat of Solsha was melted away in the crucible of war and the lean muscle was revealed.

Vieve turned to face the human survivors at his back. The men laughed and cheered. They cursed the Tau as they ran from the Emperor's Wrath and called praise to their saviours. The men assembled into a rough line as the terminator clad librarian approached. Around him the other Astartes gathered, forming a loose crowd before the humans. None of them spoke. They stood about with arms held loose at their sides and merely observed the men from behind helmet lenses that glittered like fading embers. Jector Rex, some time Mahtar, began to sing, some bar room song he must have picked up; how very like him. The cumulative effect on the Guardsmen was to wipe the smiles from their faces.

"You men were prisoners of the Tau?" Vieve's voice was rich and warm unlike his face which was cold and unmoving an expression he often adopted; he may have been stern but he was also unusually handsome for a Space Marine, so much so that his brothers would often joke that Sanguinius' blood must flow in his veins. One of the soldiers stepped forwards and looked Vieve right in the eye, he liked that.

"Aye my lord, we had been cut down almost to the last man and then one of those blue-skinned bastards used some kind of tech-sorcery on us. It was like we moved in thick mud, couldn't stop'em taking us. We would have died like the Colonel but for your arrival my lord." As he said this the Guardsman looked over o a body on the ground that had been laid out carefully although it was doused in blood from a gaping throat wound. "The Tau wanted us to turn, to be their spies, the colonel gave 'em our answer."

So, out of thousands of troops these few had fought until the bitter end and even then they had been prepared to die. Vieve could not stop the smile that curled across his mouth. Some of the troopers smiled back and laughed nervously at the sight, as unable to control their reactions as the librarian. He approached the Guardsman who had spoken and laid a gentle gauntlet upon his shoulder. The armoured hand was as a big as the man's head.

"You have done well men, very well. In you the Emperor's Vision is manifested and in you there is Victory." Vieve was not a credulous or naïve man; these soldiers had been hiding here, carrousing on a backwater world. The Emperor's armies marched he length and breadth of the galaxy and not all of them understood the necessity of war. They believed, wrongly, that the war was the tool by which peace is made and that peace is the ultimate purpose of war. Peace to these men had been a world called paradise where they could drink and fight and be merry. Man could not hide from war however, and peace would not protect him; how many thousands had died here to prove that? Deaths, it might be added that would have been more useful elsewhere. Others might call these few survivors blasphemers, traitors even, for what they had done here but Vieve was not constrained by the simplistic theologies of ordinary men. It had been said once of the Imperium that its people did well at war because they treated it as a religion. War was the religion of all men, the Emperor had understood that and now on paradise His Angels had made it so.

Nice to see this ongoing. Neat stuff, keep it up.

Interested reader here, and liking the story. Which faction is your favourite? I'm going with your SM simply because of your liby.

Thank you both for reading along and commenting

Well, I suppose primarily the Marines are my favourites, this is essentially a story for them as I've been thinking about my DIY Chapter for years and years but not put pen to paper/finger to key too often about them, especially since I have lots of new background ideas for them.

That said, I actually like the Tau characters I came up with here and I will use them again so that's been a pleasant bonus.

As for the poor old Guardsmen, they're just sorts there although I have a great deal of affection for the Guard. I have my own Guard-ish human army, raised from my Chapter's homeworld. The army predates the Imperial presence on the planet and since SM homeworlds don't need to supply troops for the Guard these soldiers fight semi-independantly from the Guard; that's how I have had them in the past anyway.

Well I'm liking both the SM's and Tau, which is rare as I've never really been able to get into Tau before your story.

I've no real feelings towards the Guard. They're a bit hit or miss for me as a whole and apart from the begining of your story I haven't a notion what to make of yours yet.

Will look forward to more, enjoy the holidays.

Indeed, a very merry xmas to everyone!

I think I will probably leave the guard here unfleshed and then conclude this story for the Astartes and the Tau and then carry on with them both in something new.

Without a word the Astartes broke up. The fallen were carried forwards and Sergeant Brieger thought they were bringing them to the enigmatic librarian but they moved past him, so close they almost shoulder barged the terminator who was forced to turn sideways, and laid the dead at the feet of the Marine who had been singing. Another Angel approached with the hideously burned remains of a tau. The blueskin had no left side and its xenos flesh was black and purple from the fire. Its topknot had come loose and the hair was grey. The tau must have been old Brieger thought. The Angel with the tau cradled the tiny body like a dead child and laid it down with as much reverence as the others had with their brothers.

There were seven Astartes in all and they removed their helms and knelt in the Solshan dust, the grit scuffing their poleyns. Brieger had never been this close to the Emperor's Angels before and he was surprised by the variety of them now that their faces were revealed. Two had the pale flesh of hivers and even sported faded gang tattoos. One was dark brown and his skin was thick and matte, he had long hair strung with beads and a bright feather and it looked like he had a great ork tusk through his nose. The others looked non-descript with healthy tans that were neither dark nor light but one of the Astartes, who knelt slightly apart from the others, had grey skin covered in white scars from a lifetime of battle. He turned to stare at Brieger and his eyes made the Sergeant flinch; the whites were actually black as obsidian and the iris the most vivid yellow. Brieger was locked into his gaze and had to struggle to look away.

"Mahtar, will you lead us in the Rites?" The Marine who had brought the tau spoke with a low respectful voice that was almost timid.

"You know I am not Mahtar Lethax. Why do you ask?"

"Lead the Rites Jector." One of the other Marines harrumphed, frowning.

Jector snorted down his nose with a grin. "Why should I?"

"I'll push you for it." Said the still kneeling Angel and at this Jector stood a little taller and cracked his knuckles in one fist, the servos in his gauntlet whining.

"Will you now Predit. And what will you forfeit when I win?" Predit shrugged and Jector nodded as if the shrug were a specific answer. The other Marine got to his feet and the two of them leant in shoulder to shoulder and began to push. Neither moved much, both using every ounce of their enhanced strength to overpower the other. Ceramite creaked and slowly Predit began to move Jector who redoubled his efforts but, even locked into his stance, could not stop his boots sliding across the dusty ground.

"Fine!" Jector stopped pushing back and Predit almost overbalanced but returned to his kneeling postion without a word. Jector took up a position that put the fallen between him and the other Astartes but paused for a moment and looked at Brieger. "Will you be joining us?"

"Lord?"

"I am not your 'lord' soldier. Either take a knee or skip off back to your men." Jector tilted his head on one side and raised an eyebrow while he waited for Brieger to make his decision. The Sergeant had seen Astartes before but never had he ever imagined that he might be invited to partake in one of their sacred rites; to be in the presence of the Emperor's Angels was a rare privelage in itself. Brieger moved into line with the Astartes and knelt, nervously looking around to see what reaction this would cause in the others but they all had their heads bowed. Behind them the other guardsmen gathered to watch but kept their distance.

Jector began to sing. His already deep voice reverberated like a mountain falling as he let out a long overtone note. Slowly, and seemingly without taking a breath, he began to form the note into words that Brieger could not understand. The other Astartes began to chant as well, a low hum that built in volume. The sound was like nothing Brieger had ever encountered and somehow it took him out of himself. His vision greyed away until the fluid image of the fallen before him began to flicker and haze as if the bodies were being consumed in a monochrome fire.

Jector stopped his chant but the others continued, trance-like. Jector knew the names of every one of his brethren here. He knew which ones associated and fought together, whose memories needed to go to whom. The only exception was the tau that Lethax had brought, those memories were for him alone. And the guardsman perhaps? He would need Vieve for that and beckoned the librarian across. Jector removed the helms from the dead and drawing a fine chain-blade he deftly cut away the top of the skulls of the fallen Marines and the tau alike. He cut a chunk of brain from the first warrior and moved down the line and placed the flesh into the mouth of Predit and his fellow, Athion. He did the same again with the other fallen and then moved to the tau.

The alien's brain was a deep mauve and Jector put a large chunk into Lethax's mouth, a trickle of cyan fluid running down his chin as he continued to chant, his eyes unfocussed and staring into the middle distance. With a nod to Vieve, Jector moved to the guardsman. Jector removed his gauntlet first and ran the chain-blade across his palm, the hissing saw blade cutting a thin line into his tough skin. Vieve, stood behind the trooper, pulled the man's head back gently with one hand and opened his mouth. Jector made a fist and squeezed, his bright red blood like treacle as it dripped into the open mouth. The soldier coughed and spluttered as the blood went down his throat and Jector waited a moment before dropping in a piece of the tau brain. Behind them the other guardsmen stood stiffly as they watched this 'rite' performed.

Jector moved back to his postion and began to chant once more, Vieve placing his hands on the guardsman's head. In the enforced trance it was simplicity itself to project into his mind. For the Astartes this ritual would help tap into the natural ability of the omophagea to unlock the memories of the brain matter the Marines were about to consume. For the Prophets of Hatred the ritual took this process further. These memories would not simply pass through their minds and be gone, they would be indelibly etched, imparting the memories, knowledge, perhaps even the skills of the dead and so much more. Vieve also knew the brothers here and had not needed to intervene. It would have been difficult to stop one of the Stricken partaking of the rite, but necessary.

Vieve concentrated on the guardsman, Brieger. It would not be possible for him to access the tau's memories like an Astartes but with Vieve's assistance it would be possible to impart a psychic equivalent; it was a skill at which Vieve had become very proficient. Jector's blood would also help, its superhuman qualities already having an effect on Brieger's mortal frame. It would be an experience the man would literally never forget and Vieve was happy for a normal human to have it.

Jector lead the chant and as one, the Astartes stopped, the effect startling. As one they swallowed and the memories flooded into their minds. For one eternal instance each warrior lived as his fallen brother and in that moment a tiny piece of the fallen's soul was saved from the tides of the warp. For Lethax the effect was profound and he babbled in tau. The shade of Mai'var'natal saw through his killer's eyes in that instant of non-time, felt the world through the inhuman frame of a centuries old Astartes. In Vieve's massive armoured paws Brieger convulsed and frothed but the librarian held him still until the moment passed.

The other Astartes regained their senses and recovered their dead brothers. Briger's eyes flickered open and he gasped as if he'd been holding his breath for a long time. He felt strong, powerful. He didn't want to focus on the things he had seen but knew that they would never leave him. He felt as if he should be polluted somehow by the alien thoughts that had spun through his mind but some small quiet part of him he didn't know he had embraced them, learnt from them. He felt as if the Emperor Himself had reached out and touched his soul. He looked into the eyes of Jector and there was recognition there and they looked at each other, perhaps not quite as equals but, brothers perhaps. Slowly, reverentially, Brieger lifted one fist to his chest in salute. Jector echoed the movement and then left the soldier who fumbled under his collar for a silver aquilla on a chain.

"A profound experience for him Jector."

"Those guadsmen are a bunch of scoundrels, you know that." Jector smiled with humour as he looked across at the soldiers as they circled their kneeling Sergeant and checked on him. "That tau was more of a soldier than any of them, lets hope he knocked some sense of duty into that Sergeant."

Vieve looked at the guardsmen and replied without looking back at Jector. "Oh, I'm certain of it."