“I understand Astartes tend to avoid working with ‘baselines-‘“ Oswyn paused to take a long swig of his amasec. “-but I’m hoping we can form some kind of professional relationship.”
“Most do, but I am not most. In fact there are exactly zero living, loyalist, Astartes like me.” Darius responds calmly, drinking from his flask. “Don’t be a jackass to an extreme degree and we’ll get along just fine. And don’t preach, I’ve literally heard it all before.”
“In that case, we’re going bug stomping. Vox?”
He said the word in a way that implied it was a name and not the Low Gothic term for communications. A panel in the middle of the heavy dark-wood table flipped over and became a holo projector.
[[Here you are, Captain.]]
Oswyn gestured to the display.
“Unnamed human colony. Formed on a planetoid after their transport crashed and most of them died. But that was over a century ago. They actually had a pretty good thing going, until the “planetoid” started waking up.”
Phaestos Delta-12, who had until then been still and silent in one of the room’s back corners let out a squawk of Binaric before adjusting their language output.
“Presence of Xenos threat, designation: Tyranid confirmed. Subdivision//composition//Hive Fleet origins unknown. Defense of colony = opportunity for service and/or research. Alliance: true?”
“As eloquent as ever, PD. He’s right, though.”
“Are the tyranids connected to the greater hive mind, or is it localized here? I need to know if I should put my Chief Librarian in stasis. He can’t stand the Shadow in the Warp, even more than other psykers. He’d explode.” Darius says as he looks at the Captain’s companions. “I’d say you keep odd company but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t keep even more odd company.”
“I’ll start up anti-tyranid protocols. If you want to join the fight I just ask that you don’t be idiots and get yourselves killed. And don’t too close to Sergeant Major Nex. You’ll get covered in blood and guts.”
Oswyn finished his drink and stood, beginning to slowly pace the length of the holo-table.
“We have no reason to believe this is more than a splinter fleet. We’ve been monitoring the entire time we flew in and there’s no trace of any other xenos in the area, let alone the Great Devourer.
As for staying alive, well…My crew isn’t suicidal, if that’s what you’re implying.”
He smiled, then keyed something in to a distinctly Tau style wrist-console. “Mx Nem’sha, will you prepare the battlesuits? I’m sending Phaestos to assist.”
[[Acknowledged, Shas’o Tallador]]
“Protect your psykers as you see fit, Darius. I do have a uniquely sheltered area of Vox Fulmina for my own specialist. They can share for the duration of the conflict, if you wish.”
“Just Cossus needs to be put in stasis. He’s the most powerful psyker my Chapter has ever had. If he overloaded there’s a good chance it’d take out my flagship in its entirety. I myself am a minor psyker so I don’t relish the headache but I’ll be able to tell if the hive mind from this splinter fleet is bigger than we think. Perks of having survived a connection with the hive mind.”
Darius raises a brow. “A T’au with you? Interesting. Any other things I shouldn’t know about? And if you’re worrying if I’ll report you to the Inquisiton…”
Darius holds up his removed helmet and a mechanical voice comes out of it. “I’d love to meet your T’au crew member. Are they of the Earth Caste?”
“Assume I’ve done worse.” Darius finishes.
“I knew I’d like you, Chapter Master,” Oswyn guffawed with delight, slapping his thigh and going to pour himself another glass of amasec.
“I suppose the most ‘heretical’ members of the Vox Fulmina are all in my Command Squad. I was excommunicated from the Ecclesiarchy, Phaestos is a Xenarite, Fio’el Bork’an Nem’sha is indeed earth caste Tau, my current navigator is a Thousand Sons refugee, and Vox’s machine spirit is the ghost of her former navigatior.
I think that about sums it up.”
Darius nods. “I’m a loyalist Death Guard who fought in the Great Crusade, the voice from my helmet is Eklius, who was an ultramarine, also from the great crusade. He died and became a machine spirit, somehow. My Chief Librarian is a former Blood Raven, my Head Chaplain is an escaped experiment of the Black Templars, he has world eater geneseed, and the second in command of the Chaplaincy is possessed.” Darius says, casually admitting to multiple heresies.
“Blood Raven, huh? He might have something in common with Calypsos then, if rumors are to be believed.”
Distracted, he set his glass down without drinking.
“Reports say the Tyranids attack from a massive tunnel network just under the surface, so have your forces prepare for close quarters and night fighting operations. I aim to make planetfall in a Terran standard hour. They haven’t struck recently, so we may have a slight advantage.”
“If you want to make planetfall that early, I’ll get the first company to go with you. The rest of the legion will take a bit more time to muster. Half a day, at the most but more than an hour.”
Darius takes a drink from one of his various flasks. “I’ll be on the planet in thirty minutes, I’ll find a good staging area before the attack.”
As projected, Oswyn’s mercenary force touched down within the hour. Thankfully, the Vox Fulmina crew had the foresight to warn the human colony of their force’s distribution; otherwise, the sight of several dozen T’au Battlesuits landing at their doorstep would have caused an entirely different kind of xenos panic.
The base models - three Coldstar, six Crisis, three Broadside pattern - were modified heavily, particularly the Coldstar command trio piloted by Oswyn, Phaestos, and Calypsos. They were backed up by four groups of twelve Stealth Suits, altered for human pilots.
Meeting up with Darius’ retinue, Oswyn saluted, the battlesuit rapping a fist against its chest.
[[ Fought beside T’au before, Darius? ]] Came the message over local comms.
[[ Plenty. Farsight is a good friend. ]] Is the reply from the giant.
Darius’ retinue is certainly and odd one.
It’s obvious that they are heads of specialist roles, at least some of them. The small chaplain with the gold mask is a strong indication for being Head Chaplain.
The other chaplain with wings however, has no embellishments on his armor. The winged chaplain smiles at the newcomers, displaying his fangs but not in a threatening way.
Then there is the Necron. At least it’s probably a Necron? It’s form is very far from the standard Necron template.
Darius begins to introduce these odd fellows.
He gestures to the short chaplain. “This is Head Chaplain Gray. I recommend not getting in front of him in battle.”
Next comes the winged chaplain. “This is Anxo, Senior Chaplain. Yes, he’s a gene-son of Sanguinius, if you somehow couldn’t tell.” Anxo flashes another fanged smile. “Lovely to meet you all.”
Then he nods at the Necron(?) “And that is Eklius’ mobile platform.”
[[You’ve got powerful friends. Perhaps you can introduce us sometime.]]
Calypsos spoke up. The sorcerer’s vehicle was by far the most obviously altered, though how was unclear; a passing glance revealed some kind of organic structure amongst the technological components.
“Yes, yes. We’re all precious snowflakes. Are we going to exterminate the Tyranids now?”
His voice, though issued from the beak of the anthropomorphic bird’s head of his battlesuit, did not carry the same tinny quality of a vox-caster.
As if to accentuate Calypsos’ point, the ground beneath the gathered forces shuddered ominously.
[[The crow is right. Let’s save any more niceties for debriefing. Darius, as you have roughly twelve thousand years’ experience on me, I’m passing operational command to you. We will follow your orders.]]
