Pa'Laa
Dozens of Crisis Battlesuits slammed into the ground, crushing Tyranids beneath their feet or tearing them apart with high velocity pulse rounds as they surrounded Applejack and the group of Exodites. Half of them remained pointing their guns outwards, keeping up a near constant wall of fire, while the other half smoothly turned inwards, all guns pointed squarely at Rainbow.
A battlesuit bearing the markings of a Shas’El approached Applejack as the Exodites stopped, taken aback by the sudden intervention. Rainbow, Gilda and her ‘cult’ all looked like they would happily tear into the Tau forces, but even to them it was clear they were outnumbered and outgunned.
“Shas’O App'ru'jak, my complements. We have air cover inbound and Orca’s en route to extract survivors,” he saluted as she spoke, before turning his head towards Rainbow. “Permission to gun down that one?”
“Denied, make that a standing order,” Applejack glared through her helmet. “Rainbow is off limits, ah’m handlin’ her.”
“Your call, Shas’O. Once we’re away I will fill you in on the situation, but for now…”
He trailed off, raising a fist before turning back to the Tyranids, those battlesuits who were facing Rainbow following his lead. As one the new suits opened fire, those who had been firing before taking a step back, allowing their guns to cool down and recharge. The hail was brutal, no living thing could survive it, but the Tyranids cared little for casualties. Body by body they advanced, when the front ranks fell the second rank pushed forward, taking an extra step before they fell and the third rank took their place. They were advancing, but they wouldn’t punch through in time, a trio of Orca’s already streaking towards the group, other aircraft descending to other parts of the city, presumably picking up more survivors.
As soon as the Orca’s touched down the Exodites piled onboard, Applejack making sure everyone else was on before stepping on herself. Even Rainbow and Gilda had opted to clamber into one of the dropships, unwilling to risk the skies with so many enemies still contesting the air.
Banging her battlesuits foreleg on the Orca three times she took her place, locking herself into the single battlesuit cradle as best she could, her suit not perfectly fitting the socket which was designed for an XV9 suit. Within moments the ship was away, the rear hatch slamming closed and plunging the compartment into a dark red glow.
It was odd for Applejack to travel in the Orca and yet have no idea what was going on outside. Normally she would have been able to interface with the pilot’s command networks and access the external cameras, but all the codes she had been issued with once no longer accessed anything. It seemed the invasion of Pa’Laa had brought on more than a few changes in the Fire Caste.
For ten minutes they flew in almost complete silence before they began to descend, Applejack moving as soon as the door swung open again, emerging into a clearing bustling with Tau and Exodite forces. Fire Warriors stood next to megadon riders, securing a perimeter as more ships approached for landing. Applejack could barely make sense of what was going on, but she didn’t have to for long, the Shas’El from before landing beside her and gesturing for her to follow.
“Shas’O, Aun’Vesa is awaiting you in the command room. This way, please.”
Following the Shas’El, Applejack was led inside a hastily erected command centre. It was small at the moment, but it was already packed with Tau and Exodites. Applejack recognised a few of the various clan leaders from the world, a smile spreading across her face as she saw Aun’Vesa on the other side of the room, conversing with one of clan Scoval, though not the High King himself.
“Shas’O, it is good to see you once more,” Aun’Vesa smiled, Applejack knowing the man well enough to know he was actively stopping himself from being more informal. This was not a place for such informalities, appearances had to be upheld after all.
“Now that we are all here I can lay out the facts for…” Aun’Vesa began, before a clambering from outside interrupted him, Tau voices shouting before a Fire Warrior flew backwards into the room, landing in an unceremonious heap.
“Now we’re all here,” Rainbow rasped as she entered, Gilda following behind her.
“You are not welcome,” Aun’Vesa shot back, venom heavy in his voice. “Remove yourself from this meeting.”
“I command the forces on this world,” Rainbow shot back, glaring at the ethereal. “Don’t make this get ugly.”
“Rainbow,” Applejack growled, standing in between Rainbow Dash and the rest of the room. “Outside, now. Ah want a word. Now.”
Rainbow continued to glare for a minute, before snorting and turning, trotting outside with Applejack right behind her. As soon as they were clear Rainbow rounded on Applejack.
“I am in command, Applejack, don’t forget that,” she snarled.
“No, ya ain’t,” Applejack replied simply, her face impassive. “Y’all might have been in charge once, but y’all ain’t been seen fer two weeks before today, been off in the jungle…”
“Fighting our enemy,” Rainbow finished for her.
“Yeah, ya have been doin’ that, and we’re grateful, we are, but y’all gave up yer command when ya stopped commandin’. This ain’t yer ‘Dark City’, Rainbow. Commander need ta command, and y’all didn’t do that. The Exodites won’t listen to ya now, and the Tau sure as shit ain’t ever gonna let you speak to them, let alone give them orders.”
“I’ll make them,” Rainbow grinned. “Fear is a motivator, Applejack, I thought I taught you that lesson.”
“Aye, ya did,” Applejack scowled now. “Ya made me scared of one of mah best friends ta prove a point, now ah’m provin’ a point back to ya. The Tau are here because ah asked them to me, there still callin’ be Shas’O, so they’ll listen ta me, never you. Y’all want to save this world? Then stand aside. Keep the Exodites who follow yer if ya want, but don’t try and give out orders anymore. Y’all don’t have an army, ah do. Y’all are a warrior, better than anyone else on the planet probably, but that’s what ya are, Rainbow. Ya got to command because for a Cult, fightin’ on the front is everythin’, but ya ain’t a leader, ah am. Ah got promoted to Shas’O because ah know how to plan a war, not just a battle. Yer running off ta the front lines as soon as the last words out of yer mouth, leadin’ from the front. That’s great and all, but we someone better than that, and that’s what ah’m trained to do. Y’all can fight, ah can lead. Let me do what ah’m good at, and ah’ll make sure you’re not interrupted when y’all do what yer good at. Ok?”
Rainbow snarled, flapping her wings and stopping inches before Applejack’s helmet, her breath fogging the lens. For a minute Applejack expected Rainbow to launch into an attack, preparing herself to leap backwards if it happened, before Rainbow snorted, turning and leaving without a word.
Applejack let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding, taking a few moments to compose herself before heading back into the meeting.
“Ah’m sorry about that, please continue, Aun’Vesa.”
Aun’Vesa nodded curtly as she reappeared, before continuing with the meeting.
“As I was saying, now we all in attendance I can explain what we have to work with. The Pa’Laa fleet entered the system on the opposite side from the Hive Fleet, and we have managed to punch a workable hole in the blockade around the planet. We are holding it now because almost all of the Hive Ships are focused on taking the bio-mass from their primary landing points. If they turn, our fleet is under orders to retreat to fight another day. We cannot win the war in the void, not yet. I understand you have taken heavy casualties in recent hours, but can anyone provide me with up to date numbers of the forces we have left at our disposal?”
It took some time, various clans having different pieces of the greater picture, but eventually a close approximation of their current numbers was arrived at. Applejack felt sickened by the number, it was far worse than she had hoped, but if she was honest it was far better than she had feared.
Of the Sixty-three warrior clades they had been able to muster before the invasion, only twenty-one remained active, although they were made up of lone Exodites from a dozen different clans, getting them to fight together would be far harder now they weren’t fighting exclusively with their own kin. The Dragon Knights had fared a little better, from thirteen clades to nine, a similar situation to the footslogging warriors developing as damaged clades were merged to keep the units active. The biggest blow was from Clan Scoval however, seven knights had once walked under their banner, now only one remained, a Bright Stallion class, damaged but still active. High King Scoval had fallen at the outskirts of the jungle, the bio-titan ripping his slower knight apart and plucking him from the cockpit with almost contemptuous ease.
It was a precarious situation, the scales far from balanced, but the arrival of Pa’Laa brought them close to parity. An entire Contingent, dozens of Hunter Killer Cadre’s and an Auxillia Cadre. Kroot, Demiurg and Vespid, all those left alive in the Pa’Laa sept. They had brought almost all of their remaining military might to Barank, something many were opposed to after their most recent attack, but Applejack’s own call for aid coupled with Aun’Vesa’s backing had brought the naysayers on board.
Their fleet however was decimated, Aun’Vesa had not be exaggerating when he said they would have to run if even a single Hive Ship turned towards them. So many had been lost defending Pa’Laa, or the devastating gambit at Fasturn, barely a handful of those that had survived were operational, the rest still in drydock, probably for years to come.
A single Or’es Battleship led the fleet, a pair of Gal’leath battleships backing it up, but that was it for capital ships, and apart from the Or’es, all the ships were classes that had been designed before the Kor'Or'Vesh initiative. They were relics and pirate hunters, and now they were pressed onto the frontline. The corridor they now held was a tenuous one, but the Tau were making full use of it, landing in force to bolster the last line of defence the world had. They weren’t planning a retreat; every command had been briefed that the swarm had to stop here. If it didn’t all the might of Pa’Laa in its prime wouldn't have been able to stop the resurgent swarm. This was there one chance, they would take it, or die in the attempt.
“Well, it’s a far cry from where we stood once, but it’s certainly better than a buck in the teeth,” Applejack sighed. “We can’t run anymore, we all know that. First stage fell, the jungle fell, the mountains are all that’s left. We have a day, maybe two, before the swarm reaches us, so we best get movin’. Fio’O, ah’m leaving you in charge of getting’ the Tidewalls up an’ runnin’, Take a Shas’El for help plannin’ their placement. Kor’O,” she addressed the only hologram in the room, the admiral high above them in orbit, “Set out aerial scouts, probe the swarm and find out where it will strike the hardest, and if there are any tendrils breakin’ off. Have yer bombers standin’ by to launch when the assault does begin, we’ll make sure there are a few landing zones down here in case the Hive Fleet turns it’s attention to ya.”
All eyes were on Applejack now. It wasn’t like when Rainbow had been in charge, fear of her rage keeping people in line. Now everyone was listening to her because they respected her, the Tau had had a long time to build that respect, but even the Exodites saw the value in listening to her, especially now their own High King had fallen. As much as she loathed to admit she enjoyed anything about this situation, Applejack found it reassuring to be back in command once more.
“Fire Warriors, Broadsides and Exodite Warriors will dig in along the tidewall defences,” she continued. “Hammerheads and skyrays will provide rolling support to squads where needed, we’ll spread them out across the line. Piranhas, Crisis Suits and Dragon Riders will be on standby to plug any gap that opens in our own lines. Everythin’ heavier is to steer clear of the battle until titan class bio-forms are detected, then ya move in to take ‘em down. Ya all work together, no heroics, no suicidal charges. The Greater Good will be best served by us survivin’ here. As much as ah hate to admit it, we can’t break the swarm on our own, so we hold until reinforments get here. If we’re lucky we’ll get help from Saim-Hann first. If not…we make do with the allies we have. If they come, we’ll stand with them, but be on yer guard, especially if we win this thing. General orders are ta not fire first, but if they fire, we do what we must. Are there any questions?”
No one did, and with the knowledge that detailed plans would be sent out to those who required them as soon as they were available, the room slowly emptied until Applejack and Aun’Vesa were alone, the Ethereal looking up at the battlesuit-clad pony and smiling.
“It is good to see you, Applejack. Truly it is, though I wish it were under better circumstances.”
“Likewise,” Applejack sighed, the front of her battlesuit opening as she slid free, clad in her neural interface suit. “Thank fer comin’, we wouldn’t have held out long without ya, and the fact that yer here first makes things a lot easier. Saim-Hann won’t be here before the Triumvirate arrives. They have the forces to help win this, but bad blood’s still there, ah’d imagine. If we do win, and it’s just us, the Exodites and the Triumvirate left on the field, what do ya think the chances are we’ll be able to keep things civil?”
“You’ve given your orders, Applejack. None of the Fire Caste would go against them. We make sure the Kroot and Vespid are separated from the Dark Eldar, and I think we can safely say we won’t start any fight. I wouldn’t say we long though, once we’re done here we need to be back to Pa’Laa sooner rather than later. The presence of the Triumvirate makes that expedience all the more important.”
“And the Exodites?” Applejack asked. “If we leave and the Triumvirate is still here, what then?”
“We can’t save everyone, Applejack,” Aun’Vesa sighed. “As much I would like to stay and ensure they survive, Pa’Laa’s borders are not safe until we return. The Triumvirate probably won’t do anything to harm these Exodites anyway, I hear they have a significance to their races attempts to rebuild.”
“But to just leave them…” Applejack began, struggling for the right words. “It just feels wrong, ya know?”
“More than I would like to know,” Aun’Vesa nodded solemnly. “We make choices every day, Applejack, it’s the burden of command as you well know. If we succeed before Saim-Hann arrives, the choice will be to leave the Exodites, or risk another fight with the Triumvirate. We won’t survive that, not now. We didn’t survive it before.”
“Yeah, ah know,” Applejack sighed. “Ah should go, lots ta do, deployments to finalise.”
“And sleep to fall to,” Aun’Vesa pressed. “You have just come from a great battle, Applejack, it is showing. You need to recover before the swarm comes again.”
“Ah’ll sleep when the defences are up, ah wouldn’t be able to get ta sleep before anyway,” she smiled as she tapped the battlesuit. “Mind if ah leave this here fer the Earth Caste to pick up? Thing needs one hell of a repair job if it’s gonna be functioning when tha time comes.”
“I see no problem with it,” Aun’Vesa nodded. “Go with conviction, Applejack. The Greater Good protects.”
“The Greater Good protects,” Applejack placed a hoof against her chest in response to the mantra, before exiting the command complex into the busy camp beyond once more.
For a time she walked the perimeter that was being set up, the Shas’El that had been assigned to oversee the walls placement was one of the finest in siege engineering that the Pa’Laa sept could offer, interlocking fields of fire and fall back positions covering every approach she visited already, with more defences being erected by the minute. It was strange to watch as Tau Earth caste worked alongside Exodites, their usual racial prejudices put aside entirely in the face of the impending doom. There were no Tau and Exodites on this world, Applejack realised. There were only Tyranids and everyone else. If you were everyone else, then you were a friend, albeit a tenuous friend in some circumstances.
Only when she was starting to struggle just to walk as adrenaline wore off and the fatigue from the last battle set in did she turn and head back towards the centre of the rapidly rising fortress. Barracks had been hastily constructed, little more than rectangular structures stacked on top of each other with as many bunks crammed in as possible. They weren’t comfortable, but they would do for now.
Before she could reach the barracks however she came to a halt, Rainbow standing before her. She was still covered in blood from the battles she had fought, but her eyes were unfocused, and as she slowly drew closer she could make out that Rainbow was shaking across her entire body.
“Y’all ok?” Applejack asked softly, unable to simply pass her one time friend by, regardless of what she had done.
Rainbow jumped at the sound, rounding on Applejack and lashing out with a talon, snatching it back a hairs breadth away from Applejack’s muzzle.
“I’m fine,” Rainbow rasped. “I’m fine, Applejack.”
“And the shakin’?” Applejack pressed.
“Just combat drugs leaving my system, don’t have enough left for a come-down cocktail. It will pass.”
“Yeah, ah’m sure it will,” Applejack sighed, part of her screaming that she should leave now, while the other part screamed at her to stay. In the end the latter voice won, Applejack putting a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder, the Pegasus actually flinching at the touch.
“What have you done ta yerself, Rainbow? All these drugs, the modifications, did ya never stop ta think that maybe…enough was enough?”
“Enough was only enough when I found you,” Rainbow shot back, but there was no venom in her voice. “What I thought was enough wasn’t enough to save Windchill, it wasn’t enough to find you quickly. Even now it’s not enough. I need more, Applejack. And this planet doesn’t have anything I can use to make more.”
“So, what? Yer gonna go begging to that Eethron character ah’ve heard about? Ask him to get ya some more of the drugs?” Applejack scoffed. “Come on, Rainbow, y’all were an athlete once. Ya know as well as ah do that supplements don’t pay off.”
“Spare me the shit, Applejack. These are steroids, they’re far more. I’m alive because of them.”
“And dead because of them,” Applejack countered. “Ya look like can barely stand up yer shakin’ so much, ya really tellin’ me that yer better off with them?”
“Yes,” Rainbow snapped, pushing Applejack’s hoof from her shoulder.
Applejack looked at Rainbow in that moment, and she didn’t see the monster that she had every other time she had seen her. She saw beyond that, to the scraps of whatever was left of the Rainbow she had once known. All the drugs and the modifications had done an almost perfect job of stripping that all away, but now, with the drugs leaving her system, that pony was visible. Only just, but visible nonetheless.
Rainbow saw the concern seep into Applejack’s eyes and her face hardened.
“I’m going,” she turned, spreading her wings, only to find Applejack’s hoof on her shoulder once again.
“Rainbow, Dash. Let me help ya, please? Ah want mah friend back, help me get ‘er.”
“I’m her,” Rainbow said dismissively, shrugging the hoof off once more. “You can’t get her back because she never left. I am Rainbow Dash, that is all I am, and I will not…I can’t...change that now.”
Rainbow’s voice wavered just slightly as she spoke, but before Applejack could press any further the Pegasus was off, taking to the sky and disappearing from sight.
“What did the monster want?” Spitfire asked, walking up beside Applejack.
“How much of that did ya hear?” Applejack asked in reply.
“None,” Spitfire admitted. “I hung back, never did like eavesdropping, but you two seemed to have quite the conversation, so what did it want?”
“Ah don’t know,” Applejack sighed wistfully. “Ah don’t know what she wants, Spitfire, ah don’t know what she needs, but somewhere in there is the pony y’all once followed, that ah was called friend. She’s broken, Spitfire, more than any of us realise. We have ta help her.”
“Help her?” Spitfire scoffed, turning and twitching the nub of her torn off wing. “Fuck that.”
Applejack didn’t look round at Spitfire, her eyes still fixed on where she had lost track of Rainbow. Spitfire was right, Rainbow was a monster, right up there with the worst tales of Nightmare Moon and Discord, but for all their flaws, they’d been reformed. Why should Rainbow be any different?
The thought burning in her mind, Applejack trotted towards the barracks, her body crying out for sleep, but her mind racing a mile a minute, trying to rationalise her own thoughts against the actions of a monster.
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before they fell and the third rank took there place
The Tau are here because ah asked them to be, there still callin’ be Shas’O, so they’ll listen ta me
every command had been briefed that the swarm had to stop here. If it didn’t all the might of Pa’Laa in its prime would have been able to stop the resurgent swarm
don’t have enough left for a come down cocktail
1. Their.
2. Me.
3. Wouldn't.
4. Calm. Least I think so.
9014703
Thanks man, 4) is meant to be come-down, missed the hyphen on it.
9014710 Ahh, that makes much more sense.
And this planet doesn’t have anything I ca use to make more.
Missed the n.
9014766
Thanks
Blood for the bloodgod... :3
Well if it comes down to it, the Tau can give the Exodites the choice to stay or come with them. I mean I don't expect all of them to but at least they could shelter and save some of them. Of course, crossing my fingers that the True Eldar get here soon enough.
As for Dash, dunno if redemption is totally on the menu. At least to what it was. I just can't see AJ being as homely with her as she once was even though she does still want to be RD's friend. RD's actions to get to her were beyond sadistic and she did come to revel in it so it'll be hard to sell it.
9015664
The last thing we need right now is a Chaos incursion.
Xenos? What’cha gunna do?
E-X-T-E-R-M-I-N-A-T-U-S
we need someone
Loving the upload streak!!!
Rainbow is a monster, yes. But she is a monster because that was all she could do... becoming the monster she had come to be was the only way of surviving and finding Applejack... loyal to the end, even when she was forced to become a monster to keep on going, no matter what comes.....
9015843
Don't forget the Orks :3
9016584
Yeah, although it’s arguable that the next worst thing would be an Imperium of Man fleet showing up. Granted, the Tau probably won’t complain. They need the ships badly.