//------------------------------// // The Worlds Burn // Story: The Descent into Madness // by FenrisianBrony //------------------------------// Rainbow let out a hiss of anger as she walked onto the bridge of her new flagship, the Torture class Cruiser Agony’s Beauty, slaves scattering from her wrath, those who were chained in place whimpering or praying to whatever gods they held dear that her ire wouldn’t fall upon them. The majority did indeed escape Rainbow’s notice, but one unfortunate prisoner screamed as Rainbow stopped right before her. “Another planet, another failure!” she roared, her face mere inches from the terrified Tau water caste member. “How many worlds must I lay waste to before you give me what I want to know!?” “I…I…I don’t…” the Tau blubbered, but what he didn’t do was lost as Rainbow raked her claws through his throat, tearing the vulnerable skin away, the Tau beginning to choke on his own blood almost instantly, a look of fear in his eyes. “Do not let him die so easily,” Rainbow snapped, looking at one of Eethron’s underling Haemonculus, before striding to the command podium, Gilda vacating the central command throne at her approach. “Our holds are bursting with new slaves Rainbow,” Gilda pointed out as she sat down. “The bodies of those we left behind were left as your ordered, it will send the desired message.” “They better get it, or this pathetic thing they call an Empire will be a lot smaller.” “Our empire…will defeat you…monster,” a weak voice called out across the bridge, followed by a howl of pain and the sound of a hot brand against skin. “Hold, let him speak,” Rainbow smirked, looking towards the source of the voice. It was a captain of the Air Caste, from the first ship Rainbow’s fleet had encountered in Tau space, where they had captured their first prisoners for information. All the others had long since broken in body or spirit, bargaining whatever they could away for a relief from the pain, yet it never worked. Only this one had retained his stubborn resistance, many of Rainbow’s warriors taking their turns to try and break him, but to no avail. Rainbow knew Eethron could break him in a heartbeat, but her crew enjoyed their latest toy, and there was no need to break it yet. “Really?” she asked as she slowly approached him, her foreclaws clicking on the floor. “Your…Empire…did you call it?” “Yes…you will fall before the might of the Fire Caste…they will kill you if you had the stomach to face them…rather than butchering civilians.” “Yes, well, that’s certainly one point of view,” Rainbow nodded, closing a claw around his chin and gripping tightly, flesh parting before their razor edge. To his credit, he didn’t scream. “Now, allow me to paint another, much more likely outcome. Your Fire Caste will arrive at another world and find it burnt and put to the sword. They will strike at smoke trying to find my fleet, and while they do, I will destroy another world, and another, and another. Your armies are slow, and they will never catch me until I wish to bring them to battle. And when I am done, if I do not have what I wish, I will keep going. Pathetic ‘Empire’ will be so weakened, that you won’t even be able to resist the tiny attention the Imperium has afforded you. Your worlds, your military might, they are nothing compared to the true powers in the universe. The Eldar held dominion over the entire galaxy, a million million worlds bent to their will. Now the Imperium calls it theirs, able to call upon more soldiers than your entire species combined. The only reason you are still alive is because you are beneath anyone’s notice or concern. That changes now, I will show you the Eldar way of dismantling an Empire if I do not get what I want.” “And yet you’re not an Eldar…you’re just as weak as I am.” He laughed through blood flecked teeth. “I don’t think you understand what weak is, I control this ship and help to rule this fleet, my word is law and they will kill worlds to gain a scrap of my notice. But enough of this. You are beneath my notice, as you are with everyone in the galaxy. Contact Eethron, break this idiot.” Moving past him, Rainbow stood before the viewport into the void, bringing up yet another world that was believed to have a clue for what she was looking for. This would be the ninth world they had ravaged in as many days, her forces were revelling in the slaves they had taken, and soon Rainbow would find what she was looking for, or rip a hole in the Tau Empire’s defences and leave them for the Imperium to finally finish off. “Now, bring me that planet,” Rainbow grinned, already picturing the torture that would be inflicted upon the Tau captain later. *** Applejack and the rest of the Pa’Laa high command stood around a holoprojector as a technician wrought the static into a visible image. They had recently lost contact with yet another world, all communications believed to be lost, like the ones before it. Scouts had reached the other affected worlds, telling tales of charnel houses and death on a planetary scale, but never any pictures, the Pathfinders had said they couldn’t bear to make a record of such atrocities. When this world had fallen silent, Applejack assumed it would be the same story, until a junior Earth Caste technician had come forward, telling of a faint signal emanating from a drone that was still active upon the world. It was highly damaged, but she assured her she could get its optics and motivation systems working remotely, to at least provide some images. “Almost,” the woman muttered, before pumping her fist in success. “Got it! Images coming online now, Sir’s.” Applejack and the other O’s leaned forward, Aun’Vesa and Aun’Nan standing at the rear with Tar’nek and Juhani as the image finally became good enough to make out. Gasps went out across the room, and the Water Caste representative turned away, placing a hand to his mouth as if to stop himself from vomiting at the sights. It was worse than anything Applejack had ever imagined. Fires ran rampant through what had to once be massive fields and orchards, the sheer size of them acting as a testament to the workers who had once tended to them, and to the barbarism of their murderers. From the drone’s height and speed, Applejack had not expected to see any of the true horrors of ground warfare. She was sorely mistaken. Viscous crimson blood coated entire roadways and fields, and great chunks of gore were piled up into pyres and body-piles that burned with acrid black smoke, filling the sky with yet more foulness. Buildings and entire settlements were seemingly swept into piles of burning rubble- stone and thatch and wood and their inhabitants... all so much kindling and flame, so much so that it seemed that no stone was left resting upon another. Nausea burned in Applejack’s belly, but was quickly cast aside by a rising tide of white hot rage. “They’re…animals,” the Fio’O growled softly. “Animals only kill with a purpose, to eat or to protect their own,” the Por’O shook his head, looking paler than normal, but straightening up as he spoke. “This was done for sport, for pleasure.” “My dark kin are far worse than any animals,” Tar’nek agreed, Juhani nodding to the statement. “Every planet Rainbow Dash goes to will look like this upon her departure.” “And why is the Fire and Air Caste not protecting them?!” the Fio’O shouted, her sudden outburst taking everyone by surprise as she slammed her fist onto the table. “You are supposed to keep this from happening!” “Keep yer tongue silent,” Applejack snapped, glaring at the man. “We aren’t fightin’ Orks or humans, we’re fightin’ Eldar. They’re faster than us, their technology is better than us. The Fire Caste is attempting to close ‘em down, but every time we think we come close, they strike somewhere else.” “And our fleet has engaged in numerous picket actions,” the Kor’O pointed out. “So far, we have confirmed four ship to ship kills, more may have been crippled or destroyed, but can’t be confirmed. We are doing everything in our power to stop more of our colonies being destroyed.” “You won’t corner them,” Tar’nek muttered from the side of the room, everyone falling silent as he spoke. “Look at it from their point of view. They are conducting a war of terror, they have no stake in this empire other than that goal. They don’t have bases for you to destroy or supply lines for you to cut, forcing them to stand and fight will be all but impossible.” “Unless…” Juhani began, Aun’Vesa cutting her off almost instantly. “That option is off the table, place it from your mind.” “You know it will work, and it will force Rainbows forces to engage on our terms.” “It is too risky, I will not sanction…” Aun’Vesa began, before Applejack stamped her hoof once, the room looking at her in an instant. “What plan is this? Ah haven’t heard of any break through on ideas.” “Shas’O…” Aun’Vesa began. “If y’all have an idea, ah need ta know,” Applejack cut in. “Juhani?” “They only want one thing. We leak information on that, and by that, be under no illusion that I mean you, and lead Rainbow and her fleet to a planet of our choosing. We fortify, we dig in, and we give it everything we have.” “Expand it,” Applejack nodded. “Three planets have potential,” Juhani nodded, bringing up an image of all three worlds. “Two have immense open fields and little atmospheric cover, meaning Rainbow’s forces will have to approach without cover under our guns, and the third has a unique mineral buried in the skin of the planet which disrupts anti-grav technology. It doesn’t disable it, but it does slow it down. Your aircraft operate on more rudimentary fusion drives as do your battlesuits, meaning only your Hammerheads, Skyrays, Piranha’s and Devilfish will be affected.” “All things that in a defensive war could be dug in or have equals if needed,” Applejack muttered. “Exactly,” Juhani nodded. “We don’t know how much Rainbow knows about you, but Scootaloo seems to believe she only things you are here, not that you hold rank. We leak that you’re on world, not where, and make our stand around the main city. One way or another, Rainbow will have to come straight for us. We can plan around that, we have ideas about how she’ll fight.” “Not everything she knows though,” a voice called out as the door opened, the room whirling to look at him, Fire Warrior bodyguard’s hands flying to their weapons, before Aun’Nan waved them down. “Gue'Vesa'El, I trust you are well?” the Ethereal asked. “I am, thank you, mighty Ethereal,” Goge nodded. Goge stood resplendent in armour burnished in the colours of the Pa’Laa sept, his armour sleeker than the carapace armour he had once worn, but Applejack knew it was easily equal, if not superior, to the Imperial armour. Likewise, his lasgun was gone, replaced with a bulked up version of a pulse rifle, complete with a bayonet lug that was absent in the Tau model. Even his cybernetic eyes were gone, replaced with much better augmetics that you could barely tell were there. All in all, Goge was a completely different warrior, save for the Grav Pack on his back. It seemed certain bits of equipment were too precious to surrender, even in the face of more advanced models. “The former colonel has been instructing some of our fire teams in Elysian drop tactics, am I pronouncing that right, Goge?” Aun’Nan asked. “More or less,” Goge nodded. “Your tech is different, but the Elysians have been practicing combat drops for longer than your race has stood upright.” “Not that this isn’t fascinating, but what are you doing here, Gue'Vesa'El?” the Fio’O asked. “My apologies, Fio’O, I was waiting outside to give me report, and heard you speak of Rainbow’s combat tactics. You assume that she will fight purely as an Eldar would.” “She’s spent the most time with them,” the Por’O pointed out. “It would suggest her favouring of their ways.” “I believe that to be wrong,” Goge bowed his head slightly as he spoke, before continuing. “I personally taught Rainbow Imperial ways of combat, she knows the Eldar way, and the Dark Eldar way, only a few on this world know the smallest part of those at the best of times, one I would hesitate to say is known properly by more than myself, and the way of the Dark Eldar is only known by three, and even then partially. This is without even considering the combination on the three, mixed with her own tactics.” “Rainbow ain’t a tactical genius,” Applejack pointed out. “I’m sure this room…” “Will under-estimate Rainbow if that’s your opinion of her,” Goge cut in. “Forgive me, Shas’O, but I believe Rainbow is far more intelligent than you just gave her credit for. She is a daemon in close quarter battles, but she is also a commander. She leads troops into battle who would just as soon see her dead as follow her lead if they thought they could get away with it. That either shows incredible luck, or a strong grasp of tactical knowledge, and considering she is leading beings older than her by hundreds of years, she must have some advantage, I believe to be the fusion of all three doctrines.” “So, how would y’all go about lurin’ her in?” Applejack asked, preparing herself for a long night of tactical planning, military deployments, casualty estimates, and everything else that would need to be decided upon before a single boot touched down on their defensive world. *** “Three more worlds and nothing!” Rainbow roared, glaring at Gilda, and the Bloodbride she held in her talons. “My Succubus, we followed your orders to the letter,” the Bloodbride stammered. “This world fell before us and we took scores of new slaves…” “I don’t care about slaves!” Rainbow screeched. “They are irrelevant, there is only one thing I want from these Tau, and you have failed to deliver upon it!” “My Succubus…” the Bloodbride tried again, but Rainbow was in no mood to listen anymore, continuing without heed of her underling’s words. “I had such high hopes for you. I thought putting a Dark Eldar in a position of power within the Cult again would be a good thing. You gave me your word that if it was you who was chosen, you would bring me what I sought. More than your word, you gave me your life as a gesture of your assurance that you would bring her to me. Where is she!? Or have you failed me?!” “Dash…” the Bloodbride whispered, fear written across her face. “Do not ever address me as such, I am not your equal, I am your superior, in all things and in every way,” Rainbow snarled, before looking directly at Gilda. “I apologise for doubting you, it seems having a non-Eldar in command positions is indeed better. You’re my number two, don’t fail me. And someone throw this pathetic creature into the warp,” she gestured to the Bloodbride, “let’s see how she fares against She Who Thirsts.” The Bloodbride screamed in abject terror at that threat, struggling against Gilda’s Iron Grip as she handed her captive to a pair of Incubi, the helmed warriors dragging her from the bridge without a single sound. “Somebody better have some good news for me,” Rainbow growled softly, sitting down in the command throne and looking around at her confidants, a holographic form of Eethron and a Kabalite Warrior standing in for Ale’ri while the Archon was busy with his own business. “I may have…something,” Eethron purred, his many limbs clicking against each other in anticipation. “I’m not in the mood for games, Eethron,” Rainbow snapped. “Get on with it or allow others to talk.” “Very well,” Eethron nodded, a flash of anger flickering across his face for the briefest of instants before his normal calm look took control again. “We captured a prison on the last world, many interesting specimens of Auxiliary and standard Tau were held within. The majority held no truths within their heads, speaking anything they believed would allow them to survive. One however…” He trailed off, his image being replaced by a camera feed of an interrogation chamber, a Tau, water caste by the look of him, strapped to the razor edged table, blood congealing around the edges. “Tell me again, what you said,” the recording of Eethron purred, grabbing the Tau’s face and directing it towards the camera. “And please, speak towards my beautiful creation, he is made from your kind after all, a shared kinship may help you to remember…all the details.” “You’re sick,” the Tau whimpered, before swallowing, seeming to harden his resolve. “But…I will tell you…in exchange for the quick death we agreed upon. You’re looking for an equine, a sentient one, not like the Gue'vesa horses they use. Orange fur, blonde ponytail, brown human Stetson, a mark of a Terran Apple upon her flank.” “That fits the description, yes,” Eethron nodded. “And the rest?” “She is on the world of Darik, the Pa’Laa Sept has her, they know she is your target because of traitors from your own ranks. They are preparing to fight you there, to the last.” “Thank you,” Eethron bowed graciously. As he straightened up, one of his tendrils shot out, passing through the Tau’s head like it was nothing more than smoke. The Tau was dead before a single drop of blood had hit the floor, and the image faded shortly afterwards. No one dared to speak as Rainbow’s eyes went wide, her voice stuck in her throat, before finally, she managed to speak, directing her question to Eethron. “And this information is accurate?” “The Tau was telling the truth,” Eethron bowed deeply. “Every instrument I have confirms this. And I have the coordinates of the planet.” “Travel time?” Rainbow snapped, springing to her hooves. “For a single vessel? Two days. To find a viable route for our entire fleet will take us close to three weeks.” “We should strike hard and fast,” the Kabalite Warrior spoke. “Three weeks will give them more time to prepare for our arrival.” “They already will have had time, who knows how much,” Gilda disagreed. “Better we strike as a single fist that they will not stand against.” “Enough,” Rainbow roared, flapping her wings and rising above her underlings, looking at the helmsman. “Plot the fleet a course to this, ‘Darik’, the full fleet, no longer than three weeks or you will follow the Bloodbride to the warp. The rest of you, you have three weeks to present me a plan for breaking this planet. I want this over, you will bring me that victory, or you will bring me your own death. Dismissed.” With barely a glance back to check her orders were being followed, Rainbow landed by the doorway of the bridge and began to head towards her chambers, Gilda and the previously silent Kas following behind her without a word. She didn’t know what was going to happen when they reached Darik, but what she did know, was tonight would be a night to remember, Kas and Gilda would make sure of that.