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// Not Quite Hunting in the Sand 
// Story: I Blame You 
// by Whitestrake 
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	The Borderlands was a stretch of land roughly two hundred square miles in size that rested between Equestria and Zebrica. The small area counted as a separate nation, but had no economy or industry to speak of, nor any sort of formal government. The Borderlands' inhabitants had never progressed beyond isolated villages and barely had a passing understanding of the wheel. They only maintained their existence because no one wanted the dust the locals called home. Gurabba gave a rough estimation that ten percent of the population was human, the remainder being zebras or any other race that came to the Borderlands to escape law enforcement or something else. Speaking of which, there was actually an act of attempted genocide against minotaurs about a hundred years ago, so this place is about as dangerous as they come.

It being a savannah, the Borderlands was a very warm place. Riding inside Leviathan help tremendously, even though the viewscreens arrowed our sight on the caravan. Given the nature of our mission, something Gurabba summed up as pretending to be money, it was better for everyone involved to stay within the steel behemoth. After fighting and recruiting Chrysalis, I never thought I'd be hired to stop village raids in some backwater shithole, but vital trade routs ran through the grassland. According to Gurabba, we would either be attacked on our way to the small village of Cuatla.

“I don't suppose you've been here before?” I looked at Chrysalis, who was by far the oldest member of our motley crew. I should specify that just about everyone Jay and I have met since coming to Equestria had been in their late teens or early twenties, barring the princesses and obviously old. Twilight actually turned twenty-one just before we showed up.

“No, my older sister, Pupae, is in charge of the Zebrican hive and the Borderlands.” I knew by the dethroned queen's voice that we would not be meeting her sibling, and I was glad for it. Though, that would be a fight worth watching. With everyone else sleeping or otherwise occupied, caravan driving would be dull if not for conversation. “But we can expect strangeness ahead.”

“How so?” I busied myself with cleaning Leviathan's ammunition foundry. Yeah, the tank the size of a city block has machines inside that make new rounds and shells for it if you put in the raw materials. With only three more shells for the Mega Battle Cannon and about a hundred for the bolters, I needed to loot some guns and ammo of mercs or buy the chemical components when we got back to Equestria.

“Well, how do you feel about hyenas, rouge griffon warbands, and scorpion people?” To be honest, that wasn't anything I didn't think I couldn't handle. When Chrysalis saw the wry grin start to form on my face, she shook her head. “One of these days you're gonna find something more stubborn than you.”

“What do you think this big guy is for?” I rapped a fist against Leviathan's hull, the machine spirit responded in kind by revving the engine hard enough for everyone to feel.

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The drive went off without a hitch, and we arrived at Cuatla ahead of schedule. Even through my bandages, I could feel the intense sun bearing down on me. Everyone else was fairing much better, but Jay's success at beating the heat was likely his lightweight firesuit. Yeah, we brought a flamethrower to a dry grassland, want to make something of it?

“I trust you are our new sentries?” A man, and I mean man as in human, walked up to us. I could tell right away that he had been born on Equus, something just didn't scream of Earth when looking at him.

“Mercenaries.” Bon-Bon spoke before anyone that held the contract had the chance, earning a surprised look from the local. I should note that under normal circumstances, Chrysalis and Lyra would have been all over the new guy, but you know these were hardly normal circumstances.

“Right, Gurabba sent ahead for us to prepare rooms for you.” The stranger motioned for us to follow, and we reluctantly complied. Even Leviathan strolled behind us as we made our way through the shantytown. The white-haired man waved at passersby on the way, stopping twice to make smalltalk. When we reached a large building, large by Cuatla standards, the man turned on his heel. “My name is Semeru, by the way. Just ask Jacqueline if you need anything.”

The white-haired man with the strange name walked away, leaving everyone silently questioning things. The zebra ambassador had indeed told us he would send ahead, but he never mentioned anything about accommodations. This creamed of a trap, or oddly hospitable locals, and thus presented a predicament. We could either risk offending the townsfolk by sleeping inside Leviathan, or risk or own safety if its a ploy to lull us into a false sense of security. There also a third option, one where this was a test to see how capable we were, but that seemed a bit farfetched.

“I think we should split even.” Jay's voice was only slightly muffled by his gas mask, but sounding cool was no excuse for such an idea. Separating would leave three of us out of Leviathan's protective range. “We have radios with distress beacons, wit one click we could have the other team covering us.”

“Well, there's no way I'm sleeping inside a giant machine that moves by itself.” Bon-Bon had always been that way, even when it was just my Chevy being parked behind her apartment. With the candy maker sleeping inside the ramshackle inn, Lyra was sure to follow, leaving me with a four-person squad of a magician,  a changeling, and a Baneblade. In the event of ambush, I think it was safe to say my team wouldn't need to call for help.

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Wooden struts, most internal structures made of flammable materials. Despite Jay's outward appearances, he was actually quite intelligent, as evidence by his desire to sleep within a structure he could easily defend or destroy. A griffin by the of Jacqueline led the flautist and his two squadmates down the hall, hopefully traveling in the direction of their rooms. Conversation was not made other than to ask where basic utilities were, and that in itself made the teenager suspicious. Innkeepers were supposed to be friendly, or at least tolerably insulting, but the griffin seemed to distance herself entirely from her guests.

“How many beds will you be needing?” The griffin hen eyed the fuel tanks on Jay's back, a look of curiosity on her face as she wondered what could be inside them.

“Two, please.” Lyra had been the only courteous one so far, and that seemed to carry little weight on a job. With the two humans dressed to intimidate or in ways that benefited their style of combat, there was little room for pleasant discourse. With the number in mind, Jacqueline lead the trio down another hallway, showing just how much bigger the building was on the inside. At the very end of the corridor, though the pyromaniac was hesitant to call anything in this lace by such a fancy name, was an unassigned room.

“Here you are.” With that, the hen left the three to stew in their quarters. Jay estimated there was a total of eight walls separating them from the outside, that was of course a conservative guess, but he knew his team was still quite safe. One push of is distress signal would send Taylor and his trio crashing through the inn on a steel beast, and no fortress would slow Leviathan.

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Extra – Unmasking the Monster (Aka the next obligatory warhammer 40k bit)
Two weeks into the Dark Crusade, at the Equusian and Tau meeting place.

Aun'El Shi'Ores could hardly believe that the Equusian force commander wished to bargain a truce of sorts, or at least a temporary arrangement that would benefit the human's army. The Gue'la within was supposedly a fierce warrior and shrewd tactician, but he would likely be agreeable, given his mercy on Shas'o Kais. With a Kroot Shaper and a Water Caste diplomat, there was very little chance for misunderstandings to occur. That being said, the Ethereal had the Fire Caste commander at his side fully wreathed in a powerful stealth field.

“The Burned Man is expecting you.” The bird-feline hybrid said nothing else, but she and her counterpart relaxed and moved their weapons to a less threatening position. The strange title struck the Ethereal as odd, but the holy Tau entered the large tent ahead of his escorts, something he knew wold be seen as a sign of trust.

“Are you so sure they'll be fine with this?” The Tau stopped in their tracks, a female voice echoed from behind one of the canvas walls. Shi'Ores hadn't been aware of any female member of the human's personal bodyguard, so it was likely the Gue'la was speaking to his own leader.

“We have to try, princess; they're the only ones that can keep Chaos and the Eldar off our backs long enough for me to assassinate Gorgutz and Governor Alexander.” Eavesdropping was not an orthodox tactic used by Tau Ethereals, but the room the four servants to the Greater Good found themselves in seemed to be the appointed meeting chamber. Shas'o Kais almost alerted the human of their arrival when he choked back a surprised noise, the experienced Fire Warrior saw the Gue'la's masked helmet resting on the table in front of him.

“While I trust your judgment, I hope you will attempt to find more peaceful solutions to our problems. In the mean time, keep my sister and I informed.” The sound of a transmission being cut split the air like a knife. Por'El Shesh was the first to take a seat, followed swiftly by the other two natives of T'au; the Kroot Shaper chose to stand. The tent flap leading to the next room fluttered before opening, and the black-armored man of the hour stepped through.

“My apologies for making you wait.” The surprisingly young human took his own seat shortly before more insect-like equines followed. These were much larger than the ones seen on the battlefield, almost as tall as the average Tau, and easily twice as bulky as the other insectoids under Equusian control. The Burned Man, as the hybrids outside had referred to him as, seemed to either be in early adulthood or late adolescence. The dark circles under his eyes showed that the young human wasn't sleeping much, but the constant fighting was certainly to blame.

“I am the Ethereal called Shi'Ores, and my commander tells me you wish to negotiate.” The human nodded when the holy Tau finished his sentence, but said nothing else. This was seen as bureaucratic stalling on his end by the Shaper. Though, the silence could be seen as a way to display the compact Psychic Hood wrapped around much of his head.

“Yes, and there is little time to be lost.”