Iron Hearts
Chapter 7
Marching On
****
Centaur III - Ponyville
"So then the Commissar says to me: 'You turn around and open fire, or I'll kill you myself!' And this, with two bloody Carnifexes barreling down on us! I wasn't an enlisted man, just a mercenary, but that's a petty detail to the Commessariat. So I've got a bolt pistol in front of me and thirty tons of angry, armored alien behind me, and let me tell you, that pistol didn't look half bad compared to being trampled and eaten."
Daniels paused in his story to take a swig of apple cider. The drink was sweet, with a tangy aftertaste, and was easily the most delicious booze he'd ever tasted.
He was currently seated rather awkwardly on a short stool in a juice bar that Applejack had taken him to, with the orange mare nursing a mug of her own cider next to him. Numerous other ponies in the establishment were leaning in around them, fascinated by the alien mercenary and his tales of war drama.
The fact that it was an otherwise familiar scene for him made the differences all the more striking; he couldn't help but feel silly describing his military exploits to a room full of pastel-colored horses while sipping mildly alcoholic fruit juice.
And why did ponies even HAVE stools, anyway?
Applejack took a gulp of cider and then put her mug down with a satisfied sigh. "Were these 'Carnifex' things as big as that Gnarloc varmint that took out mah home?"
"Just as big, and much tougher. And Tyranids are never alone. We'd gotten all the little ones by then, sure, but I knew there were more scuttling in behind the 'fexes. So I swat the Commissar's pistol right out of his hand without a word, and then make a run for it. He actually didn't say anything at first, probably due to pure shock, but I heard him swearing up a storm as the other men saw that I was making a break for it and moved to follow me. He was probably still sputtering insults when the xenos reached him."
Daniels shrugged and drank more cider. "I was a hero to those men that day. For five minutes or so. Then we stumbled into a spawning pool and most of them were eaten alive by Rippers."
He finished the last of his cider and then pushed the empty mug toward the bartender, a pale orange earth pony with a draft tap for a cutie mark. "Gimme another, Sweet Sauce." At first he had assumed that was some sort of flirty nickname given to her by a male patron. He didn't think he'd ever get used to some of these ponies' names.
"Hey, hey, take it easy on the cider, cowboy," Applejack warned the mercenary, although she didn't stop Sweet Sauce from refilling the mug, "this's all on mah tab 'cuz you space men don't carry bits. And Ah can't be too generous with mah farm wrecked!"
"Oh, come on AJ. The Acolyte said she'd rebuild the place, didn't she? She's good for it," Daniels insisted, though he was grinning.
"An' Ah believe her. But that don't mean Ah can start throwin' good bits out the window," Applejack slammed down the remainder of her mug, and then tapped the mug for a refill in stark defiance of her earlier concerns.
"So what happened on the planet? With all the killer bugs?" asked Berry Punch, leaning in from the stool on the other side of Daniels.
Daniels grimaced. "Well, I managed to get off-world, obviously. Snuck aboard a supply lander and hid with the support fleet until the retreat was called. And that was the last time I ever took an Imperial contract." He took another gulp of cider, sighing contentedly before placing the mug back down. "Not that Chaos is any better, mind you, but at least they don't act surprised and get all pissy when we run from a bad fight."
"What happened to the planet you were defendin'?" Applejack asked, tilting up her hat.
"Oh, it's dead now, I'm sure. Tyranids kill, break down, and consume every usable scrap of matter on a planet until its a barren husk, then they move on to the next one. Jaaleed didn't stand a chance."
Several of the ponies winced, although none of them could easily contemplate an entire planet being stripped clean of life and then discarded like a withered apple core.
"That's harsh," Applejack said in a considerable understatement.
"Yes, well, there's a reason humans don't usually get along with aliens," the mercenary explained, grinning, "although you lot are right neighborly!"
The door to the juice bar opened, and Daniels heard one of the ponies near the entrance yelp in surprise.
Dest turned his gaze left and right to take in the interior of the juice bar, although he spotted Daniels and one of the more familiar ponies immediately. The civilian ponies in the bar all stared silently at the new arrival, and those closest to the entrance moved away to give the massive soldier plenty of room.
"Ah, Lord Dest. Feeling better?" Daniels asked as he turned around on his stool. Applejack regarded the Iron Warrior with a brief glance before returning her attention to her cider.
Dest grunted through his vox as he slowly walked toward the bar, one hand on his abdomen. There was still a blackened hole in his power armor where the pulse rifle had penetrated, and several severed power cables also hung loose from the wound.
Dest was carrying his bolter in his hand, as the damage to his armor had deactivated its mag-lock capability. He stepped up to the bar next to Applejack, and then dropped the combat rifle onto the counter, causing every cup and mug placed on top to bounce from the impact.
"I'm alive and our foes are not. That is enough for me," the Iron Warrior rumbled. He didn't sit down, guessing correctly that the pony-proportioned stools would buckle under his weight.
Why would ponies have stools, anyway?
"You want a drink, then? AJ's buying!" Daniels offered with a smirk.
"Hey! Don't you go offerin' mah money up like that!" the farm pony growled, slapping the soldier's arm with her hoof.
Dest couldn't help but marvel briefly at the pony and the mercenary acting like old drinking buddies before he turned his blood red visor on the bartender.
The mare (somehow) holding a glass tumbler in her hooves gulped as she looked up at the Astartes. "Ah... I guess I could give you the first drink on the house? As a welcome?"
"Water," Dest said simply, turning away from the bartender and toward Daniels, "I had to ask around the village for some time to find you. The Dark Acolyte is not responding to vox calls."
Daniels resigned himself to talking about work rather than regaling the locals with tales of his not-very-heroics. "Sparkle and Rarity dragged her off somewhere after she dispatched a message to base. I'm just killing time until the pony psykers bring her back."
"You seem to be enjoying yourself," the Space Marine grunted as Sweet Sauce hesitantly placed a glass of water next to his boltgun.
"I'm taking full advantage of not having her around, yes," Daniels admitted, "the talking horses are far better company."
"Well now, that's just mean," Applejack tsked, "whether or not it's true."
Dest took the glass of water, tilted his head back, and then poured it into the gorget of his armor, letting the cool fluid drain down into the body of the suit. Some of it splashed out of the hole in the torso plating and onto the floor.
"More," Dest commanded, placing the empty glass back down.
"Suit broken but good, eh?" Daniels asked.
"It's like our lord's furnace in this thing," the Iron Warrior grumbled, "on top of my injuries. And our only Mechanicus support is off playing with aliens."
"Rarity didn't give her a lot of choice," Applejack noted with a shrug, turning on her stool to sit with her back to the bar, "besides, y'all ain't goin' nowhere until yer buddies show up, right?"
"That's a very placid attitude to take when this area has already been infiltrated and briefly seized by xeno forces," Dest pointed out, his gaze dipping to stare at the orange mare as he dumped the second glass of water down his armor. "More."
"I'm sure if there's any action Lord Tellis will jump on it with both feet," Daniels reasoned, "and until then, there's hardly much the two of us and AJ here can do about it if the grayskins were to attack again." He drained his next mug of cider, licking his lips before he placed the container down. "Nothing to do but sit around and guzzle ridiculously weak liquor."
Dest didn't argue the point as he took off his helmet and placed it on top of his boltgun. Then he took the next glass of water and drank it, slurping up the entire contents of the glass in one gulp. "More."
Then he glanced over at Daniels, his chiseled, almost stone-like features shifting into a frown. "Wasn't there another human that survived? I thought there were two of you besides the Dark Acolyte."
"There was, my lord. We lost Jacob just recently," Daniels explained as Sweet Sauce poured another glass of water. The bartender was standing stiffly with a pitcher of ice water in front of the Space Marine, looking like she was afraid to leave that spot.
"Ah, he was wounded," Dest rumbled, his fingers tracing the hole in his armor.
"No, my lord. Captured."
Dest's expression hardened even further. "The Tau got him? When?"
"No, my lord. Not the Tau," Daniels said with a shake of his head.
"...... Wait, what?"
****
Ponyville - not far away
"Isn't he great, Bonbon? Can we keep him?"
Lyra grinned as she gestured to the masked soldier in front of her, who in turn stared down at Bonbon through the tinted viewglass of a black respirator mask.
The cream-colored pony looked understandably alarmed, and not a little frightened at the weapons that Lyra's prospective new pet had strapped to his back and belt.
"Lyra, where did you find this thing? Is it dangerous?" Bonbon asked uncertainly.
"Oh, he's harmless! He was wandering around outside near all of those weird burnt-up wrecks that are scattered around town now for some reason. He followed me back here!" the pale green unicorn was almost bouncing hoof to hoof.
"You promised me there would be liquor," Jacob said, looking around the interior of the house he had been led to, "and candy."
Bonbon stared critically at the alien soldier, placing a hoof to her chin. "I don't know..."
"Pleeeeeease?" Lyra begged, her smile stretching as far as possible and her front hooves pressed together. "I'll clean him and walk him and feed him and take care of him all by myself! I promise!"
"I can do those things on my own," the human said flatly.
Bonbon still looked skeptical. "Is he house trained?"
"We speak the same bloody language!"
****
Ferrous Dominus - sector 4, supply requisitions facilities
Trixie frowned as she looked over the human device - a dataslate, as they called it - and the long expanse of text that it displayed.
"Trixie thinks this is a long agreement for such a simple matter," the unicorn grumbled. Next to her was a canteen of water and an open tin of nutrient paste with a spoon.
Norris Delgan - who was trying VERY hard to stay dignified and serious while negotiating with a petulant blue unicorn - was an older fellow with a thick mustache and facial reconstruction that left an area covering his chin and stretching up the left side of his face replaced with metal. He was well-dressed and groomed, in stark contrast to most of the other humans Trixie had seen so far; his fleet officer's jacket sported gilded buttons and laced edging, and he had an iron Chaos Star pinned to the breast that seemed honestly out of place among the finery.
"The Astartes do what they like in the 38th Company, Miss Trixie, but the rest of us follow a strict code of conduct as established by the Warsmith and the Dark Mechanicus. The rules you will serve under are for your protection, as well as those around you. As Lord Solon says, 'the glory of Chaos is all well and good, but the Dark Gods don't fill bellies, rifles, or fuel tanks'."
"Trixie really has no idea what you're going on about," she mumbled, finally reaching the end of the contract, "but Trixie finds the rules you've outlined here acceptable." She paused to levitate a spoonful of nutrient gruel into her mouth. The stuff didn't taste good at all, but she was hungry and it was free. "Trixie also doesn't mind doing a show every day for your troop rotation or whatever. However, Trixie isn't so sure about this payment you've outlined."
Delgan crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh? You're receiving much better pay than our mercenary officers. And you only got THAT much because you walked in here with a Sorcerer behind you."
Said Sorcerer was keeping himself busy perusing the supply store's manifests. It was a habit of his, Trixie had noticed, to be constantly absorbing knowledge at all times, as much as possible. If Serith wasn't asking her questions or observing something of interest, then he was always reading something or searching for something to read while seeming visibly agitated.
Trixie clicked her tongue. "It isn't the amount that Trixie objects to, necessarily, but if you're going to pay Trixie in trade items, Trixie would prefer less artworks and weapons and more precious metals and gemstones. Also, your food is too awful for Trixie to accept as part of her payment."
Delgan shifted his shoulders, more comfortable since the total compensation amount was not at issue. "We have other food, but it's perishable. You'd be better off with ration tins. As for metals, I'll see what we can spare, but the Company cannot dip deep into its armor and material reserves. We are trying to feed a war machine here, and obviously we prefer to pay our agents with surplus arms and looted trinkets."
Then he tilted his head to the side. "Also, this isn't strictly relevant, but how did your species master Low Gothic without learning first-person pronouns?"
"They didn't," Serith interjected from where he was stooped over a console, "I believe the gray one referred to herself without her name. Lady Trixie just talks like that."
Trixie nodded absently as she looked over the supplies on offer to her, not really interested in their discussion of her speech patterns.
The rumble of heavy engines attracted her attention to the window, where she saw a long line of battle and artillery tanks passing through the wide streets on their way out of the fortress.
Then Trixie's eyes lit up as she got an idea.
"Wait, this fortress is supposed to be a massive factory, right? You build all sorts of things here."
"Yes. Production is already ramping up in the secondary foundries, actually. Did you want to commission something?" Delgan asked happily. Commissioning something would be a hassle to bring to the Dark Mechanicus forgemasters, but it would also be expensive enough to amount for the lion's share of Trixie's contract. He'd rather annoy the Techpriests than the Warpsmiths any day.
"If possible, Trixie would like to have a caravan wagon built, to serve as Trixie's home and a mobile stage," the unicorn said with a smile, "Trixie used to have one long ago, but it... well, it's gone now."
"That doesn't sound difficult at all," Delgan said, taking the dataslate and making the necessary changes.
"Oh! And if possible, Trixie wants it to be built without wheels," she said, her voice lowering, "can you do that? I mean, Trixie would accept that 'tread' design if not. At least that way the wheels are trapped under the belts."
"Uh... huh. Sure. We can do that," Delgan said, choosing to accept the request without dwelling on the peculiar notions of xenos and psykers, "I'll get a Dark Acolyte to meet with you and discuss design specifics. Does everything else there meet your specifications?"
The pony magician wasn't interested in haggling any further, but checked the contract again anyway just to make sure she knew what to expect. There were several bushels of food, a small cache of gemstones, a handful of credits (in case she wanted to trade while on-base, Delgan explained), and...
"What's this last thing? What's a 'domestic'?" Trixie asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That's a title referring to a personal slave," Serith interjected, staring closely at a stack of large, folded banners that bore the Legion emblem, "as opposed to normal slaves, who labor for the Company in general."
Trixie blinked, and then her eyes bugged out. "Slave? What? Slavery is forbidden in Equestria!"
Delgan was silent for several moments, and then he shrugged. "So what?"
"Are you telling me that Trixie is dealing with an army of slavers?" the unicorn demanded angrily.
Serith turned away from the banners, intrigued by the sudden commotion. "It is not our primary trade, but yes. The 38th Company supplies all manner of things to the Iron Warrior battalions that wage war across the galaxy: food, ammunition, fuel, machines, material, and manpower. Surely you remember Warsmith Solon's tiresome diatribe on the value of human life?"
Trixie winced, her ears falling flat against her head. She DID recall him complaining about the dead spectators as lost resources, but she didn't think he had meant it so literally.
"Look, if you don't want a domestic, fine, don't take one. Do you want a servitor instead?" Delgan asked, rolling his eyes.
Trixie was hesitant. "What's a 'servitor'?"
"The same thing, really, only without the intellect or self-awareness to complain about it," Serith explained with a chuckle.
Delgan shook his head irritably. "A servitor is a human-base bio-automata modified to perform technical or menial tasks. As Lord Serith alluded to, they lack free will and intellectual capacity, so it's slightly different from enslavement." His bored, bureaucratic tone made Trixie think that he didn't consider it a distinction of any consequence.
Trixie was about to accept the offer, but then reconsidered her position.
She would really like nothing at all to do with such a horrid and cruel practice, but what could she do about it? She was one unicorn who had stumbled into a city of alien militants and barely gotten inside. She had been treated well (putting aside having to fight robots for a show), but she was under no illusions that she could start telling the Iron Warriors how to run their base.
But even if she couldn't right these wrongs, perhaps she could make a small difference, at least.
"Trixie will accept a... 'domestic'," the unicorn said uncomfortably, as if the word was distasteful to say, "take Trixie to select one at once, please."
Serith ran an armored finger along the chin of his helmet, sensing a curious sense of determination coming from the pony.
"Very well. I will take it from here, Master Delgan," Serith said, "Lady Trixie, we will depart as soon as the contract is confirmed."
Trixie grimaced as she took hold of the stylus with her magic, signing "The Great and Powerful Trixie" at the bottom of the dataslate.
"Good. Now place your hand... ah, hoof, on that pad on the bottom to record your gene-stamp, and everything is official."
Trixie did so, and a light on the side of the dataslate blinked green.
Delgan nodded and presented a blank gunmetal ID badge. "Congratulations, Miss Trixie, you are now an agent of the 38th Company. You will be expected to make full observation of the chain of command and serve at the pleasure of the Iron Warriors Legion. Failure to do so, or any other breach of contract will be punished by firing squa-"
"Yes, yes, fine, whatever," Trixie levitated the badge onto her hat and secured it, and then turned toward the exits. "Let's go, already!"
Serith chuckled coldly as he followed the blue unicorn out the door. "Of course."
****
Ferrous Dominus - sector 9
"And here we are."
Trixie walked slowly behind Serith, her head craned up to take in the sight in front of her.
The Tau battleship lay in a massive pit below her and Serith, its body carved apart. Entire sections of the starship had already been carved out, along with most of the outer bulkhead plating, giving the hulk an appearance of an enormous dead animal being slowly devoured by insects.
Huge cranes sliced apart sections of plating and carried those sections onto platforms that hovered over magnetic rails to be pushed out of the pit by hordes of slaves in chains and rags. The men in black robes with mechanical limbs were everywhere, some driving along the gangs of forced laborers while others slowly took apart the ship interior panel by panel, enthusiastically scavenging anything they could.
"Don't you people build ANYTHING reasonably sized?" Trixie asked, pointing a hoof at the battleship. "Look at that thing! You're telling me your people fly around inside that thing in space?"
"Oh, no, not at all," Serith answered, shaking his head, "this was the alien flagship we defeated in this system. Our flagship is still in orbit. And of course, it's much larger than this trifling craft."
Trixie sighed, rolling her eyes. "Don't you ever get TIRED of walking for half an hour to reach a restroom?"
Serith laughed, quite amused at the prospect. "You'd have to ask one of the mortals. And speaking of which, why don't we head down and select your new servant, shall we?"
"Yes. Let's go," Trixie agreed, her expression hardening.
They stepped down a long iron stairway that ran parallel to the magnetic tracks, and Trixie stared at the struggling laborers as they hauled cargo in the other direction.
"Why are some of them blue without a nose?" Trixie asked, her eyes narrowing at a couple of slaves who seemed to be on the verge of collapsing. "Is that another type of human?"
"No, those are Tau," Serith explained, "we use humans to labor if they have no useful skills or refuse to work for us when captured, but if enemy soldiers are taken alive then we put them to work as well. Tau, sadly, make feeble slaves. They have poor endurance and their diets are more particular than that of humans. The ones with the pointy ears and all the injuries are Eldar. They're even worse."
Trixie looked around, and then quickly found what Serith was talking about. Frankly she wouldn't have noticed the Eldar if the Iron Warrior hadn't pointed them out, since they looked so much like humans. All of them seemed to be badly bruised and had bandaged limbs, however.
"Why are they all injured?" Trixie asked, curious as to how it would be so common among a certain species and not the others.
"The other slaves beat them. Nobody likes the Eldar," Serith explained, stepping off the stairs into the pit. "Well then, Lady Trixie: choose any one of these wretches you wish, and it shall serve you to the end of its life." The Sorcerer spread his arms to gesture to the gangs of roving people, and every individual nearby, slave or not, rushed to step away from him.
Trixie placed a hoof to her chin. She really wished she could do more for these poor wretches - except maybe for the Eldar, they sounded like jerks - but in her position she would only be able to deliver one pitiful laborer from this misery.
She saw a nearby human stumble, falling face first into the hard-packed dirt below and crying out as the metal container she had been hauling tumbled to the ground. The other slaves merely stepped away so as not to trip, walking more quickly as one of the Techpriest overseers took notice and started moving in.
"That one," Trixie said immediately, pointing her hoof at the slave struggling to stand up.
Serith took a few moments to stare at the selection. The choice was a young woman with short, dark hair and a persistent shake that indicated she was in ill health.
The overseer stopped about three meters away from her and snapped an arm to the side, causing a thick strip of crackling electric wire to emerge from the sleeve of his rubber robe. The overseer said nothing, lashing the electric whip up into the air.
There it froze, immobilized by an aura of pink magic. The overseer twitched and then started to shout in Binary, its voice screeching noisily and causing the nearby laborers to give it an even wider berth.
"Serith! What are you waiting for?" Trixie demanded, her horn pulsing as she struggled to contain the Dark Techpriest's whip against his efforts.
"I was waiting to see what you would do, obviously," the Sorcerer said with zero remorse, "VERY heroic, Lady Trixie."
The unicorn glared at him, and the Iron Warrior chuckled before walking up to the struggling overseer.
"You, there. Halt," Serith commanded, the mirth gone from his voice.
The Dark Techpriest stopped struggling as it saw who was approaching behind it, and as it read Serith's IFF tag on its augmetics the overseer spat something in Binaric Cant.
"Tut, tut, tut. I can understand you, you know," Serith said as the magical field holding the Techpriest in place finally vanished, "you should show greater respect to us 'Legion witches'."
"Why does a Company Sorcerer interrupt my duties?" demanded the overseer, switching to Gothic speech. "Estimated consequences of delay will push back forti-"
"Spare me your prattling, tin man," Serith sighed, waving off the overseer as he stepped up to the terrified slave, "this one is to be reassigned. Find some other beast of burden to carry your rubbish."
The Dark Techpriest squealed something else in machine code, but the electric cord was sucked back up into its sleeve and it turned away without further incident.
The slave, for her part, did not look happy about the rescue, trembling on the ground in terror as she stared up at the psyker. Being a slave to the 38th Company labor yards was a hard and miserable existence, sure, but being a slave to a sorcerer was a short and painful one.
"Are you all right, human? Do you need medical help?" Trixie asked as she stepped up next to Serith.
The dirty young woman looked confused, though not reassured, to see an alien next to the Sorcerer.
Still, appearance-wise it was much harder to be scared of Trixie than Serith, so she locked her eye contact on the blue unicorn and shifted herself into a kneeling position.
"I can work. I am not hurt," she said quickly, lowering her head.
"Hm. Not quite sick, but getting there," Serith mumbled, "malnourished, to be sure. I imagine she's been trading her food rations away."
"Well, enough of that," Trixie said firmly, stamping a hoof onto the ground, "the Great and Powerful Trixie is claiming ownership of you!"
The woman raised an eyebrow, and Serith elaborated.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie is her, by the way."
The slave nodded, lowering her head fully. "I understand."
"And as such, the Great and Powerful Trixie relinquishes ownership of you and declares that, from here on out, you are a free woman!" the unicorn declared, jumping up onto her hind legs and spreading her hooves into the air as if she were completing a work of magic.
The slave woman was stunned by the sudden turnaround, shocked into silence.
"And as a free woman, you will serve as Trixie's assistant!" the unicorn added before falling back down onto all four legs.
And just like that, the dizzying elation of freedom was stripped from the slave woman's senses. "What?"
"You humans are tall and nimble with those 'fingers' of yours," Trixie explained, "Trixie has many chores you could help out with, and having a second body for Trixie's magic act would be welcome as well!"
The young woman risked a glance up at the Sorcerer, as if seeking confirmation that this was really happening.
"I just want you to know that I am enjoying this considerably," Serith said with a chuckle.
The "free" woman sighed, bowing her head again. "Very well Mistress, uh... Trixie. My name-"
"Right! Right! Your name," Trixie interrupted, narrowing her eyes, "I don't know many human names, and I think calling you 'Light Lifter' or something more pony-ish would be kind of demeaning, somehow. Serith, do you have any-"
"Suuna, Mistress Trixie," the slave woman said, deciding she might as well test the limits of her new state of servitude by speaking out of turn, "my name is Suuna."
Trixie looked surprised, as if she had been expecting her to have no identity beyond "slave woman". "Oh. Well, okay. That'll do, then."
The blue unicorn turned around, her head held high as she headed up out of the pits. "Follow Trixie, Suuna! To freedom and harmony!"
"If we're being honest, you probably didn't have much going for you being set free on a random alien planet anyway," Serith pointed out as he followed Trixie, his voice thick with amusement, "and we almost certainly would have just re-enslaved you if the Iron Warriors found you again."
"Yes, of course," Suuna sighed, "whatever you say, my lord."
****
Everfree Forest
Deep in the cold, shifting shadows of the Everfree, a bloodhound slowly made its way between the trees and clusters of foliage, its nose snuffing the ground relentlessly and its tail wagging back and forth.
It appeared to be alone, but trailing the animal by a good distance were a pair of pegasi and a Chaos Space Marine. They couldn't see the canine, but were listening carefully for any sign of distress from their vanguard, ready to leap into action.
Which is to say, Rainbow Dash and Tellis were listening and ready. Fluttershy less so.
"I d-don't think this is a g-good idea, you guys," the pink-maned pegasus stuttered, her body crouched low to the ground as she followed behind Tellis.
"What are you talking about? This is a GREAT idea!" Rainbow argued. As usual, she was hovering above the ground and in the lead.
"Of course it is," Tellis agreed, "it's cunning, violent, and has that little twist of irony for flavor. Now be silent Shy, we need to listen for the sound of your animal's distress."
Fluttershy didn't want to be there at all, obviously, but the plan had called for a dog to sniff out the Kroot hunters through the Everfree, since the aliens otherwise left no trail to speak of. She couldn't leave her animal to the questionable judgment of Rainbow Dash or her new psychotic killer friend, so she had gathered up her courage and committed to following them.
Even she was a little surprised at how quickly that courage had evaporated.
"Are you s-sure we need one of my animals to do this? Isn't there some other way?"
Tellis rolled his eyes behind his helmet. "Not really, unless you ponies can track a scent on your own. I know I can't." Then he hesitated. "I mean, I don't THINK I can. Really, they packed so many ridiculous new organs in us Astartes that I can't even keep track of all my abilities that don't have to do with stabbing people."
Fluttershy whimpered. "But what if she gets hurt?"
"Would it offend you terribly if I informed you that I don't care at all about the safety of your dumb animal?" Tellis asked.
"Yeah, that probably would offend her," Rainbow Dash answered.
"Fine. Then I won't mention that I don't care at all about the safety of your dumb animal," Tellis said, considering the matter closed.
"But... But..." Fluttershy's lip quivered as tears started to well up in the corner of her eyes.
"Is she always like this?" Tellis grumbled, speaking to Rainbow as he jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "Because this 'friendship' thing is starting to wear thin pretty fast."
"Fluttershy is just a little... over-sensitive," Rainbow said diplomatically, smiling awkwardly, "anyway, Flutter, don't worry. We'll jump in and take care of business before anything happens to the dog."
The yellow pony sniffled and wiped at her eyes with her hoof. "How can I not worry? The forest is dangerous enough normally, and now there are all these horrible, scary aliens around!"
"Are you talking about me or the Kroot?" Tellis asked.
"I'm talking about whoever might hurt my poor animals!" Fluttershy whimpered.
"That doesn't really answer the question."
Rainbow Dash groaned, annoyed at having to play peacemaker between her friends. It really wasn't her strong point. "All right, look: Fluttershy, it's important to find those Kroot if you want your animals to be safe, right? This is the best plan we have to get rid of them. Otherwise you're going to have space freaks hunting around your cottage for who knows how long."
As the other pegasus reluctantly nodded, Rainbow turned to face Tellis. "Tellis, punching Kroot is cool. Punching puppies is uncool. Clear?"
The Raptor Lord gave Rainbow Dash a thumbs-up. "Crystal."
"Awesome! Now let's find us some-"
Rainbow Dash was interrupted by a sudden barking, and Fluttershy stiffened. Tellis' flight pack started rumbling as the daemonic engine warmed itself up, and a deep chuckled came from the Raptor.
"Gotcha."
****
Ponyville
"Heya, Mac!"
Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Bell all stopped and turned as they heard the shout. Crabapple, who was following behind the three fillies, spat something in Binary as it stopped, but neither the group ahead of it or behind it understood machine speak.
"Heya sis!" Apple Bloom piped up. Applejack was trotting up to them, Daniels and Dest following her.
Big Macintosh said nothing, waiting patiently as Applejack gave their youngest sibling a sisterly nuzzle and then stepped up next to him.
"How y'all been?" Applejack asked, her voice sounding just a tad giddy. "Keepin' outta trouble?"
Crabapple buzzed something in response.
"Nobody asked you, tin pot!" Applejack snorted.
"Aw, c'mon sis! Don't yell at Crabapple! She has feelings too!" Apple Bloom protested.
"That's probably true, but still really weird," Daniels mumbled, "anyway, don't mind her. We're just walking off the last few rounds of cider."
"An' lemme tell ya Mac, these humans can DRINK!" Applejack said, shaking her head.
"Well, I don't really think I can get real sloshed on pony drinks. We're a mite bigger than you," Daniels mumbled, glancing over to his side. The unfamiliar fillies were staring up at him and Dest in curiosity.
Applejack lowered her voice and leaned in further to her brother. "Yer makin' sure to keep 'em away from the ruckus in the town center, right? There was some bad applesauce goin' down over there, and as far as Ah know, it's gonna get worse."
"Eeyup," Big Mac said with a nod. Between the explosions, smoke, and Rainbow Dash being chased by some sort of flying iron man, he'd taken the hint that Ponyville might not be completely safe for a while. They had been staying inside Scootaloo's house until then, but with the fillies getting restless he'd convinced them to relocate to their club house. "Ah'm takin' 'em outta town now."
"Ah'd go with ya, but I wanna stick by Gaela fer now. Gotta make sure she comes through on her promise ta fix the farm," Applejack stepped away as Mac nodded, and then bellowed to the sapiens following her.
"Oi, let's get ta Rarity's while Ah've still got some juice in me! Ah've gotta feelin' Ah'm gonna need it fer what she's done ta Miss Gaela."
"And WHAT, pray tell, were you imagining such that you'd need to be DRUNK to appreciate it?" asked a voice from behind the two groups, sounding quite affronted.
Rarity and Twilight were turning around the corner of a nearby building, the former looking quite proud of herself and the latter scribbling intently on a parchment scroll.
Following them was Spike, his eyes fixed on Rarity as expected, and then Gaela.
The Dark Acolyte was out of her armor, and had apparently also been stripped of the black, form-fitting body suit that one normally wore under powered armor. Rarity had dressed her in an off-white sun dress secured at the waist with a dark purple belt that hung at an angle. On her head was a matching wide-rimmed hat with a pearly veil attached that obscured most of her head save the right side of her face, effectively concealing her augments and her lack of hair, but not her tattoo or the bemused expression on her face. The various nerve sockets that usually connected to her armor were covered by silk belts and a scarf that came close to matching her pale skin tone. Despite the other masterful efforts to conceal her metal parts, Gaela's bulky bionic arm was completely exposed, however.
"You look ridiculous," Dest said without hesitation, speaking for the first time since they'd arrived.
Rarity's proud expression broke. "What? What part of her looks ridiculous? Explain yourself, brute!"
Applejack sniggered, raising a hoof to her muzzle. "Ah didn't drink enough, looks like."
"I don't want to hear criticism from YOU," Rarity snapped.
"Can I go put my armor back on now?" Gaela asked, her tone unreasonably weary.
Daniels ran a hand through his hair. "Well, would you like to have an opinion from another human who hasn't had the sex gene-augmented out of them?"
"Yes!" Rarity smiled immediately, jumping at the opportunity, "Surely there must be ONE of you that can appreciate a work of such beauty!"
"You look ridiculous," Daniels said frankly, shattering Rarity's final hope for a compliment, "but in a soft, summery way."
As Rarity ground her teeth, Scootaloo pointed a hoof up at the Dark Acolyte. "What's wrong with your arm?"
"Besides the fact that it apparently doesn't 'go' with anything but brushed steel and rubber..." Gaela began, lifting up her bionic hand and curling it into a fist.
Then she smashed the fist into the wall of the building adjacent, the tritanium knuckles carving a hole in it before she pulled her arm out again.
"... Nothing. Nothing is wrong with my arm," Gaela finished, planting the fist on her hip.
"Ya could've made yer point without bustin' up somepony's home," Applejack pointed out blithely.
"Don't even start with me, horse."
As Big Macintosh finally herded his little sister, her friends, and her extremely confused daemonic robot onto a path out of town, Twilight completed the last line of her letter. She finished signing her name at the bottom with a flourish and a pensive sigh.
"Okay, then. Spike?"
She floated the letter over Spike's head, and the young dragon blew a burst of flame that seemed to engulf it and disintegrate the parchment instantly.
Dest made a disgusted noise behind his vox grille. "This entire village is rife with sorcery."
"I dunno, my lord. They make witchcraft seem kind of fun and whimsical," Daniels said with a snicker.
"Well, I did my best to explain everything that happened to Princess Celestia," Twilight said, looking somewhat nervous, "I hope she understands why I waited so long to contact her."
"Is that likely to affect our upcoming assault?" Gaela asked, crossing her arms over her breasts and then wincing at how it felt without a good plate of metal shielding them from her augmetic.
"Hard to say," Rarity mumbled, "Princess Celestia tends to take a more... hooves-off approach to dealing with threats to the kingdom." The unicorn was circling Gaela and staring intently, trying to figure out what had gone wrong while ignoring the most obvious, glaring flaw with the ensemble.
"Good. Then we can storm the base, salvage their facilities, and then head back to the fortress without interference," Gaela said with a nod, "hopefully before we run into Pinkie Pie again."
Uncomfortable silence and awkward shuffling greeted the Dark Acolyte's words.
Gaela's shoulders slumped. "She's behind me, isn't she?"
"I'm not sure it's just the horned ones that practice Warpcraft, either," Dest mumbled, looking away.
Gaela turned around and was extremely unsurprised to see Pinkie Pie standing there, a jaw-cracking grin on her face. The pink earth pony also had a tray of cupcakes balanced on her back, the baked goods piled high with frosting and sprinkles.
"Ah, so that's whatcha been doin'," Applejack said, "checkin' in with work?"
"Well, I had to let the Cakes know that my Saving Equestria from Certain Doom leave was being extended!" Pinkie explained.
"Saving Equestria from what?" Daniels asked. "Is your country in-"
"Don't," Twilight interrupted, "just... don't bother."
"While I was there, I baked up some yummy-tummy cupcakes for our new friends!"
Gaela turned away. "How nice. I'm sure they'll appreciate it whenever they arrive."
Pinkie laughed, completely undaunted by the Dark Acolyte's sour mood. "Hee hee hee! That was a funny joke!" Then she cocked her head to the side. "Is that a new dress? It's so pretty!"
Rarity lit up like a newly birthed star.
"I really like how it clashes hilariously with the metal arm! It's silly!"
Rarity immediately wilted again.
"Yes, we've already gone over how stupid I look without my armor. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go put it back on."
Gaela moved to head back toward the boutique, only to have Pinkie side-step into her path, the cupcakes tilting inexplicably with her movement to keep from falling off.
"Ah ah ah! No leaving until you pay the cupcake-eating toll!" Pinkie sang.
"This is asinine!" Gaela snapped, her visible eye twitching.
"Oh, for pity's sake," Daniels said, stepping up to the pony and taking a cupcake, "stop being a grouchy hag and just eat the bloody treat, would you? Here! Look!"
The mercenary bit into the frosting and cake, chewed in an exaggerated manner, and then made a show of swallowing. "Delicious! And not poisonous or anything!"
Gaela didn't look impressed at Daniels' taste-testing, but it gave her pause when Dest stepped up and removed his helmet.
The Astartes dropped his boltgun on the ground next to him and then took one of the treats between his huge, armored fingers. Then he popped the entire thing into his mouth.
"Pleasant," he decided after chewing for several seconds, "although the flavor may be enhanced considerably by leaving out the paper."
"Yer not supposed ta eat that part, big guy," Applejack informed him helpfully.
With even a Chaos Space Marine accepting the pink pony's gifts, Gaela was forced to admit that she looked irrationally petulant refusing to even try them. Still, she pulled her veil aside so that she could get a good view of the cupcakes with her bionic eye.
"According to surface analytics, this 'cupcake' is almost entirely composed of simple carbohydrates. What is its nutrient value?" she demanded.
"It's chock full of happiness!" Pinkie cheered.
"Happiness is not a nutrient," Gaela countered.
"Maybe that's why you haven't been getting enough from that icky-licky ration slime!"
Gaela rolled her eye and gave up the argument, snatching up one of the cupcakes and taking a quick bite.
The ponies almost gasped in extremely over-dramatized surprise and hope, but then they were puzzled when Gaela suddenly froze, as if her every muscle had locked up.
"Urk!" The Acolyte didn't spit out the cupcake, but as she swallowed she fell to her knees, the rest of the baked treat tumbling from numb fingers.
"Well? Are you happy yet?" Pinkie asked, lowering her head and pressing her nose against Gaela's as she grinned.
The Dark Acolyte's eye came unfocused, as if she couldn't actually see the pony in front of her. "What... What is... this?!" she gasped. "It's taking over... my t-tongue... my mind... Omnissiah... lord of the darkness... that l-lies in the deepest-"
"Oh, grow up, you Mechanicus ninny," Daniels snapped, thoroughly annoyed by her reaction. "It's called 'flavor'. Can't you do anything like a normal person?"
"Don't mind her," Dest said, sounding genuinely apologetic as he leaned over Gaela to take another cupcake, "she's strange." He made sure to unwrap it this time before flicking the entire thing into his mouth, looking pleased with the result.
Twilight reluctantly turned away from the shivering Acolyte, wanting to address Daniels. "Well, if we have more time to wait until you leave, that's great, but before I forget: has anyone seen Rainbow Dash?"
"Negative, Sparkle," Daniels replied, biting into his own cupcake again, "I assume she still zooming around with Lord Tellis."
"Okay, but WHERE?" Twilight asked, scanning the skies and seeing nothing but clouds.
"Well, I did see Lord Tellis flying by earlier with a big plate of the Tau wreckage in his arms, but I'm not going to be the one to guess what's going through his head. I don't know where he was heading, but if he were still around I'm pretty sure we'd know it."
"I'm a little worried, with Rainbow Dash flying around with that man. She doesn't have the best judgment to begin with, and Tellis is..." Twilight trailed off.
"You don't have to complete that sentence," Dest noted as he picked up his boltgun, "we all know what you mean."
"My brain... I can feel it in my brain!" Gaela shouted, gasping for breath. "Changing... neural chemistry. Secreting... new hormones. What's HAPPENING to me?"
"Is it joy? Is your brain filling with joy?!" Pinkie asked eagerly, standing on her hind legs with the cupcake tray held in the air. "Let go of your grump-ness! Embrace the party in your soul! THE POWER OF CUPCAKES COMPELS YOU!!"
"I'm starting to feel very uncomfortable watching this," Rarity said, looking squeamish.
Applejack took a few steps away from the debacle, hoping that she might not be associated with the struggling Acolyte by any of the numerous ponies that had stopped to watch the debacle.
"Look Twi, Ah know yer worried about Rainbow, but give her some credit. She's not gonna go racing off into the Everfree to find more alien critters to fight. She just ain't that dumb."
****
Everfree Forest
The Kroot hadn't thought much of it when they'd stopped to rest and were suddenly accosted by a barking dog.
Granted, they didn't know what a dog was, exactly, and had no reason to think it wasn't another one of the countless other beasts that had harassed them since they had begun prowling the forest surrounding the base.
Two of the alien hunters were nursing burn wounds and another a broken arm, so one of the largely unharmed Kroot drew his hunting blade and walked up to the yapping hound, snarling at it to drive it off.
The hunters' first clue that something was very, very wrong was when a rather familiar blue pony emerged from the brush at high speed, slamming the Kroot in the chest and knocking him flat on his back.
As the others once again drew their weapons, Rainbow Dash shook off the impact and then called out behind her, offering the xenos their second hint that they had not fled quickly or far enough.
"Dog's okay! Come get 'em, Tellis!"
By that point the aliens were hesitating, caught between their instinctive urge to lunge at the small, weak animals attacking them and their tactical logic that informed them that there was probably something much bigger and nastier coming.
The sound of a flight pack roaring to life was their final clue that they should have run, and also their death knell.
"Feel my iron without, chumps! HA HA HAH!!"
The Kroot on the ground glanced back as he saw a figure in gleaming gunmetal armor jump into his unit feet-first, crushing a hunter with each foot before they could even consider defending themselves.
The alien snarled at his mixed fortune as he heard the angry cursing and cries of pain from his brothers; the post-human warrior had them now; there was nothing he could do.
The Kroot started crawling along the ground toward the brush, pushing aside the aching of his ribs where the flying blue creature had hit him. There was almost certainly something broken, but such a small beast couldn't land a killing blow on its own. If he could just get to the brush, there was some small chance that he would be missed by the time the human giant finished with the others, and then-
The foliage he was heading toward shifted, and the Kroot halted as another of the flying local beasts emerged in front of him, this one yellow and visibly trembling.
"I'm, uh, I'm really s-sorry Mister Alien, b-but I c-can't let you escape," Fluttershy apologized to the Kroot hunter, dearly regretting her decision to remain involved.
The Kroot's knife had been knocked away when it was tackled, but the alien hunter was still more than twice the size of the pegasus. He snarled and swiped a three-fingered hand at the timid pony, causing her to flinch away and stumble back into the brush before tripping and then falling onto her side.
Snorting in irritation, the alien hunter began crawling forward again.
And that was when Tellis' boot landed on top of his head.
"Good job keeping the straggler from getting away," Tellis offered as he twisted his leg back and forth to grind the shattered skull underneath him deeper into the dirt, "but you realize these things can't understand our language, right? You're wasting your time talking to them."
Fluttershy blinked, not having thought of that. "But... weren't you talking to them yourself?"
"Well, sure, but I get a pass because I'm crazy," the Raptor Lord reasoned.
"He's gotcha there," Rainbow Dash agreed, floating up behind the Iron Warrior. She was mostly distracted from the conversation, frowning at a splash of blood that had landed on her coat. That was going to be hard to get out of her fur.
Tellis also had his share of blood on him, where "his share" comprised more blood that the Kroot likely had left in their broken bodies. It was splattered all over the shell of brushed steel and gold, and over his gauntlets it had stuck so deeply that barely any trace of the gunmetal coloring was visible.
"Hey, wanna see something cool?" Tellis asked with a snicker, turning toward Rainbow.
The blue pegasus nodded eagerly. Fluttershy was shaking her head no, but Tellis wasn't looking at her and probably would have ignored her anyway.
Tellis spaced his legs apart and held his arms up, clearly posing for some purpose yet to be revealed as his jet-wings spread apart behind him.
And then he screamed.
It was a furious, horrendous bellow, and Fluttershy immediately ducked her head down under her front legs as her dog yelped and bolted away, making a beeline for her cottage. All around the forest, birds shot up out of their roosts and took to the air, terrified for their lives while grounded animals raced away from the epicenter of the haunting sound in a veritable stampede.
Rainbow slapped her hooves over her ears and felt her heart rate skyrocket as an instinctive, primal fear pressed in around her, but she pushed it aside and kept her eyes on Tellis.
The Raptor Lord's armor was shaking, and an aura of bright, angry red blazed around his body as the pitch of his unholy shriek reached its peak.
Then the blood stuck to his armor started to disintegrate. Patches of it just shrank and vanished, like it was evaporating, or was somehow being sucked into the armor. Only the gleaming and somewhat scratched-up detailing of Tellis' armor suit was left behind, from the top of his flight pack to the bottom of his boots. The blood on the ground seemed to peel off the dirt and splatter against his greaves, and then it too vanished. Even the small smear on Rainbow's coat was sucked into the strange phenomenon, leaving her fur a largely unblemished blue and saving her some effort during her next shower.
As Tellis's bellow finally ceased, a grinding noise came from his armor; it was shaking furiously, as if it were alive. Power cables writhed and golden edging seemed to slowly grow and shift, and the flight pack spat bursts of flame in short, uneven bursts as if it were breathing through the jets. Dents and scratches smoothed out, dulled edging became sharper, and the gold trim even seemed to gleam more brightly.
In a burst of sparks and crimson lightning, long, bladed talons burst from the back of Tellis' hands, and then the aura finally faded.
"Ha HAA! New lightning claws! Told you they'd grow back!" Tellis cheered, holding up his new weapon. "Ooh, I'm up to four blades each, now! Thanks, Khorne!"
No sweat. Enjoy, echoed a booming voice in the back of his mind, thick with death and hatred.
"Whoa! Nice!" Rainbow Dash cheered, hovering around the Chaos Space Marine to admire his new weapons. "It looks like even all the nicks and scratches and stuff on your armor healed too! How'd you do that without magic?"
"Being as cool as I am is its own kind of magic," Tellis insisted, "what Sorcerers do with their little rituals and Warp power I do with Awesome."
Rainbow nodded eagerly, liking that line and promising that she'd use it herself at the first opportunity. "So... now what?"
Tellis hesitated. Then he started glancing about the area.
Seeing nothing but shadows, trees, and corpses, the Raptor lord scratched at the side of his helmet.
"Okay, so, normally this is the part of my solo rampage where I check in with command, or maybe one of the guys from my squad, to find out what I'm SUPPOSED to be doing. Those guys always seem to have an idea of where I should be, and when, and breaking what specific thing. You know, tactics and stuff."
"They sound like a bunch of know-it-all eggheads to me," Rainbow said with a snort.
"I know, right? But they're at least good for telling me where more enemies are, and right now I can't contact them."
The Raptor Lord planted his hands on the hips of his armor suit. "Really, I was kind of hoping the screaming would attract some attention. I'm pretty sure everyone in five kilometers heard that."
His musing was interrupted by a terrified yelp some distance away.
"Was that Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash asked, whirling around. "When did she leave?"
"The better question is what she found!" Tellis said eagerly, his flight pack flaring. He couldn't really use it for more than short attack jumps in woodland this thick, but the daemon within the machine was still eager for more violence.
Rainbow took the lead as they bolted toward the source of the noise.
Several seconds later, they emerged on the scene. Tellis was immediately disappointed at the lack of enemies, while at the same time intrigued by the number of corpses.
Rainbow Dash was more concerned with Fluttershy, who was pinned to the ground trembling with her hooves over her face again.
"Fluttershy, what's wrong? Why'd you leave?" Rainbow asked, looking around but finding no living threats.
Fluttershy seemed to snap to attention now that Rainbow was there, focusing entirely on the other pegasus.
"I-I'm sorry! I just th-thought that if you didn't need the dog any more, then maybe I could leave too!"
Rainbow Dash had to admit that made sense, but she shook her head. "It's still way dangerous around here, though. You'd better stick with us."
Rainbow finally turned her attention to the scene around her that had shocked Fluttershy so, feeling her stomach turn unpleasantly at the smell of rotting meat.
A clearing had been carved out here, and corpses positively covered the area. Not of Kroot, Tau, or ponies, but rather the beasts of the Everfree: bears, deer, boars and even larger beasts like manticores were stacked one on top of the other in small heaps.
Some of them looked freshly killed, with knife and rifle wounds.
Some of the bodies had huge bites taken out, while some looked like they had merely been nibbled on. Yet others had been butchered, their meat taken elsewhere while only the carcass was left behind. There had probably been a great number of scavengers here before Fluttershy (or perhaps Tellis) had driven them off. There was even a small pile of scorched timberwolf bodies, although they were more or less intact; the Kroot probably had a hard time figuring out the wooden creatures.
"Well, at least we have a new route into the base," Tellis said, sounding pleased. He pointed to a wide path leading away that was covered in heavy tracks and dried blood. "This is where the hunters have been bringing their kills and probably where they feed their war animals. This path should lead us right into their camp, and probably through a secondary access route that isn't heavily defended."
"Um, Mister Terrifying Murderer? Is that a good idea? To go to their base, I mean?" Fluttershy had her eyes closed and breathed through her mouth to keep out the awful sights and smells, following the Astartes by sound alone.
"Man, you sound just like those know-it-all eggheads from my squad," Tellis tsked, kicking aside a chimera's skull and chuckling as it bounced along the ground, "we'll be fine. As long as reinforcements arrive and begin a push into the base from the other side just before we attack."
Rainbow raised an eyebrow as she hovered over Tellis' shoulder pads. "What're the chances of that?"
"Better than the chances of you kicking a missile out of the air and surviving to talk about it."
"Sweet! Let's go!" Rainbow Dash cheered, filled with new and entirely unjustified enthusiasm.
****
Ponyville - outskirts
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to see the joining of Gold Rush and Sky Sprinter in the bonds of holy matrimony..."
A pegasus mare and an earth pony stallion smiled brightly from atop a raised wooden patio that was serving as an altar for their wedding, their friends and relatives gathered in rows behind them. Soft music played from a small band of ponies as the preacher went on with the ceremony, mixed with the occasional sniffling and murmurs from the delighted crowd.
"This is the happiest day of my life," whispered Sky Sprinter, trying hard not to cry as she fixed her eyes on her new husband.
"I'd have to say mine is the day I met you, Sky," Gold Rush whispered back, "but this is a decent second."
The bride chuckled lightly. "Goldie, I can't tell you how much..." she trailed off, her face shifting to a frown beneath her veil. "Do you hear that? What's that noise?"
"Shhh... live in the moment," the stallion whispered, straightening as the priest reached the vows. There WAS some kind of distant rumbling sound, and given the strange events in Ponyville just that morning he probably should have been more concerned, but he wasn't about to let anything interrupt their ceremony.
"Do you, Gold Rush, take Sky Sprinter to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to hold, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death to you part?" the priest asked, his voice rising slightly to be heard over the engine noise that was unmistakably coming closer.
"I do!" Gold Rush said, taking his wife's hoof in his.
"And do you, Sky Sprinter, take Gold Rush to be your-"
"Y-Yes! I do!" Sky Sprinter said with a strained smile, her ears twitching at the sound of heavy treads grinding rocks to rubble behind the altar.
"Ah, okay! If anypony has a reason that these two should not be wed," the priest shouted, his voice barely rising above the rumble of the gunmetal and gold vehicles that were now quite visible past the trees around the altar, "speak now or forever hold your peace!"
As if in response to the ultimatum, a squadron of basilisk artillery tanks rolled up over some hedges next to the lot where the wedding was being held. They crushed the brush to a pulp before they halted, lining up in formation next to the tables that held the wedding cake and drinks. As the ponies gaped wordlessly, the engines switched to idling mode, cutting down the rumbling noise. Massive earthshaker cannons, each one large enough for a pony to crawl inside, lowered themselves into firing position, and blasts of gas hissed from heavy hydraulics.
Two men were standing on the firing platform behind the main gun, a loader and a spotter, and while the spotter started exchanging orders with the driver the loader noticed the ceremony that had ground to a halt next to them.
The ponies stared, and he stared back at them through his tinted goggles for several seconds before leaning over the platform railing.
"You can go ahead. We're just parking here."
Gold Rush let out a gasp of relief, and the priest blinked.
"Ah. Uh, okay then! I now pronounce you husband and wife!" he shouted as a convoy of Rhino APCs and Predator battle tanks advanced along the other side of the ceremony. "You may kiss the bride!"
"I'm... uh," Sky Sprinter flinched as a Thunderhawk gunship roared by overhead, briefly buffeting the area with its jet wash and darkening the altar with its shadow, "I'm actually getting a bit of stage fright, here... or maybe it's just the regular type of fright."
"Honey, please," Gold Rush said as he leaned in, "it took two hours to explain to your father that the gold nugget cutie mark makes me a metallurgist, not an aristocrat, so that he'd pay for the wedding. Let's not blow it all now, okay?"
Taking a deep breath, the pegasus met her husband in a kiss, and the couple were met with extremely awkward and nervous cheers from their combined family and friends.
"Hey, Niles! Come look at this! There's a pair of horses making out over here!" shouted the basilisk loader, laughing.
"Oh, DO shut up!" barked the priest.
****
Ponyville
"They've arrived. And so it begins," Gaela said, holding up the veil over her bionic eye. She was already picking up noosphere ID signals through the jamming field, each incoming vehicle being marked out in a green reticule in her field of vision.
"There's... There's a lot of 'em," Applejack noted uncomfortably. She was standing on top of a fence with her forelegs on Daniels' back, giving her a better field of view than the other ponies. "By Celestia, look at the size o' those things! Ah think that one is bigger'n mah house was!"
"This is going to be great! I'll throw the biggest party ever!" Pinkie shouted, being the only pony who seemed happy to see the gleaming boxes of metal rumbling into town. "How many do you think are coming?"
"Well, that depends on how hard the Tau defend their base perimeter," Daniels reasoned with his usual tone of complete detachment when talking about casualties, "you might want to hold off planning anything until we begin the offensive, at least."
Rarity glanced at Gaela uncertainly. The Acolyte had fully recovered from her earlier ordeal, to the extent that eating a cupcake could ever be considered an ordeal worth recovering from. She had been trying even harder than before to ignore Pinkie ever since.
"So... what should we-" the fashionable unicorn got no further before Gaela cut her off.
"You've helped us before, but this operation is now of a scale that's quite beyond you," Gaela said simply, letting her veil fall back down, "if you're going to watch, I can't recommend a safe distance; the further from the front line, the better. Oh, and stay away from the tanks, too. I can't imagine they'd be too happy about having you sniffing around underfoot."
The Dark Acolyte turned to leave as the first Rhino turned onto the main avenue through town, its exhaust ports spewing tendrils of black smoke skyward.
"I'm going to go get my armor. Lord Dest, if you would accompany me, I'll see to repairing yours before we join your brothers in combat."
"It's about time," Dest grumbled, picking his boltgun up off the ground, "let's hurry. I'm baking in this suit without any temp control."
Twilight watched them go pensively, casting sidelong glances at the armor column rolling into town. The Iron Warriors had sent many, many more vehicles than the Tau had. Several looked identical to the APC that had arrived in Sweet Apple Acres just yesterday.
Had this all really started so recently? Twilight lowered her head, only barely aware of a heavy bolter sponson sliding over to track her as a potential target while a towering Leman Russ battle tank lumbered past.
It seemed like an age ago. Her concept of the entire universe had changed radically in an afternoon, and she had seen technological wonders that rivaled some of the most powerful magics she had ever heard of.
And now many of those wonders were racing toward each other, intent on annihilation. A tragedy of astronomical scale, writ large in bursts of plasma and gunsmoke.
The heavy booming noise that startled Twilight out of her melancholy reflections was not cannon fire; the armor column, while on high alert, was too far from the described combat zone and had been explicitly told not to fire on the ponies or their dwelling during the mission. Getting distracted fighting the locals would leave the assault force wide open for ambush was the reasoning, and Warsmith Solon was more concerned about needlessly provoking the "harmless" equines after learning that around a third of them were psykers.
It did, however, resemble weapons fire closely enough to bring the closest tanks to a grinding halt. Their gunners swiveled wildly for hostiles while their drivers checked sensors for any friendlies that had suddenly gone dark. Outside the tanks, Daniels had stumbled from the surprise, sending him face-first into the ground before Applejack yelped and fell on top of him.
Twilight turned around and saw that Pinkie and Rarity were already bowing; the former with a grin and the latter with a strained smile, as if wondering how to explain the numerous gun turrets that were all swiveling toward them.
Within seconds, however, the tanks began moving again. Their weapons turned away and the noise was disregarded as an engine backfire or maybe some strange and irrelevant alien shenanigans.
None apparently considered the larger white pony with the constantly flowing, pastel-colored mane any kind of threat.
"Princess Celestia!" Twilight said, barely stopping herself from adding "I can explain" before remembering that this wasn't her fault.
That, and she had already explained things painstakingly in her letter. Which was probably why the Princess did NOT look happy right now.
"Nurgle's beard! Are you trying to get yourself shot up?" Daniels barked as he stood up, shattering the tense silence as he figured out what had just happened. "Teleporting into a war zone is bad enough, but if you'd scared even one of those gunners into thinking they were under attack, we could've all been blown into the bloody Eye!"
Celestia turned her head to regard the mercenary as he spoke, enduring his complaints wordlessly. The ponies winced.
"Uh, Daniels, buddy? Ya might wanna tone it down a whisker," Applejack warned, "this here's the Princess. She's kinda the ruler of our entire country."
To Twilight's relief, the man did seem to check himself, straightening up and keeping his hands away from his weapons. "I'm just saying, it's not safe, is all. I meant no offense, Sovereign."
Celestia's eyes narrowed as she looked over the mercenary. There was none of the love and calming serenity that usually seemed to radiate from the pearly white alicorn; this was the princess that was here to defend her people.
Granted, she was here some two hours after Twilight had sent her letter, and long, long after aliens had started shooting each other on Equestrian land. But there were times she didn't show up at all for these sorts of threats, so it was still quite a meaningful response.
"You. Human. State your name," Celestia demanded.
Daniels saluted. "Rifleman Wyatt Daniels at your service, Sovereign. I hope you don't mind that I stay standing. I only bow to my paymasters. Bit of a personal principle of mine."
"That's fine," Celestia said dismissively, her eyes tracking the vehicles that rumbled by behind the mercenary, "I'm not familiar at all with your ranks, Rifleman. Are you in charge here?"
"About as far as you can get from 'in charge', Sovereign," Daniels said with a chuckle, "though if we're being honest, I'm probably going to be the highest-ranking member of the 38th Company that will talk to you."
"I see," the Princess did not look impressed by the admission, "Twilight informed me of most of the details, Rifleman. I only have a few questions for you."
"Shoot," Daniels said.
"That depends on your answers," Celestia responded.
Twilight laughed nervously at the play on words. "Oh, Princess! That was a good one!"
No one else was laughing. Even Pinkie Pie looked uncharacteristically perturbed at the tension in the air.
"Where are those vehicles going?" Celestia asked, her gaze once again following the train of armor.
"As I understand it, some place called 'Everfree Forest'," Daniels said with a shrug, "they'll set up a muster there, and then assault the enemy base in the forest."
"How long have you and these... 'Tau' been here?" Celestia asked, her wings ruffling irritably.
"Pretty sure we both made planetfall a few days ago," Daniels said, "the Tau slightly sooner than us. Chased them right out of the void, we did."
"For what purpose? Why are you here?" Celestia demanded, her neck straightening as she glared at him. Even in her heightened pose she was still slightly shorter than the human soldier, however, and Twilight had to admit that she probably wasn't very intimidating to someone who had no concept of what she was capable of.
Daniels understood well enough, though. Ruler of ponies aside, the horn meant that this new pony was a psyker, and he simply was not in the habit of pissing off psykers of any species.
"Couldn't tell ya," Daniels said with a tired shrug, "my mission was to escort Acolyte Gaela. I was deployed without any explanation of our greater purpose here on Centaur III, and haven't had any time at base to catch up on Company gossip. I don't know why we're here other than to hunt the Tau, Sovereign."
Celestia's muzzle wrinkled at that.
"Ya named our planet 'Centaur III'?" Applejack asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"If you're referring to us as a species, yeah, we humans named your sun Centaur in the star maps. It's quite a lovely name, actually," Daniels offered.
"A few more questions, human," Celestia said, her voice weary as she stopped referring to the man by his rank, "that trinket around your neck. Do you know what it is?"
"This?" Daniels pulled at the cord of leather around his neck that was attached to a simple golden Chaos star. It had been given to him when he'd signed up with the Company, his name inscribed in the inner circumference. He had many more in his pockets, collected from his dead squadmates.
"This is just a hunk of gold, Sovereign. Pretty, innit?"
The Princess snorted. "So you have no idea of its significance."
"The significance of any hunk of metal depends on what you plan on doing with it, mi'lady. I'd planned on trading this one for a stiff drink when I ran out of credits."
"Fine. One more question, human: who or what does your Company serve?"
Daniels tilted his head to the side. "Well, that's a tough one, actually. I serve the glorious Imperial Credit, the most widely accepted currency in the known galaxy," Daniels said with mock reverence.
"That is not what my student Twilight Sparkle explained to me in her letter," Celestia said, her voice carrying an implicit warning that she thought she was being lied to.
"With respect to Miss Sparkle, she's practically attached herself to our Mechanicus Acolyte's robe since we met her," Daniels explained breezily, shrugging his shoulders, "you ask that question to different people in the Company and you'll get different answers."
The white alicorn stared hard at the human, but to his relief, no magic came forth to smite him from the face of the planet for any perceived insolence.
"I see. Thank you for your time, Mister Daniels," she said curtly, addressing him by name for the first time, "Twilight, follow me please. We must speak."
"Y-Yes, Princess!" Twilight stuttered, almost tripping over herself to follow. Celestia walked in the same direction as the armored convoy was moving, her student trailing closely behind.
"Huh. That went pretty well," Daniels said as soon as the alicorns were out of earshot, "head Inquisitor she ain't."
"Why'd ya keep callin' her 'Sovereign'? Her title is Princess." Applejack said.
"Where I'm from, 'Princess' is a title you give to powerful people to mock them, not show them respect. It doesn't come naturally when I'm trying not to annoy anyone."
"Be that as it may, you should probably be more concerned," Rarity warned the man, "the Princess seemed very disturbed. As I suppose she would be, seeing so many war machines rolling through Ponyville."
"That's not why she was disturbed," Daniels said, surprising the ponies.
"What do ya mean?"
The mercenary gestured to the homes about him. "She knew about the assault, but didn't bring anything resembling troops with her, nor did she order any sort of evacuation of the town. She gave up on even attempting to speak to someone in charge because I said they probably wouldn't listen to her. Your princess is very worried, and likely very scared, but not so much about this."
He gestured to a Baneblade super-heavy tank as it slowly rumbled past, its massive armored chassis barely able to fit between the pony homes that lined either sides of the avenue. Hooks were attached to the side of the treads, and hung on them were power armor helmets of various colors and designs that rattled relentlessly from the engine vibrations. Most of them were a garish combination of pink and black that made Rarity's eyes hurt.
Applejack turned away from the procession of weaponry and frowned. "Then what's she afraid of?"
"Oh, I'm sure you'll get a good explanation when Sparkle gets back," Daniels murmured, slipping his Chaos amulet under the folds of his coat.
****
Ponyville - Iron Warriors muster point, just outside Fluttershy's cottage
The Rhinos were the first to unload their cargo when they reached the forest perimeter, halting within rifle range of the tree line and disgorging Chaos Space Marines as Predator tanks watched over them with heavy weapons primed.
The first Iron Warriors unbundled stacks of shaped ferrocrete barricades from atop their Rhinos, and as the second group of transports arrived they began setting up the first fortifications.
This second wave consisted of Chimera armored transports packed with human mercenaries and customized Dark Mechanicus transports that boasted small cranes and heavy welders atop their STC-based chassis.
Lines of Leman Russ battle tanks and Vindicator siege tanks followed as more soldiers were dropped into the front line, and the Dark Mechanicus detachment deployed beacons for drop rigs and began setting up vox signal boosters to facilitate communications through the jamming field.
The super-heavy vehicles came next: the Company's sole Baneblade, the Vengeance of Olympia, took up a defensive position as a pair of Gorgon super-heavy transports split off to either side, packed to the seams with mercenary fighters and cultists.
A pair of Thunderhawk gunships hovered behind the main line, engines roaring furiously as they held a pair of loaded Land Raiders each to await deployment in the assault spearhead or on the enemy flank.
And through it all, a pair of alicorns watched from the avenue below, one in nervous awe and the other with poorly concealed contempt.
"Barbaric, are they not?" Celestia asked, scanning the battle line from end to end. "So many lives, so many machines, so much power. All of it turned toward destruction and hatred. All the humans know is war."
Twilight didn't respond immediately, and the royal alicorn continued. "These 'Tau' seem no better, apparently. They come to our world bringing their weapons and enemies with them. Already, their battle has ensnared my peaceful subjects and exposed them to... to THIS."
Twilight just chewed her lip silently, her mind racing.
She was very glad, in retrospect, that Princess Celestia had met and spoken to Daniels first out of all the humans currently in Equestria. The mercenary, with his grim humor and cautious temperament, was easily the most personable and least offensive alien she had met out of the lot of them. When Celestia had arrived she had seemed almost enraged. Now she seemed to look at the soldiers of the 38th Company with reluctant pity, if anything.
"Maybe all aliens are like that," Celestia grumbled, her eyes turning upward as orbital drop rigs punched through the clouds overhead and plummeted to the ground.
Twilight was momentarily entranced by the sight - she had been too close to the last drop to truly appreciate the magnificence of something being launched from space to the ground - before she snapped her head toward her mentor.
"Wait, Princess... you talk about them as if they're almost... familiar to you. In fact, you don't really seem SURPRISED by any of this!"
Twilight left the question unspoken, but it was perfectly obvious. Celestia didn't respond for several seconds, however.
"Twilight, you are easily one of the most well-read ponies in all of Equestria," the Princess began, "you know the history of our nation better than some of our less dedicated historians. Tell me, have you never read anything in Equestria's history about contact with creatures from another world?"
Twilight shook her head immediately.
"That is because the accounts recorded in our books are not necessarily what happened; they are what the authors wished to tell you about."
"Wh-What are you saying, Princess?" Twilight asked, her mane bristling.
"As little as possible, my faithful student."
Another transport flyer blasted by overhead, buffeting the ponies with jet wash as it moved into hovering position. Hanging from the belly of this one were more than a dozen pairs of mechanical legs, all dangling from boxy metal bodies of various sizes.
Four sentinel scout walkers were released from their attachment points first, their spindly hydraulic legs absorbing the impact with the ground before the light walkers raced off for the front line. The other walkers were deployed more slowly, with magnetic winches extending below the transports to lower the Dreadnoughts and Contemptor-pattern Dreadnoughts to the ground. One by one the walkers were brought to fully awakened status, and the umbilical cables detached before the formation of walking armor began stomping off toward the front.
It was almost another full minute before Princess Celestia spoke again.
"I had hoped to never teach you this lesson, Twilight. It is... galling and rather dark. But some knowledge is too dangerous to learn. Some truths are corruptive and harmful to more than just ponies' feelings. Ignorance is never a strength, but it can protect us."
Twilight's jaw hung open, her ears pressed flat against her head. "I... I don't understand..."
"Yes. That's the point of the lesson," Celestia said ruefully. She turned away from the sight of the battle line, looking tired.
"But... I... they..." Twilight grasped for something to say as she followed the Princess away, but before she could come up with a good question Celestia asked her one instead.
"Twilight, tell me: what do you feel when you stare at those symbols carried by the humans?"
Twilight's hackles rose instantly. She hadn't mentioned the Star of Chaos in her letter. The symbol was everywhere on the vehicles, and Celestia had obviously noted the one carried by Daniels, but Twilight had made every effort to ignore them since learning about their meaning.
Had literally any other pony asked her the question, she would have brushed it off. It was nothing but a symbol, she would have said, just a design that had some unique meaning to the Iron Warriors and nopony else. Why would she feel anything at some random emblem?
But she wasn't going to lie to Princess Celestia. Not about this.
"I feel... like there's something..." Twilight turned her head to stare at the huge golden star bolted onto the shoulder of a Dreadnought combat walker plodding off to join its brothers. She had been avoiding looking directly at the emblems, and the sensation that it brought was immediate. "Like there's something scratching at my horn. I can't see it, or hear it, but I feel like its trying to get to me." She shuddered, turning her eyes away. The sensation quickly faded to nothing. "What is it, Princess?"
Celestia didn't answer her question. "The Tau may have brought war to Equestria, and we will deal with them in time. But these humans have brought something far worse than simple violence."
"You mean Chaos? Like Discord did?" Twilight asked.
Celestia looked uncomfortable at the mention of the former tyrant. "It is... similar. Worse. Discord was a single agent, purely self-interested and mostly quite petty. These humans are many, powerful, and the sort of Chaos they bring is far more insidious. They must be cast back into the void where they arrived from."
Twilight recoiled. "Princess? What are you saying?"
Princess Celestia turned a sad gaze on Twilight. "My faithful student, this may be the most difficult task you ever face, but there is hope. These Iron Warriors have not yet made us their enemies, and you girls seem to have become familiar with some of them."
Celestia turned her gaze away, as if staring at something far beyond Twilight's mundane sight. "There is a bastion far from here, on the very borders of Equestria. A dark, ugly thing that the humans hammered into our lands overnight. I believe that is where this army originates from."
She turned back to the smaller alicorn. "You must travel there, learn the purpose of these Iron Warriors, and if possible, banish their master back to the void from which they came."
Twilight swallowed loudly.
"This is no easy thing, obviously, and more than your magical skill may be tested," Celestia said as she sat down on her haunches, "the powers that these humans carry with them is infectious, and can tempt those of fragile will. But I have faith in you. Can you do this?"
Twilight chewed her lip briefly, but she couldn't seriously entertain the thought of refusing. "If you say they're a threat, then I will face them, Princess," the purple alicorn said firmly, puffing out her chest and spreading her wings, "you can count on me."
Princess Celestia's face broke into a smile for the first time since she had arrived. "Very good, Twilight. Now-"
Celestia's head snapped up at the sound of gunfire behind them, and both ponies glanced back at the battle line.
Muzzle flare and veritable rivers of bright crimson lasfire lit up from the entrenched Iron Warriors, although the larger guns of the tanks remained silent.
Celestia turned away first from the distant standoff, and then her eyes narrowed as she saw three figures approaching. Only one of them was familiar to her: the mercenary Daniels.
Twilight was familiar with all three, although she wasn't especially happy to see them at the moment.
Gaela approached at the head of the trio, armored and robed, although neither her helmet or her hood were up. Dest was behind her, moving much more smoothly and with the hole in his armor patched over. Daniels was behind the two, taking his mask from his belt.
Twilight was about to introduce Gaela and Dest to Princess Celestia when they stepped into earshot, but then stopped as she remembered that they were the subject of a dark power that she was now sworn to oust from the planet.
"Geez, now this is all awkward," the purple alicorn mumbled under her breath.
Daniels didn't feel any such hesitation, pointing out Celestia as they approached. "And that one is their Sovereign, Princess Celestia."
Gaela glanced at the pony ruler precisely long enough to take and label a pict-capture with her optical bionics. "Neat." Her eyes turned back toward the distant battle.
The sound of whirring gears came from her armor as the parts of her helmet slid upward and folded back into place, a quiet hiss marking the pressurization of her suit before her mask optics lit up in its usual green glow.
As she stepped past the two ponies she pulled her hood up, casting the metal shell over her face in shadows. "Rifleman, feel free to join your fellows at the barricade. Lord Dest, if you would accompany me, I have to meet with the assault commander and assist with his tactical briefing.
"No," rumbled the Chaos Marine's voice as he gripped his boltgun, "I will join the barricade. I want to see the xeno filth clearly as they die before me."
Daniels snorted as he pulled his mask down over his face and switched on the tri-optics. "Well, save some targets for the rest of us. They don't pay me to stand around and watch the Iron Warriors do the killing."
And then the warriors were past, trekking toward the carnage at the forest's edge.
Twilight winced badly. "That... probably didn't help your impression of them, did it?"
Celestia sighed. "It is about what I expected. Here, I have something for you."
A pale glow surrounded Celestia's horn, and in a flare of magical light a small wooden chest appeared at Twilight's feet. "Once again I entrust you with the Elements of Harmony, my student. I very much hope you will not need them, but regardless they must not fall into the hands of the humans. Were they to suffer such corruption I fear all of Equestria could not stand against them."
Twilight looked pensive as she glanced at the box, and then over at the line of soldiers and vehicles. She didn't really think Equestria could've stood against the Iron Warriors as it was, regardless of the Elements.
"Farewell, Twilight. If you need further assistance you may contact me at will. Be strong, my faithful student."
And then, in a flare of light, the Princess was gone.
****
Everfree Forest - Tau field camp
*Units 3,4, and 7 head to the East marker. Hunter squads 2 and 3, entrench yourselves by the topmost sentry towers and prepare a kill zone. We're only going to get one shot at this!*
From within a blue-and-black painted Crisis Suit tagged with red rank stripes, the Tau Commander organized his defenses as the collection of hostile power signatures rapidly grew in number at the edge of the sensor net.
The situation wasn't just bad, it was over. He had called in for reinforcements after they had detected an airborne enemy that had escaped their anti-air net, and those extra soldiers had been delivered safely hours ago without difficulty.
He almost wished he hadn't bothered. Now they would probably die too.
The assault force building on the edge of the forest was at least tenfold the size of his own command, and hilariously overgunned in comparison to his defenses. A wrecking ball poised to knock down a tinderbox.
He couldn't really blame the humans for that when he had gone to such lengths to jam their sensors, though. They barely had any idea what they were walking into, and he would at least take advantage of that.
*Shas'ui!* his communicator barked, *the Kroot and advance teams are pinned down at the edge of the engagement zone! Casualties are rising fast! They simply can't hold under that weight of fire!*
The Commander sucked in his breath, the tactical displays of his suit practically bludgeoning him with bad news. *Tell the vanguard to fall back to the kill zone. We'll await the enemy there and destroy them.*
He cut that line of communication in favor of a few new reports stating combat readiness and one reporting on the progress of some Earth Caste technicians escaping through the forest behind the field base. He would have loved to have the rest of his soldiers join them, but it would take the bulk of his forces just to slow down the enemy long enough to allow the technicians' escape, plus the rigging of the base to eliminate any useful data and resources. That would also destroy the primary jamming array that was killing vox transmissions all over the planet, but he didn't have any reasonable chance of preserving it at this point.
The defense plan was simple, and perfectly suited to take advantage of the humans' overwhelming advantage to lead them into a push deep into the forest after the retreating vanguard. There they would be led into numerous overlapping fire zones from hidden Fire Warriors and defensive guns, as well as snare mines to slow the enemy advance and restless Gnarlocs to tear apart walkers. Classic kauyon: the way of the patient hunter.
It wouldn't be enough. The tree cover was too thick for the humans' noisy and cumbersome tanks to make any decent progress, but between the Space Marines, walkers, and sheer numbers they wouldn't need them. This was a last stand, a chance to take a few busloads of enemy soldiers out of action before they were overrun and destroyed.
All for the Greater Good.
A few friendly unit indicators behind the base vanished, and the Commander sucked in a breath through his teeth as the Greater Good took another hit.
*The Earth Caste team is gone! Get me scanner solutions, now!*
Numerous new data readouts appeared in front of him, and he grimaced as he saw a small power signature approaching from the proposed evacuation route. A single Space Marine.
*Damned Imperials and their genetic monstrosities!* the Commander snarled, tagging a small group from his reserves and a battlesuit from his bodyguard retinue to deal with the threat. The defensive guns at the back of the base would probably be enough to deal with the Astartes infiltrator, but he couldn't allow an incursion into the base before charges were set.
****
Ponyville - mustering point around Fluttershy's cottage
Gaela heard the sound of lasgun fire taper off as she approached the cottage, and a brief link-up to the nearest sensor array told her why.
The Tau had launched an offensive on their fortifications, and it had faltered almost immediately. The attacking force had been insultingly small, and nobody was even bothering to call in casualty reports.
Frowning under her mask, she walked toward the collection of Chaos Space Marines and a Dark Techpriest gathered around a tactical hololith.
"And you say that the vox boosters aren't working?"
"Affirmative: the jamming interference in this region seems to be an order of magnitude more intense than that experienced within the base perimeter."
"Then that means we must be close to the source."
"Affirmative: that hypothesis is feasible. Our forces can maintain short-range vox with the assistance of the relays, but we are unable to contact Ferrous Dominus."
"That is acceptable, is it not? We have our orders."
Gaela read the identifier tags as she approached the meeting.
The Marine in charge was evidently Warpsmith Kessler, and his Lieutenant Torrin stood at his side while facing Dark Techpriest Diomen in their discussion of the tactical situation. A fairly normal arrangement for an assault force, and all of them were well experienced.
The fact that they were surrounded by woodland animals detracted considerably from the grim dignity of the meeting. Deer grazed leisurely behind the Chaos Marines, cats stared up in fascination at the Warpsmith's slithering mechatendrils, and a pair of doves were cuddling together on top of Torrin's servo arm. The modified humans all seemed visibly uncomfortable at the proximity and total lack of fear from the wild animals, but none of them wanted to tacitly admit such a thing by shooing away or lashing out at the harmless beasts.
Gaela stepped up to the hololith, waiting to be acknowledged as she rested her power axe against the ground.
"Identification: Acolyte Gaela. Do you have something to contribute to this meeting?" Diomen asked, the Techpriest being the first to address her.
"Perhaps, Techpriest Diomen. May I ask if you've decided on a strategy?" Gaela asked.
Torrin snorted at the presumption that she would ask for a tactical update, but Kessler was more amenable. "Nothing complicated. A straight push after the retreating vanguard back to their base. Human infantry center with Dreadnought support, Astartes on the flanks. Quick advance to cut down the runners," the Warpsmith mused, his bionic hand tracing lines in the flickering hololith of the forest.
"If so, then we should give the order NOW," Torrin insisted.
"I have an alternative, if it pleases my lord," Gaela said.
The Warpsmith paused to swat at one of his mechatendrils that was starting a hissing match with a snake. "Speak, Acolyte."
"Judging from how quick they were to retreat, the Tau offense did little but confirm their presence and cause extra casualties, which was an absurd tactical choice given that they must have realized how badly they were outmatched. I believe the vanguard is acting as bait. It's a common Tau tactic. When backed into a corner, they make that corner a graveyard."
"Ah, kauyon, is it? Mmm," the Warpsmith leaned in to the hololith, drawing new lines for the units, "good point. Move the Gorgons around the north and south perimeters and disembark, before moving the platoons into the forest. Our brother Astartes will advance in a line joining the two advancing columns behind them, with Dreadnoughts in support. The Thunderhawks will run a wide circle behind the engagement zone and deploy the land raiders to cut off any retreat."
Torrin grunted. "An advance that slow will allow the enemy time to flee or sabotage the base."
Kessler nodded. "True, but we have as long as we like to crush the xenos and the resources to chase them all over this world. I'd rather inform the Warsmith of the enemy's escape than of our disproportionate casualties. You know how he gets about unnecessary losses."
Torrin made an indecipherable grumbling noise behind his vox grill. Every Astartes knew of Solon's prattling lectures about meaningless waste and inefficiency. The Dark Mechanicus appreciated such an attitude (to say nothing of the mortals serving the Company's forces), but the other Iron Warriors found the Warsmith's rants tiresome.
"Scanners and vox signals are too patchy for reliable artillery targeting. All units are advised to deploy targeting beacons to call for strikes. Have Chimeras bring up the rear with heavy weapon teams and Mechanicus support, at least as far as they can manage in this terrain."
"Addendum: all forces should be advised that live prisoners are appreciated. Additional labor and subjects for interrogation will aid our long-term mission objectives," Diomen droned.
"Agreed. Torrin, relay the orders and keep a large reserve," Kessler demanded, hoisting his power axe, "I will join one of the flanking forces personally."
"Of course. We march to slay the xeno," Torrin rumbled, kicking off a squirrel that was resting on the toe of his boot, "Iron within. Iron without."
"IRON WITHIN. IRON WITHOUT."