//------------------------------// // Covert Assistance // Story: Swooping Pegasus // by FenrisianBrony //------------------------------// Rainbow snarled as she brought all four hooves forward, smashing into a humans face and sending him careening back, blood spilling out from his face as he flipped through the air, before he landed heavily on the frozen ground and lay still, the white snow quickly becoming soaked in red. Looking around her, she saw the rest of the Eldar strike force clearing up the human artillery post, rooting out and killing any survivors. At present, there were only the fast moving members of the force, those who could roam ahead of the main force and strike at targets before the slower Eldar forces arrived to play their part, notably the fire dragons, who would effectively destroy the big guns that the humans had been guarding. Just being near these engines of war made Rainbows insides churn, as the voice of the avatar in her head seemed to retreat slightly, as if it was fighting for the sole right to speak in her head. Getting closer to the cannons seemed to only make the problem worse. Moving away from the baleful engines, Rainbow flew over to Tar’nek who was lining up a shot with a fleeing humans back. As she watched, he unleashed a searing beam of red light, and the human fell, screaming as he clutched the stump that used to be his leg. “Nice shot. Now we’ll have someone to question.” Rainbow nodded, landing next to him. “I missed.” He growled, before firing again, reducing the humans head to a fine red mist. The Eldar had been on the planet for over ten planetary rotations, and so far, their plan was going perfectly. They had encountered and destroyed numerous positions, allowing the other humans to speed their advance, but made sure to leave the larger defences alone, not wanting to tip the good humans off by destroying a major fortress. Rainbow still hadn’t seen that much of a difference between the two types of human, chaos and imperial. Granted she hadn’t ever spoken to them, and based all her knowledge of them on sight alone, but she thought it was fairly conclusive. The biggest difference between the two was the armour they wore, the chaos forces have modified what looked like imperial flak-jackets with the symbols of their fell gods, spikes and other bloody trophy’s. She had even seen a chaos soldier with an entire human skull and spinal column attached over his own like a grotesque helmet and spine protector. Other than that, all the humans seemed the same, they all worshipped something or another, or at least their deaths cries she had heard had shown that, and they both had a rigid command structure, deviation from which meant death. “Tar’nek. Work on your aim. We wouldn’t want one to escape and tell their superiors about us because of your poor shooting.” Kaliden said, walking over. “Of course Exarch.” Tar’nek nodded. “Have we cleared the area?” “Chaos forces neutralised. Demolitions moving in to destroy the position.” Kaliden replied. “Prepare to move out. “Imperials are due to role past here in four hours, we can’t be here when they arrive.” Nodding, Rainbow took to the skies, followed swiftly by the others, rising to the near permanent cloud layer. As Rainbow and the others concealed themselves in the clouds, she mused to herself that the clouds in this universe seemed to differ greatly depending on which planet she was on. Here, on this planet, she couldn’t control them, but on other planets she had been able to manipulate the clouds to a certain degree, never being able to create weather, but she could move them around a bit. God she wished she could control clouds now. It would make avoiding humans so much easier. *** Two Days Later *** Rainbow and the others perched on a high ridge, looking down at the roadway that ran through a canyon just beneath them. If the autarch and the farseers were correct, this place would see a lot of traffic in the next few hours, as reinforcements flooded towards the battlefield. Rainbow had initially wondered why they hadn’t just blown the canyon as soon as they arrived and cut off the reinforcements before they even had a chance to see them, but Kaliden had shot that idea down personally. “If they survive they will just find another way to the front. So, we must bury them here, where they will never be able to influence the battle, and the Imperials will believe that it was just a freak accident that happened to save their flank. They will be none the wiser.” That had been hours ago, and looking out across the snow covered land, she could just see shapes starting to move. She couldn’t see how many there were due to the heavy snowstorm that had blown in, but there was definably something. “Kaliden. Movement.” She said over the helmet communicator, pointing out across the inhospitable landscape. “I see it. Good eyes Rainbow.” The exarch nodded, before switching to the secure communications between Exarchs. As the convoy moved closer, Rainbow could see that this was going to be different from the other raids they had been in. Before, it had just been small artillery posts, ammo dumps or listening posts, but this, this was bigger. Hundreds of human moved forward in an undisciplined mob, the howls to their dark gods threatening to breech the heavens, and serving to drown out any sound they may have heard of the Eldar over the snowstorm. Behind them came the armour, tanks of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Imperial Leman Russ to other basterdised versions of chimeras, all moving together behind the infantry, slaves marching ahead of them and occasionally being thrown under the treads to appease their dark gods. It made Rainbow sick. The convoy got closer, until it entered the canyon, and began to move through it, unaware of the hundreds of Eldar just above their heads. With a single word past around every comm channel in the Eldar helmets, the autarch gave the only command he would need to give. “Engage.” Instantly, Rainbow saw a host of Dark Reapers silently rise up from where they had been lying, hefting their tempest launchers into a firing position, before unleashing a salvo of rockets at the soldiers below. The explosions mushroomed up in the formation, throwing ragged corpses around and throwing the already chaotic force into complete array. Enforcers sought to keep some semblance of order, slashing out at the own allies to bring them back into line, but even as they began to bracket the Dark Reapers perch, another squad rose up, this one in another place, and repeated the movement, even as the Fire Dragons emerged from the small caves they had been hiding on at the canyon floor. Dodging through the small parts of fire that were being directed at them, the Fire Dragons sprinted forward, before unleashing searing beams at the rear of the tanks. As the tanks were enveloped in flames, Kaliden gave a nod, before diving off the perch and swooping over the heads of the remaining troops, who were now screaming and diving on the floor, trying to avoid the wrath of the Eldar. “Give them no mercy!” Kaliden shouting, before showing the scattered troops with grenades, before diving down towards them. Snarling, Rainbow followed the lead of her Exarch, unleashing her own grenades before landing in the clearing that she had created, the last remnants of the plasma explosion and raising her rifle, putting a shot through a human who was trying to flee from her wrath, scrambling back over the bodies of his comrades. Turning, she smashed a hoof into another humans face as he lay cowering on the floor. She felt nothing as she snuffed out the life of the soldier, before turning to look at the others. Juhani was tearing into them with her sword, slashing left and right as limbs and heads rolled as she walked past, while Faren calmly stood with his weapon pulled into his shoulder, putting perfectly aimed shots through throats and heads of humans. “That’s enough. Fall back and blow the ridge.” Came the voice of the autarch through Rainbows helmet. Without thinking, Rainbow flapped her wings, leaving the bloodbath beneath her as she soared upwards, followed by the others. She would have liked to stay and satiate the bloodlust that was calling to her through the war-mask, but that was not the plan, and everything had to go perfectly if this plan was to succeed without any Eldar loss of life. “Floating Assault clear.” Kaliden radioed in. “Falling Strike clear.” Another Exarch radioed in. “Blowing the ridge.” Radioed a voice that Rainbow instantly recognised as belonging to Maura. As he spoke, Rainbow saw a single Reaper stand up on one of the ridges, and firing a single rocket into a specifically placed series of melta bombs. In a blinding explosion, the bombs detonated, fracturing the rock as the fault line it was placed upon split open, separating large chunks from the wall. In seconds, hundreds of tonnes of rock were crashing down into the canyon, crushing any survivors and burying the burning wrecks of the tanks. In under a minute, the rocks had stopped falling, leaving no trace that there had been a slaughter here, all the evidence had been crushed, and the Imperials would advance. Jumping into the air, Rainbow followed the rest of the Eldar force as it retreated from the battlefield, to plan their next move. *** “How can they not have won yet?” Rainbow asked, looking at Kaliden as they perched on a rocky outcrop, acting as a watch for the Eldar webway portal. “I don’t know. Something is obscuring the farseers predictions of the future, and making the present uncertain.” Kaliden said, looking over to Rainbow. “Daemons?” Tar’nek asked. “No. There is a disturbance, but it is not from the warp itself. Whatever is happening, the forces of chaos are receiving assistance from somewhere. Their defences are strong, their men well trained, and their armouries stocked with high quality weapons.” Kaliden replied. “Maybe they used to be guard?” Jolee offered. “A few. Sources indicate that less than 2% of the forces fighting against the Imperial Guard are defectors. The rest are rabble from all over the galaxy, hive world scum, death worlders, slaves, but very few ex-guard. That is why it is worrying why they can resist the Imperium for so long, and how they can keep recovering from the losses that they suffer at our hands.” Kaliden said, looking out at the snow. “Sir. The autarch.” Tar’nek said, pointing down at an approaching Eldar. The autarch had forgone the use of her helmet, allowing her long flowing hair to billow out behind her as she walked. Her armour, once from a temple of Warp Spiders, had been repainted, leaving it and the warp jump pack on her back, a deep red colour. At her sides were two large swords, one either side of her waist, hanging down until they were just shy of the floor. Nodding, Kaliden jumped down from the perch, signalling for the others to stay where they were perching. Walking over to the autarch, the two began conversing in hushed tones, their subtle body language being as much a part of the conversation as the actual spoken words. To a human, they were simply talking, and unless they a lot closer, they would not be able to hear them. To an Eldar, or one who had studied their language and ways, this conversation could be deciphered to a degree. As Rainbow watched, she began to piece together what they were talking about. There was something about a large artillery outpost, one that if left could hold off the advancing Imperial attack. That was all she could get. Eventually, Kaliden and the autarch finished their conversation, and the exarch quickly returned to his squad. “Listen in. A large number of large artillery engines have recently been moved into position overlooking the Imperials path of advance. The weight of fire would be sufficient to hold off a force of their primitive titans, let alone an infantry or armoured force. If this post is still in operation when the Imperials advance, they will throw themselves at it, breaking upon its defences. Their flank will fail, and the chaos forces will be able to break through, destabilising the army and pushing them back. This cannot happen, or they will not succeed before the allotted time.” Kaliden said, looking between his squad members. “We’ve done this before, why is this one seeming so much more…morbid?” Tar’nek asked. “The seers cannot decipher whether or not the Imperials know about this place. Half say they are planning to take it out themselves, the others say that they have no knowledge of this place and will be caught unawares.” Kaliden explained. “So…if we attack, we risk discovery.” Rainbow began. “And if we don’t we risk failure?” Juhani finished. “Exactly. Time is of the essence, and we must hurry. Only by attacking quickly can we hope to succeed without being noticed.” Kaliden said, adjusting his helmet before activating the wings on his back. As they began to gyrate, Kaliden looked around the squad. “Now we fly.” *** Rainbow gasped as she looked out at the chaos staging ground below. There must have been more than fifty cannons, larger than any of the guns she had seen and helped destroy in the past. Even from this height, Rainbow could see the humans scurrying around like insects, hauling the guns into position, or dragging massive, tank sized shells towards the guns. There were already hundreds of the massive shells stacked by the guns, and Rainbow shuddered to think what it would be like when the barrage started. Thousands would die in seconds, and even if they were just humans, rainbow felt sorry for them. “Everyone ready?” Kaliden asked, checking over his weapons for the final time. “Let’s kill some humans.” Rainbow snarled, before locking her wings and plummeting to the earth. Behind her, the others followed suite. It was just their squad, the autarch not wanting to risk anymore in case the Imperials were aware of this place. A squad was easier to hide than an army. As they neared the ground, Rainbow opened her mouth, screaming as she went, before she thrust her legs forward, sending grenades speeding towards the ground, impacting on a group of humans struggling to haul a chain attached to one off the guns. The humans were ripped apart as Rainbow smashed into the ground, leaving larges dents in it, before bringing the las-blaster up and snarling. Red light spat out of the weapon, cutting through another group, before she took to the skies once more. As she flew, alarm bells began ringing, and she watched as the soldiers assigned to protecting the guns began to scrabble about to get to where the attackers were. “Where the hell are they running to?” Rainbow shouted, unleashing another flurry of grenades, before landing next to a pile of shells and unleashing her weapon on full auto, draining the power pack and cutting down a clutch of fleeing human slaves. “No idea.” Juhani growled, landing next to her and unstrapping the melta bomb she had been given to carry, fixing it to one of the shells. Grinning beneath her helmet, Rainbow unsheathed her sword, before flying forward, slashing with the sword at a human soldier who hadn’t even seen her. Before his body had even touched the floor, she was amongst the rest of the squad, hacking left and right. By the time the head of the first soldier had touched the ground, the rest of the soldiers were dead, and Rainbow was covered in blood. Panting heavily, she looked at Juhani, who had just finished off killing a clutch of humans. “You ready?” She panted. “Blow it.” Rainbow growled, savouring the taste of blood as it seeped through her helmet. After her first battle, she had modified it ever so slightly to make it easier for the glorious bitter, iron like liquid to get to her. Kaliden and the others had seen weirder things in their time, and had no problem with it. With a laugh, Juhani slammed a button on her gauntlet. Instantly, Rainbow could hear the roar of the melta bomb, before the shells went off, blowing them and them sky high, and taking the cannon with it in a beautiful explosion which looked like a miniature star. Rainbow had once been told that ‘cool guys didn’t look t explosions’ but she couldn’t not look at this thing. It was amazing, and she smiled as she was just out of the blast radius. Juhani knew her explosives. Suddenly, another series of explosions rocked the encampment, and Rainbow saw a series of blasts in front of her. “What is that?” rainbow shouted, taking to the air next to Juhani. “Not us.” Juhani yelled back. “Continue with the mission. Nodding, Rainbow dived again, sword still in hoof, unleashing death as she soared over the heads of the chaos troops. Straining her ears, she could just make out gun fire in the distance, sounds that no Eldar gun should make. She knew she should tell Kaliden, just to make sure he had heard it to, but the thought of battle was too sweet. Snarling, she dropped again, landing on the head of a human, before spinning around, stabbing her sword through the chest of another, before stepping out of the bloody pulp and galloping forward, leaving Juhani alone. Rounding a corner, Rainbow came upon the scene of one of the explosions, the ground was ragged and the twisted remains of the cannons were scattered about. Once again, the voices in her head were louder, starting to drown out the voice of the avatar. This time however, they were encouraging her, urging her to keep killing. It was a request that she was all too happy to comply with. Laughing like a maniac, Rainbow dived at one of the fleeing humans, dropping her sword and using her hooves, smashing them into the humans head and back again and again, savouring the taste as his blood spurted across her helmet, staining her blue armour red. “Ahh!” Came a voice from behind her, and she turned to see a human bearing down on her, a screaming chainsword in hand. Rolling aside, she grabbed her own sword and caught his next blow, getting a better look at the human. With a start, she realised that he wasn’t a servant of chaos, and she rolled away, attempting to disengage. “You’re making a mistake human!” She screeched, blocking another blow and kicking out at him, catching his knee and sending him stumbling. “The Eldar are on your side.” “Command? We’ve got Eldar!” The human yelled into his microphone, before charging again. This time, Rainbow couldn’t hold her bloodlust in check. Snarling, she lashed out, grazing by his face, and feeling a searing pain erupt in her side. Putting it out of her mind, she came around again, and flew straight at the human at near Rainboom speeds. The human didn’t have enough time to even comprehend what was happening, before Rainbow was past him. Landing, she panted heavily, as the human fell to the floor, clutching his guts as they spilled out onto the snow. Walking over, she saw him reaching weakly for his communicator, allowing him to grab it, before savagely stepping on his hand, shattering the machines and the bones, and drawing another scream from the human, a scream that only stopped when he had to cough up blood. The voices in her head were even louder now, urging her to finish off the human and give into her desires. Shakily, Rainbow raised her sword. She knew this was wrong, she wanted to stop herself, but it was as if she was no longer in control of her own body, merely a passenger. Shaking, she let out a scream of effort, before dropping her sword, and collapsing next to the wounded human. The injury was worse than it looked, and Rainbow thought that he would survive. Lying next to him, Rainbow noted that the snow around her was slowly becoming red as well, and looked over to her side to see a huge gash had been torn into her armour, ripping through the flesh beneath. Panting heavily, she watched as more humans began running towards the wounded pair, more Imperials by the looks of things, and shouting at each other as they caught sight of the Eldar armour she was wearing. Rainbows vision was fading now, and she could feel herself beginning to slip from consciousness, but forced herself to stay awake, pushing herself back to her hooves and grasping the sword in her mouth, needing all four legs to keep herself upright. If she was going to die, she was not going to do it lying down. Right before the humans reached her, Rainbow saw two figures land in front of her, brandishing their weapons at the humans and shouting something at them. Rainbow could not make out what they were saying however, as her vision began to swirl even more. Taking another ragged breath, Rainbow allowed the sword to slip from her mouth, before slowly falling backwards again. As she fell, she felt something catch her, and she looked up to see the helmet of Tar’nek looking down at her. Smiling weakly under her helmet, she felt him take-off again, before slipping into unconsciousness.