Guard fic 3.3
Not too long a wait for this chapter, but then I kind of knew what was going to happen here.
Moving as fast as they could, not waiting for the stragglers to catch up, they pushed directly forward to intercept the Tau forces and also to hide where they themselves had come from. It could work, the indentation on the surface looked depressingly small for all the carnage it had wrought and the snow falling heavily around them would keep visibility poor on both sides. The cold was biting after the relative warmth of the tunnel, and the wind certainly did not help matters. The least of their worries, King reminded himself grimly, and pushed on.
They moved to intercept the Tau a good 1500 yards from the crater, hopefully well far enough to keep the burrowing works secret so long as they didn't manage to advance. Flashes of alien weaponry told him that they had been spotted, but the snow obscured the aim sufficiently that every shot went wide or skittered off the armour plating of the chimera forging ahead in front of them. King peered through the flurries, trying to get an idea of distance. He could barely see the Xenos, let alone order an attack. Damn things and their heretic technology.
They ignored the option of returning fire, concentrating on covering as much distance as possible to get closer and to stop the Xeno’s advance. There were luckily several snow drifts and build up sections which they could use for cover and they ran from hill to hill, keeping heads down and presenting as small a target as possible as they moved. They lost two in the advance, but overall that wasn’t much. Two more than they could spare, however.
Close enough to make a shot, King ordered the small units to separate, covering more ground making them harder targets and hopefully giving the illusion that there were more of them. Each team found a patch of cover to shoot from behind, firing at will into a target rich environment, but the Tau were notorious for their longer range and better weapons, so the relief squad was keenly anticipated by all.
Scanning again with his magnoculars King started making out more details of what they were facing. Not much heavy machinery but he was able to see a few of those rail guns which were such killers and he could clearly make out several of those jump pack troops, whatever they called themselves. Trouble, was what he called them. He considered charging since up close and personal was the only way to take those things down, but given their few numbers he couldn’t risk it. They’d probably just jump forward into the rest of the men if he tried.
A sound behind him made him turn and almost cheer with relief and pride. A Valkyrie was coming into view, slicing through the falling snow as it zoomed towards them. The Tau changed their focus immediately and the sky lit up with scattering blasts of fire from the rail guns but the rescue vessel was able to evade them all and answered back with a hail of bolter fire. Suddenly the grav chute deployed, spilling relief troops to the ground, the first two down wearing the distinctive black coats and hats of the Commissariat. Rossaria and Aloysius hit the ground and both rolled to their feet in smooth practiced movements, as though they travelled by grav chute every day. As the remaining soldiers followed behind them, scattering slightly as the Valkyrie kept moving, the Commissars formed up in defence with chain sword and bolter at the ready. For the first time, King was actually pleased to see them.
The aircraft swooped round for another strafing run, but before it could return the rail guns opened up once more and scored a hit on the intrepid vehicle. Smoke started to pour from a hole in the side of the passenger hold, smoke which could dangerously escalate to fire if they didn’t get it out quickly. King’s comm bead buzzed angrily in his ear as a broken transmission came through from the stricken vehicle.
“…ush, repeat, it…ambush….fire…crisis su…your left. Will circle….port back….cing.”
“Understood captain, over.” Well, he understood enough of it anyway, enough to realise that they were in deep trouble. He looked to Rossaria but if she had heard any of that she didn’t show any indication: it may have been purely on his command channel and she hadn’t thought to use her commissariat override codes at this point. He was well aware that there was no such thing as genuine security against her.
The drop squad were initially using a rolling retreat back to the Guard’s position, but as the only targets out in the open they were being pressed hard by the enemy he saw the Lord Commissar point and the retreat turned into an attack against the fire warrior squad that was blocking their escape. King looked to see if he could pick off some of the group but it was impossible in these conditions to fire without risking hitting their own men. He just had to hope they made it, and by the looks of things it was time to plan to sell their lives dear in the service of the Emperor.
With a few commands he gathered all the units tight to him, the chimera blasting waves of superheated energy at anything that came within range. As the drop squad carved their way through the Tau infantry the rest of the guard laid down covering fire to help them as they dodged through the bolts to skid round behind the snowdrift that was now guarding the others. One was picked off on the lip of the hill, half falling half skidding down the incline to lie amongst the huddled guardsmen, dead before he landed.
“Good to see you guys!” King greeted them, pointedly ignoring the loss. Nothing they could do about it now and the odds were he was only the first of many. Leaving early to avoid the rush.
“Thank you for the invite, Commander.” Rossaria answered, breathing slightly heavily from her exertions, adrenalin clearly still pumping. “So what’s the situation?”
“Frakked but fighting, Lord Commissar, frakked but fighting.” He expanded slightly on this, explaining the message from the Valkyrie about the ambush troops to their left. Meanwhile the craft had flown back behind their line, such as it was, and circled round to the right to confirm there was indeed another force moving in in a pincer movement. The smoke still issued from the wound in her side, and the railguns made the sky a dangerous place for her. Without sufficient ground support to keep the fire away from the Valkyrie King would normally send her back to base to keep safe, but today there was no other option. Kail was frantically radioing back to base, highlighting the urgency of the situation as bluntly as he dared on official channels.
“When are we expecting back up to arrive?” King asked. The rest of the squad that had accompanied them were clearly there for protection and firepower rather than military strategy, having only one rather new sergeant amongst them, so he addressed the comment to the Commissars.
“About twenty minutes by my estimate Commander.” Aloysius answered, which was considerably longer than he’d hoped. Hell, five minutes was considerably longer than he hoped right now. A blast from the chimera’s flamethrower highlighted the point: the enemy were closing in. Every instinct he had was to run, but they couldn’t let the Tau find the tunnels. It was their only option to get the dark age tech, even if it meant King himself wouldn’t live to see it.
The pincers closed.
Without warning, hordes of troops burst into view on each side. The vehicles, the Valkyrie and the chimera, did what they could and blasted holes in the enemy, but they were the main targets for the Tau forces. The chimera went first, a dozen powerful blasts cutting through its front armour, blowing off the guns and all but demolishing the tank. There was little hope for anyone inside now. The guardsmen formed a tight circle, guns and bayonets out, doing what they could, but without sufficient cover there is no formation that can be effective against gunshot and they were whittled down continuously by the forces arraigned against them. The Valkyrie screamed overhead, weapons blazing, but the rail guns opened up and suddenly it began spirling downwards, vanishing in a cloud of snow and flame.
He saw Rossaria fall, her refractor field insufficient to deal with the sheer volume of fire being poured into it. Cohesion broke down as their numbers diminished and it became a bitter hand to hand struggle for survival as the Tau closed in, confident of success. All around him men and women were fighting for their lives, some in fear, some in faith. Jaks wasn’t waiting for his plasma pistol to recharge, but was swinging wildly with his knife, probably still concussed and half blind from his wound. Rhys was by his side, fighting fiercely against one of the Xenos. Hart fell back screaming, blood pouring from the stump where his arm used to be.
King screamed a battle oath, sword raised and las pistol flaring, damned if he was going out with any hint of fear, when suddenly the Tau stopped firing. They stood around, guns readied, nothing happening. Unflinching, King continued emptying his las pistol into the Xeno in front of him - if they were going to stop fighting, he sure as hell wasn’t.
“Stop.” One of the creatures, one in a costume he hadn’t seen before, like a cross between a priest and a psyker, spoke in clear low gothic. “We wish to talk.”
Anything to buy time, he supposed, and held up a hand to cease fire. He heard the subtle clicks of ammo clips being replaced with fresh ones, guardsmen around him making the most of the pause.
“There’s nothing to talk about.” He snarled back, but his stance shifted into a slightly more defensive one rather than aggressive.
“You cannot win here. On this day.”
“Maybe I can’t, but the Empire will. We will be around long after you and your heretic society are forgotten piles of dust. There is nothing for you to gain in fighting against us. Maybe we cannot win this battle, but we cannot lose this war.”
He spoke in a confident tone, head up, shoulders back and eyes like blue steel. Come on Trevanus, get a frakking move on.
The creature changed tack.
“Why are you here?”
To recover a vital piece of technology that could potentially turn the tide in any war that you idiots don’t realise you have. Sound good?
“We received a distress call from our colony on this planet when you arrived, we’re here to rescue them. This is the Imperium, we don’t leave our people behind when they’ve asked for help.”
“But your people, they are now our people. They want this. All then is complete, yes?”
“You’re not getting this, are you frog man?” Well, he was kind of blue and his skin looked weird, so it kind of worked. “If you kill us, others will follow. Marines, understand? Squads of Astartes, legions of them, to avenge us and wipe your sorry taint from this planet. They will not rest, they will not stop, they will not forget. That is what it is to be in the Imperium of Man.” Or at least, it is when you die trying to get something the Empire needs anyway. Where in the hell was Trevanus?
“You will come with us.” The creature said, as if it was all decided.
“You will get frakked.” He retorted indignantly. There was a small piece of tech on it’s belt, probably a refractor field or something to make up for the lack of armour, so he readied his sword. All around him, his men raised their weapons. The creature looked first puzzled then offended, so while it probably hadn’t understood the words, the sentiment must have been plain.
“Not them. Just you. You I would must talk, then you will change. Or we will kill you all here.”
“We’re not scared to die.” King answered automatically, but he knew that despite every fibre of his being revolting against the idea, he had no choice. Not because of the threat, dying held no fear to the men and women of the Imperial Guard, but because once they were dead, the Tau forces would inevitably find the digging works, realise what their goal was and then the artefact would be lost, possibly forever. What was he, in the full scheme of things? He had long accepted, as every one of them had accepted, that he would lose his life in the service of the Emperor. Now it seemed that what the Emperor asked was more than that. He was to lose his soul.
“Just me.” He said, as if considering. “You will let all the others go?”
It nodded, a strangely human gesture. “Yes, this we will do.”
“And you’ll leave this planet.”
“No, this we will not do.”
He’d assumed so, but no harm in asking. Didn’t do to look too resigned.
“Then why should I surrender? What do we gain if we live today and die tomorrow?”
The creature paused, then nodded again. “This I accept. We will stop fighting until you and I have spoken.”
Commissar Haine turned to him angrily. “You cannot seriously be considering this Commander! To treat with the enemy is death!” His bolter was raised, ready to carry out his proclaimed sentence. Dammit, why couldn’t he have fallen and Rossaria survived? She at least had some measure of tactical sense. King pushed the bolter down with his good arm, knowing that his next words would have to be good ones.
“Then consider me dead, Commissar! Take my men back to base, give me a hero’s funeral or a traitor’s grave as you see fit, but give Captain Tr - no, give *Commander* Trevanus a full briefing on what has occurred here and he will know why I chose to die this way!” Or if he doesn’t, Rossaria will figure it out pretty sharply. If she lives. Aloysius faltered, his expression never changing but King felt the fight weakening in his bolter arm. He fixed the young commissar with his hardest glare, frustrated at having to look up to do so but short of suddenly transforming into a space marine he had no option there.
“I do not falter, Haine. I do not fear death, nor pain, nor do I listen to the weasel words of treachery. If they wish information, they will be very much disappointed. If they wish a convert, they will see how a true soldier of the Astra Militarum dies.” He removed his comm bead and handed it to Rhys, the closest soldier he trusted. She jammed it in her pocket immediately, the precious technology not leaving her hand. “I do this for the sake of the Emperor we both serve, Commissar, and for the good of His people. If it means I die as a traitor to the Imperium then that is the price I must pay for His sake.” He locked his eyes onto his opponent’s, aware of the striking power they had and letting a shade of emotion tint his next words correctly. “Ave Imperator.”
Commissar Haine didn’t smile, nor return the oath, but he did back down so far as his position would allow, in that he stopped trying to kill him. Perhaps King had persuaded him, or perhaps he had seen the expressions on the men. If King died, it wouldn’t be the Tau that killed the Commissar.
“Commander Antonius King, you are now under sentence of death as a traitor and a coward. You are relieved of your rank and your rights and are an enemy of the Imperium. However you claim that there is evidence that may exonerate you: for the sake of your former status and previous good service to the Emperor you will be allowed to present this evidence at trial upon your return where, should that evidence prove overwhelming, you may be liable to have your sentence commuted to an honourable death in a penal legion to repay your crimes.”
King winced. That hurt. That anyone thought him capable of treachery or cowardice stung him to the core, but whatever may come he had a job to do and could not ignore it whatever the cost. He flipped the switch to turn off his power sword, and formally surrendered both that and his las pistol to the Commissar. Haine didn’t ask for his rank insignia, and King didn’t volunteer.
He turned to the creature and stepped forward of the circle of guardsmen.
“All right. Yes. I will come, once my men are clear.”
It turned to the other Xenos and said something in their foul language. A small group moved forward towards him and King instantly drew his sole remaining weapon, his heavy-bladed knife, and held it against his own throat.
“Once my men are clear.” He growled. They looked back at the creature and it said something, presumably translating. The Tau force, a six-strong squad of fire warriors, encircled him but did not approach. Lacking formal command now, he bit back the orders that rose to his throat, and civilian traitor Antonius King watched as his - as the guardsmen - lifted their dead and dying, and began the walk back to meet the incoming reinforcements. King prayed that Trevanus would make it in time to spare him this, but he had been counting time in his head and he knew that wasn’t going to happen. The whole thing had happened so fast.
Aloysius bent to lift Rossaria from the ground, but others of the Tau levelled weapons at him and the creature spoke again.
“No, this one we will take. This one is also an order giver and we will speak with her when she is well.”
“That is not our deal!” King retorted “She leaves with them! All the others go.”
“She will come, I am sorry.”
King acted swiftly and began to draw the blade sharply and fiercely across his own throat, but the fire warriors leapt forward and one pulled his arm back as the other broke the knife from his grip. The barely-healed wound in his right arm screamed at him as he struggled but without his full musculature he wasn’t even stronger than a Tau. It forced his arm back and he dropped the knife as others rushed forward to pin his stronger arm, holding him firmly. Blood dripped from the gash in his neck down to his uniform, but it wasn’t sufficient to do any real damage. He looked over at the creature in the robes, hate burning in his eyes.
“If you want evidence of why I’ll never trust you, this would be it.”
“I am sorry, but we can not allow you to die. We wish to talk. I did not think you mean the ones that are dying, but you can have them all go except her. This is our good faith.”
Rossaria was unmoving as an armed guard of Tau lifted her, rifles trained on Aloysius and anyone else who would try to stop them. Her braid hung lifeless down her back as they carried her, but King could see her chest moving very faintly as she kept breathing. They’d better have some good medics amongst the Tau, he thought, but didn’t voice the fear in case they decided to take Rhys too.
As the Guard turned to leave, Jaks raised his arm and gave a stiff salute. Rhys did the same, then another soldier, then another. Every one of them had followed him into hell and back, and the empty words of any Commissar would never convince them their hero was a traitor. Unable to break free to return the gesture, King watched as they walked out of what he guessed to be rifle range before he stopped fighting and allowed himself to be taken to the strange alien skimmer that passed for transport amongst his captors.
Moving as fast as they could, not waiting for the stragglers to catch up, they pushed directly forward to intercept the Tau forces and also to hide where they themselves had come from. It could work, the indentation on the surface looked depressingly small for all the carnage it had wrought and the snow falling heavily around them would keep visibility poor on both sides. The cold was biting after the relative warmth of the tunnel, and the wind certainly did not help matters. The least of their worries, King reminded himself grimly, and pushed on.
They moved to intercept the Tau a good 1500 yards from the crater, hopefully well far enough to keep the burrowing works secret so long as they didn't manage to advance. Flashes of alien weaponry told him that they had been spotted, but the snow obscured the aim sufficiently that every shot went wide or skittered off the armour plating of the chimera forging ahead in front of them. King peered through the flurries, trying to get an idea of distance. He could barely see the Xenos, let alone order an attack. Damn things and their heretic technology.
They ignored the option of returning fire, concentrating on covering as much distance as possible to get closer and to stop the Xeno’s advance. There were luckily several snow drifts and build up sections which they could use for cover and they ran from hill to hill, keeping heads down and presenting as small a target as possible as they moved. They lost two in the advance, but overall that wasn’t much. Two more than they could spare, however.
Close enough to make a shot, King ordered the small units to separate, covering more ground making them harder targets and hopefully giving the illusion that there were more of them. Each team found a patch of cover to shoot from behind, firing at will into a target rich environment, but the Tau were notorious for their longer range and better weapons, so the relief squad was keenly anticipated by all.
Scanning again with his magnoculars King started making out more details of what they were facing. Not much heavy machinery but he was able to see a few of those rail guns which were such killers and he could clearly make out several of those jump pack troops, whatever they called themselves. Trouble, was what he called them. He considered charging since up close and personal was the only way to take those things down, but given their few numbers he couldn’t risk it. They’d probably just jump forward into the rest of the men if he tried.
A sound behind him made him turn and almost cheer with relief and pride. A Valkyrie was coming into view, slicing through the falling snow as it zoomed towards them. The Tau changed their focus immediately and the sky lit up with scattering blasts of fire from the rail guns but the rescue vessel was able to evade them all and answered back with a hail of bolter fire. Suddenly the grav chute deployed, spilling relief troops to the ground, the first two down wearing the distinctive black coats and hats of the Commissariat. Rossaria and Aloysius hit the ground and both rolled to their feet in smooth practiced movements, as though they travelled by grav chute every day. As the remaining soldiers followed behind them, scattering slightly as the Valkyrie kept moving, the Commissars formed up in defence with chain sword and bolter at the ready. For the first time, King was actually pleased to see them.
The aircraft swooped round for another strafing run, but before it could return the rail guns opened up once more and scored a hit on the intrepid vehicle. Smoke started to pour from a hole in the side of the passenger hold, smoke which could dangerously escalate to fire if they didn’t get it out quickly. King’s comm bead buzzed angrily in his ear as a broken transmission came through from the stricken vehicle.
“…ush, repeat, it…ambush….fire…crisis su…your left. Will circle….port back….cing.”
“Understood captain, over.” Well, he understood enough of it anyway, enough to realise that they were in deep trouble. He looked to Rossaria but if she had heard any of that she didn’t show any indication: it may have been purely on his command channel and she hadn’t thought to use her commissariat override codes at this point. He was well aware that there was no such thing as genuine security against her.
The drop squad were initially using a rolling retreat back to the Guard’s position, but as the only targets out in the open they were being pressed hard by the enemy he saw the Lord Commissar point and the retreat turned into an attack against the fire warrior squad that was blocking their escape. King looked to see if he could pick off some of the group but it was impossible in these conditions to fire without risking hitting their own men. He just had to hope they made it, and by the looks of things it was time to plan to sell their lives dear in the service of the Emperor.
With a few commands he gathered all the units tight to him, the chimera blasting waves of superheated energy at anything that came within range. As the drop squad carved their way through the Tau infantry the rest of the guard laid down covering fire to help them as they dodged through the bolts to skid round behind the snowdrift that was now guarding the others. One was picked off on the lip of the hill, half falling half skidding down the incline to lie amongst the huddled guardsmen, dead before he landed.
“Good to see you guys!” King greeted them, pointedly ignoring the loss. Nothing they could do about it now and the odds were he was only the first of many. Leaving early to avoid the rush.
“Thank you for the invite, Commander.” Rossaria answered, breathing slightly heavily from her exertions, adrenalin clearly still pumping. “So what’s the situation?”
“Frakked but fighting, Lord Commissar, frakked but fighting.” He expanded slightly on this, explaining the message from the Valkyrie about the ambush troops to their left. Meanwhile the craft had flown back behind their line, such as it was, and circled round to the right to confirm there was indeed another force moving in in a pincer movement. The smoke still issued from the wound in her side, and the railguns made the sky a dangerous place for her. Without sufficient ground support to keep the fire away from the Valkyrie King would normally send her back to base to keep safe, but today there was no other option. Kail was frantically radioing back to base, highlighting the urgency of the situation as bluntly as he dared on official channels.
“When are we expecting back up to arrive?” King asked. The rest of the squad that had accompanied them were clearly there for protection and firepower rather than military strategy, having only one rather new sergeant amongst them, so he addressed the comment to the Commissars.
“About twenty minutes by my estimate Commander.” Aloysius answered, which was considerably longer than he’d hoped. Hell, five minutes was considerably longer than he hoped right now. A blast from the chimera’s flamethrower highlighted the point: the enemy were closing in. Every instinct he had was to run, but they couldn’t let the Tau find the tunnels. It was their only option to get the dark age tech, even if it meant King himself wouldn’t live to see it.
The pincers closed.
Without warning, hordes of troops burst into view on each side. The vehicles, the Valkyrie and the chimera, did what they could and blasted holes in the enemy, but they were the main targets for the Tau forces. The chimera went first, a dozen powerful blasts cutting through its front armour, blowing off the guns and all but demolishing the tank. There was little hope for anyone inside now. The guardsmen formed a tight circle, guns and bayonets out, doing what they could, but without sufficient cover there is no formation that can be effective against gunshot and they were whittled down continuously by the forces arraigned against them. The Valkyrie screamed overhead, weapons blazing, but the rail guns opened up and suddenly it began spirling downwards, vanishing in a cloud of snow and flame.
He saw Rossaria fall, her refractor field insufficient to deal with the sheer volume of fire being poured into it. Cohesion broke down as their numbers diminished and it became a bitter hand to hand struggle for survival as the Tau closed in, confident of success. All around him men and women were fighting for their lives, some in fear, some in faith. Jaks wasn’t waiting for his plasma pistol to recharge, but was swinging wildly with his knife, probably still concussed and half blind from his wound. Rhys was by his side, fighting fiercely against one of the Xenos. Hart fell back screaming, blood pouring from the stump where his arm used to be.
King screamed a battle oath, sword raised and las pistol flaring, damned if he was going out with any hint of fear, when suddenly the Tau stopped firing. They stood around, guns readied, nothing happening. Unflinching, King continued emptying his las pistol into the Xeno in front of him - if they were going to stop fighting, he sure as hell wasn’t.
“Stop.” One of the creatures, one in a costume he hadn’t seen before, like a cross between a priest and a psyker, spoke in clear low gothic. “We wish to talk.”
Anything to buy time, he supposed, and held up a hand to cease fire. He heard the subtle clicks of ammo clips being replaced with fresh ones, guardsmen around him making the most of the pause.
“There’s nothing to talk about.” He snarled back, but his stance shifted into a slightly more defensive one rather than aggressive.
“You cannot win here. On this day.”
“Maybe I can’t, but the Empire will. We will be around long after you and your heretic society are forgotten piles of dust. There is nothing for you to gain in fighting against us. Maybe we cannot win this battle, but we cannot lose this war.”
He spoke in a confident tone, head up, shoulders back and eyes like blue steel. Come on Trevanus, get a frakking move on.
The creature changed tack.
“Why are you here?”
To recover a vital piece of technology that could potentially turn the tide in any war that you idiots don’t realise you have. Sound good?
“We received a distress call from our colony on this planet when you arrived, we’re here to rescue them. This is the Imperium, we don’t leave our people behind when they’ve asked for help.”
“But your people, they are now our people. They want this. All then is complete, yes?”
“You’re not getting this, are you frog man?” Well, he was kind of blue and his skin looked weird, so it kind of worked. “If you kill us, others will follow. Marines, understand? Squads of Astartes, legions of them, to avenge us and wipe your sorry taint from this planet. They will not rest, they will not stop, they will not forget. That is what it is to be in the Imperium of Man.” Or at least, it is when you die trying to get something the Empire needs anyway. Where in the hell was Trevanus?
“You will come with us.” The creature said, as if it was all decided.
“You will get frakked.” He retorted indignantly. There was a small piece of tech on it’s belt, probably a refractor field or something to make up for the lack of armour, so he readied his sword. All around him, his men raised their weapons. The creature looked first puzzled then offended, so while it probably hadn’t understood the words, the sentiment must have been plain.
“Not them. Just you. You I would must talk, then you will change. Or we will kill you all here.”
“We’re not scared to die.” King answered automatically, but he knew that despite every fibre of his being revolting against the idea, he had no choice. Not because of the threat, dying held no fear to the men and women of the Imperial Guard, but because once they were dead, the Tau forces would inevitably find the digging works, realise what their goal was and then the artefact would be lost, possibly forever. What was he, in the full scheme of things? He had long accepted, as every one of them had accepted, that he would lose his life in the service of the Emperor. Now it seemed that what the Emperor asked was more than that. He was to lose his soul.
“Just me.” He said, as if considering. “You will let all the others go?”
It nodded, a strangely human gesture. “Yes, this we will do.”
“And you’ll leave this planet.”
“No, this we will not do.”
He’d assumed so, but no harm in asking. Didn’t do to look too resigned.
“Then why should I surrender? What do we gain if we live today and die tomorrow?”
The creature paused, then nodded again. “This I accept. We will stop fighting until you and I have spoken.”
Commissar Haine turned to him angrily. “You cannot seriously be considering this Commander! To treat with the enemy is death!” His bolter was raised, ready to carry out his proclaimed sentence. Dammit, why couldn’t he have fallen and Rossaria survived? She at least had some measure of tactical sense. King pushed the bolter down with his good arm, knowing that his next words would have to be good ones.
“Then consider me dead, Commissar! Take my men back to base, give me a hero’s funeral or a traitor’s grave as you see fit, but give Captain Tr - no, give *Commander* Trevanus a full briefing on what has occurred here and he will know why I chose to die this way!” Or if he doesn’t, Rossaria will figure it out pretty sharply. If she lives. Aloysius faltered, his expression never changing but King felt the fight weakening in his bolter arm. He fixed the young commissar with his hardest glare, frustrated at having to look up to do so but short of suddenly transforming into a space marine he had no option there.
“I do not falter, Haine. I do not fear death, nor pain, nor do I listen to the weasel words of treachery. If they wish information, they will be very much disappointed. If they wish a convert, they will see how a true soldier of the Astra Militarum dies.” He removed his comm bead and handed it to Rhys, the closest soldier he trusted. She jammed it in her pocket immediately, the precious technology not leaving her hand. “I do this for the sake of the Emperor we both serve, Commissar, and for the good of His people. If it means I die as a traitor to the Imperium then that is the price I must pay for His sake.” He locked his eyes onto his opponent’s, aware of the striking power they had and letting a shade of emotion tint his next words correctly. “Ave Imperator.”
Commissar Haine didn’t smile, nor return the oath, but he did back down so far as his position would allow, in that he stopped trying to kill him. Perhaps King had persuaded him, or perhaps he had seen the expressions on the men. If King died, it wouldn’t be the Tau that killed the Commissar.
“Commander Antonius King, you are now under sentence of death as a traitor and a coward. You are relieved of your rank and your rights and are an enemy of the Imperium. However you claim that there is evidence that may exonerate you: for the sake of your former status and previous good service to the Emperor you will be allowed to present this evidence at trial upon your return where, should that evidence prove overwhelming, you may be liable to have your sentence commuted to an honourable death in a penal legion to repay your crimes.”
King winced. That hurt. That anyone thought him capable of treachery or cowardice stung him to the core, but whatever may come he had a job to do and could not ignore it whatever the cost. He flipped the switch to turn off his power sword, and formally surrendered both that and his las pistol to the Commissar. Haine didn’t ask for his rank insignia, and King didn’t volunteer.
He turned to the creature and stepped forward of the circle of guardsmen.
“All right. Yes. I will come, once my men are clear.”
It turned to the other Xenos and said something in their foul language. A small group moved forward towards him and King instantly drew his sole remaining weapon, his heavy-bladed knife, and held it against his own throat.
“Once my men are clear.” He growled. They looked back at the creature and it said something, presumably translating. The Tau force, a six-strong squad of fire warriors, encircled him but did not approach. Lacking formal command now, he bit back the orders that rose to his throat, and civilian traitor Antonius King watched as his - as the guardsmen - lifted their dead and dying, and began the walk back to meet the incoming reinforcements. King prayed that Trevanus would make it in time to spare him this, but he had been counting time in his head and he knew that wasn’t going to happen. The whole thing had happened so fast.
Aloysius bent to lift Rossaria from the ground, but others of the Tau levelled weapons at him and the creature spoke again.
“No, this one we will take. This one is also an order giver and we will speak with her when she is well.”
“That is not our deal!” King retorted “She leaves with them! All the others go.”
“She will come, I am sorry.”
King acted swiftly and began to draw the blade sharply and fiercely across his own throat, but the fire warriors leapt forward and one pulled his arm back as the other broke the knife from his grip. The barely-healed wound in his right arm screamed at him as he struggled but without his full musculature he wasn’t even stronger than a Tau. It forced his arm back and he dropped the knife as others rushed forward to pin his stronger arm, holding him firmly. Blood dripped from the gash in his neck down to his uniform, but it wasn’t sufficient to do any real damage. He looked over at the creature in the robes, hate burning in his eyes.
“If you want evidence of why I’ll never trust you, this would be it.”
“I am sorry, but we can not allow you to die. We wish to talk. I did not think you mean the ones that are dying, but you can have them all go except her. This is our good faith.”
Rossaria was unmoving as an armed guard of Tau lifted her, rifles trained on Aloysius and anyone else who would try to stop them. Her braid hung lifeless down her back as they carried her, but King could see her chest moving very faintly as she kept breathing. They’d better have some good medics amongst the Tau, he thought, but didn’t voice the fear in case they decided to take Rhys too.
As the Guard turned to leave, Jaks raised his arm and gave a stiff salute. Rhys did the same, then another soldier, then another. Every one of them had followed him into hell and back, and the empty words of any Commissar would never convince them their hero was a traitor. Unable to break free to return the gesture, King watched as they walked out of what he guessed to be rifle range before he stopped fighting and allowed himself to be taken to the strange alien skimmer that passed for transport amongst his captors.