WH40k: Tau Ambush

[08058]

Ambush

Shas'vre Bork'an Ko'shi was troubled by the mission ahead. They weren't trained for this. Normally such missions belonged to the Stealth and Pathfinder teams, but at the moment neither of those were close enough to respond and the enemy was moving fast.

Two hours earlier the enemy had launched a surprise attack to one of the Tau army forward command centres while the leading Ethereal had been on a combined inspection and inspire visit. It was still unclear how they had managed to disable the generators collapsing the whole defence grid and eliminate all personnel in just 30 minutes leaving none behind.

Ko'shi's team was the only one within range to attempt a rescue mission before the convoy disappeared too far behind the enemy battle lines. The Orca was flying on full speed over the seemingly endless green tide of trees. They had been joined by a Tiger Shark II c with a full load of drones.

He read the objectives again from his battlesuits display, they seamed simple enough.

Primary: Rescue captured Ethereal caste member.

Secondary: Destroy the convoy and leave few survivors for interrogation.

He ran the test program again. For the fifth time since they had left the base. He noticed that the Shas'ui Kais and Mont'ka of his team were also nervous. Everyone was checking their weapons and making last preparations for the coming battle. It would pass as ever when they got to the battlefield, it always did. Still he couldn't shake the bad feeling he had.

Then came the report that the drone satellite on orbit had located the convoy moving in the cover of forest towards some hills. Ko'shi changed immediately to video feed. There where four cruel looking Gue'la vehicles with some bike riders in the main convoy and a few skimmers scouting ahead. The drone identified the targets. First was the greatest threat to the mission: a huge tank with three main weapons. From experience he knew that his battlesuit would provide little protection against such weapons so it would have to be taken out first. The last three vehicles where standard troop transports carrying five to ten soldiers each, easy targets. Bikers would be second.

As the Orca closed in on the convoy they finally got the message they had been waiting for. "Thank the Greater Good. Aun'el T'au J'Kaara'shi was alive." His implants were acting as an emergency beacon. He was located in the second vehicle. Ko'shi started to give orders. The Tiger Shark would attack the convoy ahead and deploy heavy gun drones and drones to its right flank. Then it would continue to give fire support and destroy the skimmers with the Fire warriors when they returned to defend the convoy. At the same time the Orca landed in front of the convoy deploying him and his team with twelve fire warriors and five drones. The Fire warriors would defend the dropship while he and his team would make their heavier weaponry and armour count. Two of the drones would deploy antiplant bombs to create a clear line of fire. He would personally retrieve the Aun and return him to the dropship for evacuation. After that they would literally obliterate the convoy. Then get a hold of a few prisoners and head back for the central base. All teams acknowledged. In the name of the Greater Good they would not fail.

Pilot reported that they had five minutes to target. Everyone got ready and the Tiger Shark began the attack run. As planned the convoy was attacked by the Tiger Shark following the deployment of the drones. The bikers and the last vehicle attacked the drones while the rest of the convoy continued onward. Lead vehicle obliterated the two heavy gun drones on its way each disappearing in a bright flash of a coherent laser beam. The Orca landed just behind a small hill on the road. Fire warriors immediately deployed to defend the hill while the drones went ahead with the antiplant bombs. Ko'shi and his team took forward firing positions without hesitation due to years of practice.

The Tiger Shark made its second attack run blowing the tracks from the third vehicle and throwing it off the road. As it got away the lead vehicle opened fire and Ko'shi watched in amazement as the Tiger Shark's left engine exploded in the middle off afterburning. The Air caste pilots ejected seconds before the massive aircraft crashed to the forest. In Ko'shi's display the flyers emblem changed from bright green to black.

Then the lead vehicle appeared from behind the curve some 80 meters ahead and got blasted by no less than six railguns. The solid ammunition passed through the tank like it was paper. The convoy stopped on its tracks in a blinding explosion as the lead vehicle's fuel tanks exploded. Ko'shi was already running with his team when the antiplants exploded levelling the forest to goo within 20 meters. Fire warriors opened fire. The enemy disembarked with a few casualties and took cover behind the second vehicle.

Ko'shi could see the bullets ricocheting from his shield as he ran forward. Kais was hit by a lucky plasma blast blowing his left leg in two. Ko'shi ordered Mont'ka to give fire support and kept running while firing his plasma rifles on full auto forcing the enemy to stay in cover. Then a crude looking Gue'la appeared from behind the vehicle, his left hand replaced with a multimelta. Immediately it was hit by two pulse rifle shots but that didn't even slow it down. Ko'shi couldn't shoot so close to the vehicle fearing he would hit the Ethereal. Mont'ka fired two smart missiles and Kais was trying to get on his feet. Before the missiles hit the twin barrels in the multimelta flashed and Kais' central torso vaporised in a plume of smoke. Then the servitor was no more and Kais' emblem turned black.

The enemy started moving in a tight formation from behind the second vehicle. Ko'shi ordered cease fire immediately on the squad as the Ethereal was in the middle of them. Mont'ka opened fire on the troops that had disembarked from the third transport. Ko'shi's shield generator overloaded and fried as it reflected a shot from the second multimelta servitor. He got to close combat with the enemy. He crushed the servitor with his armoured foot and smashed the space marine on his way with a plasma gun barrel to the back throwing him a few meters away. Then he went for the Ethereal.

Ko'shi shot the two Space Marines carrying the stasis coffin with his plasma rifles and grabbed it. He was holding the Ethereal only to notice that the Space Marine Sergeant had got to his feet and unsheathed his power sword. Ko'shi tried to hit him with his left arm but the marine evaded and without hesitation hacked his right arm to scrap. Few short moments later the stasis coffin dropped to the ground with the stump of a mechanized hand. Ko'shi was at a great disadvantage with his heavier armour and training hadn't readied him for this. He started to panic as the Space Marine evaded his every blow. Ko'shi was bleeding from a serious strike that had got past his battlesuit and a number of systems were failing due to the damage. Then the Sergeant jumped on his chest holding the power sword directly on his head. Suddenly Sergeant's torso exploded to pieces as two well aimed railgun slugs hit him. The lifeless legs fell to the ground. Mont'ka had his name for a reason, Ko'shi thought.

The Space Marine squad from the third Rhino had suffered heavy casualties from Mont'ka's fire. With the brief pause as he shot the Sergeant they returned fire. Mont'ka's shield drone exploded in a hail of reactive bolter shells. He tried to move out of the way. But he never really had a chance. The Rhino's hunter-killer missile had already locked to the target. Ko'shi grabbed the stasis coffin again and turned around to run. He just saw the hunter-killer screaming past and Mont'ka turning in to a fireball as the missile hit him squarely on the chest. Mont'ka tried to get up as Ko'shi ran past him. Then Mont'ka's emblem turned black. Ko'shi ran as fast as he could.

Ko'shi was running faster than he had run in all his life. Nothing could catch him. He could see the bullets as they went past him. Even the shouting in the comnet sounded stretched to moaning. Everything worked in slow motion. He was running and would be on the dropship in seconds. Bullets smashed on his rear armour but they felt as bad as flies hitting the nose of his Piranha back home on the white sandy beaches of Bork'an. Two Gue'la skimmers danced in the air with pulse rifle shots. It seemed beautiful. Soon he would save the Ethereal and he would be promoted to Shas'O for such a service to the Greater Good.

In reality Ko'shi's suit was pumping him full of painkillers and blood coagulates in an alarming rate. He was slouching. The fourth vehicle was firing its twin heavy bolters on his rear armour. And the two returned Tornado pattern Land speeders opened fire on him. The air was full of assault cannon and heavy bolter shells.

The stasis coffin dropped to the ground. Ko'shi's battlesuit was riddled with bullets and a few assault cannon shots passed straight through him. Finally he smashed chest first besides the stasis coffin protecting it from the incoming fire. As he died he thought of the sunrise on the white shores of Bork'an. The sounds of battle disappeared in to the white morning mists that rose from the sea engulfing all.

On orbit a lone drone satellite crashed on the surface of an Iron Hands Space Marine Strike Cruiser as it descended to low orbit to pick up the infiltrators.

[Azured]

Pitkähkö tarina, joka pysyy silti aika hyvin nipussa. Päähenkilö jäi ehkä hiukan etäiseksi, muutama pätkä dialogia olisi tuonut lisää syvyyttä tarinaan ja Ko'shin luonteeseen. Novelliluonteen huomioon ottaen tosin aika turha nillittää moisesta.
Fluffillisesti aika tarkkaan mietitty, en ainakaan mitään virheitä huomannut. Taitaa olla Tau-fluffin yleisimpiä ongelmia noiden nimien keksiminen, Codex kun ei kovin paljoa eväitä siihen anna niin kaikki ovat kovin samankaltaisia.
Arvosana 84/100.

[08058]

Kertokaa ihmiset mitä mietitte. Ei se voi niin pitkä olla, että vain yksi jaksaa lukea loppunasti ja kommentoida.
Maksaa lukemisen vaivan takaisin.

Kiitokset Azuredille.

[-ClasH-]

Erinomainen tarina! Juuri sopivan mittainen ja sopiviin lohkoihin jaettu. En huomannut ainuttakaan kirjoitusvirhettä! Yleensä niitä on ainakin se pari(saattaahan tässäkin olla mutta en vaan huomannut niitä).Toivottavasti kirjoitat lisää Tau aiheisia tarinoita, niitä ei ainakaan liiaksi ole.

[08058]

Erinomainen tarina! Juuri sopivan mittainen ja sopiviin lohkoihin jaettu. En huomannut ainuttakaan kirjoitusvirhettä! Yleensä niitä on ainakin se pari(saattaahan tässäkin olla mutta en vaan huomannut niitä).Toivottavasti kirjoitat lisää Tau aiheisia tarinoita, niitä ei ainakaan liiaksi ole.

Kiitos
Kirjoitusvirheitä on tarkoituksella yritetty karsia useaan otteeseen pois ja tarina on kirjoitettu osittain uusiksi useaan kertaan.

Tau aiheesta en tiedä, mutta jos saan jostain jälleen inspiraation aiheeseen niin mikä ettei.

Nyt on ainakin jotenkuten suunnitteilla IG:n elämän kuvaaminen juoksuhaudassa tai sitten tarina siitä mitä tapahtuu Strike Cruiserissa ennen kuin Marinet Droppodataan taisteluun, itse taisteluistahan tarinoita riittää.
Yrityksenä siis hahmotella Imperiumin sotilaan mietteitä kaikkine rukouksineen ja riitteineen. Imperiumi kuitenkin on vahvasti uskonnollinen. Saa nähdä mitä tulee.