Shas'o

by Various

  Dozens of human soldiers in green-brown fatigues spilled from the base in pursuit. Sas’la kept running, his rifle clutched tight to his chest, the gap between him and his pursuers widening as they scanned for emergent threats. If he was lucky he would make it into the forest, and felt the calming swell of hope as he began to think that perhaps–

  Five yellow-armoured warriors descended on pillars of fire, landing in tight formation around Sas’la. Without pause, he swung his rifle up to fire. No sooner was it shouldered than a roaring chainsword stung out and sheared the barrel in half.

  ‘The fire consume us both!’ shouted Sas’la.

  Kal’va’s body tensed as he watched Sas’la reach for the grenade on his belt.

  ‘No!’ screamed Kal’va.

  A single round struck Sas’la full in the face, punching through his armoured helm and driving his brains out through the back of his skull.

  NOW

  Kal’va unclipped Sas’la’s helmet and turned it over in his hands, running his fingers over the ragged hole in the faceplate.

  ‘Your lessons were well learned, shas’ui,’ he said, touching the helmet to his temple before he respectfully replaced it on his belt.

  Turning his attention back to the drone controller, Kal’va activated the squadron of shield drones he’d dispatched to the Arav’la Pass ahead of the human convoy. It was a risky strategy, but he was certain that the drones’ power output was too slight to register on the human scanners.

  His helm’s tactical overlay flickered as it updated. Kal’va allowed himself a smile. The display showed no change. The icon denoting the convoy continued to blink as it edged towards the pass. He watched it a moment, taking joy in the deception.

  Kal’va adjusted the drones’ power output, pushing it up past maximum. The shield drones flashed onto his overlay, their increased energy signatures making them appear like a squadron of battle tanks. The drones would soon overload and short out, but Kal’va was confident they’d last long enough to convince the humans to alter course.

  He cycled back through the visual feeds from the spotter drones overlooking the convoy. It had stopped. Activating the nearest drone’s vocal sensors, Kal’va scanned the rear-most carrier for sound. There was a hiss of static before fragmentary words resolved in the human language.

  ‘By the Emperor…’

  ‘We’ve stopped.’

  ‘We can’t be there already.’

  The voices sounded confused. They were without clarity or purpose. Kal’va cut the feed and directed the drone to scan the next carrier.

  ‘Trooper, vox ahead and find out what in the Emperor’s name is going on.’

  The voice was authoritative but Kal’va detected anxiety. It was not the one.

  ‘Enemy formations detected ahead.’

  ‘How many?’

  ‘Hard to tell, sir. Looks like a squadron of vehicles. Could be armour.’

  The third carrier was a hive of audio signals, but there was too much indecision – the target would have been firmer, more decisive. The drone shifted its scanner to the lead carrier. All that Kal’va could hear was a faint whisper of static.

  ‘Nothing?’ he muttered to himself as he edged the drone closer to the convoy, trusting in its stealth field to disguise its presence. Easing his fingers across the control panel, Kal’va fine-tuned the drone’s sensors.

  A small spike of data chimed on his display as the drone picked up a trace of audio. Kal’va examined the signal. It was as if the sound was locked within something that sat inside the vehicle: a shell within a shell. He smiled.

  ‘Found you.’

  Sending the drone back into the clouds, Kal’va watched as the bipedal scout vehicles split off from the convoy. Sentinels. The walkers were moving at speed towards the phantom energy signatures he’d created.

  ‘Predictable.’

  Sending the drone gliding after them, Kal’va watched as the clumsy walkers bounded across the plain towards his over-charged shield drones. The drone fed Kal’va a stream of audio from the walkers.

  ‘One grid out, no enemy contact. Advancing.’

  The hydraulics and pistons in the walkers’ legs fired bursts of gas that made them sound like a pair of panting kroot hounds as they sped up.

  ‘Approaching grid two.’

  A warning glyph stained Kal’va’s display as the walker’s weapons cycled for firing.

  ‘Turning into grid three.’

  Kal’va let his hands dart across his control console, activating the three heavy gun drones that lay in wait for the walkers. The drones glided up from the ground like leaves in the wind. Idling at attack height, the drones performed system checks and cycled their burst cannons. The weapons were primarily designed to shred enemy infantry formations and were unlikely to critically damage the walkers, but burst cannons threw out a blistering number of shots and made a lot of noise, making them more than adequate for Kal’va’s needs.

  The three blue signals on Kal’va’s display blinked twice: the drones were ready.

  ‘For the Greater Good,’ he said.

  Using the markerlight on the hovering spotter drone, Kal’va fed targeting information to the gun drones and ordered them to attack.

  The three drones sliced through the air in front of the walkers, burst cannons chattering into life as they dowsed them in a hail of energy bolts.

  ‘Enemy!’ The lead pilot thumbed the trigger on his control stick and let loose with his autocannon.

  ‘Left!’ The second walker spun in an attempt to track the drones, stitching a line of carnage across the hillside with its blazing weapon.

  The drones split up, encircling the walkers, firing and displacing before the pilots could draw a bead on them.

  The lead sentinel pilot voxed a hurried update to the convoy.

  ‘We’re under heavy fire. Multiple enemy units dug into the hillside. They have us surrounded.’

  ‘Classification?’

  ‘No confirmed visual. All we can see is the flash from their Emperor-damned weapons!’

  The two sentinels formed up back to back, turning clockwise together in a brutal dance as their weapons continued to kick out rounds.

  ‘Enemy armour?’ asked their commander.

  ‘No sign of any yet. Best guess, infantry with light munitions.’

  Kal’va switched his viewer to the targeting feed from one of the gun drones. Cutting the power to the drone’s weapons, he routed all of its energy to its propulsion system, and propelled it at full speed towards the sentinels.

  ‘Victory through sacrifice,’ said Kav’la. Tapping on the controller, he ordered the drone to self-destruct.

  It exploded before it could collide with the lead walker.

  ‘Correction,’ said the lead sentinel pilot. ‘Heavy rounds incoming. Possible armour.’

  ‘Pull back,’ ordered the commander. ‘Regroup now.’

  ‘Sir.’

  The walkers stopped firing, turned around and loped back towards the convoy.

  Rejoined by the bipedal vehicles, the convoy abandoned their previous route and headed towards the forest.

  Kal’va’s spotter drones fed him a constant stream of information as they tracked the Imperial vehicles.

  The terrain was rough, forcing the tanks to slow to a crawl. The ground was marred by deep craters and the remnants of the massive trees that had once covered eighty per cent of the planet’s surface. The wood from their trunks was ideal for reinforcing the assortment of earthworks popular with humans, and a great many of them had been felled over the course of the conflict.

  The convoy slowed further as it advanced, hindered by the wreckage of both tau and Imperial battle tanks.

  Kal’va recognised the markings on one of the ruined Hammerheads – a black circle bisected by a crimson spear. It belonged to the Ka
is’shi, an elite fire warrior cadre who excelled in armoured warfare. The humans would have suffered in taking the pass.

  He watched the convoy as it traversed the forest and emerged in the low-sided valley beyond. A kink in the rockline forced the tanks to slow almost to a stop, their hulls sparking as they squeezed along the narrow path.

  ‘Lead stopping. Watch for threats,’ said one of the humans inside the vehicles.

  The lead battle tank signalled back down the line as it slowed to a stop. The path immediately ahead of the convoy was barred by the burned-out shell of a huge battle tank and the rotting carcasses of dozens of great knarlocs.

  ‘Emperor’s Wrath, clearing a way through.’

  Kal’va listened to the vox transmission from the lead tank as it broke formation and rumbled forward, its hull-mounted weapon setting the ground ablaze. Great sheets of liquid fire washed harmlessly over the wrecked tank hull, robbing the knarloc carcasses of their flesh and turning their bones to ash.

  Angling its dozer blade, the Emperor’s Wrath crashed into the side of its stricken cousin, its tracks spitting mud into the air as they struggled against the dead weight of the massive vehicle. After several moments, the smaller tank edged the wreck aside enough to allow the convoy to pass.

  ‘Obstruction cleared. Checking ahead.’

  The Emperor’s Wrath continued forward while the rest of the tanks waited, the walkers buzzing up and down the convoy’s flanks like impatient vespid.

  ‘Not long now,’ Kal’va said to the sniper drone hovering by his head, patting its rail rifle by way of emphasis.

  The Wrath stopped in front of a line of tooth-shaped barriers and voxed its report.

  ‘Armoured tank traps ahead,’ hissed the feed from the spotter drone.

  ‘Pull back seven yards,’ said a new voice across the comms, deep and resonant. The Wrath pulled back.

  Kal’va smiled and tasked one of the spotter drones to survey the forward transport. The feed on his helm display distorted for a moment as the drone refocused. The hydraulics at the base of the carrier’s door fired, lowering the ramp until it met the earth with a dull thud that tossed dust into the air. There was a figure in the doorway, bent double in order that the carrier could accommodate its massive bulk. The figure straightened and strode down the ramp.

  Through his drone, Kal’va looked closer. The giant was encased in sun-golden armour, his breastplate stamped with an ash-black eagle. Impossibly large pauldrons crowned his titanic shoulders, the left emblazoned with a single black fist.

  Kal’va had been right before. The lead carrier contained his target.

  Space Marine. Highly resistant to damage. Heavy ordnance and rail weaponry recommended. He ignored the tactical data streaming from the drone and touched his hand to Sas’la’s helmet, his fingers lingering over the hole in the faceplate. He knew exactly how dangerous they were.

  The Space Marine pulled out a hand-held device and began scanning for threats. As a precaution, Kal’va shut down all of his low-level drones, leaving only the one in the sky active. He knew of more than one pathfinder team who had thought themselves hidden in ambush, only to be detected and slaughtered by Space Marines.

  Kal’va felt his fists bunch in controlled rage, the barking round that had ended Sas’la still ringing in his mind.

  You must be the scope, never the muzzle. Passive and observant, it is you who must show who death can take. Kal’va let Sas’la’s words calm him. The shas’ui had always known how to temper his subordinate’s fire.

  ‘The earth keep you with me,’ he whispered.

  ‘Scans are clear,’ said the Space Marine. ‘No explosive devices detected.’ The huge warrior approached a fallen knarloc that lay slumped over the tank traps, and clamped his crushing gauntlets around the beast’s face.

  The spotter drone detected the faintest hint of sound as micro-servos in the Space Marine’s armour lent him the strength to drag the beast out of the way.

  The giant figure knelt next to the trap and used his hands to dig away some of the earth around its base. A warning flashed across Kal’va’s display as the warrior affixed a bulky cylinder to the tank trap. Ignoring it, he watched as the Space Marine took a step back.

  A moment later, the charge detonated, obliterating the tank trap and showering the area with fiery rock and bone shrapnel. Kal’va winced as he remodulated the drone’s transmitter.

  ‘Commander K’yna, the humans have passed the final obstacle,’ he said.

  ‘You have held them long enough,’ said K’yna. ‘We have exited the area. I free you from duty. Now do as you must.’

  Kal’va nodded and cut the feed. There was nothing more to be said. He would have his vengeance.

  EARLIER

  Sas’la’s body hit the ground, the blip denoting him on Kal’va’s display blinking out.

  ‘Kal’va, follow!’ bellowed Or’sha as he rose from concealment, his rail rifle tucked tight against his chin.

  ‘Or’sha, don’t!’

  ‘By the Eternal Circle!’ Or’sha’s first round struck Sas’la’s killer in the chest, blasting a chunk from his armour and rocking him backwards. His second finished the job, cutting clean through the Space Marine’s neck.

  ‘Dar’va,’ spat Kal’va as he pushed up onto his feet. He would not let Or’sha die alone. ‘For the Greater Good!’

  The pair of snipers advanced through the long grass at pace, firing with every step. Sas’la’s murderers turned to respond, but were overwhelmed by the torrent of rail rounds that crashed against their armoured breastplates, shoulder guards and helmets. They died without firing a shot.

  ‘Or’sha!’ Kal’va motioned to their west as threat icons swam onto his display. ‘Enemy.’

  As one, he and Or’sha pivoted to their left, ejecting the spent power packs from their rifles and slamming in fresh ones without breaking stride.

  ‘There!’ Or’sha motioned to the press of yellow armour emerging over the ridge.

  Three more Space Marines were caught off guard and gunned down, dead before they could react. The rest took cover behind some large rocks and returned fire.

  ‘Keep them pinned,’ grunted Or’sha.

  Kal’va fired another round. ‘We cannot stay here,’ he said.

  ‘What do you suggest?’

  ‘We go forward.’ Kal’va detached a photon grenade from his belt and threw it over-arm towards the Space Marines. The grenade exploded in a cacophony of sound and multi-spectrum light. The Space Marines stumbled from cover, disorientated, and fired blind.

  Kal’va and Or’sha dived forward under the fusillade of rounds, rolling as they landed, rising with their weapons ready. Sighting down their rifles, they executed the remainder of the Space Marines with cold efficiency, firing single rounds through each of their skulls.

  ‘Forward,’ urged Or’sha. ‘We can still engage the target.’ He pivoted to his right and turned back towards the human compound.

  Kal’va nodded, fed his last power pack into his rifle and kept pace behind Or’sha. He wondered how much further they would get.

  A blue flash tore through the trees ahead of them, striking the ground beside Or’sha and burning away the meat of his thigh. He called out in pain as the wound forced him onto one knee.

  Red warnings filled Kal’va’s display as the number of enemy approaching grew by the second.

  ‘Kal’va, finish thi–’ Or’sha was cut short as a bolt-round exploded through his chest.

  ‘No!’ Kal’va opened fire, ignorant of his dwindling ammunition as he blasted away at the trees. He ceased firing as his rifle chimed in warning. He had only one round left.

  A hulking figure emerged from between the ruined trees. Its segmented armour was thicker, forged of heavier plate than that worn by the other Space Marines, and the colour of spilled blood.

  A strobing
identification icon blinked on Kal’va’s helm display – the target had come to him.

  ‘Duty and vengeance,’ he said.

  Sighting between the giant Space Marine’s glowering eyes, he fired.

  His round burst in the air a hand’s span before the target, absorbed by a crackling energy field.

  The Space Marine laughed, raising his glowing pistol and sending a bolt of blue energy towards Kal’va.

  NOW

  Kal’va ignored the warning, still lost to the past. He had never stopped questioning how he had managed to survive that day. That the auns had willed it should have been enough. But something within him needed to know what had drawn the Space Marines away. He needed to know that his fate was determined by his skill and his rifle.

  The second chime broke him from his reverie – the convoy was approaching.

  ‘To see and not act is to dream,’ he recited. ‘To act is to burn with life. In the auns’ name, we light the fire.’ He whispered the oath of battle and activated the remainder of the drone squadrons he had deployed around the valley.

  To his left, a sniper drone whistled twice, requesting targeting information.

  ‘Patience, Two,’ he murmured, stroking the sleek curve of the drone’s body. ‘You will kill soon.’

  He worked the dials of the drone controller, marking deployment coordinates and attack trajectories for the sniper and gun drones, and directed the trio of shield bearers to form a loose perimeter around him.

  The drones chimed in acknowledgement and glided off to fulfil his commands.

  Leaving the controller at the top of the ridge, Kal’va eased down onto his belly, and crawled down the embankment to his rifle.

  Nestling the weapon against his cheek, he activated the scope. Looking through the scope, he saw the enemy for the first time. Despite himself, he was impressed that the convoy had held formation over such trying terrain, the troop carriers remaining sandwiched between the battle tanks and the walkers stalking their flanks.

  ‘Steady as earth.’ Kal’va began the rite of firing. ‘Fluid like water.’ He reached forward with his left hand and stroked the rifle’s barrel. ‘Whisper like air.’ Making a final adjustment to the scope, he activated the gun’s underslung markerlight.