The counter-boarding operation was led by a Fire Caste commander named Kais O'Mont-ka.
Among the relatively short-lived T'au, his combat experience was considered exceptionally rich, including a notable performance during the struggle against the Dark Eldar invasion of Ke'lshan. At this moment, Kais was encased in the ubiquitous XV8 Crisis Battlesuit, staring intensely at the monitor inside his cockpit, focusing on the end of the distant corridor.
125, 124, 123...
The countdown he had just set flickered at the top of the screen, eventually hitting zero. Yet, the corridor before him remained empty; not even a shadow of the intruders had appeared.
What a relief! Kais let out a soft breath. It seemed the worst-case scenario hadn't materialized. The Gue'la (Human) forces that had boarded this Custodian-class carrier hadn't moved as fast as anticipated, thanks to the desperate resistance of his comrades.
However, thinking of those who had followed his orders to block the boarders made his heart heavy. No, I must pull myself together, he thought. Their deaths are meaningful; they died for the Greater Good!
Just as Kais finished his mental preparations, the support units arrived at this vital position exactly as he had calculated. They consisted of two Hunter Cadres, totaling thirty-two soldiers. To counter the incoming threat, they were exceptionally well-equipped: a large number of XV8 Crisis Suits and XV88 Broadside Battlesuits stood in formation, accompanied by a far greater number of Gun Drones than a standard squad.
Under Kais' command, the Fire Caste soldiers rapidly established a fortified interception position. Tidewall Shieldlines were deployed at the front, with Shield Drones hovering behind them. The Heavy Rail Rifles, serving as the heavy firepower anchors, were protected by a cluster of XV8 battlesuits. All weapons were aimed at the corridor entrance, ensuring that anything emerging would be shredded instantly.
"Commander, do you think we can win this time?" A voice, tinged with uncertainty, crackled through the cadre's collective comms channel.
"Of course we can."
As a battle-hardened Fire Caste commander, Kais could already infer from the speed at which the signals of the previous Breacher teams had vanished that the Gue'la boarding force they were about to face was far more powerful than historical military texts suggested. However, to bolster morale, he had to maintain a posture of absolute confidence.
"Rest assured, victory is inevitable. Those Gue'la, stagnant in their decay and decline, are no match for the followers of the Greater Good." To make his point more concrete, he continued, "As practitioners of the Greater Good, you may lack a specific concept of Gue'la stagnation. Take for instance our hero, Commander Puretide.
During the Second Sphere Expansion, he destroyed a mecha the Gue'la call an 'Astartes Dreadnought' on the battlefield. When Commander Puretide scanned the pilot's remains, he was shocked to find that the pilot was at least six thousand years old."
The squad channel fell silent for a moment before a wave of disbelief erupted.
"How is that possible? That means the pilot's lifespan was longer than the entire recorded history of the T'au!" "By the Stars, do they not develop technology at all?" "It must be the result of that ignorant religion..."
Seeing the grim atmosphere dissipate, Kais nodded with satisfaction and summarized: "So, regardless of the circumstances, the Gue'la have nothing to fear except for their long history. Under the guidance of the Aun'ze Ethereal, we shall achieve one victory after another—"
He stopped abruptly, his gaze turning sharp. A red warning flashed on his HUD, and a cold AI voice spoke.
[Warning: Communication jammed by electromagnetic interference. Connection lost!]
How? Electronic jamming from the Gue'la? And it worked? Why hadn't they seen this during the Second Sphere Expansion? Back then, it was Commander Farsight who had used jamming tactics to defeat the Gue'la Crusade on the ground!
And—his pupils shrank violently. How is the interference this strong? Even our current technology can't defend against it!
The built-in holographic displays of the XV8 suits were instantly flooded with gibberish. The AI support systems went offline under the enemy's electronic warfare attack, forcing Kais to switch to manual mode.
Beside him, the once-orderly Drone swarms began to malfunction. Some crashed into the deck; others even turned their weapons toward the Fire Caste soldiers and opened fire!
Amidst the chaos, the Hunter Cadre members fired back, painfully destroying their own haywire drones. To make matters worse, the enemy appeared at the corridor corner at that exact moment.
Wait. Those weren't any Gue'la units mentioned in historical records. They were unstoppable iron giants.
The Fire Caste warriors opened fire in a panic. The blue flares of ion cannons and heavy rail rifles illuminated the entire corridor. Even without AI assistance, at such close range, it was impossible to miss.
However, it was futile. The Domitar-class robots strode forward in silence, their flare shields shimmering with dense ripples, yet they remained standing. Once they reached a certain distance, they raised their weapons. Terrifying melta beams from their Coronas Las-burners erupted, piercing through the Tidewall Shieldlines at point-blank range and turning most of the front-line warriors into ash.
The warriors in the rear didn't even have time to register horror before their expressions froze in death. Green bolts from Neural Shredders fired from the rear—where there should have been no threat—penetrated their battlesuits as if ignoring armor entirely, turning their nervous systems into piles of sludge.
This is impossible! Kais managed to maneuver his battlesuit to dodge a lethal strike, throwing himself to the ground. He fired his pulse carbine behind him, and through the suppressing fire, he saw enemy snipers vanish into green portals they had opened on the spot.
The fact that his team had been wiped out in an instant brought a massive psychological shock, leaving Kais dazed and incredulous.
This isn't how the history books said the battle would go. You're supposed to shout 'For the Emperor,' cling to your ignorant faith, and charge fearlessly like a tide, only to be annihilated by our high-tech firepower. That is how the superiority of the T'au Empire is proven! I cannot accept this! I will NOT accept this!
But Kais had no more time for idle thoughts. Inevitable death had arrived.
He looked up with difficulty. Under the cold lights of the corridor, the massive shadow cast by the Domitar robot completely eclipsed his prone XV8 suit. Without mercy, the Cybernetica construct threw a punch, the glow of the power fist's disruption field flashing briefly.
BOOM!
The battlesuit made of advanced nanomaterials offered no resistance. In a single instant, most of Kais's body exploded. Metal shards mixed with blue blood, splattering across half the corridor wall like a radial painting.
In the center of the squad, Yarrick calmly withdrew his gaze. The death of a xeno commander wasn't worth much of his attention. As he walked, he casually dropped a canister-like device—a scrapcode emitter he had temporarily assembled using the knowledge in his mind.
This emitter, rooted in the Old Ones' tech and enhanced by both humanity and Necrons, was essentially an "out-of-context" tactical strike in this environment.
A moment later, the boarding squad—like a black flood—trampled over the xeno corpses. The rhythmic thud of metal boots against the alloy deck left only a trail of wreckage behind. After smashing through this line of defense, Yarrick and his team encountered no further effective resistance. They carved through the ship as if it were a vacuum until a set of massive doors appeared before them.
Yarrick swung his gargantuan power claw. The screeching roar of rending metal exploded through the space. Through the jagged hole in the doors, he clearly saw the T'au Ethereal High Command on the bridge, their faces a tapestry of horror, shock, despair, numbness, and forced calm.
Yarrick stepped through the gap. Electric sparks showered down onto his collar, making him look as if he were draped in a silver battle-cloak.
"Which of you is the Ethereal?" he asked loudly.
Even though Yarrick didn't use the T'au language, the high-ranking xenos—who had been in frequent contact with humans for a century—could not possibly fail to understand. Of course, they also felt extreme shame and sorrow at this reality.
"I... am."
Aun'ze Ethereal mustered his courage, stood up, and gripped the Honor Blade at his waist. "I believe there must be some misunderstanding. In this galaxy, is there no other way to communicate besides war? As an Ethereal, I feel that in most cases, our two races can use more peaceful means to resolve—"
He stopped. There was no point in continuing. The Gue'la before him clearly had no intention of listening. To Yarrick, the words of a xeno on the brink of death were merely noise.
For the task assigned by Lord Adam, Yarrick strode directly toward the Ethereal.
Damn it! I knew it! Aun'ze thought. These Gue'la have nothing but war in their heads! Their empire is xenophobic to the extreme, sometimes even cruel to their own kind; they don't understand peace or civilization at all!
Watching the figure with the terrifying claw approach, Aun'ze could no longer bear it and let out a shriek. "Stop! Protect me, for the Greater Good!"
As he screamed, the eyes of every T'au in the vicinity turned bloodshot.
Oh? Yarrick thought. The enemy doesn't surrender, but attempts to strike back? His pace did not falter.
"For the Greater Good!" An Air Caste member leaped from his seat with reckless abandon, brandishing a small knife as he lunged at the Gue'la threatening the Ethereal.
Squelch.
The thick mechanical claw pierced through the xeno's slender chest, the sharp tips emerging from his back, dripping with pulpy viscera. Yarrick looked around and saw the xenos descending into a frenzy, pulling out various weapons. A grim, terrifying smile twisted his scarred face.
He tilted his head slightly, and a searing beam shot from his bionic eye. Like an invisible scythe, it sliced through a dozen T'au who hadn't even drawn their weapons, sending heads rolling across the floor. Then, ignoring the micro-plasma bolts of pulse rifles splashing against his shields, Yarrick raised his storm bolter with his left hand and pulled the trigger. Another violent explosion erupted, and the nascent resistance was utterly annihilated.
This wasn't a battle. It was a massacre.
Aun'ze fell into a pool of blue blood, scrambling backward with his hands in a futile attempt to distance himself from this terrifying butcher. But the butcher continued to close in. Finally, he ceased his useless effort and tried to speak again: "This does not conform to the Greater Good... we can live in harmony... all races need to unite—"
Yarrick was almost amused by the xeno's stubborn hypocrisy. Did you think I didn't see you controlling those other xenos just now? he thought. These hollow words are an insult to my intelligence.
Without hesitation, he pulled out a pre-prepared Warp Beacon and sent a signal through his mental link. You can save your talk for Lord Adam!
Piercing Warp-light instantly swallowed the Ethereal's vision. He felt as if he had entered a high-speed centrifuge. After a world-turning sensation, the scene before him changed abruptly.
Dismal light shone upon Aun'ze. He squinted, trying to observe his surroundings, and realized with clarity that he was no longer on the Custodian-class carrier. He was on the bridge of a Gue'la vessel. Dozens of tall, golden-armored figures holding spears fixed their gazes upon him—the meaning in those eyes made the Ethereal's blood run cold.
Beside the Ethereal, Sybil slowly sheathed her force sword, her psionic aura vanishing completely. She nodded toward the command throne. "Lord Adam, the Ethereal has arrived."
Almost in the blink of an eye, a figure appeared before the Ethereal without warning, startling him. Is this... the leader of this Gue'la fleet?
The Ethereal had assumed that the leader of such a powerful fleet would either be one of those "Angels of Death," a high-ranking commander, or at the very least, a jewel-encrusted Rogue Trader. Yet, such an ordinary-looking human was the leader?
Adam looked the Ethereal over and smiled slightly. "Ethereal, on our home planet, Terra, there is an old saying: 'Those who recognize the trends are wise.'"
"I wonder... have you heard it before?"