Out in the stormy night where the full might of the imperial force is mobilizing to meet the enemy at a large valley where it is the only path for the mechanized warmachine to move effectively. Using valkyrie dropships would have been more efficient but the eldar point defense was too thick for any valkyrie to land safely.
Therefore Col. Trajan has proposed that they should drive the force of the 1st heavy infantry company walk to this valley along with the armored company escorting them. Then he would have the Cadian shock troops to explore the mountains range that were separating them and the eldar. And he would lastly ordered the Catachans to scout the surrounding forest as they were more adept in jungled environments. Everything was going well after the previous battle with the eldar that were at the Ollaneous bunker was a massive success.
Col. Trajan has to do and wait for this new strike force to come back to HQ then be done with it. He was now expecting the eldar to retaliate since he has destroyed their base of operations. As long as he has the sufficient manpower to keep the eldar at bay while waiting for reinforcements to arrive for a resupply. All that was left is to leave the troops on the ground to do the dirty work.
8 hours before the mobilization
Castor and Felix were the first to scout while the squad stayed behind as they travel through the dense forest while the Skitarii ranger was up ahead them. Leading the way as he paves the way to search for any eldar activity by one of their tech-priest masters orders. Its red coated fur doesn't blend in with the environment as it stands out unlike me and Felix's camouflage tunics. Along with their flak armor also being camo — the Mechanicum are a weird bunch.
The Skitarii ranger suddenly stops as it gives the gesture to halt with its hand up. Then looks to the left and right, but when it was done searching around. It tolds us to keep our guard up as it says there are eldar scouts somewhere in our general vicinity. This alarmed Felix and points his plasma gun in whatever direction the eldar could pounce at him.
I don't know why Felix was assign to a plasma gun since its only meant for heavy armor and bunkers. So I'll keep my distance away if it ever blows then that would be Felix's fault for eagerly accepting this dangerous weapon. Even the rest of my squad was keeping it away from them and Felix was confused as to why they are distancing themselves from him.
The answer was obvious Felix, you have a weapon that would likely blow up your entire torso if you overheat it. But nevertheless, we continued on our scouting mission. Everything was fine when suddenly the Skitarii ranger was hit in the head by what seems to be a shuriken crystal. Due to it having the after effect of real crystals breaking. We took cover immediately, under the shelter of a huge boulder behind them.
"Eldar..." Felix grimly said as he huffs in anxiety. We were about to fall back when the Skitarii ranger suddenly rose up the ground and started chanting something that I couldn't understand.
"01000011 01001111 01001101 01000101 00100000 01001000 01000101 01010010 01000101 00100000 01011001 01001111 01010101 00100000 01001011 01001110 01001001 01000110 01000101 00100000 01000101 01000001 01010010 01000101 01000100 00100000 01000010 01001001 01010100 01000011 01001000 00100001 [Translated: COME HERE YOU KNIFE EARED BITCH!]" It shouted in binary but in a way that no life-form can comprehend unless you have binary implants.
Which Castor thought to himself would rather pass the augmentation process as he doesn't want his throat to be remove. It's mechanized legs were grinding its gears as it dashed towards who knows where that thing is going. While me and Felix were left alone to deal with the eldar that has its eye on us. I don't who or what its intentions are but I am certain that it is here to kill us so the best course of action to think is to find a way to...
"RUN FOR IT!" Felix screamed as he runs away from the cover of the rock.
"Felix! You're going the wrong way! Go to the right!" Castor yelled and instructs Felix to go to the right way.
When Felix took a sharp turn; he suddenly fell, face forward to the ground. All while a shuriken shard pass through him when he fell behind to a tree next to bush. I knew Felix would run so I told him to take the right and let him fall down since it was the same rock that he fell a while ago. Rule No. 1 when it comes to reconnaissance, always memories your surroundings.
Castor takes in deep breaths, readies his lasgun and removes his helmet as a decoy if their sniper is still around. Patiently waiting for his helmet to be shot while he yells at Felix to stay put. Shivering from the neck down, Castor tensely sweats as he strenuously holds the helm for 30s until a spark of crystals hits it as it creates a spark when it collides with the flak. He immediately withdraws, retrieving his helmet and inspects the damage that it caused.
It only left a small scratch to the sides, it could possibly a form of deception from the sniper. Classic eldar tactics as it fools the one being shot to know that his armor is impenetrable. I know it because my previous squad mate died thanks to this tactic. Always the clever trickster they are.
"Hey... Castor is it still there?" Felix whispered as if the enemy would hear us from this far.
"Yeah it is but where in the warp is that Skitarii?" Castor said leaning a bit closer to the rock. Wondering where is their scout buddy at.
"Let's make a breakthrough while I create some smoke." Felix said as he pulls in 2 smoke grenades on his pocket.
I spun my head as a sign of disapproval but Felix ignored me, so he pulls the pin and throws it at the right side where its only a few feet away from me. I immediately took cover and the smoke grenade burst a fog of misty air to my surroundings, temporarily blinding me as I closed my eyes shut. Once the smog covered 5 ft (152.4 cm) of ground, Felix immediately started running in a frantic motion. I follow suit as fast as my human legs can go. Not looking back as if the eldar was chasing after me.
*****
"Foolish Mon'Keigh. You are only making my job easier." An eldar ranger said as she points her lense towards the back of Castor and slowly pulls the trigger.
Although unbeknownst to her, before she could fire her weapon. The Skitarii ranger that she shot was 20 meters away from her as it fires the galvanic rifle. The shot perfectly hits the eldar rangers head as she explodes from the rounds that fired it. The Skitarii lifts itself up from its position and goes back to the two guardsman that it was assign to. While it was walking its mechanical limbs downward from the small hill that it took.
An eldar Banshee suddenly appeared and she dashed towards the Skitarii who by now reacted swiftly as it aims it galvanic rifle at her. This however was countered when the banshee shot her shuriken pistol at the edge of the cliff where the Skitarii ranger was standing. It quickly created a chain reaction where the entire cliff started to fall apart. Causing a landslide but this didn't deterd the Skitarii for it was still aiming perfectly at the banshee despite the motion.
The Skitarii ranger fires it's servitor-bullets that are highly lethal hence why the eldar ranger it killed exploded. However, the banshee made a sharp turn as it dodges the round with elegant speed. The banshee then activates her banshee mask as the Skitarii was now paralyzed by the effects that the mask initiated. Now seeing an opening the Banshee then cleaved the Skitarii in half through its abdomen as it falls along with the remaining debris that the banshee created. All of this was taken only under 30s and the banshee gracefully jumps from a large rock and hops back to the safe, stable ground.
"Aemylth! Are you alright?" Elris said as she sprinted towards her companion who was standing on the rock that the two guardsman were hiding before they make a run for it.
"I am alright Elris, you don't have to worry for I am but naught scratch." Aemylth said as she reassured her friend through the mask. This made Elris sigh in relief and comes closer to her slowly this time.
"What about Lana, is she alright?" Elris said as she made looks into the banshee mask of her comrade. The latter swayed her head left to right and it made Elris gulp in bitter sadness to the death of her sister.
Aemylth broke the trance depression of Elris as she told her that they must go find the other Mon'Keigh. She nodded in approval as two hunters walk into different paths, Elris heading to the east where there is a skirmish going on with the robotic Mon'Keigh while Aemylth goes to the north where the other two Mon'Keigh were running.
At first Elris was the one that proposed she could ran after the two Humans but Aemylth interjected and said they should switch. Explaining that she could handle two Mon'Keigh by herself whilst she joins the skirmish. It was strange since she is a Howling Banshee that was perfect for small skirmishes, Elris eventually agreed since she is a bit emotional after she witness her sisters fall. They then head towards the places they were assign.
*****
Huffing till their breaths can no longer handle the stress of running in the thick, lush forest that was away from them once they reach to a suitable place for them to rest. They stayed and nestled themselves by a tree and put down the heavy equipment they were holding. I told Felix to drop the plasma gun down gently as to not make an explosion that would result in the death for the both of them.
Castor drops down and readies the lasgun in his hands — prepares the frag grenade in case they encounter another eldar ranger or even any of the aspect warriors that he, himself fought before. He prays that it isn't a howling banshee or striking scorpion because those two are the most difficult to fight but if it's a warp spider then its the end of the line for them. After catching their breaths for 2 minutes, Castor gets himself up and packs his gear as he trods away from Felix.
"Hey, Lorr. *Huff* where are you going? Isn't base camp that way?" Felix inquired to Castor as he points to the north with his thumb.
"I have to buy you some time so you can report to Sarg. about what happened and besides, I have to find where our toaster lover went." Said Castor, putting his lasrifle into firing position. "I'll catch up ahead of you." He added with resolve.
"Ok... but if your not back in 1 hour then I'll tell them that you died to some grox manure." Felix jokingly said as he gets up and waves him a goodbye at his back without turning.
As soon as I can no longer hear the sound of dead leaves crushing, Castor immediately starts to cautiously walk to where they left their hunter. Now he's going to find a spot where he can have a vantage point. So that when that eldar comes and goes after them. Then he'll distract it for a good long minute and lure it towards where his squad is stationed and only then would he have a fighting chance against the eldar alone.
So Castor went towards the hills where his camouflage armor can be hidden if he stays there long enough to draw its attention. But misfortune struck him as he hears wings fluttering. He looks above and sees a giant birdlike creature hovering above him with feathers so dark he thought it was one of the mythical beast of legend back in his homeworld but this wasn't Hadria, it was in Achilles.
It instantly spotted Castor and made a deep dive to him. He narrowly dodge the creatures sharp yellow beak and rolls over to cover, dropping his lasgun in the process. As well as his helmet that he removed right when the creature destroyed it in with it's large and sharp beak. It forced the creatures beak to be stuck on the ground temporarily as it struggles to lift back up inch by inch.
Now defenseless, all Castor can now is run but when he got up. He was suddenly paralyzed by an insect that is reminiscent to a scorpion. Castor said one word that everyone would say in a situation like this...
"S*it..." Was the word that came out of his mouth.
While the large bird like creature that he estimates it to be 4 meters in height and 9 meters in width (including the wings) was now freed from the ground. It looks at the paralyzed Castor as I squirms like a wobbly worm, trying to flee away from it. The black bird didn't hesitates to grab Castor's right leg and swung him to a dirt straight wall that has a cliff 20 feet above him. He spurts out blood and struggles to get up and make a run for it but the paralysis didn't subside as he could barely move his leg.
Feeling the stinging pain in his back as he crawls into a sitting position, trying to get a comfortable position as he breathes heavily from his lungs. Holding onto the unfinished wooden sculpture that he had in his right shoulder pocket. Castor giggles and strenuously picks up one frag grenade. The other one must have fallen off like the rest of his gear so if he could throw it at that abominable creatures mouth then maybe he could have enough time for the paralysis to wore off its effects but how long?
Castor didn't have the time to think about that possibility as the creature approaches him with fast pace. He pulls the pin and readies to throw it once the giant bird opens its mouth. It did what Castor expected it would, the black giant bird opens it beak and dashes at him like a squig. Seeing his opportunity to victory, he throws it with all the might he could muster thanks to the paralysis.
But it didn't go to what he had planned — the giant bird as if it had a mind on its own after it sees the frag grenade that was thrown towards it and knocks it out of the way. The frag hits its timer and explodes 8 ft away from the creature as it creates a small burst of flying dirt that slightly alarmed the creature and forced Castor to shield his eyes.
When there was no more dirt left in the air around him. Castor opens his eyes and all he could see was the giant birds beak in front of him and then pierced through a layer of muscle in his right arm. It then lifted him up in the air like a rag doll as it sways from left to right. Deepening the wound that it had made, causing Castor to scream in excruciating pain as it continues to play with its food.
*****
Meanwhile at the edge of the forest where Castor's squad was station.
Czevak was monitoring the area as it was his turn to do sentry duty outside of the tent with open sides that they've prepared. He yawns in boredom as he stands there until Sgt. Anya tells him to stop while Domitian preps the Vox-Caster as a means to communicate to the rest of their platoon and Anya just sitting with her legs on the table. There were 3 Skitarii rangers that were assign to them as it meant they could further stealthily cover more ground while we escort the rangers as support. I still don't know why they gave Felix a bloody plasma gun but it nevertheless were their orders to stage a reconnaissance outpost in the middle of nowhere. Right when his shift was minutes away from done — Czevak could see blue light glowing in the distance. It could be Felix and Castor cause who else would have a glowing bomb with them.
"Hey fellas! I think those two are done with their reconnaissance and- *Puff!*" Right when Czevak was in the middle of yelling to Sgt. Anya and Domitian. Felix suddenly bumps into Czevak to the ground as he was tired from running non-stop. "Woah! Easy there, you got yourself a ticking time-bomb! Get off of me you farmboy!" Czevak screamed as he lifts Felix off from his torso. While Anya and Domitian ran outside of the tent as they saw Felix pushed Czevak to the ground.
"What happened?! Where's Castor and that weird tech-priest servant who likes toasters?" said Sgt. Anya as she dash towards the debilitated Felix. Except the other 2 Skitarii who are too busy arguing which model of toaster that looks the best.
"*Huff* We... *huff* found eldar... but your not gonna like what he did..." Felix said as he stutters in exhaustion. This made all 3 of them have a grimace look on their faces as they met their eyes.
"Heh, sometimes, I don't know if he's trying to kill himself or its just so he could have a noble facade." Czevak remarks jokingly as he lifts Felix up. "Hey, Domitian. Could you kindly pick up his plasma gun." He added as he grapples Felix up so he could put him inside the shelter of the tent.
"Um... why is that glowing iridescently as if its trying to blow my legs off?" Domitian said before he touched the plasma gun with his index finger.
"Take cover!" Sgt. Anya screams and pulls the 4 of them 3 yards away from the plasma gun as it glows brighter and brighter. Then It exploded as the after shock caused the native birds to fly away from their nest. The 2 Skitarii however, came to Sgt. Anya and the gang with what appears to be a thick silver round roll on one of their hands. She lifts her head up and said "What?" with a stern expression.
"Needs some duck-tape?" It coldly said in low-gothic and speaks with a robotic tone as it faces her while the latter just scoffs, rolls her eyes and drops her head on the ground, face first. The two Skitarii nods as a sign of [I'll take that as a yes] sort of way.
*****
Back at the forest, Castor is gripping the pierced arm as a way to keep it intact while the giant black birds beak cuts through deeper. Castor is now feeling drowsy as a result of blood loss. He bats the beak of the monster as a sign of spite and resentment but to no avail as I begin lose my consciousness but before my head goes blank. The giant bird unexpectedly stopped moving before it flungs me in the air as it wails in pain — he heard the sound of shurikens flying around and thought that there must be an eldar toying with it's prey. While I was up there in the air, I see an eldar banshee cut it's 5 ft long neck in half. I descend to the ground and close my eyes and pray that it will kill as he can't take anymore of the pain. Although his would never come to fruition as the eldar banshee catches him in the nick of time.
Castor was shaking uncontrollably and he felt the coldness starting to swell within his body. Despite the sun shining it's light above him. All be could see before his mind went completely blank was a white haired women that was in a colorful armor. Her red eyes of crimson was all thats left he could remember and until the blankness of the void begins overtake him.
Aemylth immediately put Castor down gently and starts to patch him up from whatever first aid kit that she found in his pockets. Then she took his tunic off and applied antiseptics as to kill off any bacterial or viral infections. As soon as she was done with that, Aemylth then starts to wrap the entire bleeding arm as tight as she can. From her shrine, it was mandatory for every Howling Banshee to learn how to heal ones wounds if one were to be stranded alone. After she finished patching Castor up — the howling banshee realized how built up the Mon'Keigh saved her was. They were not too muscular but not too thin nor too thick for the average eldar. She suddenly find it attractive but shook her head and purged the thought. Then places him to a more comfortable position and stayed with him until her Exarch call upon her.
"Why am I doing this? Is it to repay a debt that I owe or is it something more?" She questioned herself for the reasons why was she helping a Mon'Keigh that killed so many of her kind. But she shrugs it off and would rather find out the cause later as she was busy to think at the moment and looks up in the sky. It's already mid-day so she has time to stay with the Mon'Keigh.