Getting Warhammered [WH 40k Fanfic]

191 – Coldstone

Aun’Saal, better known as Coldstone to the non-Tau he interacted with, stood with his arms clasped behind his back as he stared out the view-port into the infinite expanse of space. 

The vastness of space truly amazed him, even after all these decades he had spent looking at it in wonder. Once upon a time his kind thought they were the apex predators in this wide expanse, but reality quickly and rather ruthlessly disproved them of that fact.

The Ethereals ruling during the time of the first sphere of expansion thought their conquest of the galaxy inevitable. The first few species they’d met fell in line happily, seeing the benefit of falling under the umbrella of the Tau’va — the Greater Good — or were swiftly, and effortlessly stomped out of existence by the Fire Caste. 

The expansion of the Tau Empire seemed unstoppable. It was like a tsunami, growing stronger and stronger with each new world joining it.

Then they met the Orks, the Tyranids, the dreadful Necrons and finally, Humans. The Imperium of Mankind, first thought a mere roadblock now towered before the Tau Empire like a monolith, a hurdle that proved nearly impossible to overcome.

Aun’Saal remembered reading the journal of an Ethereal from that time. The feelings described in those passages were entirely unfamiliar to him. Back then, all an Ethereal felt while commanding the survey and exploration of a new planet was curiosity and interest. They had treated it as an adventure, as fun, even. 

“Naivete born of ignorance,” he mused. So many stars dotted the dark void, so many possibilities and yet he knew many of them hid nothing but death for his kind. “The fool thinks himself smart, for he does not know the depths of his ignorance. The smart man knows he knows little, he learns how much still remains undiscovered with each new lesson. I suppose we had been foolish once, it was sheer luck that gave us the time we so desperately needed to learn the depth of our own ignorance.”

But we are ignorant no more. Aun’Saal felt his fingers tighten around the railing. They had once thought themselves the biggest fish in this lake, but now they knew the ocean the lake connected to, and some of the true monsters dwelling in its depths.

At least some of us did. Aun’Saal thought sourly, thinking back to the latest conclave. Some still hold on to those outdated beliefs. Zealotry and faith won’t be what grants us victory, those primitive tools are more fit to be wielded by the barbaric Imperium. We should be realistic, reasonable and practical … but no, that would be too easy, wouldn’t it? 

Sighing, he spun and turned away from the view-port, striding back towards the command deck. All the while, he thought of everything he could gather of these humans, these … ‘Witches’. 

Psykers, Witches, Sorcerers, he’d heard them be called by many names from the intelligence reports, and while he suspected there was some difference between the meanings of those three terms, they hadn’t been identified yet. To the Tau, all of them were just ‘mind scientists’. 

The geneticists of the Earth Cast suspected they were the result of a thorough and expansive eugenics program, likely combined with the type of gene editing not even the greatest of Tau scientists were anywhere near

The Humans might look, act and think like primitive barbarians, but Aun’Saal had come to accept that their technology was nothing of the sort. They’d caught only glimpses of the true extent of human ingenuity and technological prowess, but that was enough. 

My thoughts seem to be wandering today. Aun’Saal mused, shaking his head. Perhaps his research into humanity to prepare for his current mission had come to affect him. He now at least understood where the fringe factions of Fire Caste warriors who loathed even their Gue’la allies came from, and why their existence would be problematic for the Greater Good.

Humans were mighty once, advanced beyond the current Tau’s imagination, and he also suspected they had once been a kinder race. They were not like the Tyranid and the Orks, they were not biologically incompatible with the Greater Good, and their problems were entirely due to indoctrination. Nurture, not nature. They could be made compatible with enough time and effort. 

‘If we can save them, we should save them- … No, it is our duty and responsibility to do so as followers of the Greater Good.’ He had said to his fellow Ethereals. The ones he spoke to were only the ones present in the sector and had time to come for the conclave, but the reactions were … expected. Expected, but worse than he’d hoped for. At least they accepted my veto of the results. We have so much more to learn from this Echidna woman, disposing of her, or failing to do so and making an enemy of her so soon would be foolish and shortsighted. 

How was one supposed to defeat an enemy that was so impossibly greater than them? The Tau Empire was a mere wisp in the wind when compared to the Imperium. A million worlds. Aun’Saal could hardly fathom what it took to make and maintain such a vast empire. 

“Here we have a chance to pry one of their greatest secrets from a woman both willing and sane,” Aun’Saal muttered again, ignoring the strange looks his escorts gave him. He didn’t continue his tirade, unwilling to disparage his fellow Aun within earshot of the other Caste, even though he was fuming inside at their bull-headed idiocy. Instead, he changed the topic. “ETA to Vallia 1A?”

“35 minutes,” a member of his entourage said after checking his wrist-mounted holopad. “Perhaps a few more, accounting for any additional orbital manoeuvres we might need to do before sending out the shuttles.”

Aun’Saal hummed appreciatively, smiling at the low numbers. The Earth Caste really outdid themselves when they designed his ship. It was top-of-the-line and outfitted with a massive assortment of next-generation thrusters, allowing it to manoeuvre with precision without having to lower its maximum acceleration. When the inertia-dampener technology caught up, they could push that threshold further up, but unfortunately, that was expected to be done only by the end of the next decade and not a day before. 

Perhaps a specialised unit of Fire Warriors modified to handle higher G-forces could make use of the more powerful thrusters even before that. It was an angle to consider, but not one he had to consider. His mission was uncovering the secrets of ‘mind-scientists’ and compiling a study on possible new ways to combat them more effectively. 

There was also a growing interest in the methods used to subdue the Orks. Had it been some form of mental subjugation? Mind-control was a known power of mind-scientists, but it could have easily been something else. Aun’Saal was suspecting — or perhaps hoping — that the cause was that there existed a fringe Orkis clan more amenable to coexistence and peace among their kind, and Echidna had just been lucky enough to stumble across them instead of their more murderous and less blessed in the brain department cousins.

Then there was the matter of her terraforming technology, which she claimed was some arcane artifact which conveniently melded with her body. The fact she claimed it would be destroyed were she to die was also extremely convenient for her, and quite suspect. Well, he’d at least managed to get himself some time to investigate that matter at length in the future and make sure the technology would not be lost no matter which direction things ended up going.

“Lord, we have received the updated reports from the Captain stationed in the system,” one of his guards said, tapping at his wrist pad. “Do you wish to review it now, or should we have it sent to your personal computer?”

“Now.” Finally, I was starting to believe that the captain was trying to hide something … perhaps he still is and the late report was due to him hiding evidence. We’ll see.

The file projected itself into the air before him and the old Aun swept his eyes over it, digging for the important bits and anything left undisclosed. His eyebrows rose as he read on. Supposed raiders, a counterattack, a ship the size of a small town and fifty colossal buildings growing out of the earth over the span of hours. 

She sensed the invaders before our military battleship, outfitted with some of our best sensor arrays. She also decimated a whole corvette squadron of retrofitted pirate vessels and then did the same to their base. A ship that large wouldn’t be feasible as a military vessel, it is probably a transport vessel or perhaps one retrofitted for habitation. 

There was also an added portion of the report describing wildlife and the fauna on the planet that had the Aun smirking in amusement. While he was proud of the satellites and the interplanetary telescopes developed by his people, he was sure neither could see the surface of a planet from high orbit with enough clarity to describe wildlife. 

They must have sent a survey drone to the moon, perhaps even a scout unit. Aun’Saal shook his head, closing the report. Curious. I clearly remember specifically ordering them not to do just that. 

*****

I was done with all the urgent problems and also left behind a single drone capable of multiplying itself in every arcology. For now, they were occupying themselves by wandering around in disguises and visiting my daughters.

Maintaining fifty-one thought streams at once was straining, but in a way that cost neither bio-energy nor soul energy. I could do short bursts, maintain thousands of thought-streams for an hour or two, but now that I’ve had fifty for more than a day, I was starting to feel … weary.

Perhaps I’d have to cut the number by half for now and work up my tolerance? It had to do with my mind being forced to work in ways it was never supposed to. Despite all my powers, my sparkly soul and eldritch physical vessel, my mind was human. Weak, fragile, vulnerable and far from perfect. It was never made to handle piloting fifty bodies.

I was sure it could adapt though, especially with the ridiculous amounts of power I was spending every second on enhancing it. Some of that had to linger and make some permanent improvements. I didn’t want to change my mind and risk twisting it into something alien, but I could do with my mind being a bit more suited to handling my growing assortment of powers and abilities.

If humans had one thing going for them, it was their adaptability. That more than any other aspect of them was what saw them through some of the most horrid parts of their history in my opinion. 

“What should I do with this little rat?” I mumbled to myself, perched on a high branch of a colossal tree and idly watching the Tau infiltrator make his way through the undergrowth below. He’d barely caught a few glimpses of the arcologies so far and had been harried by wild animals relentlessly since the moment he stepped foot on the moon. I was starting to think the Tau pumped their scouts full of some drugs, or combat stim that warded off exhaustion because I’d not allowed this man a moment’s rest for the last five days. “Coldstone might know of him though. It’d be bad if a Tau went missing and was assumed KIA on my moon. We are supposed to be allies, killing each other would probably not help … but then again, he should not be here either. Hmmmmm. Quite a conundrum.”

As I thought, I whispered directions into the mind of a nearby pack of oversized wolves, promising food and worthy prey. Howling erupted in the distance, dozens by my count, calling the pack for a hunt. The Tau infiltrator cursed softly, and I smirked. Well, I couldn’t do anything if some dogs ripped him to shreds. I never promised or even implied I could police my damned wildlife, even though I could. 

I have a few minutes still until Coldstone’s ship comes within comms range. I’ll … let him be if he survives until then. 

By let him be, I of course meant I’d only leave a lingering scent on him that would attract predatory beasts everywhere he went, but wouldn’t direct the animals myself to hunt him down. 

Struggle, little rat. Blame your commanders who sent you into the den of a monster.