Chapter 4 Part 3
Chapter 4: Strange alliances
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Part 3
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Eldar FOB
Tyrea
Kronus
The frozen north of the continent held a stark majesty that was largely untouched by the brute hands of the Mon-Keigh. If it was up to her, Farseer Taldeer would have seen to it that the arrogant primates wouldn't be able to ruin anything ever again, which was one of the many dreams she held along with the great majority of her Biel-Tan compatriots. She had a dream, that one day her people would return to their rightful place as rulers of the galaxy and put everything the way it was supposed to be. In the meantime, it fell upon her and her fellow Eldar to do their best to preserve as many of their people as possible and when practical, weaken their various enemies. It was in the pursuit of this mission she brought her war-party to Kronus.
Yungir, the ancient enemy slumbered here. Taldeer foresaw their awakening, she saw how weak they would be and hurried to capitalize of this priceless opportunity to nip a danger in the bud.
The Farseer did expect that the Mon-Keigh would be furious over her actions back on the planet they called Lorn V, she did expect that they would try to follow her.
Naturally, Taldeer expected that the beasts would fail to actually keep up with her. That, she reluctantly admitted to herself, might have been a mistake. Shortly upon her arrival, Lucas Alexander, the Mon-Keigh she tangled with on Lorn V arrived as well along with a sizable force of the crude Imperial ships. The upstart Tau who had been slowly taking control of Kronus objected to the Mon-Keigh coming back in strength, which soon led to a massive battle in orbit. While unanticipated, that development did offer an opportunity to cripple the primitives and in one swift strike gain the upper hand.
The Farseer sighed. That had been another miscalculation. She had her small, yet potent fleet moving in position to fall upon the weakened combatants, when a fourth fleet arrived in system. It was a second Mon-Keigh task force, spearheaded by a Strike Cruiser bearing Space Marines. That put Taldeer's plans into disarray. She couldn't allow the Mon-Keigh to gain uncontested control of the orbitals and was forced to act, engaging the humans in open battle. The Eldar's superior void-craft, ships and weapons proved themselves without peer, yet Taldeer simply lacked sufficient numbers to win a decisive victory. They would have won anyway, if it wasn't for the rude arrival of swarm of Ork Hulks that fell upon everyone, turning the battle into pure chaos. In the end, she had to recall her surviving forces, while a mauled Mon-Keigh flotilla took the orbitals.
She would have been in better spirits if that debacle was the worst way her visions of the future went off the rails since her arrival in this damned system. Stirring up the local feral Ork population to act as a distraction while the Eldar struck should have been simple, easy even. The Mon-Keigh should have fought among themselves, encouraged by a few strategic assassinations and misdirections courtesy to Taldeer's warriors. It was even true for a time, then everything changed, leaving her drifting among a sea of uncertainty. She didn't foresee the survival of the Ork Warlord she humiliated on Lorn V, much less that he too would make an appearance on Kronus, thus upsetting her plans first in orbit, then on the surface. Said brute united the majority of the fear Orks on the planet and use them to launch a massive Waaagh against everything and everyone. As if that wasn't bad enough, Taldeer failed to foresee the outcome of his short-lived campaign of terror. The Orks should have swept over the Mon-Keigh defensive lines with only a swift strike by the Tau allowing the humans to survive the onslaught. The resulting fighting should have weakened those three factions significantly, making them easy prey for strategic strikes, which would have left them crippled and easy pickling once the Eldars dealt with the real threat – the Necrons. Of course, that prediction didn't come to pass. First, the mad Mon-Keigh summoned Warp Storm, one that now threatened to engulf the planet and throw them all to the non-existent mercy of She-Who-Thirsts. Next, Gorgutz' the brute managed to either get himself killed against the humans or the next best think, losing his massive army, something that Taldeer could have used to throw against the madmen on the Deimos Peninsula. The only thing that went more or less as predicted was that the Tau did act the winner of the clash between the Orks and the Mon-Keigh. They were less successful than predicted as well, due to the humans for once almost acting as civilized being and ceasing killing each other to face the new threat.
The Mon-Keigh positions were still unbroken, the Yungir were awakening, Chaos would soon spill forth from the Deimos Peninsula… Taldeer huffed in frustration. There had to be a way to win this! She was an Eldar Farseer, she should be able to find see the way! It was her role, her sole purpose!
The Orks failed, the brutes mucking up, that really shouldn't have been much of a surprise. They still had significant numbers, like the two tribes she used to protect the approaches to her base. Perhaps their broken horde could still be useful as a distraction, however they would no longer be able to break the Mon-Keigh by themselves. Taldeer's warriors were undoubtedly up to the task, however she had limited numbers at her disposal and real enemies to face here on Kronus… Speaking about the Yungir, she had already dispatched scouts to harass and sabotage their efforts to properly awaken this Tomb World, which all things considered should have been her primary concern. However, with the Yungir being as crippled as she foresaw, she had time to deal with them. First, she had to neutralize the Chaos incursion, yet in order to deal safely with them, she had to remove the Mon-Keigh out of the equation or risk the crude humans taking her forces from behind during their hour of triumph, and that simply wouldn't do! The Mon-Keigh had to go first, that much was obvious.
In that regard, the Tau upstarts might just prove useful, she decided. Now she just had to decide how to approach them and make sure that anyone she brought with her to parley with them could control their emotions and actions. Having to threat with such beings who had no concept of respect for their betters, well that naturally stirred the blood of any and all Biel-Tan warrior with even an ounce of self respect.
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Tau Military HQ
Kronus
Shas'O Krais had seen his share of debacles before, at the hands of the humans' super-soldiers and their insane cultists. Unfortunately, his emergency deployment to secure Kronus had all the hallmarks of yet another disasters. If he had to face just the regular human military, the Tau Commander was sure he could prevail. All things considered, his people's technology and better tactics were generally superior to what the Imperial Guard could bring to the battlefield. The presence of the human super-soldiers changed the equation and not in a good way. The arrival of a Ork Warboss who united the local feral population was a further complication, one that should have worked in the Tau's favour.
Krais stared at the detailed tactical display and grumbled a quiet curse. The plan had been solid – let the enemies of the Greater Good exhaust each other before striking at them and using superior mobility and firepower to defeat in detail the survivors of said clash. The plan came close to working as well, even if the Orks fared much worse than even the most pessimistic projections. The Fire Caste struck the flank of the weakened human defenders and were on the verge of a break-through that if exploit could have ended this campaign in one master stroke, only for the Space Marines and enemy super-heavy armour to intervene, bog down the swift assault and allow the Imperial Guard to regroup and redress their lines. At that point, Krais had to call off the assault or risk wasting too many of his warriors for questionable gains. After all, there were other enemies upon Kronus to deal with, like the insane cultists who apparently took over the Deimos Peninsula not so long ago. Then there were the Eldar who struck during the fleet engagement in orbit…
The same Eldar who requested a diplomatic less than an hour ago, one that Etherial Shi'Ores gleefully approved. Their delegation was supposed to arrive any moment now and Krais couldn't shake off the feeling that he was about to be screwed by the numbers by the knife-ears. Rumour had it, that they had that refined to an art form.