Mont'ka - Killing Blow (a Tau short story i wrote)

Alright, well, a lil introduction - I LOVE TAU. Yes i said it, i've NEVER played tau however.  When i played 40k i played Imperial Guard, however i'm thinking about slowly starting a Tau army (less for playability and more for modelling).  If i indeed do start to build one i'll keep you all updated, but i've got a few models laying around (a few pathfinders, a few gun drones, a crisis suit and a whole Tau BFG Fleet).  Anyway i love em, so i wrote this short story a few years ago, i just dug it up, wondering if i should add on to it or not.

Tell me what you think, be ass brutal as you wish PLEASE.  Anyway, here it is.  Thanks in advance for those who dare to read!

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A large shell impacts the battlesuit’s right arm, the commander is thrown
back. Intense pain fills Commander Or’es Mont’ka’s body. He turns his
head only to see the mighty battlesuit missing the bottom half of it‘s
left arm. Blood trickles down his face, he hit his head with the impact
of the shell. Or’es hits a few buttons disengaging the control mechanisms
of the battlesuit. The chest area of the battlesuit opens, exposing the
Commander in flesh, next to open are the leg guards, revealing the
remainder of the commander‘s body. Removing his pulse rifle from its
holster, the commander exits his crippled XV8 Crisis Battlesuit.
Commander Or’es jumps to the ground, only to be hit in the face with the
butt of a Gue‘la rifle. He reacts quickly sweeping the legs of his
assailant and releasing three rounds into the human’s face. Back on his
feet the commander can view the chaos around, his fire warriors are
engaged in hand to hand combat with their enemies, the kroot feast on
their dead, while their hounds hunt down anything that crosses their path.
Gun drones hum overhead releasing photon grenades from their pulse
carbines. An explosion to the commanders left throws him to the ground,
he looks up to see one of his bodyguard XV8 Crisis in flames, the
battlesuit impacts the war stricken earth. The commander raises his rifle
in anger, firing off several rounds at enemy soldiers. The low recoil on
his pulse rifle allows for quick shots. He is dead on, hitting three
enemies in the back, blood pours from their wounds as their spines
disintegrate. An enemy tank explodes in the distance catching everyone’s
attention, kroot rise to their feet and rush towards the explosion. A
missile is released from a nearby Gue’la, it impacts another battlesuit
destroying its jetpack. The battlesuit smashes into a nearby tree,
crushing the helpless warrior inside. The commander realizes that
missiles are the only way the Gue’la can defeat the mighty Tau
battlesuits. Or’es raises his pulse rifle, aiming it towards the amoured
head of the missile launcher operator. With one pull of the trigger the
head of the human explodes leaving a crimson mist floating in the air.

Out of nowhere burst cannons spin, mowing down enemy soldiers, the XV15
Stealth suits remain invisible even to their commander. Commander Or’es
charges into battle, firing off pulse rounds every couple of seconds. He
slams the butt of his rifle into the neck of a gue’la, a crack is heard as
the man’s neck snaps in two. Cries of retreat sound as the gue’la lines
break. The humans scatter into the woods, many shot down by the pulse
rifles of fire warriors. Others are chased down by carnivorous kroot and
their hounds. The commander looks around, many of his men fell to the
enemy ambush, they lie on the ground in bloodied heaps. It seems the
humans weren’t ready for a war party of this size, the sheer numbers of
kroot, fire warriors, and drones overwhelmed the potential gue’la victory.
One human remains, his face caked with blood as two fire warriors drag
him to their commander. He wears a long jacket of black, finely braided
fabric of gold and silver line his coat. On his chest is a golden animal,
the symbol of his nation. His hair is dark, strands of grey flowing
through. His face shows of a long military life, he looks at the young
tau commander. “We have fought for too long, you have become my hated
enemy, and you shall be defeated.” he mutters to Commander Or’es. These
words are followed by something the commander does not understand. The
gue’la finishes his thought by spitting in the Commander’s face.
Disgusted, Commander Or’es raises his pulse rifle to his enemy’s chest,
releasing a round, the man dies. “This is what becomes of those who stand
in the way of the tau’va, this planet is ours, these gue’la will not stand
against the force of the greater good.”

* * *

“The world of Guel’reh Telbuer is temperate. Season change and various
climates are distinct. The majority of the planet is either forest or
mountain. Only 23% of the planet is water. Orbital surveillance of the
planet has concluded that there are 16 semi-primitive nations living on
the planet. Three main nations are worth mentioning at this time. The
first of these is the Uren’vor. The Uren’vor dwell in the northern
mountains of the planet. Their technology is the most advanced on the
planet, wielding primitive laser weaponry. It is doubtful that any of our
forces will come in contact with this weaponry as it has been regarded as
unstable and in the testing stages. The Uren’vor also posses a wide range
of rifles. The diversity of their rifles is amazing. It is believed that
they sport several different types of specialty teams during war, each
utilizing a different weapon. Aircraft is highly advanced for the
Uren’vor also. They yield many stealth aircraft, though their technology
is not sophisticated enough to evade our tracking mechanisms. Their
armoured vehicles are nothing more than notable. The armour plate
utilized on their vehicles is not too thick, easily penetrated by our
rail-guns. Even our pulse rifles can put a good size hole in the side of
their armour.

“The second of these seemingly superior nations we’ve named the Del’tore.
The Del’tore are recorded as dwelling in the northern plains, a bit south
of the Uren‘vor. As such, they seem to be the greatest threat to the
Uren’vor. Surveillance has reported much conflict between the two
nations. The Del’tore excel in the production of armoured vehicles.
Studies of their fighting style has shown us that they prefer to move
large amounts of soldiers into battle via armoured transport, rather than
moving in by foot. Our rail-guns should not have trouble, though our
weaker weapons will encounter problems. Their vehicle support is another
issue, they possess ordnance and artillery weapons aimed at taking out
many troops at a time. This could be a definite problem, though their
targeting mechanisms seem a bit behind. We should not encounter any
armour penetrating rounds though, seeing as their greatest enemy posses
less than average armour capabilities. The Del’tore lack sufficient
aircraft to defend against the advanced Uren’vor, though they have
advanced anti-aircraft equipment. This is another thing you should not
worry about, air support should be held to a minimum on this campaign,
only deployed when necessary. Thus, we will only dispatch the air
support after all anti-aircraft threats are out of the way.

“The final nation we are concerned with has been dubbed the Kor’tal. The
Kor’tal dwell in the southern regions of the planet. They are the least
advanced, though, with no threats to their power, it seems their society
prospers. Their capital lies in the southernmost mountain range dubbed
Mel’tor, here we will make planet fall. It is highly likely our planet
fall will go undetected, and for that reason we mean to remain unnoticed
until all units have been successfully deployed. There is little chance
they will be able to spot us, but we will take no chances, Orca drop ships
will be deployed hourly throughout the night, the first to be deployed
will be the kroot, afterwards you have full command. Commander Or’es
Mont‘ka, your army’s order is to seize the nation of Kor’tal, take it with
as little casualties as possible to either side. Be quick and forceful,
we want to take as many Kor’tal auxiliaries as possible, they will be
necessary in the upcoming stages of this campaign. Your movement will be
monitored via our orbital stations. For the greater good commander.”

* * *
Shas’o Vior’la Or’es Mont’ka, Commander Or’es, stares into the night sky
as yet another Orca dropship descends towards the planet. The kroot had
already landed and scoped the landscape, Kroot Shaper Ritok has assured
Commander Or’es that the surrounding area is clear, and he’d taken the
initiative to set up sentries around the immediate area. The second Orca
to drop in carried the Commander in his Crisis battlesuit, his two
bodyguards, each in a Crisis of their own, and a squad of fire warriors,
containing eleven Shas‘la and a Shas‘ui team leader. The third carried
two squads of fire warriors and a squad of gun drones. This ship is the
fourth, onboard are six Crisis, along with six XV15 Stealth suits.
Several more drop ships are expected matching the cargo of the first four
Orca. A final drop ship is expected, carrying the last two squads of fire
warriors and a final squad of gun drones, the ship will be accompanied by
four Hammerhead gun ships and two Devilfish troop carrier each manned by
seven Shas’la and a Shas’ui, eight pathfinders to a ship in total.

The night is peaceful, not many distractions, planet fall is successful.
Kroot Shaper Ore’Ritok stands outside his leather tent. He paces,
listening to the sounds of the forest. In the distance he watches as a
group of younger kroot ambush a large animal. The sharp blades on their
kroot rifles dig into the helpless animal’s flesh. The animal squeals and
hollers as several bladed punches dig into its warm insides. Ritok
believes the animal to be a boar of some sorts, he reckons they’ll be a
constant food supply throughout the campaign.

Dawn comes, the army is ready to move. The entire cadre contains 15 XV8
Crisis Battlesuits, 12 XV15 Stealth Suits, 120 Fire Warriors, 48 Kroot and
12 Hounds, 16 Pathfinders and a pair Devilfish, 32 Gun Drones, and 4
Hammerheads. “This army will be responsible for the fall of Kor’tal,”
thinks Or’es, “and hopefully they will last long enough to see the
campaign finished…”

Kroot scouts report there is a city owned by the Kor’tal only a dec, about
an hour and a half, north of the landing point, it has been dubbed Jor.
The hike is tiresome, through the forested mountains of Mel’tor, though
it is completed on schedule with little incident, minus the occasional
scuffle of a forest animal.

Commander Or’es orders the gun drones to make the first move through the
city, eliminating any resistance. The second to move in will be the
pathfinders and stealth teams, following them will be the fire warriors.
Finally the Crisis will drop into the city. Kroot will be the final to
enter, assuring that all is clear, and the chances of a counter-attack are
minmal. Commander Or’es hopes little conflict will be met, he wants to
see as many of his men last through this campaign as possible.

Gun drones meet little resistance as they hum through the city’s streets
over and over. Only one incident of gun fire is reported as an older
human fires a pistol at a drone, he is quickly shelled with photon
grenades and shot through by a pulse round. Stealth teams follow only
minutes afterwards, their chameleon like armour invisible to all that are
unknowing of their existence. The team walks through the city nearly
unnoticed until a gang of adolescents runs into them. The children
quickly run off, though they draw enough attention to the stealth teams to
give away their position. Pathfinders quickly seize a building setting up
sentries for the fire warriors. Shortly afterwards half, numbering about
60, of the fire warriors march into the city, guns ready for all that come
their way. A shot is fired, the round ricochets off a tau’s armour. The
shot sparks a large gunfight, fire warriors take cover on the sidewalks
and behind vehicles as they let off pulse rounds into the buildings where
the shots originated. Burst cannons unleash a sea of plasma charges into
the buildings’ façade dust and debris fly from building, screams of pain
radiate from the inner structure. Suddenly, the firing stops, the buzz of
the battlesuits fill the air as fifteen Crisis drop into the streets of
the city. Gun drones hover into position 3 meters above the ground with
their pulse carbines facing the building. With a quick order from the
commander, the drones fly into the building, gun fire erupts again.
Within minutes the battling is over, four prisoners are taken, no
casualties are met.

Fire warriors pace the streets of Jor only decs after the cities takeover.
Commander Or’es is meeting with the governor of Jor inside its main city
building. Four large columns hold up the front roofing of the three story
building. Fine carvings line the walls, stories of ancient battles and
leaders can be learnt through the detailed engravings. Three Shas’la
guard the entrance to the mighty building. The three of them stand,
motionless, their pulse rifles, standing almost two-thirds of their own
height, are placed at their sides. Their sand coloured armour stands out
against their black under suits and the greyish tint of the building. One
of the Fire Warriors lets out a long sigh “Damn weather” he remarks in his
native tongue, as snow flakes begin to fall from the already overcast sky.
Suddenly mortars join the snow, battering on the large building. The
supports of the magnificent structure begin to crack as several impact
directly overhead. Immediately the hum of drones fill the air as they fly
off towards the mortars’ origin. Shrieking fills the air as Kor’tal
soldiers rush into close combat with kroot mercenaries. An unlucky
soldier rushes into a building only to be met with the bladed butt of a
kroot rifle to his chest. Another takes a blade to his groin, followed by
a blade to the top of his skull. Fire warriors are quick to create a
counter-attack, setting up fire points all throughout the cities
buildings.

A squad of fire warriors enters the mortar showered building. Inside lie
scattered remains of book cases, fine wooden tables, chairs, along with an
assortment of ancient swords long since used. The squad quickly heads for
the stairs, only to find they have been hit by the shower of mortars that
has recently subsided. At the top of the stair well stands the crimson
covered body of Commander Or’es, he wears the traditional armour of a Fire
Warrior. In his right hand he grips a bloodied dagger. “The gue’la are
not to be trusted.” the commander mutters, giving a slight nod of humour.
His eyes blink slowly, and the commander falls forward, down into the
rubble that was once a stairway, immediately Fire Warriors rush to his
side.

The streets of the city are plagued with violence as small armoured
vehicles begin to move into position, countered by the movement of the
commander’s Hammerhead gun ships. The vehicles draw closer to the
battling city. Without warning the powerful charges of two rail guns
impact separate vehicles, immediately engulfing them in a cloud of smoke
and fire. The front hatches of one of the vehicles open, pouring from its
mouth come fifteen lightly armoured troops, each carrying large rifles.
The barrels spout fire, hurling large bullets towards their battlesuit
targets. Smiles cover the faces of the ignorant gue’la, the projectiles
do nothing more than denting the superior armour of the Tau. Pathfinders
place their markerlights on the human targets, rail rifles follow suit
punching holes in the human’s inferior armour, a mist of blood filling the
places of impact.

Kroot Shaper Ritok meets a fist to his beaked face, he returns with clawed
swipe to his opponent’s chest, following up with a sweep of the legs the
shaper pounces on his defeated opponent, cracking the skull of yet another
victim against the stone ground. To Ritok’s right a shriek is heard, not
the usual war cry of a Kroot, but a shriek of shrill pain. One of the
shaper’s fellow kroot stands with a sword through his chest, a bloodied
human grips the sword’s hilt with a smile on his face. Picking up his
rifle, Ritok leaps to the human, with a single swing he effortlessly lops
of the head of his opponent, though his fellow soldier is not saved.
Above an enflamed drone plummets towards the earth where the Shaper
stands.

Shas’la Vior’la Uren’an steadies his breathing, the outlined display of a
gue’la on his HUD continues to dodge in and out of view. The young Fire
Warrior aims carefully for the man’s head. “INCOMING!” a shout comes
across the comm-system in his helmet. La’Uren’an drops to the floor only
seconds before a shell impacts the side of the building. Thrown back into
the adjacent wall goes two of his friends. La’Uren’an sees it in slow
motion as one of their helmets blow off, his panicked face exposed before
it impacts the wall in a mist of blue-green blood. “Support is necessary,
this is Ui’Ku’an, my pathfinders have reported a large group of gue’la
reinforcements making their way to the north-eastern edge of the city.
Three tanks have been reported accompanied by several squads of gue’la,
assistance is necessary, I repeat, assistance is necessary. Anyone within
range please respond immediately.” The comm-transmission ends, quickly
jumping to his hoofed feet the fire warrior darts for the door. Gunfire
rings out, presumably from the Gue’la La’Uren’an had been so intent on
killing, a primitive round impacts the fire warrior’s left side, he
stumbls a bit, quickly regaining his footing and following the remainder
of his squad towards the gue’la reinforcements.

Shas’vre Vior’la Ki’an stands facing the dark forests. He commands a
squad of XV15 Stealth battlesuits, his warriors stand against the wall of
a building, motionless, invisible to all who do not look for them, and
invincible to all that are ignorant enough to trust their eyes. He
catches sight of his enemy in the forest. The gue’la of Kor’tal wear thin
ebony coloured armour on their chest, knees and elbows . On their head
they wear a thick helmet. Their under suit is a dark brown colour,
blending well with the wood of the forests on this planet. “Weapons
ready…” the Shas’vre whispers into his helmet comm-system. A dull hum is
heard as eight multi-barreled burst cannon begin to spin into life.
“Aim…” Vre’Kian remains calm. “Fire!” he shouts. Without warning over
thirty Gue’la are torn apart in a volley of gunfire, shortly afterwards
pulse rifles, pulse carbines, and rail rifles join suit unleashing a
thunderstorm of various weaponry on the panicked humans. A large armoured
vehicle moves into view, a loud crack is heard as a rail gun round impacts
the side of the vehicle, flipping it over in a ball of fire and smoke. A
second tank moves into view, it passes directly past the well hidden
Pathfinders of Shas’ui Vior’la Ku’an. A Pathfinder rises from it’s hiding
place, revealing a menacing rail rifle, with a single effortless shot the
tank goes up in flames. The round penetrates the thin rear armour of the
vehicle igniting its fuel. A final tank stops in it’s tracks, slowly
pivoting as if it were following the remaining gue’la in a panicked
retreat. Before it can turn a full one-hundred eighty degrees it explodes
in a similar fire ball as the first tank to fall. Vre’Ki’an relaxes his
muscles, lowering his still spinning burst cannon. “A job well done
soldiers…a job well done…”

* * *

“I’m glad to see you doing better Shas’o Vior’la Or’es Mont’ka. The
mission went as planned, minimal casualties were met. Reinforcements will
be supplied for the next mission.” Commander Or’es gives a nod of thanks.
“I hope you’re happy to know the Kor’tal have given in. Only decs after
they attempted to take Jor did they declare their surrender. They’ve
offered one-hundred fifty gue’la auxiliaries We will be supplying them
with armour sufficient enough to last them through the majority of this
campaign.” Another nod of thanks is given by Or’es. “At dawn you should
move to their capital city Tor‘ka. There the auxiliary units will meet
with you. I’d advise you dispatch the Drones first to ensure the city is
secure. I highly doubt any resistance after their reaction to our
take-over of Jor. None-the-less it would not hurt us to be slightly more
cautious.

“The second phase of the campaign will be taking us north. It is yet
unknown whether or not the other nations of Guel’reh Telbuer know of our
planet fall. I find it highly unlikely much information could have been
learnt about us in such a short time. You should stay in Tor’ka a maximum
of two rotaa, or days as the Gue’la call them. I recommend a single rotaa
rest before moving north. Our surveillance has reported a fourth major
tribe between the Kor’tal and the Del’tore whom I mentioned in our
previous meeting. We will call this nation the Ur’on. They do not
possess any armoured vehicles, their skill is close quarters combat. The
kroot will be necessary for this stage in the campaign.

“We will be supplying with another 48 kroot and 12 hounds under the
command of Kroot Shaper Tel’nok. Telnok and Ore’Ritok have battled
alongside one another before, it should be a pleasant reunion. The fire
warrior and kroot reinforcements should arrive shortly after our
conversation ends, along with the soldiers will be weapons and armour. We
will be supplying the Gue’la with down-graded pulse rifles. In essence
they’ll be carrying weaker copies of our standard fire warrior weaponry.
We will also be supplying them with our armour, minus the helmets. In the
rare case that there may be revolt within the auxiliaries, we don’t want
them possessing enough fire power to become suc…”

“You seem quite paranoid Commander…” interrupts Or’es, “what do you know
that I should know about?” Or’es’ question remains unanswered for several
seconds. “Well Commander Kauyon? What do you know that I do not?”

“I do not trust the Gue’la, nor should you, I do not want you becoming
overly confident because of one victory, this shall be a long and hard
campaign, do not put so much faith in your army, it has only begun.”