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Submitted: November 16, 2009
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Emperor's Will be done? Pt10by ~DustyGrafix

Fan Art / Digital Art / Drawings / Games

Thanks all who have been patient with me. It has been a few weeks since I last posted.

38 votes for them to come along.
5 votes for going alone.

I apologize for the length of this one. I will try to either make the parts shorter, or provide you with more pictures per section. The choice is at the end.

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The short scientist looking fellow typed something in the keypad he had and brought up holo-display of the city. I forgot how big a city can get after a few thousand years of development. He pointed at a highlighted area, then spoke in very broken Low Gothic, “Movement….see….to..human..war and……and…,” he got frustrated I noticed. He then spoke to Xin in his own tongue with ease. She turned to me and translated for him, “Fio’ui Kai-Faan said that a human battalion has broken off from the main group and moved further north,” she paused to look at the holo-display and pointed to a line that was drawn in there from the computer, “this means that southeast has a safer route if we were to get to the caves.”

The stealth suit guard moved his head a little, as if he was speaking to Kai-Faan (looks like they keep external speakers off most of the time, and use the helmet mic to speak into the headset of another). The scientist responded by nodding and repeated the info to Xin, then she relayed the into to me. This is gonna get old fast!!! “He said that they are searching for you back at the outpost, and now a search party is being put together….the old human is furious, and wants you back NOW!!” She began to move north and beckoned the rest of us to follow.

I don’t know how this xeno military operates, but so far, things looked organized without direct command. Unlike my 137th command. We can’t even sh*t without direct order. I got first taste of this xeno practice when I looked back and the stealth suit guard was gone. Kai-Faan pointed to our upper right, and I didn’t see anything until I saw a shimmer of something jump from one rooftop to another. It was moving faster than us and after a few seconds, I lost track of it. That must have been that stealth suit, and he was pretty good about working independently. I shivered to realize the Tau’s advancement in technology.

Xin was about 20 meters ahead of me. She looked so confident. Was it this strange phenomenon that I noticed earlier when she was close to her leader? Or does she really have that much faith in me that I can do this?

At one point during our long trek, Kai-Faan sent his drone behind us and disappeared. It was dark and I was tired, but I still noticed it leaving. CRAP!!!! It was a trap. STUPID FIO-SCIENTIST-SOMETHING!!! He’s tracking our movement and I’m gonna get caught. I turned around and grabbed his tunic and pushed him into a concrete wall. I swore in Low Gothic and spit in his face. “Coming along because you wanna help, right? Is this for your Greater Good?” I pushed him harder into the wall, and he began to say something in that stupid gibberish. I shut him up by yelling, “bring that drone back or…..” I never finished my sentence. I was ripped from him by something strong. His guard had some potent power armor. I was flipped and landed on my back. He uncloaked himself and I was underneath him, staring up the barrel of a weapon that was charged and ready to fire.

Xin’Vauk helped up the scientist. He said something to her. When she walked over to me, I explained that they are here track us for the chaos demon!! She replied to me that if they were here to track us, we would have been caught hours ago. The drone was sent back to keep tabs on our pursuers to see if they are getting closer or if they lost track of us. I felt dumb. I asked Xin’Vauk how to say sorry in her language. How ever she said it was hard to pronounce. I did my best to apologize. He slapped me on the soulder with a smile, “For…us…Ko’Gue’la, and…find…Cha.” I never understood him, but I guess he doesn’t hold grudges.

It was dark. The sounds of battle closer, but still distant. I was tired. We set up camp inside some old broken temple, and I laid down on the marble floor, using the backpack as a pillow. Kai-Faan slept on an old broken bench, only to be watched by is guard who wasn’t going to sleep. Must be stims to keep him up. Xin’Vauk was outside listening to the battle. She walked inside and sat next to me. I asked her why she disobeyed her orders to help me in the end. Her answer was longer than I expected, but summing it up was the fact that she never expected me to save her so many times. She still brought me to the outpost, but was hoping that there had already been a human candidate chosen for transport. Since I was the only one, she feared that I’d die, being the last of my family. She kept talking for a bit, but sleep overcame me during her stories.

I woke up in the middle of the night from a nightmare of my dead brother beckoning me to join him. A bloody hole in his head didn’t make thing easier. The extra weight on my chest when I awoke was Xin sleeping. Either she needed a pillow, she was cold or felt safer close to me. I hate to say this, but I felt safer around her than the other way. The thought made me fall asleep again, but without the nightmares.

The next day, we continued. The battle was getting closer, and we began to be more perceptive. The stealth suit guard was around, but not in sight again. I was walking next to Kai-Faan and Xin was ahead of the group. But that is when it fell apart.

Both Xin and Kai-Faan fell to the ground, screaming in agony. The guard even landed on the ground, uncloaked. He fell to his knees. I ran to Xin who was crying in the middle of the road. I helped her up, and she screamed to me that he’s dead, HE’S DEAD!! She was holding her forehead, blocking that slit on her forehead like humans would if they smelled something awful. She screamed to me that Aun’vre Ni’zuul’s presence is gone! I carried her into a building and pulled the scientist with. His guard followed. After Kai-Faan spoke to her, she told me that he overheard from the HQ transmitions that the Old Man began to warp from anger of no human to possess, moments before Ni’zuul’s death.

What should I do:
1) They are in no condition to travel. Somehow they are all connected to their leader, and his death triggered this strange mood swing. The confidence they had from this Ni’zuul is long gone now. I’m no good at cheering people up, but I can sacrifice some time to build up their morale. At least I can feel safer with a confident team again.

2) Keep moving. I don’t have much time now. We wasted enough time already, and not only are we being chased by Tau who need to get me back, but now there is some sort of demon, unrestrained from a fragile human body who wants another human body, and I’m the closest he’s got so far. No doubt he will chase me down to the ends of time to catch me. I just have to grit my teeth, keep moving and bear the weight of three members who’s morale have been shattered.
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I will close the votes November 21st.

~~love 0 0~~

joy 1 1

wow 1 1

~~mad 0 0~~

~~sad 0 0~~

~~fear 0 0~~

~~neutral 0 0~~

~Tesunie Jun 8, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

In don't recall Ethereals being THAT mentally attached to the Tau. If the Tau see him die, then yeah, but otherwise... Am I wrong? (In the board game, which I know is different, only Tau in line of sight to the Ethereal upon his has to take the leadership or run...)