Guard fic 4.5
In which King's dastardly masterplan is revealed.
“This is a difficult thing for you.” Poro Tauna noted, with surprising insight for a Xeno.
“Of course it is.” He snapped. “They’ve been with me for ten years, some of them, do you think it’s easy to turn my back on them after that? If there was any other way I’d take it! But there isn’t.”
That last part wasn’t exactly a question, and wasn’t exactly a statement. However he already knew there was no other alternative.
“It will not be easy.” Porvree Sakea noted, proving itself to be a creature with some degree of military knowledge as well as its translating skills. “They have of course lost their commander, but even without you they are powerful and have strong defences.”
“It will be easy.” King countered “Because I will give you access.”
That got their attention, as he knew it would.
“I’ve got access and override codes for everything on the base: the air defences, the void shield generators, everything. I can leave them defenceless - it won’t last forever, they’ll realise of course what’s happened and they’ll get it back up again in the end, but I would estimate it would take a minimum of half an hour and that’s assuming that they can contact high command immediately. If you can take out the comms relay towers quickly enough, that extends to several hours while the signal is reestablished. That’s more than enough time.” He didn’t finish that thought: he didn’t have to. They all knew what would happen in those hours.
“And your companions here?”
“No!” King spoke too quickly, and hastily recomposed himself. “They are with me - with us. That would be a waste of life and of resources.”
“As they are with us Commander Antonius King, then of course they too are part of the Tau Empire.” Poro Tauna answered, clearly trying to be soothing. “But you have said that Lord Commissar Rossaria Bharti will not understand this need.”
“I know.” He hung his head and examined his shoes, stumbling slightly over his words. “But I can’t, I can’t lose her. She’s not part of this deal, she stays with me.” He looked up at Poro Tauna, wondering if his striking blue eyes would have any effect on a Tau like this. “I’m sorry, I know that’s not the right answer, but I can’t. I need her.”
Poro Tauna gave him a look that he couldn’t read, but seemed to get what Antonius was hinting at.
“We too have love in our society.” It said. “But I do not think she returns this emotion?”
“I know.”
“She may never do so.”
“I know.”
“She may never embrace the Greater Good.”
“I know!”
“If she does not, what then?”
Antonius shrugged, one shouldered. “Then she will hate me forever and live as a prisoner and I won’t touch her until the day she insists that I kill her. But that won’t happen! She’s stubborn and misguided but she’s not incapable of learning.”
“This does not conform with the Greater Good.” Povree Sakea pointed out. King could have cheerfully punched it, but restricted himself to a glare.
“There are people in that base there who’ve fought by my side for ten years and more. There are people I owe everything to. Rhys has saved my life more times than I could count, and Jaks - the real Jaks, I mean - would follow me to hell and back, and I’m repaying that by offering them up to die for the Greater Good. They would jump at the chance to follow me to you, but they’re in the wrong place and they can’t be saved. I don’t hesitate, I don’t regret it. I know it is necessary and I’m sacrificing them willingly for you. Consider Rossaria the payback then, or a salve for my conscience, but she lives. That’s all I ask.”
“This is not correct by the tenets of the Greater Good.” Poro Tauna spoke, as if delivering a verdict. “But you are young, and not fully educated. We also consider the sacrifice you are making in supporting the Greater Good against your people. It is therefore acceptable that Lord Commissar Rossaria Bharti will cease to be considered an ambassador and will now become a prisoner under your auspices.”
The damn thing’s grasp of fancy gothic words was better than his, King realised, but its meaning was clear enough. He nodded.
“Thank you. You are very understanding despite her weakness.”
Poro Tauna nodded too. “We shall discuss your suggestion with Shas'O Sa’cea Lar’shi’vre Kir’gath Mont’or. No doubt he will fully consider the possibilities.
.....
The set up for the former prisoners was changed that day. King, Hunter, Bill and Bellis were given separate rooms in the Human habitation quarter - the doors were not locked, but they were asked not to leave the compound and the Humans and Tau keeping a subtle eye on them weren’t subtle enough not to be noticed. Rossaria remained alone in the cell. Language classes started up again for all four of them, and for Rossaria her days were broken up by the kind of propaganda meetings that Hunter had initially mentioned. King remained free to visit and speak to her, so much as that was worthwhile, though he had to arrange any such visit with the fire warriors who controlled it all. She was recovering well, though to what purpose was very much an unspoken question between them. He wished he could make her understand, but he saw nothing but disgust and hatred in her eyes.
On the whole King and his men stuck closely together, despite the friendly overtures made by the colonists, though Hunter did take up an invite for dinner. The other guardsmen stuck with King, unwilling to risk being separated.
It did not surprise Antonius at all when he was approached by Povree Sakea within two days, no doubt Scar having considered all the possibilities as a result of Antonius’ suggestion and come up with the obvious one. What did surprise him was that Scar had accompanied him, he didn’t think Scar would sully his feet with the dust of the Human habitation. After the basic pleasantries were out the way, Povree Sakea got down to the basics of the conversation.
“Shas'O Sa’cea Lar’shi’vre Kir’gath Mont’or approves of your suggestion and would be happy to accept it, but he feels that it is prudent to test these codes before committing our forces.”
“You mean you don’t trust me.” King stated bluntly.
“Yes.” Scar replied once the question was relayed, equally bluntly. King considered kicking off with wounded pride, but it would just be wasted time and he did have to admit he liked this creature. It seemed to be the only one amongst them who understood anything of war.
“I can’t say I’m surprised.” King remarked honestly. “Unfortunately I don’t know how we could test it, I’ve been trying to think of some way but I can’t. I’m well out of range of the base from here and I don’t have any of our tech with me to demonstrate to you. I’m open to suggestions.”
“My Vox sir.” Bill piped up. “If that helps, I think they’ve got my Vox.”
King turned to Povree Sakea with a confident smile. “Do you know what a Vox is? Have you got it? If so I’d be very happy to demonstrate.”
The Tau spoke amongst themselves, far too quickly for any of them to pick up any of the few words they had yet learned. Finally Povree Sakea turned back to him.
“We have this Vox, it is a primitive comms device.”
Bill started to explode at this description, but King silenced him with a look.
“There you go then - I’ll enter my command override code to Bill’s Vox and prove it.”
“Shas'O Sa’cea Lar’shi’vre Kir’gath Mont’or says that you may give him the codes, and he will use them to test it, on the day of the attack. Furthermore, he wishes your assurance that once the Human forces are destroyed, they will not be followed by others. He understands that you have said in the past that this would happen.”
“it would.” King replied honestly. “They will keep coming until the artefact is recovered or destroyed. I’ve thought of that though: I’ll record a report for you to send from there to say that the artefact was destroyed in the assault and that we - the Imperial Guard I mean - are being overrun. With the others in the background shouting, we can make it sound like a very active war zone. A few screams, some las blasts, then when the message is played you shoot out the remains of the comms, by the time it even gets through it will be plain that there is nothing left on Sargas for them to come back for.”
“You said that they would come for the colonists.”
“I lied. They will come for the artefact, nothing more. To the Imperium Sargas is a backwater planet with no value other than the grav plane, and if they believe that the Guard force has been wiped out as well as the grav plane destroyed, there will be no resources to spare to recapture it.”
“It is agreed.” Porvree Sakea replied after discussion with Scar. “We shall prepare for this assault and you will give us your army’s security codes so that we may exterminate them. You will accompany us and send this message to declare the destruction of the grav plane. It is decided.”
“I can record it from here surely?”
“This is not acceptable to us, there are too many things which can go wrong in this part of the plan. You will accompany the mission and record your message directly from the Human machines.”
“I’ll need Bill with me then, I can’t run a damn comms room. That’s what I keep him for.”
“You misunderstand, Commander Antonius King. You will all accompany the assault. You will create the message; Guardsman Gisel Hunter and Guardsman Jackson Marsh Bellis will assist you; Guardsman Bill William Rau will send the message, and Lord Commissar Rossaria Bharti will be surety to prove your loyalty. Should any stage of the plan you have outlined fail, Shas'O Sa’cea Lar’shi’vre Kir’gath Mont’or will kill her.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Antonius protested. “I won’t be used like that!”
“If you are honest, then there is of course no need.” Povree Sakea agreed. “If you are attempting to create a trap, it will be necessary. Please remember Commander Antonius King, you ask us to give you much trust. We are happy to think that you are honest and fair, but we would be foolish to assume it.”
“You’re wrong.” He insisted. “I’ll expect an apology when you realise it.”
Povree Sakea didn’t risk translating that, but just nodded “Of course.”
.....
The day of the assault arrived, looming large on everyone’s minds. In vast hangars on the edge of the Tau compound rows upon rows of fire warriors marched in the shade of Hammerheads and Razorsharks. Crisis suits and their weird jump pack troops lined up beside the railgun-wielding dreadnaughts, the delicate spindly lines of the machines belying their deadly potential. At the front were the Gue’vesa, the human forces from the colonists fighting with their newly-acquired weapons to defend their newly-acquired homeland. He had seen all these troops before of course, not all at once as best as he could tell, but he had faced each of them across a battlefield before. It was a very strange feeling to see such a force ignoring him.
It was a prodigious force, but not enough to take on the Guard at their base now that it was established - no wonder the Tau had harried them when they first arrived, and then tried to draw them out into the open. Without the edge that the command passwords would give them they would die in droves against the might of the Imperial Guard. The sudden loss of control on the base however would leave the Guard easy prey to the Tau hunters.
Rossaria marched in to the waiting forces, her attitude of haughty distaste refusing to show fear or forgiveness and looking for all the world as though she had chosen to join them, the armed warriors surrounding her being a mere distraction. He had to admit, she made quite an entrance. She didn’t lower herself to even look at King and his traitor guardsmen, though he looked at her. Her stance emphasised the intimidating red sash at her hip and she still wore her baldric despite it being empty of weapons. She caught him looking at her and addressed him in dark tones.
“There’s no going back from this, Antonius. You know each and every person on that base - you don’t realise you do, but you do. You’ll see their faces every night until the day you die, and you’ll never forget a single one. They’ll never leave you, each and every person who died because of *your* lack of faith, *your* inability to command, *your* betrayal. You will never silence them, Antonius, and I hope your new faith is strong enough to keep you sane because there will be nothing else to get you through those long dark nights with them in your mind. Take it from one who knows.”
“I wish I could make you understand.” King said sadly.
“They’re not dead yet Antonius.” She responded, as her guards suddenly realised it might be a good idea to take her away from him. “You can still stop this.”
As King and his men approached the front of the hangar, somewhat rattled to varying degrees by the Lord Commissar’s parting shot, Scar was there with Poro Tauna, and Bill gave a small cry of delight to see that there was a minion carrying his beloved Vox caster. Povree Sakea frowned at the sound.
“Is there a problem?”
“He takes his machine very seriously.” King explained. “He is glad to see it again.”
“I see.” It said, though it plainly didn’t. Getting down to business, King rattled off a series of alphanumerics, a long string that had been near impossible to memorise when he first received it, and now was impossible to forget. Then he repeated it again more slowly, for people unused to military codes in a foreign language. The ‘override everything clearance’, Bill had called it, and when Scar quoted the override code to it the Vox lit up ready to go, ignoring the locks that had been put on using Bill’s lower authority.
“Happy?” King demanded. There was the customary exchange between Scar and his translator before anything was said.
“Shas'O Sa’cea Lar’shi’vre Kir’gath Mont’or agrees that you have not lied and he thanks you for your assistance.”
“I want an apology.” He insisted. The long-suffering Povree Sakea relayed this latest stage in their argument, and returned Scar’s answer as politely as possible.
“Shas'O Sa’cea Lar’shi’vre Kir’gath Mont’or has said that he is not able to apologise, for his concern is only to protect his people.”
“And here was me thinking they were our people too now.” King replied sourly, but he wasn’t expecting an answer. Instead, Poro Tauna wished them all luck and suggested they embark upon Scar’s Devilfish and prepare for the assault.
“This is a difficult thing for you.” Poro Tauna noted, with surprising insight for a Xeno.
“Of course it is.” He snapped. “They’ve been with me for ten years, some of them, do you think it’s easy to turn my back on them after that? If there was any other way I’d take it! But there isn’t.”
That last part wasn’t exactly a question, and wasn’t exactly a statement. However he already knew there was no other alternative.
“It will not be easy.” Porvree Sakea noted, proving itself to be a creature with some degree of military knowledge as well as its translating skills. “They have of course lost their commander, but even without you they are powerful and have strong defences.”
“It will be easy.” King countered “Because I will give you access.”
That got their attention, as he knew it would.
“I’ve got access and override codes for everything on the base: the air defences, the void shield generators, everything. I can leave them defenceless - it won’t last forever, they’ll realise of course what’s happened and they’ll get it back up again in the end, but I would estimate it would take a minimum of half an hour and that’s assuming that they can contact high command immediately. If you can take out the comms relay towers quickly enough, that extends to several hours while the signal is reestablished. That’s more than enough time.” He didn’t finish that thought: he didn’t have to. They all knew what would happen in those hours.
“And your companions here?”
“No!” King spoke too quickly, and hastily recomposed himself. “They are with me - with us. That would be a waste of life and of resources.”
“As they are with us Commander Antonius King, then of course they too are part of the Tau Empire.” Poro Tauna answered, clearly trying to be soothing. “But you have said that Lord Commissar Rossaria Bharti will not understand this need.”
“I know.” He hung his head and examined his shoes, stumbling slightly over his words. “But I can’t, I can’t lose her. She’s not part of this deal, she stays with me.” He looked up at Poro Tauna, wondering if his striking blue eyes would have any effect on a Tau like this. “I’m sorry, I know that’s not the right answer, but I can’t. I need her.”
Poro Tauna gave him a look that he couldn’t read, but seemed to get what Antonius was hinting at.
“We too have love in our society.” It said. “But I do not think she returns this emotion?”
“I know.”
“She may never do so.”
“I know.”
“She may never embrace the Greater Good.”
“I know!”
“If she does not, what then?”
Antonius shrugged, one shouldered. “Then she will hate me forever and live as a prisoner and I won’t touch her until the day she insists that I kill her. But that won’t happen! She’s stubborn and misguided but she’s not incapable of learning.”
“This does not conform with the Greater Good.” Povree Sakea pointed out. King could have cheerfully punched it, but restricted himself to a glare.
“There are people in that base there who’ve fought by my side for ten years and more. There are people I owe everything to. Rhys has saved my life more times than I could count, and Jaks - the real Jaks, I mean - would follow me to hell and back, and I’m repaying that by offering them up to die for the Greater Good. They would jump at the chance to follow me to you, but they’re in the wrong place and they can’t be saved. I don’t hesitate, I don’t regret it. I know it is necessary and I’m sacrificing them willingly for you. Consider Rossaria the payback then, or a salve for my conscience, but she lives. That’s all I ask.”
“This is not correct by the tenets of the Greater Good.” Poro Tauna spoke, as if delivering a verdict. “But you are young, and not fully educated. We also consider the sacrifice you are making in supporting the Greater Good against your people. It is therefore acceptable that Lord Commissar Rossaria Bharti will cease to be considered an ambassador and will now become a prisoner under your auspices.”
The damn thing’s grasp of fancy gothic words was better than his, King realised, but its meaning was clear enough. He nodded.
“Thank you. You are very understanding despite her weakness.”
Poro Tauna nodded too. “We shall discuss your suggestion with Shas'O Sa’cea Lar’shi’vre Kir’gath Mont’or. No doubt he will fully consider the possibilities.
.....
The set up for the former prisoners was changed that day. King, Hunter, Bill and Bellis were given separate rooms in the Human habitation quarter - the doors were not locked, but they were asked not to leave the compound and the Humans and Tau keeping a subtle eye on them weren’t subtle enough not to be noticed. Rossaria remained alone in the cell. Language classes started up again for all four of them, and for Rossaria her days were broken up by the kind of propaganda meetings that Hunter had initially mentioned. King remained free to visit and speak to her, so much as that was worthwhile, though he had to arrange any such visit with the fire warriors who controlled it all. She was recovering well, though to what purpose was very much an unspoken question between them. He wished he could make her understand, but he saw nothing but disgust and hatred in her eyes.
On the whole King and his men stuck closely together, despite the friendly overtures made by the colonists, though Hunter did take up an invite for dinner. The other guardsmen stuck with King, unwilling to risk being separated.
It did not surprise Antonius at all when he was approached by Povree Sakea within two days, no doubt Scar having considered all the possibilities as a result of Antonius’ suggestion and come up with the obvious one. What did surprise him was that Scar had accompanied him, he didn’t think Scar would sully his feet with the dust of the Human habitation. After the basic pleasantries were out the way, Povree Sakea got down to the basics of the conversation.
“Shas'O Sa’cea Lar’shi’vre Kir’gath Mont’or approves of your suggestion and would be happy to accept it, but he feels that it is prudent to test these codes before committing our forces.”
“You mean you don’t trust me.” King stated bluntly.
“Yes.” Scar replied once the question was relayed, equally bluntly. King considered kicking off with wounded pride, but it would just be wasted time and he did have to admit he liked this creature. It seemed to be the only one amongst them who understood anything of war.
“I can’t say I’m surprised.” King remarked honestly. “Unfortunately I don’t know how we could test it, I’ve been trying to think of some way but I can’t. I’m well out of range of the base from here and I don’t have any of our tech with me to demonstrate to you. I’m open to suggestions.”
“My Vox sir.” Bill piped up. “If that helps, I think they’ve got my Vox.”
King turned to Povree Sakea with a confident smile. “Do you know what a Vox is? Have you got it? If so I’d be very happy to demonstrate.”
The Tau spoke amongst themselves, far too quickly for any of them to pick up any of the few words they had yet learned. Finally Povree Sakea turned back to him.
“We have this Vox, it is a primitive comms device.”
Bill started to explode at this description, but King silenced him with a look.
“There you go then - I’ll enter my command override code to Bill’s Vox and prove it.”
“Shas'O Sa’cea Lar’shi’vre Kir’gath Mont’or says that you may give him the codes, and he will use them to test it, on the day of the attack. Furthermore, he wishes your assurance that once the Human forces are destroyed, they will not be followed by others. He understands that you have said in the past that this would happen.”
“it would.” King replied honestly. “They will keep coming until the artefact is recovered or destroyed. I’ve thought of that though: I’ll record a report for you to send from there to say that the artefact was destroyed in the assault and that we - the Imperial Guard I mean - are being overrun. With the others in the background shouting, we can make it sound like a very active war zone. A few screams, some las blasts, then when the message is played you shoot out the remains of the comms, by the time it even gets through it will be plain that there is nothing left on Sargas for them to come back for.”
“You said that they would come for the colonists.”
“I lied. They will come for the artefact, nothing more. To the Imperium Sargas is a backwater planet with no value other than the grav plane, and if they believe that the Guard force has been wiped out as well as the grav plane destroyed, there will be no resources to spare to recapture it.”
“It is agreed.” Porvree Sakea replied after discussion with Scar. “We shall prepare for this assault and you will give us your army’s security codes so that we may exterminate them. You will accompany us and send this message to declare the destruction of the grav plane. It is decided.”
“I can record it from here surely?”
“This is not acceptable to us, there are too many things which can go wrong in this part of the plan. You will accompany the mission and record your message directly from the Human machines.”
“I’ll need Bill with me then, I can’t run a damn comms room. That’s what I keep him for.”
“You misunderstand, Commander Antonius King. You will all accompany the assault. You will create the message; Guardsman Gisel Hunter and Guardsman Jackson Marsh Bellis will assist you; Guardsman Bill William Rau will send the message, and Lord Commissar Rossaria Bharti will be surety to prove your loyalty. Should any stage of the plan you have outlined fail, Shas'O Sa’cea Lar’shi’vre Kir’gath Mont’or will kill her.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Antonius protested. “I won’t be used like that!”
“If you are honest, then there is of course no need.” Povree Sakea agreed. “If you are attempting to create a trap, it will be necessary. Please remember Commander Antonius King, you ask us to give you much trust. We are happy to think that you are honest and fair, but we would be foolish to assume it.”
“You’re wrong.” He insisted. “I’ll expect an apology when you realise it.”
Povree Sakea didn’t risk translating that, but just nodded “Of course.”
.....
The day of the assault arrived, looming large on everyone’s minds. In vast hangars on the edge of the Tau compound rows upon rows of fire warriors marched in the shade of Hammerheads and Razorsharks. Crisis suits and their weird jump pack troops lined up beside the railgun-wielding dreadnaughts, the delicate spindly lines of the machines belying their deadly potential. At the front were the Gue’vesa, the human forces from the colonists fighting with their newly-acquired weapons to defend their newly-acquired homeland. He had seen all these troops before of course, not all at once as best as he could tell, but he had faced each of them across a battlefield before. It was a very strange feeling to see such a force ignoring him.
It was a prodigious force, but not enough to take on the Guard at their base now that it was established - no wonder the Tau had harried them when they first arrived, and then tried to draw them out into the open. Without the edge that the command passwords would give them they would die in droves against the might of the Imperial Guard. The sudden loss of control on the base however would leave the Guard easy prey to the Tau hunters.
Rossaria marched in to the waiting forces, her attitude of haughty distaste refusing to show fear or forgiveness and looking for all the world as though she had chosen to join them, the armed warriors surrounding her being a mere distraction. He had to admit, she made quite an entrance. She didn’t lower herself to even look at King and his traitor guardsmen, though he looked at her. Her stance emphasised the intimidating red sash at her hip and she still wore her baldric despite it being empty of weapons. She caught him looking at her and addressed him in dark tones.
“There’s no going back from this, Antonius. You know each and every person on that base - you don’t realise you do, but you do. You’ll see their faces every night until the day you die, and you’ll never forget a single one. They’ll never leave you, each and every person who died because of *your* lack of faith, *your* inability to command, *your* betrayal. You will never silence them, Antonius, and I hope your new faith is strong enough to keep you sane because there will be nothing else to get you through those long dark nights with them in your mind. Take it from one who knows.”
“I wish I could make you understand.” King said sadly.
“They’re not dead yet Antonius.” She responded, as her guards suddenly realised it might be a good idea to take her away from him. “You can still stop this.”
As King and his men approached the front of the hangar, somewhat rattled to varying degrees by the Lord Commissar’s parting shot, Scar was there with Poro Tauna, and Bill gave a small cry of delight to see that there was a minion carrying his beloved Vox caster. Povree Sakea frowned at the sound.
“Is there a problem?”
“He takes his machine very seriously.” King explained. “He is glad to see it again.”
“I see.” It said, though it plainly didn’t. Getting down to business, King rattled off a series of alphanumerics, a long string that had been near impossible to memorise when he first received it, and now was impossible to forget. Then he repeated it again more slowly, for people unused to military codes in a foreign language. The ‘override everything clearance’, Bill had called it, and when Scar quoted the override code to it the Vox lit up ready to go, ignoring the locks that had been put on using Bill’s lower authority.
“Happy?” King demanded. There was the customary exchange between Scar and his translator before anything was said.
“Shas'O Sa’cea Lar’shi’vre Kir’gath Mont’or agrees that you have not lied and he thanks you for your assistance.”
“I want an apology.” He insisted. The long-suffering Povree Sakea relayed this latest stage in their argument, and returned Scar’s answer as politely as possible.
“Shas'O Sa’cea Lar’shi’vre Kir’gath Mont’or has said that he is not able to apologise, for his concern is only to protect his people.”
“And here was me thinking they were our people too now.” King replied sourly, but he wasn’t expecting an answer. Instead, Poro Tauna wished them all luck and suggested they embark upon Scar’s Devilfish and prepare for the assault.