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Commander Shadowsun, military head of the Fifth Sphere Expansion, protector of the Nem’yar Atoll, is an island of calm in a storm of activity. The command decks of the Manta Missile Destroyer Unifying Hand bustle like a Bork’an goods exchange on a day of giving. Contoured holo-maps glow amidst the decks’ cool blue illumination, projected from hovering strategic drones. Officers of the Fire and Air castes move between each depicted battlesphere, flowing around the strategic drones just as the Code of Fire demands. The officers wear haptic gloves that allow them to interact with the holo-maps, and strategic integration headsets whose semi-transparent eye lenses project streams of tactical and communications information to augment their fields of vision. Advisors of the Earth and Water castes move amongst them. They offer their own counsel in the name of the Greater Good. None are ever still for more than a moment.
None except Shadowsun.
As patient as the hunter she has come to embody, Shadowsun – O’Shaserra in the T’au tongue – stands at the heart of it all and sifts information. She wears gloves and a headset of her own; as the supreme commander of this battle for the world of Astorgius, she must be ready at a moment’s notice to step in and provide input at any holo-map. Yet it is also her role to ride the tides of holistic strategic intelligence swirling within the command decks, connecting her to the wider war for the Nem’yar Atoll. Where her lieutenants see facets, she must view the entire picture, then apply all of her honed instincts as a warrior and a commander to ensure it develops to the benefit of the T’au’va.
A cloud of micro-drones orbits Shadowsun. It is via these small helpers – as much as through her headset’s dataflow and her observations of the holo-maps – that O’Shaserra reads the shape of the many conflicts to which she must attend.
The burden is immense. O’Shaserra is determined to prove its equal, however. The Empire has invested so much in her. It is her duty to prove worthy of that investment and the trust it implies with every waking moment of her existence. The Greater Good requires no less.
Combat ebbs and flows before Shadowsun’s eyes, rendered in glowing glyphs and three-dimensional topographical holo-maps. Noting a building concentration of Gue’la – or Human – forces around waypoint Stars-Rising-Nine-Silver, she conveys concise strategic instructions to a micro-drone using haptic gestures. It speeds across the command deck to convey them. New glyphs spring into being upon the selected holo-map as the display accepts her command authority, and AIs parse then transmit her orders.
Around the fringes of the battlesphere, several of her Fire caste aides murmur their approval. More micro-drones dart away from the swarm about Shadowsun’s head to bear missives to officers at holobanks elsewhere on the Manta’s command decks. Down upon the surface of Astorgius, a retreating column of Imperial tanks changes heading towards what seems to be a gap left in the encircling T’au forces. They have taken Shadowsun’s bait. The apparent escape route will instead lead them into an ambush by three separate cadres, followed swiftly by their surrender or annihilation.
‘Shas’o, the matter remains before us.’
The voice belongs to Aun’el Vesh. Her serene visage occupies one of the communication windows floating in Shadowsun’s peripheral vision. Below it float others: Por’o Bork’an Dyesh of the Water caste diplomatic resolution cadre, Fio’el Elsy’eir Jolan of the Earth caste martial sciences collective initiative, and willowy Kor’el Kor’tal Thiy’un representing the sept naval contingent.
Practically my own Elemental Council, Shadowsun thinks, enjoying a glimmer of self-deprecating amusement at the scandalous – and clearly ludicrous – notion.
‘You are correct, honoured Aun,’ says Shadowsun, forming the gesture of fire-spreads. ‘Though many matters occupy my attention, the issue of Volkus must rank highly amongst them.’
‘Vohll-kuss. An ugly name,’ observes Por’o Dyesh from his communication window, scornfully dragging out his intentional mispronunciation.
‘An Imperial name,’ replies Shadowsun. ‘We shall give it a new one once the world is ours.’
‘But we must first pacify and civilise it,’ says Fio’el Jolan. ‘I am not a soldier, Shas’o, but this seems to me no small matter.’
‘You are correct,’ agrees Shadowsun, thinking that the Fio’el’s gift for understatement remains finely honed. ‘The world of Volkus is central to the Human defence of the entire Kessandras System. You have all studied the intelligence briefings on their… weapon?’
Each of the assembled leaders offers some sound or gesture of confirmation. Shadowsun notes that Fio’el Jolan displays unseemly relish. For all its brutish nature, the technological secrets of the Gue’la superweapon must fascinate the Earth caste.
‘Conventional colonisation in force carries too high a risk while it remains operational,’ says Kor’el Thiy’un, with an apologetic rendering of the gesture of the-elements-tamed. ‘Kor’tal Sept thrives, but it remains yet vulnerable to Human and Ork raiders. Our naval assets are fully committed to patrolling localised sept space, and are still badly disrupted with astrotelemetric variables remaining so unpredictable. It would be reckless in the extreme to commit what Kor’vattra assets we have in the face of such destructive power.’
Shadowsun offers the Air caste officer a placating gesture.
‘None here expects this of you, Kor’el. It would serve the T’au’va poorly.’
‘Regrettably, we are no nearer to a diplomatic solution, either,’ says Por’o Dyesh, his tone expertly modulated to radiate regret while making clear that his position in this matter is immovable. ‘What remote overtures we have offered have been summarily rejected with a tediously predictable outpouring of primitive aggression. Though I weep for those Humans upon…’ A mannered pause, a slight distasteful quirk of the mouth. ‘…Volkus who might prove more sympathetic to enlightenment, the simple truth is that their leaders are intractable. I will not send envoys into the lairs of such as they. I will not cast away lives.’
‘What of the Fio?’ asks the serene Aun’el Vesh. ‘Do our sciences offer us a solution to this challenge?’
Fio’el Jolan looks momentarily stricken as the Ethereal’s full attention turns upon her, but she recovers herself with admirable swiftness. Her gesture is that of the wall-half-raised.
‘The martial sciences collective initiative has generated several technological suggestions that would help Kor’vattra vessels to evade the notice of the Human superweapon within local Volkus space, at least for a time. However, it shames me to admit they would likely fall short of what is needed to address the Kor’el’s concerns.’
Aun’el Vesh’s calm gaze turns to Shadowsun.
‘And yet I sense these offerings will be sufficient for O’Shaserra’s needs, will they not?’
‘They will, honoured Aun,’ says Shadowsun, unsurprised that the Ethereal has already guessed something of her intentions. ‘If we cannot use reason, and brute force will be met in kind and far exceeded, then we must instead employ cunning. Small, elite forces embarked upon the lightest and swiftest Kor’vattra vessels available, which must themselves be provisioned with expert crews. Their mission will be to slip onto the surface of Volkus and launch a direct raid against the superweapon itself.’
‘To sabotage its operation,’ says Kor’el Thiy’un with approval.
‘And perhaps to study its workings?’ asks Fio’el Jolan hopefully.
‘With the blessings of the honoured Aun, the raid will seek to achieve both of these aims,’ says Shadowsun. ‘On this battlefield, the Humans must be the patient hunters, and we the quarry drawn to their lure. Yet the prey that knows its peril can itself become the predator. We will slip into their trap and disarm it from within.’
‘Who will you send to do this, O’Shaserra?’ asks Por’o Dyesh, sounding intrigued. ‘The inspirational value of such a victory against the Human superweapon will be great. It will strengthen the bonds of unity and determination throughout the Nem’yar Atoll!’
‘And not just amongst our own people,’ says Shadowsun. ‘The presence of certain allies on this raid would increase its chances of success. I will issue full instructions by micro-drones. Suffice it to say for now that we T’au will strike a great blow against Volkus, and that our honoured auxiliaries will be key to our success.’
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