Sirens rang within both the XV15 stealth and the HQ crisis Battlesuits; their built in knowledge banks now alerting them they were dangerously close to a strong close quarters unit. Both Tau squads, aware of each others position, synchronised a perfect jet-pack manoeuvre that left them able to provide overlapping fire support if either unit was charged.
And charged they were!
As the Terminator emerged around the smoke stack and charged headlong towards the XV15’s, they readied their guns to slow the metallic beast down. Before they could fire, several bursts of supporting pulse fire from Bravo squad flew over their heads. The XV15’s then let rip with their burst cannons; however to the shock of Shas’va’el all of the shots danced wildly off the terminators notorious armour.
The Terminator continued to close the gap.
More pulse fire from her bodyguards drone, hoping to score another Terminator kill. It’s shots, although twin-linked, strayed wide and missed their target.
The Terminator moved ever closer to the XV15. Their camouflage offering no help at this proximity.
In unison Shas’va’el and her bodyguard raised their mechanical arms, bringing blast cannons, fusion and cyclic ion blasters to bear down on their target. A violent eruption of fire sprang forth towards the Terminator, but with ricochets and misses the Terminator didn’t even get slowed.
Shas’va’el now watched in horror as one of the worst scenes she had seen unfolded before her. The stealth unit she had hand picked from other Fire cadre’s was now within close combat range of a dreaded Terminator. It’s powered heavy frame vaulted the defence line with ease and ploughed double-fist first into the chest of one of the XV15s. It then rose and with veracious speed, spun at the waist, decapitated another XV15 unit.
Unable to target the Terminator now scrapping with the remaining XV15, both Alpha and Bravo squads rushed towards their objective. The legs, now tired and soaked with the blood of the fallen, carried them through the snow and into the battlements. As Bravo squad arrived at the datacore, Shas’va’el and her HQ squad leap frogged the remaining Terminator and encircled them, the Battlesuit’s now providing a wall of strengthened armour around the weaker Fire Warriors troops.
As Shas’va’el landed from her jet pack jump, her heavy Crisis Battlesuit crushed a fallen scout under its weight. She turned her unit around so it faced outwards, and ordered the HQ into a defensive formation around the more fragile, but equally as important, Fire Warriors of Bravo squad. As she turned her guns towards the Terminator, she realised she had only clocked 3 members of Bravo squad now stood over the objective. 8 had departed the transporter the night before.
She could do nothing but watch as the 3rd and final XV15 stealth suit fell lifelessly into the snow.
The Terminator then turned to the Tau defence circle. Filled with chaotic rage, the Terminator charged directly for Shas’va’el. This time, still painted by the Pathfinder marker lights, the weapons brought to bear upon the Terminator were perfectly aimed.
As a single well-practised and coordinated attack, the commanders cyclic ion blaster tore a large portion of Terminator off the torso. This was immediately and purposefully followed by two rocket pods exploding overhead, cracking and weakening the helmet. The Terminator’s running gait now faulted as it suffered several blows. Shas’va’el’s bodyguard, braced and awaiting the perfect opportunity, finally found that moment and unleashed both equipped blast cannons. One trained on the exposed torso, one trained on the marker lights dancing over the cracked face plate.
The pacing legs of the armour clad death machine now faulted for a second time, this time as it suffered a critical and catastrophic failure of all its internal systems. Buckling and melting from within, the large bulk of the torso crashed to the floor and slid along the snow to the feet of Shas’va’el.
With steam quietly hissing as snow fell onto super-heated gun barrels, and for the first time in hours, the Tau force scanned the now hushed battlefield. They had won, their enemies were vanquished.
Shas’va’el contacted their transporter and reported the datacore as secured and the mission completed. She placed a teleportation transponder upon its metallic frame and watched with weary limbs as it disappeared into a dazzling bright white light.
To the north there she saw countless bodies of both Space Marines and some unknown chaos group. Foes that were slain in this battle yet never fired on her units.
To the west she could see that the bikes were still smouldering, now partly covered in fresh snow.
To the east she saw a Whirlwind tank, ripped apart by its own exploding ordinance and sitting in a shallow crater.
At her feet, 3 chaos emblazoned Terminator’s covered the bodies of dead Space Marine scouts.
Unfortunately Shas’va’el also knew that to the south, from where they had come, half of two squads of brave Tau Fire Warriors now laid lifeless upon the tranquil snow. On top of this burden only a commander knows, somewhere in the carnage around them and just out of sight behind the smoke stack, 3 of her finest XV15 stealth suit pilots had also been savagely killed. Lastly, but equally as important to her, and now buried forever, two drones willing gave their artificial lives to spare her’s from harm.
With the confirmation that the datacore was safely within the Tau transporter, high above them in the atmosphere, she scanned the snow-capped scenery one last time. She would not miss the killing fields of Ketla Tr’n Five.
With the last squad, the distant Pathfinders, checking in, Shas’va’el entered a single command into her Battlesuit and every Tau unit upon that blood stained plateau vanished into a brilliant white light.