20

===Thread 20===

Though you barely manage to keep track of the tech-priestess as she weaves through hallways and split paths, somehow you do. How she knows this place so well is still quite a marvel.

When you finally catch up, its beside a small unassuming door in a small corridor. Mika fumbles with a set of keys, taking nervous glances back at you.

She'd thrown her robe back on, though keeping it open to avoid getting it messed up by your rather gooey gift.

"Hah, like I'd let you escape." You smirk.

She doesn't say anything in response, her shaking hand finally pushing the right key into the lock and fumbling the handle as she pushes the door open.

Inside is a small, rather plain room. A single bed, some shelving and drawers. Beyond, another door leading into an unlit bathroom.

"W-would you like a shower?" Mika pipes up, rubbing her hands together as she looks from the bathroom to you.

"Very much so." You reply warmly.

The steaming stream of water now washing away the grime and sweat of the Titan battle, both of you finally seem entirely at ease. Mika still trying to keep herself modestly hidden as she washes up, you teasing her and foiling the attempt.

Both of you finally cleaned off, and Mika actually seeming to calm down, you step from the shower. The towels are modest, but do the job.

Mika watches quietly as you shave, which you hadn't had many recent opportunities to do.

You start reaching for your clothes, checking your communicator. Its quite late, far past the hour of nightfall.

"Sorry, didn't mean to keep you up this late." You smile apologetically to Mika. Its quite difficult not to just outright stare as she dries her hair, wrapped only in a single and quite revealing pink towel.

"Its ummmm... D-do, ah... D-do you w-want to s-s-stay the ni-night?" She stammers, perhaps louder than she had intended to as it catches you quite off-guard.

"If its not too much trouble?" You shrug.

"N-no t-trouble..." She says, staring at the floor and her face red as her robes again.

An hour later you wake back up as Mika shifts position. Looking down at the quietly snoozing tech-priestess, you can't quite believe your luck.

A yawn, and you pull her closer to you as you drift back into your dreams.

Something ringing loudly cracks your eyes back open. With an annoyed grunt, you reach over, slapping at your communicator. Finally it shuts off, and you roll back over.

A few seconds later, its insistent tone chimes again. This time you snatch up the device and hold it in front of your face.

The screen reads "Esh - Urgent."

Damn that Eldar, calling you all the time. Why can't she just leave a message like a normal person, xeno, anyone.

Well she should have known better to call at... Oh wait, its already 1pm...

Looking back, you notice Mika seems to have already awoken, as she's disappeared. A small note left on the bed-stand informs you that she needed to complete some morning rituals or something with machine spirits blah blah blah.

Annoyed at the intrusion nonetheless, you press the receive button and put the communicator to your ear.

Which proves instantly to be a poor decision.

"MAX?!" The earpiece squeals in protest at the volume.

"Damn it, woman, you don't have to yell into these things!" You snap.

"Well pick up the first time then! Gods!" She quips right back.

"What could possibly be so important that you are calling me at this hour? I haven't smoked any more souls, and I swear I had no choice but to play in that bloodbowl game..."

"What are you...? Its one in the... Ugh, never mind any of that you idiot, your friend is hurt!"

This snaps you to awake. Suddenly you have the device held to your ear with attention.

"What are you talking about, who?"

"Your Vindicare friend. One of our scout detachments found him this morning."

"Eight? How bad is he?"

Esh hesitates for a moment.

"Bad." She finally responds.

"Fuck. I'll be right there, tell me what happened."

"It would be pointless coming here, the healers wouldn't let you in to see him even if you tried to fight your way through. We don't know quite what happened, but it looks like he got into a tangle with a psycher of some kind."

"A psycher?"

"Yeah. Though it looks like he gave whoever it was hell. His pistol was empty and there was a good trail of blood. The scouts followed it but it ended at a river."

"Never mind all of that, how messed up is he? Can you guys deal with bullet wounds very well?" You are already throwing on your clothes and trying to figure out some way to equip your own armor.

"Its not a flesh wound, Max. I said he got in a fight with a psycher. He was bleeding from the eyes and ears when we found him, he's been catatonic ever since." The worried tone of Esh's voice does nothing except make you even more concerned.

"...When will we know?" You sit back down on the bed, suddenly feeling quite heavy.

"We don't know. The healers are trying their best, but even they aren't sure he'll ever come out of it."

"Keep trying your best, I've got something to deal with."

"Deal with?" Esh asks, clearly annoyed you are attempting to end the conversation.

"Yeah, because by the end of today, I'm going to kill whoever did it."

You find Mika busily messing with an open panel on Rex. The baneblade barks and starts toward you until Mika chides him to remain still. The robot relents, though his quivering antenna betray his true desire.

"Morning..." Mika stops when she sees your face.

"What happened?" She asks, standing up and quickly rushing over to you.

"Someone attacked a friend of mine. I need to go find out who."

Mika stops, but then nods and looks quite serious.

"You'd better go, then. I'll help you get into your armor."

As she quickly secures your armor pieces into place, you apologize for having to leave so suddenly. Despite her now serious tone, she's not angry with you. You thank her for being so understanding.

"T-there." She says, your gear finally all in place.

"Thanks, Mika. I'll let you know how it turns out." You reach down and pull her up in a tight hug. Quite to your surprise, she gives you a kiss right then and there.

"J-just don't do anything dumb, I don't have another Titan."

"Don't worry, I won't."

With one last kiss, you roar up the ramp on your new bike. A gift from Mika, something she'd been working on for quite some time.

In place of the usual bolters are plasma rifles, with a center-mounted grenade launcher. Twisting the throttle, you notice it seems to have quite a bit more power than the bikes you've ridden before. You make a note to take her on a ride the next time you see her.

For now, you have to decide where to go. Following the blood trail would be pointless. You have a feeling that somehow you'll just bump into whoever it is you've set out to end.

As you rip up dirt and your tires kick out small stones, you pull out your communicator once again.

The driving instructor at basic said never to do anything that might distract you from driving, but what did he know?

Ringing... Ringing...

"Ailia?"

"Max?"

"Yeah, its me."

"Ohai! My brother and I were just sitting down for lunch, care to join us?"

"As much as I'd like to, I've got a vendetta and the only prescription is to kill a psycher."

Ailia pauses.

"A... Psycher? Why? Whats up?"

You explain the situation to her as you ride, Ailia getting directions for you from her brother. The Tau girl seems quite upset at the news, having already spoken in quite length to Eight while you and Darkhammer were busy fighting on bear leaves.

"So he's in pretty bad shape?" Ailia finally asks, sounding downtrodden.

"That's what I've been told."

"Max, its Kais. Call the Eldar if you will, I'll personally send over some of our medical staff to help them out."

You make the call, fully expecting Esh to make a big scene of it and turn down the offer. Its quite surprising, then, when she graciously accepts. Not that you mind, the more staff the kid's got, the better his chances are.

You pull up to a slow stop alongside the Hammerhead, noticing Kais standing outside of it. It looks like he's giving orders to several Tau seated in Piranhas, who go flying off at a breakneck speed before you get close.

"That was the medical crew, they are quite adept at dealing with psychic injuries, I assure you." The Tau Commander claps you on the shoulder.

"Thanks for this."

"Think nothing of it brother, a friend of yours is mine as well." He nods sagely.

"Now, you look quite tired, come come. My sister's already waiting for us." He ferries you to the other side of the gunship, where you find Ailia seated on a blanket with a modest spread of food in front of her.

"Max!" She smiles as she sees you, but it falters once she notices your face.

"Revenge is heavy work, eat up." Kais motions for you to sit, and you do.

Though you aren't sure WHY you are hungry, you find yourself eagerly digging in. Tau cuisine is strange, to put it lightly. Gelatinous blue goo that wriggles at a touch, green damp strands that hang limp on a fork... These things you avoid, settling instead for some kind of meat in a rolled flat bread.

Kais eats beside you, but looks quite grave as he does. Finally, he speaks his mind.

"Whomever it was that attacked your friend was surely no amateur. I've had run-ins with Vindicare in the past, and there is no sneaking up on one." He sets down his bowl of blue gelatin.

"Fortunately," He continues, "Whoever the attacker was is not quite so skilled in the art of deception. My scouts picked up a blood trail earlier, though we didn't know from what until you called. Headed right into Tyranid country."

You notice Ailia's face lose some of it's color, and she looks as though she hopes she won't hear what comes next.

"So we're headed into 'nid territory." You say with an air of finality.

"Correct, we'll pick up the trail and see where it goes from there." Kais nods.

"Are you, uhh... Sure about this, Max?" Ailia asks, nervously watching you as you walk up and down the line of XV8's.

"Yeah, something wrong?"

"Well, its just that... You don't have any idea how to drive one of these things." Ailia shrugs, looking quite puzzled.

You stop, looking at her. Ailia stares right back at you.

"As if that's ever stopped me before." You grin, before pulling yourself up and into a Crisis suit.

"So... You're sure, about this?" She stands looking up at you, hands on her hips.

"I just went toe-to-toe with Abbadon in a Titan, and he had a bigger one. What could possibly go wrong?" You shrug.

"Well... Ok then..." She heads off to find her own suit.

"Now, lets see what this baby's armed with..." You start pushing buttons at random.

You are quite surprised when a Gretchin pops its ugly head up into your cockpit, and you stop messing with the controls.

"Oi boss, oi!"

"Uhh... Sup?" You look down at the green thing almost bobbing in delight.

"Boss, we gave ya mo' dakka bits!" It exclaims gleefully.

Poking your head out, you notice it indeed HAS given you quite a bit more shooty.

Strapped on in addition to the flamer and fragmentation launcher is a plasma rifle and a burst cannon. Well, odd but cool. Did that little shit just bolt those on? Oh wait... Yes it appears he did.

You turn back to look at the little Gretchin, about to give your thanks, before you realize he's disappeared.

Ailia's suit comes marching up beside you, pauses, and takes two steps back.

"What the...?! How did you...?!!?"

"I'm just that good." You slip on a pair of sunglasses and fold your arms, before sitting back down in the suit and closing the hatch.

Continuing on in your pursuit of figuring out this blasted thing, you keep monkeying with the controls. Surely if you just keep trying you will get it right, eventually.

"Max, are you all set to go?" Kais's voice comes over the speakers in your cockpit.

"Yeah, I think so." You push the controls, and the XV8 responds by lurching forwards. You barely manage to avoid crashing right on your own face.

"Yep, we're good." You assure the Tau, most of whom have stopped what they are doing to stare at you.

"Hey Max, what did you do to that XV8?" Kais asks, his hammerhead pulling up alongside you. He's staring, likely with a look of bizarre curiosity, at your suit.

"Got some more good bits for this foight." You tell him, finally getting into the rhythm of walking.

No one asks any more questions, and in hushed tones you don't pick up, the Tau ground crew agree they probably would rather not know, and chalk it up to you being human.

"Ok, lets do this thing!" Another Crisis suit rockets past you, pushing the suit to it's max speed. Which isn't entirely what you would call fast.

"Come on you xeno tin can, lets go lets go!" You push the controls to their limits and the suit picks up speed... Which is slower than the other suit, likely because you are weighed down with guns. Well, Karen would be mad at you if you ever told her you thought you'd had TOO much dakka here.

"You boys go on ahead... I think I'll sit back here and uhh... Do some stuff...?" Ailia says quietly over the comms.

"I think not, sister. It's far past time to get you over this fear of the swarm. You're going with us." Kais chides her.

"Hey uhh... Max? You doing alright buddy?" He asks you.

"Yeah, just fine!" In truth, you are struggling to keep the walker on it's feet. As per usual, the one thing you've yet to find is any brakes.

Well, no time like the present to push buttons and just hope for the best. Right?

You reach out and start slapping at controls, running your fingers over flashing lights, kicking at the pedals.

The XV8 lurches to the side, leaps to the right, and then activates it's jump pack. With a surprised gasp, you rocket upwards, hit your max climb ceiling, and fall.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuuuuuuu.....!!!!" Thankfully the suit does most of the work landing by itself, though you almost flub it and fall sideways.

"Hey, watch it!" Another suit calls out as you nearly slam into it.

"You uhhh... SURE you got this?" Ailia asks, the speakers doing quite a good job in relaying the concern in her voice.

"No problems here, just getting the kinks worked out. It was a uhhh... Malfunction in the forward stabilizing servos, reactor surge and whatnot."

"Max that doesn't even make any sense..."

"Cut the chatter," Kais's voice echos across the channel, "We're entering the Carnifex zone."

Well, that can't be too bad. You've met a Carnifex before, and he seemed pretty cool. Almost ate you, but didn't. That's pretty chill in your book.

That sentiment is rather shaken, as the ground trembles slightly. A warning sensor goes off, and you notice a large red dot moving toward a little blue one you assume is your suit.

"Combat power, here they come!" Kais shouts.

Combat power? That's uhhh....

Well surely it's this flashing blue one.

You push it, and the suit interior darkens. The weapons package comes up, the holographic gun sight projecting in front of you.

"I'm impressed you are somehow managing to actually pilot that thing." Ailia comments as she powers her own suit up into combat mode.

"Baby, I can drive things up and down given enough buttons and luck."

"Enough buttons? You didn't even know what one to press?"

"Nah, almost flipped some switches but then hit the flashy blue on instead."

"Get ready, they're almost on us!" Kais shouts, taking control of the Hammerhead's main gun.

Sure enough, a virtual wave of tyranids come rushing out of the forest, headed right at you.

You turn to face them, figuring it's probably best to start shooting. Everyone else is, so it must be the new "in" thing to do.

A carnifex is running right at you, and you notice this one is absent any facial scars. Probably a good idea to take him down before he reaches you. If that's even possible...

Without really knowing HOW to shoot, you do what you always do in this kind of situation.

Press everything.

The guns all fire at once, a torrent of missiles bursting forth from their pods. Karen would probably squirt at the sight of so much dakka at once.

Unfortunately, about half of your shots miss the carnifex completely, though they land hits on the other charging swarm members.

"Uhhh.. Guys a little assistance?!" You call out as the massive tyranid closes in.

The resounding blast of the Hammerhead cannon catches the carnifex in the side, blowing a huge chunk of bug out across the battlefield.

The carnifex looks down at it's wound, before resuming its attack!

Another salvo from your guns is enough to send it to the ground. Those missiles seem to have some great effect on target.

Your suit is blabbering at you in Tau, which you neither speak nor understand in the slightest.

"Max, take it easy and try slaving just one or two weapons at a time! With all of those guns on, you'll overwork the reactor!" Ailia warns.

"Pah, I'll just kick it if it starts failing on me." You shrug, before realizing there are still a ton of charging bugs.

"Kais you jerk, I hate you for dragging me into this!" The tau girl shouts as she hits her jets to avoid a wave of gaunts.

"Hah, you seem to be doing just fine." Her brother comments, before leaping from a hatch on the tank.

A gaunt attacks him, but he sends the 'nid soaring with a single blow from his massive arm.

The Tau Commander rips his way across the battlefield, shooting and punching a swath through the bugs. Tau may not be great in close combat as a whole, but you sure wouldn't want to take a punch from that arm...

Things seem to be going great, perhaps TOO great.

"Nothing is ever easy, something is about to go very, very wrong here..." You comment even as you unleash a burst of flamer at a leaping jeanstealer.

"Whaaat? Nah, we're winning!" Ailia seems incredibly relieved, and right in her observation. The tyranids are thinning out, and though more are coming, their numbers are quickly dwindling.

"I don't know, I've got a bad feeling about this..."

Sure enough, you turn out to be right.

"Fuck I hate it when I'm right..."

"What the hell is that thing?!?!" Ailia screams, backing away.

You don't blame her, not one bit. Any creature large enough to simply knock trees out of it's way is TOO big. Way too big.

"Damn, I thought it was just a massive swarm of them on the scanners." The Hammerhead pilot laments.

"What is that thing?!" You shout, firing a salvo of missiles at it. Which seem to have no effect, in the slightest.

"A Tyrannofex... We... We may have a problem here..." Kais groans.

"Alright, lets go you giant fuck!" You shout up at the massive beast.

Throwing caution to the wind, abandoning it at the sidelines, you hit your jets.

"Max what the hell are you doing?!" Ailia yells. In truth, you don't really have an answer to that.

You fire everything your suit has as you rocket upwards, emptying missiles and plasma and fire into the gigantic creature. It howls in distress at the sudden attack, before firing back. You continue to watch in satisfaction as the guns rip off chunks of chitin and bug goo. But now you've got that acid to worry about, forcing you to dodge.

You manage to boost to the left to avoid the first shot of acid. Unfortunately, your alpha-fire seems to have finally finished off the reactor. The suit goes dead.

You can't see a damn thing. Until the acid starts eating away at the front of your cockpit, anyways. The hole growing large enough until you can finally fit out of it. Though if you do jump, it will be fight at the massive tyranid.

With one leap, you jump from the now dead suit. With a gulp, you confirm you are in fact headed right at the eyes of the damn giant.

Well, no better time than now to pray that the axe the Grey Knights gifted you is effective against Tyranids as well as daemons.

Well, you don't get the chance.

A blast of acid is headed right at your face.

"God damn it!" You shout, unable to avoid the stream of green corrosive bile.

Ailia screams upward, grabbing you roughly and boosting out of the way of the attack.

"Great timing!" You shout, giving her a thumbs-up.

"No problem..." She grunts as she pushes hard to avoid another burst of acid.

"We're going to win this thing in one go!" You shout, climbing on top of the crisis suit.

"Wha? How?!" Her voice is strained as the suit crashes down hard, it's stabilizers barely holding.

"Simple, we gattai!" You slam your feet down hard into the suit, summoning your smoked souls powers as you do.

The suit starts reconfiguring around you, Ailia letting out a shocked yell as it does. Guns whip around, slamming down in new places, your arms are bolstered by the Crisis suit's own.

"Whats going oonnnn?!?!" The tau girl shouts, clearly in absolute shock as she's forced into a spooning position against you, both of you facing forwards inside the new contraption.

You strike a cool pose, axe in hand, and point up to the massive Tyranid.

Kais is looking at you with a "What the fuck am I watching?" face, and you guess most of the other Tau are as well.

"Time to die you damn bug!" You shout, activating the boosters one more time as you fly upwards.

"Max this is crazy!!!!" Ailia screams, unable to stop you now.

"Crazy? No, this isn't crazy!" You cackle, drawing ever closer to the massive Tyranid as it tries to hit you with it's acid again.

Summoning all of your power now, you send it right into the axe, which glows with a vorpal insanity.

"Final axe!!!!" With that, you swing the weapon right at the head of the beast. With the force of a thousand suns it collides, and at first it seems as though the armor will hold.

But finally, the Tyranid chitin proves no match for the power. The axe buries itself deeper and deeper into the creature's head, before finally sinking into the brain.

With a blaring, massive scream, the beast falls limp.

You come crashing down with Ailia, landing alongside Kais who still can't believe what he's seeing.

"And that, my friends, is how you pilot a mech." You say, standing the suit back up.

"What did I just... I don't even..." Kais scratches his head, well, the back of his helmet.

Dissipating your psychic energies causes the suit to reconfigure to it's original Crisis form. Leaving you standing on top of it, once again just in your power armor.

"Don't question it, I just go with the flow."

"But how did you? I mean...?"

"Soul joints mate." You shrug, hopping off of the XV8.

"Anyways, we'd better get back on the trail of this guy before more tyranids show up." You notice the battle has ended, and is now littered with the corpses of at least a hundred various bugs.

"Right..." Kais doesn't look quite convinced at how you managed to do that just now. To be honest, you don't know how it works either.

Without many more questions, you continue following the pathfinders as they lead you along the route the psycher took.

"Here. Along here." The pathfinder kneels down, showing you the faint trail of blood.

"We're getting close now." Another adds, hoisting his carbine and standing back up.

"We'd better be on edge, the cornered animal is the most fierce." Kais adds.

You agree. While you are out for revenge, you certainly don't want to walk into a trap. Not against someone who got the drop on Eight. Though really, if he could manage that, what makes you think you aren't walking into his snare right now?

Not that it would likely work, being that you have half a dozen Crisis suits, a Hammerhead, a Tau commander, and a pathfinder squad as backup... But still, you don't like activating traps.

"We should go about this smartly." Ailia says, laying out a plan that advocates patience. The pathfinders seem to side with her.

"I think we should attack outright, spring any possible trap and hit him front on. He won't be expecting that." Kais replies, the Hammerhead crew and crisis suits taking his side.

"I think I should go in alone." You say quietly.

"Alone?!" They both shout, dropping the squabble about the plan.

"Yeah, I don't want to get you wrapped up in this any more than you have to be." You stand up, "Besides, I can handle one measly psycher by myself."

You move as quietly as you can through the underbrush as you stalk forward. The pathfinders got you started on the blood trail, now you just need to follow it.

Which is precisely what you do. Axe clutched tightly in your hand as you stalk forwards. You should be able to sense him before he tries anything with his powers. You hope.

Glancing around wearily, you pray to not run into any more tyranids. That would certainly give away your position quicker than much else. Though with any luck, they already got to the guy and chewed him up, saving you the hassle.

"An interesting plan, Commissar. Coming in alone and leaving your support behind."

You whirl around just in time to knock the power sword aside with your axe, and the man jumps backwards as you lash out in retaliation.

"Bastard, what did you do to my friend!" You shout as you swing again, the blade of your nemesis axe coming within millimeters of it's flesh target.

"Your friend?! Surely you mean my assassin." He smirks, thrusting his blade forward which nearly impales you before you leap aside.

"Who are you?!" You inquire, with a cough of fire from your arm. The sudden attack catches the man off guard, and he falters backwards in the face of the sudden flame.

"No concern of yours, I should think!" He produces a plasma pistol and nearly gets a shot off before you fry it in his fingers with a shot from your lasgun.

"Hmph, not too shabby are you?" He muses, taking a step back as you advance.

"Fus Roh DAH!" The sudden burst of energy takes him by surprise, and the stranger has no time to react before being tossed backwards. His flight stopped hard by a large tree, and he sinks to the ground before leaping quickly to his feet.

"A nice trick, but no match for one of my skill." He wipes the blood from his lip, and grins.

"Get away from him, Max." A quiet voice from behind you.

Turning around, you notice Eight standing on rather shaky legs, his Exitus pistol clutched in one hand and his long knife in the other.

"Eight?! I thought you were..."

"I was, I woke up and tracked you here. The Eldar were kind enough to lend me a bike, though I didn't ask."

His face is hard, his eyes fixated on the stranger before you both.

"So good to see you again, though I must admit I'm not entirely pleased at being shot." The man spits.

"But if you give up now, I won't hurt your friend. Its time to go home, Eight." He adds, lowering his sword.

"Are you alright, kid?" You ask, reaching out. Eight brushes your hand aside.

"Fine. But this is my fight."

You give him a once-over. It's pretty evident he's in no position to fight, that much is certain.

"I don't mean to be the bad guy here, but I can't let you try to take him out, he beat you when you were in prime shape, man." You shake your head, "I'll finish him for you."

"NO!" Eight glares, but then his eyes soften and he shakes his head, "No, you aren't a killer, and this man is at his end."

You glance back at the stranger, finally noticing his ragged breath and how his left hand is now again clutching at a hole in his ribs.

"You always were one for murder, weren't you? That's how I found you, wasn't it?" The man stands back to his full height, hefting his sword once again.

"Fair enough." Eight concedes, stepping between the two of you.

"That's right. A killer before we even got to you. Do you know that, about your "friend", Commissar?" The man backs up, his eyes darting around as though searching for some escape.

"You don't have long, do you?" The vindicare asks, slowly starting to circle the stranger.

"Hmph, perceptive as ever."

"I'd give you a dogs death if I were able, but a clean kill is what the Ordo taught, isn't it?"

The stranger laughs, a ragged cough following.

"You don't deserve this." Eight says, leveling his pistol.

"Deserve this? I raised you, boy! I was the one who kept you alive! Those guardsmen on Catachan would have strung you up, whelp!"

Eight easily dodges an erratic swing. You almost intervene, but something tells you that Eight would never forgive you if you did.

A shot rings out, blood blossoming from the stranger's knee as he yells out and falls to the ground.

Eight doesn't say anything else as he presses the pistol to the man's forehead, his expression blank as he pulls the trigger.

With a jolt, the now headless corpse collapses to the ground. Blood spews from the wound, spraying Eight and his handgun. The corpse shakes and spasms around on the ground for several seconds, before the movements slow.

The vindicare lowers the pistol, wiping the blood and bone shards off of his face with the back of his hand.

"Lets get out of here." He tells you, and you can't agree more.

The assassin sits quietly on top of the Hammerhead as it makes its way back through the forest, through the piles of fresh Tyranid carcasses.

For a long time, he doesn't say anything, just stares out across the woodland, chainsmoking.

"He's right." He finally says, flicking a butt and watching the soaring cherry.

"What?" You turn to look at him, and Eight shrugs.

"He's right. When he found me, it was at the scene of a murder."

"Yeah, but it wasn't..." "You" is what you were about to say, but judging from the look in his eyes, it indeed HAD been him.

"Well I'm sure you had your reasons..." You add after the long silence.

"A poor one."

"Look kid, the past is the past and not something I dwell on. I'm not going to hold it against you, whatever it is you did. You've saved my ass on more than one occasion and you're more than alright in my book."

Eight looks at you, and, quite a rarity, smiles.

"Thanks Max."

"Don't mention it. How did he get the drop on you, anyways?"

"A specialty of his, the whole reason he worked for the Ordo. He could project out, dampen senses and mess with that kind of stuff."

"Ah, interesting abilities."

Eight doesn't add anything else, before lighting up again.

The rest of the ride cheers up significantly from there. The Tau prove gracious and happy hosts, and everyone is pretty glad to have survived the Tyranid attack.

Deciding now is a better time than ever, you decide to write Helena a note.

"Dear sis, sorry its been so long since I've written, but shit has been downright insanity. So far I've bested daemons, won the superb owl, surfed with the Emperor himself and oh yeah. IM UP TO MY EYEBALLS IN ALL KINDS OF STRANGE. I'm pulling more tail than fucking, I don't even know. Oh and I lost my left arm but got a bionic replacement."

"PS. I'm a psycher and shit now."

You set the letter down, giving it a once over.

"Yeah, that should do it." You grin.

"So what do you do for fun kid?" You ask him kindly.

"Fun?" He inquires, cigarette perched on his lip.

"Yeah fun, you know. Girls, games, sports...?"

Eight shrugs and turns back to looking at the passing scenery.

"I guess I used to play a game by myself in the Ordo. I'd pull out my picture and try to avoid the cameras seeing me. There were never any women around..."

"Dude..."

The tank slows to a stop at the Tau camp, Eight making sure the Eldar bike in tow doesn't slam into the back of it. Ailia bounds her Crisis suit up alongside you, opens the cockpit, and grins.

"C'mon you two, lets go have some FUN!" She exclaims, throwing her arm around dramatically.

What exactly Tau do for fun, you have no idea.

"You guys go, I'll catch up. Need to return this bike." Eight shrugs, hopping down onto it.

"Like hell I'm letting you sulk off back out on your own, Esh will have my head as is already in all likelihood!"

You grab Eight before he can bolt, pulling him closer and giving him a friendly noogie.

"No no my friend, you are coming with me, having a beer, and hitting on some shapely earth caste girl."

"But I left a note saying I'd bring the bike back..."

The assassin protests, but is no match for your superior strength. Though without the power armor, he might have come close.

Ailia waves you over to a tent, and you drag Eight into it.

Kais and a bunch of other Tau wait for you inside, noticeably absent their armor and weaponry. Ailia pulls you aside, explains the no-armament custom, and helps you shed your gear.

"Can't really ditch the arm, though." You mutter, and she grins before pulling you into the throng of mingling blueberries.

You notice Eight's taken a seat at a bar, and is already well into some dark, almost black drink. An old drunken fire warrior making some kind of joke, as far as you can tell.

Ailia takes you by the hand again, leads you over to what looks like a light blue waterfall, and fills a cup for you.

"Err... What is it?"

"Earth caste special with firewarrior water."

"What?"

"Just drink it..."

You do, and immediately wish you hadn't. It tastes more or less like bad vodka mixed with sugar water. Though when you notice a few amused glances from nearby fire warriors, you decide you aren't going to look like a bitch and down the rest of the cup.

"Alright, now I'm grabbing something else."

You slap down a hand on the bar, order something, get told he doesn't know what you are asking for, and finally just tell him to give you something strong.

Glancing over, you notice Eight looking quite uncomfortable as a younger fire warrior girl rests her head on a hand and tries to strike up conversation with him. Uncomfortable likely due to the fact that the earth caste girl's downright massive goods are resting atop his head, she being a bit more upfront than the fire warrior.

Well, maybe it will be good for him. You hope.

You can't exactly maintain your interest in his well being with Ailia squishing into your back. Absent any kind of armor, you can most definitely feel what she's trying to convey with her greater goods.

"Still worried about your friend?" She asks smoothly, helping herself to a sip of your drink before scrunching up her face at the taste of it.

"Yeah, can't say I'm not. Kid's been through a lot, I think."

Glancing back over, you notice Eight has disappeared. You whip around, scanning, but fail to see him. The earth caste girl and the fire warrior... Oh... Well if they are doing THAT together, Eight probably didn't stand a chance at either of them...

"Shit, where did he go?" You grumble.

Ailia reaches into your pocket, producing a napkin with a hastily scrawled message on it.

"Have fun, going to go return bike now. - VIII"

"Gah, that little brat!" You start heading off after him, but Ailia holds you back.

"As though you could even catch him." She snorts, before pulling you off to a dance floor despite your thrashing protests.

----

I don't like crowds.

Maybe it's because the Ordo school was quite small, maybe its because the settlement on Catachan contained very few people, I don't know.

I just know I don't like crowds.

The Eldar bike eats up the ground quickly, absent any rumbling and bouncing of the ground as it hovers almost effortlessly above it.

I know Max isn't going to be happy I slipped away, but unlike him, I make it a habit to not wreck vehicles.

The Eldar encampment isn't too far from here, but I take my time as I ride. It isn't often I get to have a vehicle, generally I get dropped off on foot and spend days on end in some shit hole swamp or blown out building.

I have to spit out the cigarette to pull down my mask. Its thermal vision giving me quite a clear vision of the Eldar in it's white on black hue.

Despite the scenic route, I pull up to them quickly. Too quickly, I'd been enjoying the ride.

"Didn't think we'd notice you'd left?" A calm voice from behind me.

"Sorry, I had... Something I needed to do." I apologize, hopping off the vehicle and landing lightly on the grass.

"You must be Esh, thank you for your hospitality." I bow my head in appreciation.

"Please, spare me the pleasantries. The healers are going absolutely mon-keigh looking for you, they don't think your fit to be out." Esh looks me over ponderously, I can't help but feel quite exposed in her gaze, as though she can see right into me.

"Sorry, but its something I had to take care of personally." I may be young, but I'm not intimidated by her. I've... I've killed farseers. Not something I'm overly proud of, but certainly enough to erase my fear of them.

"I don't care, it wasn't my bike. You'd better explain yourself to HER though." Esh gestures to another Eldar storming up toward me.

"I should... I don't even... GRRRRRRR!!!!!" The newcomer grabs hold of me, giving me a rough shake as she does.

"Enough, I know you've no love for Vindicare, but you'll behave yourself in my presence, pupil." Esh snaps.

The young blonde haired Eldar lets me go, bowing in deference to Esh.

"Apologies, I let my emotions get ahead of me."

"Noted." Esh nods.

"It was your bike? I'm sorry, I had to borrow it to take care of something." I give the newcomer another apologetic bow of my head.

"Bike?! You think I care about the bike?!?! It was my duty to make sure you were looked after! Oh the hell I caught from the healers... Oooooo!!!!" She glares at me.

"Again, sorry." I can't help but look her over, though. She's pretty, for as little as I truthfully know about that word. Blonde hair, knowing, vibrant turquoise eyes...

"Ugh, whatever, just come with me!" Without warning, she grabs me roughly by the hand and pulls me along with her.

"If you don't mind my asking, to where?" I attempt to light a cigarette as she drags me along. Everyone seems to want to drag me along today...

"To the healers! Where else?! Stupid assassins... Gods..."

I stop, forcing her to as well.

"I'm not going back there." I tell her, perhaps a bit more bluntly than I'd first intended.

"And why, pray tell?" She folds her arms, glaring at me.

"I'm fine now." I shrug.

"Fine?! Oh, so your fine now? Well that is certainly a relief. Hey everyone! He's fine now!" She shouts around mockingly.

"Did I... Do something to offend you?" I mutter.

"You're an assassin." She almost spits the words, and I can feel the seething hatred in her voice.

"A vindicare no less, the worst of them all." She glares, which feels quite unpleasant.

"So?" I shrug.

"So? One of you... You... Things, killed my mother. I don't know why Eshwe is even letting you stay here! If it were up to me, we'd have left you lying in the fields to die!"

She's got a terrible, violent look about her now.

"I mean no offense. Tell Eshwe I've seen the healers and I'll just take my leave now." I shrug, backing away.

"Oh no you don't! She told me to take you, and on my word I'm taking you!" The Eldar grabs me again, and again I'm being dragged...

I sigh.

What a long damn day...

----

The music is downright pumping.

You can feel Ailia getting into it as she makes no attempt to hide the fact she's grinding her rather plump behind into your flagship.

Not that any of the other Tau seem to care. In fact, most of them are doing the same damn thing.

Kais is almost impossible to see, covered in so many of them. He's laughing, a drink in one hand and a handful of blue behind in the other, as he dances with at least five earth and fire caste girls. You grin, that dog.

"Hey, lets uhh... Cool off, shall we?" Ailia asks, having worked up a noticeable sweat as she turns around to face you.

"Sure thing, where too?" You ask, giving her a smile.

"Uh, well... Lets see... How about my tent?" She asks.

"As though I could possibly turn that down." You smirk.

Hand in hand, you let the Crisis suit pilot lead you off toward her own personal place. You think you know exactly what she's got planned, your imagination running wild...

So when you find yourself sipping a fresh drink of some kind of tea, seated on her bed with the Tau girl smiling next to you, it isn't quite what you had expected.

Though you don't mind the peaceful quiet for once, quite a stark and welcome comparison to the usual hustle.

Ailia rests her head on your shoulder, watching some kind of bubbling fish tank full of little crab like things set on a table in the center of the room.

"Nice little place you've got here." You tell her, genuinely admiring it.

"Its not much, but having Kais for a brother certainly does have it's perks." She giggles.

"Ummm... Can you take off your shirt and lay down on the bed?" She asks, blushing and poking her fingers together as she does.

"Huh? Yeah sure." You oblige, laying down to face her.

"Well, I mean flip around." She twists her hands as though to demonstrate.

Not really knowing what she has in store, you nonetheless turn over as requested. For a moment, you just lay there idly.

Until Ailia's hands start rubbing something cool along your back.

"Hey, uh, what is that stuff?" You ask, the slightly sweet, slightly tart smell hinting at your nose.

"Just relax..." Ailia coos.

You do, quite instantly. Whether you had wanted to or not. Her hands work quite expertly across your back, and you feel built up tension you hadn't known existed washing away.

"Wow, you're pretty good at this..." You mumble, eyes closed.

"Its a, uhh, Tau custom. For the one you like. All Tau women are taught it."

"Hmm? I like you too, Ailia." At your words, her face grows quite pink. You don't mind, you quite like that look...

*meanwhile*

Ra'alman watches through her crab spy network as her husbando gets some kind of backrub from some blue skank.

"Oooohhhh that manslut, I'll show him the next time I see him..." She growls from her undersea bed of coral.

----

7am.

Tonya awakens from her slumber inside the tomb.

"Oh Max, you naughty naughty boy, playing with my servos so early in the morning..." She coos into her dakimakura. The picture of Max staring back up at her in a seductive pose, his boxers nearly low enough to reveal everything.

"Oh my honey my sweet," She sings to the pillow, swinging it around in some kind of dance, "We'll be together soon enough. Forever and ever."

8am

Tonya hums quietly to herself as she writes in her diary. She recalls the morning, waking up alongside her lover as she glances longingly at the pillow. Most of what is written is little more than drawing little hearts around a newly acquired picture of Max in some kind of Grey Knight/Crisis suit hybrid.

9am

"And that is how I'm going to make him mine!" Tonya exclaims gleefully to the listening row of Immortals, who remain utterly motionless throughout the explanation.

10am->5pm

Tonya sits in the tomb, singing a quiet song as she plays with the figurine she had made of her lover. She smiles down at him, longingly.

"Soon enough you'll be mine, all mine!" She smiles, spinning around clutching the toy.

"Now, its time to go find you!" She sets the toy down, turning about gleefully as her scouts come in from their trip.

"Well, my little birds, tell me what you found!" She pets a wraith, rather lovingly, as she listens to the information.

"With whom? Oh no, surely he's been taken hostage. No matter, we'll go find him. We'll find him and make him mine!" She grins.

"Oh yes, all mine..." Tonya whispers with a grin, as she starts her walk up the ramp of the tomb.

----


I let the healers look me over, yet again. I hate this kind of thing. The sterile walls, the close, scrutinizing eyes.

It feels just like the Ordo.

"Are you finished?" I finally ask, my patience having long since expired.

The head healer frowns as she lowers her head to stare at me, and I can tell no matter what she says in return, the exam is far from over.

"In such a hurry to leave? You were lucky to have survived that, child." Her voice is kind, regardless of whatever ulterior motives she has.

"I just... I'd like to get some rest, outside." I shrug, hoping to not give off any tells that she can read.

Her face just grows closer, more concerned, and more scrutinizing.

"Care to tell me about why your mind is so fragmented?" She asks after a long pause, cocking her head in puzzlement.

"Fragmented?" I ask, not knowing what it is she's leading on about.

"Broken up, not whole." She continues, pressing for information.

"Sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about." I stand back up, turning for the door, when a hand on my shoulder stops me.

"You may not know, but I do. Tell me, did they have someone, a pscher... Did they..." I push her hand off of my shoulder roughly, shaking my head as I do.

"I don't want to remember any of that."

"Want to or not, child, one day it will happen. Those pieces will join and you will be left with it all intact once more."

"...Whatever." I push open the door, moving quicker than I'd originally thought. With a shaking hand I light up again.

"Finished already?" A cold voice from beside me, I don't even turn to look at the blonde.

"Short exam, she said I was fine."

"Liar."

"Whatever, why do you even care?" I stare over at her, not used to conversations spanning this long and not exactly thrilled with it, the tone or the direction.

"I don't!" She snaps back, "Eshwe told me to wait for you here, and I'm just following orders."

"I'm leaving." I tell her, before activating the cloaking systems of my suit.

Something trips me up, and I whirl around to stare back at her.

"Please, don't mock me. Just because I can't see you doesn't mean I don't know where you are." She growls.

"Again, why does it matter? Let me leave, tell Eshwe whatever you want and I'll back up your story." I shrug the pommel of her sword off of my leg.

"Tsk, as much as I'd love to, and trust me I would LOVE to let you go, I can't." She glares.

"And why exactly is that?" I make no attempt to mask my displeasure.

"Eshwe wants me to make sure you are well fed first." The girl spits venom with every word, I can tell she really does hate me.

"...If I just let you get this whole thing over with, can I go?" I ask, crossing my arms and deactivating my suit.

"Yes, so just quit being so much of a damn nuisance and just follow me."

----

Vect sits in his plush office chair. He sits and wishes he could be getting some work done.

He knows it isn't likely to happen any time soon.

"Fucking Parker, where is that kid when you need him?" He says through his cigar.

"Wuzzat daddy?" Senna pipes up from her position of balancing over his chair on her hands

"I think he said he wants some music. Isn't that what you said? Lets put on some music!" Senda cheers as she jumps down off the desk and rifles through Vect's private record collection.

"Hey hey, I wanna help pick!" Senna pouts, leaping over Vect and helping Senda tear through the selection.

"Bleh, all of this stuff is so old and booorringggg!" They both chime in unison.

"I know, lets put our favorite on!" Senna shouts.

"You mean our own album?" Senda asks.

"What else?" Her twin replies cheerfully.

They slap down their record and start dancing and singing along to themselves. Vect sits back in his chair, pounds the remaining bottle clutched in his hand, and puffs on his cigar.

"Damn it, Parker, I should have just GIVEN them to you." He groans, knowing full well his entire work day is shot.

"Can you two, maybe quiet down?" Vect asks his daughters, neither of whom hear him nor respond.

In their violent dancing commotion, they knock over his computer as well as several photos off of his desk. Both twins continue, taking no heed.

"Fuuuccckkk..." He groans, rubbing his temples.

---

Helena plops down on the cot inside her tent. She'd had to beg, plead, and eat out Sarah to get her to leave for the night. But this would totally be worth it. The night had been a complete success so far, and after a quiet meal together she'd invited the mekboy along to her tent.

Frederick enters behind her, looking quite hesitant as he does. In truth, he's excited but terrified.

"Hmm, whats this?" Helena notices, snatching up the envelope and reading it as she lays on her back, her head hanging off of the side of the cot.

Her face screws up as she continues reading, and her eyes dart back and forth as she carefully re-reads everything in the letter.

"What in the actual fuck am I reading?" She exclaims out loud, scratching her head as she reads the letter yet again.

Sure Max has always been less then eloquent when writing, but this seems even more rambling and strange than usual. A psycher? Him? HOW?!

"Err... Everything alright?" Frederick asks hesitantly from beside the bed.

"Wha? Fine, fine!" Helena exclaims, tossing the letter aside and snatching at Frederick's robes.

"H-hey, what are you...?"

She finally grabs them, and licking her lips, pulls them open.

"Oh." She says, with an air of disappointment, "You guys wear pants under these?"

"Well.... Yes?" Frederick says, not knowing what is the correct answer.

"Well ditch them, you won't need pants where we're going!" Helena grins mischievously.

"I uh... Won't need pants?" Frederick's eyes are almost spinning.

"Nah, follow me!" Helena, grinning ear to ear, snatches up his hand and something off of her dresser before leading him once again out into the warm night air.

"Where are we going?" Frederick asks in a hushed tone, not wanting to wake anyone else during the night excursion.

"Shhh! Just follow me!" Helena whispers back, giddily.

When they finally arrive, Frederick is quite puzzled.

"The... The ocean? I don't...!!!" He spins around as he notices Helena, who is now stripping.

"Oh don't act so shocked, I've got a suit on you know." She smirks, setting down the bottle of tequila on the sand.

"Err... I didn't bring a suit..." The tech priest fumbles, looking around and finally resting his eyes on Helena. His hearts, both of them, stop for the briefest of seconds.

Her slightly tan skin illuminated in the moonlight, messy sexhair fluttering lightly in the wind of the beach. She smiles at him when she notices his stare, which only stops his hearts again. He can't take his eyes off of her, as though they were meant to see her and only her.

"I... I..." He stammers, trying to think of something.

"Oh hush up and just get in with me." She smirks, grabbing his belt and ripping down his pants.

Frederick relents, and removes everything but his boxers, which are patterned with gears.

"Cute!" Helena exclaims, before grabbing the waistband and pulling him along with her into the surf.

Bliss.

This is bliss.

Fredrerick laughs along with the cute tank gunner as she splashes cool water up at him. Forget the servos, forget the wires, tonight he's having fun.

Helena laughs and smiles along with him, the completely unaware tech-priest. How silly. He thinks he's just having fun.

Helena grins evilly inside. Oh yes, he'll be having fun. He'll be having fun while she makes him hers all night long. Whether he's too embarrassed or not, she's making this night count.

---

"Hey Max?" Ailia asks, but you can barely hear her.

"Hmmm?" You ask, though it's really more a pleasurable moan as her hands draw back down your spine.

"Well, uhhh..." She stops, as though quite unsure of what to say.

Not giving her a chance to figure something out, you snatch her up quickly and bring her back down to the bed with you.

Her pink cheeks are so close to yours... You give her a kiss.

"Did it really feel that good? You look ready to pass out."

"I already have, several times." You mumble faintly, feeling the warmth of her pressing into you.

"Hey uh, let me up for a second."

You do, and several seconds later she returns to your side. Naked.

Though neither of you seem sexually charged, instead you are entirely content to pull her close. Feeling her body's soft touch against your own.

Before you even realize it's happened, you are asleep.

---

Kaleshi stops her reading, glancing around as she looks up from the book. She can't quite put her finger on it, but something is off here.

"You've been hogging him!" A sudden shout from the foot of her bed causes her to jump in surprise.

Lilith is glowering, her chin propped up on the foot of the bed, eyes fixated on her older sister.

"What are you talking about?" Kaleshi snaps, marking her page and setting the book aside before folding her arms.

"You've been hogging him!!!" Lilith repeats, this time more forcefully, with a much more whining tone.

"Max is my husbando, brat!" Kaleshi chucks a pillow, which smacks Lilith right in the face.

"Oooooooohhhhh!!!!" The little daemonette pouts loudly as she stands up, dramatically placing one hand on a hip and pointing at Kaleshi with the other.

"You need to share!" She shouts at her older sister.

Another pillow smacks Lilith in the face.

"Sharing is for kids, I take what I want, and I'm going to marry Max whether you like it or not." The khornette smirks at her younger sister's fury.

"Perhaps Lilith has a point, sister." Nyx says from the doorway.

"Wha!? Don't tell me you're in on this too!!!" Kaleshi groans.

"Ara~ara..." Is all Nyx says, araly.

"Well tough for both of you, he picked me so clearly I'm the victor here!" Kaleshi folds her arms, looking victorious.

"We don't care about THAT!" Lilith stamps her feet, "We just want you to share him every once and while!" The little daemonette pouts.

"Well..." Kaleshi thinks for a moment, before shrugging, "I guess it can't be helped. I'll share him with you two. Sometimes."


----

"HEY PARTNERS, WHAT DO YOU THINK?" Doomrider scratches his chin, not quite sure what to make of the scene in front of him.

You circle around the layout of the crime, shaking your head, than nodding.

Eight shrugs, exhaling a plume of smoke.

"No question about it here, guy was definitely vored to death." You nod sagely.

"We thought so." The uniformed officer says, though you know they don't know what the fuck they are looking at here. If they did, they wouldn't have called you in.

"You sure aniki? I think it was a pizza orgy." Eight gestures to something behind the couch, and you take a closer look.

"By the Emprah..." You shake your head in disgust as you stand back up, away from the string of mozzarella.

"A PIZZA ORGY VORE SESSION, THIS GUY'S FUCKED UP." Doomrider shakes his head and shrugs, lost for words.

"Damn right he is, we're going to have to catch them quick before they strike again." You snag a spare cig from Eight.

"To the car?" Eight asks, already knowing the answer.

"To the car!" You agree.

"DAMN IT, HOLD ON, LEMME FINISH THIS LINE!" Doomrider snorts, literally.

"OK I'M READY!"

The three of you step back outside into the cold air, night has fallen. Street lamps illuminate the empty city streets.

Eight hops onto his motorcycle, starting it up with a roar and putting on his sunglasses because fuck night time he's too cool for school.

You and Doomrider pile into the 1970 Hemi cuda, you're driving tonight.

"TIME TO CATCH A CROOK?"

"Yeah," You reply, slipping on your own sunglasses, "This guy is about to get bitten... By the law."

"YEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

The car hits the top of a hill and jumps as you go sailing off in pursuit of a criminal.

"SO WHERE ARE WE HEADED?" Doomrider ponders as the 'cuda hits another hill and jumps yet again. Eight follows in hot pursuit atop his cycle.

"Same place we always head when we need info on something down on the streets. Daddy S."

Doomrider grins, he likes where this car is headed.

The joint is already pimpin by the time you arrive, which isn't surprising for this late at night. Daddy S runs quite the place. Some kind of mix-up between a jazz bar and a crime syndicate. You let him off the hook for things, provided they aren't TOO stupid, in exchange for his vast wealth of knowledge.

The three of you get out/off of your respective vehicles and approach the bouncer, a massive Salamander with a storm bolter who eyes you wearily.

"We're here to see Daddy S." You say coolly.

"Big Daddy sees who he wants to see." The bouncer replies.

"Which is us." You state, holding up your badge.

"Good thinking Max." Eight gives you a light, friendly punch on the shoulder. You grin back. Thankfully it worked, or else Chief Vect would be chewing your asses out again for flashing the badge around in unscrupulous places. You don't think you'll ever live down using it to solicit a lap dance...

The pimpest of them all waits for you inside, seated upon his plush leopard print throne.

"Ahhh shit, if it ain't these three clowns 'gain." He smiles, flashing you with his bright whites.

"Daddy S you sonovabitch, I should take you in right now." You fronwn.

"This guy!" He pokes you in the chest and all of you have a good laugh.

"Whatchu need mah brotha?" The head Salamander leans back, resting his hands on his powercane.

"Info." Eight shrugs.

----

I follow along behind the blonde Eldar. I'm not sure where she's taking me, and frankly I don't really care at this point. Though for some reason I find my vision constantly drifting downward to her rather plump posterior...

"Geez, why I have to help YOU of all people... Gods! Taking care of a mon-keigh..."

"I never asked for this." I frown.

"That doesn't matter! Eshwe ordered this, and I follow her orders!" The blonde keeps dragging me along.

We finally enter a large tent, and even from outside I can smell something quite alluring. It smells like food... Good food...

"Drool much?" Snaps the blonde.

"I'm... Not used to fresh food..." I shrug.

"No? Too used to killing people, I assume."

I stop dead in my tracks, making no effort to mask my furious scowl.

"Shut up." I tell her, none too quietly.

"Whats that? Murderer saying something?" She smirks, knowing she's hit a nerve.

"Shut! UP!" I shove her. It was a reflex, mostly, but I still did it. The Eldar girl gasps in surprise as she teeters before landing on her plump behind.

"J-jerk! Whats the big deal!?" She glares at me.

"Do you think I wanted this?! Any of this?!" I hold out my rifle in disgust, before tossing it aside.

"Wh-wha...?"

"Do you think I was given some kind of choice? Some kind of rational layout?! I was a fucking kid!" I glare as I chuck my mask into her lap.

"Yeah, I've killed people, plenty of them! Xenos, humans, hundreds! But don't assume, for one damn second, that I EVER wanted this life!"

A lie.

Entirely.

The truth stung more than I'd just perhaps stung her, because it was the truth that ate at me every day.

I enjoyed it. At least a part of me.

The sweet noise of the bolt slamming shut, the calmness of looking through the scope. I don't know if I'd learned to love it, or if it had always been a part of me. It scared me to think about that.

Somewhere, something inside of me, enjoyed the act of death.

I stand, quite unsure of what to do next, until my better instincts take over.

"I'm sorry." I tell her, as I bend down, taking her hand and helping her back to her feet.

"No..." the blonde Eldar girl says quietly, her eyes quite sad as she stares at me, "No I'm the one who should apologize."

She hangs her head, taking my hand in both of hers apologetically.

I stiffen, having not expected this in the slightest.

"I'm blaming you for it, and I know it isn't your fault." She bows even lower, and I can hear a faint tremble in her voice.

I reach out, for some reason, and place my other hand on her shoulder.

"What's your name?" She asks quietly.

"Eight."

The blonde Eldar looks up, her eyes almost completely obscured by the mess of her hair. She smiles.

"I'm Eira."

"Sorry... For making such a scene." I look away from her, too embarrassed at myself for blurting out everything I'd just said. I'd never said any of that, never told anyone. Though some piece of me did enjoy the life I'd been given, another was utterly disgusted by it. I hoped that somehow the former would disappear, I think I could live easier if it did. But I knew, a gnawing in the back of my mind, that it likely never would.

I swallow, perhaps more loudly than I'd hoped. My face feels warm, a sensation I don't think I've ever felt before. Not like this, anyways.

"Do you want to go grab that food?" I ask her, fixated on the way she looks at me as I do.

"Lets." She smiles, and I feel my stomach plummet out from it's cozy position. More nervous than ever, I follow her as she leads me along.