like death incarnate ay? I knew Jeth would have a knack for diplomacy

Unsurprisingly, I vote for 3 aswell. gotta look out for my hommie Kro'le

I am however torn as to where to send the other half of the team.

On one hand, Cubor is a big fella and sia't, lets face it is just an all round badass. They are capable of looking after themselves. The strident meanwhile remains fairly vulnerable while docked, especially if it happens to be in the hangers above the administration building.

On the other hand, two fire warriors no matter how skilled can still be overwhelmed. with the team fragmented, Vel'ar and his group may need sia't just as much as she needs them. Even if they can contact the strident, that doesnt mean they will be able to reach it. contact wont ensure its safety and there is no action that Vel'ar can take over a comm channel that Pavol can not enact on his own.

I think ill go with sending the team to find Cubor and Sia't. Vel'ar must gather his resources or risk overextending a fragmented team.
The shady stranger collaborating with Serat adds a wild card to the situation but well have to watch and wait for him to reveal himself (I have my theories but I wont risk spoiling it for myself or anyone else )

Just one note for this piece calmsword, where is Ghel'uun in all of this?

P.S. Someone stick a boot in Danul

You can't fight without organisation, split the team and find the other members, send some to the medical facility to defend Kro'le. Having communication with the ship would be nice but a ship just blew up so they'll be well aware that something is up and won't be able to communicate with the team, hopefully the ship will break away from the dock and retreat to space to protect itself.

Personally I'd send Vel'ar and Ali'yan on mission 1 (She's still training to work with the team so it would be good for her to be with the Shas'El) and send Jeth and Nuu'l to the medical facility (they're used to working with each other and it's likely that the medical facility would have a terminal anyway). I was a bit confused by the restrictions you gave on who could do what so apologies if this is an illegal choice

Shadow Kat: Thanks for catching that- I copy pasted and forgot to add Ghel'uun (I wish I could just write directly into the site but not after I lost the original chapter). I'll be more on top of it from here on out.

I've added a few paragraphs- But just to quickly update here: Ghel'uun has a broken arm and was on the same floor as Ali'yan. He will follow Vel'ar regardless of the rest of the team configuration.


And if there was confusion regarding the choice this installment, let me reiterate:

1- You go looking for Sia't and Cubor who have left the apartments earlier.

2- Nuu'l said that he needs to patch into a Terminal. A Terminal will allow him to make contact with the Strident and have full access to the security network which means the camera/drone system.

3-You can split your team up. Vel'ar can choose to go after one objective while Jeth can lead the other half of the team to accomplish the other objective. The risks of this are obvious; splitting up, as in any horror movie, will lessen Vel'ars capabilities but all him to have the possibility of accomplishing both missions at the same time.


CURRENT VOTE:

Two votes for option 3:

Vel'ar, Nuu'l and Ghel'uun will go find Sia't and Cubor. Jeth and Ali'yan go to the medical facility and help Kro'le.

Vel'ar, Ali'yan and Ghel'uun go after Sia't and Cubor. Jeth and Nuu'l go to the medical facility for Kro'le.

One vote for option 1

Shadow Kat: In the case no one else votes you'll be the deciding vote for the team configuration, cool?

Vote split please save that sniper...and that imperial weapon/ emp/ whatever it may be is awesome!

Loved that bit was a great read.

-tis

aaaah, the responsibility!

Im actually considering being a bit of a tool and changing my vote . The horror movie analogy has really struck home (commence scooby doo flashbacks).

We have to consider whether or not the team has the necessary strength to split. rather than accomplishing two objectives at once by splitting our resources, we could simply be dooming both. we currently have 5 fire warriors at our command, three of which have serious injuries (Vel'ar's rib, Ghel'uun's arm and Nuul's face). Sia't and Cubor are unlikely to be hiding in a quite neighbourhood somewhere. Theyll have jumped right into the guts of the fighting. Sending two or three wounded fire warriors after them may do more harm than good. I still think that finding sia't and Cubor should be our top priority. once we have a more formidable force we can pursue other objectives.

Lady Serat seems to have roughly only 100 militia fighters. With 50 of them engaged at the admin building, that leaves only 50 more for the rest of the city. With so few "warriors", the hospital would likely be a low priority target for them. logically speaking, if they are trying to cause maximum chaos and confusion, communication, transport and security hubs would take precedence. Kro'le (my dear sweet kro'le ) should be safe enough for the time being within the hospital.

The terminal also presents a tempting target now that nuu'l may be able to re-establish security protocols within the city. access to security cameras may even help them to locate sia't and cubor faster (though the added time searching for the terminal may mean its already too late). There is no guarantee which systems will be salvageable though (saving the sprinkler system probably wont do us much good at the moment).

I still think that we must concentrate on gathering our strength for now. Once we have sia't and Cubor we can re-assess our situation and go from there.

Im sorry Eni'matis I hope you can understand my reasoning but I have to change my vote to option one. Send the entire team to find Sia't and Cubor. The games not up yet though, Other people may still vote (havent heard from Wolfs yet)

I whole-heartedly agree with this.

I'm not sure where you got that other vote for option 1, Calmsword. Other than shadow kat changing his vote, I'm pretty sure everyone voted for option 3, didn't they?

I have to agree with Kat on this one. I think splitting the team right now would be dangerous given the level of injuries, the lack of completely equipped warriors and the currently unknown (from the teams perspective) strength and location of the enemy.

Once they are at full strength, they can then attempt to locate a terminal and go from there. Who knows, maybe they will stumble across some kind of terminal on their way to link up with the rest of the team?

My one concern has to do with the hospital where Kro'le is currently. It would stand to reason that the Imperials wouldn't be against hitting a hospital, as underhanded as that is. Causing damage there would create an even greater panic and give them an opportunity to kill injured Tau or other civilians easily; a real fish in a barrel situation. Eventually securing the facility will also be vital, since there are going to be a lot of injuries to take care of when this is all over. With all that said, I still feel that building strength and gaining intelligence is the most important thing right now. Just thinking out loud.

Really liking the story so far, Calmsword. Adding my two cents to the matter, I'd agree with the opinion that they should rebuild their strength first and foremost. Most importantly, they should be on the lookout for any chance to acquire long range firepower, preferably Tau pulse weapons. After all, they are firewarriors, much more at home shooting down their opponents at range than in a brutal, "barbaric" melee. Either loot some from rebels/ enforcers, or salvage some carbines from a gun drone. There might even be an emergency cache with some proper pulse rifles, which would be locatable once they access the security grid.

From another perspective, there really isn't much they can do for Kro'le at the moment. 5 unarmed firewarriors, 3 with injuries, against an unknown number of armed hostiles doesn't lead to good odds. Not to mention that Kro'le himself likely isn't in fighting condition yet either. They would be wasting what little resources they have to protect one firewarrior, who won't be able to help against the rebels. Unfortunately, Kro'le has to be put on backburner. The best way to help him, and the best thing for Tau'va, is to stop the rebellion, and the best way to do that is to acquire some weapons, get the security grid online, and wipe out the leadership. Cut off the head, the body will fall.

Hey everyone, I was thinking maybe we start putting decision/votes in bold for future votes?

I think this has been the vote so far=

Regroup with Sia't and Cubor has 3 votes
Kles'ro
Wolfs16
Shadowkat

Get to the med facility
Eni'matis

Split the team
O'm'yen'suam
Aun'tier

Everyone satisfied with their vote?

Yes sir!

Seems good to me.

Completely!

sorry, I tend to ramble in my responses

The vote is correct

No worries everyone, just want to make sure.

Update later today.

Danul looked out from the tavern window, surrounded by his men. The tavern was one of the nicer ones, built on the upper levels near an atmosphere generator and one, Danul knew, that was a favorite of aliens and humans both. The idea that the strange, curving glass-like tables had been a site where Mankind had broken bread with the Alien made him want to burn the place down. And he would, once it was safe to resume the course.

Since the start of the attack, an hour ago, everything had been going perfectly. They had decimated the population of the Primary Dome, unleashing the wrath of servile decades upon the xeno and human sympathizers so completely that there had hardly been further resistance. The Tau had prevented any kind of proliferation of weapons, besides cultural and ceremonial pieces, from the Cerax colonists and visitors, making it pitifully easy for Serat's well armed children to do the Emperor's work. But when something or someone caused a transport ship to go nova up above, Danul had ordered everyone into hiding as the city was pelted by superheated metal. Now they were scattered, small teams rooting through the colony in groups of five, killing as much as they could.

Danul was impatient to begin again. This was it, what he had waited for for years living under rock and stone on some Emperor forsaken world watching human youth grow up in ignorance. He only wished that he had some means of communicating with Serat. Had she made it? Had the stranger's 'gift' worked against the Tau security defenses?

Danul knew that the stranger's promise had already helped them. When the firing had started the gun drones had either been delayed or dealt with while the Tau communication system had been shut off. Uncoordinated, whoever the Enforcer commander was, they had broken up the remaining forces and was trying to hunt through a ten kilometer wide city for the resistance fighters. The humans outclassed them in every way.

"What are we gonna do with them, Danul?" Fey asked, sitting on the bar playing with a knife. Danul looked to where her knife pointed.

There were eight hostages, five men and three women, huddled on the ground with their hands over their faces. They were human, barely, one of them had a Tau bionic that had been grafted to his skull. The device was flesh colored, but Danul could see the line where alien technology ended and perverted human flesh began. The others had the strange Tau influenced clothing, hairstyles and even body paint.

"I don't know, Fey, in times like these I always ask," He pulled the knife off the shotgun's moorings and pointed it at the hostage, "what would the Emperor do?"

She smiled cruelly.

"Please," one of the men looked up, "Please, you don't have to do this-"


*

Sia't's hand darted out and grabbed Cubor's muscled arm. He could have lifted her right off the ground, he was so strong, but he obeyed her and bent back down. In the other room they heard the screams and sounds of someone being gutted.

Cubor's hands flashed in combat sign language, mont'sia.
[Permission to engage?]

She slashed a closed fist across her neck, [Denied, hold!]

[They are killing non-combatants]

[They have the advantage. Suicide.]

Cubor grimaced. He cared too much, he would never rise in rank to Shas'Ui, Sia't thought to herself. The screams had quickly died, followed by disgusting human laughter.

She had wanted to get drunk after telling Vel'ar everything. Cubor had been waiting for her, he knew her so well. They'd gone through half a bottle of Au'taalian nectar wine when they had heard shooting.

Taking a step back into the rear of the tavern they had armed themselves with kitchen knives. Then the world shook and a few humans ran in, screaming. Right behind them were what Sia't recognized as Insurgents.

She and Cubor had remained in a closet, a thin plasti-steel sliding door between them and five psychopathic fanatics.

"Look! You've made a mess!" A female voice followed by laughter.

"Well! I guess they'll have to clean it up! It's time you cleaned after your own race for a change and not the bluey scum!"

Sia't felt a muscle twitch in Cubor's arm. She tightened her hold.

[We need to regroup, do not jeopardize our team]

He nodded. Then he put his hand in the universal gesture over his heart, 'For the greater good."

This was why she would never become a Shas'Vre.

[Fine. We do this your way.]

He smiled, then grabbed a broomstick, her knife and a roll of adhesive strips from the closet shelf.

*

"You know, I'd thought you people would rise up with us when we started all this." Danul said, wiping the blood off his hands. The human with the graft was sobbing at Danul's feet. Next to him was the gutted corpse of a woman, facedown in her own entrails.

"Get her out of here, dump her in the back before she starts smellin'." Fey said. Ghej and Nimroy prodded two of the captives forward. They reluctantly started dragging the corpse to the back.

"Why didn't you? Why didn't you take advantage of all of this? Hm?" Danul leaned down and tapped the artificial plate.

"What's your name, son?"

"Macar."

"Macar..." Danul forced the man to look up at him, "Well Macar, maybe you can tell me why you chose to desecrate the body the Emperor gave you." Danul took the tip of his knife and nicked a gouge into the augmentation's material.

"I was in an accident, the Fio'la replaced-" Danul reeled back and kicked Macar in the gut. The man doubled over and wretched on the floor. The others wailed at the site, Danul's people only laughed.

"Don't use any of that *BAD WORD DELETED!*-language, Macar, or this will go worse for you very fast. Where are you from."

"Denab... I'm from Denab Four."

"Denab? I don't recognize that place."

"It's in the Vethian Multitude..." Danul's tone, which had been frighteningly conversational up to this point, evaporated and was replaced with disgust.

"The Multitude. You're not a traitor, you're a fething pet!" Fey hopped down off the bar and came over to Danul.

"What's the Multitude?" She asked.

"It's in Tau space. Hundred years ago the Tau started convincing Imperial colonies to start abandoning their planets after the First Tyrannic War. Bribed 'em with witchcraft and heratech to join their fething Empire. They moved them to a bunch of planets and brainwashed the lot of them."

"What's the Tyranna war?"

"Long time ago, these big bugs from the black came in and tried to stomp the Astartes."

"Did they do it?"

"Nah. Can't kill angels, girl. But the Tau took advantage, as is the alien way."

"You're an ignorant savage." Macar said, pulling himself off the ground. Fey frowned and hit the man in the stomach, forcing him to his knees again.

"Savage, am I? That's what you call your own kind." Danul chuckled.

"Look at what you've done. You were refugees and the Tau accepted you as equals-"

"Equals, he says, equal to clean up muck. To do the dirty jobs, to serve against the Emperor." Danul said, the other resistance fighters hooting their agreement.

"I never forsake my God-Emperor, sir. I never forsake my father's people like you've done here. I've seen your kind before, bitter, angry men who hate the very people that saved you."

Danul grabbed Macar's jaw. "I'd caution you to mind your tongue, but I'm probably going to cut it out anyway." The Tau raised man wasn't afraid, though, and he looked back into Danul's eyes with something close to pity.

"You came here after the Lithesh war as refugees, am I right? You're from Brimlock." Danul nodded. "The Imperium withdrew, they left you. Por'O Vior'la M'yen Shi offered General Gauge a treaty that those Imperials captured would be treated well and you were! I worship the Emperor as well, Danul of Brimlock, we are not so different."

"How does he know so much about what happened, Danul?" Fey said. Danul snarled and struck Macar, breaking his nose.

"Fething Tau brainwashing! You've lived in sin, Macar, but I'll show you how to die for the Emperor..."

*

Karl hefted the body into the closet as Brea pushed in the rest, leaving a horrific read smear on the floor. The Ghej and Nimroy, the terrorists, grinned from the doorway. One had an auto rifle, the other a pulse carbine with the Enforcer's colors on them. Karl was frightened, he had seen first hand what these people were capable of and knew that at any second he could be the next body shoved in this closet.

"You look good, girl." Nimroy said to Brea. She kept her eyes cast down. "Too good. Wouldn't want you ending up like your friend here. Aye, Ghej, doesn't she look good?"

Ghej smiled, looking up and down the hallway before leaning the pulse carbine next to the doorway. "Really good, Nim. You want to?"

"Please, don't." Brea said, she looked at Karl. But what was he going to do?

Nimroy let his autorifle down, then pulled a knife out. "Please don't, what?" The two men approached her, stepping in fully into the closet. In the confines of the room she had no where to run. Karl took a step back, further into the dark. What was he going to do?

Then two, enormous, blue skinned hands reached out from behind Nimroy and snapped his neck with a wet snap! Ghej turned, looking up into the red eyes of Cubor as the Tau let Nimroy crumble to the ground, dead.

He looked at the Tau, saw the heavy scars across it's face, saw the geometric tattoo that circled it's thick neck. He managed a single word before Sia't drove the make shift spear through the base of his neck. "Firewarrior-"

*

Danul hit Macar again, feeling the satisfying crack as the man's teeth cracked against the knife handle. Fey stood behind him while Jaerd looked over the six other, cowering, civilians with a pulse rifle. Danul was going to work on Macar, but the man had stopped making any sounds other than grunts as his body was beaten to a pulp. He would only rise after every strike, defiant against Danul.

"You think you're tough, don't you, boy?" He kneed Macar in the groin then slashed him with the knife. "You think your Tau master's give two *BAD WORD DELETED!* about you, don't you, boy!"

Fey looked in delight at the violence before she saw something move behind the bar where the entrance to the back had been cut into the wall. "Nimroy?" She called.

"Not really." The shadows answered her. She looked down, confused, as a broom handle grew out of her stomach. Blood rushed and filled her mouth so that she burbled Danul's name as she fell back.

Danul looked away from Macar and saw Fey die. "What the-" Was all he managed when a strobe of pulse fire took Ghej's head off. He scrambled for his shotgun, halfway across the room, but Macar had grabbed him by his ankle so that he tripped and tumbled into a table.

Two armed Tau emerged, diving over the bar, their guns trained on him as he crawled toward the shotgun.

"Co'bap, Gue'la!" The female Tau fired next to Danul's outstretched hand. He turned over, confused and frustrated at the same time.

"What?"

"She said to yield." Macar murmured through the ruin of his face.

Danul looked into the females eyes, then the big male as it aimed Nimroy's autorifle at his head.

"Feth you!" He lunged one final time for his shotgun before he was ripped apart by a spray of bullets.

*

"Did you hear that?" Ghel'uun said, looking down the street. Nuu'l was leading everyone as they slunk from street to street using his tech glove to scan for life signs.

"There's a couple of heat signatures there... Wait, isn't that the bar?" Nuu'l's voice was muffled from the bandages Ghel'uun had fasted to his cheek.

"Still hung over? Nuu'l?" Jeth said, peering over a burned out ground car before pressing forward.

"Quiet." Vel'ar ordered. He looked at Nuu'l's tech glove and saw the signatures. The 'day' cycle had remained at what appeared to be dawn, the walls of the dome a gradient orange glow. High above, the docking structure was still burning and had irised open to contain the dome. It must have been a failsafe, or the Kor'La had suffered, to seal the internal atmosphere. It meant Vel'ar and the thousands of people in the Primary Dome wouldn't suffocate, but it also meant they were trapped inside. He could still see the Strident, still immobile by the tractor beams.

The streets were choked with the dead and wreckage. In some places fires had begun to creep through the buildings, setting entire districts on fire. Civilians had all gone to ground, Vel'ar knew, and the terrorists had probably searched for shelter as well making he and his fellow Firewarriors more or less alone.

"Jeth, Ali'yan, you lead the way. Ghel'uun, Nuu'l cover us. I'm going to breach."

They rushed forward. Jeth and Ali'yan both hefted their makeshift weapons while Ghel'uun and Nuu'l faced outward. Vel'ar took a breadth then lunged at the door, ramming it with all his strength.

The fiber-weave of the door splintered into pieces. Vel'ar unconsciously bent into a roll, coming up fast, club in hand. He heard Jeth and Ali'yan behind him while he saw the pulse carbine leveled under his chin.

"Oh. Shas'El. Good of you to catch up." Sia't said with a grin.

***

Next Destination: Transmitter or the Medical Fecility

Though it may not be the wisest tactical choice, I wouldn't leave one of my own behind.

I vote the medical facility.

I'm really itching to write the conclusion for Cerax, so I'll leave the voting open until tomorrow morning (EST), hope you all liked the latest entry.

Oh man, that was really intense! I especially like the interaction between Sia't and Cubor; it felt very natural and real. I felt connected to the characters mainly because they were feeling as horrified at what was happening as I was. And the "conversation" between Danul and Macar was especially well done. I think it's easy to paint the Imperials as evil when we talk about the Tau, but it was clear that one doesn't have to abandon the Emperor to be a part of the Empire. Really well done, my heart was pounding!

My vote has to be for Transmitter. I so badly want the team to go to the Medical Facility to rescue Kro'le (why are we all so attached to him? ), but the team is still blind. If they save a wounded team mate, who honestly will likely be unable to participate in the fighting, they haven't gained much other than liabilities. Think about it: to protect anyone they find in the med facility, they will either have to gather them all together and hide/fortify them somewhere (takes time and resources) or bring them with them and have to play an escort mission (how many games have you all played where this is the most frustrating of mission types?) Gosh, I hate sounding so cold, but more people will die if the team cannot get some solid intel! They need to know what is going on and a little air support would go a long way. Who knows, perhaps they can work out a supply drop and get their normal gear back?

I'm going to have to agree with Wolfs16. The transmitter would be the best choice from here.

That was fantastic. Probably one of my favourite chapters so far just because of the quality in the interactions all round
.
I have to commend you most highly for your character development. You've achieved something wonderful in making your audience CARE about your characters. What is even more impressive is that you've managed to achieve this without mountains of dialogue or other hooks. I think its a safe bet for me to say that a few other people here would agree with me based on all the love that Kro'le is getting . Cubor is also emerging as a personal favourite of mine. I also have a feeling we haven't seen the last of Macar.

As to the next decision:

We have to ask ourselves who will win out. Our emotion or the characters concept of the greater good.
Our emotions demand that we make a beeline for the medical facility in order to ensure the safety of an individual we've come to know and love. The greater good demands that we try and gain a handle on the situation and possibly restore some of the domes security protocols.

I think if we think about the situation logically and from the perspective of the Tau, we have to go for the transmitter (as much as it pains me to leave Kro'le in the hospital). Wolfs has beaten me to it and posted a great break down and I have to agree with his reasoning. Many more civilians will die if the team cant gain a handle on the situation. Ensuring the safety of one Tau cant take precedence over the lives of everyone else on the station (as much as we may want it to).

so to reiterate, My vote is for the Transmitter (that was almost painful to type ). We have to hope that Kro'le will be okay for the time being. I also wouldnt object to immediately sending a few drones his way if we manage to get the security systems online