I hate to be so cliche, but I think Plasma Rifle and Missile Pod are the way to go.The Past Walkers have proven a certain immunity to Pulse Weapons, so the rapid fire ability of the Plasma Rifle should come in to play nicely. And the Missile Pod cannot be beat for pure long range, high strength damage. As for support system, does a Drone Controller count? I think a few couple of Shield Drones would go a long way!

Really liking the updates. Keep it up man!

Excellent choices Wolf-

Missile pod, Plasma rifle, 2 gun drones would be the load out as shield drones are not in supply.

Any other configurations are welcome, lets put the cut off at one more day.

I would vote for right arm plasma, shoulder missile, and left arm shield generator. Generator for defense (I'm assuming a circular energy shield centered on the generator as the method of operation, sort of like a spartan shield), plasma for tight in work and missile pods for long range/ heavy hitting. By the way, does he get hard wired systems? Because if so, multi-tracker at least.

I know its a bit of an odd config but I would say airburst and fusion blaster with vectored retro thrusters. Airburst means that large mobs can be dealt with. Any vehicle can be taken down with the fusion. It's great for dealing with heavy infantry and the VRTs are for quick escapes.

Thanks for another quick update. More and more I'm seeing Vel'ar's unconventional methods shining through; and the pure dissaproval of F'ynal and his smug response really made me giggle.

I'm going to have to choose Twin-Linked Plasma Rifles and two Gun Drones. Whilst Fire-Knife may be the most effective choice, in my opinion nothing beats staring down the barrel of two Plasma Rifles for pure intimidation. As for the Gun Drones, when it was first suggested, the image of the Battlesuit Team with Gun Drones in the Codex came to my mind, and I just couldn't resist!

Lurking reader here...

Ah choices, choices... trying (too hard perhaps) to envision the potential roles the suit is going to play in all this. I'm having a hard time reconciling what is essentially a fire warrior kill team of sorts with an 'El going around in a XV-8. This is, I think, not going to be a front line fighter but probably a back field sensor package and fire support with a secondary in your face auxiliary role.
So sorry for being unorthodox but I'm going to go with Missile Pod (multi-purpose ranged support), and Flamer (Hand held shields? Fast moving? No problem!). Drones might be useful but seeing that they could be taken down quickly by the Inquisitor makes me hesitate, so I'm going to for... a Black Sun Filter! Of course If hard-wired wargear doesn't add to the limit then I'd hardwire the BSF and a multi-tracker and leave the support slot for a targeting array (have to make sure those missiles hit, eh?)

lets see. Crisis load outs...

The Fireknife is a classic, no doubt about it.
Velar isnt your classic XV-8 pilot though. Any load out he picks would have to remain synergetic with sia't and her team. We want to create a force greater than the sum of its parts.

Now I love plasma just as much as the next guy.... but there is something that appeals to me deeply on a juvenile level about a rotating multi barrelled burst cannon spewing out rounds like droplets from a sneeze. These past walkers don't seem exceptionally armoured (at least not to power armoured standards), but their speed and agility remains more worrisome however. Its hard to dodge the sheer weight of fire delivered by a burst cannon though. Having said that though, we do need some kind of weapon capable of melting some inquisitor face....

So we still have a second slot right? We could take the plasma there, but that would be ignoring the work horse of the XV-8, the missile pod. The missile pod provides range and firepower to the squad. Gives us something to shred that nasty past walker shuttle we saw earlier and im sure even the mighty inquisitor wont appreciate a few missiles to the face (lets face it; they are armour piercing non fragmentation rockets. Just because they are ap 4 on the table top for balance reasons doesnt make that an effective indicator for their punch in the "real" world).

For the last spot, im going to go with a shield generator attached to the left arm. With the burst cannon and missile pod, Vel'ar will be able to lay down massive suppressive fire while soaking up any returning fire. Vel'ar's firepower, speed and physical profile will make him an obvious target and he'll need a way to deflect all of that attention. With Vel'ar soaking fire and placing out heavy suppressive of his own, Sia't's fire team will be free to manoeuvre and deliver the killing blow. Rather than just having vel'ar as a heavy weapons platform, he'll act more as a force multiplier for Sia't and vice versa

So that concludes the worlds most complicated way of saying left arm shield generator, right arm burst cannon, shoulder mounted missile pod

Hey everyone,

Something I didn't realize was that there are many readers who can't actually post here because they're still 'saal'. However some of them came up with some interesting configurations. Here are the five configurations that came up a lot or seemed interesting- and I'll let those of higher rank choose.

First off- I assume that the Crisis suits, based on what I've read in some of the novels, as well as line armor- all have the secondary kits such as Markerlights/Blacksuns/Target locks, ect.

Fireknife config:

Flamer (!) Missile pod, targeting array
Shield Generator burst cannon, missile pod
Plasma rifle, Shield generator, fusions blaster
Twin linked plasma rifles and gun drones (2)
Plasma Rifle, missile pod, two gun drones (wolf- I should have said that 'shield' drones aren't available on the Strident)

Alright guys, vote away. If we tie I'll PM one of the Saal to break it.

I've finished the chasis of the crisis suit- gun mounts are ready.

Well, I had considered changing my vote (as no one else seems to be voting similarly), but in the end I've decided to remain true to my original choice.

My vote is still for Twin-linked Plasma Rifles, and two Gun Drones.

It's unorthodox... but I like it. Update soon.

Plasma Rifle and Missile Pod! It's the way to go, folks. Two Gun Drones can help to take care of small targets (or even provide suppressive fire) and then the big guns take out anything else. It is the perfect balance!

The Flamer would mean the suit has to get within hand to hand range of the Past Walkers. Those guys use acidic weapons. Yes, the Fio made a layer that can protect them. But what about the other Firewarriors? They need a support suit that can eliminate things from a distance and up close. Missile Pod's are required! Also, they have a limited immunity to pulse weapons. So a Burst Cannon, while cool, could prove to be little more than an annoyance. I'd like to see one of those Past Walkers stand up to Mr. Plasma Rifle.

I still am going to side on the Missile pod/ plasma approach, with a shield generator. Gun drones are useful, but you want something a little more solid on defense in my opinion. Primarily use the plasma rifle/ shield gen combo, with missile pods as secondary/ long range firepower. Remember limited ammunition on the missile pods.

Still sticking with Flamer and Missile Pod! Missile Pod for the multi-purpose / long range support usefulness of it. Flamer's not going to be a primary weapon, but it would be effective against the Past Walkers with their hand held shields. I am worried about pulse weapons being a derivative of plasma weapons, so it's not certain that plasma, while no doubt stronger, will work well against them. And we know that there's always going to be something that's going to sneak into close combat range, so having a flamer in waiting then would be a good thing!

However, for the support slot I realized that our 'El would have a decent BS anyway so will be dropping the Targetting Array. Since it would be a shame to waste all that extra energy in his modified suit, and agreeing with shadowkat's point that being a big hulking XV-8 is going to put our 'El on the top of most enemies' target priority lists, I'm going to switch to having the Shield Generator instead... which should also help a little when going in close with the flamer...

So there it is... Flamer, Missile Pod, Shield Generator!

Hey everyone- sorry for the lag- I was out of state for a little bit but I'm back. We had a lot of good conversation and I think that missile pod/plasma rifle with some kind of gun drone shield combination got the most votes... for the purposes of the next mission we'll go with this load out,

Missile Pod, Plasma Rifle, Shield Generator.

Passive 'hard wired' systems will be: Black sun filter, multi-tracker.

But it will change and I definitively want to see what a twin plasma rifle situation would look like.

F'ynal cleared her throat and waved her utility pod at Vel'ar. Vel'ar looked up, the 'heads up display' highlighting two DX technical drones as they appeared from hangars in the ceiling bearing weapons.

"You're already ruining the decking and I'll have to recaste most of the drone's armor..." He raised the XV's arms as they neared. The tell-tale rectangular containment unit of a missile pod settled smoothly onto the left mount. On the right a snub nosed plasma rifle fastened by three duranium rings even as 'smart' power couplings plugged into the arm's 'forearm' section.

"Usually the pilot gets to pick their weapons, not a technician." Vel'ar said with forced aggravation.

"I did my homework, sir. Based on seventy four percent of your engagements you have consistently requested this weapon configuration. Plus I think you'll like this." Another wave of her hand and his HUD lit up like a night cycle cityscape with data.

"This is... Impressive, Fio'Ui."

"Yes, it is, isn't it."

The missile pod, while appearing generic, actually housed a total of nine missiles of three different classifications. The first was the typical hard target grade ordinance used to take out light to medium vehicles. They were true line of site weapons with barely a drone intelligence but they were devastating if they could penetrate and detonate their kles'tak package. The next class was two upped drone guided variants that sacrificed their explosive capability for the ability to seek out their own targets. Vel'ar had seen them usually housed in the Broadside class suits or Akula tanks rather than Crisis gear. The final varient made his warrior's spirit sing.

"That's right, Shas'El. You're looking at two 'blossom' pattern Phor'yinn warheads. I've subdivided the explosive material into fifty bomblets inside the missile body. They are proximity-fused explosives, launched at a pre-determined trajectory computed by you, or your crisis suit's on-board AI. Height, distance, all of this is considered as your suit engages, so the longer you're in a conflict-zone the more accurate you can get and provide maximum effect. Think of this as the most powerful mass anti-personel available weapon in the Empire."

Vel'ar laughed, the sound echoing across the hall and redoubled by the crew and Firewarriors. "This is incredibly, Fio'Ui."

"You're helping me. I plan on replicating this concept in a singular weapon. Field testing was... difficult, back home. This mission is unorthodox enough that I thought you wouldn't mind. Next is the plasma rifle, nothing new there, but you'll be able to feed additional power into it's own regulatory systems. This unto itself is not unusual and is a dated method of energy control, however," A schematic of the rifle appeared before Vel'ar, "With my system you'll be able to divert the plasma rifle's own generator output into your suit's. It may just help you in a bind."

"No, Fio'Ui, I don't mind. What's this?" A third DX drone he hadn't noticed was already fastening a mushroom like shield generator pod in between the thruster packs, directly onto the generator unit.

"Another modification of mine. This shield unit has an open channel flow. As long as you're running you'll be able to feed power into it."

"You're all about control aren't you, F'ynal?" Vel'ar said, balancing himself on one claw to the other as he aquatinted himself with his new weight.

"Pilot's get sloppy when they let the AI do all the work, Shas'El. If you make a mistake, I'd like the report to indicate it was you and not my work." She typed in a command to her utility pod. The drones from before reassembled.

"You'll be firing signals marks, no live-fire here. Hit the drones in numerical sequence, got it?" She smiled, Vel'ar suddenly realizing amongst her many skills he had been assigned a female that did not like to lose. "Go!"

The drone squadron scattered immediately. There were whoops and hollers from the crowed, Nuu'l jumping with excitement as he accessed F'ynal's details on his own com device. Vel'ar could only imagine the technical bliss the Shas'La was experiencing at the new tech now springing into action.

Marker fire filled the hangar bay like red tinged needles. Vel'ar thought-ordered his weapon's energy into the shield and sure enough, it sprang to life, ignoring the drone attack as it's virtual field blotted them out. He noticed that his thruster power was untouched, and so, he leapt again into open air even as his HUD highlighted his first three targets. Even as he felt the rush of pressure and gravity against the suit, articulated into his brain through the molecular thin probes extended from his suit to his brain, he primed the plasma rifle.

His teacher had called it the 'Eir'an'mont'; the battle moment. He closed his eyes, forgetting himself as the melding of suit and body became one. He thought of the past.

They had told him he would not be going home. The Ethereal council had swelled to form almost five hundred as the Kor'vattra reported the final Imperial ship vanishing into the Damocles Gulf from whence they came. In the shattered capital of Gel'bryn they met with the highest cordone of Shas'O the Empire had ever assembled. Commander Puretide, the architect of the Tau victory and the most accomplished leader of the Fire Caste since it's creation, stood before the Kai'Aun herself, the Caretaker of the Empire, and spoke as equals.

Farsight had ordered those he had commanded to not clean their armor, to wear their tattered battledress with honor. And so Vel'ar stood at attention, shoulder to shoulder with the survivors of Dal'yth as the meeting took place. Farsight himself had exited his Crisis suit, it's arm shorn off and the sensor pod 'head' hanging loosely from it's mounting. As the congregation of Ethereal's descended they took a great interest with him, bowing as Farsight's own teacher spoke of his daring and accomplishments in the outskirts of the city. Farsight would accept none of it, insisting his victory was hard pressed and due to warriors like the one's behind him.

It was the proudest moment of Vel'ar's life.

Vel'ar suspected it was for this reason that the Ethereals and Shas'Ar'Tol chose to divide Farsight's command. Doctrine had already been broken with his 'army' forming a loose and unorthodox cadre of elements from almost every Sept in the Empire. They would have to be sent back to their own Sept command's and be reintegrated into the system. Farsight himself was sent to a second phase colony called Arkunasha, his personal bodyguard offered advancement within the Vior'La Sept and scattered throughout the region in order to bolster defenses should the Imperials double back.

Vel'ar had expected to be sent to the colony Vir'La or maybe even one of the moons of Judul to finish his training when a Shas'El singled him out and ordered him to board a separate shuttle. He was briefed that the Shas'Ar'Tol had reviewed his battle log and that of the other Shas'La he had commanded after Farsight had ordered them against the Titan and they believed that Vel'ar had something unique to offer.

It was in the training domes of T'au that he learned to be a pilot, to allow the mind meld between him and the machine. How to hone those unused realms of consciousness and give them up to the machine...

F'ynal looked at the bio readout on the cylindrical device that enclosed her left hand up to her elbow. It was impressive, to say the least. The Shas'El were, at their core, warriors despite the logistical aspect their rank held and Vel'ar was no exception. The neurological phenomena that many Fio referred to merely as 'melding' had been discovered centuries ago when the Tau had first grappled with interstellar travel.

Artificial intelligence's were a necessary tool and without these programs the Empire would never have achieved it's greatness. Almost every machine had one such operating system or another. They communicated with one another like a Vespid hive, once combining together they could almost appear to be sentient. F'ynal looked at the network that Vel'ar's suit possessed. One for communication, one for each of the weapons, another for energy management and still another for parts motivation. All of them ran their own stream of data just as a biological brain would and in conjunction they could almost fly a XV by themselves.

They could not do what Vel'ar's mind brought to the equation.

His brain was in near total synch with the AI of his suit. This was a problem for many pilots as the loss of 'self' brought with it a sense of vulnerability. It was one thing to be encased in an armored cocoon and quite another to feel as though the duralloy and fio'tak was actually your skin. But to do so was to subconsciously understand the vehicle, much as the Shipmaster had done with the Strident. To cycle up the next round in a pulse rifle would become as effortless as balling one's fist in preparation to strike. But to feel the suit take a crippling blow from a bolter round would be as though that same attack had struck the body. It was a gambit. Like everything, that Vel'ar seemed to enjoy.

He was upside down now, retro thrusters firing as he controlled his flight. Drones swerved and flashed about him, eagerly trying to light him up with marker signals even as he methodically removed each target drone in the sequence she had crafted. He was good. And when he finally came to rest and the canopy doors of the chasis opened, she didn't feel the pang of defeat so much as admire such piloting...

Vel'ars face was mopped with sweat but he was smiling. The crew and his unit both were shouting and cheering, even those who had clearly lost credit wagers. His heartbeat thumped in his chest as his body spasmed with the removal of it's link to the XV-8.

"That was incredible!" A Kor'La shouted as they encircled them. Sia't broke the ring and offered her arm as he stepped down. He took it, surprised as his hooves almost buckled.

"After a performance like that I'm surprised you're still conscious."

Vel'ar tightened his grip and smiled, "Let's hope no one's up for an encore." Cubor joined Sia't and they both took their commander. He could see Nuu'l already pestering Fy'nal while Ghel'uun waved a medical wand around him. Even Ali'yan had seemed to momentarily let go of the rage at Jeth's slaughter as Kro'le cracked a joke about Fy'nal's annoyance. They weren't healed, but they were on the road to recovery.

There was a shift in the artificial gravity that shook everyone into sudden silence. Pavol's voice cut over the comm, emotionless as an AI. "Crew's to your stations, passengers must return to their quarters. Transitioning back into realspace imminent."

***

Vel'ar had ordered F'ynal to prep everyone with their new load outs as well as ready the XV for the possibility of real combat while he had reached the bridge, an attendant drone twittering hopelessly as it tried to fasten his armor onto him as he moved. Reaching the bridge, the last seal clasped, he looked out on the ever-terrifying visage of warp-space.

It was like falling toward a fathomless horizon. Below and to the sides of the ship was the 'wave' that the Tau vessel surfed with precarious agility, protected by gravity projecting force fields. Above this wave was the hyper-light of stars as they streaked by impossibly fast, barely separated by lines of the black space. It was always unnerving and it always hit Vel'ar with a slap of vertigo.

"Wonderful isn't it!" Pavol's voice was everywhere. He was excited, shouting like a juvenile on a theme park ride. Light pulsed from the Chair as other Kor'La tried to ignore the pell nell charge through unreality. "I only wish you could see it as I do, Shas'El! How was the XV demonstration?"

"Good!" He didn't know why he was shouting but he quickly fell into an empty couch alongside the shipmaster. "I thought you were watching?"

"Can't be everywhere at once, sometimes, I was called away as we broke through to Rift-space. It's a tad bit more complicated then your run-of-the-mill jump."

"I don't understand."

"Many won't! Imagine normal transitions are like running through a tunnel, the Rift is like a plumbing network for a city."

"Is that dangerous?" There was a splash of static as Pavol laughed at Vel'ars worry.

"Not with me at the helm! Relax, Shas'El, we're transitioning!"

***

The jungle world shone as a lush emerald in the darkness. Alone, save for the distant star, it was as tranquil as any world in the universe as it orbited endlessly. Then, like an enormous reverse comet, ionic and transdimensional atoms swirled into a jet cloud.

A bright point coalesced at it's center and, amidst the exploding forces where realities law struggled against the madness of the warp, the Strident burst forward, trailing cooling immaterium. There was a moment as ice and systems stalled before the beating heart of it's generator pulsed into life, flooding the vessel with renewed energy.

And not a moment too soon.

Waiting like an enormous void whale was the Warsphere. Bristling with weaponry and a full three kilometers in length, it lay in wait behind the entry point of the Tau vessel. It powered up, having waiting for it's pray to finally arrive. Fusion generators, ancient since time immemorial, spun, dumping their atomic reaction directly into the engine clusters on the aft of the vessel.

A Warsphere was an incredible thing to behold. Unlike the heavy prows of the Imperium or the elegance of the Tau, a Warsphere was shaped with twin hemispheres separated by a central control ring. It was both colony vessel and weapon of war and were known to house hundreds of thousands. Pyramid studs and needle like towers sprouted from the control ring, a mix of enslaver focus lasers and heavy tractor beams used to draw a quarry close where the inhabitants could board even the largest of prey at their leisure.

The first barrage came in a massive, unfocused las-attack. Red fingers stabbed the night, catching the Strident unawares. The radiation backwash shorted the ventral quarters of the Tau vessel even as Pavol's heightened awareness screamed out to raise shields...

Welcome back calmsword

I really enjoyed hearing more about Vel'ar's time under farsight. For some reason I really like hearing about a characters roots or how they came to be who they are.

Keep up the good work

Ejrak watched the jungle, watched it breath. It was alive with birds in the canopy, crawled with reptiles on the ground, and somewhere out there the most lethal predator Ejrak had ever faced. He and the other five volunteers had begun the chase, a day ago and night, and had lost three already. The sun was already beginning to dip behind the distant eastern mountains, but Ejrak knew they were close to the Old Place and the Tau communications relay that had been built there.

It was impossible to tell how many 'Hunters' were actually after them. Only Ejrak's understanding of Seko's jungle had saved him against the technological edge the Hunters employed. Tangle snares, pitfalls and trip cords, the Kroot had made their path thick with booby traps but none had managed to stop the aliens, only slow them down. There was a stream of clicks, like a serpents tail, and Ejrak glanced above him.

It was Skaatiq, her muscles twisting as she suspended herself, one armed, from a moss covered branch. Her mottled skin was natural camouflage and she had learned the blend her scent to match a pungent flower that grew all over the northern hemisphere. She was an older hunter from Ejraks own region but he had never met her.

With her free hand she quick-gestured in sign language.

-Are you healthy?-
-I still hunt-
-You have not eaten-
-None of us have-

She twitched the quills above her left brow. Ejrak looked and saw Humuki. The young Kroot was Ejrak's age, fresh from the coming of age trials. Early in the run he had sprained three of his fingers and after the last ambush by a Hunter he had suffered an acid splash to his back. Humuki was suffering, breathing raggedly as he rested above them both.

Skaatiq continued;
-We are now in the territory claimed by the greenskins-
-Yes-- I smell them-
-The Shaper ordered us to warn the Tau-
-We are close and can still make it-
-You must do so uninterrupted-- The greenskins must be drawn away from the Old Place and the tower-
-I will. But you?-

There was a rustle on the forest floor below. Ejrak tilted his head, barely moving.

Six impossibly muscled greenskins crushed their way through the underbrush into a small clearing twenty meters from Ejrak. They were wild, painted with blue sigils, their bodies adorned with the skulls of dead krootforms and armed with heavy wood spears and stone axes. They would ever be apart of Seko, just as the Kroot were, the eternal foe. The tales of the Shaper when he had barely left his mother's nest said that the Orks had come with them to Seko centuries ago when the Kroot had still possessed an interstellar Empire. A Kroot warsphere had collided with an Ork 'Rok', the two massive vessels locked with one another as they burned through the atmosphere. Ejrak was a descendent of those, first, stranded colonists just as the brutes below were the children of those invaders.

They bellowed and gurgled at one another. A language as violent and brutal as the species. When one greenskin stopped and smelled the air, a larger one punched him roughly in the back of the head with gestures pointing forward. The rest fell in line. They would be gone soon.

Then he saw it. Just the glimmer of an outline. Across the clearing in one of the trees, a Hunter watched as the greenskins traipsed through. It hadn't noticed them yet. Ejrak looked back to Skaatiq.

Skaatiq dropped him a quarrel of rifle ammunition. He caught it, confused.

-Humuki alone will not be able to give you the distraction you need. I will join him. Warn the Tau-

Ejrak snapped his mouth in protest. Skaatiq's eyes widened, twin milky eyes narrowing in reproach.

-You would deny Humuki honor? He will die, let it be for a reason-

-I do not run from a fight!-

-You are young--Go-

Ejrak closed his eyes. When he opened them again Skaatiq had already reached Humuki. She twittered something quickly, grabbing Humuki's rifle and pushing it into him. He nodded, then brought the rifle up. He looked at Ejrak and gave an encouraging nod. Then Humuki looked down his sites and fired.

The branch, just below the cloaked Hunter, exploded with the impact of the pulse round. It screeched in surprise, a howl that broke into a static belch as it fell. The greenskins stubby ears perked and they turned to the sound, briefly mesmerized as the Hunter strobed in and out of existence as it's cloak system fought to compensate. Then it shot out with it's left taloned hand, cutting deep into the tree and arresting it's fall before letting go and landing perfectly on the forest floor. It looked up, cloak system finally failing and shutting down. Ejrak saw two primary 'eyes', evil slashes of red that burned with an inner light from the helmet, and two secondary eyes that perched above them. It's body was lithe, deadly, and as it starred down the primitive greenskins it unfolded a nozzle like barrel from it's shoulder.

The greenskins hooted and charged.

Ejrak would have wanted to see the fight, to see how the Hunter would fair against the band of Orks, perhaps he could learn something. Maybe the Orks would kill it, then Humuki and Skaatiq would not need to be sacrificed. Instead, he braced himself and let go of the tree. Falling quickly he reversed his descent then twist at the last moment into a roll, hitting the ground and curving into a run.

Behind him the snap-hiss! of the Hunter's weapons echoed through the trees.

***

High above the Strident fled.

"In all the sands! What is that thing?" Vel'ar yelled at no one. Pavol had gone silent inside the Chair and the Kor'La crew were ignoring him as they fought to save their ship. They were all strapped in, anything not bolted down flew about the cabin. Another jarring hit shuddered through the vessel as the starscape spun like gyroscope as Pavol through the vessel into another evasive maneuver.

"Damage report?" The voice of a disturbingly zen Pavol broke through the madness.

A Kor'La who's job it must be to offer that information, turned. "Junta side thrusters are losing power. Shields holding at half."

"Prepare to divert weapons power to afterburners, get the planet between us."

"Yes, Shipmaster."

"Shunt Junta power off and store it. Broken wing maneuver, copy?" There were nods from the bridge crew.

Vel'ar felt something he had eaten for breakfast churn half way up his chest, bile burning the back of his throat. Vel'ar stole a glance at a diagram of the vessel in a projected holo-globe. He didn't understand half of what he saw, just that the vessel was suddenly tumbling, it's prow no longer leading it, for all the world it looked like a wounded bird, falling to earth.

"Eject all waste on the Junta side."

"Yes, Shipmaster!" Another Kor'La threw up a hololithic lever on her consul. There was a shudder throughout the ship. Vel'ar watched as dozens of markered cubes extended like a cloud from the side of the ship as it spiralled, seemingly, out of control.

"Brilliant..." Vel'ar whispered.

The enormous War Sphere had had the drop on the Tau. It had used it's massive weapons fixtures to do as much damage to slow the faster ship down. Whoever was the master of such a behemoth had possessed a pride that was fed as Pavol bled his own ship before the alien's might. There was a static filled roar of glee that echoed throughout the War Sphere as tractor beams prepared to drag the Tau into it's hungry maw.

Vel'ar's restraints suddenly released of their own accord.

"Shas'El." Pavol's voice spoke directly at him. "They've bought the ruse, for now. I won't let this ship be captured. Too many secrets. You're just in our way up here and you have a mission planet side."

"How will Cubor know where to land?"

"There should be a listening post or a sensor tower down there, who knows why we didn't get the warning, maybe it got hit. You'll have a better chance down there than you will on board. You'll at least make Sia't happy, dirt on the ground, and all that."

Vel'ar smiled, then pushed off the couch and ran.

Pavol felt the Shas'El leave as the sensors in the room reported the heat and pressure shift. He looked through his 'eyes' at the massive War Sphere. It was familiar for some reason, he couldn't explain why. It didn't matter, the things on board wanted to take him. Well, they'd have to catch him first.

"Now that the Shas'El has politely removed himself from the bridge, let's dial that gravity back down so we can get to work." Pavol comiserated with his crew. They laughed, maybe for the last time, as their bodies returned to near weightlessness. "Let's show these shtlkan how to fly."

Very engaging. I'm enjoying the look into the Kroot side of things, and these Past Walkers are really starting to freak me out. What are they?!

Keep it up, Calmsword. I'm loving every sentence!

I must agree, with Aun Tier, very well done and engaging! I enjoyed the part about the Kroot specifically. They have such an alien culture; it's always interesting to learn about them.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the XV8 get some action. Let's see those Past Walkers try and take on the Empire's finest!