The life that made him; a few short stories about Shas'La'Firios'Elanro

I noticed there where some other short stories written up, so I decided to do a few to show how Elanro became who he was.

Elanro-Early age
(Treeeeeeeeereeeree)
The summer-bugs where screaming out in the warm air. The Shasui crept forward and I followed. There were 20 of us guarding the envoy to this secret meeting place on Fi’Rios 7 for parley with an Ork commander which they called Freeboota Vrignok. He was certainly more elaborately dressed than any ork I had ever seen before ; a skull-adorned hat, a large metallic lower jaw, dozens of blades & ballistic weapons, and a strange, vaguely spherical ball of teeth and leather on it’s shoulders. Several orks, stood on his sides like a guard, while several smaller green orkoids seemed to carry various heavy items.

“Dis da lot of ya?” Vrignok cried out in that incomprehensible orkish language that sounded like he was chewing a bucket of gravel.

The Envoy replied “Dis iz all of us, Nob Vrignok. We ‘eard ye was a good skullsmasha and wan’ed to be bruthas in da fi’ting. We offa dis gift for ya and ya boyz.”

The envoy made a quick hand signal, and I (and a few other warriors) brought forth the heavy chests we had been carrying here. When we opened them, I couldn’t believe my eyes; masterwork pulse pistols; numerous drones, valuable tech; even a rail rifle.

The envoy continued “I offa ya dis sacred bondin’ knif as a symbol of or’ frenship”, holding out the knife, hilt-first, towards Vrignock. Vrignok made a hand movement and one of the smaller orkoids moved forward to take it, bringing it back to him. When he took it, it looked miniscule in his hands. He tried a few quick stabs at his own hand, without it leaving so much as a mark. He then started to pick his teeth with it, and continued talking.

“Wel, dis is a nice butta nife and all” he pulled a surprisingly large piece of rotten meat from between his canines “but dis is jus’ loot. Shiny stuff. Wha’ ya want to do wit me?”

“We wish to fo’m an allianc’ to fight togetha against ar enemies and…” the envoy said, before being interrupted by Vrignok”
“Ya not undastandin ya nob, what I wana no is whous you want us ta fight!” the last line was a powerful bellow. From what I could see the orks where getting anxious, pawing at their weapons though never unsheathing them. I and a few other were about to move to guard the envoy, but the Shas’ui hand-signalled us to stay still. I felt the fool not having trusted the Shas’Ui; he surely had everything well in hand.

“Wez want ya to fight wit us against da otha’ Orks in da system so that…”

Vrignok interrupted again, bellowing “Ya wantz us ta fight Orks? Ya borin’ git, we always fightin’ each otha. We wanna fight som’tin spiky! Looks, I can fight wit an Ork now!” His arm swung out towards one of his own guards, knocking its head off. All the orks started laughing, even the decapitated head. I was tempted to move forward again, but Shas’Ui held the signal.
“Da gifts are ment ta make peace wit ya people, ta start a new ag’ of coopration tween da Ork and the Tau”.
An exasperated look appeared on Vrignok’s face, and he said “We aint gon get nufin fun outa dees gits boyz, lets have sum fun den!”

Vrignok sprinted forward, astonishingly fast for such a large and blocky creature. The Envoy looked on with a confused look on his face while Shas’Ui ran to try to push him out of danger. Unfortunately, Vrignok reached the Envoy first, biting it’s head off. The other Shas’la tried to find cover, nearly impossible in this open field. I went prone behind one of the opened chests. The situation was chaotic; the orks had pulled out heavy ballistic repeater weapons and started firing. In seconds, there were only 6 Shas’la left, with the Shas’Ui engaged in combat with Vrignok. Shas’ui had pierced him through with his fusion katana, but Vrignok laughed and started pounding with his fists.

I started firing forward, taking out a few of the tiny orkoids who were charging forth with knives drawn. The Orks where much tougher, taking several hits before falling down. I took the rail rifle from out of the chest in front of me, and looked back towards Shas’Ui. He was quickly becoming a pancake; while he tried a few pulse pistol shots, they did not seem to phase Vrignok. I lined up my rifle with the Ork’s eye, firing a projectile that pierced Vrignok’s jaw but barely phased him. He kept pounding away at Shas’Ui  until a few second later he stopped moving. I prepared another shot, but I had missed one of the smaller orkoids that jumped onto my face and started stabbing me in the helmet, leaving a large gash across my face and ripping out my left eye. Unable to shake him loose I dropped the rifle and took out my pulse pistol, disloging him with a nearly suicidal shot. My one good eye finally free, I saw Vrignok moving in my direction, a toothy grin on his face. Another Shas’La started firing at him with his pulse rifle but he shrugged the all off until one hit the hilt of the katana still lodged in Vrignok’s body. The fusion core overloaded, creating a violent explosion that sent of pieces of Vrignok in all directions.

Once the dust settled, I could see that all the other Orks had been killed. There where only four of us left, with the Envoy and Shas’Ui little more than lifeless pulp.

“You’re going to make Shas’Ui for this La’A’Los” I said to the Shas’La who had hit the katana hilt. “Do you really think so Elanro?” he responded. “No doubt about it.” I said “ We should call in the transport, see who’s wounded.”. While we started sorting through the bodies, I could help but look at the Envoy’s decapitated head that Vrignok had spit out. That look of confusion was stuck on the Envoy’s face. How stupid could he have been to try to negotiate with such savages? I turned over his head and got back to work; I should worry about the living, not the dead. I still had a lot to do.

Elanro, adult:

The Orca was making its descent towards the surface of Fi’Rios 5. “You’ll pass the trial next time Elanro. Most don’t pass them the first time.” Said La’A’Los. “Yeah friend. No time for pessimism. We’ve got a campaign to fight”. All the warriors readied themselves to disembark as the orca went below the cloud-line. Suddenly, a few explosions rocked the transport; ork fighters had started to harass them. Smoke started filling the deck, while the orca started started listing towards the left. The orca crash-landed, and I blacked out.

I awoke up, my head wringing. I was about 20 meters away from the crashed orca. La’A’Los was commanding the surviving warriors, who were pulling out the bodies of those still living. My com-bead must have been damaged, because I seemed to be catching the command frequency.

“Shas’Ui La’A’Los, what’s your position?” said the battle coordinator.

“We’re about 5 clicks from the landing zone, behind enemy lines. The Orks aren’t here yet, but our recon drones have spotted the Warboss party and it’s heading towards us at high speed” said La’A’Los

“How many men do you have left?” said the battle coordinator.

“We have 53 living, 14 wounded, others dead. We’ve managed to recover most of the heavy weapons. The only drones that are still in one piece are the recon drones.”

“Your forces are too few to face the warboss’s party. Your orders are to attract their attention, pin them down as best you can and markerlight them. A flight of sun sharks will be over your position in 30 minutes to bomb your position.” Said the battle coordinator.

I was shocked to hear this order. To die for the greater good sure, but to die by the hand of our kin.
“You can’t do that! I’ve got 50 men here, and bombing them will serve no purpose! Let me speak to your superior” said La’A’Los.

“Shas’Ui, these are your…” said the battle coordinator.

“NOW” screamed La’A’Los, while the battle coordinator sighed.

A new voice appeared on the channel “This is etherial Aun’Haran, your orders where clear Sha’Sui, pin the Warboss down and prepare for the bombing run.”

“Aun, give my men a chance, we can defeat the warboss and you wont have to waste their lives.” Said La’A’Los.
“Shas’Ui, you have thirty minutes. If you can provide evidence of the warboss’s death before then, the bombing run will be aborted. Aun’Haran out”.

I finally had enough strength in my legs to get up. I set my combead back to the right frequency. I was shaken by what I had heard, but La’A’Los only seemed more dedicated. He was getting the other to set up barricades, prepare the heavy weapons and set up death-funnels.

I walked towards La’A’Los. “Um, Shas’Ui, I…” “Elanro, there you are! I need you to get up high with your rail rifle, help the other snipers set up to fire into the death funnel.” Said La’A’Lor. “Yes Shas’Ui” is replied.

I went on with the task I was asked to perform, getting the other sharpshooters in position, as well as recon drones ready to markerlight any foes. The others set up the barricades as they could, but a mere ten minuets later the orcs where already on us. They weren’t terribly smart, charging straight into the murder-funnel. Dozens of orks fell to our fire. Heavy weapons cut a bloody swath among the horde.

Finally, after 15 minutes, the warboss approached. He was as tall as 5 tau. I fired at him, all the sharpshooters did, but it did little difference. La’A’Los charged forward wielding a heavy rail rifle, supported by several other fire warriors wielding other heavy weapons. They cleared the area surrounding the Warboss and started firing at him. He took many shots while striding forward and overturned a barricade. All warriors fired into him. The warboss even walked onto several plasma mines without  slowing down. As other orks charged behind him, the warboss moved forward and grabbed La’A’Lor. In the distance, I saw the sun sharks approaching. La’A’Lor must have seen them too, as he gave me the hand –sign for retreat. I got all the men near me to start retreating. I moved as far as I could while still able to markerlit the warboss.

As the bombs from the sun sharks hit the ground, the warboss, La’A’Lor and so many of my brothers where disintegrated. I guided the younger warriors away from the destruction. Tears clouded my vision, but I couldn’t allow them to linger. I should worry about the living, not the dead. I had to bring these warriors back to the lines alive.

Elanro-Nearing old age:

“Urgh” Why was it that each time I rode an Orca it seemed to crash? Admittedly, it wasn’t the worse crash I have had, though how that pilot managed to clip a tree on the way down I’ll never know. I was back on Fi’Rios 7, near the location of my first mission; apparently there had been some orks spotted, and they needed to be taken out. I watched out over the clearing. No ork-sign yet, though if they had Kommandos that didn’t mean much. They could easily be hiding in the forest to the west.
“Shas’La Elanro, attention!” Our current Shas-Ui, piloting a crisis battlesuit, was over a decade younger than me. “We need you focused on the task at hand. Stop daydreaming and keep your eye out for orks!” How this git ever became Shas’Ui I’ll never know, but I formed up with the brothers. “Orders, Shas’ui?” I asked. “Fan out and try to spot a sign of the orks. We need to get this finished as quickly as possible.”

“Shas’Ui, might I recommend sticking in a group? Orks in this kind of environment tend to prefer hit & run tactics, separating will only make us easier to pick off”.

“Oh please Shas’La, they’re orks. They barely have the mind to walk in a straight line much less hide. Fan out into the forest”.
I took out my pulse pistol; a rifle would be useless in these close quarters. I moved slowly, trying to blend in with the underbrush, keeping my eyes open for the slightest disturbance.

Suddenly, the Shas’Ui’s voice barked out of the combead “Shas’La Elanro, where are you? Make sure you remain visible.” I nearly jumped out of my own skin “Ah, there you are. Maintain visual contact.” That idiot had no awareness of the need for discretion. Then again, he was piloting a battlesuit, a near-universal sign of “Please shoot me enemies”.

As I kept an eye on the undergrowth, I spotted a small hole. Taking a second look, it appeared to expand into an egg-like shape inside. An ork-womb! Of course they hadn’t bothered properly decontaminating the zone afterwards.

“Ork-womb spotted, coordinates LD 31-09. No sign of ork that originated from it. Shas’La, keep your eyes open for traps” I said.

The Shas’Ui responded “Keep the channel clear for important information, that womb could be ancient. Keep searching”
I slowed down and reviewed the are; tree, tree, tree, bush, bush with scaly berries, stick in the ground. I turned back to the scaly berries. Clearly the tips of ork fingers. It stayed perfectly still, like it was convinced I hadn’t spotted it. Maybe that was why the Kommandos where so good at hiding; they were so convinced they convinced even their foes. I turned my face away, then turned back quickly and fired at the ork. “First contact, ork” I sent out. It fell to a single shot; it was young and unarmored, easy pickings. The other Shas’La crouched down in battle more, but several were swarmed by several primitive, poorly-armed orks and got killed. I kept shooting until I couldn’t see any standing. Once out of hiding, the orks where easy pickings. But we were too spread out, too distant to support each-other. The Shas’Ui ran back and forth, smashing orks as if he were an ork himself. A few minutes later, as the battle ended, I came across the body of a brother, I knelt down. Shas’La Horu he was called. A young tau on his first mission. Stabbed to death with little more than sticks. The Shas’Ui got back on the channel “Good cleanup warriors, we’ve taken out more than 100 orks today. I’m calling in the decontamination team and they will ensure no orks return here ever again.”

“You killed them you jackass” I said, as the Shas’Ui responded “What!?”. “If you hadn’t spread them out they could have supported each other. They wouldn’t have been stabbed to death with little more than sticks because an officer forgot decontamination last time orks were here.” I said, with a tired weight in my voice.

“Why, every sacrifice is for the greater good Shas’La! This is the final straw. Return to the transport, you’re on decontamination duty with the others when they arrive!”

I sighed. Another wasted life. But this was not the time for regret. I should worry about the living, not the dead. No ork would rise from these lands once I was done decontaminating them.