- Pronouns
- He/Him
Looks like we're DOING IT LIVE (both)
WARHAMMER 40,000: SPOTTER (Longshot Fix It Quest)
- Thread starter DragonCobolt
- Start date
- What if? Mature Sci-Fi Romance
Looks like we're DOING IT LIVE (both)
Castes (0.5)
- Pronouns
- He/Him
You hugged Darya even tighter. Squeeze!
She shifted, then gently reached up. Her hand patted your shoulder with the mechanical precision of a drone. "Thanks," she says, quietly. Then she pushes you and you realize, she wants to get let go. You let go of her in a damn hurry. You scoot away and Darya tucks her hands under her armpits, leaning back against the wall again. She looks a bit unsure. "So, uh…" She pauses. "...what is the Water Caste. Exactly. I mostly, um. Interacted with the. Uh." She looks at her longlas. "Fire Caste. And the Ethereal." She catches herself. "An Ethereal."
You nod.
"So, explain," she said.
You nodded again, thinking how to start with this. You lifted up your hands, opening your mouth to-
"Please," Darya adds, cutting into the silence.
"Huh?" you ask.
Her cheeks color. "Explain please. I mean."
She's so cute. Does she know she's cute? You think. No! Professional. You smile at her, gently. No teeth! No! Wait, you DO want to show teeth. You smile at her. She looks away and bites her lower lip.
"Okay," you said. "So. The caste systems started in our prehistory. Which, um, is fairly recent in your history. Since it was only six, seven thousand years ago. Basically, we're an evolved species-"
"Evolved?" Darya asks.
"Oh, um, so, when you're not engineered," you say. "As all your books say, you're based on the God Emperor's image. I mean, he has to have whipped you up in some lab, right?"
Darya frowns at you. Have you insulted her religion? You barrel forward, mouth going a kilometer a second.
"N-Not that that's an insult! Or even a contradiction to him being a divine figure, since, he did have a measurable, physical impact, we have enough cooperating evidence from our trade with the Alderai and from observations we took f-from deep space posts, uh, since, well, light has to go the same speed everywhere, so, just ten thousand years away from the Terran system and we could actually see the energy discharges of the Battle of Terra. Like, conclusive proof! There was an Emperor, and if he did even half the things the Alderai claim, let alone your religious scripture, I'm more than happy to say he was…some kind…something." You flushed as Darya kept watching you. "A-Anyway, since your species is so clearly genetically engineered, our current theory is that you're a…an engineered race. Much like your Space Marines!"
Darya blinks slowly. "Why do you think we're, um, engineered?" she asks.
"Well, I mean, have you looked at yourself?" you ask, excitedly. "Human beings can run a T'au fire warrior to death. Like. Literally. If you started running and chased down a T'au, the T'au would keep running, and you'd keep running, and the T'au would literally die before you even got tired. You recover from broken bones incredibly quickly. You can survive in vacuum for a solid minute, longer if you take precautions. You have self correcting DNA strands for radiation resistance! You can have your lives extended by centuries with naturally occurring remedies-"
"... T'au don't have rejuv?"
"No," you pout. "That'd be convenient. We're a social species, and like most of those, older members decline and die quickly so we don't take too many resources. We live about fifty Terran years naturally," you explain. "But modern medicine is still really good. We can make it to seventy, even eighty sometimes!"
"Oh," she says.
"... though we do have rejuv, you know, our human colonies cultivate the precursors. An agricultural world defected to us a few decades ago which grew the stuff… in very small amounts." You lean in, sharing a conspiratorial secret. "The guilds in the Imperium who synthesized deliberately keep the supply constrained so they can charge more. We don't have the really fancy stuff some of your nobles have, but…" You examine her face carefully, seeing all the lines and rough texture and mentally trying to compare it to the human orderlies and aides at the school to guess her age. "You'd probably qualify! How old are you?"
"I'm twenty-three," she said simply, then paused, watching your face. "That bad, huh."
"Um… Uh, uh, sorry, we got sidetracked, there's another thing that really makes it clear. Humans have magic powers!"
"News to me," Darya chuckles, quietly. "Unless you mean we have psykers?"
"Yeah!" you said. "Since when is that a naturally evolved trait? We don't have any psykers."
Darya frowns. "Hurm. That'd get you burned at the stake. Witches are bad. Emperor is good. Saying one made the other? Not good." She shakes her head.
"...oh…" you say.
"Also, we're not the only ones with psyker powers," she says. "Orks gottem. I heard stories. And the…Alderai? Those are the knife ears, right?"
"Yes! Also known as the Eldar, the Starborn, the Ulthwé…" you ticked the different names off on your fingers. "But see, that's the thing! Orks are also clearly engineered. They have genetic memory encoded in them. They grow from spores for the Greater Good's sake. And the Eldar are even older than your species, and if they're not genetically engineered, then I'll eat my…uh…braid!" You nodded. "It sort of looks like everyone is but us, actually."
"Hurm." She looks thoughtful, then nods. "Everything you said makes sense," she says, sighing slightly, frowning. "And…that's why the Ecclesiarchy says we deserve the galaxy? Cause we were made to own it?"
"Maybe?" you shrug. "Probably the same reason they treat you so rotten, if they just think of you as a self-replicating resource. People with power will say anything to justify the use of that power."
"Like the Greater Good?" Darya asks.
"W-aha?" you stammer, feeling like she's just hit you in the side of the head with a brick. "No, I, that's different! We…there's…logic and-"
Darya held up her hand, and her smile is like the sun coming out from behind clouds. "I was kidding. Pulling your leg."
You come up short. "Oh."
Then you scowl and kick her, gently, with one hoof. Your non-damaged one.
"I'm trying to educate you and you pull my leg!" you say, huffing. "Anyway. W-What were we talking about again?"
"Castes," she says, rubbing her shin with mock severity. "So, I am going to be sorted into one? Am I going to be Fire Caste?" She paused. "Am I going to have to put on a patch to make me blue?"
"Um… no. Castes are an us thing. Auxiliaires don't go in one. Unless you think of like… humans auxiliaries as a Caste," you explained. "Like, I was getting there, the castes are old. Back when we were hunter-gatherers, the elders of our various tribes noticed that eating different animals would change us; it's true of all the meat-eating animals on our planet, we take in hormones from food very readily. Every tribe was a little different depending on the game in an area, because we were on the top of the food chain so we sort of… ended up taking on a summary of the local biome, and then it became part of our cultures. It's a little like the Kroot, there's a reason we get along with them like humans and the Votaan! You could tell instantly where somebody was from; warrior groups hunted apex predators to gain their strength, merchant cities on the coasts had their brain chemistry changed by the fish they ate, things like that. It was… are you following this?"
She looked at you blankly.
"No. I don't know anything about that," Darya said. "Is that why none of the rations have meat in them?"
"Yup!" you said, glad she was getting it despite her protests. You leaned in to whisper. " I've heard that Fire Warriors eat meat sometimes, but it's like… a big ritual."
"I get it," she said, nodding slowly. "You're kind of like… mini-Space Marines, but for, like, other jobs. Instead of being for killing Xenos, you're built for… talking?"
"Yup!" you exclaimed.
"That explains a lot," she said.
"This patch is a much stronger and more precise version of the effects experienced by the old nations of the rivers. Same with the fire warriors and plains warriors, and same with the earth caste back when they were valley farmers with livestock. But this is much less messy, and with a lot less wars between us for being different ever since the Etherals. We even invented a new Caste for space travel, with totally novel biochemistry!"
"Huh." Darya looks thoughtful. "It's…better than I thought. Our briefing said you were all different species, or subspecies. Whatever that means."
"Yes, I've read about that. You think we're like your abhumans, selectively bred for the job. We've explained it dozens of times but it doesn't seem to stick…" you pause. "I have a feeling the parts of your Administration who actually talk to us are not on speaking terms with your military. They think the only reason anyone believes in the Greater Good is, like, mind control pheromones, it's very silly."
"Yeah. Figures," she admits. "It's… reassuring, though."
You cocked your head.
"See, I…" She looks out at the city again. "I'm not sure about the Greater Good. I've…my whole life, I've been told to believe this. To do this. To think this. And all of it was to get me into…into those." She jerks her chin at the ladder - and your mind sweeps down to the manacles in the manufactorum. "Fettered just as much if it were real, if it's in my head. And then the Administratium, and the Ecclesiarchy and the fucking Munitorium? Get off your farm, here's a gun, kill the aliens. Scrape them off the planets and drop new people there. Get more fields. Mine more shit. Drill up more promethium. So we can make more guns? So there's more stupid farmgirls to con into the Guard to send to the next planet? Forever?"
You blink, a bit shocked at her vehemence. And, more, at the way she had…kind of peeled the entire imperial apparatus apart.
"So, tell me this," She says, shifting forward, looking right into your eyes. "I had a lot of long talks with an Ethereal, and they made a lot of promises. Didn't matter, even if they were lying it was better than where I'd been. And they were lying about something, I know that, I know the type. Lie as easy as breathing." You let out a squeak of surprise at the disrespect, but she kept talking. "But you? You couldn't lie if you wanted to, you can barely string a sentence together. Are you going to just use the Greater Good to send people to other planets, to scrape the Imperium off, so you can get their fields, and their mines, and the promethium wells, and you can make more guns to do it? Is that why you need to con this farmgirl? Or…or do you actually mean it?"
You open your mouth.
Close it.
Open it. Lift your finger.
Close your mouth. Lower your hand.
"I can't say that," you say, softly. "The Greater Good is supposed to be unity, but… it's not. Lot of T'au think I'm an idiot for studying humans, for believing in you. That there's no value to your species except as… helpers, maybe. You hear people say awful things, that we should sterilize populations so we don't get outnumbered, that we should keep you in line with drones, and…" You paused, not wanting to admit it, but needing to. "Maybe we do, at the edge of the spheres of expansion, out where there's no accountability. I didn't believe it until I saw the camps here."
She nodded, her face unmoving, beyond readable expression.
"I mean.... Okay, I can. Say. I can say anything. But, but, but, all…I can really control is what I do. And I believe in the Greater Good. And I want…I want to make the galaxy a better place. And I think that my government… no, my people, in the end, want the same thing. We've…we've worked really hard to do that. And…and maybe that's all…all…malarky!"
Darya mouths the word like she's never heard it before.
"But if it is! Then! I'll be right with you and I'll give the Ethereals a piece of my mind!" you said, nodding firmly. "It's a big, beautiful galaxy out there, and we're not going to let them ruin it!"
Darya pursed her lips. Her brows knit. Her eyes bore into yours.
Then, quietly.
"You know they'll put us both against the wall and give us a cigstick, right?"
You look confused.
She mimes a strange gesture - finger out, thumbs up. The one she'd done before. She dropped her finger and said pew.
You look…more confused.
Darya laughs. "Firing squad."
"W-What would they be firing a-" you realize what she meant. "Oh."
Darya pushes herself to her feet, coming up. She towers over you again. She offers her hand.
"Come on," she says. "Lets get the drone."
You take her hand. She tugs you up and you slap, chest to belly, against her. She chuckles. "You're lighter than you look."
"H-Heh, uh, uh, uh, we can't all be dense humans with our…bones…" you stammered, blushing furiously.
The Fire Warrior who is handling the Kor'ves for the entire camp looks at you and Darya like you're a parasite he's found in his stool. "You want a MB3 to find a body," he says, slowly. "A body in Section 34-41. A body that was last seen four planetary months ago, during the winter. A body that was probably blown to pieces by the last round of fighting? And you want it all right now. Do I understand that correctly?"
"Well, what are you using the MB3s for right now?" you asked, trying to sound chipper - both you and the Fire Warrior are speaking in T'auese, and Darya is watching you and him with the intentness you're used to her from now. Behind you, the faint sound of heavy machinery and voices echo throughout the refugee camp.
"Security purposes," the Fire Warrior says. He turns to the rack of small, disk shaped drones that are configured for light emission and short ranged service tasks that is pressed up against the back of the quartermaster tent.
"Ah. Surveillance, you mean," you say, your voice growing hard.
"If you prefer," he says, taking down one of the drones.
"In other words, rank violation of our human citizen's constitutionally guaranteed rights under the Charter of Fio'taun - specifically, the enumeration of the right to privacy and self determination among our auxiliaries!"
"Hold-" the Fire Warrior looks up at you. You needed to keep talking before he brought up the Dal'yth Act!
"How many MB3s do you have that are currently armed? And what are they armed with, and what are they armed for. Are they armed with weaponry for disabling insurgents, or are they armed with rapid fire pulse weaponry, like this one?" You asked, bringing Lem'ra forward with a flourish. She projected the image you had snapped just in case, of a drone (one of the smaller ones, the disc-shaped mini-drones that got used for everything) which was hovering near the corner of the camp, with a pair of underslung, boxy weapons that Darya had immediately recognized.
Pulse carbines. She had said.
Real nasty.
The Fire Warrior blinks and opens his mouth, about to speak.
But you're Water Caste.
You barrel right over him.
"These are pulse carbines. They're anti-infantry weapons, short ranged, rapid fire and overwatching a pen of civilians. It seems, to me, you're more concerned about killing potential rioters than you are serving new citizens."
"Well… they do have photon grenades…" Darya adds - causing both you and the Fire Warrior to look at her. "They're non-lethal."
You gulp, then use the initiative.
"Carbines and photon grenades. Not exactly what we'd be using for similar work in the T'au Empire's major population centers. And I think that our representatives in the Conclave will have some very interesting questions to aim at the general staff if holos of this, say, partnered with these…" You gesture and Lem'ra flicks up more holos. A smiling human child, snuggling against her grandmother. Two young human lovers, hand in hand, walking between tents. A human father bouncing his son on his lap. At least…you were pretty sure he was a father, his chest muscles were very pronounced. Albeit, a little round. Hmm. Whatever! The impression was the same.
The Fire Warrior, looking increasingly harassed, holds up his hands. "Okay. Okay. You want a recon drone? Give us…an hour to get one prepped up." He backs away.
You beam and turn to Darya. She grins at you. "Followed maybe…one word in twenty, did it work?"
"Y…You did?" you asked. "You timed that photon grenade drop perfectly. How?"
"One of those words was pulse carbine and another one the word you use for human when you don't mean soldier." She nods. "And I saw the pictures. Figured it out."
You smiled.
"...you really will go to the hilt for us, huh?" Darya asks.
Your entire face burns. "O-Of course. I said I would."
Darya considers.
—
[ ]Give her a kiss on the cheek for that one
Okay, but actually. What does Darya bring for the search?
[ ] Darya brings her full kit: Chamoleine cloak, longlas, sidearm, grenades, knife, and extra blue tape wrapped around her arms and legs, just to make sure none of the other Guard units out there think she's a stay-behind. (The Lost Auxiliary)
[ ] Darya brings her longlas, a sidearm, binoculars, and nothing else. The area is a mess of unexploded munitions and wreckage; nobody is supposed to be there, which means anyone who is might be trouble. (The Locals)
[ ] Darya brings her sidearm, binoculars, and a translator unit. With all the Fire Warriors around, they should be safe, but she wants to make sure she can talk if there's trouble. (The Looter)
She shifted, then gently reached up. Her hand patted your shoulder with the mechanical precision of a drone. "Thanks," she says, quietly. Then she pushes you and you realize, she wants to get let go. You let go of her in a damn hurry. You scoot away and Darya tucks her hands under her armpits, leaning back against the wall again. She looks a bit unsure. "So, uh…" She pauses. "...what is the Water Caste. Exactly. I mostly, um. Interacted with the. Uh." She looks at her longlas. "Fire Caste. And the Ethereal." She catches herself. "An Ethereal."
You nod.
"So, explain," she said.
You nodded again, thinking how to start with this. You lifted up your hands, opening your mouth to-
"Please," Darya adds, cutting into the silence.
"Huh?" you ask.
Her cheeks color. "Explain please. I mean."
She's so cute. Does she know she's cute? You think. No! Professional. You smile at her, gently. No teeth! No! Wait, you DO want to show teeth. You smile at her. She looks away and bites her lower lip.
"Okay," you said. "So. The caste systems started in our prehistory. Which, um, is fairly recent in your history. Since it was only six, seven thousand years ago. Basically, we're an evolved species-"
"Evolved?" Darya asks.
"Oh, um, so, when you're not engineered," you say. "As all your books say, you're based on the God Emperor's image. I mean, he has to have whipped you up in some lab, right?"
Darya frowns at you. Have you insulted her religion? You barrel forward, mouth going a kilometer a second.
"N-Not that that's an insult! Or even a contradiction to him being a divine figure, since, he did have a measurable, physical impact, we have enough cooperating evidence from our trade with the Alderai and from observations we took f-from deep space posts, uh, since, well, light has to go the same speed everywhere, so, just ten thousand years away from the Terran system and we could actually see the energy discharges of the Battle of Terra. Like, conclusive proof! There was an Emperor, and if he did even half the things the Alderai claim, let alone your religious scripture, I'm more than happy to say he was…some kind…something." You flushed as Darya kept watching you. "A-Anyway, since your species is so clearly genetically engineered, our current theory is that you're a…an engineered race. Much like your Space Marines!"
Darya blinks slowly. "Why do you think we're, um, engineered?" she asks.
"Well, I mean, have you looked at yourself?" you ask, excitedly. "Human beings can run a T'au fire warrior to death. Like. Literally. If you started running and chased down a T'au, the T'au would keep running, and you'd keep running, and the T'au would literally die before you even got tired. You recover from broken bones incredibly quickly. You can survive in vacuum for a solid minute, longer if you take precautions. You have self correcting DNA strands for radiation resistance! You can have your lives extended by centuries with naturally occurring remedies-"
"... T'au don't have rejuv?"
"No," you pout. "That'd be convenient. We're a social species, and like most of those, older members decline and die quickly so we don't take too many resources. We live about fifty Terran years naturally," you explain. "But modern medicine is still really good. We can make it to seventy, even eighty sometimes!"
"Oh," she says.
"... though we do have rejuv, you know, our human colonies cultivate the precursors. An agricultural world defected to us a few decades ago which grew the stuff… in very small amounts." You lean in, sharing a conspiratorial secret. "The guilds in the Imperium who synthesized deliberately keep the supply constrained so they can charge more. We don't have the really fancy stuff some of your nobles have, but…" You examine her face carefully, seeing all the lines and rough texture and mentally trying to compare it to the human orderlies and aides at the school to guess her age. "You'd probably qualify! How old are you?"
"I'm twenty-three," she said simply, then paused, watching your face. "That bad, huh."
"Um… Uh, uh, sorry, we got sidetracked, there's another thing that really makes it clear. Humans have magic powers!"
"News to me," Darya chuckles, quietly. "Unless you mean we have psykers?"
"Yeah!" you said. "Since when is that a naturally evolved trait? We don't have any psykers."
Darya frowns. "Hurm. That'd get you burned at the stake. Witches are bad. Emperor is good. Saying one made the other? Not good." She shakes her head.
"...oh…" you say.
"Also, we're not the only ones with psyker powers," she says. "Orks gottem. I heard stories. And the…Alderai? Those are the knife ears, right?"
"Yes! Also known as the Eldar, the Starborn, the Ulthwé…" you ticked the different names off on your fingers. "But see, that's the thing! Orks are also clearly engineered. They have genetic memory encoded in them. They grow from spores for the Greater Good's sake. And the Eldar are even older than your species, and if they're not genetically engineered, then I'll eat my…uh…braid!" You nodded. "It sort of looks like everyone is but us, actually."
"Hurm." She looks thoughtful, then nods. "Everything you said makes sense," she says, sighing slightly, frowning. "And…that's why the Ecclesiarchy says we deserve the galaxy? Cause we were made to own it?"
"Maybe?" you shrug. "Probably the same reason they treat you so rotten, if they just think of you as a self-replicating resource. People with power will say anything to justify the use of that power."
"Like the Greater Good?" Darya asks.
"W-aha?" you stammer, feeling like she's just hit you in the side of the head with a brick. "No, I, that's different! We…there's…logic and-"
Darya held up her hand, and her smile is like the sun coming out from behind clouds. "I was kidding. Pulling your leg."
You come up short. "Oh."
Then you scowl and kick her, gently, with one hoof. Your non-damaged one.
"I'm trying to educate you and you pull my leg!" you say, huffing. "Anyway. W-What were we talking about again?"
"Castes," she says, rubbing her shin with mock severity. "So, I am going to be sorted into one? Am I going to be Fire Caste?" She paused. "Am I going to have to put on a patch to make me blue?"
"Um… no. Castes are an us thing. Auxiliaires don't go in one. Unless you think of like… humans auxiliaries as a Caste," you explained. "Like, I was getting there, the castes are old. Back when we were hunter-gatherers, the elders of our various tribes noticed that eating different animals would change us; it's true of all the meat-eating animals on our planet, we take in hormones from food very readily. Every tribe was a little different depending on the game in an area, because we were on the top of the food chain so we sort of… ended up taking on a summary of the local biome, and then it became part of our cultures. It's a little like the Kroot, there's a reason we get along with them like humans and the Votaan! You could tell instantly where somebody was from; warrior groups hunted apex predators to gain their strength, merchant cities on the coasts had their brain chemistry changed by the fish they ate, things like that. It was… are you following this?"
She looked at you blankly.
"No. I don't know anything about that," Darya said. "Is that why none of the rations have meat in them?"
"Yup!" you said, glad she was getting it despite her protests. You leaned in to whisper. " I've heard that Fire Warriors eat meat sometimes, but it's like… a big ritual."
"I get it," she said, nodding slowly. "You're kind of like… mini-Space Marines, but for, like, other jobs. Instead of being for killing Xenos, you're built for… talking?"
"Yup!" you exclaimed.
"That explains a lot," she said.
"This patch is a much stronger and more precise version of the effects experienced by the old nations of the rivers. Same with the fire warriors and plains warriors, and same with the earth caste back when they were valley farmers with livestock. But this is much less messy, and with a lot less wars between us for being different ever since the Etherals. We even invented a new Caste for space travel, with totally novel biochemistry!"
"Huh." Darya looks thoughtful. "It's…better than I thought. Our briefing said you were all different species, or subspecies. Whatever that means."
"Yes, I've read about that. You think we're like your abhumans, selectively bred for the job. We've explained it dozens of times but it doesn't seem to stick…" you pause. "I have a feeling the parts of your Administration who actually talk to us are not on speaking terms with your military. They think the only reason anyone believes in the Greater Good is, like, mind control pheromones, it's very silly."
"Yeah. Figures," she admits. "It's… reassuring, though."
You cocked your head.
"See, I…" She looks out at the city again. "I'm not sure about the Greater Good. I've…my whole life, I've been told to believe this. To do this. To think this. And all of it was to get me into…into those." She jerks her chin at the ladder - and your mind sweeps down to the manacles in the manufactorum. "Fettered just as much if it were real, if it's in my head. And then the Administratium, and the Ecclesiarchy and the fucking Munitorium? Get off your farm, here's a gun, kill the aliens. Scrape them off the planets and drop new people there. Get more fields. Mine more shit. Drill up more promethium. So we can make more guns? So there's more stupid farmgirls to con into the Guard to send to the next planet? Forever?"
You blink, a bit shocked at her vehemence. And, more, at the way she had…kind of peeled the entire imperial apparatus apart.
"So, tell me this," She says, shifting forward, looking right into your eyes. "I had a lot of long talks with an Ethereal, and they made a lot of promises. Didn't matter, even if they were lying it was better than where I'd been. And they were lying about something, I know that, I know the type. Lie as easy as breathing." You let out a squeak of surprise at the disrespect, but she kept talking. "But you? You couldn't lie if you wanted to, you can barely string a sentence together. Are you going to just use the Greater Good to send people to other planets, to scrape the Imperium off, so you can get their fields, and their mines, and the promethium wells, and you can make more guns to do it? Is that why you need to con this farmgirl? Or…or do you actually mean it?"
You open your mouth.
Close it.
Open it. Lift your finger.
Close your mouth. Lower your hand.
"I can't say that," you say, softly. "The Greater Good is supposed to be unity, but… it's not. Lot of T'au think I'm an idiot for studying humans, for believing in you. That there's no value to your species except as… helpers, maybe. You hear people say awful things, that we should sterilize populations so we don't get outnumbered, that we should keep you in line with drones, and…" You paused, not wanting to admit it, but needing to. "Maybe we do, at the edge of the spheres of expansion, out where there's no accountability. I didn't believe it until I saw the camps here."
She nodded, her face unmoving, beyond readable expression.
"I mean.... Okay, I can. Say. I can say anything. But, but, but, all…I can really control is what I do. And I believe in the Greater Good. And I want…I want to make the galaxy a better place. And I think that my government… no, my people, in the end, want the same thing. We've…we've worked really hard to do that. And…and maybe that's all…all…malarky!"
Darya mouths the word like she's never heard it before.
"But if it is! Then! I'll be right with you and I'll give the Ethereals a piece of my mind!" you said, nodding firmly. "It's a big, beautiful galaxy out there, and we're not going to let them ruin it!"
Darya pursed her lips. Her brows knit. Her eyes bore into yours.
Then, quietly.
"You know they'll put us both against the wall and give us a cigstick, right?"
You look confused.
She mimes a strange gesture - finger out, thumbs up. The one she'd done before. She dropped her finger and said pew.
You look…more confused.
Darya laughs. "Firing squad."
"W-What would they be firing a-" you realize what she meant. "Oh."
Darya pushes herself to her feet, coming up. She towers over you again. She offers her hand.
"Come on," she says. "Lets get the drone."
You take her hand. She tugs you up and you slap, chest to belly, against her. She chuckles. "You're lighter than you look."
"H-Heh, uh, uh, uh, we can't all be dense humans with our…bones…" you stammered, blushing furiously.
***
The Fire Warrior who is handling the Kor'ves for the entire camp looks at you and Darya like you're a parasite he's found in his stool. "You want a MB3 to find a body," he says, slowly. "A body in Section 34-41. A body that was last seen four planetary months ago, during the winter. A body that was probably blown to pieces by the last round of fighting? And you want it all right now. Do I understand that correctly?"
"Well, what are you using the MB3s for right now?" you asked, trying to sound chipper - both you and the Fire Warrior are speaking in T'auese, and Darya is watching you and him with the intentness you're used to her from now. Behind you, the faint sound of heavy machinery and voices echo throughout the refugee camp.
"Security purposes," the Fire Warrior says. He turns to the rack of small, disk shaped drones that are configured for light emission and short ranged service tasks that is pressed up against the back of the quartermaster tent.
"Ah. Surveillance, you mean," you say, your voice growing hard.
"If you prefer," he says, taking down one of the drones.
"In other words, rank violation of our human citizen's constitutionally guaranteed rights under the Charter of Fio'taun - specifically, the enumeration of the right to privacy and self determination among our auxiliaries!"
"Hold-" the Fire Warrior looks up at you. You needed to keep talking before he brought up the Dal'yth Act!
"How many MB3s do you have that are currently armed? And what are they armed with, and what are they armed for. Are they armed with weaponry for disabling insurgents, or are they armed with rapid fire pulse weaponry, like this one?" You asked, bringing Lem'ra forward with a flourish. She projected the image you had snapped just in case, of a drone (one of the smaller ones, the disc-shaped mini-drones that got used for everything) which was hovering near the corner of the camp, with a pair of underslung, boxy weapons that Darya had immediately recognized.
Pulse carbines. She had said.
Real nasty.
The Fire Warrior blinks and opens his mouth, about to speak.
But you're Water Caste.
You barrel right over him.
"These are pulse carbines. They're anti-infantry weapons, short ranged, rapid fire and overwatching a pen of civilians. It seems, to me, you're more concerned about killing potential rioters than you are serving new citizens."
"Well… they do have photon grenades…" Darya adds - causing both you and the Fire Warrior to look at her. "They're non-lethal."
You gulp, then use the initiative.
"Carbines and photon grenades. Not exactly what we'd be using for similar work in the T'au Empire's major population centers. And I think that our representatives in the Conclave will have some very interesting questions to aim at the general staff if holos of this, say, partnered with these…" You gesture and Lem'ra flicks up more holos. A smiling human child, snuggling against her grandmother. Two young human lovers, hand in hand, walking between tents. A human father bouncing his son on his lap. At least…you were pretty sure he was a father, his chest muscles were very pronounced. Albeit, a little round. Hmm. Whatever! The impression was the same.
The Fire Warrior, looking increasingly harassed, holds up his hands. "Okay. Okay. You want a recon drone? Give us…an hour to get one prepped up." He backs away.
You beam and turn to Darya. She grins at you. "Followed maybe…one word in twenty, did it work?"
"Y…You did?" you asked. "You timed that photon grenade drop perfectly. How?"
"One of those words was pulse carbine and another one the word you use for human when you don't mean soldier." She nods. "And I saw the pictures. Figured it out."
You smiled.
"...you really will go to the hilt for us, huh?" Darya asks.
Your entire face burns. "O-Of course. I said I would."
Darya considers.
—
[ ]
Okay, but actually. What does Darya bring for the search?
[ ] Darya brings her full kit: Chamoleine cloak, longlas, sidearm, grenades, knife, and extra blue tape wrapped around her arms and legs, just to make sure none of the other Guard units out there think she's a stay-behind. (The Lost Auxiliary)
[ ] Darya brings her longlas, a sidearm, binoculars, and nothing else. The area is a mess of unexploded munitions and wreckage; nobody is supposed to be there, which means anyone who is might be trouble. (The Locals)
[ ] Darya brings her sidearm, binoculars, and a translator unit. With all the Fire Warriors around, they should be safe, but she wants to make sure she can talk if there's trouble. (The Looter)
- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Darya brings her sidearm, binoculars, and a translator unit. With all the Fire Warriors around, they should be safe, but she wants to make sure she can talk if there's trouble. (The Looter)
Undead-Spaceman
Skeleton Supreme
- Location
- Somewhere in Orbit
I'm not familiar enough with Tau to know if the 'kroot-lite' biology is a headcanon or not but I like that explanation for the proto-castes. Also love S'wei using her social-fu to it's fullest.
[X] Darya brings her sidearm, binoculars, and a translator unit. With all the Fire Warriors around, they should be safe, but she wants to make sure she can talk if there's trouble. (The Looter)
[X] Darya brings her sidearm, binoculars, and a translator unit. With all the Fire Warriors around, they should be safe, but she wants to make sure she can talk if there's trouble. (The Looter)
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It is entirely me and Erika deciding the GW canon is dumb and substituting a better one
- Location
- Minnesota
- Pronouns
- She/Her
This is soo sweet and sad at the same time. I really adore these two, they're both great.
[x] Darya brings her full kit: Chamoleine cloak, longlas, sidearm, grenades, knife, and extra blue tape wrapped around her arms and legs, just to make sure none of the other Guard units out there think she's a stay-behind. (The Lost Auxiliary)
Kosjurake
The Wildest of Ronins
- Location
- Tokyo LOCCENT
[X] Darya brings her full kit: Chamoleine cloak, longlas, sidearm, grenades, knife, and extra blue tape wrapped around her arms and legs, just to make sure none of the other Guard units out there think she's a stay-behind. (The Lost Auxiliary)
- Location
- La Ballena City Raft
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[x] Darya brings her longlas, a sidearm, binoculars, and nothing else. The area is a mess of unexploded munitions and wreckage; nobody is supposed to be there, which means anyone who is might be trouble. (The Locals)
10ebbor10
DON'T PANIC
- Location
- Present
We're an evolved species, not an engineered one.
Now behold our complex social traditions that involve re-engineering half our biochemical system :
- Location
- Yes
[X] Darya brings her full kit: Chamoleine cloak, longlas, sidearm, grenades, knife, and extra blue tape wrapped around her arms and legs, just to make sure none of the other Guard units out there think she's a stay-behind. (The Lost Auxiliary)
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
[X] Darya brings her sidearm, binoculars, and a translator unit. With all the Fire Warriors around, they should be safe, but she wants to make sure she can talk if there's trouble. (The Looter)
Nice update!
I don't see why we wouldn't take the full kit, tho?
[X] Darya brings her full kit: Chamoleine cloak, longlas, sidearm, grenades, knife, and extra blue tape wrapped around her arms and legs, just to make sure none of the other Guard units out there think she's a stay-behind. (The Lost Auxiliary)
I don't see why we wouldn't take the full kit, tho?
[X] Darya brings her full kit: Chamoleine cloak, longlas, sidearm, grenades, knife, and extra blue tape wrapped around her arms and legs, just to make sure none of the other Guard units out there think she's a stay-behind. (The Lost Auxiliary)
- Location
- Outside the Box
- Pronouns
- She/Her
It seems to me that the vote is actually about how dangerous the area is, with Darya equipping herself to match the danger level.
[X] Darya brings her sidearm, binoculars, and a translator unit. With all the Fire Warriors around, they should be safe, but she wants to make sure she can talk if there's trouble. (The Looter)
10ebbor10
DON'T PANIC
- Location
- Present
You also create an impression. A human with a gun is just a fellow lost soul. One in full gear with Tau markings is an enemy soldier, at least to a good chunk of the surviving population.
Tsunmene
Hot Grill Shit
- Pronouns
- She/They
S'wei can have a little trans metaphor, as a treat
[X] Darya brings her full kit: Chamoleine cloak, longlas, sidearm, grenades, knife, and extra blue tape wrapped around her arms and legs, just to make sure none of the other Guard units out there think she's a stay-behind. (The Lost Auxiliary)
[X] Darya brings her full kit: Chamoleine cloak, longlas, sidearm, grenades, knife, and extra blue tape wrapped around her arms and legs, just to make sure none of the other Guard units out there think she's a stay-behind. (The Lost Auxiliary)
TheOmnimercurial
Dragon Bard
- Location
- UK
[X] Darya brings her sidearm, binoculars, and a translator unit. With all the Fire Warriors around, they should be safe, but she wants to make sure she can talk if there's trouble. (The Looter)
So I have to ask since you have basically overhauled the entirety of Tau lore to remove the bad stuff what is the deal with the Farsight Enclaves and what is our little Water Caste's opinion on them.
farsight
- Location
- Ottawa
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Whatever
our approach with this has basically been two-fold
1) treat the first tau codex as the most accurate one
2) treat the first tau codex as it was written; an imperial document by people who were desperately looking for 'the catch' because they were incapable of believing a group of people could genuinely be kinda alright
we aren't writing the tau as perfect by any means, but we are trying to channel their original vibe; they are the aspirational Human Federation from every other sort of sci fi, the Good Guys for all their problems, the classic protagonists, one bright spot of hope… isolated in a tiny corner between the impossibly huge super-nazi space empire and the endless tide of bugs that eat galaxies.
and this is where things get interesting. the tau and commander farsight have experieced a role reversal over the years. initially the pitch of farsight was that he was a fire caste supremest, basically, establishing these military colonies where the army called the shots because he discovered scary shit about the universe and made a junta about it. the rest of the tau thought this was shameful and weird and a scary reactionary backslide
but ever since GW decided the Tau are actually just the Imperium but blue, turning all of the clearly-baseless speculation about control pheromones and evil intent for human defectors from in-universe imperial speculation into actual fact and just making the tau another set of fascists, commands farsight has weirdly taken up the idealistic mantle for them, as he tries to build a casteless society free from the mind control of the sinister ethereals. he's like… probably the goodest guy in 40k right now, but it's for all the wrong reasons!
i think here, the reason farsight split off isn't known to the wider tau empire, but it's not talked about by them. i think it's probably a mix of both farsights; he's trying to abolish the caste system and make a more genuinely egalitarian society because he has (warranted, justified) criticisms of the Empire, but he's *also* an unrepentant militant whose vision of egalitarianism is that everyone is the same in the trenches.
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- Location
- Yes
My thinking for Farsight is and has always been this: After something killed all the Ethereals on his expedition, Farsight picked up a really cool sword from ancient ruins on a forgotten planet, then decided he would work against his former masters. It is only the Tau's absolute lack of awareness about how the galaxy works that prevents this from being a slam-dunk "taken by the ruinous powers" job to them. The militarist society and the red paint scheme are just the icing on the cake.
@open_sketch has at times speculated about Tau Newtypes, Tau that are beginning to experience a psychic awakening as the empire expands into the Galaxy, just as humans did. If we go with that interpretation, I reckon Farsight was the first.
@open_sketch has at times speculated about Tau Newtypes, Tau that are beginning to experience a psychic awakening as the empire expands into the Galaxy, just as humans did. If we go with that interpretation, I reckon Farsight was the first.
- Location
- Yes
Sure, if we're willing to accept that Napoleon was also an avatar of Khorne's will. And if he wasn't, who is?