The Guards

The following article is a /tg/ related story or fanfic. Should you continue, expect to find tl;dr and an occasional amount of awesome.

The ASDA LCB.

Chapter One

The ground was littered with the corpses of orkz and guardsmen alike. Fires still burned from the plant-life being incinerated from explosions and weapons. The stench of death carried heavily in the surrounding area. This was no sight to wake up to, but Liena had no choice. Her vision was foggy, and she could hardly remember what happened, or how long she had been knocked out. All she remembered was her sergeant screaming.'General retreat!' before an artillery shell hit the trench. Then it came back to her, little consolation to her current situation. She gathered her equipment, and traversed the battlefield. There was nothing to greet the corporal but death, and the constant threat of an ork getting up to kill her. Suddenly she heard a faint rustling, she immediately went prone and pointed her rifle at the noise. It was another wayward soldier, except this was different, this was an Eldar. While they had a non aggression alliance with the Eldar, she had her orders to off any stragglers, or ones that happened too close to an imperial zone. It was likely that he had similar orders. She took careful aim, still undetected. Her finger dragged on the trigger. "Click" The Guardian immediately noticed her

The Eldar wasn't completely alert, having just come to as well. He sloppily reached for his weapon. Liena knew she didn't have much time to finish him. She flung her body up as hard as she could, she took a deep breath and let out a fierce scream as she charged the Eldar with her bayonet. By the time he managed to aim his weapon she was already in front of him. He managed one burst before she knocked his weapon out of his hands. The shot flew stray. She continued her attacks, screaming brutishly as the eerily silent figure evaded and dodged her attacks. His inhuman motions were fluid and seamless. She was in awe of the Eldar's movements, he bent himself in ways that would have knocked her over, but she wouldn't dwell on his dexterity, and just kept striking. He would manage an attack, he knew that if he could get past her rifle she would not win. Leina was determined to live, as was he. Their brawl wasn't to be unnoticed as a nearby body began to twitch.

The Guardian managed to finally grapple the rifle and landed a strike on her. Victory would soon be his, but someone else was going to cut in. Before Liena could recover the brutish hulk let out a great roar casting strands of spittle and the foulest stench towards the combatants, as well as its body. The beast charged the two swinging his arm into the guardswoman, sending her flying a good distance. She landed painfully on a corpse of a comrade. The Eldar was having little trouble dodging the Ork's attacks but he knew unless he could get to his weapon he couldn't fell the monster. Liena groaned as she reached for a new charge pack from her belt, she had only one charged pack, a hotshot. Just one shot. The Eldar was moving too swiftly for her to hit both, and if she didn't want to chance the Guardian winning, she had to take the shot. Just as the Eldar jumped away from an attack a loud crack was heard and a bright flash stole the ork's head. The confused body grasped at its missing appendage and simply fell over dead. The Guardian immediately turned his attention to Liena. She pointed the rifle at him. She was out of ammo, but maybe she could bluff him. The warrior didn't buy it. He walked to his weapon, Liena trained on him the whole way. She couldn't get up, she must have broken a rib on the landing, she could barely breathe. The Guardian moved close to the wounded soldier. Liena's eyes began to water without her knowing it. She was going to die, alone, after being so lucky. The tears streamed down her face as the guardian leveled his weapon. He saw her fear, he put his finger on the trigger. She closed her eyes in anticipation, all she could do now was wait.

There was something stopping him. When he looked at her. He knew humans could mimic the emotions of an Eldar, but he had no idea that they could shed tears like one. He felt something he never thought he would for a simple mon'keigh, pity. He lowered his weapon, but Liena kept her weapon ready, like a frightened puppy in a corner. She opened her eyes terrified as the Eldar got even closer. 'So he wants to gut me? It's just too much to ask for it to be quick? Isn't it Emperor?' He reached out to her slowly, trying not to provoke her anymore. Much like trying to gain the trust of a wild animal. He would move too quickly and the bayonet would point at him again. "Leis'fei" He spoke to her in a calm voice. She had no idea what he was saying, but he kept repeating it as he tried to reach for her again. He placed a hand on her lasrifle, she jumped but he spoke again "Leis'fei. Leis'fei mon'keigh." She slowly let the Eldar push away her weapon. She wouldn't put her trust in a xeno. Unfortunately, this was a better alternative to waiting for the next ork to wake up. Who knows, maybe he'd deliver her back to her lines, maybe she'd receive treatment or .75 caliber retirement. Then a thought crossed her mind. What if he were to go back to his forces? She immediately struggled again, but the pain was too much. she was simply helpless. The rumors she heard of what Eldar did to their prisoners. Her mind begged for her to run, but her body told her to stay. Her pain and fear addled brain made her lay there, frozen. With the constant reassuring tone from the Guardian, Liena went limp. He had gotten an arm around her and looked as though he was going to lift her up. She shook her head, but he didn't know what it meant. She added words that he wouldn't understand. "No, no no N-AAAAH!" Pain shot through her entire body was the xeno lifted her into his arms.

With surprisingly little effort, the Alien had the guardswoman in his arms. He began to walk. Liena cried out as he began to walk away from her weapon, reaching out for it in vane as the eldar's ghostly steps drew her away. Her fears would be realized, he was walking away from Imperial lines. She pleaded with him to turn around, but he would cock his head, and utter in alien words to her. "I don't understand." After several minutes of walking Liena noticed something, or rather the lack of something. Even while carrying her, his steps weren't heavy, and she didn't feel the jarring impact of steps as she was so used to when hauled off a battlefield. This did little to put her mind at ease. She needed to think of a way to escape, pain be damned. She needed to wait for a moment for the Eldar to tire so she could wriggle out of his grip. Almost as if he read her thoughts, his grip loosened. 'This is it!'Her mind yelled. She thrashed her body, causing great pain, but managing to break free of her captors arms, only to fall straight to the ground. She hit harder than she would have thought possible and let out a blood curdling scream.

"Silly animal, I'm trying to help you." The Guardian spoke, knowing full well she wouldn't understand him. He watched her try to pick her broken body up and flee. 'So primitive,' he thought as she could barely muster enough energy to crawl away. Why he went to pick her up, he didn't know. She was a fascination to him. He acted like a child bringing a wild animal home for his own amusement, as he picked up the woman again. She still fought back only slowly growing weaker as the pain became too much for her to bare. She remembered watching the aliens face grow closer before she blacked out. Several hours had passed, night enveloped the land. The guardian was started a small fire which Liena woke up to, with a slight sensation of comfort, slowly becoming aware of her situation again. She was rested near the fire, with a strange silk covering her. The Guardian facing away from her barking short syllables into some sort of vox. She could tell a military signal easy enough, even if it was xenobabble. Her eyes were still hazy and her body still throbbed. She could take her gaze off him; something was amiss. He wasn't wearing his helmet. She kept staring till her vision was corrected and she could make out a figure, something vaguely human. She was somewhat disappointed to find out that Eldar heads weren't cone-shaped after all, and that she'd owe Trooper Holden fifty thrones. She giggled without thinking. The Guardian's face shot towards the trooper faster than she could blink. Liena became panicked again. The Guardian held out a hand as if to calm her and spoke again. "Lies'fei..." his voice soft. She lay still, not because of his voice, but because of his face. She was taken off guard by how relatable it was. The Guardian slowly approached the wounded warrior. "Elesh ey shatrien, Nu Frieren." His arm pointed to himself at the last word. "Ue shatrien?" She uttered back in the harsh Gothic, "What are you saying?"

Verbal communication clearly wouldn't work between the two. This made the Guardian's wish to dress her wounds seem nearly impossible without sending the wrong signal. He tried anyway. His slow motions, only making her hold back an attack, grew closer to the eldar silk. Every time she'd flinch he moved back a little. As he tried to pull the sheet away she struck at him. She would miss, and it would cause her pain. "You might have a broken bone you dumb animal." He spoke by impulse. He slowly moved towards her again, putting on a foreign expression that was clearly a smile. It put her at ease, simply because it made her confused and laugh. The Guardian 'struck' taking advantage of her lack of guard and got hold of the sheet. slowly moving it away. She didn't fight back, but she wasn't going to give up just yet. She couldn't figure out his intentions. 'If he's going to rape me, why doesn't he just do it?' She remembered horror stories of those who were unlucky enough to survive being the prisoner of eldar. Why he was so gentle with her left her bewildered. She was still nervous, she new she couldn't fight him off, and that if it did happen she'd wish for it to be followed by a quick death. The Guardian leaned back and reached into a pouch for something. He pulled out a strange vial. What he knew, and she didn't was that Eldar medicines were far more advanced than humans, and all he needed do was place the ointment on her wounds to heal them. He'd heard of humans legendary ability to heal faster than an Eldar could naturally, but there was no telling if her natural abilities would be fast enough.

The daunting task remained, he needed to get past her flak armor. He wasn't a surgeon, but he figured her ribs were cracked or broken. The closest he could get was a hand on her shoulder pad. As soon as he moved towards a strap she struck at him. He sat back. He held the vial in his hands, and speaking very slowly he made very indistinguishable hand gestures trying to explain that the ointment would heal. After several attempts he finally was struck with an idea. Neither of them would like it, but it would work. He reached to his side and pulled out a small utility knife. 'Really, Emperor? Really?' She blasphemed in her mind. Holding his hand out, he placed the knife on his palm, closed his eyes tightly. A sharp yelp left his mouth as he slid the blade. Liena's eyes were wide open. She couldn't piece a single thing together. She was transfixed on his blood as well, it was very bright and almost had a velvety red hue to it. Moving as quickly as his body would let him the Eldar opened the vial and spread some of the ointment on his palm, and very quickly the cut stopped bleeding. Slowly it began to close up. The pieces began to fall into place for the Guardswoman, but she still didn't know if he was trying to explain if he wanted to heal her, or inflict as much pain to her as possible. The Guardian couldn't get any closer than he did before.

He became frustrated. He sat back and with annoyance backing his motions he pointed at Liena, and motioned like to break a twig. He then pointed to the vial, and reversed his breaking motion. She laid there silent. He replayed the gestures again. This time she let out a sigh. The impatient Eldar began shouting in a frustrated voice, screaming about how he "Just wanted to help, you, you ignorant animal!" She tried to inch away as she began to become afraid again, but no matter how much he vented, he never got closer. Liena didn't care. All she knew was the alien moved his arms and got angry, all signs pointed towards an attack. This is when she noticed, that she was actually in a rocky inlet. She was trapped. Her breath became heavy as the panic set in. The Tempered guardian soon stopped and sat motionless as the human's emotions became obvious. Any trust he had built before he just ruined in his bout of rage. He stayed away from Liena, but he didn't get any further away. He waited as she began to calm down. There was silence, only the crackle of the fire was heard. He turned his back to the human. He'd let her calm down as he'd find something to eat. 'FOOD!" his mind blurted ' That should help, she has to be hungry.' Liena left her guard down as the eldar turned away, but soon he'd turn around with strange bits in his hand, which made her tense up again.

His smile smacked his face again, he thought he could win over his new "pet" yet again. He placed some scraps of his rations in his hands, showed them to her, and slowly placed them in his mouth. She watched him stuff his face realizing how hungry she had become 'Now this asshole is taunting me.' she thought as her belly ached. He ate a bit more until he held out his hand with more food. He held it there trying to let her know it was hers. She thought about it, and weighed the benefits verses the dangers of accepting alien food. as she was delegating her arm slowly stretched out. Her stomach finally won over, and her hand snapped the food out of his hand. She huddled over the bid of food almost as if she thought he'd take it back. She sniffed it, and took a small nibble of it. Her eyes opened. "Uga hic sapu!" She blurted out, the barking sound of her speech still sharp on his ears. but she sounded pleased all the same. The taste of this eldar food was appealing because it had taste. something she had been deprived of for so long. She munched lovingly on this snack until it was gone. She looked back to the Guardian who had his hand outstretched with more.

She grabbed the food out of his hands, only slower this time, and didn't huddle so much around the snack. She didn't notice but the eldar was inching closer to her. A thought itched at the back of her head ' What if it's poisoned? what if you get sick?' But she was too hungry, and this food tasted so sweet. For the Guardian it hit the spot, but it was hardly a delicacy. In a feat of bravery, the Guardian tried to put an arm around the feeding human. As soon as his hand tapped her armor, her face full of food was staring at him. He didn't remove his hand, so they locked eyes for a while until Liena began chewing again. She let the eldar stay close, figuring if he wanted to hurt her, he would have done it by now. "You know? I can't figure you out." She spoke as she finished. "I don't understand" he replied Thinking he had her trust he tried to pull her closer so he could get a better look at her injury. She winced in pain and pushed him away reflexively. He finally gave up. He moved over to his makeshift mat and proceeded to lay down. Liena pulled the warm silk her her body again and followed suit. The guardian turned away, but she kept a close eye on him. She relaxed her sore body, and felt the soothing warmth of the fire on her face. She tried to stay awake, but her eyes slowly grew heavier until she closed them and fell asleep. Who know what the morning would bring.

What dim sunlight could be seen crept into the rocky knoll where they slept. though she'd never admit it to anyone she knew, she slept more soundly than she had in a long time. She figured it was because she was out of the front lines, but a part of her nagged that it could have been her would be protector. She shuffled away such thoughts. As her vision would starts to clear up she noticed that the Eldar was missing. She quickly scanned the area, it seemed as if his equipment was still nearby so he couldn't have gotten far. 'Stay with the alien or try to make a run for it?' Her mind debated. She sat up and was greeted by the reminder of her prior wounds. She let out a grunt. This let the guardian know she was waking. He popped his head in to peek at her silently. "Ol'ei ol Nie, Mon'keigh." he said in what seemed to be a cheerful tone Liena stayed silent still unsure about the xeno, perfectly content to stay in her silken covers. "Where are you going to take me?" she spoke quietly The eldar cocked his head to the side unsure of what the human was speaking. Despite the fact they knew they couldn't talk to each other they would still try. Old habits die hard.

The guardian began to gather up his equipment. While he was doing this the wounded warrior started to grasp at her throbbing side. Her armor was beginning to weigh heavy on her, but she wouldn't take away her last defense from him. She couldn't help but watch his eerie movements, it was like when the techpriests would skip ahead in video casts, yet so fluid. she was entranced, until his hand began to reach out to her. "The sheet, I need it." "Quid?" Instead of arguing with her he quickly snatched the silk from her, and pointed to it speaking slowly "Sheese`...Sheeeeeseee" 'Does he mean silk?' she started to think. then another thought ' Hes trying to tell me the words... Oh..' Then it began to become apparent to her, every time he spoke slowly and cryptically he was trying to explain the name. She bounced her palm off of her helmet "Duh.." The Guardian's brow furled He was confused at her actions, but quickly pieced what she said together and pointed again at the sheet. "Lesh! Sheese, duh!" His alien smile etched on his face as if he had taught her how to walk.

She raised her hand as if to correct him, but she thought against it. She may not know his language, but she knew when he used hers. 'A little misinformation to the enemy never hurts.' She smiled. The guardian finally gathered all his things and moved to gather his pet. When he got to her she protested, she couldn't bare the though of being carried by the alien anymore and desperately tried to lift herself. She managed to get half way, when the careful hands of the guardian began to assist her. He took her arm and wrapped it around his shoulder and helped her stand. She seemed to protest less this way, but every time he would tug at a wrong time she'd push away. "My lines, lets go to my lines." She spoke slowly and pointed in the direction she hoped her lines where. The guardian kept walking in his direction. He knew he couldn't go back to his lines with an alien in toe, but they had to get away from the battlefield as fast as possible. His teachings had let him know that humans enjoy using artillery to start each battle and that the eldar countered this by staying mobile, orkz however, usually didn't. And as if he was a farseer himself, the sound of distant thunder could be heard.

Liena stopped moving and held a finger up, signaling to wait,staring blankly as she focused her senses to her ears, but the Eldar simply looked up. She listened for the whistle of incoming shells. Her sergeant taught her this skill, because more than once they were in the targets of friendly artillery. Her lips mouthed the numbers as she counted the seconds from thunder to whistle. They were in the crossfire. "CURRO!" She screamed as the first blast landed a visible distance away. The Guardian wasted no time and flung the guardswoman into his arms and began running as fast as he could. This time his steps were sharp and painful to Liena. The more they pushed through the closer the shells seemed to land. Each deafening blast kicking up dirt that would cover the both of them. He kept sprinting seeing an invisible line that he felt if he could cross he would be safe, but the more blasts that erupted, the further that line felt. Liena began to pray unconsciously as her hearing could come and go from each nearby blast. Her body was jarred hard, and before she could realize it, she was falling to the ground. Her body was caught in the rush, and the pain was greatly dulled. Her instinct to survive drew her onward, but as she got to her feet, she saw the Eldar barely scrambling to his feet. Her mind and body begged her to keep moving, but for reasons she will never know, she ran back to the wounded Guardian as the shells kept falling around them.

She hurried her broken body to help him to his feet; there was no way she could carry him, so she threw his arm around her neck and tried to run him as fast as possible. Her body was burning with pain, not even the adrenaline could remove it, but she had to press forward. There would be a short pause as they let the barrels of the Basilisks cool before sending another volley. The field became silent, or they just couldn't hear at the moment. Liena doubled her efforts to get out of the line of fire, praying to the emperor that they were using a harassing strike and not a creeping barrage. Up ahead there was a rocky over hang. it wouldn't offer much cover from a direct hit, but it was better than being in the open. They moved their wounded bodies towards the over hang as the sound of thunder was heard again. Without thinking she practically tossed the Guardian under the rock as she flung her body. The shells angrily pounded the ground around them. All they could do was wait. In their temporary shelter they had time to feel the pain inflicted upon their bodies. Liena got a look at the guardian's burnt back. He could move, and desperately fought his pouch to pull out the vial with the healing ointment. As Liena reached out towards it, her arm shot blinding pain into her mind. There was shrapnel sticking out of it; her whole right side was peppered, though not as bad as her arm. They laid there as they let the pain overtake them. The shells kept pounding and soon Liena began to let out a pained laugh. She was in shock.

The barrage would continue for an hour, and only few shells came close to their shelter. Once the shells stopped all that could be heard was the ringing in their ears. Liena held the vial in her shaking hand. There wouldn't be enough for both of them. She looked at the eldar she had just saved. 'I should use it on myself, his back doesn't look that bad...' As she thought this his hand grabbed hers and pulled her close to him. "Just a few drops are needed..." the eldar's voice faded. He crawled to propped himself up, reaching for the vial. Against her better judgment She opened the small vial and slashed a small amount onto a few fingers on her good hand. "You'll owe me for this." "Please hurry." 'His wounds aren't that deep' her mind barked ans she began to rub her fingers into his wound. She was amazed at how quickly the paste seemed to work. The lacerations would not close, but it seemed as if the wound did. His body still reeled in pain, but he could move. Now he would return the favor, but she was still reluctant to receive treatment. He reached for her arm, and wrapped his fingers around the bits of metal sticking out of her arm. He looked her in the eyes and began to count "One Two Three!" and on three he ripped the shrapnel out as the woman screamed.

Her arm was in bad shape. Many objects had to be pulled out, till finally the Guardian was ready to apply the ointment. 'I hope this works on humans...' He thought as he began to place the paste on his hand. 'I'd better use more just to be safe.' Had he known the affects it would cause he would have reconsidered. He grabbed her arm and looked her in the eyes. She was terrified, she had doubts as well. Her breathing was fast and shallow as the hand grew closer to her arm. "Leis'fei" She felt a great burning sensation as he touched. she began to thrash in pain as the Eldar tried to restrain her. It was healing her, but her body was different than his, while it worked as intended for him, it was cauterizing her wounds. Her screams almost drowning out the ringing left by the barrage. He still continued down her arm as she fought to free herself, more than once striking the eldar with her fist. He was done with the arm, and he looked at his blood covered hand. He almost admired it, it looked so similar to his own, but still so foreign. She took this opportunity to move away from the Eldar and nurse her treated arm. She still had her leg to look after, but each time the guardian got close she kicked him away. Too tired to press the matter, he simply sat back. The two were astounded to still be alive.

The Imperium had a curious affinity for their artillery. While other races and armies used artillery sparingly; for strategic targets, or to harass the enemy. The Imperium felt there wasn't a problem that couldn't be solved through ample amounts of brute force. The battered soldiers could do little but wait as death rained upon them. An hour would pass before the artillery ended. Liena was beginning to feel the world around her grow darker and fuzzy. As the shock of her wounds began to fade, pain happily took its place. She looked at her leg and the many tiny bits of metal sticking out. They weren't as serious as her arm, but she lost a fair amount of blood in her hesitance to let the eldar apply a second dose. She reached down and wrapped her finger tips around the protrusion of metal. She closed her eyes and bit her lip as she ripped the shard out. Its looks were deceiving as it was much bigger inside than what showed. she cried out in pain. Almost on instinct the eldar jumped to rush to her aid. He would reach her before the realization that he acted so quickly to help her did. The Guardian looked her in the eyes, trying to put her mind at ease as his nimble fingers found another shard. "Please don't.. Just leave them for no-OW... Sunuvabitch!" the Guardian worked quickly to yank out the remaining pieces. He tried to keep a calm face, but Liena was writhing in pain. "Ei Ol'lune..heumahn"

Leina was taken aback by the eldar's butchered use of "human". It did little to put her at ease. She wanted to fight back, but her body was starting to give up. Her eyes widened as she saw him grab the ointment. She mustered up the last bit of strength she had to forcefully push the guardian away. He expected it, but it didn't make him any less aggravated at the human. He was trying to help her, he felt she should be more grateful. The woman rolled onto her side reaching desperately for a pouch on her belt. She fingered the clasp but it was just out of reach and her body wouldn't let her finish the motion. She jerked her hand at the pouch. "Ecce, apertus est apertus est!" The Guardian tried to piece together her words, he leaned forward to reach for the pouch but she started to roll back.He slowly placed a hand on her back to keep her from rolling back. She still jumped when his hand knocked on he now cold metal of her armor. With a quick fluid motion the clasp was opened and he pulled out a rolled up wad of cloth and a cotton pad. Bandages. the Guardian rolled his head indignantly and thought to himself. "So primitive indeed..." He held the bandage in front of her. Liena snatched the roll out of his hand and started to inch away from him, wincing in pain at every motion. She thumbed over the bandage to find the end of it. When she did she leaned forward to attempt to apply it. The pain of her ribs and arm continued to assault her senses. She grunted and groaned as she fought to keep her self up to place the bandage. The Guardian watched. He knew that humans still used such ancient techniques to dress their wounds, but it still intrigued him. She kept fumbling the bandage, finally giving in to her pain, she fell back breathing heavily.

She let out a grunted sob. She felt so useless, her body had been battered and beaten, then battered again, and the only form of help she had was an alien that all she heard about was how much they enjoy torturing their enemies. He hadn't hurt her yet, intentionally, but she still couldn't bring herself to fully trust him. As he hovered over her to grab the bandage she flicked her fore arm to knock his hand off course. She stared sharply in his eyes, those strange dark, yet luminous eyes. "Leis'fei" She figured she'd understand that word by now, all she knew was he did something she didn't like after he spoke those soft flowing words. True to her instincts he made another attempt at the bandage. She swiped his hand away, but she found it unyielding. She gasped as his hand dove for the cloth and pulled it quickly away. He started to unravel the bandage. He crept closer to her leg with it. "Just calm down, I'll be gentle." She watched as his hand rested on her leg, she fought back the urge to jump when she saw him applying the bandage. He rolled it around her leg. It got caught underneath, he couldn't get it under the leg. He slowly began to lift it. Liena closed her eyes tightly and threw her head back. "Don't think, don't think, just don't think!" Her mind raced as the eldar bobbed up and down as he was applying the bandage. It almost looked as if he were weaving a cloth. His motioned looked well trained and practiced, even though he'd never placed a bandage before. There wasn't a need for him to do so. He brought the ends together and tied a knot to hold it in place. He jerked the cloth together without thinking, and the woman cried out in pain once more, swinging an aimless arm at him. He smiled at his handy work. "You saved my life, I must repay my debt." It became too much for her frail state to handle, she slowly nodded off into unconsciousness once again.

The Guardian leaned in closer. He could hear her faint breaths. He was almost worried that she might have died. He took the moment of silence he had to look over his own wounds. He felt like he never took the blast at all, but the cool air at his back was a constant reminder of his former wound, and the firepower of the Imperium. He reached his arm back to feel his wound. He knew the medicine didn't leave scars, but had the strange thought that because a human applied it it wouldn't work properly. That her primitiveness would rub off on him. His armor was compromised, and he was exposed to the elements. He reached for a pouch and pulled out the neatly folded silken sheet. With a quick whip the sheet unfolded as he tossed it onto his back. He glanced over at the slumbering woman. Something tugged at him as he watched her sleep. He glanced at the sheet and reluctantly pulled it off himself and carefully draped it over her. He felt sorry for the human, what she had to deal with. Her masters wouldn't hesitate to kill her. He had heard all too well how worthless a life is to humans. It almost sickened him to watch as they sent hundreds to their death with every wave, or forced a handful to fight to the last with no chance of victory. Unlike the Eldar's belief in how precious a single life was. He looked over Liena and truly felt pity for her. He watched her peaceful slumber; her chest rising and falling with each deep breath. He watched her with a strange curiosity, much like how he would watch a pet slumber, but this animal took an eerie resemblance to his species. He shook his head wistfully. "Almost eldar..."

Chapter Two

The Guardian sat in silence, watching over the human. He would check his communicator from time to time to see if it still worked, or if anyone was listening. He glanced over at the human, the gazed out at the barren war blasted landscape around him. They weren't safe there, and he had to move. He wrapped his arms around Liena and picked her up, careful to support her whole body. He knew if she were awake she'd be kicking and screaming like a feral beast. The guardian tried to figure out where he was in relation to the war that was definitely waging around them. He almost wanted to pick a random direction. He quickly dismissed his foolish thought. There would be only three outcomes, he finds the orkish lines, and both of them would be butchered horribly. He finds the human lines; Liena may be saved, but he would not be spared. His only true option was to find his lines, at least his people wouldn't kill him. He worried about how he would bring the guardswoman with. Despite their possible tolerance to her existence it would only be a matter of time before she went 'missing'. He still had to try. He carried her across the recently turned dirt. Walking near aimlessly. He could almost feel the crosshairs of an enemy sharpshooter. He stood out from the rest of the nothing that was the world around. Off in the distance he spotted something poking out form the ground. It was far away, but all he could tell was it was metal, and it was something. His feet seemed to move on their own as his steps drew him closer. The closer he got the easier it was to distinguish. The metal was the antenna of one of the analog based Imperial communication devices. A Vox. He closed his eyes as he thought to himself. "I save her, then I die. Not an equal trade." Yet he persisted and continued to walk towards the vox, and what appeared to be a trenchline.

Smoke billowed from the trench, and he could smell the all to ubiquitous stench of death again. Soon he began to see corpses littering the fortifications. Guardsmen. They had been overrun, and by how fresh the corpses looked, it wasn't long ago. He figured at least a day. But the Guardian didn't notice any ork corpses, or recognize the smell of orks at all. He walked up to the edge of the trench, stepping on some burnt barbed wire. He gazed at all the human remains, thinking how easily the one in his hands could have joined them. There didn't seem to be any life anywhere. He crept alone the trenchline to find a blasted bunker. The heavy metal door, adorned in all its imperial splendor was shut. The Guardian hoped that there were more guardsmen inside. "Time to set her free." He rested her at the foot of the door, and knocked as hard as he could making sure the noise could be heard inside. He leapt silently out of the trench and hid himself to make sure that no one could see him, and associate her with an eldar. For her sake. He laid patiently watching as nothing happened. He looked back at her, and realized the folly of his actions. He left his sheet on her, and absentmindedly forgot to take it off her. He jumped back into the concrete cage and rushed to take back his sheet. As he did the metal door began to creak.

He froze in terror, a feeling he hadn't felt in ages. His mistake may have cost him and her their lives. He watched as the door slowly moved, and then it simply fell inward, smashing violently on the concrete staircase. The door slid down the stairs stopping abruptly at the end. There was nothing inside, nothing but more corpses. It was shelter though. He picked up the Guardswoman up and brought her into the room. He sat in a chair watching both the door and and Liena. He kept glancing at the vox, it appeared to him that it might be in working order. However he never could tell the difference between working imperial equipment and defunct ones. Liena was secure in the room, he felt he could investigate the machine. As he approached the Vox, he pushed a dead soldier off the machine. As it fell to the ground he saw what had killed the guardsmen. The wound was clean, and precise, nothing like the explosive and brutish weaponry of the ork. This was clean efficient, and by the looks of the corpses, quick and unexpected. He sighed heavily, and rested his face into his palm. He knew almost immediately what fate befell the guardsmen. They had been killed by Eldar. He looked back at Liena. She was now his enemy.

Liena's eyes fluttered open. She immediately could tell she had been moved. Her vision came back quickly. the first object she could make out was the corpse of a guardsman no more than an arms reach from her. His face was pressed up against the ground, but she could make out the details of his face. She gasped in disbelief. "Hektor?" The woman forced her body up to inspect the corpse. Looking for anything to identify the man. She could see his face clearly, but she didn't want to believe it. Liena grabbed the man's shoulder pad and began scratching away the mud that caked on from being in the trench for so long. The more she rubbed off, the more her heart started racing. She was hoping and praying to the emperor that what she felt in her heart wasn't true. The mud came off to reveal a large white "89" on his armor, along with company designation. Theta Company, her company. She shook her head as if it would somehow change the letters on the mans armor. She looked around and she began seeing familiar faces everywhere. Her heart sank as she fell back to the floor fighting off the swelling in her throat. The tears began to pool in the corners of her eyes. "No... No, this can't be happening." The guardian heard her stirring, but he didn't approach her. He could feel what she must have been feeling. He knew pain of loss all too well. "Almost Eldar..." He shook his head.

She continued to scan the war blasted concrete room. More and more she began to recognize friends, and people she hated. But all of them familiar. She had gotten her wish, but the Emperor can sometimes be a cruel man. She was lost, the feeling of despair began filling her empty heart. She had no where to go. The guardsman's head fell into her hands as she fought vainly to stop her sobs. In one of the scant moments her vision wasn't distorted from the tears she noticed one of her friends, Jarel, hunched over strangely with his hands under his body as if he were clutching something. She dragged her beaten frame over to his corpse. The small project she gave her self helped her mentally. For now it wasn't a friend, it was just another casualty she had to report on the how and why's of their death. She rolled his body slightly and saw what he was holding. It was a small knife, a strange small knife with odd markings. Suddenly a revelation hit her harder than the artillery shells from earlier. The lack of ork corpses, the clean and precise wounds. Then the final piece to the puzzle, the knife in Jarel's gut; she had seen one before. When the Guardian attempted to show her how the healing ointment worked. She gasped loudly and lurched as far backward as her body would let her. The Eldar attacked her outpost. They struck first in the war. That's when her hand brushed up against the strap of a lasrifle. The guardian found it a bit strange that the human became silent all of a sudden. He stopped his futile efforts to use the antiquated human device to transmit a signal and walked in ghostly silent steps to the bunker. He feared she had found out that what happened. His suspicions were verified as soon as he turned the entered the doorway. There was a bright light and a lough "crack". The shot grazed his cheek. The warmth of the beam might have been welcome if not so close to his face. He was confronted with an all too familiar sight. Leina backed herself into a corner with a shaking lasrifle pointed at him. the only change was it was charged, and any wrong movement would mean his end. He didn't even think of leaving her there. Any other eldar would have left her to her fate. As far as he saw it he repaid his debt. He couldn't let himself do such a deplorable act, even to a primitive human. He knew what she felt. He inched closer and closer to her. "Leis'fei... Leis'fe" He spoke with his hand outstretched to her.

The guardsman instinctively began pushing herself harder against the wall. She watched with tear still streaming down her cheeks as the guardian crept closer. His hand was almost passing the tip of the barrel. He felt tremors shooting up and down his arm in anticipation. if she were to fire, he would die. Simple as that. As he fought one of these shakes his hand accidentally knocked the barrel. Liena's trembling stopped abruptly and her eyes widened and transfixed on his, and her finger pulled the trigger. The guardian knocked the lasrifle as hard as he could, but his torso was still nicked by the shot. Before he could feel the pain his other arm shot forward to dislodge her hand from the grip. To the woman the actions occurred almost simultaneously and instantly. She flung herself at the eldar. His hands wrapped around her as he moved backwards to absorb her momentum. Her fists began thrashing at his torso as she let out vicious screams. She was sobbing uncontrollably as the guardian began to pull her closer. There was nothing more she could do; her arms went limp and she placed her forehead on his chest. The eldar lowered his head on top of hers and let her drench his armor in tears.

He couldn't explain why he felt so much compassion for the brutish ape, or why he wanted to help her. What he wouldn't understand, not even till the return of Isha, was the satisfaction he got from helping her. It was like a childish attachment to pet. The socially structured relationship of master and pet wasn't there. She was a companion to adventure with, in a strange way. Though he was still having trouble 'taming' her. He felt her moving in his arms. In his many run-ins with humans he had never been so close in so many ways. The moment of peace between them would come to an abrupt end as the device on his wrist would began chiming in alien tones, ripping Liena from her grief stricken trance. He peeled away from her and began barking fluid and emphatic syllables into the device. Leina couldn't help but stare in curiosity. Then she began to hear voices respond to the Guardian, and him respond back. This was the most she got to learn his voice other than the condescendingly soft "less fee" she kept hearing. "I don't know where I am, one of the Imperial forts that were raided..." "Can you be more specific? Can you find designations or markings? Mon'keigh do love their large Calligraphy." He began scanning the room for any gothic characters. He could have attempted to ask the guardsman, but the less they knew of her the better. In the infinite wisdom of the eldar they still issued basic Guardians an open channel communication device rather than the better activated channel ones the higher ranking eldar received. Inefficiency knew no racial boundary. "I'm going to investigate, I'll attempt to raise you again when I find something." He looked at Liena, and then at her lasrifle. He hoped and prayed she would trust him as he got up and turned his back to her.

She wanted to jump for her weapon, the thought did cross her mind to shoot him, but she dismissed it as a possibility; she thought he would be too quick. For all the poor girl knew he was calling in help to come capture, rape and torture her, but she got to her feet and started to walk behind him. The guardian was well aware of her actions behind him, but he continued to act oblivious. He scanned the premade concrete fortifications the humans loved to use. Primitive as they were in their technology he had to admit one thing. They had a proficient industrial capability. The humans had been at war on the planet for roughly six years, but it was within the first few months that these fortifications were installed. The trench they were in was simply an outpost, their reconnaissance pre-arrival showed a trench line that spanned hundreds of miles and was several miles wide itself. It was a dizzying maze of concrete and steel and the earthmoving needed to make such a thing in such short time. A marvel of the humans' war-fighting capabilities. Though he wasn't out in the cold muddy hell that was the planet to admire the enemies' craftsmanship. He walked along the battered line. All he found was more guardsmen discarded pointlessly, more cold concrete and more bunkers. Liena limped behind him as he walked to the next bunker. Though it looked like it was more situated towards the middle of the outpost and itself was a larger building. Most likely the command post.

The building was more of the same. Due to it size and the lack of power the inside was almost pitch black. 'The command bunker will have a designation' he thought to himself. He couldn't quite place it, but other than the darkness the building 'felt' different. A rather uneasiness was washing over him. He turned on a light on his armor to see ahead. His eyes were good enough to see just enough detail, but the peace of mind it brought was what made the decision for him. He noticed how the woman carried herself changed as well. Her posture was that of someone approaching a hostile building. He also noticed she had a lasrifle in her hands again, with the stock of the rifle firmly planted in her shoulder, and her head swerving from side to side. He started to look for a weapon as well. The darkness began playing with their minds, hearing old metal creaking; the reverberation of their footsteps making it sound like there was more people present. Slowly Liena's rifle floated upward. The Guardian could take the tension no longer, he found a lasrifle on one of the many corpses so thoughtfully left behind for him in this occasion. The weapon did little to put his mind at ease. Suddenly the room went quiet and whatever was holding onto their minds disappeared. Long enough for a corpse to fall from the floor above landing in between them. Liena screamed in terror, and fired blindly at the dead guardsman. She started the guardian to do the same. They poured shot after shot into the poor body. They stopped, once they saw what they had done they looked at each other. A chuckle worked its way up Liena, her sudden outburst caused the eldar to evoke a similar reaction. the laughed together for a moment easing the tension. but they became solemn again, especially when Liena recognized the body as a friend she knew since she was a whiteshield. She knelt down beside her friend and began whispering a silent prayer. It ended with " In his divine light." It was a line that sparked an idea.

"Wonder if the generators can still work?" She mumbled to herself. She pointed at the light on the eldar's armor then pointed up. In a pointless attempt to communicate she spoke loudly and slowly "If we get to Generator, Lights come on!" He cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. He thought he should have been insulted somehow. She foregone all the impromptu formalities of language and walked past him tugging his arm to make him follow. As they entered another hallway, their weapons went back up. Liena on point. The adrenaline flowing through her made her forget the constant pain in her chest. The heat of battle couldn't compare to the heart-pounding rush of walking into a logical ambush. Suspense always got to her. Ever time she came to a corner she shot herself down that direction ready to kill. After an arduous few minutes they finally reached the generator room. The ancient machine was a stubborn one. It constantly turned itself off. No one knew why; it wouldn't break, the switch simply would shut off. The many techpriests that looked at it said that it may have been built with a timer. Or at least that's what she pieced together, she never could understand the AdMech techno babble. As it was then, the switch was shut off. She flicked it and the machine began to hum. The hum grew to a roar and soon all the machines and lights came to life. She shot a smug smile towards the eldar, hoping she could bluff him into thinking she did more than flip a light switch.

Their journey back almost made them wish the lights were turned off. The bodies they found along the way were not as clean and well killed as the ones outside. Inside it was messy, brutal, and horrible. Blood was splattered on almost every surface, the bodies mangled and ripped apart. Still no sign of a clear enemy. It looked almost as if they were fighting each other. The brutality involved, one body looked as if its head was smashed repeatedly against a wall. Another was rent in half lengthwise. It was an inhumanly grotesque display. The poor woman covered her mouth holding back the acetone sensation of bile in the back of her throat. The eldar seemed strangely levelheaded, but under his calm exterior he was already jumping to conclusions. Conclusions that scared him. They neared the command room. Here the scene changed - whatever her company fought, this was the last place they fought. The bodies were all against the wall, killed from afar. The guardsman noticed a dataslate in one of their hands. She rushed for it while the Guardian looked around for something. He started moving paintings and maps on the wall looking for anything. And he found something.

"This is the audio-log of Trooper First Class Albert Rickers, Theta Company First Battalion, 89th Cadian Heavy Infantry Regiment. Well the damnable generator turned off again, no warning, no nuthin. Just off. Sergeant Gregs sent me and Stacy down into the dungeon this time. Can't complain, Stacy's a fine girl. Well I'm making recording this cause both me and Stacy started hearing whispers down in the dungeon. At first we though it was Fenus and Ralf playing tricks on us again, but this one didn't sound right. It sounded like... chanting or sumthin." As Liena listened to the recording, she felt a tugging at her arm. The Guardian was transfixed at the symbol on the wall. It became so blatantly obvious now. She ignored his gesture at first.

"Now I'm not one to be jumping at shadows, but this one really unnerved me and Stacy. She says she heard it too. well we flipped on the lights and then they went away. No big deal right? Well two days earlier the generator goes down again! Sarge sends Fenus and Ralf, Me and Stacy were going to play a trick on them since we heard rumors about the dungeon. But before we can do anything Fenus and Ralf begin freaking out, saying they felt something touch them." The tugging on her arm became more violent Soon the Guardian placed a hand on her head turning it. She froze, staring at the symbol every Cadian knew well. "Worst part is we gotta re configure the gu- *a loud crash is heard* AGAIN? We just turned it back on! *lasfire can be heard faintly, as well as screams* What in the Emperor's name? "Rick, something's happening, get your gun! It's... It's... *Loud crash is heard and a snarling roar. All that's heard afterwards is screaming and wet ripping noises*" Liena's heart almost stopped beating. She couldn't help but mutter aloud the name of humanity's greatest enemy. 'Chaos..."

They both looked at the blood drawn symbol in disbelief. There had been no hint of chaos on the world at all. For Liena the tip should have been when the Eldar arrived so suddenly. The Guardian more shocked that he had walked straight into the den of evil without noticing. He felt ashamed of himself for being so careless. But fortune may have smiled on them, rather than the eight pointed star, it was a symbol honoring the Blood God Khorne. The Daemonic presence in the fortress would be slower to wake than one of his more occult brethren. "Elono el eshon'ien" He urged the human to her feet. Both of their races had their own personal relationship with the ruinous powers, each had their own agenda's for survival. By the Emperor's grace and the mercy of the Eldar gods, both those agendas matched perfectly for the unlikely companions. The Guardian wrapped the human's arm around his neck as he supported her weight making their escape. The return to the desecrated halls where all the horribly murdered guardsmen laid was still shocking the second time. Though something was off. Some of the bodies looked like they were moved, or maybe they didn't pay that close attention. The bright lights of the outside world seemed to be drawing near and welcoming them in its 'safety'. Liena had been stationed in the outpost for months, it was hard for her to believe the command building was tainted with chaos. She wondered if the rest of the fort was corrupted as well. 'It could be why the generators kept turning off and why all the guns...' Her eyes widened painfully, she struggled out of the xeno's arms and tried to pull him back into the fort. The faintest part of his pauldron crossed the threshold of the door frame when a hydra battery opened fire.

The shots plucked and whinged off of the concrete chipping bits and pieces off of it. Liena overexerted her pull in her desperation, losing her footing and having the eldar fall on top of her. The impact broke her free from the peace the buzz of adrenaline was giving her. She felt her ribs throb and burn almost as if she had broken them again. The Guardian was quick to take his weight off of her, though it did little for the pain. He spoke alien words of gratitude, despite that she wouldn't understand. He may as well spoke perfect high Gothic to her and she still would not have understood. The pain was controlling her body again. The Guardian stood over her and started to pick her up; she let out a loud yelp as he took her into his arms. Any hope of rescue was gone now. She was as good as a prisoner to her companion. She didn't want to admit it, but she enjoyed having the eldar carry her around, it made her feel like a spoiled noble's daughter ordering a loyal attendant to her bidding. Though she also felt like a wounded animal being taken to a strange place to get aid. The latter was more likely as her hopes of returning to her side didn't go as expected. In a deep recess of her mind she mused on what the inside of a Craftworld would be like. Would she get to see the other humans unfortunate enough to be captured by the depraved eldar? Would she be hurled into a range and rustled like grox or ambuls? A smirk grew on the corner of her mouth as the thoughts were amusing her, like a person laughing at others' misfortunes, except it was her own miserable fate. But before she could become the Guardian's slave they had to get past the hydras.

"Eldar, listen to me well..." The xeno only understood the first word. " You need... run when... zapp zapp.." She pantomimed the words the best she could for him to understand. "Dico, tua eunt, Tua curro, rapides." he continued to look at her in confusion. From what he pieced together he believed that she wanted him to run into the gunfire long enough for her to make an escape. He knew this wasn't what she was trying to communicate, but he still had trouble understanding her hard barking grunts her race called a language. It was so rigid and constraining. It lacked a flow and inflection that he had grown so used to. The only more brutish language he could think of was the guttural rumblings of the orks. Liena tossed her head into her hands groaning loudly. She didn't want to stay in her cursed fort any longer. She needed to think of something fast. She started to fumble about her pouches. She pulled out a grease pen and started to draw on the floor. She made two parallel lines for the trench, and an 'x' for every turret, then a circle. She pointed at the circle then pointed at the two of them and smiled and nodded her head in an exaggerated manner. She pointed at the 'x's and then the hydra turrets and stuck out her tongue and made a gagging noise. The Guardian's face was stoic to his infinite pride. The hilarious display the human was giving was almost too much for him to bear. She placed the pen on the circle. "Eunt" she quickly dragged the pen to the halfway point of the trench. She said it again "Eunt" and dragged the pen to the other end. Now came the tricky part. Telling him how to flip a switch.

She drew the switch and motioned the action needed to to turn it off. It went a bit smoother than she thought it would, but it still took time to explain. Liena dragged herself to the doorway and aimed her lasrifle at the hydra. She never was that great of a shot and she could feel her heart pounding. She had been one in the trench before. On average they would lose a man a week to this ordeal. It was nothing to scoff. She took three deep and long breaths and a fourth with a long and slow exhale. She pressed the stock deep into her cheek and closed one eye. Her finger pulled back slowly, then the light crack of the lasrifle. "EUNT!" With an amazing haste the eldar flung himself out the door without thinking. If he thought about how insane the idea was, he would hesitate, then learn what human munitions felt like in several vital organs. The other gun began firing upon him, but he was covered by the far wall of the trench, just barely, if his head rose too far it would find him. He stopped at the halfway point, and noticed the reason for the stop. By this point the terrain raised high enough that one turret could fire on him, and when he passed the threshold the other turret that tried so vainly to end him would have a second chance. He heard the second faint crack and started to push his body forward prematurely. "NON!" Her shot missed. The Guardian was too far forward and the turret was beginning to swing towards him. if she waited any longer the first turret would recover. She took another hasty shot, and prayed. "EUNT!" His feet carried him as fast as he could with the solid munitions flying about in the air around him. The second turret was disabled, and the first was seeking to atone for its failure to spot the guardian before hand.

The eldar disappeared behind a wall as both guns unleashed their anger on him. The guns continued to fire, there was no indication that he made it. All she could do now was wait. Seconds dragged on and felt like minutes until finally the load roar of the hateful barrels ceased. The eldar appeared from the doorway like a conquering hero. Liana let out a cheer and thrust her arms into the air playfully. The Guardian began to stride back to the female, when he noticed the lights in the bunker beginning to flicker. Then suddenly they were off again. She still had the light from outside on her face, but she felt the darkness behind her, almost as if it was pressing down on her shoulders. That's when she began to hear footsteps growing closer. Her battered body could not have risen faster and she sprinted out the doorway screaming like a child, and into the arms of the eldar. Her instinct took over when she fled to the xeno, and again when she fought to get away. "Leis'fei.." He pointed his lasrifle at the doorway, walking back slowly. Liena freed herself and pointed her weapon into the darkness, but nothing came. The world around them was silent. They still stood with their weapons trained into the doorway still inching back toward what they believed was safety. eventually they came back to their wits, and left for a different area of the trench, somewhere that felt more 'comfortable' where the taint of chaos wasn't as strong. They took a moment to rest, and gather some supplied and charge packs. The Guardian watched the woman move to each corpse, mutters some prayers then press her hands together in a weird way. He figured it was a funeral custom of sorts. The eldar pressed a button on his wrist and sent out another signal. There was nothing more they could do. if they left now they would be at the mercy of the orks. The Imperial forces could be days away, and there was a threat of a daemon nearby. Their luck could only get worse, or so he thought.

Liena sat next to him with ration bars in her hand. She started devouring the tasteless bar. It wasn't the best meal, but when you were starving and had nothing else, it was your friend. She kindly offered one to the eldar. Half hoping he would take it just to see his reaction. He grabbed the brown wrapper and looked at the human. She picked up a second package, showing him how to open it. She held it with bother her hands, and placed the flat end in between her teeth then pulled the wrapper, tearing the top open. The Eldar looked on in disbelief. He knew humans were primitive, but the fact they manufactured their combat rations to be opened in such an animalistic way. "I can't imagine what else you use your mouth for..." "Whose mouth?" A response finally came through. The eldar snapped his head towards his arm. "Don't worry about it, musing to myself aloud... I have a better understanding of where I am." "Understood, you must be hasty if we are to retrieve you, our mission on this human world is over." "An Imperial fort with a daemon locked away in the basement." "And you are still alive? Yes, we know that one but we will not go back. If you can make your way thirty fierets magnetic north of your position we will meet you. Be wary of Imperials - last report is they are sending more soldiers to your position... Guardian please respond."

The guardian sat frozen for a moment. He had a chance to get the human back to her own, and possibly warn them of the fort's dangers, but if he waited he risked being left behind and at the mercy of the humans. The other option was to go and rendezvous with his compatriots, and bring the human. He didn't know what would become of her, and she had already saved his life many times. His honor, and heart demanded that he return the favor. The prospects of returning to the craftworld seemed pleasant compared to the harsh and untamed world the humans lived in. Maybe he could protect the human and give her a comfortable life in the craftworld? It seemed unlikely. There was another option, but he couldn't take it. He could leave her and return to his own. The options were weighing on him. "Guardian, please respond..." "Yes I understand, the distance is too far I am harboring wounded, is there another rendezvous?" "Allow a moment... Yes Warlock Tamiel and his cohort are only six feirets polar west of your position, though they are closer to the imperial lines. Their mission is to disrupt the mon'keigh a little while longer as we make our escape. Is this understood?" "Understood, I am moving now." he pressed on his communicator and closed the channel It was a dangerous one, but he made his choice. He wrapped and arm around Liena. He peered into her confused emerald eyes, ignoring her race for a moment, forcing a human smile to put her at ease. "I'm sorry human, we are going to my people." She had a faint smile on her face 'Quid?"

Self preservation. No manner of evolution, sophistication or training could ever completely remove this instinct. It was the universal law that bound all creatures together. The Guardian couldn't help but feel his decision was being made for such a primitive reason. His mind was set, he was going to bring the human to the craftworld. He would 'rescue' her. The best treatment that she would face was as a house tender at best, a shunned pet at worst, but she would live. He watched as she bit into the bar noisily and began chewing. A slight grimace flashed on her face as she ate. Liena had to psych herself out for each bite, it had all the calories and nutrition a soldier could ask for, but the stale taste almost dulled the senses for consuming it. Once again Liena reached out with a brown packet in her hand. The Guardian reluctantly took the bar from her hand and stared at it vexed. "There is no way it was meant to be opened like this..." he spoke under his breath. He placed the wrapper in his hands and bit the top of it. 'this is stupid...' he thought as he yanked the ration bar quickly, only succeeding in pulling the packet from his mouth. The woman let out an emasculating laugh (another universal language, the Eldar discovered). She reached out and took the packet from him. This time she grabbed the top with one hand and ripped it open. She stared at him the whole time with a smug grin on her face. She couldn't wait to boast to someone that she outsmarted an eldar. The best reaction was when he finally bit into the horrid meal. His face instantly came alive with the emotion of disgust and he spit the small amount he bit off, tossing the bar to the far side of the room. Liena couldn't help her self, she burst into an uncontrollable laughter, the pain in her ribs did little to stop her as she watched the eldar's fit.

The Guardian stood up and walked away from the hysterical woman, mostly out of humiliation that he didn't want to show. He was unsure if humans could blush, but he wasn't going to take the chance of letting her see him blush and find out. She began to calm down as her wounds started to win over her joy. He started thinking about how truly horrible it must have been for her, on top of everything else, the food they expected her to eat was hardly fit for wild beasts. Yet another reason to take her with him. The human constitution was different from an Eldar's, but he was sure that she could be kept soundly nourished. He looked back at her as she had calmed down and was finishing her meal. It was very fascinating for him to watch her. Her action were so uneldar, yet so familiar. She would take a bite, look up and scan the area, almost as if she were distracted, then look back down and take a bite. The actions were no different, but it was the manner in how she did them. Her actions seemed slowed down, as if submerged in water. It wasn't slow enough to drive him mad, but just enough that it was noticeable. She finished the bar and crumpled up the paper to toss it to the side. She caught him staring at her, as if he were lost in thought. She waved at him to break him from his trance. He responded with a similar wave. Time was being wasted; he had no idea how to tell her his plans. He wondered if that was for the best. He picked up his lasrifle, and walked slowly over to Liena who was attempting to lift herself with her own weapon. Without thinking he wrapped her arm around his neck and lifted her to her feet.

"Gratia" She didn't notice she was more relaxed in his grip. They shuffled closer to the doorway, neither was brave enough to poke their head out. They knew they had deactivated the generators, but didn't know if 'it' was still in control of them. Liena remembered another trick her sergeant taught her. She rummaged through her pouches to find a mirror as she drew her bayonet. The guardian gave her some space as she did. The idea was to attach the mirror to the end of the bayonet and shine a light into the turrets optical sensor. If it was active the turret would fire harmlessly at the mirror. if not, then it was safe. She couldn't remember how many times they ran though the routine of shutting the turrets off, then reconfiguring them. They had such an understanding of the machine spirits in the weapons they could make a techpriest blush with whatever face they had left. The flaw in her plan was she had nothing to get the mirror to stick to. Normally they would use chewing adhesives; she had none left. She showed the eldar what she was hoping to accomplish. He watched as she kept placing the mirror on the end of her knife and saying "Ecce" He figured she was trying to look at the turrets to see any sign of operation without showing herself. He had such an item on his person. It was a foldable optical device used specifically to look around corners. He pulled out the device, earning a tilt of the guardsman's head. He placed the optics to his face and bent the end to show her its use. The Eldar gently pushed the woman aside and curved the device around the concrete door to look at the turrets. Nothing was active on them. He assumed it was safe, but he needed to be sure. He slowly reached his hand out the doorway. Nothing happened. He waved his hand, again nothing. He pulled his hand back in and let out a sigh. He turned to Liena and let out one of his alien smiles. She halted her pained breathing to lift an eyebrow at him.

The familiar sight of the open expanse of nothing greeted them as they made their way west. Liena was keeping up with the Guardians slow pace, but she couldn't help but wonder where they were going. Her company was destroyed, the only hope she had was finding other Imperial Forces before the orks found them. Yet she didn't know which direction they were heading, just that the eldar kept looking at something on his arm, then off in the far distance. She hoped whatever it was that he kept looking at was friendly. They kept walking, and walking. The pain from her broken ribs was beginning to become too much for her to bare. She tried to urge him to stop, but he didn't pay attention to the tugging at his arm. He kept walking. He felt he wasted too much time in the outpost, and that they'd be too late. The human's pleas for rest would only dwindle their chance of escape. Instead of giving in to her cries, he tossed another arm under her leg and lifted her up. Her pain began to subside, there was no more harsh jolt from footsteps anymore. She was still intrigued by his ghostly steps. There wasn't the slightest indication that he was walking. She closed her eyes and pretend she was floating. It was a momentary escape, but it did wonders to ease her mind. She stopped caring about the war, her fate, everything melted away for few short minutes. For all her aloofness the Guardian was vigilant. While he carried the hurt guardsman in his arms he kept scanning the horizon for anything that looked metal. It was strange, for hundreds of miles there was nothing, no sign of the orks, almost like they avoided the area. It was too quiet for his taste. Hard to believe that only a few days before he was part of a large skirmish against the beasts. How noisy and undisciplined they were. They couldn't help but leave their mark on everything, even the ground itself with their disgusting presence, yet nothing hinted at them ever being near.

An hour had passed and the duo continued their seemingly aimless journey. The Eldar fumbled Liena around like a scrumball, going from carrying her, to having her use him for balance, and when she felt comfortable enough, finally walking on her own feet again. There was a small hill ahead of them, and they could almost make out voices. They started moving slower, creeping closer to the hill's base. The closer they got the more distinct the voices became. The tones were too soft for orks, and too fluid for human. A weight had been lifted from the Guardians chest as he let out a relived sigh. He grabbed Liena by the hand and pulled her along as he stood up to meet his kinsmen. "We're safe now human..." His face took on a more relaxed expression. Liena could tell he felt happy, but his natural reaction was far different than a humans. His eyebrows raised and his face lit up. The round almond shape eyes widened into round orbs. Her reaction was to show her teeth, his was to show his eyes. She didn't dwell on it too long as she began to recognize the strange alien language. Her heart plunged deep into her chest and her face took a stark contrast to his. 'Eldar... he took me to the eldar... he- he tricked me...' She thought as she pulled against his hand. She fought back ever tug, grunting loudly every pull. "Please calm down.. This is for your benefit." He held out his hand and continued to utter the words he always spoke to her. "Calm down.." "Leis'fei."

"Someone is there!" An eldar barked from behind the hill.

Liena fought trying to free herself from the grip of the guardian. She was a wild animal again trying to escape a predator. The eldar fought back trying to calm her down. If his kin saw him fighting her like this she would be in danger. Her yelps turned into panicked screams as she fought wriggling away. Every time she broke free he grabbed her again. They knew she was there, and they ran down the hill with their weapons pointed at the two. Tears began rolling down her face as she saw her captor running towards her. A fate worse than death awaited her, she thought. She only wondered if she'd live to be one of the thousands of horror stories to tell others around a fire. She freed a hand and struck her companion in the jaw. She broke free for a moment. He hurled his body on top of her bringing her crashing to the ground. He managed to keep most of his weight off of her as they hit the ground. Even then she still continued to struggle. "Leis'fei. Dolo'nei Leis'fei.." His voice was filled with desperation, and she could tell. Whether it was the fear of him losing his prize, or concern for her, she couldn't tell.

"Comrade! Lay still, we'll deal with this parasite." one of the other guardians spoke as the rest of the squad charged down the hill.

"Trying to take trophies, Guardian?" The warlock spoke in an ethereal voice as he approached the two. One of the Guardians pried the two apart while a second dragged Liena from under. She let out a painfully shrill shriek as she was pulled out by her hair, and lifted to her knees. Her hands shot up to the eldar's hand. Her companion was lifted to his feet; his gaze wasn't torn from her.

"What is your name Guardian?"

"Guardian Frieren" His voice was empty as he watched Liena.

The Guardian holding her drew out a knife and moved it towards her neck. "Let me take care of this vermin for you." his carefree tone almost disgusted Frieren. What disgusted him more was only a few days ago he would have been just as apathetic to the death of another human. As the knife grew closer a fire lit in his gut. He could feel the rage beginning to build. 'He is going to kill her.' he kept thinking. His thoughts so focused he couldn't understand the Warlock speaking to him. The knife touched the skin of her neck, and the Guardian's emotions took control. Without thinking he shot up the lasrifle in his hand and pointed it at the other eldar. His finger was tight around the trigger. "You will not harm her!"

Everyone, including Liena was shocked, and frozen in place. Such an act was unheard of. An eldar threatening a fellow eldar, over a mon'keigh? The rest of the squad had their weapons trained on Frieren. Liena watched confused and scared. 'He's defending me? but he brought me here to be tortured... Right?' The guardian with the knife began to press it deeper into her flesh, more a reaction to the rash actions, than threatening him. "Back away from the human... Now!" He let go, and raised his hands. Liena bolted from her spot and leapt towards Frieren, grasping his leg, crying into it, scared and confused.

"I see, you and that human are 'comfortable'. Maybe you would fit in better with our dark brethren." The eldar spoke stepping backwards with his hands in the air still. Every available weapon was still pointed at the Guardian. All they waited for was the warlock to give them a command. The warlock took a step closer to the Guardian and placed his hand on the lasrifle, getting Frieren to lower it slowly.

"Your actions are rash and out of line, Guardian. Threatening your kin, with such a primitive weapon, and over an animal? I do not understand what you and the ape have been through, nor do I care. What I do care about is that our mission is done, and I am to get everyone under my command back to the craftworld. Now are you coming or not?" "I am, with the human." His weapon continued to lower. "That is not possible, the human is too dangerous to bring with us. You saw how it reacted when we got near." There is an unexplainable fear about hearing people talk in a foreign language, especially over one's fate. The uncertainty of what is being discussed, the differences in culture. One tone in yours could mean a pleasant thing, but anger in another. Liena was scared, her eyes were closed as tight as her arms were wrapped around her companions leg. All she could do was wait. "Look at it, cowering in fear, and as you have demonstrated, fear makes us commit rash and foolish actions. I am willing to forgive you, but you must do one thing, before we let you return with us." "What is it?" He was apprehensive to ask. "Kill her."

Chapter Three

Frieren refused. The warlock gestured for the guardian with his knife to come forward. The leader took the knife and presented it to the emotional Eldar. "What don't you understand, Guardian? Her story ends here, you must accept it. Were you to convince me, someone would eventually put down your sniveling mutt aboard the craftworld. Leave her here and either her own or the orks will kill her. There is no way she can survive the war. Kill her. She trusts you, so why not let her experience her death from someone that cares? It's not out of anger. I simply can't stand to see the poor creature suffer. Kill her." Frieren took the knife in his trembling hand. He looked at the exquisite blade and its near perfect edge. He looked at Liena. The blade would be quick, pierce her flesh without effort. Her death would be painless. He couldn't bear the thought. He began to see his hand raise, and plunge. His mind was flooded with the images. But these were images placed in his mind by the warlock. He fought them with all his will.

"I-I can't..." He shook his head to free his mind "I won't. This human and I have been through too much, I owe her my life."

"I too have been saved by humans once before, but any animal can save your life by chasing off predators. She isn't eldar - you do not owe her a thing but a merciful death. Remember, Guardian, Humans are those who must be killed. Mon'keigh." He saw the conflict in his heart. "It is that emotion you feel that brought us down from grace. You must free yourself, or we cannot save you. She dies, or you both die on this planet. I am giving you a choice."

He hesitated. The knife rattled in his loose hands. The warlock saw this and approached the guardian. He wrapped his hands around Freiren's making him hold the knife tightly. Liena's body started to move against her will. The Warlock was a powerful psyker, no amount of resisting would prevent his will overpowering her own. She was pried from his leg and her head jerked up violently exposing her neck. He beckoned Freiren to position himself behind her. His steps were heavy, he knew the warlock could have forced him to move like Liena, but this had to be his own actions. The warlock knew this. Liena was still sobbing profusely, tears streaming down her face. As Freiren took the final step, their eyes met. Her face was red and shining from tears. She looked pathetic and feeble. The warlock once again guided Freiren's hand, placing the knife gently on her neck. As soon as the psyker's hand was withdrawn the knife began rattling once again. Freiren couldn't look away. He watched her mouth words in between her gasps of air. "Please... don't" She begged to her companion. Her body was shaking. She couldn't move, the warlock held her in a firm grip with his mind. The images began to play in his mind again, the ease of the action, a quick slash, left to right, her blood would spill and she would fall lifeless to the ground. Each time he saw it play over in his mind the more he started feeling hatred. His eyes started to glace around, towards the discarded lasrifles, the distances of the other guardians. How quickly he could throw a knife. For a split second he saw the warlock twitch. "I wouldn't even think about it." His tone was an arrogant one.

"We are out of time, Warlock, leave the deviant and be done with this!" The haughty Guardian blurted out. The Warlock raised his hand to quiet him. Freiren saw Liena gain a bit more of her body as the warlock was distracted. He began to muse more on a daring escape. If he was quick enough and dispatched the warlock, he would be able to reach the lasrifle and eliminate a few guardians in the confusion. Liena would most likely join him. But his mind quickly betrayed him. He saw the knife be tossed in his mind, and the warlock send it into Liena's heart. He saw Liena twitch for a moment again. Each time he forced the warlock to place a new thought into his head he released his hold over Liena a small amount. He started running new ideas through his mind, and saw different ways for them to fail. He began thinking of irrational outcomes, the humans super warriors falling from the sky, Necrons bursting from the ground. Strangely it didn't seem the warlock was catching onto his plan. The Warlock was beginning to grow impatient of Freiren's impertinence and started to walk towards him. His influence in both of their minds faded noticeably. His moment had come. His hand raised almost instinctively. He arm jerked as hard as he could, to the point of straining himself. The knife flew towards the warlock, spinning through the air. The blade stopped just in front of the warlock, as expected, its momentum dulled. As it reached its impetus it flew the other direction. The blade shot back with a howling shriek of the blade cutting through the air, and landed with the loud thud of a blade piercing flesh. Freieren twitched an the knife was embedded into his back. He had thrown himself in front of Liena.

The warlock, and his retinue was stunned. No one moved, not even the warlock could have foreseen Frieren's action. The Eldar coughed out a pained gasp as his hand started to reach for the knife. His breathing was shallow, his knees weak. He slumped over the guardsman, and gave her a very human smile. The Warlock was impressed, Frieren managed to outwit him, but as such an unreasonable cost. He waved off the guardians and they began to depart for the webway. He would let the renegade have his prize. Liena watched the eldar leave and turned her attention to her guardian. She laid him carefully on his front pilfering through his pouches for the healing paste. she managed to find the vial and moved quickly to open the precious container. His gasps were becoming more and more ghostly as time went on. There was only one way to heal him, and he wasn't going to like it. Her hand gripped the handle of the knife tightly. "Forgive me.." She proceeded to count aloud to three. "Three". She ripped the knife out of his back, forcing a pained gasping growl out of the Eldar. She dispensed the entire contents of the vial in the knife wound in her panicked desperation. There was no reaction at first. She slowly placed her hands on the sides of the wound and pressed them together holding her hand in place applying pressure on his wound. He was silent, buy giving an occasional shallow breath, he let her know he was still alive. She waited, till he finally started to move and take deeper breaths. Her face lit from elation, she couldn't stop herself from letting out a joyed laugh and Frieren slowly rolled himself over. Liena helped the guardian sit up. He cringed in pain as she helped him to his feet. The Eldar left them to their own devices, but they felt something in their mind, a final parting from the warlock. "Good luck."

For once it was Liena carrying the eldar. She threw his arm around her neck, helping him walk. She had no idea what she was heading to; she surmised that the opposite direction of the eldar's flight meant one of two things, Imperium, or orks. If it was orks, at least she could smell them before they ran into them. Freiren would occasionally catch her looking over at him with a smile on her face. The conflict in her mind was almost settled. If he was willing to die to protect her, then she could trust him. The only eldar in existence that she could say she trusted. The Guardsman didn't think of the implications of bringing a xeno to her lines, when she felt a cold drop of water strike her cheek she only thought about finding shelter. Rain filled the empty expanse of wasteland, the muddied ground was becoming difficult to walk in, each step her feet would sink in just a bit more than the last. The Emperor saw fit to bless her with a small cave that offered protection from the rain, and possibly small mortar rounds. The cave didn't extend that deep, but at least it went in deep enough and low enough that a small fire wouldn't be seen, and something to warm their spirits would be extremely welcome. With one shoulder, she placed the lasrifles on the ground, with the other she placed Freiren against the cave wall, sitting him carefully against it. He was paler than usual, his breath was still shallow, and his would wasn't fully healed. She leaned him forward to look at his wound, but the light of day had long passed and was covered by the storm. She assembled as many small bits of flammable material as she could find in the cave, and pulled out her uplifting primer. It was a useful book, a hard leather exterior, gilded edges, it was perfect, it kept it dry. She ripped out a couple pages, adding to a large repertoire of missing pages.

The pages of the Uplifting Primer were made from a very dense polymer resin compound of wood pulp and other materials, making each page thick, durable, absorbent—and flammable. The guardsmen found a million different uses for the book, almost none of which involved reading it. She had read it a couple times when she was a whiteshield, but only because she had to memorize entries from the book. The fire she constructed burned comfortably warm, and low, it would warm them up but not let an pesky ork know where they were. The lighting was low, but it offered her enough to inspect the eldar's wound. Liena detached her medpouch from her belt and place it beside Frieren. The wound was still open, and bleeding slightly, but it was significantly less deep. His armor kept getting in the way. She sat in front of him and tried her best to explain the situation, she started to speak slowly to him despite the fact he wouldn't understand. "Can... you... take... armor... off?" She said grabbing the bottom of her flak armor and miming a lifting motion. He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head in confusion. She continued to explain in a few different ways. He finally understood what she meant, and he reached for his collar. He pressed something, she had no idea what, but his armor puffed out, and the flexible layer of his armor shrank between the hardened plates of his armor. It compacted itself as it lifted from his body, the cuirass of his armor folded into a neat square in his hands. Liena watched in amazement how something so strong could be folded up like a shirt. She picked up the material and it flopped in her hand like a cloth, and light as one too. She was caught in the strange and almost magical technology of xenos. Freiren cleared his throat and snap the curious human back to reality.

Liena opened her medipouch and started to pull out her stitches. Grabbing his uniform she ripped a larger hole in the silken material so she could work on it. Freiren removed his tunic before she could damage it more than it already was. She threaded the needle and placed it under the flame of her lighter. Liena showed him the needle and the string attached to it. Once again he was baffled at the sheer unsophistication of human methodologies. 'She is going to sew my wound together... it's so crude it's brilliant,' he thought to himself. He felt her small delicate fingertips land themselves around his wound, then a sharp pinch. Liena waited for him to stop flinching each time she pierced his skin. She weaved the needle back and forth slowly closing the wound. It was almost meditation for her, she began to concentrate on other things, the dancing of her shadow on his back from the low flame, the sound of rain echoing in the cave. She made the final pass and cut the string. She placed the materials back into her pouch, and pulled out gauze and a bandage. The bandage was applied. She slowly wrapped the cloth around his narrow waist. Reaching in front of him Liena tied a knot in the material fastening the bandage in place, when she was done she tightened her arms around the eldar and rested her head on his back, closing her eyes. Freiren turned his head to see her brown hair, he placed his hand around hers. He ignored the feeling of cold metal on his bare skin for a moment. "Almost human..." she muttered to herself quietly.

Liena slithered her way to the front of Freiren, and stood up. She walked towards the entrance of the cave, popping up momentarily to look out into the landscape for any sign of activity. There was only rain, she could barely see a meter out of the entrance. The guardsman made her way back into the cave, placing herself next to the fire Freiren was huddled against, with his hands in held out towards the flame. Liena was cold in her rain drenched uniform, and her old wounds were starting to fade back. She sat down and placed her hands under her armpits, with a quick flick of her thumbs a metallic click was heard and her flak vest loosened a bit, with a second flick it popped free. Her armor was cast off landing with a loud crash on the stone floor. Liena took in a couple of deep breaths and rolled her shoulders finally free of the confines of her armor. The guardian looked at her bulky metal armor in utter disbelief. He couldn't believe that she was wearing it and still moving around like she was. He had to respect the tenacity of humans, the conditions they lived in compared to his, and yet they would still fight to the last over a pile of rocks. His eye popped as he saw Liena begin to undo the buttons of her uniform. One by one she undid the many buttons that lined her beige uniform. She couldn't help but wonder why so many buttons were needed, the same effect could have been meet with half the number. Once she reached the last one she cast off her shirt, spun it into a tube and started to wring out all the water. Freiren had to admit to himself he was somewhat disappointed to find out she was wearing an undershirt, but the rain did work to his benefit in a way. The human form wasn't to dissimilar to an eldar's. It was strange, so similar, yet so different between the cultures. He quickly shook his head and dismissed any thoughts of the matter.

The woman was placing her uniform top on her armor and slid it closer to the fire so it might dry quicker. Her next endeavor was to remove her boots. As she leaned forward she felt the sting of her ribs once again. Her arms reached forward the best she could untucking the strings from the cuff of her boots and tugging them loose. She didn't want to think how long it had been since she removed them. Frieren watched her gazing on almost not paying attention. While he had the moments to spare his mind was racing, thinking of all the events that transpired, he thought little of his future on the doomed planet. Liena. He risked his life to save hers on multiple occasions, and she did the same. Neither owed each other any debt from the beginning, so why did he try to help her in the first place? Because she was so similar to him. He had been told that humans are nothing but dangerous animals that would eventually destroy his race if left unchecked. Yet here was Liena, a human. He had seen her display more eldar emotions than he'd seen in his own kind. She wasn't a dumb animal, she wasn't just acting on instinct, she felt things the way he did. Liena was enjoying the freedom from her battle gear and wafting her feet back and forth enjoying the warmth of the flame. She was having similar thoughts, contemplating the events that had brought here to this juncture, in a cave, with an Eldar. Her own kind would call a close friendship with an alien blasphemous. In the grand scheme of things, he was the only friend she had left. The whole of Theta company was destroyed. The Eldar was all she had left in the harsh and unforgiving world. She started to inch herself closer to Frerien's side. He looked at her as she moved closer and kissed him, then rested her head on his shoulders. 'A strange way to show affection' Freiren thought.

Liena slept comfortably by the fire that had died down hours before. The Eldar cloth did wonders to keep them both warm during the night. She was the first to wake up. She looked behind her to see the guardian still in his slumber and slinked out of the sheet to fetch her clothes. They weren't as dry as she'd hoped they were, and nowhere near as warm as she'd wanted. She shivered as she tossed the wet denim over her body letting out a gasp. They eventually became warm enough to bear. As she tied her boots she noticed that her ribs didn't hurt as much. 'A good night's sleep is often the best medicine' she remembered the medics telling her when the supplies ran low. She buckled down her flack vest before the guardian woke up. She smiled at the lazy eldar recovering from his sleep like a trooper after an all-nighter on leave. She ambled over to reach for her lasrifle. "Matutinius uga, piger." She chuckled playfully. She tossed him a ration bar while she opened hers. It was the last two they had until they could find another outpost, or accidentally bump into her lines. She moved to the entrance of the cave to scout out the landscape while the Eldar armed himself. Freiren joined her at the cave entrance. There was no overcast the sky clear and blue, this boded as a good omen to Liena, that possibly things had changed for the better for the two. 'My she seems more spry than normal today" He thought to himself admiring her new found energy. Just when everything appeared to be going their way, the old sound of distant whistling could be heard. Liena rolled here eyes indignantly and walked back into the cave. When Freiren recognized the sound he darted back into the cave as well. The peaceful landscape was again erupting into explosions from artillery.

The bombardment eventually died down several hours later, and the cacophony of battle could be heard in the distance. From the volume of the staccato of gunfire it was a large and pitched battle. They emerged from the cave entering a brave new world of theirs. Their march was a slow one. They were in no rush to get caught up in a battle that ultimately wasn't theirs. Thoughts kept creeping into Lina's head, maybe she didn't want to reach friendly lines. After all, there would be no way that the Guardian would last. Even under the non-aggression pact there were orders to eliminate any stragglers, no telling what would happen since the two sides engaged in open conflict. Yet they continued to move towards the battle. It was something to behold from a distance, the rant explosions, tracers and beams of light dotting the horizon. The time between flashes of light and sound. She could understand why some planets celebrated holidays with displays of fireworks or actual ordinance expenditure. It was an awesome sight to behold. The fighting died down and from their distance they could not determine the winner. It didn't matter. Liena had made up her mind. Returning to her lines would only prove to be a bad idea for both companions. Instead she had another thought. If she could reach the space ports of the hive, they could sneak into a shuttle disguising Frieren and make a living as one of those bands of merchants that didn't hold any political alliances. Become a Rogue Trader. It was entirely possible, in her mind, to sneak an eldar through vast billions of people. The more people in one area the less they would notice a single person, or eldar. She stopped. Freiren stopped as well but confused. "I'll learn your language eventually, it can work." She smiled at the Guardian, his face wasn't nearly as pleased, he saw what was behind her. Liena began to smell it.

A throng of fleeing orks was soon to interrupt her plans. Freiren pushed her aside and began firing on the beasts as they charged yelling their dreadful war chant. The Lasrifle had such a different feel than the shuriken catapult he had become so accustomed to. There was a strange amount of kick to the weapon, and the operation was rather peculiar. As the trigger was pulled the weapon would lurch then snap to function, rather than flow like his old weapon. Though the power behind it was respectable; the first ork was felled in only a handful of shots. Liena joined in on the fight. Her handling of the weapon was much more expert. The orks fired wildly at the two as they stood their ground, felling several more orks. Their shots pinged off the ground harmlessly kicking up dirt. In an all-too-familiar feeling the orks kept growing closer despite the number of them they killed. Only about three remained as they hurled themselves into their lasbolts, almost unfazed. These orks were larger than usual and had more of their scrap metal affixed to them. Liena felt a shot pass uncomfortably close to her ear. She started to focus fire on Feiren's nob but the hulks didn't seem to care they were being shot at. "Curum!" They started to run fleeing to the side of the orks charging path. The nobs charged past them, unwilling to turn. The brutes smashed into each other and began bickering and slugging one another before beginning their chase again. Liena stopped and took up another strong firing stance. She pointed to her legs then pointed to the orks. "Zap zap." She said with a stern face. They started to fire at the first ork's legs. The lasbolts were absorbed by the bits of metal, but one hit landed almost perfectly from Freiren. The knee of the ork exploded, causing it to topple over tripping the others. Liena looked to her Eldar companion. "Currum." She started to run, The Guardian was close behind.

Their fight was simple in its tactic - to slow the orks down enough that they could kill them or flee, but the Ork was a tenacious beast and the growing hum of Imperial war machines grew in the distance. Every time a ork would fall they would unleash a barrage of beams at whatever soft bits they could find. Their cries became more fierce hurling strands of putrid spittle as their bloodlust was slowly taking them over. Their speed slowly increased as if their wounds weren't there. Every time Liena and the Eldar fell back the orks quickly closed the gap. No amount of lasfire was slowing the nobs. A large fist adorned in rusted and spiky metal fell violently in front of Frieren. Without a second's hesitation his body flew forward, impaling the primitive bayonet into its eye. The Eldar squeezed his trigger letting out a cry. The back of its helmet began to glow and bubble out as a beam of light shot through. The first ork had been slain, but it hadn't realized it yet. As the blade was pulled from it skull it grasped at the hole in utter disbelief that it could receive such a wound. It swung once more at the nimble eldar, but before it could connect its arm fell dead.

There wouldn't be any time for revelry as the other two beasts loomed over the Eldar. A desperate shot sailed past one of the nobs helmet knocking off a large boney horn, as a large green fist impacted the eldar's chest cracking his already battered armor flinging him to the ground. The second nob raised the dull chunk of metal it called a weapon ready to steal the kill from his comrade. Liena flung herself upon the ork firing as many shots as she could screaming in defiance. Her body crashed on its coarse armor but disrupted the swing long enough for Freiren to melt away bits of the first nob's face, its heavy body crashing onto his lasrifle and pinning him to the ground. She was stabbing the nob crazily until its brute hand clenched her calf ripping her from his back. With a quick fling she flew threw the air like a discarded rag, her body crashed upon a rock and then landed face down in the wet mud. The beast slowly lumbered towards her brandishing his weapon.

"Umie..." It spoke taunting Liena in its guttural belches as its thumb slid across what it would call the edge of its axe. "Yu dented up me fav'rite bitz."

Her lasrifle was just a mere inches from her reach. She grasped futilely at the weapon as she grunted and sobbed in the mud. Her finger touched the fabric of the weapon's strap, but fell off as she tried to pull it. The noise of the brute's foot sinking then flying from the mud grew louder as it hovered over her body. She closed her eyes tightly waiting for the painful end from the greenskin. The Eldar was freeing himself from the fleshy bindings of his assailant. His body was broken and his will was the only thing keeping him conscious. He aimed carefully at the Ork with his shaking hands. His finger pressed up against the metal lever and the weapon obeyed sending a beam into the greenskin's neck. The monster stopped and turned, its red eyes on fire as it glared holes into the Eldar.

Frieren spit out the blood pooling in his mouth. "Come at me, beast."

Mud spat from its feet as it charged Freiren. He blasted his weapon at the beast as many time as he could, before it was almost on top of him. Its blade cocked above his head ready to unleash its pent up force on the Eldar's frail body. The blade launched as the ork grunted. The eldar expected it to make such an attack, he followed the blade's movement with his body leaning painfully to the side as the weapon flew past him landing into the mud with a satisfying "thunk". The ork tried for a second to pull the weapon out of the mud. A bayonet landed into the Nob's gut. The beast grunted and then grinned as its massive hand wrapped around the twig-like lasrifle.

"Cleva git ain'tcha!" He pulled the weapon from his body and unleashed a fist into the Eldar's gut. Frerien coughed out more blood. "Not smarta den me fist!"

Liena dragged her body up reaching her lasrifle as the Ork began to attack her companion. she clenched her side as she inched in the mud to sit herself up. She saw the fist impact Freiren, and then another, She cried out for him, not discharging her weapon in fear of hitting the eldar. Her body was overcome with a sudden rush of adrenaline. She got to her feet brandishing her weapon. Almost as if she wasn't in control of her body she felt one foot place itself in front of the other digging into the mud as she charged at the ork screaming.

"DIE! Just die, die die DIE!" She screamed pushing past the pain lunging into the ork one more time. Her weapon began discharging into the metal parts of its armor hitting the soft flesh. It froze for a split second and swung its fist around to impact Liena on the side of the skull, rendering her unconscious, but it was just the opening Freiren needed to place the lasrife under the beast's chin. The blade sunk in, spilling its dark, viscous blood.

"You've lost." The Eldar pulled his trigger.

They both fell to the ground. The hum of engines growing louder in the distance, the eldar forced his body up one last time.

He could feel his broken bones grinding together as he lurched towards his companion. He gazed at the creature that until recently he considered a mere animal, not even worthy of respect. She was his friend, the only one he had left on this forsaken planet. He bent over and forced his arms to wrap around her, nestling her close to him. He felt almost nostalgic cradling her like an injured puppy. He stumbled and blood trickled from his mouth. The dots on the horizon began to grow and soon he could make out the silhouettes of humans. Instead of the dread he trained himself to feel for many centuries he felt elation.

Soldiers spotted him in the distance and began running towards him. His body could hold himself; he slumped to his knees. The Guardsmen looked on in confusion as they saw the eldar figure holding one of their own. They approached him with weapons ready. His arms did the best they could to lift Liena. He forced the smile that was alien to him.

"Please, save her..." He grunted and his breath faded away. His head slumped over his companions body as he still held her in his arms. Two wet dots appeared on her cheek. One of the Guardsmen prodded him and he didn't move. Another knelt close to the wounded guardsman in his arms.

"How's she look doc?"

"She's alive, can't say much for the Xeno, She needs medical attention though."

"I hope she makes it, we're going to need intel as to why that fort went dark."

The medic carefully moved for from the xeno's grasp, and the eldar's body fell over. He laid Liena out flat reaching for supplies to treat her with.

"What about the Eldar sarge, do we tell the captain?"

"No, leave it out of the report, Emperor knows what'll happen to her." He sighed and turned to one of the soldiers. "Trooper Harel, go inform the Captain, It looks like she's from Theta company." The Guardsman he addressed turned and dashed back to his lines.

"What about the Eldar?" A trooper blurted out.

"Bury it, hide the evidence."

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