"Even those with little presence in the warp can fall to its effects in realspace. The pleasures of the flesh are alluring to all who feel them." – Nidhiki, Sorcerer, Knights of Ecstasy, 037.M41

Kaida was desperate to find somewhere to hide. She was scrabbling around the ruins to get away from the giant Space Marines. She spotted a tower and decided that it would be a good idea to hide at the top; maybe they wouldn't look up there.

Her entire team was dead, killed by the few Space Marines that arrived by transport tanks, right into the heat of battle. The fight was short; the Marines exited their transports in dark purple and gold armour then unleashed all their fire power. The Marine guns' power was nothing overwhelming for the most part, but the sound it made was terrifying, Kaida's ears were still ringing from the volume. These guns would unleash the most incredible high pitched screech with a gigantic shockwave of bass at regular intervals. It must have been the sound itself that caused the damage, there were no explosions or impacts that one would expect from incoming fire.

Her pathfinder team was part of a rear guard contingent, sent to keep the main force safe from any flanking manoeuvres. Her team was there to act as a support for the two fire warrior squads that they were with. She was one of six pathfinders whose job it was to guide the sights of the fire warriors' rifles with markerlights, if she did her job right the fire warriors would rarely miss and even space marines would fall under the fire power. But markerlights are difficult to use and require the user to stay very calm to keep still. She couldn't stay calm and focused when the shockwave of sound hit her location. Not only did the sound burst into her ears and nearly deafen her, but it attacked her head like a mining drill boring its way into the centre of her brain. That, and her cover was being eaten away by the destructive force of the guns. While she ran for cover with her team dead or dying she knew the fire warrior teams also had to deal with the invasive screech from the marines, not only that but they were operating with no markerlights. Fire Warriors are well trained but they are trained to use the markerlights to provide maximum efficiency. Before the battle was over, Kaida knew that with her team scattered, the Fire Warriors would not be able to overcome the marines, and the battle would be lost.

Kaida could now only hope that in the main battle, Aun'Esa would lead the rest of the Cadre to victory. She had great faith in the Ethereal, as any member of the Fire Caste should, but this time she could feel it, a foreboding feeling in her gut that the others in the Cadre had not managed to keep the other Space marines at bay. "No!" she thought, "Do not doubt the greater good, our cause will always win through." She tried to convince herself that the Cadre would defeat the super humans but, doubt had crept into her mind.

Kaida had managed to scale the tower, her light pathfinder armour did not get in the way and she would not have been able to climb the tower any easier if she was not wearing armour at all. While she was careful to keep her head down, she looked over the scene of the battle and at the Space Marines, what were they doing? They were walking about the dead and talking to each other. This was what worried Kaida the most; the Marines were acting casually with no sense of urgency, no sense of distress, it was clear that they were not being called away to the other part of the battle. She could not hear the sounds of battle coming from far away, her ears were still ringing from the fight but she could tell there were no gunshots coming from the distance.

The Marines were talking with each other and Kaida could understand what they were saying. She had been a volunteer to learn the Imperium's language and she had taken to it rather well, a lot better than much of the rest of her class.

"Reptile!" called one of the marines, with a cold metallic voice, it must have been the sound of his voice distorted by his helmet.

The one with the sword who was close to Kaida's position looked round. His armour was purple with gold trim, his left shoulder pad was pink, maybe this denoted rank or something.

" I'm getting word from Esskrimar and Irrississ that they have been victorious and have taken minimal losses."

"That is good to hear, brother, any word on a prize?"

"Esskrimar says his catch is very impressive."

"Then ours will have to be better," said the Marine with the sword, maybe it was rivalry.

"Yes, Reptile," replied the lower ranked marine, like finding a better prize was a mission all on its own.

This "Reptile" was a high ranking Space Marine, Kaida remembered him leading the attack, standing strong and being totally indomitable. She also remembers him cutting down her Kadre with his sword; he had been trained in the arts of close combat and no doubt had many decades of combat experience. In the battle he ran forward, killing Fire Warrior after Fire Warrior, friend after friend. She HATED this marine. He removed his helmet, to reveal a bald head with very sharp features. He stood for a moment, rearranging the pink hairs in his helmet plume; then he paused. Kaida had moved her foot, just to improve her balance, surely he couldn't have heard that, even Kaida didn't hear any sound when she moved her foot that tiny amount.

He looked up at Kaida's hiding spot in the tower, he did hear it, she knew Marines were good, but that was impossible, no one can hear like that. She ducked her head as soon as the Marine laid eyes upon her.

"There is someone up there, a live one." He said to the nearest marine.

"Are you sure?"

"Do not doubt me brother."

"How should we get it down here?"

"I don't think we can scale the ruin," said Reptile, thinking aloud.

"I could..."

"It's not your acrobatic ability that I call into question, Narcius," explained Reptile, "It is the structural integrity of the ruin that gives me cause for concern. It would not take the weight of an Asartes."

"We could bring it down," suggested Narcius, "it would take no more than a well placed krak grenade to bring the whole tower down."

"It's a good thought..." Reptile then whispered into the side of Narcius' helmet, it was too quiet for Kaida to hear. He then went to the tower with a grenade in hand; he then slapped it into place on one of the walls. Kaida thought this was it, the tower would come crashing down and she would be broken from the fall, then the Marines would take her prisoner in the name of their "Emperor". This would not be a fate that would help the cause of the greater good.

The grenade still hadn't gone off, what were they waiting for. Reptile moved back and looked up at her position, she ducked her head again, but she knew it was useless, they already knew where she was. "We are taking you with us, Tau, no matter what happens."

Kaida said nothing, as much as she would want to deny it, she was not going to escape them. She sat up to look at Reptile, acknowledging what he said. She also looked over the small battle zone and could see other Marines checking dead Fire Warriors, and executing the injured with their boot, or some other grizzly method. "I will however, offer you a deal," continued Reptile, "If you climb down from the tower now, we will not destroy it and you will not be injured. If you refuse to come with us, then I pull the pin, this tower comes crashing down, you end up with many broken bones and your time with us is a lot more unpleasant."

Kaida didn't need long to think. You tend to think quicker when what you are in is rigged to explode. She began to climb down.

"I knew you would see sense," said Reptile as he watched her climb down the tower.

Narcius turned to Reptile, "That is quite a find. Maybe you will have Esskrimar beaten after all."

Reptile held out his hand to take Kaida's as if he was offering some polite service to a noble. "Our unit deserves the recognition, don't you think."

Kaida took the hand of Reptile, in fear of what might happen to her if she refused. She then used his hand to support herself for the last large step down.

As they walked along, Kaida saw that all her friends were dead or dying all around her, but what struck her the most was the smell. The air stank of blood and death, and it all came from her friends; people she had trained with, eaten with, and joked with only the night before. And here she was holding the hand of the man that made it all happen; that led the victorious enemy forces.

He then led her to the armoured transport that the Marines arrived in. It was the same colour violet as the Marines' body armour. He was holding the terrified Kaida like a parent may hold a child in an unfamiliar place. Reptile hit the door of the transport with his fist, it then opened. "What is your name, girl?" asked Reptile.

Kaida has had her helmet on since before the battle started; humans normally have difficulty telling the Tau genders apart, especially if in full battle gear, this marine must have good eyes. "Kaida," she replied shakily, still worried about what might happen to her if she refused something from these marines.

"Get in here, Kaida," said reptile as he gestured for her to get into the transport, "Stay in the Rhino, you'll be on our ship soon enough." Kaida got in to the "rhino" and the door slowly closed behind her. Reptile kept his eyes fixed on her as the door closed. "Don't be scared," he said just before the door slammed shut.

The rhino was empty, she was all alone in there. There was enough light to dimly illuminate her surroundings and it was a very basic interior, with little in the way of gadgets, it seemed to be little more than a metal box where the marines would be carried into battle. She could see where the walls had been repaired from battles long past with plates of metal welded in place to cover up holes and the floor where the marines would stand before running out the door had been worn down smooth. This rhino had seen a lot of action.

"What kind of thing was that to say to a prisoner?" thought Kaida, "Don't be scared?" The very absurdity of it all made Kaida forget about the fear that had made her walk with the marine and willingly get into the rhino. The situation got real again when she noticed a small vent in the corner start to pump fumes into the vehicle. Kaida hurriedly looked around for a release switch or valve, or something to open a door or a hatch. But there was no time, before Kaida found anything useful, she lost consciousness.