Author's Note: Ok, now I know that I'm still currently writing Retribution, but I was reading the Battlegrounds stories and well... you can probably guess what happened. Also, The Lone Hunter has kindly offered to help me with this story, whose help is greatly appreaciated. Anyway, on with the first chapter.

Battlegrounds: Awakening

Chapter One – Vre'Or'es Var

Tau'cyr – M41 936.12_Kai'rotaa 1/6_Rotaa 63/80_Dec 5/10_Rai'kor 6:23_ Elite Fire Warrior Shas'Vre Vior'La Or'es Var-Mission group 2_Log...

Shas'Vre Vior'La Or'es Var sat alongside the rest of his elite squad of Fire Warriors as they descended in a Manta Carrier ship towards the continent of Silva, on the agri-world of Menth. Or'es Var looked around at the rest of his squad as they all sat in the private loading dock of the manta, strapped in by the harnesses that wrapped around their chests. It was unusual for a mission group like this to be put together, but Or'es Var liked it. He and everyone else in his squad had been through at least two Trial by Fire's, which meant that no one was a 'greenhorn'; a word he had learnt from a Gue'vesa he had befriended.

Or'es Var's squad consisted of five Shas'Vre's and one Shas'El. And only one Shas'Vre wore an XV25 Stealth Suit. That was Shas'Vre Vior'La Fio'Tak, the technical genius of the squad. His battlesuit was equipped with a hardwired multi-tracker and two Burst Cannons. During his first Trial by Fire, his only Pulse Pistol had broken, and he had fixed it just in time to pass the Trial by Fire before he was killed. He was either extremely lucky, or a technical genius, and he liked to believe it was both.

Then there was Shas'Vre Vior'La Suam. The smallest of the squad of 6, she had a deadly aim, and so carried a Rail Rifle, which surprisingly she could hold very well, despite her size. She also carried a single Pulse Pistol if her Rail Rifle ammo should deplete. Or'es Var had replaced a former member of this elite squad just after he had passed his second Trial by Fire one and a half year ago, and had since then grown quite close to Suam. She had gained her personal name Suam, which when translated into the Gue'vesa language meant "Flame", which was fitting to her, since she had a fiery passion for the heat of battle. Suam was the sniper of the group, and also was a former pathfinder, before her second Trial by Fire.

The most battle-hardened Fire Warrior of the squad was definitely Shas'Vre Vior'La Mont'yr. Mont'yr had fought in more battles than the rest of the squad combined, and was always on the front line; where as the rest of the squad had been held in reserve for most of their military careers. Mont'yr carried a Pulse Carbine with an underslung Photon Grenade launcher and added Markerlight, and also carried with him dual Pulse Pistols. Mont'yr had a fierce personality, was always the first to react, and always had a cool head in the heat of battle. Or'es Var had met no one in his ten and a half years of service quite like Mont'yr.

Shas'Vre Vior'La Cal Mont'da was probably the calmest Vior'La Fire Warrior Or'es Var had ever known. Despite the majority of Vior'La warriors being fierce and "hot blooded", Cal Mont'da was almost always cold, and Or'es Var had never heard of him getting angry once in his nine years of military service. He carried a Pulse Rifle with Markerlight and a single Pulse Pistol. However, he liked to carry HDE's, High Density Explosives, and carried them along with EMP Grenades.

Shas'Vre Vior'La Or'es Var himself carried a Pulse Rifle and dual Pulse Pistols. Also, after being given the personal name Var after his last Trial by Fire, Or'es Var had his armour fitted with compartments that housed retractable 10" chainblades on each arm. The two compartments were built onto each of his forearms, and the chainblades could be unsheathed separately and activated separately if Or'es Var thought it, as each of the compartments were hardwired. Or'es Var tended to keep his Pulse Carbine stowed on his back, and instead use his dual Pulse Pistols and chainblades up close and personal, although that wasn't to say he couldn't shoot properly. He was better than most Fire Warriors, and even a few pathfinders had been unable to beat him during ranged training back on the training grounds of Loch'rin on Vior'La. Or'es Var was the only Fire Warrior the rest of his squad had seen who preferred close quarters combat to ranged combat. He was by a few inches the tallest of the group, being 6 foot tall, Or'es Var towers over most Tau, and everyone in his squad, most being between 5"5 and 5"8.

Lastly, there was Shas'El Vior'La M'yen. After 14 years of military service, a Shas'El would be expected to be a mighty warrior, and never fail at his missions. However, M'yen was always encountering problems in his missions, and so was given the personal name M'yen, which meant "Unforeseen" in the Gue'vesa language. He carried a Pulse Rifle and Pulse Pistol, both EMP and Photon Grenades, which would be hand thrown, of course, as the Pulse Rifle was too large to have an underslung Photon Grenade launcher. Or'es Var didn't know a lot about the squad leader, only that he was a faith-blind fool, as the others in the squad called him behind his back. He was a good leader, but not a popular one: there was a major difference between the two.

Everyone in the squad all had a Blacksun Filter, Target Lock and Searchlight, all hardwired directly to their brains; all they had to do was think about activating it, and it would happen.

Or'es Var snapped back to his senses as the private loading dock was filled with a red flashing light. The squad comm channel was filled with chatter amongst Or'es Var's squad as they entered orbit. Or'es Var could hear the explosions and gunfire outside the Manta as the defending Imperial Forces shot at the invading Tau. Suddenly, M'yen's voice broke over the now-silent squad comm channel "I've just spoke to the pilot. He says the landing zone is too hot to land; we have to drop using the one-shot jet packs and clear the LZ so that more Manta Class Bomber's can land and drop off more Fire Warriors before we can properly establish a base here on Silva. We drop in five minutes. Make sure you have extra ammo and rations in your bags, we will need them once we land," Mont'yr paused, "For the Greater Good," Mont'yr finished with an attempt at a spirit-lifting comment.

"For the Greater Good, Shas'El," The rest of the squad replied in union.

Or'es Var checked his bag: three spare ammo clips for each Pulse Pistol and four for his Pulse Carbine, six ration packs, and one HGG - otherwise known as a Heat Generator Globe. He checked the ammo clips for each of his weapons, making sure they were at 100% charge, before putting them back into the weapon. He unsheathed his chainblades and activated them, just to make sure they were working: The usual weapons check before every mission, as the whole squad did with their respective weapons. As if it had been practiced over and over before, the whole squad unstrapped themselves from their harnesses and stood up as one, immediately taking hold of the hand grips hanging from the ceiling to stop them falling. With one hand, Or'es took the one-shot jet pack from a compartment in the wall, and was helped clasp it around his waist by Cal Mont'da, before helping him do the same thing. The whole squad did the same, Suam and Mont'yr helping each other, and Fio'Tak helping M'yen. Fio'Tak didn't need a one-shot jet pack, his XV25 Stealth Suit was equipped with a jet pack; he would be fine.

The one-shot jet packs were large and unwieldy thrusters that strapped round the waist and under the shoulders. Two thrusters were clamped tightly to the straps that were located on the wearer's back, which ignited when an activation pad linked to the thrusters was pressed. The thrusters were controlled by a drone AI intelligence, and the thrusters would activate and deactivate at certain intervals to ensure the wearer landed safely and slightly comfortably on the ground.

"Squad up," Mont'yr ordered over the comm channel, and the whole squad made their way into the centre of the loading dock, using grips on the ceiling to make their way there. "Weapon slings on shoulders, hands clasped, and wait for the hatches to open. On my signal, Or'es, you will activate Cal Mont'da's thrusters, and Cal Mont'da, you will do the same for Or'es. Fio'Tak, you will activate my thrusters, and at the same time activate your own. Suam, Mont'yr, you activate each other's thrusters. Once we're dropping, each of our thrusters' AI's should take us the same way, so just hold onto each other's hands, and don't let go till we hit ground. Confirm orders." M'yen ordered the rest of the squad.

For three seconds, confirmations from each of the squad were given perfectly one after the other. "Good. I'm going to activate the drop box, after it's sealed, begin carrying out my previous orders." M'yen finished, before moving his foot over to an empty space on the floor next to him, before pressing down lightly. He moved his foot back to its original position as a blue rectangle where his foot had just been lit up on the floor, and a large metal box quickly appeared out of the ceiling and lowered around the squad. A sharp hiss followed, signalling the air-tight clamps had sealed, and then the squad was fixed in darkness. "Searchlights on," M'yen said over the comm channel, before six rays of light pierced the darkness of the drop box. Or'es quickly shouldered his Pulse Carbine sling and took hold of Cal Mont'da's right hand with his left, trapping their activation pads linked to their thrusters in between their locked palms. He took a hold of a large gauntlet with his right hand, which he knew was Fio'Tak's Stealth Suit-covered hand, and felt the suit shimmer as Fio'Tak activated the suit's holographic disruption field.

He saw a line of light flash in front of his eyes from in front of him, which shook repeatedly, and he focused his eyes in the dark to see Suam's searchlight hitting his helmet: she wanted to speak. He switched to a pre-arranged channel Suam had made Fio'Tak create just for them 40 days ago. "You wanted to speak, Suam?" Or'es asked calmly.

"I just wanted to tell you something, just in case we don't make it through this. I-" She was cut off by Or'es.

"You worry too much. Just calm yourself. I promise everything will be fine," Or'es replied as coolly as possible to try and ease the nerves of his closest friend. He wasn't sure why, but before the past few missions, Suam had been extremely anxious about something. She hadn't been this way before she had asked Fio'Tak to create a separate channel just for them, it deeply puzzled Or'es, however he did not let this distract him during battle, nor did it seem to bother Suam when Or'es said it was going to be fine. Or'es and Suam quickly switched back to the squad channel, and upon returning, heard the voice of an irritated M'yen "Are you two lovers quite finished? I asked for confirmation ten seconds ago. One more instance like this, and I'll have Fio'Tak remove your private channel."

"Apologies, M'yen. Suam was just having some anxieties, I was merely calming her down. It will not happen again," Or'es explained. M'yen responded with a grunt of acknowledgement which Or'es knew M'yen was the only Tau to ever use that expression.

He's been spending too much time with those barbaric Gue'vesa we recruited last month, Or'es joked to himself as M'yen repeated his orders, "The pilot said he will open the hatches in one minute, although it's 30 seconds by now. I've linked a timer to each of your HUD's; we drop when that timer hits 0. As per orders, activate your given partner's thrusters. Lights out." M'yen finished, and once again the drop box was filled with darkness. Or'es watched as the timer hit 0, and suddenly the two hatches released their hold of each other below the squad like a pair of hands unclasping their fingers, and the whole squad began to fall through the wispy clouds above Silva. After ten seconds of free falling, M'yen shouted over the comm channel, "Now!"

At once, every member of the squads jet packs were ignited. Or'es began to feel his hand slipping from the grip of Fio'Tak's Stealth Suit, and turned to see Fio'Tak and M'yen falling as one, with Suam and Mont'yr falling together as well. He then realised he and Cal Mont'da were still grasping each other's hands.

The whole squad was falling apart.

The thrusters had sent each pair into different directions. The drop had gone horribly wrong. Even worse was the fact that Or'es felt himself begin to fall faster than he should, until he realised he could no longer feel the faint heat that he had felt from the thrusters before, and then it hit him. His thrusters had failed! Or'es swore repeatedly as the comm channel was filled with hasty orders and pleads of survival to Aun'o'T'au Acaya'Va'Denta, the Master of the Undying Spirit. Suddenly, he realised Cal Mont'da was screaming his name, "Or'es! Or'es! Hold on, you're thrusters have failed! Keep hold of my hand till we drop, it's going to be rough for you if we don't. We're almost on the ground!"

Or'es didn't reply; he didn't know what to say. He simply held Cal Mont'da's hand as hard as he could, which he was sure must be hurting the weaker Tau. He lessened his grip ever so lightly, and he heard a barely audible sigh of relief from Cal Mont'da. Looking down, Or'es saw that the Cal Mont'da's thrusters had obviously malfunctioned too, as they were supposed to direct them into a safe area, but instead they were dropping into a cluster of trees. Or'es felt his hand slipping as the heat from falling this far, and the warm humidity of the forest made his and Cal Mont'da's gauntlets moist. Suddenly, his body began to spin violently as his hand slipped from Mont'da's grip, and he began falling through the air, just before he crashed into the top of the trees...

Author's Note: Well, I'd like to say thanks for reading, and thanks to The Lone Hunter for helping me with this story. The next chapter will be up instantly.