M42
Blackstone Fortress
The fortress's halls stretched like the arteries of a dead god, endless and suffocating. Faint warp-light flickered through cracks in the ancient masonry. Reality thinned in places — walls shifting, gravity twisting unnaturally.
But through the gloom, the Battle Shinobi moved like phantoms.
Advance Team Alpha and Delta Team slipped through the fortress's under-veins and shadowed service conduits, adaptive cloaks rendering them near invisible.
Seiji's order was clear: reach Guilliman's chamber and neutralize any interference.
Now, an opportunity presented itself.
As the advance team HUDs flared.
Hundreds of faint signatures shimmered across their sensors — psychically active, moving nothing like human.
Graceful and nimble. Yet, acrobatic
Harlequins.
Wraithbone signals littered the corridors, scattered through multiple sectors of the fortress. Most were moving away to the primary cell chamber.
The advance teams moved cautiously, slipping from shadow to shadow, taking up strike positions around one of the nearest Eldar contacts — a lone Harlequin, momentarily isolated at a junction.
An opening.
Delta Team moved in to engage while Alpha provided backup.
Chunin Jordan, Delta's leader, ordered his team to fan out.
Kael, the team marksman, train his rail carbine on the alien's head. Optics locked. He would provide overwatch.
Karin, the melee specialist, moved in fast, undetected. Hidden in shadow, blade drawn, target in range.
"Target acquired," Jordan whispered, eyes narrowing behind his visor. He crouched beside Kael.
"Awaiting Jonin Seiji's mark."
They were confident — no alarm, no indication the Eldar sensed them. Cloaks held steady, gears muting any sound wave created by their movement.
The kill would be clean.
"Wait!" Karin barked over the inter-team comm, halting the others.
"What is it, Karin?" Jordan asked tensely, bracing for an ambush. Alpha Team readied themselves to intervene.
"Patching through my live feed," Karin answered.
Immediately, both teams saw what she saw.
The Harlequin was giggling.
A voice spoke in the gloom — a whisper in perfect Gothic, touched by a faint lilting accent.
"Save the Son… the storm must break… the Dance endures…"
The words hung in the thick air like a poison.
Kael stiffened. Jordan froze.
Without waiting for orders, Delta's leader issued a new command.
"Abort. Fall back."
The team melted into the shadows, retreating to a concealed alcove within the maintenance conduits.
"Command, this is Delta Lead," came the tight-band report. "Enemy Eldar not engaging. Detected spoken message — positive reference to aiding the Primarch and resisting Chaos. Requesting immediate orders."
The report hit Seiji's comms in moments.
"What the hell does that mean?" Bruno snapped. "It must be trick."
Naon frowned. "It fits their dossier. Harlequins intervene against Chaos when it suits them. They value preserving the flow of fate, not loyalty."
"It's a risk," Bruno growled. "We should purge them and finish this clean."
Seiji's expression darkened. "And if they're serious? If they mean to help Guilliman? We lose nothing making contact. If it's a trap — we're already in range to strike."
The debate escalated.
Each brings out their argument and counter argument.
Sharp words traded between Seiji, Naon and Bruno. Arguments of risk versus necessity.
Their guards could only look at each other. In the end, they decide not to interfere their commander's argument.
"Enough! This is getting us nowhere!"
Seeing that it is getting out of hand, Seiji raised a hand, silencing them.
Both Naon and Bruno look at Seiji argument at their tongue yet they didnt utter any further words.
"I invoke the authority granted to me as task force commander by lord Machinist to choose a direction of this mission." he said coldly. "This decision is mine."
The others stiffened, then nod.
Seiji keyed the comms channel.
"Delta Team, prepare for contact protocol. Decloak and approach them. Try to a non hostile approach. Alpha provides backup should the worst happens."
"Roger!" all advance team personel answer in unison.
Blackstone Fortress — Sublevel Crossway
Delta Team regrouped near a junction where flickering wraithbone signals shimmered faintly along the walls.
The Harlequins were there.
In front of him a half-circle of masked figures, some crouched, others standing in casual, ready stances.
Elegant, alien weapons shimmered in their grasp.
Kael sighed, stepping forward with both hands raised as he decloak.
"Why me? Couldn't Alpha handle the talking for once?" he grumbled softly.
Moving from the shadows, he appeared in plain view.
The Eldar turned toward him, heads tilting in curious unison.
"Friend. Friend."
He spoke in halting, heavily-accented Eldar, a phrase drilled into him during Shinobi training.
The lead Harlequin tilted its head — an eerie porcelain mask grinning in the gloom. A moment's tense silence followed.
Then, without a word, the Harlequins lowered their weapons.
A flickering holo-pict shimmered between them, depicting Guilliman chained in his cell.
A Harlequin voice spoke — high, musical, and faintly mocking.
"Threads entwine, little shadows. The Storm churns, yet the son must rise, lest the dance end in ruin. We would see the Weaver's shackle broken."
Understanding their intention, Kael keyed his comm.
"Command, contact achieved. Harlequins confirm mutual objective."
Seiji's voice came back steady.
"Acknowledge. We are forming temporary alliance. Proceed with joint extraction operation. Maintain high caution to our supposed ally."
The advance teams started to appear from the shadows.
Stopping at a respectful distance from the Harlequins.
Both shinobi and harlequins are silent predators.
Both are not friends.
Both are not allies.
But for now they share same hunt.