"Ah-. Thank you, but I should not. I have allowed my physical conditioning to weaken. My seniors were unimpressed by my skill with the blade."
He scents something and then looks straight at Tsua'm, noting her distress at seeing a visibly ailing Aun. Next to her Kais is looking a little sympathetic, but he's been worked to exhaustion during both training and field assignments too often to worry about Bo'ohk being a bit banged up.
After all, he's been in far
worse shape in his day in the limelight.
"Be at peace, Envoy. This was a necessary test of my beliefs and resolve. And since no other Ethereals are assigned to our group, it is helpful for my seniors to review my actions at times like this."
"Huh." I frown. "We don't really have a hand-to-hand specialist for you to train with."
Not for any measure of
training, anyway. The Fire caste would be a bit too... Rough and ready for him...
Gremlin grins toothily. "I could have a go, boss. Build yah a real noice tinboy ta scrap with. Learn yah real good, it would."
"Thank you, Grem'len, but I have too many uses for my arms."
...P'Aul could grow them
back, you know. Surely he's got
that much practice with his Ring by now.
Kais draws himself up slightly. "We would welcome your participation during our training, Prince Bo'ohk."
"I thank you for your kind offer, Shas'Ui, but I think that I will focus on physical conditioning first. While I suspect that your team would be a little more gentle than the blade masters of the T'au Aun'ar'tol, at my current skill level it would only be a difference of slight degrees."
...And he'd rather not
embarrass himself in front of the career soldiers, eh?
I hold out the ring slightly.
"Do you want me to fix you up?"
After all, you are one of
his, and he likes to keep
his things friends in good shape.
"No. These wounds are mine to bear. Ah. Perhaps that bench?"
Tucked away on the grounds of the temple are a number of small gardens set aside for contemplation. Or… Perhaps so that young Ethereals can be assigned to care for them as punishment duty. Tall bushes give the illusion of privacy, richly scented plants calm the visiting tau-
...Both?
Both.
Both is good. After all, finding
productive use of the young's time is the duty of the elders.
Gremlin wrinkles his nose.
"Bit wiffy, innit?"
-but don't necessarily have that affect on aliens, and wind chimes add to the air of peace. I hover as Bo'ohk leads us through the entrance and then over to the stone-wrought bench, where he gingerly sits down.
No sense of romance, that one. Comes from Orkoids being asexual...
Kais takes up position just inside the entrance, out of sight from external observers. Tsua'm drops into a cross-legged position on the ground in front of Bo'ohk, and I can't help but wince slightly when I try following where she's folding her legs. With the robes she normally wears it's easy to forget that her ankle is a sort of second backwards knee. I sit down next to her, mirroring her posture, while Gremlin wonders over to sniff a flower, watching Bo'ohk out of the corner of one eye.
Such is the nature of ungulate leg structures. Probably more comfortable than
seiza, too.
Bo'ohk opens his mouth to speak.
"Ow."
Heh. Loosening up a little in private, eh? Guess that shows how comfortable he is with them.
The way he immediately makes eye contact with me indicates that he meant it as a joke, which is good because otherwise I'd feel bad about chuckling. Tsua'm also relaxes a little, though seeing Bo'ohk battered is clearly not something she's comfortable with.
"I have spoken with the T'au Aun'ar'tol, and while they are clearly of the opinion that I would benefit from more oversight, they accept the utility of our research group and the substantial benefit of our actions."
In other words: 'We're not
entirely convinced yet. Keep up the good work, but
don't screw this up.'
I nod. "So..?"
"So we do not need to fear being turned into soylent caerulus. Tsau'm, the T'au Por'ar'tol wish to speak to you at length concerning your viewpoint on humans. It will not be adversarial; they believe that your interractions at close quarters for a prolonged period of time with P'ol may have given you an insight that others lack."
...Caerulus? Imperial for...
Blue?
Ha! Though... They
do realise P'Aul is not your typical human of this era?
"I.. have.. not learned anything worthy of changing the Empire's entire policy."
"No, but you have learned a great deal that will help future generations of the Water Caste improve their interpersonal dealing with humans. There is a much lower threshold for changing training methods than there is rewriting our entire diplomatic relationship with the Imperium of Man."
Ah... Because P'Aul is less
adversarial with them, he's easier to use to learn how to manage
other humans.
Tsua'm's legs twitch as they instinctively try to adopt a mildly submissive posture, but her face is… Relieved?
I look away from her.
Yeah, I don't think she's going to
enjoy this, no matter how polite things are.
"Could make for very interesting lessons if they start teaching classes about-."
Ah!
Careful, P'Aul. Never seen a horse kick someone? Ungulates...
Turns out that that shifted ankle makes tau mean kickers, even if their aim isn't that good. I smile at her as I rub the impact site on my left thigh.
...Have very
powerful legs.
"Kais, Shas'O Eur'tus will speak with you regarding the treatment of those suffering from war madness."
"I stand ready to assist."
Given he went through it and came out the other side
mostly fine, albeit with a little
poke to snap him out of his funk...
"It is likely that the discussion will also involve her asking for advice on integrating those of the Fires Caste who struggle to master conventional doctrines into units in the field."
"She wants to know how to best use other Fire Warriors who think like me?"
Heh. Quite the
irregular unit forming, then?
"I suspect that the result will be several of those considered to be problematic joining our mission."
"The wisdom of the Shas'O is beyond reproach."
A regular dirty dozen, eh? A
Bad Company, perhaps...
I wiggle my right forefinger at him. "Come on, Kais, this isn't the Imperium. No one's wisdom is beyond reproach, for we are all imperfect being in the service of the Greater Good."
"Very well. It is beyond my reproach, being much greater than mine."
...Though if you happen to think, say, that they're
REMFs who haven't seen the
sharp edge of a battlefield in far too long, best keep it to yourself?
"P'ol, it…" Bo'ohk appears to ponder how to put something. "While what you just said is correct and orthodox… It is generally considered impolite to call Aun'Va an imperfect being to his face."
"Aun'Va wants to talk to me in person?"
...The old tau's heart
is in good shape, I hope? And his
temper?
"I am to present you to the T'au Aun'chiagor in three days."
That's… The senior most leaders of the five castes on T'au. Aun'Va will just be chairing the meeting, while the other four ask me…
The grand high muckity-mucks. The big cheeses. The grand council of poobahs. They must really be
curious, then.
"What do they..? Want to know?"
"To ascertain whether you are being utilised as effectively as you could be. With your strategic manoeuvrability being so much greater than that of our fastest ships, there are roles other than slow expansion and investigation which you could serve in. I believe that they also want to… Get a feel for your character. You are, after all, quite unusual."
Though I doubt they'd rely
solely on him for, say, hauling colonisation fleets at FTL in realspace... He's not really much of a military superweapon, after all, for all the power of his Ring.
"Isn't that unusual..?" I look around, but I suppose it's not like anyone here has been up before the T'au Aun'chiagor before. Bo'ohk and I were interviewed by the Lar'shi Aun'chiagor a grand total of once, when they needed to hear out team concept because that cut across normal caste organisational lines. Tsua'm pats my leg with her right hand while Kais just looks blank. "I thought that was the body which coordinated between castes, and they'd just… Assign interviewing me to someone and then discuss the result."
I suspect nothing about
anything you've been involved in has been
conventional, P'Aul...
"It is not my place to speak for Aun'Va… But if I had to guess, it is because they wish to look you in the eyes. To confirm some of the strange things that our reports have relayed for themselves. And because much of what you might say impacts so many areas of life in the Tau Empire."
"Have any humans been questioned like this before?"
And how many
guns will be pointed at him, given the fact that his Ring means he's never unarmed? Seriously, a Ring-slinger would be one hell of an
assassin.
"No."
"Tsua'm, would you mind showing me to a tau tailor?"
You're assuming showing up in formal, if
humble, robes won't offend them?
Or are you counting on the gesture to impress your dedication to the Greater Good and break the ice?
She nods. "I will ensure that you are fully prepared."
"And…" Bo'ohk half-turns. "Grem'len. Por'O Choan'ah wishes to speak with you at your earliest convenience concerning ork behaviour. It seems that we were unduly concerned about your reception."
...How anti-climactic. Hooray for rational leadership?
"That's a relief, boss. But what about Faultless Boy?"
"They gave no indication. I suspect that they wish to assess the rest of us before even beginning to address that matter."
...And probably digest the fact that this team found a newly-formed daemon that seems oddly orderly and compassionate. At least towards Humans.
