Under the crippling, lightning advance of the Tau, the Imperial Guard had adopted a policy of demolishing cities that would be too costly to defend, thereby meaning any ground the Tau gained was a wasteland.

Shi Ukos was leading his team of Shas'la through one such wasteland; the ruins of a city once known as Thanyos. No building was left standing, and bodies were strew everywhere, none alive. The bombing had been recent. Craters were still smoking and fires were scattered throughout the rubble. The Firewarriors had grown used to sights such as these. Shi Ukos presumed it was the humans take on the Greater Good, their own way of trying to defend their empire against all odds. But it was not as the Tau would have done. Instead of bombing their own civilians, they would have armed them. Even if every one was slaughtered in combat, it would have been a more honorable death that this.

Then the team heard a sound. As one they turned and raised their rifles. The gun drone zoomed to the source of the noise, and stopped. It didn't fire. It was a noise Shi Ukos hadn't heard before. He advanced cautiously. He came up to a bundle of rags. They moved. Slowly, never letting the barrel of his rifle leave the rags, he leant down, and opened them. Inside was a human child.

It was alive.

It must have survived the bombing. Without knowing why, Shi Ukos knelt by the child, and gently picked it up, brushing ash and blood from its crying face. As he stared into its eyes, a shot rang loudly through the air. Vior'la J'Kaara fell with a grunt as the las shot ripped through his shoulder. There was a stretched silence. Then immediately, the sounds of battle.

The Guardsmen jumped to their ambush, piling fire down onto the unsuspecting but well trained warriors. They managed to kill three humans before the first firewarrior died. Tsua'm Fio, on his first mission. But the odds were against them. Shi Ukos, however, was not fighting. The moment the first shot had dropped his firewarrior, who was now being dragged to safety, Shi Ukos had ran for cover, shielding the child.

Now, as las fire shot past him, and screams, shots and explosions filled the air, the child stopped crying. It opened its eyes, and saw Shi Ukos looking down at it. A small, shaking hand raised up and grabbed his helmet.

If they made it out alive, by the Etherals, Shi Ukos would turn this child into a great firewarrior. He could see it in its eyes. It was the Greater Good.

---

Ah, well that was fun. I'd planned on writing a brief overview of the story behind the pic, but I didn't realise I'd go into that much detail. Kind of got carried away. And yes, I made that up as I went along. It wasn't pre written or anything. All written in the comment box. Cause that's how cool I am.

Pretty proud of this, but... yeah. It's pretty crap.
Oh, and the names all mean something;

Shi Ukos - Victory Spoon
Vior'la J'Kaara - Hot Blooded Mirror
Tsua'm Fio - Middle Earth

Yeah, I'm nerdy. What of it?