'That doesn't look good.' Words could not disguise the bitterness so prevalent in the tone.

Joshua paused in the task of digging a firing position and looked up in the direction of the speakers gaze.

A bright sun looked as though it was crashing towards the planets surface. Only it wasn't a sun, it wasn't crashing and even worse, it wasn't one of theirs.

The Damocles crusade had appeared to be going so well. A tough slog Joshua admitted in the dark of his mind, but one that at least was steadily advancing. Then suddenly reinforcements and re-supply had stopped. Without the re-supply of fuel and munitions, they had no option but to stop the advance, dig in and watch their food and ammunition reserves dwindle, The only saving grace, as far as Joshua was concerned, was the Tau's inability, or incompetence (Joshua wasn't sure which of the two was applicable) in counter-attacking against the Crusades sudden and grinding halt.

Then in a further astonishingly surprising and unexplained move, full retreat had been declared. The question on everyone's lips was 'why?'. No answer was forthcoming, only that the newly arriving supply ships were empty and were hastily filled up with puzzled Imperial troops, before departing from the Crusade.

One minute they were winning (albeit slowly), the next they were in full retreat. With no official explanation forthcoming, the troops created their own reasons, each new reason more disturbing and horrific than the last. In less time than it took to load a drop ship, the orderly withdrawal became a full fledged panicked rout.

Under the grip of panic and chaos, the Administratum lost track of vast amounts of equipment and the Guardsmen that went with it. Although they did not know it, this fate had befallen Joshua and the Guard Regiment he was part of. For several weeks now they had been waiting for orders that would never arrive.

Unbeknownst to them, they had watched the last of the Imperial ships depart and the first of the Tau ships to arrive.

For Joshua and the Hadien 12^th, the situation had dropped rapidly from bad to worse.

First to go was food then fuel. The Hadien 12^th found themselves stuck miles from anywhere. No food, no transport, no coms (If the coms were working, then no-one was answering) and running very low on ammunition. Each new dawn whittled their numbers down further as Guardsmen deserted in the night.

Joshua didn't blame them, nor did he wish to be in the boots of the non-coms. In a gesture more futile than constructive, Joshua thrust his shovel back into the rocky ground as his partner continued to stare at the landing Tau assault craft.

The Tau were not subtle in their advance, the battle-suits advancing across the open ground in an unbroken line, pristine battle-suits, blinking in the light, making a mockery of camouflage and concealment protocols, yet that was the Tau's intention. It was a show of force, of military superiority. A challenge to the beleaguered, starving Imperial forces to outgun them. The Imperial forces couldn't and the Tau knew it.

A single suit walked forward from the line and stopped as a loud hailer of some description crackled into life. The accent of the speaker and the slight wind made understanding the words difficult, but Joshua got the gist of it.

The speaker went on for some time before finally stopping. The guardsmen looked at each other.

'What the fuck was all that about?' Asked one gaunt trooper.

Joshua replied without removing his gaze from the Tau ambassador. 'I think he was asking us to "Surrender"'.

'Well, why the fuck didn't he just say that instead of rambling on for an age?'

Joshua shrugged. 'It's the nature of bureaucrats to pontificate. And anyway, it's not as if we are going anywhere.'

The silence dragged on, until finally, a single las-shot blazed across the open space. The shot impacted into the Tau's armour in an impressive burst of light and energy spray. The Tau rocked back briefly under the impact before the suits helmet looked down at the impact point.

Even from his position, Joshua could see no damage had been caused except a marring to the suits paint job. The Tau looked back up at the Guardsmen shaking its head, which even under all the armour, still managed to convey a sense of sorrow at the hostile action. It paused for a moment as if it was expecting something, then turned and headed back to its brethren.

'Right then. I take it this is where we all well and truly get our arses removed and shoved down our throats.'

The Tau emissary reached its own lines and carried on through without a backward glance. The massed suits of armour readied themselves.

Joshua, not known for his patience, pulled the trigger of his las-rifle. The rest of the squad followed suit. For all the damage their shots were doing, they might as well have been shooting at a Land-raider.

The Tau reply was not long in coming and unlike the Guardsmen; it was not futile in effect.

In the last moments, Joshua succumbed to instinct and ducked to the floor of the trench as the Tau barrage impacted.

For a brief moment, Joshua's life contained nothing but light and noise, but the moment was brief as darkness consumed all.

Joshua lay on a sunny hillside, the sun beaming down onto his face. The coarse blades of grass tickled the back of his thighs as something buzzed amongst the flowers.

'What are you thinking?'

'I'm thinking about us.' Joshua turned and slipped an arm under his girlfriend and pulled her closer to him. She snuggled in closer willingly.

'The grass tickles.'

Joshua placed a hand onto her bare thigh and slipped it under the hem of her sundress. 'As much as me?' He teased.

She laughed. 'No-where near as bad, but it feels good.'

'As good as me?' Joshua placed a tender kiss upon her cheek.

She laughed coyly. 'Definitely no-where near as good.'

He moved his lips onto hers, brushing them together gently. 'That's good; I'd hate to be outdone by something so small and delicate.'

'Oh you're not most assuredly not small or delicate.' Her lips parted and he slipped his tongue inside as his hand stroked the inside of her thigh. She moved her legs further apart, inviting him to caress higher up her leg. Her own hands slipped around his back as he moved his body over onto hers, pushing her into the soft ground with his weight.

Their kisses became more passionate as their breathing sped up, their pulses becoming rapid, urgent.

He rested his body against hers, one hand slowly working its way up her inner thigh until it hit the edge of her pants. His other hand massaged the outside edge of her breast. With his weight pushing against her diaphragm she struggled to draw breath, his mass trapping her against the ground, her growing asphyxiation, sense of helplessness and his domination fuelling her desire.

His hand reached the junction between her legs, palm pushing against the folds of flesh through her delicate underwear, the fine fabric quickly dampening under his touch. Finding the lacy edge with his fingertips, he slipped under the elastic, heading towards the source of the rapidly expanding moisture.

He slid his fingertips over the small ridge of flesh into the damp valley inside. She groaned and moved her hands feverishly from his back, borrowing her hands between their bodies in search of his belt buckle. Her fingers had none of the teasing dexterity he possessed and she failed to release his buckle. She growled in frustration.

Joshua removed the hand from between her thighs to release his belt buckle.

She squirmed beneath him as she felt his hand leave her sex. 'Hurry!' She partly pleaded, partly demanded.

There was a metallic 'clink' as the buckle released, with the aid of his frantic girlfriend, Joshua quickly pulled his trousers and pants down to his knees, releasing his hardness into the summer air.

'Hurry!' She pleaded/ demanded again.

Joshua lowered his hips and positioned himself at her silken entrance, he pulled the soaked lace of her pants to the side and tensed his muscles in preparation for the invading thrust.

At which point some insect stung him on his exposed butt check.

'Urrgghh!' The beautiful, idyllic sunny day wavered and disappeared, as Joshua felt his head solidify and thought become hard. The feel of grass, loam and supple flesh disappeared to be replaced by smooth, cool resistance. The bright sunlight was still there, only it seemed to become brighter and harsher.

He blinked and tried to focus his eyes. Something beeped steadily beside his head. His limbs felt laden and unresponsive. The sky slowly came into focus, except it was closer than it should be and not open air as expected. Sterile light lanced into his corneas, the smell of flowers and summer meadow became harsh, sterile, with antiseptic overtones.

Joshua winced as the light speared into his brain, sending jolts of pain throughout his body.

His throat was parched, sore and phlegm lined the walls, making breathing difficult. He coughed, wincing as his ribs protested. A large lump of mucus broke free, clogging his windpipe, which caused him to choke and cough more.

'Ah-ha!' There was a click as a pencil was laid down. 'You have finally seen fit to join us in the land of the living then?' The speaker picked up the freshly expended syringe and dropped it in the bin marked for medical waste disposal.

Mouth full of mucus, Joshua rolled over onto his side with extreme difficulty. A metal dish appeared under his mouth and he gratefully spat the sticky morass into its shiny embrace. A hand holding a tissue wiped his mouth.

'Thank you.' His voice was hoarse and it pained him to speak, but he was thankful for the small kindness.

The metal dish was removed and Joshua turned his gaze back to the room and its contents now that his eyes were finally managing to focus on objects. Rows of machines slowly blinked and beeped beside other beds, their occupants hidden by both white sheet and tubes linked to the machines.

Joshua tried his voice again. 'How long was I out?'

The male figure dressed in medical robes, picked up chart close to Joshua's bed and flicked through the pages. 'Just under eight weeks.'

'Eight fuckin' weeks!'

'Just under'

'As if a few days are going to make a difference. Where am I?'

The medical orderly looked up from Joshua's medical notes. Joshua studied the orderly, his eyes finally starting to properly focus. The first thing that caught his attention was the medic's humanity. All the medics whose company he had ended up in previously had seemed more mechanical than human. The surgery was also cleaner than he was used to. A lot cleaner.

'Fi'rios.'

'That's a Tau held planet.'

'Well, at least we now know your brain still works at least.'

Joshua stared at the medic blankly. 'You're fuckin' kidding me, right?'

'Nope, welcome to the greater good.'

Joshua's world collapsed faster than his dream. Thinking back to his dream, he was surprised that he could still feel the insect sting. He slid a hand down to massage the sore buttock. The medic noticed the movement.

'Don't worry.' The medic nodded in the direction of the medical waste bucket. 'It was only a booster shot, the pain should subside shortly.' The medic picked up his pencil again and carried on filling out paperwork.

A door hissed open at the end of the ward. Joshua tilted his head in the doors direction and felt his world collapse further as a Tau entered. The new arrival spared Joshua only a cursory glance before quietly speaking to the human medic. The two conferred for a moment, their voices just low enough to be beyond overhearing. The human medic finally nodded then looked at Joshua.

'Try and get some rest. You'll heal faster.'

Joshua watched the two medics leave the ward, the door hissing quietly shut behind them. He stared at the door flummoxed.

'Get some rest? What the hell do you think I have been doing for the past eight bastard weeks?'

The door did not reply.

Joshua turned his gaze back to the ceiling and stared at the light and sighed.

'Fuck!'

Less than two standard Earth minutes later, he was fast asleep.

The socket slipped unexpectedly, jumping off the nut. The sockets handle, with all Joshua's strength, smacked into the fuel tank, bashing every knuckle on his hand. The socket slipped from his numbed fingers to land on his chest, cracking against a rib.

'FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK.' Joshua slipped from under the tractor and kicked one of its tyres in futile anger. He rubbed his bruised chest with the heel of his un-hurt hand as he stared forlornly at his skinned knuckles. 'Bastard!' He kicked the tractor again.

Joshua looked around the workshop for something else to hit as he waited for the pain to subside. He was the only one in the garage at the moment, for which he was duly thankful.

As soon as was able, Joshua had been kicked out of the medical facility. He had been expecting to be moved too some prisoner of war camp, but they had surprised him yet again by sending him too some small village in the arse end of nowhere. Thinking it was some sort of joke, he had asked his escort what was to stop him escaping. They had just looked at him blankly and simply replied, 'Where too?'

And there lay his problem. In a sea of blue skin, the pink of human flesh stood out like, well, a human. There were presently no other humans in the settlement, and Joshua found himself feeling very lonely indeed.

It wasn't as if the Tau treated him unfairly, or harshly, they just treated him indifferently. Within hours of arriving at the small village, he was given a small hut and a job. In fact he had been given several successive jobs until the Tau finally found something he could do. He had thought it a bit impolite, given the circumstances, to point out that he was fairly competent in killing Tau.

Although he had proven proficient in operating farm machinery, they had temporally taken him from that job after he had got bored ploughing a field and decided to plough a very large rendition of human male anatomy instead. He thought it was a very good effort, but none of the Tau saw the funny side.

After the impromptu biological plough art, they had put him on maintenance. It was fairly straight forward. Tau machinery was stupidly easy to repair and maintain and he had since discovered that if he was under a machine, banged a wrench on something every now and then and swore a lot, they left him alone.

It was, he had to admit, the most bizarre situation he had ever found himself in. They were supposed to be at war with each other for the eternal Emperors sake.

Joshua's ire was tempered by three meals a day, a comfortable bed and a proper roof over his head for when it rained. The fact that nobody was actively trying to kill him was also a major tempering factor. If he had some other humans to speak too, he would have considered the situation comfortable. He would have spoken to the Tau to relieve the boredom, but he couldn't speak Tau and most of the Tau could not speak Imperial. It made for long days.

Joshua looked at his watch and decided he'd had enough. He gave the tractor an evil look and packed his tools away. As he shut the workshops door, he wondered what was for dinner. The Tau didn't half serve up some strange looking stuff and claim it as being edible.

Stopping off at his hut, Joshua changed into some cleaner looking clothes and bandaged his skinned knuckles.

Meals were a communal affair that Joshua wondered if deliberate, part of the Tau's scheme for the 'Greater Good'. He was used to a communal way of life in the Imperial Guard, but to experience it outside of the military felt strange. He was used to the differentiation between 'military' and 'civilian', or in the case of the Imperium of man 'fighting' and not 'fighting'.

As usual, the meal was every colour under the rainbow and as usual, at least managed to smell appetising even if it did not look it.

The Tau serving, placed more food on Joshua's plate than those carried by the Tau. It was one of the first things he had noticed about them. They seemed to have slower metabolisms and existed happily enough on a reduced food input than compared to a human. Joshua resembled a voracious locust in comparison. He wasn't putting any weight on, and had even managed to loose some. It appeared that his body needed a lot of Tau foodstuff just to get by.

He sat down at his usual spot away from the other dinners, so it was a surprise when a tray was placed opposite his on the table. No one ever sat with him, unless it was another human visiting or making deliveries. Somewhat taken aback, he glanced up at the Tau that was in the process of seating itself.

'Hi.'

Joshua had never really got to grips with the Tau language. He knew the basic rudiments, but he had never been that great with languages.

'You don't mind?' The Tau carried on speaking in the silent air of Joshua's surprise.

'Umm, no, sorry. You caught me by surprise. Away with the fairies and all that.'

'What are "fairies"?'

Joshua paused to try and think of a Tau equivalent and failed miserably. 'It's a figure of speech, don't worry about it.'

'Okay.'

He studied her for a moment, for he had just noticed that the Tau was indeed, female.

'What?' She asked.

Joshua realised he had been blatantly staring. 'I'm sorry, for all the time I have, err, been here, I still haven't got used to the blue. Damn! Sorry that didn't sound very nice, apologies.'

She looked at him as she slipped some food into her mouth. She swallowed before replying. 'I feel the same way about all that pink, and what is with that hill sticking out of your face?'

Joshua was momentarily floored before he smiled and dipped his head. 'Touché'

'Touché?'

'It's, umm, a word in place of "excellent counter attack"'

'Okay. But does it not get in the way?'

'What does?'

'You know, the... ' She circled a fingertip in the centre of her face.

'Nose.' Supplied Joshua helpfully.

The female Tau mouthed the word as though trying it out. 'Does your "nose" not impede your vision?'

'No, it's not really in the sight picture. I dare say that if someone was to cut it off and ram it into my eyeball, then that might be a different matter.'

She stared horrified at him for a moment. 'You make, ah, comment of humorous nature?'

Joshua smiled, 'Jest? Yes, just a little bit.'

'It suits you.'

My nose? I dare say it does.'

'No young Kroot, the smile.'

'"Young kroot"?'

She opened her mouth to reply but struggled to find the Imperial equivalent of what she wanted to say. Another awkward silence descended. Joshua tried to cover for it by loading a spoonful of food into his mouth. It was also a desperate attempt on his part to turn his gaze away from the slit in the Taus face that would have been a nose on a human. All he succeeded in doing was turning his gaze to her hands and her fingers. All four of them.

The Tau followed his gaze and looked back at his own hands with their attendant eight fingers.

'Why have you so many digits?'

'Fingers? I don't know. We are just born with them, something to do with evolution or something.'

'What is "evolution"?'

'It is a term we use to describe changes our bodies make to adapt to our environment. Environment by the way, is the surroundings' He waved his arm around to encompass the eating hall 'in which we live.'

'So you will turn blue?'

Joshua laughed aloud, drawing the attention of the other dinners. 'No. I think. It's a process that occurs over thousands of years.'

'Oh! I see'

'What's with all the questions?'

'You fabricate me.'

Joshua paused, mouth open spoon half raised.

'What? Have I insulted you?' The Tau looked mortified.

Closing his mouth, Joshua laid his spoon back onto his plate, his mind racing till a word clicked into place.

'Fascinate? I fascinate you?'

'Fascinate. What say I?'

'"Fabricate". It's all right, it's not offensive, it means "to make"'

It was her turn to laugh, a rather pleasing 'chirup'.

'You "make" me!" She laughed again as she repeated her earlier phrase with the correct word. 'You fascinate me.'

'Oh thanks' Joshua smiled dryly at her, but quickly realised she did not understand the irony of his statement.

'I... ' The Tau paused with an expression and posture Joshua interpreted as embarrassed, 'make pictures. Can I make picture of you?'

Several images that were so wrong on all levels sprung into his mind. Joshua hastily dismissed them.

'I take it, that you mean that figuratively.'

'What is "figuratively"?

Joshua sighed and placed his spoon onto his dish. It looked as though it was going to be a long dinner.

Joshua lowered the equipment, the blades digging into the soil. Only part of his mind was on the task at hand, the rest dwelled over the strange Tau and the equally strange lunch. He had eventually sussed out that she was the Tau equivalent of 'artist' and simply wanted to paint his picture.

Not quite as macabre as he had first thought when images of his dismembered body arranged into bloody shapes had sprung to mind. Joshua realised he was veering off the line and wrenched the tractor back into the furrow. He looked in the rear mirror and saw the furrow trailing from the back of the tractor take a meandering path away from the rest of the orderly tilled lines of soil. The image of his last ploughing escapade sprang to mind. No doubt they would think he was making pictures again and ban him from ploughing for a while again. He shrugged.

'Oh well, shit happens.' His thoughts drifted back to the female Tau- who he later found out was called Fio'La Elsy'ier Fiath and something else he did not quite catch, but apparently was happy enough with just being called Fiath- and her unexpected request for permission to paint his image. His question of 'Why?' had elicited the response of "Because you different." For which he had no reply.

Dragging his attention back to the task at hand, Joshua discovered he had veered again. The field he was supposed to be neatly ploughing looked a mess. Knocking the gearbox into neutral, he leaned back in the seat and looked despondently out the window.

Chasing something around his plate that suspiciously looked like it was supposed to be a pea, except that it was yellow with black stripes. Joshua reckoned it should have been flying through the air going "Bzzzzz" rather than languishing patiently on his plate, waiting to be eaten. A shadow dropped across his plate of meal stuff that could well have been insects in a previous life.

The Tau, Fiath was back. Confused emotions warred within him. Part of him was glad of the company, the xenophobic part wanted to grab a las-rifle from somewhere and blow the back of her head across the dinning hall.

His violent desire shocked and humbled him. He had changed a lot during his convalescence and he liked to think he had become a better person, leaving his psychotic warmongering past behind.

She beamed her usual, innocently bright smile at him and he felt the edges of his mouth curl up in response.

'Are you still going to, how did you say, "sit" for me later?'

He sighed dramatically. 'Yessss, if it will give me some peace.'

'Yayyy!' Fiath was almost bouncing with enthusiasm.

Joshua sunk his head into his hands. 'Oh dear. What have I got myself into?'

Her expression changed to what he understood as being a hurt pout. He winked at her.

'Just pulling your, err, hoof.'

'You make fun of me again! That's not nice.' Her expression changed to sadness. The change did something to her eyes that Joshua found strangely appealing. It gave her a slightly vulnerable look and he found himself wanting to slip an arm around her shoulders and hug her close. The desire to hug her in comfort disturbed and appealed to him in equal measure. Unsettled with strong emotions, he finished his meal, made his excuses and left with haste that he knew was unseemly even as he was rushing out.

For the umpteenth time, Joshua checked his watch and looked back into the mirror. His blood was pounding through his body as though he was some spotty teen about to go on his first date.

'Jeez! Get a grip will you!' He adjusted a jacket that did not need adjusting. The watch was checked again before he turned and headed for the door.

The village was laid out simply, with little motorised traffic passing through the streets. A few Tau were out and about, but they ignored Joshua and he replied in kind. He approached the small abode and knocked on the door. After a brief pause, the door was wrenched open.

'You came!'

'There is no need to sound so surprised.'

'Sorry, I thought... '

'Yes?'

'Nothing. Enter, please.'

She stepped back and headed further back inside. Joshua entered, shutting the door behind.

Fiath led him into an open, well lit room, of which almost every available inch of wall had a painting against it. Apart from the paintings, the only other furniture consisted of two comfortable looking chairs, one of which had an easel set up in front. Joshua headed towards and sat, in the easel free chair.

Standing still, Fiath stared at him, seemingly having no intention of sitting herself. It was making him uncomfortable.

'Are you going to sit or are you going to stand there like a statue?'

'I'm just so excited so!'

'You don't say.'

'You making fun of me again!'

'Uh-huh'

'You cruel!'

'Again, uh-huh.'

Fiath desperately looked around. Joshua saw a cushion close by and tossed it to her, 'There you go.'

She yelled and threw the cushion at him. He let it bounce off his chest and fall to the floor.

'Feel better?' he asked.

Fiath lowered her voice as low and gruff as she could make it. 'Uh-huh.' She mimicked.

He picked up the cushion and lightly tossed it back 'Good, have another go.' Fiath caught the cushion as he turned his head, pointing to his cheek, making no attempt to defend himself.

The cushion was sent on its way with another yell. Joshua watched as it sailed past. He turned back to Fiath.

'Oh for the love of the greater good! How did you miss at that range?'

'It was deliberate.' Fiaths pout was back.

'Uh-huh.' An old tale from his childhood about a wooden boy called Pinochoo and his nose sprung to Joshua's minds fore. He glanced at Fiaths almost flat face and decided that under the circumstances, it was best to leave the memory in his youth.

'Uh-huh' Mimicked Fiath.

Joshua smiled, genuinely relaxed and amused for the first time in several months.

Fiath was nonplussed. 'Now you laughing at me.'

They both spoke at the same time.

'Uh-huh'

'Anyway, ' Carried on Joshua 'moving swiftly on, aren't you supposed to be painting my picture.'

'Oh no! This more fun!'

'Fun? You need to get out more. Don't answer that.'

Fiath looked as though she was about to speak, but opened her paint set instead.

'So, how do you want me? That sounds so wrong! I meant, any particular position, sitting? Standing?'

'Just sit as you are. How you say ... comfigly?'

'Comfortably? I can manage that.' Joshua slumped in the chair.

Joshua had never posed for a picture before. As an infantry soldier in the Imperial Guard, he tended to avoid sitting still for to long as it tended to result in either getting shot, or some senior rank thinking you were bored and wanted some monotonous and meaningless job in which to fill your time.

It was quiet in the room; the only audible sounds were his breathing and the scratch of brush against paper. The chair was comfier than it looked and had he been on his own, he would have indulged in a sly kip. Instead, he studied the pictures decorating the walls. Fiath had talent, Joshua gave her that. There was a variety of methods on display, some were painted, the ridges of brush strokes and the layers of paint clearly visible, others were of ink, and there were a few slightly out of focus pieces that looked as though some form of coloured graphite had been used.

Joshua was not a great lover of art, but he would happily have some of the pieces on display hung on his own walls. As he studied the pictures, he was acutely aware of being studied in turn. He could not bring himself to glance in her direction and started to question the prudence of the whole venture. His gaze continued to ravel around the rooms walls.

The displayed artwork was split between country landscapes and Tau portraits. One of the paintings was of a scantily clad female Tau, and as much as he tried to avoid it, his gaze kept gravitating back to the disturbingly pleasing curves the model displayed.

The pallor of Tau skin, off putting at first, no longer revolted him. Likewise, the twittering sound of Tau speech no longer had the same effect as finger nails down a blackboard.