Chapter 9
The Tau Empire sat just a stone's throw from the Ultramar Segmentum—so close, in fact, that faster-than-light travel wasn't even necessary to reach it.
Just as the system warned, within two days, a Tau fleet slipped into the star system that now held Godzilla's planet.
It was a small fleet.
A handful of Merchant-class cruisers flanked by several gunboats—more of a commercial convoy than a military task force. Had they stumbled into the Tyranid swarm that had ravaged this region days ago, they'd have been devoured within minutes.
Merchant-class cruisers were lightly armed trade ships, not war vessels. This wasn't a military expedition—it was a diplomatic one.
As expected, the fleet's commander was a Water Caste Tau—an elegant female diplomat whose posture and tone spoke volumes about her role.
The Tau society was a rigid caste system. There were five castes, with the rare and mysterious Ethereals at the top.
No one really knew why, but Ethereals could command absolute loyalty from all other Tau. Whether it was due to subtle psychic manipulation or something deeper in the warp, even the writers at GW had never given a full explanation.
All Tau, no matter their role or temperament, felt a deep compulsion to obey an Ethereal. Thus, the Ethereals ruled.
But they were rare. The day-to-day empire was run by the Four Castes—Earth, Fire, Air, and Water.
Earth Caste built things. Fire Caste fought. Air Caste piloted the ships and aircraft. And Water Caste? They talked. Merchants, linguists, diplomats—they were the voice of the Tau.
"The Greater Good... what *happened* here?"
Commander Aurora stared in stunned silence as her ship coasted into orbit.
The space around the planet was a graveyard. Shattered Tyranid bio-ships drifted among the stars, tangled with the mangled hulls of Imperial Navy warships.
The battlefield was still fresh, the scars of destruction raw and lingering.
"Commander," said a bridge officer. "We've detected debris consistent with Imperial fleet signatures. Based on the wreckage pattern... it looks like the Imperium fought a brutal battle with an unknown xenos force."
"I can *see* that," Aurora muttered, narrowing her eyes.
The Tau hadn't yet encountered the Tyranids on this scale. Even the Imperium's knowledge of them was recent and limited.
To Aurora, this looked like madness—how had the arrogant humans been *beaten* this badly? She even spotted what looked like the remains of a battleship among the debris.
But then something else caught their attention.
A planet.
A livable one.
It was beautiful—thick green jungles, sparkling rivers, and a moist, oceanic atmosphere. The Tau, descendants of aquatic life, instinctively felt drawn to such environments.
"Praise the Greater Good... it seems our journey was not in vain," Aurora whispered.
"Prepare for landing. We're claiming that world."
The Tau Empire, still young in galactic terms, was always hungry for expansion. A lush, habitable planet like this was a rare prize. Even the forces of Chaos would scramble to corrupt it if they learned of its existence.
The fleet broke orbit and began descending through the atmosphere.
Soon, what the Imperium called "Planet Godzilla" would be known by the Tau under the same name—Godzilla, only this time spoken with reverence and curiosity instead of fear.
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Far below, deep within the heart of the rainforest...
A towering stone temple rose from the jungle, half-swallowed by vines and foliage. It resembled a Mesoamerican pyramid, its heavy stones weathered by time and cloaked in moss.
The air was thick with the scent of incense, wet leaves, and ancient stone. Sunlight filtered through the trees and danced on a pool near the temple's base.
All around the temple stood altars, their surfaces crowded with ceremonial offerings—carved bones, glimmering stones, coiled vines, and ancient fetishes.
Within the temple itself, shadows swallowed the interior, lit only by guttering torches that flickered on high stone walls.
Intricate carvings covered nearly every surface—myths of the lizardmen's god, of Godzilla's great battles. One panel showed him locked in combat with a winged insectoid kaiju. Another displayed a titanic struggle with an ape-like beast.
But the most striking carving dominated the ceiling—a three-headed dragon, its wings stretching from wall to wall, descending upon Godzilla like a god of annihilation.
At the center of the temple sat a raised altar. Upon it stood a statue of Godzilla, carved from black stone. The detail was so lifelike that it seemed ready to move, to rise and roar.
Kneeling before it was a strange figure.
A girl.
She had the slender frame of a human, but with a long, scaled tail trailing behind her and eyes like molten amber—slit-pupiled and reptilian. Her sheer ceremonial robe shimmered in the firelight, revealing and concealing in equal measure.
Though she appeared young, something ancient stirred behind her eyes. In the warp, her soul blazed like a psychic supernova. Her presence there was strong enough to rival even a Greater Daemon of Chaos.
Suddenly, she opened her eyes.
"My god... Godzilla has returned," she whispered, voice trembling with purpose. "The Great Plan begins now."
She rose to her feet and stepped out of the temple, past the stone altars and into the forest light.
A streak of silver cut across the sky. A fleet—Tau ships.
The Merchant-class cruisers descended like metal gods from the heavens, their hulls gleaming in the sunlight. Trees bent beneath the pressure of their engines, and jungle beasts fled or watched in silent awe.
The ships touched down in a clearing, their landing struts cracking the soft earth. The rainforest seemed to hold its breath.
Power-armored Fire Caste warriors formed a perimeter while Water Caste officials and tech teams disembarked. The lizard-girl watched silently from the shadows of the temple's treeline.
The jungle stirred.
Two worlds—one born of nature and myth, the other of logic and technology—now faced one another.
"What a beautiful world," Aurora said quietly as she stepped onto the soft jungle floor.
"As beautiful... as our home."
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