The Imperial Creed, a strike cruiser of the Knights of Altair, fires a devastating volley at a Tau cruiser.

IMPERIAL VOXCAST (3 127 741.M41)—The Knights of Altair recovered the Tau-occupied Decora Mining Base today, slaughtering the xeno scum that occupied the void station for nearly three years.

The Imperial Creed and its escorts slip out of the Decora Asteroid Belt to attack the Tau defenders of a key asteroid mining station.

Elements of the 4th Company of the Space Marine Chapter redeployed from the fighting on Hegira to attack the  Jericho-Class mining facility that has long served as the hub of industrial mining in the Decora Asteroid Belt of the Sculptor System.

The mining base was seized by the Tau in 738.M41 after a naval battle that saw five Imperial Navy ships destroyed and hundreds of miners and security guards killed when the xenos boarded the station.

The Astartes’ attack was led by the Imperial Creed, a strike cruiser with an illustrious history, and three Cobra-class destroyers.  The vessels approached the mining base by traveling through the asteroid belt, risking the dangerous passage in hopes of surprising the Tau.

Battle Joined

The Imperial Creed and the Tau cruiser trade fire as the Imperial strike cruiser launches boarding torpedoes at the mining station.

The gamble paid off. At 04:19 , the Astartes vessels cleared the asteroid belt in firing range of a cruiser-class warship of the Tau [Classification: Merchant Class]. Imperial ships opened fire as they closed on the xeno ship, but first blood went to the Tau: An ion cannon destroyed one of the Imperial destroyers.

 Still accelerating, the Imperial ships continued to trade fire with the Tau vessel until they passed it by. At that point, the Imperial Creed  turned toward the Decora Mining Base, firing its weapons batteries to bring down the station’s shields and then launching boarding torpedoes filled with Space Marines.

Meanwhile, the two surviving Imperial destroyers challenged three Orca-class gunships that arrived to support the station. In the exchange, both Imperial destroyers were turned into hulks, while the Tau lost one gunship to a massive explosion—no doubt caused by a weapons hit to the ship’s main reactor or its armory.

For the next two hours, the Tau sought to bring together its isolated cruiser and gunships into a combined force that could take on the strike cruiser. Meanwhile, the now-alone Imperial Creed sought to maneuver into a favorable tactical situation.

Knights Triumphant

At 06:53, the fighting resumed. Although the Tau escorts were still not in position to support their cruiser, the Imperial Creed had used its superior maneuverability to bring the cruiser into battle alone.

The Tau cruiser attempts to flee after being crippled by the Imperial Creed. Its engines damaged, the xeno vessel slips into the asteroid belt to avoid destruction, and its two escorts flee for their lives.

The Tau vessel struck first, using its superior torpedo technology to launch a volley of deadly torpedoes at the Imperial Creed.  Fortunately, the excellent training of the strike cruiser’s weapons crews revealed themselves at this moment, as every torpedo was  stopped by ship turrets.

The battle ended when the Imperial Creed passed by the Tau cruiser and turned to target the xenos’ stern. A volley of the strike cruiser’s weapons batteries ripped apart two of the 400-meter-wide propulsion units of the Tau vessel, crippling the ship.

At this point, the Tau gunships accelerated away, while the stricken xeno cruiser began evasive measures and disappeared into the nearby asteroid field. The Astartes warship, instead of pursuing, turned to the mining station to support the boarding party that already was engaged in heavy fighting with Tau security forces.

(Little information is currently available concerning the boarding action, although Imperial authorities have promised a full account of the successful operation. When this information is provided, a link will be provided here.)

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The Corvus Cluster is a Warhammer 40K blog documenting our gaming adventures in the fantastical sci-fi universe of Games Workshop.