IMPERIAL VOXCAST (3 137 745.M41)—After a year without communications, news of the Damocles Gulf Crusade has finally arrived: the Crusade Fleet has cleansed two more stellar systems of the Tau’s xeno taint and brought their planets into compliance with Imperial authority.

What’s more, the fleet has since entered the desolate Damocles Gulf on a months-long journey that will end with an invasion of the heart of the Tau Empire.

“Last week, a courier ship from the Crusade Fleet arrived at the Nguyen Naval Base, Belliose System, with detailed reports of the Crusade’s activities over the past 12 months,” announced Admiral Hausu Dinola of the Imperial Navy at a news conference today.

“Reports from Admiral Jallaque, commander of the Crusade Fleet, say that morale is high after a number of victories over the xeno menace.”

Until this week, the last news of the Crusade arrived by an astropathic message and indicated the Crusade Fleet had defeated a Tau naval force in the Hydass System, and the Crusade was moving deeper into Tau-held territory.

Sy’l’kell System

According to Admiral Jallaque’s report, the Crusade left the Hydass System unpopulated and advanced next to the Sy’l’kell System, where Imperial forces discovered an agri-world occupied by the Tau.

A Tau fleet in the system traded fire with the Crusade Fleet but soon withdrew. After closing on the planet of Sy’l’kell, the fleet, after a brief bombardment, launched a contingent of the Iron Hands Space Marine Chapter on a boarding action of the planet’s sole orbital space station.

“With a prolific use of flamers, the station was quickly cleansed of the xeno taint,” Dinola said.

Afterwards, he added, the Scythes of the Emperor Space Marine Chapter, along with the 17th Brimlock Dragoons, landed to establish a landing zone.

A Tau mechanized force sought to overrun the zone but, while the Dragoons suffered heavy losses, the Tau ultimately were forced to retreat.

“Over the next few weeks, more Imperial troops—including the 5th Belliose Grenadiers—made landfall and advanced on Sy’l’kell’s major population centers,” Dinola said.

“The planet had a number of Tau cities, industries, and farms—an entire world shaped by the insidious xenos.”

Tau resistance wasn’t as heavy as expected, and Jallaque suggested in his report that Tau resistance lasted only long enough to evacuate key xeno personnel from the planet.

Indeed, once the last Tau transport escaped the planet, xeno resistance ended, and all remaining xenos were hunted down and killed. The world was claimed for the Imperium.

Viss’el System

For a time, the Crusade Fleet remained in the Sy’l’Kell System to prepare for the crossing of the Damocles Gulf, but a small expeditionary force was sent to the nearby Viss’el System to deal with a minor Tau presence.

It seems that several small fishery colonies existed on the ice world of Viss’el VI, and these were easily destroyed by orbital bombardment.

“Given the severe weather conditions of the planet, it was decided that no military landing was needed,” Dinola said. “Any surviving xenos, now exposed to the harsh elements, were certain to perish.”

Namatos unconquered

The only disappointment of the Crusade so far has been stubborn resistance on the world of Namatos in the Adega Sub-sector.

According to Admiral Jallaque, it was initially believed that less than 1,000 Tau Fire Warriors were deployed on the planet, and only a single company of the Knights of Altair Space Marine Chapter was assigned the task of destroying the xeno taint.

“In fact, there proved to be many more xenos, perhaps as many as 20,000, on the planet, and the Knights of Altair have been fighting a tough battle,” Jallaque wrote in his report. “Alas, the Crusade Fleet moved on, and we unfortunately have left the Knights to deal with the xenos on their own.”

Crossing the Gulf

The most exciting news from Admiral Jallaque, however, was that, after largely eliminating the xeno presence on this side of the Damocles Gulf, the Crusade Fleet finally launched itself on a five-month-long journey across the Damocles Gulf.

The Imperial plan, Dinola shared, is to begin the destruction of the Tau Empire with an attack on its closest Tau sept, D’yanoi.

“A Tau sept is a fully settled Tau star system, one of several major population and industrial centers that dot the xeno empire,” Dinola explained. “These worlds are, it is believed, well defended, but Jallaque indicated that ‘the Crusade Fleet and its ground military forces are ready to begin the utter extermination of this troublesome species.'”

According to Dinola, it is likely that the next message from the fleet will report on the initial fighting of the largest battle yet to be fought by the Crusade.

“We look forward to hearing of the Crusade’s great victories against the Tau,” he said.”This troublesome species will soon be gone, and the galaxy will be one step closer to the Emperor’s goal of a galaxy populated solely by humans.”

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