Imperial Voxcast (3 681 745.M41)—After a months-long journey across the Damocles Gulf, the Imperial Crusade fleet has entered the heart of the Tau Empire and begun the battle to exterminate the xenos.

The news was reported today by naval authorities at the Nguyen Naval Base above Belliose III.

“Astropathic communications have confirmed that the Imperial Crusade Fleet recently arrived in the Dal’yth System, one of the more important worlds of the xeno empire, and began its attack to rid the galaxy of this upstart species,” announced Admiral Hausu Dinola, senior commander of naval operations in the Corvus Cluster.

The Imperial fleet began its genocidal campaign by targeting a Tau space station orbiting the outermost planet in the system, Pray’yen. Defending the station were 11 xeno naval vessels. The fighting was heavy, with some Imperial ships damaged, and the fleet’s transport ships were forced to withdraw when the xenos attempted to target them for destruction.

“As the Crusade Fleet approached the xeno space station, it was targeted by an array of warships armed with heavy railguns and other heretical xeno weapons, whose fire destroyed one capital ship in their initial volley,” Dinola said. “The fleet was then surprised when 11 more Tau warships appeared from behind the planet.”

As the Crusade Fleet responded to these unexpected reinforcements , the Tau pulled off one more surprise: Seemingly out of nowhere, a large warship of a radically different design—apparently a ship of a Tau-allied xeno species known as the Kroot—sought to disrupt the Imperial invasion by charging at the fleet’s transports.

“Admiral Jallaque. commander of the Crusade Fleet, was keenly aware that the loss of his transports, filled with Imperial ground troops, would quickly end the crusade’s invasion, and the admiral ordered his own flagship, the Blade of Woe, to intercept this new threat,” Dinola said.

The superior armaments of the Retribution-class battleship soon turned the Kroot vessel into a lifeless hulk.

The battle ended with the Tau fleet and orbital station destroyed, although the cost was too high in the estimation of Admiral Jallaque. Imperial losses included four capital ships and 14 escorts.

The last communication of the fleet indicated that it was undeterred by the xeno’s determined defense.

“Admiral Jallaque made it clear that the Crusade Fleet was setting course for the world of Dal’yth Prime, one of the core worlds in the Tau Empire,” Dinola said. “Its cleansing will, in his words, ‘make clear that the galaxy belongs to humanity.”

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TheGM: I’ve always intended to fight some tabletop battles inside the Tau Empire. Alas, “real life” distracted me from participating in the naval battle in the Hydass System or the ground fighting in the Sy’l’kell System.

But I’m already preparing my army lists for a nice Tau-Imperial fight. Too bad my Knights of Altair got bogged down on Namatos, but there are plenty of Imperial Guard regiments that I can use.

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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.