A White Scars battle barge approaches its target: an orbital defense station above Dal’yth.

“The mantra, ‘Suffer not the xeno to live,’ is proven by the existence of the Tau. The species takes an opportunistic, subversive approach to diplomacy. How else to explain how the xenos infiltrated our more isolated worlds and turned them from the light of the Emperor. The sooner they are extinct, the better.“—Tolui Chingis. Veteran Sergeant in the White Scars’ 3rd Company

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Astarates destroy defense satellite above Dal’yth

Imperial Voxcast (6 769 745.M41)—The latest news of the Imperial Crusade against the perfidious Tau declares a victory above the Tau sept world of Dal’yth, with the Raven Guard and White Scars space marine chapters destroying an orbital defense station that threatened Imperial troops descending to the planet.

“Although the Crusade Fleet had cleared a path for troops to make landfall on Dal’yth, a particularly large and well-defended orbital satellite was able to maneuver over our landing zone,” announced Admiral Hausu Dinola, senior commander of naval operations in the Corvus Cluster in a public briefing today.

“Rather than risk our fleet assets, Admiral Jallaque. commander of the Crusade Fleet, requested the Space Marines  to board the xeno station and render it inoperable.”

The outer hull of the space station was a hodgepodge of surface sensors, weapons batteries, communications dishes, and other assorted systems. The White Scars began destroying these outer hull structures in an attempt to draw Tau warriors out of the station. The Tau responded as expected.

Information about this military action became available with the recent arrival of a courier ship bearing a report from Admiral Jallaque, and its details later were shared by Admiral Dinola in the Hall of Propaganda at the Nguyen Naval Base, Belliose System.

“An entire company of White Scars, using Thunderhawk gunships and boarding torpedoes, landed successfully on the hull of the satellite despite heavy xeno fire,” Dinola said..

Using mag-locks on their boots, the White Scars advanced across the outer hull of the station, destroying weapons batteries, maneuver thrusters, and sensor arrays.

“This strategy was designed to destroy the station’s combat effectiveness and allowed the Astartes to operate without the dangers of maneuvering down narrow interior corridors,” Dinola said.

At first, it appeared that the Tau waited within the station, defending the most vulnerable airlocks and exit hatches in expectation that the White Scars would soon seek entry into the station.

“That wasn’t the White Scars’ intent,” offered Khrysdam Alrod, a retired naval officer and military scholar serving at the Nguyen Naval Base. “Staying on the outer hull allowed the Astartes to wreck havoc on the station’s defensive assets without facing Tau resistance, and it was assumed that the xenos, once they realized this, would abandon their strong defensive positions in the station and expose themselves to combat in the open.”

That’s exactly what happened, Dinola said. “A sizable force of Fire Warriors, Crisis Suits, and gun drones appeared to challenge the White Scars’ advance.”

A team of xeno Crisis Suits took up position on an upper gantry, assuming the position would be too difficult to assault.

The White Scars advanced directly at the xenos, who held back and used their powerful hand weapons to good effect.

“The xenos were not eager to see the Astartes close on them,” Dinola said. “They tried to maintain their distance and whittle down the Astartes by long-range fire.”

No doubt to the xenos’ dismay, Astartes troops can move at surprisingly speed, and they quickly closed the distance—albeit with some injuries.

The first break in the xeno defensive line was on Tau’s left flank, where a squadron of gun drones hammered away at the Astartes. Once the White Scars closed into melee, however, the drones were at a disadvantage and quickly dispatched.

“The heretical AI of the drones eventually ordered a retreat, but it was too late,” Dinola said. “Not a single drone survived to escape.”

On the opposite flank, the White Scars were confronted by Fire Warriors shooting from behind a a Tidewall Shieldline, a mobile defense platform that emits a powerful energy barrier that protects the troops riding atop it.

“In the end, the White Scars were forced to charge into it, slashing over the energy barrier and slowly pressing the flanks until the Astartes were behind the wall and able to attack freely,” Alrod said. “At that point, it took little time for the White Scars to seize the position.”

Space Marines storm a Tidewall Shieldwall. After hard fighting, the Astartes took the position and wiped out the defenders.

With both flanks broken, the last remaining resistance came from a sizable number of Crisis Suits that flew out of reach of the Astartes and landed atop a tall gantry. From the heights, the Crisis Suits renewed their intense fire on the Imperial troops.

“That did them no good,” Dinola said. “An Assault Squad equipped with jetpacks led a charge directly into their midst, almost killing their commander before he withdrew cowardly behind his fighting men.”

With the Assault Squad on the gantry, and Tactical Squads climbing up ladders farther away, and Imperial warriors firing into both flanks of the Tau, the xenos abandoned their position, using their jetpacks to flee.

It did them no good, Dinola said. What the xenos hadn’t realized was the White Scars’ attack was a distraction. By drawing xeno troops to the station’s outer hull, there was less resistance to a parallel attack by the Raven Guard, which penetrated deep  into the station and placed demolition charges in the station’s reactor chamber.

As the Raven Guard withdrew, they signaled the White Scars to do the same, he added.

An Assault Squad of Space Marines surprised the Tau by flying up to the gantry and engaging them with bolt pistol and chainsword.

“I have the pleasure to report that the Tau satellite was utterly destroyed, and all Astartes withdrew with several wounded warriors but no fatalities. Truly, the Emperor has blessed us with the creation of his ‘Angles of Death.’ ”

Addendum: With the satellite’s destruction, future landings by troop transports were unchallenged, and a general advance by ground troops was under way to seize the closest xeno city—and then raze it to the ground.

Future news of the Damocles Gulf Crusade will be shared with the populace as it becomes available.

+ + END TRANSMISSION + +

TheGM: The scenario, “Death in the Void,” is found in the now-out-of-print War Zone Damocles: Mont’ka codex set.

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