As the Death Watch advances through a cluster of metal shanties, one Space Marine dispatches a Tau gun drone with his chainsword.

“There is no end to the abomination of the alien. Do not allow any guise of sentience to stay your hand – there can be no hesitation when the survival of humanity as a species is at stake.”—Inquisitor Kartize, Ordo Xenos

* * *

AUTHOR: Adonai Drusus, Ordo Hereticus
ID File: DG102 84/2339/18
TOPIC: Search-and-destroy mission conducted
by Inquisitor Georgene Serillian, Ordo stormtroopers,
and the Death Watch’s Kill Team Cassius
SECURITY CLEARANCE: Terius Beta

On 3 045 746.M41, Inquisitor Georgene Serillian personally led a 21-member team on a successful mission to capture one of the elite Tau leaders, an Ethereal, on the agri-moon of Dar Sai.

This force consisted, in addition to the inquisitor, of several of Serilian’s most trusted acolytes, a handful of Inquisition Stormtroopers, and a tactical squad of the Death Watch (ID: Kill Team Cassius).

This force was inserted behind enemy lines near a small ruined manufactorum located approximately 800 kilometers west of the Sandeep Plains—deep behind enemy lines.

Click on map for a larger view.

The mission was made possible by the reception of enemy transmissions that suggested an Ethereal would visit the manufactorum to address a contingent of Fire Warriors recently removed from the front lines for a cycle of rest.

This was not the first time an attack on an Ethereal has been attempted. Inquisition forces have twice managed to capture an Ethereal—operations that visibly impacted Tau command and control in military operations in the months after such successful missions.

Before the attack, the Tau leader spoke to front-line troops about their sacrifice for “The Greater Good.”

This mission also was successful. Entering the manufactorum ruins before dawn, Inquisitor Serillian’s personal team, and Kill Team Cassius, commanded by  Brother-Chaplain Ortan Cassius, waited in hiding until there was visible confirmation that the Ethereal was on site.

This confirmation was accomplished by the Death Cult assassin Niamh, a member of Serillian’s personal entourage.

The Ethereal could have been assassinated by a Death Watch sniper, but Serillian determined that the military presence guarding the Tau leader was within the capacity of her forces to overcome. The mission objective became to seize the Ethereal, and our troops advanced stealthily to within approximately 100 meters of the target.

Unfortunately, at that point,  two xeno beasts, known as Kroot Hounds, wandered into the area. These creature are non-sentient but effective guard animals, and their superior auditory and olfactory systems (sense of hearing and smell) were sufficient advanced to detect the Space Marines.

On Cassius’ order, the beasts were killed by bolt fire, and the team charged forward, guns ablaze. Two Marines, equipped with jump packs, raced ahead of the team to eliminate a number of Fire Warriors assigned to gun positions on the upper levels of the ruins.

At the same time, Inquisitor Serillian led her stormtroopers from the front, advancing to the left flank of the Death Watch and sweeping aside all xeno opposition aside.

The Death Watch advances quickly across open ground as they seek out the Tau Ethereal. The Space Marines were under constant xeno fire but completed their mission without casualties.

Despite this aggressive advance, the Fire Warrior honor guard fought ferociously to protect their leader, as an Ethereal is looked upon by the Tau with great reverence. It should be noted for future operations that, even when facing the terrifying charge of Space Marines, the xenos did not waiver.

The xenos defiance, however, ultimately was doomed to failure. The advance of Kill Team Cassius was hardly slowed at all, and it took them only 30 seconds to eliminate nearly a score of FIre Warriors before they reached the Ethereal.

Two ceremonial guards stepped forward to challenge Brother-Chaplain Cassius— the first to reach the Ethereal. One xeno was shot dead by Cassius’ bolt pistol, but the second guard managed to strike with a power blade that chaplain blocked with his power sword.

According to Cassius, the xeno also blocked one blow by the Death Watch leader—an indication of high training—before a second blow by Cassius beheaded it. At that point, the Ethereal kneeled in supplication and was captured alive.

The Ethereal, who identifies himself as Aun’ki’Roi, has since been transferred to one of our packet ships and is route to Watch Station Vigilia for interrogation.

+ + END MESSAGE + +

TheGM: This Death Watch mission was played at the 2025 Shorehammer Convention in December. It was a repeat of a 2019 game where the Death Watch also was successful.

There is a pattern here: The first attempt by the Death Watch to attack an Ethereal occurred in the Hanui Valley of Dar Sai in 739,M41. The second, two months later, was conducted only 50 kilometers from this latest mission.

How much do these kind of assassination-and/or-capture missions influence the setting? Actually, the impact is significant—and a topic worthy of its own article in the future.

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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.