Perils of the Verge

The Arkanian Incident

After the devastating assault on the capital city of Moracre, Imperial Governor Lucius Sulla was slow to deploy an expeditionary force into the Verge. He was finally able to muster Lieutenant Colonel Victor Hoffman with the 3^rd Battalion 18^th Cadian Expeditionary Brigade and a small Imperial Navy Task force.  They were to probe the outlaying systems of the Verge and see how viable it would be to set up some Imperial Garrisons.

The first system they approached was designated Arkania a five world system with the second world having a breathable atmosphere.  The sensor readings indicated that it had large areas covered with tundra, and a large tropical belt, creating massive jungles and rainforests. It was also determined to be rich precious minerals, and tropical plants provide a variety of life-saving drugs that cannot easily be synthesized in a laboratory. 

Lt Col Hoffman sat looking at the data readout and saw that there seemed to be extensive civilized ruins near the equator with minor power readings and decided that he would send a recon force to probe there ruins and determine if there was still an indigenous population.

Unknown to the Imperials this world had once belonged to a government based in the Verge known as Viridia but had been forced off the world nearly a century before by the Karmans who held the planet and  considered it a sacred shrine world.  Venerable Attral was on the planet with a delegation waiting to meet with Aun’tul for discussions on how the Tau could expand into the Verge.  Venerable Attrals’ flotilla of cruiser was able to detect the Imperial forces and hide behind the moon, and the Karman forces moved into the ruins of the city to limit the sensors this force to detect them.

The Recon force comprised on three Sentinel Squadrons, a detachment of Chimera’s with veterans and a team of snipers moved into the outskirts of the city’s ruins. They were able to detect life signs but were unable to lock on them. They slowly made their way deeper into the city, while Lt Col Hoffman and the rest of the ground force dug in a defensive position just north of the ruins.  

The Karmans watched these strange beings make their way into the ruins, they resembled the hatted Humans of Viridia, and the other powers of the verge but their technology didn’t seem nearly as advanced. Though there were many many more of them. The sheer number of soldiers they had been able to land in the short amount of time had even the battle hardened Marshal Anuman worried. Then at the last possible moment the Karman commanders chose to strike the enemy force in an effort to drive them from their sacred world.

The Karman heavy weapons hammered away at the Sentinels and Chimeras quickly immobilizing them and forcing the Imperial troops to footslog their way into the city to attack this unseen enemy.  The Karmans quickly realized to defeat this enemy they would need to preform hit and run tactics something they despised as cowardly.  Unfortunately the Karman jump troops under Venerable Attral had already committed to a dangerous assault of the enemies rear lines.

The Imperial guard were caught off guard but were able to quickly regroup and Lt Col Hoffman called up to the transports carrying the vaunted Imperial Armored vehicles to insure they landed in the hotzone asap. The guardsman hunkered down behind their newly dug in defenses and put out a massive amount of fire into the Karman jump troops and forced two squads of them to flee back towards their lines. Fortunately for the Karman their fast skimmers finally made their way to the battle lines and put out some heavy fire of their own.  Most of this fire turned out to be less then effective though as the Imperial Armor was able to absorb most of the blast.  

Things were looking bleak for the Karman forces they were vastly outnumbered and had taken heavy casualties when to the surprise of Marshal Anuman a second alien force arrived from their rear, He though all was lost as the Karman force would be crushed between the hammer and anvil of this army. But then a second unimaginable thing happened, the second force began to pour fire into the Human Armor, smashing the tanks of the Humans with easy. It was then the Anuman realized that these must be the enigmatic Tau that they were here on this planet to meet with.

Shas’O Cal’da was leading this Tau Collation and he saw the dire straits that the Karman were facing and speed his fast attack vehicles to the forefront of the fighting while his troops would come in behind and secure the strong points and objectives.  While the Jump Troops and himself would drop into the enemy rear lines and try to wreak havoc on their command structure.  

While the Tau Armor Interdiction Cadres were able to quickly eliminate the Leman Russ threat the four Baneblades were a threat that they hadn’t been able to deal with.  An unfortunate happenstance for the Broadside teams as they tried to make their way into an advantageous firing position.  The Baneblade Emperors  Wrath fired a massive salvo which hammered into the Broadside teams and nearly wiped them out. 

Shas’O Cal’das daring move proved to land in the enemies lines proved to be disastrous  as the Karman jump troops had been fully whipped out minus the leader Venerable Attral, and the Tau Piranha Squadrons had been tied up on the western flank while trying to deal with a group of Hellhounds and Basilisk.  This left the full power of the Imperial Guard to concentrate on the newly arrived Jump Troops. XV-8’s fell quickly fell to this fire power and the forces of Sah’iro lost some prestigious Shas’Els in this assault.  Despite this the remaining suits were able to concentrate massive amounts of fusion and plasma fire into the size armor of the remaining Imperial tanks and the stealth suits were able to neutralize the imperial heavy weapon teams. While Venerable Attral assaulted the Imperial Command team and while being severely wounded he was able to crush the skull of Lt Col Hoffman causing a portion of the Imperial Guard to flee the battlefield.

Just as things seemed to be swinging back into the favor of the Tau and their Karman allies, a group of Space Marine Drop Pods from the Steal Raptors Chapter hammered down onto the battlefield.  These troops bolstered the Imperial forces and forced the Tau to retreat in a few places on the battlefield.  The stealth suits took the brunt of the fire from the Steal Raptors while a command squad and Terminator squad tried to eliminate the enemies command structure.

Things were looking grim for the Tau forces when they were able to call in some fighter and bomber support as the  Kor'vattra had finally driving off the Imperial fleet with the assistance of the Karman cruiser flotilla. The Tigersharks made quick work of the remaining Baneblades, while the barracudas were able to quickly establish air superiority , while a few acted in attack rolls using their seeker missiles on Space Marin Drop Pods and formations.  Shortly after the arrival of the enemy air support and the loss of their Battalion Commander, the Imperial force began to flee the planet’s surface.

When all was said and done nearly a dozen Tau Hammer heads had been destroyed, and the Crisis and Broadside teams had taken 75% casualties.  While the Karman forces as a whole has taken nearly 80% casualties. But even with these heavy casualties the Imperials had taken a lot worse, with nearly 20 Leman Russ tank hulks littering the battlefield and three of the four Baneblades having to be abandoned due to being immobilized or wrecked. Two Valkyries had been downed and almost 65% of the troops were casualties. The 3^rd Battalion would take at a minim of a year to build their selves back up to combat readiness.

In the ashes of the battlefield Shas’O Cal’da meet with Marshal Anuman and Venerable Attral and forged the first bonds of friendship between the two powers.