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A History of the Xyphon-Fir'te War; Top Secret, Contains Imparial and Xenos Records
Topic Started: 11 Feb 2011, 12:34 PM (546 Views)
# Marovian
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Ginger Law Enforcer
Part 1: Opening Shots.


The Xyphon Sector is located to the galactic north of the realm of Ultramar. It is an imperial sector comprising 274 Imperial Systems, and covering almost every type of planet imaginable.

As with many areas of space, it has it's inherent risks. These are as many and varied as any sector, but are countered by the many armed forces of the Imperium. Foremost amongst them is Battlefleet Xyphon. Operating out of Vosphoro naval base, the ships of the fleet represent a living embodiment of the Emperors will, there big guns enforcing his wishes as the High Lords see fit.

As any amateur Imperial historian will tell you, the so called Third Sphere expansion by the Tau began in 997.M41. Initially, this did not involve the Xyphon sector at all. Indeed, up to this date the Tau had not troubled the Xyphon sector and there was no reason to suspect that they would do so in the near future. That was until the fall of the planet of Pelthran. Whilst not a Xyphon system, it bought the Tau to the point where they shared a direct border with the sector and drew the attention of the senior admiral in the area, High Lord Admiral Rathstone. At the time, his commitments allowed little other than the reassignment of a squadron of Swords class frigates to the border to increase patrols.

Little changed on the borders of Xyphon. Imperial intelligence gleaned that a Tau group calling itself the Fir'te had been assigned responsibility for the area of space around Pelthran. However, little else had been discovered and no action was taken by either side, who seeemed content to go about their business without bothering each other.

That was until early 999.M41. The sword-class Dagger Squadron was still plowing the lonely patrol route along the border when it discovered a small contingent of Tau ships in orbit around the unoccupied planet of Falaise IV. This information was passed to Rathstone, who was enraged. Imperial maps showed that Falaise was inside the Xyphon Sector, and whilst not occupied was considered to belong to the Emperor.

Although no official state of war existed with the Tau, by their very Xenos nature they were legitimate targets of opportunity. As a result, Rathstone directed Dagger Squadron to rendezvous with the heavy cruiser group Force H. Fresh from operations around the Schism of Orax, they were resting at the nearby system of Dawlish.

The attack commenced as soon as the fleet had formed up, and caught the Tau totally unawares. Admiral Omellias split his force in two, the Dominator class Tycho paired with the Mars battle cruiser Hood in one attack, whilst Dagger Squadron screened the approach of the Gothic class Ajax and the Dictator class Orion.

The Imperial fleet scored an early victory, with long range nova fire from the Tycho and Hood reducing a Tau cruiser to a burning hulk. The Tau were quick to respond however, and in short order their remaining fleet, consisting of two cruisers and a battleship had moved to intercept.

The second imperial attack did not go so well. Moving to avoid asteroid belts, they faced the Tau battleship head on, and over the course of the battle Dagger Squadron was annihilated and both cruisers traded fire with the Tau vessel. Orion's fighter wings struggled to keep the Tau Mantas from launching several attack runs at the cruisers, which began to take its toll on the ships.

However, the lose of the cruiser had left the Tau at a disadvantage. As the attack from the Hood and Tycho began to merge with the second prong, the weight of fire began to tell. The Tycho in particular positioned itself in such a superb manner it was able to engage all three remaining Tau ships simultaneously with every weapon at its disposal. The sheer amount of firepower the Imperials were able to bring to bear inflicted damage on all three remaining enemy vessels. They were to be denied an overwhelming victory when the Tau chose to disengage rather than stand and fight.

With the Tau gone, the Imperial fleet retired back to the Dawlish system to refit and meet up with a replacement escort, congratulating themselves on a job well done. A communication was sent to Rathstone citing a successful victory, and he believed the upstart Tau had been taught a lesson that they would not soon forget. Little did he know the dragon he had just awoken...
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☺Dave38x
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DubDubDubDubDub
Reprisal

Absolutely furious with the seemingly unprovoked aggression, the remnant of the tau fleet waited dormant until the aggressors had left the system.

As soon as passive sensors picked up the last imperial ship exiting the area engines came back online, sensors combing the jump zone for clues as to which way the imperial fleet had run. On locating the system – another unclaimed system less than four parsecs away known as the Dawlish System – the tau sent word back to Coalition Fir’te.

Three weeks later a carrier group consisting of Kas'ish'Nautal (Vacuum’s Legacy) and Kas'ish'Urdan (Vacuum’s Pride) – both Explorer Class Starships – and El'tan'vau (Thrill of the Chase) and Ul'nar'Tansau (Errant Duke) - both Hero Class warships – was deployed to eliminate the threat within the control zone around the Pelthran System.

Diving into the orbital plane, the carrier group slipped in range so rapidly the imperial fleet was only able to release one nova cannon round before the fighting descended into chaos. The Vacuum’s Legacy and The Errant Duke moved in through a corridor in the asteroid field surrounding Dawlish 3, breaking cover behind 3 of the imperial capital ships, launching waves of bombers.

Finding themselves attacked from the front and rear, with no easy way to turn to bring broadsides to bear, the imperial fleet did what it could to stave off destruction. Over the course of the next four hours three of the four imperial capital ships were gutted by attack craft, the ship's gunners overwhelmed by the sheer amount of ordinance being launched at them. Weapons blown off, venting atmosphere and reduced to hulks, three of the four cruisers were rendered inoperative, with one of them being destroyed as it drifted into an asteroid field. The imperial fleet in tatters, the one remaining capital ship saw fit to disengage and bear the news back to the sector command.

As the Imperium located and towed its hulks back to dry dock for refitting and repair, the tau began to construct a base deep within Ardim’s Veil in the Pelthran Nebula, a parsec long cloud of gas and radiation that was all but impenetrable. The location of this base however, would be a fact that the Imperium of Man would strive to gleam from its infinite sources for the next three years...
Edited by Dave38x, 17 Feb 2011, 12:55 AM.
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☺Dave38x
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DubDubDubDubDub
Fluffbump!
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Shortsonfire79
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Lieutenant
Very nice both of you. Both sound like one sided battles! (these are two different battles right?) I expect to read more from the two of you. And an epic closure from the super battle at Gamesday (or the bash, whichever it was)

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there big guns enforcing his wishes as the High Lords see fit.

Wrong word choice, should be their. Sorry. /word nazi.
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☺Dave38x
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DubDubDubDubDub
they were indeed, first strike and retaliation
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DaHedd
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Warrant Officer First Class
Lovely stuff. Evil Xenos Tau scum.

Havent played BFG for years but it was a simple fun quick 40k blast when needed.
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