Tau Assault Orbital Docks

While Montyr' Shi was suffering at the hands of Axtes in space, the remainder of the Tau fleet were supporting the latest Tau plan to gain the upper hand in the Tarsis system. Elan Ro and the recently arrived Commander Fastblade were given the task of taking the Tarsis Orbital docks, a vast construct able to house thousands of men and home to the facilities which once kept the Tarsis trading fleet in working order.

The Docks were defended by several companies of Adeptus Sororitas, who had prudently turned the entrance ways into mini fortresses, meaning that any attack would have to blast its way in. The Imperium hoped that the Docks were too unimportant to assault directly, but too valuable to destroy out of hand . So far this had proved true, as the Tau had not attempted to take possession of the Docks nor had they turned the big guns of their fleet upon it.

On 0312.008M42 the attack began, with scouts dropped on the facility followed by swarms of manta-borne crisis suits and skimmers. However access to the Docks would prove difficult as the Sisters of Battle refused to give any ground, and forced a battle in the near vacuum low gravity environment on the surface of the facility. Here the battle was deadly, as any breach in the suits worn by tau and human alike meant certain death. Infantry units found it difficult to maintain their footing and many tau vehicles were destroyed by small arms, the slightest breach causing catastrophic decompression.

After several hours of fighting and at huge cost the Tau forces finally managed to get a foothold inside the station, forcing a slow and bloody street battle through the inner complexes of the station. Though they had succeeded in breaking in, it would be many more days before the complex was fully under Tau control, and once again concerns were raised of too much cost for too little gain.