Orks raided

The Tau needed to consolidate their gains before further expansion could be contemplated. Pirates and raiders were the most immediate threat but Shadowstrike was aware of the growing Necron menace in the region and feared it was only a matter of time before a major invasion occurred.

The colonisation effort was dependant on convoys of civilian freighters and carriers which needed to be protected from the multitude of alien raiders that infested space between the Tau Empire and the Purseus Deeps. Shadowstrike continued his policy of aggressive defence, using intelligence to hunt and target potential raiders at their source rather than wait for them to attack a convoy. The Ork pirates in the Mabb Nebula had been making a particular nuisance of themselves and plans were drawn up for a ground strike.

A veteran task force deployed to Bothorion with the objective of assassinating a particularly dangerous Ork warlord in a meticulously planned dawn strike. Things began to go wrong when the Orks sallied forth to meet the Tau attack. The element of suprise blown the veteran cadre heading the attack reacted with ruthless professionalism, systematically targeting high priority targets and falling back in a well practiced fire and manoevre drill. The horde of clanking Ork walkers and swarming boys proved surprisingly resilient to the Tau's high power weaponry but gradually the withering hail of fire took its toll.

It wasn't enough however and soon the horde threatened to overwhelm the cadre. Realising that further fighting would result in unacceptable losses the Tau commander reluctantly ordered the sacrifice of a small rear guard force so that the remainder might withdraw to their extraction point. The Orks had been disrupted sufficiently to curtail their activities and allow the colony at Lucardium to be completed without further harrassment, although the warboss hadn't been eliminated and was still at large.