Parius cleansed

In late 08.012M42 the combined forces of the tau and their eldar allies turned their attention to the infestation of Parius by hive fleet Nemesis. They knew they had a limited window of time to remove the tyranid menace from the world before the necrons would once again resume their expansion, having reorganised from their triumph on Calliden. The alliance even managed to convince the Federacy to send a small force of Hartak legionnaries to help them. With the force build up complete, the operation to cleanse Parius began with a devastating volley of railgun fire on 0109.012M42.

The attack was carefully planned, with Moonshine's forces attacking from the north in a frontal attack from Hai'Lan, while Shadowstrike and the Federacy contingent pushed west towards Kel'Naumi from the Lar'Medea peninsular. While the tyranids reeled from this shock and turned to face the tau, the eldar would strike from the south, cutting the tyranid swarm into three and enabling mopping up operations to exterminate the remaining tyranid presence on the world.

The operation started exceptionally well. Moonshine was successful in drawing Nemesis into carefully placed mobile defences, using the "Kauyon" or "patient hunter" strategy. The waves of alien creatures smashed into his lines, expending their strength, before Moonshine's own forces delivered a devastating counter blow which almost decapitated Nemesis' forces on Parius.

With Moonshine exceeding expectations in the north, Shadowstrike's forces pushed in from the west. They faced stiff resistance however, and the fighting became very intense along the Kel'Naur isthmus, where the tau were unable to use manouevre to their advantage. The attack soon got bogged down as Nemesis counter attacked with savagery, but a decisive intervention by the Hartak 8th Legion, personally led by the Federal Ambassador, broke the back of the tyranid assault, the ambassador himself slaying a tyranid monster in hand to hand combat.

With Nemesis wavering in the north and unable to halt the tau in the west, the Rillietan delivered the much anticipated coup-de-grace a day later. The eldar had managed to quietly pick their way through the broken ground and marshland to the south of Kel'Naumi, and lanuched a series of precision strikes on 02-0309.012M42. This attack slaughtered the tyranid synapse creatures, and by the end of 0409.012M42 it was clear the remaining tyranids were fighting like animals. Realising the cost of taking Parius was not worth the value of the world, the hive mind had withdrawn from the world, abandoning any remaining creatures to their fate. It would take weeks of mopping up, but Parius had been saved.