On Hylas the region of South Shore fell following a brave but futile defence by the Crimson Fists. Further east the Space Wolves were called in to stop a renewed offensive by Na'Porkleon towards Tennyson. The ork horde was vast and surprisingly well equipped, and the Space Wolves soon found themselves in trouble, taking heavy casualties from loota fire and struggling to contain a concerted assault on their left flank. While their elite forces did manage to halt the orks, the Space Wolf left flank eventually collapsed after an unfortunate friendly fire incident, and heavy casualties forced a general withdrawal of the imperial line. The front moved back towards Tennyson once again and much of Tennys Coast came under the greenskin yoke.
Possibly reacting to the upsurge in Na'Porkleon's Waagh! the eldar launched a series of raids against Bothorion. These were largely successful and a force of Corsair eldar captured the ork settlements of Bukrag and Dregork, cleansing them of greenskins and establishing a perimeter around their bridgehead. The tau were informed and indeed took part in the inital raids on Bothorion. It was hoped that an attack on Bothorion would draw off some of Na'Porkleon's forces and force the ork warlord to weaken his defences on Hylas. This in turn would allow the imperium to go on the offensive, preventing abandonment of the world and subsequent reinforcement of Tyranteous.
As usual it was a complex and convoluted strategy employed by the alliance, but this time it didn't pay off. Rather than take the bait, Na'Porkleon ignored the small bridgehead on Bothorion and launched a savage and unexpected attack on Memnon. The Tau remain convinced the invasion was accidental, the ork roks missing their intended system by several light years, but in fact this was all part of the wily ork's "kunnin plan" to set every world in the nebula afire with ork violence.
Taken by surprise the tau managed a hasty defence, calling on the forces of Commander Skyfall to defend the small colony. The orks landed haphazardly, on Peschek island and quickly overran Va'Ya and Klak'La. On the narrow Derevan Isthmus the tau made their stand, but the ork horde was once again fast and carrying extreme firepower.
The battle raged furiously with the ork lead elements quickly succumbing to tau weaponry, but the tau commander and elite forces were late arriving, allowing the ork vanguard to plough into the centre of the isthmus and putting the tau on the back foot. A tau Riptide did manage to keep the orks from overrunning the tau positions until the tau elite forces finally turned up.
Unfortunately the tau reserves, while powerful, were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of orks, and worse was to follow as the Riptide suddenly reported an "itching sensation" before falling on its side inert, falling prey to an unlikely shokk attack gun salvo, the snotlings materialising inside the pilot.
The rest of the tau then pulled out, making their way across the straits of smersh, abandoning Derevan to the greenskins. They did manage to kill the ork warboss however, a railgun round turning him to green mist as he charged the last remaining hammerhead to hold its ground.
The tau now had a difficult conundrum. Press their advantage on Bothorion or defend their existing colony, or both. Either way Na'Porkleon would be happy.
< Memnon
< Bothorion
< Hylas
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