Inspirational Friday 2018: T’au vs Chaos (until 5/4)

[Kierdale]

For those who do not know it, Inspirational Friday is a (generally) fortnightly event within its home in the Chaos Space Marines forum (but open to all members of the B&C), in which a topic is set for members to write short (or long if the muse takes you) fluff/fan-fic pieces about their war bands, characters and models (photos are also welcome accompanying entries).

And here begins our eighth challenge of Inspirational Friday 2018: Chaos versus the T’au

Back in October 2015 we did The Primordial Annihilator versus the Greater Good, which Warsmith Aznable won, and though I am generally not keen on repeating old topics, due to popular demand -and new developments in T’au background- I’m setting Chaos versus the T’au as the next challenge of 2018.

Though the souls of this new race are faint and bland to the neverborn of the Warp, in comparison to the rich delicacies of humanity, that is not to say that daemons do not have cause to (or entertainment in) the corruption and harvesting of their souls.

And to the traitor legions and renegade chapters the armies of the T’au and their auxiliaries (both xenos and human!) are a formidable foe in battle.

Though this challenge is open to all entries which pit the forces of Chaos against those of the Greater Good, of particular interest perhaps is the xenos empire’s Fourth Expansion...

From Lexicanum:

Hidden Content

Ultimately, the Ethereal Council decided to renew the Tau's expansion with a dangerous plan. The AL-38 Slipstream Module was developed after many years of studying Imperial FTL technology. The new technology allowed for the Tau Fleet to move at incredible speeds and a new Sphere of Expansion was declared under the command of Commander Surestrike. Surestrike's armada gathered at Numenar Point, but due to the sheer size of the fleet to utilize Slipstream technology disaster struck. The multiple disruptions in reality caused by anti-matter fields created a chain reaction that created a massive wound in realspace. The rift swept across the Tau fleet, devouring it whole. The disaster was broadcast across the entire Tau Empire and the Etherealsscrambled to contain all knowledge of the catastrophe.

However, the Fourth Sphere was not entirely destroyed. Cast into a nightmarish dimension, 3/4ths of the fleet was destroyed by alien creatures not yet fully understood by the Tau. Saved from oblivion by a nightmarish entity within the Warp, the survivors eventually emerged Chalnath Expanse deep within the Imperium of Man. After many years, contact through the rift was reestablished using communications Drones. The Wormhole was dubbed Startide Nexus and was used to launch the Fifth Sphere of Expansion. The initial reemergence area of the Fourth Sphere has since been fortified into the Nem'yar Atoll.

What became of the Fourth Sphere's Auxiliarieshas since become a mystery. However rumors speak of mass expulsions and executions directed at any non-Tau within the surviving fleet. It has been theorized that this uncharacteristic action by the Tau was initiated after their trauma of what they had encountered within the Warp, somehow blaming the alien races for the catastrophe.

Survivors of the Fourth Sphere continue to have a dark reputation. Its contingents display a brutality and xenophobia uncharacteristic of the Tau. During the Fifth Sphere, Human prisoners were massacred and Auxiliaries were intentionally sacrificed in battle by Fourth Sphere survivors. The Massacre of the Dul'un Lakes and the Eight Days of Infamy are the most famous episodes from this controversy. Eventually, Shadowsun and the Ethereal Council disciplined the Fourth Sphere commanders with a ritual punishment known as the Malk'la before they were returned to the ranks or sent back to the empire for re-assimilation. After a massacre and bloody Krootuprising upon the colony of Ky'san, all auxiliaries were removed from contingents of Fourth Sphere Tau.

What fate befell those T’au vessels which did not emerge from the wormhole? And that those who did survive were tainted by their experiences is without doubt, but to what degree?

And how will the merging of the 4th Sphere’s survivors with those forces of the 5th influence the xenos’ latest plans?

Tell us a tale of the T’au Empire versus Chaos.

IF2018: Chaos versus the T’au runs until the fourth of May.

Let us be inspired.

The winner of IF2018: Chaos versus the T’au shall claim not the Amulet of Greater Good:

to protect and treasure or alternatively defile, as their mood and allegiance dictates...and the honour of judging the next challenge (which they can defer to me if they so wish).

Please submit entries in the main IF2018 thread in the CSM forum.

[elmo]

Direct link to the topic for those who are interested in writing some T'au fluff and taking part in this event. ;)

 

Inspirational Friday 2018: Chaos versus the T’au