Ksi’m’yen Special Operations Cadre - The Antioch Escalation

[cathar the great]

 

Prologue: Encounter at Port Wander

 

At the gate to the Koronus Expanse, a vast, lightly explored section of space home to rebels, renegades, rogue traders and undiscovered horrors, a space station hangs in the void. Illuminated by the mad colors of the warp storms guarding the Expanse, Port Wander is a haven for the curious, the lost, the forgotten.

 

 

Past the high spires of the trading nobilitae, the busy docking ports, the taverns and factories, and haphazardly thrown together hab blocks, the discarded remains of Port Wander’s society make a living from what the rest of the station throws away.

 

By the flickering light of ancient glow rods, a figure pushes along a metal cart on a wheezing, ancient anti-grav engine. Broken pieces of scrap metal, chunks of ferrocrete, rusty cogitator parts: these are the currency of the things living in the underbelly of Port Wander, and the cart holds a sizeable amount. A large, heavy plastec sheet hangs down the side of the cart, ready to be pulled over its contents to hide them from greedy eyes. The figure is cloaked and hooded under a similar sheet, torn with use and age. Little else can be seen of the scavenger, although a sharp-eyed observer might notice the inhuman way the figure’s legs bend as it walks. Underneath the hood, two red dots of light burn away the darkness of the narrow alley.

Suddenly, the figure goes still for a moment. It has heard movement somewhere above. The plastec sheet is thrown over the meagre possessions within the cart, and the figure starts running, pushing the cart in front of it.

 

Now the thud of heavy boots echoes through the walkways and alleys, for everyone to hear. The scavenger reaches a junction, slams a gloved, four fingered fist against an unseen panel in a wall, and pushes the cart inside a hidden opening. With a series of loud clangs, it disappears down a sooty chute. With the loud noises of the cart drowning out all other sound, the scavenger itself darts the other way, melding into the shadows.

Another cloaked figure reaches the junction, as the last metallic sounds fade away. It is much larger than the other one, sharp edges underneath its cloak suggesting heavy armor. Its head swivels this way and that, with sharp, mechanical movements. Then it walks back the way it came from, heavy thuds marking its passage. 

 

Several levels below, in the shadows between two large garbage disposal containers, the scavenger lets out a quiet sigh of relief. Just another reject, living amongst the scraps, looking for good salvage? A thought for another time. Now the long backtrack, further down, to retrieve the cart and his belongings.

 

Then another sound, quiet, inaudible to the untrained - and unaugmented - ear. The scavenger spins around with uncanny speed, a sleek gun in its hand, the plastec coat thrown in the air.

 

The pulse pistol shot hits its target right in the armored chest. It doesn’t even twitch. The bulk of the armored, hooded form is hidden in shadows. Only the light of two green eye lenses burns in the darkness. A small wisp of smoke trails from the pulse pistol impact on its chest armor. “You are Va’ren. Shas’Ui Va’ren Yen.” It is not a question.

 

The scavenger steps forward into the dim light of a glow rod above them, holstering the pistol he now knows will be useless. He removes the glowing red nightsight goggles from his scarred, blue-skinned head. Underneath the goggles, his face looks old for one of the T’au, but not because of natural age. War has left its mark on his features. He shows teeth in an approximation of a human smile. Several are gleaming metal replacements. He raises his right hand and bumps it against his chest, as an imperial soldier would, a mock salute. “It is me, yes.” In his eyes, the fires of forgotten battlefields burn. “The one they called Firestarter.”

 

The armored figure only tilts its head, waiting for more. Va’ren lets himself fall on an empty crate. He leans forward, to hold his head in his hands. “I suppose you want to know, about Antioch?”

 

Out of the corner of his eyes, he can see the armored figure nod underneath its hood. “Very well.” He sighs. “I thought I had covered my tracks, you know?”

 

“It did take us several years to find you. You have done better than most.”

 

Va’ren waves his hand at his captor dismissively. “Don’t flatter me, monster. You wish to know about Antioch, I will tell you.” Va’ren looks up again, trying as best as he can to meet the other warrior’s gaze. “Everything.”

 

The figure moves to step forward but the T’au soldier holds up a hand. “One condition. I will tell you, here, and now.” He pulls out his pistol again and the armored figure stops, ready to spring into action, but Va’ren makes no move to attack. “If this is my last chance to tell my story, I will tell it as a whole, no more mysteries, no more secrets. From beginning to end. And then there will be peace.”

 

He raises the pistol in front of him.

 

There is only enough energy left for one shot.

 

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=[[ ORDO XENOS ENGAGEMENT ARCHIVES ]]=

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=[[ INCOMING ACCESS REQUEST ]]=

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=[[ ... ]]=

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=[[ BIOMETRIC SCAN INCONCLUSIVE - INPUT ACCESS CODES ]]=

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= ************

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=[[ ACCESS CODE ACCEPTED ]]=

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=[[ DISPLAYING ENGAGEMENT DATA FOR ]]=

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=[[ Antioch Escalation - Xeno Force: Ksi’m’yen Special Operations Cadre]]=

=[[ NOTE:  Ksi’m’yen Special Operations Cadre presumed]]=

=[[ NOTE:  completely destroyed during Antioch Escalation]]=

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Commander Shas’o Ksi’m’yen Kar’rar “Shas’el’ro’tau’va - The Voice of the Greater Good” 
Governor of Antioch Occupation Zone Aleph - Commander of the Antioch Uash’o
 
A veteran warrior, Kar’rar had been a young soldier of the T’au Empire during the third expansion and had been involved in the campaign to bring Ksi’m’yen Sept under T’au control. Commander of the First Ksi’m’yen Expansion, retired as military governor to Antioch after the system’s successful liberation and inclusion into the T’au Empire.

 
 
 
 
 
Back from an extensive hobby hiatus, and even longer forum hiatus, I will document my struggle to finish painting 2k Tau, while I am already knee deep in my next army project.
 
Still in the painting queue:
- all the Firewarriors
- even more Drones
- my custom Y'Vahra converted from a Riptide
- two Crisis that won't make it into any army lists this edition
 
Really nice to see the Bolter&Chainsword expanding to the other factions. Had some good times here and never stopped lurking.
 
More fluff and pictures to come in the next few days, so stay tuned. You can also check follow me on Instagram vor various updates along the way: https://www.instagram.com/_catharthegreat/
 
Cheers,
Peter

[Dosjetka]

Fantastic start so far. Is that battlesuit sitting on some wreckage? If so, I love it! :tu:

[cathar the great]

Yes it is! He is chilling on some gueronsha garbage after a long day of fusion blastering.

 

I will post some more angles when I get home from work that show it better. There's some extra pictures on my Instagram as well.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on Shas’el’ro’tau’va.

[Kolgrim DeathHowl]

Wow that's really nicely done, nice job!

[cathar the great]

Excellent work on Shas’el’ro’tau’va.

 

It's a mouthful isn't it? I just assumed long serving Commanders in the short lived Firecaste society would acquire a lot of honoraries in their lifetime.

 

His friends call him Kar

 

Wow that's really nicely done, nice job!

 

Cheers man!

 

 

 

Here's some more angles as promised:

 

 

 

 

 

And my favorite detail on him, a stray dog scavenging the battlefield for morsels

[Kolgrim DeathHowl]

Looks great I really love the pose!

[ranulf the revenant]

Very nice. Did that stray dog start his life as part of a Skaven kit? He looks kind of ratty

[cathar the great]

It's been a rough couple months for him okay? He's a good dog.

 

It's from the old Bretonnian men at arms kit if I remember correctly.