This time, the T'au Empire have sent a small force to ally with the Imperium, having recognized the threat the Tyranids and Chaos warbands are posing not just to humanity but also the whole galaxy. After the Imperial Guard regiments' valiant attempts to repel an assault from the World Eaters, but their failure to hold against the hive against the ravenous Tyranids, the Thousand Sons thrallband who named themselves the Masters of Darkness had begun to execute the next stage of their scheme. Devout worshippers of Tzeentch, the Masters of Darkness revel in crisis, using the despair of the Imperial citizens besieged by the Tyranids as fuel for one of their sorcerous rituals that would see them tear a hole in real space for hordes of Daemons to assail the Imperium. They must enact this plan before the gathering hive fleets of the Tyranids drown out the Empyrean with the Shadow of the Warp.
Meanwhile, a small detachment of T'au have offered assistance to the Imperium. Desperate for aid, the beleaguered planetary governor agreed, and the T'au took their positions alongside the decimated Imperial Guard. Their first mission was to assault a facility that was being held by a Traitor Guard regiment who was allied with the routed World Eaters. Bringing a Riptide and Stealth Suits, the T'au was able to sabotage vital equipment and steal the staging post from the blood-frenzied Guardsmen, heavily damaging their tanks and all but wiping out their infantry. However, the cost was high as entire Fire Warrior teams were wiped out, and only a single Stealth Suit emerged as the sole survivor of the daring raid behind enemy lines. The Riptide was forced to pull back after exchanging fire with two Leman Russ tanks, but that was pretty much what the T'au had left after their audacious assault.
The Black Templars discovered the staging post where the Thousand Sons - the Masters of Darkness - were conducting their foul ritual, and with righteous fury they fell upon the Traitors. Many knights in black fell to writhing hordes of mutating Chaos Spawn or blasphemous sorcery, but eventually the ravaged remains of two Bladeguard Veteran squads survived to disrupt the ritual. Funnily enough, two squads of Assault Intercessors also lived through the carnage, hanging back to defend Imperial lines from teleporting Rubric Marines. The Emperor's Champion felled the Daemon Prince Aku before he was laid low by retaliating Rubric Marines and sorcery, but he was hauled back by the survivors, brought back to the Apothecarion for treatment. Despite his injuries, the Crusade was successful in halting the ruinous ritual and driving the heretics away from Hive Gaia. Aku would reform elsewhere, swearing vengeance on the zealots.
Unfortunately, tragedy fell upon the Cadians when their tanks and infantry squads - so stalwart in holding the line against World Eaters earlier - were completely wiped out by the unstoppable ferocity of Hive Fleet Leviathan. Their tanks were ripped apart by a Hive Tyrant, despite valiantly destroying a Carnifex and even a Maleceptor, and their infantry were torn to shreds. The proud Karskin were completely slain as they formed a desperate rearguard to allow what remained of the ragged regiment to retreat, a massive blow to the already dwindling Cadians - especially after losing their home world in the Thirteenth Black Crusade.
Previous to this (Thursday night, actually), the Black Templars also repelled an invasion force from the Death Guard. A massive company of Death Guard had landed on Gydisk Sigma to conquer Hive Gaia, having been lured to the city by the scheming Masters of Darkness. Despite sowing sickness in the Imperial lines, they were annihilated by the furious Black Templars, their diseased sorcery having little effect on the faithful zealots, and only the Lord of Contagion and a single Plagueburst Crawler was able to escape. The Death Guard would probably return in future, though the Lord of Contagion was so wounded that he would require a long time to recover.
At the end of stage 2 of phase 2, the Attackers had 13 warzone points to the Defenders' 7. However, despite Hive Fleet Leviathan continuing to devour its way through Imperial Guardsmen, the defeats suffered by the Chaos invaders saw the Imperium and their allies (the T'au) draw even somehow, amassing 14 points in this phase alone, while the Tyranids propped up the bulk of the Attackers' victories, scoring 7 warzone points. By the end of phase 1, the total score was Attackers: 20 Defenders: 21. Unexpectedly, the Defenders won by a single point. I don't think anyone could have predicted that, given how rampant the Tyranids were. But wow...that was cool.
Anyway, thanks to Imperial victory in Hive Gaia, we were able to win the first phase. That means nothing because there are two more phases to go, and the Tyranids are only going to continue growing stronger and stronger from hereonout...uh oh. We're all going to be eaten by giant space bugs, aren't we?
Well, we'll find out in the next couple of months! Phase 1 is over, and phase 2 is next. That means Strike Force games! 100 power level! Looking forward to it!
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