Editing Story:Warhammer 60K: The Age of Dusk (section)

==Additional Background Section 2: The Greater Good Drives On==

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By the dawn on the 61st Millennium, the Tau had truly learned their place in the great tumult of the galaxy. Spread across a thousand sectors, and hundreds of sept colonies and systems, the Tau were an industrial powerhouse of the like not seen in almost ten thousand years. Their technology had reached beyond what the original Tau, in their naive ignorance, believed was possible, and client races by the dozens have integrated into Tau culture (''with varying degrees of success. The Hu'sta Gue'Vesa Colonies of To'Kann had become almost identical to most Sept worlds, filled with beautiful white cities and wondrous technologies, while the Kroot worlds remain semi-civilized auxiliaries, still on the fringes of society despite their ancient pedigree.'')
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The furious process of Terra-forming enacted throughout the second Age of Strife has worked in their favour; while other cultures faltered and disintegrated, the Tau fashioned themselves into an ever harder force. Their cutting edge weaponry was awe-inspiring to behold; it was noted during the protracted war with the Zaffian Independent Human League (''in 473.M55''), how their newest gunships could move so fast and strike so lethally, entire battalions of foes were vanquished before the order to retaliate could be given, their armored columns instantly shattered into molten slag by a hundred thousand simultaneous missile barrages, followed up by direct engagement by agile battle suits that never seemed to miss.


Yet, as we have seen, all this technology was painfully necessary simply for the Tau Meta-Empire to survive. In the Northern and Eastern sept clusters of the empire, and beyond, titanic forces were arrayed against them. A great silver tide threatened to drown them all, and undo their bitterly difficult expansion before it could be completed. The Necrons (''or the Mont'Ka'Vesa, as they were known by the Tau'') were at full gold mobilization. Titanic spider constructs bestrode worlds, drinking them dry of life, before spewing green oblivion into their fleets. Endless tides of Necron warriors and Immortals lived up to their undying titles; the constructs repaired almost all damage, and those Necrons truly destroyed were ripped from the very air, repaired by a million machines upon their tomb worlds, and spat back to another war front to fight again, all in the space of hours!


In early phases, the Tau lost hundreds of worlds to these terrors, entire planetary populations vanquished before they could be evacuated to safety. Billions died, and the Tau empire wept for these horrendous losses. The Water Caste propaganda machine had a pitifully easy task uniting their entire empire against this nightmare; made all the simpler when even the most secure sept-dwelling, Tau from the safest, most peaceful worlds, only had to look into the sky and notice that stars were vanishing from the skies before their own eyes. For this menace was not some petty dynasty looking for land and a galaxy to rule. It was a force of utter oblivion, led by the personification of such nightmarish ideals; the Nightbringer himself. Many times had the Tau mobilized full battlefleets of the new 'Avenger' class warships and millions of Fire Caste warriors, to fight the Necrons in open war, only for a great black cloud to enter the system, and drink the local star dry. This doomed a system, and made defending such places pointless. Many were the solemn poems written at this time upon Elsy'eir, about the terrible agonizing decisions Sphere-Maintenance Commanders had to face by leaving so-called 'dark-septs' to their doom.


Yet, by 972.M55, the Tau had somewhat found a method of holding the darkness at arm's length. Munitions were developed that burrowed into Necron constructs, and continually burned no matter how many times they were repaired. This forced Tomb Worlds to abandon seriously damaged Necrons and to build entire new Necron bodies for the consciousness stored in the nodal grid. This took time, and allowed Tau Sept colonies to summon aid through the immense waystation grid network. When Necron forces transported their swarming monoliths upon a planet or station, they found the Tau were ready with all the fearsome weaponry their Empire could fashion. Fighting in such wars, with such hideous and unthinkable powerful weapons was always a harrowing experience, and Earth Caste specialist hospitals were set up by the thousands to deal with the influx of battle-damaged and mentally scarred soldiers evacuated from such warzones. In many cases, these hospitals became euthanasia centers, due to the unnatural and sometimes impossible conditions of some soldiers. The things they saw could not be unseen, and their bodies and minds were consumed by the revelations that gnawed upon their very souls.


The Tau had also made a grand alliance with their old foes, the diverse and fickle Thexian Trade Empire, which had also suffered painfully at the Necrons' silvered hands. The Concord between the two great rivals was binding so long as the Necrons remained 'a credible and pressing danger to the survival of the overall galactic community'. Little could the two factions realize how many thousands of years this would remain the case. One must also note that though the Thexian Elite did sign this treaty, many of their less controllable elements still cause problems in northern Sept districts, where the rule of the Tau is lax...


The great Necron wars affected a great many aspects of the Empire throughout its history. There was much desperation amongst the corporate leaders of the Grand Septs (''such as T'au and Bork'an in particular''). New weapons and means of combating the silver dread were demanded at all times. In particular, the dreadful loss of life resulting from the war (''an attrition rate of almost 80% throughout the years 387.M54-999.M57'') was widely decried by most non-military elements of the Empire. Bork'an made tentative attempts to develop pilot-less drone controlled Battlesuits for mass-production. However, such machines had slow reactions, and were generally deemed useless. Reluctantly, the secret projects which had depopulated the ancient world of N'dras were ordered by the council of Aun'Va to continue their old research into hyper-sophisticated drone processing and development. This led to the terrible events of the N'dras conflagration in 555.M57, but we shall come back to this at some future date. However, before that date, the N'drasian 'Cold-suits' became an essential element in future Tau conflicts; they could be deployed by the millions directly from Demiurg factory vessels, into combat. The distinctive blue-grey form of the N'drasian XV333-78 combat battlesuits were far more slender and maneuverable than their predecessors due to their lack of a pilot. They could accelerate more quickly and were more agile, as they didn't risk the well-being of their occupants. Also, each suit could contain greater payloads and more weapons and more complex targeting systems, and had extensive sophisticated drone networking systems, allowing drones to become an extension of their own minds. What was more was that rather than being mere programs, the CPUs of the XV333's could actually think for themselves; Artificial Intelligence. A whispered abomination in the old spluttering cultures of the Gue'Vesa, the Tau did not fear these thinking machines. Their arrogance and ignorance would later serve as a warning to all. Beware the Ghost in the Machine...


On 397.893.M54, the single most important development in Tau culture and their wider society came to pass. It was on this day, upon the world of Jaa'Vorl, that a Tau child known to history as Kor-Pivin, was the first Tau to undergo experimental Earth Caste genetic tests. These long and grueling tests had been begun barely seven kai'rotaa (''each equivalent to 50 Terran Days'') previously, after reports across the empire spoke of strange Tau who could perceive the world in a way never before seen, and could even manipulate local physical constants to a minor degree. On some of the more far distant Sept colonies, such talents would often go unexplored, but the pattern began to reoccur within the more metropolitan sept worlds and sept-dominated colonies. Once the tests were completed, the results were revealed to the Earth caste much to their astonishment. They had confirmed the existence of the first ever Tau psyker. This information was of course withheld from the majority of Tau society for almost a hundred years. By the time the Ethereals had properly 'prepared' society for this revelation, Vior'la and several other military academies across the Empire had already performed their own hunts for psykers (''or 'vortex singularities' as the Tau propaganda machine hurried to call them to avoid unpleasant associations with the destructive and insane warp-user strains of humanity, who had caused so much destruction of the millennia''), and had gathered them together into secret breeding programs.


In typical Tau fashion, these psykers began to be developed into a distinct caste, the M'yen caste (''aptly translated as 'the unforeseen' caste, as one could easily argue none amongst the Tau predicted such a development''). Clad in strange purple robes, and utilizing odd energy focusing crystals in their ornamentation and armaments, these figures became a strange and unsettling presence within Tau society. Most were hastily deployed to the eternal Necron front, bolstering the other psychic races of the grand alliance, which were essential in keeping the silver menace at bay. The rest were used by the Ethereals, to ensure the compliance and adoration of sept worlds and those living within them, to the Greater Good. The M'yen'Vre were the perfect tools for the Ethereals to enact their dominion over all living being beneath their united facade. And dissidents would give themselves away simply by thinking against the system. Such dissidents were taken from their homes and taken to re-education centers, where a combination of M'yen hypnosis techniques and powerful chemical olfactory were employed to re-align the loyalties of the discordant elements. They returned to their home worlds speaking of the beautiful verdant lands they had visited, and how they had spoken personally to Aun'Va, who told them the true meaning of the greater good. So far, not one of the re-educated citizens of the Empire has ever been known to re-offend. Such is the destiny of unity.


On the western borders of the Tau Meta-Empire, things are rather different, throughout this period. Growing mobilization on the eastern borders meant the Tau could not afford to supply these colonies and distant Septs with the latest technology and weaponry. On some worlds, they were even still using old devilfish chassis and gunship variants, as well as the old battlesuit designs. These colonies shared greater trading and cross-cultural exchange with outside societies than the very insular inner colonies of the Empire. Numerous human Imperiums and civilizations trading ideas and technology with these colonies, or, more often, would raid or make war upon these weaker Tau societies, thinking they were unable to defend themselves. Sometimes this was accurate; most of the time it was not. Many were the foolish brigand-captains who, clad in their stolen finery and armed with pillaged vessels, sought to blast the Tau into submission. Tau rail guns and Hero-class cruisers often demonstrated with defiant clarity just who was the real power in the area.


The semi-independent Enclave known as the Farsighted Enclave, is a rare example of a truly independent Tau civilization, completely distinct from their authoritarian neighbours. It is a bizarre feudal culture centered around archaic battlesuit-wearing Kasar-princes, who maintain personal armies and vie with one another for influence. There's is a bastard culture of many different origins, which can only really unite when under threat by a faction more powerful than all of the princes combined. Such a foe reared its head in 222.M53. In this year, the outer waystations of the Enclave picked up the distinctive signature of a large battlefleet entering realspace from the warp. Accordingly, Kais'Kasar'Koilgu, the local Kasar-prince, gathered his forces and his battlefleet and thundered to intercept this fleet. Over the moon of Jubza, the two fleets met. The enemy fleet didn't even attempt to communicate with Koilgu. Instead, the vast fleet of boxy, bulky vessels, each distinctive and colorful in its livery and decoration, opened fire upon Koilgu's armada. The battle raged for days, until the flagship of the mysterious fleet fired boarding torpedoes directly into Koilgu's own command vessel. The Enclave Tau fought hard with pulse rifle and bloody-minded determination, but they were easily cut down by the arrogant giants who rampaged through the ship, accompanied by flocks of adoring human worshipers who fired lasguns and cried prayers to their masters. Eventually, the leader of the foe burst onto Koilgu's bridge. Koilgu was armoured in a beautifully maintained battlesuit, covered in honor markings and inscriptions of glory. Before him, God-Captain Flaegren, Astartes-Under Lord for the seventeenth crusade of Grand Sicarium stood in ornate power armor with glittering power fist, his shoulders swathed in a thick lion pelt, his head covered by ostentatious jewelry of the most garish kind. The two opulent and corrupt figures stared each other down for but an instant before the charged. Bolter and melta raged against plasma rifle and burst cannon, crackling power fist clattered against a sparking Mechanicus power glaive, granted to Koilgu by a captured Adept long ago. Though the battlesuit made Koilgu fiendishly strong, Flaegren was a veteran of almost a millennia of bloodshed and warfare. His skill was phenomenal, and the duel ended which the psychotic marine carving open Koilgu's chassis, before having his sycophantic minions pour molten gold inside the suit with the screaming Tau still inside.


Koilgu's gilded corpse was delivered to the Grand Kassar of the Enclave scant months later. The retainer who brought the grisly trophy to the Kassar arrogantly recited the God-Captain's message.


"Here is a valuable gift to the great Kassar of the Farsighted Enclave. A token of the benevolence of Lord King Sicarius and the Grand Sicarium. You shall receive more of these mighty gifts, should your foolish peoples choose to oppose the dominion of the true master of the Galaxy, and the King of all Astartes!"


Needless to say, but the remains of the retainer, after the Kassar was done with him, would have barely filled a small paper cup. The challenge of Flaegren had been accepted, and it would be many years before his crusade could be stopped by the Enclave. Over a dozen worlds and a hundred battlefronts, the insane Marines of Grand Sicarium and their men at arms fought bitter world to world wars with the Enclaves. Each side fought like smoke, fluidly attempting to out maneuver their opponents before delivering a killing blow. Guerrilla campaigns were launched by desperate or hate-fueled enclavers, and the Astartes responded with vast bombing runs over civilian population centers. The sheer number and variety of conflicts that raged for decades throughout the lawless border regions could fill a library themselves, but eventually both sides were exhausted, numbers dwindling to but a fraction of their previous forces. Bitter and driven by a blinding arrogance, Flaegren continued his campaign, initiating a blistering and penetrative offensive with his remaining fleet, which plunged like a spear deep into the soft tissue of the farsighted Enclave. The capital world itself was besieged by two great battlebarges. These massive floating cityscapes were almost impossible to destroy; time and again dedicated bands of battlesuits and drones would sally forth on covert missions to infiltrate and destroy the colossi, but to no avail.


Then, something truly disastrous occurred. In his hubris and mania, Flaegren had neglected to maintain his stocks of ordnance throughout the war. His logistical lines were stretched to breaking point, and this breaking point came sixteen months into the final siege. A vast Astartes supply vessel, the bride of Sicarius, burst into the system without escort, hoping to resupply the vast barges who had been constantly pounding any large cities or settlements they could find upon the surface. Before it could reach Flaegren's vessels however, the Kassar's men finally leapt into action. Over seven hundred battlesuits, three hundred orcas filled with loyal fire warriors, supported by a tribe of the mercenary Kroot, boarded the vessel, and destroyed all the munitions in a great storm of gunfire and screams. Now helpless and unarmed, the battle-barges were easy meat for the reinforcements that came to wreak their terrible vengeance upon the hated Astartes. Kasar-princes from across the Enclave burst into the system with their attendant fleets, spewing glistening arcs of blue and purple energy into the stricken behemoths. Missiles and ion batteries of a dozen different configurations and designs pumped their destructive force into breaking apart the ancient Terran constructs. Armour plates splintered and blistered, men and women howled as the void reached in to snatch away their lives in a fiery instant, and slowly but surely, both the great ships collapsed under the pressure, tumbling into pieces like the decomposing corpses of whales.


It was said Flaegren went down with his ship, insanely ordering his men to stop dying, as the air was sucked from the bridge. He died hacking apart his own minions as they asphyxiated on the floor at his gilded boots.


This is, of course, but a brief glimpse into the actions of the Tau of this period, as destiny called out to all races in the wake of building giants in both the void and the warp. Soon enough, the Tau, the young race turned into a cynical monstrosity by grief, were forced to reassess their place in the galaxy, and to choose a side in the final great and enduring conflict of our, and indeed all, times. For it was coming, and no dynasty would be secure from it in the end...
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