002: First Battle of Heyn'Am

Following the Invasion of Or'Na, in Cha'Anxi, the forces of the Curdling Armada are on driving forward on a number of fronts.

As warfare on the Cha'Anxi front escalates, Kainan has dispatched a battlegroup to the Heyn'Am Rim. A motley collection of abhumans, traitor guardsmen and cultists, the force is accompanied by cell-warbands of Renegade Astartes, including the Mottled Halo, Bleak Vespers, Sons of Spectra and Scions of Magnus – a Thousand Sons warband commanded by the sorcerers Nikolai and Kamal.

Tasked with disrupting critical food and supply lines from the bountiful world of Heyn'Am itself, the battlegroup made landfall only after a long and costly void battle. The sacrifices of the Air Caste gave the resourceful Commander Kais-Eoro – the ranking Tau officer in the system, and a trusted lieutenant of the sectorial commander, Strongheel – time to stiffen his hurriedly-prepared and inexperienced force of auxiliary defenders.

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As the bulk of the two armies forces clashed across half a dozen strategic points, the elites met in the First Battle of Heyn'Am. An uneasy alliance of Death Guard and Thousand Sons met with Kais-Eoro's own battle-hardened corps of Fire Warriors – and some unexpected mercenaries: the Duke of Gork 'n Da Ten Faaazand.

Lacking sufficient experienced Fire Caste warriors, and dubious of the indiginous levy's morale, Kais-Eoro made the fateful decision to employ a warband of greenskins to stymie the Chaos forces' advance. The aggressive greenskins executed a massive charge in the centre within moments of the battle's beginning.

The fresh, verdant coastal landscape quickly became a quagmire as the brutal greenskins met the equally savage heretic Astartes. The heart of the battle was in a swirling ongoing melee in the centre, with more and more forces drawn into a meatgrinder.

When the last orks fell in the centre, a mere handful of Plague Marines remained standing, swaying but defiant – but Kais-Eoro's own household was virtually untouched; and the remnants of the orks were sweeping up the embattled Thousand Sons on the shoreline.

As light began to fall, the Tau-led coalition had the upper hand, but it had been a brutal and draining fight for both sides.

Result: a hard-fought victory for the Tau.

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+ Aftermath +
The mysterious tzeentchian warband escape after abducting the hermit-magos Inshabel. This notorious heretek had haunted the worlds of the Heyn'Am Rim for some time, evading Imperial justice. His forbidden research into thanatology promises Kamal and Nikolai some way of replenishing their ranks of Rubric marines.

The Death Guard Sorcerer Czeslic mournfully ordered the retreat before his forces were wiped out completely. His next act will be to report to his superiors; and perhaps return with reinforcements to subdue the tenacious world. 

Kais-Eoro's hunter cadre returned home virtually intact – a vital advantage for the ongoing war. Now Brightsword Command is aware that the Curdling Armada can strike deep into the Enclaves, perhaps Kais-Eoro's status will be increased.

As for the Duke of Gork 'n da Ten Faaasand... The Duke himself crawled from the wreckage of his favourite buggy, who can say how he will react? Recriminations against the Tau, or pursuit of a valued new enemy?

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