Luna: ... Welcome back to Tor'Vash'Por, I'm Luna Samara joining you now at the top of the hour. We begin tonight in the Penros system where Tau expeditionary forces have managed to contain armed terror groups probing the equatorial desert belt of Penros VII. It's one of the few successes Tau forces have enjoyed in the Penros system so far and comes after a prolonged several-month aerospace campaign, our correspondent Farrier Seyburey has more now.
(At a hot sand-strewn junction, half a dozen Tau Fire Warriors pile up against a battered stumpy plascrete wall and brace. There is a beat of silence before the world is buffeted by a distant explosion. Swarms of dust twist and coil from the ground followed by a splitting thunder-crack. The Fire Warriors spring to their hooves, round the corner and fire several bursts from their weapons)
Farrier (VO): A rare piece of good news from a conflict that has all but been written off as a lost cause by the Ethereals. Arriving in the early morning at the small settlement of Delphi Station Tau Fire Caste forces have managed to perform a semi-successful holding action against armed Gue'la fighters believed to have ties with the Alpha Legion Gue'la terror group..
(Inside a cool white rectangular compartment Tau Fire Warriors pour through an open threshold into harshly lit grassland wilderness outside)
Farrier (VO cont.): ..The Tau troops, one of the small Orca-transported detachments common throughout the conflict, managed to complete their air-landing on the outskirts of Delphi Station some hours ahead of the advancing Gue'la terrorists, and take up positions around the village's local government centre..
(Outside on a dusty grassland wilderness Tau Fire Warriors fan out around a landed Orca while Crisis Battlesuits begin to slide out of the Orca's rear transport hatch. One by one they lift into the air in a puff of dust)
Farrier (VO cont.) ..The armed group is believed to have consisted of a large number of local mutant fighters, supported by several small highly experienced and well-armed Ores'la'Gue'La terrorist cells, believed to be former Imperial Astartes shock troops based on their equipment. At least one heavy combat walker was also reported to have been identified..
(Seen from above, four Crisis Battlesuits converge on a dust-strewn intersection where half a dozen figures in power armour are creeping along the front face of a battered rockcrete building. The Tau machines glide across the intersection, loosing a volley of radiant green plasma bolts as they reach the centre. The power-armoured figures vanish in a boiling maelstrom of green-white flashes and swirling dust clouds as the Crisis Battlesuits glide back into cover)
Farrier (VO cont.): ..The settlement of Delphi Station itself remains contested, but while the Gue'la terrorists still retain control of large swathes of the settlement Tau expeditionary forces have managed to inflict heavy casualties on them, and halted their advance. It's not much, but after the string of dsimal setbacks they've encountered, the Penros Expeditionary Coalition is taking whatever small wins they can get. It's a sentiment shared by many of the troops involved.
(A Tau Fire Warrior talks into a microphone held from just out of sight)
Tau Fire Warrior: Mont'au'Gue'la Ores'la Kau'y[The Gue'la forces here are very strong and cunning adversaries, and we were in very serious trouble. I honestly think we were lucky more than anything, as our intelligence indicated a contingent of jump troops and heavy weapon battlesuits was expected to arrive in support of their ground troops, but fortunately for us they never arrived. Still, we fought as hard and smart as we could, and we managed to claw out a better result than many battles we've had on this world so far, and I'm proud for my own contribution to that]
(Farrier walks along a vast dust-swept plain)
Farrier: What makes this battle particularly important is that it means the Gue'la terrorists have not been able to reach here..
(Farrier gestures at the vast empty wilderness and open sky behind him)
Farrier (cont.): Somewhere behind me here is a corridor of empty territory and clear airspace running for thousands of Tor'kan, stretching from the equatorial grasslands here, all the way into the planet's northern polar reaches. And this stretch of emptiness is important because it provides a safe passage up to where several large caches of heavy equipment were set up by the Tau upon arrival at Penros VII, of course as we know when the Tau arrived their original mission was to simply train the local planetary security forces so much of their heavy equipment and high-powered ordnance was locked away in hidden depots while they carried out that task. Now it's believed that the Tau are looking to use this corridor to move around the major fighting among the local pirate forces in the north and link up with these depots of heavy equipment which will, with any luck, give them the additional tools they need to stabilise the situation on Penros VII properly.
(An Explorer class starship hangs motionless in space, enveloped by the face of the planet on the other side of it, with a few tiny pinpricks of white light in formation around it. There is a beat, then its dorsal gun turrets fire a salvo at the planet's surface)
Farrier (VO): The battle also marks the start of renewed hostilities towards the Penros Expeditionary Coalition following months of intensive and prolonged aerospace bombardment..
(Viewed from the nose of its wingmate, an SX-06 Barracuda soars through the upper atmosphere of the planet with a bundle of missiles underneath. Abruptly one of the missiles flings itself from the aerospace fighter and lances out of view at the head of a trail of fire and smoke)
Farrier (VO cont.): .. Despite the presence of the Gue'la Imperium invasion force the Coalition's naval element has managed to command aerospace superiority throughout the system..
(Viewed from above, a White Shark attack bomber hurtles across a mottled steppe, missile after missile flying from its underside)
Farrier (VO cont.): ..Tau Air Caste aerial and aerospace assets continue to relentlessly hammer pirate and Ores'la strong points across Penros VII's northern hemisphere..
(Viewed from above in monochrome through a Tau gun camera, an Ork soopa gun rotates slowly in the view. A small blob of light briefly races across the screen towards it, before the view is engulfed in a harsh white flash. An instant later the gun is pouring flame and smoke)
Farrier (VO cont.): ..Targeting strategic weapons..
(Viewed from above in monochrome through a Tau gun camera, an Ork settlement sprawls across a vast plain, ringed with palisades. A harsh white flash fills the screen, then the entire landscape is smothered in dust clouds)
Farrier (VO cont.): .. War Machine production sites..
(Viewed in monochrome through a Tau gun camera, harsh white explosions continuously ripple along a large highway. Burning Chimeras and Rhinos litter the roadside.)
Farrier (VO cont.): .. Troop concentrations..
(Viewed from above in monochrome through a Tau gun camera, a small collection of buildings and courtyards sits nestled amongst a mountain. A tiny glob of light darts towards the compound and it is engulfed in blossoming flashes and dark clouds)
Farrier (VO cont.): .. and identified Mont'au'Gue'la training camps.
(Open countryside viewed from the side of a moving grav-speeder. Massive clouds of smoke can be seen looming from the horizon)
Farrier (VO cont.): ..Though the bombing campaign has succeeded in covering the Coalition retreat and undoubtedly saved many Coalition lives, the desolation is hard to avoid..
(Tau and drones scurry too and fro from a pair of landed Orcas on a grassy meadow, ferrying supplies from their open cargo holds)
Farrier (VO cont.): The northern approaches to the Coalition depots are still believed to be held by partisan bands of Tau and Auxiliary stragglers from the initial confrontations on the planet. All evidence points to these partisan groups still being active in the region, but contact with them is sporadic at best, and it's an open question as to how much longer they can hold out without further support. For the Tau on Penros VII, it's now a race against time to reach their isolated equipment caches. Whether to empty them as part of a full-scale planetary evacuation or to use the weapons there in a counter-offensive is a decision for the Coalition Ar'tol high command..
(A few Fire Warriors sit and relax by a battered burnt-out wall, laughing with each other and sharing Ku'Lu'Na sodas)
Farrier (VO cont.): ..In the mean time, the Tau here can enjoy a hard-earned moment's respite. From Penros System this is Farrier Seyburey, Tor'Vash'Por.
Luna: And joining us now to shed more light on the story we have Shas'O'T'au Mont'yr'Kais'ka'Eoro, former Kir'qath Guards Cadre commander and current Shas'ar'tol advisor, on live feed, Shas'O just how tenuous is the situation in Penros?
Mont'yr: Luna I'm not one to be indirect, the situation is a catastrophe, especially on the ground. The entire expedition has been pretty much set up to fail by the faulty intelligence informing it, and I'm sure everyone following it will be interested to see what answers the ongoing investigation into the planning process finds.
Luna: So in your opinion then do you think the Coalition should abandon the system, or- or at least the planet Penros VII?
Mont'yr: It is certainly an option that's making more and more sense, but I'd hesitate to write off the entire Penros VII operation just yet. As you've seen our forces still have a pretty formidable aerospace at their component, and neither the local pirates nor the Gue'la invasion force has been able to seriously challenge our aerospace superiority just yet. That is obviously not going to do much without troops on the ground to really occupy that territory, and make that planet secure, but it can certainly buy the ground forces some time to recover and regroup.
Luna: But you've said yourself that the situation is very dire Shas'O, a catastrophe as you put it, surely prolonged combat operations are just going to be.. just going to be throwing these good resources after bad, surely? At what point- at what point do you need to just go 'look we can't do anything more here' and just.. just cut your losses?
Mont'yr: That answer is above my paygrade Luna. It is a talk that needs having, but it is also a talk for the Coalition command in Penros and the Aun to have, not me-
Luna: But you must have an opinion on what the right choice is.
Mont'yr: Yes, I do. I would say that as logical as abandoning the planet might be, it is also true that wars are not won by evacuations, and there is still an important job that needs doing there for the Greater Good. There is after all a reason why this Coalition was sent in the first place. The Penros region has been a hotbed of piracy on the frontiers of the Tau Empire for many Tau'cyr now. If we hold on and keep fighting there then there is a chance - just a small chance I think - that we might be able to change that. Just a small chance. But - this is important - if we do nothing, if we just leave the system to fend for itself, then there's no chance of things getting better there. And that's an important factor I think.
Luna: So then suppose the Penros Coalition decides to keep fighting on Penros VII, tell us Shas'O what would you say would be the best approach for the Coalition forces on the ground?
Mont'yr: Well so far I would say that the commanders on the ground are making most of the right moves and using the assets they have to make the best of a bad situation. They've leveraged their aerospace superiority as we've seen, they seem to have a lot of these remnant forces still active behind the opposing lines that can cause headaches for the Ores'la and Gue'la supply lines, of course they're making progress towards getting their heavier ground forces back online as we've seen, and what hasn't been talked about as much is that one big asset the Coalition has right now is the divided nature of the opposing forces in Penros, and we have seen that the local Shas'O has been doing a good job of channeling those different pirate and Ores'la and terrorist groups into fighting each other and not us.
Luna: So you think the Shas'O commanding Penros forces can turn the situation around then?
Mont'yr: I think with enough patience and cunning they very well could yes.
Luna: Alright Shas'O'T'au Mont'yr'Kais'ka'Eoro I'm afraid we are now out of time but thank you for joining us we are very grateful to have your insight into the Penros situation.
Mont'yr: Thank you Luna.
Luna: Moving onto other news now and the Nova Llaplandi all-system Pilas team the Silver Sparrows have returned home after winning the Gue'vessa Federation Interstellar Championship. Star captain Zelenna Laurenič was greeted to an ecstatic reception as she and her teammates stepped off the shuttle carrying the Nova-diamond championship trophy, marking the first time the team has won in...
