Tor'Vash'Por (5)

 Luna: Welcome back you're watching Tor'Vash'Por, I'm Luna Samara bringing you the latest news stories at the top of the hour, beginning with the latest developing story out of the Penros system.. 

BREAKING NEWS

Luna (cont.): .. reports are coming in that Tau expeditionary forces in the system have launched a major offensive against the local Ores'la on Penros VII. This marks the largest ground operation mounted by the Tau expeditionary forces since their arrival in the Penros system, our correspondent Farrier Seyburey has more for us now from Penros VII. 

(A Scorpionfish superheavy missile gunship sits parked on the ground of a rugged windswept plain of tussock grassland, its onboard lights creating an island of illumination in the cold dark pre-dawn gloom. A second Scorpionfish can just be made out in another tiny island of light far in the distance)

Farrier (VO): After weeks of intense and careful preparations.. 

(with a tremendous explosive roar an enormous missile erupts from the roof of the Scorpionfish in a brilliant burst of boiling light and fire, casting the landscape into harsh shifting illumination, and races into the dark grey sky on a strobing multi-pointed teardrop of burning white atop a spire of grey-white smoke. A distant shooting star can be seen leaping from the distant Scorpionfish as it launches a second missile)

Farrier (VO, cont.): .. Tau forces on Penros VII have launched their largest ground offensive so far in the conflict. 

(One by one a series of enormous missiles rise into the air from the tall vertically-pointing launch tubes of a cluster of massive Tau missile carriers, parked in a roughly circular pattern amidst miscellaneous sensor and support vehicles in open rolling wilderness. Each missile hangs in the air for an instant before twisting itself towards the left in a flurry of flame and smoke and racing into the distance on a crisp white contrail)

Farrier (VO, cont.): Acting on intelligence from Air Caste Command tracking the class-8 space hulk KVX-721 as it passed close to Penros VII, Tau Fire Caste Command Penros staged a massive attack on the local Ores'la forces as they attempted to board the space hulk from a network of ground-based matter transmitters. 

(Seen from the cupola of a Tau grav-tank, a Hammerhead gunship speeds across the wilderness beneath a sky crisscrossed with spidery white missile contrails)

Farrier (VO, cont.): Sources within Penros Coalition Command have reported no fewer than eight battle-level formations were involved in the operation, which coalition leadership has called Operation Ol'Vre-5..

(A relentless stream of burning orange lights plunge through the dark pre-dawn sky like meteors, slamming into the horizon in a series of rippling angry orange flashes that cast the hilly landscape into silhouette) 

Farrier (VO, cont.): ..  along with extensive missile and air support, with the aim of decapitating the Ores'la command structure while the aliens were preparing to migrate. 

(A river of Tau vehicles screened by drones glides past the field of view and pours down a deserted highway cutting through the countryside)

Farrier (VO, cont.): The offensive was centred around what Penros Coalition Command has named Operation Argon-7, a full scale assault on the city of Lucia deep in Ores'la held territory where reliable intelligence sources reported a gathering of key Ores'la leadership figures, including many of the planet's most notorious Ores'la chieftains. 

(A staggered formation of Devilfish troop carriers and Hammerhead gunships sweep across rolling temperate wilderness. Large plumes of black smoke stain the distant horizon)

Farrier (VO, cont.): Other major attacks, Operations Xenon-2, Krypton-9, Neon-18 and Radon-0 allowed the Tau penetrate deep into Ores'la territory and assault Lucia with a strike force reported to consist of elite guards cadre Fire Warriors as well as large numbers of reserve troops. 

(A team of Fire Warriors in full combat gear wait poised in the passenger compartment of a Devilfish, cast into a crimson glow from the interior combat lighting. Harsh white daylight can be seen through the passenger vision blocks)

Farrier (VO, cont.): The Ores'la forces encountered in Lucia are believed to have comprised warbands from multiple Ores'la tribes affiliated with the Snake Bites paramilitary.. 

(On the outskirts of a war-torn Imperial city, Broadside battlesuits are carefully unloaded from the open rear hatch of a landed Orca dropship, sliding off the central conveyor one by one and striding forward, while Fire Warriors and gun drones fan out around the landing site)

Farrier (VO, cont.): .. Large bands of Ores'la fighters were reportedly encountered with extensive artillery support alongside heavy cavalry and mechanised combat walker elements. 

(Viewed from above, a pair of Hammerhead gunships glide across a war-torn Imperial cityscape, their turret-mounted railguns tracking and firing on some distant target. A corkscrew of dust and debris is wrenched up along the path of each railgun shot fired)

Farrier (VO, cont.): Tau forces entered the city from two sides, concentrating their mobile elements on the southern approaches.. 

(A trio of Broadside battlesuits stand in a large room of a ruined Imperial building. Fingers of light stream in from the shattered windows in front of them. The battlesuits sway from one side to another as they track unseen targets with their shoulder-mounted railguns. At once the Broadsides fire their railguns, buffeting the world with the force of their recoil and sending a whirlwind of dust into the air from the floor. Then the machines unlock their foot stabilisers and shift their position, carefully shuffling around the room like elephants)

Farrier (VO, cont.): ..while air-landing infantry and heavy battlesuits were deployed along the eastern districts to hold Ores'la fighters in place against the main push, with medium battlesuit units being kept as an immediate reserve.. 

(Viewed from above, a Hammerhead gunship swoops down to an war-torn Imperial city intersection, its turret-mounted railgun turning to aim at some unseen target around the left corner and firing as it clears the side of the adjacent buildings)

Farrier (VO, cont.): ..Coalition officials have so far neither confirmed nor denied that a Tau Ethereal Caste representative was also involved in the operation. 

(Viewed from above in monochrome through a Tau gun camera, hulking figures crawl over the front prow of a Hammerhead gunship hovering on a war-torn Imperial roadway, wildly hacking at the machine with various implements. At once a corkscrew of dust and debris whips up around a flash of brightness along the road from the right to the stricken Hammerhead and a rippling series of explosions rake across the Hammerhead's prow, covering it in flame and dust and sending a shower of fragments from the grav-tank. As the dust clears the Hammerhead's prow is now clean of figures, the remaining pieces of its assailants sloughing off the prow as the Hammerhead moves forward)

Farrier (VO, cont.): Argon-7 encountered fierce resistance in the city. Almost immediately the Tau advance was compromised by ambushes from forward-deployed Ores'la special forces units.

(A Tau Fire Warrior talks into a microphone held from just out of sight)

Tau Fire Warrior: Ores'la M'yen'ka Run'vral'vre Ka[The Ores'la caught us by surprise with their special forces teams. We were operating without support from our own counter-infiltrators, so the Ores'la operators were able to get inside our lines well past our forward security screens. They hit my team's flank really hard, and almost came close to overrunning us. We had to redirect our drone support to cover that flank because the Ores'la were dangerously close to taking out a critical asset, and that ended up containing them] 

(A mass of Fire Warriors hug the ground of a war-torn Imperial plaza amidst a number of pixel-blurred bodies strewn across the pavement, firing off sporadic bursts from their pulse rifles in between bracing themselves as an unrelenting torrent of violent explosions and tracers rains down all around them. A pair of Devilfish hover in front of them, shifting forward and back and swooping down and up again as they manoeuvre to ward away other threats)

Farrier (VO): Ores'la artillery also proved lethally effective, inflicting major losses on the primary assault force as they reacted to sophisticated Ores'la counterintelligence efforts. 

(Another Tau Fire Warrior talks into a microphone held from just out of sight)

Tau Fire Warrior: Ores'la M'kna, Ores'la Kais'va Sa'J'cha M'ye[The Ores'la were very clever. They did a very smart piece of military deception, which led us to deploy on the ground too early and too far away. We had planned to set up ahead to ambush the Ores'la as they came through the city, but it was a trap and the Ores'la managed to ambush us instead. The Ores'la artillery was especially deadly, it was lethally accurate and continuous so we spent a lot of decs pinned down under heavy fire until we were finally able to break off and withdraw. We lost a lot of good guys out there, I just have to trust it was all for the Greater Good in the end] 

(Viewed from above in monochrome through a Tau gun camera, we follow a wave of hulking Orks riding on massive boars as they barrel down a large wide war-torn Imperial roadway. As they continue forward a stream of small flickering flashes dart across the field of view and slam into them, consuming the wave in blossoming flashes and dark clouds)

Farrier (VO): Nonetheless Tau forces were ultimately able to complete their primary mission, with Penros Coalition Command announcing the confirmed destruction of multiple key Ores'la chieftains in precision missile strikes and the decapitation of key levels of the Ores'la leadership and command structures. 

(A third Tau Fire Warrior talks into a microphone held from just out of sight. A Hammerhead gunship is parked on the ground behind them)

Tau Fire Warrior: Mont'ka'shi Kor'mont'sta[The gunships were the decisive force. Their mobility and heavy firepower smashed the Ores'la. The TX-7s hammered the Ores'la on the southern flank, the Ores'la had most of their troops concentrated there with almost no anti-tank weapons, so the TX-7s had perfect targets for their cluster shells. The TX-7-6 we had also did a great job, it was out of position for a while but it managed to neutralise the Ores'la cavalry force that's been a really dangerous threat before and would have ripped the heart out of our guys otherwise. Our gunships rampaged through the south, and if the Ores'la artillery hadn't destroyed too many of them they would have probably cleared the whole city. I'm really proud to have served alongside those guys] 

(Farrier stands in front of a roadway curving away through tussock-strewn wilderness. A pair of Tau sentry gun turrets flank the roadway, each next to a large signpost with the message "DANGER! RESTRICTED AREA - NO CIVILIAN ACCESS PAST THIS POINT!" printed in large bold letters in Tau'sia, human Gothic, and several other alien scripts) 

Farrier: Tau forces were forced to withdraw from Lucia with heavy casualties, but not before inflicting major damage on the Ores'la in turn and completing their main objectives. They have failed to prevent the Ores'la from escaping the planet.. 

(A Hammerhead gunship glides into view and carries on down the road, passing by behind Farrier with a screaming roar of jet turbines)

Farrier (cont.): ..but the Tau were successful in completely severing almost every level of the Ores'la chain of command on Penros VII, and that means two key things. First, the Ores'la migration was significantly disrupted, with the result that only a relatively small fraction.. 

(A pair of Devilfish troop carriers glide into view one after the other and carry on down the road, passing by behind Farrier with a screaming roar of jet turbines)

Farrier (cont.): ..of the aliens managed to leave the system and second, that the Ores'la remaining on Penros VII are now significantly weaker with reports.. 

(Another Hammerhead glides into view and carries on down the road, passing by behind Farrier with a screaming roar of jet turbines)

Farrier (cont.): ..already coming in that Ores'la warbands on the ground are quickly falling into fierce internal fighting. The Ores'la on Penros VII are far from gone, but they are for the moment no longer a major threat. 

(Viewed from above in monochrome through a Tau gun camera, bright flickering flashes blossom across a rugged rolling wilderness as two jagged lines of roughly-hewn trenches and fortifications exchange heavy gunfire and artillery shelling)

Farrier (VO): The aftermath of Operation Ol'Vre-5 has already seen dramatic results, coalition intelligence confirming the formation of a power vacuum among the Ores'la on Penros VII with splinter groups vying for control. 

(Viewed from above, we follow along a sprawling Ork shantytown. The streetways are littered with craters and burning wreckage. Streams of tracer fire pour across open spaces from one building to another. Thick clouds of black smoke pour from numerous huts and structures)

Farrier (VO, cont.): As early as 48 hours after the operation's conclusion Ores'la advances across the planet's primary continent have become paralysed, with witnesses from Ores'la occupied regions reporting intense firefights breaking out among Ores'la warbands.. 

(Massive plumes of smoke rise into the sky from a sprawling mass of Ork fortresses and buildings, illuminated by raging fires. Streams of tracer gunfire erupt into the air from amongst the skyline in wildly twisting patterns, crisscrossing the dusk sky)

Farrier (VO, cont.): ..and orbital and covert surveillance indicating dozens of known Ores'la strongholds now embroiled in full-scale warfare between local tribes. 

(In the dark of midnight at a Tau airbase illuminated by apron lights, the silhouette of a Barracuda races into the air with teardrop plumes of brilliant violet flame fountaining from its engines)

Farrier (VO, cont.): Meanwhile Tau Air Caste assets have been heavily involved in covering the escape of coalition forces incolved in Ol'Vre-5.. 

(An enormous Moray assault ship hangs serenely in the air high in the upper atmosphere. A massive missile lances out from its underside in a burst of flame and races away on a trail of white smoke)

Farrier (VO, cont.) .. as well as conducting targeted strikes against key Ores'la weapon sites.. 

(Viewed from above in monochrome through a Tau gun camera, a gargantuan Squiggoth plods forwards across the wilderness. A series of small bright flashes dart across the screen and slam into the side of the creature, consuming it in bright flashes of flame and sprays of debris before the beast collapses to its belly and keels over. Smoke and flame pour from the howdah on its back)

Farrier (VO, cont.): ..war machines.. 

(Viewed from above in monochrome through a Tau gun camera, several rows of captured Imperial tanks line a courtyard beside a sprawling roughly-shapen citadel inside a perimeter of jagged palisade fences. A tiny glob of light darts towards the centre and the whole compound is engulfed with a harsh fireball and clouds of smoke and dust) 

Farrier (VO, cont.): ..and command centres to prevent the Ores'la reorganising and to minimise the threat their internal conflict poses to civilian areas. 

(Aboard a Tau starship humans, Tau and various aliens move past a large set of doors emblazoned with the Water Caste logo)

Farrier (VO, cont): Water Caste Command Penros has issued a statement commending the professionalism, skill and bravery of the Tau forces on Penros and indicating cautious optimism about the Penros expeditionary mission. 

(Por'vre'T'au Sa'yio'Or'es'Kaara is addressing an out-of-sight crowd from a gleaming podium crowned with an array of microphones. The backdrop behind him is adorned with an array of hanging flags and banners emblazoned the emblems of Tau, Kroot, Gue'vesa, Nicassar, Naga, Sea'shi, Ich'khula and several others)

Por'vre'T'au Sa'yio'Or'es'kaara: ... the forces arrayed against us in this sector are a great abyss, the Ol'Vre mission was just a point of starlight. But it is a point of starlight that can show the way forward. The Ores'la plaguing Penros VII have been thrown into chaos, and their advance contained, but they are not gone and there remain many more dangers still at large. The task of stabilising the Penros system, and indeed the wider sector, and of bringing peace and well-being to those who live there, is far from over. 

Make no mistake, this is not the end, nor is it even the beginning of the end. But it is, I think, the end of the beginning. Our expeditionary forces have many more battles ahead of them, but it is safe to say that thanks to the monumental sacrifice of our military forces, we are one solid step closer to making Penros a safer, happier part of the galaxy... 

(A Manta missile destroyer comes in to land at a bustling Tau starport, gently and smoothly lowering itself to the ground beneath a radiant crimson sunset)

Farrier (VO): In the meantime, coalition forces on the ground are now licking their wounds, reorganising their battered forces and planning out how to keep the Ores'la civil conflict contained while pivoting to focus on other pirate and terrorist threats in the region. From Penros System this is Farrier Seyburey, Tor'Vash'Por. 

Luna: And to shed more light on the story we have standing by for us Payal Sarkar, special advisory liaison to the Dal'yth Sept Council Gue'vesa delegation, Pavel Titov strategic analyst at the Lambada Centre and Tim Colquhoun, senior fellow at the Miranda-Yamato Academy of Political Studies and author of 'Centre Of Gravity: The Changing Balance On The Eastern Fringe'. Payal I want to start with you first, just how is this latest offensive on Penros VII likely to be viewed by the Tau leadership? 

Payal: Well Luna I think the Tau are likely to be very cautiously optimistic about this latest development, we need to remember that it is still a very limited success and a portion of the Ores'la that managed to escape the system aboard the space hulk is not insignificant, which is going to cause problems in other regions they might resurface in, but that being said it is also the biggest success the coalition forces have had on Penros VII so far and it has effectively knocked out what was by far the greatest threat in the Penros system not just to the expeditionary mission but also to the local residents and I think that is going to cause some reevaluation with the Ethereals around salvaging the Penros mission. 

Luna: Alright Payal I can see Tim nodding along with you there Tim what are your thoughts on this? 

Tim: Thank you Luna yes I want to say I agree with most what Payal here is saying but it's also worth keeping in mind where the Penros Coalition is coming from. The Ores'la, we need to keep in mind, the Ores'la were threat number 1 on Penros VII by a huge margin right, these Ores'la were by far the single largest and most formidable force on the planet, they weren't just driving back our coalition forces but they were also keeping the Gue'la Imperial invasion effort bottled up too, they were not just threatening to break out and start threatening the wider system right, and the Tau have now just stopped all of that in its tracks, and I think that's very significant. 

Payal: Yes to add to what Tim is saying there this does also put the entire world of Penros VII in a very unpredictable place right now because of course the Ores'la had grown to such a large and entrenched presence and now that they've been plunged into this infighting it's going to create a power vacuum across the entire planet, which could take an already unstable situation and turn it into total chaos. 

Luna: Alright now that sounds like a pretty good place to bring you in Pavel, how would you describe the strategic situation for the Penros Expeditionary Mission right now? 

Pavel: Thank you Luna. I would describe the Penros expedition's strategic situation as extremely precarious right now, the expeditionary forces are in a very fragile condition right now with a lot of threats still facing them. On the one hand you have all these various other Mont'au'gue'la terror groups and pirate groups still active, and now they'll be looking to grow their presence and power without the Ores'la holding them back, like Payal was saying the collapse of the Ores'la is going to create a power vacuum that these other pirates and terrorists will rush to fill.. 

Tim: Now-

Pavel (cont.): .. On the other hand there's also the Gue'la Imperium presence in the system, and now they're also going to be emboldened to be more aggressive now for the same reasons.. 

Tim: Hold-

Pavel (cont.): .. and finally you have the Ores'la themselves, let's remember that yes their leadership structure has been destroyed yes they're no longer going to be pushing out and making cohesive strategic moves but the individual Ores'la warbands are not gone! There are still a large number of Ores'la forces still on Penros VII.. 

Luna: Pavel- 

Pavel (cont.): .. and they are only going to emerge from this infighting stronger if left to their own devices. 

Luna: Alright Pavel I am noticing Tim trying to come in there with some of his thoughts. 

Tim: Yes that's right, I'm not so sure I see things so pessimistically on my end here, from what I can see the Penros expedition still has some strong assets going for it. This operation has shown that even though the Tau have taken some heavy setbacks on Penros VII, that they were able to put this offensive together and carry it out still shows that they are able to make strong decisive plays and can still shape the conflict in big ways. 

Pavel: The trouble is this operation has also highlighted the vulnerabilities the Tau have on Penros VII, they threw this huge amount of force at the Ores'la, including a lot of their carefully collected heavy equipment, their carefully husbanded reserve troops, and even with all that they were still only able to achieve limited success, and they sustained heavy losses even just managing that much. That highlights to me just how much of a knife's edge the expedition is currently resting on right now. 

Luna: Payal you have something you want to add? 

Payal: Yes Luna I think the key word here surrounding the current situation in the Penros system is uncertainty. There's much more uncertainty now than there was even a few weeks ago with the space combat actions that occurred in the system, and that goes for both the Penros expeditionary mission and the Penros system, even the wider Penros sub-sector itself. Now that's certainly going to be very concerning for all involved, but we also need to keep in mind that uncertainty does not necessarily mean all bad. 

Tim: Thank you for bringing up an excellent point Payal, you're right that there's both a lot of risk and a lot of opportunity now for the Penros expedition. I think the most interesting opportunity right now to me at least, is the opportunity to cement some real legitimacy to the Tau claim to the system. Remember the Penros expedition was sent to the Penros system in the first place because the local governor there requested Tau assistance and support in maintaining security in the system and especially on Penros VII itself. Right now the Tau have just decapitated the Ores'la leadership, they've plunged the Ores'la that had Penros VII under their boot into infighting, they've taken that threat out of the fight, and they can take credit for that achievement. And I think that could go a long way into cementing the Tau as credible brokers of security in the system and in the wider sub-sector. 

Luna: Pavel what course of action do you think the Penros Coalition should pursue moving forward then? 

Pavel: My biggest recommendation Luna would be one of consolidation and caution. Right now the Penros Coalition is stretched very thin, dangerously thin even. You already have a very tenuous situation for coalition troops on the ground even before this latest offensive, and with the heavy casualties they've taken in this latest battle the coalition ground forces of Penros VII are boing to be taxed even further, and now the aerospace forces are being stretched out hunting down this Mont'au'gue'la pirate fleet that had entered the system, so the coalition military is stretched very thin right now and really needs to use this time to consolidate and regroup and reorganise their forces. 

Luna: Alright now Payal you work with the Ethereal caste, how threatened do you think the Tau are likely to feel in regards to the Penros system right now, and how likely are they to invest more resources into the Penros system as it stands now? 

Payal: That's a good question Luna I think the Tau are going to be feeling at least a little more confident about the Penros mission now they've gotten some kind of visible result. There have been rumblings within the Tau government about a complete withdrawal from the Penros system for some time now, and I would not be surprised to see that change. We know there are still additional Kor'vattra ships en route to reinforce the Penros Coalition right now, and I suspect that the Tau will be most likely to feed in just enough troops and materiel to keep their ground forces topped up and maintain the ability to project some kind of presence on the ground, while focusing on really reinforcing their aerospace hold over the system where the aerospace theatre has seen their greatest successes so far. 

Luna: Alright we are not starting to run out of time but I do want to hear from all of you now what do you think the implications are for the local civilians on Penros VII? 

Tim: I think the people of Penros VII have cause to be more hopeful than they've been in a long while now. Before they were facing the real prospect of indefinite domination by the Ores'la, possibly permanently, with all of the enslavement, violence and displacement that comes with that. Now, because of this operation Ol'vre, that outcome is suddenly a lot less likely, and they're a step closer towards being able to enjoy a normal life. 

Pavel: I'm not sure I fully agree with that assessment Luna, I think the civilian populace faces a lot more hardship to come now. Not only is the world far from secure, with many dozens of other pirate and terror groups besides the Ores'la, but there's also the Gue'la Imperium to deal with and the Ores'la themselves, and the violence of their internal conflict is going to be a very grave danger for civilians still trapped in those territories under Ores'la occupation. 

Payal: I think the most notable development for the local populace concerns the civilians trapped in Ores'la controlled territories. The coalition forces on Penros VII worked hard to evacuate as much of the civilian population as they could when the scale of hostilities became apparent, but the rapid advance of the Ores'la left a considerable number of civilians trapped under their occupation. Now those locals will be seeing a chance to escape the oppression of the Ores'la holding their lands, but they will also face a very serious risk of being caught in the crossfire of the Ores'la internal conflicts, and I would not be surprised if the Penros expeditionary mission plans to try and assist those local civilians where they can. 

Luna: Alright I'm afraid we are going to have to leave it there as we are out of time now but thank you all for taking the time to speak with us. 

Payal: Thank you Luna. 

Pavel: Thank you Luna. 

Tim: Thank you Luna. 

Luna: Alright moving onto some other news now it has been two weeks since Tor'Vash'Por correspondent Audra Vega was kidnapped and detained by Gue'la Imperium secret police. Tau and Gue'vesa authorities are continuing to demand her immediate release and there are now grave concerns over her treatment and the conditions in...