Warhammer: In the Name of the Emperor

What are the Tau like? Faced with this question, most humans cannot answer it. After all, for the vast majority of humans in the empire, their understanding of aliens is very stereotyped. Aliens are nothing more than evil and unreasonable. Yes, the evil aliens are determined to kill me.

But for those who know the Tau, all this can be said to be completely wrong. The Tau are not only definitely not evil, nor are they unreasonable. In fact, humans and the Tau have many things in common. , perhaps the two groups with the most similarities in the entire galaxy.

But unfortunately, in the empire, there are not many people who really know the Tau. People who know a little bit will tell you that the Tau are a group of alien races on the far eastern border of the empire. Those who know a little bit will tell you. You, they are humanoids with blue skin.

But only a very small number of scholars have a real understanding of this race. Even to most scholars in the empire, the Tau are strangers and they do not understand them. After all, in this dark galaxy, There are more and more threatening alien enemies waiting for these experts to study.

This also brings out another major characteristic of the Tau. They are very kind. Yes, you heard me right, they are kind. It’s surprising, isn’t it? In this galaxy, in this galaxy now, how can such a race still be alive?

It’s not that humans don’t want to be kind, but in this dark, war-filled universe, kindness is often equated with ignorance, and the result of ignorance is death.

And at this moment, when everyone is holding a gun and pointing it at each other's heads, trying their best to blow off the opponent's head and eliminate all races that appear in front of them, since there is such a person who knows nothing about all this, how can he use it? What seems a rather outdated, even stupid way to treat this galactic civilization?

With such curiosity, Vito was fortunate enough to be one of the very few humans who could truly understand the Tau. Unlike most humans, Vito first learned about the Tau during the Great Expedition.

At that time, it was an era when humans were opening up territories and regaining territory. Exploring fleets and scientific research fleets were all over the stars in all directions, looking for those valuable planets, and one of the exploration fleets from the Mechanicus was Across the Gulf of Damocles on the eastern edge of the Milky Way.

It was a nebula that had appeared in human vision a long time ago. It had been known there as early as the golden age. However, because of the huge mass of the celestial body there, it was filled with chaotic energy fields. Space transmission technology was It failed here, and leaping through the physical level was dangerous, so further exploration was abandoned a long time ago.

In the golden age, with an enterprising spirit, the fleet of the Mechanicus overcame all difficulties and ventured through the dangerous space area of ​​the Gulf of Damocles to the peaceful galaxy on the other side, where they found a planet similar to the Earth. environment of a habitable planet.

The Mechanicus initially explored the planet and discovered a primitive civilization that was still in a barbaric state, a group of blue-skinned alien primitives. The Mechanicus planned to cleanse their race and then transform the planet's environment as a The new homeland of mankind was to be immigrated and developed, but this plan was forced to terminate with the arrival of the Horus Heresy.

The fleet of the Mechanicus left the planet named Damocles 1, and this was the origin of the Tau people. These aliens who grew up on this primitive planet survived and settled on the planet. They thrived in the long time that followed. Thanks to the natural dangers of the Gulf of Damocles and their remote location, the Tau people in this corner of the galaxy did not fall into endless trouble as soon as they entered the universe like humans. of war.

They have enough time to polish their civilization, science, and civilization has been fully developed. In this safe small galaxy, the Tau gradually developed from primitive people into a developed civilization with the ability to aerospace, and formed a It is a caste-based society that has been perfected by itself and is still difficult for humans to understand.

They formed their own social structure with five major castes: the Fire Caste who serves as the warrior class, the Water Caste who serves as diplomats and bureaucrats, the Earth Caste who serves as workers and inventors, and the Air Caste who travels in the sky and drives aircraft and spaceships. Add to this a ruling class that has been shrouded in fog so far, the Aether.

Humans still know very little about the history of the Tau, and what they do know is obscure and filled with a large number of incomprehensible words and records.

In this society, there seems to be no poverty, no fighting, no confrontation or intrigue. Crime is also a word that is forgotten or even difficult to understand. The civilization of the Tau people is perfect to a puzzling level, and all of this, They were only made known to mankind during the first Gulf of Damocles War.

Almost no one remembers the aliens in the Adeptus Mechanicus exploration reports, but Vito remembers that he was lucky to live long enough, which also shocked him more than anyone else. He was surprised that The first time he knew about this civilization, they were still a group of primitive people who hunted with stones, and the next time, they had become a civilized country with advanced technology.

When thinking of the human empire that has declined for thousands of years, there is an inexplicable feeling of emotion, but this did not affect Vito and the subsequent wars and conflicts between the two races.

Look, the expansion method of the Tau is very unique. Due to the lack of subspace navigation technology, the Tau's spaceships can only fly at slow sub-light speeds. This results in the expansion of the Tau being very slow and the population growth is also slow. This As a result, the Tau cannot discover, annex and occupy alien planets like humans.

No, on the contrary, the Tau pursue an alliance-based expansion policy. Simply put, they establish friendly diplomatic relations with alien races along the way. Through trade, cultural export and economic cooperation, they eventually convince each other to join the Tau Alliance. , accept the leadership of ether, and follow the "higher good path".

The Greater Good, this is the root of the civilization of the Tau people. Everything they have comes from the Greater Good, but for humans, it is a concept that is difficult to understand.

But perhaps it was this lack of understanding that ultimately led to the conflict between the two races. After a long time, the Tau finally leaped across the vast space of Damocles, and when they arrived at the main body of the galaxy, they encountered humans. , to be precise, a human colony on the eastern border of the empire.

The Tau do not understand the concept of a huge human empire. They mistakenly regard it as their own small empire. Therefore, as always, through trade, cooperation and cultural export, the Tau eventually gradually penetrated into the East. border and trying to convince the humans there to join the Greater Good, which undoubtedly stirred up a hornet's nest.

Separatism is the most intolerable behavior in the empire. As soon as the news came out, it immediately received an explosive response, especially because it was related to an unknown alien. The Extreme Star Territory immediately organized a punishment expedition, consisting of a huge force. An army composed of the Imperial Astra Militarum, the Navy, the Astartes, and the Adeptus Mechanicus, led by the Inquisition, rushed to the Far East to punish the Separatists.

And Vito, who was among them at that time, this was his first contact with the Tau, and out of curiosity about the race in his memory, he persuaded the Inquisition, well, it was an order, and he served as the Inquisition team The leader of the army led the Extreme Expeditionary Force to the Far East, where they eventually clashed with the Tau.

This was the first human-tau war, or as the Astra Militarum called it, the Battle of Damocles. After all, in terms of wars with most empires, and even local small-scale wars, the war with the Tau was The scale of the war can only be called a battle.

The Punishment Army crushed the local separatists who were loyal to the Tau, and instantly defeated the edge colonies of the Tau, massacred the residents above, and wiped out the Tau fleet that came to support. It was a battle A short, but impressive battle.

Although the army of the Human Empire defeated the Tau with its huge military strength and powerful combat power, the opponent's weapons also caused a lot of losses to humans. Their pulse weapons, magnetic levitation weapons, and advanced combat suits The troops all left a profound impression on Vito.

After that, the Punishment Army regained all the star fields in the Far East and eliminated all resistance from the Separatists. After methodical suppression and advancement, the Tau were driven back to the other side of the Gulf of Damocles. Within the Expeditionary Force, the Alien Tribunal The radicals proposed to close the trial and pursue the victory to completely eradicate this alien threat.

This suggestion received support from the Space Marines, but the Space Marines, out of respect for Vito, did not go beyond him and chose to attack directly. They came to Vito and asked for his approval at the meeting, and in the end, Driven by curiosity, Vito wanted to know how far the Tau had developed, so he agreed to pursue them.

In the end, the huge disciplinary force crossed the natural barrier of the Gulf of Damocles, and after spending several months, arrived on the opposite side of the star cluster, and invaded the Tau's home system. After defeating the Tau's navy that came to intercept, The Punishment Army arrived at their home world, the gate of the core colony.

Here, the Tau put up a more fierce resistance than before. Although their navy was ultimately defeated by the Imperial Navy, which had been battle-hardened and had more powerful equipment than them, they still resisted tenaciously. The Tau advanced The fleet weapons caused heavy losses to the Imperial Navy at long distances, and it finally came to an end with the help of Space Marines.

After that, the Imperial Punishment Army boarded the world that was invaded by the Tau and became the home world of "Ismenon". The steel torrent of the Astra Militarum, the God Machine of the Mechanicum, and a full five hundred Space Marines launched a thunderbolt. The storm-like blows, early on, did instantly overwhelm the Tau and advance towards their planetary capital.

But soon, the Empire discovered the problem. As they advanced along the well-developed transportation roads on the surface of the planet, their troops advanced very quickly, but they gradually began to be separated by the Tau. With its amazing mobility and excellent long-range firepower, it gradually lured and divided the front of the Punishment Army.

The Astra Militarum was caught in a guerrilla war with the Tau infantry, the elusive Tau servants in the jungle, and the Clints. The Mechanicum's God Machine was held back by the Tau's aerial fighters. The Space Marines The powerful company was caught in a fierce battle with the Tau battlesuit troops.

Eventually, the commanders of the Punishment Corps understood that they had far underestimated the Tau's determination to defend their home world, as well as their war capabilities. Radical representatives of the Inquisition suggested that an extermination order should be executed on the planet immediately, and then while the Tau The reinforcements had not yet arrived and they evacuated the Gulf of Damocles in order to fight again in the future.

But this meant that they had to give up all imperial power on the planet, and both mortals and Astartes would become victims. In the end, after a fierce argument, Vito vetoed the proposal and went to the surface in person. After reuniting the chain of command in a short time, the Tau saw the talents of humanity's most outstanding commanders.

Vitor regrouped the Empire's huge army and relied on the heavy artillery of the Astra Militarum to continuously bombard the Tau's flanks, finally defeating the Tau's flanks. The Space Marines took the lead under the command and broke through the Tau's front. With the assistance of the Astra Militarum, a major breakthrough was achieved in just one afternoon.

The Punishment Army entered the Tau city, where they fought a series of bloody battles with the Tau. However, in the end, the war was not decided. First, because the Punishment Army's troops had long been exhausted, this battle In the war, they did underestimate the enemy.

Another reason is that the Tyranids had already invaded the Milky Way and were sweeping across the Ultramarine Star Territory, heading towards Macragge. An order from the Ultramarine Star Territory Command required all expeditionary forces outside to abandon all ongoing wars. Fighting with the enemy, they immediately made an emergency turn and returned to the Extreme Star Territory.

Countless wars and battles were abandoned at that time, and the huge Emperor's army gathered again, and the Punishment Army was also one of them. After a short negotiation, the Tau agreed to a temporary truce, and the Punishment Army immediately came from their home world to fight with the Tau. After withdrawing from the home system, Vito went to Macragge. I think you also know the story that followed.

And that was Vito's first contact with the Tau. He also participated in the entire second War of Damocles. That time Vito once again led the imperial army to fight against the Tau, and that time, he He encountered an outstanding war master whom he admired, the far-sighted general of the Tau.

The two fought an epic war. Under the command of the two, millions of humans and tens of millions of Tau coalition forces fought a fierce war in the Gulf of Damocles for several years, and that time also set a record.

In that long tug of war, it was the first time that Vito did not finally win the war. He did not lose, but he did not win, and the same was true for the Tau. It was the first time that Vision was defeated. , both commanders were deeply impressed by each other. Vito later heard that Vision broke away from the Tau Empire and established an independent country in a region of Damocles Gulf, but that was a story for another day.

And now, this is where Vito has returned again after centuries, the Gulf of Damocles, the frontier between the Tau and humans.

"Has it changed much here? Compared with then." Celestine asked in the cabin, while Vito smiled and looked out the window. The Imperial transport fleet above the orbit of Tyrell Munda planet was behind them. On the hull of the ship, there is a line of logos, Valhalla 2nd Army.

Vito smiled as he looked at the arriving Imperial support fleet and at the far end of the star field, the Tau fleet flashing around the distant planet, "It seems, it's not that big."