Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Shas'ui T'au Por'ra curled up behind one of the pillars of the building her squad was assigned to hold. A Shas'la in her team slid behind the pillar next to her, holding his rifle up, to block any chance the enemy might have of detecting and firing at him.
Her communications node activated, playing the smooth, computer-generated voice of the aerial spotter drones. "Jetbikes, eighty tor'lek northeast. Fire Warrior teams 1 and 2, combine fire on the target."
Por'ra's team, as one, raised their pulse rifles and locked their helmet targeters on the enemy jetbikes, using the markerlights placed on them to place every shot precisely. Sha'nas's team, the fire warriors in the building beside her, also opened fire. The fusillade of pulse shots destroyed two jetbikes, and forced the remaining sleek bike to take cover behind a low wall.
"Target has been-" She was interrupted in the middle of reporting the kill, and threw herself flat as a wall of scatter laser shots smashed into the building, vaporizing three fire warriors, and leaving only her and the Shas'la behind the pillar alive. A piece of rubble hit her in the helmet, and she blacked out for a second.
Declaring Riptide Hailfire. Target... melee Wraithknight. I'll boost my ballistic skill by one and gain Ignores Cover.
The building shook slightly as the Riptides next to it fired their main weapons, all at once. The glare of the ion accelerators firing twice each lit up the gloom of the ruined building, sending bright afterimages across the eyes of any Fire Warrior who looked at them. The roiling balls of ionic fire hit a towering, sword-bearing Eldar wraith-construct, leaving blackened craters in the clean pink wraithbone surface. A fusillade of missiles followed, the forty-eight drone-assisted warheads hitting the already weakened structure of the construct. The Wraithknight toppled and fell, crushing a tree beneath its weight.
Por'ra picked herself up, nearly blinded by the blue-and-pink afterimages spread across her eyes by the Riptide wing's firing. She called out to her lone squadmate, searching for the sound of his voice to locate him.
"Shas'la! Identify location!"
Her voice was cut short as another Wraithknight opened fire. Two points of unnatural color appeared on the chestplate of a Riptide, twisting the towering battlesuit into an uneven shape, and pulling the liquified remains into a point of infinite light and mass at its core. The rift closed, leaving naught behind but a twisted foot.
An insane thought passed through her mind.
"This isn't right..."
The thought halted suddenly, as if a steel door had partitioned it from her mind.
I'll do a combined fire... wait, no, markerlights first. Ok, combined fire on the council.
"Fire Warrior squads 1 and 2, Broadside unit 1, fire on designated target."
Shas'O 'Mirrorstar' jetted by, the eight marker drones accompanying her lighting up a group of robed Eldar on Jetbikes.
Casting invis... no perils... gets off.
With a sudden flicker, the entire group vanished from view, and a slight, rapidly moving psychic haze surrounded their supposed location. All of Mirrorstar's drones except for two lost their locks, their markerlights uselessly pointing at thin air.
Going to use those two markerlights to raise the ballistic skill of these drones to 3. Again, targeting your Seer Council.
Another squad of networker marker drones activated, causing four more markerlight dots to appear on the cloaked Eldar. Through the cadre markerlight HUD, Por'ra could see the outlines of the invisible Eldar. As one, the three units fired on the squad. Pulse shots and missiles from Broadsides pummeled the robed Eldar, every shot designed to hit and ignore the rapid movements of the jinking jetbikes. Three bikes exploded, sending their riders over their handlebars, or exploding them into gore. The jetbikes accelerated more, and broke line of sight behind a building. Por'ra raised a sigh of pseudorelief. The threat was removed... for now.
She surveyed the battlefield from her location, and turned to the Shas'la behind the pillar.
"Shas'la. Have you noticed anything... odd about the enemy force?"
"Clarify, Shas'ui."
"In this campaign, the Eldar forces have differed wildly from the ones we normally battle."
"Does that not make sense, Shas'ui? Isn't it logical to match your forces to the campaign at hand?"
"It isn't like that, Shas'la-"
I'm performing a thrust move. 7 inches.
She was briefly cut off by the remaining two riptides activating their jetpacks and crashing through the wall of the building next to her.
"-this Eldar force completely lacks the forces present in other campaigns. Before this week, all Eldar forces we have fought included large amounts of infantry and vehicles."
"What about the bone-colored infantry with the teleport packs?"
"In the other engagements, I only saw them twice, with only six or so participating in-"
Reserves... Crimson Death formation... in on a six. Must be a good day today.
Searing white lasers flew overhead as a flight of Eldar aircraft fired lance-weapons into a Riptide, which absorbed the shots with its shield.
"-those battles. How many have you counted during this one?"
"Nearly twenty, Shas'ui. But that doesn't mean-"
Por'ra cut him off with uncharacteristic emotion.
"Twenty, Shas'la. When there have only been six in other battles where they fought. Even our forces are odd. Why were only two squads of the minimal amount of fire warriors assigned to this cadre?"
The Shas'la appeared deep in thought, and answered hesitantly.
"Perhaps it's because this is a Battlesuit cadre, Shas'ui?"
"Then why are the Riptides, one Stormsurge and Broadsides on the field the only battlesuits on the field?"
"You forgot Shas'ui Elys'r'an and the Commander, Shas'ui."
"Why were we assigned one Monat with no weapons or drones, then?"
"No... weapons?"
"Yes, Shas'la. Elys'r'an's Battlesuit was not assigned any weapons, drones, or support systems for this battle."
"...Perhaps an error in the assignment system?"
Targeting your Broadside squad with... this squad of scatterbikes. Ten hits... eight wounds. Take your saves.
Something exploded thirty meters away. Neither Fire Warrior bothered to look at it.
"We don't make mistakes, we're a T'au cadre, Shas'la. The closest thing we have to an error is the flavor of the drone-fabricated meals."
Before the lone Shas'la could respond, Por'ra continued.
"And think about that Gue'ron'sha army we fought! They ran at us in their tanks like an army of Orks, not Gue'ron'sha. There were nearly sixty of them on the field. That's nowhere close to the standard forces we fight normally."
"They were very effective, to be honest. They captured almost every objective."
"...objective, Shas'la? We're an offensive force. We don't hold ground. That's not the Tau way."
"But... the objectives are important. Why else would Cadre command order us to hold them?"
With that remark, Por'ra fell silent. The battle continued raging around them, until nearly noon.