Corvin Severax - The Shadows Cast Long: The stakes upon Prefectia, already so dizzyingly high with the Dovar System at risk, were growing higher by the hour. Trench systems were crisscrossed with slashing plasma volleys, ruins were lit by ruby lasers, and outside the built-up areas, tanks prowled by the thousand across dunes of dust and bone. The war for the planet was hanging in the balance.Long days of war passed, each bringing a hundred new acts of heroism and tragedy. Bellowing commanders and scholarly strategists alike were drowned by the tides of violence that washed across the Fortress World. The ancient wisdom of the Codex Astartes was repeatedly tested against the Code of Fire’s teachings. Several Space Marine forces distinguished themselves above the others, amongst their ranks those of Captains Shrike and Khan, but it was becoming obvious that the fortress of Prefectia would not fall to a lightning-fast blitz. Keen to secure victory over the xenos, Chapter Master Corvin Severax made planetfall in person. He intended to oversee the T'au's defeat -- or engineer it himself if necessary.T'au high command was just as determined to win lasting victory. Every available cadre was redirected to Prefectia from those planets already conquered, including the most advanced battlesuits the Fire caste could field. Several Ethereals volunteered to bolster morale on the front lines, Aun’Do amongst them, but the real shock came from above even those lionised few. In a speech that touched the hearts of a hundred billion T'au, Aun'Va himself announced he would be descending from on high. Just as he had on Agrellan, the Master of the Undying Spirit would lead from the front to ensure the torch of the Greater Good burned the planet clean of Humanity's corruption.As for Commander Shadowsun, her star was on the wane. By failing to repel the Space Marines on schedule, Shadowsun had given Aun'Va cause to risk his own life. It was small wonder the commander was no longer in the ascendent, for the White Scars that hounded her were relentless. She had given her all upon Agrellan, and had not been given a moment's rest since.Every explosion she heard on the front line sounded like the boom of a Space Marine bike's twin bolters, every shadow flitting across the ground the precursor to a gunship or speeder charged with her death. The seed of fear the Khan had put into Shadowsun’s heart was taking root, the doom he had dangled over her head oppressive indeed. The thought of his blade haunted her with every waking hour – but at least that threat was in plain sight. There were other forces closing in; sharks sliding through the inky waters in comparison to the Khan’s raging bull.Corvin Severax had ordered his warriors to converge upon Shadowsun wherever she was sighted. The Chapter Master told his Shadow Captains the Khan was out of time, outlining a masterful search-and-destroy battleplan that would span Prefectia. In the past, such manhunts had been met with unqualified success; more often than not, it was Severax who delivered the coup de grâce.Within solar hours, the Chapter Master expected to have Shadowsun's corpse before him. His captains made the sign of the Aquila and slid into the night. Thus far, the T'au Fire caste had encountered the pugnacious, bombastic face of the Imperial war machine. They were soon to realise that under the raw brutality lurked horrors beyond measure, hungry and cunning