Taros Campaign - First Lift: At their barren desert airbase, surrounded by small camouflaged shelter-tents that had been home to the 23rd Elysian Drop Troop regiment for the past four weeks, the aircraft and men of the first lift were preparing for take-off. The Assault companies waited in neat rows, each man weighed down with his combat kit and grav-chute pack. Alongside them stood squads of burly Storm Troopers; these men would be first to hit the ground. Meanwhile, pilots, co-pilots and door gunners were mounting their Valkyrie carriers and Vulture gunships and running final pre-flight checks. Once this was complete, squad by squad, platoon by platoon, company by company, the Drop Troops marched into their transports, up the ramps and into their seating positions. Once each squad was in and secure, the sergeant hit the ramp close button, sealing the Guardsmen inside until the order to jump came. The atmosphere was tense, but this was it; after weeks of waiting in the deserts the Elysians were finally going to get into the war and fight the Tau.For the men assigned to the second lift, the take-off was an awesome spectacle. 160 Valkyries and 30 Vultures simultaneously powered up their engines, creating a deafening roar that shook the ground and rolled out for miles across the flat desert sands. One after another, the aircraft began to slowly rise, kicking up swirling sand and dust as they lifted clear. To the observers it was an unstoppable airborne armada. Wave after wave of aircraft climbed slowly to altitude and began to circle, awaiting aircraft of their formations, before synchronising speeds and racing away northwards. Flying in platoon formations, one behind the other in a single stream of aircraft, the carriers and gunships made for a marshalling point north of the airbase. There they would rendezvous with their air cover, fighters from 1002nd Fighter wing whose job was to protect the vulnerable air convoy from enemy fighter attacks. Flying alongside and above the Valkyries fifteenThunderbolts formed a shield around the Drop Troops.Keeping low for maximum concealment from prying eyes, the entire armada swept over the desert floor at just 500 feet. On the ground the rumble of so many approaching engines soon became a roar that filled the sky with thunder. In the deserts below, Tallarn Imperial Guardsmen looked up to see the stream of aircraft race overhead, formation after formation. The Tallarn Guardsmen were not the only ones to see the Drop Troops heading north. From their hiding places, scattered TauPathfinder and Stealthsuit units also witnessed the air armada, and quickly reported the sighting to their commanders. A major attack was imminent, but as yet the Tau did not know where the blow would fall.For the Storm Trooper squads in the vanguard of the air-train, the flight to target lasted two hours. The journey was not without incident. An accidental mid-air collision destroyed two aircraft. One Valkyrie carrier suffered engine failure and was forced to make an emergency landing in the desert. Twice during the journey aircraft were targeted by Seeker Missiles, locked-on by Marker Lights from the ground. Both times the missiles impacted, destroying a Vulture and forcing another Valkyrie (this one carrying Captain Lohgan, the commander of second company), to crash land. Escort fighters peeled away to seek out the ground targets. General Syckava had warned that losses were to be expected.Ten minutes out from the target, the Valkyrie carriers transporting the Elysian squads began to climb to jump altitude. Meanwhile, the Storm Troopers skimmed on low, as they would deploy via fast ropes directly onto the ground and into battle, supported by Vulture gunships. As the Valkyrie formations climbed higher, squad sergeants raised their men and readied them to jump. Each man checked that his Grav-Chute was working. Then each man secured his respirator and helmet visor in place. With a last prayer to the Emperor mumbled over the whine of hydraulic pistons as the rear ramps open, they were now over the target. Jump lights turned green and the assault squads shuffled forwards and plunged out into the sky.As the Drop Troops jumped, the vanguard of the attack was already arriving over Hydro-Processing Plant 23-30 . The approaching aircraft had been met by ground fire as the garrison; alerted by the rising thunder of approaching jet engines, had streamed out to meet the airborne attackers. Lasgun rounds and Heavy Bolter tracers were snaking up to meet the low flying Valkyrie and Vultures. Shots bounced off nose cones and engine cowling as the Valkyries slowed to hover over their objectives. From the wing, winch ropes descended, followed by the Storm Troopers sliding down directly into battle. Above them the Vultures were strafing targets, returning Heavy Bolter fire with their own heavy weapons. Because the Vulture gunners were under strict orders to minimise collateral damage they could not unleash their full firepower. It was mid-morning and the ordeal of battle had begun.The hydro-processing plant's lifting station and first pumping station were the objectives of the 23rd regiment's third company, under the command of Captain Malik. Malik's orders were to capture both intact and hold them until relieved by troops from the second lift. His action to capture the objectives was typical of the battles fought throughout Hydro-plant 23-30 during the first assault. Two Storm Trooper squads would be the first wave, deployed directly onto the target from hovering Valkyries, with a Vulture gunship in close support. The elite squads would set up homing beacons and take the brunt of the initial fighting as the rest of Malik's company grav-chuted into the target area, guided by the beacons. Once those squads regrouped, the captain would lead his first platoon against the pumping station, whilst his second and third platoons attacked the lifting station. Fourth platoon would be held in reserve, waiting on the ground to reinforce the defences once both were captured. The company's Heavy Weapons platoon was split between the Infantry platoons, a Fire Support squad with second and third platoons, the Mortars with the reserve squads, the anti-tank teams with the captain for direct support during his main assault. As soon as they landed the two Storm Troopers squads came under heavy fire from Drone Sentry Turrets. The turrets, equipped with disruption-field generators, had not been detected by the aerial reconnaissance. Taking heavy fire, and with casualties mounting, the Storm Troopers deployed the beacons but were quickly pinned down. The turrets were only silenced by strikes from the supporting Vulture gunship, but already they had extracted a heavy toll on the elite troops. This left the pumping station still strongly held by a garrison force of human auxiliaries.As the Storm Troopers were engaging the enemy, Malik's men were hitting the ground, shaking off their Grav-Chute packs and reorganising into their squads. Each squad rallied on their sergeant. The hydro-plant was already echoing to sounds of gunfire, explosions and the roar of jet engines. Quickly regrouping, it was up to first platoon to clear the defenders. Leading from the front, with Commissar Graal alongside him, Malik closed on the pumping station. Engaging in a firefight he found the defenders were well entrenched and fought tenaciously. Exchanging heavy fire the Captain looked to break the deadlock and led first platoon's assault. Yelling the regiment's motto, Malik rushed in. As fragmentation grenades exploded all around, his assaulting squads set about clearing the pumping station in an intense close quarters fight, only to find the pumping station was also occupied by Kroot mercenaries. The assault had overrun the human defenders but the bloodthirsty Kroot were a different proposition. With the captain fighting desperately in hand-to-hand combat, first platoon's squads were repelled, falling back before the savage aliens under the covering fire of frag and krak missiles. Captain Malik was killed during the confused withdrawal, his mutilated and half-eaten body was later found hanging from the pipe works.With their first assault bloodily repulsed and their commanding officer dead, Commissar Graal now took command of the Elysian attack. He set about rallying the forces, including the surviving Storm Troopers. Reports were arriving that the first Tau response to the attack, a flight of Tiger Shark bombers, was closing rapidly. The battle was intensifying and damage was mounting. The flight of Tiger Sharks over-flew the plant, streaking low and scattering clouds of Gun Drones in their wake. It seemed the Tau were deploying any forces they had available to defend the site. Reinforced by the Drones, the Kroot defenders continued to fire from cover. It would take another assault to clear them. To prepare for the second assault, Commissar Graal sent a runner back to the Mortar squad. He needed the defenders softened up with a bombardment before attacking. Crouching in cover amongst the pipes, storage tanks and detritus the Elysian Guardsmen waited for the mortar barrage to do its work before, driven forwards by their Commissar, rushing the pumping station a second time. It was hard fighting again, but the accurate mortar barrage had shaken the Kroot. The surviving guardsmen swept in and overwhelmed the remaining defenders, capturing the pumping station. Graal immediately called forwards the fourth platoon to reinforce his hold. The Kroot rallied and tried to charge back, but too many Guardsmen were now waiting for them. Most of the aliens were cut down by Lasgun fire. The battle for pumping station had been costly. Over half of first platoon and the Storm Troopers were dead or injured. The objective itself had taken severe damage in the attack and mortar shelling.By dusk, after a day of combat, Hydro-Processing Plant 23- 30 was captured. All the primary and secondary objectives were in the hands of the Elysian Drop Troops. There were still some enemy stragglers and snipers hiding out amongst the industrial debris, and Drop Trooper squads were cautiously patrolling through the holding tanks and pipelines hunting them down. The fighting had been fierce and the garrison had given a surprisingly strong account of themselves. Outnumbered and outgunned by the Elysian airmobile firepower the garrison could have easily broken and run, but instead they, along with their Kroot allies, had fought hard all day. Many locations had been badly damaged because of their strong defence.