Corvin Severax - The Trap is Sprung: The T'au Fire Warriors laid siege to Furion Peak, reacting swiftly to the multiple threats posed by the Imperial force, rallying around their mighty Riptides and returning fire. Entire platoons of Imperial Guardsmen were torn apart by the lines of death stitched by T'au Heavy Burst Cannons. But the Raven Guard Astartes have ever been masters of the ambush, and they knew their craft well. They had anticipated such a response from the T'au -- indeed, they had counted on it.The artillery batteries began to refocus their aim, targeting their bombardments to land behind the main body of T'au invasion forces to cut off any lines of retreat. Moments later, shadowy figures began to emerge from within what the T'au had mistaken for thick morning mists. The Raven Guard entered the fray, seemingly assailing the T'au forces from every direction.They swiftly surrounded the pockets of T'au resistance, cutting them down before disappearing back into the psychic mists once more. Amongst them strode Furion Peak's Counterstrike Command, each Space Marine an indomitable champion of Humanity. Without fear or hesitation, they sought out the deadly Riptide Battlesuits and, with blade, claw and psychic energies, they struck them down.Shadowsun was caught in the thick of the fighting when the Space Marine commanders joined the attack. During the height of the battle, Shadowsun activated her XV22 Stealthsuit and blended into the mists and darted her way through the press towards the Stormseer. Scant heartbeats later, Sudabeh was consumed by the superheated fury of Shadowsun's Fusion Blasters, and with his demise, the ghostly psychic mist that had shrouded much of the battlefield began to dissipate.As the air cleared, the full gravity of Shadowsun's predicament was revealed. She looked on in horror at the sight of more Imperial reinforcements. Pouring forth from the gaping maw of Furion Peak's majestic gate came the White Scars, engines roaring as they sped forth to encircle the T'au army.Behind them marched the full might of House Terryn -- over thirty Imperial Knights with Patriarch Tybalt and the Obsidian Knight at their head. The Cadian 724th Regiment emerged from their dugouts to lend their weight to the big Imperial push, each company supported by a Steel Phalanx Tank Squadron.Realising victory against such odds was nigh-impossible, Shadowsun relayed urgent instructions to her reserve cadres to drive back a number of key locations and buy the T'au forces time to retreat. In the meantime, she gave the order to fall back and regroup. As Shadowsun turned her attention back to the battle, Kor'sarro Khan was almost upon her, his oath to slay the T'au Commander not forgotten.Were it not for the intervention of her local bodyguards, the Khan would undoubtedly have taken Shadowsun's head. So did the T'au Commander cheat death; Kor'sarro Khan's blade carving a deep furrow across her chest instead of severing her head. Khan was driven back by the timely arrival of a T'au Rapid Insertion Force dropping from above to rescue their sorely wounded commander.Despite the arrival of T'au reinforcements, it was too late for them to turn back. The Imperial ambush had been so swift that the T'au forces were assailed on every front within solar minutes of setting foot on Voltoris. When word spread of the near-fatal wounding of their commander, the morale of the Fire Caste broke. With their leader cast down and lacking the iron discipline of the Adeptus Astartes, the T'au suffered appalling casualties as they retreated from Furion Peak.The Imperial Knights and Space Marines gave merciless chase and only the formidable firepower of the T'au Mantas and Paradox Squadrons prevented a total massacre. The T'au armada returned to rejoin Aun'Va's expeditionary fleet, humbled by their disastrous defeat. Having learned much from her failure, Shadowsun swore before Aun'Va to redouble her efforts and now leads the T'au onwards with renewed zeal.