Tau Galaxy (Clan Smoke Jaguar)

Clan Smoke Jaguar logo
Tau Galaxy
Formed 3056
Disbanded 3058 (Destroyed)
Nickname The Huntress Galaxy
Affiliation Clan Smoke Jaguar
Parent Command Clan Smoke Jaguar touman

Overview[edit]

Tau Galaxy was a front-line military formation of Clan Smoke Jaguar destroyed in the Battle of Wayside (3058).

History[edit]

The Galaxy was created with a single purpose: the destruction of Clan Nova Cat. The warriors had been genetically engineered from the legacies of the finest warriors to participate in the Invasion of the Inner Sphere.[1] Elements of Tau Galaxy left Clan space for the Periphery in May 3056.[2]

The Galaxy moved to the Periphery world of Wayside V, where they constructed a base, and over the following year received further drafts of warriors allowing the formation of three Clusters. During this time it was under the command of the senior Star Colonel on the planet, until Devon Osis formally took command in June 3058.[3]

While the forces were assembling they were unknowingly discovered by elements of the ComStar Explorer Corps, who had been searching for the Exodus Road. The facilities on Wayside were mistaken for a supply base, and the forces garrisoning it were thought to be a Provisional Garrison Cluster without OmniMechs or aerospace assets. With this information Omi Kurita hired elements of the Northwind Highlanders to capture the planet.[4][5]

Sigil of Stirling's Fusiliers

On July 3rd 3058 the Stirling's Fusiliers regiment of the Northwind Highlanders jumped to a pirate point in the Wayside system and headed for the planet.[6] Encountering the Dark Claw in orbit, realizing their supplied intelligence was bad, and forced to continue anyway, the Fusiliers issued a batchall to the Jaguar ground forces in the hopes that Clan honor would protect them from the WarShip.[7] Devon Osis called his Star Colonels together to bid for the right to engage the mercenaries.[8][9]

Star Colonel Roberta of the 101st Jaguar Attack Cluster won the bidding to engage the Inner Sphere forces that had dropped on to the planet. Two Stars of OmniMechs probed the defenses of the landing zone, but were destroyed when mercenary forces targeted the fuel tanks of a downed DropShip and caused a massive explosion.[10] Another two partial Trinaries were also assigned to this attack.[11]

During the initial attack Star Captain Kerndon was taken as a bondsman. With no way back to Combine space, the Fusiliers came up with a bold and nearly suicidal plan. The plan was facilitated by information learned from Kerndon. A small group of the Fusiliers disguised themselves as Smoke Jaguar forces from Tau Galaxy and set out to raid a number of nearby Clan Nova Cat facilities and garrisons, while the remainder of the Fusiliers settled in for a protracted guerrilla campaign.[12]

After the failure of the initial attacks, Star Colonel Roberta unleashed two light Stars of headhunters, but this attack was also countered. The fighters of Stalker Star were then wasted in a futile attack against a mercenary DropShip.[13] These actions prompted the mercenaries to advance towards the Jaguar base of Wayside Station, and the 101st Attack Cluster moved to intercept, sending an Assault Star with Elemental support on a flanking maneuver.[14] During the fighting the Cluster was flanked and struck from the rear, but at the same time a lone Star broke through to threaten the enemy command unit.[15] The Cluster by this point had taken heavy casualties and Galaxy Commander Osis ordered them to retreat, during which Roberta was killed.[16]

After the defeat of the 101st Jaguar Attack Cluster Star Colonel Patricia of the 250th Assault Cluster won the bid to destroy the mercenaries.[17] She pursued the mercenaries that had retreated, losing several Elementals to traps along the way.[18] The Fusiliers launched an attack against the Jaguar aerodrome that was initially thwarted,[19] but a second attempt destroyed the majority of the fighters stationed there.[20]

While the fighting on the planet continued, the small group of the Fusiliers who had slipped off-planet pretending to be Smoke Jaguar warriors succeeded in luring two clusters from Clan Nova Cat back to Wayside. These arrived in-system on 29th July 3058.[21][22][5]

By the 6th August the fighting on Wayside had cost Tau Galaxy about 70 'Mechs and the loss of all their fighters.[23] The 250th Assault Cluster finally caught up with the Fusiliers on the 8th August and engaged them, only to be hailed by Star Colonel Santin West with a batchall. Thinking he faced a single Cluster, Devon Osis bid his entire command in the hope of quickly crushing the Nova Cats, but West revealed he had temporary command of two Nova Cat Clusters; the 179th Striker Cluster and 246th Battle Cluster.[24]

The Nova Cats landed a kilometer from Tau's Clusters but quickly advanced to almost point-blank range. The Fusiliers watched from a nearby petrified forest, sniping at elements of the 179th Striker Cluster. Meanwhile, the Jaguar center began to fold under the pressure. With the Nova Cats softened, the Fusiliers now poured concentrated fire against Tau Galaxy.[25][26] Galaxy Commander Osis met Santin West in the midst of the battle and challenged him to single combat, however just as Osis was about to deliver a death-shot from his Dire Wolfs ER PPCs Major Loren Jaffray, who had been masquerading as a Jaguar warrior in the group shot and killed Osis.[27]

Osis' death did not signal an end to the fighting, but only served to intensify it into a melee. The Fusilier DropShip Bull Run landed in the middle of the fighting and strafed the forces of both Clans as it extricated Major Jaffray's unit. By the end of the fighting Tau Galaxy had fought to the death, and only 15 OmniMechs and fewer Elementals remained of the Nova Cat Clusters.[28]

After the battle Khan Severen Leroux of Clan Nova Cat sent the Galaxy's Baton and Devon Osis' giftake to ilKhan Lincoln Osis, who destroyed both in a fit a rage.[29]

It must be noted that after being exiled from the Clan space, the Nova Cats founded their own Tau Galaxy as a show of victory and warning of the price of arrogance. The insignia was a dead smoke jaguar in front of a nova cat.[30]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of Tau Galaxy
Star Colonel Roberta c.a. 3056 - 2 June 3058
Galaxy Commander Devon Osis 3 June 3058 - 8 August 3058[31]

Tactics[edit]

The warriors of Tau Galaxy were almost all straight from the sibko, with only Devon Osis having any measure of combat experience and Thibideau Osis of the 25th Striker Cluster the only Cluster commander with a bloodname.[1] It was this lack of experience of Inner Sphere tactics that allowed the Galaxy's Clusters to be destroyed piecemeal while engaging the Fusiliers.

Composition History[edit]

3058[edit]

Notes[edit]

  • Tau Galaxy's insignia is simply an orange Greek letter Tau.[35]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Impetus of War, p. 65
  2. ↑ Exodus Road, p. 217
  3. ↑ Impetus of War, p. 64
  4. ↑ Impetus of War, pp. 36–38
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Mercenaries Supplemental, p. 55
  6. ↑ Impetus of War, p. 74
  7. ↑ Impetus of War, pp. 80–81
  8. ↑ Impetus of War, pp. 81–87
  9. ↑ Northwind Highlanders, pp. 32–34
  10. ↑ Impetus of War, p. 100
  11. ↑ Impetus of War, p. 109
  12. ↑ Impetus of War, pp. 105–116
  13. ↑ Impetus of War, p. 127
  14. ↑ Impetus of War, p. 172
  15. ↑ Impetus of War, p. 181
  16. ↑ Impetus of War, p. 184
  17. ↑ Impetus of War, p. 191
  18. ↑ Impetus of War, p. 216
  19. ↑ Impetus of War, p. 206
  20. ↑ Impetus of War, p. 251
  21. ↑ Impetus of War, pp. 149–170, 184–191, 196–213, 259
  22. ↑ Northwind Highlanders, pp. 38–43
  23. ↑ Impetus of War, p. 260
  24. ↑ Impetus of War, pp. 269–270
  25. ↑ Impetus of War, pp. 270–273
  26. ↑ Northwind Highlanders, pp. 44–48
  27. ↑ Impetus of War, p. 274
  28. ↑ Impetus of War, pp. 277–278
  29. ↑ Impetus of War, pp. 285–286
  30. ↑ Field Manual: ComStar, p. 119
  31. ↑ Impetus of War, pp. 64–66, 273
  32. ↑ Impetus of War, p. 80
  33. ↑ Northwind Highlanders, p. 34
  34. ↑ Impetus of War, pp. 80, 127
  35. ↑ Camo Specs Online

Bibliography[edit]

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