Galactic History: Tau Empire

Good evening, class. Tonight's lesson will be about the Tau Empire, a civilization that conquered the entire Ortie Quadrant.

The Beginning
The species known as the Tau originated in the system known as Rizzil, on a planet dubbed T'au(Game Note: Renamed planet.) in the eastern regions of the Ortie Quadrant. Apparently, the ruins of an ancient species known to the Tau as the Great Ones gave the Tau access to incredibly advanced technology very swiftly. (Game Note: ALLTECH cheat.) The Tau did not consider the Great Ones gods, simply a highly advanced species that they intended to imitate as much as possible. Tau society is based entirely around the concept of the Greater Good, so all beings in Tau society were required to put aside selfish needs for the good of the general populace. The Tau were quick to put the Great Ones' technology to use. They went from nearly cave-man status to the space age in roughly 500 galactic years. They immediately began colonizing other planets in their home system. Upon colonizing all of the worlds in their system, they simply waited and continued to build on their new colonies, expanding and experimenting with their imitated technology. Eventually, they began scouting the outer edge of their system, and came across something incredible: A large blue-white glowing anomaly. The Great Ones' texts spoke of similar things, gateways to other star systems. They called them 'Warp Points.' The texts also spoke of other peoples, other sentient races that were attempting to imitate the Great Ones as well, but were falling far short of the Great Ones' technological prowess. The Tau decided to seek out these other peoples and began constructing exploration ships. The Tau Galactic Age began.

First Contact

The Tau constructed a small fleet of two-dozen lightly armed exploration ships(Frigates with shields, DUCs, and Quantum engines), as well as two colony ships, and a pair of freighters to carry colonists in. The fleet was dubbed Expedition Fleet Alpha. It's objectives were to conduct the first Tau FTL jump via Warp Point, explore the immediately neighboring systems, establish a pair of colonies, and gain a foothold for the Tau Empire in these new regions. All objectives were successful, the first Outer Colony being dubbed 'New T'au' and the second being dubbed 'Reach.' The Tau expanded into the four systems surrounding their home, and for three galactic years, they fortified, and built up more exploration fleets. Then, they encountered the first of the 'Other Peoples' spoken of in the Great Ones' texts. These people, known as the Abbidon, had technology very similar to that of the Great Ones, but were lacking in all aspects to the point of the Tau's imitated technology being ridiculously advanced compared to their own. First Contact was a bit shaky at first, due to the language barrier, but translation software in the Tau ships helped considerably. The Tau attempted to impose their beliefs of the Greater Good on the Abbidon, but the Abbidon simply began to ignore them, and sometimes, when Tau ships were a sector or two out from an Abbidon vessel, the Abbidon actually armed their weapons. It wasn't long before the Tau-Abbidon war began...

The First War

The Tau continued to expand, and built up their fleets. The tensions between the Tau and Abbidon races continued to build. Tau ships became larger, better armed, and more outfitted for combat rather than exploration. The Tau did not enjoy conflict: The history of the Tau did not have any kind of civil war or conflicts between their own people. They were not a warrior race, but they were preparing for anything, as were the Abbidon. One day, an unarmed Tau freighter was passing through Abbidon territory, carrying colonists to build up a colony on the edge of Tau territory, only to be intercepted by a pair of Abbidon Destroyers. The Tau ship continued on it's course, and was fired upon by the Abbidon ships. The freighter's shields were barely harmed, but the message was clear: The Abbidon had declared war. The Tau's retaliation was swift. An entire battlefleet, headed by the Tau flagship Dreadnought, Hammer of the Greater Good, consisting of no less than 80 frigates, 40 destroyers, 20 light cruisers, 10 standard cruisers, and five battleships, as well as six freighters loaded with ground soldiers and a pair of heavy carriers with full fighter compliments, was deployed against the Abbidon fleet, which consisted of about a dozen lightly armed frigates, a single freighter with colonists onboard, and a few destroyers. The freighter was not harmed, as it was carrying civilians, but the frigates and destroyers were all butchered within a month of the beginning of the conflict. The few Abbidon colonies that had been constructed off of their homeworld were conquered during the second month of the war. And on the third month, the Tau fleet attacked the Abbidon homeworld, eliminating any orbital defenses, and ships with a few fighter wings, followed up with a full ground assault by Tau infantry. The Abbidon homeworld was captured with no Tau casualties, and no civilians died in the war other than planetary militia. The war was over in less than a year. The Tau had won.

Aftermath of the Tau-Abbidon War

During the months after the conflict, it was clear that the Abbidon were displeased, but they were treated well. The remaining Abbidon military personnel were given a choice: continue their careers as warriors in the Tau military, or continue to rot in POW camps erected on their own homeworld. Needless to say, many denied the offer, but a few Abbidon ship crews accepted the deal and were released to serve on Tau vessels. The civilians on the Abbidon colonies that were conquered were permitted to go about their daily lives, only planetary and orbital garrisons were controlled by Tau soldiers. After a few years, the Abbidon had gotten over it, and many embraced the Greater Good. Those that didn't were still content, some even jubilant at the fact that were considered citizens. The only person who never got over it was the Abbidon leader, Speaker Verath II. He was deported to a Tau colony on the very fringe of the Empire's territory, and was never really heard from again, other than letters to his wife back on Abbidon. The Tau continued to expand, inter-racial freindships were common, and the Empire flourished. Then, another race was encountered: The Xiati.

The Xiati War

Unlike the Abbidon, the Xiati were far less peaceful. Their weapons were considerably more advanced than the Abbidon, but they were still nowhere near on par with the Tau. Trade was opened up immediately, but it wasn't long before it was discovered that the Xiati were running clandestine operations in Tau territory. Spies were captured, interrogated, and it wasn't long before the Tau realized that the Xiati were gearing up for an attack on the Tau colony nearest to their space, the colony known as Third Sphere. The Tau stationed the three Battleships Shas'O, Ethereal, and Kais at the orbital garrison over Third Sphere. Two months after being stationed there, A small Xiati battlefleet consisting of a half-dozen destroyers entered the system, and assaulted the garrison over the planet. The Xiati fleet was destroyed almost two minutes into the battle, without the Tau even suffering damage to one of their vessels. The Tau then dispatched the same battlefleet that conquered the Abbidon, and it linked up with the battleships over Third Sphere. The newly reinforced fleet assaulted the Xiati system in the same way that the Abbidon system was conquered. In less than a year, the Xiati were conquered as well, with the exception of their homeworld. The aftermath was much more volatile than that of the Abbidon War, mainly because Xiati colonists were rioting. Extra garrison troops were placed in orbit and planetside on all conquered Xiati colonies to 'keep the peace'. It was only when the Xiati homeworld was captured by Tau forces that the rioters stopped.

The Crusade and the Great Bombardment

The Tau were becoming more cautious with alien races. When a species that hadn't even discovered FTL travel was encountered, the Tau were the first to open fire. The race that was fired upon was never indentified. The Tau did something that had never been condoned before: They bombarded the homeworld of the new race. All of the colonies in that species' home system were glassed, with only partially vaporized rubble being any indication that there was ever anything there in the first place. This event was afterwards known as the Great Bombardment. The Tau became more xenophobic, more hostile, more paranoid whenever they encountered a new species. Over the next twenty galactic years, fifteen more alien races were encountered, from the Terrans, to the Amon'krie. All of these races were conquered. The Tau did not bombard anymore planets, but entire systems were captured with ground forces, with orbital defenses and fleets being annihilated by the superior might of the Tau. Only the Terrans had a single colony remaining after the period that is known among all Tau and subjugated races as 'The Crusade.' The most remarkable thing about the Tau military is that, during the Abbidon and Xiati wars, as well as the Crusade, not a single Tau soldier was ever killed in action. Not one. All Tau soldiers came home alive as heroes from every war, all crewmen given commendations, all celebrated as champions of the Tau race, and the Greater Good. That is truly not only a show of dedication to the Tau race, but also to the Greater Good.

Aftermath of the Crusade-Present Day

The Crusade occured less than 6 Galactic years ago, and the Tau remain the dominant force in the Ortie Quadrant. They left the last remaining terran colony in the Xanthar system alone, and built up their armies to the point where anyone invading would be hard-pressed to even think of survival. All of the conquered peoples of the Tau Empire have gotten used to things, and many have accepted the Greater Good as their new religion. Every day, a new Tau colony is constructed, with colonists from all over the Empire being dropped there to build it. The Tau Empire, while vicious, was given good reason to be. The Galaxy is a harsh place.

Important People During the Tau Wars

The Tau race were not the only people who were responsible for the Tau conquest of the Ortie Quadrant. Certain people in the Tau government, such as High Ethereal Aun'va(leader of the Tau from 4000.0, to present day) and High Fleet Admiral Shas'O Kais, were the geniuses behind the majority of the Tau military operations that were successful. The only operation that was not personally led by Aun'va and Kais was The Great Bombardment, which was ordered by Admiral Tyokt, an Abbidon captain from the Abbidon War who was given the opportunity to command a ship again. These people were responsible for many things that made the Tau the undisputed masters of the Ortie Quadrant.

That concludes tonight's lesson, students. Tomorrow's lesson will cover, in detail, the war between the Kroot and the Zirjay, and how the Kroot lost.