ORDO XENOS // CLEARANCE: VERMILLION

Subject: Driftborn Anomaly, alias “The Unhome”

File: OX/SEFG-Delta-223.17

Compiled by: Interrogator-Adjunct V. Leth, at the request of Inquisitor Seraph Draxos

Executive Summary

Encounter recorded with a nomadic xenos arkstation of T’au provenance operating under self-identified banner “Driftborn.” Construct is not a flotilla but a single hull-aggregate: multiple void-capable vessels and platforms physically coupled into a mobile bastion with internal ecology, independent fabrication, and advanced occlusion systems. Composition of embarked forces observed to include Fire Caste cadres, Earth Caste technicians, Kroot and Vespid auxiliaries, and human elements formerly Imperial (Gue’vesa, ex-Naval armsmen, and unidentified freeblade contingents). Markings, armaments, and power-armour plates across boarding elements were visibly non-standard and composite, bearing mixed heraldry from disparate sources and periods.

Threat designation is ideological as much as tactical. Engagement discouraged without kill-proven assets and Mechanicus support.

1. Contact Report – Battlefleet Scarus Detachment Fulgurate

Location: Uncharted debris trail, Eastern Fringe Asset: Frigate Sable Meridian (Cmdr. Harquen) with two Sword-class escorts Event: Attempted interdiction of suspected T’au commerce raider, M41. [REDACTED]

At 03:12 shiptime, auspex returned a null-scatter bubble consistent with advanced T’au stealth nets. Void-sheen revealed silhouette not congruent with known T’au patterns. Under magnification, object presented as a welded accretion of hulls: a colonial ark keel at core, ringed by cargo spines, promethium tanks, and four platform-shields mounted as skirts. Defensive turrets presented mismatched bore sizes and firing solutions. Aft geometry suggested detachable barge modules and a concealed launch bay. Vox-hails returned wide-band static and a single lingua-technic packet: “Unhome transiting. Do not impede.”

At 03:19, a formation of drones emerged in a halo, projecting spoofed contacts and false-range returns. The Meridian’s auspex officer reported phasing and parallax drift inconsistent with Tau baseline ECM. Escorts reported lock-breaks and thermal ghosts traversing our wake. The Unhome altered vector in a shallow drift rather than a burn, vanishing into debris density with deceptive kinematics. Pursuit aborted at 03:41 per Cmdr. Harquen: “We are not chasing a ship. We are chasing a decision.”

Losses: None. Morale effect: measurable.

2. Boarding Skirmish – Attaché Notes, Armsmen Squad Vindex

A salvage tug under the Unhome banner attempted retrieval of jettisoned cargo from our interceptor trap. We executed a limited repulse action with a prize-crew cutter.

Boarders encountered wore a medley of void-suits and powered harnesses, many field-modified.

Notable observations:

Composite Armour: One human-sized assaulter wore a powered frame with a Sororitas-pattern greave bolted over Solar Auxilia carapace, with an Astartes Mk VII pauldron cut down and riveted to a T’au-composite shoulder ring. Heraldry was scraped or over-painted in matte grey-green. Glyph cluster on the breastplate showed a downward-pointed triangle over an incomplete ring, flanked by four asymmetrical hash-marks. Plates bore weld scars and cable grafts; cabling was braided in the T’au style but spliced with Imperial-rated couplings.

T’au Elements: Fire Caste troopers present with pulse weapons bearing modular housings. One cadre-lead carried a compacted carbine with a barrel cage of Earth Caste manufacture fitted to a non-standard reverb chamber. Helm optics on several were patched with human-grade dust filters. No Ethereals observed.

Auxiliaries: Kroot operated as counter-boarders, moving ahead of the line to cut our resistors from behind. Vespid sighted in close support, using hull trusses to maintain vertical separation in micro-gravity.

Human Sympathisers: At least two boarding figures gave clipped High Gothic cants and Imperial hand-sign, then switched to Trade cant and a T’au dialect. One’s right vambrace showed a paint-ghost of the Aquila beneath a grey wash.

They fought with restraint until cornered, then with decisive violence. Casualties were controlled and extraction disciplined. Before withdrawal, a T’au in stealth-pattern armour designated our fire-point with a low-lumen marker; every allied shot that followed struck trunnions and hinge seams as if pre-briefed. We later learned this individual answers to Ko’ru among them.

3. Identification – Ko’ru, alias “Still Flame”

Cross-matching pict-captures with recovered T’au databanks suggests a former Sa’cea Pathfinder commander, registered as Shas’El Tash’vael prior to expungement. Current field presence observed in compact stealth armour, plating mismatched, helm crest defaced, antenna array differentially tuned. Emits leadership signals by low-band vibro and light-tap codes; no audible command barks recorded.

Operational profile consistent with known Darkstrider assets: enemy weak-point designation, ambush geometries, psychological warfare via absence and message-leavings. Notably, his cadre placed a single code-marked slug into a bulkhead: “We do not kill to be seen.”

4. Heraldry and Insignia Analysis

Emblem consisting of three shards revolving around a circle. Colours fielded in battle were de-saturated grey, oxidised red, and matte verdigris green. Units often retained relic slivers of prior allegiances beneath grey wash: Sa’cea striping, shattered Knight house checks, faded cog-tooth arcs, or ghosted numerals.

5. Mechanicus Marginalia – Magos-Errant KX-9

Occlusion: Multi-spectral biasing beyond standard T’au; suspect hybridisation with unknown phase-harmonic samples (possible Necron-origin shard field interactions; evidence circumstantial, not conclusive). Recommend seizure of any recovered emitter nodes.

Power Architecture: Core reads as ark-grade fusion with parasitic micro-reactors across attached hulls. Thermal signatures staggered to imitate debris. Genius or madness; likely both.

Weapon Integration: Observed pulse weapons with modular harmonic chambers. Drones evidenced repurposed sensor heads acting as signal jammers and false-target beacons. One recovered fragment shows Imperial micro-servos adapted to T’au bracketing with elegant brutality.

6. Sociological Assessment

The Driftborn present as a deliberate counter-society. No caste markers observed within the Unhome’s recovered vox-logs; decision councils included Kroot, humans, and T’au technicians in equal measure. Recorded phrases from intercepted traffic:

  • “All who bleed together stand equal.”
  • “Voice over vow.”
  • “No forced hand.”
  • “Echoes remember.”

These axioms recur as initiation catechism and hull-script. Former Imperial subjects within their number speak of betrayal by tithe-masters, commanders, or Ecclesiarchy. Driftborn rhetoric frames allegiance as chosen, not imposed. Dangerous memetic vector if allowed to propagate among border worlds.

7. Tactical Notes

Expect low-signature approach, drone-spoofing, and surgical disabling fire focused on hinges, joints, and couplings.
They will avoid murdering rank-and-file where flight is feasible; when cornered, lethality escalates instantly.
Capture priorities: emitter arrays, drone housings, and any armour plates bearing mixed-heritage interfaces. High-value target: Ko’ru, for interrogation and propaganda countermeasures.

8. Recommendations

  1. Engagement Protocol: Do not board without Skitarii tech-exorcists and null-field projectors. Deny debris cover; force them into clear lanes with mine-nets and shepherd tugs.
  2. Information War: Seed rumors of Ethereal pardons and internal schism to test cohesion. Monitor for replies.
  3. Containment: Classify the Unhome as Pilgrimage Anomaly Beta. Prioritise tracking over annihilation until counter-tech is prepared.
  4. Sanction: Elevate to Extremis Heretica (Xenos). Treat ideology as plague-class.

Appendix A: Pict-Capture Transcript, Helm-Cam 3/Vindex

[Audio] Static hum, drone pinging. [Visual] Gray-green boarding party in the junction, plates misaligned but locked smart. A human-sized figure steps forward, visor mirror-black, shoulder pauldron shows faint ghost of an Aquila beneath grey.

Armsman Havel: Identify yourself. Unknown: We are passing through. We take only what your tithe-master already wrote off. Havel: You’re T’au. Unknown: Some of us. [A T’au in stealth plating taps knuckles twice to bulkhead. A red dot slides over Havel’s shoulder and settles on the junction hinge behind him.] Ko’ru: Mind the door. It bites. [Hinge explodes inward from a Vespid’s shot. Driftborn move, clean and quiet. No screams. The camera slews as Havel ducks. When he looks back, the corridor is empty. A single glyph is burned into the wall: downward triangle, open ring.]

Appendix B: Salvage Log Highlights

  • Ceramite fragment, Mk VII pauldron, resized for human frame. Edge shows T’au-matrix weld on Imperium servo-rim.
  • Pulse rifle barrel cage with reverb harmonics chamber, non-standard.
  • Drone lens array repurposed as auspex jammer; stamped with cog-tooth once, scraped off.
  • Cloth scrap with printed aphorism: “We drift not because we are lost.”

Closing Note – Inquisitor Draxos

They will be called cowards by those who have never starved in the dark. Do not be fooled. It takes a different breed of courage to build a home out of wreckage and invite the unwanted in. That is the courage of contagion. Find them. Box them. Study them. And for the Throne’s sake, do not let them speak.