Phil Kelly
Phil Kelly is a distinguished author in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, known for compelling storytelling and deep lore.
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Authored Stories
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Blades of Damocles
by Phil Kelly
NovelPhil KellyThe Imperium of Man takes its bloody revenge upon the expansionist Tau in a war of dizzying spectacle. Chainsword and jump pack is pitted against cutting edge battlesuit technology, whilst the Codex Astartes is matched against the tau Code of Fire. For the first time, the daredevil warriors of the Ultramarines Assault Company go to war en masse, fighting in the skies, in the streets, and even in the prototype testing facilities of the Earth caste. Sergeants Sicarius and Numitor must overcome their hunger for glory as the brightest stars of the Tau Empire, Commanders Farsight and Shadowsun, hunt them to the brink of disaster. As a white-knuckle ride of conflict sees the Space Marines fight through one lethal ambush after another, they must deal with conflicts from within the ranks as well as from without. Tempers run short as battle-brothers fall, ammunition runs out and the course of the war takes ever-darker twists and turns. With two warrior cultures struggling for a vital edge and the body count spiralling towards a terrible conclusion, can notions of honour and duty survive at all?
- 3 editions

The Patient Hunter
by Phil Kelly
NovelPhil KellyCommander O’Shaserra, better known as Shadowsun, is an ice-cold military genius celebrated across the Chalnath Expanse. She is the master of the stealth battlesuit assault and the Kauyon metastrategy – a philosophy of war that emulates the Patient Hunter. But how to lay a trap for the Chaos-worshipping warriors of the Death Guard, whose ancient technology allows their fleet to rip holes in space? And how to deal with their daemonic patrons, who defy the laws of physics and shatter the logical methods that Shadowsun holds so dear? With her forces spread far and wide on the dark side of the Great Rift, Shadowsun must respond to a surprise attack on the Startide Nexus wormhole portal. Worse yet, as hidden atrocities and treacheries are laid bare, the threat of civil war simmers between the t'au and their allies. If she is to stand a chance, the t'au's finest commander will have to improvise, trust to instinct, and face the unnatural echoes of her empire's own dark secrets.
- 3 editions

Redemption on Dal'yth
by Phil Kelly
Short StoryPhil KellyFor eight generations, a hero of the T'au Empire has been held in stasis, trapped in a single moment of time during a duel with a monstrous gue'la warlord. This t'au – the legendary Sha'kanthas – has become a legend, a symbol of the indomotability of the Greater Good's servants. The stasis bubble containing the warriors sits in a museum in Dal'yth… but such crude human technology can't last forever. When they awaken, the battle continues, and Sha'kanthas – weaponless and out of his element – must find a way to defeat the Space Marine before it rampages across Dal'yth, causing untold devastation.
- 1 edition

Brethren
by Phil Kelly
DramaPhil KellyUltramarines sergeants Sicarius and Numitor spearhead an assault on a tau-held world. As they clash with powerful tau battlesuits, the two sergeants discover that the Tau Empire and the Imperium of Man may have as many similarities and differences – but does that matter when the xenos threaten the Emperor’s realm?
- 1 edition

War of Secrets
by Phil Kelly
NovelPhil KellyLieutenant Xedro Farren is a Primaris Marine, stronger and more adept than even the Space Marines his brotherhood has been sent to fight alongside. As he and his Primaris brethren support the Dark Angels in fighting a trauma-scarred force of t’au seemingly hellbent on destroying their own allies, their true quarry soon becomes clear: the shadowy instigator of a psychic curse that could plunge a string of Imperial planets into madness. As worlds burn in the fires of battle, an unthinkable pact is struck, and Lieutenant Farren begins to peel back layer after layer of deceit to discover an appalling truth. Can he hope to emerge from this web of lies without losing his honour – or come to that, his life?
- 3 editions

Empire of Lies
by Phil Kelly
NovelPhil KellyHigh Commander Farsight, fresh from his victory against the Imperium over the Damocles Gulf, looks to his borders and finds his old enemies – the savage and warlike orks – assailing his worlds and threatening to ravage the heart of the T’au Empire. Farsight’s obsessive crusade will see him locked in an escalating conflict with the greenskins, and he will stop at nothing until their infestation is purged. In the background, foul forces are at work, however – forces that will do whatever they can to see the military genius of Farsight fall on the daemon-haunted world of Arthas Moloch. Can Farsight stand in the face of new truths, and will the T’au Empire stand with him?
- 3 editions

Farsight
by Phil Kelly
NovellaPhil KellyThe oxide deserts of Arkunasha are red with spilt blood. The orks of Waaagh! Dok have invaded en masse, and the besieged tau settlers are on the edge of extinction. When the famous general O’Shoh arrives to shatter the greenskins at the head of a high-tech army of battlesuits, the tau expect an easy victory, but the battle-hungry orks outnumber the tau four hundred to one, and the planet’s vicious rust storms have a devilish appetite of their own. Can the rising star of the fire caste solve the riddle of Arkunasha’s haunted past before Dok Toofjaw’s monstrous cyborgs conquer the planet completely?
- 5 editions

Blade of Truth
by Phil Kelly
NovelPhil KellyAs the tyranids consume the planet of Vior'los and its enclaves, an inside threat emerges in the form of the scheming ethereal Aun’Va, and the fortress world is soon reduced to its last eight warriors. Among them is Torchstar, a young rebel in possession of battlesuits prised from Aun’Va’s iron grip, and as unlikely allies are thrown together in the dwindling hope of victory, Farsight’s ultimate test is still to come.
- 2 editions

The Battle of Blackthunder Mesa
by Phil Kelly
Short StoryPhil KellyOn the T'au Empire sept world of Dal'yth, the warriors of the Fire Caste fight a losing battle against the human Imperium. With the gue'la, as the t'au call them, willing to throw seemingly endless manpower into the meatgrinder of war, the Greater Good has no solution. But Commander Farsight might… In the training facility of Dal'ryu, an experimental weapon heralds a new way of war, championed by Farsight – and with a force of Imperial tanks closing on the facility, Commander Bravestorm may just have to use this 'Onager Gauntlet' if he is to claim victory.
- 1 edition

Crisis of Faith
by Phil Kelly
NovelPhil KellyThe t'au are a mysterious alien race, diametrically opposed to the Imperium of Man in every possible way - in their mastery of technology, methods of warfare and social structure. Yet in galactic terms they are a young race, and naïve when it comes to the manipulations of Chaos. When promising young Commander Farsight is promoted to lead a crusade across the Damocles Gulf to reclaim the T'au Empire's lost colonies from mankind, the mood is one of optimism. With their mighty fleet, and superior weapons and machines, how can their endeavour possibly fail? However, despite a parade of early successes, Commander Farsight soon faces enemies he wasn't anticipating and finds not only his courage but also his soul tested to the very limit.
- 3 editions
Series they've contributed to
Which series this contributor has worked on and their role in each.
Space Marine Battles
An editorial series containing standalone and linked works by multiple authors, focusing on major Space Marine conflicts across formats.
Space Marine Conquests
An editorial series containing standalone and linked works by multiple authors, focusing on major Space Marine conflicts in the modern Warhammer 40k Lore.
Farsight Trilogy
A trilogy by Phil Kelly chronicling the rise, rebellion, and legacy of Commander Farsight, exploring key battles and political fallout within the Tau Empire.
Legends of the Dark Millennium
A collection of publications highlighting characters and conflicts from the 41st Millennium.
Stories by Year and Type
Browse through the number of Stories written by this Contributor, grouped by year and type.