Third Sphere Expansion - Timeline: 742.M41 The Damocles Gulf Crusade - Responding to T'au encroachments upon the Eastern Fringe, the Immperium despatches a vast Imperial Crusade force against this new xenos threat. The T'au colonies beyond the Damocles Gulf are crushed, the Emperor's armies then falling upon Dal'yth Prime in great force. A desperate war followed, in which T'au Commanders O'Shovah and O'Shaerra eventually stemmed the Imperial tide, though only at great cost and due to the invasion of the Milky Way Galaxy by the Tyranids' Hive Fleet Behemoth. The retreat of Imperial forces marked the end of the T'au Empire's Second Sphere Expansion.975.M41 Great War of Confederation - From beyond the Western Veil Nebula camean immense Ork invasion. Ethereal Supreme Aun'Va calmly marshalled the entire empire to defend itself as the Tau'va taught. Forces from those Septs closest to the threat -- Vior'la, Sa'cca, and Tau'n -- raced to engage the foe, stalling the WAAAGH!'s impetus. Meanwhile, O'Shaserra was brought out of suspended animation to command the T'au war effort. In the sprawling conflict that ensued, a new legend, that of Commander Shadowsun, was born. From Vay'harra and Kormusan to the K'resh Expansions, Shadowsun stood supreme as the saviour of the empire, and eventual vanquisher of the greatest Ork threat in T'au history.989.M41 Fall of the Lagan System - Decades of Water Caste diplomatic work converted many Human worlds to the Greater Good in the Lagan System. With the help of Expeditionary Cadres, the star system is graded a Class 1 colony, moving steadily towards becoming a full-ﬂedged Sept. However all this preparation comes to naught as the sector becomes a war zone, targeted for xenos cleansing by the Ultramarines Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes. Many Human Gue'vesa and T'au colonists are slain as Lagan becomes a slaughterhouse, its cities reduced to smoking ruins.993.M41 The Nimbosa Annexation - Commander Brightsword, a student of Farsight's way of war, led an attack to claim the Imperial world of Nimbosa. By the time the Imperium brought reinforcements, the T'au were prepared to defend their new planet. The fighting culminated with the infamous Koloth Gorge Massacre, where the forces of the Astra Militarum were so brutally slaughtered that Brightsword was censured, summoned back to T'au due to the remorselessness of his acts. Since this attack, the planet has changed hands several more times and remains a war zone.997-999.M41 The Third Sphere Expansion - The Third Sphere Expansion begins. Vast beyond anything that has come before, it sees the entire T'au species placed upon a war footing. The dynamism with which the T'au seize their destiny is irresistable and dozens of intelligent alien races are assimilated into the empire. Borne far afield by enhanced ZFR Drives, the T'au claim star systems previously beyond their reach and the Empire grows like never before.310.997.M41 Ksi'm'yen Established - The first Sept of the Third Sphere Expansion is declared and used as a staging ground for further advancement.525.997.M41 Defence of the Farsight Enclaves - With his spearhead of eighty XV8 Crisis Battlesuit Teams, Commander Farsight leads a counterattack against a tendril of Hive Fleet Kraken that has entered his territory.998.M41 T'ros Campaign - The T'au complete their annexation of what was previously the Imperial desert Mining World of Taros, renaming it T'ros. It becomes the prime planet of a new Sept; its remaining Humans considered Gue'vesa citizens of the T'au Empire and congratulated on the wisdom of their decision.103.999.M41 War Across the Stars - Across the gulf of space, the T'au Empire knows one victory after another. The awoken Shas'O Kais, another of Commander Puretide's former proteges, seized triumphs that saw the establishment of the Fi'rios Sept. Upon the orders of Aun'Va, the Ghosts of N'dras began covert operations against the Imperium, detonating the Worldcore on Lamdiah and assassinating Cardinal Ambros the Blessed. Meanwhile, Imperial forces later counterattacked and drove the T'au from the Zeist Sector, only to find they have been intentionally sidetracked by Shadowsun, who claimed victory elsewhere.303.999.M41 Zeist Campaign - An Imperial counterthrust attacked the T'au colonies in the Zeist Sector. The Space Marines drove the T'au from many worlds in the sector, and while the losses were regrettable, the T'au gains elsewhere were on such a scale that, even to the casualty-conscious T'au, Shadowsun's diversion seemed not just acceptable, but shrewd.757.999.M41 Battle of Mu'gulath Bay - Commander Shadowsun swept the armies of the Imperium before her like ships upon a storm-tossed sea. Where her foes spread wide she struck at their weakest links. Where they dug in and fortified, she bypassed their strongholds to wreak havoc elsewhere. Dozens of Imperial worlds were seized for the empire. However, upon reaching the Hive World of Agrellan, Shadowsun faced a new strategic challenge. This massively fortified world stood as the gateway to the resource-rich Dovar System and its Gilded Worlds, meaning that it could not simply be avoided, but must instead be conquered for the Greater Good. Accordingly, the commander implemented a masterful strategy, coordinating over twenty separate planetary assaults and ensuring each was spearheaded by the newly deployed XV104 Riptide Battlesuits. Despite the efforts of the White Scars, the Raven Guard, the Imperial Knights of House Terryn and multiple regiments of the Astra Militarum, Shadowsun's audacious battle plan saw the planet won in a single Terran day. During ferocious fighting around the capital city of Agrellan Prime, a significant portion of the Imperial defenders made good their escape, but even this could not sour the incredible T'au victory. Yet there was no time for self-congratulation as Shadowsun drove her forces on before the fires of the newly renamed Sept of Mu'gulath Bay had even died.ca. 999.M41 Voltoris - Shadowsun suffered her first major defeat on the Knight World of Voltoris when the Imperial forces, led by the Raven Guard, the White Scars, the Catachan Jungle Fighters and the Imperial Knights of the ruling House Terryn, finally threw back a T'au invasion force.ca. 999.M41 The Prefectia Campaign - Commander Shadowsun returned to form during her assault on the Fortress World of Prefectia, hoping to open the way to the Dovar System for the empire. The T'au forces overwhelmed the Imperial defenders once more through the execution of her brilliant strategems. Kor'sarro Khan, Captain of the White Scars 3rd Company, personally vowed to decapitate Commander Shadowsun, for she had first outmatched him on Agrellan and then escaped his blade again on Voltoris. Using herself as bait, Commander Shadowsun took advantage of the Imperium's fixation on slaying her in order to spring a masterful trap. Many casualties were inflicted upon the Space Marines, including the Raven Guard Chapter Master, Corvin Severax, who was slain by Shadowsun herself, to be replaced by his subordinate Shadow Captain Kayvaan Shrike. Not even a large contingent of Imperial Knights from House Terryn of Voltoris could turn aside the devastating T'au counterattacks. Only through heroic actions were any Imperial forces able to retreat off-planet.ca. 999.M41 The Second Agrellan Campaign - Determined to eliminate the xenos threat to the Eastern Fringe, the Imperium unleashed a massive Retribution Task Force upon the former Hive World of Agrellan, now the T'au Sept of Mu'gulath Bay, the site of the empire's greatest military triumph. The Imperial assault went well at first but was ultimately blunted by the unexpected intervention of the renegade T'au Commander Farsight, whose forces had travelled from the Farsight Enclaves to aid their estranged brethren. Seeing victory once more eluding their grasp, the Imperium unleashed an Officio Assassinorum Execution Force to destroy the T'au leadership. While Commander Shadowsun was wounded, she survived the assault by a Callidus Assassin. The Ethereal Supreme Aun'Va, trapped on the world by the Imperial invasion, was not so lucky and was slain by a Culexus Assassin. The Adeptus Astartes, Imperial Knights and approximately fifty percent of the Astra Militarum forces deployed for the campaign were recovered before the Imperium delivered its final judgement -- an Exterminatus action carried out by a special torpedo warhead provided by the Adeptus Mechanicus that ignited the unusual gases of the world's northern hemisphere. This unleashed a planetary firestorm that killed millions of T'au and many of the Imperium's own unfortunate troops. In the wake of the disaster, and the effect the planetary ignition also had on the Damocles Gulf, the Third Sphere Expansion of the T'au Empire came to a close.