Third Sphere Expansion - Great War of Confederation: Throughout the T'au Empire, recently-built colony fleets were filling up orbital docks in anticipation of the call to launch a new Sphere of Expansion. Even as preparations were underway, warning signals ﬂashed across the T'au Empire's relay lines in 975.M41. An age-old foe had returned in numbers beyond imagination; the Orks were back.They came from beyond the shroud of the Western Veil Nebula, the ragtag Ork armada emerging from the swirling gas clouds as suddenly as if they had materialised out of nowhere. As the first scans were picked up, the Earth Caste technicians believed their sensors were malfunctioning, for the size of the greenskin fleet was staggering.The Ork invasion was composed of some dozen separate WAAAGH!s, each with a Warboss vying for overall supremacy. Only the decrepit state of the Orks' spacecraft and their incessant in-fighting allowed the T'au Empire time to react. Whilst many of the T'au panicked over the immensity of the looming threat, there was one who saw that, as always, if the Empire worked together, they could defeat even an invasion of this magnitude.Aun'Va -- now Ethereal Supreme -- remained as calm as still water. He gathered the leaders of every Sept in order to form a comprehensive plan of action. Those Septs closest to the Ork threat -- Vior'la, Sa'cea, and Tau'n -- would combine forces in a delaying attack. Behind them, all other Septs would rush troops and starships towards the front to serve as the next wave of counterattacks.Across the empire, the Air Caste scrambled their fleets ­converting trade ships and colony transports into troop carriers to accommodate the forces needed to stem the green tide. As the united T'au advanced to confront the oncoming Orks, initial engagements took place along the outermost regions of the empire.The T'au Navy launched hit-and-run attacks to lure pursuing Ork ships within range of orbital defence stations. The combined firepower of fleet and orbital bases caused heavy Ork losses, although several stations were destroyed when Ork sabotage ships crashed into the vast structures, allowing numerous Greenskins to disembark and wreak havoc. Fire Warrior defenders were soon deployed aboard the remaining orbital stations and many desperate battles in the depths of space ensued, some lasting for many Terran months.As the individual tribes of the Greenskins separated to follow their own pursuits, the fighting spread across space and over more than a dozen surface locations. Wherever Orks made planetfall, additional T'au ground forces were landed to reinforce the area, even on barren moons, for the aliens had to be denied any chance to scavenge supplies or set permanent roots within the territory of the T'au Empire.With the threat of being overrun forestalled, Aun'Va deemed the time was right for the next step of his master plan. Terran centuries before, when the Ethereal High Council knew that Commander Puretide, the greatest living T'au military strategist, was rapidly degenerating and would soon die, contingency plans were put into motion. The Earth Caste had long been preserving Puretide's memories -- seeking to build a sentient, artificially intelligent holograph that would look, act and most importantly, think like him.At the time, however, there was no assurance that this would successfully replace the indispensable instructor. So, as a safeguard, it was ordained that several of Puretide's top students would be placed in stasis -- a time-proofing process that was then newly devised by the Earth Caste. This meant that, in future times of war or expansion, the Empire could still call upon masters of the art of war. Now, with the largest Ork invasion ever seen already within their borders, Aun'Va determined that a leader of great destiny was needed.One of those cryogenically frozen was a recently promoted T'au Commander by the name of O'Shaserra, Commander Shadowsun. Of her generation of Fire Warriors, there was only a single rival who could match O'Shaserra's boldness and tactical abilities. That other warrior, O'Shovah, was not frozen, but rather chosen for glory, leading the T'au's expeditionary force to reclaim their colonies after the war with the Imperium.By the time O'Shaserra had completed her reindoctrination, the fighting had been going on for half a dozen Terran years; the massive Ork invasion was now spread across the borders of many Septs. With their superior weaponry and the cohesion of their forces, the numerically inferior armies of the T'au had been able to check the disorderly Ork hordes.It was a stalemate, as the disparate greenskins could not gain the momentum or unity to drive towards a Sept World, and the T'au could not eradicate the aliens from their realm. Taking leadership over a Hunter Cadre, Commander O'Shaserra joined the fray. After a daring string of victories, she earned control of a command -- a formation of many cadres.By the time Sa'cea Prime's largest moon, Vay'harra, was proclaimed clear of Orks, Commander O'Shaserra's name was already becoming well known. From there, she led major victories on the dawn worlds of Kormusan, and finally on the K'resh Expansions.With each triumph, more T'au forces were freed to apply additional pressure to the fractionalised greenskin forces. After the total massacres of the K'resh Expansions, the power of the Orks was broken.The Great War of Confederation, as it came to be known, lasted a dozen Terran years and firmly established a new hero in the hearts and minds of the T'au. O'Shaserra, now called Commander Shadowsun, had proven herself to a new generation -- her tactical manoeuvres at every level of command were executed flawlessly and she was not without personal heroics.Her penchant for infiltrating battlefields and launching deadly ambushes was already legendary. A bright new future for the T'au lay ahead.