Hive Fleet Gorgon - Assault on the Forest World Sha'draig: The T'au were first alerted to the arrival of Hive Fleet Gorgon within their space in 899.M41 when the worlds of several Imperial trading partners were consumed. Next, all contact was lost with the Outbound Brotherhood T'au explorer fleet after it strayed into the path of the ravenous Tyranids. The T'au fleet was consumed so quickly that not a single warning of the coming onslaught managed to escape.It was in late 899.M41 that the forested colony world of Sha'draig's orbital system perimeter outpost was eliminated by a Tyranid assault. The Kel'shan Sept Fleet, under the command of Kor'O'Valroth, slipped its moorings and headed for Sha'draig.In early 900.M41, the orbital shipyards on Sha'draig's moon were attacked by Hive Fleet Gorgon's outriders. With all other options ruled out, the defenders of the shipyards sealed themselves within their main complex, trusting to their interceptor screens to buy them time. Tens of thousands of Tyranid Gargoyles died under T'au interceptor fire. The Tyranids moved on to the forest world of Sha'draig, leaving only a handful of bio-ships to blockade the moon.A new strain of Gargoyles then attacked Sha'draig's lunar complex. The interceptor screen opened fire once again, but the power of its strikes had been lessened by a new refractive mucous coating that now covered the Gargoyles' chitinous hides.Their primary means of defence lost, the Sha'draig lunar shipyards were finally overwhelmed.By the time the Kel'shan Sept Fleet arrived at Sha'draig it found the world already under full siege by the Gorgon. The T'au fleet breached the Tyranid blockade of the forest world long enough that it was able to deliver Fire Caste reinforcements to the world's defenders but was forced to retreat from direct combat. Kor'O'Valroth ordered hit-and-run attacks to begin on the Hive Fleet's perimeter. With his defences bolstered by additional warriors from Kel'shan, Shas'el Vorcah sent his Kroot auxiliaries to create an outer defence line on the surface of Sha'draig that will meet the Tyranids' initial ground assault.Late in 900.M41 a vast swarm of Tyranid Hormagaunts assaulted the Kroot defensive positions in the great forests of Sha'draig. Many of the invaders were entangled by the forest's heavy foliage and undergrowth or caught in the Kroot's specially-prepared traps. Under the command of Shaper Pechallai, the Kroot managed to drive the Tyranids back from the outer perimeter line.Despite the defeat, in early 901.M41 Shaper Pechallai's position was assaulted once more, this time by a modified variant of Hormagaunts who had been bred swifter by the Hive Mind, and thus were less vulnerable to being ensnared by the forest world's undergrowth or Kroot traps. Only brute force and sheer tenacity allowed the Kroot defenders to hold the line this time. Unfortunately, a final wave of Hormagaunts, honed into their final phenotypical forms by the Hive Mind, swamped the carefully prepared Kroot defences of Shaper Pechallai. However, following their heavy losses to T'au Fire Warriors, the Hormagaunts and Termagants of the Gorgon developed an almost total immunity to the fire of T'au Pulse Rifles. The main settlement of Sha'draig was finally overrun by the Tyranids and Shas'el Vorcah chose to withdraw his remaining forces into the forest world's mountains.Following this defeat, T'au Stealth Teams recovered several hundred Kroot rifles from the ruins of Shaper Pechallai's final defensive perimeter. This weaponry was dispersed amongst Sha'draig's remaining Fire Warriors. In orbit of the forest world, fresh broods of Hormagaunts and Gargoyles were spawned by the Hive Fleet wth chameleon-like hides that allowed them to completely blend in with their environment. They were now nearly invisible to the naked eye and only the sensor packages of Tau Battlesuits could be relied upon to accurately detect them.Realising that the situation on Sha'draig was now untenable for his forces, Kor'O'Vanan ordered the T'au Fire Caste's withdrawal from the forest world and the Kel'shan Sept fleet broke the Tyranid blockade long enough to retrieve the bulk of the surviving T'au ground forces left on the colony planet. Shas'el Vorcah refused to abandon hope and he and his Hunter Cadre chose to remain on the world under the pretext of covering the T'au retreat but with the full intention of remaining behind to continue to fight despite the long odds.In late 901.M41 Shas'el Vorcah initiated a series of suicide missions that shattered the Tyranids' web of Synapse creatures on Sha'draig. The success of this operation drove the Tyranids of the Gorgon from the forest world, but it proved a pyrrhic victory as Sha'draig has been almost completely consumed by Ripper Swarms. Vorcah's Hunter Cadre abandoned the near-lifeless planet not long after, taking some solace in the fact that they had denied the Tyranids the entire planet's bio-mass.