| abstract | - Commander Farsight's first and greatest victories were won against the Orks amidst the oxide-deserts of Arkunasha, in what would become known as the Arkunasha War. When the Tau colony there was threatened by the Orks, he led his Fire Warriors in a masterful campaign that defeated armies numbering hundreds of times greater than his own loyal troops. Farsight's training, much of which was under the direction of Commander Puretide himself, had taught him to use the natural terrain against the foe, and the importance of a bold, decisive stroke to cripple his enemies. Though his training had shown him the value of long range firepower, he nevertheless partially denounced the normal Tau philosophy of using ranged combat to the exclusion of almost all else. In doing so, O'Shovah encouraged the aggressive spirit of the Fire Caste in his warriors, and they fought many bitter battles at close range before emerging triumphant. Using the immense canyons and gulleys criss-crossing the desert to maximum effect, O’Shovah set the Ork invaders to chase shadows, constantly boxing off and destroying isolated elements wherever they turned at bay. It was O'Shovah's tactical brilliance that earned him his famous title 'Farsight'. However, towards the end of the war, O’Shovah was in turn surrounded and besieged by massive numbers of Orks in the natural fortress of the Argap highlands. Despite even this, his Fire Warriors held the mountains for months until the last remnants of his forces were evacuated off-planet. By the wars end, some believed that O’Shovah was embittered by the bloodshed of the siege and blamed others for failing to break through the encirclement, instead allowing the Orks to batter themselves to a standstill against O’Shovah’s defences before being easily scattered the following year. There were thoughts in his mind that the Tau Empire had failed to support him effectively during the campaign, and this feeling was shared by a number of his - for want of a better word - acolytes; most notably an aggressive young Fire Warrior named Brightsword. After the Arkunasha War, Farsight continued to battle against the Greenskins and helped defeat two more Ork WAAAGH!s, before being called upon to fight in the Damocles Gulf Crusade. Along with the forces of another of Puretide's pupils, Commander Shadowsun, Farsight's Hunter Cadres were instrumental in holding off the advance of Imperial forces on the prime Sept world of Dal'yth during the battles that raged back and forth across the Damocles Gulf. His attacking style left Imperial forces reeling, unsure where the next hammer blow would fall. Although victorious in eventually driving the forces of the Imperium from the face of Dal'yth, the Tau Empire was facing a time of great disconcertion. The Tau, always so assured of the superiority of their cause and of their abilities, had been swept away from dozens of newly colonised planets and even suffered an attack on one of their Sept worlds. The Ethereals named this period the Nont'ka - the time of questioning. Realising that some were beginning to doubt their message of superiority, the Ethereals sought for a new hero to rekindle the spirit of expansion and to firmly re-establish the Tau's rightful destiny - the ultimate triumph of the Greater Good. In the wake of their victory on Dal'yth, the Ethereal Council ordered vast reclamation attacks to reconquer their recently lost colonies. Many successful Commanders were considered to lead the spearhead, but in the end, it was Farsight's flawless battle record and his flair for dramatic victories that earned him a formal ceremony of recognition from the Ethereal High Council. Although he had some reservations about his choice, Aun'Va personally elected Commander O'Shovah to head the military aspects of the reclamation effort. The Water Caste's top propaganda efforts were put behind Commander Farsight's Coalition - perhaps the largest fleet of warships, ground troops and accompanying colony ships yet assembled by the Tau Empire. As was customary, several Ethereal Caste members were also part of the expedition. However, there was no need for embellished accounts and initially Aun’Va's choice proved correct, for in the ensuing battles O'Shovah truly established his greatness. The bulk of Mankind's forces had been conscripted to fight a menace in another sector, the incursion of the Tyranid Hive Fleet Behemoth, and the Tau quickly re-established rule over planet after planet. Every planet marked for reconquest was quickly taken. With a skill bordering on prescience, Commander Farsight knew when to attack brashly and when to employ skillful manoeuvres and ambushes. The Imperium's remaining defenders stood no chance against the devastating close-ranged strikes and bold thrusts that were Commander Farsight's signature tactics. Not since the peak of Commander Puretide's triumphs had the Tau Empire been so united by the deeds of a single warrior, the Tau people cheered with news of each of his victories. With but a single world left to recolonise, the Farsight Expedition, as it came to be known, ran into unexpected difficulties with Orks who had taken advantage of the Tau's war with the Imperium. With no opposing military power in the region to stop them, the Greenskin forces were free to expand their territorial raids, subjecting many of the nearby planets to the brutal whims of their cruel overlords in their probing at the shattered edges of the Tau Empire. In response, O'Shovah abandoned his recolonisation efforts to confront his age-old enemy of the Orks, directing his efforts and drawing his forces far from their assignments. What started as swift raids, to repel the greenskins they found probing the edge of their newly recaptured space, eventually turned into a decade long war across multiple star systems; war against a sizable conglomerate of Ork clans who travelled aboard crude asteroid bases. These battles raged far beyond the borders of the empire, yet Farsight was wholly absorbed by this new campaign. In time, O'Shovah's forces pushed into several Ork-held systems and destroyed their worlds, effectively terminating the immediate threat. Although having claimed many victories, Commander Farsight grew increasingly embittered – feeling that his Coalition was not receiving the continued support it deserved. The loyal warriors beneath him, a dedicated troop of acolytes, strongly agreed. Back on the distant planet T'au, the Ethereal Council debated their next move, for many had grown wary of the strong-willed Commander, feeling a growing breach with their appointed leader that had nothing to do with the great distance between them. Even as Aun'Va came to the conclusion that the wayward Farsight must be relieved of command and recalled, a new disaster struck. It happened at the periphery of the Damocles Gulf during a battle on Arthas Moloch, a deserted artefact world save for strange monuments and ruined shrines of some long-forgotten culture. Unknown to the Tau, the world had already been purged by the Scythes of the Emperor Space Marines Chapter in M39, but in the ruins of a pre-human civilisation, the Tau forces engaged an unknown enemy and all of the Ethereal Caste leaders of Farsight's expedition were killed. Undaunted, Farsight weathered the savage attacks of the unrelenting foe, pulling back in the hope of learning more about the fiends that had attacked them before launching a retaliation. Soon, however, the mysterious beings disappeared with the same suddenness with which they had arrived. With the world apparently cleansed, Commander Farsight pushed ever onwards, pursuing the Orks lest they make good their escape. He did so in strict disobedience of protocol, for without the guidance of any Ethereals, it is a Fire Caste Commander's duty to immediately report back to the High Council and await new orders. Before long, the Farsight Expedition was well beyond the reach of even the most advanced communication relays and was no longer operating within the bounds of Tau Empire space. The Tau Empire sent many messages via the chain of communication beacons, accelerator relays on the ends of the system broadcasting their messages deep into the unknown space that the Farsight Expedition had disappeared into, but no response came back. It was possible that the vastness of space or some strange interference prevented the messages from reaching their recipient, but after many years with no reply, it was eventually deemed that the expedition was lost and assumed that their never-defeated Commander had, at long last, been vanquished - dying on a distant planet, far from the stars that lit the Tau Empire. All Castes on every Sept bowed their heads low when the loss of this revered and illustrious hero was broadcast across the Empire. Yet Commander Farsight was not dead. Obstinately choosing to press on with his personal crusade rather than return to the bosom of his Empire, Farsight instead established a string of heavily fortified strongholds across the frontier space on the far side of the Damocles Gulf, a region long forbidden to the Tau. Even now, sporadic signals from long-range probes are received by the Ethereal High Council, which confirm the continued existence of a set of worlds now known as the Farsight Enclaves. There has even been evidence - unique signature signals from his personalised early-model XV8 Crisis Battlesuit and a few far-ranged visuals - that Farsight himself allegedly still lives to lead his Enclaves. This is itself, a great and confounding mystery, for it would mean that Farsight has lived for at least three centuries; considerably longer than the ordinary lifespan of any Tau save only the unknowable Ethereals. It may be that O'Shovah is extending his lifespan through some technological process or that a series of successors has taken up the mantle of Farsight. The truth lies in the Dawn Blade he wields. Regardless, to countenance the notion that Farsight has set up his own colonies is to accept that he has turned his back on the Empire and is fighting for what is presumably personal gain rather than the Greater Good. Since receiving this news, the Ethereal High Council has labelled O'Shovah a renegade, and has forbidden any communications with the rebels from the Tau Empire. Commander Farsight’s mysterious betrayal of the Greater Good still haunts the Tau Empire to this day.
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