Tau War production

	 Despite the many questions that stillhung ominously in the air, Shadowsun wasted little time in progressing the Fifth Sphere Expansion. The Nem’yar Atoll was wild and contested by myriad races. Piratical Ork fleets terrorised the Ful’na Nebulae in the east, and scattered Tyranid tendrils roamed hungrily. Several Imperial worlds were swept up quickly by Shadowsun’s forces, having been left vulnerable and isolated by the Devourer of Hope – known to Humans as the Great Rift. The Fourth Sphere T’au relished war against these Humans, carrying out acts of incredible barbarity such as the Slaughter at Sal’kyo, the Fi’liol Station Bloodshed and many others that haunted Shadowsun and the Ethereal High Council. Such were these atrocities that many commanders of the Fourth Sphere were subjected to the ritual punishment of Malk’la. Despite these hindrances, a multitude of colonies were established. Only months after the miraculous reunification with the Fourth Sphere survivors, the Nem’yar Atoll came under attack. Without warning an immense armada of ships resembling hideously changed Imperial vessels broke into realspace before the Startide Nexus itself, disgorging torrents of ordnance and boarding torpedoes. The Nexus’ defence platforms were buffeted by shot that corroded their crisp armoured hulls in the blink of an eye.
	The Ethereal High Council ordered that work begin immediately on the construction of defensive positions around the wormhole, which the T’au named the Startide Nexus. A hexagonal ring of immense stellar fortresses and interwoven ionic minefields would safeguard the anomaly, and several kor’vattra defence fleets were assigned to permanent sentry patrols around its shimmering depths. The raw material required for these fortifications was staggering, the equivalent of hundreds of battle fleets. To ensure that the resources required were gathered in sufficient time, the T’au initiated a series of resettlement programmes and so-called Labour Freedom Decrees, moving entire populations, both alien and T’au, from their home worlds and organising them into work divisions. The manpower and resources dedicated to the defence of the nexus soon rivalled even those surrounding the T’au home world.

Psychic Awakening: The Greater Good