Commander Farsight was a former Tau Commander during the Tau's Second Sphere Expansion campaign. During that time, he served as the overall commander of Fire Caste forces across the entire Tau Empire. Now, Farsight leads his own break-away faction of Tau in an area beyond the bounds of Tau space that are known as the Farsight Enclaves. The reasons for his desertion are unclear, except that it occurred after the loss of all the Ethereals who had been present in his expeditionary force. Shas'El is the second highest rank within the Fire Caste, and for a Fire Warrior to have attained this rank is to become a Tau Commander and earn the right to lead their own Hunter Cadre. However, those Shas'El who have proven themselves worthy through repeated success in the field through displays of masterful leadership, are considered for promotion to the rank of Shas'O -- the highest rank one can attain in the Fire Caste. A Tau Commander of the rank of Shas'O will often lead multi-cadre operations and larger scale campaigns, and will form part of the Shas'ar'tol (Tau High Command) in the coordination of these affairs. It is a position of great honour, and can only be attained after years progressing through the ranks - there are no shortcuts or exceptions. To be named Shas'o is to be proven a master in the martial arts, a first rate tactician and a true disciple of the art of war. Once a Shas'O has served long enough, he is given the choice to retire from active service and/or join a high council of advisors who can play a more active role in Tau politics and directing the affairs of the Tau Empire. Many Tau Commanders do not wish to play the political games so enjoyed by the Ethereals, however, and often continue to command the forces of the Fire Caste in the name of the Greater Good – serving until death. However, Tau Commanders who grow too old may also be asked to permanently join the Tau military high command, or the Shas’ar’tol, and further direct larger war affairs where their wisdom can be put to best use.

O'Shovah's journey from hero to rebel covers three centuries of warfare. Within that great span have been battles that changed the course of history for the T'au Empire, from the most glorious of victories to the deepest pits of recrimination. Though the history that follows is forbidden knowledge within the Sept worlds of the Empire's core, the most fervent supporters of Farsight's cause have it committed to memory. It will continue to be passed on long after his death.

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Meaningful glances were exchanged between the assembled dignitaries, but nothing more was said on the matter at the time. Two rotaa later, Shoh and his fellow novitiates were sent to their first war zone against the Arachen incursions of the Western Veil, whilst behind closed doors, Commander Puretide and his aides discussed the fact that Shoh's military acumen and prowess were as promising as they had hoped.

Shoh's simmering passion and desire to plunge into the fires of battle saw him gravitate towards the Mont'ka, or "killing blow," strategies, whilst Shaserra was a careful and meticulous practitioner of the "patient hunter", Kauyon. Kais, a withdrawn and strange individual, was unusual in that he sought mastery of the Monat's way of war. His goal was to become the perfect lone warrior, an army of one that could triumph in any situation with only the materials to hand. Though Shoh regularly scored the highest in the training simulations, his peers were not far behind. The competition between them saw each strive for success just as hard as in any true war zone, and in the process, earn the respect of their fellow students. This Tau Commander is a rising star in the Velk'Han Sept's Fire Caste. The Ethereal Aun'Kar hand-selected this warrior at a young age and has helped him advance rapidly. As a result, Shas'Vre Ren is unceasingly loyal to Aun'Kar above any other and full of pride to have such a renowned Ethereal's trust. Shas'Vre Ren's Battlesuit was commissioned specifically for him. The glossy instrument of war hasn't so much as a scratch on it and bears the Tau word for "victory." I've seen things you wouldn't believe -- entire worlds in flames, chains of supernovas on the edge of nothingness, the great hole in space. I am changed, an outcast now..."

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Commander Dawnstrike, also known as the wily Desert Beast, has many exploits of feigned retreat attributed to him; feats that are often emulated but never bettered. To Farsight's quiet horror, experimental neurochip prototypes containing the recorded strategies of Commander Puretide were surgically installed in the minds of Cadre Fireblades and Battlesuit T'au Commanders, allowing them to function as military leaders that thought alike and could adapt to any situation. That was the theory, at least -- though the so-called Swords of Puretide enjoyed great success against the rank and file, when the forces of the Imperium brought forth strange, gaunt psykers who reduced battlesuits to ruin with gestures of their wizened hands, the implanted leaders had none of their own previous learnings to draw upon and faltered badly; the confusion cost hundreds of lives as the minds of their leaders struggled to respond to this new threat. Commander Farsight had expected the Orks to be resourceful, but he had not come to fully appreciate the advantages afforded by their uncanny physiology. The number of Orks on Arkunasha was actually increasing rather than being slowly whittled down. O'Shovah and his Ethereal masters were forced to consider the matter of Ork reproduction, a train of thought no civilised species should have to follow. Farsight's most trusted Earth caste advisor, the young genius O'Vesa, believed that the Orks had a fungal component to their genetic make-up. He maintained that the spores that they continually shed were flourishing in the oxide deserts. If his theories were to be believed, every morning, the rust dunes, covered with a film of dew, would shiver and collapse to reveal a clutch of immature Dune Orks, low in tech-level but spoiling for a fight. Shoh repaid the faith placed in him tenfold during the engagement with the much feared Arachen Trinity at the heart of the war effort. Having unwound the maze-like logic patterns with which the Arachen made their nests, Shoh led his commander to the silken heart of the Arachen cocoon-ship. There, he and Commander Dawnstone launched the Mont'ka strike that killed all three of the Trinity and expelled the Arachen from the Western Veil once and for all.

The fully-armoured humans first, then the heraldic vehicles, then the common tanks. Then, and only then, may you engage the common infantry." Lastly, Farsight's returned to his adopted world of Vior'los, and his first act was to conduct a mass Ta'lissera bonding ritual, revitalising the frayed morale of his warriors. With the other Enclave worlds freed from invaders and the castes united behind him once more, O'Shovah enacted a mercilessly efficient military strategy that culled the Orks from one district after another. He then used powerful artificial firestorms to sterilise the environment. Very few indigenous species survived the extermination Farsight unleashed on the planet, but no T'au were lost to the flames. Over and over again, the Tyranid leader-beasts were hunted and destroyed by the pinpoint application of firepower, and over and over again, they were reinforced by fat-bodied Mycetic Spores that rained out of the skies. Thousands of citizens died every day as the insidious invaders probed at every defence and settlement, exploiting the least weakness to break through in a tide of chitinous bodies to slaughter those inside. Each time Farsight adapted his strategy, optimising military protocol to better slay the foe, the Tyranids would reinforce and adapt in turn. Though it burned him to admit it, O'Shovah's plan to cut off the head of his monstrous foe was not working.

The T'au Empire had faced off against an insanely strong opponent and emerged victorious, but the cost of that victory had been high indeed. Every one of the worlds settled on the other side of the Damocles Gulf had been left to the Imperium in the early stages of its crusade, and one of the prime Sept Worlds of the empire had been badly mauled. The notion of the T'au's natural supremacy in the universe had been shaken to its core. In this time of doubt, Ethereal Master Aun'Va negotiated with the then- Ethereal Supreme Aun'Wei, and a plan of reconquest, led by O'Shovah, was initiated. Pair of Fusion Blasters - Fusion Blasters are anti-tank weapons that reduce reinforced armour to molten slag in the blink of eye.

Suddenly, a great cloud of dust whirled up, obscuring the combatants as the Manta missile destroyer Or'es Por'kauyon hovered above them. O'Vesa signalled to Farsight that he had summoned the Air Caste's finest to extract them; the deed inside the facility was as good as done. One by one, the Battlesuits boosted up into the air and boarded the Manta. Below them, the research facility was buried under leaping Tyranid bodies as the T'au made their escape. Of the brave Earth Caste scientists, only O'Vesa survived. Fire Warrior ( Fire Warrior Strike Team • Fire Warrior Breacher Team) • Pathfinder • Drone SquadronShas'El Kai'Aun led a Hunter Cadre during the Taros Campaign. His Hunter Cadre operated under Contingent El'Shi'Eldi. There, he settled into a trance, sitting cross-legged in the hero's mantle for seven long cycles. Nightsharks and bulbous glowfish circled in the bubbles that bled up from oceanic fissures around him as he sought inspiration from the cold truths of water. Once his undersea meditations were complete, Farsight blasted from the ocean into the skies, the shadow of his Battlesuit flitting across the waves towards the great volcanos at the centre of Vior'los' landmass. With his Battlesuit jets equalising against the winds around him, O'Shovah opened his suit's command cradle above the peak of the dormant volcano O'res, closing his eyes and feeling the air rush around him until he had come to understand its secrets. Once his trance state had ended, he travelled again, plunging deep into a canyon at the heart of the mountain range. On the far side of the Damocles Gulf, the Farsight Enclaves continued to forge their worlds to better suit their own destinies. Yet with their leader missing for so many years, they too had begun to see O'Shovah as a distant memory. Generation after generation was born, lived briefly, and died out. Over a hundred years passed without sign. As time marched on without him, Commander Farsight became little more than a whispered myth. The next few years saw a transformation in the T'au approach to the war for Arkunasha. No longer did the Fire Caste dance out of reach, engaging the greenskin menace at close quarters only when absolutely necessary. Instead, the T'au military machine reversed its tactics, driving teams of Fire Warriors and Battlesuits close to blast apart the Orks wherever Farsight's dune-stalking After his counter invasion fleet made it to Arkunasha's surface entirely unmolested, Commander Shoh was extensively briefed on the situation by the T'au trapped in Arkunasha's bio-domes. The planet's dust storms could be avoided with careful monitoring of the Earth Caste's sub-orbital drone network, but according to the Air Caste's aerial observations, there appeared to be even more of the violent alien warbands roaming the desert than in the first few weeks of the invasion.