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The Chalnath Expanse is a region of Imperial space located in the northern Segmentum Ultima region of the Imperium Nihilus. It is of strategic import as it sits upon one of the primary Warp routes leading to the Segmentum Fortress at Kar Duniash. The Chalnath Expanse was also the region into which the T'au Empire's Fourth and Fifth Sphere Expansion fleets were launched, which led to the founding of the extension of the T'au Empire known as the Nem'yar Atoll. As such, it is now emboriled in a four-way conflict between the Imperium, the T'au Empire, various Genestealer Cults and an Ork WAAAGH! which recently entered the region, drawn by the raging war now called the Chalnath Expanse Campaign.

History[]

The T'au Empire's Fourth Sphere Expansion unexpectedly emerged into realspace after the disastrous activation of their fleet's anti-matter-powered AL-38 Slipstream Modules created the Warp vortex known as the Startide Nexus, a stable, interdimensional pathway or "wormhole" between the region of the northern Segmentum Ultima the T'au named the Nem'yar Atoll and the primary territories of the T'au Empire to the galactic south in the Eastern Fringe near the Damocles Gulf.

Once the T'au Empire confirmed the survival of the Fourth Sphere Expansion's fleet, Commander Shadowsun was given command of the Fifth Sphere Expansion and led it into the Startide Nexus. Once the Fifth Sphere Expansion fleet emerged into the Nem'yar Atoll, Shadowsun integrated the survivors of the Fourth Sphere Expansion fleet into her command and began expanding the size of the T'au Empire's new domain.

Since its discovery by the T'au, the Nem'yar Atoll has become a cluster of Sept Worlds, stellar fortresses and orbital habitation spheres and cities that surround the Startide Nexus, but is also under almost-constant assault from raiders, hostile xenos and other, darker threats such as the forces of Chaos. As such, the military resources allocated to the defence of this key region by the T'au are now considerable, and ultimately led to conflict with the many Imperial worlds located in the same region, which the servants of the Emperor named the Chalnath Expanse.

Commander Shadowsun soon attacked the Cardinal World of Astorgius while the Ctesiphus and Arrajian Systems were the site of major Genestealer Cult uprisings. On the Mining World of Haephos, the Imperial defenders engaged in a bitter guerrilla war against the Genestealer cultists and T'au infiltrators. The Riatov System became a cauldron of constant war between the T'au forces, the Astra Militarum regiments who called it home, and the Genestealer cultists.

The Hive World of Vorotheion seemed immune to the violence for a time before becoming embroiled in a T'au invasion. The T'au wooed disenfranchised and discontented Human populations to the Greater Good, establishing insurrectionist cells and proxies to battle the Imperials alongside their conventional forces. The effects of the Psychic Awakening soon made themselves known on the Humans, with Ecclesiarchy priests performing "miracles" and even Gue'vesa being struck by bouts of emergent psyker-induced insanity.

The disturbances on these worlds caused the Adepta Sororitas' Order Militant, the Order of the Sacred Rose, to respond, saving those who remained true to the Emperor while purging all Heretics and xenos they encountered. Warriors of the T'au Fire Caste put up formidable resistance, but the battle-sisters discovered that the greatest threat to the Emperor's rule in the region were the Ethereals accompanying the T'au forces, whose propaganda concerning the Greater Good was able to claim countless Human souls to their cause.

Later, the Deathwatch of the nearby watch fortress of Mortguard under the command of Watch Master Agathon were drawn into the conflict after reports of rampant T'au and unexplained civil uprisings were made by the venerable Ordo Xenos Inquisitor Jazad D'ontor. Three full Watch Companies of Mortguard were ultimately deployed to the worlds of Arrajian IV, Cestis and Saint's Halt to aid the Imperial defenders in throwing back the T'au advance and cauterizing the Genestealer Cult infestations.

Finally, drawn by the raging, three-sided conflict, massive Ork forces soon arrived in the region. They poured from the Ful'na Nebulae in ragtag invasion fleets. With the Thaxaril, Riatov, and Barolyr Systems barely pacified, the conflict continued to rage on half a dozen other fronts.

Commander Shadowsun proved unwilling to allow this new menace to destabilise the precarious expansion of the Nem'yar Atoll into Imperial space. Deploying her forces in a complex web of interlocking positions throughout the Vy'las, Mets'ah, and Aso'da Systems, she began a Kauyon-style campaign on an interstellar scale. She planned to use this strategy to blunt the Greenskins' momentum and crush the threat they posed to the continuance of the Fifth Sphere Expansion.

Notable Chalnath Expanse Systems[]

Arrajian System[]

While it was not directly assaulted by the T'au's Fifth Sphere Expansion forces, the Arrajian System was subjected to Genestealer Cult uprisings so successful that more than half of its key worlds fell in a matter of solar months. Those few that remained loyal to the Imperium now hold on by a thread and their enduring faith in the Emperor is all that gives their defenders strength.

Barolyr System[]

The Barolyr System was assaulted by the T'au's Fifth Sphere Expansion. Its primary planet was the Hive World of Vorotheion which came under attack by both the forces of the T'au and an uprising by the Genestealer Cult known as the Pauper Princes. The cult was ultimately victorious in taking over most of the world, though the T'au and the Imperium still maintain control over several of the world's hive cities. The Pauper Princes remain undaunted by this, and have already begun the necessary work required to welcome their Star Children masters -- the Tyranids -- to their home.

Ctesiphus System[]

While it was not directly assaulted by the T'au, the Ctesiphus System was subjected to Genestealer Cult uprisings so successful that more than half of its key worlds fell in a matter of solar months. Those few that remained loyal to the Imperium now hold on by a thread and their enduring faith in the Emperor is all that remains to give them stength against the xenophile menace.

Riatov System[]

When the T'au invaded the Riatov System, the primary world of Riatov became became an inferno of bloodshed between the Riatov regiments of the Astra Militarum, Genestealer Cultists and the T'au's Fire Caste forces.

Thaxaril System[]

The Thaxaril System was struck by the forces of the T'au Empire's Fifth Sphere Expansion. Its primary planet was the Cardinal World of Astorgius, celebrated across the sector for its magnificent architecture, incredible wealth and priceless relics.

The world has been devastated by the T'au's invasion of the Thaxaril System. Even as the forces of the Imperium and the T'au waged their war for control of the planet, neither realised that Astorgius was also home to a large Genestealer Cult infestation, which had yet to make its presence known.

Vedik System[]

The Vedik System came under assault by the T'au Fifth Sphere Expansion forces led by Commander Shadowsun. Isolated and facing economic ruin since becoming trapped within the Imperium Nihilus in the wake of the Great Rift's birth, its population began to lose faith in the Emperor. Thus, when the envoys of the T'au Water Caste from the Fifth Sphere Expansion arrived to open negotiations, the Imperial authorities used Rogue Traders to broker food and aid from the xenos. Before long, the T'au had earned the trust of the population and Water Caste officials even held seats on some local city councils. The T'au gave many technological gifts to the Imperial Commanders of the Vedik System, though in truth these robotic drones were outfitted with listening devices that allowed the T'au to gather valuable intelligence on how best to make the Greater Good more appealing to the Human population.

The situation in the Vedik System changed when a battered Imperial fleet arrived out of Warpspace without warning. Led by a force of Sisters of Battle drawn from the Order of Our Martyred Lady, the pious battle-sisters were horrified by what they found in the system, with its people consorting openly with xenos. The Adepta Sororitas determined that their sudden and unexpected arrival in the system had been ordained by the will of the Emperor, and that it was their mission to purge Vedik of the xenos and their Human collaborators.

As soon as the Adepta Sororitas' presence in the system was known, the T'au quickly withdrew from Vedik, as they did not possess the necessary military forces to oppose such an elite Imperial strike force. Upon occupying the worlds of the Vedik System, the battle-sisters organised and conducted a bloody round of purges, pogroms, and torturous interrogations to root out all the Human collaborators with the T'au Empire. They were aided by Ecclesiarchy priests, who rose up to destroy any commercial concerns that had been established by the Water Caste and those Humans who had aided them.

The T'au were not willing to give up on the Vedik System, however, and under orders from Commander Shadowsun a fleet of T'au voidships soon arrived in the system filled with Fire Caste troops. These were led by hundreds of teams of Pathfinders under orders to rescue any beleaguered T'au still remaining in the system, reestablish contact with any of their Gue'vesa allies who had been driven underground by the Adepta Sororitas' persecution, and eventually overthrow Imperial rule. The T'au had to move fast, as more and more Imperial vessels were arriving in-system, called by the Adepta Sororitas and the Inquisition. Soon Vedik was consumed by war, like much of the rest of the Chalnath Expanse.

See Also[]

Sources[]

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