Editing M43 (section)

==The Damocles Cordon==
'''8 --- 750.M42'''
: In the seventh century of the forty-second millennium, Marneus Calgar was once again forced to bring his chapter to bear against the Tau. The 7th Sphere Expansion was basically a footnote in the Administratum. Even though the Tau Empire were encroaching upon the ‘western’ edge of the Damocles Gulf. As the time went on it was evident that the expansion was anything but normal. In 723, the Imperial world of Bast was not even given the opportunity to join the Empire. Understandably, they wouldn’t have joined regardless, but the report that they were never given the chance did raise some flags. 739, the a feudal world K’mara was completely swallowed by a Warp rift. It was filed as a natural disaster until an Inquisitor looked into it. Several interrogations and 2 years of investigating, the Inquisitor found that the Warp Rift was not natural but had been summoned. K’mara had no reported cults or anything that indicated Chaos taint. The final flag that prompted the Administratum to action, was the complete disappearance of the Farsight Enclaves. The worlds were later found completely deserted.


: Upon establishing contact with the Tau once again, it was clear that something was very, very wrong. The Tau worlds they came to either greeted them with open arms, welcoming the Imperium or immediately fired upon them with hellish versions of their patent weaponry. There was either no mention of the ‘Greater Good’ or screams of the ‘Greatest Good’. Upon a world in the Vior’la Sept, a shattered battlesuit was found. In it was the diary of a Shas’O from one of the Farsight Enclaves. It described what was the Tau Civil War.


: After all available information, much coming from the recovered diary, a decent report was formed, detailing the conflict. After much debate, it was decided that the Tau Ethereals were actually much more potent psykers, albeit still latent. But it was the opening Chaos needed to whisper. Tantalizing targets for Chaos no doubt. Details from the dairy seem to indicate that at some point the Ethereals began to project the ‘Greater Good’ upon themselves. Not all of them but enough. Soon the ‘Greater Good’ of all the Tau became the ‘Greatest Good’. You either served the Ethereals with blind devotion or you died. Already having a surprising amount of control over the Tau, it is unsurprising that few Tau actually died. Based on the change, a consensus that Slaanesh had dug her talons into the Tau. The bulk of the Tau were slaves by mere proxy, whereas the Ethereals with their increased psychic potency were the ones truly enslaved. So the ‘Greatest Good’ was brought to the various Septs. The ones where Slaanesh had corrupted readily joined the dark crusade. The remaining Septs, the ones that were appalled at such a grievous corruption of the grand doctrine, fought back. Eventually word and war had spread to the entire empire, even the Farsight Enclaves hearing of it. Despite their disapproval of the control of the Aun, the Enclaves could not ignore the deaths of their own. After over months of debate, the Enclaves decided that such a threat was so great that it required their full attention. They left as soon as they could. As it stands, the Tau Civil War is still going on, partly due to the stagnation of the technology because of the war.


: The Ultramarines were involved with only four major conflicts before the decision to block off the Tau-controlled portions of the segmentum. Two involved purging worlds that had previously defected and then succumbed to the taint. Antother was the destruction of a Tau colony world that engaged a passing Ultramarine fleet. The fourth was also the last conflict before the Imperium withdrew. The 4th Company of Ultramarines was chasing a corrupted fleet from the Tau homeworld. They caught them and forced them down to a nearby planet of the Tau Sept, N’Dras. It was an uncorrupted world already under assault by the corrupted Tau. It was here that the Ultramarines found themselves the unlikely allies to the Farsight Enclave. They stayed no longer than they had to, making sure that the enemy fleet they had been chasing was destroyed. 


: It was decided that the Imperium had no place in the Tau schism and to let them solve their own problems. A strong argument was made once the report came out that the Tau had been turned to Chaos and the Imperium must destroy Chaos wherever it may be. It should be noted that one Colonel involved in the debate made some mention of helping them because they are a sentient species as well. He was immediately shot. General consensus was that the uncorrupted Tau seemed to be holding their own and that it didn’t seem that the species was tainted, just the leaders. “Daemons aren’t flying out of their assholes on their faces” one general was recorded saying via scribe. With that, the Imperium set up a series of sensors and orbital stations to alert the Imperium should the Tau attempt to venture beyond. The Damocles Cordon has not sensed anything since.