Few names in T'au history provoke as much ambivalence as that of Commander Farsight. Raised in the aggressive martial traditions of Vior'la Sept, he rose through the Fire caste on the strength of battlefield brilliance that bordered on the reckless, winning victories against impossible odds through a willingness to disregard cautious Ethereal guidance whenever he judged the moment demanded it. His talent was undeniable even as his temperament unsettled his superiors.
Everything changed during a campaign that led Farsight and his finest warriors far beyond the empire's charted borders, into contact with forces and secrets the wider T'au Empire has never fully acknowledged. He returned changed, and not long after led a substantial portion of his command away from Ethereal oversight entirely, founding the independent Farsight Enclaves on the galaxy's fringe. Whether this was rebellion, enlightenment, or something else remains a question the T'au establishment prefers not to examine too closely.
Today Farsight rules his Enclaves as a warrior-philosopher answerable to no Ethereal, wielding twin blades of alien design alongside a modified battlesuit built for close, personal combat rare among T'au commanders. He has never declared outright war on the empire that produced him, and the two now exist in a wary, unofficial truce, two visions of the Tau'va separated by a gulf of stars and unspoken history.
Heroes & legends
More T'au Empire
Aun'ShiThe Aged WonderAun'Shi is among the most storied Ethereals in the T'au Empire, an Aun of the martial sept of Vior'la whose skill with the honour blade is matched by no other of his caste. Bearing the honour stave Fidelity, he has fought at the forefront of countless battles, inspiring the Fire Caste to victories beyond reckoning. His lone defence of the settlement of Fio'vash against a horde of Orks is recounted across the Empire as proof that even a spiritual leader may be a peerless warrior.
Aun'VaFather of the Greater GoodThe eldest and most revered Ethereal in the empire, whose word carries near-absolute authority over T'au civilization and war.
Commander BrightswordChampion of the EnclavesCommander Brightsword is one of the Eight, the elite battlesuit war-council of the Farsight Enclaves, and among the most aggressive close-combat commanders the T'au have ever fielded. Where the Fire Caste prizes distance and firepower, Brightsword closes with the foe and carves through the enemy with his fusion blades. Behind the name lies a strange secret, for the original Brightsword died long ago, and each warrior who has since borne the title is a clone grown by the Earth Caste scientist O'Vesa.
Commander LongstrikeTerror of T'rosShas'la T'au Sha'ng, known to friend and foe alike as Longstrike, is the most celebrated tank ace the Fire Caste has ever produced. A prodigy from his first day at the controls of a Hammerhead, he earned his war-name amid the deserts of T'ros and has since felled targets as mighty as an Imperial Titan. Chosen to trial the experimental XV02 pilot battlesuit, he now fights fused to his gunship, yet still prefers to survey each battle with his own eyes from the cupola.