Fire Warrior



The Fire Warriors of the Fire Caste are efficient, professional soldiers. They are well-equipped, boasting perhaps the best infantry weaponry in the game, and their absolute belief of the Greater Good and fanatical trust of the Ethereal Caste gives them case to be determined soldiers, grim in defense and blistering in attack.

Overview
Fire Warriors are bred to be naturally more ferocious and aggressive than other Caste members. They are more heavily muscled, stouter, and broader than their racial brethren. Fire Caste members are slightly taller than the average human, at about 6'5 to 6'6. However their depth-perception is comparatively poorer than those humans, as is their reflexes, causing them to be comparatively poor melee fighters. A note of exception are the Fire Warriors of O'Shavvah (sp), who actively train in close-quarters combat.

Fire Warriors believe hand-to-hand fighting to be barbaric, and leave this role of battle to the Kroot mercenaries, who are far more able than the Tau in the chaos that is melee combat.

History
What would become the Fire Caste before the unification of the Tau race were once ground-dwelling hunter gatherers. They did not have the membranous wings of what would become the Air Caste, who were employed pre-Tau Empire age as messengers (very much like their contemporary fore bearers).

Racial progression saw these earth-dwellers to build walled cities on the ground, while their racial cousins built fortresses and cities on high-altitude mesas and plateaus. However, an age of great suffering befell the Tau, sparking inter-racial wars, spreading disease, and unleashing famine upon the fledgling civilization.

The intervention of the Ethereals, shrouded in myth and legend, unified the race by their unerring charisma, and all sub-races of the Tau were given specific roles in society in a Caste system, and the caste names reflecting the element of nature that best suited them.

Air, for pilots and messengers flying on the thermals of the sky.

Earth, for builders and scientists, building from the ground magnificent advancements.

Water, needed for all living things ensuring society runs smoothly, the bureaucrats, the diplomats.

Fire, reflecting the heat of battle, and martial pride of the Tau's warriors.

And the Aun, to rule all Tau in the name of the Greater Good.

Strategy
Historically, the Tau have not had the numbers to fight prolonged conflicts unlike the Imperium of Man. Kroot can now be considered the numeric mainstay of the Tau military forces, and their numbers allow the Tau to fight planetary battles where they would otherwise be limited to small-scale raiding maneuvers.

Fire Warrior commanders (Shas'O) are schooled in two military doctrines; Kau'yon, or Way of the Patient Hunter, or Mont'ka, the Killing Blow. Shas'O are discouraged from using static defense or bloody assaults. In defense, the Tau abandon their position in favor of a more suitable one. Shas'O who bitterly hold onto a position are frowned upon, and are considered to lack imagination by their peers.

In attack, Shas'O attempt to draw the enemy from their defenses, and then destroy components of the enemy one by one. Costly assaults are considered an unnecessary waste of life and resources, with the general idea that once the enemy is defeated can ground be taken.

The Kau'yon
The Kau'yon is perhaps the more methodical, patient method of neutralizing the enemies of the Empire. This strategy employed by Cadres is similar to the hunter trapping and killing his prey. A unit is used as bait to lure the enemy into a well-prepared killzone. When the enemy is brought to this zone, the trap is pounced from all sided. Battlesuits flank, Kroot pounce, and heavy weaponry is fired at tactically important targets.

The Mont'Ka
The Mont'Ka depends on aggressive troop movement and red-hot attacks on key tactical targets, or fighting their way down the enemy military hierarchy. Battlesuits and Hammerhead Main Battle Tanks are the key component in this strategy adopted by Cadres, as well as Fire Warriors mounted in Devilfish APCs. This method is highly mobile, as to knock the enemy off-balance, quick, and brutal.

Service
A Fire Caste warrior starts his military career as a Shas'sas, roughly meaning a cadet.

After completing training, the Warrior becomes a Line Trooper, or Shas'la. Passing a Trial By Fire is the only way to increase rank for a Warrior. La'Kais, of the video game Firewarrior, was of this rank.

Shas'ui are veterans, and act as Sergeants/Team Leaders in Fire Warrior Teams, and have the privilege of piloting a heavy battlesuit.

Shas'vre are the bodyguards of the Shas'el. They are proven battlesuit pilots and are loyal to their Shas'el.

Shas'el are the field commanders of a battle, and direct the battle at a tactical as well as strategic level. El'Lusha of the video game Firewarrior was of this rank.

Shas'O are the highest ranking military men in the Empire. They can be considered the Grand or High Marshal of todays real-world armies. Entire Fire Warrior Cadres are theirs to command. 'Commander Farsight', renegade commander and Tau hero (depending on perspective) was of this rank.

A Shas'el can only advance to Shas'O after repeated success in the fire of battle, to establish their the strategic and tactical brilliance demanded by the Fire Caste.

After the Fire Warrior has gained the Shas'O rank, he is allowed to leave the military and retire, perhaps to the paradise worlds of the Empire.

Equipment
Tau technology is perhaps the 3rd greatest in the galaxy, behind the Eldar and Necrons. This is reflected by the equipment of their Shal'la infantrymen. Each is armed with the. Basic trooper armor includes shoulder pads, thigh guards, chest guard, helmet, and vambraces. The helmet provides infra-red capability, displays remaining ammo, and the status of the suit of armor as a whole. Fire warriors may also equip themselves with a smaller Pulse Carbine, a weapon that, despite its less-efficient practical combat range compared to the Rifle, has a faster firing rate. In addition to this the Pulse Carbine has an under slung grenade launcher, that fires photon grenades to disorientate enemies.

Fire warriors also have the ability to call indirect missile fire from projectile platforms in the form of Skyray gunships and Hammerhead MBTs, in the event of armored opposition. Pathfinders also have hardwired beams that upload battle information to Team Leaders and vehicle commanders, greatly increasing their battle accuracy.

Veteran Fire Warriors of the 'ui and 'el rank are armored in heavy battlesuits. These suits provide a significant increase of maneuverability thanks to hardwired jet packs, while also increasing the flexibility of the trooper due to fire points due to hardwired fire points. Lighter suits also have the ability to use shield that disrupts the outline of the trooper, effectively making him invisible.

Due to these suits, Fire Warriors can mount heavier weaponry, and stabilizers allow this weaponry to be fired while moving. The weaponry of a battlesuit trooper is diverse, allowing him to engage enemies of a wide spectrum, from heavily armored Adeptus Astartes, to knocking out or destroying Main Battle Tanks.

Plasma weaponry is also more developed. Scientists of the Earth Caste do not consider technology as a sacred thing, such as the Imperial technocracy of Mars. Plasma weaponry does not overheat in the Tau Empire, thus these weapons can be fired without endangering the user. However, Tau weaponry of the Empire has a slower rate of fire than Imperial equivalents.

Jet technology is used extensively in the Tau Empire and this is reflected in their vehicles. Devilish APCs, Skyrays, Hammerheads, Piranhas, Gun Drones and battlesuits use this technology as a form of propulsion, allowing teams of Fire Warriors to deploy rapidly, and allowing Hammerhead MBTs to jet across the battlefield.

Rail gun technology is also popular within the Empire. The Hammerhead MBT's main turret is a rail gun, while orbital ships and battleships are equipped with extremely powerful rail cannons, that can punch through conventional armor like toilet tissue. The Earth Caste also dabbled with man-portable rail gun technology, but field tests exhibited dangerous risks to the user, overheating the Fire Warrior helmet HUD, as the power source for these Rail Rifles was, at the time, too high to operate safely for a hand-held system. Patented rail gun technology has allowed Pathfinders the use of sniper-rifle'esque Rail Rifles.