J'affa Sept

J'affa Sept Symbol

J'affa Sept Fire Warrior Shas'ui

**J'affa** is a breakaway T'au Sept within the Thet'a Enclave, which is not part of the greater T'au Empire, founded during the time of the Fourth Sphere Expansion. Isolated from the main forces of the Fourth Sphere during the initial deployment, the Enclave was forced to battle for survival against the threat of Imperial and Xenos forces, beset on all sides by hostile elements. After an internal rebellion lead to the assassination of their Ethereal Caste, the remainder of the Enclave's population decided to carry on alone, carving out a small empire of their own. The J'affa Sept was established within this domain.

## History

During the disastrous Fourth Sphere expansion, which saw the gathered T'au forces swept away to another part of the galaxy, a group of vessels found themselves separated from the main fleet and scattered across the vast void of space. Most of these unfortunate stragglers were hunted down and destroyed by Imperial forces or marauding xenos, but a few vessels stumbled across an undiscovered habitable system in void space. Cut off from the empire and unable to return, they decided to stay put and establish colonies in this system. This force was severely weakened, with most of their heavy military equipment destroyed, but they possessed several colony ships and factory vessels, so they were able to start rebuilding slowly.

The colonies were in an extremely precarious position at first, even a small Imperial battlegroup would have been sufficient to destroy them. Thus the T'au began to put out feelers, to seek out allies to strengthen their position. Their water caste envoys were able to charm some nearby human worlds and set up trade routes, supplying the fledgling Sept with materials and goods, as well as a steady stream of Gue'la workers seeking a new life.

**Assassination & Turmoil**

A short while later, during a gathering of the Ethereals to debate matters of state, a bomb detonated, wiping out the Sept's leadership in a single hammer blow. It has never been established who set the bomb, be it internal dissidents, human infiltration or a third party, but the effect was dramatic. After recovering from the shock of the event, the senior fire caste leader present, Commander Nightfall, assumed the mantle of leadership and made a series of announcements. The Sept would cease all attempts to re-establish contact with the T'au Empire and declare allegiance to the infamous breakaway empire of the Farsight Enclaves.

**Growing Strength**

The Sept swiftly grew in size and strength, eventually incorporating the nearby human worlds officially. They exploited the growing turmoil of the Imperium of Man to quietly carve out a small area of space for themselves. The Sept's Firewarriors developed their covert tactics further, creating a variety of custom battlesuits and vehicles to facilitate this. They formed small combat groups which infiltrated and sabotaged Imperial facilities, aided by loyal Gue'vesa, allowing for relatively painless victories against the depleted forces.

## Culture

The T'au of this Sept are a pragmatic and reserved group, rarely talking for longer than necessary. The logistical and tactical situation they have found themselves in has fostered a culture of recycling and repurposing technology, and innovation. Modified Battlesuits can be seen lifting cargo in the docks, aging XV-15 stealthsuits grace the battlefield once more, rebuilt into combat exo-armour. The Sept is effectively lead by a benevolent dictatorship. Commander Nightfall is the head of state, with a small council to represent the castes under him. It is claimed that he intends to establish a democratic government once the time of crisis has passed, though it should be noted that no criteria for this are established, and no official record for this exists. In the meantime, his subjects seem quite content under his rule, accepting the rationing and strictly controlled lives as a price they pay for their continuing security and the good of the Sept.

## Sept Worlds

* **J'affa** - Primary Sept world.
* **Chul'an** - This world is home to the foundries that supply the Fire Caste.
* **Mon'ac** - This world has orbital shipyards to supply the Air Caste
* **Tah'ni** - This world is home to the Sept's Gue'vesa

## J'affa Castes

* **Fire Caste-**
* **Air Caste-**
* **Earth Caste-**
* **Water Caste-**

## Tactical Doctrine

Due to their limited forces, the Sept has modified their tactics to suit a more covert method of warfare. A greater emphasis is placed on small unit tactics, infiltration, sabotage and guerilla warfare. They have also developed a number of new vehicles and battlesuits to suit this doctrine, as well as repurposing older technology to bring it new life.
When engaging a foe, the Fire Caste will perform extensive sabotage, raids, smash and grab assaults and diversionary assaults to weaken their foe, following them up a swift and decisive all-out attack to overwhelm and crush the enemy.

### Sept Forces

* **Kinot'erra** - Among the survivors of the fleet that founded the J'affa Sept was a small contingent of Kinot'erra, a secretive unit of Tau special forces commandos that specialise in infiltration, raids and other covert operations.

* **Gue'vesa** - As a small and vulnerable Sept, the J'affa have decided to lean more heavily on their allies, particularly humans, in order to bolster their defences. The Gue'vesa are therefore entrusted with extensive access to T'au arms and armour and given a high degree of autonomy. As such they employ pulse weaponry and wear full carapace armour as well as operate enhanced versions of Imperial vehicles. A Tau Shas'ui is assigned to each squad of Gue'vesa'la to lead them and ensure that they adhere to Tau doctrine in battle.

## Appearance

Warriors of the J'affa Sept wear sand coloured armour with khaki secondary colouring and brown under suits. Shas'ui are distinguished with blue markings on their helmets. The majority of the warriors of the Sept wear customised and patched armour, in part a reflection of their precarious position and also due to the freedom given to them by their leadership to break rules on conformity. The extensive co-operation with their gue'vesa has lead to them adopting some practices and equipment from these allies. The carrying of combat blades for example is common, for while these T'au remain unwilling to seek melee, they nonetheless see it as a reality of warfare they should be prepared for.

## Notable Members

* **Shas'o J'affa Kais Shol'vah (Commander Nightfall)** - A stoic and taciturn commander who rarely speaks more words than necessary, Commander Nightfall was the senior combat leader remaining when the scattered elements that would become the Sept re-emerged into real space.