Gai'kal Sept

The  ( Gai'kal Dialect : i/ɡeɪ.xæl/, Galactic Standard Tau Lexicon : /ɡeɪ.kɑːl/) is an isolated Tau Sept straddled far from well-charted routes upon what was once the southernmost limits of the Tau Empire.

Built from the ruins of a failed military operation, and contaminated by Rust over two decades following, the sept was cut off from the greater Tau Empire in a one hundred and sixty year era known as the Great Isolation, falling victim to authoritarian ethereal rule as it faded into technological and social stagnation. Suffering from numerous civil wars throughout across the later half of the isolation and narrowly escaping the full force of a tyranid splinter fleet, the planet at last suffered at the hands of an invasion from what was once perceived as friendly forces - the Tash'var Sept - seeking to purge the world of upstart and rebellious caste factions in response to Ethereal caste distress signals heard for the first time in centuries.

Amidst the bloodied mess of ensuing war, a new Ethereal rose on the side of the workers who were but crushed on both sides, turning the tide of the war, changing the minds of the invading offworld faction, and instigating what would become known as the Four Castes revolution in a fire caste coup d'etat, shattering and rebuilding the world from the ground up as a fully democratic worker's state.

Having suffered multiple re-conversion attempts from the Greater Empire since its refounding, the modern Gai'kal exists as an anomaly. Existing partially as a fully fledged militaristically capable sept run soley by the Ethereal Caste in official documents, in practice the world is firmly within the reigns of its people, existing in a simultaneous state of chaos and control as power constantly reaffirms itself in the hands of the majority who simply cannot all at once be mentally duped by Ethereal reactionaries. With the continual failure of soft power measures, the time of freedom may only be limited before the Greater Empire sees through the carefully constructed governance in name only of its Ethereal Caste and calls a commencement of a final purge and re-establishment as a fully loyal colony of the Tau Empire.

Operation Vral'y'he
The Gai'kal system was colonised during some of the final days of the second expansion in 701.M41 by a joint operation between the Tash'var and Hwo'kye Septs in an effort to lure and destroy a splinter fleet of Hive Fleet Erebus that had entered the local region of Tau space. Initially operating as a life-rich world hung before the approaching fleet as little but bait for a cast trap, the world would soon become the theatre of a vast war of attrition at the hands of an inimical miscalculation.

Confident in its strength, Hwo'kye had devoted a wealth of Kor'vattra fleets to flank the approaching tyranid spacecraft within several fractional solar units, accompanied by a planetbound ground force of almost nine hundred thousand Fire Warriors with associated crafts and weaponry. This force was combined with a sizeable deployment of Earth caste engineers assigned in the repair of weapons, battlesuits, and vehicles, and to assemble run'al and cadre fortifications.

Having been deployed far later than anticipated due to delayed interstellar transit, the teams of Nicassar psykers employed by the Tau forces to detect the size and direction of the splinter fleet found it incredibly difficult to make such predictions. By the time psychic beacons of a strong enough volume were constructed with what limited aid deployed Earth caste engineers could provide, the psychic shadow of Erebus had descended upon the world. A backdrop of terror in the face of such irrefutable and narrowly favourable statistics struck the coalition command, halted only from rampant spread throughout the entire force by rigid information containment in all mediums, and partially through the cooling words, seemingly vehement in their objectivity and logic to leading factions, of leading Ethereal caste clerics to the very commanders themselves.

When the fleet finally hit in full force, the twin-sept army was prepared for a fight unto death, as a rigid but knowingly temporary shield guarding the Tau worlds that lay beyond it. The battle consumed the world in a swarm of black amidst flecks of ice blue and yellow, a sight akin to an spectral fire committing vampirism upon the world's biomass. Within two months of ceaseless warfare, a tide of bloodshed, and constant ramshackle regroupings, re-diversion of supply lines and reassertion of strategic high grounds in defiance of an infinite re-breaking of fortified lines, the tau force sustained 1.4 million casualties on the ground and over 3/4 of its Air Caste orbital fleet before the numbers of Tyranids managed to wither to a point where it saw it unsustainable to battle much longer for what fractional biomass remained, initiating a tactical retreat and exiting the system upon what few hive ships remained.

The Va Lhyo'au
Gai'kal was forcefully segregated off from the Tau Empire in 728.M41 after it succumbed to an aggressive outbreak of Rust, which soon spread planet-wide and succeeded in killing off three billion native Tau before containment and euthanisation of all infected hosts formerly eradicated the virus.

For one hundred and sixty three years the sept had willingly isolated itself from the rest of the Tau empire on the direction of the then lead Ethereal Aun'O D'yanoi Hwa'ran, founding an era which would come to be known as Va Lhyo'au, or the Great Isolation. Remaining in embargo long after the disease was contained and eradicated, the sept's native castes to develop a unique set of technology, tactical skills, culture, philosophy and dialect. Over the course of its isolation, a dynasty of ethereals descended from Hwa'ran ruled the planet with a controlling grasp, fear-mongering the population into submission and industrial overdrive with the artificial threat of a rust epidemic re-emerging. ...

Blue Caste

 * Geheimpolizei von die Tau Demokratischen Republik: Blauen Kaste
 * Probably gender inequality. Piecemeal forcing of female tau to procure more children through propaganda, social and legal restrictions to grow the workforce.
 * Shit this is assuming tau reproduction is anything like human reproduction
 * Subliminal caste racism to prevent them from unifying, specifically a sense of hwo'kye nationalism within water caste, who were all sent directly from Hwo'kye and had nothing to do with Operation Vral'y'he.
 * etc

A Splinter's Return
880.M41

Rebellion
884.M41. Three Castes Revolution. Improvement of economy and technology in a post-war boom occurs, however living standards and wages stagnate. The rising confidence in the population creates social hostility and a sense of entitlement, as the cracks of the system begin to show. A first revolution occurs, however the lack of solidarity between castes amongst other things cause it to fail.

Rekindling
With economy and societal development having greatly ossified past a century of isolation, by the reign of the last of the so-called Hwa'ran dynasty, Aun'O Gai'kal Kai'ba, the native population of castes saw through the gradually thinning walls of por'sral (lit. propaganda) and a poisonous and deliberately terrifying ethereal caste cult of personality.

By the dusk of 890.M41, growing tremors anti-state hostility had frothed and bubbled to the point where the united Tau workers, diplomats, pilots and soldiers had given up all hope on reunification with the empire and potential stepping-down of the Hwa'ran elite. An initial strike of thousands of earth caste manufacturers soon spread across entire cities and continents of the planet, motivating their entire caste to leave their factories as well as the air caste to dock and abandon their crafts, the water caste to cease bureaucratic communication, and lastly the fire caste itself, once intended to police the workers back into submission, to rise up and threaten the ruling ethereal caste with resignation or death. What was once sparks of hostility effectively became a fire caste coup d'etat backed by the voice of a billion united Tau citizens, disposing a dynasty of terror with a fully democratic government, and at last reunifying the Sept with the greater Tau Empire.

Climate and Topography
The core world of the Gai'kal system, Gai'kal, is located in a single-star system, completing an elliptical orbit every 1.4 Tau'cyr, which equates to approximately 1.1 Terran Years. Due to its 13.7˚ axial tilt, the planet experiences some moderate seasonal change between temperate summers and cold winters. Gai'kal is a small world with gravity heaver than T'au and more similar to Vior'la, resulting in the native Tau to develop slightly shorter, stronger builds and thicker bone densities. These evolutionary traits are largely absent in the Air Caste inhabitants of Gai'kal's orbital cities.

Geographically, the world varies widely between vast shallow oceans, many of which are a foot deep, forested regions and spinifex strewn savannahs, with swamp regions occurring commonly around the equator. The soil of the world is rich in organic matter and mineral densities comprised commonly of magnesium, nickel, carbon in the form of graphite, oxygen and silicon in the form of quartz deposits, and vast amounts of iron which give the world's soil a characteristic oxidised warm rusted red/brown colour. Approximately 72 percent of the world is covered by water, with 57% of this consisting of oceans deeper than several hundred metres. The odd topographical structure and thickness of the planet's crust allows many regions of the ocean to reach up to 8-11km deep, with shallow foot-deep regions disappearing off into vast undersea cliffs. According to current Earth Caste studies, the vast majority of all marine life appears to have been purged by aquatic tyranid rippers and undersea capillary towers during 701.M41, with only plankton, micro-organisms and aquatic insects remaining in self-sustaining populations. Terrestrial animal populations largely dwindled after the first and second tyranid invasions, with most populations of beasts, typically four-footed herbivorous mammals, rodents, insects and arachnids, and a vast diversity of amphibious creatures, having been reintroduced from domestic Tau populations and conservation programs.

Regardless of these conservation efforts, much of the land still bears visible wounds from its brushes with tyranid forces. The entire eastern hemisphere of the planet for the most part remains a barren wasteland, with many of the shallow oceans that once covered it having been drained, and has in the past century following the invasion been replanted with vast fields of spinifex and some tree types by local Tau to prevent the accumulation of dust storms. Across this hemisphere (and in many regards regions of the western hemisphere) hundreds of thousands of bleached, corrided, capillary tower husks continually dot the landscapes, with many sections of the towers that once reached beyond the mid to upper levels of the atmosphere having partially crumbled and fallen to the ground under their own weight.

The weather of the planet on average features heavy cloud cover and rain for often over 1/2 of the year, resulting in most animal life and even the skin colour of its Tau inhabitants to develop pale grey complexions. Plant life is awash in dull, olive green colours, with most wood bearing grey or black-mottled white barks with heartwood and sapwood of reddish and orange colourations. Atmospheric composition of the planet consists of 71% nitrogen, 28% oxygen, 0.94% argon, 0.031% carbon dioxide, and approximately 1% water vapour, which is climate variable.

Toi'san School of Warfare

 * See section on language for meaning

(pronunciation: /tœɪʔçæn/) The most dominant tactic used by the sept since the launching of the Third Sphere expansion and its subsequent participation, Toi'san is a contemporary school of warfare that has roots in the deeply-steeped traditions of Gai'kal Kauyon.

The blending in of Mont'ka has proven to provide a useful antidote to the rigidity of static trap-orientated Kauyon warfare in circumstances where it proves unfeasible.

Technology
Throughout a 160-year isolation, the engineers and manufacturers of the Gai'kal earth caste progressed upon a strikingly independent path of development utterly uninfluenced by the progression of Tau interplanetary technologies post 728.M41. Progressions appeared to focus strongly on kauyon tactics with a development of hardy, resilient and efficient battlesuits, leading to lengthy research and experimentation of alternative power sources, atomic metallic engineering, energy-efficient weapons, stability, resource sustainability and advanced sensory capabilities.

XV8-10 Upsurge Battlesuit
The XV8-10 Upsurge Battlesuit, known in Tau Lexicon as the Her'ex'vre Or'es'vral, found its roots in several blueprints of thickly designed, bulky pre-XV8 battlesuit designs that existed before conventional high-mobility technology in battlesuit armour technology and mechanical limb and sensory development was made available to the public. With in-field tests showing the XV8's to operate brilliantly in conjunction with Mont'ka tactics of high-mobility and maximum firepower in contrast to its limited success in static trap-orientated Kauyon tactics, plans were funded by Earth caste administrators to see fourth the development of battlesuits that sacrificed mobility and flexibility in favour of armour, sensory capability, payload and energy efficiency. Years of tactical and structural analysis both simulated and in-field gradually phased out the need for the battlesuit to require a fully-swivelling head and functional hands, with head sinking into the reinforced frame of the battlesuit to become immobile and hands disappearing from usage altogether. In final versions, the back and shoulders of the battlesuit evolved to become comparatively hunched to support larger supplies of ammunition within the abdomen of the suit, with finished designs resembling the designs of the XV25 Stealthuit and the later XV107 R'varna.

Twin-linked weapons became standard issue for the XV8-10 Upsurge battlesuit, mirroring the XV9 Hazard close support suit that would not see development within the greater Tau Empire until the Third Sphere expansion. The suit was further fixed with ground-to-suit sensory nodes across its entire surface, with particular emphasis on the rear of the vehicle's structure, programmed to map the suit's position against the ground to gain more detailed bearings on its surroundings and furthermore providing the pilot with a simulated 360˚ view of his or her surroundings on top of the approximate 180˚ view provided by the head-mounted multi-spectrum camera relay. Initial prototypes quickly denied usage of a full deployment of cameras across the entire suit to reduce engineering and supply costs.

The nano-crystalline alloy which provided the basis structure for the armour of all battlesuits later saw heavily-funded development in the fields of Earth Caste nanotechnology and chemistry. The lattice structure of the alloy was reconfigured through synthesis attempts into a near purely face-centred cubic structure similar to that of diamond. Whilst tests showed positive results, production costs for fully-restructured armour plating were predicted to be unsustainable en masse due to the sept's isolation. Regardless of this, on commission of an Ethereal youth of the Hwa'ran dynasty around 52 production models of the XV8-10 Upsurge Battlesuit and a further 400 XV8 Crisis Battlesuits selected for testing did demonstrate some capacity for sustainable usage of thin (<10mm) surface level re-plating with of the restructured material. These commissioned suits proved fairly effective in resisting larger payloads of standard Imperial-grade ranged fire, yet procured only a 16% success ratio in resisting lascannon and melta fire. Projected results estimated an increase to an approximate >46% success ratio for fully-restructured armour, however these tests appeared noticeably extrapolated from optimistically skewed figures.

To pan out and optimise what limited resources were available, since testing, the four hundred upgraded crisis suits were since phased into standard service within the Gai'kal fire caste. Whilst knowledge of the upgrades were kept strictly away from public eyes, information still managed to be leaked on the back of a soon widespread rumour, giving birth to a cult of superstition amongst Shas'ui to bet upon their assigned battlesuit's slim - but still nevertheless existing - potential to be fielding the restructured armour plating. The culprit for the leakage was never identified.

Since reunification with the Tau Empire, the Upsurge battlesuit has generally been phased out of widespread usage within the sept, with the make officially being classed in imperial designations classifications as the XV8-10 Upsurge Battlesuit upon seeing contact with Imperial forces for the first time. The make still sees active service in siege warfare and pure-minded usage of Kauyon defensive warfare by Gai'kal commanders.

XV93 Regency Battlesuit
Building upon the success of the XV8-10, stability, armour capability and energy efficiency saw rapid developments.

XV94 Fusillade Battlesuit
With the successful development and commercialisation of antimatter technology,

Symbology
The modern Gai'kal Sept Symbol is representative of the world and the barriers that have separated it from the greater Tau Empire during the Great Isolation, and perhaps with regards to distance, continually onto this day. The planet is depicted as the a circle on the left of the symbol, whilst the three lines in the centre represent the three historical barriers: isolation, disease and ethereal oppression. The standard dress uniform of the sept's fire caste is olive green, reflecting the flora of their homeworld. The origin of the bright yellow-green sept stripe is disputed, as records indicate an original sept stripe colour of carbon blue. A dominant legend attributes it to the bright green pollen of the native Ey'dl flower, which became a symbol of ethereal resistance during the latter half of the Great Isolation.

Language
Due to the Sept's isolation the dialect of Tau Lexicon spoken by natives of Gai'kal differs somewhat significantly from standard Tau Lexicon. The dialect's roots predate the Great Isolation, however the isolation itself noticeably accelerated its development.

In conjunction with differing pronunciations for many letters and sounds, including unique spellings, there exists a distinctive slang focussed intensely on poetic elements and effects, which is in many regards a sharp contrast to the largely efficient and mathematical standard Tau language. In the most cultured and isolated of regions upon the planet, many words and pronunciations are so altered that a standard Tau water caste envoy, an off-world immigrant, or even a drone with pre-installed voice recognition software can have great difficulty understanding the language.

Amongst the wide variety of varying slang words, some notable examples include the following:

A common expression and official motto for the sept. Its literal translation is "We shall not rest today for only (our) indomitable spirit will achieve greater-of all tau worker warriors-good!". To Imperial xeno-scholars and pan-empire Water Caste scholars alike this phrase is heavily disjointed and difficult to translate, as it is heavily reliant on native Gai'kal dialect and poetic tradition in favour of standard Tau diction. In'nae is the simplest word of the expression, directly meaning "we shall not". Tu is an unclear indication of a day unconstrained by length (in contrast to the Tau Rotaa). Gai'gye is combined from the words "indomitable" and "spirit", the latter of which can also mean "life work", "livelihood" or "lifeblood". Lastly is an unusual combination of Tau'va, meaning The Greater Good, and Fio'shas, meaning Worker Warrior. In Gai'kal dialect, fio'shas is used liberally in a similar fashion of space marines using "Brother", and it intended to be all-encompassing of all the five castes. When combined with "Tau'va", the word means something similar to "the greater good of all tau worker warriors", however its odd arrangement suggests that the Greater Good and the success or "good actioned by" worker warriors as being the same entity.
 * In'nae tu Gai'gye ko Tau-Fio'shas'va

A term generally used to describe the fusion of traditional Gai'kal Kauyon tactics cultivated during the Great Isolation with contemporary Mont'ka. The word is a mutated form of Tui'san, which has a literal translation of "morphing trap" in standard Tau. In Gai'kal dialect, the usage and connotations of the noun have long overshadowed its literal meaning and interpretation.
 * Toi'san

A word used to describe a cooperative, controlled and decisive channeling of the desire to wage war and to actualise the Greater Good through offensive, aggressive means, translating in essence to "Collective, channelled, burning desire". The word can in many ways function as an emotive synonym of "strategy". In standard Tau the word is rendered as "Eui'ta'am", with the Gai'kal dialect having over time dropped the collective "ta" (i.e. meaning we, us, or in some contexts soul), and is commonly pronounced as a two-syllable word with no observance of the glottal stop (') in the middle of the word.
 * Eui'am

Translates roughly to "struggle is what defines us so". Often used for reassurance from Tau to Tau.
 * Sm'oi Ta

A common phrase used by Gai'kal fire warriors and commanders alike as an expression of determination and faith in the future. Translates roughly to "the goal I strive for is within reach/approaches", however it is presented in a timeless tense, which may imply the goal is anywhere from seconds away to a lifetime away from being completed. The phrase itself is grammatically unusual for the Tau language as the first person pronoun and action are swapped, resulting in an odd phrase which can in one way be translated as "My goal that I strive for approaches/is within reach", which evokes stronger personal connotations.
 * Tsi'ko'ua

Phonology
Tau standard dialect modelled off Tau voices in Dawn of War: Dark Crusade and Dawn of War: Soulstorm.

About
Feel free to add your own "Used to be a great place to unload blankets."

- Douchard Bagge

"To put it realistically, there's little to expect from these stagnant, backward highlanders. Their culture is regressed, their tactical abilities dated, and they fail to relinquish their painfully naïve perception of the Greater Good."

- Water Caste diplomat from the Kar'das Sept after an unnecessarily long conference with Gai'kal water caste administrators