Torchstar
"Sub-Commander Torchstar is a gift from the Tau’va we will not refuse."
 Sub-Commander Torchstar[1b] | |
|---|---|
| Homeworld | Vior'la or Dal'yth[Conflicting sources] |
| Active Period | fl. Late M41 |
| Species | Tau |
| Gender | Female |
| Relatives | |
| Occupation(s) | Member of The Eight |
| Affiliation(s) |
|
Torchstar is a T'au Sub-Commander and skilled Battlesuit pilot. A member of The Eight, Commander Farsight's elite honour guard and war council, Torchstar is the youngest member of the group and a defector from the T'au Empire.
Appearance and Personality
Torchstar is noted to have fire tattoos across her body[1a] and often wears her pilot suit without sleeves to show off the tattoos. She is shorter and more thickset than most members of the Fire Caste.[2i] Torchstar wears her auburn hair in a long braid with three metal rings to symbolise her greatest victories.[2d]
Torchstar will often make light of tense situations, engaging in gallow humour[2i] and jokes at her teammate's expense. Despite this she cares deeply for them and will take on whatever risk to protect them.[2j] Despite her immense bravery on the battlefield, Torchstar displays traits of claustrophobia.[2l]
She has a youthful spirit, and though she respects her elders, in particular her idol Farsight, she will be dismissive of sound advice from them if she has already made up her mind. Torchstar holds more contempt for humans than others in the Enclaves.[2k]
Torchstar is trained in pugilism.[2j]
Wargear
Torchstar goes into battle in a modified XV8 Crisis Battlesuit equipped with two Flamers, two Marker Drones, Target Lock, Multi-Spectrum Sensor Suite, and Neuroweb Systems Jammer.[1b] The flamers on her battlesuit have been modified to be lightweight and, with the assistance of a strap, she is able to wield one outside of her battlesuit.[2i]
Biography
Before defecting to the Farsight Enclaves she lived in Gel'bryn City on Dal'yth[2c] with her bond-mates Fio'Rabal and Por'vre Rivertell.[2b] On Dal'yth she was a member of the Company of Inner Light; a secret society dedicated to the True Tau'va and Commander Farsight.[2e] She excelled in her fire caste duties, and took the bare minimum time to acheive el' rank, despite the disaprroval of her tutors.[2k]
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The following paragraphs contain spoilers for: | Farsight: Blade of Truth (Novel) |
Torchstar brought evidence to the Company of Inner Light that the Ethereals knew of a Tyranid fleet approaching the Enclaves, and that they intended to not warn Farsight of it. However the Company of Inner Light deemed it a lost cause to try and warn the Enclaves themselves. Torchstar burst out at the other members of the society in rage and then endeavoured to defect to the Farsight Enclaves on her own.[2e]
Alongside Fio'Rabal and Por'vre Rivertell, Torchstar hatched a plan to steal the ship Vision of Aun'Shi from its docks. Whilst attempting to make it to the ship the three were apphrehended by guards. Shas'O Da'kai intervened in their arrest, and used a secret signal to indicate to Torchstar that she was a member of the Company of Inner Light. However the Shas'O's intervention only ensured that she was arrested as well. Torchstar was taken to a Vash'ala, a chamber which cycled propaganda videos. The chamber caused Torchstar to have a panic attack and she clawed at its smooth surface to find a way out, causing her fingers to bleed.[2f] Eventually she was let out of the chamber by the guards. Torchstar suspected this was on the order of an Ethereal. She then departed for the Farsight Enclaves with her bond-mates.[2g] Torchstar and her bond-mates had stashed a large number of battlesuits, including XV104 Riptides, to bring to the Enclaves.[2o]
Upon arrival in the Enclaves, Torchstar would save Farsight's life. She had arrived too late to warn the Commander of the Tyranids, but joined battle against them.[2h] Farsight at first suspected that Torchstar was the spearhead of an Ethereal-led force, due to the fact that her battlesuit was still in the colours of Dal'yth. She then used an onboard system to change the colour of her suit from green to the deep red to show her new loyalty. Farsight climbed on to her XV-8 Crisis Battlesuit and Torchstar took him from the battle, where he had been mortally wounded, to safety aboard the Vision of Aun'shi. Farsight's injuries were too grave for treatment on board however, and so, along with Commander Sha'vastos, Farsight and Torchstar journeyed to find O'Vesa.[2i]
The three found O'Vesa, along with Vykola Herat, in a Fio Medusa Bay on the Shas'ar'tol Metadisc. Here she is scolded by Farsight for her views towards Gue'vesa. After Farsight is hastily healed[2k] the group, of now five, head into a subterranean tunnel system to escape the Tyranids. It is here Farsight learns of her fear of enclosed spaces.[2l] Torchstar and Farsight emerged from the tunnel system just in time to witness the death of Cloudstrider.[2m] Fighting through a swarm of tyranids, the pair made it to the Vision of Aun'shi. Torchstar caught Farsight as he had to leap to make it aboard the ship.[2n]
With Farsight upon the ship Torchstar's bond-mate, Por'vre Rivertell, revealed he had been a traitor, working for the Ethereals all along. The Vision was captured by t'au from sept space. Torchstar lost contact with Farsight right before he was captured.[2o]
Conflicting sources
Torchstar is given two different sept backgrounds:
- The 2013 Farsight Enclaves Codex states she is from Vior'la.[1b]
- The 2025 novel Farsight: Blade of Truth (Novel) states she is from Dal'yth.[2a][2c]
Sources
- 1: Farsight Enclaves - A Codex: Tau Empire Supplement
- 2: Farsight: Blade of Truth (Novel) (Hard Cover)
- 2a: Dramatis Personae, pg. 8
- 2b: Chapter Two: Embers, pgs. 31-32
- 2c: Chapter Two: Embers, pg. 35
- 2d: Chapter Two: Embers, pg. 36
- 2e: Chapter Two: Embers, pgs. 38-40
- 2f: Chapter Four: Realignment, pgs. 51-59
- 2g: Chapter Eight: Reprieve, pgs. 91-94
- 2h: Chapter Fourteen: Fire and Pain, pg. 146
- 2i: Chapter Fourteen: Fire and Pain, pgs. 147-152
- 2j: Chapter Fifteen: Into Darkness, pgs. 153-157
- 2k: Chapter Seventeen: Threshold, pgs. 165-176
- 2l: Chapter Eighteen: The Peril Beneath, pgs. 177-181
- 2m: Chapter Twenty-One: Escape, pg. 193
- 2n: Chapter Twenty-One: Escape, pgs. 197-198
- 2o: Chapter Twenty-Three: The Shattered Mind, pgs. 205-218
