La'Kais

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Kais is a character from the videogame, and the subsequent novel Fire Warrior. He is a member of the Fire Caste of the Tau race, and the son of the legendary Fire caste commander Shas'O T'au Shi'ur.

Late in the 41st millennium, the Ethereal Aun'El'Ko'vash was kidnapped by Space Marines under the orders of Imperial Governor Severus. The Tau response was swift. Fire Warriors descended upon the world of Dolumar IV with a vengeance, intent on getting their Ethereal back.

One of these Fire Warriors was a young Shas'la by the name of Kais. While only on his first battle, his "Trial by Fire," Kais proved instrumental not only in the initial rescue, but also in the resulting battle against the forces of Chaos, who had orchestrated the entire incident in an attempt to release the Daemon Tarkh'ax from a dimensional prison. Guided only by his commander El'Lusha, and later Captain Ardias, Commander of the 3rd Company of the Ultramarines, Kais fought through a hell of blood and fire before finally facing down Tarkh'ax himself.

Reports on the incident are varied, and often contradictory. Some claim that Kais was able to defeat the Daemon singlehandedly, while others state that he was helped by both Captain Ardias and a Crisis Suit team led by El'Lusha.

In the end, Ko'Vash was unfortunately killed, and Dolumar IV was cleansed by the Imperial Navy. Kais' fate afterwards is also unknown, and the subject of controversy. Some claimed he returned to his duties and finally become a Fire Warrior Commander, while other reports place him in a hospital on T'au, recovering from severe physical, mental, and possibly spiritual trauma.

It should be noted that the usual basis for the former claim, a small story in the Tau codex mentioning a Shas'o Vior'la Kais, is not necessarily referring to the same Kais, as that Kais is from the Vior'la sept, and Kais of Fire Warrior is, according to the novelisation, from T'au (which would make him Shas'La T'au Kais). In addition, Kais is probably a fairly common name amongst Fire Warriors and probably even amongst Tau of other castes. The campaign of Dark Crusade, an expansion pack to the real-time straegy game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, features a strike force from T'au, led by an O'Kais. It is unknown whether or not this is the same Kais.

[edit] In the game

An unofficial set of rules for Kais, along with a Scenario built for them based on a section of the Fire Warrior video game, have been released by Games Workshop (White Dwarf, 2004). These rules stated that Kais is more technologically adept than would be expected for a Fire Caste member, able to modify a Rail Rifle for a higher rate of fire.

A model of La'Kais was released in a limited edition box of the game Fire Warrior, displaying Kais handling a pulserifle.

Also a polystone statuette was produced in a limited run by Warp Artefacts.

[edit] References

• Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior video game, developed by Kuju Entertainment,
• Spurrier, Simon (2003). Fire Warrior. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-010-6. 
• (January 2004) "Fire Warrior: Descent". White Dwarf (288). ISSN 0265-8712.