A modest hero of many battles, Aun'shi longs for peace but is bound by duty to his comrades to wage war. Lionised by the Fire Caste, he is seen as a good luck charm by those who have served with him.

At the time of this famous battle, Aun'shi was already nearing 40 years of age — old for a Tau — and was looking forward to spending his last years on the paradise Sept world of Au'taal. A much respected life was behind him marked by many long years spent helping to expand the Empire across space by providing guidance for the Tau in his care. Hailing from the hot-blooded Sept of Vior'la, Aun'shi had perhaps a better understanding of the Fire Caste and their way of war than other Ethereals. It is said that on occasion he even went as far as to join them in their battle rituals, all the while honing his skills with the Honour Blade to a level where even the Shas'vre could not pierce his defences. His skill with a blade had reached the level where spirit, weapon, and body had achieved complete harmony.

In what was supposed to be his last assignment, Aun'shi led a Tau colony force to a world he named Kel'tyr, the newest world in the expanding Tau Empire. Infested with feral Orks, initial progress in claiming the world was slow, but under Aun'shi's guidance, Fire Warrior Teams were soon able to push the Orks back from the main areas of Tau settlements. Within 4 years, the world was flourishing, and the Fio were building many fine towns across the main continental mass. Fio'vash was one such town, a mining outpost in the low foothills of a mineral-rich mountain range some 400 miles to the east of the capital. While on an inspection tour of the outlying towns, Aun'shi and his bodyguard became trapped in Fio'vash when a horde of feral Orks surrounded the town and launched a surprise attack to capture the mine workings.

The existing garrison of Fio'vash was augmented by Aun'shi's Fire Warrior bodyguard, and together they cut down the Orks in their hundreds. Early in the fighting, the Shas'vre of the Fire Warriors was beheaded by an enormous Ork Nob. The loss of this heroic warrior sent a surge of panic through the ranks of the Tau warriors, and it seemed as though their defence would crumble. Aun'shi leapt in front of the Nob and cut him in two with one blow from his Honour Blade, planting the haft of his weapon between the shorn halves of the corpse. Heartened by the Ethereal's brave defiance, the Fire Warriors' line steadied, and they threw the Orks back. Again and again, the Orks attacked Fio'vash, and each time Aun'shi led the defenders in battle, fighting alongside his warriors and spurring them to unheard of feats of valour. He dispatched Stealth-armoured warriors and a member of the Kor to take word to the capital, as he knew that facing so many Orks meant that it was only a matter of time before they were overrun.

The battle raged on, the Tau defenders silhouetted by the flames of burning buildings. The Fire Warriors were fighting at the limits of their courage and endurance, held together by the indomitable will of Aun'shi. Every time their line bent back under the Ork assault, Aun'shi was there, his flashing Honour Blade a shimmering blur of silver steel as he cut down Orks by the dozen. Aun'shi moved like quicksilver, dodging killing blows, twisting and weaving through the air in a graceful ballet of death. Wherever he struck, Orks died, and soon none would go near him, so fearful were they of this warrior who could not be killed. Eventually, the Tau were forced to pull back to an inner perimeter of defensive walls that the Fio had constructed, and there they prepared for the next assault. Aun'shi stood in the ranks with the surviving Fire Warriors, hoping that the Kor had managed to carry word of their situation to the capital.

The greenskins attacked again and, though the Fire Warriors slew scores of Orks with every volley, they simply could not kill enough to prevent them from reaching the walls. All through the burning heat of the day, Orks charged the defensive walls, the mound of dead before them growing every second as the Fire Warriors killed with grim efficiency. The walls were beginning to give in places, and Orks poured through these gaps whenever they appeared, swamping Tau battlesuits and dragging them to the ground. Each time the Orks formed a wedge within a breach, Aun'shi led a counterattack to hurl them from the compound. As dusk approached, less than 50 Fire Warriors remained alive, and both forces sensed that the end was near. As the Orks massed for the final attack, Aun'shi ordered a retreat into the barricaded shrine at the town's centre, knowing that there were too few of them to hold the full length of the wall. The Fire Warriors readied their last clips of ammunition while the workers of the Fio caste took up their picks and shovels, ready to fight in hand-to-hand combat.

With a roar of pure hatred, the Orks swarmed over the wall and into the compound, burning and destroying everything in their path. Fire Warriors shot from prepared loopholes to thin the first wave of Orks, but the Tau were unable to prevent it from reaching the building. Orks set about the door to the shrine with giant axes, climbing the walls to smash through the roof and screaming their bestial war cries. The first Orks to enter the shrine were killed swiftly, but there were always more pushing their way inside. Aun'shi fought at the shrine doors when they were finally ripped from the frame. Together with the last of his Fire Warriors, Aun'shi stood ready to fight, his Honour Blade cleaving the air before him in long, sweeping slashes. If they were to die, then they would die together.

Suddenly, the Orks were thrown into silhouette as a series of rippling detonations exploded behind them. Sweeping through the flames came the bulky forms of dozens of Devilfish Troop Carriers, guns chattering with deadly firepower as team after team of Fire Warriors poured from their interiors. Alerted by the Kor, the full wrath of the Tau now fell upon the Ork rear flank. Lumbering Broadside Battlesuits sprayed the Orks with lethal blasts, cutting them down in droves as Hammerhead tanks blasted huge holes in the Ork mobs. Within the hour, the Orks were either dead or fleeing, and the leader of the recently arrived Fire Warrior cadres found Aun'shi still standing at the shrine doors, his Honour Blade slick with Ork blood, a handful of his bodyguard left alive. Despite the terrible casualties, the defence of Fio'vash was hailed as a great victory: the Ethereal shrine still stood, and the mine workings were still in Tau hands. The survivors of the siege hailed Aun'shi as a hero, the Fire Warriors pledging to serve him for the rest of their lives.

News of the victory soon reached the Ethereals on T'au, and — rather than allow Aun'shi to spend his remaining years on Au'taal — it was decreed that he lead fresh expeditions to expand the Tau Empire. There would be no peaceful retirement for Aun'shi.

You can use Aun'shi in your Tau army as a Tau Ethereal. Of course, you are, as always, free to make up your own rules for Aun'shi in your friendly games.