Aun'Va

The Orator

Aun'Va was the senior Ethereal of the T'au Empire during the late M41 — the spiritual head of a species whose social cohesion depends, in measurable physiological terms, on Ethereal pheromone-and-presence influence. He was, by T'au custom, the master orator: an Ethereal whose public speeches drew the entire Empire's attention and shaped policy through the Caste structures the Ethereals direct.

He held the position through the Damocles Gulf Crusade, the Third Sphere Expansion, and the early opening engagements against the Tyranid threat.

The Death

At some point during the late M41 — the date is internally disputed by the few T'au and the few Imperial intelligence officers who know — Aun'Va died. The circumstances have not been publicly confirmed. The other Ethereals declined to announce the death.

Instead they engineered a hologram-projection of Aun'Va. His public appearances continue. His speeches continue. His policy direction continues. The Empire's social cohesion, which would have suffered a measurable trauma from his confirmed death, has not suffered.

The Greater Good speaks through me. I am still its voice.

— Aun'Va, attributed late M41 (post-death)

The Open Secret

Imperial intelligence is aware of the projection. The T'au senior leadership is aware that Imperial intelligence is aware. The fiction continues anyway because all parties involved find it convenient. The Imperium gains a known-deceptive but predictable T'au public-facing channel. The T'au gain continued social cohesion.

The junior T'au — the Fire Caste warriors, the Earth Caste engineers, most of the Air Caste — are not aware. The deception is maintained for them, not for the Imperium.

M42

Aun'Va's projection continues to make public appearances in the Era Indomitus. The other Ethereals have begun, by gradual increments, to advance the public-policy direction toward a future in which Aun'Va's eventual confirmed-death will not be a destabilising event. The transition is, by T'au planning standards, in its early phases.

When and whether the projection will be retired is unknown. The T'au are patient. The hologram, presumably, does not tire.