what's a way to just be competent?

Ourghhhhhhhh…

Ysayle for the Berlin #FanfestWOLExchange! She'll be one of the random photocards you can get in each pack of the Giraffe Collection, alongside a bunch of other Elezen characters 💙

It's been a while since I did a warhammer women post about a 40k character. So let's change that!

Shas'O Vior'la Shas'len'ra M'yen Sha'serra

Or Commander Shadowsun. The supreme commander of the T'au Empire.

As you can see from her art, Sha'serra is not human, but a member of the Tau species. Part of the Tau's culture is that they have an extremely strict caste system. She herself was born into the Fire Caste, which meant she was bred to be one of the strongest and most aggressive type of Tau.

And she was indoctrinated into a warfare from the moment she could comprehend her first word. As a member of the fire caste, she has no chance of ever doing anything with her life other than fight for the Tau empire. As a commander, she has no choice but to lead other Tau into the most extreme battles of their species' brief existence.

Shadowsun was taught by some of the most famous examples of Tau military leadership in history. Commander Puretide and Commander Farsight laid the foundations for Shadowsun's later success, and gave her countless tools to be one of the most shining examples of Fire Caste excellence in Tau history. Needless to say, when Commander Farsight went rogue, she took his betrayal VERY hard. It was even worse for her because she took his exact place in the military command structure.

She got her nickname by using an eclipse to shroud her troops' movements, and obliterated a massive ork horde in a violent ambush.

Shadowsun has had some of the most unlikely and miraculous victories out of any commander in Tau history. She has beaten Tyranid fleets without losing a single Tau ship. And has been one of the primary driving forces of Tau expansion into territory once held by the Imperium.

Although her career isn't entirely full of successes. A great deal of her victories were because she rarely fought against the forces of the Tyranids or Imperium at their full strength. The Imperium is too distracted to put their full effort into fighting the Tau, not when the galaxy is split in half. Otherwise, their upstart empire would likely have been crushed centuries ago. She knows this, because some of her worst moments have come at the hands of relatively small human forces that showed how deep human violence and hatred runs.

Shadowsun isn't without weaknesses. She can be vulnerable to her own pride and ego at times. And can be thrown into a rage when battles turn against the Tau's favor.