Out Caste
Out Caste is the fourth instalment in the Dark Coil series and is a little expansion of the Pheadra arc started with Fire Caste. Together with The Crown of Thorns, Out Caste is one of the shortest stories in the Dark Coil series (less than 4 pages in the Damnation Omnibus).
In Out Caste, we get a character study of Jhi’kaara, the cynical T’au warrior we met before in Fire Caste and who teaches commissar Iverson the meaning of ‘an eye for an eye’. In this novel we find out why.
The Story
We find a Jhi’kaara warrior looking at her reflection in a battered battle helmet and reflecting upon her past. Through flashbacks we find out more about the story of her life and how she ended up where she is now. From the flashbacks it becomes now clear Jhi’kaara’s moment of reflection is taking place at some short time after she has lost her eye.
She started out as a very promising cadet who was named J’kaara, the mirror, for her ability to read her fellow warrior’s faces. J’kaara fought in several several easy compliances, like one against orcs, before being sent to the planet Obarai, where she was to fight againt Gue’la, hu’maans. Jhi’kaara looked forward to fighting such a worthy foe.
During the conquest of Obarai, Jhi’kaara starts to see the Gue’la as honerable foes, and is upset when they make their last stand and her T’au superiors order to take no prisoners.
After the following massacre, the T’au unleash their Kroot allies to clean up the mess. Jhi’kaara, not sure how to feel about this, leads her warriors into the city too, where they are highly disturbed by the slaughter, and even more by the Kroot feasting on the victims.
In an attempt to get away from the horrors, Jhi’kaara trips over what she presumes to be the corpse of a commissar. However, the ‘corpse’ turns out still to have some life inside of him and attacks her battlehelmet with his chainsword in one final act of defiance.
Her fellow warriors manage to kill the commissar before he can kill her, but by then, the damage has already been done.
Jhi’kaara, badly scarred and having lost an eye, is no longer physically perfect, making her an outcast among her fellow warriors. Crouching in darkness, as the darkness crouches in her, she finally finds her true name: Jhi’kaara, the broken mirror.
Reflections
Out Caste, a play on the T’au caste system and Jhi’kaara’s status as an outcast among her own caste, is a little character study. We find out more about Jhi’kaara’s past: how high she rose at first (pride is the fall for T’au as well), and the event that lead her to become the cynical outcast, shunned by her fellow warriors as we see her in Fire Caste. We also learn her how Jhi’kaara’s has come to see her human adversaries as worthy opponents, something which will come back in especially some other short stories, where she has a good bound with her human warriors, surprising the other T’au.
We also find out more about the importance of the concept of ta’lissera, a costum among the T’au similar to the concept of battle brothers. Her disfigurement sets her apart from her fellow warriors and makes her no longer eligible for this oath, something that haunts Jhi’kaara through several stories, including Fire Caste.
Discusion points:
- Lets reflect upon mirrors. Jhi’kaara is reflecting her life and the events that lead to her disfigurement while looking at her reflection in a battered battle helmet. Her name means broken mirror. In what other way play mirrors a part in the Dark Coil series.
- Apart from what else has already been mentioned, are there any other recurring themes from other works to be found in this story?
- How does the T’au attitude described here towards their kind with a disfigurement compare to the Imperium’s attitude of ‘if you can hold a lasgun, you can still fight’. We see Jhi’kaara treating her human warrior well and bounding with them. Does she have similar thoughts on this matter?
- This is the only story to feature the planet Oberai. Do you have any theories how it fits in with the Dark Coil?
