Antak'ya

A former Gue'vesa colony and still with significant T'au cultural influence, Antak'ya (T'au: "Resisting") is ruled by Haalis in close alliance with Outremer.

Culture

A former Gue'vesa settlement strongly influenced by T'au culture, technology and philosophy. Antak'yans are a proud and patriotic people and wear and display the nation's iconography (black-and-white checks, and the four symbols of the Septemvius regiment; spade, heart, club, and diamond) on their clothes, flags, vehicles, buildings etc.

History

Like The Three Cities, Antak'ya was founded in the wake of the Damocles Crusade's stalemate. The withdrawal left the Septemvius VI 4th Regiment of the Astra Militarum isolated in the Damocles Marches. Almost uniquely among the Imperium Septemvians were tolerant of xenos, trading with them and having an ancestral memory of alliance with Aeldari during the Horus Heresy. The Adepts of Terra were aware of this proclivity and had always assigned a large proportion of Commissars drawn from more-devout cultures to Septemvian regiments. Over the millennia the Officio Prefectus had taken advantage of this and used Septemvian armies as a training ground, assigning squads of Cadet-Commissars to them.
When Water-caste diplomats approached the Septemvius 4th urging them to accept the Tau'va and and join the T'au Empire both officers and rank-and-file overwhelmingly agreed but the Commissars were vehemently opposed. The Septemvians began to establish a permanent settlement; their officers treated the Commissars as political rather than military opponents and invited them to sit in the settlement's parliament and debate the future of the colony. The Commissars instead took advantage of the freedoms they were allowed, engaging in sedition and sabotage. Even in the face of terrorism the Septemvians preferred negotiation over violence, resorting to courts martial as a last resort and merely imprisoning when every appeal was exhausted.
Psycho-physiologically unified by the Ethereals into following the Greater Good, the T'au could not understand such differences of opinion, let alone allowing them to escalate to violence and treason. Unable to separate the rebellious elements from the larger group loyal to the Empire, the Water-caste diplomats warned the Septemvians, saying "You are Antak'ya," using a word in the T'au lexicon meaning to oppose the Greater Good (lit. "Resisting"). The Septemvians, ignorant of T'au language and customs, thought the diplomats were welcoming them to the Empire and giving their settlement a name. The misunderstanding has never been corrected.
It is possible the situation would have degenerated to the point where the colony so damaged by terrorism it was no longer viable, or the situation would have got so serious the Water-caste would have called in Fire warriors to pacify the seditious elements. However, a Cadet-Commissar - a striking young woman possessed of incredible charisma and an alluring beauty not lessened by her natural alopecia - came to realize the truth of the Tau'va and conspired with somewhat-radical elements of the Septemvians, betraying the Commissariat. Using both the training she had received in the Officio Prefectus and her own natural talents she lead a prosecution of the Commissars, shaping the opinion of the Septemvians and convincing juries to convict and judges to sentence to death. No Commissar was spared.
In the wake of the purge, the colonel of the regiment was appointed co-Administrator and Antak'ya with the Cadet-Commissar by the T'au.

Military

Units of mechanized unaugmented human infantry equipped in a similar manner to the Gue'vesa auxiliaries of the T'au Empire. Haalis fights using an advanced battlesuit and she is accompanied by the Hetai'reine, members of Les Chevaliers d'Outremer assigned to protect (and influence) her by Melisende. A larger war-machine comparable to an Imperial Knight and a fusion of T'au and Human technology known simply as The White Knight.

Religion

The official state religion is that of the ruling Princess Haalis - namely the Ghibbeline sub-cult of the Imperial Creed. The baseline Imperial Creed is tolerated, although the most-frequently practiced faith is the bowdlerized Gue'vesa variant with the most extreme xenophobic and humanocentric doctrines excised.

Type

Geopolitical, Principality

Predecessor Organization

• Gue'vesa Settlements

Leader

Haalis

Head of State

Haalis

Official State Religion

Ghibbeline Cult

Official Languages

• Gothic
• Gotthikós
• High Gothic

Related Ranks & Titles

• As'sos
• D'eka
• Vas'iliss'a

Neighboring Nations

• Gue'vesa Settlements
• Imperial Remnant
• Outremer
• The Three Cities

Organization Vehicles

• The White Knight

Notable Members

• Haalis

Historical and Designers' Notes

Antak'ya is named after the Turkish name for the city of Antioch, the principality where the historical Haalis ruled. The reference to the Septemvius VI 4th Regiment is to my earliest piece of 40K fanon; the invented Imperial Guard regiment for my epic army. The imagery of that army was Chess-related, with chequerboard designs and Chessmen-shaped icons. This, together with the suit pips from a deck of cards also used in Antak'yan iconography, fits neatly with the "Alice" imagery used for Haalis and indeed much of Antak'ya.