Warphawks - Harpy Trooper

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Xanthia had been discovered by the Imperium around M36 -  a harsh, vulcanic and instable planet, though rich in minerals and breathable air thanks to it's murky, shallow, algae-covered seas.

It was no surprise to the early Imperial explorers, that Xanthia harbored human life – remnants of the Age of Strife, primitive and feudalistic people, that for eons had lived in such conditions, oblivious to their heritage or history. Xanthia had been put under Imperial rule, and for uncoming millenia, crawled out of it's misery, atop the shoulders of the Mars' Adeptus Mechanicus, who had reached out to the planet in an establishment of a Forgeworld.

And a Forgeworld it became. It's biggest city, Rukh, sprawled atop of the biggest massive in the north of the planet's single continent, perched atop a titanic lava lake – a complex of manufactoriums and factories, daily pushing foreward armaments and goods for the Imperium, and a tithe to be collected. The Xanthians made excellent forgemasters, it seemed that machinery and technology was in their blood.

Little was known, that Xanthia's biggest secret, one so heavily guarded that even millenia under the Emperor's gaze and the scrutiny of Mars priesthood hadn't uncovered it, lay beneath Rukh. A secret that become Rukh, passed down countless of generations of wise men and sages.

The Colony ship, one, where their ancestors crashed upon the rocks of the flaming world.

Imperial rule bolstered the degraded by centuries of isolation Xanthians, and once their world became truly civilized, those that had access to the sacred knowledge of Xanthian origin, had begun to explore the buried ship. Began building the City-forge around it – and inside it. Began to revive the machine that had once brought them here.

At first, it was a matter of concern for the instability of the planets environment. Xanthian leadership knew that they lived atop a fuming barrel of blackpowder, and that the planet could loose integrity any moment. The revival of the colony ship and the fusion of it with the city had been something of a self-defense move, yet still never disclosed – Xanthians had aquainted themselves with techno-heresy at that point.

But when the Xanthian Imperial Guard rebelled and went renegade, it was a whole different matter. The entirety of the planet's population boarded on what has become to be known as the Forgebarge – an ancient terran Colony-ship, which dwarfed even the biggest Imperial battleships. The Forgebarge took on itself not only the Xanthian people, but all their production means and even mined resources.

Now, the Xanthians are a space-dwelling people, tailed by Imperials and running away from an Exterminatus. They emerge from the warp to wage battle against xeno and loyalist, and to mine new resources. Some say it's for the better – now Xanthian renegades can exercise the form of government and leadership they want, create a society they want, and conduct research that was prohibited to them under the Imperium and pay nothing of the Emperor's feud.

It's unknown if the former is for the best – but the latter is true.

Xanthians managed to awake the ancient humans in themselves. They, due to their small numbers, managed to develop armaments not seen anywhere in the Imperium, research xeno technology and give themselves an edge with that move. Xanthian engineers had begun to understand the fundamental principles behind physics, rather than rely on STCs, and started building and creating technology from scratch, at times.

This resulted in an army based on efficient tactics and equipment, and where it cannot be covered, they seek to understand and use the warp and the daemon, deeming it as much of a part of the universe as anything else.

Unlike other, more fanatic renegade factions, the Xanthians don't seek to fully destroy their loyalist enemies – they seek to absorb them. Parading as loyal, Emperor-fearing soldiers, they emerge on battlefields where the Guard is battling the xeno, and reap the fruits of the strife. They take xeno technology as trophies, and aid the loyalists. Once the fooled Imperials, with the substantial help of the Warphawks, win the battle, they face the former allies who beckon them to join their cause and throw the shackles of the Emperor's slavery off, or perish. Though technically Chaos-Undivided, the Warphawks lean to Khorne as an idol of effective, tactical and honorable combat and martial skill.

The Warphawks believe, that in most cases, their superior battle prowess is enough of a persuasion to stop bending over for the Emperor. There's a saying among the Xanthians: "If the Imperium is so good, why do we win? If the Emperor is so good, why do his subjects fail?"  Their worship of Chaos forces is subdued and rationalized, so when the Warphawks launch in battle, their only battle-cry is: "THE CHOICE IS YOURS!"

Xanthians have slight genetic differences from homogenized Imperial sub-strains of humans. Their eyes have a vividly yellow sclera, something that is attributed as an adaptation to the spectre of the Xanthian sun. It also resulted in the fact that Xanthians never have blue, green or brown eyes – just light yellow or grey.

They are lighter in build, due to lower gravity, and their lungs are severely malformed as an adaptation to highly soot-concentrated atmosphere. They are also more resilient to heat than an average Imperial denizen.

The depicted above armor is the standard battle armor system of a Xanthian drop-trooper, the "Harpy" Like Elysians, Warphawks specialize in lightning-fast warfare with a focus on aerial delivery, combat and support. Unlike Elysians, though, they utilize compact fuel-cell reactors to power their jump-packs, instead of grav-chutes.

The fuel-cell also owes to the fact that the "Harpy" is a "semi-powered" armor, a step in the direction of developing power-armor that doesn't require feats of strength or genetic modification of the user. The underarmor is a synthetic muscle-system that enhances the movements of the soldier inside, but doesn't fully convert his movements in tripled force like the Space Marine systems do.

The "Harpy" armor, when compared to Cadian Kasrkin stormtrooper armor, which is analogous to it, is more lightweight for a higher degree of user protections, has a greater amount of dexterity points, and is saturated with info-systems. It also features forearm vibro-blades that can be switched out.

Pictured above are helmet variants. The underhelm face-plates don't just offer protection – they are a modular endo, over which various gas and toxic-filters can be installed. One variant is a sniper/scout variant, the other – spec ops/engine specialist.

The "Harpy" had been proven to be a success – a work of Xanthian ingenuity that combines elements of Tau and Eldar know-how, it managed to be effective against most Imperial handheld anti-personnel projectile weapons, and even stood a bit against power-weapons, while allowing the soldier versatility and comfort of use.

---LORE---

Aand done with the first armor design. So fucking happy with it.

"Possibly, the best original Imperial Guard visualization out there in the fandom" - (c) Practically everyone, hehehe)

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