Anikanov Zakharik

Anikanov Zakharik, also known as the "Liberatus Dominus," the "Deliverer," the "Storm-Lord," the "Chooser of the Slain" the "Prince of Talons" and the "Shade Prince," is the Luminarch of the VIIth Legion; The Storm Raptors.
== History ==
=== Viharii'byan—A World Stolen ===
Anikanov, just like his fellow demigod brethren, found himself separated from the Emperor during his embryonic and vulnerable phase, an extraordinary event of which occurred beneath the Imperial Palace in the Emperor’s gene-laboratory, and orchestrated by unknown forces. The Luminarch's gestation chamber was emptied, and his very essence cast adrift through the limitless expanse of the Void, spanning hundreds of light-years across the vast galaxy. 
Anikanov, similar to his kin, was somehow transfused into the womb of a mortal human mother. And would come into existence within a lightless chamber deep beneath the surface of the frigid, human-occupied mining moon of Yerkirii-II. The moon stood as a desolate yet habitable outpost orbiting the hostile occupied world of Viharii'byan—a central foothold taken by the Suvorin Republic in its efforts to invade and conquer The Serebric Koraphate. 
Viharii'byan itself was a colossal gas giant, dwarfing Earth fivefold in size and orbited by seven moons, each just as cold and desolate as the world below. Once a hub of advanced technologies, industry and high society within the Koraphate—it now stood as the mark of shame upon the Koraphate’s People, wherein legions of enslaved Serebric miners now toiled within the subterranean quarries of its Frozen Moons, extracting valuable minerals for the colossal manufactoriums that now sprawled across Viharii'byan's surface, having replaced many of the world’s cities. 
The million strong ranks of these enslaved laborers would include the criminals of the Republic, their political dissidents, those who failed to meet production quotas whilst free, and those taken and enslaved through the Suvor-Serebric Wars. And whilst each Slave may have come from disparate backgrounds, they were all still subjected to the same unrelenting tyrannies of the Republic's heavily armed enforcers. This system of oppression ensured a constant, boundless source of labor for the Tyrants of Viharii'byan. And whilst hundreds of thousands toiled ceaselessly within the atmospherically sealed manufactorum cities upon Viharii'byan proper—millions of slaves had faced the perpetual threats from the hostile environments of Viharii'byan’s moons, as each was replete with turbulent lightning storms, corrosive acid rains and a constant winter. Slaves endured grueling work upon the moons, while civilians toiled in the factories. Only the elite echelons of the Republic’s elite had enjoyed a life of luxury, while millions continued their ceaseless march toward early graves.
==== Mother—Bazarova Zakharik ====
Anikanov's mortal mother, Bazarova Zakharik, was one such unfortunate slave laboring in the depths of Yerkirii-II's quarries. She hailed from a lineage tainted by her father's Anti-Suvorin political radicalism, which had led to her family's enslavement as a form of penance for his crimes even as Her father had met a grim fate at the hands of the authorities through firing squad. 
Bazarova, like countless slaves before her, was tasked with extracting precious resources from deep within the moon. Yet, it was within the dark confines of these mining tunnels that she experienced a profound vision of the Luminarch's collective presence, accompanied by glimpses of his future that resonated within her mind’s eye.
Yet before she could emerge from the subterranean passages, a sudden tunnel collapse trapped her and her mining team, with half of their number perishing beneath the fallen rubble. It was in this dire and shadowy situation that Bazarova's pregnancy rapidly advanced, culminating in the throes of childbirth within a mere 115 hours. And it would be within the dimly lit, frosty recesses of the entombed mineshaft, illuminated by the flickering glow of miners' flash-lamps, Anikanov was born—a crying, diminutive figure composed of ethereal energies, and swiftly swathed in the tattered and soiled attire of the miners. His first glimpse of the material world was the grimy and worn faces of his mother and the surviving miners, as they beheld his arctic-blue eyes.
In an act of either fateful foresight or delirious desperation, it was his mother who christened him. She used the Zemlyic word for "Savior" or "Deliverer" in anticipation of the remarkable deeds that lay ahead.
=== Youth ===
To some, the prompt arrival of a rescue party, mere minutes after the young Luminarch's birth, hinted at the involvement of higher powers. Regardless of the truth, the mother and child, along with what remained of their mining team, were rescued. And notably, the mother and her newborn were subsequently concealed from the merciless overseers of the mine, as the miners believed that these two had been touched by divinity. Bazarova's miraculously quick and uncomplicated pregnancy and childbirth solidified this belief.
The newborn Anikanov, with his perfect form and piercing, glacial-blue eyes, was hailed as the prophesied savior of the Serebric People’s. His mother's nightly lullabies, foretelling his future heroic deeds, only reinforced this belief. As expected of him, and in keeping with the experiences of the scattered Luminarchs, Anikanov matured at an unnatural pace, growing into the size of a toddler at only the age of two months. This extraordinary phenomenon served as further evidence to the slaves that he was a precious gift to their people.
Despite being born with an extraordinary wealth of knowledge already imprinted within his young mind, the young Luminarch had much to learn from his wider adoptive family—as the Slaves of Yerkirii II, many of whom were either political radicals condemned for opposing the interests of the Suvorin Republic or were descendants or students of such individuals, imparted their beliefs and ideals to him. Concepts of justice and innate human dignity, which had no place in the brutal regime, were deeply ingrained in the heart and mind of the young Luminarch. And on his fourteenth birthday, he made a solemn oath to his mother, protectors, and mentors: he would liberate the whole of Serebro from their cruel existences.
Thankfully, Anikanov's wise mentors advised caution against overt defiance or hasty quests for rash vengeance. Under their guidance, he learned the art of patience and the importance of observing his oppressors, using his superhuman abilities to plan far ahead for the day when he would lead the uprising to overthrow the despised slave lords of Viharii'byan and its seven moons. It was during this period that Anikanov began to understand the extent of his innate powers.
He discovered that he could move unnoticed, staying twelve steps ahead of the ruthless and bloodthirsty wardens. Even when in the direct line of sight of an enemy, he could will himself to become a living shadow, avoiding detection. However, there were limitations to this ability, as Anikanov soon found out—both the Heightened senses of the Xenos Krasnyics and the sensors of Auspex Sensory Array Systems (A.S.A-System) and other artificial detection methods could still perceive him. It seemed that his presence could somehow manipulate the observer's mind into disregarding the Demi-God's existence, should he have willed it.
==== The Storm-Princes War ====
The Republic was a bloated, rotten body of Oligarchic Bureaucracy held together loosely by the strings of dolled up and masqueraded power, incessant propaganda and controlled opposition. As such, as Anikanov reached maturity, the rule of the Republic began to greatly crumble upon not just Viharii'byan, but all around the expanse. As though the Republic could feign power all it wanted when it was playing on the comparatively small scale of the Vostok Bloc. But once it spread itself across the breath of the Expanse, a myriad of holes began to form in the already fragile patchwork of Suvorin Rule.
As such, once the behemoth's strings began to come loose through both the disparate actions of Serebric Guerrilla forces throughout the Expanse and Anikanov’s own actions. So with Suvorin supply lines being quietly cut or redirected and their supplies being lost in the haze of the Republics bloated bureaucracy, thousands of troops, both Suvorin Republic soldiers and even Krasnyic Mercenary Bands and Refugant Corps, began to operate out of the eyes of the Republic due to the dictates of an ever growing necessity.
Yet, whilst the bulk of Suvorin Despots had long remained oblivious to their impending doom, many of them had become all too aware as their personal armies began to wither into nothingness due to a lack of supplies and soldiery. With many Koraphate Nationalist uprisings occurring across Suvorin space upon either Civil-Worlds or Slave-Holds, some aided by even the beleaguered and disillusioned Suvorin Soldiery. But, within the reaches of Viharii'byanite space the young Luminarch had long been in the orchestration of a covert campaign that would be remembered in myths as the “Storm-Princes War.” 
This era was marked initially by Anikanov’s own covert subterfuge and espionage across the Yerkirii moons. Striking and devastating both Krasnyic and Suvorin outposts. Slicing into the veins and arteries of which fueled the Suvorin War-Effort even as the Behemoth faltered all around him upon hundreds of other worlds.
But soon, as his actions were recognized by Serebric Guerrillas—of which were already acting upon their own combat operations deep within enemy territory—Anikanov would be met by these soldiers during one of his many interludes wherein he traveled from one world to another as he hid himself within a Suvorin Troop Ship. The Serebric Guerrillas, docked away from their Void-Skimmer and riding upon a Remora-Class Infiltrator, entered the larger war vessel, intending for a silent slaughter upon the ship and the subsequent retrieval of the being they had heard so many stories about.
But within they would find nought but the scarlet remains of the slaughtered. Suvorin Soldiers twisted into malshapped masses and Krasnyic warriors torn limb from limb. The Guerrillas traveled deeper into the vessel—only finding more and more corpses, many killed in their barracks with signs of silent kills, though far more gruesome than any they had seen before. They continued on until they reached the command bridge of the killed vessel—wherein they finally saw him.
===== Raptor's Game Excerpt =====
Still huffing from the struggle earlier, and debating whether they could even trust him, the Guerrillas would relent and choose to tell the young Demigod of the many plights incurred across the Serebric Territories. They spoke to him of his people, the Serebric people’s history, their birth and revolt under Krasnyic rule and their further suffering under that of the Republic. They spoke of the Gulags upon Viruk IV, The vile human Experiments conducted within the Vera System, The Flesh Farms upon Tyrant II, and a Hundred more horrors incurred upon the Worlds of the once Proud Koraphate.
Taking in a digesting the information, his hatred and resolve would be freshly redoubled, as such, the Storm-Prince would further his efforts. Secretly he moved throughout the Hidden Expanse through interstellar star-jumps facilitated by his allies within the disparate factions of the Serebric aligned Guerrillas, and sometimes would stow away upon guard vessels and either outright killing all of whom still stood with the Republic, or bringing those Serebric born back into the fold of the now healing Koraphate. He had even formed rebel cells within the oppressive spire cities and factories upon the Suvorin Border worlds themselves whenever possible.
This extended period culminated in a brilliantly devised campaign that slowly drained the Republic’s authority upon the border worlds, leaving them vulnerable even as the worlds within the Republic had begun to experience a chaos unlike anything before. Rebels would follow Anikanov's carefully laid plans, many of whom would infiltrate Suvorin bases and storage facilities, stealing vehicles, weapons, fuel and ammunition, and others would sabotage key systems to ensure their failure at the most critical of moments.
The moment of reckoning finally arrived, and it would be Anikanov who would lead the first uprisings that would shatter centuries of oppression. In thousands of brutal and necessary battles across the Expanse, he and his fellow freedom fighters swiftly seized control of multiple systems. But meanwhile, fires had raged upon Viharii'byan as its moons ran red with Suvorin blood. The carnage was significant, for not all of the imprisoned slaves had been there due to their radical ideals; some were convicted killers and worse. Anikanov, driven by necessity, had harnessed their combat skills, overlooking their past crimes under the condition that they never repeat them once their shared bondage was lifted, or else face a most bloody execution at his hands.
=== Rediscovery ===
In a departure from the events surrounding the rediscovery of other Luminarchs, there was no grand arrival of the Emperor or a fellow Luminarch to greet The Storm King and transport him into a life of glory amongst the cosmos. For his Gene-sons alone would know of his discovery. This unique convergence of events occurred in the midst of the Zemlya Expanse’s Red War and the aftermath of the mass liberation of the Viharii'byanite prison moons, as last resistances hailing from the death throes of the Republic were swiftly quelled across the worlds of the Expanse, and the first rebel wars had begun to ignite upon the surfaces of Viharii'byan. 
A heavily depleted Crusader Fleet, led by the near-mortally damaged VIIth Legion Throneship, had executed an emergency void translation that brought them limping into the Zemlyic Expanse through the Dneiper Rift. The Fleet stalked silently through the cold, white stars of Zemlya—Their Auspex Arrays locating truly ancient Vox-Signals bouncing throughout the Nebula.
But, as the Fleet did enter the Nebula from the northern tip of the Dneiper Rift, they were a mere quarter day's trip from the Yulia System, home of Viharii'byan itself and the closest of the few pale stars visible to their sensors. Therein they traveled, and the Fleet, upon finding the spires of Viharii'byan silent to vox-hails due to rebel interference, attempted to land on the newly liberated moons, seeking aid from the longstanding human-controlled planet.
Therein the Serebric Zemlyians would now be in contact with the first humans since their peoples awakening within Zemlya Nova in M53.783. The Zemlyians—who had long since adapted to be a tall, darkly haired, incredibly fair skinned people due to the limitations of the Nebula and were still fatigued from the earlier battles for the Moons—were astonished to see the large, Armored Gray forms of the Imperial Marines of the VIIth and their auxiliaries along with their overall more darker complections. Even more so when they learned of their desired aid.
It was on the Yerkirii moons that the Legion Masters and Regiment High Command received reports from the rebel generals about their Demi-God Lord and his supernatural abilities. In light of these accounts and their knowledge of the powers of previously reclaimed Luminarchs serving the Imperium, the Acting Legion Master, Arnag Kassarjian, ordered a parlay with the Rebel leader, anticipating the arrival of one of the still-scattered fourteen Luminarchs.
The Crusader Fleet’s High-Command broke from the rest of the Fleet and journeyed to Yerkirii-II, Anikanov's birth world and the first of the Seven Slave moons to have completed its battle for liberation. And there they were met by the Storm-King's forces and subsequently led deep into the very mines where their Lord was born.
As the Marines delved deeper into the winding depths, the entourage's numbers began to inexplicably dwindle. Rebels, mortals, and marines alike were silently and unnaturally abducted until finally, Arnag found himself alone in the depths. Nevertheless, he pressed on, his preternatural senses guiding him through the exhausted catacombs until he stood alone in the frigid darkness, the birthplace of the Storm-King.
An exhale was what caught his attention, his armors Auto-Senses relaying mechanized signals to his mind as he turned—unholstering his Arc-Pistol. But his body froze as his eyes fell upon the form of his Gene-Father.
The Storm-King was a colossal figure, easily towering over the Legion Master even when hunched within the mineshaft. This sheer size was expected, as all the Luminarchs he had met thus far were Titans compared to even the Giants of any given Legion. What struck Arnag most were the piercing, predatory gaze of the demi-god, emanating from his glowing icy blue eyes. 
The Demi-God's form was draped in pattern-stitched slave rags, which hung loosely over his perfectly muscled and pale-skinned frame. Crude, stolen armor adorned his form, reminiscent of the steel plates from the fallen war machines scattered across the frost-covered fields above.
Suddenly, Arnag found himself overwhelmed by awe in the presence of the shadow-wreathed Demi-God. His brow slick with sweat as he hastily removed his helmet, sensing the immense power that emanated from the figure before him, feeling the instinctive drive to meet those piercing eyes of predatory arctic Blue with his own greenish ones. 
Arnag was no stranger to the sensation of awe in the presence of the Emperor's children. He had felt it during the Quelling of the Lithuite Blockade when the Warmaster had summoned the Acting Legion Masters over the void of Lith. He witnessed the power held in their bodies when he saw the Avenger break an Orrukai Tyrant’s back upon his Knee. Felt it at the sight of the Cyclopean Sorceress’s ability to rend a world into little more than a charred husk. Experienced the weight of their strength and authority, and seen the looks upon a Marine’s face when fallen silent at the mere sound of their Luminarch’s voice.
However, this was different. This was the first time he could even marginally relate to the stories of what his cousins felt when reunited with their Legions' Sire. He had heard of the complex mix of emotions: apprehension, fear, trepidation, excitement, joy. And now, in the cold, dark mines at the heart of a slave moon, merely one of seven that orbited the war torn world below, of which itself was merely another planet orbiting a pale star hidden within some nebula—there Arnag felt all of these emotions washing over him as he knelt before the Storm-King. Every fiber of his augmented being screaming in instinctual response to the mere presence of the Demi-God.
Somewhat amused as he observed Arnag's reaction, Anikanov would beckon him to stand, and the Marine did as commanded. Arnag inquired about his entourage, and Anikanov explained that the mortals had been transported back to the surface, while he had separated the Marines, directing each down different routes to the current antechamber of the mineshaft.
With this information, Arnag waited with his returned Lord as the disoriented Marines, one by one, gradually made their way into the chamber of their Luminarch's birthplace. Each, upon feeling the aura of their Gene-Sire, followed Arnag's example and knelt in reverent homage to their Demi-God.
The exact details of the exchange between the gathered Legionnaires and the rediscovered Luminarch within the depths of the moon have remained largely unknown to anyone outside the VIIth Legion's upper echelons and its Legion Ancients. But the warriors are said to have engaged in lengthy discussions during their time together within the moon's depths.
But whatever transpired during those conversations, one thing was clear: the VIIth Legion and the present troop regiments of the wider Crusader Fleet, against their own desires and expectations, would partially depart, leaving Anikanov to fulfill his mission and defeat the oppressive Republic presence that had dominated over Viharii'byan. It was only after the planetary capital, the symbol of the Republic’s stranglehold over Viharii'byan and her moons and as a consequence the Serebric Koraphate, was reduced to molten slag, that he would assume the full command of the Legion. 
He wished for his sons to leave him to accomplish his task using only the resources at hand, which, as it turned out, included a stockpile of atomic neutrino barrages and mining charges that the Republic’s Viharii'byanite Despots had hidden on Yerkirii-V, believing them safe from the oppressed masses they ruled over. In their arrogance, the guilds had never anticipated that the slave miners might one day break free and claim these weapons as their own. And even as the guilds and the remaining rebels engaged in bitter conflict for control of the towering Spire-Cities, the Republic’s forces sought to launch a counterattack against the vastly outgunned freedom fighters. So with the fortification of his resolve, Anikanov understood the grim order he had to issue. 
Utilizing the steep gravity wells that connected Viharii'byan and its orbiting moons, the Luminarch initiated a full-scale atomic bombardment of the atmospheric-enclosed planetary capital of Yerkat’e Vahan below, a sprawling continent-spanning spire, home to much of the Republic’s occupying forces and the leadership of Viharii'byan, and one far to controlled by the Republic for Anikanov to have established a Rebel Network within. Anikanov had long ago resigned himself to the fact that this realm would be forfeit if the moons were to be free—and with a stoic attitude, he clicked the activator rune and the salvos were released—a grim sacrifice for the Retaking of the Koraphate.
The first salvoes limply cracked against the reinforced domes of Yerkat’e Vahan, tens then hundreds bursting against the domes. Cracking it as the atomic salvoes began to splinter the reinforced crystalline structure like fragile glass. With each thunderous impact, fractures spider-webbed across the once-impenetrable surface, sending cascades of shimmering shards raining down on the bustling streets below. 
Panic-stricken citizens fled in every direction, their desperate cries lost amidst the deafening roar of destruction as the relentless barrage persisted. The skyline of Yerkat’e Vahan would be engulfed in billowing clouds of dust and debris, obscuring the once-pristine spires in a haze of devastation. Before eventually the dome shattered, the atmospheric storms of Viharii'byan soon filled the city even as the first Atomic fires ripped through Hab-Units.
== The War for Zemlya Nova ==
“I beg of you, you mighty beings of a most powerful armor and skill, now and now alone I beg of you. If indeed you are of my lineage, my sons of an unseen genetic inheritance intertwined with the blood of my forefathers and those before them, sons of the Great Storm, and bearers in part of a most honored lineage. I ask of you to Soar with me, truly as my sons, soar with my warriors, truly as their brethren. And together we will Soar and strike from the Darkness of the Void and tear free from our enemies their hungering eyes and strike through their desolate hearts.”
—Anikanov Zakharik, an excerpt from his first speech to the Marines of the VIIth Legion and his call for them to aid the Serebric Armies in their War against the Suvorin Republic As atomic fires consumed the face of Viharii'byan’s final Shackle, Anikanov demonstrated the harsh truth of war: sometimes, the innocent must suffer for the greater good. With their greatest cities decimated, and millions dead, the Viharii'byanite Master Guild had no choice but to surrender to the will of the liberated slaves. Viharii'byan was defeated, its moons liberated, and the lesson of war had been laid bare. 
The fighting throughout the Systems of the expanse still raged even as the fires of Yerkat’e vahan faded with the last embers of the nuclear storms below. As he looked upon the scarlet plumes rising on the world below, the Leadership Cadre of the VIIth Legion would now stand behind their rediscovered patriarch.
They told Anikanov what little they had discovered in their short time within the expanse. They did not know how to exit the Nebula of the Expanse. The Void lines that interconnected the Expanse were unlike anything that their astronavigationalists and Wayfinders had ever seen before. The energies of the Void were much cleaner and purer than anything ever seen by the Imperium.
As Anikanov listened to the Leadership Cadre's report, he couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. He had already known of the existence of the void, as it was the main mode of travel between the Expanse, but these new unknown factors of the Void lines presented a new set of challenges for his War, ones that would require innovative thinking and resourcefulness. 
== Great Crusade ==
=== The Delaestri Kla'dank—Feathers of which Raptors Rode ===
With the successful silent compliance of Zemlya Nova, the wandering Vixite Denarion Guild of the Delaestri Kla'dank, a Jovian Guild long since excommunicated from the Jovian Combine due to their actions during the Fourth Denarion War. Of whom had become loyal to the secretive nature of the VIIth Legion during the opening years of the Great Crusade, would finally plant their roots within the hidden Nebula—filling a much required niche within the system as they took over most manufacturing operations. 
While this was kept secret from the wider Stellar Imperium, the Zemlyic systems were rebuilt from the ashes of the Final War for the benefit of the newly christened Storm Raptors and as a consequence the Stellar Imperium. The obsidian black towers that had once housed the Suvorin and Krasnyic garrisons upon Zemlyic worlds were reconstructed into a minutiae of fashions by the Delaestrians—often into manufacturums, Arc-Plants, or simply expanded upon as Bastion Fortresses for either the Storm Raptors or their Auxiliaries. 
But most resplendent of these Obsidian structures was that upon the moon of Yerkirii II, now named Svoboda, would become the Imperial Storm Palace or the “Dvorets Shtorma,” the fortress-monastery of the Storm Raptor Legion.
=== Under the Hawk Lords Banner ===
By the time the Storm Lord took command of his Legion, the Great Crusade had already been almost nine Terran decades old. Anikanov was quick to impose the style of war he had perfected on Yerkirii over that which had come to define the VIIth Legion, melding stealth and guile with vigilance and swiftness. It was during these early years that much of the native demeanor of the old VIIth Legion was quenched in the frigid discipline of Yerkirii.
The Legion had so often served in oppression, repression and occupation forces that Anikanov saw in some of the Veteran Terranborn of his Legion something akin to the slave guilds of Yerkirii. Several of the Legion's highest-ranking officers had been displaced or reassigned to non-command petty officer roles.
Under the Luminarchs guidance, distilled into a series of battle-mantras, the Storm Raptors developed their skills to unseen preternatural levels. Anikanov is even known to have bested Mikha'el Theophylact and Llucerian Morningstar. His brother-Luminarchs had been notorious in testing strategium-simulacra, making use of several unconventional troop types his brother-Luminarchs had never before faced, including the forerunners of the soon to be Tacto'morii. Anikanov had bested his brothers three times in this manner, and once the Patriarchs of the Ist and IInd Legions heeded the lesson and adjusted their battle tactics, the Shade Lord would never beat his brothers again.
During its restructuring, the VIIth Legion commissioned several innovations from the forges of Jupiter and Terra, all of them cunningly wrought to further its mastery of the arts of stealth and speed. As the Thunderbird gunship entered widespread Imperial service, the Storm Raptors secured for themselves a variant known as the Storm-Wraith, sporting all manner of technologies that made it invisible to all but the most sensitive of ASA Systems.
In addition, the Legion gained access to the Thunder-Shriek, an open airframe flyer constructed using gravitic impeller technology and capable of dropping 20 Legionaries into a war zone in utter silence and with practically no chance of detection. Such technology was innovated not by the Terran Artificers nor any Forge World Adepta, or even the Tech-Guilds of Jupiter, but by those master Viharii'byanite artificers who formerly served within the oppressive slave guilds.
Utilizing strands of machine lore unknown to the mainstream of the Imperiums Artifice Guilds, the Viharii'byanite guild artificers created all manner of systems at the behest of the Storm Raptors and in time the Legion's Technoclast Marines were inducted into these mysteries, although it has been speculated that the Viharii'byans may have long since been declared outcast by the jealous lords of The Jovian Mechanicum, were it not for the patronage of so dignified a body as an Imperial Marine Legion and the Luminarch Anikanov.
As the Great Crusade ground ever onwards, Viharii'byan assumed its position in the God Emperor's collection of worlds. While its output was not equal to that of a fully-fledged Forge World, with the secret of the Delaestri Kla'dank, and under highly secretive conditions, its forges and manufactorums produced and exported vast quantities of materiel as well as a number of the more specialized machines and weapons required by the Storm Raptors Legion.
Both the Tech-Guilds Artificers, and the Vixite Adepta of the Delaestri Kla'dank have attempted to retain their closest secrets from the numerous eyes of the Jovian Guilds with some middling measure of success, and have clung strongly on to their independence from Jupiter. Both having remained self-sufficient throughout the lonely millennia of the Long Dark, Viharii'byan and the Delaestri Kla'dank remain unwilling to cede their secrets to outsiders, the only authority recognized being that of the Storm Raptors and inherently that of Anikanov Zakharik.
== Personalty ==
Anikanov Zakharik, while just as prideful as the greatest of his brethren, he is generally seen as an intense, and taciturn man, while a touch distant but ultimately quite honorable. He is known to be ultimately cogent of his humanity by Imperial Scholars, never turning his nose to even the most dejected of mankinds children. Remembered by most as a freedom fighter stalwart in his conviction to the right course of action, believing any measure is acceptable to achieve the aims of the people, often to the chagrin of his Brethren even when they themselves believe in his objectives.
That being said, he’s also fairly pragmatic, often pointing out the flaws in the equipment of his allies and later designing remedies to these very same issues, whilst he’s not above fits of petty anger, often due to frustration with his brethren. Even so, he cares deeply for both his Brothers and Sisters along with his sons, often willing to sacrifice himself to protect his allies. 
He is also gracious to the upstanding servants of the Emperor, having gained a newfound appreciation for the Jungle Fighters of Alavis after his kill team had been saved from a Volb'narii Hunting party. Later marking the world as a viable recruitment world for the VIIth Legion and creating a blood oath for his Legion to protect the world whenever the need would arise. He is somewhat seen to hold himself in higher regard than most humans, but this is mostly due to his attitude and nature as a Luminarch, he is in actuality, quite capable of empathizing with and engaging normally with Mortals.
Anikanov is an odd mix of depressive melancholy and an intense pride. Getting very depressed and down on himself and his legion when remembering their failures, but then when thinking of another legion seems to utterly forget his minor self reflections and immediately begin posturing and nodding at his own superiority, even if he never outwardly speaks of it.
Anikanov deeply resents oppressive and corrupt systems, and when the opportunity presents itself, is eager to tear them down and start rebellions, as seen on his homeworld of Yerkirii. 
== Appearance ==
Anikanov, like many of his brethren, presented a striking countenance, at least when he had wished to be seen. His skin was an alabaster white and he was possessed of tucked jaw length hair as black as the feathers of his namesake, the Yerkirian Anikanon Hawk.
Most remarkable and unsettling had been his eyes, the iris of which had been a beautiful shade of iridescent blue in the light, but appeared as entirely black shards of solid shadow as the iris and sclera was overtaken whilst in combat. His Artificed Yerkirian styled power armor had been edged with fine, golden figures and upon his back was mounted a Jump-pack formed into a pair of articulated, hawk-like pinions that he wielded as a murderous, blood-edged weapon of stealth, and war.
Like most of the Luminarchs, Anikanov was blessed with an extensive armory of artificer-wrought weapons, but he most often bore to war a pair of metre-long Artificer Force-Talons and a set of Mastercrafted swords at his hip. The latter was carried as a reminder of the cruelty enacted upon the people of his homeworld of Yerkirii by the tyrannical slave guilds of Viharii'byan and with them countless enemies were laid low.
Though few even amongst his gene-sons know of it, Anikanov is blessed with the abilities to both pass unnoticed becoming a living shadow should he himself will it, and manipulate his vocal patterns to mimic the voices of others, these preternatural abilities would allow him to slip from the auditory and visual perceptions of his enemies even when he was in plain view. 
== Wargear ==
* Repentance and Forgiveness: This pair of Master-crafted artificer Force-Talons, unknown in origin, which Anikanov favored as his personal weapons were given the doleful names Repentance and Forgiveness by the Storm Raptors; though what their wielder actually named them, if anything, remains, as with so much about their master, unknown.
* Mastercrafted Twin Shashka: An ancient set of twin blades gifted to the Luminarch by Llucerian upon their first meeting. The blades would both be destroyed during the compliance of Ivangolia-27D, during which the brothers faced and felled a titan sized Fel Orruk Horde Boss. But upon the completion of the campaign, the two brothers would reforge the blades to commemorate the destruction of the Fel Horde, and compliance.
* Teleportation Daggers: Based on the micro-serrated throwing blades utilized for signature-kills by certain Yerkirian Slave Bands, Anikanov favored the use of these vicious, yet highly precise daggers over more conventional firearms in battle, using them to disable and maim as he willed. Fitted with teleportation technology, the blades had the unique trait of not just returning to their master when called upon, but could also allow Anikanov to blink short distances toward the weapons.
* The Hawks Talon: Constructed by Za'mana Mu-Damik to honor the newly found Luminarch, this plasmor pistol immediately became Anikanov’s favored sidearm. Such was its potency that on the field of battle it was known to reduce whole squads of enemy soldiers to drifting smoke, scorching the ground on which they stood to nought but naked earth.
* The Mantle of The Khishchnaya Ptitsiana: Anikanov’s flight pack is a miracle of Archeotech hailing from before the Long Dark, retrofitted and modified to suit the Luminarchs own exacting needs. The Flight Engines are fitted with an ivory cape fitted with nano-machine latices and grav-manipulation fields that were capable of fashioning themselves into wings shaped after the Yerkirian Storm Raptors own mighty pinions - permitting the Storm-King the ability to take to the skies should he will it.
* The Shadow Strike: Fashioned for the master of the Storm Raptors by the Emperor's own artificers, this suit of highly sophisticated Power Armor not only offered the Luminarch defense against outside attack, it also masked its sensor signature and could be used to disrupt enemy sensors and transmissions in his immediate vicinity.
Category:Imperium
Category:Luminarch
Category:Character