Rak'Gol

“...They’re coming through the walls... we’ve lost the enginarium and the port gun deck... urgent assistance requi... the... need heavier arms... the... [screeching sounds interlaced with rapid shotcannon fire]... falling back! God Emperor save me... broken thr...”
–transcription of a vox data recovered from the wreck of the Merchant Brig Daughter of Regals, lost with all hands. 811.M41
The Rak'Gol are a relatively new threat to those who would
ply the Koronus Expanse, encountered first in the dim stars
past the Alenic Depths a little more than a century ago. A
xenos breed of which little is known for fact, they take the
appearance of rough-hewn and irregular stone reptilids, eight-limbed
and over three meters long. Chalky white in color and
mantis-like in bodily arrangement, Rak’Gol warriors favor
cybernetic augmentation to increase their abilities and replace
lost limbs. Their point of origin remains unknown, as does the
motivation for their sporadic attacks on human-held worlds
and vessels, other than to slaughter indiscriminately and steal
minerals and weapons. Their rasping, screeching language
remains incomprehensible, and no successful communication
between the Rak’Gol and humanity has been recorded; no
Rak’Gol has ever been captured alive. Indeed, even their name
is taken from children’s stories of mythical monsters from
Footfall’s slums, legends which they superficially resemble.
Rak’Gol technology is judged by the Magos Explorators
to be inferior to the Imperial standard, but what they lack in
this regard they more than make up for with their ferocity
and single-mindedness, as well as their individual combat
prowess, which is considerable. Many mysteries surround
them, not least of all the location of their home world, already
marked for destruction by many Rogue Traders should it be
found. Some believe that they may possess a pocket xeno-empire
somewhere deep in the Expanse; others claim they are
no more than nomads, moving locust-like through the stars.
Another mystery the Explorators and Ordo Xenos would
like answered is how they appear to be able to navigate the
empyrean with some skill, as no psykers have been reported
among them. A few adepts with the dark wisdom to know
such things have noted that the distorted symbols they use
to adorn themselves bear some similarity to the blasphemous
iconography of Chaos.