Cyber-Mastiff Handler

"Augur scan indicates target is spire-bound on tertiary deck thoroughfare. Initiate attack pattern omicron-delta. Confirming kill-order. Chain-jaws active. Awaiting confirmation. Kill-order confirmed. Implement attack pattern. Happy hunting!"
–Borus Vhalkov, Arbites Cyber-mastiff Handler
The heavy scraping of metallic claws, the static of heavy
breathing transmitted through rough vox-casters, the roar
of data barks coordinating a hunt, these are the sounds
of doom for criminals throughout the Precincts of the Calixis Sector. The Subrique-pattern Cyber-mastiffs are a well-known
sight on those worlds which have a strong Arbites presence.
When not needed for a man-hunt, they remain within the walls of
the Calixian Precinct Fortresses or in the training yards, running
coordinated attack and subdual patterns
with their master and a specially
trained Tech-adept. When on
the hunt, these plasteel beasts
hound their prey, sniffing
their trail using rare chemicals
from the ocean of Landunder
in cybernetic sense-nodes, resting
only when they have their prey
or are commanded to stop. At
the signal from their master's
unique augmetic, the beasts
engage their quarry and
either dispatch or disable the
criminal, depending on their
master's instruction. To their
comrades within the Calixian
Precincts, the Cyber-mastiff
Handler is not just a single
valued ally, but often acts with
the effectiveness of an entire
Arbites squad.
A Judge (or similarly high
ranking Adeptus Arbites
official) may choose to use
some political might or call
in a few favors to have
Arbitrators trained to command
a Subrique-Pattern Cybermastiff.
This is a rare instance
(often only for Arbitrators serving
away from their Precinct Fortress,
such as those working with the Inquisition)
and their skill with the charge is limited by
their lack of augmentation. The vast majority of
Cyber-mastiff Handlers are Tech-Priests, agents of the Adeptus
Mechanicus, who serve the Imperium within the Precincts of
Calixis Sector, and caring for their charges.
Handlers spend years with their hounds, training them
for the hunt and the kill. They spend countless hours running
their charges through drills and training simulations, implanting
commands and attack patterns into their cogitator-augmented
brains through sheer repetition and rote. All of this training is
culminated on the beasts' first actual hunt, in which the handler
takes his charges into the field to be put to the test. Giving
signals directly to their built-in vox receivers, the Cyber-mastiff
Handler is able to coordinate extremely complex engagements
through a dizzying number of pre-programmed patterns. Using
powerful auspex arrays and visual sensorium data from the beasts
themselves, Handlers can control their beasts at incredible ranges,
directing their attacks from several miles distant.
Many Cyber-mastiff Handlers do more than instruct and
train their charges. When chosen for their position, many
who become Handlers are chosen for their proficiency with
machine-spirits. While the construction and imprinting of
such beasts is a mystery to all save the Tech-Priests involved
in their fabrication, it is not unknown for Handlers to perform
battlefield repairs and make minor but effective modifications
to the original design of the Cyber-mastiff. These modifications
are often expressive of the particular needs of the Tech-Priest.
Those who favor close-quarters combat often
apply circuit-rune scribed armor plating, and
rare unguents and sacred oils to grease the melee
weaponry, honing the already substantial
original armaments. Handlers who
specialize in tracking are known to burn
rare chemicals to train the Cyber-mastiffs'
olfactory sensor vanes. Still others might
require their charges to carry powerful
remote auspex scanners for patrol work
and sniff-scan assignments. Indeed it is fairly
common for a Cyber-mastiff Handler to train
and maintain a stable of several constructs,
modified in a number of ways, so that
he might be prepared for any situation.
Within the training grounds on
Landunder, the specific modifications of a Cyber-mastiff
Handler's creations are a point of pride
among his peers. It is common for the Tech-Priests deep within Hive Subrique to build different
specializations and to add an element of
competition to their work, making
each construct unique to the Handler
or Precinct where it will serve. This
competition is most often a simple
matter of friendly boasting and jest,
occasionally boiling over into minor
rivalries. Despite this, in the face
of true danger to a pack, Precinct,
or Imperial peace, the hounds of
several Handler's packs will work
together or even sacrifice themselves
for one another at their master's
command; for when truly threatened they form a
single, greater pack whose safety outweighs petty rivalries.
Just as a Handler's Cyber-mastiffs become valued and
specialized members of his own personal retinue, so too do
the Acolytes of an Imperial Inquisitor form a trusted and
capable cadre to be used by the Inquisitor himself, however
they might be best used to combat threats to the Imperium.
When requisitioned by an Inquisitor, a Cyber-mastiff Handler
provides combat and retrieval as well as surveillance and
security; each a service of great importance to those who
serve the in the Inquisition. Indeed, what better device with
which to ferret out the horrors of the Warp, which would
drive a man's mind to madness, than with a pack of steel
hounds as immune to madness as they are to fear itself?
==Alternate Career Rank==
Those Tech-Priests who are chosen to train on Landunder,
and maintain and command a Precinct's stable of Cyber-mastiffs
are those who have shown remarkable promise
in either technical capacity or pack-hunting skills. This
decision is usually made during the early stages of
training and the Tech-Priest, therefore, is likely to spend
brief periods among Arbitrators who he must become
accustomed to serving alongside. They spend their first
several months on Landunder among the technical staff of
the Precinct Tech-Priests learning the proper procedures
to maintain the mechanical bodies of their future charges
as well as the rituals and commands to appease and
direct the machine-spirits housed within. This training
is supplemented with more experience working with the
Arbites, and when they have completed their instruction,
the Cyber-mastiff Handler is able to work closely with
both his mechanical beasts as well as the Adeptus Arbites.
Required Careers: Tech-Priest
Alternate Rank: Rank 1 or higher (0 XP)
Benefits: Upon taking this career the Acolyte automatically receives one "Bloodhound" Cyber-mastiff and a Constructer Interface Augmetic.