Slaugth

“The worm that walks has come for us all..."
—Found carved into a bulkhead, Watchpost Hazeroth/Sentry-17. All Hands Lost: attacker unknown, 123.M40
Considered largely mythical
by most that have heard of them, they are named in a few
scattered tales as the Maggot Men, Dream Eaters or Carrion
Masters, The Inquisition, however, knows better. Perhaps one of the vilest races known to exist, the Slaugth are terrible and monstrous beings whose minds
and bodies are utterly alien and who are rightly feared and
reviled by mankind and with whom only the most depraved or
utterly desperate have dealings. The Slaugth (known in some cases as the
“maggot men,” the “dream eaters,” or the “carrion lords”) are
regarded by most that have heard of them as little more than
a nightmarish myth---void born tales or the dark fancy of
some mad Rogue Trader. But aside from a few wary Rogue Traders and superstitious starfarers, few take the nightmarish legends seriously. The Inquisition, for its part, knows the race to be all too real, and the Ordo Xenos has numerous documented cases of encounters and many atrocities that can be laid at their door, but have suppressed all knowledge under a blanket of secrecy for millennia. 
The Inquisition also knows what terrible desire motivates
the Slaugth’s contact with humanity---the desire to feed.
They are carrion eaters and crave the flesh of dead intelligent
beings above all others, savoring in particular the cranial
matter from which they seem to derive an almost narcotic and
addictive pleasure in consuming. Some tales even go so far as
to say that the maggot men somehow consume the memories
and knowledge of their victims this way.
The history of mankind’s involvement with them is
uncertain, but if some sources are to be believed, the species
may have been encountered at the edges of Imperial space
as far back as the Age of Strife. Most encounters follow a
similar pattern: black, tenebrous vessels slipping into Imperial
space to wreak havoc, isolated outposts or shipping attacked
without warning by a vastly superior and horrific foe, bodies
left mutilated or missing all together, and vile technologies and
blasphemous creations traded to depraved human renegades
in return for slaves and captives.
After almost a century of research that took him from the
edge of the Halo Stars to the depths of the pre-Imperial
archives on Holy Terra itself, the Slaugth Maggot Men were
codified and declared Xenos Horrificus Maxima by Lord
Inquisitor Quater’maz Knael in M.37. His standing orders
were that the Slaugth and any that had contact with them
were to be exterminated without mercy wherever encountered,
with any information pertaining to this xenos race be brutally
suppressed. Despite these measures, the last several centuries
have suffered a slow but steady increase in contacts with these
foul beings across the Calixis Sector, a development causing
alarm at the highest levels of the Inquisition.
Aside from what little can be gleaned from the historical
record, the true nature and dangers the Slaugth represent are
largely unknown to the Imperium, as are their origin and
numbers. Some xeno-savants and Rogue Traders believe that
their home system (and perhaps even a great hellish Slaugth
empire), lies far out into the Trailing Halo Stars beyond the
Imperium’s borders. Sealed inquisitorial archives speculate
that several frontier worlds in the Segmentum Obscurus have,
over the millennia, been purposefully destabilized and tipped
into civil war by the Slaugth in order to give them free reign
in which to feed. However, these have been rare occurrences
and in any such encounter the number of Slaugth involved
has been mercifully few, for the creatures themselves are
savagely powerful combatants and nearly impossible to slay.
The Holy Ordos remains unaware of the Slaugth’s
involvement with the Amaranthine Syndicate and the threat
it represents, although encounters with the Slaugth in the
Calixis Sector have been spiking dramatically in the last
several years. There are several reasons for this, not least of all
the Slaugth’s own abilities as infiltrators and puppeteers, and
the degree to which they have already spread their network
of agents in the Sector. At present, the Inquisition has no
expectation of the Slaugth being behind such a subtle and
widespread conspiracy; they know them only as raiders and
abductors---extremely dangerous, but few in number and
limited in scope. The Holy Ordos, the Calixis Sector, and
indeed the Imperium have been blindsided by this strange
and subtle invasion. If its true nature is not soon uncovered,
then billions of lives stand in dire peril.
==Biology and Technology==
In appearance, the Slaugth are truly horrific to look upon,
taking the form of a vague humanoid shape composed of
seemingly hundreds of writhing, half-melded maggot-like
worms covered in viscous, necrotic mucus. Capable
of stretching and reforming their body-mass at will, they
move with an obscene, boneless fluidity and are capable of
regenerating injury with startling speed. They are impervious
to age, poison, diseases, and all but the most extreme injury.
Their minds are as alien as any encountered by mankind---coldly savage, psychic voids filled with a monstrous hunger
for the dead.
The manifest horrors of this species’ bodies and desires
are only compounded by an implacable and utterly alien
intelligence, and an ability to exploit human corruption
and terror to meet their own needs. Mercifully few in
number, it seems that they are not given to open warfare
and show no interest in acquiring territory. Instead they
favor stealth and secrecy to attain their goals, while
their seeming physical near-immortality and powerful
technology makes them dreadfully powerful opponents
when encountered. From the depths of the void their
tenebrous ships slip unseen into Imperial space to work
their evil, infiltrating isolated outposts and stations to
glut their hunger before disappearing, or trading artefacts
of their baleful arts to human renegades in exchange for
slave stock to fill their grisly larders. Some evidence even
exists that they have slowly destabilized several frontier
colonies in order to kill and devour, unseen in the shadow
of anarchy and civil war.
Slaugth science and technology is likewise nightmarish
and powerful, seamlessly melding the organic and inorganic
to achieve its ends in a blasphemous symbiosis of form and
function. The Slaugth seem capable of manufacturing strange
techno-organic construct creatures of a bewildering variety,
carrying out their master’s wishes as need be. Slaugth weapons
and artefacts are indeed so advanced and strange as to appear
to be the products of warp craft to the uninitiated---a fact that, coupled with their hideous appearance, has mislead
some into believing them daemonic in nature.
==Slaugth Warrior Vassal Construct==
One of the reasons the Slaugth have avoided engaging the
Imperium openly is they are far outnumbered by humanity. A
single human is no more a match for a Slaugth than an insect
is a bull grox, but the grox can still be devoured by a swarm of
Blood Locusts. Thus, the Slaugth are well aware that should
they provoke open warfare, they will be rapidly defeated.
In order to correct this imbalance of forces, and prepare
for the day when they have to attack the Calixis Sector
openly, the Slaugth have looked to their strengths. They have
a keen and terrible grasp of biological sciences, and instead of
training an army, they have decided simply to grow one.
The Slaugth commonly use biomechanical construct
creatures to serve them as laborers, guards, and spies. All
appear horrifyingly repulsive to humanity, but the warrior
vassals stand apart in that regard. Their shapes can vary, but
most are ovoid masses of pallid, fungal flesh shot through
with purple veins and metal lattices. Locomotion is provided
through three skeletal, spider-like legs, and their upper torso
stretches into a thick, stumpy tube, capped with a mass of
tendrils surrounding a radial, fang-filled mouth. The tendrils
are surprisingly strong, and can stretch into sharp bone-blades
at a whim, but the vassal is also quite capable of using the
frighteningly advanced weapons of the Slaugth. Embedded
within it is a device capable of generating terrible necrotizing
beams that can disintegrate a man in seconds.
Warrior vassals are not particularly intelligent, although
they do have a basic grasp of tactics coupled with a complete
disregard for their own well-being. They usually operate
in teams of three to five. When they locate a threat, their
favored tactic is for one or two of their number to charge
headlong into the foe. While their opponents are focused on
taking it down, its fellows rake the melee with a fusillade
of necrotic blasts, uncaring of whom they hit. Should they
encounter a threat far greater than they can handle, the entire
cadre attacks, while one slips away to warn their masters.
==Current Schemes==
Aside from their control over the Amaranthine Syndicate, the Slaugth occasionally strike out on their own. They usually lack the support of their worm-brethren, as overt actions draw attention to a group that would rather stay hidden. Three such Slaugth have taken up residence on Acreage. The feudal world, currently embroiled in a bitter civil war, provides plenty of opportunity to feed upon corpses. They have a large collection of various xenos beasts accompanying them, acting as both guards and pets. They have taken up residence in an old sky mill in the city of Olrankan and have negotiated a deal with the local corpse-haulers to get access to bodies.
One particular Slaugth, Intendant Recusant, has found himself consumed by his desire to feast upon necrotic brains and has broken away from his kind with has taken a small cadre of warrior constructs and Slaugh infiltrators with him, as well as a splinter group of the Amaranthine Syndicate. His plans, however, are short-sighted and driven by hunger and hunger alone, causing him to take increasingly risky moves to secure his treasured cranial confections.
==Slaugth Equipment==
Shroud Cloak
To allow the Slaugth to pass unseen and conceal their terrifying nature, these multi-layered robes and mantles
absorb and refract light, and seem to move and twitch of their own accord. They provide 3 Armor Points to all Locations, provide a
penalty of -30 to detect the wearers with the use of scanners, and grant wearers a +20 bonus to Concealment Tests. The cloaks also
allow Slaugth to attempt to hide in plain sight if they remain stationary in an area of gloom or low light conditions. By constraining
their bodies and commanding the shrouds to conceal them, the Slaugth can pass for a misshapen human at a distance if they wish.
Shroud Armour
Resembling nothing so much as ragged robes, this armor
creates a strange projection affect that clouds the eyes of
those watching, allowing the wearer to disappear in
plain sight.
Anyone wearing Shroud Armour gains a +20 to their
Concealment Tests. In addition, during any round they are
not in combat, the wearer can make a Challenging (+0)
Concealment Test to turn invisible (this does not protect
against being detected by motion-sensors, heat-trackers,
or psychic powers). The wearer will remain invisible until
he attacks or physically interacts with another. Shroud
Armour provides 5 APs to all locations, weighs 5kg and is of Unique availability.
Necrotic Scepter
This device, resembling a corroded copper scepter, pulses with sickly light and unleashes arcs of eerie,
moaning energy when fired. It may also be wielded in close combat like a mace with deadly effect.
Basic, 100m, S/-/-, 2d10+8, E, PEN 6, Clip —, RLD N/A, Disintegrate†, Recharge, WT 5kg, Unique
Melee: 1d10+15, E, PEN 4, Disintegrate†
†Disintegrate (New Special Quality): Any victim suffering Critical Damage from this weapon is blasted into a cloud of ash
and vapour and is completely destroyed.
Necrotic Lance
The weapon of a Slaugth Intendent, this weapon appears
to be a long-bladed spear made entirely of swirling strands
of bilious green energy. At the wielder’s command, it can
project its energy into a searing beam capable of blowing
apart battle-tanks.
The lance has a profile as a melee weapon and ranged
weapon, and may be used as either. It may only be used in
one manner each turn, however.
Heavy, 100m, S/–/–, 2d10+10, E, PEN 8, Disintegrate, Reliable, WT 15kg, Unique
Melee: 2d10+2, PEN 8, Disintigrate, Power Field, Unbalanced, Two-Handed
Necrotic Beam
Little is known about this brutal weapon carried by
Slaugth shock-constructs, except they project raking
beams of energy capable of turning their victims to clouds
of drifting dust.
Heavy, 80m, –/2/8, 1d10+10, E, PEN 4, Diffuse Fire, Disintegrate, WT 20kg, Unique
Diffuse Fire: When fired on Full Auto, the weapon
does 1d10+5 damage.