Loricatti

Sigil of Tvastar

Loricatti Skitarii Vanguard

"*You ask me to lead your Skitarri, yet you give me mindless machines. I need mortals, fallible, malleable, brittle humans. They were the 'machines' that defeated you Magos, not I. You must grant me the creation of my own charges if you wish me to lead and bring you victory.
... //Processing// ...
Very well, you will be provided with one maniple. Prove your value and you will have more.*"
—Communique between Locutus and Regina, prior to the Loricatti being formed.

The **Loricatti** are the collective Skitarii forces of Tvastar and its Titan Legio Iridyon. Since their formation they have steadfastly defended their Forge World and its interests against all foes, human or xenos alike. The Loricatti differ somewhat from the Skitarii of most Forge Worlds, due to their close ties with local Astra Militarum units which has introduced novel philosophies to the organisation.

## History

Whilst the original soldiers would be unrecognisable to their descendants, the Loricatti as an entity date back to the founding days of Tvastar, long before the Great Crusade. For much of their history the Loricatti were unremarkable amongst the Skitarii of Mechanicus Forge Worlds, created from the usual chaff of humanity, criminals, the sick and lame or the same vat grown clones used for servitors. These Skitarii were little better than mindless drones, designed with little to no higher brain function and with no consistency, thanks to the erratic whim of their various makers. It was deemed that technology and firepower was all that they needed.
This changed when the Aeaean League defeated and occupied Tvastar in punishment for their defiance in the face of the Great Crusade. The Tvastarians realised that they could not rely merely upon their technological prowess to keep more numerous foes at bay. A powerful weapon meant nothing if the wielder had not spotted the knife at their throat. So the Magi began to look at how to improve this situation, in particular observing the occupying garrison of Aeaean soldiers for inspiration, feeling that as the victors, they would be an excellent guide. Observation was not enough however, for the new batches of Loricatti were an improvement over the old but still vastly outclassed. As the relationship with the Aeaean League (now reformed into the Aeaean Cluster by the Imperial Administratum) began to warm again, the Magi suggested that joint exercises be instigated between the garrison (no longer an occupier but now an allied defence element, named the Furious Kestrals) and the Loricatti. To the continuing bafflement of the Tvastarians the Kestrals continued to win engagement after engagement, their superior tactics and skills trumping firepower and bionic enhancements. Eventually the Magi decided to conduct an experiment, calling upon an old foe, Lord-general Locutus, the very same commander that had defeated Tvastar and forced the Magi to kneel before him in supplication. Despite the bad memories and bruised pride, the Magi could think of no one better to reforge their forces into a formidable entity. Locutus was now extremely elderly and accepted their calls for help in exchange for the Tvastarians rebuilding his body and extending his lifespan still further. Locutus-00, as he became, was given a single maniple of raw recruits and free reign to transform and train them as he saw fit. He began by implementing a training regime much closer to that of a ‘traditional’ Astra Militarum regiment, then slowly integrating a standardised assortment of augmentations that were designed to enhance their abilities without detriment.

## Forging a Loricatti

"*The machine is sacred, there is no argument there. But we must respect countless years of biology, evolution and the organic machine that is the body. I conjecture that any cybernetics, which are not an enhancement over the flesh, should be considered to be heresy. For to replace a perfect machine with an inferior one is heresy. Cybernetic enhancement, should be enhancement.*"
—Magos O-BR1AN, shortly before his unfortunate accident. Following the Horus Heresy his teaching spread amongst Tvastarian circles. The belief that mechanical supplements must cooperate and enhance the original biological product, not simply replace, is now almost universal amongst them.
### Recruitment

The reformed Loricatti are recruited from volunteers drawn from Tvastar’s population, unlike the practices of some Forge Worlds which simply conscript from the ranks of the poor or undesirable. Extensive research was conducted and concluded that this system was inefficient and illogical, producing too much waste. The superior success rate of the willing candidate system in turn led to a reduced washout percentile, a 24.678% reduction in resources required overall.

Rigorous trials weed out those unlikely to pass muster, testing the body and mind, encouraging teamwork amongst the applicants. 95% of candidates fail in their first week, a ruthless yet necessary measure, to ensure that no time is wasted on candidates that would fail a later stage of training. Aside from rare implant failure, the remaining recruits rarely wash out after this stage. Although it is not mandatory for the recruits to be youths or children, their success rates are considerably higher than that of older recruits due to slightly increased risks of implant failure of the latter.

Before the first implantations, organic stimulants are supplied to ensure the recruits are in optimal shape. A retrovirus scrubs their genome of defects, to reduce implant washout and enhance their physique. The first implants are optical and aural, since the adaption timeline for these two is quite lengthy. then the quicksilver and deadlock systems are implanted. If the candidate survives theses four implants and continues to show promise, the remaining implants are implanted in no particular order, due to their minor nature. Once adaption has completed, training begins anew, with extensive exercises taking place against the Furious Kestrals, utilising laser triggered locking armour to incapacitate the recruits when struck. This phase continues for several years, with the focus being on squad based exercises undertaking tasks such as headhunting, securing objective, or holding/taking strongholds. The Furious Kestrals are notorious for their ruthlessness in these exercises, showing the recruits no mercy or quarter. Once training is completed, the recruits are organised into either reinforcement parties, sent to replenish losses, or into fresh War Cohorts which are assigned to a role such as the expeditionary force. These Cohorts swap out with their predecessors, with the 'retired' units moving into a reserve role such as overseeing the core defences of the forges or manning a distant outpost.

### Cybernetic Enhancements

* **Optical Enhancements** - The human eye, while a marvel of evolution, was considered far too complicated yet inefficient to remain unaltered. The retina, ganglia and parietal lobe are entirely replaced. The right eye undergoes a more radical enhancement than the left, with an external implant that incorporates multispectral modes and ranging lasers. The left is almost indistinguishable from an organic eye while boasting enhanced fidelity. The parietal lobe is a blend of machine and genetically modified neural tissue; Visual signals bypass the typical interpretation of the optical lobe which is now unnecessary, allowing greater reaction speeds. As a result the Skitarius' brain can process information much faster and can also transfer feeds from its direct optical lenses to external sources nigh instantaneously. The lobe can also interface with two additional optical units which are typically built into the helmet and the optical unit attached to the rifle. A Skitarius Alpha can switch to any one of their squadmate's feeds, as can a Magi should the need arise.
* **Blood Enhancements** - Within a bio-mechanical implant across the left shoulder underneath the rebuild shoulder blade sits a dual filtration system. Primarily designed to support the kidney's function it is also capable of functioning as a Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation system (ECMO). With either complete failure of the lung or kidney the implant is guaranteed to support the Loricatti for a week.
* **Lung Enhancements** - The Lungs are laced with a nanofiber loom, which incorporates a catalyst to convert CO2 into O2, extending the time that a Skitarius can hold their breath considerably. The Nanofiber loom also protects the lungs from injury and collapse. Still, if complete failure of the lungs does take place the Loricatti can rely upon their ECMO.
* **Hand enhancements** - The left hand is replaced with a bionic that has small electromagnets built into the fingertips. Once mastered, Skitarii can deftly reload their Galvanic Carbines using this feature.
* **Skeleton Enhancements** - Quicksilver is injected into and threaded throughout the skeletal structure of the Skitarius. The substance is an artificial organic compound inspired by the Nemean Leonis of Caelus Prime. The substance can change its density and tensile strength with simple electrical signals that trigger enzyme reactions. This system allows surprising levels of trauma endurance without compromising other strengths.
* **Aural Enhancements** – Implants filter invaluable data, and provide select protection and amplification of sounds. A Loricatti will not be overwhelmed by the noise of battle.
* **Artificial energy reserves** – Artificial catalysts are implanted throughout the muscle that can store large volumes of organic energy that otherwise is not stable, as a result significant energy boosts are available and the adrenaline spike can be sustained for long periods. Oxygen cells are likewise implanted to be released with energy reserves. Both the energy and oxygen are finite resources that must be 'reloaded' between battles.
* **Genetic Scrubbing** – Early on a Loricatti is flooded with retroviruses that scrub genetic defects and disease. As well as implanting select gene sequences found beneficial.
* **Pellic Carapace** - A variant of Quicksilver is implanted sub-dermally, in a lattice covering the vital areas of the body. This variant responds to chemical stimuli, and also when exposed to high concentrations of Nitrogen it hardens into a protective barrier to reseal minor wounds. This allows a Skitarius to walk off significant explosive concussion or blunt trauma and makes them highly resistant to slow moving melee weapons. The skin implants turns the Skitarius a pale, ghostly white.
* **Deadlock System** – Across the body redundant mechanical blood vessels are installed and valves added to existing vesssels, all linked to a central monitoring system that allows the Skitarius to selectively cut off the blood supply to its limbs and organs. When wounded or dismembered they can prevent life threatening blood loss. In the event of incapacitation the system can automatically evaluate a system leak and react accordingly.

## Military Forces

Tvastar boasts a strong military, rebuilt and expanded after the Medean Crusade, and its frequent explorations into hostile territory. The ground forces of Tvastar were reformed under the careful scrutiny of Magos-Reductor Locutus-00 who standardised the Skitarii, that had previously varied wildly thanks to the whims of the Magi that had raised them. A refined and specific series of augments and implantations are present in all of the Tvastar Skitarii who wear a unified scheme of blue. Compared to their brethren of other Forge Worlds the Tvastar Skitarri keep a large proportion of their self-awareness and choice and decision. With their fear removed, and the usual enhancements to perception during the chaos of battle, they however remain creative and reactive to the flow of battle without the input of Magi to lead them. Their weaponry, armour, and war machines are selected to the specifications of Locutus-00 who is willing to buck trends to suit his preferred strategies.

### Specialist Formations

Vanguard units have all but been phased out of the Tvastar military, as their radioactive aura made them unsuitable for prolonged service alongside unaugmented auxiliaries and the Furious Kestrals. A number of these units still exist and have been elevated to a position as an honour guard, used to defend locations or personnel that their allies have no place to visit.

The basic squad design, regardless of specialism, has been adapted. A Loricatti squad can take an extremely flexible number of servitors on an adhoc basis to adapt their function. All squads have attached a pair of servo skulls and servo arachnids. Finally a ‘mule’ is typically attached as well, but not with squads behaving as light infantry.

* **Retainer** - Taking the place of Vanguard Units, Retainers are heavily armed Skitarii armed with Stubcarbines. They excel in storming and holding terrain thanks to their armour and damage potential. The quality of the Stubcarbine product of Tvastar is seen, in their eyes, to be equal to the treasured radium carbines of Vanguard squads, in regards to the sacrosanct technological craft of the weapon. Thus the techpriests that are escorted by them are assured they have an equal prestige to their rivals. The retainer alpha is armed with a fletchette blaster.
* **Tvastar Ranger** - Tvastar rangers focus on tracking, infiltration and advance sensory assistance to the Tvastar military, instead of hunters. Their victims do not see their dogged pursuit, rather they look at the incoming airstrike in complete shock, having never seen the Ranger observing them. Tvastar Rangers engage at close range with Galvanic Carbines, in fleeting raids. Their blessed raiment are inbuilt with two phase digital camouflage that utilise microscopic cameras and screens to produce a perfect disguise when standing still, and disruptive pattern camouflage when moving. The ranger alpha is armed with twin archeo-revolvers.
* **Scutarii** - Initially drawn from Secutarii ranks, then adopted permanently as an elite unit to form the flanks of Retainer battlelines, the Scutarii are functionally identical to the Secutarii but join the ranks of the Loricatti rather than the Titan Legions. They are recruited from both excelling initiates and veteran retainers.
* **Tvastar Sagitarii** - Paired Skitarii Retainers armed with specialist weaponry, typically antimaterial rifles, Mortars, or Autocannons transported by dedicated mules.
* **Retainer Hippeus** - Replacing the standard Serberys Sulphurhound of Tvastar are heavy cavalry inspired from Aeaean citizen cavalry who infamously crushed the Tvastar mounted division in the first battle of Indra. The Magos adapted their next generation of Serberys to wear heavy armour and ride reinforced steeds. Their weaponry includes hunting lances, melta bombs, fletchette blasters and powermauls. There is no subtly in their attack the Hippeus hit the enemy front line like a brick, shrugging off the same firepower that can fell tanks.
* **Tvastar Serberys Hunter** - Replacing the Serberys raider is a similar, but still distinct unit that fulfils the original role of Skitariii rangers that Tvastar rangers do not fulfil. These cavalry units are given a bounty and collect. Their mount was originally a Mayaran Wolf, the beast has been selectively bred and genetically enhanced. Large enough to carry a rider, it retains its innate tracking ability enhanced with cybernetic modification. Armed with Galvanic Rifles, the Hunters track and eliminate their target, each rider a marksman.
* **Sicarian Destroyers** - Their titanium limbs often bearing the burns familiar of their weapons, the Destroyer variant of Sicarian Tvastar deploy are armed with Plasma Caliver and other heavy weapons (Often deployed on small tracked mules). With their Princep typically armed with rare plasma weapons such as the Plasma Blaster or Burner. Destroyers are Sicarians, as each warrior has been rebuilt escaping death, and may be rebuilt many times to return as a Destroyer, each Sicarian learns from their mistake and knows their weapon like no other. These squads replace the lacking Tvastar Kataphrons.
* **Tvastar Sicarian Infiltrator** - Tvastar has armed their Infiltrators with Fletchette Carbines to focus on close range firepower. Their infiltrator are given the same upgrades to their blessed raiment as the Rangers, and use them to lie in wait until as many enemies as possible are within range of their vox assault.
* **Tvastar Ironstrider** - The Ironstriders of Tvastar do not carry an additional rider, but instead carry a suite of omnispex, augur arrays, and trophy/flares. They are often loaded with Hunter Killer missiles, and accompany Skitarii squads into battle, their height providing additional vision to the squad. They are responsible for the majority of data relaying and are often the eyes of the Marshal.
* **Tvastar Pteraxii** - The Pteraxii do not exist as their own distinct force but are upgraded variants of baseline troops, such as retainers, assigned as armoured fist units. They can deploy from high altitude using their wing units and thrusters alike para or drop troops and then fight on the ground with their wings folded. Such units are only selected from veterans with high performance ratings.
* **Tvastar Onager (Vanquisher)** - The Tvastar Onager is a unique design, supposedly hailing from a recovered STC fragment. It features a six legged base with a large body that a vanquisher turret sits upon. The body is not just a mobile database and data harvesting suite, but a small foundry that can resupply other units on the field. In addition to their primary canon, the Onager carries an macro-stubber in its ‘chin’ and phosphor blaster aside its turret. The Tvastar Onager is also modular to a degree, and can carry alternative weapons available to the leman russ. Finally the Onager carries a number of servo skulls within that can be deployed for scouting duties. The six leg frame shows great agility in climbing near vertical surfaces and crossing rough terrain.
* **Tvastar Archaeopter** - A heavily converted design, again, supposedly recovered from a STC fragment. The Tvastar Archaeopter variant has an enlarged frame and additional thrusters. It is a large transport that is designed to carry vehicles as well as infantry. The greater lift and size afforded to it can accommodate a full squad of Skitarii and an Onager Vanquisher, or alternative vehicles. However, the aircraft is more costly to produce, and typically should one be lost to battle then Skitarii reinforcements will be expended to recover it.

### Marshall

Selected from recruits most suitable for further enhancements and more importantly high intelligence who are then put into intense supplementary training before augmentation; leading to a excessive washout. Those Marshalls that wash out are often given over to the Indra Prime's Data Processing Network. Much of this training is initially with the Furious Kestrals who give no mercy to those who would see their innermost working and traditions, and prove to be excellent judges of who 'has it'.

Marshalls are clad in the same raiment's as the Rangers, providing a protective level of stealth, but reinforced with a personal conversion field. They are armed with a Mag-Inverter shield instead of the typically seen control stave. Even with these layers of defence a Loricatti Marshall is honoured with a dedicated escort of a single Thallax, one of a number of cohorts that Tvastar has lovingly obtained and maintained.

The single most costly and advanced augment given to only the Marshall is the 'Submind Relay'. Using harvested stem cells, it is a grown original neural tissue, a 'test tube brain' that is cultivated and educated during the Marshalls training. Those subminds destined to be implanted in Marshalls that washout are made into Ministrant Servitors. The organ is nested within a protective bone covering, equivalent to the skull, and implanted across the back. The submind is a sentient being in its own right, engineered to support the Marshall in their duty, given access to all of their senses but unable to enact any control over their body they are relegated to an advisor, only able to enact directly through the Noosphere. Primarily they filter and relay information to the Marshall from their dedicated Ministrant servitors.

The Ministrant servitors are advance organic cogitators. Enlarged skull probes containing subminds that are specialised into one of three educational focuses. Each marshal is gifted three to inform their tactical decisions, each one fed and filtered through the Marshal's personal submind. One is a historical tactical index, the second is battlefeed extrapolator and the third runs advance predictive software. In short past, present and future.

### Servitors

* **Spider Probe** – A minature skull probe given a basic spider like leg system and used chiefly for scouting. They can mantle onto the bodies of others and observe from their perch.
* **Shield Servitor** – Given a ballistic shield, carapace armour, and increased muscle load the shield servitor provides mobile cover for the Loricatti.
* **Mk I Probe servitor** – A basic observation unit, sacrificial, advanced augur and visual suite for others to utilise.
* **Mk II Probe servitor** – Advanced observational unit, with a built-in conversion shield and teleporting homer for retrieval. Advanced augur and visual suite. Mechadendrites. High cost and clearance.
* **Drumble Clearance servitor** – Typically used in the second wave of boarding the Drumble is armed with a lasgun that can be run hot (At the cost of the lasgun). The servitor has an oversized reactor to power the lasgun and itself and can be remote detonated. Drumbles clear landing spots, eliminating armsmen and destroying doors and blockage by hugging and detonating.
* **Sump Class Relay servitor** - Designed to filter the data streams of Ironstriders, Sumps will follow the Loricatti forces, absorbing the data chatter, identifying pieces of value and flagging them for Marshals or techpriests. The remaining information is filed to later evaluation. Sump classes are not essential for combat, but do help the cohesion of the greater army, however they appease the data hungry techpriests.

## Furious Kestrals

While not officially part of the Loricatii, the Furious Kestrals are tightly entwined with the Forge World's standing army, to such an extent that they join the expeditionary fleet as combat auxiliaries and are viewed as a worthy counterpart to the Loricatti. There is a very good reason as to why the Furious Kestrals are built to standard excessive of typical PDF, they are their match to the Loricatti in grand combat games. Both their recruits and veterans must be met with equals and their drills never cease. Thanks to their offworld combat as part of the TEF the Furious Kestrals are well experienced with live battle as well.

The Furious Kestrals are well equipped, supplied directly by Tvastar and have some quirks to their equipment as a result of this. For instance rather than the easier to use, maintain and supply Lasguns, the Furious Kestral use the Autoguns that the Tvastarians build and venerate.

The Furious Kestrals are seen with an abnormal amount of cybernetic and biological enhancements for Guardsmen, as any wounded soldier is handed over to the Techpriests to be repaired. Regiments that under perform against the Loricatti are upgraded for the next skirmish.

The operations modus of the Furious Kestrals is simple, all infantry are mounted aboard air transports to be deployed at close range to engage the enemy. Drop off and extraction are drilled to meet extreme speeds and each crew prides themselves against their peers. The enemies of the Kestrals find themselves surrounded by heavy infantry. The Kestrals keep no battleline, focusing on aggressive destruction. When defending the Kestrals heavy infantry has some advantage, but their poor focus on artillery and armour suffers. They cooperate particularly well with other regiments (Particularly ones such as the Death Korps of Krieg) and naturally the Loricatti.

The Furious Kestrals use Tvastar pattern Autoguns, with some recent addition of Wulfram pattern Krakrifles, rocket launchers and scout pattern heavy bolters and equivalent individually carried special and heavy weapons. An underwhelming presence of plasma and melta weapons is apparent, thanks to Tvastar’s lack of specialism in this area. Tanks are restricted to Tank Hunter variant Chimeras, Salamanders, and other light vehicles. Replacing the Valkyrie are Egret pattern VTOL transports.

Egret pattern VTOLs are the most distinct feature of the Furious Kestrals and a centrepiece of their tactics, while twice the size of the traditional valkyrie the Egret can carry 20 guardsmen within its troop bay and features a magnetic rack that can hold a chimera or equivalent. It still carries the full arsenal of a Valkyrie. The Egret is well armoured, when full loaded it travels slower, but has capacity to outpace Valkyries when running empty. While considerably larger than its counter part, this is mostly in length, the Egret’s facing profile is not much larger and allows to traverse the Acronith’s Fortress burrows without impedance, and likewise the tombs of Necron worlds.

## Doctrine

The Tvastar Expeditionary Force makes extensive use of surveillance in battle, here is an example of their behaviour in void combat. Three servitor types exist for this practice.

While engaged with their enemy in void the Loricatti will deploy hundreds, if not thousands of Mk I Probes onto the enemy vessels by teleportation. Almost all will die needlessly, teleporting into walls, the middle of floors, outside the vessel entirely or into the midst of the enemy to be swiftly killed. Data is harvested, the vessels mapped and points of interest identified. If requested, Mk II probes will deploy, which with the intel have a high success rate of landing intact. They will collect data, and if attacked will shrug off attacks before returning dead or alive. Finally, if a asset is identified to be retrieved then a strike force will deploy, Drumble Clearance Servitors will travel first, eliminating enemy armsmen and self-destructing to clear blockades or shut doors while the Techpriests and their guards do their work.

On the ground the Loricatti fight in small cohesive forces. A dozen units, each consisting of a couple of squads and supporting elements, will operative with independence, completing the objectives set by their Marshal who takes position as conductor to the Loricatti machine.

### Notable Quotes

#### By the Loricatti

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—Loricatti ultimatum type 1(a), typically utilised by Loricatti boarding parties prior to assaulting enemy vessels.