Rainbow Warriors

Rainbow Warriors armorial with Legion iconography.

A Rainbow Warriors Tēlpochyahqueh (Sergeant).

The **Rainbow Warriors** (High Gothic*: Militi Arcus Pluvianum, Axiaratlali: Ayaucozamalotomeh)* are one of the ten Legions of the Legiones Astartes that make up the so-called Black Halo - the formation of ten Legions consisting of Legions XXI through XXX, which are responsible for providing tactical support to the First Founding Legions as well as guarding and maintaining Mankind's most endangered zones. The Rainbow Warriors are the XXVIII Legion hailing from the lineage of their Primarch Achcauhtli. Despite their warrior culture, which may look primitive to the Solar upper class, this Legion is known for their laser and light-based technological innovations. They also possess a fondness for heavy armour. In their conquests they have integrated many Imperial knight and omnidrake houses into their war machine.

## Legion History

### Founding

The Rainbow Warriors began their life as the Luna Jaguars, as their Primarch had been sent off to some other place. The Luna Jaguars were recruited primarily from the Selenite Gene-Prince houses (as well as from as the notable Hy Axarilian pimp-lord family 'Manausanus-Cominius' who were ethnic Lunars) and as such many of them had biologies which were incompatible with the gene seed. Those who survived the operation were few in number, and thus the legion had a policy of forced recruitment and enslavement used to maintain numbers. Promotions among the NCO ranks were based around the number of captives brought in, which encouraged an aggressive style of fighting which focused on the destruction of enemy morale while inflicting minimal casualties.

### Axariacemanahuac and Achcauhtli

Axariacemanahuac had weathered the Age of Strife fairly well, and had already reestablished interstellar travel through use of Slip Drive. However, this golden age was short-lived when a mysterious xenos race known to the Axariacemanahuaca as the Citlalonaca invaded and established a theocratic apartheid state in M30 201. The planet's population were made servants to the small Citlalonaca elite.

The Citlalonaca were the only ones with the right to own land, with a population of Axariacemanahuaca being assigned to the land as serfs. This was a much more vibrant economy than that which could be found on feral worlds however. There was a high degree of urbanization, with only around 12% working in agriculture. Most worked in manufacturing and services. A large part of the service sector was aimed at selling luxury goods to the Citlalonaca elite, as most of the Axariacemanahuaca did not have incomes high enough to allow for spending outside of daily needs, save for very rare occasions like holidays.

Those holidays themselves were determined by the Citlalonaca overlords. The heads of each of the families (who could be male or female) acted as the high priests of their regions, with their offspring holding smaller positions within the church or the secular bureaucratic positions. They arranged festivals, marriage, official ceremonies, but most striking about this faith when compared with others documented by the Administratum is their focus on human sacrifice.

The primary goal of Axariacemanahuaca foreign policy was the acquisition of slaves, sacrifices, and food. Sacrifices were of the most importance to the elite, and it was encouraged by giving out promotions based off of POWs captured, who were then sent back to the capital city of Colohuatepetl. There the Citlalonaca fed off the misery and suffering of the sacrifices, and offered their souls up to the gods.

During the time of the Great Crusade the most successful general of the Axariamacemanahuac state was a staggeringly large man by the name of Achcauhuitl .Under his reign as Topileh for CORECOM 40 worlds had been added to the domain of Axariacemanahuac, doubling the state's territory. His success is partially thanks to his integration of the new laser technology of his own invention, partially due to his incredible skill as a tactician, and also the time manipulating powers given to him by the warp entity Ahuilatollicuaitl. He believed himself to be an instrument of the god Catlimancan, whose domain was blood, war, and violence. His success in battle and believed divine importance made him an enemy of the Priest-class, but they understood that the army was more loyal to Achcauhuitl than the state, making an attempt to remove him from power unfeasible.

When Classis XXXIV heard of the general from Rogue Trader reports in M30 852, they immediately sent the information back to the Emperor, but there were many false reports like it, so he only heard about it in M30 895, at which point Achcauhuitl had destroyed Classis XXXIV and 2 other expeditionary forces. The Imperium was at war with Axariacemanahuac, with the stated purpose of wiping out the priest class he had sworn to protect. Religious xenos could be offered no quarter, and their followers were slaughtered to a man, even civilians. Achcauhuitl and the rest of Axariacemanahuac knew the Imperium only as a force of genocide, destruction, and heathenry, the enemies of all they held sacred.

### Battle of Vrailendt Nor and the Reunification of Achcauhuitl with the Emperor of Mankind

The Emperor of Mankind was off campaigning when he received the news, which was backed now by credible reports of his prowess in war. Transport to the front with Achcauhuitl took 5 years. As He approached the front he saw that border territories had been ravaged by the Primarch's raids against the Imperium. Millions had been captured, enslaved, and sacrificed, although the Administratum has not settled on an exact number as the border territories had only recently been conquered, thus census reports showed decreases in population from both the initial conquest and the Axariacemanahuaca raids. The Rainbow Warriors' Official Historical Society traditionally puts the numbers at around 3-4 million, emphasizing the mercy of the Primarch and his distrust of the Citlalonaca, while Anti-Rainbow Warrior historians typically put the number at 12-16 Million. Magos Ephthymios 23-C of the Tharsis Omnissianic Universty states "The Primarch had not yet accepted the Imperial Truth, and worked under a system which incentivized the capture of enemy prisoners of war as well as non combatants. These contribute more weight towards the view that Achcauhuitl had done significant damage to the Sector's population."

At the Battle of Vrailendt Nor, Achcauhuitl faced off against the Black Dragons, Adeptus Custodes, the Luna Jaguars and their auxiliaries. Combined the Imperial Force totaled 1,500,000. Achcauhuitl had a force of 2,000,000, giving him a numerical advantage on the ground, but he had lost aerospace supremacy a month earlier. The battle was unremarkable in terms of tactics used, and the advantage brought by the superior training and armor of the Astartes was nullified by the Omnidrakes of the Axariacemanahuaca vassals. After a brutal 3 month slog the Emperor of Mankind found himself in the same sector as Achcauhuitl. Here, he took the form of the Eagle, and released a psychic wave of energy that pacified the nearby combatants. He had a psychic conversation with the Emperor, which is recorded in the Liber Arcus Pluvius.

"Our Primarch looked upon the radiant light of the Emperor, his immaterial wings stretched out across the sky in between the evening light of two suns. In the privacy of his mind he thought 'Axariatl? Are you the master of these wretched daemons I must fight?'

'My child, these are not daemons, or any other such superstitious nonsense. These are your sons, long seperated by the vastness of space. They are the sword of mankind, the liberating wave which destroys the tyranny of the xenos and the zealot. They are our finest warriors, and like clay you shall mold them. They will be the instrument of your will, and they shall bring about the freedom of your people.' the words of the Emperor echoed through the young Primarch's mind.

Such a claim was not to be taken lightly, and ordinarily he would have dismissed such talk as the madness of mendicants. Ahuilatollicuaitli appeared behind him, and spoke in thoughts 'This one speaks a truth it finds, but the heavens see its lies. Trust it so far as you benefit, for bright freedoms will follow, but know it as a tyrant. Our gods smile upon that hand. Shake it, and seal your fate. Victory draws near.'

Achcauhuitl, Primarch, future Tlatoani, shook the Eagle's hand. The men of both colors gathered upon the sacred peak under Canamancan's red eye, represented by the crimson moon overhead. Sol, too, shone bright in the sky, in a manner which the witnesses found unnatural considering the distance.

The Emperor in the form of the Mother slit her genitals with Canamancan's blade, though she expressed her distaste for such a ritual. She knew, however, that she needed her son's prowess for the war against the Ork Thrakka, and so she begrudgingly watched her sacred blood pour into the bowl. So too did Achcauhuitl take his penis and cut it with the blade of Canamancan. The blood of Mother and Son mixed in the bowl, and new life was made. An alliance between Axariacemanahuac and the Imperium Huminorum, sealed by the God of War."

The Army of CORECOM and the Adeptus Astartes marched on Axariacemanahuac. The remainder of the Axariacemanahuac joined the forces of the Primarch, as they too hated the Citlalonaca. The Citlalonaca were revealed to in fact be a group of Dark Eldar, refugees from Commoragh after a disagreement with the Archon Asdrubael Vect. Too few in number to offer much resistance, the genocide against them was swift, and also killed about 200,000 wealthy humans who had collaborated with the regime.

Achcauhuitl was declared Tlatoani, and given command of his Legion, who he named the Rainbow Warriors for his lasweapons and a rainbow which appeared above him on the day of his coronation. Much of CORECOM was given the Geneseed, bumping up Legion numbers to an all time high of 340,000, but after a few years of crusading this was lowered to 220,000.

## Legion Appearance

### Legion Colours

The Rainbow Warriors wear blue power armour with a multi-coloured rainbow stripe stenciled upon the center of their helms. The Aquila or Imperialis on the chest armour is yellow. A white squad specialty symbol stenciled upon the right inset indicates a Legionary's assigned specialty (Tactical, Assault, Devastator, Destroyer, Veteran or Command).

### Legion Badge

The Rainbow Warriors Legion icon consists of white colored winged-lightning bolt centered upon a field of ultramarine blue.