147th Syntraxian Strike Wing

## Syntraxian 147th Strike Wing 'The Helldivers'

The Helldivers Wing Patch

"*If you can't navigate via roadsign, you're not flying low enough*"
—Dante 'Te' Crisante, IV flight Vulture Pilot - 861 M41
The **Syntraxian 147th Strike Wing**, commonly referred to by their colloquial name, 'The Helldivers', is an elite Wing of the Imperium's Imperial Navy, that hails from the world of Syntrax Prime.

## History

The 147th, like all of Syntrax's various Wings are a rather new addition to the Imperial Navy, the first 5 formations being officially brought into the fold in 815.M41. Before the disastrous coup that occurred only a scant few years before the first wings were commissioned, the Syntraxians could only hone their craft in the confines of their homeworld.

Syntrax Prime is where the 147th call home, and lays in the clustered zones of the Segmentum Tempestus. The planet's current form is a large Proto forge world, the sprawling manufactoriums and blooming industry long since replaced the countless mines, quarries and oil derricks that pockmark its otherwise serene landscape. Syntrax's time of being harvested for its natural resources has however long come to a close, as the Mechanicus start to sink their mechandrites into all corners of the planets society.

The first thing a visitor to Syntrax would notice is the water. the water is blood red on Syntrax, due to incredibly rich iron deposits all over the planet. This is one reason amongst many why the first settlers and the cities they founded are so sparse and built up around the mountains and springs of the planet. 'Red water' is undrinkable, if any of this seemingly innocuous water is ingested, the human body will instantly expel it through vomiting. Natives to Syntrax jokingly refer to this as "Redgut" after the blood like appearance of the water expelled. This crimson colouring of the water makes an orbital view of the planet breathtaking, the wide steppe and savannah of the surface mixing with the blood red of the planets corrupted water, is the reason for the crimson colouring of the Wings beret. 7 main hives make up the civilisation on world, designated for resource collection to fuel nearby forge world's, as well as the planets slowly growing forge status. The planet has large swathes of the forges dedicated to weapons and aircraft production, the planet almost self sufficient in that regard. Now quite heavily polluted, creating a very thick acidic layer of smog called "The Veil". The altitude and range varies a large amount depending on many factors, but it is always present in some form.

The vast majority of the planets population inhabits the low-lands and sprawling Savannah's of the planet, living in the toxic smog of the Veil being a fast-track to respiratory problems, cancer and death inside of a rather rapid 5 year span. On top of being incredibly hazardous for the human physiology the veil also wrecks havoc with long range communications, makes solar power an impossibility; and most importantly to the Syntraxians is a nightmare for any air-breathing aircraft.

Despite these seemingly unwinnable circumstances, Syntrax has been the creator of countless types of both air breathing and void capable aircraft, as well as the creation of some of the most hair-brained pilots this side of humanity as a whole.

The Mechanicus and the Syntraxians have nearly come to blows for many disagreements related to the design and modification of holy STC pattern aircraft, none as volatile as the Syntraxian pattern Vulture. Where the tech adepts look at the minor Vordian modifications of the Vendetta as questionable but passable, the complete rebuild the Syntraxians bring upon their allotted aircraft is seen by many of the Mechanicus as abject defiling of a sacred design. After the dire events of the Syntraxian Secessionist war that ravaged the system in the early days of M38, the Mechanicus and Syntraxian government come to an incredibly rocky agreement about their delivery of their Vultures.

The standard STC airframes are initially fabricated and thrice blessed by the Mechanicus, birthed in their sprawling manufactoriums that stretch over almost 1000km² of Syntraxes surface. As they are completed they are transported by rail barely 100m out of the Mechanicus' factory; nicknamed 'The short walk', and into the Syntraxians main factory complex. These would then be completely overhauled and rebuilt over a span of 6 months. The main thing stopping the mechanicus from completely barring this blatant slap in the face harks back to the Syntraxian Secessionist Coup that of 811.M41, where STC pattern aircraft piloted by the hastily assembled Secessionist air force clashed with the Syntraxian aircraft over the vast savannahs of the planet. The Mechanicus stayed completely out of the fighting, only defending their territory from attack and not stepping one foot outside of their hallowed ground. This gave the Arch Magos; sitting in his jagged gothic spire ample examples of how outclassed the STC craft were fighting in these unique conditions. More of the standard imperial aircraft were killed purely by the Veil than any Syntraxian squadron, earning it the nickname "The ace of aces" by the surviving Imperial pilots.

As the final splinters of the rebellion was crushed underfoot, and the corrupt officials tried and executed by the black clad figures of the Inquisition, the Mechanicus and the Syntraxians came to a rocky agreement. The Mechanicus would not build these "blasphemous incarnations of the Omnissiah's holy designs", but in turn would not object to what the Syntraxians did to them upon delivery, leading to the creation of 'The short walk'.

## Notable Campaigns

* **Syntraxian Secessionist Coup 811-812 M41:** The 147th was born in the dire midst of the sudden and brutal secessionist coup. Governors rose up utilising forbidden Abominable intelligence rediscovered from the dark age of technology. the war lasted 13 months, and in that many cities and proto-hives were either burned or devastated in their entirety from the secessionist assault from the land and air. At the foremost of these enemy combatants were the A.I piloted aircraft, that cut bloody swathes through the still fledgling fighter squadrons of the western continents hives. The 147th was hastily assembled under the lead of Casian Biscari, who quickly organised the green pilots into a long range strike formation. In the coming months they undertook several extremely long range raids to the far east, strafing logistics convoys, bombing high value targets and raiding small airstrips that they would over-run for resupplies. By the end of the war Biscari was very well decorated along with a high number of his subordinate pilots, and was elevated to the Chief air marshal's staff shortly after the wars conclusion. The hand of the inquisition however was swift and merciless, every member of Syntrax's armed forces were intensely debriefed, and incarcerated where appropriate to weed out any potential splinters of the anti imperial faction left amongst the survivors.
* **Official Addition to the Imperial Navy 815 M41:** After the large reformation of Syntrax's remaining air-forces into the Syntraxian Reclamation Air Force (SRAF), several formations of promising pilots were absorbed by the Imperial Navy. The planet's bizarre heritage and aptitude for everything flying had been brought to the Navies attention by a member of one Inquisitors retinue, an Ex Squadron co-ordinator who saw immense promise and potential in the fledgling planet. After a lot of politics and bartering, the Navy eventually agreed to take 5 wings of the syntraxians on a trial basis, to see if they were really all they were cracked up to be. High Admiral Preval made it plain that he wanted a range of different wings to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses and quirks of these new formations. The newly formed 147th Strike Wing was one of the initial picks, forever cementing its fame as one of the 'Original Five'. Along with the Helldivers were the 717th Nautical attack Wing 'The Firebirds', 11th Fighter Wing 'Smoking Talons', 902nd Bomber Command 'The Gardeners' as well as the 1st Special Operations Squadron.
* **Counter-Insurgency over Asaman 828-854 M41:**
* **The Defence of Vordia 962 M41:**
* **The Siege of Nyota 968-972 M41:** At the beginning of the siege of Nyota, the Syntraxians scrambled every available Wing to help in the defense of the Storm Griffons homeworld. 8 Wings were assembled by the onset of the conflict, being tasked to set up a massive airbase in the landing fields near the capital of Azmarin. 7 Dedicated Strike Wings with the 147th amongst them were scrambled along with the 92nd fighter Wing, the overall force lead by Group commander Roderick Coster. Group top brass were to set up in the main NAF (Nyotan Air Force) airbase in Azmarin and co-ordinate their efforts with the Navy flyers, while the other Wings were to construct their own base as they saw fit. The 92nd fighter Wing instead refused and set up in Azmarin's main commercial airport with the large but inexperienced and underequipped NAF. Their Wing commander Harvey Malcher being quoted as saying: "We're flyers not animals, sleeping in dugouts is what the guard do." He would be killed in one of the Archenemy bombardments concentrated on military assets in the capital along with the Syntraxian top brass, whereas the camo-netted and scattered Forward operating bases for the rest of the Syntraxian wings were scarcely touched by the bombers. This left the Syntraxians with a large issue, their Group commander along with about half of their command structure was now fragged along with most of the dedicated fighter Wing, meaning the Strike pilots were now taking the brunt of the mass enemy bomber formations and taking heavy casualties. Despite the circumstances that had thrust them into the die-hard fighter jocks, the Wings 6 thunderbolts decided to excel. XV squadron racked up massive amounts of kills against mass bomber formations while the remaining squadrons targeted field HQ's and probed air defense nets. Slow, lumbering and lacking any coherent form of escort in the early days of the war, large chunks of the bomber packs were damaged or shot out of the sky completely, headed for their presumably vital targets. After the first gruelling winter of the war the initial thousand-bomber archenemy raids subsided, allowing the bloodied imperial Wings to take stock and re-organize.
* **Retrival Flight & the Final Nyotan Sortie 972 M41:** By the final days of the war the remnants of the Wings had reformed under the 147th, previous 358th Squadron lead Ardius Persyn being elevated to the rank of Wing Commander by being the only Squadron Leader left that hadn't been shot down or otherwise fragged during the siege. A Vordian Fireteam was surrounded and trapped deep behind enemy lines inside the Graeven Mountains, and required a sortie from the Imperial Navy to retrieve them. The 147th were perfect for the job. Due to the extreme risk of running over half a dozen craft in through the heart of the by then infamous 'Flame-out alley', every pilot that took on the mission were volunteers.
* **Folding into the '1st Air-Mob' upon Vordia 973 M41:**
* **Tragedy of Thoria-Heles 992.M41:**

## Notable Actions & Medals

Ardius Persyn's Order of Ollanius Pious Citation (972.M41)

*The stories of what happened during XV squadron's final sortie on Nyota have been collated and recordings revisited in the writing of this medal commendation.*

*One pilot now detached from his allies and dry on ammunition held off an entire squadron of bats alone, described as 'a silver banshee diving and biting at the cloud of archenemy fighters that surrounded him'. Eyewitness reports from other imperial pilots as well as passengers from the fleeing transports put the number of enemy craft distracted by this silver banshee to be between 25-50, but the personal report of the pilot estimates that number to around 35.*

*Wing Commander Ardius Persyn went on to claim another 4 kills using his battered thunderbolt as a weapon all of its own, bringing his confirmed tally up to 12 for that sortie. The heavily armoured and stocky airframe cut through spined tail planes and wing surfaces like butter, using the shredded remains of his wings to cleave parts off of the archenemy aces without destroying his own. While the reinforcing Vordian fighters fought valiantly beside him before breaking off to protect the fleeing bulk landers into the relative safety of Nyota's orbit, it was Persyn that kept the swarming interceptor wings at bay long enough for them to escape.*

*Wing Commander Persyn broke into the void ten minutes later only after all other imperial aircraft were safe and out of enemy fire. According to observers as he piloted his damaged craft towards the Imperial defence fleet, Thousands of marks and rends were visible across his thunderbolt, still in control despite the massive damage.*

*It is for his actions single-handedly delaying the massed enemy air assault upon the imperial escape flotilla and willingly suffering near fatal injuries to assure the safety of his comrades as well as my own life, that Lord Admiral Isiah Provaran awards Wing Commander Ardius Persyn with the Order of the Ollanius Pious.*

*May the Emperor protect him as he does all of us.*

Fireteam Reaper's Retrival Flight (972.M41)

*All volunteering for an extremely dangerous operation between Archenemy lines to rescue a stranded Vordian infiltrator Team surrounded by mechanized archenemy forces, These airmen showed tremendous sacrifice and courage in the face of overwhelming enemy fire. The Airmen and commendations in question are as follows:*

**XIX Flight Slam-jet "Delicate Touch"-**

*Flight officer Sinon .B. Gardner: Honorifica Tempestus*

*Flight Engineer Marika .T. Beil: Honorifica Tempestus*

**XV Squadron Marauder Destroyer "F.U.B.A.R. Express"**

*Flight officer Mierlo .V. Wessel: Medallion Crimson*

*Navigator Didrik .A. Habostad: The Eagle Ordinary*

*Gunner Marika .Y. Kotlyarova: Honorifica Tempestus*

**XXVI Flight Valkyrie: "Cloud"**

*Flight officer Anya LaHain: Honorifica Tempestus*

*Flight engineer Mateo Pérez: Honorifica Tempestus*

*All other members of the retrieval flight are to be commended with the Imperialis medal for loss and Exemplary courage in combat*

*Commended by Wing Commander Ardius Persyn, 147th Strike Wing 'The Helldivers'*

## Wing Organization

#### Officer Ranks

* **Wing Commander 'Winco'** — The commander of the entire wing and In direct communication with the Militant General of the Crusading force
* **Squadron Leader —** Commands one of the Wing's 4 squadrons
* **Flight Lieutenant —** The commander of one of the Wings flights, usually 6/7 Aircraft
* **Flying Officer —** The rank of all starting pilots, to which they will rise through the ranks based on their ability not only to fly, but to lead and inspire too.
* **Pilot Officer —** The lowest commissioned rank in the Wing

#### Non-Commissioned Officers

* **Forward Strike Controller —** A Specialist officer that is the provision of Close Air Support onto the enemy, they can be deployed with ground troops directly or by Air in the back seat of a dedicated Spotter aircraft (Currently slam-jets)

* **Wing Sergeant** — A pilot who has demonstrated skill and tactical leadership, and act as an inspiration to their fellow airmen.
* **Flight Sergeant**
* **Flight Medic -** A Syntraxian Medicae trained by the Vordian 122nd in close quarters combat and skill at arms. These guardian angels ride in on the 2nd CSAR's Valkyries, picking up and rendering aid to crashed friendly aircrew and VIP assets, usually under fire.

#### Enlisted

* Senior Technician —
* Junior Technician —
* Crash-Crewman —
* Senior Aircraft-man —
* Leading Aircraft-man — The most junior rank in the squadron, an Aircraft-man's job entails several things including refuelling their designated aircraft, repairing simple parts and otherwise following the instructions of the senior technicians.

## Tactics & Formation

The 147th have always been a well renowned strike wing for over a dozen militant generals and admirals of the Battlefleet Trizaria, a reliable name spoken in war-rooms and in transcripts of high level officials. However it was during the brutal Defence of Vordia against the Xenos hordes that they made a name for themselves as the last word in low level strike capability.

Many other Wings deployed alongside the 147th would very loudly argue that they also were experts at this method of precision weapons delivery, however none of them had a landing strut and weapons pylon ripped off their thunderbolt from a 3-foot stone wall. Occurrences like that were albeit rare, however the 147th pilots regularly fly at an altitude of less than 15ft going well over Mach, as was their standard and expected during training.

The wing

#### Wing Composition

***'XV' (15th Fighter Squadron) -*** 4 Ace piloted thunderbolts (Split into 'Atlas' and 'Ire' flights), 1 'Trident' laden marauder destroyer - 'Persyn's flying circus'

**358th Strike Squadron -**

III flight 'Rapier Flight' - 6 Syn. pattern Vultures, 1 Marauder Destroyer from the 89th G.A. Squadron attached

IV flight 'Claymore Flight' - 6 Syn. pattern Vultures, 1 Marauder Destroyer from the 89th G.A. Squadron attached

V flight 'Broadsword Flight' - 6 Avenger Strike Fighters, 1 Marauder Destroyer from the 621st G.A. Squadron attached

XIX flight 'Longbow' - 10 Slam Jets (Plus 2 in-flight tankers & 1 Photo-recce), 1 Marauder Destroyer from the 621st G.A. Squadron attached

**89th Ground Assault Squadron** - 2 Marauder Destroyers

**621st Ground Assault Squadron** - 2 Marauder Destroyers

**2nd Combat Search and Recovery Squadron -** 6 Valkyries in a medical and recovery configuration

## Aircraft

* **Thunderbolt/Thunderbolt Fury:** The Thunderbolt is the heavier of the Imperial Navy's two primary air superiority fighters. Durable, robust and manufactured on scores of Forge Worlds and Industrial Worlds across the Imperium, the Thunderbolt is better armed than the Lightning, its superior firepower even susceptible to be improved by the adjunction of underslung air-to-air interception missiles or Hellstrike missiles. Like the Lightning, the Thunderbolt makes use of anti-grav technology, but its greater mass means that ultimately it is less nimble than the lighter Lightning. After phasing the lightning out of active service and replacing it with the Thunderbolt, the 147th fell in love with it in short order. As of current only the venerable XV flight use these heavy fighters, the pilots hand-picked by the Wing-lead as his personal wingmen. Being an ace is a requirement to join the XV, but expert pilots chose to remain in their home-grown Vultures as opposed to the mass produced Thunderbolt. As well as the basic Thunderbolt the XV field 2 of the incredibly rare but devastating 'Fury' pattern, flown by the Wing lead as well as his one chosen pilot. Replacing the quad autocannons with two enormous Avenger Bolt Cannons, those piloting these craft must be sparing with their ammunition and thus are only flown by the best the Wing has to offer.
* **Lightning Strike Fighter:** The Lightning is a fast and nimble twin-jet air superiority fighter commonly fielded by the Imperial Navy and its affiliates. It was a mainstay of the 147th since the dying days of the Syntraxian Secessionist Coup. A good forward armament and blistering speed put it in very good stead with a number of the Wings top-most pilots for well over a century. However due to complex engine maintenance as well as being very susceptible to ground based AAA fire, it was eventually replaced by the much tougher and more rugged Thunderbolt.

* **Marauder Destroyer:** The Marauder Destroyer is a variant of the standard Marauder Bomber that is used by the Imperial Navy as its primary atmospheric bomber aircraft. The Marauder Destroyer is the most widespread variant of the Marauder Bomber and is specialized to perform low-level ground attacks instead of performing high altitude strategic bombing. The Marauder Destroyer features a reduced bomb payload in favour of overwhelming direct firepower. These heavy bombers are absolutely central to the 147th's formations, each Vulture/Avenger flight as well as the XV have one destroyer in the centre of their formations. III, IV & V flight keep their destroyers at the head of the formation, breaking up large clusters of targets with mass forward firepower as well as a plethora of Air-to-ground ordnance. This leaves the Vultures and Avengers to act exactly like their name-sakes, picking off stragglers or hardened targets missed by the marauders attack run. XV flight however utilize their Destroyer very differently, in an air-to-air role. Rather than loading the bomber with ground ordnance, 8 long-range 'Trident' missiles are loaded onto the wings, and an advanced rotary launcher replaces the bomb-bay. Before the enemy are even within range, the destroyer climbs above the formation and launches a barrage of up to 24 of these long-range missiles. Each Trident splits into 3 Armour-Piercing rods directly before impact, punching through and scattering the enemy formation before the rest of the XV engage and hunt down the disorganized enemy flyers.

* **Syntraxian Pattern Vulture**:
* **Avenger Strike Fighter:**

* **Nyotan SB-X2 'Slam-Jet':** Originally created and fielded by the Nyotan Air Force, the 147th came into possession of some of the original blueprints as well as two dozen airframes during the Siege of Nyota. Used to replace the dwindling numbers of workable Syntraxian Vultures due to both a lack of parts and the constant attrition from both ground and air attack, Syntraxian pilots originally detested the thin skinned and much larger 'Slam-Jets' over their tried and tested Vultures. One pilot was quoted after a strike sortie in the large craft *"It's got less armor than a packet of Lho sticks, it turns like a cow with a full load and trying to land that cruiser sized lump on a narrow dirt strip has taken about 10 years off my life."* Despite this initially rocky reception, the 147th sent the aircraft through a meticulous and exhausting trialling process, characteristically for the Syntraxians it was quite simply called "The Scrutiny" in typical understating fashion.
* **Raptor Interceptor:**
* **Titan Heavy Bomber:**

## Adeptus Mechanicus Technical Specifications

**Syntraxian Pattern Vulture**
## Notable Members

* **Ardius 'Sparks' Persyn -** Born in 945.M41 to a nurse and retired PDF tank commander, Ardius grew up in the murky depths of one of Syntrax Prime's many bubble enclosed city sprawls. Growing up fast in the crime ridden streets of his home and harboring a consistent feeling of claustrophobia about living a life of dark and despair under the hive, Ardius signed up for the WVAF (West Verano Air Force) on the dawn of his 17th birthday. His parents protested about signing up so young, but nothing they said would dissuade him from getting somewhere new. He was flown out to the sprawling savannah's of Bareven bay with 39 other aspiring pilots, many of whom would be given the boot before their first solo flights a month later. Ardius showed a natural inclination to flying, and while no-one denied he was talented it didn't stop the lofty praise getting to his head rather frequently. After a particularly rowdy night's drinking he got into a brawl with several of the other trainee pilots, half a dozen of them jumping him from behind and proceeding to beat him heavily. Only by the timely intervention of a very angry Flight mechanic and WSO instructor in the form of Trajan Ebo was the young trainee saved from more than a black eye and some minor cuts. The two became fast friends after the incident, and while Ardius toned down his boasting somewhat his dry wit and sharp tongue were uncurable to this day.
* **Trajan 'Layabout' Ebo:**
* **Karis 'Atom' Malory:**
* **Devlin 'Mariner' Ejarque:**
* **Mierlo 'Wessels' Wessel:**
* **Selena 'Mad-dog' Neja:**
* **Casian 'Short Drop' Biscari:**
* **Verso 'Halo' E'squire:**
* **Lev 'Temple' Tsirempilov:**
* **Ropot 'Colander' Sollander:**
* **Berwic 'Lho-Born' Ferral:**
* **Christa 'ASBO' La-Hain:**
* **Garen Bourneil:**

## Notable Aircraft

* ***Bad Vibrations*** - **Later nicknamed the *Silver Wraith:*** During the re-organisation of the 147th under Wing commander Verso E'squire; Ardius had been one of the Vulture pilots to undergo voluntary Thunderbolt training. Many pilots refused out of principal, choosing to stay in their home grown pattern vultures and other atmos craft. Ardius however jumped at the chance. Trajan Ebo remembered vividly watching the first batch of solo flights, when a loose panel ripped off of the fuselage and sheared the vertical stabiliser clean off the bolt as it was taking off. Of course it was Ardius' craft. Trajan heard the instructor bellow over the radio to land immediately, however the cocky little fether did 2 circuits, a victory roll which he very nearly turned into a flatspin, then heavily landed on the burnt grass of the airstrip. He got a chewing out and a week of sanitary duty, but the endless waves of free drinks more than passed the time. Trajan heard from the groundcrew attached to the trainees that Ardius' bolt was the subject of "bad vibrations", a sentiment which the pilot found endlessly amusing. The Thunderbolt Fury served him impeccably through the Defence of Vordia, however was again damaged during the height of the siege. He utilised the Vulture *'Flak Magnet'* and eventually inherited it after the in-numerable swarms of the tyranids were finally pushed back to the western continent. 'Bad vibrations' fought through all 3 years of the Siege of Nyota, finally coming to an end during the sortie that would grant Ardius both life changing injuries, and the Order of Ollanius Pious. This action would grant it the name *'Silver Wraith',* after refugees in escaping bulk landers witnessed a lone imperial fighter cutting and diving through dozens of chaos craft, paint completely burnt off down to its gleaming silver metal. Upon landing the thunderbolt cartwheeled down the hanger of the *Shield of Vordia's* deck, destroying it completely and almost its pilot along with it. After clambering out if the wreckage with several broken bones and now complete blind from shattered glass, Ardius was quoted with saying "Well that was a crap parking job, now wheres the bar? Could murder a pint." Before collapsing from blood loss.

* ***Bad Vibrations II***
* ***Flak Magnet:*** The inherited Syntraxian Pattern Vulture of one flight leader Ardius Persyn during the Defence of Vordia, Ardius transferred from the venerable XV squadron to lead 'Claymore Flight' of the 358th Strike Squadron. Credited several major aerial victories as well as a cricket score of Tyranid bio-titans and other such "Feth-off huge buggers", Persyn propelled IV flight into the forefront of combat during the final siege of Delavine; Vordia's shining capital city. Flak-Magnet was eventually brought down by a hulking tyranid Harridan, slamming into the heavy attack craft as Itself was dumping a massive hail of punisher cannon rounds into its flank.

* ***Sheer Madness:*** The Thunderbolt Fury flown by Devlin 'Mariner' Ejarque in the ubiquitous XV Squadron, the young ace was given the great opportunity and title as the lead of 'Ire' Flight in '*Persyn's Flying Circus'.* After a period spent getting used to his new aircraft (Ejarque started his flying career in Marauders of all things), and some time spent being coached by Malory he has become an exceptional fighter pilot as well as a excellent foil to Neja's hot-blooded ferocity and willingness to chase enemy craft into almost suicidal peril. Sporting a dashing bright red and white trimmed livery, *Sheer Madness* usually is the first seen in any engagement, and definitely leaves an impact wherever she is flown. Whether that's the hearts and minds of imperial citizens during a ceremonial flypast, or ripping another pilot out of the air with an air-splitting torrent of bolt cannon shells really depends on the day.
* ***Blood Orchid:*** The Personal thunderbolt of XV Squadron ace Karis 'Atom' Malory. She is resplendent in a gleaming white, pink and gold livery; Ancient Sakura tree spreading over the fuselage and down the right wing. Much like Malory's insistence for every bolt and rivet on her aircraft to be perfect, the livery has to match. Sadly the aircraft came to an undignified end when a Shield-maiden class drop ship crash landed down the Runway where two of the XV thunderbolts were parked, careening straight through *Blood Orchid* as well as ripping one of *Sheer Madness*'s wings off. XV had just finished coming down from the *'Reticent Dawn'* Carrier onto Vordia after the Siege of Nyota; and Malory was impeccably displeased to return from the concrete air-raid shelter to find the 200 tonne drop-ship had completely smashed her craft to bits. A small 1ft square panel with a clump of painted petals the only reminder of her old craft, and is shown off in the 147th Air Museum in the city of Reticence on Vordia.

* *'*F.U.B.A.R Express:*XV Flight's personal Marauder Destroyer, captained by one of the 147th's exceptionally rare bomber aces Mierlo 'Wessels' Wessel. Much like the other craft of the flying circus,* F.U.B.A.R Express *has been extensively modified and redecorated; in this case to the role of an air-to-air missile truck. With the addition of a powerful electronic warfare suite as well as the Syntraxian home-grown VN/VPG-42 radar (both controlled by the bomber's radar operator seated behind the pilot) this allows the marauder to be a deadly 'eye in the sky' as well as air-to-air combatant. XV's* 'Party Trick' is by far the most deadly application of the uprated marauder, which Wessels very aptly described to Colonel Marcellus Burgen of the Vordian 122nd while on joint operations with the old drop trooper. *"Trident is the name of our home-grown long range air to air missiles. XV's personal destroyer carries 24 of the bastards and they make Skystrikes look like firecrackers. All the fighters have to do is lock up as many targets as they can and link the targeting data back to the bomber. Have to make sure you send the data in the correct order however, otherwise the Trident's get a bit twitchy and well... try to shoot down whoever sent the buggered data. Upside is that if there are enough missiles loaded onboard and enough bastards to shoot them at, we can fire 'The full 24'. Rarely have enough of them to justify that kind of mass fire though, which ain't half a bit of a buzzkill."*

* ***Night Witch***

* ***Archaic 'Arc'***

* ***Delicate Touch***
* ***White Duke***

## Allies

* **Storm Griffons**

* **Imperial Navy**

* **Vordian 122nd Drop Troopers**

* **Nyotan 96th 'Ebbesons Own'**

## Quotes

"*Half of the Griffons at the landing fields are still missing, the Nyotans and the Vordians are no-where to be seen, and both Laora and Marc have been missing for Throne knows how long. Ontop of that grand fething mess, Azmarin fell to the arch enemy 5 weeks ago, and they've got a fething engine running loose... Where's my bloody pay rise?*"
—'Win-co' Ardius Persyn during the Siege of Nyota
"*You still have your home! We were forced to watch the cancer spread before it was destroyed infront of us. The griffioen all died defending it, and the rest of us were told by the Vrala's in-charge to do nothing but run. History will remember us as cowards, where it will remember you all as heroes.*"
—'XV' Ace Selena Neja confronting an Imperial guard colonel in the wake of the destruction of Nyota IV - 972.M41

"*Don't you bloody start Ard, this is the third aircrew today that are complaining about the state of their crates. I've had two slam's in with the same engine coupling issue, though I've told them to not be so gung-ho on the reheat when we have so little spares. And the third one! oh throne the third one... was annoyed at chipped paint on his crate after he flew through a copse of Eeyola trees, I almost used his teeth as panelling rivets...*"
—Senior 'Crate mechanic' & Ardius Persyns' WSO Trajan Ebo ranting about Aircrew's complaints on their Slam-Jets. - 972 M41