Ambakaro

### Board

4x Hecutor Plasma Macrocannon 2x Thunderstrike-pattern Macrocannons2x Disruption Macrocannons2x Heavy Macrocannons (pointed downwards)

The ***Ambakaro*** is the horror of the voidsmen of the south-mid Segmentum Tempestus, feared by the faithful and loaded by the rightouse. Once a normal Paragon Class Heavy Assault Cruiser, a class of heavy cruisers used from M31 to M34 by the Imperium. The Paragon Class, originally used a heavy hiter and and for smaller fleets, was after its 3 millennia of service mothballed or wrecked unlike this monstrosity. Once serving humanity fell the Amakaro to the powers of Chaos and terrorise since then the Sectors of Segmentum Tempestus.

During battle with the Thousand Sons was the Ambakaro hit by an energy beam powered by warpsourcery and fell into an expanding warprift dooming it. Floating in the Inmaterium with a destroyed Gellar Field fell the vessel easily prey to a daemon corrupting men, metall and machine spirit and fusing with it. Becoming more a daemon than starship.

And now since millennia of terror, operated the Ambakaro again after its last sightning in late M40 when Grey Knights attacked the ship forcing it into a warp anomaly known as the Sourging Heart. Before its "demise" in the Souring Heart stalked the Ambakaro entire regions of Tempestus and bombarded worlds, hunted down sister ships or layed wast to colonies and infrastructure built on barren worlds. Inquisitors of the Ordo Malleus fear that it is now hunting for the Grey Knights to avenge its defeat, evengoing so far and hunting the Blackships of the Inqusistion carrrying captured Psykers for procession in a way to attract the attention of the Grey Knights.

## History

### Service for the Imperium

The Ambakaro may have been constructed in earl to mid M32 at the shipyards of the Industrial World of Ambakaro once known for its high productionrate of vessels. Back then were the Paragon Class Heavy Assault Cruisers for head on attacks against enemy formations or as backbone for smaller fleets with a lack of bigger vessels over the size of Light Cruisers but are demanded to engage in heavy combat against strong enemies.

Inquisitors investigating the vessel pinpointed the Ambakaro to the void battle of Skyfort in 480.M34 when a fleet of the Thousand Sons attacked the world. A fleet of the Imperial Navy was mustered in advance to met the Chaos Space Marines and engaged them. During battle with the Thousand Sons was the Ambakaro hit by an energy beam powered by warpsourcery and fell into an expanding warprift dooming it. Floating in the Inmaterium with a destroyed Gellar Field fell the vessel easily prey to a daemon corrupting men, metall and machine spirit and fusing with it. Becoming more a daemon than starship.

### Existence as Daemonship

What happed with the crew is unknown. Some say they became a part of the ship other say that they were possesed by daemons and now operate the Ambakara and other say that the entire vessel is a daemon. The first known sighting of the Ambakaro was in 489.M34 when it bombarded the world Lolan V.

With the bombardment of Lolan V begun a legacy of terror. Where ever the Ambakaro appeared it spread death and destruction, hunting convoys and annihilating spacestations. Entire systems were ruined when the Ambakaro appeared like the Eswali System where it bombarded all inhabitet planets or the or the Tranch Run, a trade rout named after the Hive World of Tranch and ruining the it and a series of other worlds.

Inconsitant sighting patterns and locations prevented the Imperium in intercepting it, however limited also its damage on the Imperium. Only after using moths long esoteric psychic rituals were needed to finaly locate it in 905.M40 near a warp anomaly called the Souring Heart in Segmentum Tempestus. An extented conflict with chaos forces betrayed the position of the daemonship and a Grey Knights strike force was sent out to destroy it and caught it off guard. Using several experimental torpedos and sacrifising one of the escorts, was the imperial taskforce able to push it into a point of the anomaly known for its destructiones. Seeing it sinking into the death point, reported the commander the destruction of the Ambakaro. He was wrong.

### Return

For more than a thousand years believed the Imperium itself as saved from the wrath of the Ambakaro. Never in the past millennias needed this daemon so long to reappear, meaning it was destroyed, gone for ever. All were wrong.

It came back. Broken free by the opening of the Cidray Maledictum from the deepths of the Souring Heart, reappeared the Ambakaro. Being spit into reality near the Hive World of Malaga, started the Daemonship its rampage against the Imperium. Early sightings let some Inquisitors paint a picture of its intention. Revenge against the Grey Knights. It seems to have learnt the meaning behind the Blackship and the possibility of carrying new recruits for the Grey Knights, meaning higher intelligence and the ability to plan into the future. From where the Ambakaro got such information is unknown but remains as the best explonation for its hatred against the Blackvessels.

### Confirmt Sightings

* **Bombardment of Lolan V (489.M34):** The first sighting of the corrupted Ambakaro was in 489.M34 when it virusbombed the world of Lolan V.
* **Siege of the Tranch Run (700-819.M37):** The Tranch Run was hunted by the Ambakaro for nearly 120 years. As a consequence of the siege fell this small trade rout out of service reducing the wealth of the Hive World of Tranch.
* **Battle of the Sourging Heart (905.M40):** The Grey Knights Strike Cruiser *Faithful Heart* and its two escorts cornered the Ambakaro near a Warpanomaly called the Souring Heart and outright threw it with the help of powerful torpedos into the Souring Heart.
* **Opening of the Great Rift - near Malaga (999.M41):** With the opening of the Citrix Maledictum reappeart the Ambakaro near the Hive World of Malaga when when it was visited by two Blackships. In a frenzy concentrated the Daemonship all of its guns on both of the vessels even ignoring near prey.
* **Blockade of the Rym System (009-012.M42):** The Ambakaro operated for a time in the Rym System preventing any trade in and out of the system. As it was only filled by Frontier Worlds reacted the Imperium too late and sent help only 9 years later.

## Description

The Ambakaro is - when the chaotic mutations are ignored - a mix of the Retaliator Grand Cruiser and the Hellbringer Planetary Assault Ship. While the Retaliator was once an Imperial class and used as base for the Paragon class are the similiarities to the Hellbringer an accidental on the side of the imperial designers.

The bow was constructed extremly similiar to the Hellbringer and mounted on the body of a Retaliator lacking the hanger constructions. Different to the Retaliator class is the hull of the Paragon Class of a sturdy design without the second tower or any other sticking out constructs except the upper armour similiar to the Hellbringer.

Describing a Daemonship through describing its original class is an fools errant. Entire sections can disappear or move into a new positions or entire body parts like mouths can appear, like in the case of the Terminus Est of the Death Guard. And in this way should the Ambakaro be handled.

After its possesion through a daemon grew a grey-light blueish fur on the hull and arcane symbols ornament the armour plattes protecting the hull. More mutations cannot be seen without soon dying by the weapons of the Ambakaro. Vox cast messages of the voidmen unlucky enough to be close enough report of moving tongues from cracks, horns growing out of hatchways and bizzare lights radiated of the hull. Further mutations and anomalies can be seen when the weapons fire or the trusthers fire on.

### Armament

The Paragon Class Heavy Assault Cruisers were armed mainly with Macrocannons, some plasma weapons and torpedos with some - like the Ambakaro were equipped with Naval Mines and Virus Bombs.

The armament of the Ambakaro became after its corruption even stronger with the plasma weaponery having a far longer range. It is unknown from where the the Daemonship gets it munition since its weapons are regular although corrupted weapons.