Barrage Light Assault Vehicle

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## **Description**

A heavy and formidable light assault vehicle, the Barrage is a creation of the XIth Legion as a successor to the Wendigo-hunting squads that used to operate in the ancient ruins of Kinak. A squat vehicle that lies low on it's suspension the Barrage has considerable armour plating on both the front and sides of the vehicle, with the a double thermic combustor powering it. The back of the vehicle is a flatbed with a mounting for a single heavy weapon, in the case of the Forgers this is an autocannon. With a protective metal shield, spare ammunition case slots and a targeting link the gunner is well provisioned to take on any threats they come up against. In this configuration the Barrage is used as both a scout vehicle as well as a harassment unit against enemy formations, funnelling any forces into the main charge of the Forger front lines.

## **History**

Dating back to the early days of Alianaktuk reign, light vehicles were a must for the people of Kinak, being a versatile way of crossing tundra wastes or manoeuvring quickly through the millennia old hive cities that dot the planet.

The original buggies were scavenged as part of tribal efforts to comb the ruins for any usable technology, slowly building up their sleds with debris. Fitted with all manner of scavenged equipment and weapons, most tribes came to have a number of these buggies in their groups, eventually naming them 'Threshers' for the amount of ice they kicked up. Scavengin all sorts of unknown technology usually meant mounting auspexes, scrap armour plating or with a heavy harpoon gun as it's main armament. These ramshackle vehicles proved useful, being able to rapidly scout and flank wendigo herds that infested the remnants of Dark Age civilisation on the planet.

In the interim between the Wendigo Purge led by Alianaktuk and the final version produced by the Legion's Techmarines, the Primarch claimed his rightful place amongst the Imperium, and sought to create a legion in his own image. incorporating designs and tactics he has used on Kinak. The Thresher would not be spared this fate and it would eventually be turned into a light assault vehicle worthy of his new superhuman troops.

With heavy plating, thunderous old-tech engines and vicious weaponry combined, the resulting redesign proved itself to be a monster of the making only Kinak could produce. Speeding to the flanks of enemy formations they were used to harass and distract an enemy while other elements of the Legion could strike hammer-blows elsewhere. Laying down withering barrages of autocannon fire they quickly decimated infantry formations, destroying just enough of the enemy to provoke a counter-attack before retreating. It was this hit-and-run style and the hails of autocannon fire that inspired it's name, and once given, every Soul Forger who has used them since can agree that 'Barrage' is the only word for it.

### **922.M30 - The Red Sand Disgrace**

Sometime later during the Great Crusade, there was an incident that almost saw the Soul Forgers at the throats of the Mechanicus. During a diplomatic visit by the Mechanicus to Kinak the envoy, Arch-Magos Kalik-Phi120, and his associates were given tours of various hive manufactorum and the newly founded Archeotech facilities. During the tours of the facilities a group of Mechanicus from the Sigma-Cant Covenant that were part of the entourage, lead by Sollix Basilir disappeared for a time. At the end of the proceedings the Arch-Magos Kalik and his associates departed back to Mars and the connections and promises made with the VIIth Legion seemed to form the foundation of a future relationship.

It was later discovered by the Legion's Techmarines that Sollix Basilir and his Covenant had the audacity to break into their armoury's cogitators and databanks. Hungry for knowledge they had scoured several legionary archives, taking a significant amount of data on several projects including the Barrage. This slight was considered so heinous that it was passed up the hierarchy, landing at the feet of Sivoy Oki, one of the legions Techmarine Masters. Incensed, the Master made a formal inquiry of the Machanicus, specifically accusing Sollix and his cohort, demanding they stand trial for their obvious theft. In response to the accusation and despite the damning evidence provided the Martian hierarchy ignored the legion.

Mysteriously though, despite constant protestations and missives for answers, the Forge-Clan who had stolen the design suffered a great catastrophe in the year following their departure from Kinak. During their return to Mars, the members of Arch-Magos Kalik were made aware of a slowly growing problem within their own databanks. Ancient and valuable knowledge that they had scavenged from the remains of Dark Age humanity, as well as everyday codicies were being rewritten or replaced outright with what amounted to little more that digital garbage. Originating from a servitor string maniple, no matter how many times the clan attempted to segment, block off and clean their databanks they watched their forge's legacy crumble into gibberish time and time again.

Within a decade the Forge-Clan had been reduced to a shadow of it's former self, no longer able to produce the variety of products it used to. Despite this massive loss though, they still managed to retain that stolen design, eventually able to manufacture a simplified but inferior design clearly torn from the Soul Forger's own. With this last ditch effort that remained the only thing untouched by the then-infamous 'Shamanaric Curse' as it had been dubbed, they hoped to keep their Forge-Clan from being devoured by their quickly ascending rivals on the planet.

Though they would find success, they would not go unchallenged it seemed. Being brought to the attention of Alia himself. The decade of animosity over the slight had not escaped the Eleventh Master's gaze. Upon their unveiling of the clearly derivative design, Alianaktuk personally ordered the Arch-Magos present within his fleet to his chambers to help find a resolution. Little is known of the meeting that occurred between the two, but several hours later, after the sounds of berserk fury from within calmed down, and the Arch-Magos made a hasty exit, change swiftly followed him.

Within several years the production of the now newly anointed “Ajax” scout vehicle was reduced to a fraction of it's original intended output by sanctions placed upon the clan by several Fabricator Locii in the upper echelons of Martian hierarchy. By Martian standards this still allowed multiple legions to be equipped with small numbers of the plagiarised design. In the end it left the Forge-Clan, who had been hoping to gain great infamy from their work, a broken shadow if it's former self.

## **Design**

To upgrade the Thresher design to Legiones Astartes standards would require a lot of time and resources, but allowed the spirit of the Legion to carry on from it's new roots of Kinak. The chassis and armour were upgraded with more advanced materials such as adamantium and ceramite, the engine taken from the Rhino STC proved potent and the weaponry swapped from stubbers and las weaponry to armour-piercing autocannons. While the overall design is a stocky, squat four-wheeled layout the engine provides more than enough power, allowing it to rely on speed and support the role of a harassment tool. With 2 seats for the driver and navigator/secondary gunner, a reinforced plastek wind-shield, and a flatbed section in the rear housing the heavy weapon mount and spare ammunition the crew are well supplied and reasonably protected. Overall the heavier armour is offset by the engine's sheer size, allowing it to be fast and well protected, while it does lack in the weaponry department a little even a single autocannon with various round and a good gunner is a formidable opponent that shouldn't be overlooked.

### **Armament**

The main weapon for the Barrage is a singular turret mounted autocannon, placed on the rear of the vehicle. The weapon itself is mounted on an articulated arm attached to the floor of the vehicle, allowing it to be moved and accurately fired in almost every direction. The weapon mounting has two ammunition storage units on either side, allowing a gunner to have more or different ammunition at the ready for a variety of targets and a quicker reload time. The front of the gun mount also has a personal shield for the gunner, this is usually cut out in a wedge shape to deflect any incoming fore or claws from attacking the gunner. Also integrated is a external lead system, allowing the marine gunner to interface the weapon with his own auto-senses and targeting algorithms for a marked increase in accuracy, especially against aerial targets.

The autocannon itself is a single-barreled version of the Reaper autocannon normally mounted on terminator armour. The design itself is very compact, especially when reduced to a single-barrel configuration, and as proved during testing, it has a very high rate of fire, which is where the vehicles name 'Barrage' originated from. The combination of a high rate-of-fire along with the heavy ammunition used means that the weapon does have some nasty recoil, which partially necessitated the articulated mount to be installed.

To allow for the main role as a harassing unit to be fulfilled, a gunner is provided with a variety of ammunition types, with armour-piercing and high-explosive rounds being the mainstay due to their potency against infantry. Various other ammunition types can be requisitioned such as Halo rounds with thermobaric payloads or flakk rounds for anti-air targets.

A secondary weapon can be mounted for the passenger, this usually consists of a combi-bolter, melta, or flame weapon on a small articulated mount that can be locked in place for stowage. A few spare magazines or canisters can be stored on the passenger side to allow the secondary armament to remain operational for longer.

### **Control Systems**

The control systems for the vehicle are relatively simple like most other vehicles, with a steering system, small vehicular auspex and vox system fulfilling the basic needs of the vehicle. The auspex and vox system are somewhat interlinked using a cogitator to link the local area data network and any outside data such as the planetary vox network. This provide a small screen between the driver and passenger with everything they need. Unit positions and enemy movements as well as the Barrage's data providing a clear display of the battlefield, allowing the Astartes to react appropriately to new orders or take advantage of enemies.

With the allowance of integration between the gunner and the autocannon mount, one thing that has been remarked upon is the weapons machine spirit, in particular it's propensity to favour aerial targets over land based ones. It has been found through various campaigns that when Barrage gunners engage with air units the weapon seems to act far more aggressively, as if eager to cut down anything with wings. While it has been said that this could be a 'learned' response from the gunners impressing upon the weapon's machine spirit, it is not entirely certain why they seem to favour them over other targets.

### **Defences**

The armour used in the Barrage consists of a mixture of materials, with the skeleton of the vehicle being made up from adamantium, while the outer armour is layered ceramite. Despite the heavy nature of ceramite, especially when added in layers the engine more than compensates for the extra weight. This allows for a marked increase in protection for the crew, with several reinforced sections around the driver and passenger sides as well as a set of optional inserts for the bed at the back. The insets use pegs to allow ceramite plates to be slid into place around the outer edge, giving the gunner more protection and making it harder for an enemy to get onto the rear platform.

Smoke launchers are also present in two mounts, one facing forwards while the other is mounted on the turret shield, with two canisters per launcher. Launched individually a single smoke grenade can cover a large area, allowing the vehicle to break line of sight with an enemy and flank them or withdraw.

### **Miscellaneous**

The Barrage can be upgraded in some minor ways to expand it's utility and capability on the battlefield, the first of these is simply adding footholds. Footholds and arm-bars can be added to the vehicle to allow Forgers to hold onto the side of the vehicle while it moves. This allows a small squad to be transported and dropped off, perfect for getting reconnaissance and flanking units into place quickly and easily.

In true XIth Legion style a ram can also be added to the front of the vehicle, consisting of two angled slabs of adamantium they hook onto the frame of the Barrage and can be used to plough through enemy formations or defences.

For more utility several loading racks and mounts can be added to the outer armour, which can be loaded with all manner of ammunition, explosives, supplies or fuel. This has also allowed for the Soul Forgers to use a long-running tactic, going back to the days of hunting wendigo inside the hive ruins. Two mounts on the rear of the vehicle are designed to hold large drums full of promethium, with a small panel on the back that, when opened, allows the fuel to spill out behind the vehicle as it's moving. By leaving trails of promethium over the battlefield a single Barrage can ignite the fuel and cut off or corral an enemy with the resulting fire wall. This is commonly know as 'Running the spirits out' amongst Barrage crews.

## **Variants:**

### **-Heavens-Fall Mortar Vehicle**

A combined effort between the XIth and VIIIth Legions, the Heavens-Fall is a redesign of the Barrage vehicle, though one that surprisingly keeps the hit-and-run tactics in mind. By replacing the rear-mounted turret with a heavy mortar and all-encompassing crew armour, the Monastic Ascendant's version of the vehicle finds itself constantly manoeuvring and firing to harass or support frontline troops.

### **-Ajax Light Vehicle**

Due to the nature of the Red Sands Disgrace, there are derivatives of the Barrage in the Imperial arsenal, but they fall under the umbrella of the Martian redesigned Ajax prototype and are therefore not sanctioned by the Soul Forgers.

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