Hive Liquidators

The Liquidators are a formation of the Imperial Army originally drawn from the Hive world of Sumer but copied on several others. They are often stoic and quiet, rarely showing their faces as they advance through battlefields or devastated ruins alike like ghosts. They specialize in braving hostile environments, with good aptitudes in marksmanship and ambush warfare, and began as literal hunters of monsters, tracking and putting down the mutated abominations found in the lowest levels of Hive Cities.

## History

When all contact with the rest of the galaxy was lost, members of the ruling class of the Hive World of Sumer decided that in order for at least – some – on the planet to survive, billions of mouths needed be culled (ideally in a quick and relatively painless manner) so that the food stockpiles had a chance to last through the storm. As a desperate measure, nuclear hellfire was unleashed on large population centers throughout Sumer. As cold a decision as this had been, it was absolutely true that it was wholly impossible for the whole of the planet’s population to sustain itself for more than a few months with no outside shipments of food. Unfortunately, while the culling did considerably extend the food supply, the Age of Strife was not to be the matter of just a few scant decades…

The first Liquidators were effectively explorers re-discovering their own broken, irradiated world. They were sent down to the abandoned Underhive – and even outside in the wastelands – with the best equipment the survivors could muster. Their goal was simple: Locate potential sources of food and water… as well as whatever threats might be lurking in the dark unknown. Entire proto Hive Cities which had been destroyed in the initial apocalypse had to be re-explored anew by generations who had not even been alive when the missiles had first rained down. If Under-hives had a tendency to spawn abominations from the pollution of its deeper bowels, one could only imagine the effects of such Hive Cities cracking open, their chemicals spilling and mixing, and a good dose of heavy radiations sprinkled on top for good measure.

Those Liquidators quickly learned to be quiet, discrete, and swiftly brutal in combat. They also learned to operate independently for extended periods of time, away from any form of supply or support, and often in small groups. These small groups eventually became larger as the need for explorers shifted to a need to exterminate large populations of abominations in the wastelands and ruins, and what had originally been just small squads became entire companies, but the Liquidators never lost their roots; they must be silent, quick and deadly.

When the Imperium re-discovered Sumer, it expected the world to be a dead husk without any life, and they were surprised to be hailed by the new ruling caste. Fulcrums of the Sumerian Liquidators were soon raised as they were perfectly suited for precisely what the Auxilia Imperialis and their Rogue Trader vanguards needed: exploring and reclaiming worlds of unknown conditions. The Sumerian pattern was applied to other Hive worlds such as Babel and Ziguraet and before long, Hive Liquidators became an important tool of the Imperial Army’s arsenal.

## Doctrines

The Liquidators are trained to make use of high power, semi-automatic energy weapons, laying down accurate and pinpoint fire be it at close or long range. Their standard weapon is the Summerian Pattern Mk.IX Lasfusil, but they are also seen not infrequently with plasma or melta weapons as well. They are highly methodical and disciplined, which is a necessity not only due to the high stress environments they evolve in, but due to the low rate of fire of their weapons that require accurate fire and do not allow a ‘spray and pray’ method. Waste of ammunition is largely frowned upon and Liquidators are drilled to make every shot count.

Though they are highly trained marksmen, the Liquidators’ close combat training is far more limited. They make use of a serrated, large bayonet knife, which while modest, does help give them extra reach against the plethora of monstrous creatures and Xenos they expect to be up against. Still, this is very much so a last resort weapon, and Liquidators will prefer to disengage and find a new firing position rather than risk getting stuck in a chaotic melee. Even in such situations they will often try to simply get a las bolt at point blank through the skull of whatever is trying to crush them.

Despite wearing relatively heavy, void-sealed carapace armor to provide protection against various NBC threats, Liquidators are relatively swift and can move fairly quickly, especially through dense urban ruins or overgrown jungle. They make use of this bog down the enemy in unfavorable terrain before opening up, or to simply outflank them. Liquidators are also very fond of night warfare, as the tunnels of the Underhives are often permanently pitch dark and they are well used to such environments.

The vehicles used by the Liquidators are all of the ‘Sumerian pattern’, a field modification that replaces the standard promethium combustion engines by advanced multifuel turbines that are much quieter in operation, and therefore better suited to the Liquidators’ surprise attack and strike and fade tactics.

The Liquidators also take advantage of their NBC-sealed suits to make copious use of gas and rad weapons themselves, as they have proven themselves extremely effective against the monsters that lurk the Underhives. The fact that they remain just as effective against massed cultists or xeno hordes is a happy coincidence. Their Fulcrums also often deploy tactical atomics and have very little compunction against using them if necessary.

## Wargear

* **Liquidator Armor** - This suit of light carapace armor originates from the same STC that would later become the Arbites’ iconic armor. It was designed by Sumerians to provide the maximum amount of protection possible against radiation and pathogens. The armor begins with a suit of thick, lead-infused elastomer carefully treated with chemical coatings to make it more resistant to acids and other solvents. It is then reinforced by thick, rigid plates of foamed depleted uranium which protect as well against radiation (ironically, being itself slightly radioactive), as against kinetic or thermal attacks. The armor is equipped with a full breathing apparatus, a micro-bead and an auspex unit, which are powered by an atomic battery with a lifespan in years.
* **Sumerian Pattern Mk.IX Lasfusil** - These exquisitely-crafted antique las weapons are half-way between the single-shot laslock and the modern full-auto lasgun. They fire far more powerful shots than their automatic counterpart, but must be manually cycled between every shot in the fashion of an old earth bolt action rifle to physically swap between the five capacitors that simultaneously draw from the power-pack at a slower rate than normal to allow safe operation. This results in a low rate of fire, but high potential damage for every shot that lands on target. They typically have a green beam rather than the standard Imperial red due to operating in a higher power band. This turns to a lighter green-blue when equipped with Lattice Accelerators, a muzzle attachment device that makes the Lasfusil even deadlier by amplifying its shots.
* **8x Charge Packs** - With the Sumerian Lasfusil being even more voracious than even the infamous Lucius pattern lasgun’s 25 shots per pack, each munitorum standard lasgun charge pack is only good for 10. This forces Liquidators to carry twice as many charge packs as the average guardsman for about 40% as many shots, but the precise, drilled shots of the Liquidators can fell with one a Xeno or beast that the average conscript would have mag-dumped into.
* **Liquidator combat knife** - This simple serrated plasteel combat blade is roughly 30cm long and can be used both as a bayonet or as a utility knife.
* **3x Gas Grenades** - Though functionally identical, the Liquidators prefer to trade the traditional frag and baffler grenades for gas grenades to take advantage of their sealed suits. They are also viewed as more versatile as a broad choice of gases can be used, from the immediately lethal, to the incapacitants that will make it much easier to capture a target alive for interrogation.
* **1 week of nutrition gel** - In order to eat without exposing themselves to harmful environments, the Sumerians have developed a highly caloric type of nutrition gel that can be stored in canteen-like containers and attached to a Liquidator’s helmet to suck in through an internal straw-like apparatus.

## Rules

***Hive Liquidators Squad***

 Gas Grenades

 - The Chief Liquidator may take any or all of the following:
¤ Haywire Grenades for 5p
¤ Shroud Bombs for 10p
 - For every 10 models in the unit, one Liquidator may exchange their Lasfusil for a:
¤ Flamer for 5p
¤ Grenade Launcher (With Gas and Krak) for 10p
 - The entire unit may take Lattice Accelerators for their Lasfusils for 25p

 Fleet

*Liquidator Armor*

Effectively a pattern of environmentally sealed light carapace armor designed to enter highly contaminated areas, it is chemically treated to better resist all sorts of biological and chemical threats. *When hit by a weapon with the Poisoned or Fleshbane special rules, the To-Wound roll is worsened by +1*

*Lattice Accelerators*

By using a mix of high-refraction lens and magnetic lattices, a Lasfusil’s power output can be increased in a safe manner without any burn-out risk.

*A Lasfusil equipped with a Lattice Accelerator’s Strength increases to 5*