Anikanov Zakharik

## Character

### Title(s)

The Liberatus Dominus, The Deliverer, The Storm-Lord, The Chooser of the Slain, The Prince of Talons, The "Shade Prince

### Language(s)

High Argothic, Multiple Low Argothic Languages, Yerkirian Shade-Speak Dialects, Multiple Xenos Languages

## Physical Description

### Weight

1120 (Unarmored)2200 (Armored)

**Anikanov Zakharik**, also known as the **"Liberatus Dominus,"** the **"Deliverer,"** the **"Storm-Lord,"** the **"Chooser of the Slain"** the **"Prince of Talons"** and the **"Shade Prince,"** is the Luminarch of the VIIth Legion; The Storm Raptors.

## History

### Youth

Anikanov, just like his fellow demigod brethren, found himself separated from the Emperor during his embryonic and vulnerable phase. This extraordinary event occurred beneath the Imperial Palace in a gene-laboratory, orchestrated by unknown forces. The Luminarch's gestation chamber was emptied, and his very essence was cast adrift through the limitless expanse of the Void, spanning hundreds of light-years across the vast galaxy.

Anikanov, similar to his divine kin, was somehow infused into the womb of a mortal human mother. He came into existence within a lightless chamber deep beneath the surface of the frigid, human-occupied mining moon, known as Yerkirii-II. This moon stood as a desolate yet habitable outpost within the realm of Viharii'byan—a central stronghold in the Slave-Empire, which reigned over the seven frozen moons of Viharii'byan.

Viharii'byan itself was a colossal gas giant, dwarfing Earth fivefold in size. It was a hub of advanced technology and industry, where legions of enslaved miners toiled in subterranean quarries, extracting valuable minerals for the colossal manufactoriums that sprawled across Viharii'byan's surface. These enslaved laborers, including criminals, political dissidents, and those who failed to meet production quotas, were subjected to the unrelenting tyranny of the Guild Masters' heavily armed enforcers. This system of oppression ensured a constant, boundless source of labor for the rulers of Viharii'byan. While millions toiled in the atmospherically sealed manufactorum cities on Viharii'byan, they faced the perpetual threats of Yerkirii's hostile atmosphere, replete with turbulent lightning storms and corrosive acid rains.

Slaves endured grueling work on the moons, while civilians toiled in the factories. Only the elite echelons of the Guilds enjoyed a life of luxury, while millions continued their ceaseless march toward early graves.

Anikanov's mortal mother, Bazarova Zakharik, was one such unfortunate slave laboring in the depths of Yerkirii's quarries. She hailed from a lineage tainted by her father's political radicalism, which had led to her family's enslavement as a form of penance for his crimes. Her father had met a grim fate at the hands of the authorities. Bazarova, like countless slaves before her, was tasked with extracting precious resources from deep within the moon. Yet, it was within the dark confines of these mining tunnels that she experienced a profound vision of the Luminarch's collective presence, accompanied by glimpses of his future that resonated in her mind.

Before she could emerge from the subterranean passages, a sudden tunnel collapse trapped her and her mining team, with half of their number perishing beneath the fallen rubble. It was in this dire and shadowy situation that Bazarova's pregnancy rapidly advanced, culminating in the throes of childbirth. In the dimly lit, frosty recesses of the entombed mineshaft, illuminated by the flickering glow of miners' flash-lamps, Anikanov was born—a crying, diminutive figure composed of ethereal energies, swiftly swathed in the tattered and soiled attire of the miners. His first glimpse of the material world was the grimy and worn faces of his mother and the surviving miners, as they beheld his arctic-blue eyes.

In an act of either fateful foresight or delirious desperation, it was his mother who christened him. She used the Viharii'byanite word for "Savior" or "Deliverer" in anticipation of the remarkable deeds that lay ahead.

To some, the prompt arrival of a rescue party, mere minutes after the young Luminarch's birth, hinted at the involvement of higher powers. Regardless of the truth, the mother and child, along with what remained of their mining team, were rescued. Notably, the mother and her newborn were subsequently concealed from the merciless overseers of the mine, as the miners believed that these two had been touched by divinity. Bazarova's miraculously quick and uncomplicated pregnancy and childbirth solidified this belief.

The newborn Anikanov, with his perfect form and piercing, glacial-blue eyes, was hailed as the prophesied savior of the Seven Moons. His mother's nightly lullabies, foretelling his future heroic deeds, only reinforced this belief. As expected of him, and in keeping with the experiences of the scattered Luminarchs, Anikanov matured at an unnatural pace. This extraordinary phenomenon served as further evidence to the slaves that he was a precious gift to their people.

Despite being born with an extraordinary wealth of knowledge already imprinted in his mind, the young Luminarch had much to learn from his adoptive family. The prisoners, many of whom were either political radicals condemned for opposing the interests of the corporate guilds that ruled Viharii'byan or descendants of such individuals, imparted their beliefs and ideals to him. Concepts of justice and innate human dignity, which had no place in the brutal regime, were deeply ingrained in the heart and mind of the young Luminarch. On his fourteenth birthday, he made a solemn oath to his mother, protectors, and mentors: he would liberate them from their cruel existence.

Thankfully, Anikanov's wise mentors advised caution against overt defiance or hasty quests for vengeance. Under their guidance, he learned the art of patience and the importance of observing his oppressors, using his superhuman abilities to plan far ahead for the day when he would lead the uprising to overthrow the despised slave lords of Viharii'byan and its seven moons. It was during this period that Anikanov began to understand the extent of his innate powers.

He discovered that he could move unnoticed, staying twelve steps ahead of the ruthless and bloodthirsty wardens. Even when in direct line of sight of an enemy, he could will himself to become a living shadow, avoiding detection. However, there were limitations to this ability, as Anikanov soon found out. Auspex Sensory Array Systems (A.S.A-Systems) and other artificial detection methods could still perceive him. It seemed that his presence could somehow manipulate the observer's mind into disregarding the Demi-God's existence, should he will it.

As Anikanov reached maturity, the rule of the guilds began to crumble, though the overseers remained oblivious to their impending doom. The young Luminarch had orchestrated a covert campaign remembered in myths as the 'Storm-Princes War.' This era was marked by subterfuge and espionage across the Yerkirii moons, as Anikanov utilized his abilities to establish rebel networks throughout the system. He secretly moved from moon to moon, sometimes stowing away on guard vessels. He even formed rebel cells within the oppressive spire cities and factories on Viharii'byan itself, whenever possible.

This extended period culminated in a brilliantly devised campaign that slowly drained the authority of the moons, leaving them vulnerable even as the world below experienced chaos. Rebels followed Anikanov's carefully laid plans, infiltrating the guilds' systems, stealing weapons and ammunition, and sabotaging key systems to ensure their failure at critical moments.

The moment of reckoning finally arrived, and Anikanov led the slave uprising that shattered centuries of oppression. In a brutal and necessary battle, he and his fellow freedom fighters swiftly seized control of the prison moons. Meanwhile, fires raged on Viharii'byan below. The carnage was significant, for not all of the imprisoned slaves had been there due to their radical ideals; some were convicted killers and worse. Anikanov, driven by necessity, harnessed their combat skills, overlooking their past crimes under the condition that they never repeat them once their bondage was lifted, or else face execution at his hands.

### Rediscovery

In a departure from the events surrounding the rediscovery of other Luminarchs, there was no grand arrival of the Emperor or a fellow Luminarch to greet The Storm King and transport him into the cosmos. His Gene-sons alone knew of his discovery. This unique convergence of events occurred in the immediate aftermath of the mass liberation of the prison moons, as resistance from the Guilds was swiftly quelled, and the first rebel wars ignited on the surface of Viharii'byan.

A heavily depleted Crusader Fleet, led by the near-mortally damaged VIIth Legion Throneship, executed an emergency void translation that brought them limping into the Vorrnal Nebula. The Fleet, upon finding the spires of Viharii'byan silent to vox-hails due to rebel interference, attempted to land on the newly liberated moons, seeking aid from the human-settled planet.

It was on the Yerkirii moons that the Legion Masters and Regiment High Command received reports from the rebel generals about their Demi-God Lord and his supernatural abilities. In light of these accounts and their knowledge of the powers of previously reclaimed Luminarchs serving the Imperium, the Acting Legion Master, Arnag Kassarjian, ordered a parlay with the Rebel leader, anticipating the arrival of one of the still-scattered fourteen Luminarchs.

The Crusader Fleet High-Command journeyed to Yerkirii-II, Anikanov's birth world and the first of the Seven Slave moons to be liberated. They were met by the Storm-King's forces and subsequently led deep into the very mines where their Lord was born.

As they delved deeper into the winding depths, the entourage's numbers began to inexplicably dwindle. Rebels, mortals, and marines alike were silently and unnaturally abducted until finally, Arnag found himself alone in the depths. Nevertheless, he pressed on, his preternatural senses guiding him through the exhausted catacombs until he stood alone in the frigid darkness, the birthplace of the Storm-King.

The Storm-King was a colossal figure, towering over the Legion Master even when hunched within the mineshaft. This sheer size was expected, as all the Luminarchs he had met thus far were giants compared to the Legion. What struck Arnag most were the piercing, predatory gaze of the demi-god, emanating from his glowing icy blue eyes. The Demi-God's form was draped in pattern-stitched slave rags, which hung loosely over his perfectly muscled and pale-skinned frame. Crude, stolen armor adorned his form, reminiscent of the steel plates from the fallen war machines scattered across the frost-covered fields above.

Suddenly, Arnag found himself overwhelmed by awe in the presence of the shadow-wreathed Demi-God. His brow was slick with sweat as he hastily removed his helmet, sensing the immense power that emanated from the figure before him.

Arnag was no stranger to the sensation of awe in the presence of the Emperor's children. He had felt it during the Quelling of the Lithuite Blockade when the High Chieftain had summoned the Acting Legion Masters over the void of Lith. He had experienced the weight of their strength and authority, and seen the Marines when fallen silent at the mere sound of the Morningstar's voice.

However, this was different. This was the first time he had heard stories of what his cousins felt when reunited with their Legions' Sire. He had heard of the complex mix of emotions: apprehension, fear, trepidation, excitement, joy. And now, in the cold, dark mines of a slave moon, Arnag felt all of these emotions washing over him as he knelt before the Storm-King. Every fiber of his being screamed in response to the mere presence of the Demi-God.

Observing Arnag's reaction, Anikanov beckoned him to stand, and the Marine did as commanded. Arnag inquired about his entourage, and Anikanov explained that the mortals had been transported back to the surface, while he had separated the Marines, directing each down different routes to the current mineshaft.

With this information, the disoriented Marines, one by one, gradually made their way into the antechamber of their Luminarch's birthplace. Each, upon feeling the aura of their Gene-Sire, followed Arnag's example and knelt in reverent homage to their Demi-God.

The exact details of the exchange between the gathered Legionnaires and the rediscovered Luminarch in the depths of the moon remained largely unknown to anyone outside the VIIth Legion's upper echelons and its Legion Ancients. The warriors engaged in lengthy discussions during their time together within the moon's depths. Whatever transpired during those conversations, one thing was clear: the VIIth Legion and the present troop regiments of the wider Crusader Fleet, against their own desires and expectations, would depart, leaving Anikanov to fulfill his mission and defeat the oppressive slave guilds of Viharii'byan. It was only after the planetary capital, the symbol of the guilds' stranglehold over Viharii'byan and its moons, was reduced to molten slag, that he would assume command of the Legion.

In a sense, by ordering his sons to depart and entrusting him with the mission to liberate Viharii'byan on his own terms, Anikanov seemed to be ensuring that he could learn and internalize one of the most crucial lessons of warfare. He wished for his sons to leave him to accomplish his task using only the resources at hand, which, as it turned out, included a stockpile of atomic neutrino barrages and mining charges that the guild masters had hidden on Yerkirii-V, believing them safe from the oppressed masses they ruled over. In their arrogance, the guilds had never anticipated that the slave miners might one day break free and claim these weapons as their own.

Even as the guilds and the remaining rebels engaged in bitter conflict for control of the towering Spire-Cities, they sought to launch a counterattack against the vastly outnumbered freedom fighters. Anikanov understood the grim order he had to issue. Utilizing the steep gravity wells that connected Viharii'byan and its orbiting moons, the Luminarch initiated a full-scale atomic bombardment of the atmospheric-enclosed planetary capital of Yerkat’e vahan below, a sprawling continent-spanning spire. Anikanov had long ago resigned himself to the fact that this realm would be forfeit if the moons were to be free.

As atomic fires consumed the face of Viharii'byan, Anikanov demonstrated the harsh truth of war: sometimes, the innocent must suffer for the greater good. It was a lesson that some believed the Legion Ancients intended for their Father to learn and one that would temper his nature as he faced the unique challenges that only the Luminarchs of the Imperialis Legiones could fully comprehend.

With their greatest cities decimated, and thousands dead, the Viharii'byanite guilds had no choice but to surrender to the will of the liberated slaves. Viharii'byan was defeated, its moons liberated, and the lesson of war had been laid bare. Often, the innocent must bear the burden for the sake of all—a truth well-known to the Imperium, and one that all of humanity would come to understand on an unprecedented scale within a single standard century.

Subsequently, the wandering Vixite Guild of the Delaestri Kla'dank, a Jovian Guild loyal to the secretive nature of the VIIth Legion, reclaimed control over their ancient colony world. While this was kept secret from the wider Stellar Imperium, the planet was rebuilt for the benefit of the Imperium. The obsidian black towers that had once housed the Viharii'byanite garrison on the Yerkirii moons were reconstructed and expanded upon. They became the Imperial Storm Palace, the fortress-monastery of the Storm Raptor Legion.

### Great Crusade

#### Under the Hawk Lords Banner

By the time the Storm Lord took command of his Legion, the Great Crusade had already been almost nine Terran decades old. Anikanov was quick to impose the style of war he had perfected on Yerkirii over that which had come to define the VIIth Legion, melding stealth and guile with vigilance and swiftness. It was during these early years that much of the native demeanor of the old VIIth Legion was quenched in the frigid discipline of Yerkirii.

The Legion had so often served in oppression, repression and occupation forces that Anikanov saw in some of the Veteran Terranborn of his Legion something akin to the slave guilds of Yerkirii. Several of the Legion's highest-ranking officers had been displaced or reassigned to non-command petty officer roles.

Under the Luminarchs guidance, distilled into a series of battle-mantras, the Storm Raptors developed their skills to unseen preternatural levels. Anikanov is even known to have bested Mikha'el Theophylact and Llucerian Morningstar. His brother-Luminarchs had been notorious in testing strategium-simulacra, making use of several unconventional troop types his brother-Luminarchs had never before faced, including the forerunners of the soon to be Tacto'morii. Anikanov had bested his brothers three times in this manner, and once the Patriarchs of the Ist and IInd Legions heeded the lesson and adjusted their battle tactics, the Shade Lord would never beat his brothers again.

During its restructuring, the VIIth Legion commissioned several innovations from the forges of Jupiter and Terra, all of them cunningly wrought to further its mastery of the arts of stealth and speed. As the Thunderbird gunship entered widespread Imperial service, the Storm Raptors secured for themselves a variant known as the Storm-Wraith, sporting all manner of technologies that made it invisible to all but the most sensitive of ASA Systems.

In addition, the Legion gained access to the Thunder-Shriek, an open airframe flyer constructed using gravitic impeller technology and capable of dropping 20 Legionaries into a war zone in utter silence and with practically no chance of detection. Such technology was innovated not by the Terran Artificers nor any Forge World Adepta, or even the Tech-Guilds of Jupiter, but by those master Viharii'byanite artificers who formerly served within the oppressive slave guilds.

Utilizing strands of machine lore unknown to the mainstream of the Imperiums Artifice Guilds, the Viharii'byanite guild artificers created all manner of systems at the behest of the Storm Raptors and in time the Legion's Technoclast Marines were inducted into these mysteries, although it has been speculated that the Viharii'byans may have long since been declared outcast by the jealous lords of The Jovian Mechanicum, were it not for the patronage of so dignified a body as an *Imperial Marine Legion* and the *Luminarch Anikanov*.

As the Great Crusade ground ever onwards, Viharii'byan assumed its position in the God Emperor's collection of worlds. While its output was not equal to that of a fully-fledged Forge World, with the secret of the Delaestri Kla'dank, and under highly secretive conditions, its forges and manufactorums produced and exported vast quantities of materiel as well as a number of the more specialized machines and weapons required by the Storm Raptors Legion.

Both the Tech-Guilds Artificers, and the Vixite Adepta of the Delaestri Kla'dank have attempted to retain their closest secrets from the numerous eyes of the Jovian Guilds with some middling measure of success, and have clung strongly on to their independence from Jupiter. Both having remained self-sufficient throughout the lonely millennia of the Long Dark, Viharii'byan and the Delaestri Kla'dank remain unwilling to cede their secrets to outsiders, the only authority recognized being that of the Storm Raptors and inherently that of Anikanov Zakharik.

## Personalty

Anikanov Zakharik, while just as prideful as the greatest of his brethren, he is generally seen as an intense, and taciturn man, while a touch distant but ultimately quite honorable. He is known to be ultimately cogent of his humanity by Imperial Scholars, never turning his nose to even the most dejected of mankinds children. Remembered by most as a freedom fighter stalwart in his conviction to the right course of action, believing any measure is acceptable to achieve the aims of the people, often to the chagrin of his Brethren even when they themselves believe in his objectives.

That being said, he’s also fairly pragmatic, often pointing out the flaws in the equipment of his allies and later designing remedies to these very same issues, whilst he’s not above fits of petty anger, often due to frustration with his brethren. Even so, he cares deeply for both his Brothers and Sisters along with his sons, often willing to sacrifice himself to protect his allies.

He is also gracious to the upstanding servants of the Emperor, having gained a newfound appreciation for the Jungle Fighters of Alavis after his kill team had been saved from a Volb'narii Hunting party. Later marking the world as a viable recruitment world for the VIIth Legion and creating a blood oath for his Legion to protect the world whenever the need would arise. He is somewhat seen to hold himself in higher regard than most humans, but this is mostly due to his attitude and nature as a Luminarch, he is in actuality, quite capable of empathizing with and engaging normally with Mortals.

Anikanov is an odd mix of depressive melancholy and an intense pride. Getting very depressed and down on himself and his legion when remembering their failures, but then when thinking of another legion seems to utterly forget his minor self reflections and immediately begin posturing and nodding at his own superiority, even if he never outwardly speaks of it.

Anikanov deeply resents oppressive and corrupt systems, and when the opportunity presents itself, is eager to tear them down and start rebellions, as seen on his homeworld of Yerkirii.

## Appearance

Anikanov, like many of his brethren, presented a striking countenance, at least when he had wished to be seen. His skin was an alabaster white and he was possessed of tucked jaw length hair as black as the feathers of his namesake, the Yerkirian Anikanon Hawk.

Most remarkable and unsettling had been his eyes, the iris of which had been a beautiful shade of iridescent blue in the light, but appeared as entirely black shards of solid shadow as the iris and sclera was overtaken whilst in combat. His Artificed Yerkirian styled power armor had been edged with fine, golden figures and upon his back was mounted a Jump-pack formed into a pair of articulated, hawk-like pinions that he wielded as a murderous, blood-edged weapon of stealth, and war.

Like most of the Luminarchs, Anikanov was blessed with an extensive armory of artificer-wrought weapons, but he most often bore to war a pair of metre-long Artificer Force-Talons and a set of Mastercrafted swords at his hip. The latter was carried as a reminder of the cruelty enacted upon the people of his homeworld of Yerkirii by the tyrannical slave guilds of Viharii'byan and with them countless enemies were laid low.

Though few even amongst his gene-sons know of it, Anikanov is blessed with the abilities to both pass unnoticed becoming a living shadow should he himself will it, and manipulate his vocal patterns to mimic the voices of others, these preternatural abilities would allow him to slip from the auditory and visual perceptions of his enemies even when he was in plain view.

## Wargear

* **Repentance and Forgiveness:** This pair of Master-crafted artificer Force-Talons, unknown in origin, which Anikanov favored as his personal weapons were given the doleful names Repentance and Forgiveness by the Storm Raptors; though what their wielder actually named them, if anything, remains, as with so much about their master, unknown.

* **Mastercrafted Twin Shashka:** An ancient set of twin blades gifted to the Luminarch by Llucerian upon their first meeting. The blades would both be destroyed during the compliance of Ivangolia-27D, during which the brothers faced and felled a titan sized Fel Orruk Horde Boss. But upon the completion of the campaign, the two brothers would reforge the blades to commemorate the destruction of the Fel Horde, and compliance.

* **Teleportation Daggers:** Based on the micro-serrated throwing blades utilized for signature-kills by certain Yerkirian Slave Bands, Anikanov favored the use of these vicious, yet highly precise daggers over more conventional firearms in battle, using them to disable and maim as he willed. Fitted with teleportation technology, the blades had the unique trait of not just returning to their master when called upon, but could also allow Anikanov to blink short distances toward the weapons.

* **The Hawks Talon:** Constructed by Za'mana Mu-Damik to honor the newly found Luminarch, this plasmor pistol immediately became Anikanov’s favored sidearm. Such was its potency that on the field of battle it was known to reduce whole squads of enemy soldiers to drifting smoke, scorching the ground on which they stood to nought but naked earth.

* **The Cherrutian Pinion:** Anikanov’s flight pack is a miracle of Archeotech hailing from before the Long Dark, retrofitted and modified to suit the Luminarchs own exacting needs. The Flight Engines are fitted with an ivory cape fitted with nano-machine latices and grav-manipulation fields that were capable of fashioning themselves into wings shaped after the Yerkirian Storm Raptors own mighty pinions - permitting the Storm-King the ability to take to the skies should he will it.

* **The Shadow Strike:** Fashioned for the master of the Storm Raptors by the Emperor's own artificers, this suit of highly sophisticated Power Armor not only offered the Luminarch defense against outside attack, it also masked its sensor signature and could be used to disrupt enemy sensors and transmissions in his immediate vicinity.