Ironstrider Ballistarius - Role: Striding upon the fringes of a Skitarii maniple or picking their way into a firing position, the Ironstrider Ballistarii are fast-moving sharpshooters. The distinctive shape of the Ironstrider Ballistarii strikes fear into the heart of xenos, Renegade and Imperial commander alike. Marksmen beyond compare, Ballistarii have at their command the anatomical data, defensive capabilities and weaknesses of every race the Adeptus Mechanicus has encountered. Tirelessly searching the galaxy for high-value targets alongside their Skitarii Ranger escorts, Ballistarii stalk from ochre mists with their oculist lenses flaring. To fall under the azure beam of their omnispex is to have but a heartbeat left to live. For a Ballistarius sniper, making a killshot is as easy and as natural as drawing breath.Ironstrider Ballistarii are mounted upon the same long-legged walkers as their Sydonian Dragoon counterparts, and are able to walk the most hostile of terrain for years on end without rest. The monotask Servitor charged with the duty of steering the Ironstrider is often the first component to fail, its long-suffering body finally wheezing its last. Upon such occasions the Ironstrider will keep pacing out into the hinterlands on its last heading. Such a Ballistarius only be repaired by the ministrations of a Tech-priest upon a grav-bier who will excise the dead flesh and install a replacement even as the Ironstrider Engine walks on. The Ironstrider will later be returned to duty as if nothing had happened, the remains of the former incumbent cast into the dust without comment.When a squadron of Ironstrider Ballistarii near a war zone, the sum total of the Adeptus Mechanicus' knowledge about that enemy's leader-figures is downlinked into their data-banks. Target reticules flicker and datagheists glow, each searching for a thousand different iterations of the enemy commander-form's silhouette. When a positive ident is achieved, that Ballistarius will be rewarded with the chime of a brass bell and an intravenous dump of hyperfocus stimulants. The information is quickly shared with the hunter's squadron, and their Ironstrider engines, formerly pounding across the battlefield at a fearsome pace, will slow to an exaggerated stalk. For a Sydonian Dragoon to attempt this would risk his steed toppling, but the gyroscopic stabilisers attached to each Ballistarius' Ironstrider engine compensate.This gives the appearance that time has slowed down around the squadron as it lopes on the spot or creeps forwards with macabre grace. It is from this mobile but steady platform that the gunner takes his shot. With the power of Cognis heavy weaponry at his fingertips and the enemy's weak spots under his crosshairs, a Ballistarius could shoot through the hull of an enemy tank and still hit the vehicle's commander in the eye socket. Though it would never even occur to the Ballistarii to boast of such kills, their Tech-priest masters ensure their deadly accuracy is well known across the Imperium. Indeed, sharpshooting key enemy vehicles is only second in priority to hunting down enemy commanders, Heretic priests, or xenos warlords, for silencing such leaders can throw the foe's entire army into disarray.