Adeptus Custodes - Dreadnoughts: Contemptor-Achillus Dreadnought - In those isolated cases where the body has been all but irrevocably destroyed but the Custodian's mind remains intact and their will to survive undimmed, internment within the cold and unyielding body of a cybernetic Dreadnought is the next step. To this purpose, the few Dreadnoughts of the Legio Custodes were as singularly advanced as their other wargear, outfitted with weapons and systems artificer-made by the servants of the Imperial Court. At the time of the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, the most widely employed was the Contemptor-Achillus, a general battle unit which combined phenomenal strength and speed with the echoes of the interned Custodes' own unmatched martial skill. In battle, the Contemptor-Achillus often utilised a deadly Achillus Dreadspear for close combat. These were scaled-up versions of the iconic Guardian Spear of their Legio that possessed devastating power. For fighting at range, they also often utilised a pair of wrist-mounted Storm Bolters, Infernus Incinerators or Adrathic Destructors. This unit is still deployed by the Adeptus Custodes of the 41st Millennium.Contemptor-Galatus Dreadnought - A sub-variant of the Contemptor-Achillus, the Contemptor-Galatus was designed to provide a mobile anchor point for a Legio Custodes battleline in the field. To this end, the Galatus was analogous to the specialised Sentinel Guard formations of the Legio Custodes, and was armed with a potent combination of a huge Galatus Warblade and vastly enlarged version of the Praesidium Shield. The warblade allowed the Contemptor-Galatus to swiftly and efficiently reap a murderous toll of any massed infantry assault at close quarters, or indeed hack through armoured vehicles and monstrous xenos with equal ease. It was the defensive power of the hulking Praesidium Shield, however, that was the Contemptor-Galatus' most significant feature, as with it the already durable Contemptor chassis became nigh on impregnable, even against the heaviest of heavy firepower. This unit is still deployed by the Adeptus Custodes of the 41st Millennium.Telemon Heavy Dreadnought - Fewer than a handful of Telemon Dreadnoughts were to be found within the ranks of the Legio Custodes, each intended to stand sentinel over its charges no matter the force brought against it. In part this rarity was due to the cost in labour and resources for the creation of such a superlative engine of war, for each bore at least one plate worked by the Emperor's own hand, and also the rarity of appropriate candidates to control them. The honour of interment in one of the few existing Telemon sarcophagi was awarded only to the most celebrated warriors within the sodalities of the Legio Custodes, and until a worthy candidate found his end in battle, the Dreadnoughts stood silent and empty. Despite this, the sheer power of an unleashed Telemon class Dreadnought far outweighed the trials of its construction, for few could stand against the array of esoteric, hand-crafted weapons that graced its chassis or the ferocious will and warrior skill of the master Custodian interred within. This unit is still deployed by the Adeptus Custodes of the 41st Millennium.Venerable Contemptor Dreadnought - Each Venerable Contemptor Dreadnought is an ancient war engine, a relic that incorporates wonders of technology that the Imperium can no longer replicate. Its auramite armour plates are expertly crafted and maintained. Its limbs are articulated by fibre-bundles and servo-motors that afford it immense strength. Its weapons are perfectly calibrated, while its hull is sheathed in the crackling energies of an atomantic shield that can dispel laser blasts and artillery shells amidst bright flares of energy. Auto-repair protocols allow the Dreadnought to shrug off crippling battle damage, while motive shrines and auto-sanctified backup systems stand ready to take the strain should the Contemptor undergo serious combat trauma. Yet for all this arcane technology, the most important component of the Venerable Contemptor Dreadnought is the living warrior interred in the sarcophagus at its heart. When faced with certain death, a Custodian may choose to be preserved within a Venerable Contemptor Dreadnought so that he can continue to fight for the Emperor. There should be no mistaking that this is the act of a martyr, for life within a Dreadnought sarcophagus - even one as advanced as the Venerable Contemptor - is a twilight existence at best. The pilot is shorn of all unnecessary flesh, rendered down to little more than a sack of organs and brain matter sustained within an armaglass amniotic tank. The Custodian becomes a god of war, able to stride unharmed through hails of fire and crush the Master of Mankind's foes with their hydraulic might. In return, they face an eternity cut off from the outside world, bound to mechanical systems that can never truly replicate the feel of sunlight upon their skin, or the satisfying crunch of their blade through an enemy's flesh. Despite this, there are tales of unharmed Custodians volunteering to pilot Contemptors whose previous occupants were slain in battle. Those soon to depart as Eyes of the Emperor, those who feel they have dishonoured themselves, even warriors who simply will not turn aside from what they perceive as their duty; all, it is said, have given their flesh willingly so that the Contemptor Dreadnoughts of the Custodes continue to stride to war.