Callidus Temple

Assassins of the Callidus Temple use deceit and trickery to accomplish their objectives, usually assisted by the shape-changing Polymorphine drug.

The vast majority of missions undertaken by Callidus Assassins involve infiltrating a Chaos cult or other heretical organisation, in order to kill the leader along with other key members of the cult. Once the leadership of such a group has been removed, it is easier for armed forces to eliminate the cultists, without having to resort to extreme measures such as Exterminatus.

However, less frequently, Callidus Assassins are also called upon to undertake more exotic assassinations, requiring the use of both polymorphine and surgical implants to allow them to assume the form of a wider range of humanoids.

Although they are not typically fielded with a larger army on the field of battle, Callidus Assassins can be deployed behind enemy lines in order to infiltrate facilities such as bases or encampments and take out enemy leaders or key personnel. This is usually achieved by the assassin killing an isolated patrol or enemy unit and then assuming the form of one of those slain through the use of polymorphine (also acquiring the armour and wargear of the deceased to complete the disguise).

Callidus Assassins are the most secretive and least well-known of the Assassins, as their usefulness would greatly diminish if their capabilities were more widely known. They are usually tasked with their missions by the Inquisition, especially the Ordo Hereticus, although as stated above, less frequent missions from the other Orders are also undertaken.

The most important feature of the Callidus Assassin is the use of polymorphine to enable them to assume the features of any human (of whatever gender). This then enables the Assassin to infiltrate organisations or bases and eliminate their assigned target. The Callidus Temple is highly skilled in this area, and often their work is not detected until the Assassin has already made a clean getaway. Accordingly, their weapons are predominantly close combat weapons, as their infiltration skills enable them to get very close to the target before they need to act. This is assisted by their signature weapon, the C'Tan Phase sword, a "living metal" weapon which can be concealed easily, and is capable of bypassing any protection, even energy shielding. Callidus also carry a large number of small poisoned blades and an exotic Neural shredder, a short ranged weapon which savages the nervous system of its targets.

The Callidus Assassins usually impersonate someone in a close position to, or holding influence with, the target (for example, a trusted advisor to a Chaos Lieutenant, or the nursemaid to a child prophecised to cause much pain to the Imperium). With the addition of implants and surgical alterations, Callidus Assassins can impersonate members of alien species, including, Kroot, Ork, and in at least one case, Genestealer. The implants are often permanent, and restrict the Assassin solely to impersonations of that species. It should be noted that Eldar, Dark Eldar, and by inference most likely Tau can be mimicked without implants.