Warp Talon

Warp Talons are an evolution (of sorts) of Chaos Space Marine Raptors whose long exposure to the Immaterium has corrupted their physical forms, enabling them to move through the veil of reality and slice between dimensions. Warp Talons are capable of striking at their enemies as if appearing from nowhere before slinking back into their nightmarish dimension.

History
Like their fellow Chaos Space Marine Raptors, Warp Talons once were part of the Astartes Legions Assault Companies and outfitted with the rare pre-Heresy Jump Packs. Like their fellows, once the Horus Heresy was underway, they quickly became addicted to the exhilaration of soaring through the skies and falling upon near-defenseless prey, cutting, stabbing and rending them in an orgy of soul-satisfying slaughter. Like their fellows, they fell under the "protection" of an hitherto unidentified Chaos power who saw fit to give them the appearance of cruel ceramit birds of prey. The main difference between Raptors and Warp Talons is that where the Raptor has only the appearance of a bird of prey, a Warp Talon's psyche has devolved to animalistic level to the point he has litterally become a daemonic bird of prey.

Physically, Warp Talons appear as corrupted Space Marines whose hand and feet have mutated to become massive talon-like appendages with pretenaturally sharp sword-like digits. Having fallen to the powers of Chaos lower then even their Raptor allies, Warp Talons have lost the ability to speak, reason, or create. On those rare occasions where they are grounded, they awkwardly hop and crawl around on all fours like flightless birds or bats, yearning to take flight. They communicate between each others with animalistic screeches, alien to the other servants of the Ruinous Powers. Their most outlandish ability, even to their former comerades, is their capacity to rend the veil of reality with their claws, switching between the Materium and Immaterium with ease and at will.

Their very nature makes that a pack of Warp Talons is not employed but rather set loose on enemy forces. Chaos Space Marine commanders cannot meaningfully communicate with their "subordinates", and thus employ Warp Talons by giving them something to hunt, usually by showing them a piece of the enemy to give the hunters their scent, such as hair or clothing. Warp Talons are able to identify their prey while in the Immaterium through the emotional reflection of their victims psyche in the Warp. This allows them to emerge back into reality within direct proximity to their prey. Their arrival is heralded with a reality rending flash of light, which often leaves anyone in proximity dazzled and awestruck. This moment of hesitation is fatal, for the Warp Talons capitalize on it and quickly lop off heads and limbs with great slashes of theit talon-like hands and feet.

Warp Talons are utterly baffling to the Ordo Malleus' attempts to categorize them to better fight them. They exhibit carateristics of both mortals and Daemons at the same time: their ability to enter and exit the Warp at will and without the protection of a Gellar Field speaks of a blasphemous mingling of Materium and Immaterium. Worse yet, which Ruinous Power grants them those abilites is also unknown, and the fact that some Warp Talons have exhibited the Mark of Chaos of each particular God is frustratingly puzzling, as it makes impossible to determine which of them is at the base of their creation. Warp Talons infeodated to Khorne are frenzied butchers, springing forth from the Warp as gore-drenched whirlwinds of destructions. Those infeodated to Slaanesh behave as sadistic killers, maximizing the pain and anguish inflicted. Warp Talons of Nurgle are bloated carrion birds who enjoy taking their time and toy with their prey. Those that follow Tzeentch channel the raw energies of the Warp, making them almost invulnerable as they slash and dismember.

Wargear
Warp Talons still bear an extremely corrupted form of Power Armour, and the potency of their mutated talons has been likened to that of Lightning Claws. They are still equipped with their now almost unrecognizable Jump Packs that allow them to soar and fly above the melee in pursuit of their prey. But their most disturbing ability is their capacity to exit from the Warp in close proximity to their prey, appearing unannouced in a dazzling flash of light.

Notable Warp Talons
Lucoryphus' pack - During the Fall of Vilamus in 999.M41, the 10th Company of Night Lords assisted Huron Blackheart into seizing the Marines Errant reserves of Gene-seed material. During the infiltration of the Marines Errant Fortress-Monastery, the Night Lords deployed Lucoryphus and his pack of "Raptors" that were clearly in the state of devolving into Warp Talons. Lucoryphus was the only remaining of his pack still able to speak Nostraman Low Gothic and meaningfully communicate with others, and his pack eschewed distance weapons in favor of their claw-like appendages to hunt and slaughter their terrified prey. When at rest in the hold of the Echo of Damnation they miserably crawled on all four or hung from the ceiling like obscene bats, yowling and screeching against their inability to fly. Lucoryphus and his pack were then not yet full-fledged Warp Talons, for they could not yet enter and exit the Warp, but were clearly on their way to devolve into a pack of them.