An Imperial Cyber-mastiff that still maintains much of its original, organic body.
The Cyber-mastiff, also spelled Cyber-Mastiff, sometimes called a Cyber-jackal, and commonly also known as a "kill-dog," a "razorfang," and a "rending rover," is an Imperial robotic or cybernetic construct for use in combat and hunting that is based on the form of large Terran hunting dogs. It generally stands hip-high or so to an adult Human and over a metre long from tip of head to hindquarters, its lean body composed of high-speed actuators and motor systems over a carbon skeleton and wrapped in angular, interlocking armour plates. Cyber-mastiffs are a fearsome extension of the Emperor's law, and a truly terrible sight to see unleashed upon their quarry. It is said that Cyber-mastiff can rip off even an Ogryn's arm in just one snap of its powerful mechanical jaws.
Cyber-mastiffs are usually deployed under the control of Adeptus Arbites patrol and planetary Enforcer units for hunting down their prey and to catch criminal fugitives attempting to escape planetary or Imperial justice.
A Cyber-mastiff utilised by the Adeptus Arbites which is almost wholly robotic.
On some worlds the dogs are actually cyborgs who retain some organic internals, generally muscles and nerves, and on some Frontier Worlds "Cyber-mastiffs" are in fact conventionally-bred hounds of Terran genetic descent with armour and controller grafts. Adeptus Arbites models, on the other hand, are almost completely mechanical, with only the central nervous system using vat-grown or three-dimensional printed organic layers created by Adeptus Mechanicus genetors to take the cortical imprint.
The Pursuer cadres of the Sisters of Silence have also used various forms of cybernetic hunting beasts, including Cyber-mastiffs, to hunt down their Rogue Psyker prey since the time of the Great Crusade. They use a variety of different cybernetic creatures for this purpose, collectively called "Pursuer Beasts."
Heavily-sprung legs give the units tremendous sprinting speed on their splayed and sharpened steel claws. Their jaws use fibre actuators to snap with blinding speed, with backup hydraulics to exert merciless, crushing force. There are often multiple adjustable teeth in their mouths for different attack patterns: a set of blades to clip off their quarry's gun-hand, or a set of armour-piercing spikes that can grip flesh. Some carry their own built-in weapon systems, including flamers or meltaguns.
The design takes advantage of the dog cortex's ability to process tremendously intricate sensory input, particularly scent, and most Subrique Pattern Cyber-mastiffs utilised in the Calixis Sector have a battery of sense and tracker systems loaded into their headpieces, made possible by the unique chemical reagents mined from the ocean's toxic sludge on the world of Landunder. "Vanes out" is the order for the mastiff handlers to extrude their dogs' specialised sniffer arrays and has become a common idiom among the Arbitrators serving in Hive Subrique on Landunder for maximum alertness.
Cyber-mastiff Handler[]
A female Adeptus Arbites Arbitrator aided by a Cyber-mastiff and Psyber-eagle in pursuit of her quarry.
Cyber-mastiff Handlers of the Adeptus Arbites and Enforcer squads spend many standard years with their cybernetic hounds, training them for the hunt and the kill. They spend countless hours running their charges through drills and training simulations, implanting commands and attack patterns into their cogitator-augmented brains through sheer repetition and rote.
All of this training is culminated on the beasts' first actual hunt, in which the handler takes their charges into the field to be put to the test. Giving signals directly to their built-in vox receivers, the Cyber-mastiff handler is able to coordinate extremely complex engagements through a dizzying number of pre-programmed patterns. Using powerful auspex arrays and visual sensorium data from the beasts themselves, handlers can control their beasts at incredible ranges, directing their attacks from several Terran kilometres distant.
Cyber-construct Use[]
It is not unheard of for individuals who are not Cyber-mastiff handlers, or who are not equipped with a controlling Constructer Interface, to make use of Cyber-constructs. While a trained Adeptus Mechanicus agent, with the proper augmetics is vastly more capable of repairing, controlling, and training these creatures, they are not alone in their use.
Anyone equipped with a Constructer Array can program a Cyber-construct like a Cyber-mastiff to obey the vocal (or vox) commands of another agent. This is limited, and cogitation patterns that would normally process evasion and attack movements must instead decipher Human speech and intent. To avoid confusion, many users give the beast a designation, commands that may be easily addressed, so that it does not interpret random words in other speech as an order.
Notable Cyber-mastiff Variants[]
- Subrique "Bullpup" Cyber-mastiff- This heavy duty Cyber-mastiff is most often employed by the Adeptus Arbites of the Calixis Sector, custom designed on the world of Landunder at the commission of Lord Marshal Goreman's predecessors by the Adeptus Mechanicus within Hive Subrique. The beast is carefully crafted as a true terror weapon, a massively built and heavily-armoured steel construct of considerable bulk. Equipped with sub-sonic voxhailers that continually emit a selection of low frequency vocalisations designed to trigger fear in the local population where they are deployed, this mode finds frequent use during intense riots. Capable of shrugging off most small arms fire and of bringing down even large groups of well-armed opponents, the Bullpups tend to be used as a final weapon to launch at the Arbites' foes, preventing a civil uprising from turning into a civil war. Bullpups are equipped with shock jaws which can also double as chainblade weapons. The construct also has magnetic locking feet and jaws which enable the creature to lock on to a target and hold it in place.
- Subrique "Bloodhound" Cyber-mastiff - This variant of the Cyber-mastiff crafted in the bowels of Hive Subrique on Landunder makes use of the rare chemicals contained in that Hive World's oceans. Used to translate airborne particles in quantifiable data, the chemical "sniffers" make the Bloodhound optimised for scent-based tracking roles. While many Cyber-mastiffs have some tracking ability, the programming and routines implanted within the Subrique Bloodhounds are trained by some of the finest handlers available in the Calixis Sector. Once implanted in a light Cyber-mastiff chassis, the animal instinct and repetitive training is linked to some of the most sophisticated olfactory sensors available in the sector (and some claim the Imperium). This formidable equipment suite is combined with an insidiously effective training regimen, which electrically stimulates the cogitators implanted in the creature's still organic cortical centres upon completion of a successful "find." This practice causes the Bloodhound to become obsessive and tireless in its duties; the creatures have been rumoured to track targets for hundreds of Terran kilometres without sleep or rest, although this may be a tall tale used to intimidate criminals into submission.
- Malfi Pattern Eliminator-mastiff - Though Malfian Enforcers are known for being generally as corrupt and amoral as the rest of that planet, certain precincts have a particularly dark reputation. These Enforcers are known to eliminate anyone in the name of "justice," so long as they receive sufficient quantities of the Calixian currency known as "thrones" in return. Through their actions, the Eliminator-mastiff has come to represent the Malfian Enforcers' twisted perversion of justice. A heavily modified Cyber-mastiff, the Eliminator-mastiff has no protocols or programming for bringing down its targets alive. It simply tracks, hunts, and kills any target loaded into its sophisticated spoor-identifying protocols. Most are equipped with a pair of overcharged las-weapons in pods mounted on the shoulders, leaving the head free to mount a mouthful of reciprocating chainblades. However, some models have been modified to carry even more powerful weaponry.
- Hardcase - Hardcases are a type of completely robotic Cyber-mastiff used by the Palanite Enforcers of the Hive World of Necromunda, the primary Enforcers of that planetary government who serve as local law enforcement.
- R-VR (Rantal-class Venatus Reclamator) - The Rantal-class Venatus Reclamator, or R-VR, is a cybernetic variant of Cyber-mastiff used by the Adeptus Arbites. It is considered a technological marvel which combines the best attributes of a loyal Terran species of mastiff with the mechanical endurance of a servitor.
Sources[]
- Dark Heresy: Book of Judgement (RPG), pp. 26, 44, 72-74
- Dark Heresy: The Inquisitor's Handbook (RPG), pg. 143
- Fanatic Magazine 1, pg. 5
- Fanatic Magazine 5, pg. 7
- Inquisitor: Rulebook (RPG), pg. 91
- The Horus Heresy Book Seven: Inferno (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 271
- White Dwarf Weekly 91 (24 October 2015), "Codex Apocrypha: Extra, Cyber-Mastiff"
- Warhammer Community - The House of Iron – New Miniatures and Lore
- Warhammer Community - Underhive Informant: Terrible Toxins, Ferocious Phelynx and Spiritual Scum
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