Hellion

A Dark Eldar Heliarch in combat

Hellions soar through the spires of Commorragh

A Hellion is a member of one of the vicious airborne skimmer gangs to be found in the Dark Eldar city of Commorragh. They are often used by Dark Eldar Kabals on raids as a form of jump infantry. The tortured skies of Commorragh are warzones as perilous as its xenos-riddled ghettos and its noble-ruled spires. Through the mists soar arrogant lords and winged hunters seeking the next kill. The most savage of these airborne horrors are the Hellions, gangs of feral Dark Eldar who descend upon their prey in a flurry of blades before soaring away, safely out of reach. Hellions are Dark Eldar miscreants. Their numbers include aspirants not yet old enough to ve chosen as Kabalite Warriors, those who have been exiled by their Archons and those who have rejected life in a Kabal in favour of one of continued autonomy, beholden to none. Packs of Hellions haunt the desolate regions of the Dark City, surviving through the use of their wits and taking pride in the scars they earn in the course of their savage lives. Hellions gather together into large gangs to better ensure their survival, some of which can be as large as a lesser Kabal. Hellion gangs often have fierce rivalries between themselves and with the Reavers and Scourges of the upper levels, for they resent above all those who flaunt their privilege and status. Though a Hellion in his typical bravado might outwardly claim that he lives as he does for the terror and anarchy he can spread on the mean streets of the Dark City, like all Dark Eldar each Hellion secretly burns with ambition to become a power in the city in his own right.

Hellions enter combat upon Skyboards, single-pilot, anti-gravitic skimmers that are highly prized amongst the Hellions as symbols of their independence. Each Skyboard is personalised with trophies and Dark Eldar glyphs, though most have changed hands several times, won either in ritual knife-fights between gang members or claimed as bounty. Skyboards are sensitive to the slightest pressure. As a result of this, and for the sheer thrill of it, Hellions often take combat drugs that enhance their reaction speeds still further so that they can flip and jink like madmen, their reflexes now as sharp as their perfectly filed teeth.

Unpredictable and wild, Hellions attack the Kabals just as often as they join with them to participate in realspace raids. In turn, it is unusual for the Archons to bring their wrath to bear on the roving Hellion gangs, for they consider such street scum to be beneath their lofty notice and a Kabal bounty hunter skilled enough to bring a particular Hellion to the torture chambers of his employers is a rare specimen better employed in other ways. However, the Kabals value Hellions as terror troops, and the Heliarchs that lead them are not above cutting deals with the Kabals and the Wych Cults -- if the price is right. Many realspace invasions undertaken by the Kabals are lead by waves of howling, drug-enraged Hellions atop their Skyboards.

In combat, Hellion gangs will swoop directly into the main body of the enemy, screaming curses and mocking taunts in the Eldar Lexicon. A Hellion's signature weapon is a Hellglaive, a double-bladed polearm with recurved hooks on each end that allow a skilled wielder to latch onto nearby objects and rapidly change direction while on a Skyboard. Each Hellglaive is viciously sharp, and it is common practice for Hellions to call out beforehand a particular part of the body of a foe that they intend to cut off on the next pass of their Skyboard. Such is their skill with the blades that a swarm of Hellions can fall upon a squad of enemy soldiers and lop off limbs and heads before scattering once more, while a single chosen victim is carried aloft into the sky to be cut apart at the Hellions' leisure.

Heliarch

A Heliarch is the title given to the warrior who leads a Hellion gang to anarchy and battle in the Dark City of Commorragh and on raids into realspace. A Heliarch is usually the strongest warrior and most skilled Skyboard rider in his gang and he possesses the finest weapons and the best wargear of any Hellion in the gang. Heliarchs earn their position in single combat with their predecessors, and this is a duel that always ends in a high-speed death amongst the spires of the Dark City for one of the combatants.

Wargear

A Dark Eldar Hellion with Hellglaive and Skyboard

Hellions are generally outfitted with the following wargear. Heliarchs are outfitted similarly but their gear may be ofa superior quality. This wargear includes:

• Skyboard
• Wychsuit
• Hellglaive
• Stunclaw - A Stunclaw is a close combat weapon that can paralyze a victim so that he can be snatched into the sky.
• Combat Enhancement Drugs

Sources

• Codex: Dark Eldar (5th Edition), p. 28
• Codex: Dark Eldar (3rd Edition)