Scarab Occult Terminators

A Thousand Sons Sekhmet - Scarab Occult Terminator

The Sekhmet, also called the Scarab Occult or Magnus' Veterans, were the veteran Space Marine Battle-Brothers of the Thousand Sons Legion who served as the Primarch Magnus the Red's elite honour guard. They were made up of the best and brightest of the Thousand Sons Legion's Astartes and were equipped with resplendent crimson and ivory Tactical Dreadnought Armour, with jade scarabs gleaming on their breastplates and golden crests rearing from their atef helmets.Their visors were marred by a single vertical slash that obscured the right eye lenses of their helmets. This was in honour of their Primarch, nicknamed the Cyclops, due to the loss of his right eye from peering too deeply into the mysterious realms of the Immaterium.

The few Sekhmet that remained, fled alongside the rest of the surviving Thousand Sons to the Planet of the Sorcerers at the conclusion of the Burning of Prospero during the opening years of the Horus Heresy. Years later, during their long exile, following the casting of the disastrous sorcerous ritual known as the Rubric of Ahriman, these fine examples of both warriors and psykers were also reduced to dust along with their brethren. Controlled by their sorcerous masters, the Scarab Occult Terminators advance upon theirs foes implacably and as silent as the grave.

History

A Sekhmet Terminator, bodyguard to Primarch Magnus the Red

Magnus the Red with his elite honour guard, the Sekhmet, during the Great Crusade

The Sekhmet were active throughout the era of the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy. The Sekhmet were all veteran members of the Scarab Occult of the XV Legion's elite 1st Fellowship, under the command of Captain Ahzek Ahriman, who was also the Magister Templi of the Legion's Corvidae Cult. These proud and extremely devoted warriors were both combat Veterans and highly-ranked members of the psychic Cult system of the Thousand Sons. The Sekhmet were powerful warrior-mages, and could call forth powers mortal men could never dream of wielding. On his own, each warrior of the Sekhmet was capable of subduing worlds. In battle, the Scarab Occult could simply will their Tutelaries into their enemies’ hiding places, and burn them out with invisible fires or crush them with psychic hammer blows. Methodical and swift, Ahriman’s 1st Fellowship would then push onwards like autonomus engines of destruction.

None of the Sekhmet were ranked below the Thousand Sons Cult grade of Philosophus, the final Cult rank a warrior could hold before facing the Dominus Liminus. Each warrior was able to mentally transcend their physical and emotional weaknesses; achieving a form of emotional purity that resulted in warriors who were both fearless and willing to follow orders immediately and unquestioningly. This extraordinary level of discipline was commented on by some of the other Primarchs who witnessed the Sekhmet in action during the Great Crusade. Jaghatai Khan of the White Scars Legion commented that the Sekhmet were no better than automata, whilst, in a similar vein, Ferrus Manus of the Iron Hands Legion likened them to robots, though some within the Thousand Sons suspected that knowing the Iron Hands' affinity for technology and cybernetic augmentation, this comment may have been meant as a compliment. Leman Russ, the Great Wolf of the Space Wolves Legion, showed disdain for what he perceived as the Sekhmet's perceived "lack" of fighting spirit and esprit de corps due to their taciturn natures.

Post-Heresy

A Sekhmet Scarab Occult Terminator stands vigilant, ready to do his sorcerous masters' bidding

Following the Thousand Sons Legion's transformation into a Chaotic Traitor Legion devoted to Tzeentch and the enactment of the Rubric of Ahriman, the Sekhmet, like many of their fellow brothers, were reduced to mere dust - possessing only an echo of their once-vaunted intellect. They go into battle at the behest of their sorcerer lords, advancing with eerie and unhurried calm. Their ornate armour - derived from ancient Terminator war-plate - ripples with arcane force, sending solid shot ricocheting away and even turning aside the beams of high-tech weaponry. At close quarters, the Scarab Occult Terminators bat away their assailants' blows with contemptuous sweeps of power khopesh blades, before delivering devastating ripostes against those who insult the warriors of Prospero with their resistance.

In battle, these elite warriors are often gathered into a battle formation known as a Sekhmet Conclave, a concentration of magical force like no other. The air around these timeless warriors shimmers with energy as the sigil-wards of the Scarab Occult magnify their protective powers to new heights. Gathered around their psyker masters, these massively armoured warriors walk in thudding lockstep, the beat of their heavy tread a deathly drum that speaks of impending doom. Inferno combi-bolters are raised at a silent command, a blistering salvo of bolts hammering out to send transmorphic flame billowing in all directions. The arcane syllables uttered by their lords echo across the battlefield - though the Scarab Occult were once counted amongst the most powerful mortals in existence, their independence is long gone, and now they serve only the sorcerous fiends in their midst.

Composition

• 4-9 Scarab Occult Terminators (Per Squad)
• 1 Scarab Occult Sorcerer
• 1 Chaos Land Raider as a dedicated transport.

Wargear

A Sekhmet Scarab Occult Terminator arrayed in his deadly panoply of war

• Archaic Terminator Armour
• Inferno Combi-Bolter - The weapons of the Thousand Sons are shaped by the craft of artificers and sorcerers alike. When their guns roar, they fire not only explosive bolts that tear flesh, but uncanny energies that can melt even ceramite. In such a fashion is the Long War waged anew.
• Power Sword

Optional Wargear

1 out of every 5 Scarab Occult Terminators may replace his Inferno Combi-Bolter with the following:

• Heavy Warpflamer - In the hands of the Thousand Sons, flame weapons hurl gouts of transmorphic fire that mutate those touched by them.
• Soulreaper Cannon - A heavy variant of the inferno weapons utilised exclusively by the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion.

For every 5 Scarab Occult Terminators, one may also take the following:

• Hellfyre Missile Rack - Mounted atop the shoulders of Scarab Occult Terminators, the Hellfyre Missile Rack fires compact but deadly warheads that detonate in explosions of aetheric light.

Wargear (Scarab Occult Sorcerer Only)

• Artificer Terminator Armour
• Inferno Combi-Bolter
• Force Stave

Optional Wargear (Scarab Occult Sorcerer Only)

• 1 Power Sword in lieu of the Inferno Combi-Bolter
• Take a gift of mutation

See Also

• Honour Guard

Sources

• Horus Heresy: Collected Visions
• War Zone: Fenris - Wrath of Magnus (Campaign Supplement), pp. 99, 101-102, 108, 123, 125-126, 128, 131, 133-135, 138-139, 140-141, 146, 151, 164, 167, 169-170, 173, 198
• A Thousand Sons (Novel) by Graham McNeill, pp. 11, 14, 26, 48, 57, 98, 101-105, 108, 215, 219, 230-231, 248, 251, 254

Gallery

A typical example of a Scarab Occult Terminator of the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion. Note: Tabard carries the same runes as the Rubricae squads of their thrallbands

A Sekhemet Scarab Occult Terminator of the Blades of Magnus thrallband

A Sekhemet Scarab Occult Terminator of the Grand Order of Hermetic Blades thrallband

A Sekhemet Scarab Occult Terminator of the thrallband of Daedophet the Red Echo

A Sekhemet of the Prism of Fate thrallband

A Sekhemet Scarab Occult Terminator of the Sectai Prosperine thrallband

A Sekhement Scarab Occult Terminator of the Silver Sons thrallband

A Sekhmet Scarab Occult Terminator of the Tizcan Host thrallband

A Sekhmet of the Warp Gheists thrallband