Warriors of the Ordo Reductor

Corpus Auxilia - The Thallax Cohorts

he Thallax, Thallax Cohort or

Thallaxii were heavily augmented
cyborg shock-troops utilized by the
Ordo Reductor faction of the
Mechanicum during the Great
Crusade and Horus Heresy eras in
the late 30th and early 31st
Millennia. The Thallaxii differed from
the standard Skitarii regiments both
in their purpose and the unique
extent of their augmentics. The
Thallaxi Centuries utilized a
divergent form of Power Armor
technology known as the Lorica
Thallax, which, unlike the armor
used by its Space Marine
counterparts, was permanently,
surgically bonded to the body of the
wearer. Created exclusively by the
Ordo Reductor, Thallax were often
"gifted" by their Archmagi to other
factions, such as the Legio
Cybernetica, in return for fealty and
aid. So it was that the dread Thallax
were found within the ranks of the
Legio Cybernetica 's cohorts. It is not
known if the Ordo Reductor still
possesses the archaic technology
used to create Thallaxii troops in the
present era of the late 41st
Millennium.
The Thallax were specialized,
cybernetically-augmented
Mechanicum shock troops
manufactured and principally used
by the Ordo Reductor factions of
the Mechanicum. Designed to
operate in the most lethal and
hazardous theatres of war, the
design of the Thallax is arguably a
bridging point between the most
commonplace heavy combat
Servitors and the augmented human
Skitarii of the Forge Legions. The
Thallax differed from the Skitarii
regiments both in their purpose and
the unique degree to which their
bodies had been reshaped by
augmentics. The particular
augmentations undergone by one of
the Thallax are both severe and

extreme, retaining only the brain

(and in many cases the skull and
spinal column), the life-sustaining
viscera and nervous system as the
basis of the articulated and armored
robotic frame which encompasses it.
For some within the Mechanicum
this transformation of the human
mind skirted the edge of abomination
such as that posed by sentient
"Abominable Intelligence" (A.I.).
Given the resources required, the
difficulty of creating a Thallax and
the fact that an individual's will to live
was a factor in whether a usable
measure of sanity was retained in
the subject, Thallax conversion was
often reserved for suitable Forge
Guard and Skitarii fallen in battle and
subjects obtained from more
mysterious sources by the
unfathomable and baleful Ordo
Reductor.

The Role of the Thallax

Other principal features of the
design included a high-energy
compact reactor system (whose
emanations could not be endured by
a less augmented organic system),
allowing for extremely potent
portable weaponry to be utilized and
arcane implanted sensory apparatus
operating outside the usual realm of
organic perception. The unfortunate
side-effects of these systems on the
living components, however, were
continuous agony and psychotic
breakdown; effects ameliorated by
the surgical excision of some of the
brain's emotional centers. The
resulting machine-creature is
capable of far greater tactical
flexibility and independent action
than a mere Servitor, although
terminal deterioration of the subject's
psyche was certain over extended
periods of time.
The armored chassis and life
support systems of the Lorica
Thallax shared many technological

underpinnings and common

components with early patterns of
Legions Astartes Power Armor, and
were both extremely adaptable and
highly durable. This provided great
strength and durability for the Thallax
on the battlefield and allowed for a
beneficial degree of cross-supply
between the Space Marine Legions
and the Ordo Reductor during the
Great Crusade. The Lorica Thallax
was developed from the same Power
Armor technology which led to the
development of Legions Astartes
battle plate, but taken down along an
entirely different avenue of
development.

Heraldic Devices of the

Ordo Reductor
The various arms, sects, cults
and factions of the Mechanicum
commonly display heraldry of widely

varying degrees. To outsiders a

great deal of the nuance, symbolism
and application of these signifiers is
lost, shrouded by the arcane
doctrines and circles of the Cult of
the Omnissiah's worship, but the
broadcast and most general
interpretations are widely
understood. In many such sects of
the Mechanicum, the deep crimson
livery most associated with the
Machine Cult is in fact reserved most
often for its sworn and initiated
priesthood: the Magi, ordained
Enginseers, logisters, autosavants
and so on, and by lessening degree
their initiates and close retainers.
The bulk of the Mechanicum's
soldiery, however, as well as their
laymen servants, are usually clad in
darker hue, often of a livery
associated with their Forge World or
particular order, but marked always
with the heraldic device of their
masters.
Such is the common case with

Thallax Profile

Armor: Lorica Thallax (7 All)

Influence Minimum: 62
Influence Cost: 15
Peer (Adeptus Mechanicus) talent required. Peer (Ordo
Reductor) lowers Influence Cost by 5.
The hulking, heavily augmented cyborg shock-troops
originating within the Ordo Reductor faction of the
Mechanicum, the Thallax differ from the Martian Skitarii
regiments both in their purpose and the unique degree of
their augmentics. The Lorica Thallax which encases their
major organs, nervous system and cerebrum also replaces
the skeleton and limbs entirely with armored mechanical
systems powered by an internal reactor core.
The agony of this process, along with the replacement of
the usual human sensory apparatus, proves so traumatic as
to require the surgical excision of the pain centers and
emotions. The Thallax however retains a degree of
independent human thought; this individuality and selfdetermination is greater by far than that enjoyed by techthralls, whose cranial-surgery implants are often crude at
best, damaging as much as they control.
Many variants of the flexible and powerful Thallax have
been brought into being by the artificers of the mendicant
Ordo Reductor, a number of which found their way to the
outer Forge Worlds of the Imperium where they were seized
upon as potent war machines which, while lacking the power
of true Battle-automata, were more practical to produce in
larger numbers.

Thallax Profile
WS BS

Ag Int

Per WP Fel

32 45 44 45 33 41 55 39 -Movement: 3/6/9/18

the Thallax. Where in service with

the Ordo Reductor directly, it is
common for the Thallax's armor and
limbs to be over-plated with either
burnished steel, polished bronze or,
more rarely, gold or some
environmentally protective coating.
This is further adorned with
coloration and iconography marked
upon one or both pauldrons and/or
more rarely the breastplate featuring
the heraldry of their order of service,
cohort designation, Forge Stamp and
issue. During the Great Crusade and
early Horus Heresy era, where the
Ordo Reductor unit had been
embedded for a time of service with
a particular Space Marine Legion,
Rogue Trader Militant, Titan Legion
or Imperial Army Battlegroup, it was
often customary to adopt in part the
heraldry of that larger formation, and
often for the Broken Tower emblem
of the Ordo Reductor to be
heraldically parted with the symbol of
the principal affiliation

Wounds:30

Skills: Awareness (Per) +10, Common Lore (War) (Int),

Dodge (Ag) +10, Intimidate (S) +30, Linguistics (High Gothic)
(Int), Navigate (Surface) (Int), Operate Surface) (Ag), Parry
(WS) +10
Talents: Heightened Senses (Hearing, Sight), Resistance
(Cold, Heat, Poisons), True Grit, Unarmed Specialist, TwoWeapon Wielder (Melee, Ranged)
Weapons: Integrated Lightning Gun and Heavy Chainblade.
May replace the Lightning Gun with an Integrated: MultiLaser, Phase Plasma-Fusil, Rad-Cleanser, Multi-Melta, or
Photon Thruster
Traits: Machine (5), Flyer (4), Size (Enormous), Unnatural
Strength (4), Unnatural Toughness (4), Unnatural Perception
(3), Dark Sight, Auto-Stabilized, Brutal Charge (4)
Gear: Autosanguine, Augur Array, Interface Port,
Locator Matrix, Luminen Capacitor, Respiratory Filter
Implant, Volitor Implant.
Djinn-Sight (X): The sinister blank-faced helms of the
Thallaxii conceal an array of inhuman sensory apparatus
through which they experience the battlefield as a raging
storm of electromagnetic turmoil, blood-heat and seismic
percussion. However, for the organic brain to handle this
hurricane of data, it must be surgically mutilated, removing
the mere human senses such as sight and hearing.
The Djinn-Sight means that a Thallax reduces the benefits
of any cover its opponent by the value of X (normally 4) (a
location of cover with AP 8 would be reduced to 4, and a
location with an AP 4 would be ignored entirely, and so on).

Thallax Augmentic Variants

ertain Thallaxii are further implanted with augmetic systems to better suit them to a particular mode of warfare by their
masters in the Ordo Reductor of the Mechanicum. Their primary differences lie not in their base Characteristics, but the weapons
and other Components that they mount. There, instead of providing four different profiles, Gamemasters who wish these different
types of Thallaxii should modify the profile from the previous page with the following changes.

Icarian Thallax
The Icarian Thallaxii were originally conceived as being augmented to provide anti-air support to assist the ground forces of the
Ordo Reductor. To utilize Icarian Thallaxii, increase the value of the Thallax' Ballistic Skill by 10. Additionally, due to their
augmentations they reduce the Range modifier by one degree, thus a target that would normally be treated as 'Extreme Range'
would instead be Treated as 'Long Range' instead and would suffer a -10 modifier, instead of a -30.

Destructor Thallax
The Destructor Thallaxii were developed to provide anti-armor to the Thallax Cohorts. Their augments allow them a greater use
of their Djinn-Sight. To utilize a Destructor Thallax, increase the value of the Thallax' Djinn-Sight to 8. Additionally, due their unique
augmentations their primary weapon gains the Vengeful (6) special weapon quality when used against vehicles.

Empyrite Thallax
The Empyrite Thallaxii are outfitted with implanted teleportation units. Their augments allow them to disappear completely, reappearing in a different location. An Empyrite Thallax may move up to double its normal Run movement value, ignoring terrain or
other obstacles. They also gain the Phase trait.

Thallax Armoury
The following are the exotic weapons and armor utilized
by the Thallax Cohorts of the Ordo Reductor.

Lorica Thallax
A Divergent form of power armor technology developed
by the Ordo Reductor of the Mechanicum for their Thallax
Centuries, the Lorica Thallax, unlike its Space Marine
counterparts, is permanently surgically bonded to the body
of the wearer. It uses linked mechanical armatures to
replace the primary limbs, and a compact reactor core to
generate power for the Thallax's weaponry. The armor is
fused directly to the spinal column and nervous system of
the Thallax and marks them both as warriors of the
Mechanicum and serves as a symbol of their servitude.
The Lorica Thallax incorporates several redundant
Luminen Capacitors, and incorporates the benefits of GoodCraftsmanship Bionic Arms, Legs, and Respiratory systems,
as well as providing an Armor Point value of 7.

Photon Thruster
The arcane secrets of these deadly but unstable beam
weapons are jealously guarded by the adepts who hold
them, leading some to believe the technology is xenos in
origin. When fired they unleash howling, needle-thin beams
of utter blackness able to pierce the densest matter, slashing
and slicing armored men and machinery apart like razors,
leaving pulsing waves of darkness in their wake. The exotic
power sources of these unearthly weapons are extremely
unstable, and catastrophic failure can lead to its firer being
consumed by raging black flames until only dust remains.

Rad-Cleanser
Rad-cleansers are potent weapons said to be relics of
the long-past Dark Age of Technology, and they are certainly
powerful and terrible enough in effect to justify that mythic
claim. Victims caught in the rad-cleansers blast suffer an
agonizing death as their tissues are blown apart on a cellular
level and they are boiled alive from within. Even metals may
combust in the powerful blast created by a rad-cleanser.
These horrific weapons are extremely difficult to
manufacture and heavily proscribed by the Cult Mechanicus
They are however not as rare amongst the Magos retinues
of the Calixis Sector as they are elsewhere, pointing to some
Archmagos or facility in the sector that possesses the baleful
secret of their construction. The toxic effect listed on this
weapons profile actually represents massive radioactive
contamination, and should be treated accordingly. Radcleansers must be reloaded by refueling their bulky reactorcore units, which cannot be done during combat.

Phased Plasma Fusil

Once a technology that could have supplanted all other
forms of offensive firepower, plasma technology is now all
but lost to the Imperium. Very few forge worlds possess the
knowledge to create plasma weapons, and most of those
only manage to do so by following ancient sets of
instructions created millennia ago. As one of the more
dangerous special issue weapons within the Mechanicum,
the Phased Plasma Fusil does away with many of the
drawbacks common to Imperial plasma weaponry, all but
eliminating the need for recharging, and significantly
reducing the excess heat that conventional plasma weapons
tend to generate.

Lightning Gun

Rad-Phage

This aptly named weapon takes the form of a baroquely

designed carbine connected to a micro-reactor core. It fires
an ionizing las-beam, down which a powerful phased
discharge of electromagnetic force is unleashed, and is
equally effective at slaughtering the living and overloading
machine targets.

Rad-Phage is a Weapon Special Quality that behaves

exactly as Toxic. However, if a character survives being
hit with a weapon with the Rad-Phage quality and
receives damage from the Toxic quality, they also suffer
1d5 permanent Toughness Characteristic damage as
well.

Thallax Heavy Chainblade

GM Note: Encountering a Thallax

Oversized Chain Blades that rival their more common

counterparts, the Eviscerator, in killing power, these
mounted Chain blades can render enemies of the Thallaxii
Cohorts into bloody piles of flesh and gore.
Normally two-handed weapons, these special variants are
mounted or integrated with the Lorica Thallax. If the weapon
itself is ever detached, it is treated as a two-handed weapon
by a normal sized human character.

Encountering a Thallax is a matter of circumstance.

The arts of creating Thallaxii may or may not exist within
the 'present day' of the 41st Millennium. Nonetheless,
the opportunity may still be present in the Orthodox of
the Mechanicum or by encounters with their traitorous
kin, the Dark Mechanicum.
Thallaxii make for incredibly dangerous and lethal
opponents, as they were designed as engines of war by
the ancient Mechanicum. A single Thallax should prove
a sufficient challenge for a group of Acolytes in Dark
Heresy, or an entire cohort a formidable adversary for a
regiment of guardsmen in Only War!

Table: Thallaxii Weapons

Ranged Weapons
Name
Lightning Gun
Phased Plasma Fusil
Photon Thruster

Class
Exotic
Exotic
Exotic

Range
60m
100m
150m

RoF
S/-/S/2/4
S/3/-

Dam
1d10+5 R
2d10 E
1d10+8 E

Pen
3
6
8

Clip
40
15

Rld
Half
Full

Rad-Cleanser

Exotic

30m

S/-/-

2d10+2 E

20

Special
Crippling (2), Corrosive
Lance, Maximal,
Overheats
Blast (2), Recharge,
Rad-Phage (4)

Wt.
11kg
12kg
32kg

Availability
Rare
Very Rare
Very Rare

26kg

Very Rare

Melee Weapons
Name
Thallax Heavy Chainblade

Class
Chain

Range
-

Dam
1d10+20 R

Pen
7

Special
Razor Sharp, Tearing,
Unbalanced

Wt.
16kg

Availability
Rare