Callidus
- "To assume the shape of the accursed and deliver death from the purity within you - that is to be Callidus."
- --Dictatus Callidus
Callidus (Latin for sneaky or stealthy, although, ironically, "Callidus" is masculine, even though most of the assassins are female) is an Assassin temple of the Officio Assassinorum. They are masters of infiltration and disguise, thanks to a drug called Polymorphine, which, for some reason, works on women better than on men (big deal; gene-seed only works on men so no female Space Marines, it works out even). Their training involves learning about other cultures and languages as opposed to just killin' stuff, so they're probably the most socially-capable of the assassins who actually appear on the tabletop. However, that doesn't necessarily make them "normal," since getting "lost in character" is sometimes an issue.
Second Time was Curiosity
The first time, it was a mission - handed down from the highest levels of the Officio Assassinorum, cleared in every instance, and signed and sealed in triplicate. "Pretend to be the Emperor himself. Seduce the farseer named Macha, and then reveal your identity. Kill no-one."
A simple enough task, and work as usual. Easily accomplished. But even a hardened assassin has heart-strings, and somehow, the crying face of the xeno witch managed to give them a slight... tug.
The second time was curiosity. Would it feel as good, if repeated? It was not a mission, there were no orders, but even so, it was accomplished quickly and professionally. A cute pizza delivery boy, that time. And yes, it _was_ the same! That feeling! From then, it moved to become a habit, then closer to an obsession. Watch the target at every turn. Foil her every attempt at escaping from the woven web - and let no-one else get close. Every time, it was a little easier, and every time, it felt... even better! The rush of the hunt, of deception, but without the murder, without the blood and the inevitable extraction - instead, wonderful sex, and the rush of seeing resistance slowly, - or did she imagine it? - slowly, turning into despair... and, perhaps, in the future, acceptance?
She, who had no name to call her own, nothing but an order and a call-sign, had finally found the love of her life.
Typical Behavior of said Callidus
"Mfh... ...e..h? Oh, morning already... wait. What's that rubbing against my... oh. You again."
(hard breathing)
"Look, I wish you'd sto--- ah! No! N-not there!"
(muffled hard breathing)
"Ah, I-- I'm not i-i-nterested in wooOOmen in t-the first place, s-so just stop doing t-this!"
(more muffled sounds, accompanied by something that might be described as a repeated... "schlick" of a sound.)
"...aaaAAh, j-just... no, I'm..."
(The sounds and the frequently interrupted protests, continue for a time, growing more fervent and more subdued, respectively, until they cease, with a creaking of the bed marking a climax of sorts.)
"You... it's hopeless. How am I ever going to find someone when you keep...?"
(...)
"Don't look at me like that! And answer me! Why do you never speak when you look like yourself?"
(...)
"...well fine. I'll go get myself cleaned up, and you... well, do you want some breakfast before you go?"
The nameless assassin shakes her head - that would be getting too close. Too unprofessional. It's not work, but... even so. It would feel wrong. By the time Macha returns from the shower, the Callidus assassin who shared her bed yet again is long gone. As usual.
On the Tabletop
The Callidus is a great assassin. First of all, she gets the usual stats:
WS8 BS8 S4 T4 W3 I7 A4 Ld10
She has Lightning Reflexes (4+ Invulnerable and charging through terrain doesn't drop her strong initiative), No Escape (-2 to Look Out, Sir! rolls for the enemy. That's a 6+ LoS! for characters and 4+ LoS! for ICs), Fearless, and Infiltrate.
Making her stand out while trying to blend in, she has a few special abilities befitting her:
Uniquely, she has Fleet (so she can enter the combats she wants to fight), Hit & Run (so she can leave the close combats she doesn't want to fight), and Precision Strikes (no hiding in the back from that challenge there, buddy!).
Her first uber-special rule is Reign of Confusion, forces -3 on her opponent's first reserve roll (note: Not first turn rolling for reserves) and grants you re-rolls to Seize the Initiative.
Then there's Polymorphine which allows her to infiltrate 1" away from an enemy unit regardless of whether or not the enemy has LoS. Also, if she starts in reserves, she can roll a unique outflank to come in on the enemy's deployment zone. Regardless, all enemy units snap-fire at her the first turn she is on the board. Essentially combined with the previously mentioned abilities she is the assassin you would use if you were actually looking to take out a specific opponent (basically she runs in, takes out the warlord or character than escapes out of combat and flees, kinda like what an assassin should be doing really).
Her wargear also capitalizes on her role of the assassin that wants to be up close.
The Neural Shredder's a S1 AP2 Flamer Pistol. S1 sure does suck, right? Well, thanks to the Neural Shock rule, it wounds non-vehicles/fortifications on a 4+. Also is a pistol because +1 attack for your Phase Sword, hooray!
For assaults, there's her unique Phase Sword, an AP2 weapon which ignores Invulns if she rolls a 6 to wound. That's right, on 6s to wound in CC, nobody gets a save! In essence be sure to throw her against all the cheese units running around the game these days with their 2+ invul saves with reroll's (Grey Knights and Daemons, we're looking at you). If that isn't enough, there's her Poison Blades which are S:User with no AP, but has Poisoned (3+) and Rending if she bumps into a really tough target like a Nurgle Daemon or a Monstrous Creature.
In short, she's to melee what the Vindicare is to range; she picks one model and fucks up their day. BADLY. She is the type of assassin meant to get on the nerves of your opponents, scaring them into keeping their powerful warlord units out of the way and then killing them anyway. Put her an inch away from the enemy warlord, then sieze the initiative with that re-roll if you weren't going first already. Then, fire the neural shredder to turn any bodyguards or meat shields into gibbering mush before charging in and challenging (ALWAYS challenge with her; if the enemy accepts they get their ass handed to them; if they refuse they lose their attacks and get their ass handed to them regardless). Roll six attacks that'll pretty much always hit on threes, then punch through their armor (and hopefully their invuln) save with your phase sword. Finally, assuming you haven't swept the enemy squad, pull out using Hit and Run and escape under a rain of snapshotting misses.
In terms of targets she is best served avoiding wasting her talents on things like infantry or vehicles (the latter of which she is virtually useless against anyway), those are best served with the Eversor and Vindicare anyway. Send her against targets that will make best use of her talents such as warlords with stormshields, cover camping TEQ's, assignation duty on some Tyranid synapse creatures, specific characters or models you need dead ASAP, etc. In essence out of the four she functions as the actual assassin of the bunch, instead of a living bomb, sharpshooter or psyker wrecker. She isn't meant to clear the board, simply decide what you specifically want dead, send her in and enjoy the show. Just always be mindful of an exit strategy otherwise she might get gunned down (she isn't quite as durable as the Eversor or Culexus when getting shot at).
Gallery
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Callidus loves playing pretend.
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