The Soaring Spite
| Masque of the Soaring Spite | ||
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| Performance Specialties | Acrobatics, Cosmic Serpent related performances | |
| Tactical Specialties | Aerial Superiority | |
| Colours | Blue and Purple | |
In any circus, there are acrobats, defying death with leaps of faith and agile movements. In the 40k universe, these acrobats manifest as the Soaring Spite: the fastest clowns in space and ardent worshippers of a snake, capable of feats that should almost assuredly kill a man stone dead.
Overview[edit]
The Cosmic Serpent is a legendary mythical being in Harlequin lore, said to have been able to exist in the materium and immaterium simultaneously, and was thought of kind of like the Laughing God's combo of straight-man/sidekick/noble steed along with its children, all of whom became classifications of Harlequin anti-grav jetbikes and vehicles. It is this Cosmic Serpent that the Soaring Spite are dedicated to, as they perform in much the same way he is thought to have: through incredible acrobatics and aerial feats. Indeed, the performances of the Soaring Spite do not dare touch the ground for pretty much any reason, partially because it's just too much fun for the Harlequins, and partially because it's also training for war, as they fight just as exclusively in the air as they perform.
Unsurprisingly, this Masque gets along famously with the Craftworlders of Saim-Hann, for whom they've been tight with for thousands of years, and their shows are always sold out well in advance whenever they come to town. Part of it is their need for speed and their dazzling motion matching Saim-Hann's own level of speed needing, and also similar personal philosophies given that both have a lot of reverence for the Cosmic Serpent. As a result of their close=knit relationship, they often find themselves fielding more Skyweavers than anything else so they can properly motivate their Wild Rider buddies to further battle. That doesn't mean they're exclusively craftworld allies, however, as they're also quite a popular attraction in Commorragh, where they are enormously popular with the Wych Cults, and often end up in deadly races with the Reaver squadrons to entertain the masses.
On the Tabletop[edit]
Your mechanized clowns that can close and open distance with a thought. These zoomy bois get bonuses to all vehicles that have the FLY keyword, and as a result of their Masque Form can perform actual drive-bys on the tabletop, thanks to the form negating the penalty for advancing on vehicle assault weapons. This gives them a shocking amount of range given the armies' big weakness of being almost exclusively built for melee, and turning their fusion pistols into meltaguns. Their relic is also a boon on transports, as if the bearer is embarked, the transport gets an extra 6" boost to movement, and if it's destroyed, it just comes to an orderly stop, doesn't blow up, and none of the models therein get murked in the process.