Porphyr Elixis

"There is, of course, no such thing as your property. There is only my property which I am yet to obtain."

- Autocrator Valois The Porphyr Elixis is a coalition of Chaos-worshiping pirate fleets based on the planet of Krypteia IV in the Maelstrom. Dedicated to the Chaos god Slaanesh, they raid across the Imperium and bring back the spoils to their piratical stronghold. Tyrannically ruled over by the Shadow Reavers and Sons of Malady warbands of Chaos Space Marines who in turn answer to the Red Corsairs, the Porphyr Elixis follow their forces on their raids, making up the bulk of the Heretic Astartes's forces. Very loosely organized, the Porphyr Elixis fight in semi-independent crews of corsairs lead by the ship's captain. More powerful captains, calling themselves the Dukes, command those of lesser stature and can muster whole ship squadrons and flotillas. Higher still are the Archidukes, the richest and mightiest among the fleet, who command the Dukes in turn. Highest of all is the Autocrator, planetary governor of Krypteia IV and direct appointee of the Shadow Reavers and Sons of Malady.

History
The history of Krypteian piracy begins with its first surface colonists. Inhabited already by a sect of hereteks cloistered inside labyrinthine tunnels running beneath the planet's surface, the first captains found an excellent base for their piratical operations, trading stolen loot for the technologies of the forge. As more and more piratical bands congregated, slowly more powerful crews turned into warlords and established tyrannies to tax and profit from the loot and plunder.

The penultimate of such arrangements was the Qaraskar Sovereignty. It was toppled finally by a coalition of Shadow Reavers and Sons of Malady, who took the planet for their own. As the Chaos Space Marines combated the Sovereignty's defenses, cults of Slaanesh and Nurgle, recognizing the allegiances of the assaulting Heretic Astartes turned against the Sovereignty and threw their weight behind the attackers. When finally the Qaraskar Sovereignty was toppled and the Chaos Space Marines established a new order, the cults that had aided them benefited greatly. The cults of Nurgle congregated around the Sons of Malady and swore direct allegiance to them, while those cults of Slaanesh that had sided with the Shadow Reavers found themselves in positions of power, appointed as planetary rulers. From these cults arose the Porphyr Elixis.

Following the Shadow Reavers upon their forays and raids into the Imperium, the Elixis served as vanguard, finding new targets for plunder. It was the Porphyr Elixis that first discovered the Warp ways from Krypteia IV to Skaldris. The disappearance of several Elixis scouting vessels had prompted the Chaos Space Marines to investigate, leading to the battles of Skaldris, where the Astartes fought against the resurgent Hest'Jaw Dynasty of Necrons.

Enemies

 * Ultramarines
 * Blood Angels
 * Dark Angels
 * Hest'Jaw Necron Dynasty

Allies

 * Shadow Reavers
 * Sons of Malady
 * Plaguebatteries
 * The Black Prince
 * Krypteian Techarchy
 * Red Corsairs

Military Doctrine
During planetary raids, the Porphyr Elixis provide orbital bombardments on strongholds, hives, fortifications and enemy armies. They also employ a fleet of aircraft – bombers, gunships and fighters alike to further their planetary reach. Most of their pilots and aces are speed-servants of Slaanesh.

When their prey has been crippled, the attacking Porphyr Elixis send boarding parties to capture or plunder the void vessel. Armed mostly for the close-quarters combat of the oftentimes tight corridors of space ships, the cultists and renegades that lead the boarding actions specialize in fast assaults, eviscerating resistance as they make for the bridge and essential functioning parts of vessels. Once these are captured, they will immediately attempt to warp jump back to the Maelstrom, in whose roiling and daemon-infested depths they would be free to flush out any stragglers that remain fortified. While their armament varies greatly as most of it is looted, the boarding parties often find autopistols and melee weapons - chainswords, maces, knives and clubs to be the most effective. To better clear ship corridors of defenders, they also hold a penchant for flamers, shotguns and grenades, but will sometimes include heavier weapons.

Waste Raiders
"I am the Nightrider! I'm a fuel injected suicide machine. I am the rocker, I am the roller, I am the out-of-controller!"

- The Nightrider, Warlord of the Waste

Krypteian Techarchy
"“The machine is Mankind’s genious personified. It is the most natural inclination of our race. For us to thrive, the machine must thrive. The drive to stifle progress, to mire creation with dogma and vapid myopia is in truth but the drive to exterminate Humankind.”"

- Archmagister Thusneld Koroviev

Elixis Organization
The Reavers’ appointed servant on Krypteia is the Autocrator. Akin to a Planetary Governor, they are responsible for the day-to-day management of the planet. Under their command are the Archidukes, the mightiest and richest pirate captains of the Porphyr Elixis. They themselves lead and control the Dukes, the minor captains, in principle at least. In reality, the pirate rabble is beyond control, and organizing it is a daunting task. When a combined fleet of Heretic Astartes and Porphyr Elixis set out for voidspace together however, the Elixis answer to the Shadow Reavers’ Fleet Master without question, for even the most fearless among the pirates would be mad to refuse a Reaver’s order. Most of the Porphyr Elixis, and certainly all of its higher-ups are followers of Slaanesh, although there are those among the pirates that serve Nurgle or Chaos Undivided. Those that worship the Blood God or Tzeentch are killed summarily when discovered.

Somatophylaxes
The elite fighters of the Porphyr Elixis are the Somatophylaxes, venerable bodyguards of the pirate captains that lead them. Brutal and remorseless, they are unleashed to bear the heaviest fighting or break the thickest lines. When boarding enemy voidships, they are the ones given the honour of storming the bridge, slaughtering its crew and capturing the ship for Chaos.

Only the most savage and murderous killers can make the cut. The trials, while they vary from captain to captain, are universally brutal and deadly, and many will not survive them. If they do however, the life of a Somatophylaxos is one of opulence, power and respect. They wear the most lavish regalia and charge with gilded great blades, equally weapon and status symbol. Although the most capable, they are also a double-edged sword for the captain they serve, for it is exactly the ever-ambitious Somatophylaxes who will inevitably amass enough prestige and power to replace them.

Autocrator Voland Valois
The Autocrator Valois comes from a long line of Rogue Traders in service to the Imperium. But a penchant for excessive appetites and an overabundance of arrogance, one of such severity that it befits not even the haughty Rogue Traders, had brought him in serious conflict with the Inquisition, culminating in being ambushed near the Maelstrom by Inquisitorial agents during his duties. Successfully fighting through the trap, he set his fleets towards the vast anomaly, reneging his ties to the Emperor and vowing to a life of piracy and boundless freedom. His lifestyle naturally led him to the embrace of the Dark Prince of Pleasures.

Already being somewhat well-seated in Krypteia IV, he put his piratical forces to work in aiding the Shadow Reavers when their invasion forces landed. Unlike many of the Pleasure Cults, who slew aimlessly in the streets, those under the Valois banner assaulted key installations and tactical objectives, for in truth the Pirate Prince had already been working on a plan to take over Krypteia IV. With the Space Marines present, any dreams of unfettered rule were quelled, but his contribution to the fighting earned him the placement as Autocrator under the Reavers.

A fairly competent administrator, Autocrator Voland Valois sees to it that the planet under him runs smoothly. His diplomatic knack and scheming cunning developed as a Rogue Trader enable him to maneuver the many hostilities of his station, avoiding daily assassination plots and execution by dissatisfied Reavers alike. He tires of governance regularly though, and often takes command of the Porphyr Elixis from his flagship the Iridescent, or leads a howling column of Waste Raiders in his personal war engine, the Turbo Lover.

Archidukes Circe, Medea and Thrace
Of the Archidukes, Circe and her two siblings Medea and Thrace are without a doubt the mightiest, supported by the greatest crews of the disparate pirate lords of Krypteia. And of all the disparate pirate lords of Krypteia, they are by the most arrogant. Nobles by birth, they have dubbed themselves the Porphyrogenes to separate themselves from the common rabble of the Elixis. They are haughty and dismissive to all they deem their lessers, which is in fact every one. Commanding the pirates under their employ from their flagship vessels, the Rapturous, Sonor Apocalypse and Exultant, they scour the Maelstrom Zone for easy prey.

Prone to violent rage at even the most benign occurrence that might invade their swollen sense of pride, the Porphyrogenes have executed many for the most innocent remarks or deeds, and the men under their command are ever in fear of their violent rages. Yet their station is by far the most lucrative, for the Archidukes will not ever allow for rumour to even suggest a limit to their opulence. The more lavishly they adorn their subordinates, they believe, the more they tout the depths of their endless personal wealth. Opulent and lurid, the trio always lead their troops personally into the charge, so that the enemy may know the splendorous forms of those that spell their doom. A trio of war machines carry them to the strange landscapes of the dark millenium: The golden war engine, Helrider; the Painkiller, covered in bright and garish conglomerates of images, letters and symbols; and finally the Hellion, a rusted, spiked war machine that cuts through the enemy with murderous speed and terrifying bursts of flame.

The Nightrider
From the deepest Wastes comes the Nightrider, the legendary speed freak that united many of the murderous Waste Raider tribes and gangs into a unified fighting force, scouring the salt planes of Krypteia IV. Building a veritable empire of vehicular homicide, the Nightrider’s forces were the only ones that could even put up a fight to the Shadow Reavers, measly as it was, as the Marines conscripted by force the disparate speed cults so as to assault the Putrescent Dawn that had infiltrated the hives of Quiesca.

Unused to any greater semblance of discipline or hierarchy, many fights and conflicts broke out between the Reaver-mustered Raiders, and the Nightrider’s superior numbers saw her browbeat the lesser gangs into submission. Soon enough, the entirety of the Raiders were under the Nightrider’s control, and she declared herself Warlord of the Waste.

Calm under threat but fearsome and explosive, the only time the Nightrider feels alive is when travelling at 500 km/h towards an enemy, or when said enemy is trampled under the wheels of her vehicle, a speck of blood and gore on the desert salt. Always leading the raiders from the front in her custom-built Nightcrawler, a vehicle of pitch black, the Nightrider is a ferocious fighter in her own right, and unmatched behind the steering wheel. Her ability to lead the Raiders’ bands at breakneck speeds, responding to emerging situations within seconds, has pulled victory from the maws of disaster time and time again. Personally armed with a power sword and gilded hellpistol, she rides at the front of the column, for the Nightrider will be left in the dust by no man alive.