Akoni 3rd Drop Infantry

"Ours is a world born in fire. We are born in fire, having been born of our world. Why should we not live the same way? why should we not wield fire against our enemies and when our time comes why should our bodies not be burned, and bring life again from the ashes?" - Captain Kahale Aukai

History and Regimental Culture
The Akoni Imperial Guard are drawn exclusively from the Kulanai Wai' To'na Island Chain on Akoni,. The rest of the world's many island chains are populated by either primitive tribes afraid of the Akoni or uninhabitable due to heavy volcanic activity.

The Kulanai wai'To'na is also the largest of these archipelagos, it's many islands easily equal the land mass of a small continent, its vast distances traveled mostly by aircraft and boats with armored hulls. The people of the Akoni were once not much more advanced their primitive neighbors, living in buildings of stone, armed with black powder rifles and knives as opposed to their foe's grass and wooden huts and obsidian tipped blades and spears. This has changed since their discovery by the Salamanders.

Cities that were once built from stone and wood became skyscrapers made of glass and steel while the uninhabited islands became untamed, pristine wilderness with black sand beaches.

Salamanders
While the nascent Imperium was waging the Great Crusade the ancestors of the Kulanai wai'To'na Akoni were beginning their exodus toward those islands where they would be protected by the sea cliffs. During this time a single squad of Salamanders would land and come under attack by hostile natives. They would lay waste to the entire island and rescue Akoni prisoners intended as a meal for the savage islanders. Grateful for the rescue and shocked by the level of destruction the Marines were capable of they took the scouts to their leaders and so began their respect and reverence for the Emperor and for Vulkan.

In addition to this Akoni culture reveres and respects fire as both a tool to build and to destroy. They feel the Salamanders are kindred spirits since they hail from a world "born in fire" like theirs and many Akoni hope to one day fight alongside them. They see Vulkan as the protector of their people not the Emperor, but still serve as they see him as the Father and Protector of Vulkan. In addition to the obsidian and Parrot feather charm worn by hunters, many Akoni Drop Troopers also wear obsidian carved into the Salamanders chapter symbol.

Rite of Passage
While the more civilized islanders have left behind most tribal traditions, excepting tattoos on the arms and/or face and cremation of the dead, one plays directly into their preferred fighting style- once a right of passage it is now more of a celebration of adulthood. The islands that the Akoni call home are surrounded by sea cliffs and so upon reaching adulthood most Akoni teenagers will leap off the cliffs into the ocean below. In the past they would be armed with a knife to defend themselves from the sea snakes, easily 20 meters and above in length. in the Akoni language(which is not compatible with Low Gothic) they are called Wai'ka'da man'di or "Great ones from the sea" but with the advance of technology these serpents are no longer a threat, merely a resource to be hunted.

Hunting
Once done from dugout canoes, still done so in more isolated areas, the updated tradition sees them using low flying aircraft. Secured in place by harnesses 2 men will jump into the sea when a Sea Snake surfaces hoping to land their harpoons(held to the aircraft by long cables) in either side of its head. Paralyzed and helpless the animal can then be reeled into the cargo bay. This is still dangerous work- many wear good luck charms made of obsidian and parrot feathers. Taken together these practices make The Akoni Natural pilots Drop Troopers. Most notably serving in the Crusade for Nightshores in late M37.

The Blackwater Rifles
The Imperial Guard of Akoni(the 3rd Akoni was 1 of 22 regiments) and the Imperial Guard of Sarton fought together in the Crusade for Nightshores developing an Intense respect for each other's skills. Most notably in the case of the 3rd Akoni and the Blackwater Rifles lacking in every way but in Heavy Infantry the Sarton Imperial Guard found themselves in danger of being outflanked in one major battle- only the timely deployment of the 3rd Akoni saved them and later won the day. While the units had traveled together aboard the "Brightstar" it was this incident which saw them interact for the 1st time.

From that moment forward the Crusade Command staff deployed these units together for the remainder of the Crusade. The Akoni remained completely fascinated by Ogryns(which none had seen in person) and the Sarton by Akoni tattoos and the exotic women depicted in aircraft nose art. Many friendships were born of the working relationship(as well as informal trades- pictures of Akoni women (most popularly a well known model named Nina Kahala) and dried fruit for Sarton Liquor- but not the beloved "Blackwater Brown" and canned ham) they remained close friends, allies and trading partners after the end of the Crusade.

Structure
8 companies of 100 each- lead by a Captain

•Divided into 10 platoons of 80 (lead by a Lieutenant)

•Divided into 10 squads of 8 Troopers(lead by a Sergeant)

Total- 800 men

Air Support Unit
1.6 Vultures- 24 men

2.6 Vendettas- 24 men

3.4 Sky Talons(4 men)

4 Drop Sentinels (4 men)

(56 men total)

Further Notes
Since they are most often used in support roles the hierarchy goes no further than Captain- each company acts largely independently or under the command of ranking officers in other units. Their vehicles carry the same blue and black cammo as their men but wear a symbol unique to the Akoni- an Aquila that displays a decided tribal influence. Many of them carry white painted tribal symbols in their intricate, swirling style. Some also borrowed the tradition of aircraft nose art- with Vultures and Vendettas painted showing images of Hula dancers and swimsuit models as a reminder of home, or images of crowd favorite "Black Velvet Vixens".

Unlike most of the units in the Crusade they traveled without any civilians- due to the high risk nature of their work the unit was made up entirely of single men(which didn't stop them from establishing relationships with Sarton women). However members were allowed to leave the unit after a set period of service- usually 15- 20 years depending on the age of the soldier in question. This was not a problem as their were always plenty of young men eager to prove themselves in the Drop Troopers but this condition did see the unit almost entirely rebuilt after the Crusade when many of them simply went home.

Elysian Pattern Grav chute

Akoni Pattern flak jacket

Akoni Pattern Bullpup lasgun

6 Akoni "Blackfire" pattern incendiary grenades

Autopistol

(no standard issue- only requirement was that it used .45 caliber bullets)

Akoni Pattern flak helmet/breath mask

Akoni pattern tactical webbing

Fighting knife

3 days of rations/pack (deployed via drop chute after landing)

Imperial Guardsman's uplifting primer

Tactics
They tend not to wear much armor- preferring mobility to anything else. While they wear flak jackets- thick leather with armor plates sewn into them they often carry them in their packs when they no longer need them. They act as a sort of light infantry scouting ahead of slower units or to guard the flanks during an advance.

They are also deployed behind enemy lines before engagements to sow chaos and confusion in the enemy ranks, assassinate key leaders, sabotage enemy supply lines and the like. When they cannot use these tactics in battle they always seek out the high ground- climbing almost sheer rock with full loads when they need to- part of their training

Haka
The word Haka come from some of their ancestors- these harsh guttural chants in their native tongue are meant to be a morale boost and motivation to fight. As such it was not uncommon for them to perform them, with their traditional chest thumping/foot stomping dance, before dropping into battle, or to broadcast them to friendly units as encouragement and to demoralize their enemies. It was also not unknown for them to perform these chants in battle in a call and response fashion- their officers call and they respond. In some cases other regiments they fought with would join in once they learned the words, following the Akoni officers.

It was also sometimes performed for visiting VIPs and dignitaries.

The regimental Haka of the 3rd Drop Infantry translated as

We who Conquer
Ask us and we will tell you

We that Conquer!

That we are Akoni, born in fire And from ash reborn!

We who Conquer!

'''We fly and behind us rolls the thunder! We are the Wrath from the Stars!'''

From an island of fire and stone in a sea of sparkling black!

We who Conquer!

We who bring His name to battle on our lips!  And fire in our hands!

Ask us and we tell you all of this

We who Conquer!

Sgt. Kapali Kalena
leader of a squad named the "Suicide 6" by the Blackwater(despite having 8 members). They earned their name from their reckless habit of charging into enemy fire screaming the Regimental Haka. Despite being reckless, he was effective, earning many awards and honors, ones he always turned down.

Iona Kahiona
Once a kelp farmer and part time cargo pilot, he joined looking for an escape from his mundane life. He found it behind the controls of a Sky talon- a talented pilot he somehow managed to score an aircraft kill, despite the craft's light armament. His true skills revealed themselves by accident- during an attack on an Akoni camp ahead of the main battle line he took command of a Vendetta gunship without orders- scoring multiple vehicle kills. Instead of a reprimand or worse he was instead assigned to a Vendetta for good- enabling him to score 64 vehicle kills.

Hipao Makaio
Another Squad leader, he commanded the "Nightmare Children" named for an Akoni legend- the children of one of their ancient volcano spirits who acted as protectors- warding off their enemies by entering their dreams and causing them nightmares so severe that they would die of fright. They tried to live up to the reputation of their namesake by operating at night, assassinating enemy leaders in a way that ensured they would not be found until the next morning or making good use of their grenades, leaving a trail of burned out structures and vehicles behind them and wearing black body paint, and going so far as to paint their weapons as well.

Makaio personally accounted for 120 enemy KIAs while his squad as a whole is credited with more than 800.

Anison
They were redeployed to Seroon alongside the Blackwater Rifles in an effort to break the siege that had been ongoing for several years. Part of the problem was the city of Anison, built around several railway hubs and held by a segment of the Dark Mechanicum who used the railways to move large guns. Those guns, capable of hitting targets hundreds of kilometers away, or straight up to target vessels in orbit, had to be silenced and the city had to fall before the campaign could continue The Akoni 3rd were the spearhead of this operation, beginning with an all night march from their drop point 50 kilometers from the city. They entered the city just before dawn, catching the enemy's Combat Servitors completely by surprise and silencing the anti aircraft positions. With this done, they signaled the rest of the Imperial Army including the Blackwater Rifles, by broadcasting their Regimental Haka.

With Akoni gunships and Marauder bombers flying air support they knocked out the railway guns and took the city in only one day. Anison would serve out the remainder of the conflict on Seroon as a staging area for Imperial forces, incluing the penal troops sent to replace losses suffered by the Crusade army. The civilians following the Crusade army moved into Anison and rebuilt, living some semblance of a normal life despite the conflict around them.

Sioa
At first glance the enemy stronghold appeared to be a kilometer wide plateau in an otherwise empty plain- the truth however was far stranger, it was really an enormous fossilized tree stump, in any case it had to fall, as those within controlled everything around it. When weeks of artillery bombardments failed and an orbital strike leveled the surface instillation but failed to destroy the vast underground complex beneath the only remaining option was an infantry assault. While lighter units like the Akoni 3rd drew enemy units away from the battle to destroy them piecemeal all available Heavy Infantry assaulted and ultimately took the stronghold, destroying it and leaving vast scars in the surface of Sioa.

Chando-Rish
Not a planet but the assumed name of a Traitor Guardsman who attracted a small army of fellow traitors and deserters. Amassing a small army of roughly 3500 like minded individuals, he conquered a few small settlements on a world the Crusade armies had already taken. His poor decision brought the wrath of the Blackwater Rifles and the Akoni 3rd Drop Infantry on him and his army and were annihilated in a single battle. This only deepened the relationship and intense mutual respect between these 2 units.