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VolkiteCaliver

A Volkite Caliver often used by the Space Marine Legions' infantry squads as their primary weapon during the early years of the Great Crusade.

Volkite Weapons is an arcane term used by the Adeptus Mechanicus to refer to a class of powerful thermal ray weapons whose technology is pre-Imperial in origin and dates back to the Age of Technology or the Age of Strife. These weapons possessed considerable killing power, surpassing most other armaments of their size.

Blasts from Volkite Weapons were even known to be able to penetrate the thick ceramite plates of Space Marine power armour with one concentrated shot. Volkite Weapons produced a deflagrating attack, in which subsonic combustion caused by a beam of thermal energy propagated through a target material by thermodynamic heat transfer so that hot burning material heated the next layer of cold material and ignited it. A Volkite Weapon's heat ray had a devastating effect on organic matter, explosively burning flesh into ash and jetting fire.

Unfortunately, Volkite Weapons of the various types were difficult to manufacture, even for the most able of the ancient Mechanicum's forges, and the demands of the expanding Great Crusade in the late 30th Millennium swiftly overwhelmed the supply of these relic-weapons.

ErelimVolkiteSerpentas

A Blood Angels Legion Erelim of the pre-Heresy Angel's Tears Order of the First Sphere armed with twin Volkite Serpentas.

Once relatively common within the fledgling Space Marine Legions and the military forces of the pre-Heresy Mechanicum, Volkite Weapons had fallen largely from favour by the time the Horus Heresy began in the early 31st Millennium and had been superseded by the far more flexible and utilitarian Terran bolter.

Those few examples of a Volkite Weapon that remained in service were the purview of only a few specialised units at the outbreak of the conflict that tore the Imperium apart in a galaxy-spanning civil war. Volkite Weapons in the present time are exceedingly rare, and are scarcely ever seen amongst the Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes in the 41st Millennium.

These rare thermal weapons were also once the standard armament of a significant number of Solar Auxilia infantry regiments of the Imperial Army, becoming increasingly scarce as the Great Crusade wore on, and by the Horus Heresy became the preserve of only the most elite of their Veletaris units. To carry such a weapon became a thing of great distinction in the ranks of the Solar Auxilia, the weapons themselves passing from soldier to soldier as time went on as an indicator of elite status.

Variants[]

Volkite Serpenta[]

The pistol variant of a Volkite Weapon wielded single-handed, the Volkite Serpenta was sometimes carried by high-ranking soldiers of the Imperial Army and the Tech-priests of the ancient Mechanicum during the Great Crusade era.

Volkite Blaster[]

The Volkite Blaster is one of the few types of Volkite Weapon still used by the military forces of the Imperium in the 41st Millennium. Volkite Blasters are known to be wielded by Adeptus Mechanicus magi dominus.

Volkite Charger[]

The Volkite Charger was the assault weapon variant of a Volkite Weapon carried by Space Marine infantry and the military forces of the Mechanicum. Whilst not benefiting from the range or power of its larger cousins, the Charger retained the Volkite thermal ray's deflagrating effects and allowed its wielder a greater degree of movement.

Volkite Chargers were often employed by Legion Tactical Support Squads.

Volkite Caliver[]

The Volkite Caliver was a Volkite heavy weapon variant carried by Space Marine and Mechanicum infantry forces. A Volkite rifle with a devastating effect on flesh and bone, the Volkite Caliver was often employed by mobile Legion Tactical Support Squads, utilising firepower superior to that of the more common bolter that would eventually replace it as the standard infantry weapon of the Space Marine Legions.

Volkite Culverin[]

The Volkite Culverin is the heaviest and most potent man-portable iteration of all Volkite technology, and was used by the ancient Legiones Astartes Legion Heavy Support Squads and their Contemptor Pattern Dreadnoughts, which could mount two of these heavy weapons on a single arm.

Volkite Carronade[]

The Volkite Carronade was a Volkite heavy weapon variant, mounted as the primary turret armament on the Glaive Super-Heavy Special Weapons Tank, a variant of the Fellblade. A Volkite Carronade could destroy large enemy targets in a single sweep.

Volkite Chieorovile[]

The Volkite Chieorovile was a Volkite heavy weapon variant used by the Questoris Knight Styrix. This devastating weapon can eliminate large numbers of enemy infantry at range.

Volkite Demi-Culverin[]

The Volkite Demi-Culverin was a Volkite heavy weapon variant mounted as the primary turret armament on the Leman Russ Incinerator tank. A powerful weapon dating back to the Age of Technology, the Demi-Culverin could tear through infantry squads with ease.

Volkite Sentinel[]

The Volkite Sentinel was an automated, slaved weapon systems controlled independently by its own servitor-brain. Volkite Sentinels were used as defensive weapons found on a number of larger Mechanicum war engines, most commonly the Triaros Armoured Conveyer.

Each Volkite Sentinel was actually a pintle-mounted Volkite Charger which could be fired in addition to any other weapons the vehicle was carrying. Because of its servitor brain, the Volkite Sentinel was able to target units separately from the vehicle's main armament or the direction of its gunners.

Volkite Incinerator[]

The Volkite Incinerator was a powerful purpose-designed Volkite ray weapon that was mounted in the chest-unit of each Ursarax Tech-Guard, allowing it to both attack its victims at range with a lethal Volkite beam and also by grabbing its foe within its claws and drawing them in to suffer the full brunt of this discharge at point-blank range.

This confined ray blast was particularly devastating in its power and was able to disintegrate even heavily armoured warriors in mere moments at such short range.

Volkite Falconet (Volkite Falconet Battery)[]

A Volkite Falconet is a directed energy thermal beam weapon similar in operation to other Volkite Weapons that could be deployed on the Deredeo Pattern Dreadnought. With the application of extreme heat it causes the flesh of its targets to explosively burst into ash and flame, laying waste to enemy hordes.

When Volkite Falconets are deployed on both weapons arms in a twin-linked format it is known as a Volkite Falconet Battery.

Neo-Volkite Pistol[]

A Neo-Volkite Pistol is the first Volkite Weapon to have been created since the time of the Great Crusade. The genius of Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl found a way to reinvent the technology of Volkite Weapons in the Era Indomitus. A Neo-Volkite Pistol is now sometimes wielded by Primaris Lieutenants.

Volkite Veuglaire[]

A Volkite Veuglaire is a Volkite Weapon deployed on the Knight Moirax. These ancient weapons are a rare sight even amongst the most venerable of Knight households, for their complex mechanisms are often beyond the ability of simple Sacristans to repair. But for those houses that still operate them, Volkite Veuglaire are prized for their ability to clear light infantry from the battlefield in a blaze of scintillating directed energy beams.

Volkite Cardanelle[]

A Volkite Cardanelle was a large and powerful Volkite Weapon that was developed for use as a main turret armament on the ancient Kratos Heavy Assault Tank for the Space Marine Legions. It was employed primarily as an anti-infantry weapon. Its potent heat ray could melt the flesh from large formations of enemy foot soldiers.

Volkite Combustor[]

A Volkite Combustor is a type of large Volkite Weapon deployed as an arm weapon on Chaos Knights, specifically the Knight Abominant. These Chaos Knights use their Volkite Combustor to incinerate their foes at range.

Volkite Eradicator[]

A Volkite Eradicator is a Volkite Weapon that is deployed on Warhound and Reaver-class Titans as arm and chassis-mounted weapons, respectively.

Volkite Destructor[]

A Volkite Destructor is a Volkite Weapon that is deployed on Warlord-class Titans as an arm-mounted weapon.

Volkite Cavitor[]

A Volkite Cavitor is a variant of the more common Volkite Weapons that were produced on Nostramo during the Great Crusade, a rare example of a lost technology recovered by the Imperium on that blighted world. The removal of certain safety features allows the Volkite Cavitor to project more diffused thermal beams at limited ranges. The Cavitor was a favoured weapon of the Night Lords Legion's Contekor Elite Terminators, who also usually attached a small chainblade to the end of the Cavitor's muzzle to make it useful in melee strikes.

Volkanite Disintegrator[]

The Volkanite Disintegrator is an advanced form of a man-portable, Volkite Weapon employed by the military forces of the Leagues of Votann. A Volkanite Disintegrator is one of a class of powerful thermal ray weapons whose technology is pre-Imperial in origin and dates back to the Age of Technology.

However, Kin weapons like the Volkanite Disintegrator are superior in almost every respect to those patterns of Volkite Weapons wielded by the agents and military of the Imperium, since the Kin employ superlative materials and methods in their construction and have no fear of further innovating on an ancient STC design. As a result, the Volkanite Disintegrator and other Kin Volkanite Weapons often have longer ranges and more stopping power than any of their Imperial equivalents.

In this case, the Volkanite Disintegrator is based on a form of the technology that has been lost to the Imperium for millennia, and the Adeptus Mechanicus would give much to get it back.

Notable Users[]

Sources[]

Gallery[]

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