Judicator
Protectorate Colossal | ||
---|---|---|
Weapons | Dual Rocket Launchers Dual Flamethrowers | |
Height | 10.36m | |
Weight | 75 tons | |
Fuel load | 899.93 kg | |
Fuel usage | 6 hours general 50 minutes combat | |
Chassis designer | Sul-Menite artificers Foundry of the Sacred Flame | |
Initial service date | 608 AR |
History
The vision that leads to the creation of the Judicator comes to the Harbinger of Menoth after the conquest of Leryn. She foresees a coming conflict wreathed in smoke and fire, with immense machines bearing the flags and banners of the enemies of the faith. Where they clash, the earth itself is sundered. She knows those machines will exact a terrible price from the faithful should the Protectorate be caught unprepared.[1]
The Harbinger communicates these dire portents to the hierarch and the visgoths. The Synod is reluctant, but Hierarch Severius, understanding the seriousness of the warning, brooks no dissent. Construction begins at once under the direction of Visgoth Ark Razek and his artificers. Reviewing the resources at his disposal, Razek quickly concludes that existing facilities are insufficient for the demands of such a tremendous undertaking.[1]
Through sweat, toil, and faith, the Foundry of the Sacred Flame is erected in the sands east of Imer in mere months. No expense is spared in the construction, though many labourers die in the rush to completion. Manufacture begins even as the first choirs arrive to bless the factory, its labourers, and the products of the great work.[1]
Lacking the resources of Cygnar or Khador and possessing fewer specialised arcane mechaniks, the Sul-Menite artificers find themselves unable to create a colossal-grade cortex. They turn instead to methods unavailable to the faithless, praying for inspiration to craft a device that would channel Menoth's power into the finest cortex they could produce. Their success is seen as proof of Menoth's favour upon such weapons when sent forth on crusades by the righteous.[1]
The Judicator proves too large to be assembled even inside the massive Foundry of the Sacred Flame, and the artificers moved its final stages of construction outdoors. Under the punishing sun, expert mechaniks and chanting priests oversee the assembly as teams of laborjacks operate winches and hoists that lift the massive limbs and plating into place. Choirs gather to sing benedictions as the Judicator’s heartfire is stoked for the first time, and the colossal takes its first steps.[1]
Properties
Bearing shoulders filled with dozens of rockets, the Judicator can fire withering barrages without concern for accuracy: the weapons can reduce entire soldier columns to ruin. The Judicator sprays Menoth’s Fury into otherwise unassailable trenches and uses its mighty fists to crush the survivors. Prayers are inscribed upon each armour plate, upon fists and flamethrowers, and upon every rocket: blessings that help sear judgement into the flesh of the faithless. The Judicator treads slowly but surely, like Menoth’s inevitable reckoning of every man’s soul. Its engines and armament roar to the beat of its step and the melodies sung by the great choirs of Menites that follow it into battle.[1]
Drawing upon principles developed during the fabrication of the Vessel of Judgment, the Judicator is outfitted with a holy reliquary containing the interred remains of a martyred priest. The loyalty to the Creator of these humble servants of the faith outlasts death, and their essence serves as a reservoir for divine energies. A mechanikal conduit connects this receptacle to the cortex in order to fill the machine with spiritual power and guide its actions. Though the Protectorate still lacks the resources to mass produce Judicators, each can be sent forth to its predestined battles by the guidance of the Harbinger.[1]
The Judicator's first variant is the Revelator, which houses a fragment of the shattered altar recovered from the first great temple of Calacia.[2]