The Excommunicables

The Excommunicables are a black-ops penal legion “volunteer” force—a collection of murderers, heretics, renegade psykers, deserters, oathbreakers, and worse, bound together by chains, shock collars, explosive vests, and the hollow promise of redemption through service. Officially, they do not exist. Unofficially, they go where the Imperium must not be seen: dead worlds, forbidden hives, quarantine zones, and places where secrets must be silenced in blood.

Their overseer is Commissar Varro Hale, a stark figure of iron discipline, requisitioned from the Schola after his reputation for breaking stubborn regiments became “an asset of questionable propriety.” Hale commands through calculated terror—bolt pistol in one hand, executioner’s glare in the other.

Discipline is further enforced by Prefect Penitante Ioram Vey, the brutal prison-sergeant whose lash, shock-maul, and vox-amplified bellow have broken more escape attempts than the walls of the penal transports ever could. At his side roams Absalom, a scarred corpse-hound surgically altered for obedience and violence, loosed upon deserters with brutal efficiency.

To balance fear with fanaticism, the unit is accompanied by Confessor Malrik, a fire-breathing zealot whose sermons of damnation and redemption lash even the most faithless into frenzied devotion. His presence makes the condemned fight harder—not out of faith, but because fear of the Emperor’s judgement is often worse than fear of dying.

One prisoner, Etvel, has shown the rare spark of discipline and reliability. Once considered a likely escape risk, he is now the convict closest to completing his penance. Hale grants him responsibilities denied to the others—though never trust.

Operating under veiled orders and indirect instruction from Inquisitor Maltheus, the Excommunicables strike deep into the shadows of ruined hives, plague-choked trench lines, and xenos warrens. Each convict is a weapon to be discarded as needed—denied a name in the records, denied a future, given one chance to die in the Emperor’s service and wipe clean the uncleanable.

They are not soldiers.
They are not citizens.
They are expendable.
And yet—sometimes, they are necessary.

Kill Team Composition (Imperial Navy Breacher Rules)

Commissar Varro Hale (Sergeant – Leader)

Iron master of discipline, executioner-in-waiting, and final arbiter of “redemption.”

Confessor Malrik (Axe Jack)

Bringer of the Emperor’s protection… and His mercy, dealt one swing at a time.

Prefect Penitante Ioram Vey (Surveyor)

Prison Master, disciplinarian, and keeper of the shock-collars’ activation codes.

Absalom (C.A.T. Unit)

Good doggo. Very good. Very hungry.

Prisoner 1138, Etvel "Veil" (Void-Jammer)

His penance is nearing completion… one way out.

Servo-Skull P1 (GheistSkull)

If it doesn’t find the enemy, it will make an enemy very quickly.

Prisoner  1357 'GrinJaw' (Hatchcutter)

Will cut through anything—bulkheads, vaults, or people. Usually in that order. He handles breaching drills and corridor clearances with unnerving cheer, murmuring half-remembered underworld lullabies as he advances.

Bob the Ogryn, Prisoner 5555 (Endurant)

Can kill you with a rock. Has killed people with rocks. Has names for his rocks.

Prisoner 6 (Armsman)

Once an enforcer, 6 earned his nickname for smiling during firefights and autopsies alike. Hale keeps him close—not because he trusts him, but because it is safer to know exactly where 6is standing.

Prisoner 2901 “Ashlock” (Grenadier)

A former demolitions expert sentenced for turning a munitions depot into a crater “to make a point.” Ashlock treats explosives like fine art and mutters equations under his breath. He obeys orders meticulously—not out of loyalty, but because he loves watching things disappear in fire. Vey keeps a thumb permanently hovering over Ashlock’s detonator collar.

Prisoner 8016 “Soot-Eye” (Melta Gunner)

Condemned for siphoning promethium from an Ecclesiarchy depot and selling it to pyre-cults, Soot-Eye now wields a sanctioned melta as if it were a holy relic. He stares too long at burning metal and speaks of “purification through unmaking.” Confessor Malrik dislikes him intensely—too much enthusiasm for flame, not enough reverence.

Prisoner 9274 “Lumen” (Plasma Gunner)

Once an Adeptus Mechanicus lay-tech arrested for illegal experimentation, Lumen has an unhealthy fascination with unstable energy fields. He whispers prayers to the plasma coil as though it were alive—and some swear the coil answers. His armour bears scorch marks from previous “incidents,” but Hale tolerates him because he hits what he aims at… usually before it explodes.