Shooting Star

Eldar Portal

A Shooting Star (Rillisliddian) is a specially designed craft used by the Eldar to ferry Swooping Hawks^[Note] onto a planetary battlefield.^[1]

Technically, these ships are not dropships as they do not drop to a planetary surface. Instead, they briefly enter a planet's atmosphere where they remain undetected due to a complex cloaking system that masks them from enemy scans. Once in the atmosphere, their cargo hold of soldiers free fall to the surface where they make use of their jump packs to control and slow their descent to the ground. Upon completion of their troop deployment, the Shooting Star troop carriers return to their Craftworld.^[1]

Notes

The following information is not to be regarded as officially sanctioned and/ or is not written from an in-universe point of view. A detailed explanation of the term "Trivia" as used in the Lexicanum can be found here.

The Swooping Hawks of 1989

Note: At the time of the creation of the Shooting Star, Swooping Hawks were simply an infantry unit with a specialised jump pack. The Swooping Hawk in its current understanding as an Aspect Warrior would not exist until a year later in White Dwarf 127 (UK) (1990). The Shooting Star has not been mentioned in any material since, however Imperial Armour - Apocalypse (2013) described Corsair Skyreavers deploying from an atmospherically aloft Vampire Raider, suggesting that the Vampire Raider is the conceptual antecedent of the Shooting Star.^[2]

Sources

• 1: Codex Titanicus (1st Edition), pg. 64
• 2: Imperial Armour - Apocalypse (2013), pg. 101

Craftworld Eldar Fleet
Battleships	Star Hunter • Void Stalker
Battlecruisers	Phoenix Ship
Cruisers	Dragonship • Eclipse • Shadow • Kurnous • Vaul
Light Cruisers	Aurora • Solaris • Wraithship
Escorts	Hellebore • Aconite • Nightshade • Hemlock • Shadowhunter
Attack Craft	Darkstar Fighter • Eagle Bomber
Orbitals	Haven Spire
Transport	Transport (Dawnsail • Ghostlance)
Other	Ghostship