Raptors

Raptors armorial with Legion iconography.

Raptors, unknown Legionary, 25th Company "Rampant Oxes".

### Observed Strategic Tendencies

Guerrilla Warfare, Infiltration, Strategic Interdiction Operations, Reconnaissance in Force, Harrowing Actions & Extended Unsupported Operations within Hostile Domains

### Allegiance

Imperium of Man
(*Fedelitas Scindere*)

### Warcry

None. They fight in siilence

"*Before seeking victory, first make yourself invulnerable to defeat.*"
— Primarch Faran, taken from his treatise, *Ruminations Upon War and Shadow*
The **Raptors**are the VIII Legion of the Legiones Astartes. Their Primarch is the enigmatic and mysterious Faran, whom outside the Assassin Clades of the Officio Assassinorum, is amongst the most skilled of killers. Inheriting their gene-sire's skill-at-arms and martial philosophy, the Raptors eschew martial glory or honour, preferring instead to emphasize pragmatism, adaptability and completion of the mission over all other concerns. Raptors Legionaries are known to willingly employ whatever tactics they believe most appropriate for any given situation, relying upon success to achieve their mission objectives rather than worrying about misguided notions of honour. The VIII Legion specialize in jungle, guerrilla warfare, infiltration and extended unsupported operations in hostile domains.

## Legion Homeworld

Blighton (known also as Badwater or Blighty) is a verdant forest planet, classified by the Imperium as a feudal world due to its state of technological stagnation due to it being locked into a constant state of war. Militias constantly fought one another in fierce skirmishes, for resources, land and glory. The soldiers of this world were divided from the ruling class, which comprised only a small percentage of the population, while the rest of the populace existed in a state of poverty and degradation. To illustrate the disparity of this planet's classes was Blightnon's highly populated city, a beautiful utopia of gold and marble. Here, the privileged were educated in various skills of craftsmanship and high forms of art. Meanwhile, those who live outside the capital lived in abject poverty, residing in large overpopulated slums that dotted the countryside or within barren warzones.

## Legion Beliefs

"*Stop blindly obeying the words of the book and look at the situation. You have completed your training, but you must now learn to apply it. Regurgitation is not the answer, simple analysis and thought must be used to solve the problem!*"
— Captain of the Raptors 5th Chapter
Known for their remarkable grim determination to survive, and one of the Raptors' hallmarks is the ability to adapt to changing circumstances and respond swiftly to the fortunes (or misfortunes) of war.

This has tempered their character with a general disregard and suspicion of the mere trappings of honour and glory, favouring results by any means necessary. When faced with insurmountable odds, the Raptors manifest the ability to bend rather than break, and to change their tactics and withdraw to fight again where more prideful Legions would perhaps chose to stand and die. The Raptors value the art of concealment, and utilise secrecy and surprise as paramount weapons in their arsenal.

As a result they have always cultivated in themselves an ability to see clearly through the fog of war and strike at the hidden heart of the enemy, where they can inflict the most damage and achieve their objectives, undistracted by hubris or hidebound dogma.

In order to attain such a goal, the Legion's Battle-Brothers are trained in a variety of ways that are remarkably inconsistent with most other Space Marine Legions. Perhaps most critical of these changes is their attitude towards the Bellicosa. The Raptors consider the *Principia Bellicosa* to be a critical guide to strategy and tactics. They do not, however, consider that its words must be obeyed without question.

Ultimately, the Raptors Legion is focused upon success in all of its endeavours. Failure is never an acceptable option, but neither is an approach that needlessly throws away the lives of Battle-Brothers or irreplaceable wargear. When an objective is identified, these Space Marines pursue that goal relentlessly.

However, their tactics are seldom direct. They study a situation intently, so that they may accomplish their goal with a minimum of risk. This outlook has often caused tension during those missions where the Raptors work closely with Space Marines of other Legions. On more than one occasion, they have been accused of cowardice. Members of the Raptors do not look kindly upon such accusations, but they seldom take such insults as a major affront.

For their part, the Raptors consider the more orthodox Legions to be blind adherents to tradition. While they seldom instigate such rivalry, they accept it and reluctantly participate in it when such actions do not interfere with accomplishing their objectives. Flexibility also plays a key role in their decision-making process. Conditions in the field often change with alarming speed.

Before a Space Marine of the Raptors Legion can assume an officer's responsibilities, he is thoroughly trained in all aspects of battlefield awareness and observation. Tactical cognisance and strategic prioritisation play crucial roles at every level of command. These Battle-Brothers are expected to identify any changes that occur through the course of a battle -- including unexpected enemy response -- at the earliest stages and act upon them accordingly.

Throughout the Legion, blind obedience is strongly discouraged. All of these Space Marines are expected to act upon their own initiative at the appropriate times. However, such actions must fit within the context of the larger battle scheme. Battle-Brothers consider unorthodox tactics during their preparation for any conflict. These include unusual deployment manoeuvres and infiltration. At times, they have gone so far as to assemble ad hoc units specifically appropriate for resolving a particular tactical problem.

In this same way, Battle-Brothers of the Raptors Legion will concede the articles of faith and honour in the name of victory, they also willingly concede minor objectives in the interest of achieving overall military success. This idea is foreign to many of the other Legions of the Legiones Astartes but well within the goal-focused flexibility of the Raptors. Their continued focus on the overall conflict and goals rather than individual honour or glory is key to propagating this ideal among the Legion's Battle-Brothers.

At various times during their history, the Raptors have almost faced extinction but the Legion has never the less continued to function, rebuild and once more face its enemies. It is part of the Raptor mentality that the Legion will endure no matter the cost and that the eventual destruction and rebuilding of all Legions in the Legiones Astartes is inevitable.

As one Battle-Brother dies, another takes his place to continue the endless struggle where the gene-seed lives on but the warrior does not. Death is the only constant in the universe and regardless of victory or defeat, it is the only true reward a Battle-Brother can look forward to.

Quite apart from casting a dark cloud over the Battle-Brothers of the Raptors Legion, it fills them with stoic pragmatism to face everything that the universe can throw at them, to fulfill their duty until they eventually die and another takes their place.

The galaxy and its many horrors hold no surprises for them and they know that somewhere out there amongst the inky black is the piece of ground where they will fall, having served their Emperor and held back the night at least for a brief time.

Other Legions can find these attitudes at odds with a strong devotion to the Emperor and the righteous plight of Mankind, though the Raptors see the two as intertwined, and their Legion has always done its duty and remains unquestionably loyal to the Imperium. For the Raptors Battle-Brothers facing death is only a matter of time, and they carry the knowledge with them every day, alongside their duty to their brothers and their oath to the Emperor.

## Legion Gene-Seed

The Raptors' gene-seed is hearty and hale, and is known is known to have only a few genetic flaws. Astartes of this Legion do not possess a functional Betcher's Gland - the organ that allows a Legionary to secrete a highly corrosive and blinding acid from the salivary glands. It is unclear if this organ was somehow recovered by the Raptors of if it was disregarded by the Legion's Apothecaries, due to the onset of genetic idiosyncrasies being found amongst the gene-seed of various Legiones Astartes due to the rapid indoctrination and implantation required to keep these Legions numbers at optimum levels.

It has been observed that the Raptors are intensely loyal and do not take their duties lightly nor their oaths of fealty to the Emperor. These Legionaries are known to fight on to the bitter end, until claimed by death - for only in death, does their duty end. The Raptors are famous for their grim determination to do their duty.

### Primarch's Curse: Grim Determination

When the Legion's genetic curse manifests itself in an affected Battle-Brother, it comes on in three stages:

* **Stage 1 - (The Shadow of Death)** - The Battle-Brother starts to see death in everything. He becomes distant and makes little effort to forge alliances with new squad members, knowing they will soon be in the grave. He becomes more dismissive of death and the praising of the dead, seeing little glory in their sacrifice, only the inevitable end to their duty and another corpse to feed the gods of war. This attitude can grate on those around the Battle-Brother and he suffers with his fellowship when dealing with other soldiers or members of the Legiones Astartes.

* **Stage 2 - (The Bad Beneath the Good)** - The Battle-Brother cannot help but reflect on the worst side of a new development and will endeavour to find the worst aspect of even the most favourable of circumstances. Quite apart from causing friction within his squad, the drawing of focus onto potential problems and unforeseen dangers (regardless of the actual likelihood they will impact on the squad's mission) can cause compromises in command and less than direct tactical judgements.

* **Stage 3 - (Game Over)** - Death is inevitable and the Battle-Brother is already a walking corpse just waiting for the moment when an enemy's blade or bullet ends him. Filled with visions of his own demise, the Battle-Brother begins to act recklessly, accepting that it is his time and there is nothing he can do to prevent it coming. This will not only place him in danger but can endanger his entire squad. The Battle-Brother does not contribute to the squad's cohesion as he fails to adequately aid them in battle. In addition, he tends not to gain the benefit of hiding behind cover, as even when behind barricades and walls he exposes himself to fire with little mind to remaining concealed.

## Notable Members

* **Lord Commander Farran** - Primarch of the Raptors

* **First Captain Oscar Sloan "Oz or Black Hawk"** -

## Legion Appearance

### Legion Colours

The Raptors Legion primarily wears drab green Power Armour. The Aquila or Imperialis on the chest guard is silver. The white squad specialty symbol on the right shoulder guard designates a Legionary's tactical specialty (Devastator, Destroyer, Assault, Tactical, Veteran or Command). A black High Gothic numeral is stenciled in the centre of the squad specialty symbol which indicates a Legionary's assigned squad number. A white coloured High Gothic numeral stenciled on the right poleyn (knee guard) indicates company number.

### Legion Badge

The Raptors' Legion badge takes the form of a large white coloured profile of raptor's head centered on a field of dull green. This symbol is reminiscent of the Raptor Imperialis, an early award used to recognise those who took part in the Terran Unification War.

## Legion Fleet

* ***Victory* (Gloriana-class Battleship)**
* ***Raptoris Tenebris* (Ironclad-class Battle Barge)**
* ***War Talon* (Warspite-class Battle-Barge)**
* ***Arias Vex* (Strike Cruiser)**
* ***Shadow Stalker* (Strike Cruiser)**

## Acknowledgements

* Raptors Legionary and Sergeant made by Algrim Whitefang, Raptors Watchman made by **Templar** from Discord.

## Gallery

VIII Legion Raptors chart.Raptors Watchman, unknown Company.Raptors Sergeant Cassius Issadorus, 17th Company ("The Blazing Sons"), 4th Tactical Squad.