Third Rangdan Xenocide

Charon, recently found Primarch of the Wisps of Archeron

Heavy presence of Imperial Army, Mechanicum, Titanicus and Knightly house forces

### Outcome

The Rangdan xenos are effectivly wiped out, the few survivors flee beyond the bounds of the galaxy, never again able to threaten even the lightest defended of Imperial worlds.

The last and smallest of the three Xenocides, the **Third Rangdan Xenocide** was none the less deadly, hampered by inefficient commanders and a lack of communication between Imperial Forces as much as it was by enemy.

Nevertheless, the Imperium would eventually be victorious in the war, bringing about an end to the Rangdan species as a galactic level threat once and for all.

## History

Unlike the first two Rangdan Xenocides, the third war was not one fought on the aliens terms, but rather fought on those of the Imperium. In M30.908, a scant thirty two years after the devastating Second War ended, the last remnants of the Rangdan swarm were again detected. Having been utterly broken and routed in the Second War however, their numbers were far smaller than ever seen before, even the First War eclipsing their scale. The Imperium in their hubris treated this as a sure sign the enemy was almost defeated, and treated this as a mere clean up operation, assigning a scant two legions and a large, though not to the scale of those deployed in the two wars prior, Imperial Army support force. Other legions that may have been available at the beginning were soon deployed away from the future front, ensuring that no reinforcements would be available for the campaign.

Initially the Venom Stalkers were assigned to the Third Xenocide, numerous Imperial Army regiments called up. Soon, they were joined by the recently renamed Wisps of Archeron, led by the newly found Charon. With the experiences of the Venom Stalkers gained during the First War, and a legion led by a Primarch against such a small force of enemy combatants, none thought that the campaign would last long, and be anything but an overwhelming victory. Yet in the end, this war would be remembered not in glory, but in infamy and derision. Millions of warriors from the Imperial Army and tens of thousands of Astartes dead, all laid squarly at the feet of incompetent or otherwise incompatiable commanders.

Before the war even began, the first issues became present, Charon placing his total trust in his Fourth Captain, Zarko Salk while he returned to his homeworld of Archeron to oversee the build up of his legion. The reasons for this decision have never been truly stated, many believing that it was simply a byproduct of the perceived limited threat of this foe by the Imperium at large. Had Charon remained present, he would have had unquestioning command of the war, no Astartes able to outrank a Primarch, but by leaving a Fourth Captain in charge, this changed.

The Venom Stalkers were in turn led by First Captain Osmandiel, and by tradition, a legion master outranked any other Astartes not of equivalent rank. Here, tradition of a Legion Masters position clashed with a lesser Captain empowered to act by a Primarch, and things began to degrade almost instantly.

The planning meeting between the two legions saw the Venom Stalkers request the Wisps allow the IInd to strike first, creating a beachhead into enemy space and creating a defencive position through which the Invasion could pass through. The IInd cited their own experiences of combating the Rangdan time and time again, insisting that such a small scale invasion was necessary to ensure the Rangdan had not changed their military strategies in the century since they had last clashed. They wished to draw up new plans, new counter-tactics, before digging themselves in and preparing for a slow war of attrition, designed solely to reduce casualties amongst Imperial forces, even if it meant the war dragged on for years. The Rangdan had almost destroyed the IInd once before, Osmandiel would not allow such a thing to come to pass again.

The idea was sound, and yet Fourth Captain Zarko Salk dismissed it almost out of hand, unwilling to accept such a slow war. Charon had bid him to conduct this war and then return to the new homeworld to assist in the rebuilding, and Zarko had no intention of being from his lord's side for long. Though Osmandiel protested, diplomatic relations between the two legions soon broke down, Zarko leaving with the XVIIIth and the majority of the Imperial Army support the campaign had been assigned, and without waiting, launched the first strike of the Third and final Rangdan Xenocide.

To the surprise of the Venom Stalkers, the opening strike of the war went extremely well, the Rangdan caught completely by surprise by the brutal assault, the Wisps giving their enemy no quarter as they pushed deeper and deeper into enemy space, yet this could not last forever. As the Rangdan recovered from the initial surprise, their defences began to harden, slowing the Imperial advance to a crawl. The Venom Stalkers, recognising that the gambit had played its part but was now done, began to dig in, erecting strongpoints from which they could withstand the enemies assaults and bombard them with their hellish weaponry. In this however, they did not secure the compliance of the Wisps, the two forces becoming separated as each clove to their preferred strategy, rather than coming to a single one that complimented both legions.

It did not take long for the two seperate forces to finally find themselves in a deadly position, the Rangdan breaking through over-extended supply lines and striking from every angle in a devastating counter attack. Forward Astartes companies and imperial army regiments were obliterated in a masterful assault orchestrated by the xenos, and for the first time in the war, the Imperium were on the backfoot, just as in the first two wars, reacting rather than dictating the flow of combat.

Cursing the XVIIIth but now seeing he had no choice but to abandon IInd Legion standard doctrine to save the other legion from complete destruction, Osmandiel ordered the venom Stalkers forward, abandoning hundreds of fortified positions and worlds as they rushed to their cousins aid.

The year that followed was the most devastating of the war, Venom Stalkers trying to maintain some semblance of a strong frontline, relying on their heavy bombers rather than static artillery to continue their chemical based warfare, while the Wisps continued to fight in a seemingly chaotic fashion, striking and fading in a manner that suited their terror based campaigns. Tensions rose immeasurably, the Second feeling ignored as they watched the Eighteenth march directly in avoidable traps and ambushes that they were forced to intervene in to their own cost, while the eighteenth began to loathe the second, seeing them as arrogant and spineless, their constant cries to cease the advance seen as an act of cowardice, not strategy. Eventually, this reached a boiling point, the Wisps blocking all communications from the Venom Stalkers, persecuting the war as if they stood alone.

The war progressed, but it soon became seven long years of hell for those involved, plagued with mishaps and setbacks, the two legions communications blackout, now upheld by the second as well as the eighteenth, only compounding the issues. In more than one instance, the high altitude bombers of the Second would rain their toxic payloads upon forces of the eighteenth, never knowing that they were slowing their allies far below enough to be easy prey for the Rangdan. At other times, pre-planned toxic bombardments of the second would be rendered obsolete as the Wisps attacked in the same sector, their many flame based weapons burning away the gasses, making their deployment a waste of the second’s already dwindling supplies.

By the seventh and final year of the war, the lines had become all but stagnant, no side able to reach any true advantage, while a final act brought an end to the current Wisps advance. During an assault by Fourth Captain Zarko on an enemy position, a pre-planned Venom Stalkers bombardment was unleashed from far behind the lines. Initially seeing heavy fire from standard shells, designed to crack armour and bunkers before the second wave of gas shells landed, the Wisps attackers were annihilated, perishing in the flames of their allies, Zarko chief amongst them.

And then finally, Charon returned, the might of the newly created Wisps from the homeworld following in his wake. Furious at the shambles the war had descended into and the death of his assigned proxy, Charon demanded an audience with Osmandiel, the First Captain travelling to the Wight Lords flagship to give his report. It was a journey he would never return from alive, his corpse sent back to the second legion as a charred corpse sealed inside molten power armour.

Chastised and leaderless, the second fell into line without complaint behind the reinforced and galvanised eighteenth, and before the seventh year was out, the Randgan scourge was defeated, their empire finally shattered, those few that did manage to escape fleeing into the Halo Stars, beyond the reach of the Imperium, but too weak to ever be a threat again.

With victory in hand, Charon and the Wisps departed almost immediately, no victory parades or accolades showered upon the survivors. Instead they returned home, determined to rebuild once more. There, Charon was greeted by the Emperor, the leader of mankind chastising the Wight Lord for striking down the legion master of the second, but it was a cursory warning at best, the victory claimed being the only concern.

For the second, the wars end heralded in one of the darkest times for the legion. Fully half of their number had perished in the fighting, and most damning of all, Osmandiel had been slain by Charon himself. Along with him, many other experienced captains had perished on the frontlines, forcing inexperienced warriors into positions of command they were simply not ready for. In time, this almost culminated within open infighting amongst the legion, a civil war brewing over grievances created during the war. Luckily, this never came to pass, as finally, in the wake of the Colossalstructure campaign, a message would reach the Venom Stalkers from the fleet of Shaaa Hydrades himself, bringing word that finally, their sire had been reunited with the Imperium, the legion quickly flocking to his side, fully united once more.

## Notable Participants

**Charon of the Wisps of Archeron** -

**Fourth Captain Zarko Salk of the Wisps of Archeron** -

**Legion Master Osmandiel of the Venom Stalkers** -

## See Also

* The First Rangdan Xenocide
* The Second Rangdan Xenocide