Second Rangdan Xenocide

Camelous of the Dragon Lords - The Hero of the Second Rangdan Xenocide

Almire Leoricof the Imperial Justicars - Overall Commander of the Imperial War Effort upon his Arrival
Camelous of the Dragon Lords - Initial Commander of the Imperial War Effort.

### Strength (Attackers)

Rangdan Cerabvores, Rangdan Osseivores, Slaught murder-minds

### Strength (Defenders)

The Ashen Crows
The Consuls Exemplar
The Imperial Justicars
The Dragon Lords
Heavy presence of Imperial Army, Mechanicum, Titanicus and Knightly house forces

### Outcome

The Rangdan menance was driven from the heart of their empire to the outer fringes, they would never again regain such numbers.

Taking place over seven decades after the First Rangdan Xenocide, the **Second Rangdan Xenocide**, often known simply as the Second War, was the largest of the three conflicts, over 120,000 Astartes perishing in the five years of punishing warfare. Though the scale of the Second Xenocide exceeded all others, the First is still considered the most deadly, drawing in and draining away far more of the fledgling Imperium's strength. Though the Second was deverstating, it never reached the level where the Imperium itself was truly on the brink of collapse, as some belived it to be during the First War.

## History

Seventy one years after the First Rangdan Xenocide had begun, the Primarch Gaius Augustus Caligula of the XIIIth Legion was found by the Imperium, this date recorded as M30.872. The full might of the XIIIth flooded to the side of their sire, mustering above a soon to be dead world. It was only this massive mustering that allowed any of the legion to survive, history repeating itself as an entire legion was ambushed by a resurgent Rangdan empire, taking heavy casualties in the process before they managed to break out.

The Ashen Crows, XIth Legiones Astartes, were soon able to separate themselves from their current engagements, their positions in the Great Crusade filled by the now named Palatine Wings of the XIVth, and with their positions secured, the XIth struck at the Rangdan, reinforcing their cousins in the XIIIth. The XIth had ever been specialists against the xenos threat, having studied the few records from the First Rangdan Xenocide to develop effective counters when the two forces met again. It was only these contingencies that allowed the legions to survive, for though their numbers were far greater than those of the Imperium during the first war, between the two legions almost matching the entire strength of Astartes from that first conflict, the Rangdan had likewise built their strength, attacking in numbers that boggled the mind, entire systems falling to their fury.

Soon, even the XIth had to admit they had underestimated their foe, retreating alongside the XIIIth, saving as many worlds as they could along the way, the Ashen Crows receiving heavy praise for this when the war finally ended. It seemed that no matter what the two legions or their Primarchs did however, the Rangdan would not be stopped. More forces were needed, and finally, the warp opened to deliver such a blessing, Camelous of the XIXth arriving at the head of an armada, his own sons, the Dragon Lords, spearheading a mighty counter attack.

That single battle was one of the most cataclysmic of the war, losses on both sides rising quickly. Deploying his forces in strength, Camelous personally led the charge, fighting with such fervor, skill and psychic mastery that none could hope to match the fearsome tally he reaped that day. When the battle finally came to a brutal end, the Rangdan had been repulsed, all momentum from their assault lost, but if the Imperium thought that would bring about the end of the war, they were sorely mistaken.

For three more years, the Imperium and Rangdan engaged each other, hoping to break the brutal stalemate both sides found themselves at. Galvarian of the XIth refined the plans of his own legion, using the first hand knowledge of the threat he now had to create greater and greater counter measures, unleashing the newest weapons the Mechanicum could provide.

Gaius, recently found and bloodied within the Imperium, continued to deploy the elite kill-teams his legion had been known for, refining their use just as Galvarian refined the plans they used. Nor were these simply XIIIth legion teams, members of the Dragon Lords often being placed within their ranks to provide potent psychic support, something the XIIIth otherwise lacked.

Then, just as the war looked to stretch on for yet another year, the warp yawned wide again, delivering Imperial Retribution. As in the first war, reinforcements finally arrived, but this time, they were led by the Emperors favoured son, the future warmaster himself, Almire Leoric, the Imperial Justicars following in his wake.

With his legion still remembering the pain of the first war, and with a force that made even the one Camelous had brought with him seem small, Antarus led a quick strike against the heart of the Rangdan swarm. As with when Camelous had arrived, the battle was brutal, with staggering losses on all sides, but when the dust finally settled, the Imperium were the victor, the swarm truly broken. Though it took a further three months, the Rangdan were soon defeated finally thrown back one final time, the heart of their empire now in flames, never to again recover to threaten the Imperium to the same extent.

This war, just like the first, saw firm friendships and bonds formed between those present, between both legions and Primarch’s, and yet it also saw rifts develop. Gaius and Camelous forged a firm bond, the two having worked together to meld the formers legions kill-teams with the latter’s Psychic strength. In time, this arrangement would become permanent, Dragon Lord librarians permanently seconded to the Consuls Exemplar, providing the XIIIth with a powerful psychic cadre it had so far lacked.

Galvarian had likewise bonded with his newest found brother, seeing him as an extremely competent and charismatic leader, and one who the First Ember would one day lament had not been chosen as the Warmaster of the Imperium. It was Almire however that took the XIIIth Primarch under his wing, the XVIth and XIIIth crusading together for a time, strengthening their bonds as the XIIIth sought to rebuild their shattered strength, something that would last beyond the closing days of the Great crusade, seeing the XIIIth standing alongside the Warmaster as they plunged into a new and more terrible war.

For all the bonds of friendship forged however, there were those that drifted apart in the form of Camelous and Galvarian. Galvarian was ever mistrustful of psychic powers, understanding their worth and usefulness, and even using their kind amongst his legion, but he required ferociously strict fail safes in place, something he saw Camelous as ignoring as he unleashed his great power. For Camelous, he grew to despise the way Galvarian treated his own sons, the First Ember seeing most of them as little more than living weapons and  numbers, not names and sons. Even though Camelous insisted his own legion be the weapons of humanity, he never sought to rob them of their own emotions as fully as Galvarian did, the two rarely seeing eye to eye from that day on.

The Second Rangdan Xenocide saw the largest number of losses on both sides by far, the numbers of dead eclipsing that of the first and third war, its influences and consequences far reaching. However, in the most draconian of terms, the legions of the second war had far more warriors to lose than those of the first, and though the dead outnumbered the previous war, no legion suffered as heavily as their forebears.

All the legions and Primarch’s who participated were lauded by the Imperium and the Emperor himself, Gaius for his exemplary bravery in the face of such a terrible first foe, Galvarian for his insistence of protecting the civilian worlds caught in the way of the swarm as much as possible, and Almire for his masterful intervention to bring the war to an end. Of all of them however, it was Camelous who received the most accolades, hailed as the hero of the Second War for being the one to, according to Imperial Propaganda, single handedly halt the advance of the xenos menace. Though he did not agree with such a statement, Camelous never argued against the pedestal he had been placed upon, humbly accepting the title of Invictii from the Emperor himself, the word quickly becoming synonymous with the Dragon Lords Primarch for all time.

## Notable Participants

**Galvarian of the Ashen Crows** -

**Gaius Augustus Caligula of the Consuls Exemplar** -

**Almire Leoric of the Imperial Justicars** -

**Camelous of the Dragon Lords** -

## See Also

* The First Rangdan Xenocide
* The Third Rangdan Xenocide