Alpha Legion - Legion Infiltrators: The Alpha Legion was well known for their use of subterfuge and the innate ability of its Astartes and other operatives to blend-in with any environment. The Legion's agents mimicked those that they infiltrated to gather intelligence, perform sabotage, or plant disinformation. They also used more drastic measures, such as those employed during the Drop Site Massacre on Isstvan V during the opening days of the Horus Heresy.Reveling in their anonymity, the Astartes of the Alpha Legion always strove to look alike, modeling themselves on their Primarchs Alpharius and Omegon who sought to keep their separate identities secret. The Alpha Legion's primarchs had also devised an audacious plan to infiltrate another Space Marine Legion by using specially selected infiltrators.Prospective candidates for infiltration were selected for their possession of a variety of skills required for the successful completion of a mission, such as linguistic ability, a quick mind or an instinct for adaptation. These candidates would then take even more drastic steps to ensure their ability to infiltrate their targets, having their minds reprogrammed psychically by the Legion's Librarians so that they would forget their own true identities. The precautions taken by the psykers of the Alpha Legion shielded the infiltrator's mind from casual inspection by psychic or technological means.During the Battle of Isstvan V, the Alpha Legion appropriated the bodies of many slain Raven Guard Astartes. Alpha Legion Apothecaries removed the faces from the slain Astartes and had them surgically grafted in place of an Alpha Legion infiltrator's face; remolding the bone, tendons and muscles in order for the misappropriated face to be successfully implanted.To complete the façade, the infiltrator then ingested the flesh of the fallen Astartes, allowing their Omophagea organ to dissect and absorb the memories of the fallen Astartes. Bolstered by the abilities of the Librarians -- abilities forbidden by the Imperial anti-psyker edicts of the Council of Nikaea, but still widely practised by the Alpha Legion -- the infiltrators were able to gather what fragments they could of the dead Astartes' life.An infiltrator often did not know how many others were involved in a particular mission or whether or not they were successful in taking their assigned places; there could be a single operator or possibly dozens of operatives. It did not matter, for a lone Alpha Legion infiltrator was trained to act alone and act accordingly -- remaining alive and undetected until such time as it was prudent to communicate with someone from their Legion. Infiltrators were always prepared to give their lives for their primarch and their Legion in order to successfully achieve the mission objectives assigned to them.Once an Alpha Legion agent successfully infiltrated his assigned target, the operative had to take special care to stay constantly alert to maintain the façade that they had adopted. With the assistance of the Legion's Apothecaries and the genetic material absorbed by their Omophagea, the operative's vocal chords and mouth would be reshaped to better resemble that of the target whose identity he had assumed, as the genetically-enhanced hearing of a Space Marine could detect any small difference that might give rise to suspicion.Living amongst those they were assigned to infiltrate, each day an operative learned a little more about their foe -- small mannerisms, turns of phrase, and protocols -- that enabled him to blend in better with his fellows, but it was not an entirely perfect process.As an infiltrator the operative understood what it meant to be a member of the Alpha Legion, and so did not expect to be lauded or singled out for his actions -- such glory-mongering was not in the Legion's traditions. Each operative would fulfill their purpose, take contentment from the knowledge of a mission accomplished and the praise of their twin-primarchs, and become one of the anonymous many of the Legion once again.The Alpha Legion was also known to operate behind enemy lines and even mingle with enemy civilian populations. In such situations they were apparently able to pass unnoticed with a combination of appropriate dress and psyker mind-clouding.