Mark IIb Land Raider Phobos - History: Legend has it that the Land Raider (called in some fragmentary records "Land's Raider") was discovered during Machine-Archaeologist Arkhan Land's great expedition into the labyrinth catacombs sited deep beneath the surface of Mars. The purpose of this expedition was to find functioning Standard Template Construct (STC) databases. In this Land failed, but two discoveries were made which revolutionised machine lore for millennia to come.The first was a near-complete dataslate imprint of STC information describing a heavily armoured assault tank. The second was the unearthing of data on rare anti-gravitic plates and theories on their use, which eventually led to the construction of the first "Land's Speeder" (the precursor to the modern Land Speeder). Arkhan Land would later vanish during a subsequent expedition into the catacombs, some claiming he was the victim of a psychic entity that destroyed his entire party. What secrets of the Dark Age of Technology were lost with him remains a mystery.As the Emperor's fleets took to the stars during the Great Crusade after ca. 800.M30, it is thought that they carried with them the first battle-ready Land Raiders. At that time, all human forces, Space Marine Legions and Imperial Army alike, were equipped with Land Raiders, and with this awesome war machine at their command they conquered world after world until the Emperor's Imperium of Man bestrode the galaxy. Such was the demand for Land Raiders during the Great Crusade that an entire Forge World was founded just to manufacture them.This world, Anvilus IX, supplied thousands upon thousands of the vehicles to Mankind's forces, but the Great Crusade ended in disaster when the Warmaster Horus rebelled against the Emperor and bloody civil war engulfed the Imperium. Anvilus IX itself was captured by Renegade Tech-priests aligned with Horus and its forges were co-opted to their use. Other Forge Worlds seceded from the Imperium rather than join the fighting and overnight the Imperium's supply of Land Raiders was severely curtailed. It was a terrible blow, for the Land Raider was one of the few commonly available vehicles which could, when deployed with skill and in sufficient numbers, threaten enemy Titans.With Traitor forces advancing on Terra itself and the Loyalist defenders of the Imperium facing total defeat, the Emperor decreed that all remaining Land Raiders still in loyal service should be recalled and the Legiones Astartes, his favoured Space Marines who stood at the forefront of Terra's defence, be given exclusive use of these powerful war machines. The Imperium was saved during the epic conclusion of the Heresy at the Battle of Terra, when the Emperor defeated Horus in single combat but, terribly wounded, He was interred within the Golden Throne, never to speak again.After His ascension, none dared to change the Emperor's decree and the Land Raider has therefore remained a vehicle almost exclusively used by the Space Marine Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes for the past 10,000 standard years. The few exceptions to this general rule are those allocated to the Inquisition and especially influential Rogue Traders who utilise them in their private armies, as both have been vested with unusual freedom in this and many other regards by the Imperium they serve.The ubiquitous Land Raider Phobos has served in every major Space Marine campaign since the defence of the Emperor's Imperial Palace. Famous incidents of Land Raiders engaging a foe are a thousand-fold. Several more of the more celebrated accounts include the Red Talons' Land Raider, Eagle's Claw, which saw action against Traitor forces during the Battle of Amion. In a solo rampage, this Land Raider was responsible for the destruction of rebel supply bases and engaged retreating enemy units, causing such destruction to vital stockpiles that the enemy's defences completely collapsed when following Imperial Guard units attacked en masse.