Editing Desert Fangs (section)

==Index Astartes: Desert Fangs==

===Origins===

''"It is alright, my son. Ever since the day I first met you, I knew you were destined for great things – this man, he holds the keys to your destiny. You would be a fool not to go with him."'' - Maloris to Rachnus Rageous

The [[God-Emperor of Mankind]] was not sure what sort of generals he would need for the Great Crusade, so he made his [[Primarchs]] extremely diverse, genetically priming each for different abilities and skills. One of his scientists, [[Deceiver | Ryan Meffat]], claimed to have isolated a gene sequence whose bearers generated a sort of naturally-occurring Gellar field. The Emperor was pleased at the find, and ordered it spliced into one of the Primarchs.

When the Gods of Chaos scattered the infant Primarchs, genetor-pod II came to rest on the desert world of [[Voralia]]. Driven to find food, the young Second Primarch came upon a carcass surrounded by Sandlegs. Chasing the Sandlegs away (partially aided by his null-aura) and having a quick meal, he noticed that the Sandlegs seemed to be fleeing in a particular direction. He followed, and came upon the village to which these Sandlegs belonged. Having seen the landing of his genetor-pod as an omen, the inhabitants took him in, with the hermit Maloris seeing to his upbringing.

Rachnus Rageous (as they named him) grew up quickly, soon becoming one of the biggest and strongest in the village. He was unsettling to most, but he and his few friends had made names for themselves as being courageous, strong-willed, and determined to serve the clan. Eventually, the day came for his trial to become an adult, in which he was tasked with finding and killing a legendary Sandleg of massive proportions. As his arrival had been heralded by fire descending from the sky, the villagers wondered whether his trial would be marked by an omen as well. By coincidence or by design, when he emerged victoriously from the Sandleg den, a blinding light filled the crater, and the God-Emperor of Mankind appeared, and revealed to Rachnus his destiny: to lead the Second Space Marine Legion. Bidding a tearful farewell to his adoptive father, Rachnus took command of the Second Legion, and set out on the Great Crusade.

===Homeworld===

''"Go back to your homeworld, brother. Go back to [[Voralia]]. Take your Legion with you. Protect your people. We can handle these traitors on our own – you need not be present for this blood-feud."'' - [[Alpharius]] (or [[Omegon]]) to Rachnus Rageous

Voralia was a relatively large world (~2.5 Terran masses) which orbited very close to its star with a low axial tilt, and was consequently covered in a desert which remained more-or-less constant all year round. Voralia's harsh environment left human settlers with few choices. By digging deep enough, a village could obtain water; in practice, this was only possible where the land was already very low, like in canyons, caves, and craters (for example, Rachnus's adoptive tribe dwelled inside the crater of a long-extinct volcano). The lack of environmental diversity and scarcity of natural resources meant that the ecosystem was rather simple; in general, the only large native animals were lizards and Sandlegs, spider-like creatures the size of Terran wolves. The latter proved mildly domesticatable, and were extensively used as mounts, hunting animals, and companions of a sort. Indeed, the Desert Fangs made extensive use of specially augmented Sandlegs as an all-purpose cavalry; the first and most famous of these was Rachnus's own companion and mount, named Fire Strider.

Voralia was not on any major trade routes and had relatively primitive technology, but they were not spared during the Horus Heresy; Horus was aware of the Desert Fangs' skill as an anti-Chaos force, and in the lead-up to the Drop Site Massacre, he was worried that the Desert Fangs would somehow sabotage his plan. To remove them from the equation, he convinced Primarch [[Tialoc]] and his [[Sky Serpents]], Legion XI, that the Desert Fangs were traitors, and ordered them to go to Voralia and capture Rachnus, or destroy the Second Legion. Alpharius warned Rachnus about this plan, and so the Desert Fangs' fleet fled Isstvan for Voralia, where they found that the Sky Serpents had established a blockade. Rachnus ordered a few shots fired and then a retreat to Isstvan, hoping to lure Tialoc away from Voralia and into a trap filled with seven loyal Space Marine Legions. When they exited the Warp, they found the remains of a terrible battle, and when the Sky Serpents failed to arrive for many hours, they realized that their gambit had failed: the Sky Serpents hadn't taken the bait, but had instead chosen to stay around Voralia and destroy it. Such was the Desert Fangs' fury at Horus's deception and the loss of their homeworld that the Sky Serpents were all but annihilated when they did give chase.

After the Horus Heresy, the Desert Fangs returned to what was left of Voralia to pay their respects to the dead, when they discovered a [[Necron]] tomb (although they did not recognize it as such at the time) which had been unearthed by the orbital bombardment. It seems that the Second Legion's abnormally high number of Silencers was not entirely coincidental. Alpharius advised Rachnus to destroy the tomb, having found that they seemed to bring misfortune wherever they appeared; reasoning that Voralia should rest in peace, and not be troubled by the undead machines, the Desert Fangs turned their fleet's guns on the tomb.

Since then, the Desert Fangs split.  The majority of their number became the fleet-based [[Angry Marines]], recruiting the angriest hive-dwelling youth from the worlds from which they resupply, and channeling their rage to fight for the [[Imperium]].  Rachnus Rageous himself took his Legion's Silencers and established a foothold in the depths of the Eye of Terror on a stable world, periodically emerging to gather any untouchables they can find and bring back with them. Almost the entire population of the planet is composed of untouchables, and they provide a steady, stable stock of aspirants.

===Beliefs===

''"Hatred is the purest expression of love for the [[Empra | Emperor]]."'' - Thought for the Day

The Angry Marines suffered terribly during the Horus Heresy: their homeworld was destroyed by the deceived Sky Serpents, their deeds were erased from history, and their own Primarch was forced to abandon them. This sowed a terrible seed within the Chapter's collective consciousness, and now the Angry Marines are filled with hatred for the enemies of the Imperium, none more than the forces of Chaos. The Gods of Chaos incurred a blood debt when they caused Voralia's destruction, and every mutant, cultist, and Chaos Space Marine killed is a minute repayment of that debt.

The Angry Marines do hold one spark of hope: before leaving with his Silencers, Rachnus promised that he would return to his Legion and restore their legacy when his crusade against the Gods of Chaos was complete. The Angry Marines believe that by destroying the mortal servants of Chaos, the Gods are weakened, and when they perish in battle, their souls go to Rachnus's side to aid him, and so by their fighting and sacrifice, they hasten the end of the Gods, the discharge of their debt to Voralia, and Rachnus's return.

===Combat Doctrine===

''"Zeal is its own excuse."'' - Thought for the Day

Throughout their history, the Desert Fangs focused almost exclusively on close-quarters combat, often wielding two or more close combat weapons at the same time. During the Great Crusade, this was done so that Silencers could bring their null-auras to bear on Warp-wielding enemies and in honor of the close-quarters techniques mastered by the Voralians. Since the Horus Heresy, the Angry Marines continue the tradition because they find ranged combat unsatisfying and cowardly, to the point that service in a Devastator squad or vehicle detachment is used as a punishment.

Before siring the Angry Marines, the Desert Fangs employed many tactics revolving around the Silencers, those among the Legion that possessed null auras. During their cooperation with the Alpha Legion, Alpharius discovered that warp-based methods of espionage could not spy on or anticipate Silencers or anyone around them; this effect was put to good use in deceiving warp-empowered enemies, by formulating and implementing a plan with Silencers present, then discussing and simulating a completely different plan to bait the enemy.

===Organization===

''"Rowboat Girlyman can suck it."'' - Desert Fangs organizational doctrine

The Desert Fangs during the Great Crusade and the dark days of the Horus Heresy was distinct from its fellow legions in its organizational doctrine in a number of ways. Divided into companies, each of which were the equal in size to a modern chapter, each company was largely self-sufficient. Assault Marines tended to form the majority of each company, with Devastators an uncommon sight on the battlefield. Their use of Sandleg cavalry was an unorthodox, but often brutally effective tactic, the mere sight of the monstrous arachnids was as devastating to enemy morale as they were ferocious in combat.

===Gene-seed===

''"My son... The Imperium will need you in the years ahead. Go forth, and engage in whatever cause seems the correct one to you. As far as anyone beyond this room knows, you died to help kill Horus. Pick someone to lead your Legion, take your Silencers, and go forth."'' - [[God-Emperor of Mankind]]

Rachnus Rageous was one of the most powerful Nulls in the galaxy, and his anti-psychic nature imprinted itself on his Legion's [[gene-seed]]. This mutations enhanced the abilities of Nulls to the point that they could manipulate the shape and strength of their “null aura” to some degree, which meant that while enemy psykers' abilities were severely blunted, if not outright deadened, but being in the presence of the Desert Fangs did not mean that allied psykers lost any of their powers, and all Desert Fangs received some measure of mental Warp-resilience. Enhanced Nulls served the Legion's Librarius as "Silencers," and they proved devastatingly effective against daemons and Chaos-held worlds during the Great Crusade (especially when they cooperated with the devious Alpha Legion), and were instrumental in the final attack on the Vengeful Spirit.

The Emperor realized that the Desert Fangs were the Imperium's most powerful weapon against Chaos (with the possible exception of the Grey Knights), but if the Gods of Chaos became aware of a Space Marine Legion whose gene-seed gave them resistance to Warp powers, they would bend every resource to destroying such a threat. Because of their nature, daemons cannot detect Silencers, but mortals can, and the Horus Heresy had proved that servants of Chaos had infiltrated every level of the Imperium. Thus, to preserve the Desert Fangs' secret, he ordered all records of the Desert Fangs' gene-seed and deeds destroyed. Rachnus himself handed his Legion over to his childhood friend Fal, who became the first Chapter Master of the Angry Marines, and set off into the Eye of Terror with all of his Legion's surviving Silencers, while the Desert Fangs' tech-priests modified their gene-seed stocks so that the warp-nullifying effect was no longer active, effectively returning their gene-seed to baseline functionality. Finally, the Legion changed its colors from those of Rachnus's clan to Fal's, and they renamed themselves the Angry Marines, channeling their rage over the destruction of their homeworld and resentment over the loss of their Primarch and history into combat – indeed, so strong is their fury that it shields them from Chaos' whispers as well as their gene-seed ever did.

Unfortunately, the erasure of records was not entirely complete, and in M36, Magos Biologis Jakobus Hamundr pieced enough together to learn of the secrets within the gene-seed. Hoping to create a chapter with the same Warp-resistance of the old Desert Fangs and a more stable collective personality, he instigated the Founding of the [[Knights Inductor]], later known as "[[Reasonable Marines]]," and he succeeded. The Angry Marines were alarmed at this turn of events, because if the nature of the Knights Inductor becomes known to the Gods of Chaos, then all of the Angry Marines' sacrifices will be for nothing. Inquisitor Lord Avius Damnos was able to exploit this concern, in combination with the Angry Marines' vehement disagreement with the Knights over combat doctrine, to convince them to join his crusade against the Aprior Sector.

===Battle-Cry===
"SURPRISE, FUCKERS!" Shouted as the marines emerge from concealment to engage the foe.