Editing Star Krakens (section)

== Summary ==
[[File:SK Line.png|300px|thumb|left|Star Kraken in Legacy armour, before their look was updated to a more 'modern' feel.]]

Founded in M39 upon the request of the Administratum, the Star Kraken have accumulated much tragedy in their short, violent history. First sent to cleanse the distant Phorcius sector of the Imperium of a growing xenos threat, the marines found themselves outmatched by a surprisingly tenacious entrenched enemy, and took heavy losses as they fought an increasingly desperate ground war upon the alien homeworld. After being refused reinforcement - the aliens were only ''xenos minoris'', after all - their Chapter-Master, a naive yet devout young man named Achab, decided, against the advice of his peers, to exceed the precepts of the codex astartes. He had his apothecaries bring more recruits into the chapter, dispensing with Scout initiation, he threw them onto the frontline of the conflict, using his elite shock troops like mere soldiers in his desperate attempt to cleanse this 'minor' threat.

Finally successful after decades of war, the Chapter withdrew from the alien world, only to find themselves harried by opportunistic pirates and raiders. They waged a brief and brutal war with these disparate fleets, but succeeded in nothing more than driving the assortment of Orks, Eldar and renegade Humans into an unholy alliance. They struck at the Star Kraken's homeworld, and rendered it uninhabitable for millennia to follow.

Banishing their Chapter-Master from their ranks, the remaining Captains turned their attention inwards, seeking a refuge wherein they might resupply and regroup. They found such a bastion in the murky nebula which so dominated the sector and had hidden the alien worlds, a nebula known colloquially as "The Deep." Contained within was an ancient sensor array, nicknamed the Lighthouse, which allowed voidships whom would otherwise be lost to find a frame of reference during their traverse across the black nebula. The Star Kraken fell into the role of guardian, protecting this place for the rotations of Mechanicus priests who studied it, and protecting Imperial citizens who sought to use the thin navigable band as a passage through the dark nebula.

=== Codex Divergence ===
Early in their history the Chapter flirted with the strictures of the codex, indeed at times treading a fine line between loyalist and renegade, but now their divergences are far more mundane. Due to the nature of their Chapter - ten companies of eighty astartes, aboard ten strike cruisers - each company has learned to operate as a separate entity to the others. Every company maintains a single scout unit, two assault units, four tactical units and a devastator unit. 

They employ these units in a variety of ways depending on the situation at hand. The majority of their battles take place in space, boarding actions against renegades, pirates and more insidious threats, during these engagements the marines launch their full force in combat squads aboard boarding torpedoes, hitting the vessel in sixteen places at once, sowing as much confusion as possible whilst devastators armed with multi-melta make a beeline for the engine room and gunnery deck. Once its wings are clipped and its teeth are pulled, the marines focus on shutting down the enemy ship one section at a time.

When making a ground assault it is rare for a single company to work alone, however alone or in small fleets the Star Kraken follow a standard approach, deviating only in their exclusive use of the Razorback (for they lack completely any heavy armour) and reliance on orbital bombardment.

=== Special Equipment and Tactics ===
The Star Kraken are a young chapter without access to many advanced weapons, including a notable dearth of power weapons. They have taken it upon themselves to stockpile multi-melta for their devastator squads, to the exclusion of other heavy weapons, and have benefited from a cache of Heresy-era breaching shields which were found aboard the ancient Lighthouse. Every unit in the company trains extensively with these shields, and their value during boarding actions has proven itself time and again.

Often, when boarding an enemy vessel, the marines make use of Tempest bolts. The high density spread and low range make for excellent shipboard actions.