Editing Loxodontii (section)

==Legion Doctrine==
The XIIIth legion maintained a large assortment of armoured transports and bikers, often maintaining their machine to a higher degree than their personal body armour. Their primary concern was mobility and safety in numbers, moving their dedicated transports in groups of 3 or more to deliver personnel to engage the enemy quickly, claim tactically superior positions or targets of interest before a defense could be mounted. The Astartes were free to pick a weapon of their fancy, most however would keep to the boltgun out of simple versatility, or a bolt pistol coupled with either a close combat weapon or a riot shield. Highest priority in their combat encounters was to keep infrastructure intact and public service installations unharmed as to make transition as easy as possible.

Scout marines were highly respected, as their importance to weaking key positions for the oncoming transport assault was clear to all legionnaires.

Heavy weapons, as well as combat tanks, were used carefully, as their potential for collateral damage was considered undesirable. Whenever inevitable, devastators and predators were employed alongside transports and bikes.

After their fall, their overall military approach remained, although the affinity for close combat increased, and while their original tactics focused on claiming targets of interest with speed and surgical skill, they now make sport of battle.

===Legion Culture & Personality===
The Loxodontii are considered amicable and kind hearted up until their fall, embracing their fellow Astartes and even mortal auxiliaries as friends and part of a greater family. Their bond to their primarch was so strong that even though they had completely fallen to Chaos, they could not deliver the killing blow, and some say that their frenzy was just an attempt to escape their own sense of guilt over their betrayal in the first place.

Their rampant superstition was visible to everyone who saw their battle preparations: They adorned their own faces, armour and vehicles with symbols of good fortune and mystical protection, they chanted hymns in the harsh Babylonian language to pray to the Emperor and the Babylonian gods and spirits and they were deeply afraid of psykers of any kind, ironically ignoring their Stargazers' psychic potential.

[[Ashur of Banipal]] was the most empathic and emotional of the primarchs, burdened with the wish to appease all his brothers and his love for most of them. Even his fear of psykers could not truly overrule his respect and love for his brother [[Lambach Kropor]], although he would always be torn over his contradicting principles.

As more recruits native to Babylon V filled the ranks, the cannibal traditions of the nomad tribes pervaded the legion's culture. While the exercised caution and secrecy at first by only consuming select fallen targets and serfs, their craving for human flesh increased as the Stargazer Barabash founded warrior lodges and through them encouraged the Loxodontii to embrace their Babylonian heritage. While they themselves believed it to be simply a tradition they kept alive, Barabash's goal was to further their descent into depravity and straight into the arms of Chaos.

After they captured and chained their Primarch, the Loxodontii engaged in a week long frenzy where they hunted across the surface of Babylon V and companies would raid each other's space ships for serfs - And eventually, each other. At some point, the Stargazers of the 13th legion discovered that by devouring living things, they could actually absorb their souls and add their warpstuff to their own, increasing their warp signature and enhancing their own psychik potential, especially so by eating other psykers. Other, non-psychik Loxodontii followed suit as they began to feel more in tune with the Warp and Chaos with each consumed soul. Some champions would amass such incredible amounts of soulstuff that their own soul could survive death and remain in the Warp without dissipating, living off the amassed soulstuff and being able to reach to mortal minds in the material realm. These champions will urge their mortal followers to construct make-shift bodies fashioned from scrapped metal, bones, and organs to house their souls so they may return to the material realm once more to feed on souls.

===Gene-seed flaws===
The Loxodontii gene-seed was considered stable for the most part, with average numbers in dysfunctional specimen that were rejected. A noticable flaw however was the drastical increase in hunger and thirst, requiring massive amounts of nutrients to be delivered to Loxodontii expedition fleets. These cravings was attributed to mutations in the Preomnor, the Omphagea and the Neuroglottis, which each added to signalling a need for food. Ashur of Banipal and other Babylonian Loxodontii simply brushed this off as a healthy appetite based on their homeworld's traditions, and was compensated through increased food provisions. The Ossmodula was known to occasionally malfunction, leading to an overall deficiency in absorbing the ceramic-based chemicals in an aspirant's diet (which, again, was compensated simply by increasing the amount of food handed out to aspirants). Occasionally, the implanted Ossmodula would be overactive in producing the hormones that increase bone growth and density, leading to a particularly bulky and comparably inflexible astartes.

As a final note, the Betcher's Gland is known to produce a poison whose acidic properties are either diminished or missing alltogether. Since most Loxodontii prefer to break out of confinement rather than utilising subtle methods, like melting their binds, this was not considered a huge loss.

===Legion Organization===
The Legion was divided into 10 chapters during the Great Crusade. As was Legion doctrine, they each were highly independent from each other, creating a strong sense of unity within the chapters themselves and thus leading to highly individual characters. After the Brother War, the legion splintered into separate warbands, barely maintaining any sort of meaningful military structure.

====First Chapter====
The first chapter was the most prestigious one, directly accompanying their primarch [[Ashur of Banipal|Ashur]] on his expeditions. The majority of these Astartes was recruited from highly decorated military nobility of the Great Cities of Babylon V, their homeworld. As such, they sought to represent the glory and splendour of the Imperium as the primarch's personal equerries, leading to a high demand in more modern and particularly decorated body armour, which in turn was paid by donations made by the astartes' families in order to display their wealth and prestige. Because of this, the first chapter would employ the famed Mark IV power armour almost exclusively on their Astartes, as well as the majority of [[Terminator]] armour. 

====Second Chapter====
The second chapter's new recruits were drafted from both the urban and rural regions of Babylon V, leading to a very mixed mentality. It was this chapter's internal struggles that led to Ashur push for Stargazers to embrace rural and urban religious motifs and philosophy in order to bridge the gap between those two factions. Because of this, the second chapter is the most religious one, and also one of the least warlike ones as the oratory abilities of this chapter have actually allowed for an exceptionally high amount of worlds brought to compliance without any combat efforts in the Legion. They were, regardless, still very slow and one of the primary arguments against Ashur's rather pacifistic approach. Their oratory skills were crucial in founding warrior lodges amongst the Loxodontii legion, and after their fall to Chaos, the second chapter ceased to exist as an entity, and instead splintered off as preachers and shamans of the Ruinous Powers and the Primordial Truth among all the other chapters. It is rumoured that survivors of the second chapter who did not remain among their Loxodontii brethren have taken residence on various planets, founding cults and fuelling thought rebellions across Imperial and Union space.

====Third Chapter====
The third chapter also accompanied Ashur's expeditions, primarily because they were his preferred genesons even if he never said so out loud. The majority of these Astartes was recruited from the rural tribes of Babylon V and serfs from the Great Cities. They, in turn, were the most like their primarch in that they sought to make peaceful contact, preferring to battle with riot shields and pistols in order to tactically push enemies out of tactical positions. They would receive a large amount of new marks of power armour, however nowhere near as much as the first chapter, and their armour decorations would be made from bronze and bone instead of gold. Because this chapter was the personal lifeguard of Ashur, he would receive the nickname "Lord of Bronze and Bone".

====Fourth Chapter====
Recruited almost exclusively from the nomad tribes of Babylon V, this chapter was particularly wild and boisterous, known to make sport of combat in that they would race each other in a charge and gather trophies from fallen enemies. While initial contact was still established on a diplomatic note, most of the time it was merely a formality for these [[Space Marines]] in the procedure to launch a military strike. Their lust for combat was so renown that they gained the monicker "Mantikhor" from their brothers, equating them to the dreaded beast from their homeworld which is said to hutn and eat humans. Little did they know that these warriors indeed practiced cannibalism before and after combat by butchering legion serfs and abducted enemies. The Stargazer Barabash was with this chapter from the beginning and further pushed these cannibalistic practices in forming the first warrior lodge among the chapters and, by extension, the [[Warmasters Triumvirate|Legiones Astartes]]. They preferred close combat weaponry and often would eschew transports in favour of bikes, jetbikes and even jump packs, the latter two being a rarity among the Loxodontii.

====Fifth Chapter====
The fifth chapter somehow managed to maintain a large number of Terranborn Astartes up until their fall to Chaos, often attributed to their cautiousness. Due to a lack of resources, rumoured to be caused by the greed and high demand of power armour of the fourth chapter, this chapter employed Scouts and covert ops equipment all the more, in turn leading to a comparably low lethality rate. Their resourcefulness would later be rewarded by being gifted some of the highly prestigious Land Speeder transports whose STC schematics were discovered on Babylon V by [[Rahman Keita'mansa]]. In an ironic twist, it was the Terranborn who would indulge the most in the cannibal rituals, presumably in order to appeal to their Babylonian battle brothers.

====Sixth Chapter====
The sixth chapter was the second one to fall to Chaos after Barabash had corrupted the fourth. Out of all the chapters, the sixth was the most militarily drilled one, leading to a strong sense of hierarchy and focus on combat efficiency. Due to their close relations with the fourth, which was known to commission modernised equipment, they would also receive a comparably high amount of Mark IV power armour. As opposed to the fourth's focus on hand-to-hand combat, the sixth focused on fire drills and bolter accuracy. Even after the Hour of the Musth, the sixth maintained something of a military command structure and are to this day one of the most feared Loxodontii warbands.

====Seventh Chapter====
Commissions to this chapter were sparse, in part due to them being send the furthest ahead of other expeditions, and in part because they were unlucky enough to have their commissions intercepted by or redirected to the fourth chapter. As such, their armour was often in disrepair, and ammunition was short. Because of their sorry state, they became exceptionally embittered close combatants, utilising combat knives far more than anything else. During the Brother War, these tormented souls would become the most mutated through their intense worship and sacrifice, making them more beast than man. They were almost annihilated to the last Astartes by [[Isekho the Unseen]] during his murderous hunt.

====Eighth Chapter====
This chapter was largely attributed to being close to legion doctrine, and as such took great care of their armoured transports. They worked very closely with the support troops of the [[Titan Marchers]], leading to a strong exchange in mechanical knowledge and an even stronger sense of bonding with their machinery. During the Brother War, the eighth employed Obliteratorbeasts and their own mutated machines as beasts of war, themselves devolving into barely sapient monsters. The Titan Marchers which accompanied them would turn traitor, as well, and become worshipped by the eighth as great Shamans that could heal the wounded warmachines.

====Ninth Chapter====
The ninth chapter, much like the eigth, were largely in accord with legion doctrine, however they would much prefer flamer and melta weaponry in order to clear the way for their transports which were often modified to double as heavy weapons platforms and thus had less carrying capacity. Like the eighth, they would employ Obliteratorbeasts and warped armour. Like the seventh, they would be almost annihilated by Isekho.

====Tenth Chapter====
This chapter was third to fall to Chaos after the fourth and the sixth, yet only slowly accepted the cannibal traditions. As a chapter, they adhered largely to legion doctrine, employing transports and infantry in tandem. It was them who would often fight in difficult terrain where their track-based vehicles were at a disadvantage. Because of this, they were gifted with the two salvaged Grav-Rhinos which were recovered from Babylon V to allow them some form of mobility, as well as transport options which were heavily modified with anti-gravitational technology. This decreased the rhinos' overall carrying capacity, however it allowed them a much greater mobility, particularly in mountain regions and ruined urban environments. Jumppacks also were unusually often employed, with a mixture of close combat and ranged armament. This chapter was devastated during the Hour of the Musth that shattered the legion, and they did not rejoin the legion for the Siege of Terra, instead turning to piracy and plunder. While nowhere near as ordered like the sixth chapter, they are also not as bestial like the other Loxodontii, instead living their lives as mercenaries.

===Special units===
====The Breachers====
Often utilised in situations of small confinement where the Loxodontii cannot employ their vehicles to great efficiency, the Breachers are used as speartips in boarding actions as well as combat indoors. Utilising shields and bolt-pistols to pave the way for more heavily armed battle-brothers, they still carry their boltgun strapped to their backs in order to provide more adequate fire support if cut off from otherwise offensively equipped personnel. The Third Chapter was renown for employing the Breachers on as many occasions as possible, sometimes even taking the role of riot police or bodyguard for their primarch when planetside.

====The Outriders====
Whether it is the nomadic tribes of the far steppes or the nobility of the great cities, riding is a vital part of the culture of Babylon V. Many children learn to sit in the saddle at the age of six, and to take the reins by the age of eight. As the core approach of the Loxodontii focuses on quickly deploying troops through Rhino- and Razorback-transporters, a sizeable portion imitates those tactics of their homeworld and takes to bikes to escort transporters, intercept enemy fast-attack deployments or to deliver hit-and-run attacks on poorly defended outposts.

====The Stargazers====
The role of chaplain and librarian are united within the rank of Stargazer. Ashur’s homeworld Babylon V is heavily divided between the rural population worshipping the gods and ghosts of their ancestors, while the religious practices of the great cities revolves around the priest caste worshipping the metropolitan pantheon of gods and goddesses. Both cultures however heavily incorporate astrology and astronomy into their practices. It is these common spiritual practices that Ashur enforced in order to help bridge the gap between the recruits from the rural and urban population.

====Ash Mouths====
The Ash Mouths are a particularly odd group of ascetics within the Loxodontii. They swear an oath of renunciatiion, steeling their mental resolve in order to become pure instruments of clarity and order, unafflicted by the tyranny of flesh. As such, they take up the role of guiding rituals for their battle brothers, such as holding victory feasts and singing battle primers. When partaking in the feasts, they would only eat the bare minimum to sustain them. Being men of cold logic and iron will, focused on a greater good, the Ash Mouths will challenge those among the Loxodontii who threaten the orderly brotherhood, and will mercilessly pummel troublemakers into submission or even to death if they are unrepentant. They are initially marked by tattoos of chalk across mouth and jaw, symbolising a muzzle that they put on themselves in order to temper their own and thus bestial nature. After the despicable and grotwsque fall of the Loxodontii, the Ash Mouth became even scarcer among the hedonistic and primal chaos warriors, and their symbolic muzzles would be replaced by sewing their moths closed. Now sustained by the Warp, where formerly they could occasionally engage in consuming food and enjoying the delight, now they are forever denied the sensation and are driven mad by the very oath they swore to keep them sane. They are champions of Chaos that will accompany other, purer warriors, to enforce at least some sense of order among the bestial herd. In memory of Shuwon Harad, the tradition to paint their armour an eerie white was adopted, until after the fall when the journey of Shuwon Harad was copied by the Ash Mouths and their armour would naturally go a dull white from the ashes of their victims, as they seek to set ablaze all that their brethren cannot consume as to keep them hungry and ready for battle.

===Special equipment===
====Grav Rhino "Heavenly Barge"====
This particular transport was a piece of archeotech machinery that was recovered from Babylon V and repaired under great efforts by Ashur of Banipal himself. While first employed for the primarch and his personal equerry, he would gift the two transports to the tenth chapter which reportedly faced combat in inaccessible terrain which made it difficult for their trackbased vehicles to maneouver. One would be lost to infighting during the Hour of the Musth, while the other would be worshipped as a holy artifact among the current warband consisting of the survivors of the tenth.

====Land Speeder Storm, Spectre Variant====
Based on an STC schematic found on Babylon V by [[Rahman Keita'mansa]]. Due to the rather weak protective capabilities of the Land Speeder it is not widely utilised by the Loxodontii Astartes, and is often relegated to scouting duty. As such, carrying small Scout squads opened up room to fit jamming and reconaissance equipment onto the loading compartment.

====Obliteratorbeast====
During the Brother War, many beasts from the planet of Mist were captured and modified to aid in the war effort. Through Warpsorcery and twisted engineering, the poor creatures were mutated into terrible beasts of war consisting of tormented flesh and unnatural metal, acting as both transports for infantry as well as heavy weapons platforms. After the Brother War, these creatures are still bred and worshipped by the Loxodontii warbands.