Arik Taranis
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The following paragraphs contain spoilers for: | The Outcast Dead (Novel) |
| Title(s) | Victor of Gaduare The Last Rider Butcher of Scandia Throne Slayer |
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| Homeworld | Terra |
| Born | c. M29/M30 |
| Active Period | M29/M30 - ??? |
| Species | Human |
| Type | Thunder Warrior |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Affiliation(s) |
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Arik Taranis was a Thunder Warrior commander known to history as Victor of Gaduare, the Last Rider, the Butcher of Scandia, and the Throne Slayer.[1b]
According to legend, he was taller than the Hollow Mountain and had carved the Pass of Mohan with his fists.[1a] He was a legendary figure, thought to have died of his wounds after raising the Banner of Lightning at the Declaration of Unity, after the Battle of Mount Ararat in the Kingdom of Uratu. However, Arik survived into the start of the 31st millennium on Terra by studying gene manipulation from the Emperor prior to His conquest of Old Earth. According to Taranis, the Emperor may have in fact massacred the Thunder Warriors and spread the tale of their annihilation at the Battle of Mount Ararat as a cover-up.[1d]
Biography
Thunder Warrior
His mortal name is not recorded within the Imperial historical archives, but when he was reborn into the new form of one of the first proto-Astartes, he was named Arik Taranis. Taranis and his Battle-Brothers were created as tools of deadly efficiency, intended to spread terror amongst the Emperor's enemies and serve as the perfect killing machines. Their goal was to drag Terra back from the anarchy into which it had fallen for over five millennia, and into a new age of enlightenment and peace—though they themselves would never know anything but war.[1d]
It was against this backdrop of oppression, violence and casual brutality that Arik Taranis and his fellow Thunder Warriors carved a reputation as the undisputed soldiers of their age. Arik Taranis would forge a legend that would still resonate with the modern Space Marines created as the replacements for the Thunder Warriors before the start of the Great Crusade. He would become history wrought in living form: the Victor of Gaduaré, the Last Rider, the Butcher of Scandia, the Throne-slayer—these and a hundred other battle-honours earned by this incomparable warrior are scattered throughout the texts written about the foundation of the Imperium. All these tales culminated in the end of Taranis's life atop a once-flooded mountain during the final great clash of the Unification Wars, the Battle of Mount Ararat fought in the Kingdom of Urartu.[1d]
Taranis was posthumously awarded the title of "Lightning Bearer" in the aftermath of Mount Ararat. The Imperial chronicles record that Taranis and his Battle-Brothers amongst the remaining Thunder Warriors were all slain to a man in this final battle of the great conflict, sacrificing themselves to win the last and most important victory for the Emperor and establish His government over Terra, which would become the Imperium of Man. The Imperial chronicles record that Taranis died, succumbing to numerous mortal wounds once he fulfilled the honour of raising the Emperor's Lightning Banner at the final declaration of Unity for humanity's birthworld.[1d]
The truth, however, was very different and far darker, for Arik Taranis had actually survived the Battle of Mount Ararat and also knew that at the very moment the Emperor had founded his Imperium, He had also arranged for the elimination of every last surviving Thunder Warrior because they were no longer necessary and would serve as an impediment to the rest of the Emperor's plan. Taranis bore no ill-will towards his creator for this monstrous and secret betrayal, for he understood better than anyone that the Thunder Warriors had always been merely a means to an end. He and all his kind had been cast aside by the Emperor in favour of the more advanced Space Marine gene-template. Arik Taranis was one of only a small number of Thunder Warriors who managed to escape the final cull of his kind after Mount Ararat.[1c]
Gang Lord
Taranis managed to hide himself amongst the teeming masses of Mankind on Terra for over a century after the end of the Unification Wars, shunning his former name and assuming a new identity. He became the criminal warlord Babu Dhakal, clan master of the Dhakal gang, the master of most of the Petitioner's City criminal enterprises, including prostitution, gambling, and the illegal sale of food, drugs and weapons.[1c] His first name, "Babu", meant "father" in the ancient language of Barat. His last name, "Dhakal", was the name of a region of the mountains near the Imperial Palace.[1d] Nothing moved within the city without the Babu's approval.
During the century spent on the run from Imperial authorities, Taranis discovered the inherent flaw that lay within every Thunder Warrior's genetic makeup, for their lifespans had been engineered to be extremely limited, unlike the true Astartes who came after them and would live for hundreds of Terran years. Unbeknownst to anyone outside of the Petitioner's City, Taranis maintained a well-equipped genetic laboratory at the heart of the city. Fortunately for Taranis, he had learned what he could from his creator in the years of the Unity Wars, and had come to master much of the Emperor's knowledge of the ancient science of genetics. Unfortunately, Taranis did not possess enough knowledge to halt his own cellular deterioration, only enough to desperately cling to life long enough for his fortunes to finally change during the opening days of the Horus Heresy.[1c]
A new opportunity arose in 005.M31 in the form of the Outcast Dead, renegade Astartes who had escaped the prison of Khangba Marwu and who carried the Emperor-wrought Gene-seed.[1b] After a first failed attempt at intimidating them, Taranis met with them in person at the Temple of Woe and offer a deal for him to acquire a progenoid gland, in the hope of using it to correct his own genetic flaws.[1b] However, the Outcast Dead were cornered by an Imperial hunter team that had been tracking them since their escape. During the ensuing battle the majority of the Astartes of the Outcast Dead were killed during the confrontation with the Imperial forces. However, Taranis and his lieutenant within the Dhakal gang, Ghota, another Thunder Warrior who had survived the Emperor's cull, took advantage of this distraction and managed to escape.
Somehow, Taranis managed to obtain the Progenoid Glands of one of the fallen Astartes. Deep in the heart of the Petitioner's City, Taranis experimented with his samples within his secret laboratory. Using gene-samplers, he managed to extract the necessary information encoded within the glands' stored zygotes of Astartes organs and the impossibly complex amino acid chains were decoded. Taranis unraveled the complexities of this biological miracle and managed to replicate the process of its creation and clone a new set of progenoid glands from the original sample.[1e]
