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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
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They were first encountered by the [[Imperium]], during the [[Horus Heresy]] and the [[Dark Mechanicum]] used the Decimators as [[warp]]-infused engines of destruction. They also provided the Daemon Engines to the [[Traitor Legions]] , where they served the same role as Dreadnoughts. This led these Decimators to serve as shock troops and line breakers, but their armaments were also tailored to fit the warfare style of their Traitor Legion. While some Imperial scholars believed the Decimators' creation was an attempt to counter the strength of the [[Leviathan Dreadnought]], the Daemon Engines were rarely a match for one in single combat. However the Daemon Engines proved to be far less intensive to create and as the Horus Heresy neared its end, the Decimators became a regular presence in the Traitors' forces.{{Fn|3}}
This history was forgotten by the [[Imperium]], though. Currently Decimators have been recorded in the forces of the [[Great Enemy]] as long ago as the mass genocides known in [[Imperial]] Lore as the ''"[[Grief of Herodin]]"'' in late [[M35]]. They have fortunately been rarely encountered, save within the damned cults and [[daemon]] fleets that plague the benighted reaches of the '''Nightmare Rifts''' far to the Galactic South of the [[Segmentum Tempestus]]. Here in the dark void beyond the borders of the Imperium, some unknown source, it is believed, barters these dread killing machines for a high price in blood, plunder and souls. This has led some within the [[Ordo Malleus]] to label them the work of the infamous [[Dark Mechanicum|Dark Magos]] of the [[Silent Forge]] known as the '''Sepktraal Cult''', which legend . Legend has it was that the Sepktraal were driven to the rifts beyond the '''Silent Abyss''' during the [[Great Scouring]], while others insist that the cult never existed at all , except in the myths of the forgotten age.{{Fn|1}}
[[Inquisition|Inquisitorial]] savants do not know for sure what malefic party is responsible for this sinful innovation as the Decimator is capable of fielding a wide range of terrible armaments: rapid-firing [[Butcher Cannon]]s, multi-barrelled [[Stormlaser]]s, [[Soulburner Petard]]{{Fn|1}}, [[Conversion beam projector#Heavy Conversion Beamer|Heavy Conversion Beamer]]{{Fn|2}} and great raking [[Siege Claw]]s to name but a few. Towering over even the mighty [[Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought]]s of the [[Adeptus Astartes]], the Decimator is believed to be an attempt to bolster the ranks of such ancient devices that still serve the Traitor Legions. If this is the truth, then it is feared that many warriors of the Imperium will fall before these deadly war machines.{{Fn|1}}
