From Speeders to Raiders, the works of Arkhan Land bear his name–but who exactly is this man? And what has he wrought? Let us examine.
It is no secret that the Adeptus Mechanicus are single handedly responsible for maintaining the Imperium. Without their bravery, intelligence, and machinations, humanity would still be crawling in the dark ages that it languished in, as though the Emperor had never uplifted and united the galaxy.
Imagine one of the supposed “defenders of humanity,” the Space Marines, without the protection and beneficence of the Machine God’s creations–a mewling kitten, nothing more. Worse yet are those wretches in the guard who have yet to replace even a single limb with an augmetic, and thus have no concept of perfection. Where would they be without even the humblest of tools, the Lasgun?
So today, we pay homage to those who recognize that the flesh is weak and corruptible, and that only machines will protect and endure. Today we look at a true hero of the Empire–the discoverer of the Land Raider (which is named for him) among other gifts. Without him, the Imperium would surely have fallen. Today we look at the life of Arkhan Land.
via Lexicanum
Arkhan Land was one of the most famous members of the Mechanicum, a Magos and technoarchaeologist, best known for recovering rare STC technology from the Librarius Omnis. Over the course of his career, Land would lead two expeditions into the Librarius Omnis.
First Expedition
Land led a three-year expedition into the Librarius Omnis in search of a functioning STC database, resulting in the recovery of the blueprints for Land’s Raider-Pattern Main Battle Tank, Land’s Crawler multi-purpose heavy utility vehicle, the Mars Universal Land Engine (the basis of the Onager Dunecrawler), and the information on rare anti-gravitic plates used in Land’s Speeder, all of which are named for him.
I
Land’s discoveries drew the attention of the Emperor of Mankind, his discoveries finding wide use in the Legio Custodes who used a variety of Grav-Tanks powered by Land’s anti-gravitic plates as well as the Paragon Pattern Jetbike. Shortly after the recovery of Angron, Arkhan Land was personally assigned by the Emperor to aid Him in His attempt to cure the Primarch of the Butcher’s Nails. Only Land could confirm the Emperor’s belief that the Butcher’s Nails were based on the ancient cruciamen, a technology referred to in profane texts in the Hexarchion Vaults.
Second Expedition
Land led a second expedition into the Librarius Omnis which went missing. Two centuries after his expedition was declared lost, his vox diary was found – it spoke of how his team had been picked off one by one by an unknown entity, believed to have been a psychic entity. Some contest the nature of the entity, claiming it was a sentient virus or mutant.
Land’s legacy lives on, in spite of this. His name is in the roaring engines and crushing firepower that keeps the Imperium safe. Without him, we would be nothing. Even now, hidden within the Mechanicus, loyal Magi search for the secrets hidden, encoded in Land’s greatest work. Though declared heretics, Land’s disciples continue their work, upholding the legacy of a man whose cleverness and resourcefulness were outmatched by none–a man to whom the Emperor owes his empire–
(Editor’s note: our loremaster was found to be a Landite, and has been subsequently sentenced to arco-flagellation for his techno-heresy. We have redacted the rest of the incomprehensible screed to save space.)
If you’re worried you might be a heretic, please report yourself to the nearest Commisar.
