As the Emperor's fleets took to the stars during the Great Crusade after ca. Later this pattern of Land Raider was borrowed by other Chapters and Land Raiders Helios where deployed when there was armoured artillery support needed. The discoverer is commonly believed to be the Techno-archaeologist Magos Arkhan Land who, at the very birth of the Imperium, is said to have rediscovered the STC designs hidden beneath the surface of Mars. The Land Raider Redeemer is an assault version of the Land Raider used by the Space Marines. The Machine Spirit said to dwell within is known for its devotion to duty and to its crew, and some are even capable of independent operation. After His ascension, none dared to change the Emperor's decree and the Land Raider has therefore remained a vehicle almost exclusively used by the Space Marine Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes for the past 10,000 standard years. It may also be fitted with a pintle mounted storm bolter. Legend has it that the Land Raider (called in some fragmentary records "Land's Raider") was discovered during Machine-Archaeologist Arkhan Land's great expedition into the labyrinth catacombs sited deep beneath the surface of Mars. A celebrated feature common to many patterns of Land Raider is the consecrated "Aquila" track link. The inability to mass produce the tank means each individual machine has its own idiosyncrasies, while even the rumour of a nearby wrecked or abandoned Achillies is enough to divert an entire Space Marine strike force to reclaim it. The ubiquitous Land Raider Phobos has served in every major Space Marine campaign since the defence of the Emperor's Imperial Palace. It was a terrible blow, for the Land Raider was one of the few commonly available vehicles which could, when deployed with skill and in sufficient numbers, threaten enemy Titans. Arkhan Land would later vanish during a subsequent expedition into the catacombs, some claiming he was the victim of a psychic entity that destroyed his entire party. The Proteus was first forged sometime during the Dark Age of Technology, but rediscovered during the Great Crusade. The Emperor was never able to annul the order, and consequently, even after the Heresy, the use of the Land Raider remained exclusive to the Space Marines. The first GW plastic Land Raider kit is represented by the Land Raider Proteus. The lascannons normally mounted in the side sponsons are replaced with two twin-linked heavy bolters, with a pintle-mounted storm bolterreplacing the hull-mounted heavy bolters. There is also a holographic tactical display and direct interfaces to the Battle Cogitator. Believed by certain war-savants to be an example of sacred machine-evolution, the Land Raider Proteus displays early features of the Mark IIb Land Raider Phobos. In any case, the number of Chapters which do have a Prometheus within their Armouries is unknown. As tales of the Crusader’s successes spread, many other Chapters began to request information regarding its remodeling. The few exceptions to this general rule are those allocated to the Inquisition and especially influential Rogue Traders who utilise them in their private armies, as both have been vested with unusual freedom in this and many other regards by the Imperium they serve. Note the upper row in pre-heresy Imperial Army markings. Such was the demand for Land Raiders during the Great Crusade that an entire Forge World was founded just to manufacture them. Primary power is provided by a Mars Pattern adaptable thermic combustor reaction engine situated at the rear of the vehicle. This world, Anvilus IX, supplied thousands upon thousands of the vehicles to Mankind's forces, but the Great Crusade ended in disaster when the Warmaster Horus rebelled against the Emperor and bloody civil war engulfed the Imperium.