Thousand Sons Legion Strike Craft

The Thousand Sons Legion made extensive use of sub-orbital strike craft both for targeted attacks against enemy positions and for escort duties during planetary interface operations. This preference spoke both to the Legion's general dislike of attritional warfare and 'unpredictable' drop pod assaults, and the wider desire bred by its history to preserve its rank and file from needless losses it could historically ill afford. Commensurately, the Thousand Sons utilised a sizable fleet of heavily armed and well-protected gunships, many of which are believed to have been uniquely modified by the Legion’s artificers with additional defensive systems as well as unknown technologies thought to take advantage of their masters' psychic arts in prognostication, telekinesis and, most importantly, biomancy. This latter discipline, it is believed, allowed the Legion's pilots to endure stresses and maintain a speed of perception which beggared the belief even of other Space Marines, and gave their squadrons an enviably lethal reputation.

在對(duì)于敵軍陣地的針對(duì)性進(jìn)攻和行星大氣層內(nèi)的護(hù)航任務(wù)中，千子軍團(tuán)都大量使用了次軌道攻擊載具。這種偏好既反映了千子軍團(tuán)對(duì)消耗戰(zhàn)和“不可預(yù)測(cè)”的空降艙突襲的厭惡，也反映出了軍團(tuán)歷史在千子中所孕育出的保護(hù)普通民眾免受不必要損失的普遍愿望——在其歷史角度上，這種損失是難以承受的。與此相配的便是千子軍團(tuán)使用著一支武器精良且保護(hù)（能力）完善的炮艇艦隊(duì)，人們相信其中很多炮艇都被軍團(tuán)工匠進(jìn)行過獨(dú)一無二的改造，其上安裝了額外的防御系統(tǒng)，并使用了被認(rèn)為能利用其主人的靈能力量來進(jìn)行預(yù)知、心靈致動(dòng)以及最重要的項(xiàng)目——生化系靈能技藝的未知科技。人們相信對(duì)于未知科技的使用讓軍團(tuán)飛行員們能承受住壓力，并且保持哪怕是其他（軍團(tuán)的）星際戰(zhàn)士們也難以相信的（飛行）速度，這也給千子的飛行中隊(duì)們帶來了令人羨慕的致命聲譽(yù)。

Throughout the Legion's campaigns, it chose to operate a considerable number of dual use fighter-interceptor craft for this escort role for its gunships and shuttles, ranging from earlier adapted Terran patterns such as the Atept-se/17 'Night Rakers'?dating back to the Unification Wars, to afterburner-fitted hulking Mars pattern Thunderbolt heavy fighters and the temperamental and soon abandoned Ryza-Nistrus Voidstar, before the final development of the Xiphon Interceptor.?To?the pilot corps of the Thousand Sons Legion, the Xiphon was the apotheosis of Legiones Astartes support fighter design, and the XVth were a strong and early adopter of the design, to the extent that it swiftly superseded all other fighters in their service. By the time of the censure of the Thousand Sons Legion, by Logistica Corpus' estimates there were in operation over three hundred Xiphon Interceptors, however most of these were on-station aboard the Legion's core fleet and departed with them under the Primarchs orders before the Censure Host arrived at Prospero. Only a scattering remained in the city, and with the air defence left primarily to the garrisoning human Prosperine Airguard for the main, little serious resistance could be given to the Space Wolves landing.

在軍團(tuán)的（各場(chǎng)）戰(zhàn)役中，他們都選擇使用大量的兩用型戰(zhàn)斗攔截機(jī)來為炮艇和穿梭機(jī)護(hù)航，而在劍尾攔截機(jī)最終被開發(fā)出來之前，從諸如阿特普—瑟/17“暗夜清道夫”之類能夠追溯到統(tǒng)一戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)時(shí)期的經(jīng)過早期改造的泰拉型號(hào)戰(zhàn)機(jī)，到安裝著后燃室的機(jī)體龐大的火星型雷電重型戰(zhàn)機(jī)和（機(jī)魂）反復(fù)無常并被很快放棄的瑞扎—尼特魯斯型虛空之星戰(zhàn)機(jī)，千子軍團(tuán)使用過種類繁多的戰(zhàn)機(jī)。對(duì)千子軍團(tuán)的飛行員們而言，劍尾是阿斯塔特軍團(tuán)支援型戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)設(shè)計(jì)的巔峰之作，第十五軍團(tuán)是該型號(hào)戰(zhàn)機(jī)的堅(jiān)定支持者和早期采用者，他們極為喜愛此類戰(zhàn)機(jī)，以至于劍尾很快就取代了其他所有在千子軍團(tuán)中服役的戰(zhàn)機(jī)。據(jù)后勤資料統(tǒng)計(jì)，等到千子軍團(tuán)遭受懲戒之時(shí)，軍團(tuán)中有超過三百架劍尾攔截機(jī)在運(yùn)行，不過其中大部分都?？吭谲妶F(tuán)核心艦隊(duì)的機(jī)艙中，并且按照原體的命令在懲戒部隊(duì)抵達(dá)普羅斯佩羅之前隨艦隊(duì)一并離開。普羅斯佩羅城市中僅留下了零星的一部分劍尾攔截機(jī)，駐守在普羅斯佩羅的凡人空軍成為了空中防御的主力，太空野狼的登陸行動(dòng)幾乎沒有受到嚴(yán)重阻礙。

Xiphon Interceptor The 'Feathered Serpent': Noted for its distinct panoply of war, the Feathered Serpent, a veteran of the aerial wars above New Carthage and Rovacallii, was one of the few Thousand Sons'?Xiphons which engaged in battle above the skies of Tizca. Buried with its hangar during the battle's opening stages thanks to the ground quakes caused by the planetary bombardment, it took to the skies after the primary landings had already been made and struck with deadly effect at the landing craft shuttling second wave troops and war machines to Prospero's surface. Believed to have accounted for the loss of at least one Space Wolves Storm Eagle gunship, three Imperials Armada support fighters and, most devastatingly, two Therium class heavy landers, it was eventually harried to its destruction by both Space Wolves and Legio Custodes fighter craft, its engines aflame as it crashed into the wasteland beyond the city.

劍尾攔截機(jī)“羽蛇”號(hào)：“羽蛇”號(hào)是在新Carthage和Rovacallii參加過空戰(zhàn)的老兵，也是極少數(shù)參加了提茲卡城空中戰(zhàn)斗的千子劍尾攔截機(jī)之一，它因自身獨(dú)特的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)裝備而被人們注意。由于行星轟炸所引發(fā)的地面震動(dòng)，羽蛇號(hào)在戰(zhàn)斗開始階段和機(jī)庫一起被埋在地下。但在懲戒部隊(duì)執(zhí)行過主要的登陸行動(dòng)之后，它飛上了天空，以致命的效率進(jìn)攻著那些將第二波部隊(duì)和戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)機(jī)器運(yùn)送到普羅斯佩羅地表的登陸艇。據(jù)信，羽蛇號(hào)至少要對(duì)一架太空野狼風(fēng)暴鷹炮艇、三架帝國(guó)海軍支援型戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)和兩架巨獸級(jí)重型登陸艇（這也是最具破壞性的損失）的損失負(fù)責(zé)。太空野狼和禁衛(wèi)軍團(tuán)戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)的不斷進(jìn)攻最終摧毀了羽蛇號(hào)——當(dāng)它墜入城外的荒原中時(shí)，引擎正在熊熊燃燒。