The Nature of the Carcharodons Enigma

For a faction of the Imperium's armed forces to disappear for centuries, even for millennia, either from its official records, or from reality itself (the latter being a curse of Warp travel and other rarer non-Euclidian forces), is a rare but not unknown phenomena. The reappearance of such lost forces can be the cause of both joy and misery as the fates turn. Such occurrences can cause the mighty to pause and make a liar of accepted history. Accordingly, precious little can be said in this record of certainty about the Carcharodons Chapter's true origins or history, except what can be pieced together from fragmentary and unreliable sources. supplemented by the observations of those who fought beside them in the Badab War.?

帝國(guó)武裝力量中的某個(gè)派系，在數(shù)個(gè)世紀(jì)甚至一千年的歲月中，同時(shí)消失于官方記錄與現(xiàn)實(shí)宇宙中（后一種情況是由于亞空間和其他更罕見(jiàn)非歐幾里得力量的詛咒），這種現(xiàn)象是罕見(jiàn)的，但也并非聞所未聞。隨著命運(yùn)發(fā)生轉(zhuǎn)折，這些迷失部隊(duì)的重新出現(xiàn)可能同時(shí)造成喜悅和痛苦。此類(lèi)事件會(huì)讓享有權(quán)勢(shì)之人停止（掌權(quán)），并讓公認(rèn)的歷史成為謊言。因此，在這份信史記錄中，除了那些從碎片化的不可靠資料中拼湊出的內(nèi)容，我們對(duì)于噬人鯊戰(zhàn)團(tuán)的真實(shí)起源和歷史幾乎無(wú)話可說(shuō)。

It seems likely that rather than the more conventional Crusade Chapter pattern used by many fleet-based Space Marine forces (which seeks to consciously imitate the example of the Space Marine Legions of old), that instead the Carcharodons follow the rarer, so-called 'Nomad-Predation' pattern. This is used almost exclusively by Space Marine Chapters operating for long durations beyond the Imperium's borders and by certain Rogue Trader fleets, and refers to entirely self-contained forces which operate without recourse to the Imperium for support at all. These nomad-predation fleets voyage without end, pausing only to attack targets that are within their means to destroy without threatening their own viability as a fighting force. This way the fleet may obtain resources to sustain itself and exterminate future threats to the lmperium, and at the same time avoid or raid enemies too powerful for them to directly attack in force. The most common form of recruitment for Space Marine Chapters given to this mode of operation is to cull potential initiates from the young of the survivors of their assaults where practical, with intensive effort given to erasing any past loyalty or weakness that remains, and replacing it with the will of the Chapter.?

噬人鯊戰(zhàn)團(tuán)似乎并未遵循更傳統(tǒng)的遠(yuǎn)征戰(zhàn)團(tuán)模式——該模式被很多艦基星際戰(zhàn)士部隊(duì)（它們?cè)噲D有意識(shí)模仿古代星際戰(zhàn)士軍團(tuán)的范例）所采用，而且采用了更罕見(jiàn)的所謂“游牧—掠食”模式。采用“游牧—掠食”模式的幾乎只有那些在帝國(guó)邊境之外長(zhǎng)期行動(dòng)的星際戰(zhàn)士戰(zhàn)團(tuán)，以及特定的行商浪人艦隊(duì)；這些部隊(duì)完全自給自足，在運(yùn)作中完全不依賴(lài)人類(lèi)帝國(guó)提供的資源。游牧—掠食艦隊(duì)的航程沒(méi)有盡頭，他們停頓下來(lái)，只是為了在不危及自身作為一支戰(zhàn)斗部隊(duì)的生命力的情況下，進(jìn)攻處于己方（攻擊）能力范圍之內(nèi)的敵人，以將其毀滅。通過(guò)這種方式，艦隊(duì)可能獲取資源以維持自身，并消滅對(duì)人類(lèi)帝國(guó)不利的未來(lái)威脅；同時(shí)，對(duì)那些過(guò)于強(qiáng)大到無(wú)法直接進(jìn)攻的敵人，他們會(huì)避開(kāi)或進(jìn)行掠襲。考慮到其運(yùn)作模式，這些星際戰(zhàn)士戰(zhàn)團(tuán)最常見(jiàn)的征兵形式，便是在可行的情況下，從挺過(guò)他們進(jìn)攻的年輕幸存者中挑選潛在新兵，盡全力抹除他們殘存的任何昔日忠誠(chéng)與弱點(diǎn)，并用戰(zhàn)團(tuán)的意志將其替換。

This evidence, taken together with their recorded actions, builds into a profile both sinister and suggestive, and perhaps presents a truth about Space Marines in general. Beyond their martial trappings and the endless roll of glorious victories, doomed last stands and courage in the face of a hostile universe. A Space Marine fundamentally is a superhuman engine built, bred and trained for war; an Angel of Death - a monster by any other name. In the case of the Carcharodons, it is well that such monsters belong to the Imperium rather than are counted in the ranks of its enemies.?

通過(guò)這些證據(jù)，連同他們被記錄下來(lái)的行動(dòng)，我們勾畫(huà)出了一個(gè)險(xiǎn)惡且?guī)в邪凳拘缘妮喞蛟S還在整體上揭示出了一個(gè)關(guān)于星際戰(zhàn)士的真相。拋去他們的軍事標(biāo)志、無(wú)盡的光榮勝利、注定要進(jìn)行的最后堅(jiān)守與面對(duì)遍布敵意宇宙的勇氣，星際戰(zhàn)士在根本上就是為戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)而建造、培育和訓(xùn)練的超人類(lèi)引擎；他們是死亡天使——（或者）被冠上了其他任何名字的怪物。至于噬人鯊戰(zhàn)團(tuán)，還好這些怪物們屬于人類(lèi)帝國(guó)，而非被列入了（帝國(guó)）敵人的行列。