Bellator was (or rather is) an ancient repository of knowledge, memory and archived experience spanning as much as 10,000 years from the XXXI millennium to the XLI era of the Human Era; The spirit of the Reaver-class Bellator-Machine God cast his mechanical gaze over the battlefields plowed by xenos, humans, heretics, himself and his kindred War Titans, as it also remembered the glorious and bitter fall years of the Imperium of Mankind. Its creation, knowledge and service date back to the beginnings of the Great Crusade.

Bellator itself was created on the forge planet Mars from the blueprints of the Reaver-class Titans, for the needs of the great war machine of the Emperor of Mankind in the Great Crusade to unite the human race and the human planets under the single banner of Aquilla. It was then that it was to be chosen, not incarnated, by the Primarch of the Second Legion (the name of the Primarch and the name of the Second Legion remain unknown, due to the application of the Edict of Obliteration, Damnatio Memoriae, i.e. translating from High Gothic the phrase meaning condemnation of memory, which will be discussed in a moment) to the unnamed Titan legion.

With its great claw and gatling gun, Bellator conquered new planets in the Name of the Emperor of Mankind along with the 2nd Legion and its Primarch, however, the Rangdha Wars of 839.M30 were a watershed in the history of the God-Machine, wars so terrifying, cruel, primitive and at times even savage in their events that all mention of it was erased. The three cruel Rangdha Wars that humanity fought were a planned but unspeakable nightmare and torment for many mortals to participate in.

Much of the relationship information was erased after [REDACTED] did [REDACTED]-

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[ERROR: INFORMATION ABOUT THE RANGDHA WARS IS UNDER THE STRICT JURISDICTION OF THE EMPEROR OF MANKIND, ALL INFORMATION IS SECRET AND ANY ATTEMPT TO OBTAIN INFORMATION WILL BE CONSIDERED HERESY].

Following the Rangdha Wars, Bellator was transported back to the home forge planet of Mars to undergo cleansing rituals as well as repairs and overhaul at the hands of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and although his overhaul and modernization of Bellator ended earlier than expected, and even the Primarch of the XIII Ultramarines Legion, Roboute Guilliman requested that the Adeptus Mechanicus be incorporated into the Astorum Legion (also known as the 'Warp Runners'), the Adeptus was reluctant to make the decision, officially that a newer type of God-Machine would be sent from Mars to the XIII legion, but unofficially, that after the Ranghda Wars, part of the Adeptus Mechanicus was also to be affected by the experiences and knowledge from the Rangdha Wars and what happened to the II and XI legions, lost together with the Primarchs of these legions, where behind the scenes and behind closed doors there was a dangerous game of cat and mouse as to what to do with illicit knowledge that bordered on heresy; This became one of many antecedents that part of the Mechanicus turned from the God Emperor and sided with Horus during the heresy named after him. The fate of Bellator is unknown due to the civil war on Mars that broke out within the Horus Heresy, where half of the Mechanicus sided with the traitors, and Bellator (at least according to the testimonies of witnesses of those events) was supposed to duel with several traitorous Machine Gods of War.

Notes:

Bellator is referred to as a 'Great Fated'. Among the many secrets that surround Bellator is the fact that it is in fact controlled by a highly technologically advanced AI and not by humans; this is closely guarded information by both the Adeptus Mechanicum and the Ordo Malleus (though in the latter case, the Ordo turns a blind eye to the 'shortcoming' while fighting for the cause of the Emperor of Mankind and the Empire; AI technology is considered a heresy in the Empire and [Bellator] should, purely theoretically, be destroyed and erased from the state archives and organs of the Imperium).

There is a theory that whatever happened in the Rangdha Wars was also a prelude to the Horus Heresy and one of the few causes of Horus Luperkal and his sons turning away from the God Emperor.

In very closed circles, Bellator is even referred to as the 'Holy Machine', where it is noted that many soldiers from the Astra Militarum, Guard Corps, Legions and Space Marine Chapters fought with unwavering courage and even became somewhat immune to the influence of the Warp and Ruinous Powers, especially weak-minded Imperial Guardsmen. Bellator, despite the Edict of Condemnation of Memory being applied to the II and XI Astartes Legions and their Primarchs, is, next to the Blood Angels order, a forgotten* treasury of knowledge about the events of the Rangdan Wars.

*Using the Condemnation of Memory, the entire archived knowledge base on the 2nd Astartes Legion, their activities, battles, their home planet, and even their customs was unknowingly (to the relief of the Adeptus Mechanicum) deleted, although the Ordo Malleus discovered (a small part, mainly about Bellator) it in 188/192.M36 in the forgotten archives on Mars (during a secret investigation) and blackmailed them using the true face of Bellator to gain a political advantage to gain greater influence (it remains unknown what the Ordo Malleus wanted to use at the expense of the Adeptus Mechanicum; the secret was also discovered by the Ordo Hereticus, which blackmailed the parties for the forbidden knowledge contained in Bellator, which each side in a silent war tried to quietly and subtly get rid of problematic competitors).

From the beginning of its existence, Bellator had at its disposal special classes of ships, unknown and not cataloged by the Imperium.

[According to official and limited sources of the Imperium] There is no information or record of Bellator's service since the beginning of the Emperor of Mankind's Great Crusade, but it is known that he served in the Second Legion (which is listed as EXPUNGED) alongside its Primarch. One of the few reasons for his continued existence is the fact that he was introduced into Bellator's weapons by the Emperor of Mankind himself, which means that those in closed circles of the Empire who have knowledge about Bellator's identity cannot officially eliminate him.

[According to official sources of the Imperium] After the Battle of Calth, Bellator was lost and was considered destroyed at the hands of the Word Bearers, although other sources say that during the 31st to 41st Millennium he was supposed to appear on various planets threatened by the forces of Chaos and appeared at the last moment*.

*The Ordo Hereticus has no clear stance on Bellator's random appearances, although it also links the plot to the Legion of the Damned (in Millennium 41 and 42), but any information contradicts Bellator's actions and appearances/revelations in relation to those of the Legion of the Damned.

[According to official sources of the Imperium] Bellator after the Rangdan Wars was to be assigned to Roboute Guilliman's XIII Ultramarines Legion and participate in the Great Crusade to the Eastern Ridges of the Milky Way.

[From officially available Imperial sources] 'After the [REDACTED], Bellator was to be transferred to Roboute Guilliman's XIII Ultramarines Legion, where it remained in active service until the outbreak of the Horus Heresy in 006.M31 and beyond; Unaware of Horus' betrayal, Guilliman traveled with the Ultramarines Legion to the eastern reaches of the Milky Way galaxy to the world of Calth in the Veridian system to prepare the Ultramarines Legion for the Orc WAAAAGH! which was massing on the Ghaslakh Xeno-hold, awaiting for the support announced by Horus from the XVII Legion of Word Bearers. Then, as a result of the betrayal of the Word Bearers, the ship on which Bellator was on board (Bellator had a separate ship from the beginning of its operation, the official reason for this state of affairs was argued to be the complexity of the God-Machine from the other God-Machines) was completely destroyed and it had to fight the traitors of Horus on the surface. It is unknown what happened to Bellator after that; during the fights in the acrologies of the planet Calth, he had to fight alone for over two weeks, after which contact was lost and it went missing.

Sadly though I couldn't upload the high quality image due to resctrictions (or maybe limitations?) here on this site: if you want to see more detailed work, here you can find it: https://www.deviantart.com/secutors.....tan-1123683041