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Imperial history records that the Thunder Warriors had all died in the final battle of the Unification Wars, the Battle of Mount Ararat, and the [[Legiones Astartes]] were created to replace them.{{Fn|2}} However, according to a surviving Thunder Warrior, [[Arik Taranis]], the Emperor didn't replenish their numbers, or may have in fact massacred the hyper-violent and short-lived Thunder Warriors to make way for his stable, mass produced Astartes warriors, fabricating the tale of Mount Ararat as a cover-up, or using the battle to expend the last of the Thunder Warriors. The Thunder Warriors were suitable for conquering Terra, but did not fit the Emperor's vision of warriors who would take the entire Galaxy.{{Fn|2}} It is implied that the purges were carried out by the [[Custodian Guard]].{{Fn|7}} Another source states that upon discovering their short lifespans, the Thunder Warriors revolted against the Emperor, causing the Custodes to annihilate them.{{Fn|9}}
===Survivors===
Early in the [[Great Crusade]], a small group of surviving Thunder Warriors calling themselves the '''Dait'Tar''' were among the renegades of the [[Cerberus Insurrection]]. The Emperor dispatched the [[XII Legion]] (later known as the [[World Eaters]]) to quell the uprising and punish the traitors. Despite their physical decline, and being severely outnumbered by one of the greatest Space Marine Legions, the Thunder Warriors managed to slaughter four to five times their number in Astartes. The Insurrection was eventually stopped however, after several hours of intense close quarters fighting.{{Fn|5b}}
Eventually, after another Thunder Warrior, [[Ghota]], encountered a group of traitor Astartes known as the [[Outcast Dead]] and slew one of its members, Taranis was able to cure the genetic instability of the Thunder Warriors, though not before suffering considerable degeneration himself.{{Fn|2}}
Four Thunder Warriors had also survived on Terra to serve as gladiators in depths of The Maw, near slums known as the Swathe, for despite their physical deterioration they were still mighty warriors. They had been kept alive by '''Tarrigata''', a former [[astropath]], who served as their master and helped keep them alive through transplanting the organs of the deceased Thunder Warriors. One of them (Kabe) eventually died after being incapacitated in a gladiator battleagainst a [[Chrono Gladiator]], two before being ceremonially executed by a fellow Thunder Warrior. Another (Gairok) became mentally unstable and was slain when he attacked one of the other Thunder Warriors. The third (Vezulah Vult and Gairok) died fighting a demonically [[Possessed Marine|possessed]] [[Alpha Legion]] warrior, after being blinded by the Astarte's acidic spit and the eviscerated. The last (Dahren Heruk) was given an honoured death by a Custodian , after he defeated the possessed legionary. They were kept alive by '''Tarrigata''', a former [[astropath]], who served as their master and helped keep them alive through transplanting saved the organs of the deceased Thunder WarriorsCustodian's life.{{Fn|8}}
===Historic Thunder Warriors===
