BRIEF HISTORY OF THE WARHAMMER 40,000 UNIVERSE (Continued) Humanity reaches for the stars (15th millennium) As a consequence of the scientific advancements under the unseen direction of the New Man humanity begins to head out in to space. Using sublight engines, travel was slow, taking up to ten generations to reach and colonise other systems. The Dark Age of Technology (20th millennium) Discovery of warp engines resulted in an enormous expansion of space farers. Standard Template Constructs, massive computerised databases, which could be the basis to produce everything a colony needed from food to weapons revolutionised expeditions. A golden age of scientific exploration and expansion occurs. The "Navigator" gene develops in humans enabling longer and more accurate warp jumps. Navigator families and cartels become very powerful. |
The Age of Strife (25th millennium) The emperor remains in the back ground, gently guiding humanity as they reach the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Alien races are encountered, especially the ubiquitous orks, and localised conflicts break out. Order is maintained through the commerce and communication through the warp. Then two events occur concurrently. Humans with psychic ability begin to appear on many world across the galaxy, and civilisations begin to fall because of daemonic possession and insanity. Around the same time massive warp storms erupted across the galaxy. This turmoil cut of and prevented most systems from each other. No communication was possible either. Cut off from its colonies, earthen government collapsed in to anarchy. Factions fought each other to a stand still. It was in to this era of despair, the New Man stepped forward and took command. The New Man conquers all who opposed him on earth and then on all the planets of the Solar system. In his battle he used early, genetically modified warriors using early formative armour. These were the original spacemarines. The first of these belonged to the Dark Angels chapter, led personally by the emperor. After bringing the Solar system under his control and ascending the throne and known since by all as the Emperor, mankind's saviour began the Primarch project. 20 superhuman beings were developed in a secret moon base under the stringent psychic screens. These were meant to help the emperor in the fight against chaos. Despite his best efforts, the chaos powers learned of the Primarchs and managed to abduct the infant Primarchs in their capsules. They didn't have th power to destroy them in the physical world and the primarchs were scattered in the warp, landing and surviving on individual worlds, until subsequently reunited with the emperor. Following this, using the Primarchs DNA, the emperor began a process of creating spacemarines by a faster method of implanting the gene-seed. Though these spacemarines were no where as powerful as the Primarchs, they were still superhumans. 20 legions of spacemarines were created each numbering in the tens of thousands. The Imperial Navy and Imperial Guard were also readied. At this same time, another far more psychically and technologically advanced race called the Eldar were hurtling towards their doom. Having conquered all aspects of science and technology, most eldar immersed themselves in spurious acts of wanton pleasure. Their rabid thoughts and emotions and worship of pleasure resulted in the colescing of another focus within the warp. With a mighty roar, the chaos god of pleasure, Slaanesh was born. His violent birth sucked the souls of virtually all eldar from their bodies, the warp energy ripping through their fragile minds and spilling in to real space. The majority of the eldar died that day. The place where they lived and died became known as the eye of terror. Here warp space and realspce overlap. The positive consequences of Slaanesh's birth was the abatement of the warp storms in the galaxy. The emperor's legions, who had prepared and readied for this day were then unleashed. The great crusade had begun, to bring back the galaxy under human control. In the process of liberating the millions of worlds, the Primarchs were discovered in turn, and given command of the legion that was created from their gene-seed. |
The Horus Heresy (30th millennium) The subtle machinations of chaos had slowly infiltrated the imperium. The greatest Primarch, Horus, given the honorific title of warmaster and command of five legions, fell under their influence. What followed was the worst act of betrayel as fully half the spacemarine legions, and many imperial guard, navy and adeptus mechanicus units fell under the influence of chaos. Horus invaded earth and in the final battle the emperor teleported on to horus' battle barge and killed him in single combat. In the process, the emperor's body was mortally wounded, and he was placed on the golden throne, which maintains his life, allowing him to psychically direct humanity, ever since. Age of the Imperium (41st millennium) The emperor has become more and more detached from his subjects, roaming the warp in his eternal vigilance to protect humanity. All the Primarchs have either died or are missing. The massive colossus of the Imperial Guard and Imperial navy battle foes to hold the imperium together. The imeprium is assaulted by many foes. The ubiquitous orks. The cruel Dark eldar and the enigmatic eldar. The terrifying tyranid fleets, consuming system after system The mechanical necrons and now the new Tau and Kroot. Yet, the most dangerous are the very chaos powers and their corrupted spacemarines from the age of Horus' betrayel. The inquisition battles within and without to unveil the hidden enemies. Yet where ever a threat may emerge the eternal guardians of humanity, the ever vigilant heroes of man, the one thousand chapters of one thousand spacemarines stand ready! |
INTRODUCTION |
