Today, we journey into the aftermath of the Horus Heresy, the Great Scouring, and the battles that would redefine the Imperium forever.
Let’s begin with the Eye of Terror, an aftermath of the Horus Heresy. This cosmic scar became the eternal prison for all traitor Legions. Worlds such as Istvan V and Davin, tainted by chaos, were purged of life. The Imperium sought to erase all memory of the traitor Legions, even extending this purge to their associated troops, including the rogue elements from the Dark Mechanicum and renegade Imperial Army regiments.
The aftermath of the Dropsite Massacre on Istvan V saw the slow reestablishment of the loyalist Space Marine Legions using the scarce gene-seed survivors managed to escape with. However, they were reformed as 1,000 Space Marine chapters according to Guilliman’s Codex Astartes, a decision that marked the dawn of the Second Founding in the 32nd Millennium.
Then, we move onto the Battle of Escador, where the Alpha Legion clashed with Ultramarines. In a dramatic twist, Ultramarines’ Primarch, Rabut Guilliman, faced his brother Alpharius, unaware that it was actually Alpharius’s twin brother, Omegon, who had assumed his identity. The battle ended with both brothers striking each other simultaneously, leading to Alpharius’s death and a temporary victory for the Ultramarines.
The victory was short-lived as the Ultramarines found themselves harried by Escador natives and remnants of the Alpha Legion. After a week of futile combat, Guilliman ordered an evacuation and bombarded the traitors from orbit. Despite facing such dishonorable foes, the Ultramarines found themselves bested by the cunning Alpha Legion at every turn.
In the aftermath of the Horus Heresy, the Ultramarines took the fight to the Word Bearers’ homeworld of Colchis in the Castigation of Colchis. They discovered a devastated world, its industry in ruins, and its people clinging to civilization amidst fears of chaos taint. The newly formed Inquisition ordered Exterminatus, a planetary assault that ended with the Ultramarines’ battle barge, Octavius, bombarding Colchis with cyclonic torpedoes. The resulting seismic activity split the planet apart, leaving nothing but a closely guarded secret in the Inquisition’s records.
In the Battle of Thessala, Guilliman was mortally wounded by Fulgrim, now a Daemon Prince of Slaanesh, who stabbed him in the neck with a poisoned blade. Guilliman’s body was interred inside a stasis field in the Fortress of Hera on Macragge, where he remained for 10,000 years until his return on the eve of the Great Rift’s birth.
In the wake of this chaos, a century-long period of anarchy was ended by the intervention of the Space Marines. Agio, Chapter Master of the Ultramarines, united over 50 Space Marine chapters and arrived on Terra. After a closed council with the squabbling noble rulers of Terra, unity was reestablished in the Imperium.
During the Nova Terra Interregnum, the Ultramarines’ realm continued to grow in strength and stature, remaining largely free from the Ecclesiarchy’s tightening grip. Guided by Guilliman’s teachings of rational thought over superstition, Ultramar was spared much of the turmoil and Civil War plaguing the rest of the Imperium.
We conclude this part of our series with the Ninth Black Crusade and the Cilia Relief. The notorious Chaos Champion Abaddon the Despoiler led the Ninth Black Crusade, and during this period, the Lamenters, along with other crusading chapters, were recalled to counter the rising threat of Chaos. The Lamenters’ infamous reputation for enduring bitter reversals and dark turns of fate led to the Mortifactors Chapter refusing to fight alongside them. Despite being abandoned by their allies, the Lamenters held out alone against the Black Legion’s onslaught for six solar weeks, suffering horrendous losses before the Ultramarines and White Scars arrived to relieve them.
Stay tuned for our next installment where we continue our journey through the complex and fascinating lore of Warhammer 40,000. Until then, may your dice roll high and your enemies fall.
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