Welcome back, fellow aficionados of Warhammer 40,000 lore. We’re continuing our deep dive into the vast canvas of the 41st millennium, focusing today on the monumental events that shaped the Ultramarines and their illustrious Primarch, Roboute Guilliman. So, buckle up and let’s warp jump straight into the heart of the action.
The war had put Nurgle’s commanders on the defensive. Despite their superior numbers, chaos forces found themselves cornered and forced to amass for a final showdown on IX. It was a battle of the titans, an interstellar chess game with Guilliman countering every ploy. However, the chaos forces managed to escape, using a massive virus bomb as a smokescreen.
With the galaxy still in the throes of war, the Lord Commander of the Imperium set about rebuilding Ultramar. The defense networks were the priority before he once more led a retributive Strike Force into the fray. The Ultramarines, the sons of Guilliman, are justifiably proud of their long history. For 10,000 Terran years, their valor and loyalty have remained impeccable, a shining beacon in the savage galaxy of tyranny and harsh repression.
Our journey takes us back to the first pacification of Luna, an early Imperial campaign that marked the first operation by elements of the nascent Space Marine Legions beyond Terra skies. Luna, mankind’s birth world, stood as a bastion of resurrectionist Gene Cults, the selenar. These cults, powerful and insular, clung to different human archetypes, creating members through ancient formulae from the Dark Age of Technology.
However, the selenar cults were resistant to the Imperial truth. The Imperium needed their gene craft, complicating the situation. Despite Imperial entreaties for alliance, the selenar responded with silence. As Imperial threats increased, the selenar prepared for war. The Emperor ordered Luna to be pacified by force, tasking three of his newborn Space Marine Legions with the operation.
The combined forces of the 7th, 13th, and 16th Legions – later known as the Imperial Fists, Ultramarines, and Luna Wolves – launched from Terra. The Luna Wolves, chosen as the vanguard, deployed their full strength. The surface defenses of Luna lashed out, but the 16th legion’s unseen assault craft struck like a dagger in the dark. Luna was pacified and brought into Imperial compliance in a mere six hours, marking the Imperium’s first off-world conquest.
The surviving selenar cultists, humbled and broken, surrendered and helped forge the next generation of Space Marines. Thus, the 16th Legion earned their name: the Luna Wolves.
Meanwhile, the 11 star systems of the Osiris cluster declared independence from the Imperium, prompting the dispatch of the 13th Legion’s 12th expeditionary fleet. However, they faced an unexpected foe – the previously unknown Osiron cyber-zenforms. The ensuing battle led to heavy losses and a strategic withdrawal, leaving the Osiris cluster in turmoil and civil strife.
It was during this tumultuous period that the Emperor of Mankind arrived at the 500 worlds of Ultramar and its capital, Macragge, to reunite with his lost son, Roboute Guilliman. Impressed by Guilliman’s strategic acumen and the ordered realm he had established, the Emperor passed command of the 13th Legion to Guilliman, who reforged it into the Ultramarines.
As we leave off today, a sub-fleet of the 12th Legion, led by Prer Erid Krug, engages in battle against Ork Raiders from the Glan Empire. But that, my friends, is a tale for another day. Dive back into the Warp with us next time as we explore more corners of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
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