A brutal galaxy where fanatically religious humanity wages an unending war. Where terrifying
aliens seek the destruction of life. Where another plane of reality exists;
one filled with bloodthirsty demons and ruthless gods actively seeking the doom of all who enter
it. Where magic and other physics-defying phenomena exist. Upon seeing all of this,
it is hard to imagine that the setting of Warhammer 40k is a grimdark manifestation
of the far future of our very own timeline. To understand how technology-focused humanity
found itself in such a destructive future, one must delve into its roots. Welcome to our
series on Warhammer 40k and Horus Heresy, explaining the origins of the Imperium
and Chaos. This first video will explore how humanity conquered the galaxy twice.
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Humanity, driven by the unrelenting need for progress and expansion,
started colonizing the Solar System in the third millennium.
After pushing terraforming technology to its limits, the entire Solar System was colonized,
and to enable further colonization, massive spaceships were created to reach other stars.
This era was known as the Age of Progress and lasted until the 15th millennium. The defining
factor of this era was sublight-speed travel. This limiting factor meant that each star system that
humans inhabited was isolated. To reach another star system, at least a few decades were needed,
with longer travel lasting entire generations. Even communication couldn’t be established,
as a one way signal, that travelled at light speed, would reach colonies after a few years.
The era-changing moment was the invention of warp drive, an engine that allowed entering an
entirely different dimension, called the Warp or Immaterium, through which travel that well
exceeded the speed of light was possible. Humanity soon started colonizing the entire galaxy.
As fast as humanity's territory grew, so did the development of artificial intelligence.
Automatons, called Men of Iron, helped mankind improve to unthinkable levels.
This never-ending progress for the sake of progress gave name to this era,
the Dark Age of Technology. Humanity forgot why new technologies were made in the first place.
Thought of what more can be invented or created, was the only purpose driving humanity.
Many Technological wonders were built, and every disease was eradicated,
but so were completely useless inventions and weapons of mass destruction.
Technology achieved such unbelievable levels that Standard Template Constructs, computers
capable of creating blueprints needed for creating basic tools and utility devices, became revered
as artifacts of unfathomable worth and used to produce the highest class military equipment.
All golden ages are destined to fade into twilight sooner or later, and calamity struck after ten
thousand years, around the 25th millennium. The Men of Iron rebelled, starting a devastating
war that almost wiped out humanity. Hundreds of billions died, and many planets were reduced to a
nuclear wasteland. After this galaxy-spanning conflict ended, all usage of AI was banned,
and every subsequent attempt to create one was met with instant execution.
All throughout human colonized worlds, extensive Warp usage began creating mutated humans, among
whom were psykers: men who could draw power from the Immaterium to use sorcery. Progress-oriented
society saw this as another opportunity to evolve and encouraged experimentation with these unknown
powers, especially since development through AI was no longer an option. However, this was
a disastrous idea. Soon, weak-minded psykers got swayed by the deamons that inhabited the Warp.
Consequently, cults, possessions, and wars started by power-seeking mages laid
destruction upon most human worlds. These two apocalyptic-level events were enough to name
the following era the Age of Strife, but soon, a third source of calamity was thrown into the mix.
Due to the decadence of the Aeladari empire, an advanced alien species, an enormous disturbance of
the Immaterium called the Warp Storm was created that made travel through the Warp impossible,
isolating all star systems already devastated by wars and daemons summoned by psykers.
Few worlds remained inhabited by humans after five millennia of destruction,
as most of them were either destroyed by aliens or the folly of humanity.
One of the surviving worlds was Earth, now called Terra, and its moon, Luna.
There, tribes of the Technobarbarians were battling for dominance. A man who would later
be known as the Emperor of Mankind, an impossibly powerful psyker, who at this point was 38 thousand
years old, decided that in order to make humanity great again, he would have to claim leadership.
To that end, he began the creation of a genetically modified army.
First, he poured all his knowledge, skill and effort into handcrafting the perfect DNA for a
soldier. The Adeptus Custodes were unrivalled warriors, however, the time required to create
one was so extensive that few of them could be created, so rather than serving as frontline
infantry, they were used as personal bodyguards to the Emperor. The soon-to-be Emperor’s second
creation was the Thunder Warriors, who were capable of being mass-produced,
but due to the fast manipulation of human DNA, they were short-lived, mentally unstable,
and prone to mutations. After the Emperor united Terra, he had the Thunder Warriors all executed.
To create a large, mass-produced army, the Emperor needed a superior DNA base. To achieve that,
he created 20 sons based on his own DNA, each one inheriting one of the Emperor’s traits.
They were named Primarchs, and in order to enhance them, the Emperor merged Warp entities with their
souls. Because of this, the Chaos Gods saw them as a threat to their existence and used their
strength to scatter the Primarchs throughout the galaxy while they still were infants. However,
not all was lost for the Emperor, for he used the primarch’s geneseed to create the
Adeptus Astartes, widely known as Space Marines. Twenty legions were created,
each one started ten thousand strong, but over years increased its size ten times.
Upon reaching Mars, the first surviving human civilization was found. Mechanicum,
as they called themselves, was a machine cult seeking knowledge and technology of the past. The
Emperor struck a deal with them called the Treaty of Olympus. The Mechanicum would supply the newly
found Imperium with supplies, machines of war, and a fleet. In return, they would gain access to all
found technology in reclaimed forge worlds, while remaining an autonomous part of the Imperium.
The next two hundred years are called the Great Crusade. The period lasted between 798 m30 and
005 m31. Old human worlds were reclaimed from the Xenos, ergo aliens, or from humans, millions
of whom joined the Imperial Army as Imperial Guard, soon becoming the primary fighting force.
Not all humans were seen as friends. Many civilizations were beaten down and reeducated,
while others were completely destroyed.
During the Great Crusade, the Primarchs were found. All of them were found on human-inhabited
worlds. Prior to the Emperor’s arrival, almost all of them had become the leaders of their world.
Each Primarch took command over the legion created from his geneseed. The first legion of Dark Angels
was led by Lion El’Johnson, the third of Emperor’s Children by Fulgrim, the fourth of Iron Warriors
by Perturabo, the fifth of White Scars by Jaghatai Khan, the sixth of Space Wolves by Leman Russ,
the seventh of Imperial Fists by Rogal Dorn, eighth of Night Lords by Conrad Curze, ninth
of Blood Angels by Sanguinius, the tenth of Iron Hands by Ferrus Manus, twelfth of World Eaters
by Angron, thirteenth of Ultramarines by Roboute Guilliman, fourteenth of Death Guard by Mortarion,
fifteenth of Thousand Sons by Magnus the Red, sixteenth of Luna Wolves by Horus Lupercal,
seventeenth of Word Bearers by Lorgar Aurelian, eighteenth of Salamanders by Vulcan, nineteenth
of Raven Guard by Corvus Corax and twentieth of Alpha Legion by Alpharius and Omegon. The second
and eleventh legion Primarchs were disposed of sometime after their reunification with the
Emperor, however, all information regarding these events was classified or destroyed.
In just two hundred years, nearly the entire galaxy was united under the banner of the
Imperium. Most of the dangerous Xenos races were obliterated or on the run. Only one race was
still considered a grave threat, the Orks. This savage species could muster enormous war hordes
called Waaagh under the leadership of their most powerful warlord. In the year 000 m31,
The Emperor decided to eliminate the orkish threat. He assembled a strike force to destroy
the largest Waaagh in the Ullanor system. The Imperial army, under the direct command of the
Emperor, was composed of 600 spaceships, 8 million soldiers of the Imperial Guard, three Primarchs,
and a contingent of one hundred thousand space marines: Horus Lupercal with the Luna Wolves,
Roboute Guilliam with the Ultramarines and Jaghatai Khan with the White Scars.
The last part of the army was Mechanicum-operated war machines, among them were 100 Titans. They
were the biggest Imperial war machines, each one hundred meters tall, capable of
mass destruction. The Ork army, under Warboss Urrlak Urg, was at least five times bigger,
ranging in between 40-50 million soldiers. The Imperial army was split into two parts.
One under the command of the Emperor consisted of all Titans, Ultramarines, Whitescars and the
majority of the Imperial Guard. The second one under command of Horus consisted of Luna Wolves,
supported by about a quarter of the Imperial Guard. The Emperor led his contingent to attack
the outer planets, drawing out most of the Orks from the Ullanor Prime, where the Warboss resided.
Taking advantage of the gap in defences, Horus' army advanced straight to the capital.
Thousands of dropships and Drop Pods shuttled the army while heavy gunships deployed tanks and
provided air support, surrounding Urrlak Urg's heavily fortified palace. The Orks attacked
landing zones, spilling out of the palace, again falling into the trap of leaving important
positions. Horus and the first company of Luna Wolves teleported to the base of the main tower
where Urrlak Urg resided. He then took his 10 best soldiers to kill the Warboss, who was defended by
his 40 strongest Orks, the Nobz. Brutal melee combat ensued, where Horus duelled and defeated
Urrlak, throwing his dying opponent from the tower roof, effectively breaking the morale of Waaagh.
Of the ten terminators, only one survived, gore-drenched Ezekyle Abbadon, captain of the
first company. In the following hours, tens of thousands of Orks stuck between terminator Space
Marines and surrounding forces were slaughtered. Dozens of pretenders claimed the title of Warboss.
Where the place of every claimant was taken by two more. Infighting caused more losses among
the Orks than the Imperial army. Methodical massacres done by humanity resulted in the
complete eradication of the Orks in Ullanor and all nearby systems in less than a year.
Ork losses were so devastating that the Emperor proclaimed that Orks would never again threaten
the Empire. In celebration, the entire planet Ullanor Prime was turned into a monument.
After a victorious parade in front of the Emperor of Mankind, Malcador the Regent of Terra and
sixteen Primarchs, the Emperor surprised everyone by announcing his retirement to Terra. To lead the
Great Crusade in his stead, he appointed Horus as a Warmaster, the supreme leader of the army.
Soon more changes came, and the High Lords of Terra started to administer the Imperium.
Armies were forced to carry civilians, such as journalists or propagandists,
on board the spaceships. Taxes and levies were to be collected from newly conquered worlds.
The dissatisfaction of the Primarchs only grew when the Emperor seemingly withdrew from the
public eye, not involving himself with any known matters. Tensions were rising between the brothers
and the state. In less than a year, legions almost started fighting over the use of the psykers.
The Council of Nikaea was to determine the future fate of the psykers. The Emperor would pass the
final verdict. The abolitionists reminded everyone how psykers led to the destruction
of hundreds of worlds. How occultic practices stood against the morals of the Imperium of Man.
The defenders of psykers spoke of the overwhelming importance of their powers. Moreover,
they reminded everyone that the Emperor was a psyker himself. The third option was presented by
librarians: space marines, who also were psykers. Their idea was to centralize the librarians'
education under the Emperor's supervision. This offer appeased almost all present. However, the
speech of Magnus the Red, the second most powerful psyker after the Emperor, decided the outcome.
Full of pride, he spoke about the pursuit of knowledge and how it should never be restricted.
Everything that could be learned, should be known, as there is no such thing as evil knowledge.
Downplaying the dangers of the Warp, he instructed that illustrious humans should develop the
science. He then spoke about Plato’s cave, where humanity looked at the shadows, thinking that was
reality. In such a place the one who saw the real world, should guide the others to enlightenment.
The Emperor was angered at Magnus, as his son, who inherited psychic powers, was blinded by ambition.
The Emperor’s judgment was to ban psykers, seeing that resisting the temptations of the Warp is too
hard for humans. The verdict was followed by a threat that severe punishment would follow
if any legion broke this law. Magnus had sworn that he would never use psychic power again,
a promise he never intended to uphold. Although the galaxy was again in human hands,
cracks had already begun to form. The Primarchs were dissatisfied that the
Imperium was ruled by the High Lords of Terra, not them. They were to listen to a brother,
an equal, not the superior father, who now stopped involving himself in governing.
How will the situation escalate? Find out in the next episode. Our series on the Warhammer 40k:
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