For more than a hundred centuries The Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth.
The galaxy suffers under a dark and terrible era, countless worlds stand on the precipice
of damnation.
It is an eternity of carnage and slaughter where the cries of anguish and sorrow are
drowned out by the laughter of thirsting gods.
For in the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.
But can we be a bit more specific?
Sure there’s only war, but who is fighting who?
And which thirsting gods are laughing so heartily.
In this episode of Incoming, we’ll look into the State of the Galaxy in the 41st Millenium
or is it the 42nd Millenium?
That question brings us to the first lesson anyone studying the Age of the Imperium must
learn.
There are no hard facts here, no certainties beyond the touch of doubt.
Instead we must rely on best guesses and navigate through conflicting accounts.
Embrace these findings at your own peril, for truth is subjective, while damnation is
eternal.
So let us begin as all things must with the Imperium of Man.
I believe it is no exaggeration to say that the Emperor’s realm finds itself in a state
of catastrophe unrivalled even by the events of the Horus Heresy.
The Great Rift, a galaxy-wide tear in reality, has unleashed unprecedented warp storms and
split the Imperium in two.
On one side of the Great Rift lies the Imperium Sanctus.
It consists of Segementums Pacificus, Tempestus, and Solar, as well as parts of both Obscurus
and Ultimta.
Here, the light of the Astronomicon still burns brightly, and navigation across the
galaxy can still be conducted with at least some degree or reliability.
While the Astronomicon has allowed Imperium Sanctus to survive the spread of the Great
Rift, it has still suffered tremendously with even Holy Terra attacked by demonic legions.
But that is nothing compared to the horrors of the Imperium Nihilus.
Separated from the light of the Astronomicon and cut off from all but the most determined
aid, the so-called Dark Imperium stands alone against every manner of nightmarish foe.
Before the spread of the Great Rift, this half of the galaxy was administered under
Segementums Obscuras and Ultima, since the rift however, travel through the warp is barely
sustainable at even a crawl.
The surviving Imperial worlds have instead needed to look to their own defense.
Most struggle in isolation, believing that they might be the last light of civilization
in a darkened galaxy, and local governors have been forced to make terrible choices
and enact monstrous deeds to ensure that light continues to burn.
It is difficult to argue against the belief that the Imperium has entered the Time of
Ending, the final age before mankind, the galaxy or even all reality falls into darkness,
but there remain flickers of hope.
The brightest of these is the return of the Primarch Roboute Guilliman who now serves
as the Lord Commander of the Imperium.
It was through his will that the Indomitus Crusade was launched across the galaxy and
the imminent collapse of the Imperium prevented.
Yet Guilliman does not stand alone.
A new breed of transhuman Space Marines have been perfected, reinforcing existing chapters
and forming all new ones.
Together with all the armies of the Imperium, these new Primaris Marines have been instrumental
in holding the vast territories of the Imperium together.
There remain a few key routes through the Great Rift with the potential to keep the
two halves of the Imperium connected, and the worlds that guard those paths have become
some of the most important territories in the Galaxy.
The Imperial Hive World of Vigilus for instance, has become the ultimate prize, guarding the
entrance to the Nachmund Gauntlet, and now fought over by the Imperium, traitors, and
various Xenos races.
Even the Adeptus Custodes, once rarely seen outside of Holy Terra are now deployed to
these distant war zones.
While the extreme measures taken by the Imperium have proven effective, they unfortunately
underscore the dire situation that mankind finds itself in.
The forces of the Chaos Gods by contrast, are celebrating their moment of triumph.
The, the emergence of the Great Rift has brought greater opportunities to the Ruinous Powers
than have ever existed in their long history.
Even the most ardent Imperial worlds are now fertile ground for the spread of corruption
and terror.
In the Imperium Nihilus, dark cults are spreading at ever increasing wake, while demonic intrusions
into the material realm are likewise becoming ever more frequent.
The greatest symbol of their ascendancy however, is the shattered realm of Cadia, once the
lynchpin Imperial defenses, and now the center of a burgeoning Chaos Empire.
But with victory has come arrogance and impudence.
Alliances between the Chaos gods are always tenuous and in their race to claim glory and
prizes for their respective lords, the forces of the Ruinous Powers have turned on one another,
allowing the Imperium to once again contest planets and sectors that the traitors had
easily held.
The success of Chaos has also created an era of desperation in which old adversaries have
forged once unthinkable alliances and embraced a common cause.
This is no more evident than in the fractured Aeldari, split between those who after the
fall of their empire sought refuge on their surviving craftworlds, those who fled into
the labyrinth of the webway, and those who embraced strange cults and ancient prophecy.
And yet one such prophecy is uniting the Aeldari like never before.
A High Priestess of a new religion is leading a growing coalition of her people in the belief
that the Aeldari god of the dead might be awoken, and set against the Chaos God Slaanesh.
Should this come to pass and should Slaanesh be killed, the souls of all Aeldari might
be freed from the terrible curse that affects their race.
For the first time since the fall of their Empire, all the Pheonix Lords have gathered
together and members of every Aeldari culture have sworn loyalty to the same banner.
Curiously, the same thing appears to be occurring across the Ork Clans, although this may have
greater consequences for the galaxy than even the spread of the Great Rift.
The Warboss Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka is generally regarded as without equal across
the whole of the Orc race and beset by visions seemingly from the Ork Gods, Gork and Mork.
They have led Ghazghkull first to the Imperial World of Armageddon, turning it’s entire
star system into a cauldron of battle and later to the Ork Empire of Octarius where
he nearly single handedly altered the course of battle against the Hive Fleet Leviathan.
Ghazghkull’s feats of battle have turned him into a living psychic beacon and he is
drawing Orks in their trillions from every corner of the galaxy.
It is rumored he now stands at the end of over five million warships and leading them
into the very heart of the Imperium.
While the victory at Octarius cemented Ghazghkull’s status among the Orks, it was disastrous for
the Tyranid Hive Mind.
Only a select few of the Hive Fleets have entered the galaxy so far but, their defeat
at Octarius, and elsewhere, combined with the spread of the Great Rift is denying the
Tyranids the precious biomass that sustains them.
If the galaxy is swallowed into a roiling tide of madness, the Hive Mind will need to
look elsewhere for biomass, but having already endured such a long journey, it is doubtful
it could survive.
Yet the Tyranids excel at adapting to changing circumstances and already new organisms and
hunting patterns have been developed.
And while the Great Rift does not benefit the Tyranid swarms in the long term, it’s
spread has unleashed the potential of the Genestealer cults.
Secret societies who worship the Hive Mind have found greater success as the Imperium’s
attention has turned elsewhere and if the Tyranids can move swiftly enough, the Great
Rift need not be a major obstacle.
For the Tau Empire by comparison, the Great Rift has barely been a hindrance.
Lacking a meaningful psychic presence in the Warp and unable to use it to travel, the Tau
have been forced to adopt slower, yet more reliable methods that remain unaffected.
Their history is marked by a series of aggressive campaigns of expansions to establish new spheres
of influence, and the 5th Sphere is bloodied, but relatively intact.
An assault by the Nurgle sworn forces of the Death Guard threatened to turn the Tau’s
newest realm into one of pestilence and slaughter but through great cost, this has been averted.
Yet the success of the 5th Sphere was paid for in the suffering and loss of the 4th and
its few survivors tell that the Greater Good itself saved them from annihilation, taking
the form of a multi-limbed figure adorned with an impassive mask.
Whether the Tau have finally managed to influence the realm of the Warp or some strange deception
is being played across their race remains unknown.
The last major power in the galaxy has yet to fully reveal itself, but the spread of
the Great Rift may have forced the hand of its last King.
The Necron Dynasties have awakened in fitful starts with most still dormant, but with the
return of their Silent King, the process has been accelerated.
The spread of Chaos across the Galaxy threatens the future of the Necrons in a way different
from all others, stealing from them the chance to return to mortal form.
But perhaps more so than any other race, the Necrons have the power to overwhelm the chaotic
energies of the warp, and they have already established a so called- Pariah Nexus free
from the influence of the Immaterium.
If the zone can be expanded across the galaxy, the Ruinous Powers will wither and die, and
the mortal races cast into madness before being harvested.
If this is indeed the Time of Ending then attempting to predict where things will go
from here can only lead to madness.
Nevertheless, I am of the opinion that even the return of Guilliman and the mobilization
of Primaris Space Marines is not enough to prevent the collapse of the Imperium.
Yet perhaps this is only the first stage in the return of other Primarchs or perhaps even
the rejuvenation of the Emperor himself.
While the latter seems unlikely, who among us could have predicted even a few years ago
that a living Primarch would rally the Imperium once more.
The Tyranids and Necrons seem the true wildcards in the developing scenario.
Neither has any love for Chaos and should the twisted intelligences that guide them
determine that the survival of Imperium is necessary for the success of their long term
plans, well who can say where things might go from there.
But that of course is just my opinion, and even though I speak with the authority of
the Emperor himself, I’d like to hear your thoughts.
Does the Imperium have a chance at survival?
Which force if any can stop the spread of the ruinous powers?
And what’s the deal with the Hrud?
Let me know in the comments below, and until next time, this has been Incoming.