War in Heaven (Union)

The War in Heaven was a conflict that spread across at least 2 galaxies, between the Old Ones and the Necrons.
== History ==
=== The Old Ones ===
The Old Ones were among the first sentient species in the Milky Way galaxy. It is unknown if they were a single race or even a coalition of different races, but they nevertheless colonized much of the Milky Way. At some point, they discovered the existence of the Immaterium, and its turbulent energies made them hate it. They decided to partition a part of it away to create the series of intricate capillaries known as the Webway, allowing for safer interstellar travel. 
They managed to expand their Webway to at least one other galaxy, designated MG-1. In both galaxies, they seeded races such as the Jokaero, Eldar, Orks, and Slann. The Eldar and Ork races had also spread to these galaxies, forming small civilizations of their own. The Slann had also spread here to some extent. The Old Ones also created the H'minesh race and only placed them in the Minecraftian Galaxy.
=== The Necrontyr ===
From the Milky Way's Halo Stars came the Necrontyr, a morbid people who had evolved under a harsh, unforgiving sun, due in part to the actions of the C'tan known as the Nightbringer. The Necrontyr dominated much of the Halo Stars, and had even expanded to some portion of the Minecraftian Galaxy. Despite their newfound power, however, their lifespans were short and unpredictable, as well as morbid and harsh. They found the Old Ones, and asked for immortality. The Old Ones refused, not out of selfishness but rather due to the overall attitude of the Necrontyr. 
The angered Necrontyr waged a short war against the Old Ones, and failed. They encountered the beings known as the C'tan, and built them bodies of necrodermis, so that they might be able to interact with them. The C'tan would then turn the Necrontyr into the autonomous beings known as the Necrons. The Deceiver had them transfer their consciousnesses into bodies of living metal, or necrodermis, and the Burning One taught them to infiltrate the Webway via Dolmen Gates. The Necrons were now ready to engage in yet another conflict with their enemies, the Old Ones.
=== The War in Heaven ===
The war between the Old Ones and the Necrons and C'tan lasted for millennia, if not eons. The Old Ones utilized their creations as weapons against this new threat. They even had them psychically connected to the Warp to give them special psionic abilities. Little did they know, this would soon take a toll on the Warp and themselves as well.
When the Old Ones created these psyker races, the C'tan then began to hate the Warp and its psychic energies. They had the Necrons construct devices such as the Cadian Pylons to try and permanently close off the Warp, therefore making the psykers powerless. 
It is also believed that the Eldar Gods had somehow participated in the conflict. The Old Ones constructed the stations known as Blackstone Fortresses, which the Eldar called the "Talismans of Vaul", claiming that the forge god Vaul had constructed them. It is also said the the Eldar's laughing god, Cegorach, tricked one of the C'tan known as the Outsider to consume his C'tan brethren, causing him to go completely insane. As such, any who looked upon him would not survive, for his appearance was too horrifying to look upon. The fact that the Eldar Gods even exist means that they were either Warp-born deities or even transcendent Old Ones. 
During the waning days of the War in Heaven, the Warp began to take a toll on the Old Ones, partially due to the coming of the Enslavers, psychic beings that can control the minds of psykers. Within some unknown portion of time, the Old Ones' double-galaxy empire ceased to exist. The Necrons' ruling Phaeron, Szarekh the Silent King, believed that the War in Heaven was his fault, and had his people enter a state of dormancy and sleep within their tomb worlds. The Silent King then left both galaxies in a state of exile, seeking redemption for his actions.
The Necrons, before their imprisonment, had turned against the C'tan and imprisoned them as well. Many C'tan were broken into shards and scattered across both galaxies, and some were completely destroyed. 
Many of the species created by the Old Ones, however, had survived the war and repopulated. The Eldar in the Minecraftian Galaxy were isolated from their Milky Way brethren, not even knowing of their existence. The Eldar, however, had a completely different view on the War in Heaven.
== The War in Heaven according to the Eldar ==
According to Eldar myth, the Eldar's war god Kaela Mensha Khaine captured the gods Isha and Kurnous, torturing them with every cruel art he knew. The smith god, Vaul, petitioned for their release, and was required to construct 100 blades within a year. At the end of the year, Vaul had only 99 blades, and placed a mortal blade to try and trick Khaine. Khaine, not noticing the mortal blade, released Isha and Kurnous from his custody. Upon discovering, however, he went to war with Vaul and various other gods, their armies divided. In the end, Khaine had Vaul chained to a great hammer, a prison of sorts. 
Another version of this story states that the Eldar Gods went to war against the Necrons and failed because of that one mortal blade. 
The H'minesh, upon learning of the Eldar's myth about the War in Heaven, thought it to be delusional, stating that the War in Heaven was a conflict between 2 powerful species, rather than between gods. This was one of the primary reasons as to why the Eldar attacked the H'minesh during their visit to the Eldar Empire. 
== Current Knowledge of the War in Heaven ==
Many of the Union's archaeologists have found relics and scripture that hint towards a massive, galaxy-spanning conflict between 2 ancient races, one of which was near god-like with a cold-blooded wisdom, and the other made of metal. This supposedly describes the Old Ones and the Necrons. 
The Eldar often refer to the ancient C'tan as "terrible Star Gods", due in part to the fact that they were able to feast upon the energy of entire stars. The C'tan themselves were partially responsible for the War in Heaven. 
The C'tan shards encountered to this day are powerful to the point where they are near god-like. However, they retain little memory of when they were full C'tan. 
The Necrons known as the Flayed Ones hunger for the flesh of organic beings. This is because of a C'tan known as the Flayer, who was destroyed at the end of the war, but had managed to infect some of the Necrons with a plague that made them hunger for flesh.
The ancient Slann are believed to have some link to the Old Ones, whether they are a creation or even devolved Old Ones. 
The Necrons seem to have some knowledge of the War in Heaven, though few who encounter them even bother to ask. 
The Tyranids' hive mind is theorized to either be a surviving Old One or even the C'tan known as the Outsider. Assuming this is true, the hive mind may be trying to wipe clean the slate and officially end the War in Heaven they started eons ago. 
The Hrud worship a pantheon of gods similar to that of the Eldar. One of these gods is named Qah, who is supposedly the creator of the Hrud race and possibly an Old One that survived the War in Heaven by hiding in the Warp. During the Fall of the Eldar, Qah was shattered by Slaanesh just as Khaine was, his fragments scattered into realspace, becoming the mysterious alien race known as the Umbra. The fact that the Umbra have some link to the Warp has led the Union to believe that the Umbra are in fact the remains of some transsentient race, possibly an Old One or C'tan. 
The true nature of the Eldar Gods is vastly unknown, other than the fact that they exist. Due to the fact that the Old Ones made the Eldar to be psychically linked to the Warp, their psychic emanations could have created the Eldar Gods in a similar manner to the creation of the Chaos Gods eons later. If not that, it is possible that the Eldar Gods are also creations of the Old Ones, made to lead the Eldar race in battle. The Eldar often refer to the Blackstone Fortresses as the "Talismans of Vaul", referencing their forge god. This means that the Eldar Gods could in fact be transcendent Old Ones who managed to achieve a god-like status. However, the fact that Ynnead is a Warp-born god formed from the souls of deceased Eldar contributes to the theory that the Eldar Gods are in fact Warp-born deities rather than transcendent Old Ones, or it could be possible that both theories could be correct.
Category:Wars
Category:Union Canon