Declaration of Separation

The **Declaration of Separation**, officially called the **Necessary Separation of Political Fortunes**, was a political declaration issued by the Primarchs Koschei Kharkovic, Tenzin and Aato Vayrynen that marks the beginning of the Third Ruin. The declaration was a statement that several sectors and systems were seceding from the rule of Terra and forming a new confederacy of systems based around self-governance. It was later co-signed by Gustave Dunant, Ezharion Kulas and the Jade General.

## **Content of the Declaration**

Long has Humanity fought for existence in the darkness these past millennia. Ever since the dizzying fall from the Dark Age of Technology at the hands of the Immaterium and the Men of Iron, survival has been our species' chief concern. Although a few harbors managed to retain both their civility and their technological edge against the predators lingering beyond the light of civilization, the majority of our species found themselves at the mercies of the raider, the killer, and the tyrant. Of these three, it is the tyrant that poses the greatest danger to Man. For the raider may be bought off with treasure and the killer creates new enemies for every one he slays, but it is the tyrant who welds himself into any political and judicial system before inevitably corrupting it to selfish ends.

Yet, in a time of crisis after crisis, the tyrant is a necessary office. No committee could hope to respond to the demands of war with appropriate haste. No democracy would have the time and expertise needed to deliberate the proper course to survival and victory. It is to the tyrant we turn to again and again to see the species through troubled times. It is an unavoidable aspect of our survival instinct and of natural reality that it must be so.

The one check against the tyrant is time. We allow the tyrant to serve its purpose in times of desperate war and cruel peace where the opponents of life make their bid against us. However, once the danger has passed, once we have the strength to peer beyond the immediate future, the tyrant's time has come to an end. No longer can he make any claim to legitimacy. No longer can he be allowed to wield complete power on the behalf of the many. It is at this time the tyrant must relinquish both crown and station.

Humanity has reached this point.

Old Night has had its time and has finally been broken. The raider no longer acts with impunity and is driven back to the borders. The killer has met its match in the new guardians of Man and has been deprived of his life. All that remains is for the tyrant to retire.

The Emperor, beloved by all, is no longer with us. Nor do we need his guidance. While we will do all we can to find and reclaim him, it will be done so out of a moral duty to save every life possible, not to restore him to his throne.

This chance of fate, combined with this past decade, has proven that Humanity is ready to determine its own destiny. The Imperium is now an artifact of a more barbaric age. Necessary for the time, yes. It has served well these past two hundred years in reuniting the lost branches of Humanity into a restored whole. Its purpose fulfilled, we must set this institution aside.

Instead of a single, monolithic entity which has the unfortunate tendency to force all to bow to a single standard, Mankind will be better served by a confederacy of bodies. Macragge of Ultima is not the same as Batabs of Pacificus. Each requires a different hand to see to their needs and wants.

Acknowledging this truth is imperative to understanding what must come next.

To serve humanity on its next step of self-determination, we are declaring our unthinking allegiance to Terra is coming to an end. While we possess no desire of hostility against the birthplace of Humanity, we wish to reorient ourselves to a new, healthier relationship based on equality as opposed to suzerainty. Therefore, each of us declares we are guides during this important phase of human self-determination. The realms we watch over will grow as proper equals to Terra as they assert their own destinies from this day henceforth.

It is our deepest wish that the High Regent and the Council of Terra respect and work with us to ensure a peaceful transition. None of us harbor any ill will and invite these august bodies to support their kin, both in blood and in spirit, to celebrate this new step of Humanity's progress.

It is with hearts full of wonder and eyes looking forward that we step into a new, glorious future.

Signed,

Koschei Kharkovic of the People's Rada

Tenzin of the Ascendency

Aato Vayrynen of the Heavensphere