vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Alaxis McKale - History: McKale is in command of the warships permanently stationed in the Jericho Reach's Pyrathas System, and she reports to Captain Sylas Skor.In practice, this fleet consists of the Misadventure -- an Endeavour-class Light Cruiser -- plus a picket force of half a dozen Cobra-class Destroyers retrofitted with long range augur arrays, and a dozen inter-system defence monitors.Although technically these forces fall under the command of Captain Skor, his constant preoccupation with the on-planet base means that more and more of the responsibility for commanding the flotilla has fallen on McKale.Thus far McKale has borne the responsibility well, although she is still unsure of herself when it comes to what is effectively a squadron command. For that reason, she almost always defers to Skor when the senior officer makes his opinions known.
Alaxxes Nebula - Alaxxes Nebula: The Alaxxes Nebula, known also as the "Blood-Well" and the "Eye of Acid", is a region of space located in the Segmentum Solar. This stellar phenomenon is regarded as an impassable shipping hazard. The Alaxxes Nebula was basically a vast gas cloud, a skein of rust-red on the face of the void, falling into deeper and more intensive virulence the further one went in. Sensors were blinded, engine systems crippled and ship's Geller Fields fizzed like magnesium on water. No sane Navigator would have taken a ship into these depths, save but for the certain promise of annihilation on the outside. There were tunnels within, mere pockets of clear space between the great blooms of corrosive matter. The ships of a fleet could slip down them, guarded and menaced by the lethal shoals on every flank, hidden from enemy scan-sweeps and torpedo-rakes but open to devastating flares that punched through armour-plate and overloaded void shields.This region of space became the sight of the Battle of the Alaxxes Nebula, an engagement that took place between the bulk of the Space Wolves fleet and the bulk of the Traitor Alpha Legion fleet in 007.M31, during the early years of the Horus Heresy.
Alaxxes Nebula - History: First entered onto Carta Imperialis charts by the 6th Imperial Expeditionary Fleet in 817.M30, the Alaxxes Nebula was initially regarded as nothing more than an impassable shipping hazard. The danger it presents lies in its unique chemical composition -- highly corrosive ammoniac compounds combined with vast clouds of dust and hydrogen ice move in an ever-shifting labyrinth, shot through with passages many hundreds of kilometres wide. These clouds can overload the void shields of even the largest Imperial warships, leaving their adamantium hides exposed to rapid environmental degradation. Vessels straying into the outer edges of the nebula will suffer catastrophic hull breaches in under an hour, while ships tumbling out of control in the deep core can be lost within minutes. In addition to these physical dangers, the nebula is known to baffle sensors and limit vox communication. Ghost returns and false readings make mapping the interior difficult by any means other than physically traversing the clear passages, and such data is often outdated within a few years due to the natural shifting movement of the clouds.
Alber vander Trake - Alber vander Trake: Vice Admiral Alber vander Trake was one of the senior Imperial Navy commanders who served under both Warmasters Slaydo and Macaroth during the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Trake died at the Battle of Addolorata in 773.M41 after a tragic incident of mistaken identity lead to the loss of his entire flotilla of starships, including the irreplaceable dreadnought Intangible, Trake's flagship.
Alber vander Trake - Trivia: Trake's photograph above is an altered version of a portrait of General George Meade, the commander of the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War and commander of the Union forces at the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863.
Alchemical Weapons - Alchemical Weapons: Alchemical Weapons, also called Chem-weapons and Chem-munitions, is the name given by the Imperium to chemical weapons of mass destruction. The term was most commonly used during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy to refer to the chemical toxins released in gas or liquid form used on the battlefield, often by Legion Destroyer Squads and Grave Warden Terminator Squads.After the Heresy, Alchemical Weapons have been rarely used by the Imperium, but are still favoured by the forces of the Death Guard Traitor Legion largely due to their Nurgle-derived immunity to such compounds.
Alchemical Weapons - Notable Alchemical Weapons: PhosphexCullgene GasVasgotox
Aldrik Voldus - Aldrik Voldus: Aldrik Voldus is the Grand Master of the Grey Knights Chapter of Space Marines' 3rd Brotherhood and also serves as the Chapter's Warden of the Librarius, essentially its Chief Librarian.Voldus was appointed to the position by Supreme Grand Master of the Grey Knights Kaldor Draigo himself and is the most powerful psyker the Grey Knights have known in many standard centuries. He played a role in the events of the recent Siege of the Fenris System by the Forces of Chaos and came to the aid of the Ultramarines during the Ultramar Campaign of the 13th Black Crusade that followed later in 999.M41.Already on the Ultramarines' homeworld of Macragge when the members of the Celestinian Crusade arrived through the Webway gate from the ice moon of Klaisus with the Aeldari Ynnari after the fall of Cadia, Voldus assisted the newcomers in resurrecting Primarch Roboute Guilliman. Voldus and his Grey Knights then joined Guilliman in his reconquest of the Realm of Ultramar and on the Terran Crusade from Macragge to Terra so that Guilliman could meet with his father the Emperor and reestablish himself as the Lord Commander of the Imperium.
Aldrik Voldus - History: Aldrik Voldus has only recently been promoted to leadership of the Grey Knights 3rd Brotherhood, a position that was rapidly becoming renowned as a dangerous -- perhaps even cursed -- appointment, as Voldus became the third Grand Master of the 3rd Brotherhood in a single standard year.First, Valdar Aurikon fell when he and the 3rd Brotherhood came to the aid of the Space Wolves after the Daemon Primarch Magnus the Red led an invasion of their homeworld of Fenris during the Siege of the Fenris System. Aurikon was killed by Magnus, after the Daemon Primarch caught the Grand Master's psychic lightning and hurled it back at him.This caused Aurikon's body to turn into nuggets of fool's gold. When the next Grand Master of the 3rd Brotherhood, Doriam Narathem, was slain by the vile Greater Daemon known as M'Kachen during an assault on the Fortress World of Longhallow, Brother Voldus unleashed a titanic psychic attack on the cackling Daemon.So pure and powerful was Narathem's sacrifice and the psychic light of Voldus' mind in that moment that it guided the Grey Knights' Supreme Grand Master Kaldor Draigo from the Realm of Chaos where he was trapped by a daemonic curse. Surging into battle, the legendary warrior fought alongside Brother Voldus to drive M'Kachen back into the Warp, the two forging their powers into a banishment of unstoppable force. In the wake of the battle, Draigo himself appointed the humble Voldus to the rank of Grand Master, lauding his exceptional heroism and phenomenal psychic prowess.Even as Draigo faded back into the Warp once more, Voldus swore an oath to live up to this great honour -- one which the self-deprecating hero did not truly believe himself worthy. He strives towards this goal in every battle he fights, offering prayers to the Emperor of Mankind for strength and guidance.
Alessio Cortez - Alessio Cortez: Alessio Cortez is the Master of the Charge and the Captain of the 4th Company of the Crimson Fists Space Marine Chapter. Captain Cortez was known for his pride, stubbornness and for being almost impossible to kill. It is said that only two bones in his entire body had not been broken one or more times.During the Battle of Rynn's World, he survived the disaster at the Crimson Fists' fortress-monastery Arx Tyrannus along with sixteen of his Battle-Brothers and his old friend and comrade, Chapter Master Pedro Kantor.Later, Cortez lost his right arm to the Ork Warboss Urzog Mag Kull; though he ignored the wound and slew the beast moments later by ramming a Krak Grenade down its throat as it howled in triumph.Impossibly resilient, Cortez afterwards still reported for duty despite missing his right arm, and had to be forcibly ordered to stand down and wait for an Apothecary by his friend Kantor.Captain Cortez was last seen in battle with Aeldari Corsairs amidst the stellar phenomenon known as the Wheel of Fire. Nothing is known of his whereabouts as of the final years of the 41st Millennium.But Pedro Kantor and the Chapter's Veteran brethren remain convinced that Cortez is still alive and will return to aid the Crimson Fists again in this darkest hour.
Alessio Cortez - Notable Events: Battle of Steel Cross (853.M41) - During the decisive moments of the Battle of Steel Cross, Captain Cortez single-handedly slew the Ork Warlord and his entire bodyguard of Nobz. Cortez had managed to disarm the Ork leader with a twist of his torso after the Ork's sword had become embedded in Cortez's ribs.Battle of Shaebach (867.M41) - Captain Cortez broke through Aeldari lines on the world of Shaebach despite suffering 17 wounds, including being stabbed through one of his hearts and two heavy weapon hits.Defence of Maladon (892.M41) - Captain Cortez defends a breach in the defences of the Fortress Maladon for 21 solar hours of constant fighting.Kardian Campaign 903.M41 - Captain Cortez fights through the entire six solar week long Kardian campaign without supplies after they had been lost to enemy fire during deployment (breaking the old Crimson Fist endurance record for a Space Marine).
Alessio Cortez - Wargear: Alessio Cortez wears Artificer Armour and uses a very old master-crafted Powerfist and a master-crafted Bolt Pistol in combat.
Alex Hammond - Alex Hammond: Alex Hammond is an author for Games Workshop's Black Library imprint.
Alex Hammond - Necromunda: A World Above (Short Story) (2000, collected in Status: Deadzone (Anthology))The Daemon Bottle (Short Story) (2000, collected in Status: Deadzone (Anthology))Rat in the Walls (Short Story) (2000, collected in Status: Deadzone (Anthology))
Alex Hammond - Other: Emperor's Grace (Short Story) (1999, collected in Into the Maelstrom (Anthology) and Let the Galaxy Burn (Anthology))Ancient Lances (Short Story) (1999, collected in Into the Maelstrom (Anthology) and Let the Galaxy Burn (Anthology))
Alexis Polux - Alexis Polux: Alexis Polux was the first Chapter Master of the Crimson Fists Chapter of Space Marines and a hero of the Imperial Fists Legion before the Second Founding. Captain of the 405th Company of the Imperial Fists during the Great Crusade in the 30th and early 31st Millennia, Polux was a warrior of unique promise both elevated to greatness and condemned to bear great sorrow by the events of the Horus Heresy.A tactical genius with a talent for void warfare, he was the protégée of the VII Legion's greatest fleet masters, although before the dark betrayal of the Warmaster Horus, he was yet to reach his full potential. Inwit-born, he was a physical giant even among his brothers of the Legion, and of a character as if cast in stone, emotionless and unyielding, whose reputation before the Battle of Phall rested as much on his strength in the bloody melee of close quarters combat as in command.When Primarch Rogal Dorn sent his Retribution Fleet to aid the beleaguered Loyalists on Isstvan III, Polux would likely still have had many standard years of proving ahead of him before he attained high command in his Legion, but cruel chance and the death of his mentor saw such command thrust upon him, and with it the fate of much of his Legion lay in his hands.Polux went on to win Dorn's respect countless times during the dark days of the Great Betrayal. Following the events of the Heresy, the Space Marine Legions were broken down into smaller Chapters, and Polux was selected to serve as the first master of the newly formed Crimson Fists Chapter. He went on to lead the Crimson Fists for the first 800 standard years of their existence. During this time, he did much to shape their interpretation of the Codex Astartes and their combat doctrines.Alexis Polux was known for his massive physical size, as he stood taller than all his battle-brothers. Even without his power armour on, he still dwarfed most other Astartes warriors. Such was Polux's strength and focus of will, even for one of the Legiones Astartes, that he was able to deliver a single crushing blow with his Power Fist as easily as one of his brothers might have swung a sword.Besides his sheer physical prowess, Alexis Polux was a highly skilled commander and a formidable tactician, particularly in the fields of void-borne combat and Zone Mortalis operations. Polux's rise through the ranks of the Imperial Fists was meteoric, as his superlative combat skills and potent tactical skills saw him raised to command other Space Marine Veterans with far more practical experience.
Alexis Polux - Betrayal: During the Great Crusade, Polux rose to the senior rank of captain, commanding the VII Legion's 405th Company, and became one of Rogal Dorn's most senior officers after he gained a position on the primarch's advisory council. When Dorn had seen evidence of his brother Horus' treachery in the Isstvan System, he had wanted to go and confront Horus himself, to hear the Arch-traitor's confession and bring retribution with his own hands. But duty had held him back: duty to the Emperor and the Imperium that Horus now sought to destroy as Dorn served as the Praetorian of Terra.Dorn and his First Captain Sigismund had returned to Terra, but Dorn had sent his gene-sons as emissaries of his anger. He had named their detachment a "Retribution Fleet." Thirty thousand Imperial Fists Legionaries comprised of three hundred companies and over five hundred warships had struck out towards Isstvan III, a third of the VII Legion, a force great enough to subdue a hundred worlds, bearing a brother's wrath. Captain Polux was attached to this force under the command of veteran Captain Yonnad, the Master of the Retribution Fleet.When the Imperial Fists fleet had translated back into reality on the edge of the Isstvan System, the power of the Warp storm now raging near the system as the result of the will of the Dark Gods caused Gellar Fields to fail as hulls sheared into fragments and burned in the fires of their own reactors. Some of the voidships had reached safety, but many died, their corpses spat out of the Warp to freeze in the void. Two hundred Imperial Fists warships were lost, their remains left spinning in the light of a forgotten star.They had found Captain Polux in the remains of one of those broken wrecks. He was one of the few survivors. Ten thousand Imperials Fists were gone, a staggering loss that was difficult to grasp. Now only three hundred and sixty-three warships remained -- a force that still represented a fifth of the VII Legion's full strength. Captain Yonnad had not survived, and since Polux had been designated as his successor, the right of command of the remaining Retribution Fleet fell to him.Though he was deeply honoured, Polux also felt completely alone. The truth was that he did not fear the responsibility of such a heavy burden, for Yonnad was the VII Legion's finest fleet master and Captain Polux his best pupil. But the new fleet master had doubts that he was the best choice, for there were other warriors that had survived the wreck of the fleet that were more worthy; commanders with more campaign experience, higher in the Legion's rolls of honour, and more skilled at arms. But the Imperial Fists followed form and order to the letter, something not so easily set aside.
Alexis Polux - Macragge: Polux would never reach Terra as his vessels were sucked into the Ruinstorm created by the sorcery of Kor Phaeron of the Word Bearers during the Battle of Calth, and were scattered around by that gargantuan Warp storm which proceeded to cut the galaxy in half. Eventually, Polux's Navigator discovered the beckoning light of the psychic beacon of Sotha, the xenos artefact called the Pharos, which Primarch Roboute Guilliman had ordered the Loyalist Iron Warriors Warsmith Barabas Dantioch to employ in creating a navigational reference point.Captain Polux arrived on the Ultramarines' capital world of Macragge. Once he was debriefed by Primarch Guilliman on current events, Polux employed his immense skill at defensive planning and void warfare in upgrading Ultramar's defence fleets and the surface augur webs of Magna Macragge Civitas, Macragge's capital city.Horribly injured in the Battle of Phall, Polux spent little time actually fighting, save for one terrible night. Night Lords Primarch Konrad Curze assaulted Macragge in secret after escaping from the justice of the Dark Angels aboard the I Legion's Gloriana-class flagship, the Invincible Reason. At the time, Polux was assisting Dantioch on far-off Sotha via the strange properties of Sotha's empathic field projector, when Curze assaulted him.Though Dantioch, immune to direct harm half a segmentum away, was able to assist Polux, Alexis simply couldn't kill Curze alone. Dantioch was able to save Polux by utilising the power of the strange xenos beacon of the Pharos, allowing Polux to stall Curze long enough for Guilliman and his brother Priamrch Lion El'Jonson to arrive and duel their evil brother.After Curze's failed attempt to kill his brothers, Polux stayed on Sotha for a time, assisting Dantioch, until the Ruinstorm abated when Horus was ready to initiate his final push on Terra.
Alexis Polux - Death: Alexis Polux finally fell eight Terran centuries after the Founding of the Crimson Fists during the battle for an unnamed star system, codified as HR8518. The system was occupied by a previously unknown alien species, which came to be referred to as the Scythians. These deviant xenos warrior monks made battle using terrible venom-based weapons, and it was such a poisoned projectile that struck the Chapter Master in the temple and brought about his death.It is said he fought the deadly poison for many solar days before his transhuman physiology was finally overcome. After his death, his forces enacted his final plans, and the aliens were repulsed from the star system after a short but extremely bloody campaign of xenocide from which the Scythians learned the true power of the Imperium. These xenos have since rarely engaged Imperial forces in open battle, preferring instead to mount stealthy raids and assassinations where their deviant, underhanded and dishonourable ways can prevail.
Alexis Polux - Wargear: Void-hardened Power ArmourFrag GrenadesKrak GrenadesIron HaloMaster-crafted Power FistVigil Pattern Storm ShieldCombi-melta
Alicia Dominica - Alicia Dominica: Alicia Dominica, known as the "Patron Saint of the Sisterhood," "Bearer of the Grail of Ages," and "Founder of the Order of the Ebon Chalice," is revered throughout the Imperium of Man as both the founder and patron Imperial Saint of the Adepta Sororitas.She was canonised as a saint of the Imperial Cult. Alicia Dominica is renowned throughout the Imperium as the Sister who ended the Reign of Blood in the 36th Millennium when she beheaded the tyrannical High Lord Goge Vandire.In the aftermath of the galaxy-wide strife brought about by Vandire's tyranny, she formally founded the Sisterhood according to the instructions of Sebastian Thor, and established the Order of the Ebon Chalice as her own Order.Dominica led her Sisters on many crusades, and oversaw the early years of the Adepta Sororitas for several centuries before falling in battle at the Scourging of Frideswide's World.It is said that she survived literally hundreds of blows throughout the battle, but was finally laid low by a single lasgun blast that penetrated a weakened point in her armour and pierced her heart.The symbol of Dominica's Order is the skull-filled and flaming Ebon Chalice, a representation of the terrible knowledge imparted to Dominica when she was brought before the Golden Throne. Few are aware of the significance of this symbol in Sororitas art.
Alicia Dominica - The Reformation: The Reformation of the Ecclesiarchy unleashed by the newly appointed Ecclesiarch, Sebastian Thor, ended the wars of religious schism and gave birth to the Inquisition's Ordo Hereticus, intended to hunt for the enemies of the Emperor within the Imperium.They owe their power in no small part to Thor's famed Decree Passive that forbade the Ministorum from raising permanent bodies of "men under arms." Following the disbanding of the Ecclesiarchy's standing armies and fleets (the Frateris Templar), the Daughters of the Emperor, now called the Adepta Sororitas, replaced the Templars as the defenders of the Ecclesiarchy and the faith of the Imperial Cult from direct threats.The Orders Militant of the Sororitas also served as the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Hereticus, a zealous and utterly fanatical force of elite soldiers, learned savants and skilled physicians who are today an invaluable part of the Ordo Hereticus’s war on unbelief, witchery, mutation and, of course, heresy.It was Alicia Dominica who formally established the Sisterhood -- the Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas, with the Orders of the Sisters divided between the Convents Prioris and Sanctorum on Terra and the Cardinal World of Ophelia VII, respectively. Dominica then became the first Canoness of her own Order Militant, the Order of the Ebon Chalice.In 650.M36, Alicia Dominica fell at the Battle of Frideswide's World, surviving hundreds of blows but falling to a single Traitor's lasgun blast to her heart. She was canonised as a saint of the Imperial Cult by the Ecclesiarchy she had so long served soon after.
All That Remains (Short Story) - All That Remains (Short Story): All That Remains is a short story published in the Horus Heresy Series. All That Remains was originally published as part of the limited-release anthology novel The Imperial Truth, and it was later released as a stand-alone e-book. It is now also included in the War Without End anthology novel.
All That Remains (Short Story) - Synopsis: As Horus' rebellion consumes the galaxy, the dead number in the billions. Far greater, however, are the countless casualties evacuated from front line duties to tend their wounds and someday return to the fight. On one particular vessel cast adrift in the Warp, a handful of ragged Imperial Army soldiers make a startling discovery, and the question of why so many more of their comrades have been lost is soon answered...
Allarus Pattern Terminator Armour - Allarus Pattern Terminator Armour: Allarus Pattern Terminator Armour is the pattern of Tactical Dreadnought Armour currently used in the 41st Millennium by the Allarus Custodians of the Adeptus Custodes, the praetorian guard of the Emperor of Mankind. The Allarus Pattern is an expertly crafted form of Terminator Armour whose worth can be measured in worlds. Driven by magnatomic generator-shrines, articulated with Leonus-class actuators, and fashioned from layered auramite and adamantium, Allarus Terminator Armour is a marvel of craftsmanship.To supplement their usual weapons load out, Allarus Terminator Armour is also outfitted with Balistus Grenade Launchers mounted upon the left forearm. These drum-fed weapons can be triggered with a thought, spitting salvoes of sanctified projectiles in saturation patterns through the enemy ranks. They are also capable of launching concussion grenades that explode amidst bursts of electro-exorcist chaff and overwhelming light and sound. Enemies subjected to these barrages are sent reeling, their senses rebelling against the onslaught even as their weapons and equipment falter and they spasm in pain.Allarus Terminator Armour provides its wearer with an exceptional range of movement and near-unencumbered speed, augmented strength and resilience, and the survivability to stride unharmed from the blast of a Macrocannon shell. Coupled with the protective blessings of the Emperor, Allarus Terminator plate is arguably the most effective man-portable combat armour in the entire Imperium. Just as well, for the battles fought by Allarus Custodians demand nothing less.
Allegiance (Short Story) - Allegiance (Short Story): Allegiance is the fifty-eighth short story published in the The Horus Heresy series that was not originally part of an anthology novel. Allegiance was first published in the limited-edition Sedition's Gate anthology novel.
Allegiance (Short Story) - Synopsis: After the Second Battle of Prospero, the White Scars carry a lone Sorcerer with them -- Revuel Arvida, only survivor of the Wolf King's wrath. Guided by the Stormseer Yesugei, he recovers his esoteric powers, as well as reliving memories of a world turned to ashes. But the sons of Chogoris are wounded too, riven by the treachery that almost destroyed them. As the Khan delivers his painful judgement on those of his warriors who swore the fateful blood oath, Arvida too must decide where his true allegiance lies -- to those who saved him from oblivion, or to the lost legacy of his own Primarch.
Allewis LXXXIII - Allewis LXXXIII: Allewis LXXXIII is the prince-prefect of the Fortress World of Karlack in the Jericho Reach.Originally, Prince Allewis LXXXIII (83rd) ruled Karlack when the Achilus Crusade first made contact. The Imperium was quick to praise him for his preservation of tradition and the Emperor's Creed.He in turn was quick to support the re-assimilation of Karlack into the Imperium, and the re-introduction of the many wondrous technologies the people had forgotten.No one benefitted more from these marvels than the prince himself. The crusade bestowed upon him the additional title of Imperial prefect, and has made sure he lives in safety and comfort.He now occupies a suite on one of the Citadel Primaris' highest levels, sound-proofed against the clamour of armies and vehicles outside.Allewis is a shrewd politician who kept his planet in line with strong public demonstrations of force before the Imperium's arrival. His primary function now, beyond serving as a figurehead, is to advise Lord General Castus Iacton on his people's culture.Although he has been able to take a far less active role in the ruling of Karlack since the crusade arrived, his political instincts remain unchanged.He understands that he stands in a precarious situation -- dependent upon the crusade to maintain his station, and yet in competition with them for influence over the planet and its resources.His best asset in this power struggle is to grow his allies on and off-planet. He is always quick to invite important visitors for an audience, and Space Marines are no exception.
Alpha Legion - Rangdan Xenocides: During the Rangdan Xenocides, a representative of the XXth Legion appeared before Lion El'Jonson. Though identifying itself as "Alpharius," the representative acknowledged that their primarch had not yet been found but would be in time.This Alpharius offered aid to The Lion against the Rangdan in hopes that one day the Lion could be made the Imperial Warmaster. This "Alpharius" revealed that the XXth Legion preferred the Lion be made the Warmaster over someone like Roboute Guilliman as they shared similar views on war and secrecy.Though a primarch, not even Lion El'Jonson had been explicitly aware of the XXth Legion's existence, though he had been privy to the rumours of a "Ghost Legion."
Alpha Legion - Unity and Lies: There remains much that is contradictory in the accounts of the first open actions of the Alpha Legion as a force of the Legiones Astartes in its own right. Official accounts found in both the datalooms of the Logistica Corpus and the more prosaic work of the Remembrancers place the Alpha Legion's appearance as an active Legion force in its own right to either the solar decade immediately preceding the commencement of the Farinatus Extermination or as appearing as an unexpected reinforcing power during the darkest days of the Third Rangdan Xenocide.This represents a discrepancy of some thirty sidereal years, but in many regards makes the Alpha Legion the last of the Legiones Astartes to be recognised as a military entity in its own right by a considerable margin, and also the last to be officially re-united with its primarch (again accounts widely differ as to the exact timing and conditions of this occurrence).The XXth Legion's chosen name -- the Alpha Legion (in the ancient form commonly meaning the "first" or the "beginning" in the glyph pattern) -- seems an almost deliberately perverse jest in the light of its late inception, as does the name by which its primarch was generally to become known -- Alpharius. Some who have studied the history of the Traitor Legions have chosen to see the adoption of this naming convention neither as irony nor deliberate contradiction of fact, but rather as a statement of ambition and intent.Alpha also means "Primarcy," and "Supreme," particularly in conjunction with the ancient glyph called the Omega and the pre-Dark Age of Technology sigil known as the "Æternus". This sigil, which was used particularly in the earlier displays of the XXth Legion's heraldry, carries other hidden meanings not limited to themes of unity, continuum and indestructibility.It contains within it the pre-Imperial "sacred geometry" of the serpent of power and knowledge coiling around the pillars of physical reality and truth. The serpent also has, since time immemorial, been seen as a symbol of treachery, secrets, strife and lies.The ancient Terran mythic serpent of devastation that could not be slain -- for when one head is cut off, two more would uncoil in its place -- would provide the XXth Legion's other great icon-type, and one which would become dominant by the time of the Horus Heresy; the symbol of the Hydra. Even then, within these symbols alone could be divined layer upon layer of hidden meaning and the promise of baleful intent, ambition and destruction; so would it be with the Alpha Legion.
Alpha Legion - The Emperor and Alpharius: Whatever the truth, following his public discovery, eventually Alpharius was taken back to the epicentre of the ever-expanding Imperium and reunited with his father, the Emperor. There was the usual rejoicing, pomp and circumstance, but records on Terra suggest that the two spent little time together, and that their relationship was distant and formal. Alpharius was quickly sent to take command of his Legion, while the Emperor had many pressing affairs of state by this time.Those outside the Legion later believed this was because the Emperor had already completed his galactic odyssey to reclaim the primarchs by the time the two met in person, and that his focus had shifted elsewhere. Some Legionaries realised that their relationship was likely more complex, and others whispered that Alpharius was one of two twins who were all but identical.Alpharius and his twin-primarch brother Omegon shared the same physical appearance and together served as joint-primarch of the Alpha Legion. The Emperor was aware of Alpharius Omegon's secret; but whether the creation of the twin primarchs was intentional or not remains a mystery. The two Primarchs supposedly shared one soul, with Omegon acting as Alpharius' second-in-command of the XXth Legion. The existence of the twin primarchs of the Alpha Legion was known only to the members of the Legion itself, and was a well-kept secret even from the other Legions.The new Legionaries under their command were tall and strong, and were reminiscent of their primarch, and possessed their gene-sire's cunning intelligence. When Alpharius Omegon took command of the XXth Legion, it was eager, zealous and completely committed to embracing the primarch's command and combat philosophy.Alpharius led his Legion, created in his image, to the outer reaches of the Imperium and was eager to join battle and emulate the glories of the older Legions. In battle, this "youngest" Legion, driven by its mysterious and taciturn primarch, became renowned quickly for its discipline and strict and impenetrable organisation and regime, which emphasised the unity of the Legion and its wider actions over the individual Astartes in every aspect.Its hallmark was a relentless application of force and a terrifying level of co-ordination between its warriors and war machines. This capacity for combined arms warfare, speed and surety of attack, were matched only by a mastery of the darker arts of war -- of sabotage and ambush, stealth tactics and assassination. Also evident was its desire for secrecy and talent for misdirection. It kept its distance from its fellow Legions, even when tasked to directly fight alongside them, and it is certain many fostered a sinister willfulness, and beneath the facade, the shadow of mockery.
Alpha Legion - The Hydra Strikes: When the Horus Heresy erupted and the atrocity at Istvaan III occurred, a large Alpha Legion strike force, comprising some 50,000 Legionaries under the direct command of their primarch were conveniently situated to respond to Rogal Dorn's order to attack the Traitors at Istvaan V. This Alpha Legion contingent is believed to have comprised the combined forces of two separate Expeditionary Fleets and their support vessels, having recently returned to the Imperium to resupply and re-arm at the Forge World of Lucius after an extended series of campaigns on the northeastern galactic fringe.The Alpha Legion and their primarch had then been supposedly all but out of contact with the rest of the Great Crusade for several standard years, and by this fact was Rogal Dorn, Praetorian of Terra, likely assured of their loyalty and lack of involvement with whatever treacherous madness had befallen Horus and his immediate coterie. This could not however have been further from the truth as their involvement in the Drop Site Massacre was to prove -- and there have even been unsubstantiated claims since that Alpharius had a hand in the planning of the Drop Site Massacre.It is certain that the Alpha Legion had spread its web of infiltration, espionage and sabotage far and wide through the Imperium prior to the outbreak of hostilities, as was soon to be proven to bloody effect on a score of worlds as part of the Warmaster's opening gambit. At the hands of the Alpha Legion's talent for conspiracy and that of their agents, billions were to die and countless billions more would suffer hardship and disaster in the time to come.Even on planets that would not feel the thunderous footfall of the Legiones Astartes throughout the entire civil war, would the Alpha Legion's cruel plans and talent for strife wreak untold havoc. However, even as Horus unleashed the Alpha Legion to bury its fangs deep into the body of the Imperium, he neither trusted it nor its master to obey him, nor fight the war he wished them to fight once the Hydra had been unchained. History would prove this distrust well-founded.
Alpha Legion - The Horus Heresy: After the virus-bombing of Istvaan III, the presumed Loyalist Alpha Legion was one of the Space Marine Legions sent by the Emperor to destroy Horus and the Traitor Legions at their base on Istvaan V. Assigned to the second wave, the Legion instead turned on the Loyalist first wave during what became known as the Drop Site Massacre. It is thought by many that much of the Traitors' strategy on Istvaan V was planned by Alpharius and the Alpha Legion.In the ensuing slaughter, the Loyalist Iron Hands, Salamanders and Raven Guard Legions were decimated, becoming later known as the "Shattered Legions." Ferrus Manus was killed by the traitorous Fulgrim of the Emperor's Children, Vulkan went missing and Corax was severely wounded. For over three solar months, the remnants of the Raven Guard were pursued by the ravenous World Eaters, who were intent on completely annihilating the Loyalist Legion. Their Legion hard-pressed by the Traitors, Corax and the remnants of his Legion prepared to sell their lives dearly. But their fortunes quickly changed with the arrival of a rescue force of Raven Guard Thunderhawks and Stormbirds to retrieve the remaining survivors.By this time, it had been well-established that the Alpha Legion was well-known for their subterfuge and ability to blend-in with any environment, mimicking those that they infiltrated to gather intelligence, perform sabotage, or plant disinformation. They have also been known to use more drastic measures, such as those employed during the actions on Istvaan V during the opening days of the Horus Heresy. The Alpha Legion played a pivotal role in the infiltration of the Raven Guard to gather vital intelligence on the Imperium's defences within the Sol Sector as well as the Imperial Palace on Terra.Part of the bargain agreed with the Warmaster was for the Alpha Legion to spread disinformation ahead of the events that had occurred in the Istvaan System, whilst seeking new forces for Horus' cause. It was better that Horus' version of events was heard first, casting doubt on the rumours and propaganda that soon followed in the wake of these horrific events.It was a mission Alpharius and Omegon were well-prepared to undertake. On many other worlds, Alpha Legion operatives and legionaries sowed discord amongst the Emperor's followers, stoking thoughts of rebellion in those who had been forced into Compliance by the Legiones Astartes.
Alpha Legion - Deliverance Uprising: Following the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V, the mysterious Cabal sought to utilise the Alpha Legion in order to ensure Horus a swift victory. Following the calamitous events of Istvaan V and the Raven Guard's flight to Terra to bring word of the disaster, the shattered XIXth Legion returned to their homeworld of Deliverance.Unknown to them, the insidious Alpha Legion had inserted several of their own Legionaries, surgically disguised as Raven Guard Legionaries who had died on the black sands of Istvaan V, into the surviving Raven Guard. Gathering intelligence on Primarch Corax's efforts to reconstitute his Legion utilising a sample of pure primarch DNA given to him by the Emperor Himself, the Alpha Legion operatives patiently waited until the Raven Guard had achieved a genetic breakthrough.In the meantime, they fomented rebellion amongst the old tech-guilds of Kiavahr, the Forge World that the moon of Deliverance circled, while assembling Alpha Legion forces nearby for an unsuspected surgical strike. The Alpha Legion successfully tainted the primarch DNA, which resulted in the disastrous mutation of newly inducted Raven Guard Aspirants into hideously transformed creatures.At the same time, the Alpha Legion's plans reached their climax. The Kiavahr rebellion was well under way, supported by the newly arrived Alpha Legion forces, who were camouflaged as Raven Guard. The Loyalist Raven Guard successfully put down the rebellion and killed all the Alpha Legion operatives. In the aftermath of this successful operation, Alpharius was forced to hand over the obtained data to the Emperor's Children's Chief Apothecary Fabius for further research.Unknown to Fabius though, was that the data was practically useless and was incomplete at best. The Alpha Legion ensured they kept the integral data for themselves as well as the design of the corrupted Raven Guard genome. Alpharius wished to utilise this valuable data to raise his Legion above all others. Following this action, Omegon met with the Cabal representative Athithirtir aboard his ship. After a terse exchange, the primarch departed, informing the Cabal that the XXth Legion would fulfill its duties on its own without further external influence, interference or control.
Alpha Legion - Blockade at Chondax: Alpharius next dispatched his forces in an attempt to blockade the White Scars from leaving the Chondax System and joining the Loyalist forces. The White Scars only became aware of the larger galaxy-wide conflict of the Horus Heresy, when Omegon initiated a mission to destroy Tenebrae 9-50, an asteroid facility that was being used as an Alpha Legion garrison.The Alpha Legion had been utilising a pylon array in order to jam any communications so that the White Scars would remain ignorant of the Warmaster's rebellion. Omegon dispatched an Alpha Legion team led by Sheed Ranko on a one-way suicide mission to destroy the facility.It was later believed that the Alpha Legion possibly fabricated the claim that the facility was leaking information to their enemies and had therefore become a liability, creating this excuse to destroy it so that the White Scars could learn the truth of the Heresy. After the destruction of Tenebrae 9-50, the becalmed Warp became sedated, which allowed the White Scars to receive word of Horus' rebellion from Terra and the an order of recall to the Throneworld from the Imperial Fists Primarch Rogal Dorn, who served as the Praetorian of Terra.As the White Scars fleet made preparations to depart the Chondax System, they encountered a massive Alpha Legion flotilla. The Alpha Legion was an unknown quantity to the White Scars. They did not respond to communication requests and had hung back on the edge of the system, quietly accumulating more warships across a wide sweep of local space.There was no response from the XXth Legion's command despite all queries. All White Scars vessels were ordered not to escalate the situation and not to fire upon the interlopers unless fired upon. The warriors of the Vth Legion were ordered to maintain perimeter integrity and not to permit Alpha Legion spacecraft to penetrate within range of the core White Scars fleet.Jaghatai next ordered his fleet to prepare for immediate departure. As the White Scars' vessels began to move, the Alpha Legion reacted. They maintained the integrity of the cordon, warding the routes to the nearest suitable Mandeville jump-points and keeping the White Scars corralled within the vicinity of Chondax.Utilising the superior drives of their vessels, and in an instant, the White Scars suddenly switched from an aimless drift-pattern into an arrowhead shock assault of astonishing precision. Though both sides engaged one another, the White Scars made good their escape and fled the Chondax System, with the Alpha Legion strangely never making any real attempt to use their heavier Battleships to engage the White Scars and keep them pinned in the system.
Alpha Legion - Battle of the Alaxxes Nebula: Following the debacle at Chondax, Alpharius ordered the remainder of his fleet to assault the Space Wolves Legion fleet at the Alaxxes Nebula. Leman Russ had ordered his battered VIth Legion to muster there in order to lick its wounds after their recent campaign at Prospero, following the razing of the planet after the Thousand Sons had willfully disobeyed the Emperor's Decree Absolute.Horus had deployed the XXth Legion to launch a massive assault on Russ' battered and outnumbered Space Wolves. The Alpha Legion and its twin primarchs, Alpharius Omegon, had long harboured a deep grudge against the Space Wolves, and Russ in particular, for his criticism of their reliance upon trickery, manipulation and subterfuge to win battles rather than engaging in what the Space Wolves primarch saw as honourable, open combat.The Alpha Legion relished the chance to prove their superiority against the arrogant Wolves of Fenris by delaying them long enough to keep them from contributing to the Imperial defence of Terra. Russ sent a distress call to the nearby White Scars, requesting that his brother Primarch Jaghatai Khan send his forces in order to assist the VIth Legion against the traitorous Alpha Legion.Unsure as to which side the Space Wolves truly belonged, the Khagan sympathised with his brother primarch's predicament, but refused to get involved until he was able to sort out the conflicting and often contradictory astropathic messages he had received. Until he knew, beyond a shadow of doubt, who was ally and who was an enemy, he refused to choose sides. Wishing his brother the best of luck, Jaghatai decided to seek his answers elsewhere.Realising that the VIth Legion faced a hopeless situation, Russ was demoralised and isolated himself within his personal chambers, forcing his First Captain Gunnar Gunnhilt to assume command in his primarch's absence. Harried at every turn, the Space Wolves' fleet faced imminent destruction by the larger Alpha Legion fleet, when suddenly, the primarch reemerged from his chambers to lead his forces against the Traitor forces.During the height of the ensuing battle, a large contingent of elite Cataphractii Terminators of the Alpha Legion's elite Laernaean teleported aboard the bridge of Russ' flagship, Hrafnkel, where the Wolf King seemingly battled Alpharius disguised as one of his own Laernaean Terminators.As the Alpha Legion were on the verge of ultimate victory, help arrived from an unexpected quarter, in the form of a large Dark Angels fleet led by a mobile Ramilies-class Starfort, the Chimaera, who had heard the Space Wolves' distress signals and determined that the VIth Legion was in fact still loyal to the Emperor. With the assistance of their Ist Legion cousins, the Space Wolves were able to force the Alpha Legion to withdraw.
Alpha Legion - The Shattered Legions: Reliable testimonies of the Shattered Legions ship Sisypheum, most importantly the accounts of the Raven Guard specialist Nykona Sharrowkyn, place at least one of the primarchs -- presumably Alpharius -- on a secret and hence unknown facility, designated as Lerna 2-12.In the disguise of the famed Iron Hands warleader Shadrak Meduson, Alpharius used the crew of the Sisypheum to assist in his hunt for Loyalist elements within the XXth Legion. His deception was only revealed towards the end of this affair, after the surviving members of the Shattered Legion force escaped with the knowledge that Alpharius had indeed been masquerading as Meduson.
Alpha Legion - Battle of Pluto: In order to prepare for Horus' advance towards Terra, the Alpha Legion was charged by the Warmaster to carry out vital acts of sabotage and preparation, which would plunge the Sol System into complete chaos. Though heavily defended by the Imperial Fists Legion, led by the Praetorian of Terra, Rogal Dorn himself, the Primarch Alpharius, aboard his flagship Alpha, led his fleet towards the Sol System.He managed to successfully infiltrate the outer defences of the system by putting himself, and the entirety of the personnel within his fleet, into stasis. Meanwhile, the Alpha Legion fleet approached at minimum speed and powered down to bare minimum, in order to reduce their overall heat signature. Thus it took an entire standard year for the Alpha Legion fleet to drift towards Sol and successfully reach the outskirts of Terra's defences undetected, as Warp travel had been strictly forbidden.Meanwhile Alpha Legion Sparatoi (augmented and highly adept human agents) as well as Alpha Legion covert operative teams were activated throughout the Sol System. These "sleeper" cells had been planted years earlier before the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, and upon activation, performed their primary functions of sowing destruction and undertaking diversionary terrorist acts, causing panic and anarchy on the Throneworld and throughout the system.Many acts of murder and sabotage were conducted on multiple planets to distract the beleaguered Imperial defenders from the Alpha Legion's true objective -- Pluto -- the lynchpin of the Loyalists' surveillance network within the Sol System. As Rogal Dorn was distracted by these diversionary attacks across the system, Alpharius' fleet, comprised of over 200 vessels led by the Battlesgip Alpha, struck Pluto and its moons Charon, Kerberos, Nix, Styx and Hydra. As the fleet arrived, further uprisings, instigated by Alpha Legion teams, erupted across the Sol System.The Alpha Legion's primary objective was Hydra, a fortress moon that orbited Pluto and was a major astropathic monitoring station. Alpharius himself led a team of Alpha Legion warriors in the attack on the moon.Meanwhile, the Loyalist defenders, led by the Imperial Fists' First Captain Sigismund, had just 30 ships to defend against the massive Alpha Legion fleet. Due to the unexpected and brutal assault, the severely outnumbered Loyalist fleet was badly mauled by Fire Ships hidden among the Alpha Legion fleet, to wreak havoc on the Imperial Fists defenders.The captured fortress moon of Kerberos rained down deadly fire upon Charon, Nix, and Styx with heavy fire. Despite facing overwhelming odds, the Imperial Fists resolutely stood their ground in the face of the Alpha Legion's overwhelming assault.