Legion of the Damned - Martyrs Beyond Death: Quadrimesta's Thesis of Perpetual Martyrdom, an exhaustive report commissioned by the High Lords of Terra themselves, paints a compelling picture of what might have become of the Legion for those who still seek the truth. Its conclusion states that the Legionaries are still compos mentis, but that they are deliberately quarantining themselves from the rest of the Imperium's servants.Quadrimesta believes that the Legion is a lost strike force of Space Marines who have somehow blended with the stuff of the Warp, contracting a kind of metaphysical contagion. They fear this malady could spread to innocent souls should they remain in proximity for too long, and will do anything to prevent this. Knowing that their affliction will claim them body and soul, the Legionaries seek to punish the enemies of Mankind as best they can whilst they still have the chance.Though the Warp contagion is said to bestow all manner of strange supernatural abilities upon those that bear its curse, it is ultimately fatal. Worse still, being spiritual in nature, the contagion's effects do not end with death. A soul that dies with such taint in it is damned indeed, for though they are claimed by the fickle tides of the Warp, they can be reborn after a certain period of time, much as a banished Daemon can return to the service of its masters after its purgatory is complete.The unusual but startling incidences of Legionaries entering a flame-wreathed berserker state are perhaps best explained by the Warp contagion theory. Quadrimesta calls this state "pyromortis." He believes a Legionary enters a pyromortic state as the curse enters its final stages, burning his essence in one grand inferno before the damned individual is snuffed out altogether. Intense experience or exertion can accelerate the contagion's effects, bringing incidences of pyromortis into being prematurely.This Quadrimesta links to his martyrdom theory, for only those with true steel in their souls would risk such a horrendous fate in order to save the lives of faithful men and women of the Imperium. The Arch-cardinals of the Ecclesiarchy have been known to compare these dramatic acts to the self-immolation of Saint Delemetris, whose final act was to kill the Black Deacon Numas in a fiery embrace. Circumspect as ever, the Adeptus Ministorum draws no concrete ties between itself and the Legion, in case the rogue element's more destructive actions are laid at their door.The Warp contagion concept would also explain the phenomenon whereby the Legion's intervention often proves critical to the fate of the wider Imperium. In his later work, The Tarot Symbiosis, Quadrimesta concludes that the Warp contagion bestows a great deal of psychic ability on the sufferer, blending their bodies and minds alike with the raw stuff of Chaos. Because of this, the Legion is able to read the Emperor's Tarot with an uncanny degree of accuracy, tapping into the immense psychic prescience of the Master of Mankind and using His abilities to read the future in the swirling tides of the Warp.In this way, it always knows exactly when and where to attack to best effect. Quadrimesta cites as evidence the Calamitine Incursion, where the intervention of the Legion of the Damned ensured that Tech-priest Vidrillian escaped from The Purge's drop zone attack upon the Tharlan Swamp Tigers.Vidrillian later discovered the Standard Template Construct (STC) for a respirator-mod that saved trillions of lives from the biovitriol virus deployed into the Calamitan Sub-sector by the Traitor geneticist and Apothecary Fabius Bile.The Legion's uncanny ability to influence future events was also documented within the twisting region of space known as the Higorian Helix. During a boarding action by the Ork Freebooterz known as the Bone Dogz, a dozen Legionaries saved the life of Commissar Fletchlack -- a man who later averted a mass daemonic incursion by the pinpoint execution of the powerful psyker Exegias.The Legion has even appeared in the astral docks of Luna, freeing a Salamanders Kill-team from the vacuum traps of the renegade Draco Clan. This act allowed the Space Marines to intercept a transfer shuttle that had been wired to detonate upon landing within the Great Terran Autoarchive. If the Autoarchive had been lost, the Adeptus Administratum would have suffered a blow that would have compromised their logic engines across the galaxy, and possibly even prevented the Imperium from coordinating its military actions for the best part of a standard century.Repercussions such as these ripple out from each and every fiery intervention, a sure sign that the Legion's work is not in fact random, but indispensable to the fate of Mankind. Though it has been debunked as often as it has been embraced amongst the higher orders of the Adeptus Terra, Quadrimesta's theory bears one thing in common with all the others that have sprung up in the wake of these violent visitations. It concludes that, although their minds and bodies have suffered greatly, the honour of the Legionaries is still intact, and their intent is noble.By striking hard at the most pivotal points of fate, the Legion can inflict the maximum damage on those xenos races and heretical factions that would harm the Imperium. In this way, the Legionaries are locked into a cycle of perpetual martyrdom, fighting an endless war against the enemies of Mankind, all the while being unable to clear their own names from suspicion or indeed take any succour in the gratitude of those they have saved.Anonymous, unbidden, and unyielding, the Legionaries fight on throughout the span of time, with none truly sure whether they are angels or devils -- perhaps not even the Legionaries themselves. Despite the speculation that has accumulated around the Legion of the Damned, the only point of certainty remains its uncanny skill on the field of battle.Wherever the Legionaries appear, the tide of battle turns at a critical moment, tipping the scales of fate in the favour of the Imperium and the true servants of the Emperor. They may be plagued by madness and morbidity, they may be touched by the fell powers of Chaos, they may even be amongst the ranks of the fabled undead, but they remain loyal servants of the Imperium, and perhaps that is enough.