Legion of the Damned - Legion of the Damned: The Legion of the Damned is a mysterious band of Space Marines which appears unbidden when all hope seems lost, striding forth from its hidden netherworld in the Immaterium to bring retribution to the Imperium's foes.Once their bloody work is complete the Legionaries vanish into myth once more. They are a legend, whispered in secret by a suspicious few, that the Emperor has the loyalty of a force from beyond reality.The Legion is an army of vengeance and of flame, a brotherhood of warriors who appear at first glance to be Space Marines but quickly prove to be more lethal than even those most formidable of transhuman warriors. These warriors are variously said to dwell in the spaces between reality and the realm of the Warp, in the hopes and dreams of desperate men, and in a pocket of reality eternally lit by the fires of hatred.Rare is the person that has witnessed the sudden violence of their attack, rarer still those with the strength of will to keep their sanity intact afterwards.In truth, the Astartes that make up the self-proclaimed Legion of the Damned are suspected to be remnants of the lost Loyalist Fire Hawks Chapter. They fight as a single unit and often appear mysteriously to aid Imperial military forces at a moment when they are about to be overwhelmed by the foe.The Legion's Space Marines are afflicted by a strange Warp contagion that destroys their sanity; as it progresses, their bodies decay physically at the cellular level, but they grow in supernatural strength and the ability to use the power of the Empyrean against the Emperor's foes.Each Astartes of the Legion is rapidly approaching the moment when he will finally succumb to the contagion. Combat can initiate the final stages of the disease, in which the afflicted Space Marine reaches a peak in physical power but also enters a permanently berserk state that ends with his death.The haunting legend of the Legion of the Damned is known across the galaxy, and even nonbelievers speak of such things in hushed tones. These silent warriors are Space Marines in appearance, their black armour adorned with images of bones and fire, yet they are not of any Chapter recognised in the Imperium.Most eyewitnesses dispute even the Legionaries' mortality, for an eerie glow suffuses their sable armour and a halo of ghostly fire dances about their feet.There are many corroborated accounts of Legionaries of the Damned enduring firepower that would annihilate a warrior clad in Tactical Dreadnought Armour. Among them is a report from the Keyan battle zone, where a handful of Astartes of the Legion of the Damned were witnessed walking unharmed from the Volcano Cannon blast that claimed four Predators and several squads of Space Marines.Energised blades, melta beams and plasma volleys often pass right through them without causing the slightest harm, and on those occasions when such deadly weapons do strike home and inflict horrific damage, even then they do not slow the Legionaries in the slightest.The bolters carried by the Legionaries, though in aspect no different to those borne by other Space Marines, discharge flaming projectiles that can pierce the strongest armour.Imperial scholars have concluded that the Legionaries are able to fire far more bolts from their weapons than the ammunition capacity of their magazines would suggest -- indeed, no footage has ever been recorded of any kind of weapon reload, even in the most protracted of engagements.Nothing, not Chaos Chosen, rockcrete bastion, nor boiling lava can stay the spectral wrath of the Legion of the Damned.The nature and origin of the Legion of the Damned is shrouded in mystery and myth. Some rumours suggest that they are the survivors of the lost Fire Hawks Chapter, transmuted by the Warp Storm that claimed their vessel. Others imply that the Legion is an extension of the Emperor's will, time-lost saviours, or even the vengeful spirits of Space Marines slain in the Imperium's many wars.In the course of their investigations, several Inquisitors have tried to capture or intercept the Legion of the Damned, but all have failed; events always inexplicably conspire to prevent the Inquisitors from getting close to their quarry, leaving them nothing more than frustrated witnesses to the event.Who, or what, guides the Legion of the Damned is an enigma to all save the beneficent Emperor Himself. They appear only in times of great need, coalescing from the fires of a desperate battlefield to turn a disaster into victory.Regardless of the conflict, the Legionaries fight with a chill precision that few mortal warriors can match, sweeping enemy positions like vengeful ghosts. Terror is their harbinger and oblivion their gift. After the battle, the Legion of the Damned departs as suddenly as it arrived, leaving only the bodies of the slain and wonder in its wake.