Editing Life Bringers (section)

==The Great Crusade==

===The Brothers of Death===

In the decades before the legions reunification with its Primarch, the Brothers of Death made a name throughout the galaxy, engaging in numerous bloody campaigns throughout the galaxy. Nearly one-third of the legion's leadership died in the early years of the Great Crusade, while more still fell as the legion continued to make a name for itself. They were integral to the [[The Pulmni War|Pulmn System Campaign]], but the legion was devastated by the intense war of attrition that was Ork fighting on these worlds, and yet another third of its leadership was lost fighting against the armies of [[Mongo_Mork|Mongo Mork]]. By the time of their Primarch's discovery, two of the four veteran commanders were dedicated medical specialists, and the legion was below half strength.

Theophrastus Salk, a sober and dedicated man, was the 2nd captain of the legion. He was well respected and held command since his predecessor, 1st Captain Harel Meglin, was killed during the Merican Pacification while holding enemy forces inside a fortification that was being assaulted with Pykon Gas by his brothers. Salk's devotion to the Emperor was pure and complete, he saw enough of his brothers die due to heroism that he hoped to make their sacrifice mean something by single-minded seeing the Great Crusade come to a close and the Imperium's goal met. He handed command of the Brothers of Death to Johannes Vrach following the Primarch's discovery, and acted as an adviser to the inner workings of the legion he had held in Johannes' stead.

===The New Way===

The primarch began spreading his philosophies throughout the Brothers of Death, rechristening them as the Life Bringers and charging them with a mission to alleviate suffering wherever they went through medicine as well as the merciful administration of death through chemicals. The new way was put to the test during the Cordian campaign, and Vrach showed his skill with chemical bombardments and scouring tactics against a militant and resistant human empire. The Cordian system was brought into the Imperial fold very quickly, and the Life Bringers made short work of the various diseases and famines afflicting its people, fortifying their lands with plants and animals designed for survival, and cleaning every trace of corruption and decay in the systems which governed them. The marines that had been Brothers of Death were unused to spending such a long time among the civilian population, but they soon found their nature to be favorably received by those they sought to relieve.

The lessons learned in the Cordian system was the real beginning of the Life Bringers as a legion of its own, whereas before they had been merely re-branded Brothers of Deaths they now resembled the physician army of their primarch's dream. Though most were grateful for a less harsh way of war, there were many within the 12th who could not change, and some railed against the new order. Johannes Vrach, ever the healer, did his best to hear the concerns of his men, but was unwilling to go against his grand plans in any meaningful way. Slowly, those who were warriors alone were denied recognition in favor of their peers' scientific accomplishments. As was common to those in Vrach's gene-seed, the marginalized legionaries largely kept silent. Many rallied around Theophrastus Salk, but the 2nd Captain was ever loyal and dutiful.

===The Mongoid Ork Wars===

{{Main|The Cleansing of the Mongoid Sector}}

The discovery of the devastated remains of the 8th chapter group, led by Vanheim Paracel of the legion's Sacred Band and lost at the close of the Pulmn Campaign, would lead to one of the most trying campaigns of the Great Crusade. Johannes, under heavy pressure from Captains Salk and Vira, outfitted an expedition to the nearby Renyl System to investigate the cause of the destruction. Salk was given command, but only a limited cadre of veteran soldiers were dispatched alongside himself and Captain Vira. The primarch reasoned that the majority of the legion would better serve the Imperium by continuing their relief work in the Life Bringers' tributary systems, and Paracel was infamous for his mercilessness and disliked by most. The resulting battle would prove to be one of the hardest tests of Vrach's command, and whether he passed or failed this test is a subject of much debate.