Editing Nobledark Imperium Drafts (section)

== Timeline ==

'''M25''' - Fall of the Eldar/Beginning of the Age of Strife. The hedonism of the Old Eldar Empire gives birth to Slaanesh, which wipes out 90% of the eldar population in a single night. [[Nobledark_Imperium_Xenos#Iron_Minds|Iron Minds]] (A.I. that controlled most of the Men of Iron) and [[Nobledark_Imperium_Xenos#Men_of_Gold|Men of Gold]] are driven mad by the backlash, effectively destroying the Great and Bountiful Human Dominion. Warp storms make interstellar travel nearly impossible. Societies, human and alien alike, are either wiped out, driven insane, or reduced to Mad Max levels of technology and anarchy. Five thousand years of hell ensues.

'''Mid to Late M29''' - Warlord arises on Old Earth. Divides nations of Earth into two lists. On one side are the ones worth inclusion to the Imperium and on the other the ones that need to be destroyed and their lands divided amongst more worthy men.

Begins global unification using diplomatic means when possible and brute force when not possible.

'''Late M29/Early M30''' - First use of early model Thunder Warriors

'''Early to mid M30''' - Refinement of Thunder Warriors.

Old Earth unified (Except for Hy Brasil). Warlord sets up the Throne of Earth and refuses to sit in it instead becoming the Steward of the Empty Throne. The Throne stands waiting for a worthy individual to become Emperor.

Steward looks towards the sky and is inspired to take the Unification to the other planets of Sol. Appoints 20 generals the title of Primarch to be his leaders among generals.

Sol is unified in a sequence of assimilations, partnerships and short brutal wars of conquest.

Steward sets up High Lords of Terra to run the day to day affairs of the Imperium. Long term goal is to make the Imperium self-governing and then fade away again. Short term goal is to get be able to spend all evening in the pub.

Warp storms subside enough for large scale warp travel to become viable.

Steward looks to the stars and the dream of Unification burns again. Great Crusade starts, lasts slightly longer than in canon (300-500 years, as opposed to 200), because Steward wants whole and functional worlds brought into the Imperium, not broken vassals.

During Great Crusade Steward is contacted by Eldrad "got in a fist fight with Skarbrand and won" Ulthran. The two of them concoct a fiendish plan to break in to Nurgle's mansion and steal Isha back. Eldar send a band of the most fearsome ninja clowns as well as the Phoenix Lords to-be and the Imperium sends its most brutal nutters. Steward leads the expedition. Isha is rescued.

Isha is rescued. Imperium earns the eternal hate of the Chaos Gods. Eldar petition Stewards for inclusion into Imperium. Steward agrees in exchange for Webway access. Eldar are reluctant due to potential damage to webway. Compromise is reached that Inquisition can have unlimited access and the Eldar will upgrade the Astronomican.

Chaos Gods direct the [[Nobledark_Imperium_Forces_of_Chaos#The_Crone_World_Eldar|Crone World Eldar]] to manipulate the orks into unifying under the banner of a warboss know as The Beast. The Beast and all his Boyz are directed towards Old Earth and other key worlds of the Imperium. Dark Eldar join forces with the Crone Worlders for the promise of plunder and slaves.

'''546.M31''' - Beast and his forces finally make it to Sol, and the Battle of Terra and the Siege of Sol begins.

Primarch Sanguinius dies in the ruins of the Eternity Gate of the Imperial Palace.

Steward about to be pummeled into fine red paste by The Beast. Eldred Ulthran smashes through the wall and joins in the Beast-beating festivities and he and the Steward beat The Beast is a savage brawl.

As payment for saving his life the Steward owes a favour to Eldrad. Eldrad immediately call that favour in and demands that the Steward marry Isha so that the union of Human and Eldar can never be broken.

Imperium recovers over time. Most of the Primarchs die off in battle or simply by time. The title is never given to another; relic of a past age.  The title of "Warmaster", occasionally used by the steward in the Great Crusade, does eventually get applied to a number of subsequent commanders considered to be later-day Primarchs.

Chaos forces usually from the Eye of Terror periodically form Black Crusades to try and topple the Imperium. Imperium stays strong.

'''M32-M35''' - Imperial "Golden Age". Highs not as high as later but lows are not as shitty because you have "only" Orks and Chaos to worry about (Necrons and tyranids not being a thing yet) and there are no constant political upheavals from Age of Apostasy, Tau, etc. Just before the beginning of this period the Imperium has rebuilt enough to reclaim much of the territory it lost during the War of the Beast but was unable to reassert control over.  One notable intrigue is the Genestealer war, where among many heroes a young Adept Vandire distinguished himself in organizing the fight against the strange conspiracy.

Eventually at about the turning point of M35 and M36 a great man by the name of Goge Vandire arises to be the head of the Administratum. Steward believes that he has found a worthy man to sit upon the Empty Throne of Earth. Emperor Vandire is an asset to the Imperium. The Steward steps back to give space to Vandire's rising star and gladly fades into the shadows of some distant world, and disappears for some time.

After a lifetime and more, pickled in juveanat and cracking under the weight of a galactic government designed to hinge around his position, Goge Vandire goes nuts.

Inquisitor Sebastian Thor raises rebellion against him and causes the Great Civil War. Steward is rediscovered with the Avatar of Isha sitting at the bar of a tropical beach resort on some backwater nowhere planet. Apparently having been on that beach for the last ~150 years.

After 10 years of devastating war Goge Vandire is slain and Sebastian Thor bullies the Steward into sitting on the Throne of Earth and becoming Emperor. Three of the old Primarchs, Vulkan, Magnus, and Ferrus Manus, survive long enough to be present at the ceremony.

Due to substantial Demiurg assistance in the war the new Emperor permits the space traveling craftsmen membership to the Imperium, to the grumbling of the eldar. Imperium becomes open to the idea of accepting other "lesser" peoples into the fold.

'''Late M36''' - First scouting fleets of the Tyranids are sailing through the Imperium. Connection with gene-stealers is made. Scouting fleets eventually slain and it is believed for a time that they are defeated.

'''Mid M37''' - Hive Fleets have arrived (Behemoth in M37, Kraken about 900.M38, and Leviathan some time in M39). A few are slain eventually and at great cost over the next handful of centuries. Most shatter into splinter fleets and terrorize huge swathes of the Galaxy for a long, long time.

At about the M38 mark the Necrons start to rise from their half-death into mechanical unlife. Up till the end of the Dark Millennium there is a gradual and unstoppable increase in Necron activity.

'''Mid M38''' - Tau expeditionary forces encountered for first time. Contact made. Fledgling Tau Empire is unaware of the scale of the wars across the galaxy or the vastness of the Imperium. Refuses all efforts at inclusion.

'''Late M38''' - Tau have a serious Artificial Intelligence rebellion after ignoring the repeated warnings of the Mechanicus. Dark Eldar take advantage of this time of weakness to use their failing Empire as slave raiding grounds despite the Tau themselves being "bland". Still refuse inclusion to Imperium when offered.

'''Mid M39''' - Tau have recovered their old Empire bounds and are once more expanding their borders. Historians note passing similarities to the expansion of early Imperium.

'''Mid M39''' - Ethereal Council of the Eastern Fringe is once more pressing for closer relations with the greater Imperium. Fire Warrior general by name of Farsight believes that too much of the ideologies of the Greater Good have already been compromised by outside influences. Demands return to old ways.

Political turmoil and minor skirmishes that the Tau believe are real wars erupt across the eastern fringe. Largely the Imperium fails to notice. Or care.

Farsight and friends carve out their own Enclave and defy the Imperium. Ethereals furious at this breach of Tau honour. General Shadowsun swears a blood oath against Farsight.

'''Mid to Late M39''' - Series of crippling wars with the Hive Fleets and pyrrhic victories leaves the Tau once more vulnerable to Dark Eldar raids, and raid they do. They finally accept the offer of inclusion to the Imperium.

'''M40''' - Necrons awakening increases. Silent King spotted. Silent King tries to rebuild old Necrontyr Star Empire. Silent King wishes to find a way to reverse the biotransference. New rebellions against The Silent King erupt on both scores.

Some of the more minor and "eccentric" Necron Lords seek refuge in the Imperium. Emperor eventually agrees on the logic that it's better to have them in here pissing out than out there pissing in. Necron Lords, inhumanly powerful and prideful as they are, swear to obey their new liege so long as he never actually orders them to do anything.

Eldar are livid at the inclusion of the Necrons. Some craftworlds consider trying to leave the Imperium.

Necron Star Empire gets along with the Imperium at first. Then the Silent King makes a demand of one trillion subjects from the Imperium as tribute. Imperium is outraged and a short, brief war erupts between the Imperium and Necron Star Empire before eventually fizzling out into the current cold war that has continued to the "present".

'''Early M41''' - On the turn of the millennium in M41 [[Nobledark_Imperium_Forces_of_Chaos#Lady_Malys|Lady Malys, the Daemon Queen]], announces her marriage to her long-time on-again, off-again lover [[Nobledark_Imperium_Notable_People#Asdrubael_Vect|Asdrubael Vect]] and the subsequent union of the Dark and Crone Eldar, and declares the 12th Black Crusade as a wedding present to herself. 12th Black Crusade is the bloodiest one yet and sets the stage for many future conflicts (e.g., Badab War). Mass social unrest and exodus from Commorragh as many of the younger Dark Eldar not trapped in a sunken cost fallacy feel that allying with Chaos crosses a line.

'''Mid M41''' - [[Nobledark_Imperium_Xenos#Brain_Boyz|Brain Boys]] spotted. Any talk of abandoning ship stops abruptly. Nobody wants to jump off the boat, no matter how many vermin are in it, when the alternative is sharks.

'''Late M41''' - The Hive Fleets were just a vanguard. The Tyranids are assaulting the entire eastern galactic edge in such numbers that they blot out the stars.