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Feast of Blades

2016-10-09T05:37:51Z

2A02:C7D:C5E:A200:7422:9BE5:EBBE:397B:

The '''Feast of Blades''' is a duelist competition that the [[Imperial Fists]] and their successor [[Space Marine Chapter|Chapters]] engage in.

Following the [[Perturabo#Iron_Cage_Trolling|Iron Cage]] campaign, [[Rogal Dorn]] was ready to break up the VII Legion into Chapters to comply with the [[Second Founding]]. However, he wanted the Fists successors to remember that they were still his gene-sons, and to maintain good relations with the Chapters. To achieve this, Dorn decreed that every century, the Chapters bearing Dorn's [[gene-seed]] would come together in the Feast of Blades, a tournament where champions from each Chapter engage in sword duels. At the end of the tournament, the winning (sometimes surviving) swordsman is awarded the Sword of Sebastus, or Dornsblade, the [[power sword]] Rogal Dorn used after shattering his original [[chainsword]] for failing to save the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor]] during the [[Siege of Terra]]. Any relics once wielded by a [[Primarch]] is usually worth more than a solar system to the [[Imperium]], so as you can understand, turnout is high.

The novel ''Legion of the Damned'' gives a look at what the Feast of Blades is like. Competitors wear carapace armour (for some the first time they worn such since they were [[Scout]]s), and given envenomed blades which will slow down a [[Space Marine]] when cut. The arena the duelists fight in is constantly shifting, to represent the chaotic environment of the Iron Cage.

The current holders of the blade are the [[Excoriators]] who, notably, did not win by being the fastest, strongest, or best with a blade but by being prepared to take the most damage and outlast their opponents.

[[Category:Space Marines]]
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]

Excoriators

2016-10-09T05:33:26Z

2A02:C7D:C5E:A200:7422:9BE5:EBBE:397B:

{{Infobox Spess Mahreen Chapter
|Name = Excoriators
|Heraldry = [[Image:ExcoriatorsChapterSymbol.png|center|140px]]
|Battle Cry = ''Whip Me Harder!''
|Founding = [[Second Founding]]
|Successors of = [[Imperial Fists]]
|Successor Chapters = None
|Chapter Master = Zachariah Kersh
|Primarch = [[Rogal Dorn]]
|Homeworld = Eschara
|Specialty = Defense and attrition fighting, BDSM
|Strength = ~800
|Allegiance = Imperium
|Colours = Ivory and Silver
}}
The '''Excoriators''' are a chapter of [[Space Marines]] descended from the [[Imperial Fists]]. They are the subject of Rob Sanders' ''[[Legion of the Damned]]'' novel, [[Derp|more so than the Legion themselves]] (we get the Legion are mysterious and all, but half the time you forget they're the reason you bought the book). They're basically a chapter full of grumbling whiny killjoys with a [[Slaanesh|pain fetish]]. Alternatively, you could say they have little tolerance for failure, are stubborn in a bad way, and suffer from a massive guilty conscience. They spend the first half of the novel whining about how badly the [[Alpha Legion]] raped their First Company, stole their Chapter Standard, and poisoned their old Chapter Master ("Oh go cry us a river you pussies." ~[[Lamenters]]). They spend the second half of the book fighting a [[Khorne|blood crusade]]. They also spend the entire book ordering their chapter serfs to whip them ''harder'', dammit!

They're one of the very few Imperial subfactions with the balls to point out the [[Emperor]] never wanted to be worshiped as a god, that he's nothing more than the greatest human psyker. They actually get into an argument with the [[Ecclesiarchy]] about this at one point; the argument ended with some Excoriator Scouts sniping the braindead priests who had decided that it was okay to arm and train [[Redemptionist]] militants in an open violation of the Decree Passive (here's a protip, Ecclesiarchs: if making threats against Marines gets [[Inquisition|Inquisitors]] killed, you won't fare any better).

[[File:Excoriators Scheme.png|thumb|right|Excoriators Armor Scheme]]

They have this gene seed defect called "the Darkness". All it does is make them fall into a coma at random, much like how aneurisms kill normal humans. They actually figured out a cure for this coma though, but after they successfully test it out on Zachariah Kersh, their Chapter Champion, they spend a hundred more pages complaining about how he's still "cursed" (not helped by the fact that Kersh admitted seeing strange skeletally armoured marines in the background when he regained consciousness) and how he's a "coward" for not chasing the Alpha Legion (even though Kersh, who had just been appointed Captain of the Fifth Company by order of the aforementioned poisoned Chapter Master, points out ''several times'' that the planet the Alpha Legion are supposedly on is an obvious trap, just like last time) instead of rejoicing that their best swordsman is alive and just beat the ''motherfucking [[Black Templars]]'' in the [[Feast of Blades]] (a swordsman tournament of [[Imperial Fists]] successors). Seriously, they waste so much time whining and bitching and indulging in their stupid whipping fetish. This is probably why the Legion of the Damned waited until all of the whiny little bitches are dead before actually showing up in their own book. Kersh ends up being the only Excoriator to survive the battle, and doing so seems to ''finally'' earn him some damn respect amongst the rest of the Chapter. He later becomes Chapter Master.

As a side note, "to excoriate" means to harshly criticize, or to scrape away the skin. While that obviously points to their adventures in BDSM, it also shows how impossible it is for them to be satisfied. But then they all died, so maybe they had a point.

==Another interpretation==
First and foremost let me say this, when Space Marines are the primary characters in the piece it is not a good idea to write them as the utterly stoic fearless killing machines that the rest of galaxy sees them as. Why? Because internal conflict is one of the greatest hallmarks of fiction; without internal conflict the characters are two dimensional cardboard cut-outs meandering about the setting. The Excoriators carefully skirt this line; they have internal conflict to spare, and none of it is arbitrary or stilted. Their ''real'' problem is they risk coming across as two-dimensional cut-outs ''anyway'' because 90% of them can't move past "grouchy" and "cynical" for their character traits, and because they insist on chasing their stolen Chapter Standard to a planet they already know it isn't on.

Now let's move on to what makes the Excoriators [[awesome]]:

They, like most Chapters descended from Rogal Dorn, put an enormous amount of emphasis on endurance, perhaps even more so than that of other Imperial Fist descendants. For example, when their power armor is damaged they will only repair it to the point of restoring functionality. Superficial things like scrapes, pitting, dents, and etc. are ignored. So while other marines ([[Pretty Marines]]) will spend hours making sure their armor looks just perfect, Excoriators show up looking like the maw of the warp just spat them out. You want to scare your enemy? Show them that you've ''already'' weathered everything they could potentially throw at you. How their champion won the Feast of Blades was not, by his own admission, simply because he was a superior swordsman or duelist but also because the Black Templar and Imperial Fist champions with whom he was dueling with simultaneously underestimated the sheer amount of damage the Excoriator's champion could soak up and still fight like a son of Dorn.

They also have massive adamantium balls. Like, even by space marine standards. Once they're done whining about the Alpha Legion, they grab their bolters and face down a blood crusade, knowing full well they're going to die, without any hesitation or further dissent. There are only 50 marines on the planet (and about 3000 Sisters of Battle), and the crusade has somewhere around 50 ''ships''. One scout gets his <strike>legs</strike> (it was his ''pelvis'') eaten by a daemon, yet demands to be on the battlefield three days later. Even their serfs get in on the action loading autocannons and shooting laspistols. There's also a techmarine that is constantly followed by his ''pet'' thunderfire cannon that spends part of the battle going off on a search and destroy, by itself, through the streets and unloads a metric fuckton of ordinance, point blank, [[awesome|into a bloodthirster.]]

Also while the Excoriator's are unusual in their denial of the Emperor as a god, the ''Legion of the Damned'' heavily suggests that the Excoriators may have come around to the divinity of the Emperor since it was the plea for assistance that was sent directly to the Imperial Palace on Terra that seemed to preempt the arrival of their ghostly saviors. Of course, it's far more likely that the Excoriators will simply figure it was because the Emperor is, you know, a super-powered psyker who is probably always paying attention to calls for help from his Astartes. Truly, "the Emperor Protects".

{{Template:Marines-Official}}
[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[Category:Imperial]][[Category:Space Marines]]

Imperium Secundus

2016-10-09T05:21:54Z

2A02:C7D:C5E:A200:7422:9BE5:EBBE:397B: /* Counterpoint */

{{Cleanup}}

::''It's Guilliman, What do you think he's doing? He's building an Empire!'' - [[Malcador the Sigillite]]

"'''Imperium Secundus'''" is the formal name for the secondary [[Imperium of Man]], which [[Roboute Guilliman]] tried to build in the wake of the [[Horus Heresy]] around his own Legion Homeworld, the [[Ultramar]] systems. Data shows that Guilliman was preparing this new empire even before the Heresy, and many rumours state that he might have wanted to make an empire himself, instead of letting [[The Emperor|his father]] have all the fun. Others go that he had forseen the Heresy long before, and tried to do his best to keep humanity safe after the fall of their leader.

It was, and is, essentially [[skub]] in the form of a state. Ask yourself why the Ultramarine reinforcements were late for the [[Siege of Terra]]. Calth? The Ruinstorm? Ultramar being on the opposite side of the galaxy? Those plausible answers are only part of the reason. Instead, we get this... issue... to pad the Horus Heresy series.

==Formation==
Imperium Secundus (from the self referential book: "Unremembered Empire") was [[Roboute Guilliman]]'s attempt at building his own [[Imperium]] of Man when he ''(incorrectly)'' believed that the Emperor lay defeated and that the rest of the Imperium was ashes during the [[Horus Heresy]].

The [[Word Bearers]]' assault on Calth created a ''Ruinstorm'' which spread across the galaxy, garbling communications and restricting travel. The 500 worlds of the [[Ultramarines]] [[First Founding|Legion]] had no means of determining whether the rest of the Imperium stood or not during this period of war.

Thus the analytical mind of the [[Primarch]] Guilliman resolved that according to the ''theoretical'' destruction of the rest of the Imperium, he would enact his ''practical'' solution and build his own.

As it required moving the power-base of his "new" Imperium and its institutions to [[Macragge]], he knew that this situation could potentially be construed as an act of treachery. Thus, he maintained it would only be a temporary measure where if the Emperor and Terra were found to be intact he would be the first to lend his aid in their defense.

He also insisted that he would not be its ruler, as he was very aware that to both split from the true Imperium and to position himself as head of the splinter government would make him appear as [[Goge Vandire|a tyrant who was only interested in power]]. To prove his point, he planned to wait until such time as a worthy brother Primarch arrived on Macragge and make them the Regent-Emperor instead.

However, a number of events call into question Guilliman's sincerity:

===Misrepresentation===
[[Warsmith Dantioch]] of the [[Iron Warriors]] was lured into the service of Guilliman on the promise that his skills would be put to good use fortifying the Imperial Palace in the inevitable [[Siege of Terra]]; it seems Dantioch never got that far, and was assigned a position on [[Sotha]], and possibly post-heresy his soldiers were [[Silver Skulls|just absorbed into the Ultramarines]] rather than making any meaningful contribution. This is not entirely unforgivable, as the 500 worlds were cut off from Terra, so Dantioch might never have been able to get back. Plus, as a Loyalist, Dantioch and his men would have been mistrusted; therefore, being absorbed into the Ultramarines would have been as wise a choice as any.

===Mustering Forces to Himself===
What Guilliman found on [[Sotha]] was a pre-Imperial device that acted similarly to the [[Astronomican]]. This device was known as the [[Pharos]].

Instead of a psychic lighthouse like the Astronomican, the Pharos shone like a lantern and illuminated targeted worlds in the Warp, allowing safe passage to them even through thick warp storms. Guilliman ordered that the Pharos be shone on Macragge so that lost loyalists fleets could find their way to him though the Ruinstorm.

This did have the intended effect, as beaten stragglers from the broken legions of the [[Iron Hands]], [[Salamanders]] and [[Raven Guard]] found their way to Macragge. It also brought in some broken elements from the [[Imperial Fists]] Retribution Fleet from Phall and some [[White Scars]] who were not at Chondax for some reason. Badly beaten, and with their own primarchs [[Ferrus Manus|dead]] or [[Vulkan|assumed dead]], they swore allegiance to Guilliman until such time as the Emperor could be aided.

Some [[Space Wolves]] and a fleet of [[Dark Angels]] led by the Lion also showed up, but Macragge had always been their destination, since they had business in Ultramar.

AND if that's not enough the '''entire''' [[Blood Angels]] Legion ''(except for about eleven men left on [[Baal]], the "Lost Sons")'' from the [[Battle of Signus]] turned up on Guilliman's doorstep too.

Both the Blood Angels and Imperial Fists were actually looking for Terra, so it could definitely be said that all these arrivals would starve Terra of valuable resources and actually hinder the war effort.
In fact this was ''explicitly'' stated to [[Lorgar]] by Kairos Fateweaver prior to the battle at Calth as the one time both of its heads were compelled to speak the truth: it warned him that if Guilliman died, then Horus would have no chance at the Siege of Terra. However, the Pharos was simply one part of a larger galactic network. It may be that he was incapable of redirecting its energies onto Terra, implying Guilliman was simply making the most practical use of the tools available. Not only that, but the Pharos was described as an "Empathic" device which responded to the desires of its user, but had mostly unknown capabilities. Thus, by shining it at Macragge, one could take from that that it responded to Macragge's (and by extension Guilliman's) desire to regroup and fortify.

===Empire Building / Desire for Power===
Guilliman was renowned for Empire-Building, and his attempt at usurping the Imperium was actually anticipated by both the [[Emperor]] and [[Malcador the Sigillite]]. They discuss the matter together and are thankful that [[Lion El'Jonson]] takes his own initiative to resolve the matter.

Now the Lion [[skub|may or may not]] have had his own agenda, as he had attempted to gain military power himself earlier in the war, but at least he argued that it was to the Imperium's benefit for him to be [[Warmaster]] and to be of better service to his father.

Here, the Lion was very clear on the issue with his brother Guilliman, seeing his brother's new Imperium as a threat equally as grave as [[Horus]] to the kingdom that his father had built.

Even Konrad Curze thought it was hilarious and internally mocked Guilliman in the "look at me, look at me, I'm building an Empire!" fashion

====Counterpoint====
Guilliman was ''very'' politically minded and was careful not to take the position of Regent for himself, lest he be seen as a usurper of his father's Empire. So resolved to ensure that the position would go to another Primarch as only a member of the blood would have the qualities to rule (just not himself). Unfortunately the first Primarch to arrive (Vulkan) had gone completely insane and thus was incapable of taking the position.

When the Lion arrived on Macragge, the issue of whether Guilliman he should hand over rulership to him did come up, unfortunately, Guilliman described the Lion as too inscrutable to be properly trusted with the position and in turn the Lion could not trust Guilliman due to what the entire enterprise represented ''(they never actually came to blows with one another over the matter, but nearly did since BOTH brothers were both keeping secrets from one another, such as the locations of [[Konrad Curze]] & [[Vulkan]])'' and unanimously elected that [[Sanguinius]] take the position of [[Regent]] when his fleet arrived. So at least both brothers could be described as sincere in their desire to put aside their differences and [[get shit done]]. Therefore assigning the regency to Sanguinius was a matter of convenience for both parties involved.

Deathfire also shows that since Konrad Curze managed to singlehandely bypass all the security measures Guilliman put in place (along with disparate World Eater and Word Bearer raiding groups still plaguing Ultramar), he turned Macragge into a military fortress, complete with curfews, decreasing civil liberties, and the Ultramarine's acting as police force - the very things setting up Imperium Secundus was supposed to preserve - causing him considerable emotional distress.

Guilliman's intentions were apparently sincere, if not in their execution. The three Primarch's found out that the Emperor was still alive due to a combination of Sanguinius and Kurze's precognition. Guilliman himself was utterly mortified at everything he had done based on the assumption the greater Imperium had fallen. Kurze, having spent a few years terrorising Macragge on the (very twisted) premise that what he was doing was what his father truly wanted, promptly cacked himself laughing from the irony.

==Rationale==
When challenged on the matter by [[Alexis Pollux]] of the [[Imperial Fists]] Retribution Fleet, Guilliman countermanded [[Rogal Dorn]]'s order to return to Terra, citing that he held command unless someone who outranked him showed up (who could only be Dorn in Pollux's case or the Emperor himself) and that for all intents and purposes, Macragge already was the Imperium.

The Pollux would remark if that then made Guilliman the new Emperor, to which the reply was summed up as ''"I am the Imperium"''

Guillimans response to Pollux was a bit telling however, and bears the hallmarks of a faithless man, but not necessarily a traitorous one, particularly since it was well worded; by discounting the rest of the Imperium's existence as a mere ''theoretical'' and choosing to deal with only the tangible matters of the ''practical'', it shows he was the sort of person who was unlikely to take risks, and would prefer the path of certainty rather than gambling for something greater.

Essentially Guilliman's solution to the ''Schrödinger's cat'' paradox is to get a new cat; By demanding proof of life he operates on the principle that the Imperium is dead until shown otherwise.

To be fair to Guilliman, it was two years before he starting receiving any news from the outer Imperium and when it did start coming in, it was mostly bad.

Oddly, Guilliman was willing to let the remaining Salamanders attempt to breach the Ruinstorm, despite having the power to stop them (or knowing that if they suceeded they could tell Terra what he was up to). It turned out to be moot anyway as even when they Salamanders found themselves in a position to warn both the Imperium AND return to Guilliman, they chose to do neither.

==Foreknowledge / Intention==
Guilliman was possessed of an analytical mind unlike any other, quite possibly greater than any of his brother Primarchs, and therefore was perfectly aware of what his new Imperium represented and did not need to be told by his brothers how heretical it was.

In his own mind Imperium Secundus was '''"Plan B"''' - ''an outcome less desirable, but something you can live with.''

Despite this; Guilliman was fully prepared to fight for what he believed in and even related to his officer [[Remus Ventatus]] ''(in the same conversation when he iterated that the [[Codex Astartes]] should not be adhered to religiously)'' that he should even be prepared to fight against those brothers who counted themselves Loyal to the Emperor, and even later commented that when he was about to declare the Imperium Secundus official he was ready to kill anyone who would stand in his way.

Furthermore, the fact that the [[Codex Astartes]] was written well '''before''' the fall of the Emperor shows that it was obvious that Guilliman believed that HE was the only person capable of safeguarding his father's legacy, regardless about what [[Leman Russ|his]] [[Rogal Dorn|brothers]] [[Corax|might]] have thought in the aftermath of the Horus Heresy. This would only have been irrespective about who took the position of "Regent" (essentially making it a puppet role), since Guilliman planned it all well in advance and was willing to back it up with force.

...possibly rightly so, since the "apparent" aim of the Codex was to neuter the strength of individual warlords, followed up by the dissolution of the actual role of Emperor, all makes the distribution of power in a future Imperium ever so slightly more equitable and better able to uphold the ideals of the Emperor rather than ignoring them in favore of mindless loyalty towards the Emperor himself. Or at least, that's what his original plan was. Since he's now nearly-dead in a stasis field, one can only imagine what he thinks of the difference between his intentions and their actual results.

Is this the sign of a [[Heretic]]? Quite possibly, but considering that Guilliman was trapped on the far side of the Galaxy with no awareness of the full extent of what had occurred, helpless to cause any significant impact as the war progressed while his powerful predictive mind could calculate most likely probably outcomes of the war in his absence, one might call his actions prudent planning rather than underhanded scheming.

==Legacy==
===of Guilliman===
It was called the "Unremembered Empire" for a reason, [[retcon|it didn't actually happen]] according to the history texts as to do so would portray Guilliman as a traitor against his father.

However, Guilliman's influence on the Imperium after the [[Horus Heresy]] are hard to miss, since is widely regarded as the most influential of Primarchs on the Imperium, despite the fact that he did very little to protect it (and possibly even hindered it by accident) during its darkest hour. Sanguinius returned to Terra in time for the final battle, yet neither Guilliman nor the Lion did despite all three starting from the same location, possibly suggesting a conflict between the two, given their actions. Unless of course (as a lot of people are guessing) Guilliman got distracted by a [[Trazyn the Infinite|metal troll]]. People also forget the inconsistent nature of warp travel.

There remains the suggestion that Guilliman's motives were not entirely sincere and that the Emperor, Malcador and the Lion were right: that Guilliman was only interested in building his OWN Empire, irrespective of the Emperor's involvement in it, which is where the problem lies.

This is also supported by the the views of his brother [[Rogal Dorn]] who had been present at the final battle, returned his dying father to the Golden Throne and actually HEARD his final orders. Considering the Emperor already had knowledge of the war's outcome ''(read Outcast Dead)'' he should have prepared his own plan for its aftermath, therefore his orders to Dorn and [[Jaghatai Khan]] should have at least involved some sort of planning for the eventuality ''(unless the Emperor simply revealed what Guilliman was in the process of doing and was going to run with that anyway)''. Disagreements between them very nearly sparked another civil war about how the Imperium and its military should be run.

Additionally, there remains the fact that 10,000 years later, his own sons are the foremost protectors of the Imperium of Man making up 50-60% of the whole Astartes population and have marginalised the others into either conformity via the [[Codex Astartes|Codex]] or obscurity by denying them descendant chapters. With the Ultramarines Chapter having the [[Spiritual Liege|singular honour]] of being the most respected of Space Marine chapters, who set the standard [[Matt Ward|for all other Astartes to aspire to]], it's not a difficult set of circumstances to arrange when your father was the one to initially draft the policies that everyone conforms to.

History is written by the victors, and Guilliman was the closest thing to a "[[skub|winner]]" in the Horus Heresy. It is even said on the Ultramarines Chapter Banner: ''[[retcon|"Our Presence Remakes the Past"]]''

Despite all of this, it could be said that Guilliman took the longer view and created an Imperium [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|not ruled by Emperors, but by men]], with the [[High Lords of Terra]] in the Emperor's place.

However, immediately after unveiling his [[Codex Astartes]] which affirmed that no person, Primarch or otherwise should be able to wield such power of the Legions, Guilliman '''DID''' eventually achieve lordship over the Imperium, becoming '''Lord Commander of the Imperium''' ''(which was essentially Warmaster in all but name)'' and particularly at odds with the stated intention of restricting forces by achieving oversight of ALL armed forces. The position was used up until M32 and subsequent holders were even referred to by the title of ''"Lord Guilliman"''. ''(though the later holders seemed to have significantly reduced influence than Guilliman)''

What it means, or heavily implies is that there is possibly an edgier and more relatable side to the Ultramarines beyond simply being [[Mary Sue]]s or the best thing since sliced bread, and that the supposedly [[Spiritual Liege|eminent]] status that the Ultramarines enjoy is because of well calculated political maneuvers. Each of the Primarchs had their strengths which they passed on, in part, to their sons. Thus, if anything Guilliman was said to have been the greatest of statesmen. While the effects of his actions were not all beneficial to the Imperium, one could easily argue that the alternative would be to simply allow the Imperium to fall into anarchy in the Emperor's absence.

===of Sanguinius===
It is too early to tell in fluff terms how much the position of regent will affect Sanguinius, or him ruling the" unremembered empire" will come to affect the later Imperium, as removing the entire Imperium Secundus plotline does not change the opinion of Sanguinius and the Blood Angels one bit. That, and it's not likely to change the fact that Horus will end up killing him either way.

One thing that does remain is the [[Sanguinor]], who was a by-product of this era. As Sanguinius needed a regent to stand for him and deal with petitioners when he was too busy with other important tasks as well as to act as a body-double for the sake of assassination attempts and keep the focus away from the Primarch.

Even at the time, the identity of the herald was kept a closely guarded secret and his name was removed from the records of the chapter. By M41, the origins of the Sanguinor are completely forgotten about, even by the majority of the Blood Angels themselves if the ever knew about the practice at all (assuming that the Sanguinary Guard still retain the tradition and that the Sanguinor is not simply Sanguinius resurrected or some sort of daemon-incarnate).

The only thing that can be immediately inferred is that there ought to be a damn good reason why the Blood Angels, after being trapped on the wrong side of the ruinstorm, end up at Terra WITHOUT the Ultramarines or Dark Angels in tow.

===Tyranids===
Some think the use of the Pharos may have also been the thing that initially got the Tyranids' attention and brought them to the Milky Way, which if true would be highly ironic given the Smurfs' history with the bugs.

Initial evidence for this was circumstantial at best, but fits a pattern. In the [[First Tyrannic War]] the bugs made a "bee-line" (pun-intended) directly for Macragge; actually converging on it to a point. When this was thwarted, [[Hive Fleet Kraken]] of the Second War was also moving in the "general direction" of Ultramar, but it counted the planet Sotha (where the Pharos was kept) [[Scythes of the Emperor|as one of the casualties of war]], quite possibly knocking out its effect.

Now compare this to the [[Third Tyrannic War]] which attacked the Milky Way from an entirely different axis and seems to have no focus on Ultramar whatsoever and is generally much more dispersed across the galaxy rather than aiming for a particular target.

Again, this a plausible theory that appears to fit known events especially when you look at maps of the hive fleets movements, but without more information on the subject it's quite difficult to tell exactly what caused the Tyranids to appear. Some in-universe sources believe that it might be the Astronomican leading them to the galaxy, like a moth to the flame, but they obviously would never have been aware of the Pharos to account for any possible influence it had.

The epilogue for the book ''Pharos'' now pretty much confirms that the Pharos is what brought the great devourer to the Galaxy. That in a brief moment when the Night Lords lay siege to Sotha, the light of the beacon shone brighter than ever before in a last ditch attempt by Warsmith Dantioch to purge the traitors from the planet. The light was noticed from outside of the Galaxy and the hive mind registered it as prey. Oops.

[[Category:Imperial]]
[[Category:Warhammer_40,000]]

Imperium Secundus

2016-10-09T05:21:12Z

2A02:C7D:C5E:A200:7422:9BE5:EBBE:397B: /* Counterp

{{Cleanup}}

::''It's Guilliman, What do you think he's doing? He's building an Empire!'' - [[Malcador the Sigillite]]

"'''Imperium Secundus'''" is the formal name for the secondary [[Imperium of Man]], which [[Roboute Guilliman]] tried to build in the wake of the [[Horus Heresy]] around his own Legion Homeworld, the [[Ultramar]] systems. Data shows that Guilliman was preparing this new empire even before the Heresy, and many rumours state that he might have wanted to make an empire himself, instead of letting [[The Emperor|his father]] have all the fun. Others go that he had forseen the Heresy long before, and tried to do his best to keep humanity safe after the fall of their leader.

It was, and is, essentially [[skub]] in the form of a state. Ask yourself why the Ultramarine reinforcements were late for the [[Siege of Terra]]. Calth? The Ruinstorm? Ultramar being on the opposite side of the galaxy? Those plausible answers are only part of the reason. Instead, we get this... issue... to pad the Horus Heresy series.

==Formation==
Imperium Secundus (from the self referential book: "Unremembered Empire") was [[Roboute Guilliman]]'s attempt at building his own [[Imperium]] of Man when he ''(incorrectly)'' believed that the Emperor lay defeated and that the rest of the Imperium was ashes during the [[Horus Heresy]].

The [[Word Bearers]]' assault on Calth created a ''Ruinstorm'' which spread across the galaxy, garbling communications and restricting travel. The 500 worlds of the [[Ultramarines]] [[First Founding|Legion]] had no means of determining whether the rest of the Imperium stood or not during this period of war.

Thus the analytical mind of the [[Primarch]] Guilliman resolved that according to the ''theoretical'' destruction of the rest of the Imperium, he would enact his ''practical'' solution and build his own.

As it required moving the power-base of his "new" Imperium and its institutions to [[Macragge]], he knew that this situation could potentially be construed as an act of treachery. Thus, he maintained it would only be a temporary measure where if the Emperor and Terra were found to be intact he would be the first to lend his aid in their defense.

He also insisted that he would not be its ruler, as he was very aware that to both split from the true Imperium and to position himself as head of the splinter government would make him appear as [[Goge Vandire|a tyrant who was only interested in power]]. To prove his point, he planned to wait until such time as a worthy brother Primarch arrived on Macragge and make them the Regent-Emperor instead.

However, a number of events call into question Guilliman's sincerity:

===Misrepresentation===
[[Warsmith Dantioch]] of the [[Iron Warriors]] was lured into the service of Guilliman on the promise that his skills would be put to good use fortifying the Imperial Palace in the inevitable [[Siege of Terra]]; it seems Dantioch never got that far, and was assigned a position on [[Sotha]], and possibly post-heresy his soldiers were [[Silver Skulls|just absorbed into the Ultramarines]] rather than making any meaningful contribution. This is not entirely unforgivable, as the 500 worlds were cut off from Terra, so Dantioch might never have been able to get back. Plus, as a Loyalist, Dantioch and his men would have been mistrusted; therefore, being absorbed into the Ultramarines would have been as wise a choice as any.

===Mustering Forces to Himself===
What Guilliman found on [[Sotha]] was a pre-Imperial device that acted similarly to the [[Astronomican]]. This device was known as the [[Pharos]].

Instead of a psychic lighthouse like the Astronomican, the Pharos shone like a lantern and illuminated targeted worlds in the Warp, allowing safe passage to them even through thick warp storms. Guilliman ordered that the Pharos be shone on Macragge so that lost loyalists fleets could find their way to him though the Ruinstorm.

This did have the intended effect, as beaten stragglers from the broken legions of the [[Iron Hands]], [[Salamanders]] and [[Raven Guard]] found their way to Macragge. It also brought in some broken elements from the [[Imperial Fists]] Retribution Fleet from Phall and some [[White Scars]] who were not at Chondax for some reason. Badly beaten, and with their own primarchs [[Ferrus Manus|dead]] or [[Vulkan|assumed dead]], they swore allegiance to Guilliman until such time as the Emperor could be aided.

Some [[Space Wolves]] and a fleet of [[Dark Angels]] led by the Lion also showed up, but Macragge had always been their destination, since they had business in Ultramar.

AND if that's not enough the '''entire''' [[Blood Angels]] Legion ''(except for about eleven men left on [[Baal]], the "Lost Sons")'' from the [[Battle of Signus]] turned up on Guilliman's doorstep too.

Both the Blood Angels and Imperial Fists were actually looking for Terra, so it could definitely be said that all these arrivals would starve Terra of valuable resources and actually hinder the war effort.
In fact this was ''explicitly'' stated to [[Lorgar]] by Kairos Fateweaver prior to the battle at Calth as the one time both of its heads were compelled to speak the truth: it warned him that if Guilliman died, then Horus would have no chance at the Siege of Terra. However, the Pharos was simply one part of a larger galactic network. It may be that he was incapable of redirecting its energies onto Terra, implying Guilliman was simply making the most practical use of the tools available. Not only that, but the Pharos was described as an "Empathic" device which responded to the desires of its user, but had mostly unknown capabilities. Thus, by shining it at Macragge, one could take from that that it responded to Macragge's (and by extension Guilliman's) desire to regroup and fortify.

===Empire Building / Desire for Power===
Guilliman was renowned for Empire-Building, and his attempt at usurping the Imperium was actually anticipated by both the [[Emperor]] and [[Malcador the Sigillite]]. They discuss the matter together and are thankful that [[Lion El'Jonson]] takes his own initiative to resolve the matter.

Now the Lion [[skub|may or may not]] have had his own agenda, as he had attempted to gain military power himself earlier in the war, but at least he argued that it was to the Imperium's benefit for him to be [[Warmaster]] and to be of better service to his father.

Here, the Lion was very clear on the issue with his brother Guilliman, seeing his brother's new Imperium as a threat equally as grave as [[Horus]] to the kingdom that his father had built.

Even Konrad Curze thought it was hilarious and internally mocked Guilliman in the "look at me, look at me, I'm building an Empire!" fashion

====Counterpoint====
Guilliman was ''very'' politically minded and was careful not to take the position of Regent for himself, lest he be seen as a usurper of his father's Empire. So resolved to ensure that the position would go to another Primarch as only a member of the blood would have the qualities to rule (just not himself). Unfortunately the first Primarch to arrive (Vulkan) had gone completely insane and thus was incapable of taking the position.

When the Lion arrived on Macragge, the issue of whether Guilliman he should hand over rulership to him did come up, unfortunately, Guilliman described the Lion as too inscrutable to be properly trusted with the position and in turn the Lion could not trust Guilliman due to what the entire enterprise represented ''(they never actually came to blows with one another over the matter, but nearly did since BOTH brothers were both keeping secrets from one another, such as the locations of [[Konrad Curze]] & [[Vulkan]])'' and unanimously elected that [[Sanguinius]] take the position of [[Regent]] when his fleet arrived. So at least both brothers could be described as sincere in their desire to put aside their differences and [[get shit done]]. Therefore assigning the regency to Sanguinius was a matter of convenience for both parties involved.

Deathfire also shows that since Konrad Curze managed to singlehandely bypass all the security measures Guilliman put in place (along with disparate World Eater and Word Bearer raiding groups still plaguing Ultramar), he turned Macragge into a military fortress, complete with curfews, decreasing civil liberties, and the Ultramarine's acting as police force - the very things setting up Imperium Secundus was supposed to preserve - causing him considerable emotional distress.

Guilliman's intentions were apparently sincere, if not in their execution. The three Primarch's found out that the Emperor was still alive due to a combination of Sanguinius and Kurze's precognition. Guilliman himself was utterly mortified at everything he had done based on the assumption the greater Imperium had fallen. Kurze, having spent a few years terrorising Macragge on the (very twisted) premise that what he was doing was what his father truly wanted, promptly cracked himself laughing from the irony.

==Rationale==
When challenged on the matter by [[Alexis Pollux]] of the [[Imperial Fists]] Retribution Fleet, Guilliman countermanded [[Rogal Dorn]]'s order to return to Terra, citing that he held command unless someone who outranked him showed up (who could only be Dorn in Pollux's case or the Emperor himself) and that for all intents and purposes, Macragge already was the Imperium.

The Pollux would remark if that then made Guilliman the new Emperor, to which the reply was summed up as ''"I am the Imperium"''

Guillimans response to Pollux was a bit telling however, and bears the hallmarks of a faithless man, but not necessarily a traitorous one, particularly since it was well worded; by discounting the rest of the Imperium's existence as a mere ''theoretical'' and choosing to deal with only the tangible matters of the ''practical'', it shows he was the sort of person who was unlikely to take risks, and would prefer the path of certainty rather than gambling for something greater.

Essentially Guilliman's solution to the ''Schrödinger's cat'' paradox is to get a new cat; By demanding proof of life he operates on the principle that the Imperium is dead until shown otherwise.

To be fair to Guilliman, it was two years before he starting receiving any news from the outer Imperium and when it did start coming in, it was mostly bad.

Oddly, Guilliman was willing to let the remaining Salamanders attempt to breach the Ruinstorm, despite having the power to stop them (or knowing that if they suceeded they could tell Terra what he was up to). It turned out to be moot anyway as even when they Salamanders found themselves in a position to warn both the Imperium AND return to Guilliman, they chose to do neither.

==Foreknowledge / Intention==
Guilliman was possessed of an analytical mind unlike any other, quite possibly greater than any of his brother Primarchs, and therefore was perfectly aware of what his new Imperium represented and did not need to be told by his brothers how heretical it was.

In his own mind Imperium Secundus was '''"Plan B"''' - ''an outcome less desirable, but something you can live with.''

Despite this; Guilliman was fully prepared to fight for what he believed in and even related to his officer [[Remus Ventatus]] ''(in the same conversation when he iterated that the [[Codex Astartes]] should not be adhered to religiously)'' that he should even be prepared to fight against those brothers who counted themselves Loyal to the Emperor, and even later commented that when he was about to declare the Imperium Secundus official he was ready to kill anyone who would stand in his way.

Furthermore, the fact that the [[Codex Astartes]] was written well '''before''' the fall of the Emperor shows that it was obvious that Guilliman believed that HE was the only person capable of safeguarding his father's legacy, regardless about what [[Leman Russ|his]] [[Rogal Dorn|brothers]] [[Corax|might]] have thought in the aftermath of the Horus Heresy. This would only have been irrespective about who took the position of "Regent" (essentially making it a puppet role), since Guilliman planned it all well in advance and was willing to back it up with force.

...possibly rightly so, since the "apparent" aim of the Codex was to neuter the strength of individual warlords, followed up by the dissolution of the actual role of Emperor, all makes the distribution of power in a future Imperium ever so slightly more equitable and better able to uphold the ideals of the Emperor rather than ignoring them in favore of mindless loyalty towards the Emperor himself. Or at least, that's what his original plan was. Since he's now nearly-dead in a stasis field, one can only imagine what he thinks of the difference between his intentions and their actual results.

Is this the sign of a [[Heretic]]? Quite possibly, but considering that Guilliman was trapped on the far side of the Galaxy with no awareness of the full extent of what had occurred, helpless to cause any significant impact as the war progressed while his powerful predictive mind could calculate most likely probably outcomes of the war in his absence, one might call his actions prudent planning rather than underhanded scheming.

==Legacy==
===of Guilliman===
It was called the "Unremembered Empire" for a reason, [[retcon|it didn't actually happen]] according to the history texts as to do so would portray Guilliman as a traitor against his father.

However, Guilliman's influence on the Imperium after the [[Horus Heresy]] are hard to miss, since is widely regarded as the most influential of Primarchs on the Imperium, despite the fact that he did very little to protect it (and possibly even hindered it by accident) during its darkest hour. Sanguinius returned to Terra in time for the final battle, yet neither Guilliman nor the Lion did despite all three starting from the same location, possibly suggesting a conflict between the two, given their actions. Unless of course (as a lot of people are guessing) Guilliman got distracted by a [[Trazyn the Infinite|metal troll]]. People also forget the inconsistent nature of warp travel.

There remains the suggestion that Guilliman's motives were not entirely sincere and that the Emperor, Malcador and the Lion were right: that Guilliman was only interested in building his OWN Empire, irrespective of the Emperor's involvement in it, which is where the problem lies.

This is also supported by the the views of his brother [[Rogal Dorn]] who had been present at the final battle, returned his dying father to the Golden Throne and actually HEARD his final orders. Considering the Emperor already had knowledge of the war's outcome ''(read Outcast Dead)'' he should have prepared his own plan for its aftermath, therefore his orders to Dorn and [[Jaghatai Khan]] should have at least involved some sort of planning for the eventuality ''(unless the Emperor simply revealed what Guilliman was in the process of doing and was going to run with that anyway)''. Disagreements between them very nearly sparked another civil war about how the Imperium and its military should be run.

Additionally, there remains the fact that 10,000 years later, his own sons are the foremost protectors of the Imperium of Man making up 50-60% of the whole Astartes population and have marginalised the others into either conformity via the [[Codex Astartes|Codex]] or obscurity by denying them descendant chapters. With the Ultramarines Chapter having the [[Spiritual Liege|singular honour]] of being the most respected of Space Marine chapters, who set the standard [[Matt Ward|for all other Astartes to aspire to]], it's not a difficult set of circumstances to arrange when your father was the one to initially draft the policies that everyone conforms to.

History is written by the victors, and Guilliman was the closest thing to a "[[skub|winner]]" in the Horus Heresy. It is even said on the Ultramarines Chapter Banner: ''[[retcon|"Our Presence Remakes the Past"]]''

Despite all of this, it could be said that Guilliman took the longer view and created an Imperium [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|not ruled by Emperors, but by men]], with the [[High Lords of Terra]] in the Emperor's place.

However, immediately after unveiling his [[Codex Astartes]] which affirmed that no person, Primarch or otherwise should be able to wield such power of the Legions, Guilliman '''DID''' eventually achieve lordship over the Imperium, becoming '''Lord Commander of the Imperium''' ''(which was essentially Warmaster in all but name)'' and particularly at odds with the stated intention of restricting forces by achieving oversight of ALL armed forces. The position was used up until M32 and subsequent holders were even referred to by the title of ''"Lord Guilliman"''. ''(though the later holders seemed to have significantly reduced influence than Guilliman)''

What it means, or heavily implies is that there is possibly an edgier and more relatable side to the Ultramarines beyond simply being [[Mary Sue]]s or the best thing since sliced bread, and that the supposedly [[Spiritual Liege|eminent]] status that the Ultramarines enjoy is because of well calculated political maneuvers. Each of the Primarchs had their strengths which they passed on, in part, to their sons. Thus, if anything Guilliman was said to have been the greatest of statesmen. While the effects of his actions were not all beneficial to the Imperium, one could easily argue that the alternative would be to simply allow the Imperium to fall into anarchy in the Emperor's absence.

===of Sanguinius===
It is too early to tell in fluff terms how much the position of regent will affect Sanguinius, or him ruling the" unremembered empire" will come to affect the later Imperium, as removing the entire Imperium Secundus plotline does not change the opinion of Sanguinius and the Blood Angels one bit. That, and it's not likely to change the fact that Horus will end up killing him either way.

One thing that does remain is the [[Sanguinor]], who was a by-product of this era. As Sanguinius needed a regent to stand for him and deal with petitioners when he was too busy with other important tasks as well as to act as a body-double for the sake of assassination attempts and keep the focus away from the Primarch.

Even at the time, the identity of the herald was kept a closely guarded secret and his name was removed from the records of the chapter. By M41, the origins of the Sanguinor are completely forgotten about, even by the majority of the Blood Angels themselves if the ever knew about the practice at all (assuming that the Sanguinary Guard still retain the tradition and that the Sanguinor is not simply Sanguinius resurrected or some sort of daemon-incarnate).

The only thing that can be immediately inferred is that there ought to be a damn good reason why the Blood Angels, after being trapped on the wrong side of the ruinstorm, end up at Terra WITHOUT the Ultramarines or Dark Angels in tow.

===Tyranids===
Some think the use of the Pharos may have also been the thing that initially got the Tyranids' attention and brought them to the Milky Way, which if true would be highly ironic given the Smurfs' history with the bugs.

Initial evidence for this was circumstantial at best, but fits a pattern. In the [[First Tyrannic War]] the bugs made a "bee-line" (pun-intended) directly for Macragge; actually converging on it to a point. When this was thwarted, [[Hive Fleet Kraken]] of the Second War was also moving in the "general direction" of Ultramar, but it counted the planet Sotha (where the Pharos was kept) [[Scythes of the Emperor|as one of the casualties of war]], quite possibly knocking out its effect.

Now compare this to the [[Third Tyrannic War]] which attacked the Milky Way from an entirely different axis and seems to have no focus on Ultramar whatsoever and is generally much more dispersed across the galaxy rather than aiming for a particular target.

Again, this a plausible theory that appears to fit known events especially when you look at maps of the hive fleets movements, but without more information on the subject it's quite difficult to tell exactly what caused the Tyranids to appear. Some in-universe sources believe that it might be the Astronomican leading them to the galaxy, like a moth to the flame, but they obviously would never have been aware of the Pharos to account for any possible influence it had.

The epilogue for the book ''Pharos'' now pretty much confirms that the Pharos is what brought the great devourer to the Galaxy. That in a brief moment when the Night Lords lay siege to Sotha, the light of the beacon shone brighter than ever before in a last ditch attempt by Warsmith Dantioch to purge the traitors from the planet. The light was noticed from outside of the Galaxy and the hive mind registered it as prey. Oops.

[[Category:Imperial]]
[[Category:Warhammer_40,000]]