Editing Johannes Vrach (section)

===The Hektor Heresy===

The forward movement of the Legion slowed to a crawl as its high command turned almost entirely to the perfection of their science, fueled by Vrach's increasing desperation. Their research grew darker as time went on, their laboratories birthing horrific new creatures whose organs were reshaped by colonies of symbiotic bacteria. These sickly monsters looked like the very embodiment of disease, their skin thickened by constant inflammation and frequently ushering forth milky exudate from their orifices. The sickly odor of the beasts was immediately an indication of infection to those with medical training, but they were startlingly resistant to any toxin or sickness they were exposed to. The fungal immune system implanted within them was certainly effective. Johannes looked on his creations and saw their beauty, a permanently stable state of illness preventing death. The Sym-Biomes, as they became known, endured an existence of constant pain, but they nevertheless represented a new hope for Johannes. The High Genetors quickly turned to its application.

The genetors of the Life Bringers had long since experimented with the gene-seed implanted into their brother Astartes, though the actual use of these organs was strictly forbidden. Following the creation of the Sym-Biomes, Johannes himself lead the effort to apply their immunities to his Legion's stock, and it was to these experimenters he turned. High Genetor [[Wilmut Sachs]] worked with his Primarch to lace the specially designed bacterial colonies into the haemastamen, allowing them to quickly spread throughout the system upon implantation. The ossmudula would inject fungal colonies directly into the bone marrow, allowing them to replace the immune system over time. The largest change was to the secondary heart, it was enlarged in size greatly in order to compensate for the increased workload required of it by the constant infection. Sachs was gleeful as he went about his twisted work, taking the opportunity to add the new technology to his earlier experiments and made a few modifications of his own.

The Primi Medicae of the Legion quickly set about applying the new process in secret, the fruits of their labor kept hidden away from the general ranks. The Marines they created were universally thickened with edematous and inflamed flesh, but their capacity for feeling pain was greatly reduced. The powerful odor of infection their experimental predecessors had was present in the marines and they likewise proved immune to biological assault, though they did not exude nearly as much purulent drainage. The most obvious change was the grotesque, enlarged heart which bounded visibly in their chests, causing the need for slight modifications to the black carapace and the Marine's armor in order to accommodate it. The winged skull was replaced with an ornate, three-dimensional version of the Legion's symbol which covered their change. The new marines were a success, and the Primi Medicae set about implementing the change in the Legion at large. 

(The LB's role in the Heresy is currently undergoing overhaul and the following is subject to change)
The Life Bringers have left a terrible mark on every planet they fought on during the Hektor Heresy, spreading Nurgle's Rot and leaving countless worlds as uninhabitable, toxic Death Worlds. Johannes personally led his troops during the Isstvan Massacres, where their chemical bombardment crippled the Entombed and left a permanent scar on their geneseed. The Life Bringers were also present in the battles in Sol System and the siege of the Imperial Palace, supporting the Warmaster with their medical expertise, disposable cannon fodder in form of plague zombies and raining deadly biotoxins from their Whirlwinds. The residual traces from that battle still result in some rare cases of Nurgle's Rot deep in the underhives of Terra, long after the Heresy.