Author's note: Hello everyone! thank you for finding my completely-temporary Label as interesting enough to read.
This isn't the first story I've written in the 40K universe (and I'm a huge fan of the 40K universe and it's lore) but it is the first I have published anywhere (not considering my friends' Email accounts, that is...), and specifically in FanFiction. I have decided for the first upload to put almost everything I have written into a single chapter, although that might change if I see that breaking it down makes more sense (and of course if any of the reviews suggests anything helpful in that regard !). Consider this piece a W.I.P, subject to change as I familiarize myself with this platform. Also, just as a hint, this stuff is mostly just background for the actual story... but I won't spoil it too much.
As a final note, if anyone who might read this is a 40K nerd of epic proportions (and I say this with the utmost respect) to know that the dating method I use is actually wrong as far as in game lore goes then you have my sincere apologies. For the sake of the story, it makes more sense to use a dating system where the first three numbers are days, the middle three numbers are years, and to the right is the Millenium number.
So, without further adieu, this is the tale of the decline, and uncertain future, of the Imperium of Man.
The decline
-364.999.M41- Abaddon the Despoiler, Warmaster of Chaos, completes the first part of his grand plan to overthrow the Imperium, a plan he calls the "Crimson Path".
Having spent the past centuries secretly recruiting hand-picked Chaos Space Marines, Abaddon finally has the numbers to unleash a new invasion upon the Imperium - this one composed of only the hardest, most veteran warriors of chaos, those who resisted the mutating touch of the warp and came out stronger.
The Warmaster carefully selected sixty-six individuals, many from the old Justaerin honor guard of the Luna Wolves Legion, to serve as his trusted lieutenants and advisors. They were tasked with creating warbands of their own, themselves composed of handpicked warriors held to the same standards as the Justaerin themselves. Although numbering less than eight hundred Chaos Space Marines in total, spread out in sixty-six warbands of varying size, these "New Justaerin" represent the very tip of the spear and the final gamble of the Warmaster to throw down the hated Imperium.
-001.000.M42- Abaddon brings about the second part of the "Crimson Path". While the 13th Black Crusade descends upon the cadian gate and the Imperium distracted, Reality is torn in the middle of the Segmentum Tempestus, birthing a new warp rift opens - the Crimson Scar, manifesting in the exact opposite position to the legendary Eye of Terror. While far smaller than its counterpart, the Crimson Scar's creation came as total surprise to the Imperium - not even the enigmatic Eldar prophesied the event.
-002.000.M42- the Tau Empire forces lash out in a series of military invasion, appearing to abandon their usual methods of diplomacy and pacification in favor of all-out conquest.
On holy Terra, the God Emperor sits in the slowly malfunctioning Golden Throne, his body nothing but a shriveled skeleton. As the Imperial Tarot predicts that the dark and terrible 'time of ending' has begun, the Emperor stirs on his throne and weeps.
-031.000.M42- A month and a day after the Crimson Scars' opening, patrol fleet Raegars' Sword has translated back to normal space in the system. Consisting of the Mars battlecruiser Raegars' Sword as a command ship and a combination of several frigates and destroyers as escorts, the fleet was sent to investigate the area after every astropath and navigator in the sub-sector had reported sensing the same thing - a "great, blood-red maw tearing in the fabric of reality".
within minutes of translating out from the warp, most of the patrol fleet had been destroyed, existing as an expanding cloud of superheated fragments.
Aboard the critically damaged Raegars' Sword, the last surviving astropath managed to send a single pict capture of their doom across the warp: a chaos armada, painted in black and red, each vessel proudly carrying the eight-pointed star of chaos undivided.
Every psyker in the nearest systems, from psychically touched human children, born in the polluted lower levels of a hive to trained Eldar farseers had intercepted the message. the weaker psykers had their minds blasted and their souls forever tainted black. The stronger and better-trained psykers could decipher the message with greater safety, though many perished upon seeing the image, or willingly took their own lives. those who survived (and remained sane) reported the space around this demonic fleet painted in a deep blood red color, bleeding warp energy directly into reality. they described this phenomenon as a sentient thing, seething with malevolence and a single emotion: A never-ending hunger for the souls of mortals.
-032.000.M42- Within the following day, sixty-six warbands carry out sixty-six invasions all across the Imperium. Some are carried out in the neighboring sectors, while others are carried as far out as the borders of the eastern fringe. In several cases, the warp travel should have taken several months or even years, but all fleets enter into the warp and transition out of it at precisely the exact moment, regardless of distance. All invasions are carried out expertly and result in unmitigated successes, although what is gained from them, only the Warmaster knows.
-040.000.M42- The Tau claim world after world in the eastern fringe, with no one to stop them. At first, the Imperium does not even know the Tau are responsible, but every fleet or expeditionary force sent to investigate disappear without a trace.
-258.000.42- The Aeris system, part of the fabled Ultramar region, comes under attack by Tau forces. Heavily fortified and protected by the legendary Ultramar defense fleets and Auxilia, the system held out far longer than the rest, and this time a report of the invasion reached the wider Imperium. The Imperial strategist's theories were confirmed with the pict capture of a giant sphere in space, the size of a small planetoid, indicating that the Tau had developed a new and powerful weapon to level the playing field in space. The Aeris system is taken, and the Ultramarines vow vengeance.
-112.001.M42- An Ultramarine chapter fleet departs from Macragge to the Aeris system to exact revenge. Led by no less than two of the chapter's Battle Barges and several strike cruiser escorts, and carrying a full third of the chapter's marines, the fleet clashes with the Tau over Aeris.
-187.001.M42- Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka, the green Prophet of the Waaagh! and the greatest Ork warlord of his time is at the forefront of the war between the Orks of the Octavius system and Hive fleet leviathanu. Under his command, the green tide is pushing back the Tyranids, but the Hive Mind has a special asset to deploy against him...
-239.001.M42- The chaos infiltration and subsequent invasion of the Forge World Ryza are successful. After decades of fighting Waaagh! Grax, the weakened Forge World fell to the first combined New Justaerin invasion.
Lead by none other than Warmaster Abaddon himself, The disparate Justaerin forces infiltrated and sabotaged crucial elements of the forge's defense structure. The final straw was when a warband led by an unknown warrior in the colors of the Alpha Legion managed to infiltrate into the central command spire of the Forge World, assassinate the ruling Magos, and upload a devastating Scrap Code into the central network of the planet.
The demonically infused piece of electronic warfare corrupted everything it touched into the service of the warp and its daemons. In mere weeks much of the planet was mutated into servitude, with hideous combinations of man and machine standing where once pristine and blessed forges stood. The majority of the tech priests were corrupted as well - the ones who resisted were swiftly defeated by the Justaerin forces and their new weapons of war.
-350.001.M42- After a long and costly recon mission, the Ryza system is declared beyond saving and the Forge World's name is struck from the annals of loyalists forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus. The irretrievable knowledge and expertise in plasma technology which was the Forge's hallmarks are forever lost to mankind and the Mechanicus.
By that time, a sizable contingent of the dark Mechanicus has already settled on the planet. The corrupted tech-priesthood of Ryza greet them with open arms, joining their ranks and sharing with them the most guarded secrets of plasma making. The "Furnace of shackled stars" is turned completely into a daemon world and soon disappears from its current orbit altogether, sucked into the Warp and deposited in the center of the eye of terror.
-085.002.M42- A single, heavily damaged Battle Barge limps back to Macragge. The last force of space marine survivors are aboard, and they tell grim stories about new technologies and weapons used by the aliens unlike anything encountered before, and of a terrible new class of warships created by the aliens called "Battle Spheres". They also tell of a report from the chapter's librarians, regarding the Tau Battlesphere - that they possess a shard of something in their core, something that carries a god-like power in the warp...
-098.002.M42- The Angels of Iron homeworld of Xothya is lost to a Chaos invasion lead by The New Justaerin. Armed with warped plasma weapons undoubtedly created in the mutated depth of the fallen Forge of Ryza, the Chaos Veterans overwhelm the defending space marines and defeat them piecemeal, ambushing them in the halls of their own Fortress Monastery and using their new weapons to great effects against the defenders.
After a relatively short and one-sided battle the Marines are annihilated, their geneseed vaults are raided and offered as sacrifice to the dark gods, granting Abaddon and his followers' exceptional favor.
-099.002.M42- Abaddon's sacrifice is accepted, and with the help of his most trusted sorcerers the third part of his plan is fulfilled – the spell known as "Abaddon's decree".
Seeing as his warriors are few in number, but tasked with nothing less than the destruction of the Imperium of man, Abaddon knew that he was hopelessly outnumbered. No matter how skilled his warriors were, they were not immortal – and every battle cost the life of some of his irreplaceable veterans. Knowing that he may win every battle but still lose the war, Abaddon sought to bend the infinite powers of the warp to his claim once more.
The spell turned his Justaerin into something greater. While physically they were unchanged, the spell turned them into perpetuals – so long as the warbands complete their varying missions, every slain member would resurrect at their leader's side (or his successor, should he be one of the slain), his body unharmed and his wargear undamaged. With a small Legion of nigh-immortal chaos chosen at his side, the final phase of Abaddon's phase could truly begin.
-100.002.M42- In the following months and years, Abaddon and his Justaerin warbands conduct numerous raids into Imperial territory. Some are grand invasions, involving numerous warbands and outside support, while others are singular infiltrations by less than a dozen veterans.
-157.002.M42- Utilizing stealth probes and long range reconnaissance ships, the Imperium confirmed that the Tau occupation of the Aeris system is complete. less than a year after the disastrous counter-attack attempted by the Ultramarine, the Tau finished breaking through every last fortress and stronghold, overthrow the Imperial rule in those war-torn planets and replace it with fresh colonists from their empire. Such swift colonization was unheard of, considering the race's dependency on sub-light traveling and minimal ability to use the warp for transportation. Imperial strategists suspect the Tau new Battle Spheres and their extraordinary warp presence are related.
-164.002.M42- In the Octavius system, Warlord Ghazghkull first lays eyes on the legendary Swarmlord, greatest of the Hive Tyrants and the Hive Mind's most powerful asset. This apex Tyranid creature has been re-created at the center of the Tyranid's, deep in the heart of the Tyranids leading Hive ship. It is the Hive Mind's answer to the Ork's Prophet of the Waaagh!
-236.002.M42- A dictate from the High Lord of Terra is passed, condemning the entire Tau race to a death sentence and ending any alliance that might have been formed with the Empire. According to the decree, any collaboration with the Empire will be seen as an act of high treason and heresy against the Imperium. In the following days and weeks, millions of imperial personnel, from lowly hive workers to planetary governors have been executed for having collaborated with the Tau, even those who cut all ties with the Xenos long before the decree was enacted.
-364.002.M42- Under the command of the high lords, a Crusade is declared against the aliens, to push back into Tau space and aid the beleaguered Ultramarines in the eastern fringe. The Crusade is initially separated between four star systems that lie between the white scars' homeworld of Chogoris and the salamanders' homeworld of Nocturne. Imperial high command has decreed the Crusade to be split into four smaller fleets, designated 'Talon 1' to 'Talon 4'. These fleets will be the main offensive into Tau space, the better to push the advantage over several fronts and crush the aliens completely. The nearby Astra Militarum worlds of Catachan and Tallaran contribute dozens of regiments to the offensive, the famous Catachan Jungle Fighters and Talarran Desert Raiders amass in their millions. As for the legendary Adeptus Astartes, a number of chapters swiftly join the Imperial Battle groups, chiefly amongst them are four chapters – the Salamanders, White scars, Raven Guard and Crimson Fists. The home worlds of these chapters were based in systems not far away, with the aforementioned Salamanders and White Scars being very close.
Many Officials in the Imperial high command voice concerns over drawing most of the military power from a region that dangerously close to the Ork empire of Octavius. They are ignored on account of the war between the Tyranids of hive fleet Leviathan and the Orks keeping both threats occupied.
-072.003.M42- The Crusade, under the formal command of Warmaster Dmytrus Chistyakov, is given the order to mobilize. Entire fleets of Imperial Navy warships sail forth, vessels ranging from escort frigates to lumbering battleships all organized into four massive battle groups. Each group alone contains dozens of ships and hundreds of thousands of men from different regiments, with all their vehicles and weapons of war.
The Astartes chapters who committed to the Crusade considered it a holy mission from the Emperor himself, to avenge the death of their fellow battle brothers and eradicate the Xenos from former Astartes planets and regions. As such, these chapters have deployed nearly their entire chapter fleets to the cause of the crusade, especially those with closer ties to the Ultramarines who were privy to the reports surrounding their own naval defeat against the new Tau battleships. At the official launch point of the "Eastern Cleansing", as the Crusade was already being called, no less than fifteen Battle Barges were present, amassed from the four major chapters involved. These behemoths were spread between the different battle groups along with their respective chapter fleets, their considerable naval prowess matched only by the capabilities of their deadly cargo of space marines.
-096.003.M42- The apocalyptic war between Hive Fleet Leviathan and the Orks of the Octavius system reaches a terrifying conclusion. The Swarmlord and Ghazkull duel amidst the greatest battle of the war. The battle is savage beyond imagination, and both opponents suffer crippling wounds, yet they keep on fighting. In the end, when their armies are exhausted and themselves nearly collapse from fatigue and injury, the two legends look upon one another and realize they are one and the same - a biological weapon of war, bent on annihilation and consumption of all the lesser races. Somehow, the two melt and fuse into one...
-111.003.M42- Hive fleet leviathan and the Ork empire of Octavius or no more. Instead, a new race emerges - a nightmarish fusion of Ork and Tyranid, combining the two most warlike and numerous races into a biological killing machine of terrible power.
It appears the transformation is not yet complete, and more Ork biological matter will be needed to perfect the design. Neither the Imperium nor the other races have any information regarding this new threat, for now...
-237.003.M42- The first engagement between 'Talon 3' fleet of the Crusade forces and the Tau empire, above the conquered Agri-world Quickshroud that had recently fallen. Although no "Battle Sphere" is detected, the Tau fleet put up a surprisingly difficult fight, managing to damage several warships before the overwhelming numerical advantage of the imperium prevails. Immediately after the last Tau ship is destroyed the Imperial Guard is dropped en mass to the surface, backed up by the space marines of the Salamander legion and a smaller contingent of Raven Guard.
This time the rumored technological advance of the Tau become apparent - the ground forces encountered barricades made from mobile energy shields, hovering gun platform and new stealth battlesuits, bigger and more powerful than before. Through overwhelming numbers the Imperium eventually reclaimed the world, suffering much more casualties than anticipated and stalling the advance for several weeks.
-296.003.M42- By now, the other three Talons of the crusade have engaged Tau fleets over occupied Imperial worlds. While some reports of Talon's 3 attack on Quickshroud did get out to the Tau high command, they are caught off-guard by the scale of the Imperium's response. Despite this advantage, Imperial commanders grudgingly admit that the Tau's fleet has become significantly more powerful than in previous encounters, and some of the officers cautiously voice their opinion that dividing the fleet may be an invitation to disaster...
-314.003.M42- Over the course of scant weeks, all contact is lost with the systems neighboring Octavius. No distress call or psychic message is intercepted. Some Imperial psykers and Astropath sense an unconfirmed presence that is somewhat similar to the Tyranid's notorious shadow in the warp, yet in a way different.
-360.003.M42- Inexplicably, a military convoy passing near one of the silent systems surrounding Octavius vanishes. Investigations into that area reveal the remains of that convoy.
Imperial weapon experts are shocked to discover damage consistent with both Tyranids and Ork weaponry, along with strange ships that they swear seem like a hybrid of Ork and Tyranids designs. Most of these experts are executed on account of madness and the heresy of conjuring falsified information.
Th attack is dismissed as an opportunistic raid by the two warlike races and nothing more. Soon the incident is archived and lost in the monolithic data repository of the Administratum, unnoticed by the harried Imperium.
-363.003.M42- At the end of the third year in the 42M, the Imperium is in a dire state - The Crimson Tear has opened, unleashing Abaddon's New Justaerin on the Imperium. Although it is still unaware of the exact nature of its assailants, the loss of Forge World Ryze, along with the Angels of Iron demise and numerous others disasters plague the Fledgling human Empire.
The Eastern Fringe is heavily assaulted by the Tau Empire's Fourth expansion sphere with brutal results - the noble Ultramarines are diminished and cut off, while the Crusade amassed to save them is starting to get bogged down by the surprisingly powerful Tau forces.
And in the Octavius system, a new and terrible power enters the field, an abomination of alien hybrid that grows unopposed in the middle ground between the Crusade itself and it's founding worlds, hungrily devouring entire systems all the while...
-364.003.M42- Demian Caulfield is born in the Oxygos Hive on Mars.