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It was the 38th Millennium
The Great Galactic War that would later be known as the 9th Black Crusade had ended. The God Emperor of Mankind still ruled, his body all but a rotting corpse entombed within his Golden Throne of machinery from the Dark age of Technology while his mind still roamed the Warp. The Ruinous Powers still sought to bring down the pillars of creation, tempting those of weak mind and will with promises of power and retribution.
Many had answered the call to fight on the side of mankind in the name of the God Emperor. The mighty Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines, genetically engineered warriors of legend whose chapter houses each numbered one thousand and who were the God Emperor's Angels of Death were first amongst them. The Ultramarines, White Scars, Lamenters, Black Eagles, and the Celestial Swords numbered among those chapters who prominently figured in the war. Their thousands were not alone. They were joined in arms by the soldiery from regiments in the Imperial Guard, their numbers totaling in the millions and they were also joined by the mighty space armada of the Imperial Navy.
Arrayed against them was a mighty force named the Black Legion and under the command of a Lord of Chaos named Abaddon the Despoiler. Millennia ago, they had served the God Emperor of Mankind as the Luna Wolves Space Marine Legion with Ezekyle Abaddon as their First Captain, but no longer. They had renamed themselves the Black Legion, their numbers far greater than the thousand in the Space Marine chapters who now served the God Emperor, and their champion had been renamed Abaddon the Despoiler. They were joined by the fallen Space Marines chapter known as the Brazen Devourers as well as countless other scattered warbands of renegade Space Marines. Allied with them were untold numbers of traitors to the human race as well as countless voidcraft which comprised their space fleet.
The results were mixed. The Lamenters Space Marines chapter suffered great losses defending the world of Corrillia against the Black Legion until the siege was broken by the combined might of the White Scars and Ultramarines chapters of Space Marines. The Black Eagles were spread thin, projecting their power into three different sectors of the Empire in order to prevent the spread of war, when they were attacked by the Brazen Devourers. The resulting battle of space fleets left both sides decimated, licking their wounds. The Celestial Swords were destroyed to a man when they attempted to confront the Black Legion. But finally, the forces of Chaos withdrew in the year 552.M38, seventeen years after the struggle had begun. Billions had perished and the Blood God's laughter echoed throughout the galaxy as the Black Crusade had only served to whet his appetite. Soon after, another story began to unfurl. Heresy took hold within the Aessina Sector and once again, blood began to flow.
The Blood God smiled