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==Overview==
The Emperor had already been fighting on [[Terra]] with [[Thunder Warriors|genetically modified warriors]], but in the end they proved hyper-violent and short-lived. This project would be his greatest attempt to create generals to lead these warriors, second only to himself in skill, ability, and sheer power. It was begun in [[M29]] with the aim to create 20 cloned 'children' of the Emperor. The facility to create these [[Primarch]]s was constructed on [[Terra]] and the Emperor alongside the [[Perpetual]] [[Erda]]{{Fn|7}} and [[Biotechnical Division]] Director [[Amar Astarte]]{{Fn|6}} oversaw the project, having them grown in accelerated gene culturing chambers. His scientists watched over the growing fetuses in their chambers, afraid of what would happen if anything went wrong.{{Fn|6}}
It is said that the Emperor created the Primarchs to replace humanity. Fearing that all of humanity would eventually be corrupted by [[Chaos]], he hoped to create super-humans in his labs. They were given god-like powers and bred for strength and loyalty. The Emperor had hoped to create a genetically-engineered, pure race completely immune to Chaos. Despite this, followers of the Emperor claim that the Primarchs were not truly created to replace humanity. Instead, they were created as shining exemplars of humanity free from corruption.{{Fn|8}}
According to [[Ingethel|Ingethel the Ascended]], the Primarchs were created by the Emperor with the aid of forbidden sciences and arcane lore derived from the [[Warp]].{{Fn|1}} [[Eldrad Ulthran]] also states that the Emperor utilized dark powers to construct the Primarchs.{{Fn|2}} It is speculated the Primarchs were imbued with energies and knowledge that the Emperor gained in a Warp Portal on [[Molech]].{{Fn|3}} The [[Perpetual]] [[Erda]] was used as the "mother" of the Primarchs, combining her genetic material with that of the Emperor's.{{Fn|7}} However, the [[Gods of Chaos]] somehow managed to spirit them away just prior to their maturation with a great [[Warp]] vortex{{Fn|4}}, and it is speculated that they also managed to tamper with the infant Primarchs. The scattering of the Primarchs may have been the result of a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causal_loop Causal Loop] created when [[Argel Tal]] and his men were sent back in time inside the [[Eye of Terror]] to the Emperor's laboratory, as they were convinced by [[Ingethel the Ascended]] to destroy the [[Gellar Field]]s protecting the infants from the touch of the Chaos Gods. Almost immediately after the Gellar Field generators were disabled, the Primarchs were sucked into a Warp vortex.{{Fn|1}} According to Erda, she was responsible for opening the vortex that scattered the Primarchs in order to save her children from the fate the Emperor intended.{{Fn|7}} Several Primarchs, including [[Konrad Curze]], [[Roboute Guilliman]], and even [[Sanguinius]], came to believe that the scattering of the Primarchs and their upbringing on distant worlds had been engineered by the Emperor.{{Fn|5}}
*{{Endn|6}}: [[Valdor: Birth of the Imperium (Novel)]] Chapter 10 & 14
*{{Endn|7}}: [[Saturnine (Novel)]] Part 2 Chapter 3
*{{Endn|8}}: [[Black Crusade Core Rulebook]], pg. 24
===Uncited===