107,849
edits
Changes
From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
no edit summary
Even before the warp storms and the Age of Strife had ended, the Emperor had begun to make plans for the Great Crusade. These plans included the creation of a far more advanced form of power armour required for the conditions of deep space and alien worlds<sup>2</sup>.
After securing [[Luna]] and then [[Mars]], he began a great building project, reconstructing the industries and production facilities he would need to construct and maintain a great space fleet, sufficient to carry his legions all the way to the edges of the galaxy. Mars, due to its advanced technology and manufacturing infrastructure, became the center of this development, producing, along with ships, the arms and armor his warriors would be equipped with<sup>2</sup>. [[Saturn]], [[Neptune]], and [[Jupiter]] fell to the Emperor next, its inhabitants liberated from cruel alien overlords. Finally, the Imperial War Fleet broke out of the [[Sol System]] system after completely annihilating the "false world" of [[Sedna]].{{Fn|8}}
==The Crusade begins==
[[Image:EmperorwLegions.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Emperor and his Space Marines]]
His fleet constructed, he forged out into the depths of space, seeking out his Primarchs and spreading the name of the Emperor. Throughout the following millennium, he gradually reclaimed his Primarchs, and slowly united humanity under the [[Pax Imperialis]].World after world fell to the Emperor's forces, at first the [[Legio Astartes]] but also later the [[Imperial Army]], [[Collegia Titanica]], and others. Tyrants and false-rulers of thousands of worlds were overthrown by Imperial forces, who quickly outlawed religion and dogma by decree of the Emperor himself. [[Ork]]s, [[Eldar]], [[Hrud]], [[Slaughth]], hideous [[Warp]] entities, and many other lesser alien races were all defeated and driven back in a seemingly unstoppable tide of conquest. Worlds whose human population had become too corrupted or mutated were simply exterminated from orbit.{{Fn|8}}
As each Primarch was discovered, he was given control of his own Legion of Space Marines. As more of the Empire was carved, the Emperor's forces were spread more and more thinly. Eventually the need for Space Marines was greater than the supply. As such, Accelerated Gene Culturing was necessary to provide sufficient legions. Unfortunately, this process was unstable and led to flaws in the gene seed of the legions. This would lead to such afflictions as the [[Black Rage]] and various mutations in the [[Space Wolf]] gene seed.
*{{Endn|6}}: [[Horus Rising (Novel)]] by Dan Abnett: Part One, Chapter Nine, pp. 172-73
*{{Endn|7}}: [[Fulgrim (Novel)]]
*{{Endn|8}}: [[The Horus Heresy Book One - Betrayal]] pg.18-22
[[Category: Imperium]][[Category:The Great Crusade|The Great Crusade]]
