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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]] and [[Custodian Guard]] and later the [[Imperial Army]], [[Sisters of Silence]], [[Collegia Titanica]], [[Legio Cybernetica]], 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]], [[Slaugth]], 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|7a}}
In the early stages of the Crusade, the Imperial forces were divided into three main thrusts, one commanded by [[Horus]], the other by [[Ferrus Manus]], and the last by the [[Emperor]] himself.{{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.
The Crusade lasted for around two hundred years. Towards its end came a period of political consolidation. The Legions were at this point dispersed across the galaxy, many acting as garrison forces rather than campaigning armies. The Legions had been battling constantly, especially the [[Iron Warriors]], struggling under the monotony of siege warfare and garrison duties. Also, the Primarchs that had previously friendly rivalries were beginning to develop into dangerous feuds. Some of the Primarchs had reached the point of intolerance with one another, others like [[Magnus the Red]] had simply become isolated in the confusion of the Great Crusade. [[Perturabo]] was shunned by most due to the nature of his hand in the Crusade and was in turn envious of [[Rogal Dorn]]. [[Konrad Curze]] also had a disagreement with Dorn that escalated into a brutal surprise attack that left Dorn badly injured and unconscious. This mistrust and hatred would form the linchpin of the [[Horus Heresy]].
**{{Endn|7a}}: pgs. 18-22
**{{Endn|7b}}: pg. 80
*{{Endn|8}}: [[The Horus Heresy Book Five]] pg.73
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