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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
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Even before the [[Emperor]] had unified [[Terra]], his armies included genetically altered warriors, the [[Thunder Warriors]]. Although these soldiers were more powerful than the later Space Marines, they were less in number and had a shorter lifespan. It was during this period that the techniques for restructuring genetic codes were perfected. Individual germ-cells, called gene-seeds, were isolated and genetically modified, eventually being used to create specific organs which could be implanted into a warrior.{{Fn|1a}}
The development of these organs took many centuries and the research was in fact an off-shoot of the aborted [[Primarch]] project. The Primarchs were god-like beings whose powers far outstripped even that of a "regular" Space Marine. Samples of genetic tissue were taken from each of the fetal Primarchs and used to create the gene-seed of the original twenty [[Space Marine Legion]]s. Thus each of the original Legions (and therefore their [[Successor Chapters]]) inherited some traits associated with their specific Primarch.{{Fn|1a}} While the original Gene-Seed was created by the Emperor and his scientists, it was only mass-produced after [[First Pacification of Luna|the conquest]] of the advanced genetic cults of [[Luna]].{{Fn|8}}
===Post-Heresy===
*{{Endn|6}}: [[Legion of the Damned (Novel)]] by [[Rob Sanders]], Chapter 1, pg. 40
*{{Endn|7}}: [[Dead Sky, Black Sun (Novel)]] by [[Graham McNeill]], Prologue
*{{Endn|8}}: [[Praetorian of Dorn (Novel)]] - Part 2, Chapter 3
===Uncited===
{{Uncited}}
*[[Codex Imperialis]]
[[Category:Space Marines]]
