Unification Wars
The Unification Wars, also known as the Wars of Unification, is the name of an ancient number of conflicts fought at the end of the Age of Strife. They were spearheaded by the warlord known only as The Emperor in his attempt at reunifying the shattered tribes and nations of Terra, now ruled largely by Techno-Barbarian lords. His intentions were to reforge the shattered remnants of Man and create an Imperium that would bring about a Great Crusade to bring order to the galaxy.
Overview
Prelude
By M29, Terra had been engulfed in the chaos and anarchy of the Age of Strife for several thousand years. Terra was a violent cauldron divided between city-states, Techno-Barbarian warlords, and various other polities. However as Slaanesh was close to its birth at the epicenter of the Eldar Empire, the Warp Storms plaguing humanity's homeworld becalmed themselves. Sensing the time was right, a being known as The Emperor finally began his campaign to reclaim Earth.[11b]
Appearing openly for the first time, The Emperor led his Thunder Warriors, genetically engineered super soldiers created in secret laboratories[6], in a series of campaigns against all other warlords and Techno-barbarians of Old Earth. His forces included not only the Thunder Warriors but also the Custodian Guard, formations that would become the early Imperial Army including Geno Five-Two Chiliad and the Inferallti Hussars, and eventually the proto-Astartes. His forces utilised the advanced weapons of the Terrawatt Clan after he secured an alliance with them.[8] Thus did the Emperor make his move on the major powers of Terra.[8] One of his earliest major campaigns was against the Maulland Sen Confederacy.[19a]
Subduing Terra
Factions & Tribes
- Adedeji - This Dynasty ruled from northeastern Africa. After they were defeated by the Emperor they were reduced to lowly status, with many being forced to become factory workers.[18]
- Albia - Albians refused to kneel before the Emperor and met his Thunder Warriors with their own proto-dreadnoughts and armoured ironside soldiers. In battle after battle, the Albians managed to hold back the Emperor's forces but only at staggering cost for the defenders. Admitting the martial temper and indomitable spirit of his foe, the Emperor called a ceasefire and sought a diplomatic solution. The Emperor appeared before the Albian Clan Lords unarmed and clothed in white and crimson, speaking of his vision of a unified mankind. He offered them glory among the stars and redemption. To the shock of many, the warlords of Albia, seeing the Emperor as different from past tyrants, accepted terms and soon became one of the most zealous supporters of unification.[10b]
- Albyon - The tyrannical warlord Uilleam the Red is defeated by rival Kibuka's forces and imprisoned in the dungeon of Khangba Marwu. Kibuka would also be imprisoned there by another rival force.[9a]
- Achaemenid Empire - Swearing allegiance to the Emperor early on in his war, the Achaemenid Empire suffered little during the Wars of Unification, avoiding both atomic strike and invasion by Thunder Warriors.[3]
- Akkad - Fought against the forces of the Emperor in Central Asia alongside his Udug Hul elite. They were ultimately defeated by the First Legion[20]
- Atlan - Ur-queen of this country was killed by Adeptus Custodes during one of the battles[16]
- Boeotia - Mentioned in Imperial records as holding out against full Unification for some considerable time; while tacitly recognizing the Emperor's dominance, the ruling monarchy of Boeotia used all manner of diplomacy in order to avoid losing power. In a show of great patience and benevolence, the Emperor allowed the ruling family of Boeotia - the Yeselti - to carry on like this for over 150 years, with the intention that they would integrate themselves into unified Imperial Terra at their own speed and with as much dignity as possible. Instead, the Yeselti clung onto their independence to the point where, firstly, the Imperial Army was forced to invade the province and finally, Legiones Astartes of the Thousand Sons were assigned to quash the trucculent little state. Boeotia was notable both for the presence of industry and at least one buried shrine to gods worshiped by humans in an earlier age.[4a]
- Caucasus Wastes - Its ruler, the ethnarch, was defeated by the Emperor's forces and imprisoned in the dungeon of Khangba Marwu.[9a]
- Ethnarchy - The Ethnarchy is known to have commanded formidable forces consisting of genetically modified warriors known as the Ur-Khasis, dangerous weapons from the Dark Age of Technology and enslaved Psykers. The first attempt by Imperial forces to capture the Ethnarchy's strongholds earlier in the war had cost the lives of 20,000 Thunder Warriors and a million other casualties. Towards the end of the Unification Wars, the Emperor began his second attempt to topple the Ethnarchy. This time the XVIII Legion of the Legiones Astartes was tasked with destroying the subterranean power generators feeding the Ethnarchy's power fields. In the ensuing Assault on the Tempest Galleries, the XVIIIth Legion was victorious and with their force fields down, the Ethnarchy was quickly crushed by the forces of the Emperor.[7c]
- Franc - Absorbed by the forces of the Emperor.
- Hy Brasil - Its last independent ruler, Dalmoth Kyn, was one of the last Terran warlords to be defeated by the Emperor. After their defeat Hy Brasil existed as semi-autonomous province within the Imperium, and was governed by Kyn's descendants. However, the actions of Malcador the Sigillite ensured that Dalmoth's descendants, including Pherom Sichar, never sat on the Council of Terra when it was created.[2]
- Merica - This major kingdom, known for its high fashion and ballrooms, fell to the Emperor's forces.[9a]
- Maulland Sen Confederacy - The Nordic-based Confederacy, unwittingly serving the Dark Gods by engaging in cannibalistic human sacrifice and forbidden genetic manipulation, was crushed by the Thunder Warriors in the Battle of Maulland Sen. Its ruler, the Priest-King of Maulland Sen, was executed by the Emperor personally.[15]
- Orioc - Deep in the southern ice mountains, the city-state clung to its beliefs until the arrival of the Imperial Heralds. When Orioc opened fire on the XVII, the Astartes launched their attack and, after three hours, detonated seismic charges that buried the entire civilisation.[7d]
- Oxitania- Ruled by King Gotha during the Unification Wars. Ultimately defeated, though at the cost of the near destruction of the VIII Legion's 9th Company. The company remnants were oathbound to serve Gotha himself, as he had accepted the rank of Rogue Trader from the Emperor in remission of his execution.[7b]
- Panpacific Empire - The powerful Panpacific under its tyrant Narthan Dume was defeated by the forces of the Emperor. In a rare move, the Emperor had Dume executed instead of imprisoned.[9a]
- Saragorn Enclave - the Enclave surrendered to the forces of the Emperor but still carried on their experiments in secret. When the Emperor discovered this defiance, he despatched the VIII Legion to bring his retribution. The Enclave was viciously destroyed.[7a]
- Ursh - Ruled over by the tyrant Kalagann, Ursh employed powerful psykers in its armies and used their might to unleash dark warp powers on its enemies. This did not, however, avail him when he faced the forces of the Emperor, who defeated and killed Kalagann.[12]
- Yndonesic Bloc - The brutal Ethnarch of the bloc, Cardinal Tang, was defeated by the forces of the Emperor and imprisoned.[13]
One of the last battles in Europa was the Massacre at Gaduare in Franc, where 5,000 Imperial Thunder Warriors slaughtered 50,000 rebel militia.[5] In 669.M30, the last major battle of the Unification era saw the Emperor purge most of the Thunder Warriors at Mount Ararat, making way for his next generation of superhuman warriors, the Space Marines.[9][21] At some point after the purge of Mount Ararat, the Palace Coup was launched by dissident Imperials, including surviving Thunder Warriors, who had come to oppose the Emperor for various reasons. The uprising was crushed with the first mass use of Space Marines.[19b] From then on, Space Marines became a prominent part in the Imperial armies on Terra, and began developing their distinct, Legion-specific characteristics. For example, the White Scars were used by the Emperor as outriders probing enemy strongholds for weakness and striking where opportunity arose.[17]
Among the final of the[10a][21] ninety anti-Imperial warlords[24] to be brought low was Cardinal Tang who still resisted Imperial rule by 703.M30,[10a][21] when most of Terra had already submitted to the Imperium. In that year, the Emperor then set his sights on Luna, occupying it in a quick campaign.[14][21] After his military victories the Emperor sought to spread his Imperial Truth across the planet, enforcing atheism and destroying the planet's churches. The final church of Terra, the Church of the Lightning Stone, was destroyed shortly before the Great Crusade.[5] The Unification Wars were officially declared over in 712.M30,[21] after there was no power or potentate left on Terra that could hope to threaten the Emperor's rule of the world.[4a]
Aftermath
After capturing Terra and Luna and winning the allegiance of the Mechanicum of Mars, the Emperor launched his Great Crusade. Over the next 200 years, the Emperor spearheaded the Astartes Legions in reconquering much of the Galaxy and finding the lost Primarchs.[7c]
However despite the Emperor having ended the Unification Wars, there were still numerous feudal states, religious adherents, remote nations, stubborn autocrats and royal houses that refused to end their independence. While they posed no risk to the Emperor's rule of Terra, these groups resisted any efforts made to make them join the Imperium. The Emperor, however, went to great lengths to resolve these conflicts without using violence, if it was possible. The Imperium's dealings with these independent groups continued well into the Great Crusade, but there was a limit to the Emperor's patience. When it was reached, He would unleash His wrath on any group that still refused to join the Imperium. This occurred with the royal house Yeselti of Boeotia, who were destroyed when they would not end their nation's independence, even after the Emperor gave them one hundred and fifty years to do so.[4a] Over a decade later, the Imperium would wage war against the N Brigade in Ossetia, after they resisted the Emperor's rule of Terra as well.[4b]
Sources
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- 1: Legion (Novel),
[Help]
- 1a: Part 1, Chapter 1
- 2: Blood Games (Short Story)
- 3: A Thousand Sons (Novel), Chapter Twenty-One, pgs. 381-383
- 4: Prospero Burns (Novel)
- 5: The Last Church (Short Story)
- 6: The First Heretic (Novel), Chapter 17, pgs. 300-301
- 7: The Horus Heresy Book Two - Massacre
- 8: Vengeful Spirit (Novel) Chapter 4
- 9: The Outcast Dead (Novel),[Help]
- 9a: Chapter 10
- 10: The Horus Heresy Book One - Betrayal,
- 11: Realms of Chaos: The Lost and the Damned
- 12: Horus Rising (Novel), Part Two, Six
- 13: Galaxy in Flames (Novel) pg.410
- 14: The Horus Heresy Book One pgs.80-81
- 15: Master of Mankind (Novel) Chapter 6
- 16: Codex: Adeptus Custodes (8th Edition), pg. 9
- 17: Codex Supplement: White Scars (8th Edition), pg. 24
- 18: The First Wall (Novel) Chapter 8
- 19: Valdor: Birth of the Imperium (Novel)
- 20: The Horus Heresy Book Nine pg.84-86
- 21: Horusheresy.com Galaxy Timeline (last accessed 2/6/2022)
- 22: Saturnine (Novel) - Part 1, Chapter 3
- 23: The Crimson King (Novel) - Chapter 17
- 24: Ashes of the Imperium (Novel), Chapter 13
