Black Legion (Warhammer 40,000)

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Black Legion
Primarch Horus
Battlecry We are returned!
Colours Black and Gold
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In the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe, the Black Legion is a legion of Chaos Space Marines, formerly under the command of the traitor Primarch Horus.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Horus

Horus, one of the twenty gene-children of the Emperor, is believed by some to have been the first Primarch rediscovered after they were scattered across the galaxy, although Lion El'Jonson of the Dark Angels was chronologically the eldest of the Primarchs. Horus was the only Primarch who was not raised on the planet of the legion for which he commanded (Cthonia, home of the Luna Wolves) a world close enough to Holy Terra that it was within reasonable reach of non-FTL spacecraft.

For thirty years, Horus was the only son of the Emperor, and during this time they, together with the Sixteenth Space Marine Legion, known as the Luna Wolves (some sources name them the Lunar Wolves), began the Great Crusade and forged the initial expansion of the Imperium of Man. They both saved each other's lives on several occasions, and it was said that there was a great affinity between them.

As more Primarchs were discovered and reunited with their Legions of Space Marines, Horus was often granted overall strategic command. Horus relished this position, proving his skill time and time again, while winning the respect of the Emperor and the admiration of the other Legions.

In the second century of the Emperor's Great Crusade, with his sons found, he nominated Horus as his Warmaster and granted him full command of the Great Crusade.

The Luna Wolves Legion revelled in the glory of being the personal guard of the greatest Primarch, sharing Horus's belief in fighting to be the best. The Luna Wolves were always at the forefront of the campaigns, striving to conquer more than any other force in the Imperium. Often, the Legion would swoop in, smash the centres of resistance, and move on, leaving other forces to secure the planet and provide garrison forces.


[edit] The Ullanor Crusade

Considered to be the greatest campaign of the Great Crusade, the Luna Wolves' defeat of a massive Ork empire resulted in many awards heaped on the Legion by the Emperor, most notably the promotion of Horus himself to the rank of Warmaster, supreme commander of the Luna Wolves and the Emperor's Armies. At this time the Emperor also suggested that the Luna Wolves be renamed the Sons of Horus, a title adopted three years later.

The wording of the Emperor's proclamation, claiming the glory of Horus's victories on Ullanor as his own, was the usual rhetoric for such announcements, but it seemed to awaken a deep seated resentment within Horus. In the Primarch's eyes, the Emperor spent his time safe in his palace on Terra, where he returned after the Ullanor Crusade, while Horus won his Imperium for him.

Horus was wounded on the Chaos-corrupted moon of the world of Davin by Eugan Temba, a former Imperial Army Commander left behind to govern Davin. Temba had been corrupted by the Chaos God Nurgle. Temba used an Anathame, an alien sword that had been infused with Chaos energies, to fatally wound Horus. The Anathame had been stolen from the Hall of Devices on the Interex world of Xenobia by Erebus, First Chaplain of the Word Bearers - a legion devoted to the worship of Chaos. Horus was taken by Erebus and high-ranking Sons of Horus to be healed on Davin, for no apothecary could treat Horus's Chaos-infested wound.

In a warp-controlled hallucination, Erebus disguised himself as a comrade of Horus, and attempted to sway him to the cause of Chaos. Magnus the Red, Primarch of the Thousand Sons, joined the warp-dream and unmasked Erebus through sorcery. Instead of being grateful to his fellow Primarch, Horus was disappointed at Magnus's continued use of arcane arts. Horus emerged from the warp-dream in the lodge healed, but changed. Now he was irreparably turned against the Emperor. He unveiled his plan to overthrow him to his loyal commanders.

[edit] Horus Heresy

Main article: Horus Heresy

The Sons of Horus were at the forefront in the battles of the Heresy and in the siege of the Imperial Palace on Terra. However once Horus had been killed by the Emperor they fled, taking Horus's body with them, signalling the failure of the rebellion. Chased by the Imperial Fleet, the Traitor Legions and the others that had taken side against the Emperor took sanctuary in the region known as the Eye of Terror.

[edit] The Exile

Following the Heresy, the Sons of Horus were initially the most aggressive against the Imperium, as if to atone for their previous cowardice. They continued to venerate Horus as their leader, even in death. The Sons constructed a vast fortress-tomb for Horus.

In the centuries after the Heresy, the Legion shifted their allegiance from one Chaos God to another as the need arose, giving themselves over as hosts to daemons. With each change in loyalty the daemons of the rejected Power retreated, leaving the possessed legionnaires empty husks. The once vast Legion was being driven to extinction, as both casualties in battle and the aftermath of daemonic possession began to take their toll.

The Sons had earned the hatred of the Traitor Legions for their retreat after the death of Horus. Wars between the Sons and the other Legions culminated in the destruction of the Sons' fortress, and the theft and cloning of the Warmaster's body by the Emperor's Children. Denied their Warmaster, the Sons rejected his name and painted their armour black, swearing fealty to a new leader, the former captain of the legion's elite First Company, Ezekyle Abaddon - now known as Abaddon the Despoiler. In a lightning raid the new "Black Legion" destroyed the cloned Horus, and fled into further exile aboard their remaining battle barge. The legion has launched raids from the Eye of Terror against the Imperium ever since.

[edit] Organisation

Before the events of the Heresy, the Luna Wolves were organised like any other legion, with companies led by individual leaders. There were twenty-five companies of Luna Wolves following the Ullanor Crusade. Several company captains also served as the Mournival; before the Heresy this included Garviel Loken, 'Little' Horus Aximand, Tarik Torgaddon and Ezekyle Abaddon. The Mournival served as an advisory body to Horus, but in truth held no extra power above that of the other captains.

After the death of Horus, proper structure within the squads and companies disintegrated. The survivors formed into warbands of varying size and composition, led by individuals known as Champions. These Champions were either ranking officers from the Horus Heresy, or newly emerged leaders who had won favour through their violent deeds. When circumstances dictated, several warbands would rally together under the banner of a greater Champion, or even Abaddon himself, usually in preparation for major raid or incursion into the hated Imperium.

The overriding belief of the Legion prior to the Warmaster's demise was in the ultimate superiority of Warmaster Horus and, by association, themselves. In continually seeking to prove themselves as the greatest Legion, they did indeed achieve most in terms of sheer numbers of worlds brought into the Imperial fold prior to the Heresy, although much effort had to be expended by other forces to completely pacify these new worlds.

Their defeat and exile dealt a crushing blow to the collective ego of the Legion.

[edit] Headquarters

The Legion's original homeworld of Cthonia has long since collapsed into an asteroid field, although whether this was through a loss of geo-structural integrity or a deliberate effort by the Imperium is a matter of conjecture.

The Legion created a new home within the Eye of Terror, however, this was later destroyed by a combined Traitor fleet. Since this event, the Black Legion moved their base of operations to the various starships in their possession.

[edit] Recruitment

The Space Marines of the Luna Wolves Legion were created using human stock taken from the violent hive gangs inhabiting Cthonia. Being within reach of Terra for even non-warp spacecraft, Cthonia had been colonised, built upon, tunnelled and mined since the dawn of interstellar travel. As such, all natural resources had been stripped away and used up millennia before, and the ancient mining technology had long since been rediscovered and removed by the Adepts of Mars. The planet that remained was largely redundant and abandoned, completely riddled with catacombs, crumbling industrial plants and exhausted mine-workings.

Fierce gangs inhabited the lawless depths of Cthonia, providing an easy source of human specimens who nobody would miss. Reports tell of 'recruitment squads' rounding up thousands of gangers at a time, chaining them together and loading them into the holds of prison ships.

[edit] Combat Doctrine

The Legion was a flexible fighting force, able to adapt to almost any combat situation. The Legion possessed an efficient chain of command, which fell into disarray after the head, Horus, was killed over Terra. Abaddon managed to restore a measure of discipline, mainly through fear and violence.

The Black Legion generally favours close combat over ranged firefights, and Horus's tactic of "ripping the throat out of the enemy," the annihilation of the enemy's command center through the use of a small force referred to as the speartip, is still a favoured method of attack. Black Legion commanders seek to apply constant pressure on the enemy in a number of lightning fast strikes. These sharp but limited assaults are meant to disrupt the enemy and secure positions that can be used for fire support. This in turn keeps the pressure on while new attacks are being prepared. The time-lapse between each assault decreases with each advance, and the commander will usually wait until the pressure reaches its highest point. When this occurs, the commander will lead his Chosen in a final, devastating assault; an attack in which teleporting Terminators often feature. Hordes of daemons are also used for frontal assaults, and to pin the enemy while the Legion whittles them down.

[edit] Battlecry

Prior to the destruction of Horus's body by Abaddon, the Legion's battlecries included "For the Warmaster!" "Lupercal!" (a Cthonic nickname for Horus), and "In the name of the ship!" (Horus's flagship was called the Vengeful Spirit). Following this, each warband used its own cries, but those fighting under the command of Abaddon are reported to use "We are returned!"

The Luna Wolves used the cry "Kill for the Living! Kill for the Dead!"

[edit] Appearance

The first version of armour used by the Sixteenth Legion was predominantly off-white, with black trim, and the Terminators and assault squads used glossy black armour. The Legion's symbol was a wolf's head imposed over an inverted crescent moon.

After the Ullanor Crusade, and the Interex incident, the Legion's change in name to the Sons of Horus accompanied a change in colouring. The Legion's power armour was decorated predominantly dark grey-green, with black or gold trim, while some soldiers' gauntlets were coloured dark red. The Legion symbol changed to become a stylised eye over a cross - the Eye of Terra.

The Black Library novel "False Gods" (Part II of the Horus Heresy) describes the Luna Wolves' armor as being changed to a pale green color following their name change to the Sons of Horus. In "Index Astartes - Sons of Horus", they were depicted as wearing pale green armour, slightly tinted grey, with black trim.

This colour scheme was retained until Abaddon the Despoiler took command of the Legion's remnants. The Black Legion, as the name suggests, wears black armour. The armour is decorated with gold trim and Chaotic iconography. The symbol of the Eye was retained, however it was now superimposed over the eight-pointed Star of Chaos (now known as the Eye of Horus).

The shift of the Legion's colour scheme from white to black was ordered by Abaddon to mark their shame after their failure in the Horus Heresy.

[edit] Notable Members

[edit] The Mournival

While it was known as the Luna Wolves and the Sons of Horus - before the corruption to Chaos - there were many captains who served as members of the Mournival, an informal advisory body that served as Horus's "war dogs" when the Warmaster wished to be the peacekeeper. These four men figure prominently in the first three books of the Horus Heresy book series by the Black Library.

  • Ezekyle Abaddon, First Captain: Later known as Abaddon the Despoiler, he was Horus's chief lieutenant, who willingly followed his Primarch to Chaos. He later became Warmaster after Horus's defeat.
  • Tarik Torgaddon, Captain, 2nd Company: Known as a joker, able to find humour in most situations. He remained loyal to the Emperor. He was defeated and slain by Horus Aximand during the battle of Istvaan III. This conflicts with an artwork of Torgaddon shown in the book, "The Horus Heresy Vol. II: Visions of Darkness" (also used in the Horus Heresy CCG), in which Torgaddon is shown as having been corrupted by Chaos. However, it was said in Galaxy In Flames that Loken dreamt of a corrupted Torgaddon, with an eight-pointed star tattooed on his face while reading the Book of Lorgar.
  • Horus Aximand, Captain, 5th Company: Known as Little Horus for his uncanny resemblance to Horus himself, he was more reluctant in following his Primarch to Chaos. As far as the book series has gone so far, Aximand has remained in the service of his Legion - though his hesitance and regret following the beheading of Torgaddon has caught Abaddon's attention, so his fate is unclear.
  • Garviel Loken, Captain, 10th Company: Known as "straight up and down", Loken was the newest member of the Mournival, taking over for Hastur Sejanus following the battle for Sixty-Three Nineteen. He, along with Captain Tarik Torgaddon, resisted the fall to Chaos, having long suspected corruption within the legion. As a result, the two of them led the Luna Wolves detachment on Istvaan III, and were betrayed. Loken came close to defeating Abaddon in single combat during the final battle. He appears to be dead although it is not actually stated after a titan steps on the building and he is crushed by rubble. Shortly afterwards Horus launched his final bombardment of the planet.

[edit] Pre-Heresy Space Marine notable members

  • Nero Vipus: was a brother-sergeant of the Luna Wolves Legion of Space Marines. In Horus Rising, Nero Vipus is a loyal Space Marine of the Imperium of Man. He is shown to be a sergeant of the 3rd Squad, Locasta Tactical Squad, of 10th Company of Luna Wolves.
  • Iacton Qruze: Known as the "Half-heard", he was an old member of the Luna Wolves, and the only loyalist Luna Wolf explicitly stated to have survived the Isstvaan III battle.

[edit] Chaos Space Marine notable members

  • Zaraphiston: The Despoiler's personal sorcerer.
  • Salernia: A Tech-Marine in the service of the Luna Wolves, who remained when the Legion turned to Chaos. According to the June 2003 issue of White Dwarf, Salernia specialized in the design of Dreadnoughts, and was responsible for adapting the technology into the dreaded siege engines known as Defilers, at the behest of Abaddon.
  • The Chosen of Abaddon: Four top-ranking elite space marines within the Black Legion, and personal attendants to the Despoiler (possibly in a similar manner to his predecessor's advisors). Two are mentioned by name: Devram Korda, the Tyrant of Sarora (a servant of Slaanesh, based on descriptions of his appearance), and Ygethmor the Deceiver, a Tzeentchian sorcerer who led the Chaos forces in the Battle of Medusa V. The third member is armed with a glaive, has a horned head and a snarling wolf mask, and grinning skulls hang from his ornate power armor. The fourth member is covered in scabs and sores, and continually oozes gangrenous fluid from rusted tears in his bloated power armour. These two marines, respectively, represent the Chaos gods Khorne and Nurgle. Also referred to in the Medusa V booklet is Zaraphiston, a fellow sorcerer of Tzeentch, who was deposed by Ygethmor. Zaraphiston has since regained his position following Ygethmor's death at Medusa V.
  • Maloghurst the Twisted: Horus's equerry and chief enforcer. As Horus began his downward spiral into Chaos, Maloghurst ensured that the "naysayers" - remembrancers, astropaths, Imperial Army soldiers, and even Marines from his own Legion - were silenced in order to prevent the Emperor from finding out of Horus's intent to overthrow him.

[edit] References

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Legions of the Chaos Space Marines