The Hidden History of the First Legion
There are accounts that suggest the First Legion of Space Marines pre-dates the so-called “First Founding”, and that its warriors were not always the Sons of the Lion- this record explores this claim.
In the Beginning
“The Dark Angels were the first of the Emperor's Space Marine Legions, and in their earliest incarnation fought as the personal army of the Master of Humanity in the dawning years of the Great Crusade and in the shadowed campaigns that preceded it...
...In this period, the Dark Angels were not even known as the 1st Legion as no others existed yet, the Emperor simply referred to them as his "Angels of Death" or the "Six Hosts”.
These transhuman troops dominated the final days of the Wars of Unification, easily defeating all their Terran opponents and forcing those among the Tech-priests of Mars who had intervened in the conflict on Terra in the hope of delaying the Emperor's final victory to sue for peace.
But in truth, the victories of these early Space Marines created a new problem within the Imperial fold, among their predecessors as the Emperor's genetically-enhanced troops, the Thunder Warriors.
One ancient source claims that even before the Unification Wars had ended, the Thunder Warriors, already jealous of their replacements' long lives, at last realised that their creator had cursed them with short lifespans as a result of their imperfect genetic augmentations. In their rage and fear, they turned upon the Emperor for what they saw as His betrayal.
It was a cadre of several hundred Custodians of the Legio Custodes, the Emperor's bodyguard, even then believed to have been led by the legendary Constantin Valdor, and accompanied by several thousand prototype Astartes of the Ist Legion of the newborn Space Marines, that stood in the Emperor's defence, carrying out a merciless culling of the obsolete and rebellious gene-soldiers.
From this point on, the Ist Legion ascended in power and the height of the Emperor's favour.”
While we do not know when the Battle of Mt Ararat took place, what some sources report as the final battle of the Unification Wars which immediately after saw the Betrayal of the Thunder Warriors, it is believed to be soon after the Destruction of the Last Church on Terra ca. 745.M30 where the Thunder Warriors were recorded as the Emperor's body guard. In other accounts of the massacre it mentions several thousand Astartes were involved but do not cite the First Legion.
The widely accepted historic records place the Primarch Project ca. 750.M30, with the First Founding of the Space Marine Legions being ca. 780.M30, with the first official public action of the “First Legion” (being described as only recently out of training) being the Palace Coup which took place just before the First Pacification of Luna ca.790.M30.
One needs to consider how the First Legion could be both at the Betrayal of the Thunder Warriors, which was before the creation of the Primarchs, and the Palace Coup which was in response to said massacre- events around 50 years apart- and both times having been described as newly created.
The First Marines of the Legionary Astartes
The Twenty Regiments of Thunder Warriors, more properly the Legio Cataegis, were in fact the proto-types for the intended Legionaries Astartes:
“Into their creation went all the secret history and genetic lore of the Age of Strife, hard wisdom gained through the success and failure of the Thunder Warriors who were the Space Marines' prototypes and the fruits of the Emperor's own inimitable genius.”
But before the Emperor made twenty Primarchs and Space Marine Legions he made prototype Marines. One such prototype was Leetu, among the first successful Legionary templates, who was created from the gene-stock of the Emperor and Perpetual Erda before they used the technique to create the Primarchs. These 'First Marines' made up the “First Legion” putting in context the account of the marines at the Battle of Mt Ararat “several thousand prototype Astartes of the Ist Legion of the newborn Space Marines”. As quoted before:
“The Dark Angels were the first of the Emperor's Space Marine Legions, and in their earliest incarnation fought as the personal army of the Master of Humanity in the dawning years of the Great Crusade and in the shadowed campaigns that preceded it..
...In this period, the Dark Angels were not even known as the 1st Legion as no others existed yet, the Emperor simply referred to them as his "Angels of Death" or the "Six Hosts”.
It seems in the earliest period the First Legion was not just the personal army of the Emperor: he was their biological Primarch, and as such he trusted them for the “shadowed campaigns”, like the Betrayal of the Thunder Warriors, as they were his 'sons'- the little brothers to the Primarchs.
Also of interest while the Primarch Project is estimated ca.750.M30 and the First Founding ca780.M30, the approximate date for the launch of the Invincible Reason, the prototype Gloriana-class Battleship and flagship of the First Legion, is given as 748.M30: suggesting either great forward planning for the First Founding, or that it was in service beforehand possibly acting as the main base of operations for the 'original First Legion'.
It is said the first Marines were drawn from the Emperors elite warriors: “The first among the Space Marines were hand-picked men from the Emperor's personal, mortal bodyguard.”
What is striking about this statement is the Emperor used a number of genetically engineered human soldiers, such as the Geno Five-Two Chiliad, who were at the very peak of what standard humans could achieve physically. Where future Astartes Legions would have to recruit from baseline humans, the potential recruitment of these “topline” humans, combined with geneseed drawn from the Emperor as used by the proto-type Marines, would have made for a superior class of Legionaries.
The number of several thousand Marines at the massacre of the Thunder Warriors is also significant, as one source describes the process used in the formation of Space Marine Legions:
“Each stage of creation would result in expansion of the gene-seed implantation on progressively larger groups of Neophytes. The last of the these preliminary stages was, according to sources, the "Alpha" induction. This was in essence believed to be the first non-experimental implantation, and its purpose was to create a proto-Legion of Astartes at minimum fighting strength to be field-tested in open battle.”
Elsewhere in the text it cites a figure of 1000-3000 Marines for the size for a battle ready proto-Legion, and also stating:
“It is apparent from numerous extant sources that during their creation, each nascent proto-Legion after the Primus or Ist Legion (later the Angelis Tenebrium or Dark Angels), was raised first to active service in a staged process of testing and trials before the full active force was created through mass recruitment from amongst Terran populations loyal to the Emperor's cause.”
Although the source states the First Legion did not go through this process, the several thousand Marines at the Betrayal of the Thunder Warriors seem to be the proto-First Legion raised to a minimum fighting strength to be field-tested in open battle against their veteran and battle-hardened predecessors of the Legio Cataegis to see how they would stack up. It is also likely that the amount of original prototype Marines were never raised above the upper proto-Legion limit of 3000.
Passing the Torch
I put forward the First Legion was likely 'refounded' at the First Founding, with the original prototype Marines drawn from the Emperors geneseed having been replaced by the genesons of the Lion who made their debut at the Palace Coup.
It is possible the prototype Marines acted as veteran instructors, training their planned replacements, as well as handing over Legion assets such as the Invincible Reason, while the First Legion continued to be the Emperor's personal force- although this time publicly. Just like the Thunder Warriors at some stage the Emperor would have stopped replacing the prototype Marines, with the intended marines created from the genetic templates of the Primarchs being put into full production. It is also possible that Marines from both genestocks shared the same Legion for a time, before the Prototype marines mysteriously fell from the ranks after receiving cyphered orders, with the remainder of the Legion having to keep those who they once called brother a secret.
As the First Legion was the product of a top secret project, with their recruitment and training unknown to all but the Emperor's inner circle and that they took part in clandestine actions such as the Betrayal of the Thunder Warriors before their public debut- this would account for the lack of historic records for the creation of the First Legion, and would have helped enshrine a culture of secrecy.
Currently I am awaiting a copy of the history of the Thramas campaign with an attached file containing another history of the Dark Angels Legion which hopefully will shed more light onto the matter.
It could almost be said that the original First Legion, full of prototype Marines, could be counted as the first of the Lost Legions: although it would be a mistake to think the prototype Marines such as Leetu disappeared and played no further role in the Imperial history, indeed in the second part of this report we will look at how they could have helped form a number of Space Marine Forces that have shaped the galaxy.
After making a number of bold claims, now I must rest.
Sources:
https://warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/M30
https://warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/Dark_Angels
https://warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/Thunder_Warriors
https://warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/Alpha_Legion (For proto-Legion numbers)
Leetu can be found in the novel Saturnine
(The Horus Heresy Book Nine: Crusade is up for pre-order)