[REDACTED] Gene-Seed Experimentation

[Conn Eremon]

I was reading the article on the Alpha Legion in Extinction, came across some interesting references to some experiments done with gene-seed, with the identity kept secret behind a [REDACTED] tag. All we really know is that it is not from the XXth Legion, being that it is used as a comparison. Relevant bits are pages 79-80, discussing the 'stages' of development the proto-Legions went through on Terra at inception.

 

 

The last of 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 at minimum fighting strength to be field tested in open battle. It is notable that at this stage that in the case of the [REDACTED] failed.

 

 

 The first [of three outstanding theories as to why the XXth was not expanded to full Legion strength] is entirely mundane - shortage of suitable manpower - the recruitment assignments of the other Legions during the period now covered most of the suitable genetic and cultural candidates of both Terra and the Sol System, and the disaster of [REDACTED] had proven the folly of attempting to recruit Legiones Astartes stock potentially tainted sources.

 

 

There remains no evidence that links this last 'Alpha' stage Legion to the Emperor's later and eternally sealed gene-craft project to create the Legio Custodes, nor indeed involvement in Labryk Polaris or the aborted [REDACTED] experiment which has long been the subject of dark rumour.

 

And that's all the references to the [REDACTED] that I could find after a brief skim. If I notice more through my extended read-through, I'll bring it up here.

 

Now, donning the conspiracy theorist hat, the most obvious connection to make is that of one of the Missing Legions. Which, to my mind, would adequately explain why this one is missing. Some error occurred during its inception and the Legion itself (what small little bit of it there was) was quietly 'removed.' 

 

The only thing I can think of that would prevent this from being a reference to one of the Missing is the fact that we know every Primarch was united with its Legion. This is all going on very, very early. Horus might be around, but it's doubtful Russ was, which makes it incredibly unlikely that the third found Primarch was around. I suppose it is possible, but who knows.

 

Or perhaps the reference to the Legio Custodes is there so we can make a connection between them. The person collating all this information found no evidence, but the fact that the connection was made means that it is perhaps one of the believed theories, in-universe.

 

Personally, I think we are meant to run with it for our own stories, like a lot of the other tidbits going on. Some Legion's gene-seed was used experimentally that ultimately failed, potentially because of a corrupted intake, but what happened to the subjects afterwards? It almost kind of reminds me of 1000heathens' Firstborn.

 

As an aside, the proto-Legion that would go on to become the Alpha Legion, was deliberately stuck in the 'alpha' stage of creation, where other Legions were being mass-produced and distributed. Seriously? Seriously?

[helterskelter]

So if I were to make an interpretation, theres a loose primarch because his legion just didn't work?

[Marshal Rohr]

The tainted source is the Thousand Sons.

[Adra'Melek]

All the primarchs were supposedly around at the same time so it would be after the Alpha legion were formed. I think that can be ruled out as the cause of one legion's demise.

[Conn Eremon]

The tainted source is the Thousand Sons.

 

The 'taint' of the Thousand Sons was due to their gene-seed, not the intake of subjects that are to be implanted with the gene-seed.

 

Nor would it be [REDACTED].

 

Whatever it is, I think it's fair to say that it is not the XV Legion.

[MasterofMankind]

Interesting find. This seems to correlate with what Sanguinus said to Horus.

I really hope we get to learn more of the missing legions by the end of the series. 

[Perrin]

What exactly are the quotes saying? That a Legion failed to get past the Alpha stage due to their aspirants already being tainted in some way? Or a new kind of geneseed didn't take because it was created from already tainted stock?

I haven't slept in a while, brain isn't at full capacity

Is there any further mention of what Labryk Polaris is?

Not sure what the quotes mean right now, but could it be that geneseed was developed using some genetic material from a xenos species, but later on it is discovered that the xenos species were influenced by chaos during their evolution?

I'd go with Missing Legion right now. The only Legions we know of that had any kind of genetic problems that could match this were the Thousand Sons and Emperor's Children, both of which have been explained.

[Conn Eremon]

No further details were provided, Perrin. I still think it could be any Legion, just not a whole Legion. It doesn't explain the entire genetic history of a single Legion, the flesh-change of the Thousand Sons or the disaster of the Emperor's Children, but it might have been a failed experiment that utilized some gene-seed from a Legion, or more. Something small and minor enough to be easily erased.

 

Though the fact that the Missing Legions and Primarchs are a thing means that it doesn't matter how minor or major something is as far as the ease of erasing it is concerned.

[Perrin]

Good point, could very well be a single company that was affected/experimented on, or just a handful of geneseed. Didn't think of that

I can't see FW adding something like that just as filler. Could end up relating to an "Unknown Founding" Chapter in 40k, or something that happens later in the series?

I always wondered how the Blood Ravens never suffered the Flesh Change, assuming they are TS geneseed. Not saying it's that, but it could be something along those lines.

[Xisor]

Labryk Polaris immediately caught my eye, very keen to know more.

 

Polaris - poles - the Inquisition HQ was supposed to be sub-polar/Antarctic in olden lore? Something that way? Maybe aligned to the Emperor's labyrinth in Deliverance Lost?

 

In any case, the [REDACTED] struck me as plausibly about other, known legions (e.g. Thousand Sons, Emperor's Children), but surely meant to be there as a bald (yet empty) nod to the Lost Legions. 

 

This Labrik stuff has my mind afire though. Good work, whoever wrote that bit!

[Hyaenidae]

 

Personally, I think we are meant to run with it for our own stories, like a lot of the other tidbits going on. Some Legion's gene-seed was used experimentally that ultimately failed, potentially because of a corrupted intake, but what happened to the subjects afterwards? It almost kind of reminds me of 1000heathens' Firstborn.

 

Don't got much to say here, as I ain't one for conspiracy theories, but I just had to say that I love you for mentioning my Firstborn.  :P

[Perrin]

Polaris is the North Star, so it could be something to do with an artic underground lab. Magnetic poles can drift though, so in 28,000 years the North Pole might be in a slightly different location.

 

Not sure if that would change Earth's position in relation to the North Star. Question for any brothers and sisters that happen to be astronomers; if the magnetic poles changed position would it affect the location of the stars in the sky as we see them?

[Conn Eremon]

 

 

 

Personally, I think we are meant to run with it for our own stories, like a lot of the other tidbits going on. Some Legion's gene-seed was used experimentally that ultimately failed, potentially because of a corrupted intake, but what happened to the subjects afterwards? It almost kind of reminds me of 1000heathens' Firstborn.

Don't got much to say here, as I ain't one for conspiracy theories, but I just had to say that I love you for mentioning my Firstborn. :P

http://static.tumblr.com/gdhxe5f/0FKlol9zi/185.gif

[Leif Bearclaw]

The thing about the Extermination [REDACTED] that makes me skeptical as to whether it refers to the loss of either the II or XI is that it doesn't answer the question of what happened to the Primarch.

 

Even if experimentation and/or tainted initial intake ruined the Legion's gene-seed during creation on Terra, the Primarch would've still been out there, and when he was recovered his template could've been used to rebuild the Legion (as was seen with the discovery of Fulgrim). So we'd still need a conspiracy to explain the Primarch's lost brother. Especially as it's implied that all the Primarchs were discovered, such as Russ's apparent statement (from the First Heretic) that he'd already lost two brothers.

[Kol Saresk]

Epiphany. The [REDACTED] experiment says it was an attempt to build up a proto-Legion from tainted sources, right?

 

What if this is actually what happened to the III Legion? I mean think about it, organize the experiment, and then when it fails, wipe out all evidence except for the very few successes and then say it was the fault of some hidden conspiracy. From there, you find the Primarch and rebuild the Legion from scratch, gene-seed and eerything.

[Conn Eremon]

It's certainly possible, but I still think that it was an experiment of much smaller scope than a whole Legion.

[Kol Saresk]

Well it did say its purpose was to field an entire proto-Legion at minimum strength at the get-go, right? Rather than a general build up? And the III Legion suffered that catastrophe rather early on in their history, just after their inception IIRC. Certainly applicable, if not the answer.

[daveNYC]

Polaris is the North Star, so it could be something to do with an artic underground lab. Magnetic poles can drift though, so in 28,000 years the North Pole might be in a slightly different location.

 

Not sure if that would change Earth's position in relation to the North Star. Question for any brothers and sisters that happen to be astronomers; if the magnetic poles changed position would it affect the location of the stars in the sky as we see them?

 

Polaris is the North Star because it's location is along the axis of the Earth's rotation.  Any change to the location of the Earth's magnetic north and south poles would have zero impact on its location or utility in navigation.  Though it is possible that something crazy happened during the 28k years leading up to the Heresy that actually shifted the Earth's axial tilt, which would mean that there'd be a different pole star, or even no star that would be useful in such a role.

[Conn Eremon]

Not disagreeing, just expressing my preference on theories. Personally, I see these Alpha stage Legions as being more varied than their later recruitments. Simply because this is the beginning, and perhaps it is this process that narrows the field down to the major recruitment centers we all know about.

 

And perhaps one met with such failure as to be stricken from the records. For all I know, it could have been one of a dozen different paths the First Legion took at the Alpha stage, the first Legion to ever be in that state. It was brand new, and the Emperor didn't want it to get out that his precious Legiones Astartes could potentially be flawed.

 

But I am not saying it couldn't be the IIIrd, though I am of the opinion that if it was the IIIrd or the XVth, they would just say it.

[Kol Saresk]

Maybe. But there is a whole event on the Massacre timeline that isn't only [REDACTED], but everyone involved was [REDACTED] as well. The Imperium already has a dual history, a public and a shadow history. That's why the Imperium thinks there are only 18 Primarchs while everyone else knows there are two Missing Ones.

 

And would you really want to tell one of your generals and most decorated Legions, a Legion so decorated it bears the Palatine Aquila that the accident way back when was actually you just screwing around because you were bored?

[Conn Eremon]

It's the Emperor. Of course he would! Give those unthinking war machines the cold, hard truth and send them on their way to unending bloodshed and horror, then wonder two centuries down the line how everything went so wrong.

[Kol Saresk]

Like he did witht he warp! Hey-oh!

[Olis]

 

Polaris is the North Star, so it could be something to do with an artic underground lab. Magnetic poles can drift though, so in 28,000 years the North Pole might be in a slightly different location.

 

Not sure if that would change Earth's position in relation to the North Star. Question for any brothers and sisters that happen to be astronomers; if the magnetic poles changed position would it affect the location of the stars in the sky as we see them?

 

Polaris is the North Star because it's location is along the axis of the Earth's rotation.  Any change to the location of the Earth's magnetic north and south poles would have zero impact on its location or utility in navigation.  Though it is possible that something crazy happened during the 28k years leading up to the Heresy that actually shifted the Earth's axial tilt, which would mean that there'd be a different pole star, or even no star that would be useful in such a role.

 

Due to axial precession, there's a cycle of North Stars (Pole Stars). At the moment it's the star Polaris but five thousand years ago it fell to the dim star called Thuban to be the North Star, and at certain points in history the North Star was also Vega, Gamma Cephei and Deneb* (in no particular order) - these will recur again in the future, too. It's almost a twenty-six thousand year cycle so Polaris will return to it's status as the North Star in the late 28th millennium, by the time of the Great Crusade Polaris won't strictly be the North Star any more as the axial tilt of Terra will have drifted away. It will however, unless I'm mistaken, still be the closest star to the North Pole at the time. In the forty-first millennium, mind you, the Pole will be closing in on Vega from Deneb. 

 

* Incidentally, Deneb is Mars' joint Northern Star at the moment (along with a star called Sadr).  

 

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. As far as I'm concerned it makes logical sense that these [REDACTED] notations refer to Legions, whether destroyed or otherwise. But, and it's a big BUT, it is not the only explanation - bear in mind the [REDACTED] bits could very well be more than one word, they could be phrases or even sentences.  It would make sense that Alan Bligh not only references the missing Legions here but also tosses in a red herring or two (of which we'll likely never be able to discern which is which).