It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries the Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the Master of Mankind by the will of the gods, and master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the Imperium for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day, so that he may never truly die.

Yet even in his deathless state, the Emperor continues his eternal vigilance. Mighty battlefleets cross the daemon-infested miasma of the Warp, the only route between distant stars, their way lit by the Astronomican, the psychic manifestation of the Emperor's will. Vast armies give battle in his name on uncounted worlds. Greatest amongst his soldiers are the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines, bio-engineered super-warriors. Their comrades in arms are legion: the Imperial Guard and countless planetary defence forces, the ever vigilant Inquisition and the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus to name only a few. But for all their multitudes, they are barely enough to hold off the ever-present threat from aliens, heretics, mutants - and worse.

To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be re-learned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

— The standard intro to every Imperium-centered written work from the 40K universe, first spoken by Vulkan, Primarch of the XVIII Legion Astartes "Salamanders"



"We have arrived, and it is now that we perform our charge. In fealty of the God-Emperor, our undying Lord, and by the grace of the Golden Throne, I declare Exterminatus upon the Imperial world of Typhon Primaris. I hereby sign the death warrant of an entire world, and consign a million souls to oblivion. May Imperial Justice account in all balance. The Emperor Protects."

It is human nature to seek culpability in a time of tragedy. It is a sign of strength to cry out against fate, rather than to bow one's head and succumb. Inevitably, many shall fault the hands upon the sword which felled Typhon: the Ordo Malleus. But the Inquisition merely performs the duty of its office; to further fear them is redundant; to hate them, heretical. Those more sensible will place responsibility with those who forced the hands of the Inquisition. With some fortune, they may foster this hatred into purpose, and further rule their own fate by coming to the Emperor's service. Yet ultimately, it was I who set these events into motion, with a single blow from my hammer, God Splitter.



Inquisitor, with all respect; is Exterminatus the only solution?

Admiral Spire, it is said that heresy is like a tree. Its roots lie in darkness while its leaves wave in the sun. You can prune away its branches, even cut the tree to the ground but it will grow again, ever stronger. Such is the nature of heresy and why it is so difficult to destroy. Some may question my right to destroy a world of ten billion souls. But those who truly understand realize I have no right to let them live.
No sacrifice is too great.
No treachery too small.

And blood-black nothingness began to spin... A system of cells interlinked within cells interlinked within cells interlinked within one stem... And dreadfully distinct against the dark, a tall white fountain played.

Cells.
Cells.

Have you ever been in an institution? Cells.
Cells.

Do they keep you in a cell? Cells.
Cells.

When you're not performing your duties do they keep you in a little box? Cells.
Cells.

Interlinked.
Interlinked.

What's it like to hold the hand of someone you love? Interlinked.
Interlinked.

Did they teach you how to feel finger to finger? Interlinked.
Interlinked.

Do you long for having your heart interlinked? Interlinked.
Interlinked.

Do you dream about being interlinked...?
Interlinked.

What's it like to hold your child in your arms? Interlinked.
Interlinked.

Do you feel that there's a part of you that's missing? Interlinked.
Interlinked.

Within cells interlinked.
Within cells interlinked.

Why don't you say that three times: Within cells interlinked.
Within cells interlinked. Within cells interlinked. Within cells interlinked.