The Nightmare Legion was the second of the founding space marine chapters. The chapter and it's primarch, Mekratrig, were characterized by stoicism and psychic prowess. In addition to the standard marine training, each recruit underwent a personalized psycho-training regimen designed to locate and confront the fears and traumas learned in the recruit's early life. The Nightmare Legion's armour was painted a dark, swirling gray. The right shoulder pad bore the chapter's insignia, a black skull in flames. The left shoulder pad was individually painted by each marine to represent his former fears. These were displayed in battle to show the legion's implacableness and willingness to conquer any foe, internal or external. This device was as much a factor in the morale in the legion as it was in its enemies.
The Legion was the chapter stationed closest to the Eye of Terror and fought often against the growing forces of Chaos. Mekratrig knew that the chapter's proximity to the eye could have an influence among the troops. By instilling a program of knowledge of exactly what they were fighting against, the primarch hoped to annull any influence Chaos would have over the troops. Being close to the eye, the chapter cultivated a relationship with some of the nearby Eldar. Eventually, a few of the chapter leaders were deemed sufficiently pure by the Eldar and admitted to some of the nearest craftworlds and eventually to the Black Library in pursuit of knowledge.
Mekratrig had been touched by Chaos as the primarchs had drifted through the warp in their embryonic form. During his entire life, he suffered from chronic nightmares of the horrors of the Chaos realm. It didn't matter whether or not these atrocities of Chaos had been realized, Mekratrig suffered just the same. As the template for his chapter, Mekratrig passed on this trait to his marines. Only the severe regimen of training enabled recruits to cope with the Primarch's gene-seed. Another trait passed on by the Primarch was the ability to see dimly in the future. Nightmare marines would feel the urge to leave their base and seek out crisises as they occurred. Due to exposure to the warp, Mekratrig's ability had been enhanced by the mutable time-stream of Chaos to a superb degree.
As the time of the Horus Hersey approached, the marine's nightmares increased their intensity. One night, the primarch and the entire chapter awoke as one with the full realization of what was on the brink of becoming. Mobilizing in a single night, the entire chapter prepared to head to the center of the Empire, to warn and protect the Emperor. However, the Powers of Chaos were waiting for this move. As the fleet headed out from the Nightmare Legion's home base, they encountered a freak warp storm that suddenly appeared to entrap them. The Chaos gods had created this storm to bar the Legion's passage to Earth and cut them off entirely from the Imperium. Mekratrig realized what was happening as the fleet's navigators informed him that there was absolutely no chance of breaking through the warp turbluence ahead.
The chapter leaders convened and immediately decided that if they could not get to the Imperium, they would have to take the fight elsewhere. In a lightning move, the fleet burst through the rear of the storm, where the Chaos gods had neglected to reinforce it. At maximum speed, the Nightmare legion flew into the Eye of Terror, to assault the heart of chaos itself. The chapter knew that there would be little chance of survival, but there was time to prepare. As the ships entered the Eye, each marine, navigator and support personell under the guidance of Mekratrig summonned his shadow self, his soul that existed in the warp. In a mass ritual, a bonding took place, that melded for the first time an entity's physical housing to it's spiritual core. Thus prepared, the legion assaulted the daemon worlds. The bonded, prepared marine could destroy demons in their home in the warp. In their righteous anger, the Nightmare Legion carved a swath of destruction across the Eye of Terror and the warp.
The Chaos powers could feel their power bleeding away as they brought Horus' rebellion up to full speed. They were forced to turn their attention to the Nightmare Legion before they could do any more damage. The Chaos powers involved themselves more directly and revitalized their minions within the warp. Refreshed, the demons began killing the surviving marines. The Nightmare Legion held for as long as they could, but against such overwhelming forces even Mekratrig was eventually pulled down and killed. The Nightmare Legion was no more, but their goal had been achieved. They had paid the price, but had brought a vital distraction to Chaos. Who knows how many more planets Horus could have brought on to the side of the rebellion. Might he had been successful in the end. Not even the Emperor knows the answers to these questions.
A small amount of Mekratrig's gene-seed survived the rebellion. An expedition to the Nightmare Legion's base found the fortress deserted, but the gene-banks were intact. Upon hearing this news during his incarceration in the golden throne, the Emperor ordered the construction of the Grey Knights, the elite daemon-hunters of the imperium, from the lost chapter's gene-seed. None of the chapter's records had survived the assault on the palace, and the Emporer had to become difficult to rouse. The High Lords of Terra had to devise a new way of training elite daemon killers.
But that was not the end of the Nightmare Legion. The bonding between body and soul in the warp had created something new. Being slain was a traumatic experience for the soul of any living thing and natural reaction is to flee. The marine's sould had been bonded to the body--it could not leave. Slowly, the sould revitalized the body of the slain marine. Wounds closed, flesh reknit and scattered parts crawled together all while being bathed in the energies of the warp. The result was something not quite human, not quite demonic. The new, undead marine woke and sought out his fellow marines.
When realization hit, the Nightmare Legion collectively consigned themselves to an eternity of war, death and unlife. The painted their armour black, decorated it in flames and bone insignia and rechristened themselves The Legion of the Damned. Their fate is to eternally seek out the enemies of the imperium with their preiscience, fall in battle and be reborn in the warp. Some bodies survive long enough to decay naturally. It is customary for each marine to paint a bone on his armour where there is a corressponding wound or peice of decaying flesh on his body. The Legion had become an infamous sight throughout the galaxy, striking and leaving, but their passing always leaves a chill on the bones of witnesses.
Copyright Matthew Benjamin Maggitti 9/3/95
Characters and 40k background Copyright Games Workshop