As an ardent scholar of the annals of the Imperium, I have always been fascinated by the mysterious Thunder Warriors. These hulking, tempestuous shock troops were the precursors to the emperor’s legions of Space Marines that guard our realms today. In this in-depth analysis aimed at passionate students of imperial history, I will elucidate the origins and Exploits of the Thunder Warriors, their physical and mental attributes compared to the Astartes, their equipment, final battles and why they were ultimately superseded for the Emperor’s Great Crusade.
Origins of the Thunder Warriors
Scholars believe that Thunder Warriors were created by the Emperor in the gene-labs of the Himalazian (Himalayan) Mountains, long before the unification wars. They were part of his early attempts to bio-engineer a superior human soldier by enhancing their musculoskeletal structure and nervous system.
The process involved incorporating canine DNA among other genetic sources to induce a state called Canix helix that gave the subjects heightened aggression, pain tolerance and healing. It made them utterly ruthless and efficient killers on the battlefield.
Conquests during the Unification Era
When the Thunder Warriors were unleashed on the warlords and tyrants of Terra, few armies could stand against them. Accounts speak of them decimating entire phalanxes singlehandedly with nothing but swords, clubs and other primitive weapons.
In one notable campaign, 270 Thunder Warriors accompanied the Emperor and slaughtered over 50,000 rebels from the Ethnarchy with minimal losses. Such was the carnage wrought that they were dubbed “Black Knights” by survivors of their attacks.
However the instability in their genomes took a toll. Most Thunder Warriors suffered cellular degeneration and organ failures that led to death within a few years. But the Emperor cared little for their lifespans as long as they served his purpose of immediate conquests.
Physiological Attributes
| Characteristic | Thunder Warriors | Space Marines |
|---|---|---|
| Height | 7 – 8 ft | 7 – 8 ft |
| Weight | 350 – 500 lbs | 250 – 320 lbs |
| Strength | +30 – 50% | +20 – 30% |
| Speed | +15 – 25% | +15 – 20% |
| Stamina | Medium | Very High |
| Aggression | Extreme | Controlled |
| Lifespan | 5 years or less | 150 – 500 years |
As this table shows, Thunder Warriors eclipsed even Astartes in sheer size and strength. Some could lift two tons and rip through tank armor. A few epic duels are recorded where Thunder Warriors split power-armored Astartes in half!
However they lacked the resilience and longevity of the later geneseed organs. Gladiatorian bouts were needed to curb their aggression between battles, rather than tempering it through training.
Armor and Weaponry
Early Thunder Warriors lacked power armor, relying on chem-inhibited fiber bundles that while tough, offered less protection than Ceramite plating. They utilized archaic weapons like Grav cannons which though devastating, were prone to overheating.
After the unification wars, attempts were made to upgrade Thunder Warriors to power armor. But issues emerged due to their unprecedented bulk and size. Formidable weapons like Daedelosus Keraunos gauntlets were gifted to some units, but the technology remained temperamental.
In contrast, marks I & II power armor for the first Space Marines was meticulously engineered to account for enhanced physiques and reactions of Astartes. And they utilized far more stable archeotech weapons and boltguns perfected over centuries.
The Emperor’s Betrayal
While an unrivaled conquest force, the rampant flaws in Thunder Warriors worsened, including cellular decay, metastatic growths and mental instability from distorted aggression centers and neurotransmitters. They grew harder to control even as the Great Crusade dawned.
The Emperor realized retaining them was more dangerous than unleashing them on the galaxy where alien threats lay. So he began laying the seeds to have the Thunder Legion quietly eliminated and replaced by the more stable proto-Astartes warriors.
The Final Hours of Thunder
Rumors of their imminent demise reached some Thunder Warriors. Chief among them Arik Taranis convinced others that death in battle was preferable to euthanization. In an unauthorized move, hundreds of Thunder Warriors attacked the Imperial Palace to “test themselves against the usurpers”. They breached its outer Lion Gate where the Legate of Terra had massed Custodes and Legionaries.
In the resulting chaos, Thunder Warriors clashed against the Praetorian Guard in a duel where no quarter was given. Bolt shell and las cannon scythed into inviolate armor as power axes cleaved Ceramite. Dozen of veterans fell on each side during indiscriminate close assaults.
Finally Arik Taranis was struck down by Constantin Valdor even as his last followers were culled. This marked the end of the original proto-astartes who were once destined to conquer the stars but were too unstable to claim them forever.
Aftermath and the Age of the Legions
Even before word of that fateful battle spread, coordinated extermination of most Thunder units across Sol began simultaneously. A few survivors managed to escape this culling due to conflicts miring expeditionary fleets. They would become wandering warlords like Kalagann or mercenaries selling their martial skills.
Concurrently the path was paved for the true Wars of Unification where the Emperor’s prototype legionaries carved out an empire spanning the Sol system under the guidance of seasoned commanders. The lessons learned from mistakes with the Thunder Warriors helped refine and stabilize the geneseed implantation surgeries.
By 801.M30 their array was perfected and the process begun to conquer the galaxy itself, one world at a time…
The Parallels with Chaos Space Marines
There are certain obvious qualities that Thunder Warriors share with the archenemies of 40k mankind – the traitor legions of Chaos Marines. Unstable geneseed, aggression driving them past sanity into mutation and a tendency for internecine warfare.
Some hereteks whisper that the spurned warriors’ legacy lives on through traitors like World Eaters or Death Guard – that corruption took root in those who inherited their cast-off flesh. There may be a grain of truth regarding the psychological impact of being created for war then having martial purpose stripped away.
Perhaps alternate paths existed where the legions retained Firstborn Titans to fight alongside Secundus sisters against xenos hordes. But the standards set by the Emperor allowed no room for volatility even if it meant destroying the imperfect.
The New Dawn Experiment
Millennia later, indications emerge suggesting some Thunder Warriors may have escaped notice by fleeing Sol‘s stellar neighborhood. Hints buried in recently discovered data-troves point to a secretive group of heretek Mechanicus once encountering warriors matching their description shockingly far from Terra.
These accounts tell of crates containing biological samples being obtained and sent to a hidden research station code-named ‘New Dawn’. It indicates illegal efforts may be underway to reverse-engineer IInd legion geneseed from salvaged Thunder Warrior organs by combining it with strands of present era space marine progenoid glands.
The result aimed for is potentially creating newer, stable Thunder Warriors or firstborn-primaris crosses retaining their mythic strength but tempered by modern astarte resilience. One can only speculate on the Imperium‘s response if these forbidden experiments prove fruitful…
Conclusion
In retrospect, the Emperor’s brutal calculus to remove the obsolete Thunder Warriors was the right one to enable human ascendancy. Their legacy lives on through their successors who conquered the galaxy with far less attritional losses despite lacking some of that mythic might.
Yet a part of me wonders whether a middle path existed that might have allowed at least some Thunder Legion integration within later Expeditionary Fleets. Could the savage fury of Arik Taranis alongside pragmatic blades like Sigismund or Khârn have presented a different destiny for mankind? Alas, we shall never know.
Yet the dream still persists of someday witnessing a modern incarnation of those legendary firstborn titans… perhaps on the blood-soaked battlefields of a hopeless tomorrow.