The New Imperial Truth

Unethical Practices

“We fear things in proportion to our ignorance of them.”

[//Titus Livius, M0+]

[//matthew_n/@hobbyguy3+]

***

"Against the thesis, we propose the antithesis. Between the two, we conjure – through the majesty and Mysteries of He on the Throne, a synthesis. It is simple. So simple a scholam-child could grasp it."  The Oratorio-Magnus' voice had an underlying sneer – and the audience, so used to physical punishment, cringed almost reflexively. 

Some amongst those who had truly taken on board the organisation's unspoken maxim 'agreement is expedient', wore nervous half-grins, aping the Oratorio and glancing about to ensure the others were acting similarly. It further reinforced the point.

Of course it's simple. Only an idiot would disagree.

"Likewise," the Oratorio continued, "we can apply this principle elsewhere. Truth; falsehood; Imperial truth."

***

One Imperium

The Imperium is vast and cobweb-thin. Passing information between worlds is imprecise and patchy, achieved through ancient, esoteric and little-understood mechanicsms. Entire worlds, or even Sectors, fall out of communication with depressing regularity; some for generations at a time. It is little wonder, then, that most crises that the Imperium faces are dealt with on a local level. Support, even from within a world's local stellar region, is unreliable – and even that is dependent on a planet's level of cooperation with its neighbour. In truth, many Imperial worlds are as alien to one another as they are to xenos domains, and view each other with suspicion bordering upon hostility. Such is the nature of mankind.

Against this is weighed the sense of the Imperius Omnium ut Unum; the central concept of the Imperium as a borderless, united entity. Suffice to say that even in the days when Primarchs and the Emperor were abroad, it was difficult to reconcile the concept of a unified empire of mankind against the plurality of cultures and societies encountered. At best, the early Imperium presided over a conglomeration united principally by the mere fact of shared specieshood – a concept stretched thin even then, when confronted with planets populated by abhumans.

[//Vostoval 'squats', Gurbax. Many 'kin', as they term themselves, operate as Protectorates of the Imperium – or at least, as separate and nominally indepenent Satrapies. +]
[//michael_v+]

The concept of the Imperius Omnium ut Unum was enshrined long after the enthronement of the God-Emperor, by the now-extinct High Lord of the defunct Adeptus Codicilus, a pillar of the Imperial Order that was tasked with providing a 'template culture' for the Imperium – in essence, a shorthand for what was culturally acceptable to believe. It was envisioned as a social equivalent to the STC templates: a cultural mirror of the Imperium's overarching similarity of architecture and machinery as a result of the degraded remnants of the STC. The concept was never fully realised, though more through a lack of the ability to communicate and enforce it than through lack of ambition or political will. Indeed, a century-long war erupted across the Solar System itself and consumed an entire Battlefleet before the idea was diluted to a mere 'suggestion of orderly conduct' for aspirant Imperial Commanders.

One lasting result of the abortive campaign, however, was the worming of the concept of Imperius Omnium ut Unum into the fabric of the Administratum, and through this into the mechanisms of the Imperium at large – for where armies and religious campaigns fail to change hearts and minds, the grinding minutiae of bureacracy can wear down even the most defiant.

Thus, while true Imperial uniformity was a long-lost delusion of a dead dreamer, certain aspects percolated their way into everyday life for great swathes of humanity – perhaps even a greater part – through universal tomes like the Books of the Administratum and galaxy-wide organisations like the Ordo Prefectus and Inquisition, whose subtle tendrils influence nearly all humanity to a greater or lesser extent. 

[//M41{chrono:incerto} Unfortunus Veck of the Ordo Xenos pictured lecturing.+]
[//edward_r/@death_of_a_rubricist+]

For the scant few decades in which it was championed by the High Lords of Terra, Imperium Omnium ut Unum was supported by some of the most influential organisations and individuals in the Imperium; including more than a few of genuine charismatic genius. It was largely down to these now long-forgotten men and women that the abstract and euphuistic philosophy of Imperium Omnium ut Unum was able to first piggy-back upon – and eventually parasitise – the vaguely-remembered and more generally palatable concept of the Imperial Truth. 

In time, the original conception of the Imperial Truth had fallen out of the memory of mankind, and thus the new way was able to settle into it; eventually metastatising into little more than a vague sense of orthodoxy and belonging; one that owed far less to inclusion and acceptance than it did to fear of oppression and expulsion.

In this way, over many centuries the High Lords unconsciously self-selected for those prepared to advance conviction over actual legitimacy. The great and the good of the Imperium, for all its size and poor communication, thus trailed in the wake of the Senatorum Imperialis – for when verification and comparison is so difficult to make, it became prudent for the Imperial aristocracy to adapt to what it was told.

***

The Imperial Truth

Of particular relevance to the War of the False Primarch were the cultural touchstones that this unifying philosophy brought to the otherwise utterly mutually unintelligible cultures of the Imperium, and those of local warzones like Sectors Morqub and Heliopolis in particular. 

The 'New Imperial Truth'  was primarily what allowed the orphans of Frith, for example, to find at least some common ground with the nomadic Star Wardens – or, for that matter, their explicit enemies like the Flesh Eaters of the extrasegmental world of Karpathia. It was owing to the ghost of Imperium Omnium that meaningful discussion between long-distant galactic cousins was possible; even if, in many cases, individual cultural mores or taboos made such possibilities unproductive or moot.

More subtly, the conception of an overriding central truth that superseded local understandings was corrosive to pursuits of objectivity. While these aspirations remained entirely possible to pursue across the Imperium, adherence to the orthodoxy became considerably more useful to those seeking advancement and wanting to extend control than mere veracity.

This became weaponised by the ruthless – particularly those few who were both privileged enough to have access to enough of the unredacted records and insightful enough to recognise the tenuous nature of their rank. Level internal dissent became, to many High Lords prior to the War of the False Primarch, more concerning than outright sedition. After all, rebels were de facto Other; as xenos and repulsive to the mass of humanity as aliens and heretics. A reasonable argument, however, invited an open mind; and who knew where that could lead?

[//Osric Domalde of the Ordo Redactus+]
[//alexander_l/@noctuscornix+]

Thus the power of the Inquisition in general, and the Ordo Redactus in particular, waxed in the centuries prior to the War of the False PrImarch. By happenstance – brought about more through paranoia than by foresight – when the being claiming to be a Primarch emerged onto the galactic stage, the Imperium was simultaneously both uniquely receptive to the potential upturning of the prevailing orthodoxy, and well-placed to obscure and prevent it.

It is owing to the efforts of Inquisitors such as Osric Domalde, and allies within organisations such as the Ecclesiarchical Scrutoria, that the truth could be altered; but it is owing to the unconscious and systemic paranoia inherent in the Imperium's power structures that truth was allowed to become so malleable, and the minds of men so fertile to ideas of questionable veracity.

***

The New Imperial Truth and the War of the False Primarch

In examining the long-lost history of the War of the False Primarch, we must therefore see the evidence through the eyes of those that came afterwards; and never through the long-lost experiences of those present. In addition to the explicitly redacted material – itself veiled and locked away inside vaults inaccessible to few save the highest – much of the remainder is second-hand or questionable. 

Numerous sources, for example, imply that the Iron Guard fought alongside the Pentarchy of Blood for much, if not all, of the war. Likewise, were not for the infamous reportage of Cassar Illiateuri, we would have little record at all of the Jade Talons or Argent Heralds, Chapters who might perhaps have slipped through history entirely save for his writings; a fate that may indeed have befallen the mysterious Benedictors, obscurely referenced in but one text, and that fragmentary. 

Dozens of such inconsistences and outright contradictions exist in the material remaining. For example, the aforementioned Argent Heralds are so frequently mis-labelled the 'Ardent Blades' in the writings of Alexander Hale of Myrea that it is possible that they have taken on a misnomer that has been unwittingly replicated – a miserable fate for the glory-seeking Adepts of the Astartes. 

[//The eventual fate of the Golden Hands – deliberately passed over in their arrogant bid to become members of the Pentarchy – serves as a salutory lesson to all those who would make the claim that 'Information is victory'.+]
[//matt_t/@spacedhulk+]

While the sediment of history and the dissemination of mistakes has doubtless contributed to the mystery of the War of the False Primarch, such large-scale loss is rare even within the Imperium – for the obsessiveness and mindless rote ordained by the Adepts of the Administratum are powerful tools indeed against unwitting degradation and entropy.

No, active obscuration and obfuscation are at the root of the lack of information – and nowhere is this more apparent than in the case of the Silver Stars.

***

The eye believes

He that bears not witness, may not bear false witness.

[//Absolution Cadence , Ecclesiarchal Primer+]

[//The peculiar abilities of the Sisters of Silence are instrumental in the levels of Imperial Negation above Absolutio.+]
[//oliver_n/@magos_nexnbo+]

Negation is a common Imperial punishment. Distinct from censure, whereby the offender's identity is recorded alongside their misdemeanours, negation implied the their identity is coded or avoided on official records. Most commonly used for heresiarchs or similar spiritually or morally degrading offences, negation is intentional obfuscation to ensure wrong thoughts and beliefs are not disseminated. This may be intended to protect the spiritual health of a community or, in larger populations, to help to quell, minimise or entirely avoid mass panic.

In essence, negation serves as a moral quarantine to avoid the pollution or corruption, whether intentionally or unwittingly, of those who later reference the record. 

[//Dain Mir Eldar clash with desert-pattern Carcharadons in the Ymblam townships on the disputed worlds of Yanlan. The populace here had joined the Partisans, hailing the 'Returned Primarch' through the lens of their matriarchal traditions. The statues raised were later toppled and the region subject to Negation.+]
[//brenton_c/@imago_apis+]

Its enaction varies from region to region, but that of M34–35 Segmentum Solar describes fifteen progressive degrees. These include a number of subtleties unnecessary here. Suffice to say that the least stringient level is 'abnegation'; a preliminary step in which the offender's identity is recorded as formally confessing to unrecorded crimes before receiving further punishment on the spot. As the level of negation ratchets up, less and less information is returned. 

Imperial justice is, if nothing else, ruthless. The former influence of the victim is not taken into account at all. Countless thousands – perhaps millions – of even the highest echelons of society are forever lost to us.

At the higher degrees, not only is the nature of the crime and the identity of the criminal unrecorded, but it is actively suppressed. Such was the degree extended to the Partisan cause in the mid stages of the war, when it became clear that a major insurrection was occurring. Orthodox Imperial citizenry were aware that a war was happening, but not the identity of the belligerents. This – almost inevitably – led to a number of 'friendly fire' incidents in which Pentarchy forces were challenged, threatened or engaged by planetary defence forces of nominally Orthodox worlds.

***

At still higher levels damnatio memoriae is enacted, in which all records, present and past, are eliminated. The person or organisation is scrubbed from history with greater or lesser success. Paradoxically, such enactions are so rare as to become famous in their own right. The most notable examples of such negation is that meted onto the Lost Legions of the Legiones Astartes. Records of these forces are pointedly scarce to the point of non-existence – contrast these with the extensive records the Imperium holds on the Treacherlegions who followed the Primarch Horus into rebellion. 

The difference is distinct: records of the Traitors are extensive but deliberately classified. While the specific knowledge of same is proscribed, their existence is tacitly acknowledged – albeit in veiled terms – to teach the wages of betrayal to the Imperial masses.

Conversely, knowledge of the supposed Lost Legions is – apparently – absent. It is not merely that the records are sealed away; it is as though they do not exist, and have never existed. While it is possible that an overlooked vault somewhere contains material that was overlooked by a presumed Edict of Obliteration, a high level Negation – or perhaps a series of same – has rendered any knowledge of Lost Legions moot. 

That they are still recalled in concept is a salutory lesson in Imperial Historiography. Of relevance here is that the enaction of Damnatio Memoriae is, in exceptional cases, partially reversed. Individuals or groups who have erred sufficiently to have been subject to Historical Negation have come to redeem themselves, and be reinstated. Perhaps an Inquisitorial investigation might demonstrate that a Negated Imperial Commander was, after all, innocent of taint – the offender's identity might be restored to records and monuments to ensure the stability or his or her dynastic lineage and successors. Such examples are rare, but feasible. 

Alas, even if the Damnatio is eventually rescinded, if the initial Negation has been particularly thorough, there may be nothing left to show. Such is one theory of the Lost Legions – that they were somehow redeemed; but with their history so utterly annihilated that there was nothing known left to restore.

To the modern scholar, alas, equally likely that the Lost Legions never existed at all as that they were at some point Negated.

'Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.'

[//Eric Blair, MCMLXXXIV+]

***

Obliterated by the waves

The War of the False Primarch was exceptional in that successive waves of Negation were seemingly enacted. By their nature, it is difficult to ascertain whether, and how many, of these Negations occurred, but particularly deep or complex lacunae in records or histories make it possible to infer that more than one Negation overlapped – and in a number of tantalising hints, imply that false histories were created and established with the intention of being subsequently removed.

Why should this be so? Redacting a record specifically shows that something is hidden. Removing it entirely and placing a new document in its place means that the change may never be flagged, let alone missed. Doing this multiple times creates layers of obfuscation; so that even the diligent researcher might be led down blind alleys or meet a false bottom to their excavations.

***

Circles within circles: Malleum Obsidionem

The magnum opus of the famed sapper and siege expert Giovanni Marmalodi is his great tome, the Malleum Obsidionem. It includes the following intriguing illumination. Ostensibly showing a group of Flesh Eaters Space marines bearing their famous 'Jaws of Doom' honour marking assaulting an ork fortress, in later editions it is rendered as an artwork executed in oils.

In earlier editions, however, it uses the following pict-capture, which can be traced back to being a stock agitprop image – albeit one of obscure origin. 

[//paul_h/@the_midnightmare+]

What is notable is that the Astartes are wearing elements reminiscent of Coldforge-pattern Mark VI power armour – namely the additional plating on the thighs and the vents on the edges of the breastplate – both adaptations intended to ameliorate the regional deficiencies in manufacture.

Owing to its peculiarities, this pattern was never widely distributed and was exceptionally rare by the supposed date given in Malleum Obsidionem. This allows us to trace such extensive use to the Heliopolis region and the now-barren former Forgeworld specifically. 

***

This anomaly was uncovered by the luckless scribe Adept Olate Mangon, originally of Venus, who diligently attempted to trace the source of the image to update the accreditation. His personal records – previously near-obsessive in their attention to minutiae of all aspects of his life, from his sleep cycle and health (both frequently disturbed) to his work – come to an abrupt change in tone some six months prior to his death, with his formerly lengthy entries truncated to cursory stubs.

The last entry before this highlights his discovery of an anomaly, namely that the following image – clearly showing the same orks – was traced to a battle fought by [{identrescinded: ref.Chapter 333 Ad.As.+] in the galactic north, some millennia later.

[//brother of paul_h/@the_midnightmare+]

Adept Mangon's researches were long lost and forgotten, until they were harvested and sold by an  unnamed data-addict to Inquisitor Vasilisa of the Ordo Pacificus, herself operating in Sector Heliopolis in M41. With access to considerably greater resources than the penurous and tormented Mangon, she was able to establish that the former image had been heavily manipulated.

Through more than a year's work, her staff were able to partially restore the original document. Presented below in its entirety, it is one of the few artefacts regarded as a primary document of the War of the False Primarch – and given that it was so heavily veiled in misdirection and layering it may be one of the few authentic first-hand image-captures of the fighting itself.

[paul_h/@the_midnightmare+]

***

He then who lies intentionally disturbs the order by fighting against the nature of the world; for he fights against it, who is moved of himself to that which is contrary to truth, for he had received powers from nature through the neglect of which he is not able now to distinguish falsehood from truth.

[//Mediations, Marcus Aurelius+]