The Emperor was waging his great crusade across the galaxy, reuniting humanity and purging entire star systems of their alien oppressors. As the Emperor force of conquest advanced across the galaxy, Imperial Scouts soon rediscovered the isolated world of Caliban.
As the Emperor looked out of the window on the world below, he recognised it from visions of the future, this is the place he thought, this is the key to piece in the galaxy.
He landed to a great fanfare and welcome by the population and he was at last reunited with the first of his Primarch he was filled with joy as would be a father finding a lost son. The Emperor's first action was to give Lion El'Jonson control of the Dark Angels Legion. This body of Space Marines had been created by the emperor from it's Primarch's gene-stock and had fought along side the other Imperial forces as the Great Crusade was waged across the galaxy.
During the night the Emperor sneaked out of the fortress monastery and went into the savage woods, he could feel eye watching him as he walked, he stopped and turned round, “come out” he said “ I will not harm you.” A small primate emerged from the woods. “So you like to watch my little friend,” said the Emperor. The creature looked at the Emperor and smiled. “Very well then you will be my eyes and ears on this planet,” said the Emperor. By this time there where about forty of the creatures surrounding the Emperor, but he felt no I’ll will from the creatures, the Emperor sat down on the grass and took out a cup and a small vile of blue liquid, “I created twenty Primarch’s to lead my legions in battle, but they where take from me by chaos, I will give you a gift my little friend, this time only you your kin and I shall know about it”. The Emperor poured the vile into the cup and offered it to the primate, they all drank from the cup, and fell to the floor in pain, there bodies twisting and twitching as the life blood of the Emperor ran through there veins.
After about 15 min the twitching had stopped and they where able to stand, “how do you feel?” asked the Emperor
‘Strange’ there was a pause ‘I can understand what your saying’ said the primate.
The emperor went on to tell them what he wanted the to do.
Caliban was made the home world of the Dark Angels and the whole of the order moved to join its ranks. Those knights who were still young enough had the Legion's gene-seed implanted within them, while those too old for this process underwent surgery to transform them into the elite warriors of the Imperium. The first to be brought into the Legion in this way was Luther, who became Jonson's second in command, just as he always had been in the Order.
The Great Crusade, of course, had to go on: there were countless human worlds that were still under the influence of Chaos or suppressed by the harsh rule of alien races. So it was the Jonson and many of the Dark Angels set out with the Emperor to continue the battle for humanity while Luther was left behind in charge of the remainder of the Legion on Caliban. Despite the importance of Luther's position, it was not one that suited his ambitious personality.
The watchers in the dark where continuing with the task set them all those years ago, they had been preparing for what was to come they went to speak to Zahariel who agreed to assist the Watchers In The Dark in their goals, whatever they may be.
As Jonson's fame spread throughout the galaxy and reports of his great deeds and prowess in battle reached the Legion's homeworld, Luther felt robbed of his share of the glory. He wanted the fame and recognition he felt he deserved as Jonson's equal. His role as planetary governor on some half-forgotten backwater world seemed more and more to him like an insult. The seed of jealousy and dissention that had been planted within Luther when Jonson had been made the Supreme Master of the Order now began to grow and rankle within his heart as the Primarch became more and more celebrated and famous.

The watchers in the dark went to speak to Zahariel and told him that Luther had become corupted by the powers of Chaos, Zahariel wanted to confront Luther, but the watchers told him that he was not strong enough to fight Luther and he had to wait for the Lion to return as he was the only one who could defeat him.

Then came the terrible days of the Horus Heresy. As the Emperor fought Warmaster Horus for the possession of the Earth, Lion El'jonson was far away fighting for humanity alongside Leman Russ, Primarch of the Space Wolves legion of Space Marines. Hearing of the potentially disastrous proceedings taking place around Earth, the two generals hurried back as quickly as they could. Coming into Earth's orbit they realised they had arrive too late. Events had already taken their terrible course and the cataclysmic final battle was over. The forces of Chaos had been defeated, but they had left the Imperium in ruins.
It had been many long years since Jonson had been to Caliban, and he longed to see his homeworld once more. As the unsuspecting ships of Jonson's fleet moved into orbit a devastating barrage of defence laser fire met them. Ships exploded into flame and crashed to the surface like monstrous comets. Stunned by the attack, Jonson withdrew and attempted to find out what happened.
Zahariel and a few of his battle brothers provide a route off the planet avoiding the planetary defenses to a merchant so he could escape caliban and told him to tell Lion El'jonson that Luther had become corrupted by the powers of Chaos, but the majority of the Dark Angels were still loyal to the Emperor.
The merchant escaped from caliban and was intercepted by the Lions forces, but the merchant didn’t give the Lion the message from Zahariel instead he gave his own biased account and told that: Luther had used his skills at oratory to lead the Dark Angels under his command to the path of Chaos, instilling his own feelings of jealousy and rage in the Dark Angels who had been left on Caliban during the Great Crusade. Luther had convinced them that they had been shamed, that the Emperor had turned his face from them. While Jonson and those Space Marines who had gone with him battled for humanity light years away, Luther's feelings of anger and jealousy had grown within him like a corrupting canker until they were his only purpose and driving motivation. Luther was now a man obsessed, whose own neuroses had pushed him over the edge and made him dangerous beyond imagining.

The watchers in the dark asked Zahariel to meet then in one of the chambers deep in the hart of the fortress monastery, once inside the chamber the door locked behind him.
Knowing that one surgical strike was all that was needed to end the conflict Lion El'Jonson led an assault on the greatest of the monasteries himself. He knew that this was where he would find Luther: and so it was that the two former friends, now mortal enemies, faced each other. Even though the Primarch possessed superhuman powers, the two opponents were equally matched, for Luther's own, already considerable abilities had been enhanced by the dark gods of Chaos.
What followed was a fight of titanic proportions during which the two equally-matched adversaries laid blow for blow against each other, tearing down the monastery around them until the whole massive edifice had been levelled by their battle. Meanwhile the massed guns of the fleet carried on pounding the planet, reducing the other fortress monasteries to rubble. The very surface of Caliban began to crack and heave under the strain of the bombardment.
Zahariel could feel the tremors from the bombardment deep within the fortress, but he was unable to do anything about it, he was banging on the door, shouting “open the door”. But know one answered him.
As the planet itself began to break apart, the battle between Jonson and Luther reached its climax. Luther, weakened by the long combat, staggered and fell, leaving himself open to a death blow from Jonson's power sword. But Jonson could not bring himself to strike the fatal blow. As he hesitated, Luther, aided by the powers of Chaos, unleashed a furious psychic assault that knocked Jonson to his knees and left him mortally wounded. But as the dying Primarch struggled to stand, his noble features wracked with pain, it was as if a curtain was lifted from Luther's eyes and he realised the full extent of what he had done. His was a triple betrayal: of his friend, of the Dark Angels, and of the Emperor. The truth shattered his sanity and he slumped down beside Jonson, no longer willing to fight.
Luther's psychic cry of pain and despair echoed through the warp and the Chaos gods realised that, once again, they had been defeated. They lashed out in fury and frustration. A rent appeared in the very fabric of space and a warp storm of unprecedented fury engulfed Caliban. In an uncontrollable, swirling flood of psychic energy the warp rushed into the physical universe. Those 'fallen' Dark Angels who had served under Luther and his clandestine masters were sucked from the face of Caliban and scattered throughout space and time. Caliban, already weakened by the loyal Dark Angels' bombardment, was ripped apart and destroyed, the debris being sucked into the warp.
The only part of the planet that survived the storm was the huge fortress monastery where Jonson and Luther had fought. Protected by force shields of awesome power the monastery and a huge chunk of the bedrock of Caliban held together. When the storm abated this was all that was left of the once magnificent homeworld of the Dark Angels.
The Dark Angels flew down to the surface of the rock and gazed about them in horror at all that remained of their once beautiful homeworld. The great fortress had been razed to the ground and of all the living things that had once teemed across the face of Caliban only one remained. At the heart of the ruined wasteland the Space Marines found Luther. The warriors were unable to get anything coherent out of the shell of a man who had once been Jonson's closest friend and second-in-command. Luther just constantly repeated the same word over and over again: the Primarch had been carried away by the Watchers in the Dark and one day he would return to forgive Luther for the terrible sins he had committed. Of the mighty Primarch, Lion El'Jonson, there was no sign.

Zahariel sat in the corner of the room, it had been quiet for what seemed like forever, then he heard the locks on the door undoing and he got to his feet, and started towards the door, the door opened and in came the watchers Zahariel noticed they where carrying someone, it was shear shock when he realized it was his Primark Lion El’jonson, ‘NO’ he screamed as he fell to his knees, one of the watchers approached him, “do not be alarmed Zahariel” said the watcher. ‘Is he Dead’ asked Zahariel. ‘His body lives’ replied the watcher.
“His body lives” said Zahariel, getting to his feet “what type of answer is that?”
“I should have been there, I should have been by his side” said Zahariel
Another of the watchers approached Zahariel, ‘that is not your destiny, Zahariel’ said the watcher.
“What are you talking about”?
The watchers did not answer him they were busy tending to Lion El’jonson.
Zahariel paused for a few seconds then said, “What is my destiny?”
The watchers stopped what they were doing and approached Zahariel.
‘We will tell you’ they said as one, and with that they started to tell Zahariel what had happened, one by one they stepped forward and spoke about all the thing that had happened, one told of the Emperor’s gift to them, another told of there secret mission given to them by the Emperor, and another told of Horus’s betrayal, and another told about what had happened to Caliban.
Then one-stepped forward and ‘now to you Zahariel, and the future’ he said.
“The future, what do you know of the future” Zahariel said.
‘We know what is to pass, and you play a large part in the future of mankind’ said the watcher
The watcher then went on to tell him that because of Horus’s betrayal the space marine legions will be split up into smaller companies containing a maximum of 1000 warriors, this will be so that no one legion will be strong enough to attack Earth again. The worst part though is that the majority of the companies will adhere to a set of rules that will be become known as the index astarties, this book on how to fight a war will serve them well, but when the final battle comes and they face the ancient ones it will make them predictable on the battlefield.
“What is my part in this watcher?” said Zahariel
‘Remember when you agreed to assist us in our goals, whatever they may be.’
“Yes I remember” said Zahariel
‘We want you to find you battle brothers, Zahariel, the warroirs that chaos have scattered throughout the galaxy, it will not be easy, we will be able to find and lead you to them, but it will take a long time, and those worriors that were with the Lion will be hunting you as traitors.’
“Suppose I do as you say, how will I be able to convince them to even come with me” said Zahariel.
‘Take this with you’ said another of the watchers, holding out Lion El’Jonson’s broken sword.
“Taking the Lion sword might convince them, but what do I say, when they ask me where I got it.” Said Zahariel
‘You tell them that the sword is proof that the Lion forgives them for Caliban, and they are required for a secret mission for the Emperor himself’ said the watcher.
“I’ll do it because I gave you my word, but I have a question,” said Zahariel
‘What is it’ said one of the watchers
“Why do you want all of the marines?” asked Zahariel
‘I am afraid even if you collect all of the marines, it will not be enough, you are going to have to do some unthinkable things before your task is done, once you have collected a few of your brothers you will have to acquire some gene seed, so we can create more battle brothers.’
“You have not answered my question, why so many?” said Zahariel
‘We have been tasked with preparing for a battle, even now the ancient ones are slowly waking from their millennia long sleep, and when they are ready they will rise from the sands and make war across the whole of the galaxy.’
“That’s twice you’ve mentioned the ancient ones and I’ve never even heard of them” said Zahariel
‘It is believed that 60 million years ago, one of the first sentient races in the galaxy were called the Old Ones, a peaceful race that travelled the Galaxy seeding planets with life, they met a race called the Necrontyr who was a young race with a great understanding of technology but unfortunately a rather short life span, the Necrontyr were jealous of the old ones long life and went to war with them. But the Necrontyr where no match for the Old Ones and where relegated to the corner of the galaxy, there fury cooled to hatred of all life over the long millennia of isolation. The Necrontyr discovered an even older race, a race of pure energy that was feeding on stars; they called them the star gods (C’Tan in Necrontyr) the C’Tan agreed to help the Necrontyr in it war with the Old Ones. With the C’tan’s help the Necrontyr were able to defeat the Old Ones, and in the process destroyed nearly all living things in the galaxy, unknown to the Necrontyr the C’Tan fed on the life force of living things, and now the only thing left for it to eat was the Necrontyr themselves, so it tricked them by offering them a path to immortality, there cursed flesh would be replaced with living metal, and there discarded husks would be consumed by the C’Tan, Their ruler, the Silent King, took the offer and later realized that his people had lost their souls in the process - becoming the ever-living Necrons, the Silent King turned the full force of the Necrons on the C’Tan and shattered its form into hundreds of pieces, with the C’Tan gone the Necrons felt a weakening of their power. So the Silent King ordered the Necrons to sleep.’
“So this ancient race your talking about are called Necrons, and they’re made from living metal.” Said Zahariel
‘Yes Zahariel, and there sole reason for existing is to kill every living thing in the galaxy.’ said the watcher
Zahariel paused for a few seconds while what he had been told sank in, the he said.
“Ok, I’ll help you, but even if I get all of my brothers and manage to acquire gene seed, they wont be any good to you without training and combat experience.”
‘Follow me’ said another of the watchers
They went out through the door and further down into the heart of the rock, they passed under an archway and into a chamber, candles flickered on the walls next to suits of black power armour.
‘You cannot go into battle as Dark Angels. You will use these suits of battle armour, and help where you can and whom you can, from the humble Imperial guardsman, and chapters of the astarties to the craft worlds of the Elder. So that all of the Imperium knows you come to help when that help is needed most, you will need to create a legend, a myth, if you like. And then you will be able to unite all the races to drive the Necrons back into the sands of time’ said the watcher
“How did you manage to get all these suits of armour?” asked Zahariel
‘We move freely through the fortress monastery, Zahariel, its easy to pick up a piece of armour here and a piece of armour there’ said the watcher
Zahariel smiled
“Why have you painted bones on the armour?” said Zahariel
‘The bones cover modification we have made to the armour’ said the watcher
“What modifications, the adapts on Mars will not be happy with that” said Zahariel
‘They have built in modified teleport homers that are hardwired into the suits life support systems, so if the warrior wearing the armour is injured the homer will automatically send the retrieval signal, and the warrior is beamed out.’ Said the watcher
“When do we start?” said Zahariel
‘One more thing before we start, you are the key to the future,a cypher if you like, you are the code that will unlock the defence of every living thing in the galaxy’ said the watcher
“Then thats who i will be watcher; Zahariel the Dark Angel is no more, from now i shall be know as Cypher” said Cypher