The Chosen

The Chosen are the Ist Legion of the Emperor's Legiones Astartes; so named for being perhaps the mightiest and most favoured of them all. For not only were they the first Legion to be created but they were also the first to be reunited with their Primarch, Kasimiron Argeryn therefore creating a bond between Father and son no other Primarch could claim to have. The I Legion was loyal beyond question, and their master was lauded above all others. They exemplified what an Astartes was supposed to be; brutal, ruthless and unwavering but also honourable, and were considered the most favoured servants of the Emperor of Mankind.

Under the guidance of the Emperor, Kasimiron reshaped the Legion to his whims and campaigned alongside his Father as the Great Crusade took off beyond Terra; his Chosen smashing through all opposition with thunderous charges and powerful blows. Thus it was without a doubt that, despite many others vying for their Father’s notice, Kasimirion would be the Warmaster of the Imperium; and his Legion its bulwark.

The history of the Chosen is the history of the ambition of the Imperium itself, and the flaws that broke its founder's dreams of unification and glory for all Mankind asunder. For all his devotion to his Father, Kasimiron would not betray the fundamentals of the Imperial Truth and refused to kneel before the tyrant the Emperor had become. Devoid of His compassion, the Emperor cast off his favoured son and named him an enemy; and thus the Chosen would become one of the first Legions to form the Reforged, fighting to restore their Emperor.

When the Schism reached its end after the Emperor was restored but mortally wounded the Reforged were forced from Terra by the Loyalists; fleeing to the Chosen's Home World of Bargrund. It was there that Kasimiron declared the formation of a new Imperium that still upheld the edicts of the Imperial Truth. So came the rise of Imperium Secundus, centered around Bargrund which was renamed Nova Terra.

Wars of Unification
If the Emperor was the father of the Legiones Astartes, then Terra was their mother. Just as the Emperor shaped His warriors with His will and intellect, so too did Terra leave her mark on the warriors raised from her soil. These marks, or scars it might be more accurate to say, often shaped a Space Marine Legion's culture, values and methods of war in ways as subtle and deep as the mysteries woven into their flesh. To understand how many of the Legions became as they were, one must first understand Terra.

Soaked in blood, ignorance and atrocity, Ancient Terra in the time before the rise of the Emperor was devoid of hope and existed in a state of darkness. The only order was that of tyrants: fleeting and tainted by madness and petty ambition. With blood and fire He tamed Terra, bringing order and enlightenment where before there had been none. It was this transformation that the Ist Legion was made to protect.

The first battalions of the Ist Legion were raised from across Terra, unlike most of the other Legions drew their recruits from a particular source, the flesh of the Ist Legion came from Terra as a whole. Even in domains where other Legions had "Rights of Tithe," the Ist Legion took some of the youths as Initiates. Often these would be those who exhibited the greatest capacity for endurance, both in mind and body, and vision, the ability to see the Emperor's dream and understand what needed to be done.

The Chosen were the first of the Emperor's Space Marine Legions, and in their earliest incarnation fought as the personal army of the Master of Humanity in the dawning years of the Great Crusade and in the shadowed campaigns that preceded it. As the prototype of what were to become the Legiones Astartes, they served both as the template for the more specialised Legions that were to come after them and a standard by which these successors would be measured.

They were also equipped with large number of advanced archeotech and Plasma Weapons. In this period, the Chosen were not even known as the Ist Legion as no others existed yet, the Emperor simply referred to them as his "Lightning Claws". These transhuman troops dominated the final days of the Wars of Unification, easily defeating all their Terran opponents and forcing those among the Tech-priests of Mars who had intervened in the conflict on Terra in the hope of delaying the Emperor's final victory to sue for peace.

Even as the other Legions came into existence and those, such as the bloody XVth or the taciturn XVIth, forged their own reputations, the Ist Legion always remained high in the favour of the Emperor. The Emperor placed enough trust in them that they alone, out of their peers, knew what truly occurred at Mount Ararat.

One ancient source claims that even before the Unification Wars had ended, the Thunder Warriors, already jealous of their replacements' long lives, at last realised that their creator had cursed them with short lifespans as a result of their imperfect genetic augmentations. In their rage and fear, they turned upon the Emperor for what they saw as His betrayal. It was a cadre of several hundred Custodians of the Legio Custodes, the Emperor's bodyguard, even then believed to have been led by the legendary Proninus Cassidor, and accompanied by several thousand prototype Astartes of the Ist Legion of the newborn Space Marines, that stood in the Emperor's defence, carrying out a merciless culling of the obsolete and rebellious gene-soldiers. The other Legions who took part in the battle were left in the dark.

Beyond Terra
When the Emperor took his Imperium beyond Terra, it went undisputed that His Lightning Claws would be the Legion accompanying Him. At His command, the Ist Legion aided in bringing the rest of the Sol System into the fold. However, the idea of easily conquering Sol was quickly tabled when the VIIIth Legion encountered the Rah'ol around Jupiter and the Imperium found themselves in a new war with a foe they had never faced before. The average Rah'ol soldier was an easy match for the Astartes, leading to heavy losses not seen since the grueling battles of the Unification Wars. Not even the Emperor's Lightning Claws could avoid heavy losses, yet their resolve never wavered and they pressed on. Some say what happened next could be considered a reward for their endurance. For the First of the Emperor's children was the first to be found.

Kasimiron of Bargrund
Bargrund was not an inhospitable world but it had its fair share of struggles. Great beasts lurked the alpine forests of the North, surging forth when winter came to feed upon the people. These beasts were fearsome behemoths that could swallow men whole and break through walls like paper. Yet the people of Bargrund did not cower in their settlements like caged prey; they faced the beasts like warriors, charging from their citadels with hammer and sword to take down their monstrous foes. Yet they were not alone in this fight, for leading them were the gargantuan Knights riding their steeds of metal and facing the beasts with chainsword and battle cannon. With these nobles at their lead, the people of Bargrund did not fear the beasts. However there came a cost, for the Knight Houses took advantage of their status to force their rule on the planet; demanding exorbitant tithes in the form of resources and conscripts in return for protection. Those who refused had their walls flattened for the monsters; the inferior swords of the people no match for the metal hides of the Knights.

And then a star fell from the sky.

The star fell in the Far North, deep within the hunting grounds of the beasts. If there was a man there, he would've seen a metal pod that held a child, a mere baby. Yet there were only monsters there; and they saw food. It is unknown just how the baby was able grow up in this environment, let alone survive, and yet he did. For within months he had already become an adolescent boy, albeit a large one for his age, strong enough to bring down a the beast with his bare hands, and a cunning intellect that made him the apex predator amongst the beasts. Yet it was his intellect that also prevented him from slaughtering a group of human hunters; for he instinctively knew he was alike them, and instead accompanied them back to civilization where he was named Kasimiron. The boy grew quickly, learning everything from the elders and warriors with ease, eventually towering over his peers; using his skills to forge himself a fitting suit of armour and a hammer so large only he could lift it. He would have a chance to test it soon.

It would not be long until the greedy clutches of the nobility threatened to grip Kasimiron's home. On a clear summer day, Baron Corben and his retinue marched to the town in their knight suits and demanded their tithe immediately. However, instead of the expected barrels of food and wine, a giant man, standing at almost equal height to Corben's Knight, holding a large hammer stepped from the gate. Naming himself Kasimiron of Clan Argeryn, he commanded the Knights to leave and only return when there was danger. Outraged at the audacity of this man, Corben ordered his Knight Armigers to slaughter him.

Kasimiron crushed the first one with a single blow from his hammer and tore the second one's head off with his bare hands. Then he took his hammer and brought Corben's Knight Paladin down; he then tore the cowering noble from his throne and commanded him to flee back to his House and deliver a warning:

The nobles' tyranny will end.

Word spread quickly of Kasimiron's defiance to both the clans and the nobility; several overconfident nobles sought out Kasimiron, believing they could easily crush this upstart. Every single one of them fell and their Knights were appropriated by Kasimiron's rapidly growing rebel army. Yet there would be no great war or epic battle for Kasimiron was aware winter was coming; with it the Great Beasts. Unwilling to be caught between the beasts and nobility, Kasimiron issued a challenge to the King of Bargrund, Braunar, for the crown, exploiting their honour and feudal codes to ensure he would not be denied. As expected, the King accepted the challenge.

They met in the capital city of Bargrund. King Braun strode out of his castle inside his ornate Knight Gallant, meeting Kasimiron who stood at the ready with hammer in hand. The duel began in earnest as the two giants clashed; however Braun was no match for the mobile Kasimiron and a hammer blow to the Knight's visor brought it down before the King was torn from his throne as Corben had been. Thus, standing atop the fallen Knight, did Kasimiron take the crown of Bargrund and declared the tyranny of the nobility at an end. As such when winter came, the Knights and the clans marched together once more as equals.