The Dark Age and the Rebirth

Long ago, Mankind first left the spoiled, worn-out shell of what was once known as Old Earth to forge a domain amidst the stars. That lost realm spread across our galaxy so that humanity was scattered across a million worlds. In the heights of those times, lost now to all but supposition and myth, humanity made themselves as living gods by their achievements, and were all but limitless in power. Thus was the Dark Age of Technology born and for millennia it endured, until almost at a stroke Mankind's first empire fell into bloody ruin, isolation and ignorance. The terrible period of history that was to follow lasted for over five thousand years of nightmare and predation. During this time, the worlds of Mankind were isolated by searing warp storms that made interstellar travel virtually impossible and Old Earth, or Terra as we know it, was totally cut off from its colonies and former allies. Famine, war, invasion and the terror of?infection by the horrors beyond reality; all ran rampant and drove humanity to the brink of extinction.

很久之前，人類第一次離開了自己已經(jīng)被破壞的母星——那個曾經(jīng)被稱為舊地球的世界，前往群星間開辟自己的疆域。這個失落的王國拓展到了銀河各處，人類分散到了一百萬個世界上。在這段時期的高潮階段，人類的成就令其成為了活生生的神明，而且擁有著無限制的力量——但這段歷史現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)全部淪為了假設(shè)與神話。就這樣，黑暗科技時代開始了，并持續(xù)了幾千年，直到人類的第一個帝國幾乎在瞬間陷入血腥的毀滅、孤立與無知。緊隨這段恐怖的歷史時期而來的持續(xù)時間超過五千年的噩夢和掠捕。在這個時期，猛烈的亞空間風(fēng)暴使星際旅行變得幾乎不可能，讓人類世界們（彼此）孤立起來，舊地球，或者說我們所熟知的泰拉，被完全切斷了與自己的殖民地和前盟友之間的聯(lián)系。饑荒、戰(zhàn)爭、入侵和來自現(xiàn)實(shí)之外區(qū)域可怖之物的恐怖感染席卷人類世界;一切災(zāi)厄都在猖獗蔓延，將人類逼到了滅絕的邊緣。

But it was on Ancient Terra, long wracked by insanity, genocide and incessant warfare as terrible as any fought amidst the dark stars that salvation was to spring. Here, from the seemingly endless cycle of violence a leader emerged, a warlord unlike any other. He was the Emperor, unequalled in might and in reason, and blessed of preternatural power. The Emperor fought for control of Ancient Terra in what would become known as the Unification Wars and those who would not join him he destroyed, and where he reigned the idols of fear, misrule and blind faith were cast down, and order and rationality were raised up in their place. Under his rulership humanity would be restored, intellectually, spiritually and physically to the heights it had once known, and the shackles of darkness cast aside. In his conquests the Emperor was aided by regiments of gene- enhanced superhuman warriors of his own design; first the Thunder Warriors and later the far more stable Legiones Astartes — or Space Marines— as they would later become colloquially known. Born from Primarchs —purpose engineered post- human beings— each Legion had its own strength and character, but all were ultimately first and foremost Space Marines, sworn warriors matchless in might and power. Though the Primarchs from which they were created were lost under mysterious circumstances, the Legions that flowed from them were a triumphant success. Ultimately, none could stand against the combined might of the Emperor and his warriors, and so unity was won.

古老的泰拉也長期遭到瘋狂暴行、種族屠滅和持續(xù)不斷戰(zhàn)爭的破壞，這些災(zāi)厄就和黑暗群星間發(fā)生著的災(zāi)難同樣恐怖，但也正是在人類的母星上，救贖將要到來。從地球上看似無盡的暴力循環(huán)中，出現(xiàn)了一位領(lǐng)袖，也是一名不同于其他任何人的軍閥。他就是帝皇，擁有無與倫比的力量和理性，并且被賦予了超自然的力量。帝皇通過被稱為統(tǒng)一戰(zhàn)爭的軍事行動奪取了古老泰拉的控制權(quán)，并且毀滅了那些沒有加入他（政權(quán)）的勢力。在帝皇統(tǒng)治的疆域內(nèi)，人們拋棄（自己曾經(jīng)）敬畏的泥偶、暴政和盲目的信仰，高舉起秩序和理性的旗幟。在他的統(tǒng)治下，人類將在智力、精神和身體上恢復(fù)到曾經(jīng)所知的高度，黑暗的枷鎖會被拋卻。在他的征服過程中，帝皇得到了他親自設(shè)計的基因強(qiáng)化超人戰(zhàn)士的協(xié)助：先是雷霆戰(zhàn)士，之后則是更為穩(wěn)定的阿斯塔特軍團(tuán)戰(zhàn)士——或者說星際戰(zhàn)士，這是他們后來更廣為人知的稱呼。每個星際戰(zhàn)士軍團(tuán)都誕生自基因原體——有目的地設(shè)計制造出的超人類存在，軍團(tuán)們都有自己的長處和特性，但歸根結(jié)底和最重要的一點(diǎn)是：他們都是星際戰(zhàn)士，都是實(shí)力和力量無與倫比的宣誓效忠于帝國的戰(zhàn)士。盡管用于創(chuàng)造星際戰(zhàn)士軍團(tuán)的原體們由于某些神秘原因失蹤了，但那些源自他們的軍團(tuán)仍是一個巨大的成功。最終，沒有人能抵擋住皇帝和他的勇士們聯(lián)合起來的力量，人類之主贏得了統(tǒng)一。

The Dawning of?the Great Crusade?

大遠(yuǎn)征的黎明

Where Terra had once been a realm of unending war, it now became a place of unceasing activity, production and planning, for it was the Emperor's great cause not simply to bring Terra once more to the light of prosperity and order, but to liberate the unimaginably vast and scattered worlds of humanity from the darkness and reunite them into a single Imperium of Man. Just as the conquest of Old Earth was complete, however, a mighty and unforeseen cosmic event occurred. A massive shock wave blasted across the Immaterium, clearing the warp storms that had cloaked much of the galaxy. It seemed to some divine providence, fuelling the beliefs of those who considered the Emperor to be himself divine (no matter how much he decried this claim). The way was now open and the Emperor's armies would now be able to take to the stars. The Great Crusade had truly begun.

泰拉，這片曾經(jīng)的無盡戰(zhàn)火之地，現(xiàn)在正不斷進(jìn)行著活動、生產(chǎn)和計劃。因?yàn)榈刍实膫ゴ竽繕?biāo)不僅是要再次將泰拉帶入繁榮與秩序的光芒中，而是要將廣袤且分散到難以想象的人類世界從黑暗中解放出來，并將之統(tǒng)合為唯一的人類帝國。然而，就在帝皇完成對古老地球的征服之時，一件強(qiáng)大且不可預(yù)見的宇宙事件發(fā)生了。一股巨大的沖擊波沖擊了非物質(zhì)宇宙各處，驅(qū)散了籠罩著銀河系大部分區(qū)域的亞空間風(fēng)暴們。這似乎是某種神圣的天意，助長了那些視皇帝為神的人的信仰(無論他本人如何譴責(zé)這一主張)。通路現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)打開，帝皇的軍隊(duì)現(xiàn)在能夠奔赴群星。大遠(yuǎn)征真正開始了。

With the lords of Mars now part of the Imperium by treaty of alliance and serving as a power house of industry, the Space Marines were massively expanded in number, re-armed and re-equipped for the task of subduing a chaotic galaxy. The Great Crusade was a mammoth operarion of inconceivable scale and complexity, involving billions of troops and tens of thousands of ships, and it is perhaps true that only a mind such as the Emperor's could have had a hope of successfully comprehending and giving birth to the great 'Pax Imperialis'?,the Imperial Peace, across the galaxy.

現(xiàn)在，隨著火星的領(lǐng)主通過盟約成為人類帝國的組成的部分，并充當(dāng)著帝國強(qiáng)大的工業(yè)生產(chǎn)基地，星際戰(zhàn)士們的人數(shù)大規(guī)模擴(kuò)張，他們也重新?lián)Q裝了用于完成征服混亂銀河任務(wù)的武器裝備。大遠(yuǎn)征是一項(xiàng)有著令人難以置信的（龐大）規(guī)模與復(fù)雜程度的行動，數(shù)十億軍隊(duì)和數(shù)萬艘艦船涉及其中，事實(shí)上，可能也只有帝皇這般偉人的頭腦，才有希望能夠成功地理解并產(chǎn)生偉大“帝國圣平”——遍及整個銀河的帝國太平局面。

The Space Marine Legions were the spearhead of the expansion—the Great Crusade's killing edge against which the strength of a foe was broken and which toppled empires, human or alien, by ripping out their heart. At the centre of the Great Crusade was the creation of the Astronomican on Terra. A psychic navigational beacon able to cut through the Warp, those attuned to its unique frequencies and modulations, the Navigators, were able to use it when plotting journeys through the Immaterium, enabling them to more accurately traverse the void than would ever have been conceivable before. Alongside this it was the Astropaths who also made the Imperium possible. Capable of communicating with others of their kind over vast inter-stellar distances, they enabled inhabited worlds many light years apart in physical terms to act as one realm, and bound the fledging Imperium to Terra and its worlds to each other as one domain.

星際戰(zhàn)士軍團(tuán)是人類拓張的矛頭——他們是大遠(yuǎn)征的戮敵之刃，負(fù)責(zé)摧毀敵人的兵力；他們掏出人類或異星人的心臟，以此來推翻那些阻礙帝皇偉業(yè)的帝國們。大遠(yuǎn)征的中心是建造于泰拉上的星炬，這座靈能導(dǎo)航燈塔（的光芒）能夠射穿亞空間，那些能夠協(xié)調(diào)到星炬獨(dú)特頻率和（信號）調(diào)制的人們——導(dǎo)航者，能夠在設(shè)定穿越非物質(zhì)宇宙的航線時用到星炬，使他們能夠比以往任何時候都更準(zhǔn)確地穿越虛空。另外，星語者的出現(xiàn)也讓建立人類帝國成為了可能。星語者能夠跨越廣闊的星際空間與自己的其他同類交流，他們令那些彼此相隔很多光年的人類世界作為同一個國家（的組成部分）共同運(yùn)作。新生帝國和泰拉被綁定到一起，帝國的諸多世界們被彼此綁定起來，成為了同一片領(lǐng)域。

By this Great Crusade, the Emperor undertook his mission to free humanity from the aliens and warp creatures that had nearly destroyed it. World after world was reconquered; where human society existed it was made a part of?the Imperium. Such integration was reached with diplomacy and the promise of a better future and a wider connection with a galactic human society where possible, and by force of arms where not. For the alien there was no mercy, and such alien empires and species were routed or annihilated in a series of epic wars. Nor did the Great Crusade shirk from its direst task; where worlds were encountered that had become infected with warp creatures and the barriers of reality slashed open, those worlds were cleansed with powerful virus bombs and vortex missiles in apocalyptic orbital barrages designed to slay the living and seal the breach一this act, known as 'Exterminatus', was never undertaken lightly.

通過大遠(yuǎn)征，帝皇開始了他的任務(wù)：將人類從那些幾乎將其毀滅的異星人與亞空間生物手中解救出來。一個又一個世界被重新征服，存在于其上的人類成為了帝國的一部分。如果可能的話，帝皇是通過外交手段和承諾來實(shí)現(xiàn)這種融合的——他許諾了更美好的未來，以及和銀河人類社會的更廣泛聯(lián)系；如果不可能的話，就采用武力。人類帝國對于異星人毫無仁慈，他們在一系列的史詩般戰(zhàn)爭中擊潰或根除了此類異星人帝國與物種。大遠(yuǎn)征也避免不了那些最可怕的任務(wù)；如果遠(yuǎn)征軍遭遇到了那些被亞空間生物污染和現(xiàn)實(shí)屏障（在其上）被打破的世界，就會在啟示錄般的軌道炮擊中用強(qiáng)悍的病毒炸彈和漩渦導(dǎo)彈清理它們，此類武器被用于屠殺活物和封閉缺口——這項(xiàng)被稱為“滅絕令”的舉措從來都不是被輕松進(jìn)行的。

During the Great Crusade, the Space Marine Legions were reunited with their lost Primarchs as the worlds on which they had been scattered were each found by the Emperor. These worlds were, in most cases, marked as their Legion's home world and heavily fortified and developed. These worlds, along with a handful of other strategically occupied planets, became the lynchpins of the Great Crusade as it moved further and further away from Terra and direct central command, and co-ordination became more difficult. From these new bases, and the re-absorbed far-flung Forge Worlds of the Mechanicum, the Great Crusade spread to the furthest corners of?our galaxy and war was fought across numberless star systems.

在大遠(yuǎn)征期間，隨著帝皇發(fā)現(xiàn)了原體們散落其上的各個世界，星際戰(zhàn)士軍團(tuán)們也紛紛與自己失散的原體重聚，而在大多數(shù)情況下，這些世界也被標(biāo)記為軍團(tuán)的母星，并得到了大幅度的要塞化和發(fā)展。隨著遠(yuǎn)征軍愈發(fā)遠(yuǎn)離泰拉，直接的中央指揮和協(xié)調(diào)變得更加困難，這些世界和其他被戰(zhàn)略攻占的星球成為了大遠(yuǎn)征的關(guān)鍵。從這些新的基地與那些被重新吸納的遙遠(yuǎn)鑄造世界出發(fā)，大遠(yuǎn)征擴(kuò)展到了我們銀河系中最遙遠(yuǎn)的角落，戰(zhàn)爭也在無數(shù)的星系中進(jìn)行著。

The Warmaster

戰(zhàn)帥

After a series of glorious victories that marked the culmination of the Great Crusade's expansion, the Emperor returned to Terra and set in motion the next stage of his great plan in secrecy, in the faith that his sons, the Primarchs, could prosecute the Great Crusade to its end. The Emperor bestowed upon the Primarch Horus Lupercal the title of Warmaster and ceded to him control of all of the Imperium's military forces in his stead. The other Primarchs were thereby instructed to follow Horus and obey him in war. There was, it is said, some disquiet among the Primarchs that the Emperor had decided to no longer fight alongside them, but the Emperor was as adamant as he was close-mouthed as to what the future would hold. After the Emperor withdrew, Horus made plans for the resolution of the Great Crusade with almost feverish haste, knowing that while some would welcome his new rank and authorities, others would be at best indifferent and at worse resentful of them, and only by success could he prove worthy of the Emperor's faith. Closest to him were the Primarchs Angron, Mortarion and Fulgrim. Horus the Warmaster promised them victory—he promised them that he would never fail in his command and never leave them leaderless or bereft of brotherhood while breath remained in his body.

在經(jīng)歷了一系列標(biāo)志著大遠(yuǎn)征拓張高潮的光輝勝利后，帝皇返回了泰拉，秘密開啟了偉大計劃的下一階段行動。他相信自己的子嗣——原體們能夠?qū)⒋筮h(yuǎn)征進(jìn)行到底。帝皇將戰(zhàn)帥頭銜授予了原體荷魯斯 盧佩卡爾，并將帝國所有軍事力量的控制權(quán)都轉(zhuǎn)交給他。其他原體因此被指示要跟隨荷魯斯，并在戰(zhàn)爭中服從于他。據(jù)說，原體間出現(xiàn)了某種不安情緒，認(rèn)為帝皇已經(jīng)決定不再和他們并肩作戰(zhàn)，但帝皇對于未來(的規(guī)劃)態(tài)度堅(jiān)定，并且對內(nèi)容守口如瓶。在帝皇離開后，荷魯斯以近乎狂熱的速度計劃出了大遠(yuǎn)征的決議，他知道某些原體會欣然接受他的新身份和新權(quán)力，而其他的原體的態(tài)度往好了說是漠不關(guān)心，往壞了說則是怨恨。只有通過勝利才能證明荷魯斯配得上帝皇的信任。與戰(zhàn)帥關(guān)系最為密切的是安格隆、莫塔里安和福格瑞姆，荷魯斯對他們許諾了勝利——只要戰(zhàn)帥本人還一息尚存，他就永遠(yuǎn)不會指揮失利，也永遠(yuǎn)不會令他們?nèi)糊垷o首和兄弟失和。

Where the Warmaster was to command the on-going conquest, the Emperor convened another new body, the Council of Terra, to command the peace and provide law and administration for his vast realm, sparing him the minutiae of rulership while he concentrated on his own secret projects uninhibited.

戰(zhàn)帥將會指揮進(jìn)行中的征服行動，同時帝皇也召集起了一個新的機(jī)構(gòu)——泰拉議會來在帝國遼闊的疆域中維持和平，并進(jìn)行法律治理和行政管理，以讓自己從統(tǒng)治帝國的瑣事中脫出身來，不受約束地專注于自己的秘密計劃。

Led by Malcador the Sigillite, the Council monopolised the civilian administration of the Imperium and acted as a barrier between the Emperor and his Primarch sons by their estimation, displacing a portion of their previous authority and fostering acrimony among their ranks. The less stable of the Primarchs were outraged by the scorn they felt inherent in this act, the others —even the most stalwart— were concerned and troubled by this turn of events. For some this seemed a sign that the Emperor was willing to turn his back on his greatest warriors and give power to mortals over his immortal sons. Thus, in the hearts of some, was the canker of doubt and the bile of resentment sown.

在掌印者馬卡多的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)下，議會獨(dú)占了對于帝國公民的管理，而在原體們看來，議會成了自己與帝皇之間的一道障礙，并且取代了自己之前的一部分權(quán)力，還在他們的隊(duì)伍中制造了尖刻的不和。那些情緒不太穩(wěn)定的原體們對這種行為所固有的蔑視感到惱火，而其他原體——哪怕是其中最為堅(jiān)定忠誠的——則對事態(tài)的發(fā)展感到擔(dān)憂和不安。對某些人而言這似乎是一個信號，標(biāo)志著帝皇愿意背叛他最偉大的戰(zhàn)士們，將權(quán)力交給凡人而非他不朽的子嗣們。因此某些原體心中被播下了懷疑與怨恨。

It seems that the honour of being Warmaster, as great as it was, did not prevent such bitterness breeding in the heart of Horus. By later and perhaps apocryphal report, as time went on the Warmaster's victories seemed hollow, the sacrifice of the Space Marines under his command unregarded and increasingly irrelevant to a silent Emperor. Nor did it seem to him that his authority was as unchallenged or respected as the Emperor's had been and that several Primarchs begrudged Horus his rank, questioned his decisions, or contrived to quietly twist his orders more to their own liking. As the years passed, resentments?and rivalries that had long existed between certain Primarchs broke out into open argument and dissent that he could not quell as easily as the Emperor might have, further adding to Horus' ire. He came therefore to display his favour only upon those he felt held him in high regard, or at least would obey without question, and blamed the Emperor for?his mounting difficulties of?command and conquest over an increasingly thinly spread and far-flung military effort. Gradually, Horus and his followers became ever more estranged from the Emperor and the wider realm they served, and the conquest of the galaxy bought little but cold comfort for him and his Legions?.

擔(dān)任戰(zhàn)帥是一項(xiàng)榮耀而偉大的職責(zé)，但這似乎未能阻止荷魯斯的內(nèi)心滋生出此類痛苦。之后那些或許帶有虛構(gòu)性的報告中稱，隨著時間推移，戰(zhàn)帥的勝利似乎變得空洞，星際戰(zhàn)士們在其指揮下的犧牲對一位沉默的皇帝而言愈發(fā)不受重視和無關(guān)緊要。在荷魯斯看來，自己的權(quán)威也并非如同帝皇陪在身邊時那般不可挑戰(zhàn)和受到尊重，一些原體嫉妒他的地位，質(zhì)疑他的決定，或者設(shè)法悄悄地扭曲他的命令，使其更符合自己的喜好。隨著數(shù)年時間過去，某些原體之間長期存在的怨恨和敵對爆發(fā)成公開的爭論和異議，而荷魯斯也不可能像皇帝那樣輕易平息，這令他更為憤怒。因此，他開始只青睞那些對他極為尊敬，或者至少會毫不質(zhì)疑地服從他的人們；軍事行動愈發(fā)分散遙遠(yuǎn)對荷魯斯的指揮和征服也造成了越來越嚴(yán)重的困難，而這些問題都被他歸咎于帝皇。逐漸地，荷魯斯與他的追隨者們與帝皇和他們?yōu)橹?wù)的廣闊地域愈發(fā)疏遠(yuǎn)，征服銀河給他和他的軍團(tuán)帶來的只是些許冷酷的安慰。

It is widely believed that it was upon the world of Davin that Horus fell to shadow at last. Whether by the intervention of the Ruinous Powers or as the culmination of his own growing vanity and malign resentment, but more likely a bitter marriage of the two, Horus turned upon his father in his soul and forged a pact with the Dark Gods of the Warp. The baleful intelligences beyond our dimension of?sanity promised Horus the galaxy for his own, with his father's?blood and the lives of billions the price, and on those terms he swore fealty. So was the course set for the Imperium to descend into the greatest civil war humanity has ever known.

人們普遍相信荷魯斯最終是在達(dá)文世界上墮入了陰影。無論是由于毀滅大能們的介入，還是由于他不斷增長的虛榮心與惡毒怨恨達(dá)到了頂點(diǎn)，不過更可能是在二者的結(jié)合下，荷魯斯在靈魂中背叛了他的父親，并與亞空間的黑暗諸神締結(jié)了契約。那些處于我們理智維度之外的惡毒靈智們向荷魯斯許諾：銀河將為他個人所有，代價則是他父親的鮮血與數(shù)十億生命。荷魯斯依照這些條件宣誓效忠于諸神。這便是帝國陷入人類有史以來最大規(guī)模內(nèi)戰(zhàn)的過程。