Sanguinius Secundus

Sanguinius Secundus

Time has not been kind to the Sons of Sanguinius.  Once seen as the most blessed of the Emperor’s legions, they are now viewed with fear and mistrust by the citizens of the Imperium.  Ever since the Horus Heresy and the loss of their primarch, the Blood Angels have struggled to live with genetic flaw that has curse them right up to the present day.

For centuries the Blood Angels have been attempting to track down the Lamenters in order to study their pure gene-seed.  With the return of the Emperor, the lost loyal Primarchs, and the resurrection of Lion El’Jonson and Roboute Guilliman, they have redoubled their efforts to get a hold of the only stable genetic stock of the Angel of Blood.

Eventually, they find the Lamenters and study their gene-seed.  Finding it to be almost perfectly pure and without flaw, the Blood Angels rejoice at the chance to finally rid themselves of the genetic curse that has plagued the sons of Sanguinius for ten thousand years.  In order to keep the only pure genetic stock of their Primarch close at hand, the three remaining Lamenter companies are absorbed into the Blood Angels as the 11th, 12th, and 13th Lamenter companies.  Their armor is repainted red, but still retain the checkered right shoulder pad and bleeding heart symbol of their chapter.

It is at this time that the Emperor turns his attention to the descendents of the IX Legion.  Of all the loyal legions, only they have yet to be reunited with their Primarch.  Even the Iron Hands have been blessed with the resurrection of the Ferrus Manus.  Taking pity on them, he decides to travel to Baal.

Upon his arrival, the Emperor visits the shrine to Sanguinius, hoping to repeat the miracle he performed on Ferrus Manus and retrieve the psychic imprint of his fallen son.  Alas, Horus’ destruction of Sanguinius was absolute and the Blood Angel’s soul has been lost to the warp.  Upon hearing this, the hopes of the Blood Angels are crushed and many fall into despair.

The Emperor, however, refuses to give up so easily.

He takes a sample of the stable gene-seed of the Lamenters.  Using ancient cloning technology forgotten by the modern Imperium, he instead creates a clone of Sanguinius.  Once the child emerges from the birthing pod, he is welcomed by the Emperor and the people of Baal.  The Emperor then bestows upon him his name:  Sanguinius Secundus.

The child is then sent across the Imperium, spending a year training with each of his brother primarchs.  The child learned quickly, and mastered everything his brothers had to teach him.  After nine years of training, he returns to Baal a fully grown man, the very image of his legendary father.  

In the decades that follow, Sanguinius leads many successful campaigns against the Tyranids, Chaos, and the Orks.  It is also during this time that he forms a close bond with the Emperor.  They’re both children in a way, forced to live up to the legends of their ‘fathers’.

Like his forebear, Sanguinius possesses great psychic power, perhaps surpassing even that of the original.  That power is now used as a psychic anchor for the Blood Angels.  So long as he lives, they can live free of fear of the Black Rage.  Those marines in the Death Company can now go in and out of the Black Rage at will.  Using Sanguinius as a psychic amplifier, the Librarians of the Blood Angels have greatly enhanced psychic powers.  It is the Blood Angels who first managed to pierce the Tyranid Hive Mind and track their movements.  They are even able to tap and manipulate the Hive Mind to a limited degree.  Because of this, they protect their new Primarch with fanatical, almost suicidal zeal.  

Across the Imperium, Sanguinius Secundus is revered as a hero and savior.  He is seen as the reincarnation of the original Sanguinius and every bit the hero he was.  What is unknown to all but the Emperor, his brother Primarchs, and a few Blood Angels closest to him is that he is a reluctant hero.  He does not see himself as the perfect warrior that his father was.  Nor does he feel deserving of the reverence showered upon him by the Imperium.  He constantly questions his own capabilities and feels overwhelmed by the responsibility of living up to the legend of his forebear.  

For their part, his brothers and the Emperor assure him that he has more that lived up to the legend and that he has become a great warrior and leader.  They attribute his doubts to the humility of a truly noble spirit, and are sure that this is merely a period of growing pains for the young Primarch.