The great brother war has nearly wiped out the empire of Warhammer 40,000 and turned many chapters of Space Marines into traitors. One of these chapters specializes in secrecy and is so good at it that no one can truly say whether its members have actually turned to Chaos.
In Warhammer 40,000 there is no “good and evil”, everything is more a moral gray. However, at least the Space Marines can be clearly divided into two factions: Loyalists and traitors.
Loyalists are those who still serve the Emperor to this day. Traitors are those who followed Horus in his heresy and worship Chaos, the corrupting power against which the Emperor is constantly fighting.
Of the 20 original chapters of the Space Marines, nearly half have fallen to Chaos and have since fought on the side of the dark gods. Only a single legion occupies a place somewhere between the fronts: the Alpha Legion.
Since its creation, the Alpha Legion has been a complete mystery, ensuring that no one really knows what its grand plan is. The legion confuses fans so much that it is now said: All rumors are true. And none of them.
A legion that even the Primarchs do not know
In fact, the Alpha Legion is regarded as the 20th legion of the first founding of the Space Marines, thus the “last” to be created. However, reports contradict each other – some claim that the Alpha Legion was the first prototype of the Astartes (although not the imperfect Thunder Warriors).
The Emperor allegedly created the Alpha Legion as a highly specialized unit responsible for infiltrations and similar tasks. Together with the Space Wolves and the Salamanders, their gene-seed is said to be so specific and secret that it is strictly kept separate from all other Space Marines.
In the time before the great betrayal, the legion was so secretive that even Primarchs like Lion El’Johnson were unaware of its existence. Only rumors were known – unlike the Grey Knights, which are at least an open secret among Space Marines.
Even the Primarch of the Alpha Legion is a complete mystery: Alpharius supposedly has a twin brother named Omegon. The two could be the same person or not. Or even everyone in the legion.
“My identity is unimportant. My function matters”
A special characteristic of the Alpha Legion is that each of its Space Marines looks almost identical. They use this to their advantage: to protect their identity, each of them pretends to be Alpharius.
This has led to cases where the Primarch was killed multiple times. Or maybe not, because perhaps it wasn’t him at all – or perhaps he doesn’t really exist.
During the great brother war, the Alpha Legion sided with Warmaster Horus, at least that’s the version known in the Imperium. Because even during the heresy, the Alpha Legion aided both the traitors and the loyalists.
The behavior of the legion causes confusion, not only in the universe but also among fans. On Reddit, a user is asking for help because he does not understand what exactly the Alpha Legion is and wants. Such things happen regularly. Veterans respond that this is exactly the plan.
Traitors who betray the traitors?
The Alpha Legion has killed loyal Space Marines in various battles, sometimes devouring their memories and assuming their faces (literally) in order to infiltrate other chapters.
At the same time, they have hindered Horus’ efforts by helping loyal chapters build defenses and connect with other forces. This is said to have gone so far that even parts of the Alpha Legion itself have fallen victim to intrigues from other members.
Although the Inquisition and other imperial institutions classify the Alpha Legion as traitors and worshippers of Chaos, it is unclear what exactly the chapter’s plan is. The legion itself claims several things:
- Parts of the Alpha Legion reject the doctrine of the Imperium and fight against it because they consider the future of the entire galaxy more important – similar to Horus.
- Others see themselves as loyalists tasked with testing other loyalists and bear the burden of being seen as an enemy.
- Rumor has it that the Alpha Legion is actually on a secret mission from the Emperor to infiltrate the traitors – and must therefore appear as a traitor legion themselves.
What exactly the case is, no one knows for sure, and fans suspect that it will never be clarified. Because this mystery surrounding the true motives of the Alpha Legion is part of the chapter’s identity, and without the secrecy, the fascination would be lost.
One of the few cases where it is truly clear in Warhammer 40,000 that someone has only evil intentions is with the traitor Erebus. He is so profoundly corrupt that he is almost solely responsible for the outbreak of the great brother war: A man in Warhammer 40,000 is to blame for the two biggest traitors becoming evil
