The Lucifer Blacks are a famed regiment of the Imperial Army that fought during the Unification Wars and the Great Crusade.
They later remained active within the Astra Militarum after the Horus Heresy and are still part of the Imperial military in the 41st Millennium as elite units tasked with helping to guard the Imperial Palace on Terra.
Regimental History[]
Origins[]
Originally a regiment within the ancient Imperial Army, the Lucifer Blacks were almost completely destroyed during the Unification Wars. Having gained a reputation as elite and highly-alert warriors, their surviving members were drafted to serve as bodyguards for high-ranking Imperial officers such as Lord Commander Teng Namatjira who had a companion retinue of Lucifer Blacks who accompanied him during the Great Crusade.
Pherom Sichar, the governing lord of Hy Brasil after it was incorporated into the unified Imperial government of Terra, had a Lucifer Black assigned as a bodyguard for himself and the members of his family.
After the Horus Heresy, the Lucifer Blacks became regiments of the newly formed Imperial Guard. Acting as elite praetorians on Terra, they provided security for the Imperial Palace and were frequently employed as bodyguards for the Terran nobility and High Lords.
War of the Beast[]
Unfortunately, the Lucifer Blacks' vaunted skill eventually began to deteriorate. By the time of the War of the Beast in the mid-32nd Millennium, the regiment's overseer, General Sayitora, had become a crony of Lord High Admiral Lansung. This resulted in the Lucifer Blacks serving as the ambitious admiral's personal fighting force. While still retaining some of their elite status, they became little more than glorified mercenaries, distributed among Lansung's followers as a reward for political favours.
After The Beast was killed by the Imperium's forces, Lord Commander of the Imperium Maximus Thane left the Grand Master of Assassins Drakan Vangorich of the Officio Assassinorum to oversee the ineffectual High Lords of Terra as his "Lord Protector."
This proved to be a mistake, as Vangorich began The Beheading, which resulted in the assassination of most of the High Lords of Terra and their replacement by puppets of the Grand Master.
Vangorich next enacted a series of changes on Terra, the first among them the disbanding of the Lucifer Blacks. Vangorich claimed that the Lucifer Blacks' inability to stop a group of Aeldari Harlequins that had invaded the Imperial Palace during the War of the Beast proved the regiment's usefulness was at an end. He proclaimed that security for the Imperial Palace would now be provided by agents of the Officio Assassinorum.
At Present[]
Sometime after Vangorich's death, however, the Lucifer Blacks were re-established as full regiments of the Astra Militarum.
By the time of the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41, they, alongside the Palatine Sentinels and Katanda Stalwarts, had been chosen to guard the Imperial Palace.
Since their reformation, the Lucifer Blacks have managed to reclaim much of their former glory, with their name and reputation being well-known throughout the Imperium.
Wargear[]
Lucifer Blacks are typically equipped with jet-black body armour and long Flak Jackets. They don full-visored helmets and often wield crackling Power Glaives while on duty at the Imperial Palace.
Sources[]
- Legion (Novel) by Dan Abnett, Ch. 5
- Blood Games (Short Story) by Dan Abnett
- The Emperor Expects (Novel) by Gav Thorpe, Ch. 2
- Echoes of the Long War (Novel) by David Guymer, Ch. 18
- The Beheading (Novel) by Guy Haley, Chs. 13, 16
- Watchers of the Throne: The Emperor's Legion (Novel) by Chris Wraight, Ch. 3