Archived: Temporal Guard

The Temporal Guard, also known as the Masters of Time and derided as the Techpriests of Temporia, are a Loyalist Space Marine Legion, owing their allegiance to Uriel's Imperium. The XVIthLegion of Astartes were the seventh Legion to be reunited with their Primarch, following the discovery of Temporia and Morvin Gallaeia during the Great Crusade. The Legion, although enjoying close ties to Cleophus, could not bring themselves to betray their father, and remained loyal to Uriel during the Great Sundering.

As sons of Temporia, the Temporal Guard soon became associated with their use of advanced technology and tactics which seemingly defied the laws of time. This doctrine had been established by their Primarch directly, utilising his advanced knowledge of space-time and the vast stores of ancient, advanced technology on Temporia to create an unorthodox Legion who soon became feared by all enemies of the Imperium. The methods by which the Temporal Guard manipulate space-time to their advantage are unknown, but Rodric Tanstinus maintains that it is from the technology of Temporia. Others have suggested that the Guard are secret psykers.

The Guard faced internal strife following the disappearance of their Primarch into the Immaterium. While all members worked tirelessly to bring home their Time-Father, the consequences this would have on the Legion would be dire, and disagreements over the best course of action would boil over into an open conflict, the Time Wars, where the members of the Legion would fight amongst themselves to decide their future. The end result was a three-way fracturing, which saw the Legion reduced in size further

Time Wars
While the Legion partook in the Great Scouring, it also expended every resource at its disposal in its attempts to bring back their lost Time-Father from the perils of the Immaterium. This had, however, unforeseen consequences, as though the Legion was unanimous in their decision to find the lost Primarch, it could not agree on which steps to take in the direction of that goal. One group sought to utilise the vast materiel and mechanical reserves of the Mechanicum, while another wished to study the nature of the warp in order to decipher it's mysteries. This conflicted with the Legion's establishment, whom wished to used only their own skill to find Morvin. The lack of a unified leader for the Legion served only to deepen this growing rift.

Eventually, the Legion nominated Librarian Rodric Tanstinus as Chapter Master. Rodric was a supporter of the establishment's view, and moved against that of the other two factions. Forewarned by those loyal to them, they promptly split from the Legion to form their own breakaway Chapters; the Omnissiah's Children and the Time Lords. The rebels soon found themselves in open conflict with the Legion administration, and the Time Wars began. After an eternity of conflict, the establishment would emerge victorious, but the Children would flee to the safety of the Mechancium, and the Time Lords would find themselves enthralled to Hyster. The Legion, already the smallest in the Imperium and devastated by the Great Sundering, was on the brink of irrelevancy.

Rebuilding of the Legion
With order restored and the rebels ousted, Rodric began the process of rebuilding of the Legion. Largely due to this, there were few Second Founding Chapters to be drawn from the ranks of the Temporal Guard. Instead, Tanstinus began a great recruiting effort; doubling the size of the withering Legion within a year. The composition of the Legion suffered as a direct result of this, however; roughly a quarter of the Legion's composition at this time were skilled in the Temporal Arts, as compared to almost eighty five percent during the leadership of the Time-Father.

With these new recruits, the Legion was capable of expanding its efforts to recover the Time-Father; in fact, the Legion rarely participated in any action during the Great Scouring which did not aid in their quest to liberate him from his Immaterial prison. This has deepened the rift between Uriel Februa and the Legion; one already opened after Uriel's snubbing of Morvin following his loss to the Warp. Though the Legion is not rebellious, it maintains a tense relationship with the other Legions of Uriel's Imperium.