Prior to the division's founding, much of the Empire's frontline combat tasks were handled by an army of genetically enhanced supersoldiers, whose task was to destroy any and all threats to mankind's interstellar expansion. Though these supersoldiers won countless victories for the Empire and allowed it to expand rapidly across the galaxy, the unstable genetic enhancements began to mutate every soldier both physically and mentally, causing them to become increasingly violent. Sensing the growing instability of this dangerous force, the Empire began to draft plans to replace the supersoldiers with a more reliable, but equally lethal military force.