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You always hear about chaos marines taking populations hostage or dark eldar so what happens when the good ol imperials stroll in and save the day? Do they kill them for being tainted? Rescue them? Put them in the penal legions for no reason?

Summary execution is the merciful option. Sometimes they may be judged by an Inquistior or Marine Chaplain after being studied for taint, but most are probably just executed out of hand unless they are valuable in some fashion. The risk of dark knowledge and demonic cults escaping into the wider imperium is unacceptable, and many of the prisoners of chaos have already seen too much.

Those transported in the Soulcage class transports for example have been forced to chant unholy prayers and perhaps been marked. In the 40k world it is better to shoot them out of hand and end their suffering.

Would depend on length of time enslaved or occupied, involvement of captors with captive humans, perceived 'taint'.

Gaunt's Ghosts deals with this quite well following the occupation of an imperial world (Gereon) by Chaos forces and the horror and misery the population goes through.

Chaos prisoners are probably executed as the risk of taint is pretty high. In terms of Xenos I'd guess they're watched for taint very carefully or put into a penal legion but some might be allowed to live in some backwater.

Okay cool thanks everyone!

Mostly they are killed by the Imperium out of mercy.

If they were anyone of importance, then maybe they will be put through the 'are you tainted' wringer before then being allowed to rejoin the imperium. This happened in one of the gaunt's ghosts books.

Depends on who rescues them. Certain Space Marine chapters as well as certain Inquisitors are likely to have them simply purged. The average commander would likely have them processed, the ones irreparably tainted purged, the rest put on watch for taint in the Imperium's administrative paperwork, and allowed to re-integrate.

Just my guess anyway.

It would depend on how long they were prisoners, slaves. The level of taint from Daemons etc.

It probably also depends on who is rescueing.
I can't imagine Salamanders or Space Wolves purging those that they rescue unless they were truly tainted.

IIRC there was a certain Imperial official who was rescued from slavery to the Dark Eldar, and only later executed for heresy. His crime wasn't being a slave, or surviving - it was writing down how things worked in Commoragh with slaves betraying each other to gain favor with the Dark Eldar and some even rising to freedom this way. That's not a thing your average Imperial citizen should be allowed to know.

Do not say anything nice about your captors, or even anything that makes being captured not seem like an automatic death sentence at the hands of foul xenos and cultists.

Depends on taint but any taint even minor is basically a death sentence.
Chaos is classified, no ones ment to know too much, knowing too much or seeing too much is good as dead.

Back in some of the old fluff contact with Chaos got you killed. Even troops who were sent in to fight Chaos were summarily executed after the battle (assuming they survive)- they know too much. Space marines were counselled and if their exposure was high, mind scrubbed and re-indoctrinated. Basically the only kind of Imperial allowed contact with Chaos without measures were Inquisitorial forces like Grey Knights. Even they were stringently monitored.

But Chaos has lost its edge over time and is now just another power. Chaos used to be so terrifying because it was insidious. Merely *thinking* about Chaos and what lived there could drive someone insane or to attempt demon summoning. Chaos was an insidious, dangerous idea long before it was a horde of spiky marines and demonic engines. That was the true threat to the Imperium and what keeps the Inquisition up at night. Chaos legions can be blasted and destroyed like any other threat but ideas are truly dangerous and far harder to be destroyed. And those thoughts- that knowledge can't be allowed into the general populace.

I imagine PoWs from orks, eldar (if they even bothered) or any race the Imperium has had dealings with are simply reintegrated. I'm sure the Blood Axes have sold more than one prisoner back to an Imperial family and the tau wouldn't mind trading some captured Guard for their own people. I doubt the Imperium draws much distinction between eldar and if they happen to rescue DE prisoners before they're shipped off to Cammoragh so be it.

Eldar: Returned home.

DEldar: Put down. What you get back probably won't be recognizable as human anymore by the time the DEldar are through with him/her.

Tau: Returned home unless indoctrinated. Then either shot or reeducated.

Orks: Questioned about the circumstances that lead to their capture.

Tyranids: N/A

Necrons: See Orks.

Chaos: Shot/Mind wiped depending on circumstances.

Space Marines: Returned home.

Imperial Guard: Returned home.

Imperial Knights: Returned home.

Sisters of Battle: See Dark Eldar. Maybe not so much experimentation but the Sisters are most likely not kind to their prisoners at all. I would imagine mutilation would be in order. If not harmed then they'll either become Church men or just returned home.

They'd get the 'emperor's peace'. By being shot in the head. 40k is grimdark, and the chances of someone nice rescuing you is very slim.