THE HORUS HERESY
Gav Thorpe
DELIVERANCE LOST
Ghosts of Terra
original release by tehbeard
edited by fractalnoise
v1.0 (2012.01)
The Horus Heresy
It is a time of legend.
The galaxy is in flames. The Emperor’s glorious vision for humanity is in ruins. His favoured son, Horus, has turned from his father’s light and embraced Chaos.
His armies, the mighty and redoubtable Space Marines, are locked in a brutal civil war. Once, these ultimate warriors fought side by side as brothers, protecting the galaxy and bringing mankind back into the Emperor’s light. Now they are divided.
Some remain loyal to the Emperor, whilst others have sided with the Warmaster. Pre-eminent amongst them, the leaders of their thousands-strong Legions are the primarchs. Magnificent, superhuman beings, they are the crowning achievement of the Emperor’s genetic science. Thrust into battle against one another, victory is uncertain for either side.
Worlds are burning. At Isstvan V, Horus dealt a vicious blow and three loyal Legions were all but destroyed. War was begun, a conflict that will engulf all mankind in fire. Treachery and betrayal have usurped honour and nobility. Assassins lurk in every shadow. Armies are gathering. All must choose a side or die.
Horus musters his armada, Terra itself the object of his wrath. Seated upon the Golden Throne, the Emperor waits for his wayward son to return. But his true enemy is Chaos, a primordial force that seeks to enslave mankind to its capricious whims.
The screams of the innocent, the pleas of the righteous resound to the cruel laughter of Dark Gods. Suffering and damnation await all should the Emperor fail and the war be lost.
The age of knowledge and enlightenment has ended. The Age of Darkness has begun.
CONTENTS
THE OUTCAST DEAD
The Horus Heresy
CONTENTS
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
PART ONE
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
PART TWO
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
PART THREE
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
EPILOGUE
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
THE EMPEROR, Master of Mankind
Primarchs
CORVUS CORAX, Primarch of the Raven Guard Legion
ROGAL DORN, Primarch of the Imperial Fists Legion
ALPHARIUS/OMEGON, Twin primarchs of the Alpha Legion
HORUS, Warmaster, Primarch of the Sons of Horus
The Raven Guard Legion
BRANNE NEV, Commander of the Raptors
AGAPITO NEV, Commander of the Talons
SOLARO AN, Commander of the Hawks
ALONI TEV, Commander of the Falcons
LANCRATO NESTIL, Sergeant of the Talons
HADRAIG DOR, Sergeant of the Talons
KEREMI ORT, Battle-brother of the Talons
BALSAR KURTHURI, Battle-brother of the Talons
LUKAR FERENI, Battle-brother of the Talons
MARKO DIZ, Battle-brother of the Talons
STRADON BINALT, Techmarine
VINCENTE SIXX, Chief Apothecary
NAVAR HEF, Novitiate
The Traitor Legions
‘ALPHARIUS,’ The Alpha Legionnaires
EZEKYLE ABADDON, First Captain of the Sons of Horus
EREBUS, First Chaplain of the Word Bearers
FABIUS, Apothecary of the Emperor’s Children
HASTEN LUTHRIS ARMANITAN, Captain of the Emperor’s Children
Imperial Personae
MALCADOR THE SIGILLITE, First Lord of Terra.
MARCUS VALERIUS, Praefector of the Imperial Army, commander of the Therion Cohort
NEXIN ORLANDRIAZ, Mechanicum genetor
PELON, Manservant to Marcus Valerius
ARCATUS VINDIX CENTURIO, Warrior of the Legio Custodes
Non-Imperial Personae
ATHITHIRTIR, An antedil, Envoy of the Cabal
‘Did the Emperor ever have to contemplate such a thing? Was there a moment when he looked upon his work and wondered who or what had given him the right to pursue it? Did he ever doubt the righteousness of his cause or the methods circumstance forced him to employ? Are such doubts just weakness, possessed only by lesser creatures than the Master of Mankind?
‘I look upon my works and I know despair and hope in equal measure. I realise now that I have done a terrible thing, yet I cannot bring myself to ask forgiveness. Even with all that has happened I do not believe that I acted other than with the best of intentions and the noblest of goals. They were the darkest times that we have ever known, and if it seems in hindsight that I acted through selfishness I can only say that we were beset by a foe the likes of which we had not only never faced, but had never contemplated facing.
‘All we had created, all that we had striven for long years to bring about, teetered on the precipice of annihilation. It was not just that the glories of the past stood to be destroyed, but that the whole future of the galaxy was hanging in the balance. None who did not live through those times can stand in judgement of those of us who did.
‘Even now I cannot understand the motives of those who were to become my enemies by misfortune or intent, and I have even less sympathy. Yet for all that, I know that it was not mere foible or whim that caused this strife. Men of power, men of ambition and means, have goals loftier than others, and justify themselves by morals above those of normal, mortal folk.
‘Though I remained true to the greater purpose of my existence, I do not pretend that I did not suffer the same vanity of righteousness that undoubtedly fuelled the actions of others who will also be assessed by future generations. Even when we were at our peak we performed acts that would be considered at best questionable in times of more civilised contemplation. The lesson is not in what happened, but why it happened. In darkness, in desperation, we did something that could only be justified by cruel necessity.
‘Do not judge me.
‘I am above your judgement, even as I am unworthy of your forgiveness.’
– Recovered record fragment, author unknown, c.M31
PART ONE
ECHOES OF ISSTVAN
ONE
Memories of Greatness
Brothers Reunited
Branne’s New Command
THE LAST TIME he had been in the Isstvan system, his departure had been very different. Eight hundred company banners had snapped and flapped in the strong wind, displaying the company insignias of the Legion in gold, silver and white upon black backgrounds. Wings and claws of various designs fluttered amongst icons of swords and shields. The purple and dark green heather had been trampled flat beneath armoured boots, large patches of blue lichen scuffed away by countless footsteps to reveal dark earth and pale rock beneath.
Drawn up in unmoving rank and file, the legionaries of the Raven Guard filled the floor of the Redarth Valley, their Stormbirds, Thunderhawks and other drop-craft commanding the heights around them, silhouetted against an early evening sky of dark blues and purples. Trails of ragged, violet cloud stretched from horizon to horizon as if dragged across the skies by the fingers of some godly hand. The air above the army was criss-crossed with vapour trails from patrolling aircraft, and pinpricks of light moving across the heavens showed the presence of the ships in low orbit, like slow-moving shooting stars carefully observing the proceedings below.