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 shad- ow. 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. ~ DRAMATIS PERSONAE ~ House Procon Vi, indentured knightly cohort to the Legio Solaria BARAVI HANTO, Baron DASHIEL, Hanto’s servant Legio Titanicus Solaria, ‘The Imperial Hunters’ MAL-4 CHRYSOPHANE, Vox Omni Machina GOTEN MU KASSANIUS, Magos Principia Militaris, Archmagos Maxima Dominus Machina Dei MOHANA MANKATA VI, Domina Princeps Bellicosa Altus Xiliarkis, Great Mother of the Le- gio Solaria ESHA ANI MOHANA, Princeps majoris of Domine Ex Venari, Second Maniple FENINA BOL, Moderati bellatus of Domine Ex Venari, Second Maniple ODANI JEHAN, Moderati bellatus of Domine Ex Venari, Second Maniple NEPHA NEN, Moderati bellatus of Domine Ex Venari, Second Maniple YEHA YEHA, Moderati primus of Domine Ex Venari, Second Maniple MEPHANI OHANA, Moderati oratorius of Domine Ex Venari, Second Maniple JEPHENIR JEHAN, Moderati steersman of Domine Ex Venari, Second Maniple OMEGA-6, Magos plasmancer of Domine Ex Venari, Second Maniple SORANTI DAHA, Princeps of Velox Canis, Second Maniple JEHANI JEHAN, Princeps of Cursor Ferro, Second Maniple OPHIRA MENDEV, Moderati bellatus of Cursor Ferro, Second Maniple YULIA DEMONSANY, Moderati bellatus of Cursor Ferro, Second Maniple NATANDI FAHL, Moderati steersman of Cursor Ferro, Second Maniple KALIS NEN, Moderati oratorius of Cursor Ferro, Second Maniple PERONTIUS, Magos plasmancer of Cursor Ferro, Second Maniple TOZA MINDEV, Princeps of Procul Videns, Second Maniple ABHANI LUS MOHANA, Princeps of Os Rubrum, Second Maniple DURANA FAHL, Princeps majoris of Steel Huntress, Fourth Maniple AKALI NETRA, Princeps majoris of Odercarium, Third Maniple KANA GALLIA, Princeps majoris of Arcadian Might, Sixth Maniple OSHA MIR, Princeps majoris, Eleventh/Thirteenth Maniple KANSA RIT, Princeps majoris of Broad Spear, Tenth Maniple GOPHAN NIRI, Princeps of Pilum Aurae Legio Titanicus Defensor ‘Nova Guard’ GUILLAME FERRÉ, Princeps majoris, Third Maniple Fasadian Heavy Infantry BOLLIVAR, Lord general, Fasadian high commander VANNES, Colonel, Fasadian 14th ETAN BOQ, Line gunner, Fasadian 86th SURUQ REMING, First watcher, Fasadian 4th Blood Angels, Legiones Astartes IX Legion SANGUINIUS, The Great Angel, primarch RALDORON, First Captain AZKAELLON, Commander, Sanguinary Guard White Scars, Legiones Astartes V Legion JAGHATAI KHAN, The Warhawk of Chogoris, primarch Legio Titanicus Vulpa, ‘The Death Stalkers’ TERENT HARRTEK, Princeps majoris Nuntio Dolores, Maniple Seven BENNIF DURANT, Shield warden, princeps of Tenebris Vindictae, Maniple Seven MAKLAREN, Princeps of Dust of Ages, Maniple Seven FEYDOON BAVIN, Princeps majoris, Maniple Nine WESSELEK, Princeps majoris, Maniple Eighteen VENEDIR ANTEKK, Princeps majoris, Maniple Four PESHIN CLENN, Princeps, Maniple Five BASSACK, Princeps CASSON, Personal duluz to Terent Harrtek Word Bearers, Legiones Astartes XVII Legion DARK APOSTLE VORRJUK KRAAL, Word Bearers, attached to Legio Vulpa Dark Mechanicum ARDIM PROTOS, Magos, first disciple of Sota Nul PROLOGUE The Final Gambit The spires of the Phalanx formed a cityscape as glorious as any once boasted by Terra’s orbital plates, now all the more impressive for lack of suitable comparators. The plates were gone or changed as part of Terra’s transformation to fortress world. Only one remained that rivalled the Phalanx, and its beauty was much curtailed, its towers cropped back to take heavy guns, and its adornments buried beneath walls of rockcrete. Rogal Dorn had not set foot upon his immense flagship for months, being occupied with the for- tification of the Throneworld, but the time had come to ascend into orbit if but for a while, for defence was giving way to attack. In the high orbits of mankind’s home world and about its lonely moon a vast armada was taking shape, the blood red and bright white vessels of the Blood Angels and White Scars Space Marine Legions at its core. Terra’s battered orb gleamed before the oculus of Lord Dorn’s personal observation deck, high upon a tower of the Phalanx’s spine. In a few precious places, the fragile signs of rebirth engi- neered by the Emperor clad Terra’s tired greyness in a fuzz of green, and the blue mirrors of infant oceans painstakingly coaxed back into being reflected Sol’s light. The sun shone as it always had, and would for a billion more years. Man had little purchase upon its fiery orb, but the world that was Earth had suffered under mankind’s dominion, and what little reparation had been made was at risk. ‘My father’s work is under threat as never before,’ said Dorn to Malcador, the sole other occupant of the chamber. ‘This is the moment the enemy dare the walls. My brother Horus is at Beta-Gar- mon. He is at the outermost gates of the city. The end is near.’ The deck was wide, circular, with an unbroken window the height of several men making up the majority of the wall. So clear and perfect was the glassite compromising it that if the bronzed plas- teel dome was ignored, it seemed that the chamber was open to the naked void. ‘Your fondness for siege metaphors has never been more apt, I am afraid to say,’ said Malcador. ‘How you manage to maintain a light spirit in all this is your greatest gift,’ Dorn said. ‘We all do as we are, old man. I was a castellan long before I was a praetorian. Beta-Garmon is the gateway to Terra. If Horus takes the subsector,’ he paused, and drew in a deep, weary breath, ‘when Horus takes Beta-Garmon, the way will be wide open. The race reaches its conclusion. Guilliman comes from the east. The Lion lays waste to the enemy’s holdings. Horus must make his move soon, or he will fail. He knows this, and so he will rush. Then he will make mistakes.’ ‘If only he could be stopped before he reaches Terra,’ said Malcador. Dorn looked down at the Sigillite. ‘We both know that he will come here,’ said Dorn. ‘The question is when. The task is not to stop him, but to slow him. We can weaken him at Beta-Garmon. If he can be brought to a halt before the walls of the palace, my brother will come, and trap him.’ Dorn gestured out at the cancerous smear of the Imperial Palace, clinging to the highest mountains of the world. ‘Horus’ forces are as battered as ours. Though greater in number, they abandon discipline for the barbarism of their new gods. They fragment. Sanguinius says Roboute’s Legion remains close to full strength, and his other forces are numberless. Not even Horus can resist the Ultramarines. His grip on my traitorous brothers’ egos will last only so long. If Horus is delayed, then he will lose, even if he breaches the walls of the palace itself. The calculation is then what damage will be done, and what can be prevented. ‘We will win. I will not consider the possibility of defeat. It is the manner of victory we achieve that troubles me.’ He walked closer to the oculus, turning away from Terra to the armada of ships gathering around Luna. ‘Sanguinius and the Khan are ready to depart. The Great Muster is under way at Beta-Garmon. Thousands of ships, hundreds of regiments, dozens of Titan Legios. Forces loyal to my father gather from all over the Imperium. They will ensure that Beta-Garmon is Horus’ final victory.’ Malcador walked to the primarch’s side, his staff tapping quietly on the granite floor. ‘We will pay a heavy price for this action,’ he said. ‘We will lose many resources in challenging Lupercal, and it is regrettable that the cluster will be ruined in the process. The number of Titan Legios present there alone guarantee devastation to every world. The realm of Beta-Garmon has proven most useful to the Emperor, these last centuries.’ ‘Every planet lost is a despicable shame, but this is total war,’ said Dorn. ‘Beta-Garmon sits upon a confluence of stable warp routes. A blessing for five thousand years, they are a curse to those worlds now. They offer the fastest route to Terra. The Garmon Cluster is the key to victory to who- ever holds it. It is already lost to us, but in attacking it Horus has no room left for manoeuvre.