Deliverance Lost

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 i

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 Legio

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 ca

‘All we had created, all that we had striven for long years to bring about, teetered on the precipice of a

‘Even now I ca

‘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

Bra

THE LAST TIME he had been in the Isstvan system, his departure had been very different. Eight hundred company ba

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.