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== Flight of the Eisenstein ==
 
== Flight of the Eisenstein ==
  
The seventy Loyalists led by Captain Garro commandeered the Imperial frigate Eisenstein and evading the forces of Horus, were able to escape from the Istvaan System into the Immaterium. The Eisenstein was badly damaged during its escape from Isstvan III; all its [[astropath]]s were dead, and its lone [[Navigator]] was mortally wounded. However, Garro managed to attract the attention of passing Loyalist ships by setting the vessel's Warp engines to self-destruct and ejecting them from the ship. Rogal Dorn's Imperial Fists Legion had been becalmed in the Warp with its fleet for some time, and his Navigators sensed the detonation of the Eisenstein's Warp drives. Making an immediate course for the location of the ship's beacon, Dorn met with Garro, who explained to him all that had happened with the Traitor Legions.
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The seventy Loyalists led by Captain Garro commandeered the Imperial frigate Eisenstein and evading the forces of Horus, were able to escape from the Isstvan System into the Immaterium. The Eisenstein was badly damaged during its escape from Isstvan III; all its [[astropath]]s were dead, and its lone [[Navigator]] was mortally wounded. However, Garro managed to attract the attention of passing Loyalist ships by setting the vessel's Warp engines to self-destruct and ejecting them from the ship. Rogal Dorn's Imperial Fists Legion had been becalmed in the Warp with its fleet for some time, and his Navigators sensed the detonation of the Eisenstein's Warp drives. Making an immediate course for the location of the ship's beacon, Dorn met with Garro, who explained to him all that had happened with the Traitor Legions.
  
 
The Eisenstein was able to reach Terra, allowing the loyal Marines to report the extent of the atrocities that had occurred in the Isstvan System. It was said in later millennia that without this warning, the Imperium would have faced even greater difficulties in responding to Horus' next moves.
 
The Eisenstein was able to reach Terra, allowing the loyal Marines to report the extent of the atrocities that had occurred in the Isstvan System. It was said in later millennia that without this warning, the Imperium would have faced even greater difficulties in responding to Horus' next moves.

Revision as of 08:44, 14 March 2007

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The Horus Heresy marked the end of the Great Crusade.


Horus' Corruption

The Horus Heresy truly began after Horus was wounded by a tainted blade on the moon of Davin, a place that was cursed by the foul Chaos God Nurgle. The wound caused by the daemon weapon refused to heal, despite Horus' super-enhanced immune system or the efforts of the Sons of Horus' best apothecaries. While ill, Horus was taken for healing by the Davinians. During the rituals, Horus' spirit was transferred into the Warp where he experienced a terrible vision of the very future which his actions would bring about - the Imperium as a repressive, violent and superstitious regime where the Emperor and some of the Primarchs (but not Horus) were worshipped as divine beings by the fanatical and ignorant masses of humanity.

The Chaos Gods portrayed themselves as the victims of the Emperor's psychic might who had no interest themselves in controlling the material world. Horus, already having grown jealous and deeply resentful of his perceived poor treatment at the hands of his father the Emperor, proved all too willing to accept the Ruinous Powers' false visions of an Emperor determined to make himself a god at Horus' expense. Horus decided that if anyone deserved such an accolade it was he, and not the Emperor, who deserved to be worshipped as a god. He accepted the offer of the Chaos Gods to join their cause and they healed his grievous wound and also gave him access to the powers of the Warp. The Chaos Gods' pact with Horus was simple: "Give us the Emperor and we will give you the galaxy".

Swaying The Legions

Renouncing his oath to the Emperor, Horus led his Legion into worship of the myriad Chaos Gods. He then sought to turn many of his fellow Primarchs to Chaos and succeeded with Angron of the World Eaters, Fulgrim of the Emperor's Children and Mortarion of the Death Guard, who were first of many to follow, along with many regiments of the Imperial Army and several Titan Legions.

He appealed to each of the Primarch's deepest desires- Angron's frenzied love of violence was a match for Khorne. Fulgrim was turned to Slaanesh and his promise of unending perfection. Mortarion originally remained on the Emperor's side, until, stranded in the warp, he cried out for any power to save him. Nurgle answered his call, and plunged him into damnation. and Horus' military genius was revealed as he converted many of the Legion's to his cause, revealing the Emperor as Horus saw him- a man undeserving of the praise and recognition of the Human race.

Magnus the Red, Primarch of the Thousand Sons Legion, foresaw Horus’ actions through his Legion's own use of forbidden psychic sorcery. Magnus then attempted to forewarn the Emperor of the impending betrayal. However, knowing that he would have to find a means of quickly warning the Emperor, and as an act of both desperation and vindication, Magnus used sorcery to send his message to the Emperor. The message penetrated the psychic defences of the Imperial Palace on Terra, shattering all the psychic wards the Emperor had placed on the Palace - including those within his secret project in the Imperial Dungeons: the creation of a warp-gate to invade the Eldar Webway. Refusing to believe that Horus; his most beloved and trusted son, would betray him, the Emperor instead perceived the traitor to the Imperium to be Magnus and his Thousand Sons Legion. The Emperor ordered the Primarch Leman Russ to mobilize his Space Wolves Legion and take Magnus into custody; however Horus convinced Russ that Magnus was a traitor and needed to be destroyed.

Three of the most loyal Legions, the Dark Angels, Blood Angels and Ultramarines, along with their Primarchs, were sent on missions far from Terra and Isstvan. The Imperial Fists and White Scars were too close to Terra to be contacted without raising suspicion, though Horus believed - mistakenly - that Jaghatai Khan would ultimately take his side. Shortly before the Dropsite Massacre, Fulgrim also attempted to sway Ferrus Manus to Horus's cause, failing, he barely escaped with his life. Fulgrim promised he would deliver Manus's severed head to Horus in recompense. The Blood Angels were sent to the daemon-infested Signis Cluster and the Ultramarines to Calth, where a large Word Bearer force, under Kor Phaeron, had massed.

Of the other eventual traitors, Night Haunter was due to face disciplinary action from the Emperor; Alpharius had always been closer to Horus; and Perturabo's bitterness towards Rogal Dorn made him an easy target for corruption. The Thousand Sons had never planned to join Horus, but the trap Tzeentch had laid for the Red Sorcerer's legion led them to his side regardless.

The remaining Legions - the Raven Guard, Salamanders, Iron Hands and Space Wolves - remained staunchly loyal to the Emperor, though all but the Wolves would pay dearly for it in the battles to come. Beyond the Legions, Horus had already swayed Adept Regulus with promises of the STCs recovered during the war with the Technocratic Brotherhood, delivering Adeptus Mechanicus support to the Warmaster's forces.


Isstvan III

The first sign that Horus and his Legion had turned to Chaos was made evident when Horus virus bombed the rebel world of Isstvan III. The Planetary Governor of Isstvan III had declared his independence from the Imperium, and the Council of Terra charged Horus with the retaking of that world. This order merely furthered Horus' plans. Although the four Legions under his direct command had turned Traitor, there were still some Loyalist elements within the Sons of Horus, World Eaters, and Death Guard; many of these were Terran Space Marines who had been recruited before being reunited with their Primarchs. Horus, under the guise of his orders, amassed his troops in the Isstvan System.

Horus had a plan by which he would destroy all Loyalist elements of the Legions at his command. After a lengthy bombardment, Horus despatched all Loyalist Marines down to the planet, with the pretense of bringing it back into the Imperium. At the moment of victory, however, these Marines were betrayed when virus bombs began to rain down on the planet. However, some Marines loyal to the Emperor had remained onboard their ships, and as Isstvan III died, these soldiers fought desperately to warn their brethren on the surface. Their sacrifice saved many Space Marines, as they were able to take shelter before the virus bombs struck. The population of Isstvan III received no such protection. Sixteen billion people died almost immediately. The psychic shock of so many simultaneous deaths shrieked through the Warp. A contingent of Loyalists led by Captain Garro of the Death Guard escaped the fleet orbiting Isstvan III aboard the damaged vessel called Eisenstein, and fled to Terra to warn the Emperor.

Angron, realising that the virus bombs had not been fully effective against the Loyalist Marines, flew into a rage and hurled himself at the planet with 50 companies of Marines. Horus was furious at Angron for delaying his plans, yet reluctantly reinforced him with troops from the Sons of Horus, the Death Guard, and the Emperor's Children. On Isstvan III, the remaining Loyalists, under the command of Saul Tarvitz, fought bravely against their own traitorous battle-brothers. But their cause was doomed. Soon only a few hundred of them remained until, finally, Horus grew unable to tolerate the delay and forced Angron to withdraw his forces, and ordered a systematic orbital bombardment that killed Isstvan III's last brave survivors.

Flight of the Eisenstein

The seventy Loyalists led by Captain Garro commandeered the Imperial frigate Eisenstein and evading the forces of Horus, were able to escape from the Isstvan System into the Immaterium. The Eisenstein was badly damaged during its escape from Isstvan III; all its astropaths were dead, and its lone Navigator was mortally wounded. However, Garro managed to attract the attention of passing Loyalist ships by setting the vessel's Warp engines to self-destruct and ejecting them from the ship. Rogal Dorn's Imperial Fists Legion had been becalmed in the Warp with its fleet for some time, and his Navigators sensed the detonation of the Eisenstein's Warp drives. Making an immediate course for the location of the ship's beacon, Dorn met with Garro, who explained to him all that had happened with the Traitor Legions.

The Eisenstein was able to reach Terra, allowing the loyal Marines to report the extent of the atrocities that had occurred in the Isstvan System. It was said in later millennia that without this warning, the Imperium would have faced even greater difficulties in responding to Horus' next moves.

The fate of these seventy Marines is ultimately unknown. Some believe they continued to fight for the Emperor until death claimed them, while others maintain that they were treated as if they were their traitorous brethren, either imprisoned and left to rot, or executed. Others believe that Captain Garro, shocked by the terrible betrayal, became an Apothecary, vowing never to kill again. Others believe some of these men formed the nucleus of the elite Space Marines Chapter later known as the Grey Knights, for Malcador the Sigillite had presented four of the survivors to the Emperor before his departure. These men were gifted psykers, came from the ranks of the Legions that had turned Traitor, and yet maintained both an unbreakable faith in the Emperor and talent for resisting the temptations of Chaos.

These renamed "Chaos Space Marines," abandoning their earlier charge, began a trek back to Terra, laying waste to their former allies' holdings along the way.

Eventually, these corrupted marines landed on Terra, experiencing heavy resistance from several loyal Space Marine legions. Victory seemed to be assured, until Horus seemingly let his guard down to watch the final breakthrough and destruction of the Imperial Palace. (Apparently Horus had been warned that the rest of the loyalists are returning back to Terra to assist, and if this were to happen, Horus' advantage in number would be diminished. Hence his decision to let the mind force field down in his battlebarge). The Emperor saw this opportunity and teleported to the Warmaster's personal battlebarge with two of his Primarchs. In an epic scene that would burn itself into the minds of all battle-brothers of the Blood Angels chapter, the Primarch Sanguinius fought Horus in single combat, wounding the fallen warrior. But Horus power was too great and Sanguinius fell. At this point the Emperor charged in and assaulted the Warmaster Horus. The Emperor was successful in defeating Horus, but only barely; he lay dying as well. Due in part to his psychic skills, the Emperor survived long enough to be transferred to the Golden Throne - a strange mechanism that would allow him to survive forever in a state of undeath.

After the failure of the Heresy, the remaining Chaos Space Marines retreated into the Eye of Terror, from which they periodically launch Black Crusades into the Imperium led by Abaddon the Despoiler, who is rumored to be the clone-son of Horus.

Horus Heresy is also the title of a collectable card game produced by Sabertooth Games, and an out of print Games Workshop game, both based on these events.

Sources