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Deliverance Lost (Novel)

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Deliverance Lost
Deliverance-lost.jpg
Author Gav Thorpe
Performer Gareth Armstrong
Publisher Black Library
Series Horus Heresy Series
Preceded by The Outcast Dead
Followed by Know No Fear
Released December 27, 2011
Pages 480
Length 16 hours
Editions 2011 softcover
ISBN 9781849700610

2011 audiobook
ISBN 97808757875911

Cover art

Deliverance Lost is the 18th novel in the Horus Heresy Series, written by Gav Thorpe. It was published on December 27, 2011. It was later included in "The Novels: Volume 4" eBook collection.


Cover Description[1]

As the Horus Heresy divides the Imperium, Corax and his few remaining Raven Guard escape the massacre at Isstvan V. Tending to their wounds, the bloodied Space Marines endeavour to replenish their numbers and return to the fray, taking the fight to the traitor Warmaster. Distraught at the crippling blow dealt to his Legion, Corax returns to Terra to seek the aid of his father - the Emperor of Mankind. Granted access to ancient secrets, Corax begins to rebuild the Raven Guard, planning his revenge against his treacherous brother primarchs. But not all his remaining warriors are who they appear to be... the mysterious Alpha Legion have infiltrated the survivors and plan to destroy the Raven Guard before they can rebuild and threaten Horus's plans.

Plot Summary

In the aftermath of the Isstvan V Dropsite Massacre Primarch Corvus Corax of the Raven Guard is on the run with roughly 3000 survivors from his Legion. After ambushing and destroying an Iron Warriors force pursuing them they hide in the hills until they are forced into a final confrontation with the World Eaters led by Angron. The Raven Guard prepare for a last stand but at the last minute are rescued by Commander Branne, the commander of the garrison left behind on their homeworld of Deliverance. Guided by the prophetic dreams of Praefector Marcus Valerius Branne left his post to rescue the survivors.

It is revealed that during the chaos of the Dropsite Massacre Alpha Legion troops recovered the bodies of slain Raven Guard and surgically removed their faces before implanting them onto Alpha Legionnaires, allowing the Alpha Legion to infiltrate the Raven Guard.

After a tense and slow few weeks trying to escape the Isstvan system in Branne's stealthed ship Avenger Corax splits up the survivors, sending two ships back to Deliverance while continuing with one ship to Terra. En route tensions become apparent between the survivors of the massacre and Branne's garrison who didn't go through the experience. Upon arrival in the Sol system the Raven Guard are stopped by an Imperial Fists force led by Captain Noriz. After searching the ship the Imperial Fists escort them to Terra, where Corax in nonplussed to learn that the Emperor has secluded himself deep beneath the Imperial Palace and is leaving governing and defence preparation to Malcador and Rogal Dorn respectively. Corax gets in an argument with Dorn and Malcador over trying to see the Emperor causing the Emperor to psychically communicate through Malcador, implanting in Corax's mind the memories he needs to locate and secure the genetic material and accompanying technology left over from the Primarch Project which Corax can use to rebuild the Raven Guard by rapidly creating new Space Marines.

Along with a small force of Legio Custodes and the Mechanicum's Magos Biologis Corax and his honour guard enter "the Labyrinth," a complex underground maze created by the Emperor to protect the Primarch Project. Despite some losses Corax is able to command his forces into the right spots at the right time to overload the Labyrinth's randomly-changing mechanism, jamming it open so the Primarch Project can be reached. The Raven Guard then return to Deliverance with it.

Undercover on Kiavahr, the planet Deliverance orbits, Omegon makes contact with members of the tech-guilds that ruled Kiavahr before the uprising led by Corax removed them from power. He receives intelligence from one of the undercover Alpha Legionnaires about the Primarch Project and begins preparations to use the tech-guild forces as a distraction to steal the gene-technology. Corax becomes obsessed with the creation of new legionaries and once the Magos Biologis and Raven Guard chief apothecary Vincente Sixx figure out how to use the gene-technology a new breed of Raven Guard legionaries is quickly bred and nicknamed "the Raptors."

The Raptors are tested in battle in an assault on a Word Bearers station on Cruciax and prove effective if somewhat over-eager. Under instructions to sabotage the creation of the Raptors one of the undercover Alpha Legionnaires taints the gene-code with a poison distilled from daemon blood. This causes the next batch of Raptors to hideously mutate. Omegon launches his attack on Ravendelve, the location of the secret gene-project on Kiavahr, and amidst the battle the three undercover Alpha Legionnaires reveal themselves, killing several real Raven Guard including Vincente Sixx. They are joined by Alpha Legionnaires in Raven Guard armour who snuck in during the fight and steal all the gene-tech despite the mutated Raptors being freed from containment by a dying Vincente Sixx and attacking the false Raven Guard. Leaving the gene-tech where Omegon instructs them the three undercover legionnaires head for a landing pad only to confronted by Commander Agapito, Branne's brother, who figured out there were traitors in the legion. Rather than be captured the three kill each other. Omegon, disguised as a Mechanicum super soldier, recovers the gene-tech and escapes Kiavahr undetected.

The Raven Guard recover from the battle against the tech-guilds and root out the Alpha Legionnaires in their midst by testing their DNA. Declaring their resolve to take the fight to Horus they launch an attack against an Emperor's Children stronghold called the Perfect Fortress. Marcus Valerius, now promoted and in charge of a new cohort of Therion soldiers after his last group was sacrificed as a diversion to escape Isstvan, takes the brunt of the Emperor's Children resistance until the Raven Guard launch their planned attack and take control of the fortress. Corax announces that Valerius's forces will hold the fortress against traitor counter-attack with the aid of other loyalist forces who are on their way before leading the Raven Guard into their next attack.

Dramatis Personae

Primarchs

Raven Guard

Sons of Horus

Word Bearers

Emperor's Children

Martian Mechanicum

Other Imperial Personnel

Non-Imperial Personae

See also

Sources


Horus Heresy Series
Novels I Horus RisingII False GodsIII Galaxy in FlamesIV The Flight of the EisensteinV FulgrimVI Descent of AngelsVII LegionVIII Battle for the AbyssIX MechanicumX Tales of HeresyXI Fallen AngelsXII A Thousand SonsXIII NemesisXIV The First HereticXV Prospero BurnsXVI Age of DarknessXVII The Outcast DeadXVIII Deliverance LostXIX Know No FearXX The PrimarchsXXI Fear to TreadXXII Shadows of TreacheryXXIII Angel ExterminatusXXIV BetrayerXXV Mark of CalthXXVI Vulkan LivesXXVII The Unremembered EmpireXXVIII ScarsXXIX Vengeful SpiritXXX The Damnation of PythosXXXI Legacies of BetrayalXXXII DeathfireXXXIII War Without EndXXXIV PharosXXXV Eye of TerraXXXVI The Path of HeavenXXXVII The Silent WarXXXVIII Angels of CalibanXXXIX Praetorian of DornXL CoraxXLI The Master of MankindXLII GarroXLIII Shattered LegionsXLIV The Crimson KingXLV TallarnXLVI RuinstormXLVII Old EarthXLVIII The Burden of LoyaltyXLIX WolfsbaneL Born of FlameLI Slaves to DarknessLII Heralds of the SiegeLIII TitandeathLIV The Buried Dagger
Siege of Terra I The Solar WarII The Lost and the DamnedIII The First WallSons of the SelenarIV SaturnineFury of MagnusV MortisVI WarhawkVII Echoes of EternityGarro: Knight of GreyVIII The End and the Death (Volume IVolume IIVolume III)
The Primarchs Roboute Guilliman: Lord of UltramarLeman Russ: The Great WolfMagnus the Red: Master of ProsperoPerturabo: The Hammer of OlympiaLorgar: Bearer of the WordFulgrim: The Palatine PhoenixFerrus Manus: Gorgon of MedusaGrandfather's GiftPerturabo: Stone and IronMalcador: First Lord of the ImperiumKonrad Curze: A Lesson in DarknessJaghatai Khan: Warhawk of ChogorisVulkan: Lord of DrakesSons of the EmperorCorax: Lord of ShadowsAngron: Slave of NuceriaScions of the Emperor Konrad Curze: The Night HaunterGhost of NuceriaThe Passing of AngelsThe Abyssal EdgeMercy of the DragonLion El'Jonson: Lord of the FirstIllyriumThe Revelation of the WordMorningstarWill of the LegionEmbers of ExtinctionAlpharius: Head of the HydraBlood of the EmperorLoyal SonsMortarion: The Pale KingRogal Dorn: The Emperor's CrusaderSanguinius: The Great AngelHeirs of The Emperor
Horus Heresy Characters Valdor: Birth of the ImperiumLuther: First of the FallenSigismund: The Eternal CrusaderEidolon: The Auric Hammer
Novellas Promethean SunAurelianBrotherhood of the StormThe Reflection Crack'dFeat of IronThe LionThe Serpent BeneathCorax: SoulforgeScorched EarthTallarn: ExecutionerPrince of CrowsThe Crimson FistThe PurgeRavenlordThe Seventh SerpentTallarn: IroncladCyberneticaWolf KingThe HonouredThe UnburdenedGarro: Vow of FaithSons of the ForgeDreadwingSpear of Ultramar
Collections AngronThe Imperial TruthSedition's GateEchoes of RuinDeath and DefianceBlades of the TraitorMedusonBetrayal at CalthEchoes of the ImperiumVirtues of the Sons/Sins of the FatherEchoes of RevelationLupercal's WarCthonia's Reckoning
Short Stories The Lightning TowerThe Dark KingArmy of OneKryptosDistant Echoes of Old NightLost SonsDeath of a SilversmithThe Divine WordThe Kaban ProjectThe Gates of TerraLord of the Red SandsSerpentLuna MendaxRivenBjorn: Lone WolfThe Wolf of Ash and FireHeart of the ConquerorChild of NightThe ShadowmastersThe Devine AdoratriceDaemonologySins of the FatherThe Final Compliance of Sixty-Three FourteenVoraxThe Value of FearBrotherhood of the MoonVirtues of the SonsImperfectHowl of the HearthworldA Safe and Shadowed PlaceGunsightBlack OculusWolf MotherTwistedChirurgeonTallarn: WitnessIronfireHands of the EmperorBy the Lion's CommandAll That RemainsThe PhoenicianArtefactsGhosts Speak NotPatienceInheritorTallarn: SirenBlackshieldMyriadInto ExileThe Grey RavenThe Painted CountExocytosisThe Last Son of ProsperoOrdo SinisterThe Ember WolvesRestorerThe Laurel of DefianceImmortal DutyDuty WaitsMagisteriumNow Peals MidnightDreams of UnityThe Board is SetThe Atonement of FireA Lesson in IronMassacreTwo Metaphysical BladesPrologue to NikaeaOld Wounds, New ScarsAbyssalThe Last CouncilA Rose Watered with BloodBringer of SorrowLantern's LightThe Serpent's DanceThe Lightning HallEater of DreamsBloodhowlAmor FatiThe Fields of AbundanceThe Shel'tain AffairPrimacyThe NineVisageThe Last Loyalist
Audio Dramas Raven's FlightGarro: Oath of MomentGarro: Legion of OneButcher's NailsGrey AngelBurden of DutyGarro: Sword of TruthWarmasterStrike and FadeVeritas FerrumThe SigilliteHonour to the DeadWolf HuntCensureThief of RevelationsKhârn: The Eightfold PathLucius: The Eternal BlademasterCypher: Guardian of OrderHunter's MoonWolf's ClawTemplarGarro: Shield of LiesMaster of the FirstThe Long NightStratagemHerald of SanguiniusThe WatcherThe Eagle's TalonIron CorpsesGarro: Ashes of FealtyRaptorGrey TalonRed-MarkedThe EitherThe Heart of the PharosThe Thirteenth WolfChildren of SicarusPerpetualThe Soul, SeveredValeriusThe Binary SuccessionDark ComplianceBlackshields: The False WarBlackshields: The Red FiefHubris of MonarchiaNightfaneBlackshields: The Broken Chain
Artbooks Visions of Heresy (2013)Visions of Heresy (2018)Art of the Horus Heresy
Script Books Horus Heresy: The Scripts: Volume IHorus Heresy: The Scripts: Volume II
Graphic Novels Macragge's Honour