Third Covenant
The Third Covenant was a Blackshields warband during the Horus Heresy, which operated across several sectors to the galactic north of the Great Core before disappearing within it near the end of the Heresy.[1]
They are noted for renouncing their own given names and instead using terms derived from other, more esoteric sources and for rejecting the teachings of their own gene-sires (Loyalist and Traitor alike). Several studies have been conducted by the Imperium in an effort to identify its members. Most have proven unsuccessful though, as the Third Covenant went to great lengths to conceal their origins, with the only confirmed fact being that the mythological hippocampus served as the warband's icon. While the warband appeared to fight for the Traitor's cause during the Heresy, the Third Covenant in truth pursued their own goals which often only tangentially co-aligned with those of the Traitor Legions. The only hint as to the Third Covenant's true allegiance are its esoteric sigils which showed their loyalty lay with powers other than the Warmaster or Terra.[1]
Known battles include: the Sable IV Retribution, the Defence of Kurnow, the Battle of the Festering Abyss and the Kragha-Soth Offensive.[1]
Heraldry and equipment
The Third Covenant Assault legionary pictured here wore a Power Armour that is a heterogenous mix of armour elements taken from defeated foes. In places the applied black has worn away and reveals the armour colours of the original owners (e.g. the red of a Thousand Sons left shoulder guard and right shin and sea green of a Sons of Horus Mark IV helmet). The mythological hippocampus icon of the warband can be seen on the right shoulder guard.
Armourial icons with hippocampus (left) and obscured heraldry of possibly Thousand Sons origin (right)[1]
Sources
- 1: The Horus Heresy Book Six - Retribution, pg. 229
