Horus Heresy
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- This article is about the fictional historical event. For the collectible card game, see Horus Heresy (card game)
The Great Crusade
When the warp storms that had cut off Terra subsided, and the Age of Strife came to an end, the Emperor deemed it time to begin his Great Crusade, a massive galactic campaign by which he and his armies would free human worlds from oppression and unite the human race under one banner once again. Much of this can be read elsewhere: suffice to say that to execute this grand plan the Emperor conceived of the Primarchs, his god-like offspring. The Primarchs were still in their infancy, however, when they were snatched away from the Imperial Palace. Debate still rages about the cause of this; some argue that the Emperor sent the Primarchs away so that they could learn on their own way, others argue that the Chaos Gods broke into the Palace and, unable to destroy them completely, scattered the Primarchs throughout the warp, where they eventually came to rest on diverse worlds.During the Great Crusade, the Emperor encountered each of the Primarchs in turn. A Space Marine Legion had been created from each of the Primarchs' genetic material, and so the Emperor, unable to be everywhere at once, deemed it fitting that each Primarch should lead their offspring. However, this would prove a critical mistake, for after some time many in the Legions would come to venerate their Primarch more than the Emperor.
After 200 years of hard conflict, over 2 million worlds had been reclaimed by the Emperor in the name of humanity. Beside him stood Horus, who had fought beside the Emperor for the early part of the Great Crusade as his only rediscovered son. The long wars had forged a strong bond between them, and they were truly like father and son. But now the Emperor had to consolidate his new empire, and more importantly undertake the next phase of his Grand Plan. This required his own presence on Terra, and so after Horus' magnificent victory in the Ullanor Crusade, the Emperor asked Horus to change the name of his Legion from the Luna Wolves to the Sons of Horus. Never before had such an honour been bestowed, though Horus initially declined and only relented a few years later after a tragic encounter with the human-led Interex. The Emperor also proclaimed Horus the Warmaster, the ultimate leader of all the Imperium's armies, and declared that he would lead the other Primarchs and their Legions through the remainder of the Great Crusade.
At this announcement there was much shock and outrage. Many didn't understand why the Emperor was leaving them, and worse still why Horus should have command over them. Some, like Sanguinius and Fulgrim, were pleased for their new Warmaster, while others, like Angron and Perturabo, were furious at Horus' new appointment. Adding fuel to Perturabo's rage was the redeployment of his rival Rogal Dorn and the Imperial Fists to Terra as the Emperor's Praetorian Guard.
The Corruption of the Legions
During the Great Crusade, it became apparent that the Primarchs were far from the perfect beings they were designed to be. Although each Primarch was physically and mentally godlike, their personalities were as flawed as any mortals. During their upbringing on their respective homeworlds, the Primarchs had to learn humanity from mere humans; for almost all of the Primarchs, this resulted in their harbouring all-too-human flaws (for specific examples, see each Legion's history).Horus took over command of the Great Crusade, and took up his new duties with earnest. However there was much dissention in the ranks of the Primarchs and other parties. Only a handful of the Primarchs, Fulgrim and Mortarion for example, seemed to be steadfast beside him during this period of dissention. Horus also disagreed with many of the Emperor's new decrees intended to shift the burden of taxation and administration upon the newly-conquered worlds. Even worse, Horus came to believe that he was failing his father, and was deeply wounded that the Emperor had revealed to none of the Primarchs, not even his favoured son, why he had secluded himself upon Terra. The seeds of bitterness and frustration grew, and would soon bear deadly fruit...
Meanwhile, the Emperor was on Terra organising the infrastructure for his Imperium to function. He created the Council of Terra, a body of beauracrats that would create and administer to the Imperial Tithe and matters of law. The Emperor then took a force of Adeptus Custodes, Sisters of Silence, engineers, scientists, tech-adepts, and workers into the dungeons of the Imperial Palace so that the Emperor could begin the next phase of his plan. Unknown to perhaps all except the Emperor, his mission was to save humanity from itself. The incidence of psyker mutation among the human populace was increasing, and if these emerging psykers were left unguarded and untrained, they would be a monumental danger to the human race, allowing uncounted armies of daemons and other warp creatures to enter Imperial worlds, enslaving humanity, and thus bringing humanity to the eternal service and slavery of Chaos. The Emperor was the first and most powerful of this new race of psykers, the New Man, but it would take many thousands or millions of years before the human race evolved into the New Man, a more capable, intelligent race, resistant to the attentions of Chaos. But this new race was still weak, fragile, and so the Emperor began the construction of huge engines capable of searching out latent psyker genes within the populace so that these latent psykers could be trained and purified. The Emperor seemed unwilling to disclose what he was doing to others.
The news of the creation of the Council of Terra and its latest edicts angered some of the Primarchs still further. They did not understand why they, the Emperor's greatest champions, did not have seats on this ruling body. The brotherhood of the Primarchs was being shattered bit by bit. Old arguments and differences came to the fore. Horus became ever more distant from the Emperor, seeking only glory for himself and his Legion.
It was on the world of Davin that fate was sealed for Horus. This wasn't the first time his Legion had been posted to this world; during their previous visit, the then-Luna Wolves had adopted the Davinite custom of warrior lodges, and other Legions (such as the Iron Warriors and Night Lords) soon possessed these brotherhoods within their own ranks. The Emperor was against the lodges, as many of them worshipped him as a God, which he disagreed with completely. Horus, on the other hand, encouraged the practice of taking part in the local ritual customs and traditions of the cults and lodges to forge bonds of comradeship with the populace, and on Davin Horus was no different.
On this world, Horus was injured by a poisonous blade, and his health seemed to deteriorate daily. The Sons of Horus feared for their Primarch. One of the local Warrior Lodges offered Horus a cure. He spent many days in their care, all the while his mind was in turmoil. Why was the Emperor not with him? Why did the Emperor turn his back from him? Why was the Emperor not rushing to his side as he had done so many times before? Horus' faith in the Emperor was shaken to the core, and it was at this time that the Chaos Gods made their presence known. They convinced Horus that the Emperor was the root of all strife, that the Chaos Gods were only fighting for their survival. They claimed that if the Emperor was gone, they would leave the galaxy to humanity and allow Horus to guide the Imperium in peace. The Chaos Gods showed Horus visions of the future under the Emperor's rule; the space marines disbanded, humans living in fear, mere prey for terrible creatures, and the Emperor ascended to Godhood. Horus wondered why he should fight for the Emperor when the Emperor only sought power for himself. The Chaos Gods made a deal with Horus: Give us the Emperor and we will give you the galaxy. Little did Horus know that his actions would actually cause to be born the nightmare realm he was trying to avoid.
According to some sources, the entire incident was orchestrated by Lorgar and the Word Bearers Legion, who had already turned to Chaos and now despised the Emperor as a weakling.
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, Angron of the World Eaters, Fulgrim of the Emperor's Children and Mortarion of the Death Guard were first of many to follow, along with many regiments of the Imperial Army and several Titan Legions.
Magnus the Red, Primarch of the Thousand Sons Legion, foresaw Horus’ actions through the use of forbidden sorcery, and had attempted to forewarn the Emperor of the impending betrayal. However, Magnus knew that he would have to find a means of quickly warning the Emperor, and so as both an act of desperation and vindication, he used sorcery to send his message to the Emperor. The message penetrated the psychic defences of the Imperial Palace, shattering all the psychic wards upon the Emperor's Golden Throne. Refusing to believe that Horus, his most loved and trusted son would betray him, he instead perceived the viper to be in Magnus. The Emperor ordered Leman Russ to take his Space Wolves Legion and crush the Thousand Sons; Russ, who despised Magnus, eagerly complied.
The Istvaan Incidents
Preparations and Allegiances
Much of Horus' success arose from the thorough groundwork he laid before the opening shots were fired at Istvaan. He had already swayed Angron, Fulgrim and Mortarion, and Lorgar, who had been resposible for the budding rebellion, was also with Horus. Three of the most loyal Legions - the Dark Angels, Blood Angels and Ultramarines - and their Primarchs were sent on missions far from both Terra and Istvaan. The Imperial Fists and White Scars were too close to Terra to be contacted without raising suspicion, though Horus believed (mistakenly, as it turned out) that Jaghatai Khan would ultimately side with him.Of the other eventual traitors, Night Haunter was facing disciplinary action from the Emperor, Alpharius had always been closer to Horus than his erstwhile father, and Perturabo was so full of bitterness against the Emperor and Rogal Dorn that it was a simple matter for Horus to secure the loyalty of these three Primarchs. The Thousand Sons, on the other hand, never planned to join Horus but were forced to do so by the Emperor.
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.
Istvaan III
The first sign that Horus and his Legion had turned to Chaos was made evident when Horus used biological weapons to destroy the inhabitants of Istvaan III. The Planetary Governor of Istvaan III had declared his independence from the Imperium and the Council of Terra charged Horus with the retaking of that world. This order served only to further Horus' plans. Although the four legions under his direct command had turned traitor, there were still some elements of the Sons of Horus, Emperor's Children, World Eaters, and Death Guard who were loyal to the Emperor. These included many of the 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 Istvaan system. Each of these legions was led by their Primarch, with the exception of the Emperor's Children, who were led by Eidolon. Fulgrim was away trying to turn Ferrus Manus of the Iron Hands to their cause.Horus had a plan by which he would destroy all elements of his legions that were still loyal to the Emperor. After a lengthy bombardment, Horus sent all those Marines he could not trust down to the planet, with the pretence of bringing it back into the Imperium. However, at the moment of victory, these loyalist Marines were betrayed when virus bombs began to reign down on the planet. However, some Marines loyal to the Emperor had remained onboard their ships, and as Istvaan III died, these soldiers fought desperately to warn their brethren on the planet. Their sacrifice saved the lives of many of the Space Marines, as they were able to take shelter before the virus bombs hit. The population of Istvaan III was not so lucky. Sixteen billion people were killed, and it is said that the shock of so many simultaneous deaths was felt across the galaxy by the Emperor himself, who instantly knew something had gone wrong. A contingent of Loyalists led by Captain Garro of the Death Guard escaped the fleet orbiting Istvaan III and made their way to Terra to warn the Emperor. Another contingent of Marines, led by Saul Tarvitz of the Emperor's Children made their way down to Istvann's surface to co-ordinate their loyal brethren.
Angron, realising that the virus bombs hadn't been fully effective, flew into a rage, and immediately hurled himself at the planet with 50 companies of Marines. Horus, unwilling to waste any time, was furious at Angron for delaying his plans, but nevertheless reinforced him with elements of the Sons of Horus, Emperor's Children, and Death Guard. The remaining Loyalists on Istvaan III fought bravely against their primarchs who had so cravenly betrayed them. But it was a losing battle, and soon only a few hundred of them remained. Finally Horus was no longer able to tolerate the delay, and so forced Angron to withdraw his forces, leaving the defenders marooned on Istvaan III.
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, all its astropaths were dead, and its lone navigator mortally wounded. However, Garro managed to attract the attention of passing Loyalist ships by setting the Warp engines to self-destruct and ejecting them from the ship. Rogal Dorn had been becalmed in the Warp with his 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 beacon, Dorn met with Garro, who explained to him all that had happened.The Eisenstein was able to reach Terra, allowing the loyal Marines to report the extent of the atrocities that occurred in the Istvaan system. It was said that without this warning, the Imperium would have been in even worse shape to respond to Horus' next moves.
The fate of these seventy Marines is 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.
The Drop Site Massacre
Seeking an audience with the Emperor, Rogal Dorn found that the Emperor was very busy in the dungeons beneath the Imperial Palace, and had express orders not to be disturbed. So instead, Dorn held council with Malcador the Sigilite, the leader of the Council of Terra, and Imperial Raegent in the Emperor's place. Malcador was deeply distraught with the current events. Contact with the rest of the Imperium was sporadic at best, the Emperor was not there to guide them, and the news that Horus as well as many of the other Primarchs had betrayed them horrified him. Malcador was not a man of war, and so trusted Rogal Dorn with the best course of action.In response to Horus' betrayal, Rogal Dorn sent seven Space Marine Legions to Horus’ base on Istvaan V to challenge the Warmaster. These legions were the Iron Hands, Salamanders, Raven Guard, Night Lords, Alpha Legion, Iron Warriors, and Word Bearers. Recently issued with the latest suits of Space Marine armour and weaponry, Rogal Dorn believed that the seven legions sent against Horus would not only outnumber the traitors, but would possess both superior equipment and the element of surprise. However, Horus was already aware of Dorn's plans, and had in fact arranged for the loyalist counterattack.
The Iron Hands, Salamanders and Raven Guard were deployed in the first wave, and attacked the rebel forces with what appeared to be overwhelming success, causing the traitors to retreat under the face of the loyalists retribution. At the fore of this attack was Ferrus Mannus, who eagerly sought out the figure of Fulgrim, Mannus' friend whose death he sought for his betrayal of the Emperor. Forcing the traitors from their positions, the Raven Guard and Salamanders wished to consolidate and allow the four other legions to reinforce them and continue the fight. However, Ferrus Mannus was too furious with Fulgrim to pay heed, and so set after the traitors alone. Upon reaching Fulgrim, Ferrus Mannus promised him his death. But Fulgrim replied that it was he who would die, for those he thought were sent to reinforce him were actually sworn to Horus. To their horror, they found that the four legions who had been left to defend the drop site had declared their fealty to Horus and Chaos, trapping the loyalist force between themselves and Horus' planetside forces. With the realisation of his failure, Ferrus Mannus nevertheless flew at Fulgrim, in an attempt to kill him. The three Legions loyal to the Emperor were almost completely wiped out in what came to be known as the Drop Site Massacre. It was said that Horus planned the massacre with Alpharius, Primarch of the Alpha Legion.
After the massacre, Fulgrim appeared before Horus, and threw Ferrus Mannus' head at his feet. Horus knew that the person before him was no longer Fulgrim, and as the creature explained, it was a daemon implanted in Fulgrim's mind since his early days, and at his unwillingness to kill Ferrus, he had taken over and finished the job for him. It is said that after his possession, Fulgrim finally realised the error he had made. The death of Ferrus Mannus is an aspect of contention for some with the newer fluff, who preferred the mystery of Ferrus Mannus' absence to his outright death.
The Route to Terra
After the Drop Site Massacre, it became clear that nine of the eighteen known serving Legions had turned to Chaos. Horus openly declared that he would no longer follow for the Emperor, believing him to be undeserving of the battles fought in his name, and took leadership of the Traitor Legions, supported by elements of the Imperial Army, the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Imperial Navy and the daemon-spawn of Chaos. Their aim soon became clear: the heart of the Imperium, Terra.The Legions of Horus, Mortarion, Fulgrim, Angron and parts of Lorgar's Word Bearers prepared to rendezvous at Mars. Plans were made to tie up the Loyalist Legions, preventing them from intervening. A section of the Word Bearers Legion continued the series of attacks on worlds held by the Ultramarines. The majority of Imperial Fists fleet was trapped in an area of space becalmed by the Chaos Gods – initially making headway for the Istvaan system, but unable to enter the Immaterium again. Horus assigned the Primarch Perturabo of the Iron Warriors to engage this large force of the Imperial Fists. The Space Wolves and Dark Angels were engaged on the far side of the galaxy; upon learning of the rebellion they began to move to Terra, but were hampered by the Alpha Legion and the Night Lords.
As the Warmaster was en route to Terra he received an unexpected communication from Magnus the Red. The merciless betrayal by the Space Wolves of Leman Russ on Prospero sealed finally the fate of the Thousand Sons, which were now also heading for Terra.
Of the nine Loyalist Legions, only the White Scars and the Blood Angels were able to reach Terra in significant force. The remainder of the Imperial Fists Legion had already been stationed on the planet, along with three entire Titan legions and close to two million soldiers of the Imperial Army.
The Siege of the Emperor’s Palace
The Landing on Terra
The initial phase of the siege was an orbital bombardment by the forces of the Warmaster, designed to weaken the defences of the Emperor’s Palace and make way for a full scale invasion of the planet. Although the loyalist fleets and defences fought back, they, like the soldiers on the surface, were too few.After several days of bombardment, the Traitor Space Marines were delivered to the surface in drop pods, ready to take the two spaceports closest to the Palace. Five Traitor Legions participated in the drop, combining with forces on the surface that had turned to Chaos only days before to capture the Eternity Wall and Lions Gate spaceports. Dark cults began to summon daemons, unleashing the Greater Daemons of the Chaos Gods.
Once the spaceports were secure, the forces of Horus began to land their troops en masse. Unlike the five-man drop pods used by the Space Marines, the hulking transports carried thousands of men each, their immense size making them fine targets for the surface-defence batteries. Although many landing ships were destroyed, many more made it through to the surface, disgorging soldiers, armour and Titans to add to the besieging forces. They were met with stiff resistance, the Imperial defenders knowing that the survival of their homeworld, their Emperor, and the entirety of Humanity hinged on the result of this battle.
The Siege
The Chaos forces drove the Imperial defenders back to the walls of the Emperor’s Palace, where the assault began to slow, although it seemed that the forces of Horus were favoured. Around the walls of the Imperial Palace, men died in their thousands, clearing the enemy away from the walls only to find twice as many charging forward to fill the gap.The resolve of the defenders was tested as they saw the enemy, nightmare daemons, superhuman Chaos Space Marines, and traitor Guard, people who had once been considered allies. They looked upon a dark mirror, seeing the darkest, corrupted traits of humanity look back up at them from the bottom of the walls. The men on the walls knew they were surrounded, outnumbered and fighting an enemy that would either kill them or corrupt them.
The siege abated once, the Daemon Primarch Angron striding forth and demanding that the Loyalists surrender. They were cut off, he said, outnumbered and defending a ruler too weak to be worthy of their loyalty. It was the beginning of the darkest days for the defenders, and many would have given up there, if it was not for the presence of the Primarch Sanguinius, winged leader of the Blood Angels Legion. The two brothers stared at each other, possibly communicating by telepathy. Eventually, Angron withdrew, telling his forces that there would be no surrender.
The siege began again in earnest, each Imperial defender knowing that he was already dead, it was only a matter of how many they would take to their graves with them. Three times the walls were scaled by the oncoming horde, each time fought back by Sanguinius and the Blood Angels. Outside the walls, the Imperial forces tried to punch their way through to the Emperor’s Palace, but could not penetrate the Chaos army surrounding the Palace on all sides.
It was not enough. Slowly, the Imperial defenders were pushed back, taking the fight to the maze of corridors and bulwarks within the walls themselves, before Horus ordered the Titan Legions under his command to breach entire sections of the wall, allowing his forces into the grounds of the Imperial Palace.
As this happened, Jaghatai Khan ceased his attempts to assault the near impenetrable bulk of the main Chaos army, instead redirecting his Legion and Terran Tank Divisions against the Lion’s Gate spaceport, capturing it and cutting the flow of Chaos reinforcements in half. This action gave hope to the defenders of the Emperor’s Palace, but they were still forced back, eventually into the Palace itself.
The retreating forces had only one way back into the Palace: the Ultimate Gate. Here the Primarch Sanguinius and his Blood Angels held off the hordes of Chaos while the remaining Imperial Guard retreated into the Palace through the gates. It was here that the hordes of Chaos halted and a mighty Bloodthirster came forth to challenge Sanguinius. Sanguinius accepted and fought the Greater Daemon; both of the mighty armies silent, observing the titanic conflict. However, fatigued and already wounded from fighting off the invaders, Sanguinius was smitten down by the daemon. The Bloodthirster and the chaos forces roared with triumph while a collective groan passed through the loyalist forces. Not wishing to let his children see him like this, the Primarch Sanguinius rose up and grabbed the daemon while its back was turned. A halo of light playing about his head, Sanguinius hefted the Greater Daemon of Khorne and in one swift motion broke its spine against his knee. Then, before the screaming frustration of the chaos forces, the Ultimate Gate swung closed, but not fast enough to stop the corpse of the daemon from being hurled back into the Chaos horde.
The Endgame
The siege lasted for fifty five days, by the end of which it was believed by both sides that the defeat of the Imperium was near. Sensing this, Horus prepared to teleport to the surface, to lead his forces in person. Before he could do this, he was alerted to the impending arrival of the Space Wolves and Dark Angels Legions. Knowing that the balance of the siege would shift away from his favour if the two Legions reached Terra, Horus made the gamble that would decide the result of the entire Horus Heresy.
By lowering the shields on his battle-barge, Horus hoped to draw the Emperor from the surface, and force him into a duel. The Emperor rose to the challenge, leading Sanguinius, Rogal Dorn and several Terminators in an assault on the starship. Horus used his powers to scatter the Emperor’s force throughout his ship, slaying Sanguinius before the Emperor found him. Both knew the result of their titanic duel would decide the course of history.
The Emperor and Horus engaged one another furiously, battling both physically and psychically during the duel. Though the might of the Emperor's psychic gifts and martial skills were second to none, he found himself unable to fully focus his energies into the fight. As a result, the Emperor suffered horrendous wounds at the hand of his fallen son, a psychic blast burning his face and bursting an eye, and his arm being ripped asunder from its socket. It was then that a lone Terminator of the Emperor's boarding party entered the bridge, for whom Horus mockingly lifted the Emperor to allow him to witness the Emperor of Mankind, broken and defeated. The unknown Imperial Fist Terminator roared and began to charge the damned Primach, only to be wholly incinerated by a psychic attack from Horus. ( It has also been said that it was in fact a loyalist Guardsman who had been trapped on the battle barge since Horus declared for chaos, not a Imperial Fist Terminator, who distracted Horus. When GW has been questioned about this event the reply had invariably been vauge, therefore the true identity may never be known.)
Realizing his favored son was truly lost to the Chaos Gods in that instant, the Emperor was finally able to bring about his full power, unleashing a lance of psychic energy that penetrated Horus's defenses. The Chaos Gods, realizing their champion's impending doom, withdrew their gifts and brought Horus back to the plane of sanity for a mere instant before the Emperor's attack struck him down, killing him. The death of Horus sent a psychic shockwave across the Solar System, sending daemons back to the Warp and making it clear to the forces of Chaos that it was their leader who had been defeated.
Rogal Dorn finally found his way to the bridge, only to discover his fallen brother Sanguinus and the Emperor, on the verge of death. It was then that the Emperor ordered Dorn to construct the Golden Throne, even giving him instructions on its construction and the process of interring him within the machine, as to guide Mankind even from the edge of life and death.
For more information on the Endgame see Horus's perspective article and the Emperor's perspective article.
The Aftermath
As the flames of civil war subsided, Ultramarines Primarch Roboute Guilliman was quick to rally the surviving Loyalist forces, stretching his relatively undamaged Legion thin across the galaxy in a bid to buy precious time for the others to regroup and rebuild. The scouring of the Imperium was to last for many years, during which time the forces of Chaos were driven from world after world.As the last of the traitor legions fled into the Eye of Terror, Guilliman at last turned his attention to restructuring the Imperium so that it could never again succumb to the betrayal Horus had wrought. Although his Codex Astartes contained treatises and doctrine on a wide range of subjects both organisational and tactical, the most contentious was that the existing Space Marine Legions be broken up into the thousand-man Chapters of the Second Founding.
References
- 2nd Edition Warhammer 40,000 Codex Imperialis book (Came with 2nd Ed. boxed game).
Footnotes
- ↑ , ↑ The Horus Heresy collectible card game (CCG) and the four "Visions of..." books break significantly from the previously established canonical information concerning the Horus Heresy. The validity of the claims made in the CCG and related works are hotly debated by fans.
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