The Horus Heresy
Ben Counter
Galaxy in Flames
The heresy revealed
With extra-special thanks to Graham McNeill, for making Galaxy in Flames the book it is.
A BLACK LIBRARY PUBLICATION
First published in Great Britain in 2006 by
BL Publishing,
Games Workshop Ltd.,
Willow Road, Nottingham , NG7 2WS , UK .
1098765432
Cover illustration by Neil Roberts.
First page illustration by Neil Roberts.
В© Games Workshop Limited 2006. All rights reserved.
Black Library, the Black Library logo, BL Publishing, Games Workshop,
the Games Workshop logo and all associated marks, names, characters,
illustrations and images from the Warhammer 40,000 universe qre
either ®, TM and,’or © Games Workshop Ltd 2000-2006, variably
registered in the LIK and other countries around the world. All РіР¬^
reserved.
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 13: 978-1-84416-393-9 ISBN 10: 1-84.416-393-8
Distributed in the US by Simon & Schuster 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020, US.'
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Bookmarque, Surrey, UK.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
permission of the publishers.
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this
book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is
purely coincidental.
See the Black Library on the Internet at
http://www.blacklibrary.com/
Find out more about Games Workshop and the world of Warhammer 40,000 at
http://www.games-workshop.com/РЋwww.games-workshop.comРЋ
The Horus Heresy
It is a time of legend.
Mighty heroes battle for the right to rule the galaxy.
The vast armies of the Emperor of Earth have conquered
the galaxy in a Great Crusade – the myriad alien races have
been smashed by the Emperor's elite warriors and wiped
from the face of history.
The dawn of a new age of supremacy for humanity beckons.
Gleaming citadels of marble and gold celebrate the many victories of the Emperor. Triumphs are raised on a million worlds to record the epic deeds of his most powerful and deadly warriors.
First and foremost amongst these are the primarchs,
superheroic beings who have led the Emperor's armies of
Space Marines in victory after victory. They are unstoppable
and magnificent, the pinnacle of the Emperor's genetic
experimentation. The Space Marines are the mightiest
human warriors the galaxy has ever known, each capable of
besting a hundred normal men or more in combat.
Organised into vast armies of tens of thousands called Legions, the Space Marines and their primarch leaders conquer the galaxy in the name of the Emperor.
Chief amongst the primarchs is Horus, called the Glorious, the Brightest Star, favourite of the Emperor, and like a son unto him. He is the Warmaster, the commander-in-chief of the Emperor's military might, subjugator of a thousand thousand worlds and conqueror of the galaxy. He is a warrior without peer, a diplomat supreme, and his ambtion knows no bounds.
The stage has been set.
~ DRAMATIS PERSONAE ~
The Primarchs
The Warmaster Horus
Commander of the Sons of Horns Legion
Angron Primarch of the World Eaters
Fulgrim Primarch of the Emperor's Children
Mortarion Primarch of the Death Guard
The Sons of Horus
Ezekyle Abaddon First Captain of the Sons of Horus
Tarik Torgaddon Captain, 2nd Company, Sons of Horus
Iacton Qruze, 'the Half-heard' Captain, 3rd Company, Sons of Horus
Horus Aximand, 'Little Horus' Captain, 5th Company, Sons of Horus
Serghar Targost Captain, 7th Company, Sons of Horus, lodge master
Garviel Loken Captain, 10th Company, Sons of Horus
Luc Sedirae Captain, 13th Company, Sons of Horus
Tybalt Marr, 'the Either' Captain, 18th Company, Sons of Horus
Kalus Ekaddon, Captain Catulan Reaver Squad, Sons of Horus
Falkus Kibre, 'Widowmaker' Captain, Justaerin Terminator Squad, Sons of Horus
Nero Vipus Sergeant, Locasta Tactical Squad, Sons of Horus
Maloghurst 'the Twisted' Equerry to the Warmaster
Other Space Marines
Erebus First Chaplain of the Word Bearers
Kharn Captain, 8th Assault Company of the World Eaters
Nathanial Garro Captain of the Death Guard
Lucius Emperor's Children swordsman
Saul tarvitz First Captain of the Emperor's Children
Eidolon Lord Commander of the Emperor's Children
Fabius Bile Emperor's Children Apothecary
The Legio Mortis
Princeps Esau Turnet Commander of the Dies Irae, an Imperator-class Titan
Moderati Primus Cassar One of the senior crew of the Dies Irae
Moderati Primus Aruken Another of the Dies Irae 's crew
Non-Astartes Imperials
Mechanicum Adept Regulus Mechanicum representative to Horus, he commands the Legion's robots and maintains its fighting machines
Ing мае Sing Mistress of Astropaths
Kyril Sindermann Primary iterator
Mersadie Oliton Official remembrancer, documentarist
Euphrati Keeler Official remembrancer, imagist
Peeter Egon Momus Architect Designate
Maggard Maloghurst's civilian enforcer
PART ONE
LONG KNIVES
ONE
The Emperor protects
Long night
The music of the spheres
'I was there,' said Titus Cassar, his wavering voice barely reaching the back of the chamber. 'I was there the day that Horus turned his face from the Emperor,’
His words brought a collective sigh from the Lec-titio Divinitatus congregation and as one they lowered their heads at such a terrible thought. From the back of the chamber, an abandoned munitions hold deep in the under-decks of the Warmaster's flagship, the Vengeful Spirit, Kyril Sindermann watched and winced at Cassar's awkward delivery. The man was no iterator, that was for sure, but his words carried the sure and certain faith of someone who truly believed in the things he was saying.
Sindermann envied him that certainty.
It had been many months since he had felt anyВthing approaching certainty.
As the Primary Iterator of the 63rd Expedition, it was Kyril Sindermann's job to promulgate the Imperial Truth of the Great Crusade, illuminating those worlds brought into compliance of the rule of the Emperor and the glory of the Imperium. BringВing the light of reason and secular truth to the furthest flung reaches of the ever-expanding human empire had been a noble undertaking.
But somewhere along the way, things had gone wrong.
Sindermann wasn't sure when it had happened. On Xenobia? On Davin? On Aureus? Or on any one of a dozen other worlds brought into compliance?
Once he had been known as the arch prophet of secular truth, but times had changed and he found himself remembering his Sahlonum, the Sumatu-ran philosopher who had wondered why the light of new science seemed not to illuminate as far as the old sorceries had.
Titus Cassar continued his droning sermon, and Sindermann returned his attention to the man. Tall and angular, Cassar wore the uniform of a moderati primus, one of the senior commanders of the Dies Irae, an Imperator-class Battle Titan. Sindermann suspected it was this rank, combined with his earВlier friendship with Euphrati Keeler, that had granted his status within the Lectitio Divinitatus; status that he was clearly out of his depth in hanВdling.