THE HORUS HERESY.

Ben Counter.

GALAXY IN FLAMES.

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 a 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 s.p.a.ce Marines in victory after victory. They are unstoppable and magnificent, the pinnacle of the Emperor's genetic experimentation. The s.p.a.ce 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 s.p.a.ce 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 ambition knows no bounds.

The stage has been set.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE.

The Primarchs.

THE WARMASTER HORUS, Commander of the Sons of Horus 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 s.p.a.ce Marines EREBUS, First Chaplain of the Word Bearers KHARN, Captain, 8th a.s.sault Company of the World Eaters NATHANIEL 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-cla.s.s t.i.tan MODERATI PRIMUS Ca.s.sAR, One of the senior crew of the Dies Irae MODERATI PRIMUS ARUKEN, Another of the Dies Irae's crew.

Non-Astartes Imperials MECHANIc.u.m ADEPT REGULUS, Mechanic.u.m representative to Horus, he commands the Legion's robots and maintains its fighting machines ING MAE SING, Mistress of Astropaths KYRIL SINDERMANN, Primary iterator.

MERSADIE OLITON, Official remembrancer, doc.u.mentarist 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 t.i.tus Ca.s.sar, 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 Lect.i.tio 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 Ca.s.sar'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 anything 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. Bringing the light of reason and secular truth to the furthest flung reaches of the ever-expanding human empire had been a n.o.ble undertaking.

But somewhere along the way, things had gone wrong.

Sindermann wasn't sure when it had happened. On Xen.o.bia? 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 Sumaturan philosopher who had wondered why the light of new science seemed not to illuminate as far as the old sorceries had.

t.i.tus Ca.s.sar continued his droning sermon, and Sindermann returned his attention to the man. Tall and angular, Ca.s.sar wore the uniform of a moderati primus, one of the senior commanders of the Dies Irae, an Imperator-cla.s.s Battle t.i.tan. Sindermann suspected it was this rank, combined with his earlier friendship with Euphrati Keeler, that had granted his status within the Lect.i.tio Divinitatus; status that he was clearly out of his depth in handling.

Euphrati Keeler: imagist, evangelist...

...Saint.

He remembered meeting Euphrati, a feisty, supremely self-confident woman, on the embarkation deck before they had left for the surface of Sixty-Three Nineteen, unaware of the horror they would witness in the depths of the Whisperhead Mountains.

Together with Captain Loken, they had seen the warp-sp.a.w.ned monstrosity Xavyer Jubal had been wrought into. Sindermann had struggled to rationalise what he had seen by burying himself in his books and learning to better understand what had occurred. Euphrati had no such sanctuary and had turned to the growing Lect.i.tio Divinitatus cult for solace.

Venerating the Emperor as a divine being, the cult had grown from humble beginnings to a movement that was spreading throughout the Expedition fleets of the galaxy a much to the fury of the Warmaster. Where before the cult had lacked a focus, in Euphrati Keeler it had found its first martyr and saint.

Sindermann remembered the day when he had witnessed Euphrati Keeler stand before a nightmare horror from beyond the gates of the Empyrean and hurl it back from whence it had come. He had seen her bathed in killing fire and walk away unscathed, a blinding light streaming from the outstretched hand in which she had held a silver Imperial eagle. Others had seen it too, Ing Mae Sing, Mistress of the Fleet's astropaths and a dozen of the ship's arms men. Word had spread fast and Euphrati had become, overnight, a saint in the eyes of the faithful and an icon to cling to on the frontier of s.p.a.ce.

He was unsure why he had even come to this meeting a not a meeting, he corrected himself, but a service, a religious sermon a for there was a very real danger of recognition. Membership of the Lect.i.tio Divinitatus was forbidden and if he were discovered, it would be the end of his career as an iterator.

*Now we shall contemplate the word of the Emperor,' continued Ca.s.sar, reading from a small leather chapbook. Sindermann was reminded of the Bondsman Number 7 books in which the late Ignace Karkasy had written his scandalous poetry. Poetry that had, if Mersadie Oliton's suspicions were correct, caused his murder.

Sindermann thought that the writings of the Lect.i.tio Divinitatus were scarcely less dangerous.

*We have some new faithful among us,' said Ca.s.sar, and Sindermann felt every eye in the chamber turn upon him. Used to facing entire continents' worth of audience, Sindermann was suddenly acutely embarra.s.sed by their scrutiny.

*When people are first drawn to adoration of the Emperor, it is only natural that they should have questions,' said Ca.s.sar. *They know the Emperor must be a G.o.d, for he has G.o.d-like powers over all human species, but aside from this, they are in the dark.'

This, at least, Sindermann agreed with.

*Most importantly, they ask, "If the Emperor truly is a G.o.d, then what does he do with his divine power?" We do not see His hand reaching down from the sky, and precious few of us are blessed with visions granted by Him. So does he not care for the majority of His subjects?

*They do not see the falsehood of such a belief. His hand lies upon all of us, and every one of us owes him our devotion. In the depths of the warp, the Emperor's mighty soul does battle with the dark things that would break through and consume us all. On Terra, he creates wonders that will bring peace, enlightenment and the fruition of all our dreams to the galaxy. The Emperor guides us, teaches us, and exhorts us to become more than we are, but most of all, the Emperor protects.'

*The Emperor protects,' said the congregation in unison.

*The faith of the Lect.i.tio Divinitatus, the Divine Word of the Emperor, is not an easy path to follow. Where the Imperial Truth is comforting in its rigorous rejection of the unseen and the unknown, the Divine Word requires the strength to believe in that which we cannot see. The longer we look upon this dark galaxy and live through the fires of its conquest, the more we realise that the Emperor's divinity is the only truth that can exist. We do not seek out the Divine Word; instead, we hear it, and are compelled to follow it. Faith is not a flag of allegiance or a theory for debate; it is something deep within us, complete and inevitable. The Lect.i.tio Divinitatus is the expression of that faith, and only by acknowledging the Divine Word can we understand the path the Emperor has laid before mankind.'

Fine words, thought Sindermann: fine words, poorly delivered, but heartfelt. He could see that they had touched something deep inside those who heard it. An orator of skill could sway entire worlds with such words and force of belief.

Before Ca.s.sar could continue, Sindermann heard sudden shouts coming from the maze of corridors that led into the chamber. He turned as a panicked woman hurled the door behind him open with a dull clang of metal. In her wake, Sindermann could hear the hard bangs of bolter rounds.

The congregation started in confusion, looking to Ca.s.sar for an explanation, but the man was as nonplussed as they were.

*They've found you,' yelled Sindermann, realising what was happening.

*Everyone, get out,' shouted Ca.s.sar. *Scatter!'

Sindermann pushed his way through the panicking crowd to the front of the chamber and towards Ca.s.sar. Some members of the congregation were producing guns, and from their martial bearing, Sindermann guessed they were Imperial Army troopers. Some were clearly ship's crewmen, and Sindermann knew enough of religion to know that they would defend their faith with violence if they had to.

*Come on, iterator. It's time we got out of here,' said Ca.s.sar, dragging the venerable iterator towards one of the many access corridors that radiated from the chamber.

Seeing the worry on his face, Ca.s.sar said, *Don't worry, Kyril, the Emperor protects.'

*I certainly hope so,' replied Sindermann breathlessly.

Shots echoed from the ceiling and bright muzzle flashes strobed from the walls. Sindermann threw a glance over his shoulder and saw the bulky, armoured form of Astartes entering the chamber. His heart skipped a beat at the thought of being the enemy of such warriors.

Sindermann hurriedly followed Ca.s.sar into the access corridor and through a set of blast doors, their path twisting through the depths of the ship. The Vengeful Spirit was an immense vessel and he had no idea of the layout of this area, its walls grim and industrial compared to the magnificence of the upper decks.

*Do you know where you are going?' wheezed Sindermann, his breath coming in hot, agonised spikes and his ancient limbs already tiring from exertion he was scarcely used to.

*Engineering,' said Ca.s.sar. *It's like a maze down there and we have friends in the engine crew. d.a.m.n, why can't they just let us be?'

*Because they are scared of you,' said Sindermann, *just like I was.'

*AND YOU ARE certain of this?' asked Horus, Primarch of the Sons of Horus Legion and Warmaster of the Imperium, his voice echoing around the cavernous strategium of the Vengeful Spirit.

*As certain as I can be,' said Ing Mae Sing, the 63rd Expedition's Mistress of Astropaths. Her face was lined and drawn and her blind eyes were sunken within ravaged eye sockets. The demands of sending hundreds of telepathic communications across the galaxy weighed heavily on her skeletal frame. Astropathic acolytes gathered about her, robed in the same ghostly white as she and wordlessly whispering muttered doggerel of the ghastly images in their heads.

*How long do we have?' asked Horus.

*As with all things connected with the warp, it is difficult to be precise,' replied Ing Mae Sing.

*Mistress Sing,' said Horus coldly, *precision is exactly what I need from you, now more than ever. The direction of the Crusade will change dramatically at this news, and if you are wrong it will change for the worse.'

*My lord, I cannot give you an exact answer, but I believe that within days the gathering warp storms will obscure the Astronomican from us,' replied Ing Mae Sing, ignoring the Warmaster's implicit threat. Though she could not see them, she could feel the hostile presence of the Justaerin warriors, the Sons of Horus First Company Terminators, lurking in the shadows of the strategium. *Within days we shall hardly see it. Our minds can barely reach across the void and the Navigators claim that they will soon be unable to guide us true. The galaxy will be a place of night and darkness.'

Horus pounded a hand into his fist. *Do you understand what you say? Nothing more dangerous could happen to the Crusade.'

*I merely state what I see, Warmaster.'

*If you are wrong...'

The threat was not idle a no threat the Warmaster uttered ever was. There had been a time when the Warmaster's anger would never have led to such an overt threat, but the violence in Horus's tone suggested that such a time had long pa.s.sed.

*If we are wrong, we suffer. It has never been any different.'

*And my brother primarchs? What news from them?' asked Horus.

*We have been unable to confirm contact with the blessed Sanguinius,' replied Ing Mae Sing, *and Leman Russ has sent no word of his campaign against the Thousand Sons.'

Horus laughed, a harsh Cthonic bark, and said, *That doesn't surprise me. The Wolf has his head and he'll not easily be distracted from teaching Magnus a lesson. And the others?'

*Vulkan and Dorn are returning to Terra. The other primarchs are pursuing their current campaigns.'

*That is good at least,' said Horus, brow furrowing in thought, *and what of the Fabricator General?'

*Forgive me, Warmaster, but we have received nothing from Mars. We shall endeavour to make contact by mechanical means, but this will take many months.'

*You have failed in this, Sing. Co-ordination with Mars is essential.'

Ing Mae Sing had telepathically broadcast a mult.i.tude of encoded messages between the Vengeful Spirit and Fabricator General Kelbor-Hal of the Mechanic.u.m in the last few weeks. Although their substance was unknown to her, the emotions contained in them were all too clear. Whatever the Warmaster was planning, the Mechanic.u.m was a key part of it.

Horus spoke again, distracting her from her thoughts. *The other primarchs, have they received their orders?'