Changes

[[Image:MKar.jpg|thumb|300px|right|M'kar the Thrice Born, inhabiting the [[Dreadnought]] body of [[Ultramarines]] [[Venerable Dreadnought|Venerable Brother]] [[Altarion]].^{{Fn|7}}]]

During the [[Horus Heresy]], Maloq Kartho was [[Dark Apostle]] to [[Hol Beloth]], one of the [[Word Bearers]] commanders during the [[Battle of Calth]]^{{Fn|6a}}. After Beloth's force was annihilated by orbital bombardment, the Word Bearers were forced underground by the gradual dispersion of Calth's atmosphere and the lethal solar radiation coming from the damaged sun^{{Fn|6b}}.

Kartho was presumably forced underground as well, though this is not confirmed. At some point, he encountered [[Space Marine Captain|Captain]] [[Remus Ventanus]] of the [[Ultramarines]], who learned his mortal name and slew him. But as a reward for his bloody slaughter on Calth, the [[Warp]] granted Kartho daemonhood<sup id="fn_4_back">[[#fn_4{{Fn|[4]]]</sup>}}.

In 799.[[M41]] M'kar attacked the world of [[Acralem]], seeking to turn it into his throneworld from which he could create an empire. The Imperial counter-offensive was spearheaded by [[Grey Knights]] and in the final battle M'Kar was slain by a young [[Kaldor Draigo]] <sup id="fn_5_back">[[#fn_5{{Fn|[5]]]</sup>}}.

In 878.M41 M'kar attacked [[Ultramar]] with a force of [[Chaos]] pirates and claimed several uninhabited worlds on the Ultramar borders. Captain [[Sicarius]] confronted M'kar in the [[Helamar Rift]] and destroyed much of his pirate fleet. M'kar himself managed to escape back into the warp<sup id="fn_1_back">[[#fn_1{{Fn|[1]]]</sup>}}.

M'kar was sighted again in 935.M41 when a [[Daemon|daemonic]] horde took control of the star fort ''[[Indomitable]]'' located in the outer orbit of Calth. [[Marneus Calgar]], commanding [[Terminators]] from the Ultramarine's 1st Company, boarded the star fort and tore M'kar limb from limb, according to the official Chapter record<sup id="fn_1_back">[[#fn_1{{Fn|[1]]]</sup>}}.

However, M'kar resurfaced in 965.M41 when he trapped [[Mephiston]] in the crystal caverns of [[Solon V]]. He then attempted to lure Mephiston into joining Chaos as a [[Renegade Chapter|Renegade]], claiming Mephiston is already firmly on the path to [[Daemonhood]]. Mephiston rejected his captor's claims and throttled the life out of M'kar<sup id="fn_2_back">[[#fn_2{{Fn|[2]]]</sup>}}.

In 997.M41, M'kar transformed the entire [[Agri-World]] of [[Sondheim V]] into his private pandemonium. Shortly after, [[Hive Fleet]] [[Leviathan]] (or Hive Fleet [[Kraken]], depending on the source <sup id="fn_5_back">[[#fn_5{{Fn|[5]]]</sup>}}) descended upon the planet, and the [[Sky Sentinels]] [[Chapter]] were dispatched to reclaim it. However, upon seeing the situation, they opted to call in [[Exterminatus]] <sup id="fn_3_back">[[#fn_3{{Fn|[3]]]</sup>}}. A stay of execution was ordered by [[Grand Master]] [[Vardan Kai]] when he arrived at the planet leading a [[Grey Knights]] strike force. The Exterminatus was to be delayed to give enough time for the Grey Knights to capture the [[Book of Pandegaras]], a cursed tome which had given M'kar the power to alter the planet. The Grey Knights made planetfall and made it through the twisted landscape to the temple in which the book was stored, but they quickly became overwhelmed and trapped by both [[Tyranid]] and [[Daemon]]ic forces. Kai contacted the Sky Sentinels fleet and ordered them to bombard the temple site. The Grey Knights' superior armour protected them from the bombardments, but the Daemons and Tyranids were not so fortunate. As the bombing stopped, the Grey Knights evacuated with the Book of Pandegaras whilst the Sky Sentinels began Exterminatus of the planet. When the cleansing of the planet was completed, the Sky Sentinels surrendered themselves to the Grey Knights for [[mindwipe]] <sup id="fn_5_back">[[#fn_5{{Fn|[5]]]</sup>}}.

M'Kar returned to attack Arcalem in 999.M41, and once again, Kaldor Draigo also returned, this time alone, seeking to again banish the Daemon Prince<sup id="fn_5_back">[[#fn_5{{Fn|[5]]]</sup>}}.

In 854999, M'kar attacked Ultramar again, this time with a large Chaos force. Some time before then, Warsmith [[Honsou]] of the [[Iron Warriors]] had learned of M'kar's existence and his long-standing hatred for the Ultramarines. With the help of [[Ezekyle Abaddon|the Despoiler]]'s damned seer, [[Moriana]], Honsou learned that Calgar had not, in fact, been able to destroy the daemon in 935.M41, but only to imprison its defeated essence inside the [[warp core]] of the ''Indomitable''. Calgar detailed half of the Ultramarines' Fifth Company to garrison the star fort and guide it on a constant, random journey in and out of the warp, but M'kar's hatred for the Ultramarines was so powerful that he always left a faint trail that could lead their enemies to him^{{Fn|7a}}.

Honsou and his newly-formed army captured the star fort and freed M'kar, which possessed the [[Dreadnought]] armour of Brother [[Altarion]], one of the Ultramarines assigned to guard the fort. It was only after the initial attacks that Honsou realized that M'kar was taking over his army, which the Daemon lord dubbed the [[Bloodborn]]<sup id="fn_4_back">[[#fn_4{{Fn|[4]]]</sup>}}.

M'kar personally led the onslaught against [[Talassar]], while other Chaos warlords attacked Calth, [[Espandor]] and [[Tarentus]]. Calgar himself led the 1st Company to Talassar, determined to once again slay M'kar<sup id="fn_4_back">[[#fn_4{{Fn|[4]]]</sup>}}.

After weeks of being besieged in the ancient fortress of [[Castra Tanagra]] by M'kar's daemon army, the defending Ultramarines reached their lowest ebb when [[Chief Librarian]] [[Varro Tigurius]] was finally overcome by weariness, and the psychic barrier he had erected around the fortress failed. M'kar arrived in person to finish Calgar. Calgar was nearly overwhelmed, since M'kar was able to draw limitless power from the ''Indomitable'', but Tigurius suddenly rallied and unleashed a psychic burst that drove M'kar back and severed his connection to the star fort. Calgar rallied the 1st Company for a final charge against the daemons. Calgar was nearly defeated by M'kar, when reinforcements from the Ultramarines' 2nd and 4th Companies arrived, led by Captains [[Cato Sicarius|Sicarius]] and [[Uriel Ventris|Ventris]], the latter of whom had retrieved the Shard of Erebus from Captain Ventanus' tomb on Calth<sup id="fn_4_back">[[#fn_4{{Fn|[4]]]</sup>}}.

Uriel pronounced M'kar's [[True name|mortal name]] aloud, and threw the Shard to Calgar, who stabbed M'kar in the throat^{{Fn|4}}. The power of the Shard was enough to destroy M'kar's essence, a [[True Death]] that destroyed the Daemon Prince once and for all.^{{Fn|4a}}.

*''"The inferno of my vengeance fills you! It will burn you, my bearers of the holy word, it will fill your veins with power and fire until Ultramar is in ashes. As my power flows in you, so too will I see what you see, feel what you feel and know what you know. With each death I will grow stronger. With every fortress burned my reach will stretch further. You will be my army of dark righteousness. You will be the Bloodborn and your name shall strike terror into the hearts of men! Spread throughout Ultramar and take my fire to the Ultramarines! Burn them from their fastnesses until no trace remains. This is my holy word!"''^{{Fn|4b}}

*<span id="fn_1">[[#fn_1_back{{Endn|1]]}}: [[Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition)]], p. 40*<span id="fn_2">[[#fn_2_back{{Endn|2]]}}: [[Codex: Blood Angels (5th Edition)]], p. 16*<span id="fn_3">[[#fn_3_back{{Endn|3]]}}: [[Codex: Tyranids (5th Edition)]], p. 28*<span id="fn_4">[[#fn_4_back{{Endn|4]]}}: [[Chapter's Due (Novel)]] by [[Graham McNeill]]**a{{Endn|4a}}: Chapter 24, p. 470**b{{Endn|4b}}: Chapter 5, p. 74*<span id="fn_5">[[#fn_5_back{{Endn|5]]}}: [[Codex: Grey Knights (5th Edition)]], pp. 14-17*^{{Fn|6}}: [[Know No Fear (Novel)]] by [[Dan Abnett]]**a{{Endn|6a}}: Dramatis Personae**b{{Endn|6b}}: {{Cite This}}*^{{Fn|7}}: [[Iron Warrior (Novella)]]**a{{Endn|7a}}: Chapter One