217
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Changes
From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
m
→The Horus Heresy
Four of the seven loyalist [[legions]] sent to Istvaan V had thrown off the colours and pretences of the [[Imperium]], and set about playing out a totally new preformance (hatched from long before Istvaan).{{Fn|12}} The [[Iron Warriors]], [[Night Lords]], [[Alpha Legion]], and [[Word Bearers]] turned on their brethren in a bloody thunderstorm of [[bolter]]s and blades, decimating their numbers in a multitude of seemingly never ending skirmishes and drudging battles for ground that cost lives for every metre gained or lost.{{Fn|12}} [[Corax]] and his legion were reduced from their mighty 80,000 warriors to a meagre 3,000 battle hardened veterans.{{Fn|12}} Himself by now a brooding vengeful demigod, weilding a whip{{Fn|12}} in place of his normal customary left set of talons which were lost in a rage fueled duel with the traitorous primarch [[Lorgar]], which would have ended in [[Lorgar]]'s death had [[Konrad Curze]], [[Primarch]] of the [[Night Lords]] (also known as the [[Night Haunter]]) Not intervened and shattered it with a swipe of his own claws.{{Fn|12}} Respite came in the form of a single [[battle barge]] The "[[Avenger]]"{{Fn|12}}, captained by [[Space Marine Commander|Commander]] [[Branne Nev]], a captain originally stationed on Deliverance as a garrison commander, with him came the battered remains of the Therion Cohort normally serving with the legion under [[Praefactor Valerious]] who ironically brought [[Istavan V]] into compliance with Corax the first time. {{Fn|12}}
Upon escaping the tailing forces of [[World Eater]]'s picket ships, "[[Avenger]]"{{Fn|12}} broke real-space into the warp, and headed for Terra.{{Fn|12}} Upon arriving Corax headed for the Imperial Palace, which was being fortified by Rogal Dorn and his Imperial Fists in preperation for the coming Siege (Siege of Terra), upon which after much argument with Dorn and Malcador the Imperial Regent, The Emperor himself boomed in a psychic voice for the arguing to cease and pulled Corax into a vision of extreme light, and showed him the secrets he had been asking for - The gene forging tech used to create the Primarch's by the Emperor himself.{{Fn|12}} After navigating the treacherous and dangerous contraption which was the ever shape-shifting maze on Luna, by using his advanced logic, and the skill of his sons to out-think its logic engine and freeze it in place, he retrieved the gene tech and returned to Deliverance under the watchful eye of the Adeptus Custodes (who were crharged charged by Malcador to keep an eye on its safety).{{Fn|12}}
At first the Astartese created by the gene tech were a marvel, a splice of primarch and Astartese, but not in an imbalanced degree so as to cause malfunction, a perfect meld.{{Fn|12}} These new warriors were faster, stronger, and more intelligent than any of the older warriors of the [[Space Marine Legion|Legion]], and within a few weeks more aspirants had been successfully implanted with stable [[gene-seed]] than ever before (the new gene seed also meant that warriors matured into their new forms rapidly compared to standard Astartese).{{Fn|12}} The new warriors would be placed under the command of Captain Branne Nev under the moniker "Raptors", and would be used against a [[Word Bearer]] fortress as their first deployment, which would see them successfully slaughter veteran [[Word Bearer]]s with the ease of much older warriors. Raptors would take injuries that would have killed even an Astartese, and still remain fighting due to their enhanced bodies.{{Fn|12}} Word of this reached the ears of [[Omegon]], twin [[primarch]] of the Alpha Legion, whom had been laying dormant on [[Kiavahr]] below stirring up a rebellion amongst the tech guilds, and he sprung into action.{{Fn|12}}
