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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
→The Horus Heresy
The [[Raven Guard]] were one of seven legions to be sent to the Istvaan system (Others present were the [[Iron Hands]], [[Salamanders]], [[Alpha Legion]], [[Iron Warriors]], [[Night Lords]] and [[Word Bearers]]) to quell a rebellion lead by the former [[Warmaster]], [[Horus]] - [[Primarch]] of the [[Sons of Horus]] Legion (Formerly the [[Luna Wolves]]).{{Fn|12}} Horus and his other three traitor primarchs ([[Fulgrim]], [[Angron]] and [[Mortarion]]) had entrenched themselves on the planet of [[Istvaan V]], and lay in wait for the Loyalist forces to land and engage.{{Fn|12}} The fighting once joined was fierce and hot-blooded, brother versus brother, and no quarter was given on either side.{{Fn|12}} Mid way into the fighting, Horus and his allies retreated back into their fortifications for no reason that could be grasped by the loyalist factions.{{Fn|12}} The Raven Guard were in the thick of the fighting from the start, though out of their element due to the lack of tactical planning and the close-up-and-personal combat spreading like wildfire across the plains of Istvaan V. They fought both with as much honour and as much skill as any other legion would in the circumstances.{{Fn|12}} When the traitors made a surprise withdrawal back to their fortifications, the Raven Guard used this cease in the fighting to regroup and re-arm.{{Fn|12}} However, when they neared the "loyalist" defences (which were tenfold reinforced by the expert siege engineers of the Iron Warriors legion under their [[Primarch]] [[Perturabo]]'s direction, they were fired upon by the very guns meant to protect them. Hundreds were gunned down in the first few minutes of the betrayal, before they even realised that there were traitors in there midst.{{Fn|12}}
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 [[Isstvan 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 charged by Malcador to keep an eye on its safety).{{Fn|12}}
