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Having been founded sometime during the [[Dark Age of Technology]] and spared many of the horrors of the [[Age of Strife]], Isstvan III was originally assimilated into the [[Imperium]] by the [[Raven Guard]] during the [[Great Crusade]]. The Raven Guard swiftly conquered the planet, attacking from orbit at night and destroying most of its limited military capabilities in one swoop. By the time dawn rose on the [[Hive]] of '''[[Khry Vanak''']], Isstvan III's capital, the planetary leadership and military capability had been bombed into ruin. Aftewards, the administration of the Imperium moved in the wake of the [[Astartes]] and rebuilt the planet along the lines of the [[Imperial Truth]].{{Fn|5b5a}}

Baron '''[[Vardus Praal]]''', Imperial [[Planetary Governor|Imperial governor]] of the Isstvan system, eventually rose in revolt against the Imperium, purging Imperial elements for as long as six years before word of the rebellion reached the [[Council of Terra]].{{Fn|5a5b}}. The [[Emperor of Mankind]] and the Council, ignorant of the change in Horus, charged the Warmaster with crushing this rebellion. Under his command were four [[Space Marine Legion]]s; his own [[Sons of Horus]], the [[Emperor's Children]] of [[Fulgrim]], [[Mortarion]] and his [[Death Guard]], and the [[World Eaters]] led by [[Angron]]. Horus and these Primarchs had fallen to Chaos and took this opportunity to purge all suspected loyalists from their Legions.

The planned first wave, all suspected loyalists, deployed by [[Drop pods]] upon '''the [[Choral City''']], the capital of the planet. Not using the traditional [[Stormbird]]s and cutting their communication lines to the fleet, Horus tried to ensure that none of them would survive the massive [[Virus bombs|virus bombardment]]. Captain [[Saul Tarvitz]] of the Emperor's Children, working on a hunch, had managed to remain in the fleet, where he discovered the planned bombardment and commandeered a [[Thunderhawk]] to save his betrayed brethren. Thanks to Tarvitz's warning, a few hundred loyal Space Marines managed to survive inside airtight bunkers and bomb shelters. As the putrid gases resulting from the rapidly decaying organic matter filled the atmosphere, Horus ignited a firestorm on the planet which melted the hives and razed the cities. The psychic death scream of the twelve billion is said to have been louder than the [[Astronomican]]{{Fn|1}}{{Fn|2}}{{Fn|3}}.

Despite this, many loyalists of the four Legions managed to survive, and an enraged Angron, acting against Horus's orders, led his Legion to the surface to slaughter the survivors. Horus, trying to salvage the situation, sent detachments of all his Legions to slay the Loyalists. The Loyalists, fighting tenaciously, turned the planned slaughter into a full-scale battle. Under the command of Captains [[Garviel Loken]] and [[Tarik Torgaddon]] of the Sons of Horus (redubbed the Luna Wolves), Saul Tarvitz of the Emperor's Children, and [[Ehrlen]] of the World Eaters, the loyalists were able to mount a surprising defence in the ruins of the capital city. Ultimately, the Loyalists were crushed, in part to [[Lucius (Emperor's Children)|Lucius's]]'s betrayal and the orbital bombardment of the Choral City, but made Horus pay dearly. The battle lasted for three months and inflicted huge losses upon the traitors. It was a Pyrrhic victory at best. While the battle raged upon the planet, a handful of loyalists led by Captain [[Nathaniel Garro]] of the Death Guard managed to commandeer the frigate ''[[Eisenstein]]'' and fled to warn the [[Emperor]] of Horus's betrayal.

Isstvan III would remain a barren, quarantined world. However , 10,000 years later the sole survivor of the original atrocity, the [[Dreadnought]] [[Rylanor]], enacted his revenge. Using a sonic beacon to draw [[Fulgrim]] to the world, Rylanor detonated an unexploded [[Virus Bomb]]. Once again Isstvan III was scoured of whatever life had redeveloped over the millennia, but Fulgrim managed to survive.{{Fn|6}}

==Isstvan and IstvaanNotes==

*{{Endn|1}}: [[Galaxy in Flames (Novel)|Galaxy in Flames]] by [[Ben Counter]], {{Cite this}}

*{{Endn|4}}: [[Fallen Angels (Novel)|Fallen Angels]] by [[Mike Lee]], {{Cite This}}

**{{Endn|5a}}: pgpgs. 4036–39**{{Endn|5b}}: pgspg. 36–3940*{{Endn|56}}: [[The Ancient Awaits (Short Story)]] - [[Sons of the Emperor (Anthology)]] — ''The Ancient Awaits''