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Following the [[Drop Site Massacre]], the traitorous [[Warmaster]] of the Imperium and of the [[Sons of Horus]], [[Horus]], had crippled three Loyalist [[Space Marine]] [[Space Marine Legion|Legions]]. The [[Raven Guard]] and [[Salamanders]] were nearly destroyed, while the [[Iron Hands]] survived in larger numbers but were left leaderless. The fragmented warbands from these [[Shattered Legions]] continued hitting traitor forces during their advance upon Terra but were unable to contribute to the defense of the Throneworld itself. The [[Ultramarines]], [[Space Wolves]], and [[Dark Angels]] were either too far away or bogged down in their own campaigns to come for aid. Only the [[Imperial Fists]], [[Blood Angels]], and [[White Scars]] [[Space Marine Legion|Space Marine Legions]] were in the [[Sol System]] in force.{{Fn|1a}}
Facing them were the armies of [[Chaos]] under [[Warmaster]] [[Horus]] which included nine Legions of [[Chaos Space Marines]], traitorous forces of the [[Imperial Army]], [[Daemon|Daemonic hordes]], and the [[Titan Legion]]s of the [[Dark Mechanicum]].{{Fn|1a}} [[Mars]], the capital of the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]], had recently [[Schism of Mars|fallen]] to the traitor forces. The situation had become disastrous for the [[Imperium]] and the forces of the [[Emperor]]. Horus, sensing that he could decisively end the conflict and overthrow the Emperor once and for all, began to move on Terra. [[Rogal Dorn]], of the [[Imperial Fists]], was given overall command of the defenses of humanity's homeworld while the Emperor himself was busy with his own secret project, the [[Golden Throne]].{{Fn|1a}} In this endeavor, the Primarch was assisted by a team of tacticae, such as [[Osaka]].{{Fn|24r}} In addition to the loyalist Space Marine forces deployed in the Sol System, the loyalists were bolstered by the [[Custodian Guard]], [[Sisters of Silence]], millions of [[Imperial Army]] troops as well as various [[Mechanicum]] forces such as [[Titan Legion]]s, [[Knight]]s, [[Legio Cybernetica]], and [[Skitarii]]. Much of Terra's population was forcibly conscripted in the stages before the battle, with millions of terrified [[Conscript]]s being handed a [[Lasgun]] with virtually no training. Most of these were deployed in the 3-layered trench network around the Walls of the [[Imperial Palace]], with Dorn intending to save his Astartes and Mechanicum troops for the later stages of the battle.{{Fn|9a}}
Following the [[Battle of Beta-Garmon]], the door to the Sol System was open and Horus finally mustered his forces on [[Ullanor]] after years of war. They included the [[Sons of Horus]], [[World Eaters]], [[Emperor's Children]], [[Thousand Sons]], [[Death Guard]], and [[Iron Warriors]] under their respective 's. These were bolstered by disparate forces of [[Night Lords]] under [[Space Marine Captain|Captain]] [[Gendor Skraivok]] and 5,000 [[Word Bearers]] under [[Zardu Layak]]. The [[Alpha Legion]] left the Solar warzone after delivering a detailed map of the Sol System's defenses to Horus.{{Fn|4}} During the final phase of the [[Solar War]], Horus' forces captured the [[Sol System]] from the loyalists. All that now lay his path to victory was Terra itself.{{Fn|7}} Horus intended to capture Terra before the arrival of [[Roboute Guilliman]] from the galactic east, though he deployed [[Perturabo]] and the [[Iron Warriors]] to fortify the captured Sol System against any who may intrude upon the siege.{{Fn|9a}}
**{{Endn|24p}}: 4:xii
**{{Endn|24q}}: Dramatis Personae
**{{Endn|24r}}: 1:xvii
*{{Endn|25}}: [https://www.warhammer-community.com/2023/08/09/the-end-and-the-death-volume-iii-the-final-cover-reveal/ Warhammer Community: The End and the Death Volume III – The Final Cover Reveal (posted 9/8/2023)] (last accessed 9/8/2023)
*{{Endn|26}}: [[The End and the Death: Volume II (Novel)]]
