11,681
edits
Changes
From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
no edit summary
|Subsector=Unknown
|System=Isstvan
|Population=None, was 12 billion pre-Heresy<sup>2,3</sup>
|Affiliation=[[Imperium]]
|Class=[[Dead World]]
All suspected Loyalists were deployed with [[Drop pods]] upon '''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.
Afterwards, he ordered a massive [[Virus bombs|Virus bombardment]] upon the planet. However, Captain [[Saul Tarvitz]] of the Emperor's Children, working on a hunch, had managed to remain in the fleet. To his horror he discovered the planned bombardment and managed to seize a Thunderhawk to save his betrayed brethren. The bombardment caused 12 billion deaths among the inhabitants<sup>2,3</sup>, every Loyalist that couldn't reach shelter in time (World Eaters suffering the greatest losses) and the utter consumption of all organic matter upon the planet. 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 12 billion is said to have been louder than the [[Astronomican]]<sup>2,3</sup>.
Despite this, many Loyalists of the four Legions managed to survive, and an enraged Angron, acting against Horus' 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.
==Isstvan and Istvaan==
The systemand planet's name is alternatively spelled '''Istvaan'''<sup>3</sup>.
==Sources==
*<sup>1</sup>[[Galaxy In Flames (Novel)]] by [[Ben Counter]]*<sup>2</sup>[[Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness]]*<sup>3</sup>[[Codex: Chaos Space Marines (3rd Edition)]], p. 5
[[Category:The Horus Heresy]]
