Changes

}}

The '''Battle of Gate Forty-Two''' was a battle of the [[Great Crusade]].{{Fn|1}}

The [[Akum-Sothos Cluster]] had been brought to compliance by the [[Luna Wolves]] in the opening years of the [[Great Crusade]], but its people had since fallen to mass psychosis and violently revolted against the authority of [[Terra]]. It was determined that a [[Xenos]] parasite that matured within the eye sockets of its host had been behind the riots. The parasites gained rudimentary control of their hosts as they matured and formed what amounted to an alien gestalt cabal of primary hosts dubbed the '[[Unsighted Kings]]'. Newly ascended [[Warmaster]] [[Horus]] refused to see a cluster of worlds he himself had once conquered slip from the [[Imperium]]'s grasp, so he vowed to retake the Cluster no matter the cost.{{Fn|1}}

The following assault was hailed as the Legion's darkest hour, a grim honor that saw entire [[Assault Marine|Assault]] companies decimated in the face of heavy enemy defenses. Corax himself led the bloody attack that saw Gate Forty-Two finally taken. The Luna Wolves, Space Wolves, and Iron Warriors moved into the Unsighted Kings fortress soon after. Bitterly for Corax, the glory of slaying the Unsighted Kings themselves went to Horus and his Luna Wolves. But despite the victory thousands of Raven Guard, most of them Terran-born, had lost their lives.{{Fn|1}}

The effects of the battle were far-reaching for the Raven Guard. Its numbers were sorely depleted: the Legion now numbered only 80,000 Marines after the battle. Corax removed his forces from Horus' command, bitterly swearing to never serve alongside the Warmaster again.{{Fn|1}}

Another effect of the battle was that the Terran-born officers of the Raven Guard had largely been killed. Many of these officers had served under Horus at one point and some suspected their loyalties to their true Primarch was lacking. Thus the battle allowed Corax to consolidate his power over the Raven Guard and erased the Luna Wolves' influence over the Legion.{{Fn|1}}

*[[Battles of the Great Crusade (List)]]

*{{Endn|1}}: [[The Horus Heresy Book Three - Extermination]], pgs. 133-135

*{{Endn|2}}: [[Corax: Lord of Shadows (Novel)]] - Chapter 4