18,817
edits
Changes
From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
m
clean up, replaced: honor → honour
[[File:SS Icon.png|20px]] [[Aphone Ire]] (KIA?)<br>
[[File:Luna Wolves Legionssymbol.jpg|20px]] [[Garviel Loken]] (KIA){{Fn|13f}}<br>
* [[Nathaniel Garro]] (KIA) {{Fn|13f}}<br>
|Commanders2 = <big>[[File:SOH icon.png|20px]] [[Horus Lupercal]] (KIA)</big><br>
===Prelude===
*{{Main|Solar War}}
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]] s 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 hundreds of specialists including: '''Fourth Master Tacticae Terrestria''' [[Julius Gundelfo]], '''Tacticae''' [[Osaka]], [[Montesere]] and [[Brinlaw]], '''Data-Adjudicator''' [[Perez Grist]], [[Imperial Army]] [[Colonel]] [[Lin-Hu Kway]], '''Junior Administrar Patris''' [[Sator Omes]], '''Cogitation Overseer''' [[Arnolf Van Halmere]], and '''Rubricator Senioris''' [[Hyton Ki]].{{Fn|24r}}
By the twenty-seventh of Quintus, Horus' forces had captured both the Lion's Gate and Eternity Wall Spaceports. This allowed him to fully land his last and greatest reserves: the [[Legio Mortis]] Titan Legion. By this point in the battle, however, acting siege commander Perturabo had become fed up by the state of the traitor armies. Daemons swarmed the ranks of the traitor armies of his brothers and allies had now pledged themselves fully to the [[Ruinous Powers]]. Seeing that the war was no longer one of Legion vs. Legion, Perturabo's breaking point came when Horus ordered him to break up his Legion and disperse it amongst the greater traitor armies. Mortarion and the Death Guard would instead take up Perturabo's positions, and the humiliation proved too much for the Lord of Iron to tolerate. Fed up, he ordered his Legion to leave Terra for paths unknown. The Iron Warriors began to evacuate Terra, causing great mayhem in the blockading Traitor fleet.{{Fn|15a}} Some Iron Warrior contingents refused to abandon the campaign or were just left behind by their comrades, and would keep fighting on Terra until the end.{{Fn|22a}}{{Fn|29}} Meanwhile due to the machinations of the [[Daemon]] [[Vassukella]], who had infected the [[Astronomican]], waves of madness swept across the loyalist lines and caused many mortal defenders to commit suicide or abandon their posts. Those who abandoned their posts marched towards "Paradise", in truth a horrific dream-farm erected by the Emperor's Children.{{Fn|15c}}
Despite this setback, Horus remained undeterred. He organized a massive attack by the Legio Mortis, Sons of Horus, [[Chaos Knight]]s, and [[Dark Mechanicum]] war engines against the Mercury-Exultant Kill-zone, a 150km150 km-deep No Man's Land before the Exultant Wall which connects the Inner and Outer Palaces. This massive force was met by some 50 engines of the [[Legio Ignatum]]{{Fn|15a}}, including the [[Emperor Titan]]s ''[[Imperious Prima]]'', ''[[Exemplis]]'', and ''[[Magnificum Incendius]]''. This formidable army was aided by not only the shattered remains of other Titan Legions such as the [[Legio Solaria]], [[Legio Atarus]], [[Legio Defensor]], [[Legio Amaranth]], [[Legio Gryphonicus]], and [[Legio Invigilata]] but also dozens of [[Knight House]]s and supporting [[Imperial Army]] and [[Secutarii]].{{Fn|15b}} The [[Ordo Sinister]] also finally agreed to enter the fighting, sending a [[Warlord-Sinister]] [[Psi-Titan]] to the Ignatum's aid.{{Fn|15d}} In the ensuing apocalyptic battle, the Traitors first attacked with waves of destroyed Titans that had been resurrected through sorcery. These "zombie" Titans now walked without a living [[Princeps]], and were largely used as cannon fodder by the Traitors due to their ability to absorb enormous amounts of punishment.{{Fn|15c}} In their wake came the Legio Mortis and endless swarms of Dark Mechanicum vehicles and [[Daemon Engine]]s. They were led by the ''[[Dies Irae]]'' and its bodyguard of 7 Warlord Titans.{{Fn|15b}} Despite the devastation wrought upon by the Traitors, thanks to orbital bombardment, new [[Warmaster Titan]]s, weight of numbers, and madness spread amongst the loyalist mortal crews, the Traitors ultimately prevailed in annihilating the Legio Ignatum and its allies and reaching the Exultant Wall.{{Fn|15e}}
[[Image:WarhawkNoText.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Jaghatai Khan confronts Mortarion at the Lion's Gate Spaceport{{Fn|20g}}]]
Upon teleporting to the Vengeful Spirit, Horus sprung his trap. He had the attackers scattered through the ship as the Warmaster revealed he had deliberately held back the measure of his true strength and clouded his own mind in dementia in order to lure the Emperor in.{{Fn|24o}} The Emperor and his Custodes appeared in a seemingly ordinary hangar until Horus used his dark powers to take control of many of the Companions. Blood flowing from their eyes and screaming at the effort to maintain control, dozens of the Emperor's own bodyguards attacked their liegelord. The Emperor slew dozens of Custodes before the madness passed and He was able to cleanse the lingering taint from His companions. The Emperor and his Custodes then found themselves in the midst of Hell, with many of the warriors falling into Daemonic traps until the Emperor unleashed His psychic fire to cleanse it.{{Fn|24k}} Meanwhile, Valdor and his Custodes found themselves deep within a dark vault, battling hordes of Daemons and only realizing they were aboard the ''Vengeful Spirit'' when the Captain-General stabbed the surface with his [[Apollonian Spear]] to confirm their destination.{{Fn|24l}} Dorn found himself in an endless sweltering desert for what seemed to him to be centuries, slowly forgetting all but his name and being tempted by [[Khornate]] madness.{{Fn|24m}} Only Sanguinius and his Blood Angels reached their intended destination, Disembarkation Deck 2, and it was here they faced determined resistance from Daemons, Sons of Horus, and Word Bearers.{{Fn|24n}}
Swelling with the powers of Chaos, the fully awakened Horus drove the crew of the ''Vengeful Spirit'' mad with his mere presence including hardened Space Marines such as his equerry [[Kenor Argonis]].{{Fn|26a}} He broke down the barriers of space and time between the surface of Terra and his flagship, causing the two locations to overlap with one another and for time itself to be paused at this single monumental moment, with even the [[Inevitable City]] manifesting in his honorhonour.{{Fn|26b}} This caused hordes of traitors to bypass the sealed Eternity Gate and spill into the [[Sanctum Imperialis]], with [[Nassir Amit]] leading a defense against traitors less than 2km 2 km from the Throneroom.{{Fn|26h}} Realizing that He had underestimated the true extent of Horus' power, the Emperor became desperate and took in the powers of the Warp for himself. This nearly created a 5th Chaos God dubbed the [[Dark King (Entity)|Dark King]], but as He was ascending the Emperor was talked down from the edge of the abyss of corruption by His own friend [[Ollanius Persson]].{{Fn|26f}} Returning to His senses and humanity, the Emperor unleashed a massive blast of power He had built up that purged much of Terra and the ''Vengeful Spirit'' of its Warp-madness while also freeing Rogal Dorn. The Emperor sent out a message for all loyal followers to join Him as He marched on Horus.{{Fn|26g}}
Still preparing to face his father, Horus deliberately let [[Sanguinius]] reach him within the heavily mutated [[Lupercal's Court]]. Planning to turn Sanguinius to Chaos so that they may confront their father together, Horus was genuinely disappointed when his brother refused his offer to join him in ascendency.{{Fn|26c}} Instead, the already heavily injured Sanguinius attacked Horus with all his might, displaying ferocious combat ability. Horus still held back his true power, engaging in a purely martial battle with Sanguinius in hopes of breaking him down so he may accept the powers of the Warp. However Sanguinius fought so stubbornly and viciously that Horus grew frustrated and even took several wounds.{{Fn|26d}} In the end, Horus was forced to change his plans when he detected that the Emperor was incoming towards his location. Horus finally decided to kill Sanguinius and unleashed his full power, reaching into the 8th dimension to grab Sanguinius and slam him to the ground mid-flight. Horus proceeded to batter his brother with ''[[Worldbreaker]]'' and impaled him several times with his [[Talon of Horus|Talon]] before the skull of [[Ferrus Manus]]. Horus let out a disappointed sigh as his brother died and his body was strung up by Daemons.{{Fn|26e}}
