Ben Counter - Galaxy in Flames

The Horus Heresy

Ben Counter

Galaxy in Flames

The heresy revealed

With extra-special thanks to Graham McNeill, for making Galaxy in Flames the book it is.

A BLACK LIBRARY PUBLICATION

First published in Great Britain in 2006 by

BL Publishing,

Games Workshop Ltd.,

Willow Road, Nottingham , NG7 2WS , UK .

1098765432

Cover illustration by Neil Roberts.

First page illustration by Neil Roberts.

В© Games Workshop Limited 2006. All rights reserved.

Black Library, the Black Library logo, BL Publishing, Games Workshop,

the Games Workshop logo and all associated marks, names, characters,

illustrations and images from the Warhammer 40,000 universe q re

either ®, TM and,’or © Games Workshop Ltd 2000-2006, variably

registered in the LIK and other countries around the world. All РіР¬^

reserved.

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 13: 978-1-84416-393-9 ISBN 10: 1-84.416-393-8

Distributed in the US by Simon & Schuster 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020, US.'

Printed and bound in Great Britain by Bookmarque, Surrey, UK.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval

system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,

mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the pri or

permission of the publishers.

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this

book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is

purely coincidental.

See the Black Library on the Internet at

http://www.blacklibrary.com/

Find out more about Games Workshop and the world of Warhammer 40,000 at

http://www.games-workshop.com/РЋwww.games-workshop.comРЋ

The Horus Heresy

It is a time of legend.

Mighty heroes battle for the right to rule the galaxy.

The vast armies of the Emperor of Earth have conquered

the galaxy in a Great Crusade – the myriad alien races have

been smashed by the Emperor's elite warriors and wiped

from the face of history.

The dawn of a new age of supremacy for humanity beckons.

Gleaming citadels of marble and gold celebrate the many victories of the Emperor. Triumphs are raised on a million worlds to record the epic deeds of his most powerful and deadly warriors.

First and foremost amongst these are the primarchs,

superheroic beings who have led the Emperor's armies of

Space Marines in victory after victory. They are unstoppable

and magnificent, the pinnacle of the Emperor's genetic

experimentation. The Space Marines are the mightiest

human warriors the galaxy has ever known, each capable of

besting a hundred normal men or more in combat.

Organised into vast armies of tens of thousands called Legions, the Space Marines and their primarch leaders conquer the galaxy in the name of the Emperor.

Chief amongst the primarchs is Horus, called the Glorious, the Brightest Star, favourite of the Emperor, and like a son unto him. He is the Warmaster, the commander-in-chief of the Emperor's military might, subjugator of a thousand thousand worlds and conqueror of the galaxy. He is a warrior without peer, a diplomat supreme, and his ambtion knows no bounds.

The stage has been set.

~ DRAMATIS PERSONAE ~

The Primarchs

The Warmaster Horus

Commander of the Sons of Horns Legion

Angron Primarch of the World Eaters

Fulgrim Primarch of the Emperor's Children

Mortarion Primarch of the Death Guard

The Sons of Horus

Ezekyle Abaddon First Captain of the Sons of Horus

Tarik Torgaddon Captain, 2nd Company, Sons of Horus

Iacton Qruze, 'the Half-heard' Captain, 3rd Company, Sons of Horus

Horus Aximand, 'Little Horus' Captain, 5th Company, Sons of Horus

Serghar Targost Captain, 7th Company, Sons of Horus, lodge master

Garviel Loken Captain, 10th Company, Sons of Horus

Luc Sedirae Captain, 13th Company, Sons of Horus

Tybalt Marr, 'the Either' Captain, 18th Company, Sons of Horus

Kalus Ekaddon, Captain Catulan Reaver Squad, Sons of Horus

Falkus Kibre, 'Widowmaker' Captain, Justaerin Terminator Squad, Sons of Horus

Nero Vipus Sergeant, Locasta Tactical Squad, Sons of Horus

Maloghurst 'the Twisted' Equerry to the Warmaster

Other Space Marines

Erebus First Chaplain of the Word Bearers

Kharn Captain, 8th Assault Company of the World Eaters

Nathanial Garro Captain of the Death Guard

Lucius Emperor's Children swordsman

Saul tarvitz First Captain of the Emperor's Children

Eidolon Lord Commander of the Emperor's Children

Fabius Bile Emperor's Children Apothecary

The Legio Mortis

Princeps Esau Turnet Commander of the Dies Irae, an Imperator-class Titan

Moderati Primus Cassar One of the senior crew of the Dies Irae

Moderati Primus Aruken Another of the Dies Irae 's crew

Non-Astartes Imperials

Mechanicum Adept Regulus Mechanicum representative to Horus, he commands the Legion's robots and maintains its fighting machines

Ing мае Sing Mistress of Astropaths

Kyril Sindermann Primary iterator

Mersadie Oliton Official remembrancer, documentarist

Euphrati Keeler Official remembrancer, imagist

Peeter Egon Momus Architect Designate

Maggard Maloghurst's civilian enforcer

PART ONE

LONG KNIVES

ONE

The Emperor protects

Long night

The music of the spheres

'I was there,' said Titus Cassar, his wavering voice barely reaching the back of the chamber. 'I was there the day that Horus turned his face from the Emperor,’

His words brought a collective sigh from the Lec-titio Divinitatus congregation and as one they lowered their heads at such a terrible thought. From the back of the chamber, an abandoned munitions hold deep in the under-decks of the Warmaster's flagship, the Vengeful Spirit, Kyril Sindermann watched and winced at Cassar's awkward delivery. The man was no iterator, that was for sure, but his words carried the sure and certain faith of someone who truly believed in the things he was saying.

Sindermann envied him that certainty.

It had been many months since he had felt anyВ­thing approaching certainty.

As the Primary Iterator of the 63rd Expedition, it was Kyril Sindermann's job to promulgate the Imperial Truth of the Great Crusade, illuminating those worlds brought into compliance of the rule of the Emperor and the glory of the Imperium. BringВ­ing the light of reason and secular truth to the furthest flung reaches of the ever-expanding human empire had been a noble undertaking.

But somewhere along the way, things had gone wrong.

Sindermann wasn't sure when it had happened. On Xenobia? On Davin? On Aureus? Or on any one of a dozen other worlds brought into compliance?

Once he had been known as the arch prophet of secular truth, but times had changed and he found himself remembering his Sahlonum, the Sumatu-ran philosopher who had wondered why the light of new science seemed not to illuminate as far as the old sorceries had.

Titus Cassar continued his droning sermon, and Sindermann returned his attention to the man. Tall and angular, Cassar wore the uniform of a moderati primus, one of the senior commanders of the Dies Irae, an Imperator-class Battle Titan. Sindermann suspected it was this rank, combined with his earВ­lier friendship with Euphrati Keeler, that had granted his status within the Lectitio Divinitatus; status that he was clearly out of his depth in hanВ­dling.