The Lost and the Damned (The Horus Heresy Siege of Terra Book 2) Read online

  Book 1 – THE SOLAR WAR

  Book 2 - THE LOST AND THE DAMNED

  (Autumn 2019)

  Book 1 – HORUS RISING

  Book 2 – FALSE GODS

  Book 3 – GALAXY IN FLAMES

  Book 4 – THE FLIGHT OF THE EISENSTEIN

  Book 5 – FULGRIM

  Book 6 – DESCENT OF ANGELS

  Book 7 – LEGION

  Book 8 – BATTLE FOR THE ABYSS

  Book 9 – MECHANICUM

  Book 10 – TALES OF HERESY

  Book 11 – FALLEN ANGELS

  Book 12 – A THOUSAND SONS

  Book 13 – NEMESIS

  Book 14 – THE FIRST HERETIC

  Book 15 – PROSPERO BURNS

  Book 16 – AGE OF DARKNESS

  Book 17 – THE OUTCAST DEAD

  Book 18 – DELIVERANCE LOST

  Book 19 – KNOW NO FEAR

  Book 20 – THE PRIMARCHS

  Book 21 – FEAR TO TREAD

  Book 22 – SHADOWS OF TREACHERY

  Book 23 – ANGEL EXTERMINATUS

  Book 24 – BETRAYER

  Book 25 – MARK OF CALTH

  Book 26 – VULKAN LIVES

  Book 27 – THE UNREMEMBERED EMPIRE

  Book 28 – SCARS

  Book 29 – VENGEFUL SPIRIT

  Book 30 – THE DAMNATION OF PYTHOS

  Book 31 – LEGACIES OF BETRAYAL

  Book 32 – DEATHFIRE

  Book 33 – WAR WITHOUT END

  Book 34 – PHAROS

  Book 35 – EYE OF TERRA

  Book 36 – THE PATH OF HEAVEN

  Book 37 – THE SILENT WAR

  Book 38 – ANGELS OF CALIBAN

  Book 39 – PRAETORIAN OF DORN

  Book 40 – CORAX

  Book 41 – THE MASTER OF MANKIND

  Book 42 – GARRO

  Book 43 – SHATTERED LEGIONS

  Book 44 – THE CRIMSON KING

  Book 45 – TALLARN

  Book 46 – RUINSTORM

  Book 47 – OLD EARTH

  Book 48 – THE BURDEN OF LOYALTY

  Book 49 – WOLFSBANE

  Book 50 – BORN OF FLAME

  Book 51 – SLAVES TO DARKNESS

  Book 52 – HERALDS OF THE SIEGE

  Book 53 – TITANDEATH

  Book 54 – THE BURIED DAGGER

  More tales from the Horus Heresy...

  PROMETHEAN SUN

  AURELIAN

  BROTHERHOOD OF THE STORM

  THE CRIMSON FIST

  CORAX: SOULFORGE

  PRINCE OF CROWS

  TALLARN: EXECUTIONER

  SCORCHED EARTH

  THE PURGE

  THE HONOURED

  THE UNBURDENED

  TALLARN: IRONCLAD

  RAVENLORD

  THE SEVENTH SERPENT

  WOLF KING

  CYBERNETICA

  SONS OF THE FORGE

  Audio Dramas

  THE DARK KING & THE LIGHTNING TOWER

  RAVEN’S FLIGHT

  GARRO: OATH OF MOMENT

  GARRO: LEGION OF ONE

  BUTCHER’S NAILS

  GREY ANGEL

  GARRO: BURDEN OF DUTY

  GARRO: SWORD OF TRUTH

  THE SIGILLITE

  HONOUR TO THE DEAD

  CENSURE

  WOLF HUNT

  HUNTER’S MOON

  THIEF OF REVELATIONS

  TEMPLAR

  ECHOES OF RUIN

  MASTER OF THE FIRST

  THE LONG NIGHT

  THE EAGLE’S TALON

  IRON CORPSES

  RAPTOR

  GREY TALON

  THE EITHER

  THE HEART OF THE PHAROS / CHILDREN OF SICARUS

  RED-MARKED

  ECHOES OF REVELATION

  THE THIRTEENTH WOLF

  VIRTUES OF THE SONS/SINS OF THE FATHER

  THE BINARY SUCCESSION

  DARK COMPLIANCE

  BLACKSHIELDS: THE FALSE WAR

  BLACKSHIELDS: THE RED FIEF

  HUBRIS OF MONARCHIA

  NIGHTFANE

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  Backlist

  Title Page

  The Horus Heresy: Siege of Terra

  Dramatis Personae

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Twenty-Three

  Twenty-Four

  Twenty-Five

  Twenty-Six

  Twenty-Seven

  Twenty-Eight

  Twenty-Nine

  Thirty

  Thirty-One

  Afterword

  About the Author

  A Black Library Publication

  It is a time of legend.

  The galaxy is in flames. The Emperor’s glorious vision for humanity is in ruins. His favoured son, Horus, has turned from his father’s light and embraced Chaos.

  His armies, the mighty and redoubtable Space Marines, are locked in a brutal civil war. Once, these ultimate warriors fought side by side as brothers, protecting the galaxy and bringing mankind back into the Emperor’s light. Now they are divided.

  Some remain loyal to the Emperor, whilst others have sided with the Warmaster. Pre-eminent amongst them, the leaders of their thousands-strong Legions, are the primarchs. Magnificent, superhuman beings, they are the crowning achievement of the Emperor’s genetic science. Thrust into battle against one another, victory is uncertain for either side.

  Worlds are burning. At Isstvan V, Horus dealt a vicious blow and three loyal Legions were all but destroyed. War was begun, a conflict that will engulf all mankind in fire. Treachery and betrayal have usurped honour and nobility. Assassins lurk in every shadow. Armies are gathering. All must choose a side or die.

  Horus musters his armada, Terra itself the object of his wrath. Seated upon the Golden Throne, the Emperor waits for his wayward son to return. But his true enemy is Chaos, a primordial force that seeks to enslave mankind to its capricious whims.

  The screams of the innocent, the pleas of the righteous resound to the cruel laughter of Dark Gods. Suffering and damnation await all should the Emperor fail and the war be lost.

  The end is here. The skies darken, colossal armies gather.

  For the fate of the Throneworld, for the fate of mankind itself...

  The Siege of Terra has begun.

  DRAMATIS PERSONAE

  THE EMPEROR, Master of Mankind, Last and First Lord of the Imperium

  The Traitor Primarchs

  HORUS, Warmaster, Primarch of the XVI Legion

  FULGRIM, ‘The Phoenician’, Primarch of the III Legion

  PERTURABO, ‘The Lord of Iron’, Primarch of the IV Legion

  ANGRON, ‘The Red Angel’, Primarch of the XII Legion

  MORTARION, ‘The Lord of Death’, Primarch of the XIV Legion

  MAGNUS THE RED, Primarch of the XV Legion

  ALPHARIUS, Primarch of the XX Legion

  The Loyal Primarchs

  JAGHATAI KHAN, ‘The Warhawk of Chogoris’, Primarch of the V Legion

  ROGAL DORN, ‘Praetorian of Terra’, Primarch of the VII Legion

  SANGUINIUS, ‘The Great Angel’, Primarch of the IX Legion


  The High Lords of Terra

  MALCADOR THE SIGILLITE, Regent of the Imperium

  KELSI DEMIDOV, Speaker for the Chartist Captains

  HARR RANTAL, Grand Provost Marshal of the Adeptus Arbites

  OSSIAN, Chancellor of the Imperial Estates

  SIMEON PENTASIAN, Master of the Administratum

  SIDAT YASEEN THARCHER, Chirurgeon-General of the Orders Hospitalis

  NEMO ZHI-MENG, Choirmaster of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica

  BOLAM HAARDIKER, Paternoval Envoy of the Navis Nobilite

  JEMM MARISON, High Lady of the Imperial Chancellory

  GENERAL ADREEN, Lord Commander Militant of the Imperial Armies

  CONSTANTIN VALDOR, Captain-General of the Legio Custodes

  The Kushtun Naganda, ‘Old Hundred’ Imperial Army Regiment

  KATSUHIRO, Conscript

  RUNNECAN, Conscript

  ADINAHAV JAINAN, Acting Captain

  198th Palace Aerial Defence Squadron ‘Bright Hawks’

  AISHA DAVEINPOR, Squadron Mistress

  YANCY MODIN, Pilot, flight one

  DANDAR BEY, Flight Master, flight two

  The VII Legion ‘Imperial Fists’

  MAXIMUS THANE, Captain, 22nd Company

  The IX Legion ‘Blood Angels’

  RALDORON, First Captain, First Chapter

  AZKAELLON, Captain, Sanguinary Guard

  The VIII Legion ‘Night Lords’

  GENDOR SKRAIVOK, ‘The Painted Count’, Acting Legion Commander

  THANDAMELL, Terror Master

  LUCORYPHUS, Raptor

  The XII Legion ‘World Eaters’

  KHRN, Captain, Eighth Assault Company

  LOTARA SARRIN, Shipmistress, Legion Flagship, the Conqueror

  The XVI Legion ‘Sons of Horus’

  EZEKYLE ABADDON, First Captain

  HORUS AXIMAND, ‘Little Horus’, Captain, Fifth Company

  TORMAGEDDON, Possessed Space Marine

  FALKUS KIBRE, ‘Widowmaker’, Captain, Justaerin Cohort

  The XVII Legion ‘Word Bearers’

  ZARDU LAYAK, ‘The Crimson Apostle’, Master of the Unspeaking

  The XX Legion ‘Alpha Legion’

  LYDIA MYZMADRA, Operative

  ASHUL, Operative

  The Dark Mechanicum

  KELBOR-HAL, True Fabricator General of Mars

  SOTA-NUL, Martian emissary to the Warmaster, Mistress of the Disciples of Nul

  CLAIN PENT, Fifth Disciple of Nul

  The Adeptus Mechanicus

  ZAGREUS KANE, Fabricator General of Mars-in-exile

  VETHOREL, Ambassadress

  The Adeptus Titanicus

  ESHA ANI MOHANA VI, ‘Great Mother’, Legio Solaria

  Thernian 7th, Imperial Army regiment

  HANIS OFAR, Trooper

  FENDO, Trooper

  Others

  THURIA AMUND, In-system traffic controller, Bhab Bastion

  AZMEDI, Beastman

  When strikes midnight

  Bombardment

  We will stand

  Bhab Bastion, 13th of Secundus

  On the thirteenth day of Secundus, the bombardment of Terra began.

  The enemy aimed the first shell deliberately at the centre of the Inner Palace, the Sanctum Imperialis, the Emperor’s own quarters. It screamed a song of fire as it tore apart the atmosphere over Himalazia, falling through the furious storm of anti-ship cannonades and defence laser beams coming up from the Imperial defences. The assault on the Warmaster’s fleet was so intense that the shell went almost unnoticed. Its flight was short, being cut apart by a net of las-beams as soon as it was detected.

  But it was seen.

  The Emperor’s Praetorian watched its brief descent, his stern features unmoved. Two others stood with him, mighty lords of the Imperium both. The Great Angel and the Warhawk saw the momentary flash also.

  Three armoured giants forged in the fires of yesterday’s knowledge. They were brothers, after a fashion, born of the same science and the same inhuman genius.

  The Praetorian’s name was Rogal Dorn. His armour was of gold. His hair was shocking white. His sculpted face was as severe as any patriarch from mankind’s long history. There was no room for compromise in his expression.

  Sanguinius, the Angel was named. He was garbed in gold as bright as Dorn’s panoply. His armour covered all his body save his face and his snow-white wings. He was beautiful, a divine being incarnate pulled down from heaven and exiled in the soiled world of men. He observed the universe sadly.

  The Warhawk wore gleaming white. His adopted people called him Jaghatai Khan, the first name given for his prowess, the latter because he was their king. He kept the name. Like his brothers he went without his helm. Below a tall topknot his face was proud, wild, always on the verge of a smile, but troubled, like the sky at summer’s end edged with autumn’s clouds. He sought out death simply for the joy of laughing at it.

  ‘Midnight, as the old reckoning has it. The symbolic spearcast,’ said the Khan. ‘Our brother marks his enmity for us. It is a challenge. A promise of his victory. We did this on Chogoris, when armies met. This shot is meant for the three of us.’

  ‘Such arrogance,’ said Sanguinius softly.

  ‘Horus was well gifted with confidence. It has grown wayward. He is too sure of himself.’ The Khan shrugged as if Horus’ fall had been an inevitability. His glorious armour hissed and sighed. ‘Arrogance is close kin to hubris. He will fail because of it.’

  Dorn turned his gaze to the Warmaster’s armada. Not since the Principia Imperialis had mustered at the opening of the Great Crusade had such a fleet of void-ships gathered over Terra, and never before had so many come as enemies. Terra’s iron children returned to their origin with murder in their hearts, to spit hatred onto the cradle of mankind. And yet, for the moment, they held back, weathering the storm of explosives and violent energies hurled at them from the ground.

  Thousands upon thousands of ships crowded every orbit, so many that their lights outcompeted the stars and sun and turned night and day into a single, ceaseless murk of red war-glow, strobed with vicious flashes. Void shields deflected the Palace’s attack, spilling unclean colours across the upper atmosphere in such amounts that they encased the planet in vile aurorae.

  Bells rang from every Palace tower. Sirens wailed. Tocsins clamoured. Guns rippled out asynchronous drumbeats. The sky crackled and boomed with the discharge of mighty weaponry. The Palace defences had been firing since the moment the ships came within effective range. The fleet was so densely packed the defenders could not miss. As the brothers watched, a ship came apart, shedding debris meteors.

  The enemy’s response was that single shell.

  ‘Why do you wait?’ Dorn said quietly. The ramparts of the Bhab Bastion were empty except for the three brothers. The question he uttered for the sake of speaking, for recently he felt himself falling too often into silence. ‘Come to us. Break yourself upon our walls.’

  ‘He waits no more,’ said Sanguinius. His voice, once melodious, was strained. ‘It begins.’ He lifted his hand and pointed.

  The sky sparkled a billion times as every ship in the fleet spoke together. The Emperor will fall, the pattern of light seemed to say. We have come to wreak ruin.

  ‘Every war I have ever seen has hidden beauty,’ said the Khan. ‘But I have seen few sights quite so entrancing as this.’

  ‘A fleeting beauty,’ said Dorn. ‘And deadly.’

  The shells hit the upper atmosphere where they drew flaming lines through the sky.

  ‘All things are fleeting,’ said the Khan. ‘Life is short and full of woe. One must wring every moment dry, and drink in the experience it has to offer, good or bad.’

  The space above the Palace was full of the downwards arcs of munitions, and the straight lines of las-bursts stabbing upwards. The air shook with matter hurtling from the void. Booming reverberations echoed from the peaks of the Himalazian massif, resounding around the
whole world, girdling it in sound even before the first shot detonated.

  ‘How can you see the good in this?’ Sanguinius asked the Khan. As he turned to look to the Warhawk the first shells burst over the Skye orbital plate, the last of Terra’s artificial satellites. It hung low to the horizon, near the Inner Palace, its wide arrays of grav engines labouring to keep it aloft. The munitions exploded harmlessly, their fury vented into the warp by void shields. The dome of the plate’s protective aegis shone with baleful energies.

  ‘Joy is an act of defiance,’ said the Khan. ‘With joy, we win, even if we lose. To have lived well is a victory all its own, for we all die. Death is unimportant to the laughing warrior. A poet makes tragedy glorious. That is why.’

  The shells hit the main shields seconds after hitting Skye. The aegis was wrought with ancient knowledge jealously harboured by the priests of Mars. The voids comprising the aegis reacted, and roofed the Earth with fire. Storms of flame shot out complex tangles of discharge lightning. The Palace shuddered with the effort of buried machines as halls of generators fought to hold back the bombardment from the spires of the city. Beyond the aegis’ protection the ground bucked. Towers of nuclear fire roared skywards from every horizon. Tremors shook the world. As the first round of shells hit, the fleet’s energy cannons awoke, hurling shafts of burning light and streams of plasma down, so that the void shields danced, and the view of the ships was lost.

  The Emperor’s Praetorian looked into the inferno in the sky. His eyes focused somewhere past the fleet, deep into the hidden void, as if he could see beyond the bounds of the Solar System and the material universe and out into the warp, where the fleets of Roboute Guilliman made all haste to the Throneworld. His gauntlets gripped the lip of the parapet tightly.

  ‘We will not fall,’ he said with utmost certainty. ‘We will stand.’

  Altai Wastes, 13th of Secundus

  Thousands of kilometres away, in a land where cold wind cut over bare peaks, other eyes watched the skies. From Altai, the Palace was a glow reflected from the heavens. The curve of Terra hid the Palace and the mountains it usurped, but the Emperor’s home dominated the globe. One was always certain where it was, no matter how far distant, for in an empire of a million systems, Terra was but a small place.

  Horus’ fleet swam above the city shine, like sparks over distant forest fires. To the watchers on the mountainside the first shell fell obviously down the sky in a bright tear-track streak. In the long slit lens of high-powered magnoculars, it shone even brighter.