Istvaan Massacre

> "*War is the crucible in which we burn. In the fires of battle is the past consumed and the future born on tongues of flame. No greater fire has there been in our times than the bloody hours of the Istvaan Massacre.*"
> ― attributed to Malcador the Sigillite, Regent of Terra
>
>

## The Istvaan Massacre

### Attacker

The Blight Wardens
The Brothers Encarmine

### Attacking Commander

Lu Yueh Zhi Zi
Vinicius Geminius
Euphrano Geminius

### Theatre

Istvaan V, Istvaan System, Segmentum Ultima

### Strength (Attackers)

The Blight Wardens
The Brothers Encarmine
Close to 296,000 Astartes

### Strength (Defenders)

The Palatine Wings Legion (85%)
~297,500 Astartes

### Casualties (Attackers)

In the tens of thousands, extensive losses amongst all Traitor assets

### Casualties (Defenders)

Near total
Hundreds of thousands of Loyalist dead; approx. 22,000 survivors

### Outcome

A loyalist legion is all but exterminated, the survivors being sidelined through the loss of any unifying figure
The Primarch Bartosz iskilled
Bartosz's perpetual nature becomes known to Lu Yueh Zhi Zi
The Orcadian Curse is set in motion

The Battle of the Istvaan System, or the Istvaan Massacre it would come to be known, was one of the major turning points that occurred early on during the great galactic civil war that engulfed the Imperium of Man in the opening years of 31st Millennium, known in later times as the Almire Apostasy. Struck as one of the first blows against the Imperium, the Primarch Bartosz and his legion were ordered to muster in the Istvaan system by the treasonous Warmaster, Almire Leoric, his true allegiance unknown to the XIVth Legion.

During the muster, the Palatine Wings were ambushed and betrayed by two other legions sent to reinforce them, the Blight Wardens and the Brothers Encarmine, who they had believed were loyal to the Emperor of Mankind as all Astartes were, but in fact had already betrayed the Imperium and secretly turned to the service of the rebellious Warmaster Almire and Chaos.

As the three fleets mustered and prepared to take flight together, the traitors revealed their allegiance by opening fire upon the Palatine Wings, catching them in a deadly crossfire that shattered the legions. Many of the Palatine Wings were forced to land on Istvaan V, few escaping the death that unfurled.

This victory shattered the Palatine Wings, depriving them of any unified leadership they may have had, and ensuring they would be able to take no coordinated action during the opening years of the Apostasy, leaving the path to Terra dangerously open.

## Dramatis Personae

### The Primarch’s

* Lu Yueh Zhi Zi - Primarch of the IInd Legion
* Vinicius & Euphrano Geminius - Twin Primarch’s of the XIIth Legion
* Bartosz - Primarch of the XIVth Legion

### The Blight Wardens Legion

* First Captain Qíshì - Right Hand of the Primarch
* Captain Yuan Shu - Captain of the 4th Company

### The Brothers Encarmine Legion

* Chief Librarian Caero Latrodectus - Chief Librarian of the XIIth Legion

* Valens and Quintin  Ballis - The Conjux Equerries of Vinicius and Euphrano
* Yorgos and Andreas Statius - The Champions of the XIIth Legion

### The Palatine Wings Legion

* First Hussar Surag Genden - Leader of the Equus Hussars and Champion of the XIVth Legion
* Skycaptain Danel Rasna - Leader of the Skyguard, former member of the 501st Chapter, 3rd Company
* Aquilifer Sa'al Kova - Standard Bearer of the XIVth Legion

## The Massacre of Istvaan V

In the closing years of M31.054, the Warmaster gave word to an order that would light the spark that would quickly set the whole galaxy aflame. The order was a simple one, one he had given a thousand times since his appointment as the head of the Emperor’s armies, a simple muster to engage a xenos force that had massed beyond the known edge of the galaxy. In whispered mysteries attached to the astropathic messages, a single word was also heard, one that would spread fear in the Imperium, was it to be openly spoken.

Rangdan.

Though the Rangdan had been believed to be defeated years earlier in the Third War against their kind, the prospect of a fourth war brewing was enough to ensure the orders were followed with all possible expediency, and soon the cavalry lords of the XIVth, the largest of the Emperor's mighty legions, were on the move, preparing to face the foe. Unbeknownst to any of the XIVth was just a ruse, designed with but one goal in mind, to lure their warriors and their sons to the Istvaan System.

Unchecked, the Palatine Wings were one of the greatest threats to Almire's design, despite the fact that their warriors were usually ill-equipped by the standards of the other Astartes legions, boasting little in the way of the more esoteric weapons of the *Legiones Astartes*, many of their warriors still clad in ancient MkII Power Armour, or otherwise in field modifed suits that would one day become known as the MkVIII "Frontier Armour". However, this poor level of equipment stemmed from their sheer size, most estmates putting the legion at close to 350,000 warriors, scattered far and wide across the Imperium. Were the force to muster against Almire, they could easily hamper his entire efforts, something that could not be allowed to come to pass.

Despite their extremely dispursed nature, Bartosz and his sons began to muster, recalling their bloated legion from across the bredth of the Imperium. The XIVth hadn't operated as a singular force for decades, not since the destruction of the Interex Empire shortly after Bartosz's founding, but the Warmaster had given his order, Bartosz and his sons offering no argument as they set to work. Though it was difficult and took many years, finally close to 300,000 Astartes stood beside Bartosz.

   As the final Palatine Wing ship that was slated for the muster moved into positon around Istvaan V, the warp on the edge of the Istvaan system yawned wide, spitting forth new ships, and in their wake came death. Warnings went out across the fleets, but were soon calmed by Bartosz as the three lead ships were recognised, the *Fènnù zhi Zi*, flagship of the IInd Legion, and the twinned smaller readings of the the *God of War* and the *Goddess of Love*, the two flagships of the XIIth Legion. The Blight Wardens and Brothers Encarmine had come to the Istvaan as well, the might of three legions poised to crush their enemies.
Not expecting reinforcements but ever grateful to see his beloved brothers, a vox channel was opened to all three ships, Bartosz giving rise to a smooth greeting, only to be met by an uncharacteristic silence, the three Primarch’s giving little reasoning as to their presence. Instead, fresh orders were transmitted to the XIVth, formation and fleet deployments bearing the seal of the Warmaster himself. The three fleets would be intermingled, spreading the expertise of each legion across the deployment, and together they would push against the Rangdan, a war council to be convened to discuss the specifics once the fleets were underway.

   Finally, the three fleets became one around Istvaan V, no less than four Gloriana battleships taking up positions next to each other, the twinned ships of the XIIth to one side of the *Purest Inten*t, while the mighty form of the Blight Wardens vessel took the right side. Unbidden, a mission counter was passed through the fleet, all three legions seeing the countdown, the XIVth assuming it was to mark when the fleet would begin to move as a single entity, Bartosz ordering his personal remembrancer to mark the exact time and date the clock reached zero, adjusted to the Terran standard clock.

When the countdown hit zero, the time was recorded as 09:57:02, 6-102.55.M31, as the void erupted in fire and death.

As one, the fleets of the Blight Wardens and Brothers Encarmine opened fire, void shields that had been idling just beneath detection range were raised in an instant, and in a heartbeat, ships began to die, the Palatine Wings having been caught unaware, their own shields minutes from activation, and in such a battle, minutes might as well have been years.

Uncharacteristically, the XIVth were slow to respond, confused by the sudden and unprecidented betrayal, their lightly armoured vessels burning in quick succession, relying as they did upon shields that currently lay dormant. The Palatine fleet began to come apart almost instantly. Within moments of the fight beginning, boarding torpedo’s and siege bridges slammed into the flanks of the *Purest Intent*, flooding her halls with warriors from the Brothers Encarmine.

In a heartbeat, Bartosz realised that this was not a battle his legion could win, Bartosz giving the general order to scatter to the stars, his preference for hit and run combat making living to fight another day a preferable prospect, For most however, it was not a viable option, the damage they had already taken reaching catastrophic levels, and one by one, their captains abandoned ship, even the *Purest Intent* forced to follow suite, thousands of Palatine Wings warriors streaking to the surface, half of the traitor fleet breaking off to continue the slaughter while others burnt hard to give chase to those Palatine Wings ships that had slipped the cordone, already burning away from the battle sphere.

Drop ships and drop pods slammed into Istvaan V, scattering the survivors from the XIVth Legion across the black sands of the Urgall Depression. Even as the Palatine Wings scrambled to man the ancient macro-fortifications of the world, the traitors descended, Blight Wardens gunships strafing the battlefield with impunity, covering the battlefield with a thick green smog that choked the life from mortal forces, and dulled the senses of the transhumans, the deadly toxin created by Lu Yueh himself, known only by its designation, VP-209-1

The poison was designed to weaken even an Astartes, derived from the dreaded World Eater virus that the IInd Legion refrained from using in the bombardment. Lu Yueh knew what such a weapon was capable of, and though he understood the task that lay ahead of him, he did not wish to subject his brother to such an end. The bonds between the pair compelled him to offer more than that.

When the gas had been fully deployed, the landings began.

The XIIth were the first to step onto the toxic battlefield the innoculations given to them by the IInd Legion against the VP-209-1 weeks earlier proving effective, immunizing their bodies against the effects that were seeping into the warriors of the XIVth. The IInd landed shortly after, their own heightened resistance to disease making them immune to their own weapon, and together, the two legions struck against the still reeling Palatine Wings.

It was a massacre. Palatine Wings were falling in droves as they tried to resist the encroaching traitors. Just as the orbital war had seen some valiant efforts to escape the ambush succeed, some efforts on the ground were already successful. Skycaptain Danel mustered a force of nearly two thousand Equus Hussars, Skyguard and Jarog to his side, punching through the traitor lines and capturing a landing zone, seizing control of an orbital drop ship. Soon, they were in orbit, capturing a Battle Barge from the XIIth Legion and breaking from the system. They were the exception however, far more remaining behind, lying where they fell, trampled into the sand by the tide of traitors.

Lu Yueh and the Twin Lords of Love and War however cared little for the killing of Astartes, both descending to the world in search of a greater prize, their brother Bartosz. Lu Yueh found him first, the pair quickly coming to blows, though Lu Yueh did not seek to kill his brother. He knew the bonds between them were forever shattered by the path they had taken, that Bartosz would never turn his banner to the Warmaster, but he could be kept alive, and maybe one day, he would see the truth of the galaxy and relent. The fight raged for a time, Lu Yueh was the superior fighter, but Bartosz fought from the saddle he had known his entire life, the fighting style of the Interex and unknown to the IInd Primarch. Lu Yueh’s sons surged to help him, but time and time again they were thrown back, Surag Genden and Sa'al Kova fighting back to back to hold back the tide.

And then, the unthinkable happened; a single one of Lu Yueh’s servo-arms snaked out, finding an opening in Bartosz’s armour and injecting its toxic payload. The effect was instantaneous, Bartosz faltering and falling back, his mind becoming clouded by whatever fresh concoction had been injected into his bloodstream. Sa'al Kova tried to follow in his lord's footsteps, letting out a roar of rage as he charged Lu Yueh, his last act before he was cut down by the Primarch.

Surag nearly followed Sa’al, but cleaved to his duty to his lord instead, taking to the skies with a curse on his lips, his jump pack drowning out his words as he sought out the weakened Bartosz once more. He found him, but he was not the first; the Twin Lords of Love and War were moving in against the Imperial Sagittarius, not to capture as Lu Yueh had done, but to end this massacre once and for all... over the corpse of a brother.

The Twins had always been regarded as some of the better fighters within the Primarch’s pantheon, while Bartosz had always been a lesser warrior, and as such the fight would never have been an equal one. Now however, the pair barely broke a sweat, Bartosz fighting the poison in his veins and the anguish in his mind as much as the warriors before him. In short order he was driven back, cuts opening across his body, the Twins treating the battle like a game, purposely dragging out the conflict as they first robbed Bartosz of his Interexine warframe and then his spear, the weapons teleportation matrix malfunctioning as the Twins struck, leaving the Primarch truly defenceless, his armour hanging from his frame in ruined scraps.

Lu Yueh arrived as the fight was nearing its climax, Surag streaking downwards from the heavens, but neither could reach the duel in time to alter its inevitable end. Heralded by a scream of anguish and rage from Surag and a hollow cry from Lu Yueh, a trident pierced Bartosz’s chest, tearing through his lungs and both hearts with a single thrust, before the second Twin spun in a deadly pirouette, a move straight from the gladiatorial pits of Bion that saw sword cleave through flesh, separating Bartosz’s head from his body.

As Bartosz’s corpse fell to the ground, the remaining Palatine Wings who bore witness to their lord’s fall surged forward with a cry of rage uncharacteristic of their legion. The sudden surge hit the traitor line like a macro-cannon shot, forcing them back for a moment as they sought to claim the body of their lord, Surag leading the charge, cutting down any who came within his reach, fighting like a warrior possessed. For a moment it looked like the XIVth would be successful in reclaiming the body of their lord, before the three Primarchs stepped forward, bolstering their own lines and hurling the Palatine Wings back.

There was no coming back from that retreat, no semblance of order to muster another charge, the retreat narrowly avoiding becoming a rout as the XIVth turned to fight their way to any landing ships they could reach, traitor or loyalist. For the XIVth, the battle was over, now it was simply a matter of survival, fighting to get to any space worthy craft in order to escape the battlefield.

## Aftermath

Victory belonged to the traitors, it belonged to the Warmaster, and it was indeed a great one, one that the loyalists would never truly recover from. An entire Legion of Emperor’s Loyalists had been shattered, reduced to a fraction of its former glory, their Primarch slain alongside them, as well as much of the elite Triglav forces of the palatine Wings, depriving those survivors of the elite of their own legion.

Predictably, the plundering of wargear and precious geneseed that took place in the wake of the battle was great, Jetbikes and power armour that could be salvaged were distributed amongst the two legions who had claimed the right of conquest, while the lion’s share of the geneseed went to the Blight Wardens, Almire giving them leave to continue their ruinous experimentation. It was the captives and wounded of the Palatine Wings however who were destined for the worst fate of all, dragged in chains to a newly erected spire, forged by thousands of slaves at the will of Surmah himself, the Architect of Chaos Undivided. Led by Vicars of the XXth Legion, the captives were ritualistically slaughtered, their deaths drawn out as their agonising screams resonated within the warp, magnified further by the scale of death upon the planet.

Birthed from their psychic screams and other rituals enacted across the galaxy, the Ruinstorm burst into life; bleeding outwards from Istvaan V, making warp travel and communication all but impossible for half the galaxy. However, the traitor forces were protected from such storms by their new gods. Terra was now cut off, unable to call out for aid, only able to listen as more and more reports of loyalist defeats poured in.

The last two prizes were arguably the greatest of all however, the damaged form of the *Purest Intent*, taken by the warriors of the Brothers Encarmine, and the corpse of Bartosz himself. The XIIth legion quickly claimed the damaged battleship, Chief Librarian Caero Latrodectus being placed in charge of the vessel. Having seen the power of using such a vessel used as a missile, new plans began to be formed to secure victory at another conflict without expending manpower better spent elsewhere. Soon, the *Purest Intent* was packed with conventional munitions from captured XIVth legion supplies, while the Vicars of the Hounds of Surmah taught the psyker how to bind more esoteric forms of destruction to the vessels skin, turning the once noble ship into a warp bomb, born of depravity and death. The vessel would prove its worth one final time in another theatre, Caero setting sail for the Hydra Sector, and the ongoing Siege of the Star Guardians homeworld.

The corpse of Bartosz however was claimed by Lu Yueh, still distraught over the death of a third brother, but vowing that his death would not be in vain. His attempt to pacify his brother had failed, succeeding only in weakening him and making him easy prey for the Twins. He would study the corpse, learn all he could from it, and redouble his efforts for the next time he clashed with one of his own kind.

Bartosz was not Sanguinius or Lorgar however, and as the two traitor fleets went their separate ways, Lu Yueh realised just how true this was.