Mezoa - The Sieges of Mezoa: While in the first years of the Horus Heresy, Mezoa had already repelled two attacks on its soil, the decision to end Mezoa's defiance was quick to come. Having long-departed this sector of space, Horus himself asked his followers to finally descend upon the Forge World and raze it. Planning for a renewed push towards the Sol System, Horus knew full well that he could not afford to leave any weaknesses at his rear if he was to conquer the throne of his father.In fact, the order was so widely promulgated that several illuminated copies of the manuscript still exist to this day in the great Imperial Archive of Terra. Horus' request was carried to the great Armada Imperialis stronghold of Port Maw in the Manachean Commonwealth, which had fallen early on to the Warmaster during the famed Treachery at Port Maw incident. Here, those fleets loyal to Horus were resupplied and repaired, reading themselves for the next stage of the galactic civil war.However strategically important, the destruction of Mezoa would be no easy task. Every Traitor commander knew that if victory was to be achieved at all, it would undoubtedly be bought at a high cost. Few commanders present at Port Maw were ready to let their forces be badly mauled so early in the campaign to overthrow the Imperium, yet the Warmaster's will had to be done, and so a quiet war of influence, lies and veiled truths soon gripped Port Maw to designate one amongst their number to pick up this poisoned chalice.This political bickering often ended in bloodshed as Astartes are first and foremost crafted for war and armed combat, until the proverbial scapegoat presented itself in the form of Autilon Skorr of the Alpha Legion. Lacking both the presence of their respective Primarchs and that of an influential patron at Port Maw and still humbled by their defeat at Stranivar, it soon fell to the 78th Chapter of the Alpha Legion and the ill-fated 114th Grand Battalion of the Iron Warriors under Nârik Dreygur to prosecute the Mezoan Campaign.Benefitting from his rank as Consul-Delegatus of the XX Legion, Skorr was designated as overall commander of the besieging Traitor forces and used his newly acquired status to appropriate the lion's share of the available resources at Port Maw to bolster and reequip his own companies, leaving the Iron Warriors of the 114th Grand Battalion little chance to recover from their losses at Stranivar.With Perturabo and the bulk of the IV Legion far distant, the remaining Traitor officers did not feel compelled to aid Dreygur, who they largely perceived as a failure, and thus the Iron Warriors had no choice than to make what repairs they could and embark on this new mission. Autilon Skorr had not given up his ambitions and his tenacity was rewarded with one of the largest autonomous commands assigned to a simple officer, the Mezoan taskforce compromising no less than 9,000 Space Marines, three full Taghmata heralding from the Forge World of M'Pandex and more than 20,000 human troops.His fleet numbered a dozen capital vessels, amongst which two were of the fearsome Mangonel-class Bombardment Cruisers. Apart from the Primarchs themselves, none had commanded more men or more warships, but what truly spurred on Skorr was the prospect of victory, for if he won he knew that he would benefit greatly from Horus' favour. Assured by his Davinite priests of Chaos that the passage of the fleet would be swift and sure, the invaders made way for Mezoa.During the orbital battle that marked the opening of the Third Siege of Mezoa, the Loyalist defenders received help from an unexpected quarter: the Ebon Drake, a Strike Cruiser of the Salamanders Legion. Daring the guns of the enemy, the Ebon Drake ran the gauntlet in order to allow its complement of Astartes warriors to join the battle on the ground.Under the guidance of their illustrious leader, Cassian Vaughn, the Dracos Revenant, this company of warriors -- which had taken to calling themselves the Disciples of the Flames -- would prove instrumental in the defence of Mezoa's forge-fanes and in repelling the invaders. In particular, Cassian Vaughn's actions would lead Nârik Dreygur and the survivors of the 114th Grand Battalion of the Iron Warriors to renounce their oaths to the Traitor Horus and join the Loyalist camp.