House Devine - Horus Heresy: The golden age of the Great Crusade was to be cut short by the supreme act of betrayal known as the Horus Heresy, during which the galaxy was gripped by the most bitter civil war Humanity had ever seen. Across the nascent Imperium, Traitors clashed with Loyalists for the fate of Mankind.One of the most horrific betrayals of the war occurred on Molech. As the Warmaster Horus led his armies to Terra, he left a trail of destruction in his wake hundreds of light years wide. His forces seemed unstoppable as Loyalist garrison after garrison fell before his might, or changed allegiance and sided with the traitorous commander.It was on Molech that one of the most determined stands was to be made. Loyalist Titan Legions and over a hundred Imperial Army regiments and Knight houses stood ready to bear the brunt of the Warmaster's attack in an attempt to halt his inexorable advance. When it came, it was like a hurricane unleashed upon the verdant world.Molech was one of several planets the Warmaster assaulted as his Traitor Legions continued their drive towards the Imperial Throneworld. Elements from the Ultramarines and Blood Angels Legions, alongside three Loyalist Titan Legions and over a hundred Imperialis Auxilia regiments and supporting Knight houses, stood ready to face the Traitor onslaught.Unknown to the world's population, the reason such a massive Imperial garrison had been placed on such a backwater planet was that the Emperor had them standing eternal vigil to protect a hidden gateway to the Immaterium that He had utilised centuries earlier in order to obtain unspeakable power after undergoing an unforgiving ordeal when He faced the four Chaos Gods.Horus' initial assault devastated many cities and strongholds, and amongst the victims were Molech's rulers -- House Devine. As the Battle of Molech began, Raeven Devine, the second son of Lord Cyprian Devine, seized his birthright. Raeven murdered his father and took his place as Molech's lord even as Horus himself took to the battlefield, leading his sons into battle against the massed ranks of Imperial Army troopers and single-handedly taking on a force of mighty Imperial Knights, of which only Raeven Devine himself escaped alive.Ironically though, when House Devine turned Traitor, and brought down the Legio Crucius Imperator-class Titan Paragon of Terra during the battle for Lupercalia, it was not Raeven piloting his Knight armour Banelash, but Cyprian's first-born son, Albard Devine, a man once as strong and righteous as Cyprian himself. The plots and schemes of Raeven and his mother had seen Albard rejected by his Knight armour and held captive for solar decades as a gibbering wreck, tortured and tormented by his step-relatives.During the Warmaster's invasion, Albard was able to at last escape, reclaiming his birthright and killing his half-brother, but ultimately becoming the last pilot of Banelash. However, no sooner had Albard merged his broken mind with the Knight armour, than he was subsumed by the corruption Raeven and the Dark Gods had planted there.With a beachhead secured, the Traitor forces soon arrived in great numbers, with four Titan Legions and elements from the Sons of Horus, Death Guard and Emperor's Children -- including their primarchs -- leading the charge. Mortarion and Fulgrim both had their missions across Molech, each a key to taking the embattled world from the Imperium.Far to the east, Mortarion fell on the city of Ophir, facing the few valiant Imperial defenders led by Lord Bolmar of House Donar, who made a desperate last stand. But their efforts were all for naught, as the Death Guard unleashed the Life-Eater Virus on the jungles of Kush in an early example of the plague warfare for which the XIVth Legion would become infamous. The Death Lord then marched on the Preceptor defence line and took it with the aid of Traitor Titans.Meanwhile, Fulgrim's task was much more insidious. The newly transformed Daemon Primarch utilised his Slaanesh-granted daemonic powers to ensnare Albard Devine and completed the corruption that had begun solar decades earlier. The half-mad Lord of House Devine soon became obsessed with visions of a Great Serpent. Many of his Loyalist retainers followed their mad lord into treachery and madness, becoming wholly corrupted by the insidious influence of the Pleasure God.As the primarchs completed their tasks, the Sons of Horus and their allies pushed into the heart of Molech. The Knight houses led the defence, rallying Imperial Army regiments, small forces of Ultramarines, Blood Angels and loyal Titan Legions to face the rampaging Chaos forces. Little by little, they were pushed back, the overwhelming strength of the Warmaster's armies making it only a matter of time until they were overrun completely.Dispossessed and unable to fight back, the Knights of House Devine slowly succumbed to the temptations of Chaos. Over the following solar months, the insidious whisper of Slaanesh -- Dark Prince of Chaos and god of indulgence and excess -- spread throughout their depleted ranks.Their officers became lethargic, interested only in their sports, using their mighty Knight suits to hunt the towering reptilian beasts that stalked Molech's lush jungles. The seductive grip of Slaanesh grew stronger, as the Prince of Pleasure bent the force of its will to corrupting the noble Devines. Soon, they met in secret cabals, performing depraved rites and ceremonies within the heart of the Loyalist camp. No act was too shameful or disgusting; the sensations of the moment became their only desire.Finally, all of Horus' forces converged upon Lupercalia, the capital city of Molech, ironically named for Horus himself after his pivotal role in bringing Molech to Imperial Compliance earlier in the Great Crusade. The first turning point in this fierce battle was the destruction of the Iron Fist, the great mountain on Lupercalia's west flank. Horus managed to destroy this home of the world's Titan Legions in a single blow as he redirected an orbital Defence Laser to destroy the peak.The final nail in the coffin for the valiant Imperial defenders came when the Imperator-class Titan Paragon of Terra, lynchpin of the Imperial defence, was laid low by a treacherous attack from House Devine's Knights. As the Plasma Reactor of the mighty god-machine of the Legio Crucius overloaded, it exploded spectacularly, immolating thousands of Loyalist defenders in a blinding flash as a miniature sun erupted from the Titan's core, leaving a massive smoking crater half a mile wide.In the wake of the catastrophic blast, a spearhead of Traitor Titans marched through the gap in the Imperial lines. This gave the Traitors free rein to take Lupercalia, though Horus abandoned the ongoing battle before the end in order to complete some mysterious objective unknown to the history books. In truth, the Warmaster entered the Warp Gate once used by the Emperor and emerged even more fully empowered by the arcane might of the Ruinous Powers, the only cost being what remained of his soul.Caught between the treacherous Knights of House Devine and Horus' rampant forces, the shattered remnants of Molech's defenders were slaughtered without mercy. They were totally defeated, the massacre so complete that only one in a hundred of the troops of the Imperial Army survived the campaign.Since this first betrayal, only a handful of Knight houses have been corrupted by Chaos, even when the Forge Worlds to which they owed fealty became part of the Dark Mechanicum.