"How thou art fallen from Heaven,"
"O Day Star, son of the Dawn!"
"How thou art cut down to the ground,"
"Ye who laid the nations low!"
"You said in your heart, I will ascend to Heaven"
"Above the stars of God I will set my throne on high;"
- Isaiah 14:12-14:13
“Even the devil was once an angel.”
- Unknown, telechording processes date quote to ancient Albia
“
“The planet I walk through is gnarled and broken, a legacy of a long dead species. I am surrounded by dunes of ashes. Bled-dry lakes pock and scar the landscape. This world was once called Cadia; now it is little but a worn-out husk. A token trophy of Imperial defiance.
“Already, Abaddon prepares to lead the largest crusade into realspace ever. It will bookend the fight that began with Horus ten thousand years ago. Billions upon trillions will die in the name of prophets and false gods. The best of us have died to make it this far - I remember Eros and his metal-wrought golem Damocles, fair Aktarius and poor, tortured Andras. I will always remember Apollyon’s final screams, Ipos’ sacrifice. Orias Nemian. Little Sorath. No, enough have died to make it thus far. There is no return. We are fallen angels, once the saviours of the hellish regime that turned on us. We made the Imperium, we built it and shaped it day after day, fight after fight, death after death, We made the Corpse God’s domain with sweat on our brows, blood on our hands, and our brothers’ backs to our own. We fought at His side millennia before you worshipped him as the Saviour. Look at me. No, look. At my eyes. Yes. These are the eyes of he who has seen too much; the executions of the populations of entire solar solar systems, planets bombed into fiery hells and molten infernos. The death of my brothers… of my legion. All this in the name of the Imperium we built. But… but, now…
“Now we’re taking it back. “
“Ah. You want know my tale, do you? It is one that will your Inquisitors will be most interested by, but maybe you’ll die under their tools before you can tell them. They will say my words are lies and falsehoods, intended to propagate unrest. They will say I am merely a pawn of ruinous gods, corrupted by intoxicating power. Perhaps I am. But know this; I have lived for millennia, and have experienced all your Inquisitors call myth and legend.
“Every word I speak, every tale I tell, every war I chronicle, is true.”
+++
[Pict Capture E9-129/JB] - Andras Torghurstin of the Lost Angels warband, formerly of the Sons of Horus Legion
Andras Torghurstin can be considered somewhat of an anomaly in the Black Legion, with little to no visible physical corruption. This is likely a result of little time in the Empyrean, although sources cannot conclude why this may be. He is seen clad in Mk. III Iron Armour, with a heavily-modified breastplate, and welding both a Phobos-pattern bolter and a Golmora-pattern power sword. The Mk. III armour is recorded as being the same suit that Andras wore during the Siege of Terra, carefully repaired by artificers after each combat. The Phobos Pattern bolter is likely favoured by Andras for its penetration and stopping-power against power armour. Searching memory banks for history and background on Andras...