Planetfall: Minus 339 hours Terran Sidereal?

時間：行星登錄前339個泰拉恒星時

The first Imperial vessel of the execution taskforce to break real-space at the edge of?the Isstvan system was the Ad Temperesta, a purpose-built warp-runner and observation craft of the Symphalia class, belonging to the Raven Guard Legion fleet. Equipped with auspex shrouds and sensory systems unequalled by the vessels of?any other Legion —save perhaps the XXth— there were few vessels better suited to the task before it anywhere in Imperial service. It exited the Empyrean at a vast distance from the system's core, and on a trajectory designed to mask its appearance, before using gravitational drives alone to impel it on its course. As a blacker shadow among blackness, life support and all extraneous power uncoupled and silent, its small crew of Legiones Astartes and augmented servitors conducted silent vigil amid the dark and ice-rimed corridors and auspex chambers of their vessel as the Ad Temperesta journeyed on in a wide orbit of Isstvan's star, seeing all, but remaining unseen. It watched and it listened. At first the Ad Temperesta found a planetary system deserted, save for the ghosts of the dead and the fading echoes of battle. Isstvan III was once a teeming sphere of human life that, years before, the Raven Guard themselves had brought into Imperial Compliance, but it was now a carcass world, shrouded in boiling black ash, scoured by the ravages of the life-eater virus and the fury of orbital bombardment. Radiation decay and still cooling debris carried the evidence that a void battle had also taken place in the third planet's vicinity, but of the culprits there was no sign; the area around the system itself seemed devoid of enemy vessels.

處決特遣隊中第一艘在伊斯特萬星系邊緣突入現(xiàn)實宇宙的帝國艦船是“暴雨將至”號，這艘專門建造的交響級亞空間快船和偵測艦屬于暗鴉守衛(wèi)軍團艦隊。她裝備了鳥卜儀隔絕罩和其他任何軍團的艦船都不能比擬的感知系統(tǒng)——可能第二十軍團除外。帝國中服役的其他艦船幾乎沒有能夠比她更適合這項任務(wù)的，她在距離星系核心極為遙遠的地方離開了亞空間，并在利用引力把自己獨自驅(qū)動到航線上之前，駛?cè)肓艘粭l用于隱蔽自己出現(xiàn)的航道中。在愈加黑暗的陰影中，生命維持和無關(guān)動力解耦沉寂。隨著暴雨將至號駛?cè)胍了固厝f恒星的寬闊軌道，船上的一小群阿斯塔特軍團戰(zhàn)士和強化仆役們沉默地盯著艦船黑暗結(jié)霜的走廊和鳥卜室，他們看見了一切，但要保持視而不見。暴雨將至號看著，聽著，她最開始發(fā)現(xiàn)的是一個空寂無人的行星系統(tǒng)，除了死難者的亡魂和漸息的戰(zhàn)斗回響，別無他物。伊斯特萬三號曾經(jīng)是個人口稠密的世界，暗鴉守衛(wèi)軍團在數(shù)年前使其歸順于帝國。但它現(xiàn)在是個亡骸世界，包裹著滾燙的黑色余燼，遭受著噬生者病毒和軌道轟炸引發(fā)的大火的蹂躪。輻射衰變和仍在冷卻中的碎屑表明這第三顆行星附近也曾發(fā)生過虛空戰(zhàn)斗，但此處并無罪魁禍首的信號，行星系統(tǒng)周邊的區(qū)域似乎也完全沒有敵軍艦船。

The tortured state of Isstvan III at least appeared to confirm the garbled intelligence the Loyalists had at their disposal; that on Isstvan III?a great betrayal had been undertaken, and the blood of those who had remained loyal within the Sons of Horus, Emperor's Children, World Eaters and Death Guard Legions had been bitterly spilled. It seemed then that the Loyalists had been robbed of their vengeance—that the traitors had fled the scene of?their crime, but the Raven Guard were patient hunters, and not so easily thrown from a scent. The Ad Temperesta pressed on, its course pursuing the ghosts of vox signals to a strengthening source on the system's fifth planet. Here, at close range, the Raven Guard vessel discovered the truth —beneath Isstvan Vs dense upper atmosphere lay a blizzard of close range encrypted vox-traffic, half- masked power signatures and the heartbeat heat of tens of thousands of Legiones Astartes warriors——the shadow-signs of a vast army digging in. Here, on Isstvan V, the Traitors lay.

至少，伊斯特萬三號備受折磨的情況證實了忠誠派所掌握的混亂情報：伊斯特萬三號上發(fā)生了大規(guī)模叛亂，荷魯斯之子、帝皇之子、吞世者和死亡守衛(wèi)四個軍團中仍舊保持忠誠的戰(zhàn)士們慘遭屠殺。似乎忠誠派已經(jīng)實現(xiàn)了他們的復(fù)仇——叛軍逃離了罪惡現(xiàn)場，但暗鴉守衛(wèi)們是耐心的獵人，他們不會如此輕易地放過叛軍的氣息。暴雨將至號沿著航線繼續(xù)前進，追蹤著幽靈般的無線電信號，最終在星系中第五顆行星上發(fā)現(xiàn)了增強的信號源。暗鴉守衛(wèi)的艦船于此處在近距離上發(fā)現(xiàn)了真相——在伊斯特萬五號稠密的上層大氣之下有大量的無線電近距離加密傳送信號、半隱蔽的能量信號和數(shù)萬名阿斯塔特軍團戰(zhàn)士的心跳搏動信號——這是一支在此地深挖戰(zhàn)壕的龐大軍隊的暗影信號。叛徒們就躲在這里，潛藏在伊斯特萬五號上。

When the target's information was relayed by astropathic transmission to the Loyalist fleets closing on the Isstvan system, it was received with a mixture of bellicose fervour and some trepidation. Given the scale of concealed activity on Isstvan V,it was clear that the enemy was rearing up a fortress of prodigious strength there, no doubt intended to be the headquarters of the Warmaster's rebellion and its principal mustering ground. The absence of the Traitors fleet, however, was a more troubling matter, but one perhaps easily explained by a needful scramble for resources and supply from distant systems in preparation for a conflict to come, and if indeed the Traitors were sure that no sizable counter-attack could yet be attempted upon them, such a brave gamble was in-keeping with the Warmaster's known character. Long-range pict-captures from the Ad Temperesta showed the personal standards of both Horus and Fulgrim flying above the overbuilt ancient fortifications of Isstvan Vs Urgall ruins, while power armoured figures and Mechanicum engines toiled ceaselessly to raise up defences beneath them, and this damning evidence above all else settled the fate of what was to come.

當目標信息被星語傳輸給靠近伊斯特萬星系的忠誠派艦隊時，暴雨將至號收到了混雜著好戰(zhàn)狂熱和某些驚恐的回應(yīng)?？紤]到伊斯特萬五號上隱藏的活動規(guī)模，很明顯敵軍在那里構(gòu)筑了一座強大的堡壘，毫無疑問這是要用作戰(zhàn)帥叛變的總部和他們的主要集結(jié)場地。但叛軍艦隊的缺席是一個更為令人困惑的問題，但也許可以簡單的解釋為：叛國者確信帝國尚未對他們進行大規(guī)模的反擊，艦隊是在遙遠的星系對資源和補給進行必要的爭奪，以為即將到來的沖突做準備，這種勇敢的豪賭也符合戰(zhàn)帥已知的性格。暴雨將至號進行的長距離影像捕捉：荷魯斯和弗格瑞姆飛臨于修建于伊斯特萬五號的Urgall廢墟上的古老要塞，同時軍團戰(zhàn)士的動力甲和機械神教的機器不停地運轉(zhuǎn)著，來提升兩位原體的防御，這些最為卑鄙的證據(jù)信息決定了（忠誠派）即將到來的命運。

It is important to note that at this early stage of the great conflict, the full scale and rank horror of?Horus' betrayal were yet to unfold, and both his motivations and the murderous depths of his ambition remained unclear, while the Imperium believed wholeheartedly that it had the upper hand both in materiel strength and capacity to act. There were those among the Loyalists still utterly baffled by what could have triggered the Warmaster's perfidy, and in the private councils of those who knew of the matter 一which was still far from common knowledge— as the punishment fleet was sent to bring the traitors to justice, talk of mental breakdown or megalomaniacal insanity on Horus' part, or even the cancerous control of?some hideous alien form such as the Khrave or the Enslavers was common speculation as to the cause of this sudden treachery. Regardless of this confusion as to its genesis, the judgement of the Imperium was to be swift and savage in its execution, and Horus' rebellion, swaying as it had four Space Marine Legions to his cause, was judged more dangerous than any that had gone before it during the Great Crusade (and indeed there had been several such), but it was also generally thought that Horus would content himself with carving out an empire of his own as the Throne's rival. Although clearly a false assumption in hindsight, with this hypothesis in mind, the selection of Isstvan ——a strategically significant system, seated at the confluence of several known stable Warp routes, but?one also far distant from the seat of?the Imperium's power—— as a base for this treacherous domain made a certain sense. As did the wisdom of immediate attack before the Traitors' stronghold could be properly established.

我們要指出很重要的一點：在大叛亂早期階段，荷魯斯背叛的恐怖全貌還尚未被揭開，帝國對于戰(zhàn)帥的動機和他野心的惡毒程度并不清楚，他們?nèi)牡叵嘈抛约涸谲娏托袆恿ι隙技几咭换I。忠誠派當中也仍舊有人徹底困惑于是什么觸發(fā)戰(zhàn)帥的叛變，隨著懲戒艦隊被派去執(zhí)行審判，那些知道這件遠超常理事件的人們也在私下的會議中討論著荷魯斯是否發(fā)生了精神崩潰或者夸大狂的瘋狂，甚至他會不會是遭到了諸如克拉夫人或奴役者等某些可怕異形的惡毒控制，帝國覺得這可能是這次叛亂的原因。盡管對此事的起源感到困惑，帝國還是判斷要快速果斷地處決叛變者，荷魯斯的叛亂動搖了四個星際戰(zhàn)士軍團的忠誠，使他們站在了荷魯斯一側(cè)，這使帝國判斷這次叛亂比大遠征時期發(fā)生的任何一次叛亂（事實上發(fā)生過很多次）都更危險，但帝國大體上也認為荷魯斯會滿足于打造自己的帝國，與泰拉分庭抗禮。雖然從事后來看這明顯是個錯誤假設(shè)，但考慮將伊斯特萬星系選做叛變疆域的基地確實說的通：這是個在戰(zhàn)略上很重要的星系，位于多條已知的穩(wěn)定亞空間通道的交匯處，而且它也遠離帝國權(quán)力的所在地。就像在叛軍把自己的據(jù)點建設(shè)完善之前就立刻對他們進行進攻一樣智慧。

For Ferrus Manus, the absence of the Traitor Legions' fleets in the Isstvan system was not so much a cause of suspicion as it was an opportunity that should not be wasted. Through the bungled attempt of Fulgrim and his Emperor's Children to sway Ferrus Manus to the Traitors' cause and the flight of the Eisenstein escaping the betrayal at Isstvan III, the Imperium had been made aware of the Warmaster's plot long before the arch-traitor had been ready, and to the grim mind of the master of the Iron Hands, it was an error for which the enemy would be made to pay. The time to strike was now, before the enemy fleet returned, and crush the rebellion with a single concerted attack. It was a judgement shared by many; they had caught the Traitors' preparations in disarray—the Warmaster's dispositions half made and his defences incomplete. The enemy was vulnerable or so the Loyalists thought.

對費魯斯 馬努斯而言，叛軍艦隊在伊斯特萬星系中的缺席并非一件非常值得懷疑的事情，這是一個不能被浪費的機會。通過弗格瑞姆和帝皇之子軍團試圖將費魯斯動搖到叛軍陣營的愚蠢行徑，以及愛森斯坦號逃過伊斯特萬三號的背叛前往泰拉匯報的信息，帝國在戰(zhàn)士做好準備之前很久便知道了這名大叛徒的陰謀，而且在鋼鐵之手主宰冷酷的意識中，這就是一個敵軍們將要為之付出代價的錯誤。（機仆：可惜學(xué)姐大錯特錯，被套路了）現(xiàn)在就是進攻的時刻，趁著敵軍艦隊尚未返航，就用一次同心協(xié)力的進攻剿滅叛亂。這是一個很多人共享的判斷：他們會讓叛軍的準備陷入混亂——戰(zhàn)帥的準備只進行到了一半，他的防御尚不完善。忠誠派認為叛軍是脆弱的。

The eruption of?so many powerful warships into real-space at such proximity was not something that could be concealed from those on the planet. What mattered would be the speed and fury at which their attack was pressed, and the Salamanders, Raven Guard and Iron Hands were each determined to meet those demands with emphatic force, while on the planet below, a savage foe greater than they had ever known —their own kindred— awaited them with equal resolve. In a measure of minutes, swords would be drawn on sworn brothers in earnest, and blood spilled not simply within the Legions that had turned their coats, but by entire Space Marine Legions on others of their kind unto destruction. The cataclysm would be unleashed, and the war of the Horus Heresy would truly begin.

如此多的強大戰(zhàn)艦在極為接近的距離中突入現(xiàn)實宇宙是無法對星球上的人們掩蓋住的，重要的是他們的進攻所施加的速度和狂怒。火蜥蜴、暗鴉守衛(wèi)和鋼鐵之手都決定用強大的部隊來完成這些要求，而在下方的星球上，某種比他們曾經(jīng)所知的一切對手都更為可怕的危險敵人——他們的親族們也懷著同等的決心等待著他們。在幾分鐘之內(nèi)，誓約兄弟們便會嚴肅地拔劍相向，不僅那些易幟的叛徒軍團會流出鮮血，所有的阿斯塔特軍團都會與敵對陣營的血親進行廝殺，直到有一方被毀滅。災(zāi)難將被釋放，荷魯斯叛亂的戰(zhàn)爭將要真正開始了。