It is said by ancient proverb that truth is the first casualty of war and, if this is the case, then rumour is its first child. Almost from the outset, the war of the Horus Heresy was a vast cataclysm and one whose events moved with such quicksilver pace that mystery, supposition, lies and simple ignorance cloaked much of the bloodshed even as it occurred, casting a veil over much that will never be lifted. Though the roll call of Space Marine Legions, Titan Legio, Auxilia regiments and Mechanicum Taghmata that sided with the Arch-Traitor and those who remained loyal is largely known and accepted, the full truth is far more complex and far more mysterious than commonly believed.

古老的諺語如是告誡我們：真相是戰(zhàn)爭最早的犧牲品。如此說來，謠言便是戰(zhàn)爭最早的被催生物。幾乎從一開始，荷魯斯叛亂就是一場巨大的災(zāi)難，這場戰(zhàn)爭發(fā)展的速度是如此之快，以至于很多流血事件即使發(fā)生了，也會(huì)被秘團(tuán)、推測(cè)、謊言和純粹的無知所掩蓋，只給我們留下許多解不開的謎題。盡管對(duì)于星際戰(zhàn)士軍團(tuán)、泰坦軍團(tuán)、輔助軍部隊(duì)和機(jī)械神教中的哪些已淪為大逆不道的叛徒而哪些又依然保持著忠誠這個(gè)問題，我們?cè)缬卸ㄕ?，而且這些結(jié)論已被人們廣泛地知曉和接受，但完整的真相遠(yuǎn)比我們普遍相信的內(nèi)容要復(fù)雜和神秘得多。

Of those who fell at Isstvan, there were survivors, remnants and fleeing fragments shorn of command and driven half mad by treachery; from that point onwards they were isolated, alone. These were the shattered Legions and, while some swiftly returned to the Imperial fold, some did not or would not. Some would go on to wage a bitter war of vengeance alone, some would simply disappear, their fates unknown, their stories untold. But there were others of a darker hue. It has long been refuted since, but is indelibly the case, that in the Legions that remained loyal there were elements, sometimes whole companies and commands, that did not. In some cases the infection of the Warmaster's 'warrior lodges' has been blamed, while in others perhaps grievances long smouldering were the cause, just as infiltration by outside forces, or simply a darker truth applies that, given the option, some Legiones Astartes believed Horus had the superior cause and the superior right to command their allegiance, not the Emperor, while some retained a loyalty to their Emperor and the Great Crusade over that of their own Primarch's will. It is true that particularly in the early years of the war, detachments of Legiones Astartes and sometimes entire squadrons of warships simply vanished without apparent trace, and while many may have fallen foul of warp storms and enemy action, it is likely just as true that some quietly slipped anchor and turned their coats to serve another master, and that this happened on both sides of the divide.

那些在伊斯特萬慘遭屠殺的軍團(tuán)中 ，也有幸存者、殘余者以及逃出生天但失去指揮的小股部隊(duì)，他們被背叛行為逼到半瘋。從那時(shí)起，他們就被孤立開來，各自為戰(zhàn)。這些部隊(duì)就是破碎軍團(tuán)，雖然有些部隊(duì)迅速回到帝國的懷抱，但也有些部隊(duì)沒有或不愿回到帝國。有些部隊(duì)會(huì)繼續(xù)獨(dú)自進(jìn)行他們苦澀的復(fù)仇行動(dòng)，有些則僅僅是消失了，他們的命運(yùn)無人知曉，他們的故事無人講述。然而，還有其他走上了更為黑暗道路的部隊(duì)。雖然這一事實(shí)一直遭到反駁，但真相是不可磨滅：在那些仍然忠于帝國的阿斯塔特軍團(tuán)當(dāng)中，其實(shí)也在大叛亂中出現(xiàn)過背叛帝國部隊(duì)，而且某些時(shí)候是整個(gè)連隊(duì)和指揮層都叛變了。在某些情況中，這要?dú)w咎于戰(zhàn)帥的“戰(zhàn)士結(jié)社”；而其他的則可能是因?yàn)榉e怨已久，就如來自外部的滲透，或者僅僅是因?yàn)槟硞€(gè)更為黑暗的真相：只要有得選的話，某些阿斯塔特相信荷魯斯比帝皇更有理由和權(quán)力來贏得他們的忠誠，而有些阿斯塔特對(duì)于帝皇和大遠(yuǎn)征的忠誠勝過了對(duì)于自己的原體的意志的服從。事實(shí)上，尤其是在戰(zhàn)爭的早期，某些阿斯塔特分遣隊(duì)消失得無影無蹤，有的時(shí)候甚至整個(gè)戰(zhàn)艦中隊(duì)都會(huì)消失。其中有很多可能是遭遇了亞空間風(fēng)暴或者敵軍進(jìn)攻，但同樣有可能的是：有些部隊(duì)悄悄逃走并開始效忠另一位主人，這一現(xiàn)象在戰(zhàn)爭雙方都發(fā)生過。

Thus can perhaps be explained, at least in part, persistent stories and evidence long since suppressed of midnight clad warriors in defaced Night Lords heraldry savagely attacking Traitor forces at the liberation of Estaban III,or of recurring repons of multiple Space Marine strike forces seemingly in the resurrected livery of the Dusk Raiders thwarting the Iron Warriors at Kibron and Malinche's Fall. Likewise also should be considered the long-denied evidence of a Great Company of the Space Wolves Legion bearing the symbol of the Serpent's Eye slaughtering millions at Neo Cadiz in 008.M31, or of a company of Legiones Astartes present at?the Siege of Mezoa bearing the hybrid arms and panoply of the Iron Hands and Sons of Horus Legions both. These are merely a handful of still infamous cases, but there are many more unsubstantiated or simply now forgotten which paint a more complex and uncertain picture of this great civil war than is normally accounted. Further to this, and perhaps an even more sinister enigma, are the persistent reports of Space Marine forces appearing bearing no sign or seal of heraldry or origin at all, or stranger yet, heraldry which bears no mark known during the Great Crusade, although whether the “black”Legionaries were merely turncoats or, as some have whispered, perhaps raised by the Trators from the chemiric gene-seed of the Isstvan dead for their own terrible purpose，none can now say for certain.?

這至少可以部分地解釋某些雖然長期遭到查禁但卻仍在持續(xù)流傳故事和證據(jù)：在Estaban III世界的解放戰(zhàn)役中，一群身著午夜藍(lán)色動(dòng)力甲的戰(zhàn)士們殘忍地痛擊了叛軍部隊(duì)，這些戰(zhàn)士們午夜藍(lán)色的動(dòng)力甲上帶有被污損的午夜領(lǐng)主軍團(tuán)標(biāo)志；在Kibron 和?Malinche的淪陷過程中，也出現(xiàn)了一份重復(fù)出現(xiàn)的報(bào)告：有多支星際戰(zhàn)士打擊部隊(duì)似乎使用了了暮色襲擊者的標(biāo)志和配色——這一（曾屬于死亡守衛(wèi)軍團(tuán)的）標(biāo)志重新出現(xiàn)了，他們使鋼鐵勇士軍團(tuán)的叛軍進(jìn)攻受挫。同樣，我們也應(yīng)該思考下面這些長期遭到否認(rèn)的證據(jù)：008.M31，在Neo Cadiz世界上，一個(gè)佩戴著荷魯斯之眼標(biāo)志的太空野狼大連屠殺了數(shù)百萬人；在梅左阿鑄造世界攻城戰(zhàn)當(dāng)中，也出現(xiàn)過一個(gè)混合使用著來自鋼鐵之手和荷魯斯之子兩個(gè)軍團(tuán)的武器裝備的阿斯塔特連隊(duì)。這些還僅僅是少數(shù)仍然臭名昭著的事件，但是未經(jīng)證實(shí)或現(xiàn)在被遺忘的事件報(bào)告還有更多，這讓大叛亂的圖景變得比我們通常認(rèn)為的更加復(fù)雜和不確定。除此之外，也許還有一個(gè)更險(xiǎn)惡的謎題：關(guān)于那些根本沒有佩戴任何顯示其紋章或起源的標(biāo)志印記的星際戰(zhàn)士部隊(duì)的持續(xù)報(bào)告，或者更奇怪的是，有些紋章上帶有大遠(yuǎn)征時(shí)期未曾出現(xiàn)過的標(biāo)志。那么，這些“漆黑的軍團(tuán)戰(zhàn)士”是否僅僅是叛徒？還是如同有些人謠傳的那樣，他們可能是由叛徒們使用盜取自伊斯特萬亡者的嵌合體基因種子培養(yǎng)而成的，目的為了實(shí)現(xiàn)自己邪惡的圖謀？這一切現(xiàn)在還沒人能說得準(zhǔn)。