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The Treachery at Port Maw was a notable event and military defeat for the Imperium of Mankind that was situated during the earliest years of the Horus Heresy and what was later on designed as the Manachean War. It was by the twin-assault of the Traitors on Hive Illum and the Armada Imperialis Port Majoris of Port Maw that the Manachean War was concluded, marking the end of the powerful system that had been the Manachean Commonwealth and the establishment of the first Traitor-held domain. As far as the dire events of Istvaan III and Istvaan V revealed Horus influence within the Legions of the Legiones Astartes, the Treachery at Port Maw is a testimony to how far Horus' treason ran within every other organisation -military and other- of the Imperium. To Imperial historians, the Treachery at Port Maw-incident marcs the beginning of a shadow-war that has run its course for the last ten millennia, a fifth-columnist's and traitor's war that has since then become the hallmark of an other Legion of Traitors: the Alpha Legion.
History
A Muster for War
The Manachean Commonwealth was an independent dominion forming its own self-governing sub-sector within the Imperium to the galactic east of the Cyclops Cluster. Considered the lynchpin of the Coronid Deeps, it was also the principal axis of Imperial power holding the northern border of the Imperium together thanks to the dual influence of two systems: Manachea itself - principally the Hive World of Manachea Vysidae, which was in terms of population and industry the equal of any of the great Hive Worlds of the Segmentum Solar, and Port Maw which, while still under construction and expansion, was one of the most powerful Imperialis Armada bases in the northern Imperium. This border sub-sector, geared as it is for war, presented a formidable obstacle to any attack contemplated against it, and few regions outside the heartlands of the Segmentum Solar could claim to be so well protected.
Port Maw itself was home to a very sizable fleet, numbering some hundred and seventy capital and line vessels of the first rank, and nearly a thousand other warships of lesser degree, whose principal purposes were to patrol the nearby Segmenta within the borders the Great Crusade had established., defend its worlds from attack, maintain order and enforce the writ of Imperial law. As part of this peacekeeping force, stationned there at secondary bastions in the Manachea and Numinal systems, were a combined army of one hundred and ninety-three Solar Auxilia Cohorts of the Imperial Army, forming an independant strategic command of the Excertus Imperialis under Grand Admiral Ospheus LaBray.In practical terms, this comprised notionally some 3'860'000 fully armed, equipped and disciplined fighters outfitted to the highest standards of the Imperium's human soldiery. As Solar Auxilia, they were trained and experienced both in void combat and planetary defence operations and represented a significant military force, even when set against the threat of a Legiones Astartes attack. Besides this elite army, the Commonwealth's own emergency defense planning was predicated upon the ability to quickly raise, arm and supply tens of millions of planetary militia in extremis, and this act itself did not seriously impact upon the massive economic output of the sector - such were the immense labour reserve of Manachea Vysidae and the war materiél its wealth had allowed it to stockpile. Nor was the Commonwealth entirely without the assistance of the Legiones Astartes, albeit in very small numbers. The limited garrison of Imperial Fists stationned in their bastion on Manachea Lux had quickly subdivided itself and sent its Legionaries to act as advisors throughout the Commonwealth, lending their expertise in counter-siege warfare to improve defensive structure and emergency action plans. However those of the Astartes that had managed to escape the deadly trap set for them on Istvaan V refused to submit themselves to"merely" human commanders and had pursued their voyage, grateful for the opportunity to regroup and reequip before moving on.
The question then immediately becomes why did this vast and mobile force not come to the aid of the Cyclops Cluster when it was attacked? The answer is a simple one; it was not allowed to. The Warmaster had not allowed it.
Long before the first shot was fired on Istvaan V, or even Istvaan III, the Warmaster had ensured that every centre of military of the Imperium he could not control or vanquish immediately would be temporaliy neutralised as not to impede his firsts moves in the civil war. So it was that at the time of the Istvaan III Atrocity, numerous elements of the Port Maw Excertus had been deployed to the very edges of their usual far-flung operational range; tied down in chasing half unsubstantiated reports of privateers or xenos marauders, occupied on deep patrols or even temporarily reassigned to other campaigns or fleets in distant border regions of the Imperium -whether such reinforcement were truly warranted or not. With the authority of the Warmaster still absolute and uncontested, such actions didn't raise any suspicion or comment. When the rebellion became apparent orders were modified and warship squadrons and Cohorts of Solar Auxilia recalled at once for a grand muster at Port Maw, but this was a task neither swift nor easy. Marshalling troops also became increasingly more difficult as a great uprising in Warp storms and warp turbulences was noted which would only gain in intensity as the Horus Heresy unfolded. By 006.M31 matters became ever more dire for the isolated Port Maw Excertus as its fleet elements had spend much of the previous years all chasing shadows and were now confronted with a very real and terrible enemy. All across the Coronid Deeps reports of isolated and unknown warships, civil unrest, outlaw activities, unexplained calamities and xenos raids became ever more frequent - then came the messengers of the Warmaster, demanding the Dark Compliance of the Cyclops Cluster, the Grail Abyss and even Lethe within the borders of the Manachean Commonwealth. It was only a question of time until such an emissary would be send to Manachea as well...
Yet no emissary came, but that only seemed a small relief compared to the dire news that continued to reach Manachea. Many deep range patrols sent beyond the Segmentum border simply did not return, while raiders chaotically attacked Imperial outposts perilously close to the borders of the Coronid Prohibition Zone, an area of space where the authorities of Port Maw were forbidden to enter by ancient decree. These raids were tentatively attributed to the Rogue Trader Militant Rom Jhutlannder whose ships had served in the past as outriders and pathfinders for the Warmaster's own 63rd Expeditionary Fleet. However, when the anemy finally manifested itself, it would not be from the quarter expected, but from the western approach of the Commonwealth: a xenos-infested conglomerate of ancient ship-wrecks and trapped asteroids, a Space Hulk the which the Manachean Commonwealth had not seen in many decades - the Orks had invaded the Vlorath Srader system.
The Enemy Unlooked For
In accordance with the Coda Navis the invading space hulk was designated Red Polyphemus and its unexpected appearance sent the Commonwealth’s military scrambling to respond. Space hulks are immense conglomerations of shattered planetary rock and ancient derelict ships whose navigation is notoriously unpredictable. It was thought at the time that the hulk had been drawn perhaps to the system’s potent Astrophatic relay orbiting the system’s seventh planet. However, its appearance after a brief but violent storm in the Warp seems too doubtful in hindsight to be considered as mere ill-fortune.
While the Orks as a galatic-scale threat within the expansive celestial territory of the Imperium had been subdued by the Great Crusade, on the outer frontier of the Emperor’s domains, they still remained a potent if infrequent menace, and the degenerate, half-devolved breed that infested the Red Polyphemus represented the largest concentration of the brutal xenos encountered in the region for nearly thirty years. Such a dire menace required the immediate mustering and dispatch of an entire battle group from Port Maw to combat, diverting a muster of warships and cohorts intended to deal with the worsening situaion in the Cyclops Cluster. By the time the Imperial fleet answered the attack, the Vlorlath Srader Relay was already overrun, and its tens of thousands mutated Orks and gyre-worms had made planetfall on Vlorlath Srader while the space hulk itself ploughed madly onwards, forcing the fleet into a dogged and bloody pursuit. In normal circumstances, the aid of a sizable Legiones Astartes force would have been ideally called upon to strike a death blow to the hulk, but in this darkening times, no such help was available. This left the Port Maw battlegroup the thankless and dangerous task of attempting to slowly pulverise the gargantuan Red Polyphemus with prolonged, close range bombardment, rather than board it and destroy it from within - all the time under attack by the barbaric xenos which infested it like vermin. Without the elite Solar Auxilia Cohorts of the Port Maw Excertus Command, dealing with this catastrophe would simply not have been possible, both in terms of the counter-invasion of the Vlorlath Srader system’s colony worlds, and the defence of the taskforce attacking the Ork hulk, which faced continual suicide attacks and boarding assaults by the savage xenos and their crude but murderous void engines.
Treachery
The Web of Deceit
The Song of Chaos
Triumph and Betrayal
The Ravens
Conquest
Aftermath
Notable Vessels
- Triumph of Reason (Unique Battleship, Unknown Class) - The Triumph of Reason was a vessel with a long and twisted history. Built from the wrecked hulls of two prior Legatus-class battleships that had been mauled early on during the Great Crusade, the Triumph of Reason was easily the biggest ship in the entire Segmentum Obscurus Armada. Rebuilt after an unique pattern, the Triumph of Reason was designed from the start to become the flag-ship of the entire Segmentum Armada and much weight and space was given over to communication and auspex devices. Stationed at Port Maw for the greater part of its career, placed under the command of Grand Admiral Ospeus LaBray for much of its early years, the Triumph of Reason was equipped with countless cryo-chambers to harbour Ogryn Charonites, the only troop at the admiral's disposal that would prove superior to traitorous Legiones Astartes in case of boarding actions. The Triumph of Reason would participate in the early hours of the Horus Heresy at the notable Treachery at Port Maw where it would assume control and command of the entire Port Maw Armada and its allies once the destruction of the Mechanicum Panopticon at the heart of the treachery had been confirmed. It would be from the bridge of the Triumph that Grand Admiral LaBray would coordinate the battle against the Sons of Horus fleet, even engaging the lauded Vengeful Spirit of Warmaster Horus himself. Outmanoeuvred by the Vengeful Spirit, the Thriumph of Reason came under attack by Sons of Horus boarding parties and even the Archtraitor Horus Lupercal himself after the first assault wave had been nearly thrown back by the hundreds of Charonites held in the Triumph's borrows. Seized from within and with LaBray being killed in his failed attempt to escape ship, the Triumph of Reason would remain at Port Maw for the following years of civil war, its communication hub needed to replace the destroyed Panopticon. The once proud Imperial vessel became a glorified if macabre throne room for Horus' chosen regent, a Sons of Horus line captain by the name of Taloc Thorne, which renamed the battleship "The Lash" and took the title of Tyrant of Port Maw.
- Vengeful Spirit (Gloriana-Class Battleship) - The Vengeful Spirit was a towering Gloriana-class Battleship modified to confirm to the Scylla-pattern and that served faithfully as the Luna Wolves' - and later the Sons of Horus' - flagship during the entire Great Crusade. As flagship of the XVIth Legion, the Vengeful Spirit was also the personal ship of Warmaster Horus Lupercal, harbouring his command centre and throne room, it's hull being adorned by the Warmaster's own emblem; the Eye of Horus. More powerfully armed than nearly any vessel in service of the Emperor, the Vengeful Spirit would become a dreaded sight during the dark years of the Horus Heresy, preying on Imperial systems on its powerful engines with made the colossal battleship a far quicker predator that most readily believed. By the time of the Manachean War, the Vengeful Spirit's transition to a flying temple to the Dark Gods had already begun, its once proud hull defaced with ritual and esoteric symbols several hundreds of feet wide and in all likelihood painted with human blood. Present in the second part of events known as the Treachery at Port Maw-incident, the Vengeful Spirit would lead the Sons of Horus into the developing battle between Traitors and Loyalists of the Port Maw Armada. Approaching covertly behind two captures Raven Guard Battle Barges, the Vengeful Spirit would almost immediately head for the Triumph of Reason, the loyalist flagship which it badly mauled before sending boarding parties to capture the pride of the Port Maw Armada. The Warmaster himself would be forced by necessity to join the boarding actions as his troops where being slowly overwhelmed by rampaging Ogryn Charonites Grand Admiral LaBray had released as last line of defense. Turning the course of battle by himself, Horus was however denied the satisfaction of slaying the Grand Admiral himself. The Vengeful Spirit would swiftly leave the Port Maw-system carrying the Warmaster all his way to the Battle of Terra and his final confrontation with the Emperor of Mankind. The Vengeful Spirit still roames the galaxy, having found refuge in the Eye of Terror with the Black Legion of Abaddon the Despoiler.
- Arithmetic of Violence (Mechanicum War-ark, Unknown Class) - A gigantic vessel of nearly ten-kilometres length, the Arithmetic of Violence was only one of a trio of such vessels present at Port Maw during the events of the Treachery. Secretely in league with Horus for many years, the Cyclothratine Mechanicum had infiltrated the Port Maw muster under the guise of loyal servants of the Emperor. When the blanketing signal was released from the Mechanicum Panopticon Tower, the Arithmetic of Violence used thesurrounding pandemonium to manoeuvre itself into perfect launch position for its devastating complement of plasma-torpedoes. Blossoming like an unholy flower, the Arithmetic of Violence shed her long hull plates and revealed row upon row of void torpedoes that annihilated the allied fleets of Agathon, Numinal and the Cerada Trinity in a single devastating volley - for their crews and captains had not been corrupted or infiltrated and remained staunch loyalists to the Emperor. Yet the Arithmetic of Violence failed in its task as one lone survivor - the Telemachus - remained and would escape from the system to carry news of this betrayal to its home world.
- Kurga (Dictatus-Class Battleship) - The Dictatus-class was an ancient class of ram-battleship that had slowly become obsolete as the Great Crusade wrought on. The Dictatus-class were almost primitively barbaric in their design as their main role was to ram enemy ships and shred their hulls like an ancient seaborn predator with their enormous jaws - a tactic that seems more suitable for the dreaded Orks than the Emperor's soldiery. Mounted on a set of hydraulic platforms these "jaws" compromised a row of nearly thirty metres long teeth-spikes, while its "mouth" supported scores of rocket-powered melta-barbed harpoons not unlike the more massive Ursus Claw that were the pride of the World Eaters flagship, the Conqueror. The Kurga was present at the Treachery of Port Maw from which it remained one of the few Imperial ships that succeeded in making good its escape despite having to crush a mutiny on its board. It remains famous to this day for having shred and ripped off the Mechanicum Panopticon tower which traitor elements had used to sabotage the Armada's communication netwok and targeting arrays. The Kurga would go on to fight with distinction in the years after the Treachery, its powerful drives and unorthodox tactics proving a valuable asset in the dark years to come.
- Telemachus (Unknown Class, Cruiser) - The Telemachus and her sister-ships -all veterans of the former 60th Expeditionary Fleet - answered Grand Admiral Ospeus LaBray's call after the costly destruction of the Space Hulk known as the Red Polyphemus. Battlefleet Agathon send an entire squadron of cruisers to the gathering armada at Port Maw. The Telemachus' captain was none other than Jocasta MaSade, grandaughter of the famed Ireton MaSade , former Imperial Commander of the Agathean Domain and future hero of the Imperium. The Telemachus was the sole survivor of the eight Agathean cruisers send to the great Armada Imperialis muster at Port Maw, its sister-ships all falling prey to the treacherous attack of the Arithmetic of Violence during the infamous Treachery at Port Maw-incident. This single act of violence would trigger a gruesome war of vengeance between the forces of the Agathean Domain and those of Forge World Cyclotrathe. Despite her wounds, the tenacious Jocasta MaSade refused to leave her bridge, ushering her crew to fight on. It was only once the Telemachus had escaped the trap set for her that Jocasta MaSade let herself be examinated. Alas by then the damage had been done and the valiant captain died from blood-loss. The arduous journey back home would however set events in motion that determined the Agathean Domain's participation in the Horus Heresy.
Sources
- The Horus Heresy - Book Four: Conquest by Alan Bligh, pg. 10-11, 36-54, 72-73, 86-89, 189