Talon of Horus

The Talon of Horus

The Talon of Horus is a large archaic Lightning Claw fitted with an early custom-built Combi-Bolter that is currently wielded by Abaddon the Despoiler, the greatest Champion of Chaos, master of the Black Legion and the current Warmaster of Chaos. Abaddon reclaimed the weapon from the body of Horus himself at the end of the Horus Heresy in the early 31st Millennium. Abaddon currently uses the Talon as one of the primary emblems of his authority over the Forces of Chaos. The weapon takes the form of a large Lightning Claw with a thumb blade and an integrated Combi-Bolter that runs from the wrist to the knuckles of the claw's gauntlet. The ancient Combi-Bolter was designed as a tactically flexible weapon for employment in the Terminator Armour project, and is in essence two standard pattern Bolters slaved to fire together. It is a bulky and somewhat crude, but very effective weapon prototype that gained widespread use at the time of the Horus Heresy. Two belts of ammunition are fed into the gauntlet from the right side and the howling faces of daemons cover the casing ejectors. It is assumed that the Talon, used in conjunction with the Daemon Sword Drach'nyen, provides Abaddon with his ranged combat abilities and confers at least the same benefits as a standard Lightning Claw.

History

The Emperor confronts Warmaster Horus aboard his flagship Vengeful Spirit

The origins of the fell weapon known as the Talon of Horus can be traced back to the dark days of the Horus Heresy which began in the early 31st Millennium. Originally known as The Warmaster's Talon, it was crafted by Master Adept Urtzi Malevolus, a co-conspirator and follower of the traitorous Fabricator-General Kelbor-Hal and his Dark Mechanicus faction of the Mechanicum that had sworn allegiance to the Warmaster Horus, most favoured son of the Emperor and greatest of all the Primarchs. Within his forge he crafted a unique suit of Artificer Terminator Armour, one of the first prototypes of its kind, fashioned and continuously improved by the hand of Kelbor-Hal and the greatest artificers of the Imperium.

Along with this singular suit of Terminator Armour, Malevolous also crafted a special weapon to complement this deadly creation. This weapon was a unique Lightning Claw which incorporated a baroquely-styled twin Combi-Bolter. The Talon quickly became Horus' favoured weapon and a symbol of his office as the Imperial Warmaster of the Great Crusade. Some apocryphal sources claim it is an antediluvian relic that was found deep on the planet Clthon, and was a product of Mankind's Dark Age of Technology. Whatever the truth, the Talon played a dark role in the Imperium's history. During the Battle of Terra aboard his flagship Vengeful Spirit, Horus used his taloned claw to kill his own brother Sanguinius, the winged Primarch of the Blood Angels Legion, and to mortally wound the Emperor Himself.

Abaddon the Despoiler wearing the Talon of Horus

Ezekyle Abaddon, First Captain and most favored gene-son of Horus, and his Justaerin Terminator elite fought their way through squad after squad of yellow-armoured Imperial Fists Terminators to the command centre of the starship, but they were too late.

Running across iron decks that were slick with the blood of demigods, Abaddon took up the lifeless body of his father with great tenderness. Wracked with emotion, he detached the taloned claw that Horus had used to kill the Primarch Sanguinius from his Primarch's armour and resolved to use it to throttle the Emperor. With his gene-father dead, Abaddon abandoned the conquest of Terra and instead blazed a trail across the stars to the forbidden realm of the Eye of Terror. The Traitor Legions retreated in his wake, cursing the hour that had stolen their destiny. With this act, Abaddon passed from mortal space and into legend.

The Talon of Horus is now an icon of evil incarnate to the Imperium, causing terror in Imperial forces, except for the Astartes of the Blood Angels Chapter who are affected with an implacable hatred for the weapon that slew their gene-sire. Over the last ten millennia, Abaddon has tested the strength of the Imperium many times in the Long War, and with each victory his power grows. Over the millennia, he has led no fewer than thirteen Black Crusades, each of which has emerged from the Warp and culminated in a spectacular invasion of realspace, and the Talon of Horus has been worn on his right hand in every campaign.

Sources

• Codex: Chaos Space Marines (6th Edition), pp. 57, 92
• Codex: Chaos Space Marines (4th Edition), pp. 22, 46-47
• Codex: Chaos Space Marines (3rd Edition, 2nd Codex), pp. 8-9, 44-45
• Codex: Chaos Space Marines (3rd Edition, 1st Codex), pp. 22-23
• Codex: Chaos (2nd Edition), pp. 98-99
• Deathwatch: First Founding (RPG), pg. 91
• Horus Heresy: Collected Visions, pp. 47, 78, 108, 220-221, 263, 332, 362
• Imperial Armour: The Horus Heresy Book 1: Betrayal pg. 230, 246-247
• Index Astartes IV, "Sons of Horus - The Black Legion Space Marine Legion"
• The 13th Black Crusade by Andy Hoare, pp. 18, 72, 79
• The Art of Warhammer 40,000 (Art Book) edited by Matt Ralphs and Marc Gascoigne, pg. 150
• Warlords of the Dark Millennium: Abaddon The Despoiler (Digital Edition), pp. 6-7, 17-18, 29-30
• White Dwarf 287 (UK), "Death by a Thousand Cuts," pg. 36
• Horus Rising (Novel) by Dan Abnett
• False Gods (Novel) by Graham McNeill
• Galaxy In Flames (Novel) by Ben Counter
• Age of Darkness (Anthology) edited by Christian Dunn, "Little Horus"
• Nemesis (Novel) by James Swallow
• Execution Hour (Novel) by Gordon Rennie
• Dark Adeptus (Novel) by Ben Counter
• Soul Hunter (Novel) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
• Vengiful Spirit (Novel) by Graham McNeill