The Emperor and the Lost Son: The Tale of the Raven Guard
It was a momentous day when the Emperor of Mankind revealed to his son, the Primarch Corvus Corax, that he was not the only one of his kind. There were seventeen others. Corax, taken aback, remembered his designation as number nineteen. The Emperor, shrouded in sorrow, promised to shed light on the two missing Primarchs another day. Kneeling, Corvus pledged fidelity to his father and the promise to uphold his will.
What followed was a revelation that shook the young Primarch; the existence of the Raven Guard, his destined legion. But the Emperor, wise and patient, did not rush his son. He allowed Corvus the time to conclude his wars and learn the bitter lessons of conflict; victory often necessitated sacrifices, even the innocent, and peace was an arduous task to build where war had ravaged.
In the aftermath of the war, the Adeptus Mechanicus arrived to restore and reconstruct the worlds for the Imperium’s needs. The once oppressive prison administration fortress, the Black Tower, was transformed into the Raven Spire, the citadel of the 19th Legion.
By the time Corax took command of his genetic sons, the Great Crusade was already a century-old. The Primarch swiftly reshaped the Legion’s war-fighting style, infusing it with the stealth and cunning he had honed on Deliverance. The Raven Guard morphed into a formidable force, combining vigilance and speed.
Corax made sweeping changes in the Legion’s composition, favoring warriors from his home world over those originating from Terra. He saw in these warriors a reflection of the elite of Kiavahr, his home planet. This shift resulted in high-ranking Terra-born commanders stripped of their posts, standing shoulder to shoulder with ordinary Space Marines. Among them was a warrior who had been the Legion Master for thirty years before the Primarch’s appointment.
Corax honored his comrades from Deliverance, integrating them into the ranks of the 19th Legion’s fleet. One such comrade was Nenia, a girl for whom Corax had once risked his life. She became the shipmaster of the battle barge Avenger, serving faithfully until her old age.
Under the Primarch’s leadership, the Raven Guard acquired new skills. Some warriors even learned the incredible talent for camouflage, akin to that possessed by Corvus himself. Corax was even known to have bested Roboute Guilliman in his brother Primarch’s notoriously testing Strategio Simulacra, using several unconventional troop types. However, after Guilliman adjusted his tactics, Corax never bested him again.
Corax also restructured his fleet. The Raven Guard ships became faster, and mysterious modifications increased their stealth capabilities. The 19th Legion produced a unique transport shuttle, the Shadowhawk, equipped with systems that rendered it invisible to all but the most sensitive augurs. The Raven Guard also gained access to the Whisper Cutter, a silent and discreet flying craft capable of dropping up to 10 Space Marines into a combat zone.
These enhancements were thanks to the masters of Kiavahr, who were reluctant to share their secrets with the tech-priests of Mars. Corax protected them from the Mechanicum in exchange for their loyalty and support.
One of the Raven Guard’s first campaigns under Corax was to bring the Istvaan system into Imperial compliance. Their task was to overcome the culture of religious mysticism and desire for independence without destroying the valuable industry complexes. And so, the new era of the Raven Guard began.
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