Dropsite Massacre - John French

[Roomsky]

Look man, you know me. A good story isn't enough, I need execution that I vibe with. Fulgrim is one of my least favourite McNeill books and I think it was a poor choice to be the primary source for the second most important battle of the Heresy. Yes actually, I would like a more complex overview of that battlefield, of Ferrus' decisions, of what Horus was doing. Isstvan V in Fulgrim was just a backdrop for Fulgrim's story, which is fine, character 100% comes first in a narrative, but I wanted more. More in a book I don't find pretty bad overall. More even than the too-many shorts and the excellent scenes in The First Heretic. It's hypocritical of me, because frankly I don't give two :cuss:s about the biggest tank fight ever on Tallarn and would happily argue the POVs in that anthology are all we need for a good story. And yet, here I stand. With the second most important battle in the Heresy only glimpsed in tiny pieces by the Word Bearers on my shelf.

 

The story in Galaxy in Flames was fine. I would like it told by an author who doesn't suck.

 

[wecanhaveallthree]

Quote

Fulgrim is one of my least favourite McNeill books

Quote

More like Snore Travitz, am I right?

Quote

My chief complaint about Galaxy in Flames is that it's not a completely different genre and style of book

Quote

After reading Shadowbreaker, I could probably take Steve Parker in a fight

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I SPIT ON BILLY KING'S GRAVE! *ptoh* GOTREK IS AN ELF-LOVER!

 

What can men do against such reckless hate?!

[DarkChaplain]

I'm still not done, but I love basically everything about the book so far.

 

 

Like, ANGRON trying to go for an "honorable" rebellion while making excuses for the Isstvan III virus bombing betrayal? Trying to argue for choice and freedom over being forced into submission yet again? HORUS actually coming in to beat him in a duel, then refusing to kill him, stating that Angron's war will never end, so long as the Emperor lives? And all that being seen through the eyes of a broken, uncertain Khârn, who feels like some part of him actually died on Isstvan III?

Ferrus being not just called out by Corax and Vulkan, but also showing his very human self-doubt, and even gratitude to his brothers for keeping him straight?

You could argue that, yes, all three Primarchs now are shown to commit to the mistaken strategy that led to the Dropsite Massacre... but it's the how and why that works. Ferrus made the plans, and the others begrudgingly prepared for their executions. But NONE of them felt actually right about it all. They're all struggling with it in their own way. In a sense, the real mistake is inherent in the entire response, from Dorn to Ferrus: They're up against Horus Lupercal. They could easily spiral into questioning their questioning of their questioning. They could run loops around the problem, delay, doubt, let Horus spread his influence as news of his betrayal actually makes its way across the Imperium. Horus's fleet is out-system, and they know it's going to come up against them, so a siege of Isstvan isn't as feasible as it ought to be.

Dorn isn't even considered, despite him sending a Retribution Fleet of his own after the fact... which got stranded and contained at Phall, for almost half a year. Guilliman is at Calth, Sanguinius at Signus, with no chance of them joining before any of this gets out of hand. Russ is at Nikaea, following his father's commands, perverted by Horus's meddling.

 But they've got reinforcements of their own in the presumed-loyal Legions, which could counter-pincer the traitor fleet. Just that they're actually traitors, too.

....and from their exchanges shown, there's little room for doubt based on the words exchanged that these Legions were indeed loyal to the Throne. Lorgar is as passionate about the Emperor as they'd expect. Alpharius actually gives sound advice to Corax, which, if followed and agreed upon from the outset by Ferrus, would've changed the war entirely.

 The traitors on the surface are tearing each other and themselves apart, mentally and physically. They've just committed atrocity at Isstvan III and this quiet time before the loyalist response is making them think. It's making them brood. It's making them question. All while inter-Legion feuds spring up, particularly between the sons of Fulgrim and Angron. They're all still pretending they're virtuous, that they are right, that they are justified in rising up against the Emperor. Horus most of all. But even as they perform their theater, high on their own beliefs, rot creeps in, cracks form, sanity frays, and doubt between the Traitors blossoms. They've already turned traitor once, there is no loyalty to count on for them anymore.

Their biggest threat at this juncture is actually time, not the bolter shells of the Loyalists. But on the other hand, time is also the enemy of the Imperium - the Great Crusade had made great strides, but we know there were countless worlds only barely sticking to compliance, numerous planets waiting for opportunities to rebel against the Emperor. News of Horus, the Emperor's brightest and best, would've emboldened them and given them a catalyst to rise up. Somebody to rally behind. Somebody to even reinforce at Isstvan, if given the chance. At this point, news about the Heresy is still fresh and raw. The Loyalists only had it at all in time to react was because of Garro and the Eisenstein. Letting it fester in public would've been ruinous to these past two centuries of conquest. The necessary thing was to beat it down and erase Horus the Rebel Leader from being a rallying point forever. To make an example of him, to show that rebellion is futile.

 Would a few days' worth of delay have made a difference? Probably not, not really. But weeks, months, of gathering forces, debating, doubting any course of action because they're up against Horus, sitting at Beta-Garmon or wherever, letting the traitor fleets do their thing relatively freely, Isstvan mostly uncontained? Likely ruinous. Besieging the Isstvan system for that long? With how long Astartes can go without breaking? Unlikely to work, might take years to grind them down, especially with how fortified the Traitors already were, making virus bombing Isstvan V as well kind of pointless. At the end of the day, they also needed to see the bodies of the traitor Primarchs to make certain that they'd no longer be a threat.

They were all wary of Horus, the master strategist. It was always unlikely that he didn't have something up his sleeve they didn't see. But that he had turned not just three other Legions, but FOUR additional ones already? One of them being the most obviously pro-Emperor guy in existence? Yikes. This was simply unthinkable - not just because four Legions turning was already such a big deal, but also because it'd have invited endless doubt between the brothers, tearing the Imperium apart from the inside even if they had been victorious. The ramifications of it were just too brutal to contemplate, especially while they were all still in shock, traumatized, grieving.

 The "mistake" was to actually believe that Ferrus might have been the only one who had been approached by the Traitors in recent days, which he considered a stain upon himself. Their mistake was not question whether their brothers were lying about not having been approached. But once that doubt creeps in, there is no longer any trust to be had in the galaxy. So they had to trust in something, and crush that doubt before it could fully bloom. Which, sadly, made Horus's plans succeed.
 

In summary:

The mistake of the Loyalists was to trust each other to still be true to one another.

This allowed the Traitors, who didn't trust each other and could only rely on one another to pursue their own ends within the schism, to put their own doubts and grievances aside while dealing with an immediate, external threat again.

But both were up against a wall, running out of time to keep things together.

We can argue in hindsight about which action would've been the better choice, having all the facts available to us, but in the moment, time was of the essence, and a commitment had to be made to head off other avenues of doubt... which, sadly, gave clarity of purpose to the flagging Traitors again.

Edited October 29 by DarkChaplain

[The Praetorian of Inwit]

Something on the Thramas Crusade to give Night Lords more coverage would be great.

 

Personally I would love something on Inwit and what was happening there. Any excuse to get more Imperial Fists basically. 

 

 

[Malkydel]

Having just finished this I have to say that DarkChaplain has put it probably better than I ever could.

 

This is a book that is, as so much else that French does, a labour of love. It is meticulously planned out and plotted to give us a view of the war that complements and supports both the fragments we've seen in previous fiction and with an eye to the scale and intricacy of the Black Books. There really are so many compelling moving parts, whether they're new bit characters or established already in the telling.

 

It conveys competence and mistakes on both sides, it gives us more hows and whys. It informs and adds, without overwriting. It keys itself in to the crucial moments and it shows us a scale rendition of atrocity. Some of the losses hit deep. The reactions and the visceral fallout of it is, in my opinion, rendered out in beautiful horror and chilling asides.

 

Everyone puts in a spectacular showing and I'm very glad this book exists.

[The Scorpion]

17 hours ago, Felix Antipodes said:

There are several battles mentioned in passing in both the HH series itself and the FW Black Books that could be expanded on.  Not sure any of them are that pivotal that they would necessarily need this sort of treatment.

One that is HH adjacent, and could do with a book (imho), is the Rangdan Xenocides, especially the Third one.  While they happened at the back end of the Great Crusade, they are close enough to have implications for the approaching HH.  50,000 rumoured casualties for the DA alone would affect the 1st Legion you would think.

Lion Primarch book should've been set in the end of the Xenocides. Sorta like that one short story "First Legion" where the Alpha Legionnaires go urge the Lion to consider the Warmaster position

[Tolmeus]

2 hours ago, Malkydel said:

Having just finished this I have to say that DarkChaplain has put it probably better than I ever could.

 

True words. Also finished it 5min ago.

 

I too share the sentiment that French delivered to us a great work of the Heresy. Maybe a pity that it was just delivered now, but then again maybe that was good timing. Many of us were or are still burned out after the Siege of Terra. But as I have mentioned before, this story had capitvated me like the times I frist read the Heresy novels.

 

Another aspect: As @DarkChaplain already laid out, we only got a fragmented view of the Dropsite Massacre till now. It is fair to say that we can appreciate this work more knowing what gap it filled. Than again, what a hugh service it would have done to the series had it been released as one of its books? 

 

I am thankful for it and would enjoy more works which do a service to the series, both to feed my nostalgia for it and to enjoy new "old" stories that might just lurk there. Kudos Mr French! 

[DarKnight]

Loved this book. Really legitimized Ferrus, Corax, and Vulcan, as well as Horus tbh. 

[Bestkeptsecret]

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/240892106-dropsite-massacre?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=IeSnFe5KYF&rank=1

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/242600281-dropsite-massacre?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=IeSnFe5KYF&rank=2

 

Please consider visiting Goodreads and giving this book a good review and rating if you enjoy it. I always rate authors fairly, but I have a nagging feeling that because Goodreads has no way to verify purchases or if the reviewer actually read the book, some people take advantage of this loophole to post an incorrect review, either positive or negative, based on their agenda.

[darkhorse0607]

30 minutes ago, Bestkeptsecret said:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/240892106-dropsite-massacre?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=IeSnFe5KYF&rank=1

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/242600281-dropsite-massacre?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=IeSnFe5KYF&rank=2

 

Please consider visiting Goodreads and giving this book a good review and rating if you enjoy it. I always rate authors fairly, but I have a nagging feeling that because Goodreads has no way to verify purchases or if the reviewer actually read the book, some people take advantage of this loophole to post an incorrect review, either positive or negative, based on their agenda.

 

Ah goodreads,  with such thorough reviews such as 

 

"I like John French and this is a Siege of Terra level of quality book.

Why though? Why are we reading about the dropsite massacre in 2025? None of this is untrod ground. It's another shattered legions book covering the dropsite massacre. This wasn't timed to release with Saturnine or any wave of models, It's just comic universe style nonsense and greed and I'm sure we will see a limited edition in due time"

 

true excellence 

Also I dont know if calling it a Siege of Terra level of quality is good or bad

 

 

[1ncarnadine]

On 10/29/2025 at 3:48 AM, Roomsky said:

I'd love a detailed account of Isstvan III that's not written by Ben Counter. Probably harder than this book because we already saw most of Horus' orders being given, but there's probably still ample room between the raindrops. Maybe a proper World Eaters POV to give us WHY some of the legion was so adamant Angron (of all people) would never turn traitor.

 

I personally love Tallarn's coverage, but I know plenty of people were frustrated at how anstractly French wrote about the tank warfare itself. So, room there too.

 

Lots of Forgeworld campaigns I'd love to see, alongside a proper account of Beta Garmon.

 

Dropsite massacre itself sounds exactly like the book I've always wanted. Maybe we should get French on all of them :D.

 

I think Isstvan III is fine where it's at, personally. Flashbacks and short stories maybe, if anything. But a full-novel retelling? I'm not so sure.

Tallarn, same, we've seen enough. It was a massive tank battle but a miserable, grinding one that took place over time. Maybe there's more stories to tell in there but at this point I think, leave it to the tabletop and the imagination of fans running their own Tallarn campaigns.

Beta-Garmon though, yes, seems like there's more stories there. More Mechanicum and especially Dark Mechanicum stories, yes. Those seem like they'd also be important going forward into the Scouring?? I will keep saying it over and over but it's wild how little of Kelbor-hal and his disciples we've seen. There's a ton of side-stories I think would be fun to explore more on this side of the setting, but overall I think the Dropsite Massacre is one of the only major events I can think of that deserved to have someone like John French go through and tie it together.

And tie it together he did. Just finished this and generally loved it. And I really enjoyed the snippets showing the start of the rot creeping in to Legio Mortis, and the closure on the stories of some black book characters whose fates were left kind of open-ended. But... we mostly knew, right? Poor Orth.

I do have some misgivings. We now know the Dropsite Primarchs all had a moment to get together to think things through, and at no point does a single one of them consider that anyone else could be involved in a treacherous plot? That no consideration is given to any other assets being involved in Horus's plot is wild. They even use their time together to give Ferrus a pat on the back over having been approached. No, seriously, they didn't consider that any other primarchs were in on this?? I guess it always was that way, though, so it has to continue to be that way by necessity. And they're having a hard enough time as it is dealing with Horus's betrayal. But it feels like something that, if we're going to revisit this stuff, should have come up and been shot down in some way. "No, brothers, I trust our comrade Curze absolutely." lol.

[Scribe]

17 minutes ago, 1ncarnadine said:

"No, brothers, I trust our comrade Curze absolutely." lol.

 

That's a good point.

[DarkChaplain]

11 hours ago, Bestkeptsecret said:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/240892106-dropsite-massacre?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=IeSnFe5KYF&rank=1

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/242600281-dropsite-massacre?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=IeSnFe5KYF&rank=2

 

Please consider visiting Goodreads and giving this book a good review and rating if you enjoy it. I always rate authors fairly, but I have a nagging feeling that because Goodreads has no way to verify purchases or if the reviewer actually read the book, some people take advantage of this loophole to post an incorrect review, either positive or negative, based on their agenda.

 

I just went ahead and merged the three editions of the book together, so reviews/scores are going to be shared between them now. Gotta keep that place tidy... or attempt to, at least.

 

I had to manually the majority of BL releases, like 10+ years ago, and that made it reasonably easy to keep things sorted correctly. Then they got the Amazon buyout and started automating book imports from Amazon, and.... it was a complete mess. They obviously still haven't figured out how to automatically link the same work's editions.

 

Come to think of it, I haven't logged into Goodreads in over half a year, until now. I should probably backfill my reading list before the year's over :')

[Fedor]

I've got a question about the spoilers on this. It's nothing important plot-wise, just a minor inconsistency that I noticed in them.

 

Spoiler

There's a Salamander that is apparently moving through gas released by the Death Guard ends up stumbling across Mortarion...cue big scythe descending and sudden Vulkan appearance to grab it and save him...but then there's nothing mentioned in the later spoilers (and they're comprehensive about the fighty stuff) about any confrontation between the two.  

 

Has the spoiler dude made a mistake? Maybe it's actually just a DG terminator or something

 

 

[Tolmeus]

9 minutes ago, Fedor said:

I've got a question about the spoilers on this. It's nothing important plot-wise, just a minor inconsistency that I noticed in them.

 

Spoiler:

Spoiler

No, it is indeed Mortarion who gets caught in a fight with Vulkan. But it is only a brief scene. Because than fight erupts between more Death Guards and Salamanders. French made the focus of the fight about the POV's of his cast and not the primarchs. 

 

[63-19]

I thought this book was going to be a cash grab but it actually seems worth buying.

[Astartes Consul]

After looking at the first half page of this thread, I actually bought the book rather than waiting for my next Audible credit. I am happy I did. As has been said so far, the story is plotted and executed well. The characters are actually interesting, and we get a take on the story that feels fresh, without trying to reinvent it. John French was the perfect pick for this, and I'm quite excited for his Scouring book now.

 

A couple of bits I particularly liked...

 

Spoiler

As already mentioned, the three loyalist Primarchs - but particularly Ferrus Manus - are largely rehabilitated. The portrayal of Ferrus in Fulgrim was a complete parody of the character. This is much more believable, as is the approach taken by the other loyalist leaders. 

 

The discord in the traitor camp is really well done. As a reader who already knows the outcome of the story, it really helps to actually provide some tension. 

 

I know some people dislike the constant trope of the Alpha Legion playing 4D chess, but their shenanigans in orbit did at least provide some surprises and interesting moments. 

 

Corax was handled really well. And it was great to see Alvarex Maun fleshed out. Ditto for Orth.

 

Having the Red Butchers pop up out of the ground was fun.

 

If I was going to gripe about anything, it would be...

 

Spoiler

I would have liked more from the traitors in the second wave. I understand that the brief was clearly not to rewrite the various accounts that have already been published. But a little bit more on both their pre-betrayal actions, as well as some more POV of the drop site from their eyes, would have been nice. I'm talking about ten, maybe twenty pages at most, nothing huge. 

 

Again, the character is very much locked in, but 'Misty Eyed Sentimental Horus' doesn't really sit well with me here. To my mind, that should be amplified the closer he gets to Terra / the more removed from his notional goal of a new Imperium he becomes. At this point, he still has his conviction that what he's doing is right. Later on - post-Moloch especially - the justice of his cause becomes far more secondary to his desire for power/revenge and his use as an implement of the Ruinous Powers.

 

Ultimately, this is a great book and the treatment that the subject deserves. But in some ways, it works so well because it can skirt around some of the major plot points.  So, while we have waited too long for this book, I don't actually wish it could somehow replace the earlier works that covered Istvaan V.

 

Hopefully, we get more Heresy novels in this vein. As long as GW is making the Heresy/Age of Darkness game, I suspect we will. If they are handled with the same care as this, then we are in for a treat.

 

 

[The Scorpion]

I was very intrigued by the Orth and Maun POVs.

 

In the case of Orth, his story differs from the one in Book 2: Massacre, which I find interesting. Whoever began the engagement aboard the Fellblade "Rashemion" and whoever was attempting a breakout on the "Black Sun" Sicaran by the time the betrayal was underway appear to be two completely different people that the fog of history merged into one.

Edited November 4 by The Scorpion

[darkhorse0607]

1 hour ago, The Scorpion said:

I was very intrigued by the Orth and Maun POVs.

 

In the case of Orth, his story differs from the one in Book 2: Massacre, which I find interesting. Whoever began the engagement aboard the Fellblade "Rashemion" and whoever was attempting a breakout on the "Black Sun" Sicaran by the time the betrayal was underway appear to be two completely different people that the fog of history merged into one.

There is no way he can fit in that hatch if he had to get down 

 

I refuse to believe it 

[Fedor]

This was good, but I wish French had gone with more Iron Hands perspectives. Autek Mor's desperate dash to rescue Ferrus would have been far more interesting to follow than the Sallies or Orth. And something like a Morlock in the vanguard instead of quite so much Khârn yet again.

 

Minor nitpicks aside, it did the battle justice, though could almost be a part I of II if they want, given how little there is after the actual second wave betrayal.

 

 

[DarkChaplain]

I mean, we have had Iron Hands as part of Fulgrim already. It makes sense not to tread on that too much in the endgame.

 

As for Khârn, I get the criticism, but I think it's pretty necessary, narratively, as there's been a bit of hole in his arc between Galaxy in Flames and Betrayer, and you can't really show Angron without Khârn. He doesn't "trust" anybody else to get as close to him and have the spine to tell him off. Even Khârn didn't fare well in that regard here, but anybody else would've been probably straight up murdered. I think Khârn is the necessary lens for the reader to view Angron through without much of the Legion's obedience or awe, or the other Legions' disdain.

[Fedor]

Yeah, that's a good point about being the reader's usual link to Angron, and we did need some reconciliation of the Galaxy in Flames Khârn. 

 

No Mor is disappointing though. He's the most interesting IH Black Book character.

 

[Krelious]

I thought it was good but I felt the book kinda lacked here and there in terms of focus and cool stuff wasnt expanded on. It starts off with balance and even heavy focus on the traitors and then shifts to the loyalists who have kinda typical boring sections outside the Ravenguard and that Salamander Dreadnaught, the loyalist side is like hey something funny is going on lets keep building the tension until the thing we know is gonna happen happens and ultimately the big moment is done better in Fulgrim and Aurelian. 

 

The other issue is that Horus is said to have a mind on everything and that he encompasses the entire battlefield and on top of that you also have Perty there as well so how come neither one of them can figure out that the Alpha legion who are known to be duplicitous and masters of sabotage have actively worked to sabotage the complete annihilation of the legions and the secrecy of the  four traitor legions. There seems to be plenty of evidence or suspicions of what they have done. You would think Horus being as smart as he is would be watching them instead of blindly trusting the alpha legion to not be double agents or have ulterior motives not in his best interest.  Like oh gee you involve the Alpha Legion in space operations of capturing enemy ships and then nothing goes right with that including an explosion and collision, you would think maybe Perty would investigate that instead of doing nothing at all. 

 

I think ultimately the novel kinda suffers from Fulgrim existing and doesnt even try to tread the same ground which is a shame because maybe the fight between Fulgrim and Ferrus could have been described by witnesses from both sides or maybe even idk Maloghurst is watching it using binoculars or whatever, he seems to be the biggest wasted character as I feel if anything the narrative started off it seemed like he was the main character.

 

To me this book was pretty good but felt like someone went to a buffet that forced you to take one of every item they had and maybe thats 21 different things and 7 are really good 7 are okay and 7 are like whatever or crap. 

[Nagashsnee]

2 hours ago, Krelious said:

The other issue is that Horus is said to have a mind on everything and that he encompasses the entire battlefield and on top of that you also have Perty there as well so how come neither one of them can figure out that the Alpha legion who are known to be duplicitous and masters of sabotage have actively worked to sabotage the complete annihilation of the legions and the secrecy of the  four traitor legions. There seems to be plenty of evidence or suspicions of what they have done. You would think Horus being as smart as he is would be watching them instead of blindly trusting the alpha legion to not be double agents or have ulterior motives not in his best interest.  Like oh gee you involve the Alpha Legion in space operations of capturing enemy ships and then nothing goes right with that including an explosion and collision, you would think maybe Perty would investigate that instead of doing nothing at all. 

 

 

He knows, but realpolitics is a harsh mistress. He knows Angron wanted to foil his plan, but cant just punish him, so he steers it in a way where he can control it. He knows The Word Bearers have been prepping for this for 50 odd years and have who knows what ready to go and be used as THEY see fit (see super ships), but he cant just outright call them out. He knows Fulgrim is not Fulgrim anymore, but its easier and causes less issues to just go with it and indeed HELP COVER IT UP. 

 

Horus is the leader of the TRAITORS, he is the king of a pack of oathbreakers and backstabbers, some of them dont really want to be there , some of them dont care about you and your goals and have their own, some had to be forced or tricked. No one really trusts anyone anymore, most of you are still feeling some shame and have doudbts about ALLOT of whats going on. People are trigger happy and twitcy. Mortarion will soon go and give the Khan his own version of join me and WE (not horus) could rule. 

 

And you want to what? Open a investigation (cross legion no less) into what people were doing during the massacre? Perturabo and his sons were HAPPILY causing mass friendly fire kills ON PURPOSE. And you want to walk up to him and tell him you think we should start checking what everyone was doing? It would be chaos (haha) and shots would be fired before you ever got anywhere near the Alpha legion.   No traitor legion has a clean house, not a one. They are doubts about members of his own Mornivals loyalty. 

 

Horus is NOT and never will be firmly in control of his side, right up to the set up for the siege, he is dealing with traitors in the traitors (i mean there is a whole book about Lorgar trying to replace him).  The massacre went off, they won, it went pretty well, its time to split everyone up before Istvaan massacre two happens with only your side taking part this time. 

 

Dont forget Horus was made warmaster BECAUSE he is good at handling people, and part of handling people is knowing when to press issues and when to let it slide. 

 

The Alpha legion showed up, steered Ferrus, gave the traitors special marine killing bullets, and got their hands dirty as much as anyone else. You take the win and keep moving.

Edited Wednesday at 07:57 AM by Nagashsnee

[Tolmeus]

33 minutes ago, Nagashsnee said:

He knows, but realpolitics is a harsh mistress.

 

I agree. Horus eminent goal is Terra. French makes it quite clear that he is already under considerable time pressure at this early stage of the heresy. The most important element for the cohesion of his alliance of traitors is momentum. I believe that Horus therefore cannot afford to scrutinise the Alpha Legion too closely. As @Nagashsnee has already pointed out, he is certainly aware that not all of his allies follow his orders to the letter or do not pursue their own agendas. However, the only important thing is that they lead him to the same goal: Terra.