Editing Heralds of Hektor (section)

==The Primarch Project==
The Emperor of Mankind's plan to unify humanity and set it above all other races in the Galaxy relied on the creation of superhuman soldiers.  The first unleashed were the doomed '''Thunder Warriors''', who lived and died so that Terra would be one.  But they were only a crude instrument to be used up while their successors gestated.  Deep beneath the Himalayzian Mountains, the '''Primarchs''' were created.  Each of these beings was destined to be a superlative soldier, general, and statesman - the spearheads of humanity's crusade.  Foreseeing the threat, the Ruinous Powers conjured up a localised warp rift to steal the Primarchs away from the Emperor and scatter them across the broad [[Galaxy (Hektor Heresy)|Galaxy]].  They were almost entirely successful, but the Emperor's loyal vassal Malcador the Sigilite caught hold of one Primarch's gestation pod and held it fast until his master could seal the breach in reality.

Within that chamber was Hektor Cincinnatus, the last of the Primarchs.

Rather than create new Primarchs to replace those who had been lost, the Emperor adapted his plans.  He still had at his hands the genetic material of the Primarch project and one of his god-like creations.  Using the former, the Emperor painstakingly designed a series of artificial organs that could be implanted into young recruits, transforming them into supersoldiers more reliable than the wild Thunder Warriors.  The last of the Primarchs was entrusted to the care of Malcador the Sigilite, and raised to be the general of the new Space Marine Legions.  Busy and believing that his ward would be best-raised by committee, Malcador delegated the upbringing of Hektor Cincinnatus to a brigade of tutors, nannies, and instructors.  Some lasted only a few weeks before being deemed inadequate to the task.  '''Epemitreus the Sage''', Archeosavant of the Tarantia Hive-Spires, was perhaps the young Primarch's most enduring influence.  For ten months - not long in the span of a mortal life, but fully one-third of what passed for the Primarch's childhood - the lessons that the sage had carefully pieced together from Terran history were passed on to Hektor.  The youth listened enraptured to tales of conquerors and unifiers from Terra's Golden Ages of the past and his notebooks were filled with sketches of Sekander, Kai Zal, Carlos Main, and Sef Stelman.  At the end of this time, Malcador deemed that Epemitreus's instruction served no further productive purpose.  Above the protests of teacher and student, Epemitreus was dismissed from the Imperial Household and Hektor Cincinnatus was inducted into the ranks of the Imperial bodyguard to season as a warrior.  But Hektor's true destiny was to form and lead the nascent Space Marine Legions.