Great Crusade (Hektor Heresy)

This page details people, events, and organisations from the /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the /tg/ Heresy Timeline and Galaxy pages for more information on the Alternate Universe.

The Great Crusade was an immense campaign of conquest launched by the Emperor of Mankind at the end of the 8th Century of the 30th Millenium to the first decade of the 31st Millenium. Following the Unification Wars, the Emperor sought to unite the scattered human race and establish its mastery over the Galaxy. The highlights of this era are the finding of the scattered Primarchs, the renaming and revitalization of nearly all Space Marine Legions, the vast genocide of countless alien species, and the unification of all of humanity under the control of the Imperium. The era of good will and conquest was soiled by the machinations of Uriel Starikov and Aubrey the Grey, who corrupted the pinnacle figure of the time, Hektor Cincinnatus to the primordial forces of Chaos.

Political Events

798.M30: Sun and Moon

As part of the celebrations marking the Emperor's victory and the unification of Terra, Hektor Cincinnatus and Pallas Eugenesis seal their alliance with a political marriage. Their pact would revive the Sacred Band of the Unification Wars, turning a brief military experiment into an informal but powerful network for the trading of favours and influences among the potentates of the Space Marine Legions.

805.M30: The Treaty of Mars

Known as the Treaty of Olympus Mons to the Tech Priests of Mars, this pact between Terra and Mars established the foundation of the Great Crusade. The Emperor personally visited the Martian adepts led by Kalkas Tygian, who recognised Him as the personification of their great Machine God, the Omnissiah. Even so, the Master of Mankind had to bargain long and hard to persuade the Fabricator General to support his great work with their technical and material strength. Yet the riches of Mars were a prize beyond prizes. The wisdom of their magoi, their great manufactorums and shipyards, and the might of their Titan Legions, Skitarii, and Legio Cybernetica, were essential for the Emperor's great work of unifying the Galaxy. Signifying their paramount importance, the Mechanicum received an exemption from the atheist code of the Imperial Truth and were permitted to continue their practice of machine-worship. In addition, the Tech Priests would be granted a form of devolved rule, wielding the authority of the Emperor within their own territories.

To honour His new alliance with the Mechanicum, the Emperor modified the Imperial Aquila emblem. Henceforth, the Imperial eagle would have two heads, signifying the unified purpose of Terra and Mars.

THE REDISCOVERY OF THE PRIMARCHS Although Malcador's heroism had saved the infant Hektor Cincinnatus from the dangers of the Warp, the other Primarchs had been scattered across the galaxy. Seventeen were rediscovered in the course of the Great Crusade: Arelex Orannis (806.M30, Whitestone) Uriel Salazar (817.M30, Tiberia V) Shakya Vardhana (822.M30, Simurgh) Roman Albrecht (831.M30, Centauri Primus) The Voidwatcher (836.M30, Ostium) Gaspard Lumey (850.M30, Ciban IV) Johannes Vrach (850.M30, Rai) Alexandri (855.M30, Rosskar) Tiran Osoros (859.M30, Solnhofen) Inferox the Burned King (863.M30, Crematoria) Rogerius Merrill (870.M30, Profi Tiroedd) Tollund Ötztal (872.M30, Tisenjoch) Brennus (892.M30, Alessia) Golgothos (898.M30, Sepulchra) Aubrey The Grey (901.M30, Lazarus) Onyx the Indestructible (908.M30, Neolithus) Cromwald Walgrun (914.M30, Sommesgard)

807-808.M30: Arelex Orannis tours Mars

The second of the Primarchs was dispatched to the Red Planet shortly after his discovery. Although the first part of his stay was kept secret, he later made public appearances. A particular highlight of the tour was a magnificent concert conducted by Vilyon Luthier in Arelex's honour.

899.M30: Stygies Accord

Growing tensions between Mars and the heterodox Forgeworld Al-Sherar are diffused. Al-Sherar's leaders agree to recognise the Fabricator General as their spiritual superior and accept the right of Mars to speak for all of the Forgeworlds, but stop short of conceding their full independence on religious or political matters. While the accord avoids an open war, tensions continue to simmer for centuries.

975.M30: The Burning of Lazarus

Aubrey the Grey's Xenos allies, the Lazarites, betray the Imperium and carry out a series of attacks on human-held worlds. These atrocities were swiftly ended by the intervention of Gaspard Lumey's Fifth Legion. In the aftermath, Aubrey and his Eternal Zealots were humiliated and subject to Imperial sanction.

003.M31: Council of Nikaea

After Shakya Vardhana brought news to the Emperor of the Black Augurs apparently using of horrific sorcery, the legitimacy of the Librarium was called into question. Notables of the Imperium were gathered on the world of Nikaea to determine whether sorcery could be used at all without presenting a dire threat to mankind. The Council also served as a de facto trial of The Voidwatcher. Many of the Primarchs spoke on the matter, but the final decision was the Emperor's. The Librariums were disbanded and their members sent into ordinary squads, under strict instructions not to make use of their powers. Malcador the Sigilite ordered that each Legion follow the example of Fifth Legion and establish an order of Tribunes within their ranks to police the Emperor's decision.

004.M31: Exile of the Fifth Legion

In the bitter atmosphere following the Council of Nikaea, Gaspard Lumey and his Fifth Legion are censured by the Military Council for "use of regrettable methods" and exiled to the Galactic Fringe. In this period the Fifth abandon their old moniker "Winged Victory" and begin to refer to themselves as the Void Angels.

Military Campaigns

The Imperium launched a series of mighty Expedition Fleets together with smaller Compliance Groups to conquer the Galaxy. Scouting ahead of these regular forces were a host of semi-autonomous Rogue Traders Militant. The campaigns listed below are just a sampling of the military actions fought by these forces.

• 800.M30 Volemar Gamma Campaign. Hektor Cincinnatus leads the First and Second Legions on a successful purgation mission against an Orkish outpost in the Sol System.

• 811.M30 to 823.M30 Parthorum Wars. Shortly after the Astronomican's light begins to pierce the void, the First Legion lead a series of wars in the strategically-significant Parthorum Sector. Although the Parthorum Xenocide breaks the Xenos rulers of the Sector, waves of rebellion among the Emperor's new subjects call on the First Legion to adapt their Compliance methods.

• 829.M30 to 837.M30 The Pulmn System Campaign The Brothers of Death legion defeats the old and powerful system-wide empire of the Ork warboss Mongo Mork. The Brothers' tenacity matches that of the veteran Orks and a lengthy, costly war of attrition takes place. Though their victory in taking such a strategically important system is regarded highly, the Brothers' lose numerous astartes and a significant portion of their leadership in the war and resultant clean-up. The five heirs of Mongo Mork, each more capable than most warbosses, flee the system with whatever small number of forces remained. The campaign continues nearly six years after the war due to the return of Orkoid populations to planets previously thought clear, and the Brothers learn much of combating the Ork. This is considered to be the primary initiating event of the decades long and sector spanning Mongoid Ork Wars, as well as a watershed event in the study of combating Ork infestations, though this would not be recognized until much later.

• 853.M30 Pacification of the Chwiorydd Hardd The Chwiorydd Hardd system was an outpost of a slaving race known as the Amatteir. Gaspard Lumey chose to start his pacification of the Al-Sherar Sector here in order to eliminate a possible threat to the Imperium's new conquests. The operation was successful and blooded the Fifth's Auxilia, having a particularly strong effect on the soldiers from the Markian Pact.

• 857.M30 Al-Sherar Sector War Following their success at Chwiorydd Hardd, Fifth Legion faced a severe test. The vengeful Amatteir launched a planetary invasion of Gaspard Lumey's homeworld. A bitter resistance campaign, eventually reinforced by the Legio Cataegis of Ghalhal, threw off the Xenos. Lumey then seized the initiative and launched a brilliant series of counter-attacks, shattering the Amatteir Empire and rediscovering the mighty Forge World Al-Sherar.

• 860.M30 to 882.M30 The Cordian Annex Life Bringers astartes, under the guidance of their newly discovered Primarch, bring the Cordian system into compliance with unprecedented swiftness. Loss of life is minimal and most of the Cordians are enthusiastic to join the greater fold of humanity after the legion's relief efforts. Those few planets which resist integration are scoured entirely of life by the chemical bombardments of the XIIth's fleet. The slow, methodical rebuilding of the system shows a steep contrast to the previous strategies employed by the legion, with some detractors deriding them as a legion of doctors rather than warriors.

• 864.M30 Flenching of Skythykos Inferox fought a hard battle against the Orks of the Skythykos sector, reshaping the Fourth Legion in the process.

• 864.M30 Razing of Leshmiere Alexandri of Rosskar demonstrates his brutal intentions with an atrocity-packed victory over the human-ruled Leshmieren Commune.

• 868.M30 Curis-4 Compliance Gaspard Lumey's Fifth Legion showed the effectiveness of their political terror tactics by rapidly conquering an advanced, militarily powerful world.

• 882.M30 to 929.M30 The Mongoid Ork Wars The discovery of the wreckage of lost sacred band member Vanheim Paracel's fleet leads to a conflict between Life Bringers astartes and the Ork warbosses Little Mork and Grak in the Renyl system. Though not comprising one sole event, the Mongoid Wars occur over the course of several decades as the Orkoid descendents of Mongo Mork, coordinated largely by Little Mork, continuously evade destruction at the hands of the legion. Johannes Vrach's efforts to rebuild each system as it is retaken only complicate the problem, as many of the more militaristic of his men flock to support of commander Theophrastus Salk, though the primarch's medical advances are a large part of the legion's successes. Eventually, the Orks are beaten back to the Nuroux system, and the longest and bloodiest war occurs. The Life Bringers lost many veterans during the Nuroux War, but the self-styled pirate king Little Mork and his cadre of Eldar corsairs, Nurouxi human pirates, and freebooters is eventually defeated at the close of the campaign thanks to Salk's Sacrifice. The entirety of the Mongoid sector is brought into compliance and the now largely unopposed Vrach sets about engaging in medical work.

• 964.M30 First encounter with the Harakien Empire Imperial Army forces are soundly beaten by the armed might of the Harakien Eldar Empire and only the arrival of a force of Winged Victory Space Marines stems the rout. A series of raids and counter-raids ensues.

• 973.M30 to 976.M30 Pacification of the Harakien Sector The Fifth Legion launches a massive offensive against the Harakien Eldar Empire. Although the Eldar inflict significant casualties on Gaspard Lumey's crusade forces, they are driven back into the Webway.

• c.990.M30: Vetrovnak incursions begin Striking from the Hvar Cluster, the Vetrovnak begin their first wave of attacks on the Galaxy. Incidents such as the Harvest of Ruawch leave Imperial citizens fearful and confused.

• 994.M30 to 000.M31 Ullanor Crusade Golgothos and the Emperor lead elements of the First Legion, Second Legion, and the Primarch's own Sixth Legion in an attack on the mighty Ork empire of Ullanor. The Emperor and Hektor Cincinnatus launch a spoiling attack on the outer worlds to lure Orks away from their homeworld, then Golgothos and Arelex Orannis go to Ullanor itself to deliver the coup de grace. Tragically, the killing blow goes awry and Golgothos is crippled. Imperial efforts are rescued by Hektor's brilliant improvisations, leading to the first Primarch being named Warmaster.

• 998.M30 Core Worlds Campaign The largest human realm outside the Imperium is brutally conquered by the Fifth Legion, with the support of the Eyes of the Emperor.