Unification Wars (Hektor Heresy)

This article is about a battle in the /tg/ Heresy project, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40k universe.

A warrior of the Unification Wars poses with his slugthrower.

The Unification Wars were a series of conflicts fought on Terra in the second half of the thirtieth Millenium.

After the Fall of the Eldar and the Birth of Slaanesh, the long Warp Storms that had blighted the Galaxy receded. The Emperor began to unfurl His plans to unify the human race and extend its dominion to the stars, beginning by conquering Terra itself. In this period the last Terran church was eliminated, making way for the Imperial Truth's doctrine of rationalism and atheism. The Emperor's forces would also overcome the forces of the Techno-Barbarian states that had long warred over humanity's cradle.

Much of the fighting was undertaken by the doomed Thunder Warriors, but the Emperor also implemented the great Primarch Project to craft super-human generals and statesmen to spearhead his Great Crusade. When all but one of the Primarchs was lost, the Emperor improvised the Space Marines from the genome of his lost creations. This new generation of enhanced warriors would form the Sacred Band of Hektor Cincinnatus, and as their numbers swelled would be divided into the Legiones Astartes.

In the last years of the Unification Wars, the fighting would spread to Luna. The conquest of the sophisticated gene-forges of the moon allowed for a great increase in the number of Space Marines.

Pacification of the Merican Hives

First deployment of the Space Marines. Hektor Cincinnatus leads the Sacred Band of two hundred Battle Brothers. This formation was intended to have one squad from each of what would become the Legiones Astartes, but in addition to the glorious First Squad, the Sacred Band's lieutenants all bore Hektor's own gene-seed. Among the more famous contingents of the Sacred Band, the "Tempest Knights" of the Tenth Squad were so successful that they were diverted south to spearhead attacks on Brasilia.

Others developed their doctrine. The Fourth Squad, the nameless Sixth Squad, and the battered Twelfth Squad took on the assault role. Eighth Squad showed an impressive tactical acumen. The "Imperial Riders" of the Seventeenth Squad were fast attack. The snipers of Nineteenth Squad guarded their battle brothers from afar, while the "Tarnished Ten" in the Twentieth Squad ranged ahead as headhunters. Second Squad and Twenty-Eighth Squad specialized in heavy weapons.

Three squads came into ill-repute. Fifth Squad were tragically slain by Thunder Warriors. Sixteenth Squad suffered from excessive adrenaline and took heavy losses. Fifteenth Squad made callous use of civilians.

Sa'Afrik Liberation

Fourth Legion

Pacification of the Boetian Lowlands

Twentieth Legion

The Siege of Yerushabim

Eighteenth Legion

Pacification of the Cephic Hives

The sprawling Cephic Hives were blighted by residues of their long-standing biochemical industry. More daunting still were the mutated Cephic clone-soldiers, an army of twins made individual by their cancerous environment.

First Pacification of Luna

Terra's celestial companion held within it scores of genetic-artisans who mixed mysticism with science. These savants considered themselves above servitude to the Emperor of Earth, spurning repeated attempts at diplomacy. As the Unification Wars drew to a close, the Emperor determined to force a decision and dispatched the formidable First Legion, Seventh and Tenth Legions under the command of Hektor Cincinnatus. Hektor had protested the presence of the Seventh and Tenth, claiming that the First could bring Luna into the Imperium on their own. This was not mere vanity. An agent of the Eclipse Queen, Pallas Eugenesis, had made the Primarch aware that at least one of Luna's gene-cults wished for a further round of negotiation - providing that Hektor Cincinnatus would attend in person.

Informing the masters of the Seventh and Tenth that he would lead an advanced strike to secure their landing zone, Hektor departed to meet with Pallas. The tale of their meeting has been told and retold in countless varieties of truth and fiction, but it is clear that the talks ended in an alliance, to be sealed by a political marriage between the two genetically-engineered leaders. With the aid of Pallas's domain, the Imperial forcs were able to land on Luna safely, though the fighting was far from over. Hektor chose to assign his own men to defend the landing zone, while unleashing Anton Kantner and Nikomedes to savage the enemy gene-wrights. The Seventh were particularly effective, tearing a bloody swathe through their opponents and being lauded by Hektor as "the Lunar Lions" for their courage and valour. Betrayed by one of their number and confronted by mighty foes, the lords of Luna submitted to the Emperor's will.

This victory opened up countless doorways to the Imperium. With Luna secured, the fledgling empire was able to make meaningful contact with their Martian brethren. Meanwhile, Pallas Eugenesis established government across the moon in the name of her new father-in-law, using her own trusted servants to swiftly rebuild the gene-forges damaged during the conquest. Her rule would prioritise the needs of the First Legion, though Pallas was not fool enough to defy the Emperor's demand that the other Legions' gene-seed be produced as well.

The Marr Ina Escalade

In the bitter conflict with Narthan Dume's Pan-Pacific Empire, the cliffs of Marr Ina formed a natural roadblock to the Emperor's forces. The mad Tyrant used these outcrops as a shield, allowing his best troops to be deployed elsewhere.

Battle of Mount Ararat

Fought in the Kingdom of Urartu during the year 798.M30, this was last bloody clash in the unification of Terra. The legendary Thunder Warriors lead the campaign in Urartu, supported by the XIIIth Legion. Records state that the Thunder Warriors died to a man in this engagement, sacrificing themselves for the future of humanity. However, their have been quiet claims that a very different set of events occurred at Mount Ararat that day, and that the XIIIth involvement was not as it first seemed... With Terra united under the Emperor's rule, the Great Crusade could begin.