Editing Hektor Heresy (section)

===The Atalantos Defiance===
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<center>'''THE BATTLE OF ALESSIA'''</center>
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Dissent within the ranks of the Thunder Kings had been born at Diamat, where Brennus and his Equerry Ferdiad argued before battle.  Defeat at Ostium had widened the rifts in the Legion and although retiring to the Legion Homeworld had allowed for fresh recruits to replace some of those who had been slain by the Black Augurs, the Thunder Kings also suffered fresh wounds on Alessia.  Ferdiad challenged his master for control over the Legion, and when he was defeated in an honour duel the Equerry led five of the tribes in revolt.  A short, furious campaign drove the traitors from Alessia, but the loyalist strength now remaining at Brennus' command was a shadow of the Legion he had led at the end of the Great Crusade.
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''SCORCH THE EARTH!  BURN THE STARS!''

- battle cry of the 8th Conflagration of the Sons of Fire Legion

After the burning of Nahardul, the [[Eternal Zealots]] retired from [[the Atalantos Worlds]] but the [[Sons of Fire]] continued to press the [[War Scribes]] hard.  Still hurting from Wolzhi Steelblood's betrayal, there was little that the Loyalists could do to stem the tide.  Barduvay, the Flower of Atalantos, and her defenders alike were burned by Inferox.  Five thousand sons of [[Arelex Orannis]] died trying to protect Lorka Minor and as many again on the farm planets that fed the Hive World.  Then came the invasion of Atalantos herself.  The Sons of Fire smashed through the War Scribes' weakened defences and began to drop onto their homeworld.

Arelex Orannis still lay wounded.  The Primarch's god-like vitality allowed him to survive the touch of Phosphex, but healing was a slow and painful process.  While Inferox would lead his Sons of Fire in person, Orannis was confined within the War Scribes' Fortress-Monastery.  Despite the loss of their advanced equipment and the damage the Legion already taken, the War Scribes were still possessed phenomenal tactical cohesion and their wounded Primarch guided them from his sickbed.  Where the Sons of Fire expected heavy resistance, the defenders of Atalantos melted away.  Where they felt safe, camouflaged War Scribes burst from hiding to strike at weak points.  These expert tactics could not save Atalantos, but they exacted a heavy toll on the Sons of Fire.  However, no amount of cunning could overturn the War Scribes' dire situation.  Eventually, the Loyalists were reduced to defending their Fortress-Monastery and hoping that its adamantium walls would hold out against Inferox's siege weapons.

Such hopes were in vain.  To the shock of the defenders, six Titans from the dread Legio Olitau were sacrificed to breach the War Scribes' walls and Inferox himself led the Sons of Fire into the gap.  Arelex Orannis called for his panoply of war and hastened to join his sons in their last stand.  Yet the Sons of Fire were also feeling the pressures of war.  A great fleet led by the Primarch Brennus had broken warp at the outskirts of the Atalantos System and was speeding towards the War Scribes homeworld.  The sacrifice of Olitau's god machines had been a last attempt to finish off Arelex Orannis before the Thunder Kings arrived.  Although the Sons of Fire took a fierce toll on the defenders, Brennus and his Déith Cernun teleported to the surface and shored up the loyalist line while Thunder Kings' shuttles and drop pods began their descent.

Inferox felt no fear at the prospect of bloody annihilation, but as the Primarch savoured the prospect of his own violent death, he felt the voice of mighty Khorne.  The God of Fire and Blood called his Champion to a greater purpose, far from the ashes of Atalantos.  Obedient to his master, Inferox had his Sons of Fire withdraw and leave the loyalists to count their dead.