Editing Hektor Heresy (section)

===The Rosskar Atrocities===

Pallas Eugenesis and Alexandri of Rosskar had despised one another for decades even before the war broke out.  Eager to deliver one more humiliation to the Primarch of the Silver Cataphracts, Pallas called for an attack on Rosskar itself, pleading to Hektor that ravaging the homeworld of the Silver Cataphracts would weaken the Legion's resolve and unlock the defences of ancient Terra.  It is unlikely that Hektor Cincinnatus was entirely convinced, but he gave Pallas leave to pursue her vendetta and dispatched a Phalanx of his gene-sons to support the Eclipse Queen's own Selenar cohorts.

Where other campaigns began with some semblance of honour and descended into brutality, the attack on Rosskar was cruel at the outset and became gratuitously sadistic.  Shapeshifting Selenar assassins took a toll on the Rosskan commanders; less subtle bio-weapons were unleashed on the population at large.  Yet the spirit of Rosskar is fatalistic self-sacrifice and Pallas's attempt to terrorize the world into submission fell flat.  Under the command of [[Konstantyn Ibirien]], the mortal men of Rosskar held out.  When faced by overwhelming odds, the Rosskan Strelky sold their lives dear.  When confronted by the bio-twisted bodies of their former comrades, the Strelky shot to defend themselves but wasted no ammunition on mercy killing.  Escalating atrocities only depleted the efficiency of the Selenar host and the Battle of Rosskar descended into a series of mass killings.

The Heralds of Hektor played no part in the attack on Rosskar itself, but their raids throughout the Kuzgeta Sector kept Rosskan colonies from sending aid to their homeworld.  Surprisingly, the embattled Strelky still received aid from other warriors in the Segmentum Pacificus.  Of particular note was the contribution from the worlds of [[the Markian Pact]].  The Pact dispatched four full armies to Rosskar when news of the attack arrived, and [[the Markian Corps|the Markian Expeditionary Force]] would eventually grow to over fifty million men, mainly operating in the battles around Hive Niemen.