Editing Mars (Hektor Heresy) (section)

==The Forge Temples of Mars==

The Mechanicum gathered in ancient hives dedicated to industry and the praise of the Machine God.  Just one of the Red Planet's great Forge Temples could out-produce any Imperial planet short of a Forge World or the most sophisticated Hive World.  The most famous Forge Temples include:

* The principal settlement on Mars is the '''Tharsis hive cluster''', a gigantic conurbation centered on the Tharsis highlands.  Hundreds of millions of Martians dwell within this great accumulation of hives, labouring to produce vast quantities of war materials for their overlords.  A deadly expanse of wasteland surrounds the Tharsis hive cluster, stalked by the last survivors of Mars' feral mutants.  At the heights of the hives are some of the greatest fanes of the Mechanicum, such as the faith's centre '''The Temple of All Knowledge''' (more commonly known as Olympus Mons for the volcano about which it is built) and '''Mondus Occulum''', the seat of the Fabricator Locum.  The Tharsis hive cluster was long guarded by the fortresses of the Triad Ferrum Morgulus; Legio Ignatum, Legio Mortis, and Legio Tempestus.
* The Fane of '''Urbis Tyrrhena''' or "Crater City", was a Forge Temple specialising in civilian goods.  It was built on the crater fields of Tyrrhena Terra, but became infamous as the birthplace and power center of the Autopostate [[Vilyon Luthier]].  After the Loyalist victory, Urbis Tyrrhena was razed and never rebuilt.
* The Fane of '''Urbis Syrtis''' or "Hourglass City", was a Forge Temple built on the mineral-rich Syrtis Major Planum.  Due to its heterodox beliefs (including a notion of interspecies reincarnation), Urbis Syrtis was ruthlessly conquered by Kalkas Tygian's forces shortly after the Treaty of Mars.  During the Great Crusade the hive was rebuilt and its mines brought back into service to produce materials for foundries elsewhere on Mars.  This luckless realm was also the first Forge Temple to fall to Vilyon Luthier's Giorea Choristers.
* "Liberty City" or '''Urbis Juventas''' once stood on the Hebes Mensa, surrounded by the natural moat of the Hebes Chasma.  Their defensible position convinced the citizens of Liberty City that they could defy Kalkas Tygian, and the Fabricator General had their once-beautiful home destroyed as a lesson to the people of Mars.  The ruins of Liberty City served as a foundation for a second Urbis Juventas, known as "Phoenix City" and constructed in honour of the Treaty of Mars.  Under the often-distant rule of Zorr Yenser, Phoenix City became a pillar of Martian Orthodoxy.