Editing Heralds of Hektor (section)

==The Great Crusade==
[[File:Wolvesofdawn.png|200px|thumb|The colour scheme of the Wolves of Dawn.]]
The first laurels of the [[Great Crusade (Hektor Heresy)|Great Crusade]] fell to the Wolves of Dawn.  Hektor's gene-sons were at the forefront of the fighting in the Segmentum Solar, bringing worlds into compliance even before the great Astronomican was completed.  Once that mighty beacon began to signal into the Galaxy, the First Legion led the way for the Imperium, forming the core of three of the first ten [[Expedition Fleets (Hektor Heresy)|Expedition Fleets]] and contributing detachments and advisers to many of the others.  Although the Imperial records have been heavily redacted, fragmentary evidence points to fully half of that Segmentum being brought into compliance by First Legion.   These victories won immense resources for the nascent Imperium of Mankind.  Hektor's likeness was engraved on countless frescoes and statues across the Segmentum, preserved by the Imperium's grateful new citizens.

Though the First won great glory, they also learned their lessons.  The hard experiences of the [[Parthorum Wars]] taught Hektor that it was not enough to come bearing bolter and chainsword.  In their battle for Empire, the First Legion adopted a pacification strategy centered on military colonies called ''Cleruchies''.  Veterans of the Legion auxilia would settle in cities across the Segmentum Solar, forming nuclei of Terran culture on vastly foreign worlds.  Over time, the Cleruchies would assimilate the domestic population, helping to solidify the new Imperium.  The lords of the First Legion would visit each Cleruchy in turn to establish a network of ''Scholae Astartes'', originally intended to train new Imperial administrators, officers, and soldiers.

However, as the first Century of the Great Crusade came towards its end, the First Legion's star was challenged by new-comers.  Roman Albrecht's valiant Steel Marshals showed that they were perhaps even more courageous and noble than the Wolves of Dawn.  Gaspard Lumey and his once-forgotten Fifth Legion achieved the impossible and won the Imperium a thousand sectors in a single year.  Through grim resolve and ruthless efficiency, Alexandri Ibirien and the Silver Cataphracts became the Emperor's first choice for the most daunting assignments.  Although Hektor pushed his men harder, the First Legion's recruiting grounds on Luna and elsewhere in the Solar System could not compete with the tides of new warriors drawn from Centauri Primus, Ciban IV, and Rosskar.  Some whispered that the decline of the greatest champions of Imperium meant that the Great Crusade would be a fleeting achievement.

Hektor was not among them.  The Primarch made a series of reforms intended to restore the cutting edge of his Legion.  Five '''Ephors''' were appointed with the authority to break up the patterns of patronage and influence-peddling that Hektor feared were eroding the Legion's strength.  To avoid upsetting valuable officers by displacing their proteges, the Primarch established a second section of his Agema, or personal troops, adding the Chalkaspides to the famous Chrysaspides.  Although the Chalkaspides were not remarkable soldiers by the standards of the Space Marines, they were brave and fiercely devoted to their lord.  While the Ephors carried out their work, Pallas Eugenesis and her gene-wrights were commanded to purify the gene-seed, replicating the best samples and purging mediocrity, while the Legion's apothecaries turned to the old ''Scholae Astartes'' system to provide a new supply of recruits.   New allies were sought, such as the Knights of '''House Drăcul''', a once mighty Household that had resisted the Imperium and been ruined because of it.  Hektor also sought closer alignments with some of his brother Primarchs, especially The Voidwatcher, Cromwald Walgrun,  and Uriel Starikov.  These pacts would have dire consequences, but they did restore something of the Legion's fortunes.  Towards the end of the 900s, the First Legion played the pivotal role in the immense struggle with the Orks of Ullanor and their triumph was crowned by the appointment of Hektor Cincinnatus as Warmaster. 

If Hektor was somewhat gratified by these achievements, his next campaign was less satisfactory.  A blasphemous rebellion had broken out on the world of Cadia and the Heralds's command fleet was the closest force to the traitor system.  Although the rebels were quickly put to the sword, an assassin took the opportunity to lay Hektor low.  The Primarch dispatched with his attacker, but the wound he took to his eye did not heal quickly and Hektor was soon feverish and deathly ill.  While in this fragile state, he suffered a series of shocks.  Firstly, news arrived of Gaspard Lumey's lightning strike against the Core World Campaign - a great gain for the Imperium, but also for one of Hektor's rivals.  Worse, the War Council was to be disbanded and his appointment as Warmaster meant only that he would head the Military Council, a rump organisation for the tidying up of the Great Crusade.  Malcador the Sigilite and the newly-founded Council of Terra ruled the Imperium in the Emperor's absence.  The final insults were the appointment of Alexandri Ibirien's Silver Cataphracts as the guardians of the Solar System and an invitation to Arelex Orannis to sit on the Council of Terra as an observer.

===Notable Campaigns===
{{See also|Great Crusade (Hektor Heresy)}}
*'''800.M30 [[Volemar Gamma Campaign]]''':  Alongside the [[War Scribes|Second Legion]], the First won the first Imperial victory over the [[Orks (Hektor Heresy)|Orks]], removing Uggut Shakgrod's outpost from the Solar System.

*'''811.M30 [[Parthorum Xenocide]]'''  The First Legion descended upon a Xenos-ruled Empire located in the Parthorum Stream.  The alien ''Osroene'' had vast legions, but Hektor used his Astropaths and Navigators to out-maneuver his foes at every turn.  After a sequence of crushing defeats, the Xenos offered the Imperium terms - but by this stage their demise was inevitable.  Within a year, the Osroene had been reduced from a sector-spanning Empire to a few handfuls of refugees.

*'''818.M30 [[Second Parthorum Pacification]]''' Although the Osroene had been decisively defeated, their human subjects did not take easily to the Imperial Truth.  Small-scale rebellions simmered for years, before a succession of planetary revolts overwhelmed the Imperial garrisons.  Leonidas Manisicus led the 6th Expedition Fleet in a short, sharp punitive action to put down the rebels. 

*'''823.M30 [[Third Parthorum Pacification]]''' The 6th's victory proved fleeting.  Although the worlds they had punished remained passive in this revolt, other systems in the Parthorum Stream threw off the Imperial yoke in 822.M30 and would not be restored to order until the arrival of Hektor's own 3rd Expedition Fleet.

*'''994.M30 to 000.M31 [[Ullanor Crusade (Hektor Heresy)|Ullanor Crusade]]'''