Editing Helios Angels (section)

=Culture=
''We must educate the mind before the body, do you agree?''

'''-Cassandor Honorious, Chief Librarian'''


When the Great Crusade was launched, Hektor was exceptionally zealous in enforcing Compliance with the laws and culture of the Imperium. It was normal for newly-pacified worlds to be garrisoned by reserve forces drawn from the teeming worlds of the Solar System. Hektor went further and arranged for garrison troops to be granted landholds on his conquests, setting them up as a settler class. From the third decade of the Great Crusade, this policy went as far as arranging for the colonization of empty worlds with agricultural or mineral potential. Never would Hektor ever consider making these worlds directly under his own control. The efforts of the Legion were always focused purely on the advancement of the Imperium at large.

On the First Legion's Expeditionary Fleets, each Marine was the master of a small household staffed by mortal servants known as ''Armigers''. These men were typically failed Aspirants, and had often spent time in their master's household as a youth before their trial. The Armigers were charged with the care of the Marine's person, panoply, and the young ''Adoptati'' who he hoped to sponsor in the Aspirant Trials. The atmosphere of the Household was relaxed and familiar, with the Marine referred to as "Father". Marines would allow Adoptati to mingle, spar, and engage in competitions. Often times this could lead to receptive brotherhoods to form long before the trial.  

The chief servant of a Helios Angels was known as the ''Scutarius''.  He was an honored figure entrusted with ensuring his master's panoply was fit for war. The Scutarius also maintained order among the other servants. Unless disabled by war or age, he was also expected to supervise the martial training of the Armigers and lead them in battle.  Cases of Armigers actually engaging in combat were relatively rare. The First Legion deployed regiments of [[Imperial Army (Hektor Heresy)|Imperial Army]] Auxilia to supplement their strength when necessary. However the households of the Legionaries constituted a valuable security force for the warships of Hektor's Expeditionary Fleets.

Towards the build up to the Ullanor War, complex webs of connections had ran wild through the Legion. Some officers had openly supported various elite in the Imperium by taking in their children for recruitment as Adoptati, overlooking perhaps more fitting candidates among the general populace. The training remained standard for all candidates regardless of station, and no one could dictate the final trial of implantation. Despite this Hektor feared this influx of pampered blood may cause a crisis in effectiveness. The Ephors conducted a comprehensive review of the Adoptati, overturning the traditional rights of Marines to eject particular recruits deemed unfit. This undertaking was only capable due to bringing together large sections of the Legion together for the Ullanor War, otherwise it would have been completely impossible due to logistical difficulties. 

==Recruitment and Training==
As the manpower needs of the First Legion grew and came into conflict with those of the other Legiones Astartes, the military enclaves and colonies established by Hektor played an increasingly important role. Institutes were established for grooming young boys to meet the exacting standards of the Adeptus Astartes. The first of the ''Scholae Astartes'' were established spontaneously by the ambitious settlers who saw ties to the First Legion as a means of advancement. In 843.M30, Hektor charged the Legion's Apothecarion and its attendant Serfs with administering the Scholae and providing them with a curriculum.

Scholae Astartes gave a broad instruction. Physical conditioning and fitness were considered of high importance but the ''Praeceptors'' were cautioned against excessive training that might cause developmental problems. Students also received an education in arithmetic, grammar, Terran civics and culture, and foundational sciences.  Every three years, the most promising students, deemed the ''Optimi'', were presented to the First Legion. Other students would continue their education until the age of eighteen.  The uniform education of the Scholae Astartes greatly accelerated the growth of the young Imperium. Graduates outside of the First Legion formed a cadre of well-educated Imperial citizens to staff the ever-growing administration of the Emperor's realm.

When a First Legion formation visited a Schola Astartes, each Battle Brother would adopt those Optimi that pleased him into his household to be sponsored for the Legion's Aspirant Trials. Typically these ''Adoptati'' would be a few years too young to be implanted with the gene-seed, though occasionally an exceptional older boy would be taken on.  Presenting a promising Aspirant was considered an honourable achievement, and seeing one of his Adoptati sworn into the Legion was a moment of great pride for a Herald of Hektor. The bonds between a sponsor and a Neophyte usually endured long into the warriors' careers, and although failure was not tolerated it was not unusual for a Marine's advancement in the Legion to owe much to patronage.

The links forged by the First Legion's system of adoption explain part of their pattern of success and decline. Initially the closeness Hektor fostered among his men gave them a great ''esprit de corps'', with veteran battle brothers eager to share their skills with the next generation and younger warriors devoted to their sponsors. However as the Legion aged, the patterns of interest altered.  Promising warriors without powerful sponsors were passed over for promotion and the junior officer corps began to fill up with mediocrities. The Ephors would make strides to change this, but major change could not occur until after the Ullanor War.

==Notable Members==

*'''Cassandor Honorius'''.  Son of Paramoas Honorius, a trusted vassal to the Emperor during the Unification Wars.  Cassandor was born to the purple, a patrician by blood and upbringing.  He was taught as a boy to believe in the Imperial mission as a form of ''noblesse oblige''.  This world view would succour Cassandor when his psychic gifts were discovered and he was put in the care of the '''Lièrén Brothers''' to learn the control and mental discipline necessary to protect himself from the Warp's ruinous touch.  He was identified as a prodigy and due to his superb physical conditioning was put forward to be one of the first subjects of the '''Space Marine Project'''.  Throughout the hardships of this long apprenticeship, Cassandor clung to the belief that such suffering was as much the birthright of the superior man as his undeniable gifts.  In recognition of his potential, Cassandor was given the gene-seed of Hektor Cincinnatus and his body accepted the implantation process without undue complications.  With his gene-sire's approval, Cassandor was inducted into the '''Sacred Band''' and given license to employ his psychic gifts for information-gathering only.  Throughout the Unification Wars and the Great Crusade, Cassandor became increasingly adept at sensing the thoughts of others.  As Chief Librarian of the First Legion, he would instruct his subordinate psykers in the same arts.  When the influence of Chaos on the Heresy became clearer, Cassandor protested to Hektor that the rebellion was going too far and that they would destroy what they had sought to preserve.  The Primarch was enraged and tore his Chief Librarian's right arm from its socket before Hephaestion Horatius intervened.  This selfless act cost brave Hephaestion his life, though Hektor's rage subsided when Cassandor noted that, "He will never defy you again."  Despite this tragedy and controversy, Cassandor served Hektor loyally through to the end of the Siege of Terra and saw to it that his lord's body was retrieved from the battlefield.  He chose never to accept a prosthetic replacement for his lost limb, but his pacts with Chaos made Cassandor a far more dangerous foe after the Heresy than he had ever been before.  Unlike many of the prominent Heralds, Cassandor did not attempt to establish himself as a war leader.  Instead, he set up his Academy on the planet Lukos in the Eye of Terror, to foster an ever-deeper understanding of the Warp and the mind.

*'''[[Maranthos Egille]]'''. Raised upon Terra alongside Hektor, Maranthos was a prideful member of the First Legion who was remarkable for his outlandish personality. Known as the Silver Spear for his signature weapon, he led a Company and later Chapter of the Legion. Later, he would become one of the Ephors who would entrusted in strengthening the Legion by Hektor himself. 

*'''Elenkor Dominatus'''.  Born of foul gene-sorcery, he would finally reunite the Heralds and lead the might of the Traitor Legions in a great Black Crusade against the Imperium.

*'''[[Sebastion Rex]]'''. Originally the son and heir of a terrible techno-barbarian warlord upon the surface of Terra, Sebastion would gain the trust of Hektor. He would be a revolutionary commander, his military strategies being invaluable to the Legion.

*'''Hephaestion Horatius'''.  His father was a lesser noble who held the dignified post of cupbearer at the Emperor's table.  Hephaestion was taught from his earliest moments that the greatest test of a man was to learn his own place in the world.  According to this creed, the humble labourer who toiled away for all her years and died in obscurity was more glorious by far than those who held fleeting fame by over-reaching themselves.  When reviewing Hephaestion's subsequent career, it is difficult to say whether he was dutiful to paternal advice or not.  The youth was selected for the first intake of Space Marines and chosen to become part of the First Squad of the '''Sacred Band'''.  Hephaestion's surprising humility endeared him to Hektor Cincinnatus and led to the youth being selected as the personal bodyguard of the Primarch.  This duty became increasingly prominent as the Unification Wars led to the Great Crusade and the First Squad became the seed of a mighty Space Marine Legion.  As the Legion's traditions took shape, Hephaestion was entrusted with the leadership of Hektor's Agema, the '''Chrysaspides''', and he was always to be found at their head in the fiercest fighting.  He only questioned his master once, when Hektor turned on Cassandor Honorius in a fit of rage.  Hephaestion defended the Legion's Chief Librarian and died at Hektor's hands.

Beyond the greatest warriors of the Heralds of Hektor whose names invoked awe across the Galaxy, the Legion also spawned many small warbands led by Chaos Lords who "merely" terrorized whole Sectors.