Hektor Heresy

This article is about a battle in the /tg/ Heresy project, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40k universe.

Hektor Heresy
Date	005.M31 to 014.M31
Scale	Galactic
Theatre	The Milky Way Galaxy
Status	Pyrrhic Imperial Victory
Belligerents
Chaos	Imperium of Mankind
Commanders and Leaders
Hektor Cincinnatus Aubrey The Grey The Voidwatcher Cromwald Walgrun Inferox "The Burned King" Johannes Vrach Uriel Salazar Rogerius Merrill Tollund Ötztal	The Emperor of Mankind Malcador the Sigilite Alexandri of Rosskar Roman Albrecht Shakya Vardhana Arelex Orannis Brennus Gaspard Lumey Golgothos Onyx the Indestructible Tiran Osoros
Strength
9 Space Marine Legions and supporting forces	9 Space Marine Legions and supporting forces
Losses
hundreds of thousands of Space Marines approximately one trillion other military casualties	hundreds of thousands of Space Marines approximately one and a half trillion other military casualties
Outcome
Chaos driven back from the Siege of Terra at great cost.

This page covers the war launched by the Warmaster Hektor Cincinnatus against the government of the Imperium. If you're looking for the main project page, go to the /tg/ Heresy

The Hektor Heresy was a galaxy-spanning conflict between the Imperial forces loyal to the Emperor (referred to as the Loyalists) and those who sided with Hektor Cincinnatus (the Traitors). The Traitors were sponsored by the Ruinous Powers of Chaos and strengthened by their gifts. The Heresy brought the Great Crusade to an end and ravaged the Imperium.

Prelude

After the great Triumph of Ullanor, the Emperor of Mankind withdrew from the battles of the Great Crusade to pursue a secret project on ancient Terra. He appointed Malcador the Sigilite to head the Imperium's government, the Council of Terra. Hektor Cincinnatus was named as Warmaster and led his brother Primarchs in the Military Council. The Primarchs would complete the conquest of the Galaxy while the Council of Terra prepared for a future in which humanity ruled the stars.

Other powers prepared for an entirely different future. Towards the end of the second century of the Great Crusade, Aubrey The Grey had became a willing servant of the Chaos Gods. The Primarch of the Eternal Zealots had been greatly embittered by the burning of Lazarus and his new masters gave him both comfort and a means to avenge himself. Aubrey was prepared to work slowly, putting off immediate gratification for the sake of total vengeance. The first traitor was aware of dark secrets among the Lions Rampant, the Life Bringers, the Sons of Fire, and The Justiciars, but the first ally he sought out was The Voidwatcher, master of the Black Augurs. As a master of the psychic arts, the Voidwatcher was well-aware that powerful entities lurked in the Warp and joined Aubrey's conspiracy in pursuit of his own ambitions.

The Voidwatcher's aid was essential to Aubrey's plan. The Chaos Gods had told their herald of the true nature of the Emperor's secret project. From beneath the Imperial Palace on Terra, the master of mankind hoped to link into the ancient Webway and give the human race the same opportunities for cultural advancement that the ancient Eldar Empire enjoyed. In order to carry out this work safely, powerful psychic wards had been erected. These wards prevented the dimensional breach to the Webway from becoming a gateway to the perils of the Warp. Under Aubrey's direction, the Voidwatcher breached the Emperor's wards. This perfidious act allowed powerful daemons to pour into real space. The Emperor, aided many of his most powerful warriors, would be fully occupied with this terrible threat for many years.

Ostium and Olmer

Malcador the Sigilite was immediately aware of the Voidwatcher's treachery. He quickly declared the Black Augurs Traitoris Extremis for use of sorcery in an attack on ancient Terra. Three Primarchs, Brennus, Rogerius Merrill, and Tiran Osoros, were ordered to assemble at the Forge World Diamat and then proceed to the Voidwatcher's homeworld Ostium to destroy the Traitor Primarch and his gene-sons. Yet the Sigilite's declarations did not go unanswered. Hektor Cincinnatus appealed for calm and invited the Military Council to assemble at Olmer for a Tribunal to determine the extent of the Voidwatcher's wrong-doing. Brennus ignored Hektor's request and travelled directly to Diamat with his best warriors. Rogerius Merrill, ever loyal to Hektor, barely considered Malcador's order and made way to Olmer. For Tiran Osoros, the question was more complex. The Lord of the Scale Bearers decided to make for Olmer, but he had no intention of taking part in Hektor's Tribunal. Instead, Tiran would demand that the Military Council bow to Malcador's authority and disperse.

Among the other Primarchs, these events drew a mixed response. Aubrey The Grey, Cromwald Walgrun, Inferox, Johannes Vrach, and Uriel Salazar all heeded Hektor's call and came to Olmer. Shakya Vardhana was making the long warp trip to Malluma, where he would soon be fighting for his life against a powerful servant of Chaos, but the Council of Nine attended the Olmer Tribunal in his stead. Gaspard Lumey and his Fifth Legion were in exile at the edge of the Galaxy, too far to receive news of the events in process. Onyx the Indestructible was also far from the Imperial centre, but decided to make the long journey to Diamat in case his brother Primarchs needed help with the Voidwatcher. Despite their different characters, Arelex Orannis, Golgothos, and Roman Albrecht all decided to remain at their posts and carry on their crusading efforts rather than engage in politicking and sent Praetorians to both Olmer and Terra. Tollund Ötztal stayed on Tisenjoch, already mourning for the loss of one of his brothers. Only Alexandri of Rosskar saw the dispute between Malcador and Hektor as a sign of imminent conflict. The sire of the Silver Cataphracts had been charged to defend Terra while the Emperor worked on the Webway project, and took his responsibilities seriously. Alexandri departed from the Solar System and began to put the worlds of the Solar Sector on a full war footing. His captains oversaw the construction and improvement of fortifications. Class after class of conscripts were called up and put into military training. There was a chance, perhaps, that men as proud as the Warmaster and the Emperor's deputy would come to a peaceful conclusion, but Alexandri had never known such things to happen.

The Primarchs assembled at Olmer sat down to business quickly. Tiran Osoros begged the Council to let him speak first, even ahead of Hektor's opening remarks, and was given time to make his argument. Ever-laconic, Tiran stated simply that Malcador ruled in the name of the Emperor. Disputing Malcador's orders was every bit as insubordinate as disputing those that came directly from the Emperor himself. Hektor exercised his right of reply and explained that the Military Council conducted the Great Crusade in the Emperor's name as well and had standing orders to brush aside all those who stood in the way of mankind's domination of the Galaxy. Of course the Primarchs should obey the Emperor's intentions, but without their their master to explain himself what were they to do? Discussing that question was the very reason the Tribunal had convened. Hektor's rhetoric carried the room, but Tiran shook his head sadly and excused himself. The Scale Bearers departed immediately for Diamat, followed shortly afterwards by the Iron Rangers.