Helios Angels

"The sun follows in our wake! All of humanity shall march with us into the dawn!"

Quote attributed to unknown member of First Legion, before it became known as the Helios Angels.

Helios Angels
Battle Cry	"We bring the dawn!"
Number	I
Founding	First Founding
Successors of	N/A
Primarch	Hektor Cincinnatus
Homeworld	Luna
Strength	Peaked at 70,000 before the Heresy
Specialty	Shock Assault

This page details people, events, and organisations from the /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the /tg/ Heresy Timeline and Galaxy pages for more information on the Alternate Universe.

The Helios Angels were the first Space Marine Legion, led by the exemplary Hektor Cincinnatus. Honor and glory were theirs for decades, fighting tirelessly for hard won victories. Beloved by their allies, briefly hated by their enemies, the Helios stood tall among the ranks of the other Legions. The strength witnessed by the Marines of the First Legion would eventually bring the ultimate honor to their primogenitor, the status of Warmaster over the Great Crusade. Upon their liege's coronation, they became the Heralds of Hektor to commemorate the historic event.

History of the First Legion

The greatest honor I can award to you, my sons, is remembrance. Never shall history forget your names!

-Hektor Cincinnatus, at the conclusion of the Unification Wars

Truly blessed for the presence of their Primarch, the Helios Angels had his guiding hand since their inception. Known by some as the Angels of the Dawn, the First Legion carried with them a small army of record keepers and remembrancers. In addition to this, every Marine kept a meticulous personal record as to allow future generations never to forget their experiences or to allow some to gleam information on individuals lost to the tides of war. This record keeping also allowed neophytes part of the Scholae Astartes born three generations into the Great Crusade to understand their forebears.

The Unification Wars

The Space Marines

Legionnaires, form ranks! To the front! For Hektor's glory!

-Ajax Camillus, during the Merican Campaign

Before being named as the Helios Angels, Legio I was given the highest priority of genestock and weaponry. Their armor was the finest among all the other Legions. Their Primarch, Hektor, was still a child at the onset of the Unification Wars. It would be sixteen years until he took the reins of command. Ajax Camillus would lead his brothers in the opening moves of the Unification Wars, working in conjuction with thousands of techno-barbarian levies and Thunder Warriors armies. His subcommanders, Hephaestion Horatius, and Leonidas Manisicus, would later aid him leading the Sacred Band under the direct control of Hektor Cincinnatus himself. After the conclusion of that experiment, and the conquering of the Merican Hives the Outragos was formed. The First Legion took up the name of Helios Angels shortly before the Pacification of Luna.

Notable Campaigns

• Pacification of the Merican Hives: The Sacred Band's contribution to victory in the Merican campaign was small but significant. Even more important was the leadership of Hektor and his gene-sons, which would establish a precedent for the First Legion being at the head of the Legiones Astartes.
• First Pacification of Luna: Thanks to their Primarch's unexpected alliance with the Eclipse Queen, Pallas Eugenesis, the First Legion spearheaded an unexpectedly easy conquest of Terra's satellite. Their victory secured valuable genetic laboratories and the Hektor's political marriage to Pallas would have a lasting impact on the Legion.

The Great Crusade

The color scheme of the Helios Angels.

Our pride made us feel invincible. Humility was a lesson dealt too many times yet never learned.

-Sebastion Rex, Legionary Equerry

The first laurels of the Great Crusade fell to the Helios Angels. Moving out as a swift storm, the wings of the Legion brought numerous systems into Compliance. Imperial records have been heavily redacted after the Heresy, with only fragmentary evidence to support theories of the era. However there are signs that nearly half the Segmentum Solar was brought in by the 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. Yet the mark of the First Legion would be more deeply made by the Scholae Astartes that they established to train new Imperial administrators and Space Marine recruits.

The Helios Angel made their presence known through conduct and action. Gracious in peaceful Compliance, violent to resisters, and utterly destructive to foes. Serving as a flawless standard to live up to, the Great Crusade benefited mightily due to the image projected by the First Legion. Hektor in particular enjoyed fostering good relations between Marine and Man, having his Marines deal with subjects with the utmost respect. This formal reverence to citizens made newly christened members welcomed, received, and protected. Often times first worlds to join the Imperium would see the First Legion come to their rescue too. Ork Raiders, Eldar Corsairs, and other outside threats came to fear the blue, gold, and red of the Helios.

Hektor grew greatly proud of his sons, especially in the great names that would shape them; Maranthos Egille, Sebastion Rex, Cassandor Honorious, and Daedalus Appius. 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 Helios Angels. 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 even men harder, the vigor that had once accompanied their campaigns could not be recaptured. Some even whispered that the decline of the greatest champions of Imperium meant that the Great Crusade would be a fleeting achievement.

In the following century, Hektor 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. Pallas Eugenesis and her gene-wrights were commanded to purify the gene-seed, replicating the best samples and purging mediocrity. 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. 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.

This marked a rebirth of the Angels. A new name was needed to mark this change in fortunes. Due to a peerless attitude towards the Crusade and an ingenious cadre of commanders, the Legion's original gravitas began to return. To signify this, they would rename themselves to the Heralds of Hektor in honor of the Primarch who had led them so far. The Helios Angels became synonymous in their time with impeccable service and loyalty. Their next form as the Heralds, would earn them an entirely different form of renown.

Notable Campaigns

• The Ullanor War

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 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.

Organisation and Doctrine

From the beginning, the First were with their Primarch. His ideals for the perfect force shaped every facet of their battle philosophy. Although the original organisation of the Legion was based on the Logos Terra Militia, Hektor was quick to implement changes. He drew heavily on the military of his idol, Sekander, even renaming his formations and ranks to match those of the ancient Terran warlord. For ease of understanding, the equivalent forms from the Logos Terra Militia are presented in brackets after the First Legion's own style.

The smallest formation within the First Legion was the squad, known as a Lochos within the Legion. Squads varied widely in both size and specialisation, with the majority of units ranging between 10 and 20 Space Marines, with 16 as a commonly occurring number. Each squad was commanded by a Lochagos (Sergeant). The specialities and equipment of squads in the Helios Angels included all of those generally found in other Legions. They had no qualms about the use of Destroyer and Seeker units. Hektor's men also maintained a substantial pool of armour and vehicles, thanks to the industrial worlds in their domain and good relations with the Mechanicum.

At the heart of Hektor's Legion was the Speira (Company). This was a grouping of roughly sixteen Lochos under the leadership of a Syntagma (Captain) and his Ouragoi (Lieutenants). The number of Ouragoi varied depending the Syntagma's make-up. Common formations were based around a "square" or "triangular" format. In either case, each Ouragos would command two tactical Logos and a support Logos, while the Speira's specialist assets (such as Veterans, Dreadnoughts, support weapons, tanks, and flyers) remained under the command of the Syntagma.

The larger formations of the Legion were often purely organisational, as much of the Great Crusade was fought by relatively small groups of Astartes. A handful of Speira, knows as a Taxis (Battalion) fell under the authority of the Strategos (Lieutenant Commander). The Strategos was responsible for deploying Strike Cruisers and Super-Heavy Vehicles to the toughest theatres of war. He also maintained an elite bodyguard, known as the Agema. These veterans were hand-picked from the ranks of those who had followed a Strategos through his career and could only be parted from him by death or the word of Hektor.

The highest sub-division of the Legion was the Phalanx (Chapter) led by a Phalangiarch (Chapter-Master). Each Phalanx was commanded from a powerful Capital Ship and Hektor's Phalangiarchs were among the most powerful warlords of the Imperium. Like the Strategoi who served them, the Phalangiarchs each maintained an Agema, though their bodyguards would often number in the hundreds.

Exalted above all others was the Primarch Hektor Cincinnatus and his war council, the Hetairoi (Companions). The demands of unending war meant that this cabal rarely met in person, but they would regularly holo-conference using the sophisticated facilities of the Legion flagship, the Bucephalus. Among the Hetairoi were the most ancient and knowledgeable warriors of the Legion, together with plenipotentiaries from Hektor's most important vassals. Together, they were responsible for administering the First's vast war machine and planetary domains.

For the first century of the Great Crusade, Ajax Camillus the Shield of Hektor, and Leonidas Manisicus the Unyielding, were the main "trouble-shooters" among the Hetairoi, travelling from one difficult area to the next and re-imposing the will of the Primarch. After Hektor's second Century reforms, Ajax Camillus and Leonidas Manisicus were joined by three other Ephors and given special responsibilities and powers to stamp out nepotism in the First Legion. The Ephors positions would remain after the alteration of title to the Heralds of Hektor.

Tactics

A terminator from Hektor's elite guard, the Chrysaspides.

Hektor understood the most fundamental truth of warfare. He who dared - the spoils!

-Maranthos Egille, the Silver Spear

Hektor's peculiar military genius was his eye for terrain. He had an intuition for surveying any battlefield - be it a seemingly featureless desert, a foreboding mountain range, or the void of space. Picking out the focus-point or "place of decision" was his specialty. Battle-plans were then developed intuitively, but a typical pattern was to use the Space Marines' firepower to shape the enemy deployment before a devastating assault was launched by the Legion's elite formations. Each commander had their own modification to this principle. Sebastion Rex used fortification to change the terrain itself. Maranthos Egille would lead from the tip of a lancing assault with bikes to disrupt his foes to make them more easy to decimate. Daedalus Appius cycled out soldiers from the frontline to the rear, allowing them to rest and be healed until redeployment.

This style of warfare came readily to the Primarch's gene-sons, but others found the method to be startling. Hektor came to play on this, privately studying cartographic data ahead of allied conferences then feigning a nonchalant manner as he greeted outsiders and pretended to look at the lay of the land for the first time. The Primarch would then appear to concentrate intensely for a few moments, before stabbing out a finger and declaring, "There! That is where the battle will be won!" Often times this was followed by a surge of approval, as Hektor proved time and time again his declarations correct.

In pursuit of their model battle, the First Legion developed several elite formations. Most common were the Agema that accompanied her Strategoi and Phalangiarchs. These were veteran soldiers, often trusted with Terminator armour and relied upon to carry the day on countless battlefields. Although the precise talents of the Agema varied depending on the inclination of their commanding officer, it was typical for these hardened soldiers to be outstanding melee fighters.

Above the regular Agema formations were the Chrysaspides, or "Golden Shields" as they were called in Low Gothic. These were Hektor's hand-picked bodyguards, led by his life-long friend Hephaestion Horatius. They were veteran warriors, chosen for their skill-at-arms, fearlessness and their combat record. Honoured with golden Terminator armour, they were often seen as kin to the Emperor's own Custodes. The Chrysaspides' customised armour was further augmented with systems that generated and discharged bursts of blinding light to incapacitate nearby foes.

Their equipment, morale, and tremendous battle-skill made their charges almost irresistible. Almost as important as their crack troops were the First Legion's artillery, romantically named the Lithoboloi in line with Hektor's reverence of Sekander. Sebastion Rex was the only notable exception, naming his artillerists the Iacobī after his chief artillery commander Yakobus. The First fielded a wide profusion of artillery vehicles, including customized super-heavies with awesome firepower. Their ability to move their guns was almost as impressive as the earth-shattering effect of the weapons.

Fleet

The First Legion's armada was extremely formidable. They were organised under the command of Orion Mucius, a veteran of the Sacred Band. Orion had been famed for his keen eyesight in the battles of the Unification Wars but this mere physical acuity was only a clue to the scope of his mind's eye. Few outside of the Primarchs had Orion's ability for grasping the intricacies of a void battlefield, and he strove to impart his understanding to his captains.

Orion Mucius' bodyguard were known as the Hypaspezete and were drawn from the ranks of the Breacher Marines. They were armed with round boarding shields and telescopic power-pikes with weighted ends that could be used as maces. The Hypaspazete were well-accustomed to fighting in tight formations, thrusting forward a devastating thicket of pike points to annihilate their enemies. Although they specialised in boarding operations, they were often deployed to planetary assaults to provide an added shock element.

At the eve of the Heresy, the Heralds of Hektor could deploy 128 Battleships and Battlebarges, 97 Grand Cruisers, 342 Heavy Cruisers, 408 Light Cruisers, 612 Frigates, 695 Destroyers, and 87 Auxiliary vessels. The true scope of the warships sworn to them by the Imperial Army and Dark Mechanicum is unknown, but it was likely that the allied ships were even larger in number than the Herald's own fleet.

Notable vessels

Hektor's flagship was known as the Bucephalus. This mighty Gloriana-Class Battleship underwent several refits in its long service.

Support Formations

Apothecarion

Strong ties with the gene-wrights of Luna gave the First some of the best-trained Apothecaries among the Legions, second only to the Eternal Zealots and Life Bringers. Their commander was Machaon Empiricus, but they revered Pallas Eugenesis as their teacher and "mother of the Legion". As in all of the Legions, these specialists were mainly responsible for recovering the gene-seed of fallen and healing the wounded on the battlefield. They also took charge of the Legion's Neophytes, performing the surgical implantation of the gene-seed and watching for any genetic impurities. By the second century of the Great Crusade, the influence of the Apothecaries over the Scholae Astartes fostered a cult-like veneration of Hektor Cincinnatus and Pallas Eugenesis in the Legion's domains and younger members.

Armorium

The First Legion were exalted above all others in the eyes of the Tech-Priests of Mars. No other Legion would have their requests granted so swiftly - or sometimes even anticipated. These ties were essential in building Hektor's formidable artillery train. The Legion's Armorium was commanded by Daedalus Appius, a veteran of the Sacred Band who had witnessed the signing of the Treaty of Mars. His Techmarines were extensive enough to field their own elite formation, dubbed the Olympians and equipped with swift and deadly Jetbikes.

Castra

When the Castra was split off from the Armorium, it was placed under the supervision of the highly-capable Sebastion Rex. The great fortresses built by the First Legion were not merely defensive emplacements and arsenals. Each sheltered substantial manufactorums and hydroponic farms to replenish the Legion's Expeditionary Fleets. Sebastion Rex was also highly innovative and experimented with new weapons and forms of "mobile" fortresses.

Librarus

Initially the First Legion's Librarus was a small but prestigious component of the Victualary, and its mainly mortal staff worked to chronicle the campaigns of the Legion, paying close attention to the difficult problem of supply. Their work was little-noticed by the wider bodies of the Imperium but the Hetairoi paid close attention to the findings of the Legion Librarians. However, the discovery of the psychically potent Primarchs Shakya Vardhana and The Voidwatcher led to a fundamental change in the Imperium's policy on psykers. Previously, inductees to the Legiones Astartes had been taught the discipline to restrain their powers, and mainly benefited from the uncanny insights of latent ability. However, from the fourth decade of the Great Crusade, these gifted Marines began to explore their powers. Cassandor Honorius was given much broader license in overseeing the Librarus' investigation of the powers of the Warp. Due to their long history as a communication and intelligence arm, the First Legion's Librarians specialised in the arts of telepathy and mind-reading. Their efforts were often coordinated with the Frumentarii of the Victualary. Some suggested that the most powerful in their ranks could read minds at long distance.

The Librarians' Households were somewhat different to those of their Battle Brothers. In order to meet the need for psychic recruits, they drew many of their Adoptati from the Scholastica Psykana.

Victualary

Hektor Cincinnatus commanded the Victualary himself, citing the old Terran maxim, An army marches on his stomach. Though his interest in logistics was sincere and his efforts in the realm of supply both innovative and energetic, this department also served as a front for the Legion's military intelligence. The First Legion benefited greatly from Hektor's many admirers, both mortals and the Space Marine veterans of the Sacred Band. Those taken in by the Sun King's charm were often eager to impress him by disclosing the secrets they held. This informal network was supplemented with hired scouts and information-brokers, usually granted Warrants of Trade in order to further their efforts. Permanent factors set up shop on the centres of trade within the Imperium, and in major non-Imperial human domains such as the Core Worlds Confederation.