Editing Maria Vespa (section)

==Origin==

''Blood has always been the price of peace.  If shedding mine will settle this matter, so be it.'' (attributed to Maria Vespa on the announcement of her execution.)

The libraries of the Inquisition contain several theories on the genesis of Maria Vespa, but certain aspects are generally agreed on.  During the terrible years of the [[Hektor Heresy]], billions upon billions were slain by the Traitors, causing a vast psychic ferment in the Warp.  Although many of the emotions unleashed by the civil war served only to swell the power of the Chaos Gods, many of the Imperium's soldiers died with a feelings of stoic resolve or comradely self-sacrifice.  None of the Ruinous Powers served as an outlet for these powerful emotions and it believed that their weight resolved into the form of Maria Vespa around the time of the Siege of Terra.

Shortly after Hektor's defeat, Vespa began to appear on the battlefields of the Scouring.  It is believed that she incarnated to avoid the reach of the Chaos Gods, though her contribution to the Loyalist cause was significant.  She rallied remnants of the [[Imperial Army (Hektor Heresy)|Imperial Army]] that had been shattered in the Heresy and inspired civilians to enlist to fight for the Imperium.  In addition, Maria Vespa showed a significant prowess on the battlefield, credited with the dispatch of demons and traitor marines alike.

Following the Imperium's final victory in the Scouring, Maria Vespa started to become a matter of concern.  While the cults that sprang up in veneration of the Emperor of Mankind were troubling, their adherents were thoroughly devoted to their Imperial Duty and readily obeyed the orders of planetary governors.  By comparison, those who began to worship Maria Vespa were following a living being who could contradict the Imperial apparatus.  In 025.M31, Gesher Hyx, then governor of Magdala, decided to take action.  Seizing on the presence of the newly formed [[The Mercurials|Mercurials]] Chapter, the governor appealed to Chapter Master Augustin Carron to eliminate Maria Vespa.  Hyx claimed that Vespa's powers were an indication of mutation or traffic with the Warp, and in any case the cults forming about her were not compliant with the Imperial Truth.

According to the accounts of the Mercurials, Maria Vespa surrendered herself into their custody without a struggle, even calling on her followers not to resist on her account.  As was the custom of the times, Augustin Carron presided over a drumhead trial with Gesher Hyx speaking for the prosecution and repeating the accusations he had made in private.  Maria Vespa denied that she was a mutant or that she was in league with Chaos, citing her battle record in the Scouring as proof of the latter.  However, she could not deny that her presence had inspired deviation from the Imperial Truth and Carron sentenced her to death for this transgression.

Degraded vidcaps of Maria Vespa's execution still exist.  A female figure can be seen standing before a firing squad of Mercurials, somewhat obscured by a "crackling" in the vidfeed surrounding her.  The vid zooms in on Maria Vespa's face briefly, capturing a look of sublime calm and compassion, before moving to a wide angle.  The Mercurials fire and Maria Vespa falls without a sound.