Editing Hektor Heresy (section)

===The Second Pacification of Luna===
{|class="wikitable" style="float:left; margin-right: 10px; width: 35%;" 
|
<center>'''THE MOON HAS A HARSH MISTRESS'''</center>
[[File:Dark queen by dularif-d3gudqw.jpg|right|160px]]
By the time the Heresy began, the gene-wrought goddess Pallas Eugenesis had served the Imperium for over two centuries.  Yet few believed that she felt any true loyalty to the Emperor or His great design.  The Eclipse Queen had simply chosen to side with Terra's rising power when the Unification Wars came to an end.  When her consort Hektor came into conflict with the Imperial Government, the same principle put Pallas on the side of the Traitors.
|}
''For the Love of Man, why won't you respond?  Luna is loyal!  Call off your wolves, Alexandri!''

- Jadom Hyx, Acting Governor of Luna 

[[Pallas Eugenesis]], as Hektor Cincinnatus's titular consort, had been at her husband's side during the Olmer Tribunal and had not returned to the Solar System since.  However, her long tenure as ruler of Luna raised such question-marks over the reliability of Selenar troops that Alexandri had left them entirely out of his defence plans.  This dubious loyalty posed a definite threat.  Even if the garrison of Luna was too weak to launch an invasion of Terra on their own, Loyalist commanders had no interest in leaving Hektor with a source of supply and reinforcements within the Solar System.  In addition, Alexandri of Rosskar harboured a deep grudge against Pallas - and if the Regent was not motivated by his personal feelings, there is little doubt that he took great pleasure in attacking Luna.  Deciding that a potentially treacherous territory need not be treated with any honour, the Regent commanded a Battalion of his Silver Cataphracts to launch a sneak attack.  Their main target was Portus Grimaldi, the city-laboratory that served as the main gateway to Terra's satellite.  Entering Grimaldi by merchant transport, the Marines quickly routed the city garrison and began moving on new targets.

Acting Governor Jadom Hyx certainly shared Alexandri's ill-feelings towards Pallas Eugenesis but was appalled to learn that the Regent had attacked.  Hyx was a loyal servant of the Emperor and had determined to resist Hektor's forces when the time came.  He knew that his mistress was well-loved on Luna and no doubt had agents prepared to stir up discontent, but felt that he could have dealt with such problems and kept Terra's closest neighbour in the Loyalist camp.  The Acting Governor spent precious minutes sending plaintive messages to Terra begging the Silver Cataphracts to cease their assault.  After receiving no response, Hyx reluctantly entered his secure codes to activate the Selenar Defence Lasers before they could be taken by the Regent's marines.  Unbeknownst to the defenders of Terra, Pallas Eugenesis had overseen a covert project to upgrade Luna's laser batteries only a few years earlier.  Hyx suspected that his mistress had been planning her treachery for a long time, but under the circumstances he felt no choice but to comply with her plans.

Unfortunately for Hyx, he was a mere pawn in Pallas Eugenesis's schemes.  Along with the upgrade to the Selenar Defence Lasers, Pallas had seen fit to install a fail-safe.  When the Acting Governor attempted to activate the great weapons they self-destructed.  The massive tactical holo-display within Luna's planetary command centre flickered, then switched from dry military information to the mocking visage of Pallas Eugenesis.  A recorded message chided Hyx for his folly, informing the Acting Governor that he had only been tasked with the rule of Luna because more competent servants were needed elsewhere.  Pallas's tone then warmed to a false kindness as her recorded voice explained that she would still make good use of Hyx, though not in his current form.  Before Jakom Hyx could finish cursing his perfidious mistress, bio-transformer cells that had been lying latent in his body went into effect.  Along with the rest of Luna's population, her Acting Governor was rebuilt into a mindless horror.  Though this scheme destroyed any organised opposition to the Silver Cataphracts, loyalist troops would be bogged down fighting gene-horrors for months afterwards and the fruits of victory were spoiled.  Luna's people were dead.  Her ruined laser batteries could contribute nothing to the defence of Terra.