Editing Mastodontii (section)

===Beginnings===

Among the [[Sacred Band]] of [[Hektor Cincinnatus]], the Eighth Squad were ten brave soldiers among a brotherhood of two hundred heroes.  They served well enough in the Dust Bowl Clash, where Space Marines boarded and seized the war-trakks of the Merican steppe.  They shed their blood at Junkers to stop a mad plan to open up the magma locks and turn geothermal power into searing death to warrior and civilian alike.  But the half-dozen Eighth Squad warriors who survived the blooding of the Band received no special commendation and their part in the creation of the great Eighth Legion is largely obscure.

Similarly, the Eighth did not play a leading role in the Imperium's initial expansion from Terra in the early days of the [[Great Crusade (Hektor Heresy)|Great Crusade]].  A rare exception to their anonymity came at the Battle of Five Legions.  Decimus Vax led their contingent under the command of the great [[Roman Albrecht]] and gave his life to assure the Imperial victory on that famous day.