Editing Hektor Heresy (section)

===Eternity's Gate===
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<center>'''TRIAD FERRUM MORGULUS'''</center>
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All of the mighty Titan Legions commanded war engines of staggering power, but the three great Legios based on Mars were stronger by far than their cousins from other Forges. Their importance in the Heresy is underlined by their split between the Loyalist and Traitor camps. ''Legio Tempestus'' obeyed the commands of Hektor Cincinnatus, ''Legio Mortis'' stayed faithful to their battle-brothers in the Entombed, and ''Legio Ignatum'' fought for Kalkas Tygian but was partially consumed by the Autopostate's Giorea plague.
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The outer walls of the Imperial Palace were a vast and daunting barrier. Indeed, to refer to these structures as "walls" is somewhat misleaing. While they certainly form a barrier to the Palace, the walls are an interconnected series of fortresses that are in places over a hundred kilometers deep. Void shields protected the whole complex from orbital bombardment and most land-based artillery lacked the power to force a breach. Hektor Cincinnatus was under no illusions about the strength of the fortifications he faced, but his plan did not hinge on the walls. The Warmaster believed that the defence of the Imperial Palace depended most of all upon the Loyalist Space Marine Legions, and in particular on the Silver Cataphracts who formed the bulk of the Astartes defending the palace. Rather than concern himself with the reduction of the fortifications, Hektor aimed to force a battle in which the Loyalist Marines would be devastated. Without super-human soldiers on hand to shore up a breach, the Imperial Army and Militia forces would succumb in short order. He chose the ancient Valgrat redoubt as his killing ground and set his forces in motion.

Valgrat had once been a major outpost of Ursh before that despotic state was conquered in the [[Unification Wars (Hektor Heresy)|Unification Wars]]. The excellence of the fortress's construction prompted Mechanicum engineers to simply incorporate it into the defences of the Imperial Palace rather than start anew. By the time Hektor returned to Terra, Valgrat had undergone significant modernisation but the Warmaster's masterful eye was drawn to it immediately. He noted that the fortress provided a great defensive position not only against attackers outside the Imperial Palace but also those within. The Traitors staged a series of deceptions to conceal their true intentions, including major assaults by the Justiciars and Sons of Fire. However, there is little doubt that Valgrat was the main axis of advance. There, Hektor Cincinnatus commanded the dread '''Legio Tempestus''' to strike at the fortifications, with the Life Bringers and a great host of mortal soldiers ready to assist them. No few Titans were destroyed by the defenders, but scores of god-machines broke apart the Loyalist defences and in their wake billions of mortal soldiers swarmed into the breach. Alexandri of Rosskar did not hesitate to send his gene-sons into this terrible battlefield and the Silver Cataphracts brought great honour to their gene-father through their feats of arms at Valgrat. But despite the valour of the Cataphracts, they had fallen into a trap. Hektor's own First Legion and the quick-moving Lions Rampant had carried out a rapid redeployment to join the battle. Imperial forces caught counter-attacking into a strong position held by superior forces were devastated. Only the Silver Cataphracts held their discipline in the retreat from Valgrat, and even their casualties sky-rocketed as the Heralds of Hektor and Lions Rampant burst forth from Valgrat. The Imperial reserve was devastated and the main defensive line compromised. In the wake of this defeat, Alexandri of Rosskar worked tirelessly to keep the Loyalist withdrawal from turning into a complete rout. Harried all the way by Traitor forces pouring through the lines at Valgrat, the Silver Cataphracts retreated hundreds of kilometers to their new defensive positions. Only the dense hab-blocks of the Imperial Palace, which prevented accurate strikes from Traitor aircraft, saved the Loyalist defenders from annihilation. Just a few weeks after Hektor's main offensive at Valgrat began, the Traitors had encircled the inner Palace. Of the mighty army that had once stood against them, scarely one in a thousand remained, though the warriors of the Space Marine Legions had fared much better than their mortal comrades.

Perhaps seeking to capitalise on his victory or warned of the imminent arrival of Loyalist reinforcements, Hektor Cincinnatus made a challenge before Eternity's Gate, the great portal to the inner Palace. The Warmaster called on the defending commander to come out and face him in single combat to decide the battle, thus preserving the lives of billions of warriors on both sides. Perhaps Hektor believed that Alexandri would never answer such a challenge and thought to shame him in the eyes of his men, but it was the Emperor of Mankind himself who stepped forth from the Palace, shielded by golden-armored Custodes. The Warmaster grimly saluted his creator and the duel began. Although the two were hardly equals, the Emperor refrained from using the full scope of his power against his creation - his son. So the two fought mainly with sword and spear, treading the ground so recently fought over by their immense armies. By chance, a dying soldier of the Imperial Army reached up to grab Hektor by the ankle, seeking to aid his beloved Emperor in this pivotal moment. The Warmaster glanced down for just a moment, giving the wretch a look of pity before ending his life with a kick. This sight moved the Emperor's heart. His son was trapped in a spiral of darkness, forced by fate to slowly destroy that which had been best in himself. The two warriors caught one another's gaze for a moment, then there was a flash of the Emperor's power and Hektor Cincinnatus was no more.