Editing Hektor Heresy (section)

===The Fires of Narhadul===

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<center>'''A SCRIBE NO LONGER'''</center>
[[File:1443906436221.png|right|200px]]
Wolzhi Steelblood's embrace of the Ruinous Powers came as a bitter surprise.  In the eyes of many, he had served the Imperium loyally for decades and was held in high esteem.  But he was viewed differently among the Arch-Magoi of Mars.  Wolzhi had little time for the spirituality and reverence of the Machine Cult.  He had learnt much "practical knowledge" from the Mechanicum, but his soul was empty of their wisdom.  Over time, the taint of Chaos crept into Wolzhi's hollow vessel, taking hold of his pride, his hope, his fears, and his perfectionism.  Every new "technical achievement" opened the way to deeper damnation.  Without the aegis of the Machine God, his fall was as inevitable as the laws of physics.
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''What separated my fate from that of Inferox? A human being that knows the enemy intends to destroy his or her family, friends, and everything dear will resist with the whole of their being. Therefore, to use terror, one must hold out the prospect of mercy. Inferox did not use terror. Terror used him.''

- Gaspard Lumey, private correspondence

The failure of the [[War Scribes]] to rally to Terra was a mystery.  Arelex Orannis was no friend to the Black Augurs and took accusations of sorcery seriously.  Nor was the Master of the Second Legion inclined to shirk his responsibilities to the Imperium.  Yet when the crisis turned to war, the Atalantos Worlds were undone by treachery most foul.  Wolzhi Steelblood, the Master of the War Scribes Forges, had indoctrinated the majority of his brother TechMarines and the mortal aides who worked with them into the mysteries of the Cosmic Truth.  Although this cult did not openly recognise the Gods of Chaos, it was utterly dedicated to their ends.  Perhaps some of those who followed Wolzhi believed that their actions were merely a drastic measure to prevent the War Scribes' arsenal from being unleashed upon the other Legions, but the Master of the Forges himself was under no such illusions.  He acted at the bidding of the Cosmic Truth when he enacted a plan to sabotage every technological wonder of the Atalantos Worlds, from the Fortress-Ship ''Sol Invictus'' down to the last Volkite gun.

The War Scribes were still reeling from Wolzhi's betrayal when the fleets of Inferox and Aubrey the Grey arrived at the Narhadul system and began their attack.  The Ring-World could not be defended in the void, particularly when the perfidious Dock Lord, Joghal Zash, commanded the few functional War Scribes ships in system to join the Traitors.  The garrison, a full battalion of five thousand War Scribes and their supporting auxilia were brave and determined to resist, but they lacked all of their heavy equipment and were often reduced to personal sidearms such as bolt pistols and chainswords.  Chapter Master Kor'ek Jamad reported that his 54th Chapter, the worst hit on Narhadul, had just 58 bolters and 2 sniper rifles to serve as battle weapons for a thousand Astartes.  With such meagre arms, the defenders of Narhadul could only hope to delay an armada led by two Traitor Primarchs while their Lord Arelex Orannis found some way to send aid.

In orbit far above the adamantium walls of the Basilikon Atalantos, the Primarch of the War Scribes was battling to restore the systems of the ''Sol Invictus'' when he was notified of the attack on Narhadul.  Orannis was immediately aware that he lacked the transports to send substantial reinforcements, but he could not just sit idle.  Although a great army of War Scribes was based on Atalantos itself, only a few thousand Marines were present on each of the other Atalantos Worlds.  If the [[Sons of Fire]] and [[Eternal Zealots]] were free to attack where they willed, half of the War Scribes' strength could be destroyed in detail.  Resolving for swift and decisive action, Orannis and his bodyguard took to the "Silent Scribe", an advanced ''Echo''-class Strike Cruiser, and set a course for Narhadul.  Silent Scribe's stealthy profile allowed her to evade the Traitor Fleets until the final approach to Narhadul, where she was detected by a pair of Eternal Zealot cruisers.  It is a testament to the voidmanship of the War Scribes that Silent Scribe managed to get close enough to teleport Orannis and his men onto Narhadul before fleeing to the outer system.

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<center>'''THE PYRES OF CREMATORIA'''</center>
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Inferox was the second Primarch to join Aubrey's conspiracy.  The lord of the Sons of Fire had travelled to Olmer in a deep despair, feeling that the Imperium was coming to pieces.  He remained in a black mood until after long, private discussions with Aubrey the Grey.  In these talks, the falsity of the Imperial Truth was exposed and Inferox was shown a new way: the way of Chaos.  Before coming to the Atalantos Worlds to unleash the fury of the Ruinous Powers, the Primarch had gathered his Legion at Crematoria to share his revelation.  Those who embraced Chaos most willingly became Inferox's shock troopers.  Those who refused, such as the former Librarians of the Sandaramet, were killed and burned - not always in that order.
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On the surface, the carnage was horrific.  The brave Marines and Auxilia who had defended Narhadul had been slain and three Chapters of Sons of Fire had run amok, putting whole hab-blocks of civilians to the torch to satisfy a yearning they could not yet name.  Inferox was no restraint to his men - he was the most fire-mad among them, revelling in the inferno of destruction.  By contrast, the Eternal Zealots had sated their lust for battle and were engaged in looting the planet's warehouses.  Arelex Orannis longed to take the fight to the insolent invaders and teach them a lesson in person, but he mastered himself and remained focused on his objective.  There was one structure on Narhadul that would have remained beyond Wolzhi Steelblood's saboteurs - the fortified magazine that housed the deadliest munitions of the War Scribes fleet.

Strangely, the War Scribes faced little direct opposition.  A few fire-mad squads of Sons of Fire wandered into their path, but were no match for the Primarch and his Terminator-armoured bodyguard.   Arelex Orannis opened the lock keyed to his unique genetics and psychic imprint and gazed upon the stockpiled weapons, his eyes drawn to the rows of deadly Phosphex torpedoes.  These were world-killers.  Could he kill a world that he had poured so much of his soul into?  The Primarch looked back to the fires and bodies in the streets.  Narhadul was already dying.  Better to stop the torture.  Orannis commanded a few of his men to help rig the torpedoes to detonate while the remainder stood guard.

Setting a watch was a sensible precaution.  Though the Sons of Fire had lost control of themselves, the Eternal Zealots had detected the teleport and Aubrey directed a company of his warriors to investigate.  While Arelex Orannis worked within the magazine, his terminators began to sell their lives in exchange for time to complete the work.  The War Scribes were veterans but their ranks grew thin under the furious assault of Aubrey's gene-sons.  There was no time to set up a delayed detonation.  Orannis looked to Mohxes, the only Librarian who had ever come from the ranks of his Legion, and bade him to signal the Silent Scribe.  Then he detonated the magazine, infecting Narhadul with a vast, deadly green mist.

The pyres set up by the Sons of Fire were nothing compared to the metal-fed Phosphex fires of Narhadul's factories.  Far from the centre of the spreading catastrophe, Aubrey the Grey found Inferox.  The Burned King was so fixated on destruction that he had ceased to heed personal danger and wallowed in the hungry flames.  Aubrey shouted out above the mayhem, telling his brother to make ready for destiny.  Then the Primarch of the Eternal Zealots boarded his shuttle and left Narhadul to its doom.  Inferox only half-heard Aubrey's words, but the approaching Phosphex demanded his full attention.  The destruction of a whole world, gripped by one of the most devastating weapons mankind had ever developed.  This was the purpose of Inferox's life.  It was not beautiful.  It was not pleasurable.  It was simply his essence wrought in the world.  As the Burned King became one with conflagration, the mighty hand of Khorne touched his Champion.  Inferox ascended as the first of the Daemon-Primarchs.

Elsewhere, another son of the Emperor suffered the touch of Phosphex.  Arelex Orannis still lived.  His armour burned, his flesh charred, but he still lived, curled protectively around the personal teleporter housed in his armour's chestplate.  The Primarch would never know how long he endured the fires of Narhadul, but eventually the Silent Scribe managed to dodge its way into range and deliver its master from suffering.  The charred, still burning figure of Arelex Orannis materialised in the cruiser's teleportation bays and croaked one word - ''Airlock''.  The sons of Arelex Orannis did as their father commanded and exposed their father to the Void.  In a hard vacuum, the Phosphex's flames finally went out.