Unification Wars (Hektor Heresy)

This article is about a battle in the /tg/ Heresy project, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40k universe.

A warrior of the Unification Wars poses with his slugthrower.

The Unification Wars were a series of conflicts fought on Terra in the second half of the thirtieth Millenium.

This section contains fractured information at best. Scholars at the time were busy keeping knowledge from being lost, and not at all occupied with updating it with current events. Warriors dominated the scarred ashen wastes of Terra at the same time. The highlights of this era are the rise of the Imperium, the foundation of the Space Marine Legions, the rise of Hektor the King of the Sun, and the union of Terra and Mars under the rule of the Emperor of Mankind.

Pacification of the Merican Hives

First deployment of the Space Marines. Hektor Cincinnatus leads the Sacred Band of two hundred Battle Brothers. This formation was intended to have one squad from each of what would become the Legiones Astartes, but in addition to the glorious First Squad, the Sacred Band's lieutenants all bore Hektor's own gene-seed. Among the more famous contingents of the Sacred Band, the "Tempest Knights" of the Tenth Squad were so successful that they were diverted south to spearhead attacks on Brasilia.

Others developed their doctrine. The Fourth Squad, the nameless Sixth Squad, and the battered Twelfth Squad took on the assault role. Eighth Squad showed an impressive tactical acumen. The "Imperial Riders" of the Seventeenth Squad were fast attack. The snipers of Nineteenth Squad guarded their battle brothers from afar, while the "Tarnished Ten" in the Twentieth Squad ranged ahead as headhunters. Second Squad and Twenty-Eighth Squad specialized in heavy weapons.

Three squads came into ill-repute. Fifth Squad were tragically slain by Thunder Warriors. Sixteenth Squad suffered from excessive adrenaline and took heavy losses. Fifteenth Squad made callous use of civilians.

Sa'Afrik Liberation

Fourth Legion

Pacification of the Boeotian Lowlands

The Boeotian Lowlands was a collection of hives which had been in turmoil since the beginning of the Long Night. The hives were surrounded by enemies and under constant assault. Their times of peace were short lived and marked with massive attempts at fortification. As The Emperor began his march Eastward, the nobility of Boeotia took notice. This was not the normal rabble of techno-barbarians. These invaders were organized and highly motivated. They fought with a ferociousness and determination not seen in millennia. The Lord of Boeotia, King Aren Yeselti, dispatched messengers and ambassadors to strike an alliance. On the surface it was an obvious bid for power and authority if the Unification was successful. His true reason was to keep his autonomy. He sent spies and defectors into his enemy camps to goad them into attacking or rallying against this new power to keep them from attacking his holdings. With his machinations in place, he began building fortifications and defenses with an industry the Hives had never seen before. Hundreds of thousands died building walls, ramparts, and trenches in preparation for the eventuality of the Emperor reaching his estates.

As the Emperor's army swept through Albia, requests were made for their allies to attack from the southeast and eliminate them. No assistance or flanking troops ever arrived. Ambassadors were sent to Boeotia for inquiry, only to find the region closed to outsiders and readied for war. The Emperor extended a line of dialogue, only to receive responses that the Lowlands wished to remain autonomous. This was not acceptable within the Emperor's plan, and his armies marched towards the walls. Despite sending Thunder Warriors and the Old Hundred, the Boeotian defenses held. Hektor volunteered to bring the Emperor's wrath on the enemies, by dispatching the XX Legion. Commander Yon Mikneli took vested interest in the action and began planning immediately.

The assault was broken down into several parts. The Ash Wraiths sent a small infiltrating force through a waste pipe past the initial defenses. Once inside, they located a large ammunition dump near the front lines of the city. They emplaced charges and evacuated further into enemy lines, detonating the explosives and causing an explosion large enough to tear a whole through multiple lines and the Hives' outermost walls. Assault elements of the Twentieth moved quickly inside, killing wounded survivors of the blast and causing dropping explosive charges and traps for enemy soldiers. On their heels were the Thunder Warriors to deliver the brunt of the attack, supported by artillery and armor of the Old Hundred.

The scouting forces moved ever inwards, breaching walls and defensive lines to assist the main attack while moving ever toward the Boeotian landing pads. Once secured, the assembled troops hijacked the Boeotian aircraft and crashed them into King Yeselti's palace. His guards stood little chance as the Ash Wraiths disembarked, volkite chargers and chainaxes at the ready. Dawn rose on a Boeotia without a royal family and the Imperial Aquila hanging from its palaces.

The Siege of Yerushabim

Eighteenth Legion

Pacification of the Cephic Hives

The sprawling Cephic Hives were blighted by residues of their long-standing biochemical industry. More daunting still were the mutated Cephic clone-soldiers, an army of twins made individual by their cancerous environment.

First Pacification of Luna

Terra's celestial companion held within it scores of genetic-artisans who mixed mysticism with science. These savants considered themselves above servitude to the Emperor of Earth, spurning repeated attempts at diplomacy. As the Unification Wars drew to a close, the Emperor determined to force a decision and dispatched the formidable First Legion, Seventh and Tenth Legions under the command of Hektor Cincinnatus. Hektor had protested the presence of the Seventh and Tenth, claiming that the First could bring Luna into the Imperium on their own. This was not mere vanity. An agent of the Eclipse Queen, Pallas Eugenesis, had made the Primarch aware that at least one of Luna's gene-cults wished for a further round of negotiation - providing that Hektor Cincinnatus would attend in person.

Informing the masters of the Seventh and Tenth that he would lead an advanced strike to secure their landing zone, Hektor departed to meet with Pallas. The tale of their meeting has been told and retold in countless varieties of truth and fiction, but it is clear that the talks ended in an alliance, to be sealed by a political marriage between the two genetically-engineered leaders. With the aid of Pallas's domain, the Imperial forcs were able to land on Luna safely, though the fighting was far from over. Hektor chose to assign his own men to defend the landing zone, while unleashing Anton Kantner and Nikomedes to savage the enemy gene-wrights. The Seventh were particularly effective, tearing a bloody swathe through their opponents and being lauded by Hektor as "the Lunar Lions" for their courage and valour. Betrayed by one of their number and confronted by mighty foes, the lords of Luna submitted to the Emperor's will.

This victory opened up countless doorways to the Imperium. With Luna secured, the fledgling empire was able to make meaningful contact with their Martian brethren. Meanwhile, Pallas Eugenesis established government across the moon in the name of her new father-in-law, using her own trusted servants to swiftly rebuild the gene-forges damaged during the conquest. Her rule would prioritise the needs of the First Legion, though Pallas was not fool enough to defy the Emperor's demand that the other Legions' gene-seed be produced as well.

The Marr Ina Escalade

In the bitter conflict with Narthan Dume's Pan-Pacific Empire, the cliffs of Marr Ina formed a natural roadblock to the Emperor's forces. The mad Tyrant used these outcrops as a shield, allowing his best troops to be deployed elsewhere.

Taking of the Great Scar

The Western half of the Merican continent boasted a truly vast canyon, carved by the slow march of the Blood River. In aeons past, the Scar had been home to normal wildlife, but the years had seen an ever increasing number of invaders. During the Unification wars, the Great Scar was home to a band of twisted geneticists and their mutated horrors, known among themselves as the Men of the Snake. When these ghoulish beings waylaid a squad of Thunder Warriors, the Emperor knew he could not allow his own weapons to be turned against him. He called for the Eleventh Legion of Space Marines to wipe the Men of the Snake, and all their research, from the face of Terra.

Battle of Mount Ararat

Fought in the Kingdom of Urartu during the year 798.M30, this was last bloody clash in the unification of Terra. The legendary Thunder Warriors lead the campaign in Urartu, supported by the XIIIth Legion. Records state that the Thunder Warriors died to a man in this engagement, sacrificing themselves for the future of humanity. However, their have been quiet claims that a very different set of events occurred at Mount Ararat that day, and that the XIIIth involvement was not as it first seemed... With Terra united under the Emperor's rule, the Great Crusade could begin.