Great Scouring (Hektor Heresy)

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

Great Scouring
Date	014.M31 to 021.M31
Scale	Galactic
Theatre	The Milky Way Galaxy
Status	Imperial Victory
Belligerents
Imperium of Mankind	Chaos
Commanders and Leaders
Alexandri of Rosskar Roman Albrecht Shakya Vardhana Arelex Orannis Brennus Gaspard Lumey Onyx the Indestructible	Aubrey The Grey The Voidwatcher Cromwald Walgrun Inferox Johannes Vrach Uriel Salazar Rogerius Merrill Tollund Ötztal
Strength
The depleted Loyalist Space Marine Legions and supporting forces.	The depleted Traitor Space Marine Legions and supporting forces
Losses
tens of thousands of Space Marines approximately one and a half trillion other military casualties	tens of thousands of Space Marines approximately one trillion other military casualties
Outcome
Chaos forces driven from the Imperium. Most Traitor Legions head to the Eye of Terror.

The Great Scouring was a massive counter-offensive by the Imperial forces loyal to the Imperium of Mankind against the Traitor Legions that had backed Hektor Cincinnatus in the Hektor Heresy. Although the Loyalists succeeded in their campaign, by the end of the Scouring their forces were exhausted.

Prelude

Hektor's betrayal ended the Great Crusade of Makind and ravaged the Imperium. His Traitor Legions divided and battered the Loyalist Legions, starting with the near-destruction of the Scale Bearers and the death of their Primarch Tiran Osoros. The stubborn resistance of the defenders of Terra, led by the ruthless Alexandri of Rosskar staved off Hektor's attack on humanity's capital until Loyalist forces from the fringes of the Imperium could concentrate for a counter-attack. Though Hektor was slain by the Emperor at the gates of the Imperial Palace, Aubrey The Grey succeeded in rending the Warp in the catacombs of Terra. The Emperor's psychic might was enough to seal the breach and prevent a new Eye of Terror from opening, but this task exhausted Him and by the end of the campaign humanity's great leader was a withered husk interred in the Golden Throne. His last order to the Loyalist Primarchs was to take the fight back to the Traitors and drive them from the Imperium.

However, the Loyalist Primarchs were divided among themselves. By decree of Malcador the Sigilite, Alexandri of Rosskar was Warmaster and military dictator of the Imperium but he was unpopular. The Solar System, including the tech-priests of Mars, supported Alexandri whole-heartedly and the inscrutable Shakya Vardhana at least said nothing against him. In opposition, Roman Albrecht, Onyx the Indestructible, and Gaspard Lumey formed a bloc, with the sterling reputation of the Lord-Knight backed up by huge forces sworn to Lumey. Arelex Orannis and Brennus, arriving late to the Sol Sector, generally favoured Roman as their leader. At the invitation of Shakya Vardhana, the Primarchs met on the little Warp Runner Devotion of Illobian to settle their differences.

Despite being strongly supported by his brothers, Roman Albrecht spoke for continuing the war under Alexandri's command. The Lord-Knight argued that it was not the place of the diminished Military Council to pick their own leaders or choose their strategic objectives. The Emperor had given supreme authority to the Council of Terra and if that body was satisfied with Alexandri as Warmaster then the Primarchs should be too. If this move took the master of the Silver Cataphracts off-guard, Alexandri did not show any surprise and was quick to offer concessions. He announced to the gathered Primarchs that his tenure as Warmaster could only last until the Traitors had been driven back and substantially defeated. After that, Alexandri would resign his post and it would be up to the Council of Terra to decide who, if anyone, would succeed him. The other Primarchs could hardly differ when Roman and Alexandri agreed. Onyx the Indestructible praised this brotherly solution and boasted that victory over the Traitors would be easy by comparison, but Gaspard Lumey was unusually laconic and merely nodded his assent.