Badge of the Dark Angels Legion
Hector Thrane was the first Grandmaster of the Ist Legion of the Legiones Astartes. Thrane commanded the Legion during the Unification Wars on Terra and in the early years of the Great Crusade until his death in action on the world of Canis-Balor while leading a fighting withdrawal of his Legion following an unsuccessful assault against a powerful xenos species.
History[]
Hector Thrane was a Terran-born Space Marine who was part of the Ist Legion's earliest intake of recruits. He took part in his Legion's earliest recorded campaign during the Unification Wars on Terra at Samerkend in 668.M30. Here, the the Ist Legion would demonstrate their potential as a true army and that in their unity they could withstand any onslaught. Taking to the field en masse for the first time, assembled with the Emperor Himself at their head, they numbered near 10,000 Legionaries while their kin of the other Legions were still but a few hundred each, for they were a true Legion.
At Samarkend the Legiones Astartes faced their first true test, not a test of individual strength or genetic purity, but a test of their worth as an army. Flanked by contingents of four other Legions, they took the field against 200,000 gene-forged Udug Hul, the elite slave-soliders of the Great King of Akkad. The Udug Hul, whose blood was poison and whose strength was greater than 10 un-enhanced warriors, were the terror of the Upper Asiatic Basin and a foe that had so far resisted the advance of the Emperor's armies.
Ten solar hours after battle was joined, Samerkend was in ruins, the Udug Hul scattered and broken and the Great King of Akkad's head was a macabre trophy on the belt of the newly-appointed Grandmaster of the Ist Legion. This warrior, Hector Thrane, was lauded by the princes of Terra for his victory and granted the title "Sinestra of the Emperor, the left hand of the Warlord of Terra, His most fearsome instrument of conquest."
This particular campaign proved the worth of the Legiones Astartes as a viable army and Thrane went on to lead the Ist Legion against the Emperor's foes on both Terra and across the Sol System. Though the Ist Legion achieved momentous victories, the use of Exterminatus-class weapons to achieve their aims left an indelible stain on both the course of their campaigns and the soul of the Ist Legion.
By the beginning of the Great Crusade, the Grandmaster's actions had forged Thrane into a ruthless and prideful warlord. His continued success saw Thrane's meteoric rise and influence within the early Imperial Court, so much so that Thrane's counsel to the Emperor was second only to that of the Regent of Terra Malcador the Sigillite and Primarch Horus Lupercal. However, such prominence and success caused both the Grandmaster and his Legion to develop an air of extreme arrogance that led them to believe they could not be defeated. This proved to be their undoing when they faced an unnamed xenos species on the world of Canis-Balor.
Suffering numerous casualties, the Ist Legion was put on the back foot and forced to make a tactical withdrawal in the face of the dangerous foe's superior technology which defied rational explanation. Eventually, Thrane personally led another invasion of Canis-Balor after becoming enraged at both the losses and the marring of his and his Legion's sterling reputation. Under the Grandmaster's direct command, the Ist Legion's forces cut a swathe through the xenos, but could not overcome their superior numbers.
This led to the Ist Legion's near-destruction at the hands of the powerful xenos, at which point Thrane realised his hubris and pride had brought The First to the point of ruination. Seeing the futility of continuing the invasion, Thrane immediately ordered the Ist Legion to evacuate the surface of Canis-Balor. As they began to do so, Thrane and his lifeguard acted as a rearguard against the advancing xenos, valiantly sacrificing themselves in order to ensure their battle-brothers were able to successfully retreat. Once the evacuation had been completed, Canis-Balor was destroyed by an Exterminatus action. Shortly after, Thrane was succeeded as Grandmaster of The First by Urian Vendraig.
Sources[]
- The Horus Heresy Book Nine: Crusade (Forge World Series), pp. 84-85, 119