Liberation of Mars
The Liberation of Mars in 015.M31[4] was one of the first battles of the Great Scouring following the loyalist victory in the Horus Heresy.[1a]
History
Mars had fallen to Kelbor-Hal's traitorous New Mechanicum early in the Heresy and had remained under a loyalist blockade until the Solar War, when it was relieved by Horus' newly arrived armada.[2a] The New Mechanicum (or Dark Mechanicum) sent significant forces to the traitor host during the Siege of Terra, but upon the death of Horus most fled back to Mars as the Chaos Space Marines retreated from the Sol System.[1a]
As the loyalist primarchs gathered by Roboute Guilliman and Rogal Dorn met on Terra immediately after the siege, the retaking of Mars in the name of the Emperor was their most urgent immediate priority to the Grand Council of Reconstruction after fully securing the Throneworld and mustering their surviving forces. Leman Russ regarded Mars as his prize for the taking shortly after arriving on Terra.[1b]
Mars eventually was reconquered by loyalist forces and the Adeptus Mechanicus came to rule it while the Dark Mechanicum fled into the Eye of Terror.[3]
Sources
- 1: Ashes of the Imperium (Novel)
- 2: The Solar War (Novel) - Chapter 22
- 3: Imperial Armour - Index: Forces of Chaos, pg. 58
- 4: Warhammer Community: The Scouring timeline – How the Warhammer Studio worked with Black Library authors on the new series (archived from the original 12 March 2026, last accessed 12 March 2026)
