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|Name ={{PAGENAME}}
|Image =SolarWarMapBig.jpg
|Image caption=Organization Organisation of Imperial Defenses in the [[Sol System]]
|Conflict =[[Horus Heresy]]
|Date =010-014.[[M31]]
With the [[Emperor]] preoccupied with the [[War Within the Webway]] and [[Malcador the Sigillite]] waging the [[Shadow Wars]], it was left with [[Imperial Fists]] [[Primarch]] [[Rogal Dorn]] to oversee the defences of both [[Terra]] and the greater [[Sol System]]. The defences of the [[Imperial Palace]] were significantly strengthened, and much of its aesthetic was destroyed in favour of strategic defensibility.{{Fn|4}} Following the [[Schism of Mars]], [[Kelbor-Hal]]'s [[Dark Mechanicus]] was victorious in claiming the Red Planet, but an Imperial blockade trapped the traitors on their own world.{{Fn|1}}
As [[Horus]]' forces inched closer to Terra, Dorn organized organised the defenses of the Sol System into a series of Spheres. Each consisted of not only Imperial Fists forces, but also loyalist [[Imperial Army]] and [[Mechanicum]].{{Fn|3}} By the closing phase of the battle Dorn held back most of his Astartes forces on Terra in preparation for the siege.{{Fn|6}}
*The '''First Sphere''' was the outermost defensive zone from [[Pluto]] to [[Neptune]].{{Fn|2a}} It was commanded by [[First Captain]] [[Sigismund]]{{Fn|3}} at Pluto.{{Fn|6a}}
For the next several years, the loyalists would counter traitor-instigated uprisings and attempted breakouts by the Dark Mechanicus on Mars.{{Fn|1}}
The [[Alpha Legion]] announced its entry into the Solar War by exploding the freighter ''[[Primigenia]]'' over Terra, killing millions by raining debris. This was accompanied by Alpha Legion organized organised uprisings at Terra's Damocles Starport and [[Wikipedia: Triton (moon)|Triton]]. All of this culminated in the first major battle of the Solar War, the [[Battle of Pluto]]. The battle saw the [[Alpha Legion]] drive on [[Pluto]], linchpin of the loyalist monitoring of the Sol System. During the battle, a fleet of over 200 Alpha Legion warships assaulted the planet, but after [[Alpharius]] himself was seemingly killed by [[Rogal Dorn]] the traitors retreated.{{Fn|2b}} For several years after, the Imperials continually dealt with attempts by the Dark Mechanicum to break out of their cage around Mars as well as Alpha Legion attacks and [[Cultist]] activity.{{Fn|6}}
===Final Phase===
====First Sphere====
At Pluto commanding from the [[Frigate]] ''[[Three Sisters of Spite|Lachrymae]]'', Sigismund decimated the initial waves of primarily traitor [[Imperial Army]] vessels which arrived through the Khthonic Gate with not only his fleet but also the Moons of the world, which had now been transformed into gigantic gun-fortresses. However as the traitors arrived in ever-increasing numbers the Sons of Horus finally began to appear, using the ships of their allies as shields to begin to fire back. Soon Horus Aximand himself aboard the [[Battle Barge]] ''[[Throne of the Underworld]]'' translated from the [[Warp]], leading a massive push that saw landings on the fortress-moons. Most of the incoming attacks were by savage [[Newborn (Horus Heresy)|Newborn]] Sons of Horus. One by one, the Newborn Astartes boarded the moons and unleashed [[Scrap Code]] that either disabled its defenses or turned them to Horus' cause, resulting in the moons beginning to fire on one another. After the moon of [[Wikipedia: Kerberos (moon)|Kerberos]] fell, Sigismund ordered his fleet retreat. The Sons of Horus pursued, walking into the loyalist trap as Sigismund had loyalist [[Mechanicum]] [[Tech-Priest]]s unleash data-jinns into the power reactor complex of the moon. Kerberos exploded, decimating and scattering the pursuing traitor fleet. At this moment, Sigismund had his fleet turn back around and launched a vicious counterattack on the traitors. In an attempt to reverse the situation, Aximand personally led an assault on the ''Lachrymae'' to decapitate the loyalist command. In a clash between the Sons of Horus and Sigismund's [[Templar]]s, Aximand and Sigismund dueled. Horus Aximand slew the Templar Lieutenant [[Boreas (Imperial Fists)|Boreas]] and wounded Sigismund, but the First Captain of the Imperial Fists was able to teleport away aboard the nearby Frigate ''Persephone'', severing one of Aximand's hands as he retreated. Though wounded, Aximand successfully captured the ''Lachrymae'' and organized organised a counterattack that broke the loyalist fleet at Pluto. Sigismund ordered a withdraw towards Terra, informing Rogal Dorn that the First Sphere had fallen after several days of fighting.{{Fn|6c}}
====Second Sphere====
Meanwhile, Ahzek Ahriman's Thousand Sons force, accompanied by Word Bearers and their cultist-slaves under the [[Apostle of the Unspeaking]], moved on [[The Comet]] between [[Venus]] and Terra, capturing it from light [[Servitor]] defenses and beginning a great sacrificial ritual prepared on the orders of [[Lorgar]] years prior. The ritual depended on an absolute timetable, having to be initiated at a precise celestial alignment in the Sol System that had not been seen since the [[Age of Strife]]. As Ahriman and the Word Bearers conducted their ritual, Abaddon's remaining Sons of Horus contingent emerged over [[Luna]]. The moon's defensive ring sported defenses greater than entire [[Expeditionary Fleet]]s, and with the ''Phalanx'' inbound Abaddon's relatively small fleet seemed doomed to a quick death. However at the exact moment that Ahriman's ritual on The Comet was reaching its crescendo, Abaddon plunged his Battle Barge ''[[War Oath]]'' into the defensive ring around Luna as he and his warriors teleported aboard the moons surface. The kamikaze attack blew a 20 kilometer long gap into Luna's defensive ring as Ahriman departed The Comet, which became an epicenter for a massive black scar in reality which briefly blocked out the sun itself. From this tear in realspace came tens of thousands of traitor vessels including the full might of the [[World Eaters]], Thousand Sons, and Emperor's Children. Besides conventional warships, this force also included hordes of winged [[Daemon]]s. At the head of this impossibly vast armada's head was [[Angron]] standing atop the battlements of the ''[[Conqueror (Ship)|Conqueror]]'', [[Fulgrim]] aboard the ''[[Pride of the Emperor]]'', and [[Horus]] himself commanding from the ''[[Vengeful Spirit]]''. The new arrivals struck towards Luna, annihilating and scattering [[Battlefleet Solar]] and the Lunar defensive network.{{Fn|6e}} On Luna's surface, a [[Justaerin]] and Word Bearers assault under Abaddon and Layak eventually succeeded in securing the coveted [[Selenar]] [[Gene-Seed]] technology that had been used to create the original [[Astartes]]. The presiding Selenar Matriarch, [[Heliosa-78]], ultimately chose to side with Horus than carry out her orders from Dorn to destroy her precious gene-tech before it could fall into traitor hands.{{Fn|6f}}
Dorn attempted to organize organise a counterattack aboard the ''Phalanx'', but another one of Horus' trump cards took effect. The [[Remembrancer]] [[Mersadie Oliton]], who had been brought aboard the battlestation by [[Garviel Loken]] due to an urgent need to speak to the Primarch, was revealed to have been unknowingly corrupted by [[Maloghurst]] years prior. From a warp-eye placed on her, the [[Daemon]] [[Samus]] emerged directly into the bowels of the ''Phalanx''. Dorn's own command bridge was assailed by both Daemonic hordes and Samus' madness and in desperation the Primarch unleashed his [[Librarian]]s which had been interred aboard the station since the [[Council of Nikaea]]. Not even the arrival of Sigismund's reinforcements from Pluto could turn the tide. Dorn fought Samus himself, but every time the Daemon died he was reborn by possessing one of the many nearby corpses. To end Samus' rampage, a distraught Oliton threw herself into the ''Phalanx'' reactor chamber, with her death closing the portal from which the Daemons were able to manifest. Though the ''Phalanx'' was now secure, victory in the Sol System was now impossible. Luna had fallen, Mars was rapidly being relieved, and Horus' armadas were closing in all around them. Dorn ordered that the Imperial Army [[Admiral]] [[Niora Su-Kassen]] take the ''Phalanx'' out into the outer Solar System in order to save it from certain destruction while he returned to Terra aboard Sigismund's Frigate ''Persephone''. The surviving loyalist vessels in Luna's orbit either fled into the void or docked in Terra's atmosphere.{{Fn|6f}}
==Aftermath==
