Ghoul Stars Crusade
The Ghoul Stars Crusade was a Black Templars Crusade in late M41[Canon Conflict] against the Cythor Fiends of the Ghoul Stars.[1] It was the 9836th Crusade prosecuted by the Chapter.[2]
Marking High Marshal Helbrecht's first command since becoming Chapter Master of the Black Templars, within years the xenos population of the Cythors' outlying systems had been exterminated and the Crusade pushed towards the aliens' homeworlds.[1] In doing so, the Black Templars reluctantly cooperated with the Death Spectres,[2][3] even though the Chapter predicted that the Xenos would ultimately evade destruction and thus refused to join battle alongside the crusaders.[3] Regardless, a strike group of the Death Spectres led by Captain Naroosh accompanied the Black Templars' main force,[2] while another group organized a vigil at the Sarvakal Cluster, with some of the Death Spectres' ships silently waiting in ambush for years, hoping to catch any Cythor Fiends who fled in the face of the Black Templars.[3]
The Imperials were able to inflict heavy losses on the Cythors, and overall they captured 18 planets during the crusade.[2] When the Black Templars finally arrived at the Cythors' homeworlds,[3] however, they found them to be completely empty.[1] In their frustration, the Black Templars unsuccessfully attempted to destroy 9836-18 Grave Core, the Cythors' former capital planet. Eventually, the Imperials were at least able to set the planet's atmosphere on fire.[2] Before the mystery of the Xenos' disappearance could be fully explored, the Black Templars were diverted to the Third War for Armageddon.[1] The Ordo Xenos consequently documented the Xenos' disappearance, while the Death Spectres continued to look for any signs of the Cythor Fiends,[3] expecting their eventual return to the Ghoul Stars.[2]
Canon Conflict
According to What Wakes in the Dark (Short Story), the Ghoul Stars Crusade ended in 898.M41.[3] In contrast, Codex: Black Templars (4th Edition) states that the crusade was launched in 989.M41.[1]
Related Publications
Sources
- 1: Codex: Black Templars (4th Edition), pg. 44
- 2: The Eternal Crusader (Novella), Chapter 1
- 3: What Wakes in the Dark (Short Story)
