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Galatea Haas

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Galatea Haas was an Arbitrator of the Adeptus Arbites stationed on Terra during the War of the Beast.

History

When the Orks' Attack Moon appeared over Terra, Haas was one of the Arbites mobilized to keep order as the planet's entire population descended into panicked madness. This mobilization was particularly frenzied because the other High Lords of Terra, at a loss for any other response to the Ork threat, shifted responsibility for the crisis to Grand Provost Marshal Zeck, arguing that no important decisions could be made until public order was restored.[1a]

When Speaker Tull and Ecclesiarch Mesring announced the Proletarian Crusade, Haas initially believed that her duty required her to stay on Terra, but her longtime comrade, Ottmar Kord, convinced her to at least accompany him and other Arbites volunteers to the recruiting field. Once there, Haas was swept along with the fervour of the crowd, and filled with hatred on seeing the Attack Moon in orbit, and agreed to join the Crusade.[1b]

Ironically, Kord's nerve began to fail when he saw the Militant Fire, the small, unshielded cargo ship that was meant to convey them through the Ork lines and onto the surface of the Attack Moon. Haas was disgusted to find herself, for the first time in their years of service together, questioning his courage and dedication to duty.[1c] When the Fire, against all odds, managed to land on the Moon's surface, Kord was too petrified to disembark, finally seeing the futility of landing such a small, untrained force on the massive space station. Haas, who had already stepped onto the surface, threatened to shoot him dead if he didn't move, but instead Kord was executed by Commissar Deklan Sever of the 546th Jupiter Storm. Haas showed no grief for her comrade's death, only contempt for his cowardice, and gratitude towards the Commissar for upholding the honor of the Arbites uniform.[1d]

By a freakish miracle, Haas survived the tectonic upheaval engineered by the Orks that instantly annihilated the Crusade force, and was swept by the resulting tsunami of blood and gore into a cavern, beneath the surface of the Moon.[1d] She was captured and enslaved by the Orks, but sheltered by the Longshanks who had been captured earlier.[2a] When the Space Marines of the Last Wall stormed the Attack Moon, she was rescued by the Black Templars, though her Longshanks protectors were slaughtered as mutants. Among the few human survivors rescued, Haas was the only one coherent enough to provide Chapter Master Koorland with useful information, including the location of the Orks' teleport gate[2b], that allowed the Space Marines to sabotage it and temporarily halt the invasion.[2c]

She returned to Terra and was reinstated to duty at the Imperial Palace, with the rank of Proctor.[3] When the apparently dormant Attack Moon re-surged, Koorland tasked her with guiding the newly formed Deathwatch Kill-teams on their strike mission, since she was the only survivor, human or Astartes, who was familiar with the layout of the Moon's interior. Though Koorland was prepared to order her on the mission if necessary, he was surprised and pleased that she agreed to his initial request - she admitted that the thought of returning to the Moon terrified her, but her terror was outweighed by her sense of duty, and also a thirst for revenge against the Orks who had so casually butchered her comrades in the Proletarian Crusade.[4]

She was eventually appointed by Drakan Vangorich as the Grand Provost Marshal's proxy in the Senatorum Imperialis.[5]

Sources