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Mordecai Haarlock

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Mordecai Haarlock was a Rogue Trader and the founder of House Haarlock.[1h]

Biography

Before becoming a Rogue Trader[1h], Mordecai was a Free Captain in the Jericho Sector. He was very wealthy and his holdings spanned across the Sector and several others beyond its borders. This changed, however[1b], when the Age of Apostasy began. When the Imperium fell under the sway of High Lord Goge Vandire, he tightened his control by installing puppet rulers in vital Sectors. Jericho was one them and it became ruled by the Over-Governors, who not only did Vandire's bidding, but also sought to increase their own wealth and power.[1a] This included seizing property, raising the quota-tallies the Sector owed to the Imperium and purging anyone they considered a threat to them. Sometime between 257-262.M36, Mordecai fell victim to this corruption when his estates and vessels were seized from him. The Over-Governors then attempted to have him arrested, but Morecai resisted and slew his would be captors. He then made his escape into the Slinnar Drift, aboard the Spear of Destiny, and swore vengeance against the Over-Governors.[1b]

Mordecai then began a rebellion against their rule in 263.M36, and unlike the ones they faced before, it became well organized and supplied under his command. This began a shadow war across the Jericho Sector and the Over-Governors faced guerrilla ambushes and lightning attacks. Mordecai also had weapons and Priests who had turned against Vandire smuggled to resistance movements across the Sector and neighbouring regions. Terrorist cells, spies, agents, and corsair ships were under his command as well and were unleashed against the Over-Governors' forces. Mordecai soon sat at the centre of countless strands of attacks against them and became known as the Spider Lord. As his infamy spread, his emblem of a golden spider clutching an Imperial Eagle becomes a symbol of hope for those crushed under the Over-Governors' rule. For their forces, however, it became a symbol of fear.[1c]

During the course of the rebellion, in 266.M36, Mordecai was cast out of the Warp at the edge of the Erioch System while aboard the Spear of Destiny. He did not know the system's name, though, and ordered the Spear to travel deeper into it. Unbeknownst to Mordecai, the system was home to the hidden Death Watch Fortress Erioch and the Spear was immediately surrounded by its forces. He and his close associates were then taken aboard the Watch Fortress under guard by Kill-Teams. Three days later, the Death Watch allowed Mordecai and the Spear to leave the system. He never mentioned what occurred within the Watch Fortress during those three days, nor did Mordecai ever enter the Erioch System again.[1d]

In 273.M36, Mordecai's rebellion was greatly aided when he made contact with Flag Captain Durek. He once served Battlefleet Jericho, but had just escaped an assassin sent after him by the Over-Governors, after Durek's sympathies for Sebastian Thor's beliefs came to light. At that time, Thor's army, the Confederation of Light, was steadily destroying the strength of Vandire's rule. Durek had contacts within both Battlefleet Jericho and the Confederation, which were shared with Mordecai after he was convinced to join the rebellion. These greatly aided Mordecai's war effort and led to an alliance with Thor's Confederation.[1e] A deadly blow was struck against the Over-Governors' rule, though, by the Death Watch itself in 275.M36. This occurred after Lord Sector Murella tried to claim several Watch Stations, that she learned the existence of. She could not find out who owned them, but considered them to be a threat to her rule. These Stations were the property of the Death Watch, however, and they fiercely defended them. Any of the Over-Governors' forces sent to claim them were killed, but Murella did not receive word of the Death Watch's attacks. This led her to simply send large armies to the Watch Stations instead, which all met the same fate. Murella eventually discovered who she has been warring with, but by then the Death Watch had slain the best of her warriors and warships. This left the Over-Governors' rule critically weakened[1f] and allowed Mordecai Haarlock's rebellion to strike a devastating blow at their seat of power, Verronus.[1g]

It was invaded by Mordecai's forces in 277.M36, after they drew the remaining Frateris Templar warships in the Sector away, through a diversionary attack on Eleusis. The Free Captain then led an elite force, of unrecorded nature, which defeated Murella's defences. The corrupt Sector Lord was then personally executed by Mordecai, for betraying the ideals and soul of the Imperium. Her fellow Over-Governor, Arch-Cardinal Udo Asterus, attempted to escape, but was hunted down and torn apart by a lynch mob.[1g] Their deaths extremely weakened High Lord Goge Vandire's hold on the Jericho Sector. It was finally broken when the Age of Apostasy ended after Vandire's death. In its aftermath, some Imperial sources stated that Mordecai had been expected to rule the Jericho Sector as its new Sector Lord. However, he was instead granted a Warrant of Trade by Sebastian Thor and became a Rogue Trader. This effectively banished Mordecai, who would go on to create the House Haarlock Dynasty. Some think this was by design, as Mordecai was at best too dangerous and resourceful a person to be entrusted with ruling a Sector. To the Imperium, once the Age of Apostasy was over, Mordecai's usefulness was at an end as well.[1h]

Almost a century later, in 395.M36, Mordecai vanished from the Imperium and took his fleet with him. What ties, if any, he kept with the Jericho Sector remain unknown. However, his connection to the later founding of the Calixis Sector, which has now become inextricably linked to Jericho, is a matter shrouded in mystery that has troubled many within the Inquisition.[1h]

Sources