Lufgt Huron

Lufgt Huron "Blackheart" was the Chapter Master of the Astral Claws Space Marine Chapter and the Imperial Governor of the world of Badab in the Ultima Segmentum. Huron Blackheart, as he became known, ultimately turned to Chaos in his ambitious pursuit of power and corrupted most of his Chapter as well, leading them in a rebellion against the Imperium that was known as the Badab War (901-912.M41). He is today the Chaos Lord who leads the surviving Astral Claws, now a band of piratical Chaos Space Marines called the Red Corsairs.

History
In 901.M41, as a result of Lufgt Huron's apparent corruption by Chaos, the Master of the Astral Claws and Lord of Badab attacked and destroyed an Imperial Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator vessel, the Righteous Quest, as it entered orbit around Badab. Huron's action can be understood with the benefit of hindsight. The Adeptus Mechanicus had long complained of the Astral Claws' tardiness in submitting the standard 5% of their gene-seed for routine analysis, whilst the Chapter had not paid its planetary tithes to the Imperium for over a hundred and fifty years. When the Imperium, as directed by the Inquisition, moved against its wayward Chapter, a full scale rebellion was initiated, the most serious of its kind since the end of the Fourth Quadrant Rebellion in 780.M41 and one that ultimately involved four full Space Marine Chapters.

The Tyrant of Badab, as Lufgt Huron became known in Imperial histories, was a power-hungry and ambitious individual who should never have risen to power within a Space Marine Chapter. Huron's megalomania became apparent as he steadily distanced himself from the Imperium, hoarding Badab's planetary tithes for himself. He was plainly a dangerous individual, able in many respects but lacking the absolute dedication to humanity vital in a Lord of the Imperium. It will never be known for sure, but current hypotheses suggest that Huron was either an alien shapechanger, or otherwise subject to alien domination of a most unnatural kind. A sudden and unexpected manifestation of psychic powers may lie at the heart of the matter.

The uprising came to an end in 912.M41 with the fall of Badab and final defeat of the Astral Claws. Before the war was over, the Exorcists, Fire Angels, Salamanders, Space Sharks and Sons of Medusa all became involved for short periods of time, replacing other Chapters as they were needed in different sectors of the galaxy. With the rebellion over, the Executioners, Lamenters and Mantis Warriors were granted the Emperor's forgiveness, subject to undertaking a hundred-year-long Crusade against all of the Imperium's enemies wherever they might be found. The Inquisition forbid these Chapters from recruiting new Space Marines until their penance had been completed. The homeworlds of the Mantis Legion and the Executioners were forfeited to the Space Sharks and the Star Phantoms for their part in aiding the Tyrant of Badab. The other Loyalist Chapters were granted salvage rights to any spacecraft lost by the renegade Chapters and a proportion of the booty captured. The Astral Claws were all but destroyed. Only a contingent of about two hundred of the Renegade Space Marines, now devotees of Chaos Undivided, fought their way through the Exorcists' blockade and escaped into deep space, taking refuge in the Warp rift known as the Maelstrom. Chapter Master Lugft Huron was one of the Astral Claw survivors, though he was badly maimed and required extensive cybernetic enhancement. The Astral Claws then changed their name to the Red Corsairs, becoming a pirate group of Renegade Chaos Space Marines that established a potent Chaotic empire within the Maelstrom to rival that of the Eye of Terror, and Huron adopted the title "Blackheart".