The Ghoul Stars Crusade was the very first Crusade launched by High Marshal Helbrecht in 990.M41 after he attained his rank as the Black Templars' new High Marshal. This was a dangerous decision as no Imperial expedition had ever returned from the desolate region of space known as the Ghoul Stars.
The Black Templars were intent on finally vanquishing the hostile alien species known only as the "Cythor Fiends" of the Ghoul Stars. The battles were bloody but decisive, and after eight Terran years the xenos population was all but destroyed, and the Black Templars began to push in towards the aliens' homeworld, a gas giant designated 9836-18 Grave Core. Upon reaching the Cythor Fiends' core star systems, they were found to be eerily empty.
9836-18 Grave Core served as the capital world of the Cythor Fiends' civilisation. It is unknown by what name the planet was called by the Cythor Fiends. 9836-18 Grave Core is the Imperial designation, with the number signifying it was the eighteenth world conquered during the Ghoul Stars Crusade.
Grave Core was a mid-sized gas giant which appeared blue from high orbit. Its atmosphere was toxic and extremely cold, unfit for most intelligent species. High Marshal Helbrecht noted that the world closely resembled Neptune in the Sol System.
Grave Core was regarded by the Cythor Fiends as their primary homeworld in the region. The xenos had erected platforms in the world's atmosphere that supported their great crystal fortress-cities. The Astartes of the Death Spectres Chapter who accompanied the Black Templars in the Crusade hinted that they had once also assaulted Grave Core, just as the Black Templars now did, but had also found it deserted by the xenos.
The Black Templars had expected the Cythor Fiends to make their last stand of the Ghoul Stars Crusade there, but the entire species had already apparently fled the planet. Furious, the Black Templars attempted to destroy the world by unleashing an Exterminatus action, but failed even at that as the world seemed to be able to resist any form of damage through unknown means.
As an alternative, the Black Templars then destroyed the Cythor Fiends' orbital platforms and tried to ignite the world's atmosphere by bombarding it with their armada. This took an unnaturally long time, and the Death Spectres' Captain Naroosh remarked that whatever the Imperials did to the gas giant, it would not matter in the long run, as the Cythor Fiends always returned to reclaim the worlds of their realm.
No trace of the aliens was ever found, but before a proper investigation could be launched, a desperate call for help came from the besieged Hive World of Armageddon. High Marshal Helbrecht immediately contacted Marshals Ricard and Amalrich, and began to co-ordinate a massive counteroffensive on the Ork WAAAGH! Ghazghkull. Three separate Black Templar Crusades descended on the Hive World of Armageddon in 998.M41. The Third War for Armageddon had begun, and no more time or effort could be reserved for the mystery of the Cythor Fiends.
Sources[]
- Codex: Black Templars (4th Edition), pg. 44
- The Eternal Crusader (Novella) by Guy Haley, Ch. 1