So, without further ado;
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The (Maelstrom Zone) was and remains a vast sweep of wilderness space located galactic west/south-west/south of the Maelstrom itself using the standard form. The vast span of void space dwarfs many Imperial sectors in size, containing over a thousand observed star systems and in truth was never more than a cartographical and administrative division, and not by any means a truly coherent realm.
Astrogation in the Imperium is done using three galactical cardinal points. Also, most Imperial sectors contain considerably less than a thousand observed systems.
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Why the Imperium bothers with such a dangerous and troublesome region of space. An interesting point about planets being moved by unnatural means.The worlds of the zone, often originally rogues and exiles from the Galactic Core expelled in ages past by effects both natural and unnatural, are a fountainhead of many rare minerals, isotopes and crystalline deposits all but unknown further from the Galactic Centre, and seldom so accessible. It is this wealth that has drawn mankind to the zone time and again despite its manifold hazards and difficulties, and indeed their is ready evidence of humanity's presence in the region as far back as the Dark Age of Technology.
A little background on the political and economic situation. No doubt Badab's importance laid the foundations for subsequent events.Slowly, during the 38th and 39th millenia, several important Imperial outposts within the Maelstrom Zone rose to prominence and strength within the region. This handful of vital worlds formed the links in a distant chain that allowed the resources of the Maelstrom Zone to flow from its hazardous depths into the coffers of more established sectors beyond the stellar arm. The three most important links in this chain were the star systems of Cygnax, Sagan, and Badab, each an island of Imperial civilisation in this anarchic sea.
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Interesting information on the physical makeup of the Maelstrom. Evidently it is somewhat different from the Eye of Terror, which is generally described as a roiling mass of raw magic and nastiness. It seems fair to say that the proverbial veil is rather thin in the Maelstrom. That particular section goes on to mention to presence of Psycheneuein, and that there are around twenty major Ork infestations and pirate kingdoms in the Maelstrom. The presence of Orks implies that they are either highly resistant to the ill-effects of the Warp, or else the leakage is not enough to affect them.Located near the dense stellar masses of the Galactic Core in a near linear path between the Core and Holy Terra, the Maelstrom covers an area many hundreds of Light Years across, and its presence in space is marked by a vast, slowly turning gyre comprised of nebulae, dust and stellar material in which countless stars and worlds have long been lost.
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An uprising in the tens of thousands, with Chaos Space Marine backup, was more than a hive world's garrison could manage, even with loyal Space Marine assistance. Then again, considering that Necromundan gangs can get access to large amounts of military-grade firepower, including anti-vehicle weapons, it isn't all that strange. It would be even less strange if the Reborn or other interested parties had been providing the cultists with organisation and training for an extended period beforehand. Considering that hiveworlds tend to have populations in the double-digit billions, the numbers are rather small, suggesting that the uprising was more like an insurgency or limited to a relatively small area. That they controlled only a part of the defence network can be taken as further evidence of a small-scale affair. As for the missile firepower, a portion of the planetary defence arsenal not only caused a nuclear winter and significant tectonic disturbance, but actually succeeded in shifting the planet's orbit.Backed by the intervention of the dread Chaos Space Marine warband known as the Reborn, the planet rapidly fell into bloody civil war between the Imperial garrison and death cult nihilists who swelled up from the deep hive sinks in their tens of thousands, indiscriminately killing and raising entire city districts heedless of the consequences. Despite the intervention of the Mantis Warriors Space Marine Chapter, which itself had made a home in the nearby Endymion Cluster, the death toll rose swiftly into the millions. Unchecked the death cultists gained access to part of the defence missile silo network, and in a suicidal rage unleashed a rain of atomic and plasma warheads which shattered its hive cities and succeeded in disrupting the planet's orbit for several years. The reuslting permanent winter, radioactive fallout and tectonic upheavals annihilated all life on Cygnax.
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In 4 512 718.M41 a failed palace coup on Badab Primaris led to an abortive civil war on the hive world, and the Astral Claws setepped in and brutally crushed the conflict. In the aftermath, elements behind the coup were revealled under interrogation to have connections to raiders and off-world smuggling rings, which they had used as a source of arms and tainted drugs to fuel the failed uprising. The matter was then brought before Lugft Huron for judgement as riots and petty revolts began to flare up once more across the planet. Lugft Huron, outraged that such a betrayal could fester behind his back, and mindful of the lesson of Cygnax, resolved to take matters in hand personally. The Space Marines of the Astral Claws swiftly re-imposed order once more on Badab Primaris, this time employing shattering force and executing much of the planet's ruling class, as well as purging its hives of anyone they percieved as morally recidivist. Lufgt Huron took on the mantle of planetary ruler as well. Styling himself the 'Tyrant of Badab', he claimed the Badab sector (the cluster of inhabited worlds in proximity to the relatively hospitable region of void around the Badab system) as his Chapter fiefdom, "To better protect these worlds and those souls that dwell upon them in the glory of the Emperor," echoing in his pronouncement the example and precedents of the sovereign realm of Ultramar and the Warder's charter.
So it begins. Interesting that Huron should use the Realm of Ultramar as a precedent for his (at that point probably well-intentioned) power grab. I doubt he was the first or the last.
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The wholesale purging of the ruling elites of the nearby systems soon followed and in the decades afterward, a number of Astral Claws 'watch bastions' were established, while Huron's chosen servants and political allies were placed in positions of power, effectively turning the Badab sector into a pocket empire at the command of the Astral Claws. Huron's power was further cemented by the creation of what became known as 'the Tyrant's Legion' in a massive reorganisation of the uneven and often isolationist native planetary defence forces in the region. These forces now followed a standard dictated by Huron as well as a unified command structure. Astral Claws detachments were assigned to further their training to purge them of weak elements. By 790 M41 the defence of the Badab sector was stronger than at any point in its history, the Tyrant's Legion's worth proved in the repulsion of separate corsair raids on Decabalus and Mynestra Station.
Huron tightens his grip. It would seem that organisation on a sector-wide basis can greatly improve a sector's ability to defend itself. A Space Marine chapter is not to be sneezed at either.
This is probably why Astartes chapters are generally not allowed to start their own empires. I get the impression Terra would have been more sympathetic if Huron did not insist on mucking up the Segmentum economy just so he can build himself a new palace. This situation does show that Astartes chapters are very much a part of the Imperium's power structure, in contrast to some portrayals in which they are totally cloistered and aloof.After further requests to redistribute resources from the Maelstrom Zone were denied, Huron withheld Badab Primaris' planetary tithe to the Administratum and futher blocked the passage of trade through his realms in protest over the Adepta's failure to provide him and his allies with sufficient resources to police the Maelstrom. This had a double effect as much of Badab's output was actually made up through the refinement of ores and crystals garnered from the scattered mining outposts of the Pale Stars region of the Maelstrom. Additionally, as the main viable Warp routes in the area passed through Badab Primaris, the bulk of the supply of minerals from this vital region had been cut off as well.
The Tyrant of Badab couched this refusal in the terms of the Astral Claws' role as defenders of the Maelstrom Zone, diverting the industrial resource and manpower he commandeered to directly supplement the Badab Sector's defences as well as augment the Maelstrom Fleet detachment and fortify key worlds under his purview. In the Badab system this was manifested as a massive increase in space-based defences encircling the outer and inner spheres in a 'Ring of Steel.' While on Badab Primaris, Lugft Huron ordered demolished the ancient citadel of the ruling dominars and instead erected what was to become the legendary, hugely fortified 'Palace of Thorns' to his own specifications and design.
The ongoing political situation was cause for heated controversy and bitter argument within the Adeptus Terra and the Segmentum Courts Temporal over broken charters and contracts. At its crux was a fault line that had long slept beneath the rigid structure of Imperial Law; the clashing entitlement of the Administratum to the Imperial tithe and the ancient rights of Astartes commanders to defend the Imperium by any means necessary. This furore became swiftly known to observers as the Badab Schism, and would last for more than a century and a half, during which the military operations of the Astral Claws and the Maelstrom Warders were to carry on as usual against a backdrop of worsening tensions with the Administratum and Segmentum authorities.
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One would think they would know the signs by now. One would also think they would know better than to spend extended periods inside a warp rift. Then again, it didn't do Uriel Ventris much harm. A nice little philosophical musing there, that the qualities that can make someone a hero can also make them a villain.The Tyrant at Bay
Court records from this period picture Lugft Huron as uncharacteristically taciturn and withdrawn on his return from the Maelstrom, either locking himself away in the Chapter's archives for days on end and refusing to see anyone, or keeping long silent vigils alone in the Fortress-Monastery's Panopticon-Solar, gazing unblinking for hours at holospheres depicting the breadth of the Maelstrom Zone and the baleful vortex that dominated its stars. Some observers have gone on to say that it was during this time that Lugft Huron fell from grace; that denied again the goals he had spent his life fighting for; to see his ultimate glory snatched from his hands at the last by those he should call master and ally unhinged him, or that he gave in to hubris and false pride. Some have gone so far as to suggest that during the Crusade of Wrath, deep within the nightmarish vortex of the Maelstrom some strange taint, alien or warp-whispered, wormed its way into his heart. But this perhaps is too simple and unlikely an answer, and it is just as likely that the darkness in Lugft Huron's soul was no more or less than the same empyrean fire that called him to greatness and made him such an effective and innovative warrior, as so many of his once-brother Space Marines were to soon find out to their cost.
