18,817
edits
Changes
From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
m
→The Crusade Underway: clean up, replaced: rumor → rumour
In the revised plan the first fleet to see action was ''[[Indomitus Crusade Fleet Tertius|Fleet Tertius]]'' under Fleetmaster [[Cassandra VanLeskus]], which took [[Olmec]]{{Fn|19}} and battled the [[Khornate]] [[Crusade of Slaughter]] in the [[Sol System]]. The fleet continued on into [[Segmentum Pacificus]] and then arced into [[Segmentum Tempestus]].{{Fn|7}} Fleet Secundus set out next, its ranks spearheaded by the [[Battle Sister]]s of the [[Order of the Ebon Chalice]] and the [[Order of Our Martyred Lady]] and engaged the forces of Chaos in [[Segmentum Obscurus]] in a campaign dubbed the [[Road of Martyrs]]. Fleet Primus under Guilliman himself left the Sol System third, taking with it the largest compliment of [[Ultima Founding]] [[Primaris Space Marines]] of the [[Unnumbered Sons|Greyshields]] as well as Belisarius Cawl aboard the ''[[Zar Quaesitor]]''. It set out not upon a single heading but instead diverged into several spearheads that further fractured as they spread out from Terra. Wherever the Battlegroups of Fleet Primus surged into the fight they drove back the hordes of heretics and xenos that threatened to overrun Mankind. The first major victory of Fleet Primus would come at the [[Battle of Gathalamor]]{{Fn|19}}, though they soon became bogged down for several years clearing out the [[Solar Incursion|Word Bearers from Segmentum Solar]].{{Fn|28a}} [[Fleet Quintus]] was eventually able to depart, but was beaten to the prize of [[Lessira]] by the lead elements of Fleet Tertius.{{Fn|19}}
Of all the Indomitus Crusade Fleets, Fleet Septimus (the 7th) alone was commanded to gather far from the Sol System. The exact location of its mustering point was kept a heavily guarded secret, known only to Roboute Guilliman himself and his inner circle. How large or small those battlegroups were, what forces were assigned to them, and what Fleet Septimus’ veiled purpose might be, none could be sure. Those assigned to the seventh fleet simply vanished, leaving nothing behind them but dark speculation and persistent rumors rumours of onyx-chased [[servo skull]]s that drifted through the shadows clutching high level-clearance data scrolls in their metallic claws.{{Fn|7}}
Gaining momentum, the Indomitus Crusade pushed a path through system after system. Daemon hordes were driven back from [[Gathalamor]], the [[Drogos System]] and [[Tallarn]]. In the [[Lhorm Reaches]], the [[Brass Tyrant]] was defeated. The entire population of [[Ophelia VII]] was freed from the enslavement of the [[Tyrant of Blueflame]], although the Greater Daemon escaped. Word of the crusade's approach alone was enough to quell the rebellion on [[Necromunda (planet)|Necromunda]]. By the time the Crusade reached [[Catachan]], all of the Chaos forces had already been defeated by the local [[Catachan Jungle Fighter]]s [[Regiment]]s. At Catachan, the Crusade halted for reinforcement and resupply and, despite heavy losses, the Indomitus fleet was larger when it departed Catachan than it had been when it first left Terra. As the Indomitus Crusade worked its way outwards from Terra, the worst effects of the Great Rift were already lifting across many [[sector]]s. Although warp storms still drifted out of the Great Rift, the Astronomican was slowly burning away the taint of the warp throughout the galactic south. Many citizens that survived the cruel oppression of daemonic hordes saw divine correlation between the two events. Those that glimpsed the Primarch firsthand whispered that they had seen the Emperor himself. Word of the Primarch erupted across the galaxy, revitalizing the Imperium's morale.{{Fn|5}}
