Argoth - History: Argoth, like the nearby worlds of Rheelas and Kaggeran, was colonised by the Imperium in the early 32nd Millennium under the expansionist mandate of a succession of Lords Sector of the Jericho Sector.Little in the fragmentary records of that era remains, but there is no evidence to suggest that any of the worlds in what was then known as the Arkalas Cluster were anything more than a collection of backwater colonies adjacent to a well-travelled Warp route.The uncertain history of the Age of Shadow does not mark Argoth with any particular significance beyond the mere fact that it survived that benighted era, leaving the world as little more than a footnote.Raids by pirates, Traitors and Heretics -- commonplace across the Jericho Reach during the Age of Shadow -- plagued the worlds of the Arkalas Cluster, by that point joined together as a single political entity referred to as "The Unity," but history seems largely to have passed Argoth and its sister worlds by.This changed in the latter years of the 8th century of the 41st Millennium, less than a solar decade after the conflict known as the Damocles Crusade.Expanding outwards from their homeworld, and having reached the coreward edge of the Jericho Reach, the alien T'au began to establish a strong presence within the region, variously conquering, treating with or simply colonising the worlds they came across.Argoth was a distant goal at the time, many solar months travel for even their fastest ships, but it was more populous than any other world encountered by the nascent Velk'Han Sept, and allied with other resource-bearing worlds, and thus a prize to be coveted.Swift messenger ships carrying Water Caste dignitaries followed the intelligence-gathering drone-scouts, conveying greetings on behalf of the T'au Empire and expressing a desire for peaceful cooperation, endeavouring to appeal to The Unity as like-minded individuals in a hostile galaxy.The T'au could attempt little more than this opening preamble before the Imperium arrived to reclaim their worlds. Unwilling and unable to fully muster a defence against the crusaders, the T'au fell back from Argoth, Rheelas and Kaggeran, while gathering a force to contest the Imperium on Wrath, closer to the worlds the T'au had already claimed.However, the brief time the T'au had been in contact with The Unity would be sufficient to shape the fate of Argoth and its sister worlds for years to come.With the Space Marines of the Storm Wardens Chapter at their forefront, the crusaders assigned to Operation Hammerfall descended swiftly and decisively upon the Arkalas Cluster.On Argoth itself, Chapter Master Lorgath Maclir of the Storm Wardens led the charge personally, descending from orbit by Thunderhawk to assault the palace of the most senior leaders of The Unity.Within solar hours, Compliance was achieved on all three worlds, and spurred on by their successes, the Achilus Crusade moved on swiftly, leaving behind basic garrison forces.Within solar months of the supposed conquest of Argoth, The Unity and countless other secessionist groups on worlds regarded as Compliant struck against the Imperium, each of them supported or encouraged by the T'au.Operation Hammerfall ground to a halt, denied the reinforcements Maclir needed to press his attack and overrun the T'au-held world of Ravacene. The advance of the Achilus Crusade was stalled in a storm of betrayals so swift and sudden that their timing could only have been carefully orchestrated.Even as Astra Militarum and Adeptus Arbites forces put down these rebellions, disaster struck. Lord Militant Tiber Achilus was lost to his crusade, and its advance was halted on every front by the sudden loss of its leader and founder.As the crusade mourned, secessionists on Argoth struck back against the Imperium, and hostilities between Imperial and Unity forces became increasingly vicious.The arrival of two Deathwatch Kill-teams, directed by Inquisitor Lor Tremayle and scores of Acolytes, swiftly and brutally put down the rebellious elements wherever they were found and provided the Adeptus Arbites and Astra Militarum forces the opportunity to regroup and renew their efforts.With the ascension of Lord Militant Solomon Tetrarchus to the command of the crusade, General Ebongrave was given authority over the newly formed Canis Salient.His pride injured by the loss of worlds that had been conquered by his armies, and his hatred for the alien stronger than ever, Ebongrave gave his first order after his promotion -- the quarantine of Argoth, Rheelas and Kaggeran.As the worlds upon which the uprisings had been most vicious, they were to serve as an example to other Human-settled worlds that betrayal and sedition would be punished mercilessly.Since the quarantine began, Argoth has suffered more greatly than its neighbours, being far more dependent upon off-world supplies than the other two worlds.In the solar decades following, more than 90% of Argoth's population is estimated to have died in the desperate violence that now characterises its hive cities, the state of the world observed by orbital augury from Imperial Navy vessels blockading the planet.