Orpheus Sector - Orpheus Sector Timeline: The Voyages of Orpheus (ca.570-750.M30) - As part of the Emperor's Great Crusade, the Rogue Trader Lady Arica Orpheus mounts several far-ranging expeditions into the Dark Marches region of the galaxy that would eventually become the Orpheus Sector. With the foundation of the Imperial outpost on the world of Amarah Prime, the Imperium officially claims the Dark Marches region. Several military campaigns follow to exterminate identified xenos threats, but the sector is still not entirely pacified when the Horus Heresy plunges the Imperium into galactic civil war.The Sundering of the Imperium (005.M31-020.M31) - Following the Great Betrayal and the descent of the Horus Heresy and its Age of Darkness upon the domains of the Imperium of Mankind, both Loyalists and Traitors alike retire from the region, leaving its colonists to fight for themselves. Although no great battles are fought in the Orpheus Sector, the population suffers from resurgent xenos and Dark Eldar raids.The Scourge of Dynat Crowbane (pre-100.M31) - Driven outwards by the resurgent armies of the Emperor of Mankind after the Battle of Terra, an Alpha Legion warlord known as Dynat Mal, the main architect of the Raven Guard's humiliating defeat at the Battle of Lyx, seeks shelter in the Dark Marches. Having destroyed the only semblance of organised resistance in the region, the Imperial outpost on Amarah Prime, Dynat Crowbane and his warband reign over the sector. Calling themselves "The Shadowed Ones", they repel several punitive expeditions sent to destroy them.Vengeance Denied (ca.170.M32) - A punitive taskforce of the Raven Guard Chapter under Captain Kallengier is despatched to destroy "The Shadowed Ones" and their master, but only discover the ruins of Crowbane's ship, the Occam's Razor, buried in thousands of tons of bones and corpses.The Child of the Beast (552.M32) - As part of a great migration of Orks that plague the entire Imperium, an Ork-crewed Space Hulk known as Da Iron Worm vanishes in the Dark Marches region after having laid waste to several powerful worlds in the Uhulis Sector.The Rising Storm (610.M36) - Following the tumultuous Age of Apostasy and the death of Goge Vandire, the Segmentum Tempestus knows a resurgence in power and fortune. With the tremendous Warp Storms that had given the Segmentum its name now abated, Segmentum authorities launched a series of campaigns and Imperial Crusades designed to expunge lingering threats and fortify the Imperium's borders. This was only possible because of the relative calm that reigned within the Segmentum, whereas other domains of the Imperium such as the Segmentum Solar or the Segmentum Obscurus had been weakened by other conflicts. The eye of the High Lords of Terra soon came to rest on the wayward Dark Marches region and marked it for conquest, the dangers of the past forgotten.The Dark Marches Crusade (610-759.M36) - The Dark Marches Crusade is but one of the campaigns launched during the Rising Storm that would lead to the birth of the Orpheus Sector. After having served as an advance port for the Crusade for nearly thirty standard years, the world of Amarah Prime is chosen as the sector's new capital.The Lost Fleet (817.M36) - A colonisation fleet carrying some sixteen million human colonists bound for the verdant fen-covered world of Tlaloc mysteriously vanishes, never to be seen again.The Colonisation of Tlaloc (ca.847.M36) - A second Imperial colonisation fleet -- much smaller than the one that vanished before -- successfully reaches Tlaloc and settles on the world.The Orpheus Millenial (759.M37) - To celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of its creation, the entire Orpheus Sector rejoices. The remains of its esteemed founder and first Sector Governor, Hal Orpheus, are borne in grand ceremony throughout the entire sector, his former flagship the Apocalypse-class Battleship Arica Dominus conducting a great tour of the region.The Silence of Leyak (976.M37) - The neighbouring Leyak Sector abruptly ceases all communication with the wider Imperium, resulting in the loss of billions of lives. An Ordo Xenos taskforce ventures into the now-silent sector and successfully returns but does not disclose what they witnessed there. Soon afterwards, the Segmentum Conclave of the Ordo Xenos drastically increases the military tithes of every world of the Orpheus Sector, raising new regiments for the Imperial Guard and Planetary Defence Forces, and requiring of the more industrialized worlds to heavily reinforce their orbital defences. In parallel, Battlefleet Orpheus is considerably reinforced, while all the worlds of the Veiled Region are declared forbidden under pain of death. As a further precautionary measure, several of the outlying worlds such as Altun are also declared Perdita.The Black Crusade of Von Mallas (Unknown Date.M38) - The heavy tithes resting on the Orpheus Sector had bred considerable discontent amongst the population, sometimes erupting into violent revolts and full-scale rebellions that were brutally repressed by the Adeptus Arbites and the local authorities. These tensions led to several purges of the civilian population which proved unsuccessful in stopping the rise of cultic activity. Preying on this spirit of discontent, demagogues and doomsayers soon have great influence within the populace. Originating from the Segmentum Pacificus, the Black Crusade of the Apostate Cardinal Von Mallas, more commonly known as "The False Saint" or "The Transgressor", soon spills over into the Orpheus Sector and its neighbours. The worlds of Epirus and Colkasth fully embrace the Heretic's creed and battle is joined. Those regiments raised in the wake of the Silence of Leyak are used to fight the Transgressor's expanding splinter-empire. Although the secessionists are ultimately defeated, the Agri-world of Epirus is devastated, the loss of its output causing food-shortages and famines across a great deal of the Orpheus Sector, breeding further discontent as worlds are ravaged by pestilence. The Penitentiary World of Morros Lachrymal is founded to process those Heretics who wish to repent for their crimes.The Rise of the Cult Celestarii (715.M38) - Born of the despair and bitterness caused by the recurring famines following the devastation of Epirus, a previously unknown cult rises in power, particularly amongst the wealthy and the nobility of the Orpheus Sector. Having taken the name of the Celestarii, the cult venerates the widespread xeno-archelogical sites across the sector as sacred, spreading the belief that the Imperial Creed is a lie and that the true gods of the galaxy, the Celestarii, would one day awaken from their eternal slumber and grant those that follow them eternal life, while bringing bloody death to those who oppose them. Little is known of the Celestarii's practices, although the cult is heavily persecuted by the Adeptus Arbites as well as the Ordo Hereticus. Investigations show that the cult acts more as a secret society, furthering the enrichment and power of their inner circle rather than trying to topple Imperial rule. Several clues indicate that the Celestarii carry out rituals of a cannibalistic nature.The Death of Tlaloc (889.M38) - In 889.M38 a patrol of Battlefleet Orpheus received garbled distress signals from the Agri-world of Tlaloc, at the very edge of the Drucillan Sub-sector. Upon the arrival of an Imperial fleet they find the world in ruins, its population decimated and every single recording device broken. The landing parties reported that the planet's settlements had been turned into an abattoir, every corpse seemingly ripped apart or having been flayed; yet despite the mutilation, it was clear there were not enough corpses to account for the entirety of Tlaloc's population. The Inquisition led an official investigation into the matter, which discovered that the ruin visited upon the world had been done in a matter of solar hours. Inquisitor Kussan of the Ordo Xenos came to the conclusion that the savage mutilations were tell-tale signs of Dark Eldar raiders or Eldar Corsairs. Other Inquisitors and several officers of the Orphean Admiralty, however, did not share this hypothesis and ordered the world quarantined by the Imperial Navy. This quarantine was still in effect at the time of the Orphean War.The Battle of the Gorgon Deep (160.M39) - With the help of the Revilers and the Red Seraphs Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, Battlefleet Orpheus succeeded in stopping the rampage of a major Ork incursion at the sector's borders. Boarded by Terminator Squads that spearheaded the assault on the enemy flagship, the so-called Mega-Kroozer, the Orks were vanquished in a nineteen-week-long space battle. However, many of the smaller Ork ships scattered and found refuge in the asteroid belts, debris fields and gravitic vortexes that surrounded the Deluvian Sub-sector, soon to prove an almost constant thorn in the sector's side. Pirate and raider activity in the sector increased afterwards, putting further strain on Battlefleet Orpheus and the sector's commercial shipping.The Time of Revolt (860-903.M39) - Following a millennium of tension and crisis, the Orpheus Sector is put under new strain by Segmentum authorities when new troops are conscripted for the seemingly endless wars in the neighbouring Haxan Sector, where the Imperium was entangled on two fronts against the Eldar Slaughtervane Kabal and the Apostate Heptad. This ultimately proved too much to bear and the long-running tensions and rivalries between planets and ruling houses in the sector erupted first in bloody vendettas and assassination campaigns and then into open conflict. Sector-wide civil war broke out when the honour-clans of the Drucillan Cluster overthrew the local opposition and declared their formal secession from the Orpheus Sector. Drucilla Majoris quickly became a haven for all sorts of criminals and renegades but it also became a rallying point around which other Renegade factions could rally. The worlds of Apollyon and Selakhar fell to the sway of the Ruinous Powers, while on Amraphel the xenos mercenaries commissioned by Amraphel's parliament to attack its neighbours proved to be a splinter-web of the baleful Khrave, which preyed upon the world's elite. The infestation was discovered and expunged by an Adeptus Ministorum-led civil uprising.The Orphean War of Faith (903-922.M39) - With several worlds firmly on the grip of the vile servants of Chaos and the Orpheus Sector on the brink of tearing itself apart, an unexpected arrival led to the greatest military campaign since the Dark Marches Crusade. Guided by visions of the Holy Emperor Himself, Arch-Confessor Marduk of Helvamon had declared a war of faith to save the Orpheus Sector. His ramshackle fleet bore thousands of Imperial zealots, Imperial Guardsmen and militiamen as well as pilgrims, but more importantly, in the Arch-Confessor the fractious planetary governors and rulers found a figure behind which to rally. Soon, the Imperials launched a powerful counterattack, it fervor giving even the Daemons of Chaos pause. As the influence and presence of several warbands of Chaos Space Marines was confirmed, amongst which could be counted members of the Alpha Legion, the Night Lords and the Death Mongers, the Arch-Confessor called for help. His Imperial Crusade was soon reinforced by the entirety of the fleet-based Angels Revenant Chapter as well as the Adepta Sororitas in form of detachments from the Order of the Valorous Heart and the Order of the Black Sepulchre. Lastly, upon learning that daemons had been set loose, the Ordo Malleus also despatched a strike-force of its most fearful warriors, the legendary Grey Knights. With this mighty host, the Imperials reconquer their sector in a gruesome twenty-year-long campaign that would see a full fifth of the sector's population die.The Bane of Saint Marduk (921.M39) - Regarded as the last great battle of the Orphean War of Faith, the events of the Bane of Saint Marduk are shrouded in mystery, although later events confirmed the major role of the Maynarkh Dynasty in it. By 921.M39, the victorious forces of the Imperium had gathered to lay siege to the last stronghold in the hands of the Archenemy: the former Hive World of Colkasth that had been turned into a hellish fortress by the Warpsmith of the Death Mongers, fusing the bones and souls of the world's inhabitants into grotesque defensive structures or leaving them as mindless cannon-fodder. Daemons had been called from the Warp to further reinforce the defenders as the Imperial host around Arch-Confessor approached. While the first stage of the Imperial counter-invasion met with some measure of success, the contact with Marduk's army was soon lost, the last communications raising the alarm and calling for assistance. The first Imperial voidship to reach the system in response, an Adeptus Astartes Strike Cruiser belonging to the Angels Revenant, was met by two smaller yet extremely powerful ships of unknown provenance which succeeded in damaging the Intercessor. The Space Marines retaliated and destroyed one of their foes, upon which the second one disengaged, but the damage had been done. Its propulsion systems nearly destroyed, the Intercessor could only limp further into the system where it witnessed a terrific space battle occurring around Colkasth, presumably against the same unknown enemies the Astartes had just driven off. Upon its arrival, the Intercessor found only an orbital debris field and a ravaged world in the grip of a nuclear winter, yet the radiation did not match any form of weaponry known to man. Only a few survivors could be rescued and it soon appeared that Arch-Confessor Marduk himself had been slain. None the wiser, the Angels Revenant departed the system after having conducted emergency repairs. As the Arch-Confessor was soon beatified by the Ecclesiarchy, the world where he died became known as Saint Marduk's Bane and was recolonised after a ritual purification to ensure that the foul taint of Chaos did not linger there. The death of Saint Marduk marked the birth of the mysterious menace known as "The Sleepers of Orpheus," a tale soon to be forgotten.Establishment of Libethra (circa 010.M40) - Following the death of Saint Marduk and the eradication of the last Chaos-aligned forces within the sector, the Orphean War of Faith is deemed a great success. To commemorate the Saint's death, the colony world of Libethra, which the Saint had grown fond of, is converted into a Shrine World to harbour the war's honoured dead. The Space Marines Chapter of the Angels Revenant, until now a crusading Chapter, is given custody over Libethra, which considerably strengthens the sector's defences.The Death of Badrok (319.M40) - Unifying the descendants of the great Ork incursions of the 39th Millennium, Evil Sunz Warboss Badrok Gutgouga launches a WAAAGH! from the Shattered Deeps region against the Orpheus Sector. Confronted by the Orpheus Sector's defence forces and reinforced by regiments of the Imperial Guard, most notoriously armoured regiments from Koenig, the Orks are brought to battle. After seven solar months of gruelling battles, the Orks are finally encircled and defeated. Warboss Gutgouga is slain and his mortal remains are famously hanged from the spire of the Red Cathedral of Amraphel, marking the beginning of festivities across the entire Deluvian Sub-sector.The Great Severan War (580-591.M40) - As the border regions of the Segmentum Tempestus and the Ultima Segmentum are ravaged by this conflict of epic proportions, the Orpheus Sector contributes over thirty-nine million men and women to the Emperor's armies. To meet these requirements, the penitentiaries of Morros Lachrymal are converted from mining facilities to the raising and training of Penal Legions. Few of these regiments ever returned to the Orpheus Sector but their sacrifice is commemorated on Libethra by the raising of the great Basilica Severan.The Decapolis Conspiracy is Uncovered (619.M40) - Located to the galactic West of the Orpheus Sector, where it borders the Eurydice Sector, the Hive World of Decapolis has grown powerful and rich, mostly through trade with the neighbouring sector and the Mechanicum's Domain of Myre. Decapolis' wealth, population and economic output was such that it eclipsed even Amarah Prime itself, the ancestral seat of power and government of the Orpheus Sector. However, the ruling noble houses of Amarah jealously tried to remain in control, imposing ever-increasing tithes on Decapolis' merchant class in a vain effort to hinder its growth. Eventually, these tithes became so oppressing that Decapolis' ruling council, the Decrachs, both mercantile and military governors, decided to fight back. The Decrachs hatched a series of conspiracies and plans which revolved around the covert funding and arming of political dissidents on Amarah, heretical groups such as the Cult Celestarii and even narco-smuggling and contraband rings. As several officials were being eliminated in a targeted assassination campaign, these deaths prompted an Ordo Hereticus-led investigation. Upon interrogating captured Celestarii cultists, the full extent of the conspiracy is uncovered when the heavy weapons crates in their possession can be traced back to manufactoria on Decapolis. For the following nine standard years, the Inquisition conducts a series of systematic purges of Decapolis' ruling elite and sentenced them to death after extensive show trials. The harshness of these purges ultimately prevents outright civil war, but the even heavier tithes imposed by a now paranoid Amarah Prime upon the Hive World leads to vast civil resentment. The trust between the worlds of the Orpheus Sector is shattered and on Decapolis in particular the population's fealty is more enforced than earned.The Storm Tide (672-990.M41) - Line many of the other Imperial domains within the Segmentum Tempestus, the Orpheus Sector is increasingly plagued by a number of sudden, unpredictable, Warp-related torments such as aetheric disruptions and Warp squalls which make Warp-travel increasingly dangerous, even amongst established and well-travelled Warp-routes. The number of vessels lost in the Warp steadily rises and cultic activity increases in the sector with them. Many latent and established psykers are plagued by horrifying dreams and visions, featuring dead cities and the recurring image of a rising darkness, led by pale figures treading the dust of silent worlds and endless labyrinths. Only by the thorough efforts of both the Ordo Hereticus and Ordo Malleus, which battles ever more frequent incursions of psyker-daemons, is wider knowledge of these bleak portents of doom kept from the overall population. With the planets of the Orpheus Sector growing ever more isolated, the unity and security of the sector is only maintained by the tireless vigilance of the Angels Revenant and Battlefleet Orpheus, which constantly patrol the vicinity of the Hesod Nebula to hold off Eldar Corsairs that seek to prey on the more isolated worlds.The Howling Vortex (689.M41) - A localised but violent Warp Storm, designated the Howling Vortex, manifests in the Barren Stars region of the Capitoline Sub-sector, cutting all communications with the Penitentiary World of Morros. The fate of its thirteen million inhabitants remains unknown.The Kellerman Murders (744.M41) - On Amarah Prime, investigations led by the Adeptus Arbites reveal that a series of thefts and murders within the Kellerman Scholam are in fact a larger ploy of a Celestarii cult seeking to retrieve ancient xenos artefacts that are being stored and studied there. Cornered by the Adeptus Arbites, the Celestarii entrench themselves in the Scholam, which is successively ravaged by a fierce gun-battle and a conflagration which ravaged the Scholam's extensive collection. Several testimonies from eye-witnesses state that an unidentified figure stalked the ruins of the Scholam, seemingly unharmed by the blaze that had engulfed the building, apparently retrieving several artefacts before vanishing under mysterious circumstances.The Damnation of the Manticore (766.M41) - En route from Arcantis to Ribasu, the Geller Field of the Chartist freighter Manticore Agirus suffers several breaches while in the Warp and is overrun by daemons. The crew and their three thousand passengers' screams of agony plague astropathic communications in the entire Capitoline Sub-sector for several standard decades afterwards.The Warning of the Wayward Son (811.M41) - Several standard years after heading into the outer darkness, the exploration fleet of the minor Rogue Trader Caleb Gilderoy unexpectedly shows signs of returning to the Imperium's borders when one of the flotilla's Escort vessels, the void dromon Wayward Son, appears outside the defence perimeter of the Mechanicum outpost of Harrow Watch. As soon as contact is established, the Wayward Son states that it has been heavily damaged in battle with unidentified xenos, claiming that the Rogue Trader's flotilla has been entirely wiped out by an unknown "terror" from beyond the frontier. The Wayward Son desperately pleas for immediate sanctuary at the Adeptus Mechanicus base, but as it has no clearance to enter the Harrow Watch exclusion zone, its request is flatly refused by the Mechanicum officials. As the Wayward Son continues on its approach vector, despite explicit warnings not to do so, the voidship is destroyed by the Mechanicum's guns. What small portion remains of its wreckage is placed under quarantine for further investigation.The Shadow of the Beggar King (819.M41) - On the industrial world of Chemarium II, Iidris Hive succumbs to a seemingly contagious wave of madness and despair, resulting in the deaths of thousands of Imperial citizens either through suicide, murder or rampage. To further sabotage the world's manufacturing capabilities, many workers hurl themselves into the machines they were operating. Anarchy reigns within the streets and the collapse of society swiftly follows. Amongst this chaos, no doubt touched off by the Ruinous Powers, arose a previously unknown individual, Ranker Nonesuch, the so-called "Beggar King." Successfully eliminating or corrupting the Planetary Defence Forces, the Beggar King slaughters the planetary government and leads his hordes of insane followers to corrupt the other three remaining planets of the Chemarium System. Soon Chaos Cults such as the Endless Tide and the Crawling Darkness lead large scale terrorist campaigns and insurrections in those hive cities remaining loyal to the Imperium. Due to unstable Warp conditions, the Imperium is unable to marshal sufficient forces to expunge these Heretics and so an exclusion zone around the Chemarium System is established. As guerilla war slowly turns into a war of attrition, the outbreak is contained to the Chemarium System while the Inquisition mobilises its Storm Trooper regiments to deal with the threat.The Dying Stars (990.M41) - The Warp turbulence that has been plaguing the western marches of the Orpheus Sector since the Storm Tide three centuries before are inexplicably snuffed out by a powerful event in the Warp, leaving only the Howling Vortex. The shockwave causes tremors in the Warp and a great many vessels are thrown far off-course or destroyed, while throughout the entire sector, astropaths burn up or have their minds consumed by the psychic shockwave. Meanwhile, the deep range observation facilities of Harrow Watch report that the binary stars of the forbidden Caracol System at the edge of the Veiled Region inexplicably and unexpectedly went supernova, the event occurring roughly concurrently with the shockwave in the Warp. In the light of more recent events, it is safe to assume that these seemingly unrelated events were the first tell-tale signs of the awakening of the Maynarkh Dynasty.The Orphean War (3716.991.M41-0266.999.M41) - Finally awake, the Necrons of the Maynarkh Dynasty and its client-dynasties fall upon the ill-prepared Orpheus Sector, invading it both from the former Leyak Sector and through the Veiled Region, coming from the Outer Darkness. The first sign of this offensive of truly epic proportions was a desperate attempt of the Eldar Corsairs of the Hesod Nebula to flee, yet they clashed with the gathered might of Battlefleet Orpheus and the recently arrived Minotaurs Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes. It is only when the Mechanicum outpost of Harrow Watch is destroyed that the Imperium realises it has come under attack. The Drucillan Sub-sector is the first to fall entirely to the Necrons, and all contact is lost with the Angels Revenant on Libethra. Despite the rerouting of several reinforcements, the Necrons' advance cannot be stopped, merely slowed until it inexplicably stops of its own will, with a full half of the sector already in enemy hands. In the farflung Barren Stars region, the Necrons also captured and ravaged the vital Agri-world of Hydroghast, the Agri-world being the sole planet westwards of the sector's meridian to fall to the xenos. For a hundred solar days, the Necrons' advance halts, a welcome pause during which the sector's ruling Imperial Governor, Calibron Laan, musters all available military formations and fleets in defence of the sector capital world of Amarah Prime. This leads to the great Battle of Amarah, which leaves the sector's capital world in ruins and Battlefleet Orpheus shattered. Yet all is not lost. On the surface of Amarah Prime, the valiant regiments of the Death Korps of Krieg and the Necromundan Regiments successfully resist and push back the Necrons, even destroying one of the invaders' beachheads, while in space the Minotaurs' Chapter Master, the darkly famed Asterion Moloc, faces the dire leader of the Necrons in single battle and wounds him. The Necrons then retreat, but the losses are so catastrophic that it appears clear that the sector is doomed.The Orphean Decree (0266.999.M41) - Following the meagre victories and catastrophic losses of the Orphean War, the High Lords of Terra promulgate the Orphean Decree, which disbands the Orpheus Sector by Act of Discorporation. For all intent and purposes, the Orpheus Sector is no more. What Imperial naval and military forces remain are engaged in the Orphean Salvation Campaign, fighting desperate rearguard actions to hold off the Necron advance. Using the same scorched earth tactics as against the Tyranids, the worlds remaining under Imperial control are to be evacuated and stripped of every useful resource before being subjected to Exterminatus. The neighbouring Eurydice Sector becomes the new frontline and outer border of the Imperium of Mankind, its worlds and armies fortifying in case the Necrons intend to follow the retreating Imperials.