Ghargatuloth - Khorion IX: Even before heeding Tzeentch's call to gather at Thalassocres, Ghargatuloth had claimed a world for himself, the uninhabited planet of Khorion IX, deep within the unexplored regions of the Halo Zone of the Segmentum Obscurus, a region of space where even the light of the mighty Astronomican shone but dimly. For long Terran centuries, Ghargatuloth had hid there, fully corrupting the world. In the wake of the revelations he received at Thalassocres, Ghargatuloth's physical body shuddered and emitted a psychic shriek that killed every living creature on Khorion IX. The scream travelled for several light-years, reaching several inhabited star systems and worlds, revealing Ghargatuloth's existence to Mankind. Knowing that eventually humanity would seek to destroy him, the Prince of a Thousand Faces gathered his mortal and daemonic followers, readying himself for when humanity's warriors would come. And come they did.It had taken the Ordo Malleus of the Inquisition an entire standard century of intensive investigations before they tracked Ghargatuloth to Khorion IX, a world Ghargatuloth had thoroughly made his own. The cultists and demagogues that had been venerating one of the myriad incarnations of Ghargatuloth had gathered on Khorion IX to reap the rewards of their devotion: eternal life. Ghargatuloth held true to his promise, albeit not in the form his followers intended. All across Khorion IX, the Prince of a Thousand Faces erected countless torture racks upon which his still-living followers were crucified. Screaming but alive, these cultists were the literal lifeblood of Khorion IX, their blood mingling with the wood of their racks and seeping into the earth, their perpetual screams of agony thinning the veil so that Ghargatuloth's daemonic armies could cross into the Materium. The corrupting energies of the Warp steadily fused the cultists and their surroundings together, the rows upon rows of torture racks and crucified bodies becoming a living forest that grew with each season, turning their limbs into fleshy branches and towering canopies that wailed in agony with all-too-human voices, all to please the Prince of a Thousand Faces.When the Valour Saturnum and the Vengeful, two Strike Cruisers belonging to the Grey Knights Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes -- the Ordo Malleus' Chamber Militant -- arrived in the system, the first thing they noticed was the screaming. The agonised cries of Khorion IX's tortured souls could be heard even in orbit around that dread world, their collective pain gnawing on their attackers' resolve - or it would have, had these attackers not been tempered by cries far worse than those of mere humans. In name, the Valour Saturnum and the Vengeful were under the command of Lord Inquisitor Lakonios of the Ordo Malleus, but in truth operational authority resided with Grand Master Mandulis of the Grey Knights. The two Strike Cruisers carried an impressive force: over two hundred and fifty Grey Knights led by a triumvirate of Grand Masters of their order: Mandulis, Ganelon and Malquiant. It was the best and most powerful strikeforce the Ordo Malleus could muster, and yet despite the reputation and experience of every one of these Grand Masters, its success was far from certain.The arrival of his opponents was the signal Ghargatuloth had awaited to call forth his armies. Khorion IX's scream of agony rose in pitch, fuelled by fear, as everywhere on the planet the earth burst into great cracks, spilling forth the daemonic legions bound to Ghargatuloth. Horrors and Flamers almost immediately turned to further torturing Ghargatuloth's mortal followers, while Screamers took to the air and nestled in the crucified forest's canopy. Amongst the throng of daemonflesh that covered the earth from horizon to horizon, the Greater Daemons marshalled their forces, trampling the crucified under their feet. Soon Khorion IX's surface was teeming like an ocean, a planet covered in daemonflesh ready to repel the Grey Knights' attack, a trap to ensnare and crush them.Ghargatuloth was already on Khorion IX, his court having gathered on the site of an ancient burial ground where the planet's former inhabitants used to bury their dead. This was the Grey Knights' ultimate target. Given the tumultuous state of the Warp, a teleport-assault was deemed too dangerous, and so the Grey Knights took to their Drop Pods to deliver them to the battlefield. Each Grand Master would lead his own company of men and fight his way through to Ghargatuloth in order to banish the Prince of a Thousand Faces. Ideally, the three formations would link before facing Ghargatuloth, but this plan soon proved untenable. Grand Master Ganelon and his hundred-strong company landed well off the targeted mark, finding themselves surrounded at the heart of the daemonic legion with no hope to reach the objective. Fighting wave after wave of daemons, the Grey Knights knew they were doomed but would never give up the fight. Their defiance would ease the pressure on their brothers and let them finish the mission. As the Lords of Change gathered around them, Grand Master Ganelon himself intoned the sacred verses of the Prayer of Purification, readying his soul for his last journey. Grand Master Malquiant led an impressive spearhead of more than seventy Grey Knights against the horde, his fearsome Lightning Claws reaping a bloody toll on the enemy, his Terminator Squad around him. Through courage and single-minded focus, the spearhead concentrated much of the horde's attention, but the press of bodies and the broken ground made it near impossible for them to reach their target. The killing blow would have to be delivered by Grand Master Mandulis and his men, those who had landed closest to the barrows where Ghargatuloth resided. Mandulis' detachment comprised a number of Purgation Squads, whose firepower enabled Mandulis and Terminator Squad Martel to reach the barrow. Having delivered the chosen warriors to their objective, the remaining squads concentrated their fire to hold back the daemonic legion rushing to their master's aid.Alongside Strike Squads Chemuel and Justinian, Grand Master Mandulis penetrated the enemy headquarters, the corruption there so vile that even the earth spewed forth the stone coffins of the ancient dead, coming back to unlife in a last effort to escape the terrible corruption unleashed by the Prince of a Thousand Faces. Under the great trees formed by Ghargatuloth's most eminent cult leaders, Ghargatuloth's personal guard awaited the Grey Knights -- a dozen Greater Daemons of Tzeentch, the Lords of Change. Disciplined Bolter-fire was answered by multicoloured lightning bolts before quickly devolving into hand-to-hand combat. The lesser armoured Grey Knights fared ill, cleaved in two by the great talons or wicked and strange-looking sword of the Greater Daemons, but Mandulis, Martel and their Terminators endured. Gigantic glowing hands emerged from the ground, grabbing the Grey Knights' legs, sometimes even pulling down one of the mighty Terminators, but despite their best efforts, these daemons could not stop Mandulis and Martel from reaching the Prince of a Thousand Faces. The true course of this battle is unknown, but the outcome was never in doubt -- through his sacrifice, Grand Master Mandulis ensured that Ghargatuloth was banished from realspace. For ten thousand standard years, the Grey Knights and the Ordo Malleus commemorated their great victory upon the forces of Tzeentch before realising they had only been manipulated. Their celebrated victory had actually played right into Ghargatuloth's hands.