Since the Blood Angels' ill-fated assault on the Spawn of
Execration the incidence of space hulk sightings had increased
substantially, and by the early years of the 74th decade an
average of one hulk per year was being detected. None of these
ships were large enough to pose any real threat to the Imperium.
The smallest were blown up, larger hulks were boarded and
searched before being destroyed, but none proved particularly
valuable.
Since the Blood Angels' ill-fated assault on the Spawn of Execration the incidence of space hulk sightings had increased substantially, and by the early years of the 74th decade an average of one hulk per year was being detected. None of these ships were large enough to pose any real threat to the Imperium. The smallest were blown up, larger hulks were boarded and searched before being destroyed, but none proved particularly valuable. In the year 736, a strange disturbance in the warp/real space interface heralded the arrival of a monstrous space hulk, fully half as big again as the Spawn of Execration. It emerged on the eastern edge of the Ultima Segmentum, and immediately turned west, apparently heading straight for the heart of the Imperium. Lann Koren, commander of the nearby Imperial navy base Kar Duniash, sent out a call for assistance to the nearest Space Marine Chapter and named the hulk Harbinger of Despair. As the hulk's course posed no immediate danger to any human-inhabited worlds, it was allowed to pursue its course, trailed by a flotilla of Imperial ships from Battlefleet Ultima. Three days later, the hulk slipped back into the warp and was nearly lost but for the persistence of a squadron of navy frigates. Against all odds, the gallant little ships trailed the hulk through the nightmare shoals of the warp until it dropped back into real space, five light years from the planet Formund, right in the path of the Blood Angels Terminator company, racing to meet their destiny at Kar Duniash..
