Editing Parthorum Wars (section)

==Background==

Following the Treaty of Mars and the conquest of the remaining outposts of the Solar System, the Imperium's Expedition Fleets began to bring systems near to Sol into compliance. These first steps of the Great Crusade were accomplished using short "calculated" Warp jumps of no more than 5 Light Years at a time but they were nonetheless successful. Meanwhile, the Emperor prepared to launch his Legions further out into the Galaxy. On ancient Terra, the master of mankind set about the construction of a great beacon into the Warp, the Astronomican. This miraculous device would provide a fixed point of reference allowing mutant Navigators to guide humanity's ships through the Warp for hundreds of Light Years in a single jump.

As the Astronomican's psychic light began to penetrate the Warp, [[Rogue Traders (Hektor Heresy)|Rogue Traders Militant]] began to scout ahead of the crusading Legions. Adela Exard's Cruiser ''Black Joke'' was the first vessel to explore the '''Parthorum Stream''', a stable warp current that began some 33 Light Years Galactic North of Sol and flowed nearly 250 Light Years Galactic Northwest. Exard also found dozens of largely human-populated worlds spread out across the Parthorum Stream, though the rulers of these planets belonged to the Xenos '''Osroene'''. Contact with the Osroene was peaceful and the ''Black Joke'' returned to the fringe of Imperial space with trade goods and substantial diplomatic information.

The question of the Parthorum Stream was debated in the Imperium's War Council for months. Lord Commander [[Gufarnus Altmakar]], Bellipotent of the [[Unification Wars (Hektor Heresy)|Unification Wars]], observed that the Osroene were not aggressive and despite the significance of the Warp Current he argued they could be overlooked while other, more hostile worlds were subdued. [[Hektor Cincinnatus]] differed sharply, claiming that the conquest of the Osroene's empire, with its large human populations, would fuel further expansion. With the Emperor and Malcador reserving their judgment, the council largely sided with Gufarnus, but Hektor did not surrender the point. The Primarch took to ending all of his speeches to the War Council with the remark, ''"In conclusion, it is my opinion that we must have the Parthorum Stream."'' Although this tactic infuriated Gufarnus, it repeatedly drew the matter back to the debating table and some of the War Council began to move in favour of commencing hostilities with the Osroene. Hektor's persistence eventually paid off when the Emperor declared a compromise. Rather than settle the argument between Gufarnus and Hektor, He commanded that the Expedition Fleets would have be given greater latitude of action, with each fleet commander choosing his or her own objectives and carrying them through. The War Council would no longer attempt to direct an inter-galactic Crusade, but would be satisfied with organising and supervising the efforts of the Imperium's warlords.