Editing Imperium Asunder (section)

===Tempestus Gap===
The Tempestus Gap is the region dividing the Chaos Marches from the Crusader States, where the firewall comes to an end in the Tempestus Segmentum. The Chaos Marches and the Crusader States  do not directly border each other here. Rather, the two are divided by a wide region of space which has no overall ruler. Millennia of warfare and raiding have reduced the Tempestus Gap to a cesspit of anarchy and misery. The continuous back-and-forth between Chaos warbands, Xenos pirates, and Crusader State expeditionary forces have gradually destroyed most infrastructure and nearly all governance. The average world of the Gap is helpless, with no knowledge of what happens beyond its system's boundaries and no navy or ground forces capable of holding off any but the most anemic raider. 

On the Chaos side of the gap, the primary force is the Iron Hearts, who rule the line of fortress-worlds that forestall any attempt by the Crusader States to launch a raid through the gap into the Dark Imperium itself. On the far side, the Unyielding Vigil and the Forgespace maintain similar lines of defensive works. However, forces from all over the galaxy can make their way into the gap, lured by promises of glory, plunder, and blood, contributing even more to the utter anarchy.

The forces of Chaos and the Crusader States both occasionally attempt to establish a foothold here, but they rarely last. Such footholds almost inevitably attract attacks once they are discovered; even if one attack is beaten off, or two, or three, there will always be more, until the strongholds are reduced to dust. Planets which seek out some greater patron often meet the same fate; assuming, of course, that their patron doesn't have its own horrible fate in store for them. (This is more a Chaos or Xenos thing than a Crusader State thing; but I would be lying if I said that the loyalists had no atrocities to their name at all.)

For more information, some of the forces operating in the Gap have been detailed in [[Realm Guard and Mercenaries]].