The Pale Stars

The Pale Stars, formally Mare Stellum Pallidus, the Sea of Pale Stars, or Sea of Pallid Stars, is a collection of systems in the Maelstrom Zone of Ultima Segmentum, near the Maelstrom. The region is known for its sickly blue-white stars, for rich resources, and for the reputed ill fortune of its inhabitants.

Before the Imperium the Pale Stars held alien and regressed human cultures. In M30 the 771st Expedition Fleet, with Raven Guard elements, charted the region and massacred the inhabitants of several worlds; Angron’s 13th Expedition Fleet passed through afterwards. By the Horus Heresy administration centred on Phargos Rex, which was lost to a warp storm during the war. Late in the Heresy, Emperor’s Children fleeing the destruction of Chemos settled in the Pale Stars and the Salamanders responded; in 012.M31 the daemon primarch Fulgrim appeared there and killed the Salamanders commander Brant Hesioth.

In the Badab War of 901 to 912.M41 the region was again a battleground, and raids by the Minotaurs Chapter killed about a fifth of its human population. Known worlds include Crows World, Kyro IV, Larsa II, Optera IV and Phargos Rex.