The?Raven's Cast-offs

The Battle of Gate 42 has often been noted by scholars of the Great Crusade as the pyre that Corvus Corax hoped would burn?his Legion clean of what he saw as the unwelcome taint of many of the Terran recruits.However, if such was his intent then it was not entirely successful, for some few among those who Corax had placed amongst the vanguard yet survived. Chief among them was Nerat Kirine, the brutally efficient Terran praetor of the Ashen Claws Chapter, whose inspired hit and run tactics had brought his veteran Legionaries through the fires of battle bloodied but unbroken. Several thousand of the 18th Chapter, the Ashen Claws, remained, near every one a Terran-born?veteran of the old XIXth Legion, and many were angered by the callous disregard the Raven Lord had shown for their lives and record of loyal service to the Imperium.

大遠征時期的學者們將42號城門之戰(zhàn)標注為一次內部清洗：科沃斯 克拉克斯認為很多泰拉裔戰(zhàn)士對軍團造成了招人厭惡的污染，他希望能通過這次行動清除掉這些污點。不過，如果這是原體的意圖的話，那么這個計劃并未完全成功，因為少數被克拉克斯派去擔任先鋒的泰拉裔戰(zhàn)士幸存了下來。他們的領袖是奈拉特 基林——灰燼之爪戰(zhàn)團殘忍高效的泰拉裔執(zhí)政官，他卓越的游擊戰(zhàn)術讓麾下的軍團老兵活過了血腥且從未間斷的戰(zhàn)火。第18戰(zhàn)團“灰燼之爪”的數千名戰(zhàn)士幸存了下來，他們幾乎所有人都是老第十九軍團的泰拉裔老兵。渡鴉之主對他們的生命和他們?yōu)榈蹏艺\服務的記錄所表現出的冷酷無視激怒了很多灰爪戰(zhàn)士。

These warriors were marshalled in the aftermath of the battle, but not to receive the honours bestowed upon those of other Legions that had fought in the battle. Instead, the Raven Lord formed the vast majority of the remaining veterans of the old XIXth Legion, along with those freed from Deliverance whose crimes and demeanour left them ill at odds with the Primarch's perception of his Legion, and formed them?into Crusade fleets. These fleets were dispatched into the dim stars of the north-eastern galactic fringe, known to explorers of the time as the Ghoul Stars, there to bring the light of the Emperor to the dark at the edges of the galaxy, far from the eyes of the fledgling Imperium and the brooding lord of the Raven Guard.

戰(zhàn)斗結束后，這些戰(zhàn)士們被組織集結起來，但他們并未像其他軍團中參與此次戰(zhàn)斗的阿斯塔特們那樣被賜予榮譽。相反，渡鴉之主將絕大部分殘存的老十九軍團老兵們以及拯救者部隊整合起來——后者的罪行和舉止在原體看來同樣也是與自己對于軍團的看法格格不入，并將他們編組進了遠征艦隊。這些艦隊被派往銀河東北邊境的昏暗星空執(zhí)行任務，當時的探索者們稱這片區(qū)域為食尸鬼群星，這些老十九軍團的戰(zhàn)士們將帝皇的光芒帶往銀河邊緣的黑暗區(qū)域，他們也遠離了羽翼未豐的帝國與深沉的渡鴉守衛(wèi)之主。