The Crusader Host

At the conclusion of the Unification Wars, the Legions stood upon the precipice of?launching the Great Crusade, to depart the Sol System in a great many cases never to return. Before leaving at the head of the first great Expeditionary fleets, each of the Legions mustered a party of?Legionaries who would remain on Terra and stand as their representatives before the Terran Council in all matters in which the Legions held a stake. In addition, they would serve as an honour guard to watch over Terra and all that the Unification Wars had won Mankind. Perhaps most importantly, they would record the names of those Legionaries who would lay down their lives conquering the great darkness beyond the light of Sol, so that no sacrifice would ever be forgotten. In accepting this honour, the Legionaries of?the Crusader Host would be making an equally great sacrifice, for they would partake in none of the glory their brothers would win and all their victories would be won by proxy。

在統(tǒng)一戰(zhàn)爭結束時，阿斯塔特軍團站到了推進大遠征的前沿，他們將在很多情況下離開太陽系，永不還鄉(xiāng)。在第一支偉大的遠征探索艦隊離開的前夕，每個軍團都召集起了一群戰(zhàn)士，這些戰(zhàn)士們將會留在泰拉，而且當軍團參與所有事務時，他們都要在泰拉議會面前擔任軍團的代表。另外，他們還要擔任榮譽護衛(wèi)來守望泰拉與人類在統(tǒng)一戰(zhàn)爭中贏得的一切?？赡芩麄冏顬橹匾墓ぷ鳎褪怯涗浤切檎鞣栂倒饷⒅獾膹V闊黑暗地帶而犧牲生命的戰(zhàn)士們，這樣便沒有哪份犧牲會被遺忘。要接受這份榮譽，遠征軍代表團中的軍團戰(zhàn)士們就要做出同等偉大的犧牲，他們無法參與到同胞兄弟們贏得的榮譽當中，他們的所有勝利同時通過擔任軍團代表贏取的。

When the Warmaster's betrayal was revealed at Isstvan III, the members of the Crusader Host were as one incarcerated by the Praetorian of Terra, the Primarch Rogal Dorn. If such as Horus could turn, then who among the Host could be trusted? At length, Dorn was satisfied that those of the Host drawn from his own Legion were sound in their loyalties and he ordered them freed. Of the remainder, each is a tale in its own right. Some escaped, their fates unknown. A small number were freed on condition of their performing some great and vital task, such as service in the ranks of?the Knights-Errant. The ultimate fate of many of the Crusader Host is bound up in the events of the climax of the Horus Heresy, when total war came at last to Terra, but that is a tale best accounted when at last it is time to do so.

當戰(zhàn)帥的背叛在伊斯特萬三號上被揭露時，泰拉禁衛(wèi)官——原體羅格 多恩將遠征軍代表團的成員們一視同仁地關押起來。如果荷魯斯這樣的人可以背叛帝國，那么在代表團當中誰又可以被信任？最后，多恩確信那些從自己的帝國之拳軍團中挑選出的代表團成員保持著忠誠，他命令釋放帝拳軍團的代表們。至于其他人，每個人都有自己的故事。某些人逃走了，他們的命運未知。少部分人被釋放，條件是他們要去執(zhí)行某些重要任務，比如加入游俠騎士部隊服役。很多遠征軍代表的最終命運與荷魯斯叛亂高潮——全面戰(zhàn)爭最終到達泰拉時的事件捆綁在一起，不過關于這些故事，我們至少要在恰當?shù)臅r候再考慮。