Karlack (Fortress/Dead World)

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Karlack was a human-inhabited world that had retained a semblance of civilization despite 5 millennia alone in the dark. It's peoples initially rejoiced when reunited with the Imperium, but their happiness was soon crushed by the demands of the crusade. The world's population swelled tenfold, its industries multiplied a hundred times, and its fields were farmed beyond exhaustion. At some point, the planet's ecosphere collapsed, and people became resentful, rebellious even. Harsh measures were taken.

Karlack was the principal seat of the Achilus Crusade High Command, home to the single most powerful concentration of the Imperium's military might within the Reach. After Hethgard, no one heard from the system, and none of the patrols sent there returned.

It was eventually revealed that Karlack had turned to Chaos, specifically Khorne. Every ship that had gone there had been seized by cultists, and incorporated into the "Great Star Ark" that would carry the faithful back to their loved ones on Carmyn. It's a given that there would be bloodshed when they arrived to find their promised paradise a cesspool of Saaneshi corruption.

Barotta put an end to this dream, seizing the hulk, and reclaiming the ships that could still be repaired. He then virus-bombed the surface of Karlack, wiping away all life.

Cressid (Dead/Mining World)

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Cressid is a Dead World found within the Outer Reach region of the Jericho Reach. Were it closer to the salients of the Achilus Crusade, dramatic action might be taken. As it stands, the resources necessary to conquer such an inhospitable planet are better spent in other environs for the time being.

The thin atmosphere on Cressid does little to insulate the world from the chill of the void. Before the onset of the ancient Jericho Sector's Age of Shadow, records suggest that the great refineries may have warmed the world so that it could be safely inhabited. In the millennia since those shut down, the world has once more become a cold and barren wasteland.

Those who choose to live upon its surface must endure miserable conditions as they attempt to eke out an existence. Such a fate is far too kind for those who have chosen to abandon their sacred responsibilities to the God-Emperor.

The Deathwatch maintains a small Watch-station here, keeping an eye on the local Cold Trade, Xenos trafficking, and watching for dangers from the Outer Dark.

Belissar (Dead/Forbidden World)

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Belissar is a Dead World of the Jericho Reach, found far from the salients of the Achilus Crusade, yet considered enough of a threat to warrant quarantine by the Imperium of Man. The planet was badly contaminated by the forces of Chaos even before the Horus Heresy. 

Numerous attempts were made to destroy the planet: virus bombs scoured it's surface clean of life, and cyclonic torpedoes broke apart the planet's crust. Yet despite the efforts of the Imperium, mutants continue to thrive on the surface, and daemons freely walked the broken, molten surface of Belissar.

Belissar was eventually declared Forbidden, and given over to the care of the Deathwatch. There seems to be no link between the Anomaly and Belissar - their original are not the same, and their fates not interwoven.

Hethgard (Mining/Dead/Fortress World, Orpheus Salient)

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Hethgard was a Fortress World with three moons (also heavily fortified) that served as the primary command center for the Achilus Crusade's Orpheus Salient in the Jericho Reach. When the Tyranid menace codenamed "Dagon" was encountered, Hethgard's purpose changed: it was to protect the rimward flank of the Achilus Crusade's advance, and more importantly, to prevent the enemies of Humanity from reaching the Well of Night and the Jericho-Maw Warp Gate within it.

To that end, it was remade as a Fortress World, with every square kilometer of its surface and many hundreds of meters below ground devoted to the protection of its defenders and the repulsion of an invading force. Designed by a coterie of Divisio Tactica siege engineers and Adeptus Mechanicus artisans out of the lathes, Hethgard's fortifications were carefully arranged to allow for the swift and effective detection and destruction of invaders, its structure devised by ancient strategic lore, arcane formulae, and the results of intensive prognostication.

When Librarian Barotta of the Sons of Xandor arrived sometime after 212.M42, Hethgard still remained. There were scant few human survivors to be found, only four were located, but the world had proven true: the Hive Fleet had broken against it, wasting its power, until finally the controlling synapse was destroyed (details unknown).

The freezing, thin air of Hethgard's mountains had preserved the dead as if they have died only recently. Countless million human dead, and endless fields of slaughtered Tyranids. And an enormous amount of war material. Much of it destroyed or damaged, but the sheer scale of the battle fought here meant it was a near limitless pool of scavenge.

Hethgard's pickers still contribute to the Sector, even if their economic importance has waned a bit. A few lesser mines have been reopened, and towns and villages have sprung up to support the growing population.