Editing Latoti Crusade (section)

==Prelude==

==='Ere we go!===

The savants of the Ordo Xenos have spent thousands of years trying to uncover the logic beyond the actions of the Orks with little success. Some give up and conclude that the greenskins are just beasts for whom war just is their existence. Others continue to posit theories and test them against historical records. Not a few go mad. According to the reports of Fifth Legion warriors and attached Remembrancers, Warlord Rok'Ed was an Ork of truly prodigious size, outmassing even the greatest of Knight Walkers. We now know that such stature could only result from a long career of violence and destruction, no doubt stretching back decades - perhaps centuries! - before the violation of Omegon. Rok'Ed was also a canny if unsubtle commander, possessed of the Orkish virtues of "cunnin'" and brutality in equal measure, and had attracted a vast following of vicious greenskins to his banner.

Worse yet, Rok'Ed's WAAAGH! had dozens of space vessels at its disposal, ranging in size from looted Omegon cruisers up to massive space hulks. Studies of the ruined Omegon worlds suggest that the Orks followed a zig-zagging, almost random course, with elements of the main WAAAGH! frequently separating off to seek plunder and battle elsewhere and later rejoining the main mass. Dispatches from Fifth Legion indicate that elements of the Orkish WAAAGH! were moving towards newly-pacified worlds in the Jenon Subsector as the Latoti Crusade began. Without the swift intervention of Gaspard Lumey's Space Marines, Pracaliv, the moons of Nadriynus, and Jenon itself would certainly have been overwhelmed and the whole Pandora Sector would have quickly followed, adding more loot and boyz to Rok'Ed's rampaging horde.

As always with an Orkish WAAAGH!, there was no ultimate goal to Rok'Ed's campaigns. The destruction of civilized life was the Ork's goal and only the beast's death would put an end to the violence.

===Imperial Preparations===
{|class="wikitable" style="float:left; margin-right: 10px; width: 35%; color:white; background-color:black" 
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<center>'''BITTER BROTHERS'''</center>
[[File:AlexandriOfTheSilverCataphracts.jpg|160px|left]]
After the Latoti Crusade, Alexandri of Rosskar and Gaspard Lumey began a long and heated argument. Both parties agreed that the Silver Cataphracts' 98th Expedition Fleet had been engaged in routine Pacification efforts not far from Pandora when the Ork threat was detected. According to Gaspard Lumey, the 98th had been called on to help and refused. Alexandri claimed that this was a slander and that the 98th had received no such request.

The War Council ruled that a communication had been attempted and lost to the vagaries of the Warp, but the two Primarchs would remain suspicious of one another for years to come.
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In the days of the Great Crusade, warnings of a potential Xenos incursion drew a swift response. The Imperium's frontiers had not been established and government consisted of little more than a military organisation. Le Gall's reports were relayed by the Astropaths on Pandora to the [[Al-Sherar Sector]], base of the [[Void Angels|Fifth Legion]]. At this point, [[Gaspard Lumey]]'s gene-sons were yet not the famous Void Angels or even the glorious "Winged Victory" of the late Crusade. When they were spoken of politely, they were "Fifth Legion". Other names were more common.

Gaspard Lumey's own 25th [[Expedition Fleets (Hektor Heresy)|Expeditionary Fleet]] was in Sector, taking on fresh troops after detaching veteran battle brothers to form the core of 581st Expedition Fleet. The Primarch received news of an Orkish threat coolly and met with advisers on [[Ciban IV]] to determine a strategy. Le Gall's reports were trustworthy but the path and full strength of the Xenos would have to be assessed by closer contact. This task fell to Lumey's Space Marines. However, if the greenskins were moving in force towards Imperial Space, the 25th Expedition Fleet couldn't stop them alone. The 581st Expedition Fleet, together with new cohorts of Auxiliary forces from the Markian Pact, would move to Pandora to fortify the planet. Finally, the techpriests of [[Al-Sherar]] agreed to activate their mighty god-machines and dispatch a maniple of [[Legio Antsar]] Titans with their supporting forces under the command of Kazi Hassan 6b6'16262-656c.

The 25th made good time through the Warp arrived at LG52b without any mishap. Even before emerging into Realspace, the Fifth Legion's psykers had sensed the feral presence of the Orkish WAAAGH! and confirmed Le Gall's warning. Careful readings of the portents at LG52b suggested that the Orks were moving irregularly but generally heading in the direction of nearby and vulnerable Imperial conquests. Although the Fifth had little experience in fighting Orks, Gaspard Lumey had studied dispatches from as long ago as the [[Volemar Gamma Campaign]] and believed that he had the measure of the Xenos foe. The Primarch divided his force into four combat groups, each tasked with making hit-and-run attacks on the Orks intended to lure the enemy towards Pandora.

While Gaspard Lumey was setting his plans into action, Rani Stolarz was disembarking the first echelon of [[Ciban Chasseurs]] at Pandora. The venerable Force Commander had been considered for retirement from front-line duties after the [[Curis-4 Compliance]] but Lumey had felt that her talents for organizing and motivating hastily-trained forces would be invaluable. Stolarz's initial brief was to train a militia and prepare fortifications on Pandora, ostensibly to serve as an Imperial base for further crusading efforts. However, her mission was quickly expanded to transforming the planet into a killing ground. Cities were transformed into gigantic military garrisons. Where possible, civilian populations were evacuated from Pandora on macrotransporters returning to the Al-Sherar Sector, though not for any humanitarian reasons. Stocks of food and medical supplies would have to be rationed throughout the coming battle with the Orks and non-essential personnel would be an unwelcome burden.

===Signs and Portents===

Although [[Craftworld Meros]] drifted through space on the opposite side of the Galaxy, the supernatural sight of Farseer Olatari apprehended a range of possibilities in the coming clash of Orks and Humans. Slowly tracing the lines of fate, Olatari picked out a destiny that would satisfy her own mysterious ambitions. Her part in the affair would be small, no more than a short meeting with Autarch Yarennath and Eleathiae of the Endless Fangs. That short exchange of words would send Eldar warriors to the Mon-keigh planet Pandora, twisting altering the destiny of the Mon-keigh, Meros, and perhaps the Galaxy as a whole.

Unpleasant work, perhaps, but Olatari was not above making sacrifices.

===Early engagements===

The first clash between Fifth Legion and WAAAGH! Rok'Ed was at the Aram system. The old Olympia-class Cruiser ''Ténacité'' discovered a small fleet of Orkish warships taking on victorious boyz from Aram-6. ''Ténacité'' made a quick hit-and-ran attack on the Orks, causing minimal damage with her torpedoes before withdrawing. In the coming months, many similar light engagements occurred as the Imperials gathered information and attempted to lure their opponents into a change of course.

This strategy was not without its risks. ''Talisman'', a Crusade-class Cruiser transferred to the Fifth by the [[Steel Marshals]] was ambushed by Orkish warships at the Soistea system and escaped with heavy damage. Several smaller vessels, among them Siluria-class Light Cruiser ''Galant'', were lost in action and few ships in the 25th Expedition Fleet's complement went undamaged.