Editing Story:Love Can Bloom (section)

===Interlude: The Dark Crusade===
	-- Subject: Imperial Guard and Eldar involvement in the Kronus Crusade --

At the dawn of the Dark Crusade, Farseer Taldeer of Craftworld Ulthwe pursued her apparent mission to stop the Necron threat to the tomb world of Kronus. Furious at the xenos’ betrayal at Lorn V, the Imperial Guard, now commanded by Lukas Alexander, followed her to the planet. As the Eldar erected massive webway gates to transport soldiers, linked to Taldeer’s spacecraft, Alexander’s forces landed at Ironworks Bay and established their base of operations. With the ancient technology and weapon he discovered there, however, his mission changed. Now Governor-Militant, he resolved to capture Kronus for the Imperium, and establish the Emperor’s rule once again.

	The highly organized 1st Kronus Liberators, at first, swept across the central continent of the planet. Capturing key territories surrounding the Thur’Abis Plateau, the Imperial Guard created a series of defenses to contain the ancient warriors while more opportune targets were seized. With the Hyperion Peaks manufacturing facilities once again in Imperial hands, Alexander’s war machine drove deep into the heart of the Tau Empire’s presence on Kronus. Imperial Guard forces penetrated the outer defenses of the ancient city Asharis, renamed to “Tash’n” by the Tau, and fortified a forward base. After a long and bloody battle through packs of Kroot and a gauntlet of Tau soldiers on either side of the street, a single Vindicare assassin snuck past tanks and battlesuits, and ended the life of the ‘Ethereal’, the Tau leader on Kronus. The battle of Tash’n ended, and the purge of Asharis began, as the xenos fled the planet. Unbeknownst to much of the Imperial Guard command structure, some Tau medical technology had been ‘acquired’ by Lukas Alexander’s special forces. The Imperial Guard on Kronus collectively turned its eyes to the spaceport at Pavonis.

	Occupying Pavonis without resistance, the Imperial Guard forces stationed there began to fortify the city, its ancient fortifications beginning to crumble. Much of the city was already nothing but rubble. Farseer Taldeer, seeing distantly in a vision the weak position of Pavonis’ spaceport, immediately began an offensive to simultaneously stem the expansion of the Imperial Guard and gain a supreme tactical advantage. Victory seemed almost certain at first, as defenses crumbled under the fire of Eldar weaponry, but an armored column, headed by a Baneblade, arrived in support. Despite heavy losses inflicted on the city’s defenders, the now weakened Eldar forces fled to their stronghold in Tyrea. Emboldened, and bound by duty to fulfill their original mission, Alexander’s forces struck in a brutal counterattack on the Eldar stronghold.

	Annihilating the Eldar catspaws under waves of men pushed unwillingly into battle by the regiment’s commissars, Alexander’s personal retinue led an armored column into the heart of the Eldar forces. A Wraithlord removed Alexander from the battle when a glancing blow from its brightlance ruptured his power packs, rendering him unconscious. Though their commander had been pulled back from the battle, his forces struck back with a vengeance. With their webway gates annihilated under the fire of Imperial Guard artillery, the few surviving Eldar fled the battlefield. Though an enormous force of infantry surrounded Taldeer, she escaped from their midst, though badly wounded. Having regained consciousness in his field headquarters, Lukas Alexander demanded the death of the Farseer. A Vindicare assassin, designated [REDACTED], was dispatched to track down and eliminate Taldeer.

	Mysteriously, the Vindicare disobeyed orders and - in the greatest order of heresy - helped the witch. The Blood Ravens, however, left the Governor-Militant with little time to attend to the situation. An enormous Space Marines force mobilized to capture the spaceport at Pavonis, penetrating the defenses crippled only a matter of days prior by the Eldar. Separating and crushing the platoons guarding the city, the 1st Kronus Liberators were forced to withdraw. In the weeks that followed, the Space Marines captured a number of critical assets, and prepared to invade Victory Bay. The surviving members of the regiment were returned to the Imperium by the Blood Ravens chapter. Details on the battle were lost due to unknown causes.

-- End Inquisitorial report --