Editing Damocles Crusade (section)

==The Ciaphas Cain Directors Cut==

About a quarter of the Ciaphas Cain stories are set around the Damocles Crusade. The events of the first Cain story (''For the Emperor!'') occur slightly before the Crusade, on the planet Gravalax. The newly formed 597th is sent in along with several other units (including Cain's old 12th Valahallan Artillery), at the request of [[Amberley Vail|Inquisitor Vail]] to deal with the planet's wavering loyalty and the possibility of secession to the Tau. While the planet itself is economically irrelevant, it is strategically central to warp routes in the sector and its loss would make the loss of many other worlds inevitable. Cain ultimately discovered that the planetary governor has been infested by the Genestealers, and that their goal is to draw both the Tau and Guard into a costly war (foreshadowing the arrival of a hive fleet).

The later story ''The Greater Good'' is set at the very end of the Crusade (991.M41), when the Imperial Guard is locked in a street by street struggle to hold their last ground on Quadravidia, only for the Tau to suddenly offer a cease fire in order to focus on Hive Fleet Kraken.