The Crusade Begins
Launched amid great fanfare and a 14 day opening parade, the Crusade of Light set out to reclaim the Corvus Sub-sector. The basic plan was to land Administratum survey teams on every world who would make contact with the native populations and re-evaluate their ability to be integrated into the Imperium. Upon contact with hostile forces, Space Marine and Imperial Guard forces would forcibly take control of the planet. But no sooner did the Crusade fleet emerge from the Warp than the error of its intended plan was made clear. The Crusade of Light was too late: the Servants of Ruin stood ready for them with a fleet of Battleships. Thus it was that the Crusade of Light had become the Crusade of Fire.^[1] The Lord Militant ordered the immediate deployment of the Space Marine forces accompanying the Crusade en masse, and dozens of Thunderhawks carrying the Space Marines landed on key worlds even as other Astartes forces assaulted the Chaos fleet with Boarding Torpedoes.^[1a