Von Aurach Crusade

Upon his ascendancy to the Departmento Munitorum 's General Staff, Georg von Aurach began to put his theorised idea for a crusade into a full Imperial proposal, complete with predicted forces required and deployments- not an easy task to do whilst keeping it a secret so his political and military rivals wouldn't get wind of it and use it against him and being deployed at the behest of the Lords of the Departmento Munitorum.
Yet he managed and spend any spare time between operations and deployments working on his proposal and soon, he was ready. The then Lord General von Aurach of Armageddon, followed protocols and submitted his proposal to the Chancellor of the Senatorum Imperialis for scheduling. After three decades of waiting, the High Lords summoned von Aurach to the chamber to announce that his proposal had been accepted and an Imperial dictat declaring the Von Aurach Crusade was to be issued and sent to the Administratum for resourcing. Lord General von Aurach was now given the title of Lord General Militant and was the head of the crusade he had believed in since his days as a lieutenant

The Conflict

Prelude

Following the Imperial dictat, the next decade saw huge amounts of resources reallocated to the Von Aurach Crusade and, as per the initial plan, all forces were assembled at Kar Dunaish and split across three Army Groups - 5122nd, 5123rd and 5124th - each with an allocated Imperial Navy Battlegroup. Eight days of non-stop ceremony, pagentry and celebration followed before all untis embarked and the ships broke into warpspace.

Deployment

The three army groups were to act semi-autonomously, with their own set objectives and timelines, which could be followed if communications broke down. Each attacked a different system, all which Imperial strategists believed to be the least defended and therefore, easiest and quickest to retake and fortify to give the Imperium a foothold to expand from. The 5122nd were deployed to the Kulak System , from there they would move to the Jarl system and then meet up at the Sto'Helit system, where they would join the 5124th and both assault the highly defended former Forge World that was that system's capital. The 5124th were initially heading for the Trax prior to Sto'Leit and the 5123rd were to hit the old penal system of Van Dieman's World and then attack the lesser forge system of Sto'Lat

Outcome

The Kulak system was the only system to be completely captured and secured by the 5122nd Imperial Army , becoming the new Hub-Fortress for the Crusade
The 5123rd Army Group disappeared without a tract and without contact after it reported arriving in the Trax system. A small detachment from the 5122nd went to Trax to investigate but with the opening of the Great Rift, the fleet was forced to return to the relative safe haven of the Kulak system, or risk being lost forever, and have been unable to return as previous stable warplanes are now too perilous to use
The 5124th suffered over 70% casualties as they landed in Van Dieman's world, which had become a heretic held planet. With all command lost, the remnant made for Kulak where they were screened and then amalgamated with the 5122nd

Aftermath

The crusade stalled in light of the Great Rift and all that came with it- destabilising warp currents, mass rebellion, sudden psychic awakening and dead of hundreds of Astropaths as warp energies gushed into their minds. Following the galaxy stablising, outside contact was established when the Blood Angels Astartes strike cruiser Regent's Blade, broke out of warp into the Kulak system bring word from outside of the sector- The Avenging Son has awoken and was leading the Imperium once again after 10000 years and he had made Chapter Master Dante his Warden and Regent for the Imperium Nihilus, which the Sleipner sector now found itself part of.
A baalite delegation of Blood Angels Astartes had been given specific orders to offer the Regent's support to the Von Aurach Crusade as the Imperium was now going on the attack and Captain Raphelo became the Lord Commander's connection to the crusade
His first order of business was a re-organsiation of all crusade forces, under the banner of the 5122nd Imperial Army , now known as the 1st Sleipner Army Group, and until Lord General Militant von Aurach was found alive, Lord General Napoleon Letizia  was now the de facto crusade commander. Kulak IV and its system would be classified as a hub-fortress for the crusade and the Officio Logistis, a new body formed to aid Roboute Guilliman's Indomitus Crusade, would have a presence and bring to bear their unique diplomatic and administrative powers to better facilitate Letizia's requests and plans

Included Conflicts

• Operation EDDA

Conflict Type

Military Campaign

Battlefield Type

Space

Start Date

993.M41

Ending Date

circa 999.M41

Conflict Result

The Great Rift halted the crusade and forced a reorganisation of its forces. All communication lost with Lord General Militant Von Aurach and his flagship. Presumed dead.

Location

Sleipner Sector