| abstract
| - By 778.M41, the Sabbat Worlds Crusade was entering a defining phase in its 23rd year, having successfully advanced into the highly contested territories of the Cabal Systems and beginning to make significant headway into the Carcaradon Cluster. This hostile region was considered to be the heartland of the Forces of Chaos within the Sabbat Worlds. The Imperial commanders on the Second Front were required to prevent the Forces of Chaos from launching a successful assault on the flanks of the Crusade's advance. The former Imperial world of Lyubov was considered a strategically useful location on one of the main Warp jump routes and was also believed to be a source of fuel, munitions and other consumables for the Archenemy forces within the Khan Group. Lyubov had effectively been conquered in 750.M41, suffering under the occupation of the Forces of Chaos for two and a half decades. Several of its hive cities still managed to remain under Imperial control for the majority of that time, plunging the world into constant warfare as a result. Lord Militant Cybon ordered Lyubov to be retaken in late 777.M41, and gave command of the operation to General Andreas Carnhide. The Forces of Chaos arrayed against Carnhide on Lyubov were significant. Within the occupied zones there were substantial Chaos Cult armies and levies of forcibly conscripted citizens from the indigenous population that had been tainted by the touch of the Warp. They occupied the "Transcontinental Nexus", a heavily populated zone where the bulk of the planet's hive cities and manufactorums lay. These forces were augmented by numerous war machines, armour, aircraft, corrupted Chaos Titans, and even a considerable number of Chaos Space Marines. The Chaos army was further supplemented with the deadly and ferocious clan army of the Blood Pact. These forces were commanded by Araek Etogaur. Imperial scholars believe that the name "Etogaur" is a rank of honorific meaning, meaning "Sub-" or "Demi-Gaur", perhaps denoting an equivalent rank comparable to Colonel or General in the Imperial Guard. This capable and charismatic leader had forged the usually fractious Forces of Chaos into a singular, coherent structure. A brutal campaign fought between the Imperial Crusade and the occupying Chaos forces on Lyubov ensued, culminating in the final assault on the gigantic main Hive City of Lyubovhive. In the years of Chaotic occupation the forces of the Archenemy had turned the hive into a nearly-impervious fortress, with a heavily armoured outer structure that had been embellished with innumerable gun emplacements and malevolent antipersonnel devices. This is where Araek Etogaur's command headquarters was located, and where he would most likely make his final, defiant last stand. As the Imperials made a furious thrust into the wounded hive city they encountered fewer Blood Pact forces and more levies of cultists. A great fire soon broke out in the main hive's northern sectors, burning unchecked until one fifth of the hive was consumed. General Carnhide focused on his main goal of finding and destroying the focus of Lyubov resistance -- Araek Etogaur. He drove his forces relentlessly forwards, knowing full well that victory was within his grasp. Late on the seventy-third day of the campaign, three fire teams from the 82nd Carnelian Light Foot finally ran the Etogaur to ground. Driving ahead of the main advance, the fire teams encountered unexpected resistance from a squad of Blood Pact warriors. A fire fight ensued, which left three of the foe dead on the causeway outside, and the remainder of the enemy to retreat into a vandalised Censorium. Checking for signs of life, the Imperial medic noticed the dead foes were not attired like the average Blood Pact warrior. Alerted to this unusual turn of events, the squad leader alerted command for support. The fire teams soon found themselves under renewed fire from the Censorium before any support could arrive. They encountered stiff resistance from all quarters, but the Imperials valiantly fought on. By the time a squad of Kasrkin Storm Troopers arrived to support the beleaguered fire teams, the squad leader believed he had spotted the rogue Etogaur. He quickly pursued him with two other members of his squad through the lower quad and towards the west door of the Censorium. Cornered, the Etogaur drew a barbed Chainsword, snarled like a cornered animal and lunged to attack. His two subordinates were swiftly cut down, and the squad leader missed the Etogaur with his first two shots. With one charge in his weapon's power pack remaining, the squad leader fired one last time into the snarling face of his foe. Araek Etogaur fell dead. Though it transpired later that the squad leader had missed and the headshot was actually claimed by one of the Kasrkin marksmen in an adjacent building, the deed had been done. Sporadic fighting continued for weeks afterwards on the battered Hive World, but Imperial victory was declared after the death of Araek Etogaur.
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