"The entire point creating the Vanguards and the Wardens were to guard against a threat like the Crusaders. Experimenting with the dust Koltanium corrupted a person's soul, turning them into cold-blooded killing machines, driven by the idea of 'purifying humanity'. The soldiers of the final battle didn't die, but they transformed into something more human, and something far from it. Driven by hatred for being left behind, and corruption from the Void from the Koltanium, they vowed revenge, binding their time. John, and Natalie had nearly finished their conditioning when Crusader forces started rampaging the galaxy, and they were the closest ones to the head of the forces."
"Koltanium in it's purest form is nigh-indestructible, the only thing to damage it would be another pure form Koltanium weapon. The metal was only used for anti-material rounds, ships and their super soldiers. All of the Crusaders had pure Koltanium thanks to their exposure. As you can guess it was a slaughter. John, Natalie and Vlad were capture, and later escaped... But Natalie was killed during their escape. When John and Vlad made it back, Vlad revealed that he was a sleeper agent for the Crusaders, that turned rogue and switched sides. That's why Vlad was relatively unfazed with their mental conditioning. John had a mental breakdown for a solid month, due to losing Natalie and from the condition. He eventually got better."
