Libria IV evacuation collapses

By late 11.016M42 it was clear the loyalist imperial position on Libria IV was untennable. To prevent the total loss of all remaining forces and assets, Imperial HQ devised a plan to rescue what equipment and important artefacts they could from the world before the combined forces of the alliance rolled over the remaining imperial defences. To aid in this the Iron Hands and Space Wolves moved in system with fast strike cruisers. Their intent; to land a force near imperial HQ for long enough to evacuate whatever they could.

The alliance, having previously allowed these "ordered withrawals" had no intention whatsoever of allowing the loyalists to escape with valuable assets intact. Unable to spare a fleet, the tau contacted their allies through the shadowy contact they still had with the Kel Sandros Eldar. In response the Disciples of Y'Nead arrived through the webway and lent their support to the rebel Lycaon guard who bore the onslaught of the initial astartes drop. The arrival of the eldar forces completely disrupted the imperial plan, and after a few hours of hard fighting the space marines withdrew, unable to secure a perimeter. This consigned thousands of guardsmen and hundreds of peices of military equipment, not to mention relics and other valuable assets to capture and reuse by the forces of the alliance.