Stahl invades Minos

For more than a year the forces of chaos had failed to make much headway against the Imperium. Their attempt to invade Bastien had ended in defeat, and although they had managed to rid Zadoc of the worshippers of the corpse god, the alliance had intervened and now the Arch Cleric was firmly on the back foot. Worse still the Iron Warriors now had to contend with their ancient brethren in the Zadoc subsector, as the warp rift which had seen Admiral Haskell create the Federacy had once again brought forth ancient foes from the dark past.

Warsmith Stahl had been luke warm at best about the invasion of the Zadoc subsector. He yearned for the retaking of the Perseus Deeps, long a stronghold of the traitor legions and a base from which the Iron Warriors sought to eventually reclaim their destiny. The Harakhty Dynasty, which had swept all before it in previous years, now appeared dormant, and following General Veers abortive efforts to gain a foothold on Mordecai, and the defeat of Jellicoe by Admiral Thok, Stahl knew it was the right time to go on the offensive once more.

Stahl chose his original target, Minos, to launch his new crusade. He reasonedas before, that taking a base so close to the Imperium's vital bases in the Vastrid sector, would render them impotent against a later reconquest of Bastien. His forces set off in late 04.015M42, and on 0105.015M42 war came to Minos.

The invasion took place in the dead of night, and Stahl's arrival caught the Imperium off guard. throwing the Imperial defence plan into tatters. Stahl's enemy comprised of the Novgorod Guard and a force of Space Wolves, deployed to Minos on intelligence that suggested an imminent attack. Moving his Iron Warriors into the open, Stahl presented an apparent opportunity for the imperial forces to counter attack, and the followers of the Emperor fell straight into the chaos trap.

The Wolf Lord with his Thunderwolf Cavalry immediately assaulted the chaos spawn in the centre of Stahl's force, hoping them to be the first of many, however it was not to be - rather they were to be stuck fighting the invisible Spawn while there minds befuddled by magic for most the battle.

With the Wolf Lord trapped in combat, on the left the Rough Riders attempted to atone for their previous failures by destroying Rhinos containing the Iron Warrior Tank Hunters who were targetting the Space Wolves Murderfang and Vulnerable Dreadnought. Unfortunately the Rough Riders failed miserably. In return the passengers disembarked and destroyed Murderfang, while the Rhino Tank Shocked and broke the Rough Riders who were then run down by the Iron Warrior Bikers. At this point the order to break the foe came from Stahl who personally led the attack on the right flank. Hellbrute Mayhem packs and Helldrakes were released upon the field from orbit and in a coordinated attack, every unit that could fell upon the Imperials supported by fire from Vindicators, Obliterators and Havocs. The Skitarii forces attached to the Space Wolves attempted a rescue by drop pod assault to prevent the second wave of Maulerfiends from launching an attack, and they half succeede. However in return they were met with a storm of bolter fire and finally were torn to pieces themselves.

Meanwhile on the right flank a demolitions team mission to assassinate Warsmith Stahl went disastrously wrong due to grav-chute mechanical failure. The Imperials attempted to call on further air support but it was too little to late. During the hour of carnage the Wolf Lord was still trapped fighting ghosts. Realising the Iron Warriors had seized the forward positions, killed all other commanders, broken both flanks, flooded the centre and sent Maulerfields behind Imperial lines into the Mechanicum armour there was a risk of a general rout on the field and so called a tactical retreat to spare the Imperium further losses. Stahl now had a foothold on Minos, sending the Imperial high command into a frenzy of panic.

Libria III: Latest events

Libria III: Loyalist gains reversed

While the crusade were undoubtedly in terminal decline on Libria III, the war between the alliance and general Launceston's loyalists showed no signs of being won quickly. In previous weeks the loyalists had managed to catch the alliance overly concentrating their forces in the west, allowing Launceston to take advantage in the east. Waneria had fallen and the cities of Belleron and Caister were now under threat. Realising theis, the tau and their allies redeployed rapidly to the region, while in the west, the Iron Warriors prepared an assault on South Vale to prevent the new loyalist offensive isolating them on the Varras Isthmus.

In the south, the overwhelming technological superiority of the Iron Warriors and their mechanicum allies proved too much for the Praetorian Guard defending the southern front. With crushing predictability the Praetorians were badly mauled and soon Launcestons forces were once again forces to withdraw from the Vale into the Varras Isthmus.

This victory was followed up with commander Skyfall and the Shattered Silence orchestrating an operation in Waneria to retake their recent losses. The imperial advance was soon reversed as the new riptide suits now available to Skyfall caused havoc amongst the imperial guard. The Librian regiments facing the tau took heavy casualties, but Skyfall didn't have it all his own way and was prevented from taking the Spit Mountains themselves, the summits remaining in imperial hands. The twin cities however had been relieved.

Meanwhile in classic hit & run style the dark eldar of the Shattered silence, aided by the eldar themselves, smashed the Lunar Guard forces holding the Waneria plains. The Imperial Fists tried to intervene to hold of the xenos assault, but took heavy casualties to so far unencountered eldar weaponry, a kind of wytchfire which burned guardsman and astartes alike in their armour.

Disappointed, Launceston ordered a withdrawal. By the beginning of 05.015M42 the loyalists were back to their positions they had held before the offensive had begun a month before.

Libria III: Crusade reduced to toehold

During the last few days of 04.015M42, the Crusade suffered serious setbacks on Libria III. In West Cartasia Shadowstrike deployed his forces to shore up the front following the defeat of the Shattered Silence. His force was soon in action against the Vannaheim Guard and Sisters of Battle, and by 2804.015M42 the imperial line had been forced back to the ourtskirts of Quattria. THe Vannaheim commander asked for reinforcements but by then Vorushko had been forced to commit her reserve in the defence of Cartal.

In mid Cartasia itself, the loyalist offensive against the alliance continued, with the Space Wolves sending forces to aid the advance. Teaming up with the adeptus mechanicus, the astartes led the assault on the crusade capital, Cartal, while Vorushko's main force was engaged further south by the alliance. Despite a late intervention by the Dark Angels, the crusade was forced to abandon the city and move to Aegon. Now the Crusade had been reduced to a mere toehold, with their southern cities of Rhallor and Aegon under seige on two fronts.

Rahvan Malkaor advances into northern Zadoc

Throughout the first quarter of 015M42 the war Zadoc between the forces of chaos and the alliance, chiefly the tau by this point, had fallen into a stalemate, with both sides making small attacks with limited scope. Thus far the alliance had been profitting out of this, gradually eroding away the chaos held zones and capturing key cities. The lack of apparent interest on both sides was driven by warmaster Stahl's obsession with retaking the Perseus Deeps from the Imperium, and the alliance's urgent need to intervene in the Librian situation.

However during 05.015M42 the tau began to receive disturbing intelligence from the chaos occupied sectors, particularly those in the north. Daemonic incursions were increasing, sacrifices were becoming widespread, and disturbing changes began to manifest in reality itself. Commander Rahvan Malkaor decided to act, and sought permission to lead an advance on Andisele in the north of Zadoc. His plan would be to take the island of Anorigo by amphibious assault, and for this he requested reinforcements. His request was denied. The tau would have to attack with the forces at their disposal.

Fortunately for Malkaor the powerful Iron Warriors forces of Stahl were much reduced and concentrating on fortifying in the east. Much of the Arch Cleric's forces had dissipated with their leader's departure and the island and it's capital were now under the control of forces loyal to Krae'thrun'yzz The Puppetmaster - a blasphemous deity the tau found baffling.

Lacking any professional army, the chaos defences in the north quickly buckled, and the tau became cautiously optimistic of an easy victory. However soon the skies grew dark and other-worldy forces began tugging at the veil of reality separating the physical universe from the insanity of the warp. Before long a horde of daemonic entities had appeared to block the path to Andisele. Violent close quarters fighting broke out, although the chaos gods appeared not to favour their own kind, and the daemonic entities peroidically appeared to become less well defined, and their powers diminished. This inconsistency proved to be a weakness Malkaor was able to exploit, and gradually the tau overcame the daemonic army, and by the beginning of 05.015M42 they had achieved their goals.

Andisele fell to the tau revealing a charnel house of slaughter, and a disturbing environment where the physical universe had become a plaything of the god. Buildings, trees and the landscape itself had been warped, and as the power of tzeentch withdrew from the region the city suffered several catastrophic collapses, reducing much of the infrastructure to ruins.

Hive fleet Medusa reappears

While Imperial sector command were focussed on containing the alliance threat in the Librian system, predominantly oblivious to the internal divisions in their own ranks, and bolstering defences in the Perseus Deeps with the resurgent chaos threat, they were caught off guard in 04.015M42 by an attack from an unexpected quarter.

Gabriel's world, fought over and secured for the imperium in 013.M42 was not expecting the sudden appearance of the alien menace ofthe tyranids. Nothing had been heard of hive fleet Medusa, and Nemesis had not been reported further "west" than the Perseus Deeps, and had been in decline for some time. Suddenly, when an outlying settlement was found with its population massacred, and various biological parts removed from the dead, the imperial authorities raised the alarm.

Vannaheim regiments, assisted by the Adeptus Sororitas were quickly deployed to the base. Since the arrival of Titus Luthor in the sector the Vannaheim and Lycaon regiments had been central to the imperium's defence, as the Librian regiments were degraded by the war in their own system. Now the Vannaheim guard were called into action again, and despite the ferocity of the first tyranid assault the imperial line held.

The first encounter confirmed the presence of the aliens and vidpict analysis verified the aliens as belonging to the Medusa lineage. This first action was soon followed however, as the Dark Angels responded to another set of garbled and frantic distress messages, this time from the other side of the planet. Unable to redeploy in strength in time, the imperial guard could only listen in to vox traffic as a Dark Angels strike cruiser launched its payload of death into the midst of the alien swarm. then, to their horror, they picked up communications asking for immediate extraction, as more and more aliens poured out of the caverns around the isolated southern hemisphere outposts. Gabriel's World was declared "infested" on 0105.015M42

Federacy votes for war

In an extraordinary session of the Federal Surpeme Council the motion to intervene in the war on Libria was passed by a majority vote. Since throwing off the yoke of Imperial oppression the Federacy had concentrated on recovering, rebuilding and rearming. Despite the Federacy's growing strength the majority of members felt little enthusiasm for an unpopular war of aggression, reluctant to end the decades of peace their populations had become accustomed to in pursuit of foreign military adventures.

Meanwhile the Tau Empire was becoming ever more overstretched. Its efforts to incorporate major worlds in the sector into its new sphere of expansion had been overwhelmingly successful but the Empire's resources were not limitless. The Federacy had been providing supplies and support to the Tau and allowing the use of its worlds for resupply and recuperation but little else. The Tau now wanted more from their allies and had been placing increasing pressure on the Federacy to take a more active role. They had been aided in this by Hartak, the warlike and idealistic Squats spoiling for a fight and eager to extend Federal freedoms to other worlds ready to throw off the Imperial yoke. They chafed under the growing isolationist and pacifistic direction the Federacy had taken. It was Hartak, seconded by Cerberex, that tabled the motion to become involved in the Libria campaign. They challenged the Federacy to actively seek to expand its influence, or as one Squat delegate less diplomatically put it, to “stop acting like a bunch of yellow pussies”.

Under heavy pressure from the Tau and a promise that Libria would be allowed to join the Federacy should it wish to the motion was reluctantly passed but it wasn't all the Tau had hoped for. The Federal Fleet would now be available for combat operations but no state of emergency had been declared and no world was compelled to send ground troops. For the time being the majority of Federal aid to air and space support. Hartak would mobilise its armies along with volunteer battalions from other worlds but without the numbers to wage a full scale war across multiple worlds they would be broken up and serve as auxiliaries alongside existing Tau Cadres. Still, it was a start.

Libria III recent events

Libria III: Crusade under pressure

By late 04.015M42 the Crusade was facing severe challenges and for each success there seemed to be a reverse for Vorushko's forces. On 1604.015M42 Launceston's loyalist Librian's continued the offensive from the Varas Isthmus, crossing the Riker sea by ship and landing on the coast of Cartasia, knowing the Crusade's smaller numbers and multiple front lines would make an immediate counter attack difficult. In fact the Librian forces were well inland before encountering resistance, and once again the war of attrition favoured the more numerous loyalist forces. the Adeptus Sororitas and Vannaheim guard inflicted heavy casualties on the Librian forces in an attempt to get them to wothdraw to the coast, but the Librians held fast, eventually forcing an exhausted crusade army to retreat towards Regina anaAegon in the south.

Meanwhile in the north, the alliance were pushing south as commander Shadowstrike and the Iron Warriors' mechanicum allies began a crushing offensive against the Vannaheim units. With her astartes forces busy elsewhere, the Vannaheim guard were put under increasing pressure, and gradually more and more captured Librian equipment - and even men - had to be forced into use by the crusade. The result was a tired and battered Vannaheim and Sororitas force facing a refreshed, sharp and well equipped alliance army. It ended in annihilation after two days of fighting, with simple logistics preventing the alliance sweeping into all of Cartasia. However by 2604.015M42 the crusade had lost control of most of Cartasia to either the loyalists or the alliance.

Further south the crusade made gains. The Minotaurs launched yet another airborne offensive, this time against the elite, but numerically small, cadre of commander Skyfall. Casualties were high on both sides, but the end result saw Skyfall retreat from the city and Vorushko restored to her capital. Further south, the Shattered Silence were pursued all the way to their webway portal by the Apocalypse Riders, allowing Quattria to be taken back on the south coast. Her empire was shrinking in terms of square miles, but at least Vorushko had taken back two important cities on the Cartasian Continent.

Libria III: Lycaon Guard continue push in the north

Only a week after the gains made by the loyalists in South Vale and Waneria, General Launceston's men made further inroads into alliance territory in the north, this time approaching Belleron from the Spit Mountains along the coast of the Inner Sea. In biting winds and occasional sleet the Lycaon Guard continued to push back the rebel forces before meeting stiffer resistance in the form of Skitaari & other Mechanicum units near Suda Bay. The Lycaon commander reported that he was engaged with Mechanicum forces, and the adeptus mechanicus loyal to Inquisitor Hathek were quick to identify the forge world, although they divulged very little about it to the imperial commanders.

the mechanicum in Newhall now knew that the same forgeworld aiding Van Dorn on Hylas was engaged against Launceston on Libria III. Further data analysis confirmed that this forgeworld had ancient links with the Iron Warriors prior to the heresy, and the mechanicus calculated a 79.2% probability that their opponents at Suda Bay were honouring their old commitments now Apollo had reappeared, and a 58.3% probability that Apollo was being actively supported by the forgeworld in secret. They did not share this information with imperial command nor did they divulge this secret to Inquisitor Hathek.

In any case the force was small, and soon the Lycaon commander reported that it too had been forced to retreat and the imperial offensive continued on schedule.

Launceston's Loyalists make gains

By mid 04.015M42 the Crusade forces were becoming seriously over stretched and under pressure. This was particularly true of the force in South Vale, which with alliance on both flanks and the loyalists in Lazarus to the north, had to be continually supplied via the Riker Sea, a shallow and treacherous stretch of water for shipping and a practical no-fly zone for crusade airborne forces, such was the superiority of the alliance air power in that region. It came as no surprise to Inquisitor Vorushko and her commanders whent General Launceston began an offensive driving down from the Varas isthmus into South Vale.

Vorushko, knowing her forces would capitulate without help, called on the Minotaurs. This highly mobile force was able to strike without warning from space, and then withdraw, the damage done, before the alliance space forces in the vicinity of Libria III had time to react. However, the Minotaurs would have to strike decisively and in a limited time frame.

the operation started well, with the Minotaurs force evading alliance and loyalist airborne forces and landing directly in contact with the lead element of the Novgorod Guard regiments at the front of Launceston's offensive. The Minotaurs intended to smash a hole in the loyalist line in order for Vorushko's reserves to counter attack, putting the whole of the loyalist plan into jepoardy. However the plan soon went wrong.

As violent as ever, the Minotaurs were simply unable to kill enough guardsmen quickly enough, a fact General Launceston had counted on, and as the blood of the Novgorod guard stained the countryside red, the rest of the loyalist meatgrinder pushed on into South Vale. Nearly 24 hours later, the Novgorod regiments facing the Minotaurs were almost spent, but by now the combat was irrelevant. The critical time had past and the astartes force had to disengage. Casualties were enormous, but Launceston accepted those as the remainder of his force outflanked then routed the remaining loyalist forces in South Vale, returning the region to loyalist control.

The loyalists were also enjoying steady gains across the other side of the planet, in the remote region of Waneria. For weeks Launceston's forces had been slowly pushing the rebels south, out of Hodor, and now the Wanerian mountains had been taken and the whole of the plains to the south lay open to the advancing Lycaon Guard.

The Shattered Silence kabal were asked by the alliance to put a stop to the imperial offensive, and after protracted negotiations, a price was agreed. However the dark eldar force found the imperial armour tough to deal with, and once again the Lycaon Guard regiments proved to be a difficult foe. The struggle, a series of violent skirmishes between xenos and imperial forces in the Wanerian plains, lasted almost a week, but at the end of that time the forward momentum of the loyalist army had not been slowed and the city of Belleron now lay at risk, outflanked to the west.

New Mechanicum force breaks through on Hylas

In the month since the recapture of Sarina from the greenskins General Van Dorn had been consolidating his gains and ensuring that there was no overwhelming greenskin counter attack which would undo the Apocalypse Riders' hard work. As under-resourced and low priority as ever, Van Dorn continued to plug away, using any resources he could get his hands on, and in early 04.015M42 through his network of contacts, he successfully pursuaded a little known forgeworld to send a force of skitaari and other mechanicum troops. Van Dorn was surprised to find an agent who could communicate directly with the mechanicum and secure resources, but his need was so great Van Dorn didn't let it bother him.

With surprising rapidity the force of mechanicum arrived in system. Within days of their arrival they made their presence felt, launching an offensive along the north coast of Hylas, near the shifting isles. The technology and power of the new force overwhelmed Von Bismork's defenders and within days North Eaton had been returned to the control of the Imperium. Slowly the green tide was turned back.

Libria III: Cartasia plains swept clean by Sky Lords

The next move by the alliance was to attack Crusade positions in the Cartal mountains to the west of the Cartasian plains themselves in an effort to widen the narrow corridor which kept alliance forces in the city of Cartal in ground communication with the rest of the alliance.

Since the city had been taken, Cartal itself had come under seige, but the alliance had kept open a strip of land, some fifty miles wide at its narrowest, leading to the Riker sea and the lands of Vardashi and Cerra. Now Skyfall was tasked with widening this corridor, and if possible rolling back the arc of crusade forces to the west and north of the city. If successful the siege of Cartal would be lifted and the remaining Crusade forces in Cartasia would be isolated from osne another.

Skyfall's attack took the defenders by surprise initially. The tau attacked in moderate strength, initiating a predictable and in fact hoped for counter attack by the Crusade's mobile reserve, this time in the form of the Sky Lords. this counter attack was then ambushed by Skyfall's main force, which had been carefully concealed by advanced tau technology and simple ruses such as camo netting.

The Sky Lords proved to be a difficult opponent for the tau however. The astartes force had learnt from their previous encounter, and despite the ambush, little damage was inflicted on the Crusade force. In reply, grav cannons were employed successfully against Riptide battle suits, and the space marines' land raiders held off enough tau firepower to deliver the elite terminator squadrons into battle with the tau command units.

This time despite their superior technology, the faith and brute strength of the imperium's warriors proved the more enduring, and the tau command, leading from the front once again, was smashed by the Sky Lords' chaplain and assault terminators. the remaining crisis suits were annihilated by the astartes grav cannons, while the Sky Lords sent their tactical squads after the "softer" tau forces.

Soon the tau attack was in all kinds of trouble, and the Sky Lords' counter attack became a full scale offensive. Sensing a victory, Vorushko threw in her reserve forces, cutting the alliance corridor and sweeping across the Cartasian plains reaching the Riker Sea on 0804.015M42. Cartal was now fully cut off and Skyfall was left wondering what went wrong. Only days after the battle was it revealed that his Broadside Battlesuits had in error been deployed facing the Crusade forces in Aegon, while Skyfall expected them to take part in the attack on the Cartal Mountains. this mistake may have contributed to the defeat, and Skyfall was forced to undertake a review of the army's communication procedures. On the ground, the crusade had won a badly needed victory, but strategically their position remained weak.

Libria III: Quatria taken by Iron Warriors

As 03.015M42 came to an end, the alliance, now made up of the Iron Warriors and Tau forces, continued to prioritise the destruction of the Crusade on Libria III. They assessed the Crusade as the greater threat and the least likely to surrender or withdraw voluntarily following diplomacy, whereas events on Tarsis and Melberg had demonstrated that the loyalist forces rarely fought the alliance to the death. Vorushko and her forces almost certainly would, and they had to be eliminated. By avoiding pressure on Launceston's loyalists, the alliance ensured the Crusade still had to fight on two fronts, making the job all the easier.

The assault against the Crusade continued with little in the way of delay following the destruction of the loyalists at Ballong Bay. In an unexpected attack, a large force of Iron Warriors infantry pushed south from Cartasia into the suburbs of Quatria in relative secret before the Adeptus Sororitas and attached Vannaheim regiments realised that a new assault had begun. the Crusade had expected the Iron Warriors to utilise their mechanised forces and had planned accordingly, but Apollo was clever, keeping his enemies guessing.

This time his largely infantry based force were able to utilise the cover of Quatria's massive buildings, and targetted the Vannaheim artillery for early destruction. In this they were phenomenally successful, wiping out much of the Vannaheim long range firepower. Thus compromised, the Crusade forces were unable to prevent the astartes warriors from overunning the city, and where they attempted to hold the Iron Warriors, the Sisters of Battle were brutally hacked down in violent hand to hand combats, the ideological gap between the two sides all to clear to see.

By 0504.015M42 Quatria had fallen to the Crusade, securing the entire western seaboard of Cartasia and much of the south coast. If Rhallor and Aegon could be captured, the alliance would be able to encircle the armies beseiging Cartal.

Vastrid subsector: Imperial fleet savaged by Dark Eldar

While the bulk of the imperial fleet was covering the Perseus Deeps, admiral Pendragon's force was transferred to the Vastrid subsector to investigate growing rumours of alien raiders in the Radeon Cluster. Upon arrival the imperial force found little, except that Inardion reported ever increasing raids by alien strike teams who matched the profile of eldar or dark eldar corsairs. Unlike other planets, Inardion had not been targeted previously, as the world itself was not connected directly to the webway. This information had been given in secret to Pendragon, and this news confirmed the likelihood of xenos vessels in the region.

Despite having fought this kind of Xenos in the past, Pendragon took no special precautions nor set up any deep pickets to search for potentially cloaked vessels. Therefore when several dark eldar cruisers and escorts appeared within weapons range, the imperial admiral was taken quite by surprise. The ensuing battle was one-sided, and Pendragon's fleet was soundly defeated by the aliens, who were in fact experienced members of the Shattered Silence Kabal. The remnants of the human fleet withdrew, limping back to Farport. The Shattered Silence had bought themselves time, but it would not be long before their machinations in the Radeon cluster would become known to the imperium of mankind. Hopefully by then, it wouldn't matter.

Perseus Deeps: Mordecai Tersius expedition fails

While the war for the Libria system continued to rage in the Zadoc subsector, General Veers was still brooding about his failure to gain a foothold on chaos held Mordecai. In 01.015M42 an initial landing had been bloodily repulsed, but two terran months later, Veers wanted to try again. In truth, General Veers was facing serious problems. His fortress world on Corticant remained a necron domain, although for some reason known only to the ancient aliens, his last stronghold of fort Bastion had not been assaulted. Never-the-less Corticant was for all intents and purposes, a necron world. Now, with vital resources going to the Libria system, sequestered by either Hathek or Vorushko, General Veers, whose campaign has seen the imperium smash chaos in the Deeps, was sidelined.

Admiral Jellicoe vehemently opposed a return to Mordecai. He knew that following the victory over the chaos fleet at Bastien, lord Tragean had not ventured out. However his intelligence indicated that Thok still had a large fleet operable, and its location remained unknown. There were also rumours of something far worse, almost impossible, being constructed in the warp for the deranged admiral.

Titus Luthor, sector commander and ultimate authority in the matter, overruled the imperial admiral's concerned. Disctracted and concerned by the catastrophic escalation in the Libria system, he was in no mood to be harangued by General Veers, so simply authorised the operation to take Mordecai Tersius. Jellicoe pointed out the flaws in the plan including the lack of astartes support, unknown disposition of the chaos fleet, and the fact the Iron Warriors were known to have fortified the outer world. He was ignored. Then on 1203.015M42 Jellicoe received news that a small battlegroup of Thok's cruisers had been confirmed in the Mordecai system by imperial spies. At least he might get to diminish yet more of the rogue admiral's fleet in the operation.

Jellicoe raised his flag aboard Iron Duke and led a flotilla of capital ships into the warp escorting transports carrying largely Novgorod Guard forces. Veers intended to swamp the small traitor legion forces and their fortifications with infantry, and as ever the Novgorod regiments came in handy for such a loveless task. On 2003.015M42 the imperial battlegroup broke into realspace close to the orbit of Mordecai Tersius, finding no enemy battlefleet close to the jump point. Veers landed his troops once more and began an advance on the Mordecai Tersius installations around the city of Skryme.

Several Novgorod Regiments were ordered to take the Iron Warrior forward positions. The Novgorod approached the city initally without difficulty setting up defensive positions within the rocky outcrops that dotted the landscape. Through the night conscripts snuck into forward positions, digging trenches for miles across the newly formed front until the city was encircled. Finally the Novgorod brought up artillery designed to destroy the Iron Warrior armoured divisions. The Iron Warriors, who were clearly concious of events, merely waited.

The early morning gloom of 140315.M42 commenced Artillery bombardment upon the Iron Warrior positions although unfortunately the Iron Warrior casualties were surprisingly light. Soon after the initial bombardment, the chaos forces sent their assault sections across the newly formed no-mans land in an attempt to get to grips with their attackers. On the Western flank and centre the Iron Warriors simply shot their way through the Novgorod conscripts, and in the East, Spawn attacked, dragging the conscripts further from the Western flanks and creating a yawning gap in the imperial lines. Into this gap the Iron Warriors charged. At the this point the Novgorod Colonel was forced to commit his reserves, consisting of elite special weapons teams and Rough Riders.

The Rough Riders, attempted to outflank the Iron Warrior assault commander, riding through thick woods, this proved disastrous with over half their number falling the in the woods including their Sergeant. The survivors, believing themselves to have been ambushed, retreated, leaving the Eastern flank undefended, sealing the Imperial forces' fate. Soon after the Imperial western flank also began to buckle. The morale of the Novgorod shattered turning into a full rout, although with nowhere to run the carnage on Mordecai continued for the rest of the day. Last reports from the landing force suggested the Colonel leading the invasion attempted to save Novgorod and imperial honour by challenging a Daemon Prince to single combat. Once again the landing on Mordecai had been defeated with few survivors. Veers came close to ordering in a second wave, but by the second day of the invasion the imperial commissar had had enough. He relieved Veers of command and ordered a retreat.

During the two day fiasco on Mordecai Tersius, Admiral Jellicoe had sent out his escort squadrons far and wide looking for Thok's vessels, to no avail. Then, just as the flotilla of transports was preparing to leave the system, scout vessels reported contact with a squadron of several cruisers. Jellicoe immediately detached his main battle force and set a course to intercept.

As Iron Duke led the imperial battlegroup into the asteroid fields surrounding Mordecai Tersius, his sensorium reported a massive power spike. Initially the senior tech priests dismissed such readings as implausible, but as ship after ship recieved the same augur returns, it became clear that something massive and powerful was accompanying the fleet. Very soon an enormous vessel, identifying itself as "Gotterdammerung" came into visual range. The "ship" was huge, almost twice the mass of a normal battleship, and it's strange spire like weaponry crackled with witchfire. Momentarilly stunned, Jellicoe was slow to react to warnings to disperse his fleet, and an impossibly bright beam of energy shot out of the front of the enemy vessel, scything through Valiant and damaging the flagship.

Crippled, Valiant tried to escape, but the rest of the chaos fleet quickly reduced the vessel to a wreck, and before long Iron Duke was badly damaged by the massive conventional weaponry which covered every inch of the massive vessel's infrastructure. Jellicoe recovered his wits quickly however, ordering Benbow and Implacable to cross the enemy fleet' "T" to their front, while the smaller vessels and light cruisers were sent to cut round the back of the main imperial fleet. Thok however had been planning this encounter for years however, and had carefully arranged his fleets' deployment. Many a night he had spent obsessing about his encounter with Jellicoe, running scenarios and playing war games with his subordinated in order to perfect his battle plan.

Now the mad admiral laughed as Jellicoe tried to escape his trap. Gotterdammerung swung in from port, while the rest of the fleet approached from the opposite wing. The massive chaos vessel opened fire once more, scything apart Firedrake and forcing the imperial escorts to flee. Implacable and Benbow managed to damage Brunhilde, but it was an unequal contest. Soon Benbow was wrecked and Implacable attempting to disengage. Iron Duke too managed to limp away and hide amongst the asteroids while Thok searched in vain for his adversary.

Admiral Thok hadn't managed to eliminate his most hated foe, but he had given Jellicoe and the imperial fleet a bloody nose. Thok laughed again as he imagined the panic which would soon be manifest at naval headquarters on Farport. His imagination turned out not to be far from the truth, as Commodore Cardale's fleet was immediately withdrawn from the Vastrid sector to reinforce Jellicoe's battered fleet. The lord Admiral himself was shaken by the encounter, but realised the new threat from Gotterdammerung was real indeed. The events in the Mordecai system had all but reversed Jellicoe's great victory and handed the initiative to the forces of chaos.

Libria III: North-West Cartasia taken by Alliance

Having failed to decisively finish off the Crusade by 2003.015M42, the alliance prepared for their next assault against Vorushko's forces. However before they did this, they knew that they had to deal with a troublesome force on their right flank of the Cartasian Front.

This force was made up of the remaining loyalist forces under the command of General Launceston. With no hope of immediate evacuation by sea or air, the imperial forces, mostly Lycaon guard, were in any case well equipped and were prepared for any attack which was thrown against them. More worryingly the alliance had determined that should they continue their assauly against the Crusade, the loyalists had the capability of intervening with the possible loss of Alliance held cities.

The Iron Warriors were thrown into the attack once again, utilising their heavily armoured elements to smash the loyalist defences. Despite being well equipped and dug in, the Lycaon guard had no answer to the ten thousand year old veterans of the Horus Heresy, and Apollo's legion took apart the imperial defenders, taking Ballong Bay and scattering the remaining imperial armies into the wilderness, where comparatively few made any token guerilla resistance. By the end of 03.015M42 West Cartasia had been linked up with the alliance forces in the Broken Lands, and the alliance could turn its attention once more to Vorushko's Crusade.

Libria III: Imperium strikes back (1703-2003)

Having lost much ground to the alliance and Crusade, Launceston was now forced to go on the offensive. Vorushko's forces were finally winning battles but by 1703.015M42 it was the alliance who were threatening to sweep all before them. Some in tau command even entertained ideas of finishing the war on Libria in a matter of days. It was not to be...

Having defeated the loyalists in West Cartasia and seeing them all but collapse to the alliance offensive, the Crusade decided to decapitate the remaining imperial forces loyal to Inquisitor Hathek. The Apocalypse Riders and Minotaurs were brought in to assault the loyalist capital, Newhall, in order to bring all imperial forces under Vorushko's control.

The Minotaurs were largely successful in completing their mission and taking their objectives. The Lycaon Guard were soundly defeated, but enough loyalists remained to delay the astartes force for a crucial couple of hours while the Apocalypse Riders were being defeated in their attempt to take the city itself.

Launceston had been warned of a possible attack on his command and the Space Wolves had been placed specifically to counter this threat. When the Apocalypse Riders attacked, the loyalist astartes were waiting. Weathering a storm of fire the Space Wolves closed on their enemy, and quickly the assault on Newhall dissolved into bitter hand to hand fighting. The battle was now in the balance. To ensure victory, Launceston requested aid, and the Imperial Fists soon arrived to bolster the loyalist counter attack. Facing overwhelming odds, the Apocalypse Riders abandoned their assault, leaving the Minotaurs dangerously exposed. Both Crusade forces retreated, leaving Newhall in the hands of the loyalists.

The Loyalists were also having a better day on the Varas Isthmus. Launching an attack from the north this time, the Lunar Guard attacked Lazarus, determined to take the prize they had been eyeing for months. In order to prevent the city falling, Shadowstrike sent his own forces over the Varactus Sea to bolster the defence, but to no avail. After several hours of bitter street fighting the rebels were pushed back and the tau, suffering heavy casualties, evacuated the city. Finally the Lunar Guard had taken the rebel city.

In Cartasia the alliance hoped to finish the Crusade by attacking Cartal and southern Cartasia, breaking Vorushko's hold on the region. The eldar were employed once again, defeating the Sisters of Battle and taking Vorushko's capital. However in the south, the Iron Warrios faced a massive counter attack from the Carcharadons, who employed nearly all their forces in order to take down the traitor astartes and their warhound titan. 

After a furious battle the Space Sharks were finally victorious, taking down the warhound and ousting the alliance forces from the city of Aegon. The alliance had taken Cartal, but now they were effectively surrounded by Crusade forces.

Libria III: Alliance Ascendant (1303-1603)

Minotaurs sweep into Illum Bay defeating Praetorians and Space Wolves
Skyfall and IW take West Cartasia and link up with rebels utilising Warhound. Loyalists cut off & surrender

The initial phase of the new offensives were over by mid 03.015M42, and all sides considered what to do next. The loyalists had held their own while the crusade, despite their win in South Vale, had lost ground. 

The alliance were the first to strike. Commander Shadowstrike had joined the alliance on Libria III by now, and his forces joined the assault on the Crusade armies. Striking south the tau commander crossed the Purun sea from Cerra, outflanking the Crusade armies and forcing Vorushko to hastily redeploy her Vannaheim regiments to counter this new attack. After a grinding and attritional battle, the city of Aegon fell to the tau.

Worse for Vorushko, the eldar had once again appeared in support of the alliance. The aliens struck hard and fast and succeeded where the Iron Warriors had so far been unable. They broke the deadlock on the Heanor front, driving the Apocalypse Riders back and sweeping across the plains to Canaur. For the first time since the secession, the rebel city was now in contact with the rest of "Federal Libria III".

In West Cartasia General Launceston attempted to follow up recent gains by throwing in his reserve Lunar Guard regiments to take the important cuty of Quattria on the south coast. However the Mechanicum counter attacked, and no more than a few miles were taken before the offensive was called off. Soon after the loyalists suffered more defeats as the Minotaurs were employed once again. The astartes were thrown into the defence of Quattria, but seeing that the threat from the loyalists had passed, the Minotaurs went on the offensive. They smashed a combined Praetorian and Space Wolf force, pushing the loyalist line back towards Krichten and Ballong Bay. 

Seeing the now precarious situation the loyalist forces were in following their defeats in West Cartasia, Skyfall and the Iron Warriors acted themselves. Employing a Warhound Titan for the first time in the crusade, the tau and federal forces annihilated the Lycaon Guard on the loyalist left flank. Space Wolf units sent in to bolster the collapsing line were similarly dispatched, and by 1403.015M42 an enormous hole had appeared in Launceston's defence. Exploiting this, the tau quickly moved units into Krichten, trapping thousands of loyalist troops between their own forces and the alliance in the Broken Lands. Launceton pulled back to Ballong Bay, and much of his army in West Cartasia had no option but to surrender.

Libria III: Total war breaks out (0803-1203)

In early 03.015M42 the war on Libria III quickly escalated. With her effective annexation of Cartasia, Vorushko had signaled her intent clearly, and both the loyalists and alliance forces made immediate plans to take advantage of any confusion in the region by launching immediate attacks.

The first blow on Vorushko's new empire came with an attack from West Cartasia by the Lycaon Guard & Praetorian regiments. General Launceston was keen to make early gains against the Crusade forces to bolster morale and keep Inquisitor Hathek's side in the war, and the offensive went well. The Lycaon forces pushed east, causing heavy casualties amongst the Sisters of Battle and Vannaheim guard, while the Praetorians held off a considerable Mechanicum counter attack. The result was an early success for the loyalist which came as a welcome surprise to the loyalist general.

However the loyalists did not have things all their own way. In the east of Cartasia the Crusade forces unleashed the Minotaurs on the Lunar Guard who had been besieging Lazarus on the Varus Isthmus for months. The sudden attack from behind caught the loyalist forces by surprise and chaos ensued. Few of Launceston's men were able to extract themselves from South Vale, and the success in the west was almost cancelled out by the terrible loss in the east.

On the border of Cartasia and Vedrick, the alliance clashed with the crusade at the same time. The alliance attack on Heanor, led by the Iron Warriors, was held in the foothills by the timely arrival of the Apocalypse Riders, but commander Skyfall was able to take Grisk & the Tamaron Ocano industrial complex despite the arrival of the Carcharadons on the scene.

More raids on Achreom

During the first half of 03.015M42 the raids on Aethor by the dark eldar continued, increasing in ferocity. The imperial forces, now reinforced with Vannaheim units and regiments of Novgorod Guard, were forced to put the planet into lock down, and normal life on the world ceased as the imperial colony adopted a siege mentality against the alien interlopers. Using the webway, the xenos raiding forces appeared from nowhere and struck hard and fast, with little chance for the slow and cumbersome imperial guard to react and counter attack.

In the space of a week the dark eldar struck two outposts far apart from each othere, seemingly at random. In the north the Atterine oile fields were raided, but the strategic assets were protected by mobile Vannaheim Guard units assisted by the Adeptus Sororitas, and the attacks were soon brought under control with heavy casualties inflicted on the raiders. In the agricultural south however, the less mechanised Novgorod Guard found themselves up against the Shattered Silence's elite warriors, and a series of bloody and attritional skirmishes saw the dark eldar able to take control of several districts, massacring or enslaving whole towns before disappearing in the face of imperial reinforcements.

On 1303.015M42 the Minotaurs chapter of space marines intervened, launching a ferocious assault against the Shattered Silence Kabal as they were moving back to their webway portal. Fearful of being cut off or their means of entry discovered, the dark eldar put up a stoic defence, at the cost of the lives of their warriors. The battle itself was inconclusive, and the Minotaurs were unable to prevent the dark eldar from escaping into the webway, nor locate the exact whereabouts of the portal in the south.

Sarina retaken by Apocalypse Riders on Hylas

The war on Hylas had ground on for two and a half terran years by 02.015M42. For months General Van Dorn had wethered incessant ork raids from behind a set of increasingly elaborate imperial trenchlines and fortifications, as events elswhere in the sector starved his force of badly needed reinforcements. An ork hulk remained in orbit, but the main body of the ork force, now commanded chiefly by the warlord Von Bismork, remained on the surface, controlling more than half of the world but not making any truly organised attempts to breach Van Dorn's defences.

The stalemate was broken in early 03.015M42 with the return of a company of Apocalypse Riders. By now the entire chapter was active in the Zadoc subsector and Perseus Deeps, and although they had joined the Librian "crusade", the Astartes force still considered itself a staunch defender of the Imperium of Mankind.

The Apocalypse Riders quickly moved into action in northern Hylas, launching a lightning assault against Von Bismork's forces on 0603.015M42. Taken completely by surprise the greenskins were slow to orchestrate a coordinated response, and the fast but durable forces of the Riders created havoc behind the front lines. Their cohesion broken, the orks were unable to stop the imperial forces under Van Dorn's command when they moved en masse "over the top", and hundreds of miles of the Sarin plains were retaking in just ten days. The main stand of Von Bismork's boys came at the city of Sarina, but here the Apocalypse Riders concentrated their forces and massacred the orks within a few hours. Sarina had been retaken by Van Dorn again and the stalemate broken, but after their decisive intervention the Apocalypse Riders were soon leaving, responding to an urgent need for men in the Libria system.

Zadoc: Vorni retaken by alliance

With the events in the Libria system taking centre stage, the war on Zadoc between the alliance and the forces of chaos had become stagnant. Weakened from their catastrophic losses in the fleet battle against the imperium in the Perseus Deeps, the alliances between chaos warlords had become fractured. The Arch Cleric's activity had diminished, Lord Tragaen had retreated back to Kendrenec and Admiral Thok had disappeared into the warp with his fleet. Only Stahl's Iron Warriors, with some help from the Emperor's Children, now stood against the tau on Zadoc.

The situation with the chaos forces suited the alliance. They had embarked on the more ambitious task of adding Libria to their sphere of influence and had reserved their front line forces for that task. Second line forces were now allocated to the Zadoc "front", with large numbers of ex-imperial forces ready and willing to fight against chaos.

Although less strategically important than the Librian campaign, Warsmith Apollo fo the 5th Grand company of the Iron Warriors, now allied to the Federacy and through this the alliance, was unable to overlook the presence of his damned brothers on Zadoc entirely. In late 02.015M42 Apollo sent a small force - no more than one hundred legionaries - to Zadoc to help bolster the alliance forces.

Upon arrival the alliance Iron Warriors soon began organising the alliance forces on the world and prepared for a new attack. Vorni would be targetted as it was known to be a garrison town for a large contingent of traitor Iron Warriors. Within days the battle had been joined, and after ten millenia brother met brother once more in a repeat in miniature of the battles which shook the galaxy during the Horus Heresy. Neither side was willing to give ground, and despite their former brotherhood and ten thousand years, the hatred they bore for each other remained undimmed. It was the traitor marines, thanks to a tactical error, who were defeated, with Apollo's men triumphantly taking Vorni by 1003.015M42, although by this time the city itself had been reduced to a ruin by the firepower of the two seige minded astartes forces. The war on Zadoc had entered a new and bloody phase.

Libria III: Alliance consolidate gains

Early 03.015M42 saw no respite for the imperium on Libria III. The arrival of the Iron Warriors on the side of the alliance had shaken the imperial forces, and even the intervention of Vorushko's elite forces hadn't managed to slow the tide of alliance gains. In addition the imperial forces within Cartasia found themselves coming under more and more scrutuiny from the Inquisitor's retinue of commissars and priests, which the Imperial commander in Newhall found particularly alarming.

In order to try to regain some control of the situation, Vorushko ordered the retaking of Parth, now garrisoned by commander Skyfall's tau. The Sky Lords, recently arrived in the Librian system would lead the attack, while Librian Guard forces launched their own offensive against the Iron Warriors in Regina.

The Sky Lords were able to make ground in the outskirts of the city of Parth without much difficulty, but soon their spearhead formation of land raiders came under sustained attack from Skyfall's advanced hunter cadres. Riptides, a number of them the latest pattern proved well shielded from the astartes weaponry, and the forward momentum of the imperial warriors was slowed. Worse still the close assault by the chapter's elite terminator unit against the command and control forces of the tau proved ineffective, as powerful technologies proved protection against even thunder hammers. To their disbelief the tau HQ crisis suits wethered the storm of blows from the Sky Lords' finest, and made an orderly withdrawal from the combat. Now out in the open, the elite warriors of the astartes found themselves targetted by the majority of the tau army, and heavy casualties were sustained amongst the best of the crusade's army.

Thus blunted, the Sky Lords assault withdrew, leaving the city of Parth to the tau. Further east sheer weight of numbers almost overwhelmed the defenders of Regina, but the Iron Warriors held firm and learning of the failure of the Sky Lords further west, the Librian forces called off the attack on 1003.015M42.

Despite failing to turn the tide of the war against the alliance, Inquisitor Vorushko wasted no time in turning the screw against her enemies within the imperium. With Inquisitor Hathek away and with "loyalist" command residing on the other side of the planet, the inquisitor started by releasing her agents into the armed forces of the imperium in the Cartasia region. Soon whole regiments had become fanatical adherents to her cause, some becoming flagellants or joining the preisthood. Gradually order began to break down in cities behind the front line, and to restore the pax imperialis, on 1303.015M42 Inquisitor Vorushko declared herself rightful governor of all Libria III, by her own decree, and effectively annexed the region of Cartasia. Thousands were killed in the loyalist ranks as they tried to escape to friendly territory, and others fled to the alliance. Meanwhile General Launceston, commander of all loyalist forces on Libria III, found himself and his forces "condemned" for generations to come by the lord Inquisitor. He needed no pursuading in joining the cause of Hathek and refused to recognise the inquisitor's authority, effectively declaring war on the crusade. The war on Libria III was now three-way.

Libria III: Alliance take Parth

As 02.015M42 drew to a close the alliance continued to make gains on Libria III. On 2502.015M42 the Iron Warriors launched a determined assault against the city of Parth, the last of the three cities standing in the way of a breakout into the plains of Cartasia, a key industrial centre of the imperial defenders. Despite losing a large number of men from withering Novgorod fire, the alliance force was able to take the city after a bloody close quarters melee in the city streets. With Parth taken the morale of the imperial forces reached a new low, and the commander of the loyalist forces grew concerned that mass desertions to the rebel side would be inevitable. Vorushko decided to intervene in person.

Libria V: Minotaurs smash loyalists

While imperial fleets clashed in the Libria system and the alliance made what appeared to be relentless gains on Libria III, the Minotaurs decided to put pressure on Abrahams' loyalist forces on Libria V in an attempt to secure the world as a base for the crusade. With the innermost and outermost worlds under the crusade's control, it would make further interference by Hathek and his allies on Libria III all the more difficult, and the imperial forces on the most populated world would surely fall into line and accept inquisitor Vorushko's edict.

With this in mind the Minotaurs fell upon the Novgorod guard defending the capital of Libria V, Louxin city. The ferocity of the attack broke the Novgorod defenders and took the capital in just days, leaving the loyalist forces with just a toehold on the main inhabited land mass. However, the battle for Louxin City raised some difficult questions in itself.

Fighting alongside the Novgorod guard were a few warriors of the Adeptus Sororitas. During the battle many witnesses testified to seeing a living saint appear on the battlefield, which signified the emperor's approval of the loyalist cause. Until now the only Sisters of Battle in the Libria system had been fighting alongside the crusade, and several times the appearance of a shining aspect of the emperor's faith had come to their aid. Now it appeared the emperor was blessing both sides, which apart from making no sense, was clearly heretical. The end of 02.015M42 saw a number of massacres undertaken in Louxin City as the Minotaurs systematically eradicated anyone who had witnessed or been made aware of the ridiculous claims of the Sororitas sect, and their findings were passed on to the Order of the Crimson Veil for analysis.

Admiral Doenitz crushed by Pendragon

Inquisitor Vorushko's Crusade received an unexpected boost in late 02.015M42, when the battlefleet commanded by Admiral Doenitz arrived in the system. Doenitz had arrived under orders from the segmentum command to reinforce Jellicoe's battlefleet in its war against the forces of chaos and the alliance on Zadoc. However the fleet had become scattered by a warp storm and a journey which should have taken weeks ended up taking more than a year to complete. Upon arrival at the Libria jump point the admiral was surprised to find the war on Zadoc already lost and Libria itself under threat of invasion by the tau. As soon as Doenitz's vessels translated into realspace they were hailed by a patrolling Charcharadon strike cruiser. Realising their luck, Doenitz was soon visited by Vorushko herself.

the lord inquisitor explained the treachery of the Librians, and the traitorous actions of Inquisitor Hathek in countermanding her edict. She went on to explain that the so-called "loyalist" forces on Libria V would soon be reinforced by more of Hathek's misguided men, and even the navy had turned against the imperial light. Filled with Vorushko's words the admiral dutifully began the blockade of the system, aided by the small force of strike cruisers and escorts already allied to the inquisitor's cause.

Admiral Pendragon, en route to Libria V to deliver supplies to the beleagured forces of General Abrahams, was surprised to find Doesnitz's fleet barring his way. A tense standoff followed while the two admirals engaged in brief communications. Doenitz demanded that Pendragon's forces withdraw, which only irritated Pendragon. He was aware of Jellicoe's desire to stay out of the escalating civil war, but he would not yield or recognise the authority of his fellow admiral. He had orders from his superior and no-one would stand in his way.

The two fleets closed rapidly and aggressively and it is unclear who fired the first shots in the encounter. Either way Pendragon used his recent hard earned experience to batter Doenitz's fleet, destroying at least three capital vessels and forcing the rest, some heavily damaged, to withdraw. Pendragon had scored a victory over the crusade and at the loss of only teo damaged cruisers, but he knew the imperium had lost overall as a result. He railed against the senseless loss of good imperial warships and sent an urgent message to Jellicoe on Vastrid, asking him to take a clear stance on the Librian matter. If the imperial fleet threw its weight behind one of the inquisitors, perhaps the war could be contained and further unpleasant incidents averted.

Libria III: Iron Warriors take Regina

Following the defeat of the Mechanicum and Sisters of Battle, the alliance forces continued to roll forward, pushing back the loyalist librian guard forces and threatening to break through. The next key objective, the city of Regina, fell to the alliance forces, led by the Iron Warriors, on 2002.015M42. Fearing a total collapse of the loyalist line, Vorushko ordered in her newest arrivals, the psychotic and dangerous Minotaurs chapter of space marines.

The Minotaurs needed no encouragement and set about planning the razing of the city of Regina. First of all however, they would have to deal with the Iron Warriors, who had taken up defensive positions around the city, aware of the arrival of the new astartes chapter in orbit.

The Minotaurs launched a characteristic orbital strike, utilising drop pods and Caestus assault rams to land in the heart of the enemy positions. Lacking air cover, the Iron Warriors simply had to wait, but their defences were strong and their forces highly mechanised, as their commander Apollo taught the creed of the "mobile fortress", and as the Minotaurs arrived the ten thousand year old doctrine proved very useful.

The Minotaurs, despite fielding impressive short ranged firepower and unleashing their shock troops, struggled to deal with the tought ceramite and adamantium shielded heresy era vehicles which the Iron Warriors loveingly maintained. although the crusade force dud eventually to damage or disable a number of tanks and troop carriers, by then the withering fire of the defenders had decimated the Minotaurs assault force. By 2402.015M42 it was clear that the alliance forces could not be dislodged, and the remaining Minotaurs retreated to imperial territory, south of the Regina sea.

Disciples of Y'nead defeat Von Bismork in raid

As 02.015M42 drew to a close, the eldar stepped up their activity in the Vastrid sector. This time the ork world of Keprok was targetted in a set of precision raids which appeared to single out the forces loyal to Von Bismork. Most of these orks were new to the sector, having fallen out of the warp on the way to Hylas, where the greater concentration of Von Bismork's boys were preparing for a showdown with the Imperium. Well equipped, these new orks proved a difficult test for the wraith dominated army of the Disciples of Y'nead.

The reason for attacking the new arrivals was clear to the eldar. They knew that if Von Bismork's lieutenants were able to gain control over the orks of the subsector using their "flashier gear" and "shiny kit" to impress the locals, the orks of Vastrid could unite, not only posing a direct threat to the eldar ambitions in the region, but also sucking in more imperial troops and potentially leading to the reclamation of Ares, Drift, Gabriel's World and Sentinel by the Imperium.

The eldar acted swiftly and decisively, getting in close to the orks and using their devastating short ranged firepower. Taken by surprise, the ork fire was desultory at best, and the eldar were fortunate not to take more casualties. Much damage was caused to the ork equipment, but crucially, Von Bismork's troops' reputation also suffered, and the threat of a unified ork "nation" in the Vastrid subsector receded drastically. The eldar returned to their domain satisfied, turning their thoughts to the next stage in their plan.

Libria III: Alliance and Crusade intervene in civil war

A new stage of the Librian campaign opened in mid 02.015M42. Having been defeated on Libria V, the alliance, now just the Federacy and the Tau, moved significant forces towards the system capital Libria III, a world of over a billion and the key to the entire system. The alliance move was anticipated however, and Vorushko's spies soon found out the exact date and time of the alliance intervention on Libria III. It would come in the north, near the strategically important loyalist held cities of Parth, Santo and Regina.

The alliance landed tau forces including Hunter Cadres under commanders Skyfall and Windgather, as well as a substantial force of Iron Warriors legion troops, now representing the Federacy while the federal fleet was still en route. Their objectives were for Windgather and the Iron Warriors to aid the rebels in taking Santo and if possible, a breakout to the strategically vital Tameron-Ocano industrial complex. Meanwhile Skyfall would move on Parth, and if possible surround Regina from the south.

Realising that such a defeat for the loyalists could see the alliance take Libria III and make her squabble with Hathek irrelevant, Natalia Vorushko acted swiftly. She convened with her crusade council and it was decided that the loyalists would be given support, and that her least homicidal forces would take part in the defence of Libria for the emperor, at least until the alliance situation was brought under control. Her agents contacted the senior commander on the ground days before the attack, so when it came the imperium was ready and waiting. At the same time, to throw the rebels off balance, the Lunar Guard attacked in force further south in South Vale.

The South Vale attack went well for the imperium, thanks to some strategic brilliance on behalf of the Lunar Guard commander, who had assumed command of the entire South Vale front. As the attack began the imperial general realised the rebels wouldn't be able to resist a counter attack if his line showed weakness. The Lunar Guard then made it appear that their lines were becoming stretched, leaving larger and larger gaps between units. The Librian rebels took the bait and threw their armoured reserve into the supposed weakness. Once the armoured columns had penetrated ten miles into the Lunar Guard lines, the loyalist general unleashed his reserves, which had been carefully hidden in selected terrain features. Demolisher battle tanks and veteran squads armed with melta guns smashed into the flanks of the rebel armoured column, cutting off its head and causing horrendous casualties.

The loss of the rebel reserve broke their lines, and only stubborn defence and careful tactical withdrawals prevented the defeat from becoming a rout. The Lunar Guard, who had performed so well in setting up the victory, now appeared to squander the chance for a decisive breakthrough, taking too long to follow up the retreating librians and allowing them to reform the line. Never-the-less the loyalists had a victory and the rebel city of Lazarus was now cut off from support.

In the north east the results for the imperium were not so good. In the far west the Dark Angels landed a small force to bolster the defenders of Parth, but the overwhelming firepower of commander Skyfall, who was trialling new Riptide configurations, caused intolerable casualties to the astartes and they were forced to withdraw. Parth did not fall, but the imperial lines were pushed back to the the city limits.

In the centre the main fight developed between the imperium, now backed by the Sisters of Battle and Mechanicum, and the main alliance forces under commander Windgather. Although Windgather himself was once again seen to withdraw his person from the battlefield early on, this was put down to strategic considerations, though it attracted the derision of the Iron Warriors in support. The battle then became intense and close matched, but eventually the forces of the alliance managed to gain the upper hand, pushing the imperial forces back and reching the Regina sea. This was critical, as now the imperium were split into two forces. Quickly the imperium managed to shore up their lines to prevent the Tameron-Ocano complex from coming under threat, but this meant sacrificing the city of Santo, which fell on 1902.015M42.

The alliance and Crusade forces had now arrived on Libria II. So far Vorushko was more concerned with defeating the alliance than with those who would disobey her edict, and the alliance, although victorious in their first actions in helping the rebels, were not able to achieve the decisive breakthrough which would shorten the war.

Shattered Silence raid Vastrid outposts

While the alliance in the Zadoc subsector had broken down, the eldar continued to pursue their own agenda in the Perseus Deeps and Vastrid subsector. During 02.014M42 two major raids were conducted on Achreom by the eldar faction known as the Disciples of Y'nead. On both occasions the Lunar guard, garrisoned on the imperial outpost, were tasked with defending the world from the alien interlopers.

The first raid was a failure for the eldar, as they had underestimated the strength of the imperial presence on Achreom. The Imperium had in fact begun a policy of fortification in the Vastrid sector, as it was clear to even the most dull of strategist that the activity of the eldar in the Radeon Cluster had to be linked to theor activities in the Perseus Deeps. Gradually, almost imperceptably, the eldar were making gains in the spinward region of the Vasrid subsector, and Achreom and Spinitus looked particularly vulnerable.

The eldar learned fast however, and a second raid less than 24 hours later smashed the Lunar Guard defenders and inflicted significant damage on the imperial base on Achreom. At the sector capital, Vastrid itself, the raids were enough for Titus Luthor to order an immediate investigation, and slowly the wheels of the gargantuan human bureaucracy began moving agains the eldar.

The Librian Situation

By 02.015M42 the Librian situation had become complicated. To an outside observer it appeared that Libria had rebelled, and that a war was now being conducted to crush the rebels, recently joined by the federacy and the tau. Few people were aware of the different factions of the Crusade and Loyalists, and it suited both sides to keep the disagreement within the borders of the Librian system, at least for now.

For the alliance, their predicament wasn't good. Having lost their foothold on Libria V to the Crusade, the remaining tau and federal forces had fled the workd with a handful of rebel Librian units, leaving the remaining rebels to be captured by the loyalists, or butchered by the Crusade. The Federal fleet had returned to Hartak for refitting, and the Federal Council was facing a revolt from peace factions who were vociferous in their opposition to the war in Libria.

For the tau stalemate on Zadoc ensured they were unable to commit their full weight to the campaign on Libria, but the tau remained ideologically committed to the addition of Libria to the federacy, while strategically this would secure their holdings in the Zadoc subsector. Already the Federacy and the Tau Empire had carved up the worlds of the subsector between them in a secret agreement.

The eldar however had little interest in the ongoing war on Libria, and gradually the alliance began to fracture. Apart from a few eldar whose loyalty to commander Windgather baffled observers by being close to fanaticism, the eldar mostly disappeared from the Zadoc battlefields to pursue their agenda in the Perseus Deeps.

By 1002.015M42 after weeks of indecision, the Federal cCouncil agreed to send more troops and another fleet to the Librian cause, after the tau agreed to fund the expedition. A few days later the federal warships made the jump from Hartak and proceeded to the Librian system. The tau meanwhile continued to supply a slow build up to the system, deciding that the next blow would fall where it really mattered, on Libria III.

The Crusade meanwhile were pondering their options. Already in possession of Libria I, Libria II remained devoid of large forces and essentially neutral. While Libria III represented the main struggle with the rebels, Libria IV had become the base and home of her biggest obstacle, General Abrahams, who led the coalition of Imperial forces which had been sequestered by Lord Inquisitor Hathek, her nemesis. Vorushko's forces had managed to interfere on Libria V, both removing the dangerous alien presence and at the same time ensuring the outermost planet did not easily fall into Hathek's grip. Such an eventuality would have effectively bottled her forces up in the inner system, denying her forces easy access to the jump points.

With the Alliance vanquished, at least for now, Vorushko's thoughts turned to Arbrahams and the loyalists, and the rebels on Libria III. The loyalists, so long as they made no attempt to remove her Crusade forces, could be ignored for now, but the rebels had to be broken before the alliance could intervene. Then on 1402.015M42 her Mechanicum allies reported a large fleet entering the system, and two smaller forces heading for Libria III. These were identified as the Iron Warriors (a recent addition to the alliance) and the tau under commanders Skyfall and Windgather. Vorushko reacted quickly, allowing the more "moderate" forces at her disposal, the Mechanicum and Adeptus Sororitas, to intercept and destroy the alliance forces. This meant supporting the loyalists on Libria III, but the commander on the planet was amenable to Crusade help, as he had been far too busy fighting the rebels on the surface to involve himself in the inquisition squabble.

For General Abrahams, the start of 015.042 had been fraught with difficulty. His commander on Libria III, General Harris, had been fighting a back and forth campaign against the rebels, only occasionally being reinforced by the odd off world regiment. His base on Libria IV had been raided by alliance astartes forces, and on Libria V his forces loyal to Hathek had been unable to prevent Vorushko's forces from taking the capital. In addition, the loss of Sororitas support had been particularly galling for the imperial commander.

Now at last Abrahams had some good news. With the alliance gone from Libria V there was an uneasy truce on the planet, once more under imperial control, if via two factions. This suited his plans, as soon Admiral Pendragon would arrive with reinforcements from Vastrid, which should ensure enough forces to retake the outermost world from the clutches of the Crusade. Then with the control of the jump point the Crusade could be contained then crushed. Meanwhile Inquisitor Hathek himself had arrived at Vastrid and demanded an audience with Sector Governor Titus Luthor to explain the real situation in the Librian system...