For years the Necron threat had been contained on Corticant, at least according to the Imperium. In fact, the Harakhty Dynasty as a whole had been suffering problems with its reannimation protocols, and since 011.M42 their armies had been gradually falling back into hibernation. Realising the dire thresat to there empire, the lords of the dynasty went over to the defensive, and appealled to help from any necrons able and willing.
Meanwhile the alliance, having become bogged down on Libria IV thanks to the overwhelming numbers of the Imperial fleet, had for many months planned to cut the loyalist supply lines by attacking the space lanes linking Libria to the rest of the Imperium. One such lynchpin in this supply line was Corticant, and the imperial base was within striking range of Federal and tau forces based in the Perseus Deeps.
On 2209.016M42 a large alliance force landed on Corticant, made up of Skyfall's tau cadres and recent additions to the Federacy, Ultramarines from the time of the Horus Heresy who had once again fallen victim to the strange warp anomaly which had trapped first Haskell then Appollo's Iron Warriors. However the first contact made by the alliance was not with the Imperium at all. Insteads, while the imperial forces, alerted to the invasion, prepared for the alliance assault, the alliance were contacted by a strange alien emmisary.
The necrons had reinforcements, and after a long and tense negotiation both the alliance and necrons agreed that their common enemy was the imperial presence on Corticant. They could no agree however the terms of a settlement after the imperial forces had been defeated, and this forced both parts of the "coalition", to keep significant forces in reserve, watching each other. This would prove to be a significant problem as the assault on the Fort Bastion commenced.
In defence, General Veers, still in charge of the Perseus theatre but losing prestige following the loss of Minos, had regiments of the Lycaon, Volscian and Novgorod Guard. In addition a knight detachment significantly bolstered the imperial fighting ability, and as the coalition forces attacked the battle soon became a vicious firefight in front of the fort proper. Far from sitting behind their defences the imperium had come out to fight.
The battle continued for some time, but eventually imperial numbers told, and the coalition forces were unable to take key objectives. By 0110.016M42 the tau were in retreat, and the necrons abandoned their attempt to retake Corticant, for now. Frustrated the alliance similarly cancelled the invasion of Corticant, seeking alternative strategies to disrupt the war on Libria. The battle resulted in a badly needed win for the Loyalist Imperium.
Aleph Sector Background
The Aleph sector lies on the eastern edge of the galaxy in the Perseus spiral arm. It is in the Ultima segmentum and is close to the Tau empire. Until recently the sector was one of relative peace where Imperial citizens went about their daily lives earning a living and paying their taxes to the Emperor of Mankind on ancient Terra. Then war came. First it started sporadically with incursions by Chaos raiders and Ork pirates. Very little out of the ordinary.
Then with the Chaos crusade of 003.M42 and the establishment of the sepratist Federacy the stability of the region collapsed. Gradually the violence swept from the capital subsector of Aleph itself, into the Sadoc subsector, as the Federacy and tau vied with the forces of chaos, necrons and tyranids to overrun the imperial rule of the region.
The sector is made up of the Aleph, Zadoc, Vastrid, Valitane and Charybdis subsectors. Charybdis has not been part of the imperium for centuries, while the Aleph subsector itself is now the home of the tau allied Federacy. For now Valitane and Vastrid remain largely under Imperial control but Zadoc is falling into anarchy. In addition the lawless depths between subsectors contain their own hazards, the chief of these being the Perseus Deeps.
Major Factions
- Loyalist Imperium
The loyalist forces are those imperial forces specifically engaged by Inquisitor Hathek against both the alliance and the crusade forces of Natalia Vorushko in the Librian campaign. They are largely imperial guard formations, although a number of astartes chapters including the Crimsons Fists and Blood Martyrs do not accept the edicts of Vorushko, as they largely overrule and contradict what had already been established by another Inquisitor Lord - Hathek himself. Largely suffering defeats, having been removed from Libria III, the loyalists are none the less supplied by the imperial fleet, who in 016M42 finally "declared" for the loyalist faction, while the crusade managed to acquire a significant portion of the fleet for their own usage.
- Crusade
The Crusade is led by the powerful Inquisitor Lord Natalia Vorushko. She has judged the sector, particularly the system of Libria as guilty of treason. She has observed the decline of the imperium to the alliance, as world after world has fallen to the encroaching tau and federal territories. To counter this unstoppable momentum Vorushko has enlisted the help of some of the more ruthless and single minded astartes, including the Apocalypse Riders, Sky Lords and Minotaurs. With these chapters at her disposal she intends to exploit then raze Libria - and any other system in the path of the tau advance - enslaving the population and denying the world's resources to the alliance. Inquisitor Hathek is diametrically opposed to this scorched earth policy, and his opposition has directly led to the three faction war in the Libria system.
- The Alliance (Tau & Federacy)
The Alliance is made up primarily of the Federacy, an empire created from the imperial worlds of the Aleph subsector by Admiral Haskell, an advocate of the original imperial creed lost in the warp since the Horus Heresy. Now the Federacy have been joined by their own astartes, original Iron Warriors similarly trapped in the warp then released some ten thousand years later. Still loyal to the emperor but not regarding him a god, legion commander Apollo now leads his marines in the name of an organisation of a dozen worlds committed to the heretical ideas of democracy, learning and progress.. Allied to this human empire is the tau, although the xenos would much rather incorporate the federacy into their empire. The eldar were committed to the alliance cause, but tensions over the dark eldar and internal factionalism saw the eldar split from the alliance in 016M42.
- Chaos
Led by Warsmith Stahl of the Iron Warriors the forces of chaos are actively engaged on a number of worlds. Over the years many forces and leaders have come and gone, with the position of "Master of Chaos" in the sector changing hands many times. Moonface, Shaidar Haran, Lorek, The Arch Cleric the Anticross and Warsmith Gallowfen have held the title, but now it is Stahl who looks on in dismay as the power of chaos once more enters a decline. Years of campaigning have taken their toll on the forces of chaos, but Stahl has built great defences on Zadoc and Minos, and his forces are well dug in. Now he seeks reinforcements to continue his campaign to retake the once vast chaos realm, which he has begun with the securing of Minos in 016M42.
Minor Forces
The Eldar, having left the alliance, are now solely interested in their own affairs. They have several craftworlds and other holdings such as maiden worlds in the Aleph sector, and will intervene whenever they feel events are moving in such a way to threaten their own small "empire". Meanwhile the Kel Sandros Eldar continue to manipulate events to promote the eventual Eldar supremacy in the galaxy, their own private goal.
The Orks remain an ever present threat in the Aleph Sector, but have never been numerous enough or united enough to pose a real threat. At present their wars on Hylas and Fort Sparcos provide the greenskins with enough sport, and the chances of a significant Waagh! at present seem remote.
Hive fleet Nemesis, once a potent threat which ravaged the Rim Worlds and annihilated three major systems in the Zadoc subsector, has apparently disappeared, the hive mind having moved away from the sector into the vast inter-sector space. However recent expeditions to supposedly dead worlds in the wake of Nemesis have discovered still living remnants of the hive fleet.
The Necrons, having re-established the Harakhty Dynasty in the Perseus Deeps, are now inward looking and fighting amongst themselves.
Major Warzones
Libria & the Zadoc Subsector
The Zadoc subsector, closest to the Tau empire, remains at war. Zadoc itself is a long drawn out ground war between Stahl's dug in forces of chaos and the Tau-Federal Alliance. In the Mabb Nebula there are frequent conflicts between the orks, Imperium and tau, including the four year long grionding campaign on Hylas between the Greenskins and General Van Dorn, while in space the Imperial navy attempts to keep supplies to New Cerberex and Hylas open.
In the Libria System itself a three way conflict between the loyalists, crusade and alliance continues. The Crusade hold the innermost and outermost planets, Libria I and V, while the most important, Libria III, is contested by the alliance. The loyalists are on the back foot. They control the unimportant world of Libria II but are rapidly losing the ocean-world of Libria IV.
In space, the loyalist and alliance fleets are the largest, but Inquisitor Vorushko has secured a small battlegroup. In addition the strike cruisers of the astartes loyal to her can be called upon for lightning strikes. The crusade does not have a large enough fleet to compete with the other two factions just yet, but the growing religious fanatacism behind the crusade has led to the formation of the rag tag "pilgrim fleet".
Persues Deeps
The Perseus Deeps remain the front line between the young civilisations of the alliance, the established Imperium and ancient enemies. The Necrons dominate much of the Deeps, but around the edges the forces of chaos are rising once more, and the eldar are securing world after world.
While the war on Hylas ground to a familiar halt, the war on Libria also began to peter out as 016M42 reached its middle. Libria V had fallen to the Crusade, along with Libria I. Libria II remained "neutral" but was in reality under the sway of the crusade. Libria III was deep into a long ground war between the Crusade and the Alliance, while Libria IV was slowly being won off the loyalists by the Alliance.
During the Librian "summer", when the variable star pulsed into a higher luminesence, from 05-09.016M42, very little changed. In that time the Alliance Mechanicum and their Iron Warrior Federal allies, made significant gains on Libria III, devastating the elite forces of Vorushko and pushing the crusade back. The Minotaurs and Carcharadons took heavy punishment, and by 09.016M42 it was clear that the space sharks astartes were no longer an effective fighting force. They departed the subsector leaving Vorushko with no option other than to go over to the defensive on Libria III.
Meanwhile the Loyalists managed to reinforce their presance on Libria II, removing the "crusade compliant" governor and stiffening the loyalist resolve by deploying a company of Ultramarines on the world. The Crusade immediately reacted however, conducting a lightning strike by the Minotaurs chapter, who devastated the ultramarines and their equipment deployed on the planet. Soon after the Ultramarines found themselves raided by Vlokarian's dark eldar in an opportunist attack. Morale of the loyalists on Libria II fell to a new low.
After finally gaining some momentum on Hylas with the Ultramarines retaking Beng, Van Dorn was pleased to recieve the news that the Carcharadon and Sky Lords chapter of space marines would be able to carry on the fight against the greenskin menace led by the tyrant Von Bismorck. This allowed Van Dorn to release the Ultramarines from the front line on 0805.016M42. However, their withdrawl from defensive positions around the perimeter of Beng immediately precipitated a counter attack by the ork forces, who realised the astartes were the strongest opponents they would face.
Van Dorn expected this and had been assured that the arrival of the crusade forces would quickly prevent a breakthrough. However the Sky Lords were still days away and the Carcharadons, despite being in orbit around the planet, inexplicably failed to materialise before Desmond and Finlay on the flanks of Beng, had been overrun. Then finally the Space Sharks appeared. Their intervention was too late however, and the orks were now entrenched in their positions. After a brief violent struggle the Carcharadons withdrew allowing the mechanised Sky Lords to take over the assault, while Van Dorn raged in private about the incompetence of his crusade forces.
The Sky Lords were unable to do much better. Although they were well equipped and met the orks head on on the road to Beng, their attempt at breaking the siege of the settlement was unsuccesful. Despite the carnage caused by the astartes and their Knight detachment, there were always more orks to fill the breach, and try as they might the crusade force could not quite open a gap in Von Bismork's lines. Following this both sides dug in, and the astartes withdrew altogether, as Van Dorn went over to the defensive until later in the year.
The end on Libria V came surprisingly swiftly in the end. With their supply lines cut and the crusade fleet in orbit around the planet, massive reinforcements were landed for the crusade. Yellowdale had remained a bastion for the loyalists, but with complete control of space air superiority followed, then the crusade mechanicus were landed to the south of the Novgorod loyalist positions. Unable to deal with this new threat, the Novgorod regiments were simply crushed by Knights, skitarri and other mechanicum weaponry. Yellowdale fell on 0305.016M42.
The position for the loyalists was now hopeless. The remaining beseiged cities fought on in pockets, but by mid 05.016M42 the war on Libria III had become a mop up exercise for the crusade. Now the loyalists had just a small foothold on Libria III and de jure control of Libria II, but with no way to enforce it.
The fall of Libria V also meant the crusade had control over the outer system and its jump points, as well as the inner system. In between a fierce war continued to rage between the alliance and imperial forces, but nowhere did the alliance have a secure base from which to launch offensives. Vorushko certainly had the upper hand in the Librian system as the middle of 016M42 approached.
Following the battle in the depths of the Librian system the loyalist and crusade fleets had more to worry about than just each other. Lurking in the shadows and asteroid fields in the system the Shattered Silence kabal of dark eldar were waiting to make a healthy profit from the weakened human fleets.
Unconvinced of the profitability of the venrture, the kabal's leader refused to give his overt support to the enterprise, and this attitude looked to be the correct one as the dark eldar's first encounter with the Crusade ended with a bloody nose and no rewards. Sticking together when the xenos attacked, the crusade fleet weathered the attempted ambush, then began dealing massive damage back to the alien ships. The Shattered Silence withdrew to attempt to fix the damage.
Knowing a fall from grace awaited him upon his return to Commoragh, the commander of the fleet decided to try again. This time his fleet encountered Enkvist's loyalist fleet. Unlike the crusade, Enkvist's vessels were ill equipped to deal with their elusive foe, and the dark eldar were able to disable, board and loot more than one imperial vessel before disappearing into the darkness.
In the end the expedition to the Libria system had not been a complete success, but neither had it been entirely unprofitable. As usual the Archon Kurokenshi was able to take credit for the success, but blame others for the failures. Key skills in remaining top of a kabal in Commoragh.For the imperium howver, the results ensured Enkvist would be unable to intervene in what was about to happen on Libria V.
By the end of 04.016M42 the alliance were in a sorry state on Libria III. Although holding more than two thirds of the territory they had been unable to break the crusade, and were now suffering attrition they could not afford. At the same time, the people and infrastructure of Libria II suffered, and Cartasia had become a virtual wasteland devoid of useful resources and no longer producing meaningful output for the imperium.
The crusade advance however had reached its zenith. the crusade forces hit hard on the attack but suffered vulnerabilities when having to command whole swathes of territory. Made up chiefly of astartes and other elite formations, it usually fell to Librian "converts" and the Vannaheim Guard to hold Vorushko's gains. And the alliance knew it.
The alliance first struck back at Santo, knowing this was not defended by astartes forces. By deploying their elite Mechanicum formations, the alliance quickly crushed the Vannaheim defenders and retook the city and began to move south towards Cartasia once more.
The continued presence of the military wing of the Crusade fleet in the Libria system was a thorn in the loyalist side as they attempted to maintain a hold on the two outer planets of the system. By 05.016M42 they had lost Libria I, Libria II was all but ungoverned, Libria III was contested between the crusade and Alliance and they were losing on Libria IV and V. With Vorushko's latest offensive on Libria V, Inquisitor Hathek demanded Jellicoe respond, or face the consequences.
Reluctantly Admiral Jellicoe declared the Crusade fleet apostate and despatched Admiral Enkvist to deal with the problem. On 3004.016M42 the loyalist and crusade fleets clashed in the outer reaches of the Librian system for ultimate control of the space near Libria V. The battle began with a largely ineffective long range torpedo duel, but the area was littered with asteroids and debris, and this phase of the battle was largely uneventful. Soon however the two fleets approached to within lance and gun battery range, and battle was joined in earnest.
The crusade fleet was able to manoeuvre their hunter escort squadrons into position behind the loyalist emperor class battleship. This in turn was swiflty crippled by a mass torpedo salvo, critically imparing the loyalist admiral's ability to control the battle. Fearful of risking the loss of an entire battlegroup Enkvist disengaged, allowing the crusade to control the space around Libria V. The loyalists had come close to victory however, as the Ecclesiarchy Shrineship Ex Cathedra was successfully intercepted by waves of loyalist assault boats. The damage however was largely superficial, and the crusade admiral was able to maintain command of his vessels
It had been years since tyranid hive fleet Nemesis had ravaged the Zadoc subsector, consuming a score of worlds and arguably precipitating the Imperial collapse in the region. Inquisitor Huron was keen to re-assess the threat, as the xenos had not been encountered for a long time, and the imperium had all but written off the tyranids as lost in the void. Huron knew they hive fleet may have scattered, but likely lurked still in the depths of space between inhabited systems.
Inquisitor Vorushko was also keen to assess the Xenos threat, as her plan to create a buffer of dead worlds between the Tau empire and the remaining imperial controlled subsectors in the region depended on the denial of any inhabited colonies in the Zadoc subsector. Alpeh and Betor had been consumed, but if the tyranids had left the worlds the tau would be able to establish bases, and eventually colonies on the dead husks of the former agri worlds. This could not be tolerated.
Huron was given a division of Vannaheim guard and the assistance of the Sisters of Battle in his first exploration of Betor, once a prime fishing world now reduced to a lifeless husk, devoid of all life. Or so he thought. On arrival at Betor Huron was surprised to encounter a world with its atmosphere intact, and its seas remaining. Previous experience with the extra-galactic aliens had led Huron to believe the tyranids simply consumed the world once it had been pacified, but here this was not the case.
Landing on the world the Sisters of battle found a dead world. Bioliogical life had gone, but the tyranid process of consuming all resources had not been completed. Inquisitor Huron was unable to complete his investigations however, as no sooner had the imperial force landed, than they were attacked and overwhelmed by a horde of Nemesis warriors. The Xenos took heavy casualties, but the Sisters of Battle could not hold back the tide. Huron and his force managed to escape largely intact, but it was clear that whatever Nemesis was upto, they didn't want to be interrupted.
Early morning on 3004.016M42 the Iron Warriors finally breached the walls of the Minos' Space Port and faced the last stand of the Imperial defenders. At the time key personnel from the Administratum and Ecclesiarchy were being extracted, although this process was painfully slow due to civilians riots.
To delay the Iron Warriors, the last defenders, a Volscians Armoured Company, physically blocked the breach with tanks, aiming to stop, or at least delay the Iron Warriors long enough for the evacuation to complete.
In the early morning dark the Iron Warriors assault advanced though the breach in the morning gloom, their supporting artillery unable to accurately target the Volscians. In return, the Volscians concentrated their fire upon the Maulerfiends and a third were soon reduced to blazing wrecks. The imperial Ogryns and supporting infantry advanced along the right flank with the Spawn countering, but the abhumans bludgeoned the monstrosities without difficulty. The Ogryns then broke through the Iron Warrior lines and after managing to take down forward Rapier emplacements were set upon by diseased brain dead slave workers. At the Space Port walls the Iron Warrior assault annihilated the the Volscian Armoured Company. As the sun rose the Agema artillery began their bombardment, destroying their counterparts before they could effectively fire. Despite the carnage, the Volscians infantry refused to break and had to be slaughtered to a man. The final act of the Iron Warrior leader was to callously bombard both the Ogryns and his own slaves into oblivion, killing both. With the breach finally cleared, the Iron Warriors broke into the Spaceport. Over the coming days the Iron Warriors systematically wiped out all remaining resistance, and put the populace to work fortifying their new conquest.
On Hylas, Van Dorn had already received the dubious benefit of Crusade reinforcements, including a strike cruiser of the Carcharadons, the imperium also received aid in the form of a company of Ultramarines. Despite the ongoing crusade war on Libria, and an uneasiness which was palpable at Van Dorn's first council of war since their arrival, the two factions agreed, albeit sullenly, to work together to remove the greenskin menace from Hylas once and for all.
The honour of the next offensive was given to the Ultramarines, who launched their armoured spearhead against the ork held settlement of Beng, which had been substantially "fortified" by the orks. Von Bismork's forces were taken by surprise, and despite fighting furiously in parts of the city, the overall performance of Von Bismork's troops was disorganised and ineffective, and by 3004.016M42 the Ultramarines had secured the city. Van Dorn now contacted his crusade "allies" for the next push west.
While the crusade swept forward on Libria V, recent battles had seen Grisk, Santo and the crucial heartlands of Cartasia once again fall into the hands of the alliance. Vorushko, ever cognisant of the morale aspects with the alliance, ordered her forces, now resupplied and prepared for a counter attack, to retake the ground they had lost. If successful this would be the third or fourth time the region changed hands, depleting federal and tau morale, as neither faction favoured prolonged wars of attrition, while Vorushko was perfectly happy with such an outcome.
The crusade assault, once again led by crusade mechanicum and fresh Minotaurs units, was a complete and devastating success. Skyfall's tau were badly mauled by the advancing mechanicum, and forced to give up control of Grisk on 1804.016M42. Worse was to follow, as the alliance sent in their own mechanicum forces, loyal to Apollo's Iron Warriors to plug the gap. Striking from orbit the Mechanicum caught the alliance forces completely unprepared, and a series of mishaps (including a knight detonating and wiping out significant alliance forces) ensured that the Minotaurs' follow up was particularly bloody.
By 2404.016M42 the destruction of a complete alliance mechanicum army in just a few hours left the alliance with a one hundred mile hole in their lines. There was no other choice but to abandon Grisk, Santo and Regina, pulling back to lines occupied several months previously. the crusade had undone months of alliance work, but had come no closer to taking the entire planet. Vorushko however could wait. Whether the alliance could was another story...
In 04.016M42 Inquisitor Vorushko was keen to press the crusade on all fronts. By now the crusade fleet had arrived in force, contesting the space around the Libria system and taking away the alliance advantage. Similarly the presence of so many ships, despite their limited combat worthiness in many cases, ensured Admiral Jellicoe's passivity in pressing for control of the system.
Taking advantage of this the Crusade Mechanicus and Minotaurs made several assaults on Libria V in order to press their advantage to the full. With the Lycaon Guard units moved into reserve following their recent engagements it was the Space Wolves and Novgorod Guard who bore the brunt of the crusade assault.
Timing their attacks with precision, the Minotaurs swept into the remainder of Timberhill, striking from orbit to pin then destroy key positions. The Space Wolves fought hard but were unable to deal with the strategic advantage enjoyed by their fellow astartes, and by mid 04.016 Daralon had fallen and the remainder of the loyalist cities had been besieged.
At the same time the Adeptus Mechanicus moved ever closer to Louxin City, cutting off Jutesberg and Daralon and securing all transport linke between loyalist strongholds on the mainland. The Novgorod guard were unable to halt the mechanicum, despite their numbers, and by 2604.016M42 the position on Libria V was looking dire. Although the loyalists still held three cities, they were cut off and unable to support one another. The loyalist commander urgently called for aid from Jellicoe.
After the victory of the Dark Angels, the Imperial defenders of Minos were further bolstered by the arrival of the Ultramarines, reportedly led by Chief Librarian Varro Tigurius. While only a small strike force, they were accompanied by an Imperial Knight Household, all vowing the break the accursed traitors.
Despite the Iron Warriors being on the defensive, their artillery train remained fully functional, led by a brutal member of the Stor-Bezashk brotherhood, the death of whome would almost certainly mean the Iron Warriors having to abandon their positions. Stahl was keen to ensure this did not happen as his forces took up positions against the enemy.
At a little after midday, the Ultramarines were deployed alongside an armoured company of Imperial Guard; the plan to split the Iron Warriors between the advancing forces and the drop pod assault. The Iron Warriors were initially caught on the back foot and the Imperial forces advanced unmolested, while Tigurius came in from orbit, but freak atmospheric conditionsthrew the drop pod into a wild spin crashing and killing near half the Ultramarines within.
While the Imperial Knight blazed into the Charybdis Agema Rapier teams inflicting moderate casualties, Tigurius attacked the Earthshaker emplacements commanded by the Stor-Bezashk, but the dug in Agema proved tough to crack. The Imperial artillery strikes proved ineffective against the heavily dug in traitors, who suffered only light damage to their war machines.
Rather than split their assault forces the Iron Warriors surged en masse towards the Imperial lines, while their dead eyed slave workers swarmed Tigurius and his men. Clearly afflicted with the Warp Plague, a gift of despair from Nurgle, hundreds of hands dragged the last two bodyguards down. With no choice but to retreat, Tigurius fled. Alarmingly his own bodyguard, now dead eyed and foaming at the mouth rose to block his path as hundreds of infected slaves dragged him down.
The Maulerfiends attacked the Imperial Knight and after dodging several blows crushed its power plant, destroying both it and the Knight. The armoured company desperately poured fired into the advancing Iron Warriors, but daemonic energies and terrain prevented any meaningful casualties. While spawn were killed through concentrated fire, all Imperial vehicles and men were torn apart with claw and shell. By 16:00 2304.016M42 not a single Guardsman or Ultramarine was left alive of the assault force.
The loss of an armoured company defending Minos’ capital meant the Iron Warriors were quickly able to breach the walls and pour into the city. PDF troops rapidly deserted their post as they, along with civilians fled to Minos’ Governor Palace, where the only remaining Imperial forces on the planet remained.
By 04.016M42 the crusade fleet had swelled to hundreds of vessels, many of which were merely cargo or civilian craft coopted by the crusade and tagging along behind the military vessels. With Libria contested, inquisitor Vorushko realised that to tip the balance in her favour against the alliance, she would have to threaten the alliance supply lines. After convening with her admirals, it was decided that part of the fleet would split off in order to "spread the good word" across the sector, specifically the Mabb Nebula, where tau bases assured safe passage from tau space all the way to Tarsis Major and Libria. If these supply routes could be threatened, the alliance hold on Libria would be weakened.
A significant portion of the crusade fleet moved out of the Libria system on 0804.016M42 and arrived at New Cerberex on 1304.016M42. Upon their arrival they were quickly informed that the Bork fleet had been sighted at Hylas, and ork pirates were threatening imperial supply routes to Caitlen station. It was clear the greenskins would have to be taken care of before the tau could be harrassed.
A few days later the crusade forces, led by the Ecclesiarchy shrineship Ex Cathedra, finding the Bork fleet in the halo region of Hylas' volatile star. With the very first shot of the engagement the nova cannon mounted on Omnis Perdita Est crippled a Terrorship, setting the tone of the engagement. However, the crusade fleet closed in too early, allowing the ork hulk to exact revenge against the crusade, crippling then reducing Omnis Perdita Est to a smoking ruin.
Fierce close in fighting followed, but in the end it was the flanking attacks by the imperial escorts and the near-untouchable nature of the Ecclesiarchy Ex Cathedra which ensured the orks were driven off from Hylas orbit. Faith in the emperor had defeated the xenos threat, even when the hammer class ork vessel managed a boarding attack on a dictator class vessel, the frenzied half-starved pilgrim fanatics on board simply swarmed the greenskins, repulsing the attack!
Hylas had been saved from the Bork fleet once again, although General Van Dorn was a little concerned by the fanatical nature of the imperial force which had now arrived in orbit.
While the crusade were unable to reinforce Libria III given the alliance blockade, they were still able to send forces into and resupply Libria V. Orbiting further out, Libria V was beyond the patrol radius of the alliance fleet, which was limited to operations within the inner biosphere. Given Libria V was under the control of loyalist and crusade forces anyway, this was of little concern to the alliance.
On 2203.016M42 the recently reinforced crusade mechanicus forces broke the recent "detente" between the loyalists and crusade forces, driving into loyalist held territory. Vorushko wanted to ensure that the loyalists did not think that after a while the Xenos threat would take precidence and she would be forced to accept the loyalists position, or worse, a compromise. This was a point of principle and authority, and one Vorushko would never let go.
The attack was launched against Lycaon Guard lines, and once again the guard units proved resilient and stubborn against their enemy, but the technological edge enjoyed by the mechanicus forces ensured that after a hard fight, the loyalists were forced to yield ground to the crusade. It was a token gesture however and no major breakthrough was achieved.
With the eldar & dark eldar making significant gains on the planet of Aethor, and the imperial defences in disarray, the leader of one kabal, Vlokarian continued to funnel forces across the webway to support the eldar effort. In actual fact the support for the cause of the Disciples of Y'Nead was incidental. The primary reason was to continue exploiting the human population, and as another raiding party arrived on Aethor they had no reason to believe that this raid would be any different from any other.
Unfortunately for Vlokarion's forces the imperium had, but 2003.016M42, reorganised their defences, and the highly organised and disciplined Lycaon Guard had arrived from Bastien to reinforce the defenders. The dark eldar attacked with little regard for their foe, and were suprised by the withering return fire and stubbornness of their enemy, who refused to withdraw. Very soon the dark eldar were taking significant casualties, and only the intervention of senior kabal commanders prevented a rout. Eventually the superior firepower of the xenos forced the Lycaon Guard to retreat in good order, allowing Vlokarion's forces to round up a reasonable haul of "subjects". However, the cost had been high and Vlokarion began to reconsider the Aethor expedition.
Following a series of panicked and incomplete reports from the front lines warning of a new warband of Emperor's Children running rampant and reinforcing Stah'ls Iron Warriors, Imperial Commanders on Minos issued a request for aid from the Adeptus Astartes. The request fell largely on deaf ears with most of the Space Marine Chapters in the sector busy prosecuting the civil war on Libria. The Dark Angels however held the conflict there in contempt, seeing it as a petty internal political dispute within the Inquisition that served only to weaken the Imperium and sap its strength. Resolved to protect the Imperium from its external enemies and intrigued by reports of a terrible Chaos warlord of unmatched martial prowess a task force of the Dark Angel's 4th Company was immediately mobilised.
Easily locating the Chaos warband from the trail of destruction it left the Dark Angels deployed from their orbiting Strike Cruiser, the Dark Dominion. A ferocious running battle ensued as the two highly mobile Marine formations launched a series of exquisitely orchestrated lightening attacks and counter attacks. It was a deadly duel and neither side was able to best the other as each strike they made was deftly countered in turn. The conflict eventually ended in stalemate. With no possibility of a decisive advantage for either side both commanders elected to withdraw.
Although they had failed in their goal to kill or capture the Chaos commander the ferocity of the Dark Angel's assault was sufficient to halt the Emperor's Children's rampage and force them from the front lines. For the time being at least the Imperial forces on Minos had the advantage and the time they needed to re-organise and launch their own counter attack.
Following on from the successful exploitation of the Hadron Expanse by the imperial task force, the adeptus mechanicus found itself with a number of valuable tech hauls from the unexplored region, which included several hulks of old warships. Inquisitor Natalia Vorushko was keen to ensure that the Magi who oversaw the acquisition of the archeotech from the task force was aligned to her Crusade in Libria. This she managed by adeptly ensuring that her faction were in the ascendency at the Hadron jump point in the system of Brimlock, where the task force returned on 1803.016M42. Inquisitor Huron, although disappointed that the disagreement between Vorushko and Hathek was still going on, was obliged to turn over the items of value to the adeptus mechanicus representative Vorushko had made sure was waiting for him.
In exchange for this valuable prize, the adeptus mechanicus agreed to Vorushko's request to break the seige of Libria III. Since late 016M42 the inner system and jump points of the Libria system had been controlled entirely by the alliance. The Federal fleet and the Iron Warrior fleet of Apollo had locked down access to the inner systems leaving Vorushko unable to launch orbital strikes. Even the fast moving vessels of the Minotaurs and Apocalypse Riders had been unable to penetrate the defence screen since Apollo had changed the way patrols were conducted. Libria I, II and III were effectively cut off.
By mid 03.016M42 the Iron Warriors fleet had left the system to be replaced by admiral Swiftstar's tau. The federal fleet had also left, as it had formed the vanguard of the voyage to the Hadron Expanse and not yet returned. Now was a chance to strike at the weakened alliance defence, but Vorushko's crusade was in no position to do so. The astartes had few vessels, and the Crusade fleet under Cornellius and rear Admiral Fernando was undergoing repairs and trying to re-organise at Caitlen Station - which had effectively fallen to Crusade control without a shot being fired.
With no fleet to exploit what would surely be a transient weakness in the alliance defence, Vorushko requested that a mechanicus fleet break the siege. Such a fleet was already available and had been in the area for months, but until now, direct confrontation with the alliance on behalf had been avoided in favour of conducting augur scans of the Mab Nebula.
On 2203.015M42 the Adeptus Mechanicus crusade fleet arrived in the Libria system from an unexpected anlge, using their advanced technology to warp directly into the inner system. Taken by surprise Swiftstar hastily assembled his fleet to face the intruders in the solar flare region of the Librian system.
Throughout the engagement both sides were plagued by poor communications from the radiation constantly streaming from the Librian sun. It was difficult for both sides to coordinate ship movements and targets, and often captains had to attempt to guess their admiral's wishes. This reduced the effectiveness of tau ordnance strikes with torpedoes and manta bombers, but critically affected the coordinated use of the mechanicus nova cannon, which fired at escort vessels for much of the engagement.
Swiftstar formed his infamous "box" formation and faced the mechanicus head on, while the crusade fleet simply accepted the challenge and sailed towards the tau. A vicious close firefight erupted, destroying one mechanicum light cruiser and crippling two more, forcing them to flee the battle. then the Mechanicus fleet managed to utilise a lull in the storm of radioactive particles to coordinate a devastating strike on the tau custodian class battleship "Vigilence". the vessel took the full force of the imperial fleet, and within minutes of being fired upon the tau vessel exploded as her plasma drive containment failed, killing admiral Swiftstar.
Hungry for revenge the tau uncharacteristically closed still further, swarming their mantas around the two dominator class cruisers at the back of the mechanicus formation, reducing both to hulks before one blew up in a spectacular display of pyrotechnics. The mechanium fleet was able to heavily damage a protecter class vessel before both sides lost contact in the mass of swirling plasma, but despite killing the tau admiral and destroying their flagship, the mechanicum fleet had taken more damage, having only an undamaged battleship and two badly damaged light cruisers following the battle. Unable to loosen the alliance grip on the core systems of Libria, the mechanicum fleet disengaged and headed for Caitlen station to repair and refit.
With the Crusade forces throttled by the continued blockade of the inner Librian systems, the alliance took the opportunity to put pressure on the crusade forces already on the planet. In mid 03.016M42 commander skyfall, utilising the very pinnacle of tau battlesuit technology, launched a major offensive against the crusade forces defending Cartasia. Mostly fanatical ad hoc guard units much of the open ground was quickly yielded - as planned - to the xenos. Thousands of ill equipped but expendable fanatics died but bought enough time for the forces of Vorushko to respond.
To defend Regina and Grisk, the Sky Lords were deployed to counter attack. Utilising Knights and heavily armoured land raiders, the astartes drove straight for the enemy. Skyfall's cadres however were prepared for such an attack and laid down a withering hail of fire which quickly destroyed much of the astartes armour and then began chewing up the marines themselves. Still the Sky Lords maintained the pressure, and managed to fend off a rather half hearted and costly envelopment attempt by stealth suits, but the main front line action turned into a massacre as the ghost keels dealt with the Imperial Knight blocking the road to Grisk and the elite terminators were simply erased by high energy weaponry.
Meanwhile on the western flank of Skyfall's attack the battle was even more decisive. Here even the best equipment of the adeptus mechanicus was swept aside by the technologically superior tau force, and by 2203.016M42 the crusade had lost control of Regina, Parth and Grisk as well as the important industrial heartland of Cartasia. In two weeks the crusade had suffered a major setback and were retreating to Cartal. Outnumbered, out of supply and definitely outgunned, the future of the Crusade itself began to look in doubt.
Three forces sent expeditions into the Hadron Expanse while the warp routes remained viable, in order to reconoitre as much as possible, exploit any resources and return to the Aleph Sector. For the Imperium, the Crusade and Loyalist forces managed to ignore their differences over Libria long enough to build a formidable task force. Lead by Inquisitor Huron, who had remained neutral in the argument between Vorushko and Hathek, the imperium gathered together a large fleet of warships, including elements of Admiral Pendragon's and Admiral Enkvist's fleets, and with the reappearance of Admiral Hector to Aleph sector operations.
Added to this were several regiments of Novgorod Guard, who continued to flood in to the sector via Brimlock in an impressive display of seemingly inexhaustible manpower. Backing this up, the Adeptus Mechanicus, crucially interested in finding STC components and space hulks in the Hadron Expanse, added their own forces to the expedition.
The alliance, short on manpower and extended on all fronts, supplied a much smaller force. Only one federal battlegroup took part and this was undersized, and the only ground forces sent were a few hunter cadres from Skyfall's Aleph Expansion sphere. For chaos, despite being entrenched in wars or internecine conflicts, the ruinous powers managed to assemble a warfleet under Admiral Thok, and several thousand Iron Warriors. In addition, always looking for profit, the Dark Eldar kabal of the shattered silence also sent its own force from Commoragh.
The exploration of the Hadron expanse continued for around a terran month, with the Imperial forces out of Brimlock dominating much of the available systems. Skirmishes on the ground were largely few and far between, but there were two major engagements of note. In one, the Mechanicum met the bulk of Skyfall's entire force, and a large full scale battle took place. After hours of hard fighting it was the tau who were narrowly defeated, and this early set back seriously impacted the alliance's cause, despite the federal fleet defeating admiral Pendragon. Following that engagement it became clear the imperium outnumbered alliance forces but at least 3-1, and the alliance moved their operations further to the galactic south, effectively yielding much of the expanse to the imperium.
At the same time, the middle of the expanse was being contested by the forces of chaos and the imperium, with Stahl gaining victory over the Novgorod Guard in one system, but losing to the Mechanicum in another. The too and fro of engagements culminated in a large set piece space battle, which put much of the imperial fleet under Hector and Enkvist against mad admiral Thok and his pirate dark eldar allies.
The space battle itself was decisive, with the dark eldar seen off and Thok's fleet badly damaged. Although Thok once again escaped in his crippled "planet killer", the victory gave the imperium domination over the northern expanse, and despite being defeated on the ground by Skyfall's cadres and the dark eldar of the shattered silence, it was the control of the space lanes which decided the Hadron expedition. By 1803.016M42 the warp storms were closing in once more, and all sides prepared to leave the area. The mechanicum had retrieved several key artefacts and space hulks, while the forces of chaos had seen little gain for their efforts. The alliance had profited from their small expedition but knew there was nothing in the southern Hadron Expanse which would aid them in their many wars, and the imperial success bolstered the imperial will to resist on several fronts.
While the Crusade, Alliance and Loyalists continued to battle for the Libria system, in 03.016M42 an opportunity presented itself in the dark unknown void of the Hadron Expanse. To the eastern edge of the Aleph sector a vast area of Wilderness space, largely unexplored by the Imperium, became navigable for a brief time due to the unfathomable nature of the warp. There was limited time to exploit this potential resource however, and all the races immediately prepared expeditionary forces to the area to see what riches they could plunder before the warp closed in once more.
The Hadron Expanse had remained unexplored throughout the duration of the imperium. Warp storms, unpredictable in nature boiled their way across the region, preventing any kind of warp travel into our out of the region. Occasionally someone would claim to have penetrated the veil, the area of systems on the edge of the expanse marking the de facto limit of navigable space, but few were believed.
The webway certainly had access to the Expanse, but the eldar guarded it jealously and never informed the tau of their knowledge during their time on the alliance. Worshippers of chaos sometimes managed to make successful jumps into the area, but this relied too much on the fickle nature of Tzeentch, and reliable travel was all but impossible.
The great becalming started in late 015M42, with the warp storms of the Hadron Expanse temporarily moving away, to be replaced with a calm quiescent empyrean. It wouldn't last, the Expanse would be open for a few months at the very most, perhaps a year, but then the storms would close in again. Immediately Inquisitor Vorushko readied an expedition to the area, keen to take advantage of anything to further the Crusade's hold on the Libria system. The tau, federacy and loyalists too prepared forces and fleets to begin the exploitation of the Hadron Expanse.
Following months of heavy fighting the Imperium, despite losses, had still not been defeated on Libria IV and still controlled much of the sprawling capital city of Porthaven. In late 02.016M42 commander Skyfall led another operation to break the imperial resistance in Porthaven. This time the tau drove straight for the Water Plant to the west of the recently captured Imperial HQ complex, but the defenders were prepared and waiting for such a predictable move.
The Lycaon Guard were in the forefront of the fighting and gave a good account of themselves. Experienced in fighting the tau and Skyfall's heavy use of battlesuits, the imperial defenders would not budge from their positions, and Skyfall wuickly found himself bogged down in street fighting. Unable to use their technical superiority against the humans, the tau withdrew back to their lines after several days of unsuccessful probing actions. The front quietened down, with neither side exactly sure how to proceed.
As 02.016M42 progressed the eldar and dark eldar forces on Aethor continued their advance on the capital of the small colony. Obviously more than a raid, the attack by the Xenos was led by dark eldar forces, who launched a concerted assault against Lunar Guard positions in the hills around the Aethor centre of governance. The results were predictable, with the fast moving Xenos forces quickly outflanking and engaging in deadly close quarters fighting with the imperial defenders. Unable to flexibly redeploy, the Lunar Guard forces in the hills were annihilated, and by 0103.016M42 the defenders in Aethor itself found themselves surrounded by the alien foe.
Order of Battle
Imperial Fleet of Admiral Enkvist
• Leipzig – Emperor Class Battleship commandeered by Admiral Enkvist
• Sevastapol – Mars Class Cruiser (Crippled)
• Port Arthur – Dictator Class Cruiser (Hulked)
• Seelow Heights – Dictator Class Cruiser
• Malinovka – Gothic Class Cruiser (Hulked)
• 5 Cobras (4 destroyed)
The Iron Warrior Fleet of Warlord Diodotus
• Sword of Charybdis - Devastation Class Cruiser commanded by Warlord Diodotus
• Shield of Charybdis – Devastation Class Cruiser
• Iron Eternal – Carnage Class Cruiser
• Strength Eternal – Carnage Class Cruiser (crippled)
• Eternal Will– Carnage Class Cruiser
• Sword of Olympia – Archeron Class Cruiser
• Sword of Olympia – Archeron Class Cruiser
• 2 Idolators (1 destroyed)
The Battle
The Iron Warriors fleet, having spent several weeks in de facto control of Minos' inner system, discovered Admiral Enkvist was once again planning attacking in system. Warlord Diodotus, lieutenant of Warsmith Stahl had no intention of allowing Enkvist to take the initiative and made her own plan to attack the Imperial staging point at the systems edge. At 17:50 local time the now repaired fleets of the Iron Warriors and Admiral Enkvist engaged.
Unfortunately for Imperial fleet, the Malinovka and her Cobra escorts were separated from the main fleet and ambushed. The main Imperial fleet attempted to support with long range fire and along with the Cobra's Torpedoes succeeded in crippling the Strength Eternal who disengaged. In return, massed weapons batteries and Lances reduced the Malinovka to a hulk, and destroyed all but one of the Cobras who were forced to disengage. Expecting the Ghost of Rofocale to ambush as it had done in previous engagements most of the Imperial ships crews hesitated in their work and as a result the fleets ordinance was slow to reload. Over the next hour the two fleets exchanged long ranged fire, with fast moving Imperial assault boats managing to inflict significant damage on both the Eternal Will and the Shield of Charybdis. All Iron Warrior ships had taken on hundreds of additional slave crews from the populace of Minos, and so all damage was quickly repaired.
Despite the Spears of Olympia's bridge being destroyed, the Iron Warrior fleet crossed the T of the Imperial Fleet and brought their massive broadsides to bear. Over the next 30 minutes, the Iron Warriors concentrated their fire, first crippling the Sevastapol and then destroying the Port Arthur. The Captain of the Seelow Heights, being completely surrounded dived into the gas clouds and disengaged. Admiral Enkvist, having lost most of his fleet knew he had suffered a devastating defeat, the only option was to ensure no Imperial vessels fell into enemy hands. Over the final hours of the engagement the Iron Warriors attempted to manoeuvre into a favourable firing position, however Enkvist managed to evade the enemy fleet and fled the Minos system with the flaming hulks of the Malinovka and Port Arthur in tow.
The impact of Admiral Enkvist's fleet being driven from the Minos system was terrible for the Imperial ground forces. Without the Imperial ships harrying the fleet, the Iron Warriors were free to bombard the Imperial defences on Minos with impunity, reducing them to dust. Only the final fortress within the capital remained, but without further reinforcements, Minos was doomed.
The war on Minos had been quiet for a number of weeks, The Iron Warriors taking the opportunity to resupply, while the Imperial forces fortifyied their positions. This lull came to an end when Lunar Guard spotter teams reported civilians led by soldiers massing near Imperial lines. The Lunar guard armoured reserves reinforced their artillery emplacements and a tense stand off ensued. At noon, 2002.016M42 the stand off came to an abrupt end when armed civilians poured from their defensive positions and makeshift artillery opened fire. The Lunar Guard returned fire against the soldiers, now known to be called the “Agema”. The Agema lost their only anti-armour weaponry; the Rapier destroyers, but the renegades continued pouring artillery fire into the Lunar Guard positions, slowly taking their toll. To their credit the Lunar Guard managed to momentarily rout the inexperienced Agema commander leading the largest mob of rebels, and the far more veteran Lunar Guard commander never ceased crisp, precise orders that aided the Imperial attack. However the sheer number of rebels took their toll and once the Mutant forest tribemen joined the fray the Guard in the ruins were torn apart. From here the rebels had the upper hand and the battle soon became a slaughter, the Agema and civilian renegades sparing no one. The loss of the Lunar Guard artillery meant Iron Warrior forces were able to press forward unhindered and in the coming days controlled more than half the utilised areas of the planet.
While the war continued in the Libria sytem things were far quieter in the Perseus Deeps. The Necron empire had apparently returned to slumber, and the war on Minos between Stahl and the Novgorod regiments had ground to a halt. The eldar however, released from their alliance commitments, now continued their other agenda within the Deeps.
Aethor was the next target of the Disciples of Y'nead, and aided by their dark eldar kin the xenos descended in force on the Imperial colony on 1002.016M42. The government of Aethor immediately sent an astropathic request for aid, which was picked up by the Ultramarines. The astartes force were just getting into position to contain the eldar incursion when another unexpected set of would be rescuers turned up. A force of Iron Warriors, loyal to Apollo and the Federacy, announced their intention to lend a hand in Aethor's defence.
The ultramarines had little experience with the Libria campaign, and had become aware that without help the eldar would certainly overrun Aethor anyway. In the past the Federacy had professed to be part of the Imperium, and it took little time for them to decide to allow the Iron Warriors to aid in the defence of the world. The Iron Warriors for their part were equally dissatisfied with the situation. They had hoped to come to the rescue of Aethor and thus add the world to the Federacy by the back door. In fact this particular element of Federal forces had been patrolling the Deeps for some time assessing the defensive capabilities of various worlds. The Aethor attack had seemed like an opportunity, but the arrival of the Ultramarines was unfortunate.
In the event however the allied space marine force soon found itself in deep trouble, as the extent of the eldar/dark eldar incursion became evident. This was no raid, but an invasion. Attacking in force and with their most elite forces, the Disciples of Y'nead and the dark eldar kabal aiding them very nearly slaughtered the Iron Warriors and Ultramarines, and by 2002.015M42 almost one third of the colony had been overrun by the aliens. Questions of control and acquisition of another imperial world would have to be put on hold as the Iron Warriors found themselves embroiled in a war with their former allies.
As 015M42 became 016M42 the prevailing situation in the Libria system remained unchanged. In space, the Crusade fleet vied for supremacy with the Loyalists, but the Iron Warriors maintained their stranglehold over the immediate area above Libria IV. The alliance control of the planet's atmosphere made a coordinated counter attack by the Imperium almost impossible, but the tightly packed buildings of Porthaven meant that short of levelling the planetary capital, the alliance were obliged to fight for the city one street at a time.
In late 015M42 commander Skyfall continued to put the pressure on the Imperium. Having taken the Imperial HQ, the tau moved from their stronghold in the East Commercia district towards the central Commercia Zone, knowing that Westbury Junction amd the Factorum district, critical to the continued defence of Libria IV, would lay beyond. As part of the alliance "wide front" strategy, Skyfall was careful not to accept too many losses, and by the end of 015M42 the southern road into Porthaven has become the no mans land between the imperium to the west and the tau to the east.
The main casualties in the defence of East Commercia were the Lycaon Guard, the Lunar Guard and Imperial Fists. Overall Skyfall's casualties were moderate, and once again reliance on technology over man power (namely experimental Riptides) ensured the attrition rate for the tau was kept to acceptable levels. Casualties among the guard were predictably high, but both the Lycaon and Lunar regiments remained a fighting force on Porthaven.
Further North, the Imperial Fists and Lunar Guard were supported by a large Mechanicum contingent in the defence of the Perlinary region of the city. The mechanicum were the first to feel the renewed alliance advance in early 016M42, as Windgather's forces advanced ahead of Apollo, striking to the west of Mossley slums. The mechanicum were forced to give ground, but the apparent lack of coordination between Windgather and Apollo's Iron Warriors just behind allowed the Imperial Fists to take advantage of the situation.
Without warning the Imperial Fists, supported by the Lunar Guard, launched a strike on Mossley slums. thinking Windgather would inform him, Apollo was entirely taken by surprise to the assault, and the first minutes of the attack rendered his positions untenable. Although Apollo was able to stop a general collapse of the alliance defence and only cede the slums to Imperial control, the defeat put the northern arm of the alliance advance at risk of encirclement.
Imperial intelligence also became aware in the early part of 016M42 of possible dissent within the alliance camp. By now the eldar had left the alliance completely, but some continued to fight for Windgather himself. When asked to let these forces go, Windgather refused, and it was even suspected that Skyfall, who had been sent in to enforce the edict of the alliance council, was met with force by Windgather and forced to withdraw. However Windgather's forces were significant, and a key element to the alliance success. Despite these altercations the alliance remained a cohesive force, at least for now, but the cracks were beginning to show.
Following the success in the south of Hylas, as 015M42 drew to a close General Van Dorn decided to commit his reserves to the battlefront in order, he hoped, to secure both Finlay and Desmond. With these two settlements the imperium would have commanding control over the entrance to West Hallen, ensuring the settlements north of Eden's trench would be difficult for the orks to retake. To do this Van Dorn sent in his Librian units, which had been rested somewhat on Hylas and re-equiped with newer, better armoured units.
The Librians moved into positions near Desmond and Finlay which they knew would be provocative for the orks. Sure enough the sight of the Librian armoured units on the hills and bluffs around Finlay, as well as key intersections leading to Desmond, prodiced a predictable response from the Orks of Von Bismork. Attacking in heavily armoured battlewagons the greenskins were a tough proposition, but the Librians had prepared for the attack, and a hail of anti tank weaponry destroyed or immobilised enough greenskin vehicles to take the momentum out of the assault.
As the hours wore on although the orks started forcing the librians to take significant losses, it was clear that there was no hope of the orks breaking through the librian lines. Rather than withdraw and limit the damage, Von Bismork's boyz kept attacking, ultimately ensuring that the task of following up into the two cities was even easier for the imperium.
Some of the greenkins had some sense however, and the battle wasn't a total rout. Although Finlay and Desmond fell, the imperial forces were unable to exploit their victory as much as they would like, and now Van Dorn faced the prospect of attacking across the broad plain of Beng, where outflanking moves and fast flowing battles had been the signature of the early greenskin invasion.
Minos had been at war for months, and while the tide was turning on the ground, the orbital blockade and scant resources meant food shortages among both the nomadic tribesmen and those living in the few towns were becoming more common. In the last weeks of 015M42 rioting broke out in one of the largest of Minos' towns involving hundreds of civilians who had succeeded in capturing several members of the Administratum. The Adeptus Sororitas were closest available military force and sent troops to put down the rioting and rescue the Administratum officials. Entering the town in the early hours of the morning the Sororitas came under fire from a captured Arbites Chimera. This was a prelude however as seconds later both the Immolator and Penitent Engine were struck with improvised explosives lobbed high above the town, quickly followed with an Earthshaker cannon fire from a cannibalised cannon, Fresh explosions wrecked the Sisters' Rhino transport and shattered the legs of the Penitent Engine.
Clearly this was not a food riot but an ambush. The Cannoness spotted an officer in an unfamiliar uniform who was clearly commanding the rioters, supported by unfamiliar soldiers. She immediately ordered that all haste be made to cut the head off the snake. This proved disastrous for the sisters as while many rioters were untrained civilians whose fire was wildly inaccurate, more than half had clearly been trained in military tactics. The Sisters were quickly surrounded and putting down a food riot had become a desperate last stand. With bolter and flamer the sisters took twice their own number down before falling; the last sister killed defending the Administratum officials they almost successfully rescued.
The Cannoness' last reports of the traitor human army forced Imperial Command to stall their advance and even cede a small amount of ground while they shored their defences against further attacks from this new and insidious threat.
