Iron Warriors Overrun

By the beginning of 06.009M42 the Iron Warriors were in a desperate state. Their expedition to acquire resources in the Mabb Nebula had achieved less than had been hoped. The remaining Iron Warriors began preparations for a final defence of their fortress on Merrin as General Jamieson built his forces up to the north, swelled by the arrival of two Librian regiments, fresh troops with which he would lead the charge into the Chaos stronghold. Meanwhile to the South, Tau commander Ol Cha was preparing for an assault on the citadel. The Iron warriors were hemmed in on all sides.

Just as the Iron Warriors were preparing for their final stand an unexpected attack by Dark Eldar took them by surprise. The mercenary aliens attacked with a ferocious glee, destroying defence emplacements and slaughtering the Iron Warriors' elite troops. Hundreds of slaves were captured from the Iron Warriors' indentured masses, while the Chaos leader tried to work out the motive for the attack. In fact, the Dusk Raiders, bitter about their recent defeat, had bought the services of the Dark Eldar who had accepted all too willingly.
While still recovering from this raid, the Iron Warriors were attacked by the Imperium and Tau simultaneously. Unable to regain their defensive positions the Chaos commander had to make a choice. Who would he defend his fortress against? He could not hope to keep both armies from annihilating him, but the Iron Warriors would sell their lives dearly.

Unsurpirisingly the embittered Chaos marines elected to assault the Imperial Guard, pouring out of their mountain stronghold and charging down the mountains. The Librians fought back furiously and despite taking heavy losses, especially in armour, the Imperial forces slaughtered the remaining Chaos troops. However, the vicious fighting on the northern slopes of the mountains allowed Ol Cha to approach cautiously. Seeing his two enemies engaged in a brutal battle the Tau commander had no great inclination to join in, preferring to await events.

By the end of three days of fighting the Iron Warriors had been slaughtered. Not one Marine was left alive and the cultists who had followed them were being exterminated by Imperial reinforcements. Thousands of wrecked Imperial tanks and vehicles littered the northern slopes of the mountains, a testament to the savagery of the fighting. However, Jamieson was not pleased with his victory over the Chaos menace. The fighting on the north slopes had allowed Ol Cha to walk into the fortress without hinderance, and Jamieson's forces were hard pressed to keep their positions on the northern slopes as railgun and missile pod fire from the Tau army prevented any advance on the former Chaos positions. The Chaos presence on Tarsis had been removed, but as with the Orks, it had been the Tau who had benefitted.