ZADOC: Astartes launch new imperial offensive

Despite the Crusade alliance between the Tau-eldar and the Mechanicum, there was no such love lost on the subsector capital, as the Apocalypse Riders and Imperial Fists planned an offensive on Zadoc against the alliance forces. In the previous month the Raven Guard had taken fight to Chaos in the north, and now the Vieto Isles became the target for the imperial forces. A meeting was held between General Wavell's command team and the astartes, and a plan drawn up. On Zadoc the imperium fought as one, while the different forces and commanders shared very different opinions on the war for Libria. However, these opinions were not mooted, and no inquisitors were present at Zadoc to meddle in affairs.

The astartes led the attack, with the Imperial Fists assaulting and capturing the city of Vieto. Further west the Apocalypse Riders attacked the most dangerous enemy formation, that of Windgather's tau-eldar forces, to prevent them intervening and reinforcing the beleagured tau forces in the city. In Vieto the Imperial Fists made light work of the tau force, forcing the remainder to withdraw. This allowed Wavell to follow up and take the Isles themselves, mopping up any tau resistance.

Further east Windgather was once again locked in a furious battle against the Apocalypse Riders, who were succesfully preventing any link up with the tau defenders in Vieto. Once again the Riders went for the critical command and control nodes of the tau-eldar force, and were able to capture vital intelligence during their mission. Their assault threw the tau-eldar alliance into disarray for several critical hours, ensuring the invasion of Vieto passed off as planned. However within the intelligence the Apocalypse Riders found irefutable evidence of cooperation between the tau and the Crusade forces on Libria. This certainly shocked them, but how they would react no one could guess...