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...