Libria IV: Iron Warriors close the pocket & Shadowstrike holds on

On 2410.015M42 the federal Iron Warriors began their inevitable assault to re-establish contact with the alliance forces cut off by the Ultramarines' strike. General Dersky was well aware of the Iron Warriors' build up of force near Verder, and assumed, correctly, that Apollo would strike the Space Wolves holding the area before driving south into the Librians in East Commercia and South Park. This would relieve the tau forces in East Commercia and crush his remaining loyalist forces in the south. To prevent this Dersky ordered his most well equipped Librian units to converge on East Commercia and wipe out the tau before the Iron Warriors could arrive. The tau, mostly forces under Shadowstrike's command, would have to face newly organised Librian mechanised and armoured units, designed for fighting the tau.

In the north Apollo's assault, though predictable, proved unstoppable. Superior leadership, technology and an iron will to achieve ensured that in a matter of hours the Space Wolves defending Verder were all but annihilated, and the road south lay open. Further south the tau struggled, At first the Librians pushed into the East Commercia district, reaching their objectives and pushing the alliance forces back. The federal forces - Hartak elite units - were especially hard hit, with Punisher gatling cannons used indiscriminitely against the alliance infantry.

As the battle raged on it became a more evident that the tau, although taking casualties, were slowing the imperial advance. A moment of heroism then followed, as the federal fleet commander realised the only way to rescue a vital piece of intelligence from falling into enemy hands, would be to use the fleet teleporters. Although he managed to contact the orbital fleet, only his personal signal was strong enough to allow teleportation with that degree of precision. Bravely the officer teleported across to the location, right infront of the loyalist lines. Once there he placed the teleport homer on the critical intel and it was beamed to safety. Not even given a chance to surrender, the fleet officer was then targetted by the loyalists and executed in the most grim fashion imaginable, by Punisher gatling cannon.

As the day wore on Shadowstrike's tau forces held, denying the Librians a victory or a breakthrough, As the night drew in the fighting lessened as both sides assessed the cost. The Librians had come perilously close to breaking through to their comrades in the south, but the line had held. The next day Apollo's forces drove south and annihilated the Verder-South Park pocket once and for all. The alliance was once again free to advance on the imperial HQ.