Battle of Libria System: Aftermath

The outcome of the battle of Libria had been a decisive victory for the forces of the alliance and chaos. The imperial fleet had been defeated and forced to leave the system. Admiral Collingwood had died with his ship and Admiral Jellicoe had lost six capital vessels. On the alliance side, damage was minimal and easily repaired. For chaos, Warsmith Stahl and Lord Tragaen had helped secure a victory over their common enemy, and now the pressure on their last bastiens in the Perseus Deeps would be relieved as Jellicoe switched force from there to carry on the war on Libria. Thok had come off worst. Not only had his super weapon been reduced to floating scrap, but the admiral himself was now marooned on a desolate planet, awaiting rescue. While he raged at the injustice, the rest of his fleet took the mauled Gotterdammerung in tow and left the system. At least the adeptus mechanicus had been unable to lay their hands on the prize.

Following the battle the fleets of Tragaen and Stahl left the system as previously agreed with Apollo. The Iron Warriors' leader received a great deal of criticism from the Federacy, but the tau were satisfied that the outcome was worth the risk of allying with an adversary. The eldar no longer turned up to alliance meetings.

On Vastrid, the mood at the imperial naval HQ was dark. Jellicoe wanted Pendragon to be court martialled, but his first order of business was to source more ships and another admiral to replace Collingwood. Fortunately for Jellicoe Inquisitor Hathek had started to exert his influence at the segmentum level, and soon Admiral Barham arrived along with replacement capital ships. This included the Retribution class battleship Leviathan, a much needed inclusion to the imperial fleet. This also meant Jellicoe was able to maintain his battlegroups guarding the Perseus Deeps, and Admiral Barham and Pendragon now had what was deemed "adequate force" pending repairs at Caitlen station, to make another attempt at removing the alliance blockade of Libria.

For the time being however the space around Libria belonged to the alliance, and this would ensure that loyalist forces would continue to suffer strategic disadvantages against the alliance and crusade forces. Fortunately the crusade did not have access to a significant fleet, but Jellicoe and Hathek were unaware that Inquisitor Vorushko had also been exerting her influence at the segmentum level, and had commandeered and imperial battlegroup of her own.