Libria II, although officially "neutral" in the Librian war between the crusade and loyalists, became a target for both sides in the second half of 016M42. The loyalists had lost Libria V and Libria I to the crusade, and had been forced off Libria III. Libria IV was beseiged by the alliance, so without Libria II, the loyalist cause was all but over in the system. Inquisitor Vorushko knew this too, and on 1509.016M42 landed a significant force of Raven Guard on the planet, and "visited" the imperial governor in Whittaker.
Realising this coup would effectively end the loyalists control of the Libria system, loyalist Inquisitor Hathek appealled for anyone holding to the Imperial creed to remove the illegitimate invaders from the world. The Space wolves responded, and in a savage assault obliterated the Raven Guard force encircling Whittaker and "freed" the imperial governor. By 0110.016M42 the world was staunchly loyalist, and Hathek appointed General Zhukov to defend the world from any who would stand against his vision of Imperial law. Vorushko began planning her next move.
For years the Necron threat had been contained on Corticant, at least according to the Imperium. In fact, the Harakhty Dynasty as a whole had been suffering problems with its reannimation protocols, and since 011.M42 their armies had been gradually falling back into hibernation. Realising the dire thresat to there empire, the lords of the dynasty went over to the defensive, and appealled to help from any necrons able and willing.
Meanwhile the alliance, having become bogged down on Libria IV thanks to the overwhelming numbers of the Imperial fleet, had for many months planned to cut the loyalist supply lines by attacking the space lanes linking Libria to the rest of the Imperium. One such lynchpin in this supply line was Corticant, and the imperial base was within striking range of Federal and tau forces based in the Perseus Deeps.
On 2209.016M42 a large alliance force landed on Corticant, made up of Skyfall's tau cadres and recent additions to the Federacy, Ultramarines from the time of the Horus Heresy who had once again fallen victim to the strange warp anomaly which had trapped first Haskell then Appollo's Iron Warriors. However the first contact made by the alliance was not with the Imperium at all. Insteads, while the imperial forces, alerted to the invasion, prepared for the alliance assault, the alliance were contacted by a strange alien emmisary.
The necrons had reinforcements, and after a long and tense negotiation both the alliance and necrons agreed that their common enemy was the imperial presence on Corticant. They could no agree however the terms of a settlement after the imperial forces had been defeated, and this forced both parts of the "coalition", to keep significant forces in reserve, watching each other. This would prove to be a significant problem as the assault on the Fort Bastion commenced.
In defence, General Veers, still in charge of the Perseus theatre but losing prestige following the loss of Minos, had regiments of the Lycaon, Volscian and Novgorod Guard. In addition a knight detachment significantly bolstered the imperial fighting ability, and as the coalition forces attacked the battle soon became a vicious firefight in front of the fort proper. Far from sitting behind their defences the imperium had come out to fight.
The battle continued for some time, but eventually imperial numbers told, and the coalition forces were unable to take key objectives. By 0110.016M42 the tau were in retreat, and the necrons abandoned their attempt to retake Corticant, for now. Frustrated the alliance similarly cancelled the invasion of Corticant, seeking alternative strategies to disrupt the war on Libria. The battle resulted in a badly needed win for the Loyalist Imperium.
Aleph Sector Background
The Aleph sector lies on the eastern edge of the galaxy in the Perseus spiral arm. It is in the Ultima segmentum and is close to the Tau empire. Until recently the sector was one of relative peace where Imperial citizens went about their daily lives earning a living and paying their taxes to the Emperor of Mankind on ancient Terra. Then war came. First it started sporadically with incursions by Chaos raiders and Ork pirates. Very little out of the ordinary.
Then with the Chaos crusade of 003.M42 and the establishment of the sepratist Federacy the stability of the region collapsed. Gradually the violence swept from the capital subsector of Aleph itself, into the Sadoc subsector, as the Federacy and tau vied with the forces of chaos, necrons and tyranids to overrun the imperial rule of the region.
The sector is made up of the Aleph, Zadoc, Vastrid, Valitane and Charybdis subsectors. Charybdis has not been part of the imperium for centuries, while the Aleph subsector itself is now the home of the tau allied Federacy. For now Valitane and Vastrid remain largely under Imperial control but Zadoc is falling into anarchy. In addition the lawless depths between subsectors contain their own hazards, the chief of these being the Perseus Deeps.
Major Factions
- Loyalist Imperium
The loyalist forces are those imperial forces specifically engaged by Inquisitor Hathek against both the alliance and the crusade forces of Natalia Vorushko in the Librian campaign. They are largely imperial guard formations, although a number of astartes chapters including the Crimsons Fists and Blood Martyrs do not accept the edicts of Vorushko, as they largely overrule and contradict what had already been established by another Inquisitor Lord - Hathek himself. Largely suffering defeats, having been removed from Libria III, the loyalists are none the less supplied by the imperial fleet, who in 016M42 finally "declared" for the loyalist faction, while the crusade managed to acquire a significant portion of the fleet for their own usage.
- Crusade
The Crusade is led by the powerful Inquisitor Lord Natalia Vorushko. She has judged the sector, particularly the system of Libria as guilty of treason. She has observed the decline of the imperium to the alliance, as world after world has fallen to the encroaching tau and federal territories. To counter this unstoppable momentum Vorushko has enlisted the help of some of the more ruthless and single minded astartes, including the Apocalypse Riders, Sky Lords and Minotaurs. With these chapters at her disposal she intends to exploit then raze Libria - and any other system in the path of the tau advance - enslaving the population and denying the world's resources to the alliance. Inquisitor Hathek is diametrically opposed to this scorched earth policy, and his opposition has directly led to the three faction war in the Libria system.
- The Alliance (Tau & Federacy)
The Alliance is made up primarily of the Federacy, an empire created from the imperial worlds of the Aleph subsector by Admiral Haskell, an advocate of the original imperial creed lost in the warp since the Horus Heresy. Now the Federacy have been joined by their own astartes, original Iron Warriors similarly trapped in the warp then released some ten thousand years later. Still loyal to the emperor but not regarding him a god, legion commander Apollo now leads his marines in the name of an organisation of a dozen worlds committed to the heretical ideas of democracy, learning and progress.. Allied to this human empire is the tau, although the xenos would much rather incorporate the federacy into their empire. The eldar were committed to the alliance cause, but tensions over the dark eldar and internal factionalism saw the eldar split from the alliance in 016M42.
- Chaos
Led by Warsmith Stahl of the Iron Warriors the forces of chaos are actively engaged on a number of worlds. Over the years many forces and leaders have come and gone, with the position of "Master of Chaos" in the sector changing hands many times. Moonface, Shaidar Haran, Lorek, The Arch Cleric the Anticross and Warsmith Gallowfen have held the title, but now it is Stahl who looks on in dismay as the power of chaos once more enters a decline. Years of campaigning have taken their toll on the forces of chaos, but Stahl has built great defences on Zadoc and Minos, and his forces are well dug in. Now he seeks reinforcements to continue his campaign to retake the once vast chaos realm, which he has begun with the securing of Minos in 016M42.
Minor Forces
The Eldar, having left the alliance, are now solely interested in their own affairs. They have several craftworlds and other holdings such as maiden worlds in the Aleph sector, and will intervene whenever they feel events are moving in such a way to threaten their own small "empire". Meanwhile the Kel Sandros Eldar continue to manipulate events to promote the eventual Eldar supremacy in the galaxy, their own private goal.
The Orks remain an ever present threat in the Aleph Sector, but have never been numerous enough or united enough to pose a real threat. At present their wars on Hylas and Fort Sparcos provide the greenskins with enough sport, and the chances of a significant Waagh! at present seem remote.
Hive fleet Nemesis, once a potent threat which ravaged the Rim Worlds and annihilated three major systems in the Zadoc subsector, has apparently disappeared, the hive mind having moved away from the sector into the vast inter-sector space. However recent expeditions to supposedly dead worlds in the wake of Nemesis have discovered still living remnants of the hive fleet.
The Necrons, having re-established the Harakhty Dynasty in the Perseus Deeps, are now inward looking and fighting amongst themselves.
Major Warzones
Libria & the Zadoc Subsector
The Zadoc subsector, closest to the Tau empire, remains at war. Zadoc itself is a long drawn out ground war between Stahl's dug in forces of chaos and the Tau-Federal Alliance. In the Mabb Nebula there are frequent conflicts between the orks, Imperium and tau, including the four year long grionding campaign on Hylas between the Greenskins and General Van Dorn, while in space the Imperial navy attempts to keep supplies to New Cerberex and Hylas open.
In the Libria System itself a three way conflict between the loyalists, crusade and alliance continues. The Crusade hold the innermost and outermost planets, Libria I and V, while the most important, Libria III, is contested by the alliance. The loyalists are on the back foot. They control the unimportant world of Libria II but are rapidly losing the ocean-world of Libria IV.
In space, the loyalist and alliance fleets are the largest, but Inquisitor Vorushko has secured a small battlegroup. In addition the strike cruisers of the astartes loyal to her can be called upon for lightning strikes. The crusade does not have a large enough fleet to compete with the other two factions just yet, but the growing religious fanatacism behind the crusade has led to the formation of the rag tag "pilgrim fleet".
Persues Deeps
The Perseus Deeps remain the front line between the young civilisations of the alliance, the established Imperium and ancient enemies. The Necrons dominate much of the Deeps, but around the edges the forces of chaos are rising once more, and the eldar are securing world after world.
