Libria III: Assault on Canaur

The battle proper was joined on the Cartal plain, between the Cenaur hills and Cartasi Mountains. These two geographic obstacles effectively framed the battle, with the tau of commander Shadowstrike and Windgather backed up by rebel Librian and Lycaon guard forces. The crusade held most of the defensive positions, forcing the alliance to advance across open ground, but the Tau'Naur suits proved most effective, as did the eldar, who used the webway to close the difference and immediately strike against the mechanicum war engines.

Early fire from the crusade force was ineffective, and the alliance made up the ground well. However, commander Shadowstrike remained skeptical about the objectives the alliance attack had been set, as taking Cartal and all the installations on ther plain in the required timescales would be difficult to achieve. As the second day of the battle dawned, despite inflicting heavy casualties on the crusdade, with the tau super weapon proving its worth, the alliance had still failed to reach their key objectives on the Cartal plain. Shadowstrike prepared a behind the lines strike, but still had major reservations.

It was at this point that an unseen enemy appeared. Taking advantage of the war on Libria III, the tyranid xenos had been insiduously poisoning the populous within the crusade held zones. While the crusade priests purged the population of their heretical alliance with the foul tau xenos, they managed to miss the rise of genestealer cults, mascarading as flagellant redemptionist cultists. This oversight immediately crippled the crusade, as all over Libria III, responding to an unseen psychic call, the cults rose up in the major centres of population.

Genestealers, hybrids and other xenos abominations attacked behind the crusade lines, using the battle against the alliance as a distraction. In cities across Libria III the genestealers took control. In Cartasia the capital itself was rocked by savage closs quarters actions, and this allowed the alliance to quickly overwhelm the crusade forces, devastating their positions in Cartasia. Cartal fell to the crusade on 1811.016M42, and by 2211.016M42 the alliance had broken the back of the crusade, reaching the coast. Quattria, Aegon and Rhallor fell in a week and the crusade prepared to abandon the world. Those qwho could, fled. Those who could not, died.