Federal invasion of Paradorn falls flat

The coming of the Cicatrix laid waste to the Federal PLanets of Ravitane and Myrentas II, although much of the population were saved by timely evacuations of the populations, thanks to the Tallaxian scientists correctly predicting the catastrophic event. Nevertheless the Federacy suffered a great loss of life, and the ensuing daemonic incursions on Tallax were only halted once the Federal shield - a string of anti-psychic floating fortresses - were set up to protect the core worlds of the Federacy.

Even then the war was not over. The interventions at Libria and several joint wars with the Tau had left a substantial fleet in the Dark half of the galaxy, with no way of re-crossing the Cicatrix to return to the Federacy. The Tau had also been cut in two, and though the alliance stood firm, there were tensions in the alliance over whether Libria should be added to the Tau empire or to the Federacy. Eventually the Tau agreed to Libria officially joining the Federal worlds, but demanded permanent bases, while Tarsis Major remained a conquest of the Tau Empire.

Both the Tau and Federacy needed to secure passage through the Cicatrix however, and the appearance of the Foramen Interdictum gave them an opportunity. From the galactic south, the Federacy agreed to push towards Destino, steeling themselves against opposition from the Necrons and forces of Chaos, while joint Tau/federal forces would assault Paradorn, where analysts expected the fighting to be toughest.

The Tau fleet would be weeks away from being able to launch an assault on Paradorn, and the Federacy still needed time to forge ahead from Federal SPace itself, but a significant force, led by the Battleship Haskell and the Battlecruiser Pride of Tallax, left Librian space with six divisions of Librian troops, eager to prove themselves in battle for the alliance.

The Federal force landed on the outermost planet of Paradorn, designated Paradorn IV, and with the Federal fleet in orbit did not expect the surprise attack that came. The Dark Angels however had an elite strike force on one Strike Cruiser, and this was able to slip past the Federal Fleet unseen, deploying Thunderhawks on the opposite hemisphere then flying to the Federal Drop Zone. The Federacy had not even managed to start building a base before the Imperial attack, the fury of which immediately destroyed valuable mechanised equipment. Fast attack units including land speeders, bikes and assault marines crashed into the Librian defenders almost securing victory in the first few minutes of the attack.

By the time the Librians recovered from the initial shock of the onslaught, the possibility of remaining on the world had gone, and although they were defeated, the guard units put up a stubborn rear guard action, ensuring the bulk of the remaining troops and equipment were evacuated from the planet.

Intelligence indicated the Dark Angels had with them an unidentified Inquisitor, and the Federal Fleet responded by bombarding the landing site for many hours after the evacuation. However it is unlikely they hit anything, as the Dark Angels had almost certainly withdrawn. Detecting astropathic signals from the planet, and fearing being caught in orbit by an Imperial fleet, the Federal Battlegroup retreated into the shadows of the outer system to plan their next move.