Disciples of Y'nead defeated on Achreom

For many months the imperial high command in the sector had largely ignored the slow but insideous progress of the eldar forces in the Vastrid sector. Titus Luthor understandably had more pressing concerns on Zadoc and Libria, with the latter threatening to end his career, and his life, but the Adeptus Mechanicus percieved a threat to their own interests in the Vastrid subsector which logic dictated should be dealt with sooner rather than later. They acted accordingly and during 08_014M42 shipped a pair of Warhound scout Titans to the remote planet of Achreom, where the eldar had most recently invaded.

Aided by the appearance of two mighty war engines the Librian forces, themselves oblivious to the civil war on their homeworld, were soon organised into an attacking force. Confident of victory the guardsmen launched their offensive and found the capricious eldar less than willing to give battle. The aliens simply stood off as much as possible, preferring to engaged the Librians in a long range gun battle. This suited the Librians, as the objective of the assault was to contain the bridgehead for mopping up by the titans, whose the imperial commanders hoped they had kept secret from their enemy.

The first Warhound was sent in against the shrinking eldar pocket and was soon picking up kills, hunting down enemy skimmers and wraithguard with powerful twin Turbo Lasers. However within minutes of arriving on the scene the Warhound took a hit from an unseen enemy, its void shield collapsing suddenly before the entire top of the war engine detonated in a titanic explosion. The legs burned breifly before toppling over, and the Librians looked on in shock at the scene of destruction, before spotting the skulking form of an eldar Scorpion in the ruins of a water purification facility. Clearly the eldar had known about the Warhound, and had acted accordingly.

All was not lost however, as although the eldar had scored a morale victory with the destruction of the imperial scout titan, the eldar losses were becoming untenable. After stubbornly holding their perimeter for a further eight hours, the remaining eldar left Achreom during the hours of darkness, shortly before the arrival of the second Warhound at the bridgehead. Achreom had been cleansed of Xenos, but the loss of such an engine so quickly in the heat of battle had the Adeptus Mechanicus ordering an extensive analysis into the events leading up to its demise.

Libria V: Prozan Cavalry defeated in Acronia Valley

Following the disaster in the Daralon Valley a force of Prozan airborne troops were called in to halt the inexorable advance of alliance forces down the Acronia Valley. It was felt their mobility would be a winning factor in any engagement against the tau, and they were readied for their mission as 09_014M42 began.

By the time the Prozans were ready to assault the advancing alliance, their enemy had gained nearly 100 kilometres of open ground and were well south of the snow line. The speartip of the alliance force was now led by rebel Librian forces, already referring to themselves as "Federal forces", their rebel leader having committed to joining the Federacy following victory in the civil war. The highly mechanised Librian forces were supported by tau battlesuits, including broadsides and Riptides, and the imperial commander felt this would be an ideal test of the Prozan air cavalry against a well equipped foe.

The initial engagements went well for the imperial forces, as although the ground troops facing the alliance took heavy casualties from the firepower of variant Leman russ and tau battlesuits, the federal army was forced to halt for several hours. On 0709_014M42 the counter attack began with the airborne units of the Prozan regiments screaming into battle, their speakers emitting their customary ancient earth battle music.

The counter attack took the alliance by surprise, as they had not provided dedicated air support. However the tau battlesuits soon found their rail rifles and missile systems an ideal answer to the airborne assault. Soon Valkyrie and Vendetta gunships were either sent blazing to the ground or exploded in mid air, as the rail rifles proved the more valuable anti-aircraft defence. Even a Vanquisher Leman Russ managed to score a lucky kill with its main cannon as a low flying Vulture briefly crossed its field of vision.

The airborne assault quickly became a shambles after that, as the imperial forces found the imperial tanks a tough nut to crack, and the tau battlesuits extremely difficult to dig out of cover. Some of the failure can be put down to pure bad luck, but it was also clear that the narrow terrain of the Acronia valley and its scattered industrial installations was favouring the alliance. Gradually the alliance forces picked up their advance once again, and by 0909_014M42 the imperium had once again gone over to the defensive on Libria V.

Aleph Sector: Current Warzones

Bothorion bridgehead annihilated, alliance withdraws

For almost a Terran year the forces of the alliance had kept watch on the orks from their bridgehead on Bothorion. For the most part the orks ignored them, as the eldar forces usually sent out to patrol would simply refuse to fight if challenged by the greenskins. The alliance was content to watch the orks and monitor any change in activity, but during 08_014M42 the ork warlords Na'Porkleon and Kogh seemed to come to an agreement, and had begun building up their forces on Bothorion dramatically.

Alliance intelligence suggested similar build up in ork activity across the sector, and the banners of Waagh Kogh and Na'Porkleon were being held aloft in the same locations, a clear sign that the two ork warlords had decided to work together. This was particularly alarming to the tau. All their experience with orks had suggested they were a brutal race with low intelligence. Nothing had prepared them for Na'Porkleon's "kunnin" and the Blood Axe way of being orky. They knew that if a Waagh! swept through the Mabb nebula and they lost their colonies of Tyndareous and Va'Doran, their entire position in the Zadoc subsector would be compromised. The Zadoc and Librian campaigns would have to be scaled back, and relations with the Federacy could be permanently damaged. Even the alliance with the eldar might cease to be of value to their more ancient comrades...

The tau decided to act, sending a large force to Bothorion in 08.014M42. Unfortunately the alliance had underestimated the strength of the orks, and soon the forces of Skyfall were hard pressed to contain a spirited and boistrous counter attack from the greenskins. The tau had sent what they thought was enough of a force to consolidate a defensible bridgehead as a base to launch further attacks, and at first the counter attack was held, until an ork Stompa arrived.

Surprised that sarch a large war engine even existed on such a small and unimportant world, the tau had no answer to the new threat. The massive clanking mechanical idol of the ork Gods careened through the tau lines, rocket fire pinging off its steel hull and raining sparks down on friend and foe alike. Scorched and blackened, the Stompa could however not be halted, and soon the entire tau perimeter was compromised. Few made it back to the orca dropships as the ork boyz followed their talisman of war into battle with frenzied confidence.

The alliance did not go back to Bothorion. Monitoring of the orks was now left to remote monitoring stations and drone arrays, while the tau leadership pondered what to do about their withering supply lines across the Zadoc subsector.

Libria V: Daralon Massacre

For several months since the intervention of the Tau in the Librian system, barring the unfortunate incident at the Mid-Belt space station, the crusade forces had been largely quiescent, with very little new offensives on Libira I, and no punitive raids carried out. To General Abrahams this was a blessing, to Hathek a worry. What was Vorushko up to?

Never-the-less Hathek and Abrahams had Libria V to concentrate on. Since 07.014M42 the Tau-Eldar and rebel forces had suffered a number of defeats seeing their territory shrink to a small bridgehead in the now snow bound north of the planet. Only the settlement of Jutesberg and its space port remained in alliance hands. Abrahams believed that one more push would secure the city and drive the tau off the world.

Defeat at Libria V would mean a terrible blow to the Federal aspirations of the librian rebels. It would also make the acquisition of Libria as a friendly system a much harder task to achieve by invasion alone and might convince the Federacy that involvement in tau wars was no longer profitable. This outcome was unacceptable to the tau ethereals, and without the knowledge of the imperium, commander Windgather and commander Frostblade landed on Libria V at the beginning of 08.014M42.

During the first week or so of 08.014M42 the tau commanders watched as the Librian loyalists built up huge forces of men and equipment to start their offensive on Jutesberg. The build up was slow and obvious, and by a stroke of good fortune the tau even found out the date and time of the beginning of the offensive and acted accordingly.

The Abrahams plan was to conduct a frontal assault on Jutesberg preceded by a ferocious artillery barrage. The infantry would attack in force, while the Librian armour would outflank the city across the snow covered Jute Plain south of lake Silverwood. On 1008.014M42, minutes before the attack was due to start, the tau launched their own offensive...

More than three regiments of Librian guard were caught out by the tau surprise attack. Attacking in poor weather and sub-zero temperatures, the Librians found the tau forces perfectly adapted for cold climate fighting, and it became apparent that a new commander had been brought in who had experience of polar terrain.

The tau quickly dealt with the imperial artillery, the biggest threat to Windgather's forces, in an efficient manner which Skyfall had failed to do, to his cost. With the artillery neutralised, the tau were then on the lookout for the Librian armour, but as the hours went on, the armoured force failed to materialise. Meanwhile, out on the snow plains of the north, the Librians died in their thousands, most unaware of where the killing shot came from, as the tau poured overwhelming firepower into the infantry formations whose snow camoflauge was useless against such a technologically advanced foe.

General Abrahams frantically tried to contact the Librian armour, who should still have been in their positions to outflank the tau. However a ferocious blizzard had now blown in, and visibility around the tanks was down to just a few feet. The armoured units were blind and helpless, and were simply bypassed by alliance forces. By the time the blizzard cleared the imperial tanks were completely surrounded by tau and rebel Librian forces, and were forced to surrender.

In the centre of the Actonia Valley the massacre was complete. Three Librian regiments had been wiped out and the tau swept into the settlement of Daralon on 1408.014M42. The alliance had pushed into a long salient cutting off North Springley from the rest of the region while dealing a crushing blow to imperial pride and resources. Abrahams had thought on 0908.014M42 that one more push would break the Libria V invasion, now it looked like the war would go on for some time. Worse still the success of the alliance had fomented more riots and rebellion across the planet, and each day more PDF regiments sided with the alliance. The bulk of Librians still remained loyal however, at least for now, but with over 2/3 of the imperial strength on Libria comprising of Librian regiments, Abrahams feared a general collapse of morale if victory was not delivered swiftly.

Nemesis withdraws from minor campaigns

As 014M42 wore on, hive fleet Nemesis, which had by 08.014M42 devoured no fewer than six inhabited worlds in the Zadoc subsector, had apparently run out of steam. For many months the hive fleet itself had not been spotted in strength, and the Shadow in the Warp had become noticeably more fragmented and weaker. Inquisitor Huron and the local Ordo Xenos scholegium now considered the possibility that the hive fleet was beyond its peak and posed less of a threat than had been feared.

Already it had been reported that the Ork world of Memnon, formerly a tau colony, was no longer in contact with the tyranid menace. On New Cerberex, which had encountered the first vanguard elements of an infestation, engagements with the tyranids had become sporadic, then non existant from the beginning of 08.014M42. The planet was then declared "clean". Already in 013M42 the tendrils of the hive fleet had been repulsed from Bastien, and the Perseus Deeps had been cleared of the alien menace, but not Huron believed that the grip of nemesis had been loosened, perhaps permanently.

On Fort Sparcos against the orks, and on Grimlock, where nemesis had the forces of chaos besieged, the war went on, but the intensity of nemesis's attacks had lessened. This was almost too late for Grimlock, which had been ravaged nemesis, with much of the world turned barren and its atmosphere irevocably polluted. Fort Sparcos, lacking much in the way of natural life anyway, had suffered less, but the world was strewn with the ruins of fortifications, some active and some destroyed - with orks it is often hard to tell.

Inquisitor Huron did not believe the hive fleet would withdraw permanently from the sector. The hive fleet, though perhaps spent by the the long wars on Grimlock and Fort Sparcos, was still undefeated and at large, somewhere in the vast voids between worlds. Tired perhaps, and needing to rest, but until the hive fleet itself was brought to battle and annihilated, the threat from nemesis would remain very real.

Zadoc: Montene assaulted by Blood Angels

Soon after the defeat to commander Fastblade, the chaos forces suffered another setback on Zadoc. In the north west, the islands of Carriode and Hannuse had now been in traitor hands for nearly three months, and following a lull in the fighting on the world, the Imperium had been given enough breathing space to regroup and contemplate offensives once more.

The Blood Angels had faired less badly than other forces in the war on Zadoc, and were the first units able to respond against chaos. Seeking to hit back against the traitors where their small numbers would not hinder them, the astartes force targeted the city of Montene, the most important settlement in the north west, which had fallen to chaos on 0106.014M42.

Since the city had fallen the Arch Cleric had removed the majority of his forces from Hannuse to face the increasing threat of the alliance, and Montene was now defended by cultist forces and a small contingent of Emperor's Children. It was the traitor marines the Blood Angels targetted, rightly reasoning that a crushing blow against the genetically engineered supermen would precipitate a crushing collapse in enemy morale.

The Angels of Death lived up to their name as they performed a terror raid on Montene. During the engagement some traitor units gave a good account of themselves, but it became apparent that the Emperor's Children themselves did not believe that Montene was defensible. Across the city units of chaos astartes withdrew rather than face the Blood Angels' wrath, and in under two days the city had been reclaimed for the emperor, with the cultists fleeing into the hills of Hannuse and the Emperor's Children retreating off the island to the chaos hinterlands further east. Now the Imperium sent in the imperial guard, who would spend the next two weeks hunting down the cultists in the wilderness to the north of the city.

HYLAS: Sarina falls to Kogh

Hylas had by 07.012M42 become a forgotten conflict. The war against the greenskins had ground on for nearly two years and the front lines had been static for months. General Van Dorn, low on numbers and equipment had dug in across the planet, and the front lines had narrowed to two passable tracts of land north and south of the virtually impassable Hylas plateau.

In the south the Imperium had arranged a set of formidible defences which had not been breached in over a year, anchored on their left by the ocean and to their right by swamps, watched over by trained veteran units. In the north the ground was more open, and on these plains Warlord Kogh launched his new offensive on 0208.014M42, deep in the Hylas winter.

The orks approached the imperial defences across snowbound plains, and their advance was obvious from the plumes of white kicked up by the orkish vehicles, as well as the general noise and commotion of the greenskin advance. the Librian guardsmen were ready and waiting, and opened up with a ferocious barrage of fire.

Around the settlement of Sarina the orks took terrible punishment as they advanced, and soon the snow was littered with ruined ork vehicles and greenskin corpses. The Librians wondered why the orks continued to rush at them, but the effect was to pen the Librians in, isolating defensive positions. The imperial forces, despite their overwhelming firepower were just unable to turn the tide of the battle. Eventually on 0608.014M42 Sarina was abandoned as Van Dorn was concerned his remaining forces would be encircled. The imperial defenders retreated, giving up precious territory to the orks, little knowing that the greenskins had committed their reserves and one last resolute push may have broken the assault altogether. The ork gamble had paid off.

Libria: Encounter at Mid-Belt Defence Network

In late 07.014M42 a strange four sided engagement occurred at the Mid Belt Defence Network, a vast installation consisting of six interlocking space stations. Large enough to generate its own weak gravity field, the station, simply referred to as Mid-Belt, had been the bastion of defence for the Librian system for thousands of years. Even though Libria was collapsing from within, the station was crewed by loyalists who were preparing for an alliance attack, still oblivious to the crusade forces conducting their own war on Libria I. The last thing they expected was an attack by the forces of chaos.

The distress call was picked up by loyalist, crusade and alliance forces, and the news that the Mid-Belt station had taken in just a few hours by chaotic and daemonic forces was alarming to all sides. Within hours, all sides were preparing a response, ignorant of the fact they were about to run into each other as they fought for the strategically important station. The alliance decided to use the webway, sending a force of Biel Tann eldar. The Crusade despatched a force of Raven Guard, while the Blood Angels independently prepared to retake the station themselves.

The engagement itself was confused and violent. The Raven Guard arrived first but soon found themselves beseiged by an aggressive eldar assault. Judging that a hard and fast attack would put the engagement beyond question, the Biel Tann forces launched themselves at the chaos forces and Raven Guard, effectively penning them in to defensive positions. Then the Blood Angels arrived.

The chaos forces seemed stunned at the sudden invasion by four forces, and faired the worst in the engagement. The Raven Guard didn't manage to make significant inroads into the station, as the Blood Angels, enraged by the apparent disloyalty of fellow astartes, fought ferociously to ensure they didn't make progress. The eldar secured much of the station, but as the chaos forces and Raven Guard abandoned their positions and retreated, the xenos forces realised they had taken too many casualties to hold on to their gains in the face of an unbowed Blood Angels force. Disappearing into the webway the forces of Biel Tann made good their escape, leaving the loyalists to reclaim the Mid-Belt installation in the name of the emperor.

Zadoc: alliance engage chaos

The war on Zadoc had been remarkably quiet for more than a month, ever since the alliance had driven the imperium back to their "fortress" island and initiated a minor assault on chaos forces. For more than a month the tau and their eldar allies had been relentlessly bombing chaos cities and defences, so it came as no surprise when the tau moved against their main enemy in the Zadoc campaign in mid 07.014M42.

The Tau high command decided to launch a two pronged assault against chaos forces, playing to their superior manoueverability and ability to redploy forces quickly. In the north recently arrived commander Fastblade was tasked with landing on Anorigo and taking Andisele, while commander Skyfall, with the aid of the Biel Tann eldar, was ordered to push hard against Arch Cleric forces in central Zadoc.

In the north Fastblade found his target defended by a large force of Emperor's Children, and landed to the north of the city of Andisele. Conditions were good, if extremely cold, and the snowbound landscape made it even easier for the tau to detect the advancing traitor astartes dressed in their purple armour, not that the tau needed such help.

Fastblades forces opened up a withering hail of fire against the astartes, and the fight was brutally one sided in terms of casualties. However, the all out assault delayed Fastblade significantly, allowing the chaos forces to retreat in good order to the west, and set up a new defensive line. Andisele was taken, but Shadowstrike was concerned at Fastblade's caution in allowing the chaos forces to get away. Never-the-less by 2707.014M42 the northern city had fallen and the forces of chaos cut in two.

Further east and south, Skyfall and his eldar allies were having a much more difficult time. Their initial assault had been swiftly met by the Arch Cleric's forces, and to the alliance's consternation an allied force of Shaidar Haran daemons. A pact had been made between the usually belligerent daemon entities, and the host of tzeentch daemons which poured into reality in front of the alliance army sorely pressed Skyfall's troops.

The battle was brutal and raged for over a week, but gradually the chaos forces, able to accept a higher rate of casualties, turned the alliance flank to the south of Jordoset. Realising to try to hold this position would be near suicide, Skyfall chose to withdraw, giving up the city at least for now. The chaos forces had proved that they were no pushover, and it seemed the alliance was in for a long war on Zadoc.

Libria gazetteer: Libria V

Libria V is a small world, heavy in silicate rocks and low in iron content. It is the furthest out of all the inhabited Librian systems and is the coldest with an average surface temperature of just 8C. The planet itself was terraformed from a lifeless rock millenia ago, and the crust, long dormant, was agitated to release CO2, raising the temperature of the world enough to thaw the ice covering the world.

Libria V is a world of rolling hills and high snow capped mountains, the planet's relatively low gravity and strong crustal rocks allowing for a much more rugged surface than that found on Libria IV or Libria III. Settlements are well separated and little more than frontier towns, the largest of which is only inhabited by around 100,000 people. Roads are little more than tracks, as the savage weather of Libria V and the distances involved make infrastructure upkeep challenging.

Libria V rotates quickly, with a day lasting little more than 12 hours. Its one moon is small and orbits rapidly, contributing to minimal tides. Angled at over 30 degrees to the Librian star, the world experiences varied seasons, with most areas experiencing snow at some time in the year, even at the equator. The planet's icecaps however are confined to the mountains, as the poles are mostly open water, and the high axial tilt ensures that even the poles are heated in their short summer.

The outermost Librian planet is little more than an outpost, waystation or frontier world. It has little in the way of assets or resources, but its position makes it an ideal stop over point for travellers and this is reflected by the world's many orbital space docks. From here travellers can shuttle to the surface, visit the bars and brothels in the many townships, and take in the world's breathtaking scenery. Libria V is also home to a large number of underground missile silos, though the knowledge to use them has lapsed for many hundreds of years.

Most people on Libria make a living by raising cattle on the land, which alternates between tundra, plains and evergreen forest. Prize cattle are the only export of note from the world, and the population are seen as backward and generally the most relaxed of all the Librian Folk.

Libria gazetteer: Libria IV

Libria IV is a world not much different from Terra in size and composition, but it's plate tectonics are weaker and over aeons this has led to a much shallower topography. Combined with a hydrosphere containing 20% more water, the planet is technically an ocean world with over 90% of the surface consisting of open water. The rest is made up of islands and one small continental landmass in the northern hemisphere.

Being so much wetter than Terra, and with similar solar insolation (though peaking at a lower wavelength since Librius is a K0 main sequence compared to the Terran sun's G2V), Libria III has a similar average air temperature at the surface - around 14C. However because the world is so dominated by its oceans, the atmosphere is well mixed, and there are no ice caps. The tropics are cooler than would be expected, and the planet's jet streams are particularly strong. This in turn drives large baroclinic storms, three or four times the size of those on Terra, which can affect vast swathes of the planet with wind and rain. Waves are driven higher and higher as there is little land mass to damp them down, and typically the oceans on Libria II have wave heights greater than 100m, with enormous wavelengths.

The planet's economy is centered around the vast bounty of the world's oceans. Unlike Betor, which was famous for its fish, the vast oceans of Libria IV are full of plant life, which is harvested and turned into a nutritious ingredient which forms the basic carbohydrate used in much of the system's diet. Enormous vessels, many over ten kilometres in length, patrol the oceans trawling for Chelp, the most common free floating seaweed and the easiest to harvest. The main continent of Graevos is studded with large offloading installations, where the Chelp is processed, boxed and shipped to the nearest space port. These settlements are usually built into the rock, and have high plascreet walls protecting them from the ferocious waves.

Life on Libria IV usually centres around Chelp harvesting, and most of the 88 million live in the cities along the coast of Graevos. The weather is usually cloudy and wet, a day without rain is rare, and the wind is constant. The coastal region is a bleak place, grey, wet, windy and constantly washed in spray. You have to go many miles inland to find freshwater plants, and the low hills of the coastal region where most people live are barren of trees, covered in tussock grass and home to many species of bird, most introduced by the early settlers.

The capital, Porthaven, is actually over three hundred kilometres inland from the coast, but is connected to the coastal installations by railway. Trains on these routes are large, often three stories, and the track gauge is wide. Vast amounts of freight and passengers is moved in this way between Porthaven and the ports themselves. Porthaven sits to the north east of the Spine, a long chain of low mountains which run from the north west to south east of Graevos, separating the ports from the hinterland. The hinterland, on which Porthaven was built, is a large inland plain. Shielded by the Spine it receives more than double the sunlight and less than a third of the rainfall compared with the western slopes, and is also the warmest place on Libria IV. It is far more desirable to live here than on the coast, and the planet's rich and important citizens live in the city, which gives the average visitor to the world the impression of a paradise world. In fact only 5 million live in this beautiful environment, the rest live out their lives working in the coastal cities, often never visiting the paradise in the hinterlands.

Libria gazetteer: Libria III

Libria III is the most Earth-like of all the inhabited Librian worlds. It shares a similar composition to Holy Terra, and is slightly bigger at 1.16 earth masses. Libria III has two moons, an axial tilt of 17 degrees and a temperate climate which is similar to slightly warmer than that of earth. The planet is made of continents and seas, and has a variety of environments, including mountains, deserts, lowland plains, forests and tundra. The majority of the population live in large cities which are almost, but not quite hives. Skyscrapers reach kilometres into the air and close to the city centres buildings are starting to be constructed on top of onw another, and infrastructure links such as road and rail frequently pass along fly-overs themselves hundreds of metres up.

Libria III is an industrial civilised world with a mixed economy, although it is not self sufficient in food. Overall Libria III generates around 25% of the food it requires, while the rest of the system can make good the shortfall. However Libria consumes large amounts of raw materials from within the Libria system and from other imperial systems to mass produce goods, weapons and hardware needed both within the Libria system and beyond. Since war came to the Zadoc sector the Libria II economy has suffered badly, and unemployment rates of nearly 1 in 3 have compounded discontent with the establishment, feeding the rebellion.

The culture of Libria III is generally reserved and law abiding. It is in fact home to the Librian Law cult, practically a religion which has served the planet well for centuries, with rigid adherence to utterly inflexible laws the principle foundation of the Librian culture.

Libria gazetteer: Libria II

Like Libria I, Libria II is tidally locked with its neighbour so that each day lasts ten earth days. The planet consists of hot desert plains towards the equator with rocky tundra towards the poles. Ice exists in some of the sunless valleys in the polar regions, but the planet is otherwise relentlessly hot with little water in its atmosphere. Plant life is restricted to scrubland bushes and grasses in the temperate regions, with algae colonising the native iron rich rocks, giving the planet a banded green hue at 60 degrees north and south.

Similar in size to earth the planets equatorial regions are a source of great mineral wealth, and the planet's 40 million inhabitants are chiefly there to extract the various ores from the dusty surface. While the temperate zones are mountainous, the majority of the planet is dominated by shifting sands. There were mountains here once, but the heating of regions directly under the sun for days at a time creates enormous heat lows. Cold air rushes in from the higher latitudes creating dust storms which scour everything in their path with winds up to 300mph. The weak coriolis force shapes these storms into vast slowly rotating monsters which over the course of a few days cross the entire day side of the planet. Lightning is common as the dust is swept into the high atmosphere, and the light from the Librian star is obscured completely. Water clouds form over the centre of the low, but rain never reaches the surface. Once the storm reaches its peak, the dust and cloud cuts off its own energy source, and the storm finally blows itself out.

The day side of the planet can reach nearly 80 degrees, while the night size can plunge below freezing, thanks to the poor insulating quality of Libria II's atmosphere. This temperature difference causes dense fog to form as the sun goes down, and this is the only way water is delivered to the surface of much of the planet. Much of the polar region is constantly shrouded in fog, which over millenia has created ice caps through frost deposition.

Life on Libria II is hard. The main cities are widely spread, nestling in the protective shelter of mountains in the mid-latitudes. The capital, Whittaker, nestles into an extinct volcano, with much of the city dug into the mountainsides. What buildings protrude are built with strong but gently sloped sides to accomodate the severe winds which often blow into the capital. The city's space port resembles a many branched tree from above, with sloped tunnels converging into one ridgeline of the mountain, which serves as the conduit from the port to the city of eight million souls. At the end of each branch is an oval hangar with a domed roof. Shuttles and loaders land in these hangers which can be totally enclosed should a storm strike.

Whittaker itself is built into the volcano, with the mountain having been shaped to meet the needs of the populace. Several tiers have been cut into the mountain, which have been enclosed in plexiglas, creating sunlit boulevards and gardens for the richer inhabitants. These too are shuttered off when storms strike. However the majority of the population live in hab blocks dug into the mountain and live under the artificial day-night cycle regulated inside the city. Life is far from unpleasant, but the work for the majority of the population means long trips away from home on massive landcrawlers into the deserts and tough, dangerous hard labour.

The culture of Libria II is much like the rest of the Librian system, dominated by the veneration of Law. Specific attractions include the tradition of bazaars, which are held outside the cities' sealed walls in great tents on the first and fifth days of the rotation cycle. This is close to sunrise and sunset in the planet's period of rotation, when the weather is generally warm and pleasant and the dust in the atmosphere protects people from the star's damaging radiation, since the binary system of Libria I and II has little in the way of the magnetosphere. Fortunately the Librian star, being a K0V main sequence, emits far less UV radiation when compared to the Terran sun.

Libria gazetteer: Libria I

Libria I is a hot and dusty world which orbits close to its parent star. Permanently locked in orbit around its slightly larger twin, Libria II, the days last a full terran days as the two planets orbit each other. Libria II is a permament feature in the sky above the western hemisphere, and eclipses are common.

The environment of Libria I is hot, hotter even than Libria I, as the planet's albedo is lower, and more energy from the system's star is absorbed by the dark brown dusty soil. Dust storms are common, although not as violent as on Libria II, and the planet has no indigenous life. Prior to M30, the world was a lifeless airless rock, but ancient terraforming techniques have seeded the world with windborne algae, which over time have allowed enough oxygen to remain in the atmosphere to support human life unaided, although concentrations are low and physical exertion is difficult.

The third of a billion souls who live and work on Libria I work only to produce the armaments and heavy construction required by the Imperium. Libria I is an independent forgeworld by ancient decree, and the world is the leading procuder of military equipment for the sector, even boasting a single Titan Legion. The Mechanicus oversee all production and own all the factorum, but the planet itself is ruled by an imperial governor. Even so, there is no doubt as to the real masters of the world, and were it not for the secrets of the Mechanicus, the great Librian schism would have seen every soul perish when contact was lost with the other planets in the system, as all food must be imported. Water is synthesised on the Celebrus Mining Platform, a vast installation positioned at the binary system's barycentre. The platform harvests hydrogen from the solar wind to produce water, while also serving as a waystation for mass conveyers, and an ore processing plant for the output from Libria I.

Settlements on Libria I are dotted around the world, comprising of large manufactorum and other installations, ringed by hab zones and a commercia district.

Libria V latest

Libria V: Librian loyalists defeat Skyfall

The victory at North Springvale was soon exploited by the Librian General Groenewold. Riding a new found optimism the general led three loyalist divisions at the heart of Skyfall's defences in the Gold River valley. After a fierce artillery bombardment which left most of the valley settlements in ruins, the Librians moved forward into the ruins.

Contact mas made swiftly as the loyalist forces encountered Skyfall's elite units. Groenewold was unphased and the advance continued. In the centre Punisher Leman Russ obliterated the enemy broadsides while a Leman Russ Demolisher was fortunate to have a clear shot at a senior tau commander in his modified battle suit. Despite their advanced technology the tau battlesuits and energy fields were no match for the brute force of a demolisher siege shell, and the loyalists scored an important early victory.

Reeling from the punches being dealt by the imperial tanks, the tau made a creditable counter attack on their right wing, sending in elite battlesuits and stealth suits in an attempt to check the imperial advance. Initially successful the tau move destroyed the demolisher battle tank as well as the imperial artillery. However general Groenewold quickly arrived at the scene and stabilised the line. The tau were eventually taken down by massed lasgun and plasma fire, although their stand had delayed the imperial advance on the left.

On the right and in the centre the imperial forces easily brushed aside the forces against them, with even a riptide taken down by sheer weight of fire. Skyfall's troops seemed uncertain as to how to proceed against so many infantry, having grown used to fighting imperial mechanised armies in several campaigns. This Librian army was different, and advanced with a sense of confidence and purpose often lacking in earlier battles. Skyfall, realising to make a final stand here would be catastrophic, retreated to Jutesberg.

After initial success the alliance landing on Libria V was now in trouble, and commander Shadowstrike made plans to personally oversee the situation, hoping his intervention would turn the tide. In the Federacy dissenting voices began to be heard, calling for a recall of the federal fleet and an end to the Librian "intervention". The alliance needed a victory - and soon - or the entire Librian rebellion would be snuffed out by a resurgent imperium.

Libria V: Astartes retake initiative

Following the defeat of imperial forces and the establishment of an alliance bridgehead on Libria V, General Abrahams' mood grew dark. So-called Crusade forces of the Carcharadon Astra and Raven Guard chapters had disappeared without warning allowing the alliance to consolidate their gains. Abrahams appointed General Andries Groenewold of the Librian guard in overall command of the situation, hoping the steadfastly loyal officer would ensure no more Librian units betrayed the imperium. Opposing him was another Librian general, Argen Koyt, who had firmly sided with the Federacy. The two men had grown up together and trained at the same time at the Librian military academy, but the two former friends were now bitter enemies.

Loyalist general Groenewold received some much needed aid in early 07.014M42 with the arrival of a Dark Angels strike cruiser and a similar vessel from the Ultramarines. The two astartes chapters announced they would put right the "dishonour" of the astartes and help win back the world from the alliance. Most assumed the dishonour in question was aimed firmly at the Carcharadons and Raven Guard, suggesting that sides were being drawn within the astartes fraternity. Some observers even privately speculated that another Badab war could erupt, but were mindful to keep such thoughts silent.

The newly arrived astartes chapters soon entered the fray on Libria V, assaulting the heavily defended settlement of North Springvale in a frontal assault. The defenders were made up of tau forces under the command of commander Skyfall, and Librian rebels commanded by Koyt's lieutenants. The defenders were well equipped and competent soldiers, but the astartes attack proved ferocious.

The first marine charge, by the Ultramarines fast bike units, was torn apart by the alliance firepower, while on the loyalist right flank the Dark Angels suffered heavy casualties as well. As the Librians defended the loyalist left, it seemed that the imperial counter attack might falter, but in the centre the decisive battle erupted. Wave after wave of marines poured into a gap in the alliance line left by a shattering bombardment of the alliance positions which almost broke the tau command units. What was left was soon engaged in bitter hand to hand fighting which would only ever result in an astartes victory. The Librian units were then cut off from the remnants of Skyfall's troops and within a few days North Springvale had been retaken for the imperium.

Apocalypse Riders raid Aethor

For over a year various eldar forces had been targetting the small imperial colony of Aethor. Most recently the eldar of Iyanden had been active on the world, destroying several settlements and in 03.014M42 had inflicted a rare defeat on the Apocalypse Riders. Not a chapter to forgive and forget, the riders returned in company strength in 06.014M42 and found the eldar had also increased their numbers on the imperial world, and a full scale invasion looked likely in the future. With no outside support, the astartes company planned their attack anyway.

Their first action was to conduct a raid against Iyanden, deep behind their front lines. The force dropped from orbit in the mountains then used their manouverability to close with what they had identified as key elements of the eldar army. Early in in the action they scored a success, destroying a Wraithknight and the eldar commander. However the Riders then found themselves surrounded and extricated themselves only with extreme difficulty and heavy losses. The price for decapitating the eldar army had been high, but ultimately worth it.

In the hours which followed the raid the Apocalypse Riders' launched a frontal attack. This coordination was possible through the use of sanctioned telepaths in the Riders' ranks, and allowed the astartes chapter to time their assault perfectly. The Iyanden forces brought in Hornets to try to counter their fast-moving foes, but they were caught out of position by the surprise attack and picked off piecemeal as they appeared on the flanks after the main action was over. Much of the lack of coordination of the eldar forces was pinned on their leaderless position, and the tactics of the Apocalypse Riders appeared to have been vindicated. By the end of 06.014M42 the imperial governor of Aethor was informed his world was clean of Eldar forces, and the space marines left to continue their crusade against the Xenos of the Perseus Deeps elsewhere.

Libria V invaded by alliance forces

With the Crusade forces well on their way to annexing Libria I and the war on Libria III stalled, the forces of the Alliance were preparing for another war. This time it was the Federacy who were keen to advance the pace of the invasion. They had already broken the imperial blockade and Libria had long been on their target list of acquisitions. The tau had also planned to take Libria from within, but the uncovering of their plot had brought their covert operation into the open, and now the system had devolved into civil war. Worse still the imperium seemed to be forming factions, which could complicate matters even further.

After much deliberation the tau decided to commit their forces to the Librian campaign, even though the job on Zadoc was far from over. They were finally enticed to commit by the eldar, who agreed to send their own forces to aid the alliance in their initial invasion of Libria, so long as the target was Libria I and the landing ground was in the northern hemsiphere. Why, no one asked, but the help was accepted.

On 0606.014M42 the tau fleet arrived, and quickly took station above the outermost Librian system. The alliance hoped for a short war to take the world and establish a bridgehead for further operations. The eldar massed at the north pole meanwhile, using their webway portals, and immediately began eliminating any loyalist patrols checking the area.

On the imperial side the loyalists had been using Libria V as a staging post. The planet had quickly been overpowered by the imperial reinforcements under General Abrahams, and had been acting as a supply depot ever since. Without Libria V the war on Libria III would be severely affected, while the loss of Libria I to the crusade forces would become inevitable. Knowing this Libria V was heavily defended by Lunar guard, Novgorod guard and the Imperial Fists chapter of the adeptus astartes.

Aboard the cloaked Inquisition Vessel Absolute Judgement, Inquisitor Vorushko watched the unfolding events with alarm. Although her crusaders were now in action against the loyalists on Libria I, the loss of Libria V could quickly lead to capitulation of the loyalist forces on Libria IV and III before her own forces were sufficiently built up to contest them. Libria would be lost to the alliance just as she had predicted.

Vorushko summoned her astartes captains. The Raven Guard accepted the Inquisitor's logic and began planning a counter strike against the now ongoing tau-eldar invasion of the world. By 0906.014M42 the battles raged around North Springley, and several Librian regiments had already gone over to the rebel side. The Carcharadons protested strongly but eventually acquiesced to assisting the loyalists. It was something they would regret and turn the Space Sharks violently against the loyalists for the rest of the war.

The Imperial Fists and Lunar guard, as well as a warhound titan and Novgorod infantry, were already heavily engaged with alliance forces when the Carcharadons and Raven Guard arrived with no warning. Oblivious to events on Libria I the loyalists hailed the reinforcements, who targeted their attacks on the right wing of the large imperial army defending Jutesberg. Rather than worry about the Librians, the Carcharadons went straight for the eldar forces who dominated the wooded hills around the industrial city, leaving an armoured thrust of loyalists and Raven Guard to break the alliance right flank, mostl made up of rebel forces and tau units.

On the imperial right the fighting became bloody very quickly, with both sides suffering heavy casualties. The alliance forces reeled at the impact of the astartes, but gradually recovered, their reserves isolating pockets of astartes resistance and slowly wiping them out.

On the left the armoured thrust intended to halt the rebel advance on Jutesberg was soon blocked by imperial heavy weaponry. Shadowsword fire and artillery crippled the imperial vehicles and only a few astartes made it to the rebel lines, where a dogged defence critically delayed the Raven Guard and allowed the tau to reinforce the wavering rebel lines.

In the city itself the alliance forces continued their advance, felling the warhound and taking their objectives, combining advancing rebel infantry and tanks with deep striking tau and eldar elements. By 1206.014M42 the imperial counter attack was utterly spent, and the long retreat from Jutesberg began. On 2006.014M42 alliance forces were at the suburbs of Timberhill and had a strong foothold on Libria V.

As soon as it had become clear that their intervention had not stopped the alliance invasion, the Carcharadons and Raven Guard abandonned the loyalists to their fate, returning battered to their mobile base in the outer asteroid fields. The Carcharadons vowed never to work with the imperial guard again, and pouring scorn on any astartes chapter that would do so, citing the Imperial Fists as particularly weak and pathetic. The Inquisitor Lord was obliged to listen to the rants of Boagrious, for she could not afford to lose the support of the Carcharadons. From now on the crusade forces would act as an astartes only force and should any "loyalist" forces get in the way of their agenda, then they would be eliminated. libria would burn.