Violence increases in the Perseus Deeps

While the battle for Libria continued, early 017M42 saw increasing violence in the Perseus Deeps as the main powers in the vitally important region battled for superiority. Following the Imperial campaigns and the rise of the Harakhty Dynasty, Chaos had dwindled to a small remnant centred on Mordecai and Kendrenec. Multiple efforts to invade Mordecai had failed, and although Warsmith Stahl had capitalised on this, invading Minos in 016M42, the forces of Chaos remained weak and divided.

The Tau, Necrons, and Imperium had managed to coexist in the Deeps without falling into all out war for some time. The Tau and Imperium were too busy fighting over Libria, while the Necrons lacked the strength to make use of their distraction, preferring to consolidate their existing position by ensuring war happened "elsewhere". The eldar, despite leaving the crusade, had similarly stopped interfering in wars, apparently satisfied at the "cold war stalemate" that had emerged. No one was winning, and that suited the eldar, for now.

016M42 saw this period of stability come to a dramatic end. After a number of strange uprisings and raids involving genestealers, it became apparent that Hive Fleet Nemesis, which had disappeared many years ago from the Zadoc subsector, had now arrived in the Deeps. Still travelling in the void, the main fleet had yet to exert its presence, but its tendrils began destabilising the region well in advance of the massive fleets themselves.

First, genestealer uprisings were dealt with by the Tau, Necrons and imperial forces, but at the beginning of 017M42, the Imperial colony of Hemera fell to the genestealer cults, catching the Imperium, and sector commander Titus Luthor totaly off guard. More uprisings followed, and the Harakhty dynasty proved itself unable to contain the threat. The Charnovokh, recognising the dire threat, made a number of political moves which eventually saw the Harakhty displaced, and the dynasty in the Perseus Deeps became officially under the control of the Charnovokh in 04.017M42.

Soon the policies of the Necrons changed, and the ancient xenos prioritised the elimination of the Tyranid threat. During 04.017M42 the remaining genestealer infestations on Necron worlds were purged, with major battles taking place on Gamordal. Meanwhile, the Charnovokh, despite aiding the loyalists in Libria, realised that the Imperium could not be allowed to build up too much strength in the Deeps, and so raids were launched against Imperial assets on Corticant, a world they claimed by right anyway and one they intended to take sooner or later. The Guard forces, once again caught off balance, were defeated, and the spaceport wrecked. Corticant would not be able to stage any Imperial moves to the "west" for many months.

The eldar were also active. Alarmed by the lack of preparation for a war they knew was coming, and their communications rebuffed, the Ynnari and harlequins took matters into their own hands in 04.017M42. Lightning raids on Lucardium and Corticant found the Imperial defences woefully lacking, but commander skyfall's units, refitting on Lucardium, put up a much stronger defence. Angered by the eldar attack, the alliance posted more troops to the Perseus Deeps, satisfying the eldar...

War was now coming. Tyranid activity was reported on Corticant, the lynchpin of the Imperial defence line in the Deeps and a world central to the protection of the even more valuable Bastien. Corticant, a world claimed and already assaulted once by the necrons, and critical to the eldar plan for the Deeps was now coming under the gaze of a number of forces. Who controlled Corticant would control the destiny of the Aleph Sector...

LIBRIA I: Stalemate continues

The violence on Libria I continued in the early months of 017M42 with the Imperial Loyalist forces initially making good progress in their drive northward towards the last crusade held settlements in the northwest. Overall loyalist commander general Zhukov knew that if he could take Davey and Slater the remaining crusade forces would be bottled up in the west of the planet, and without access to good supply routes, overall victory would be in sight.

The loyalists however had issues of their own. The alliance were now in full control of space in the Libria system, so supply was not only a problem for the crusade. Only small supply convoys escorted by fast astartes strike cruisers were able to get through to the inner planets, and Zhukov's army was tired and lacking in equipment, much of which was now being hurridly diverted back to Libria II thanks to the tau invasion.

Zhukov's frontal assauly reached a high when the Ultramarines secured Davey, defeating a poorly equipped Darantine Guard regiment, but the advanc now put the loyalists into a salient Zhukov didn't really like, and he expected the counter attack. It came less than a week later when the Vedrians moved in to hold Davey were assaulted from two sides by the Kreig units and the unwavering Volscians, who hd now become the backbone of Vorushko's crusade armies. The loyalists were hopelessly outnumbered and surrounded, but unexpected help came in the form of the necrons. Once again the Charnovokh dynasty appeared as if from nowhere and interfered in the Librian campaign.

The necrons were themselves under pressure in the Perseus Deeps. They were well aware that a victory for the crusade would inevitably lead to a full scale crusade against the xenos in the DEeps, and they were not sufficiently strong to counter the tau, tyranids and imperium. A loyalist victory would likely result in the Imperium consolidating their existing systems, and perhaps leave the necrons alone long enough for their armies to be fully reawakened.

The crusade armies were however even more fired up by the appearance of the necrons, and despite a dogged defence of Davey the fanatical devotion to duty saw the Volscians and Death Korps retake the settlement street by street before forceing Zhukov to retreat south before Carteret also fell. The war on Libria I would continue, setting the imperial armies against one another while the alliance steadily took the Libria system for themselves.

Libria I Current

Libria I: Novato retaken, Vorushko visited by "old friend"

In 03.17M42 the loyalists on Libria I were visited by a new delegation. General Zhukov met with the leader of the armed detachment, recognising the Inquisitorial seal immediately. Introducing herself as Inquisitor Kataryina Greyfax, she brought him a message from Haskell. "I am well, receive my colleague in good faith. She is for the emperor in her heart". Zhukov recognised the writing and the specific inflexions of the great Inquisitor Haskell, and accepted Greyfax's forces and council. What was said between the two will remain private, but she did let the general know why she was here, and why she had come now.

Originally a Puritan Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor, Greyfax had seen so much, and had her eyes opened in the fall of Cadia. This was the first Zhukov new of the fall and he grieved. Greyfax then told him of the coming of Guilliman, explaining that Haskell could not return to the Aleph Sector while events on Terra required his attention. Here however Greyfax had a personal matter to deal with. The crusade she said, must be stopped. The puritan view she had so ardently adhered to, had been proved false. The true purpose and will of the Emperor had been revealed to her and must also be revealed, through force if necessary to her one time friend and colleague, Natalia Vorushko, Inquisitor lord and leader of the Crusade...

Battles in the Deeps

In the early weeks of 017M42 the Imperium faced more threats in the Perseus Deeps than they were able to deal with. Raids on colonies across the Deeps forced Sector Commander Titus Luthor to reinforce Bastion and the outlying systems with fresh units of Guard. The first of these were a force of Volscians. Luthor knew that the Volscians were fighting for the crusdade on Libria, and therefore found all Volscians under his command as unreliable. By posting them to Aethor, where the eldar attacks were at their worst, he hoped to remove them from possible altercations with other regiments fighting on the side of the loyalists. In addition he deployed additional Vedrian and Lycaon units to the planet.

Aethor had been under sustained assault from the eldar for over a year. Unknown to the imperium Aethor was a strategic target for the Eldar, and the recently emergent "Ynnari" faction were no exception. Like their heralds, the Disciples of Y'nead, the Ynnari knew that imperial "Mon Keigh" presence on Aethor was intolerable, and despite having been warned the stubborn humans remained.

The attacks, started by the Disciples, were continued by their successors, and the Ynnari gained ground at first, eliminating the Vedrian guard at an imperial outpost near a webway portal. However the Volscians were harder to crack, and managed to beat off a Ynnari attack in the north of the colony. Things remained evenly balanced on Aethor.

The Dark Eldar, led by Vlokarion, continued their own agenda, raiding and defeating the Charnovokh dynasty throughout the early weeks of the year. On Calliden, capital of the Necron empire in the Deeps, the ruler of the Charnovokh and Harakhty dynasties, Overlord Arakamen, realised that without the help of the Imperium, his empire could fall to ruin. The necrons could not afford to fight the eldar and the tyranids alone, with the alliance on their borders. Only the Imperium, who could be manipulated, would allow the necrons to defend and rebuild their empire. Arakamen needed a strong Imperium as a bulwark against his enemies. The overlord began opening his negotiations...

The fall of Hemera

While the Imperium were distracted with their own schisms and the alliance on the eastern fringe, more and more resources were drained from the already tenuous Imperial possessions in the Perseus Deeeps. By late 016M42 the imperial garrison on Hemera had already put down several "populist risings", only to find in early 017M42 that a genestealer cult, a vanguard tendril of Hive Fleet Nemesis, had taken over vital installations and declared itself the new government.

In response the Space Wolves and Darrantine Guard were dispatched by Sector Commander Titus Luthor. However when they arrived the imperial forces faced frenzied attacks, not just from cultists but purestrain genestealers. Days of protracted fighting became a desperate holding action as the xenos forces overran the imperial forces and beseiged the only way off the planet, the imperial spaceport.

The small colony received unexpected aid from the eldar, who appeared from the webway to try to reverse the tyranid gains. It was to no avail and the eldar, of the recently discovered "Ynnari faction", were soon overrun themselves and found themselves fleeing into the webway. They never made it to the besieges imperial forces, and all but a few astartes were massacred in the final moments of Hemera's fall.

Alliance invade Libria II: Space Wolves annihilated

The response by the alliance to the crusade raid was swift, but not directly against the crusade. The policy of the alliance had always been to divide and conquer, and now they put this firmly into action. Aware that the crusade were still unable to respond in a meaningful way against the alliance hold over the central planets of the system, the tau and federal forces brought forward their planned incasion of Libria II. If they could secure the second planet of the Libria system this would leave the loyalists confined to Libria I, where they were already at war with the crusade, and the crusade holding the solitary outer planet of Libria V.

The invasion was led by the human forces of the alliance. The Council felt that the "liberation" of the population would be better led by rebel forces, and the Lycaon rebels were selected to be the vanguard. Discussions over the inclusion of Libria into the Federacy or the Tau empire would wait for now. United the alliance forces landed uncontested, enjoying total superiority in space and quickly estabklishing a bridgehead. The loyalists however had not left their only base undefended, and the Space Wolves responded to the invasion while General Zhukov continued the offensive on Libria I.

The battle itself went badly for the Space Wolves. Surprised by the strength of the forces involved in the invasion, and initially believing the alliance attack to be an exploratory raid, the astartes found themselves overwhelmed and outflanked. In hours the Space Wolves were routed, allowing the alliance to secure their landing site and taking the settlement of Macdonald without difficulty.

Crusade raid Lucardium

With the loss of Libria III, the crusade found themselves on the defensive. Vorushko had managed to secure several new Imperial Guard regiments, including the Death Korps of Krieg and Darrantine Guard. However, the crusade lacked resources. Libria V, their only solid hold in the Libria system lacked the necessary production facilites to support the war effort. In early 017M42 Vorushko authorised a risky raid on Lucardium by her Adeptus Machanicus allies, in order to secure vital resources.

The raid fell upon the garrison once led by the legendary commander Longstride. The tau, surprised by the sudden assault put up a determined fight, but the Mechanicum constructs proved effective at withstanding the withering Xenos fire. The crusade force were able to establish a bridgehead for 24 hours, long enough to secure a significant amount of raw materials, teleported into the waiting conveyer craft in orbit. The tau fleet responded, but by the time of their arrival the Adeptus Mechanicus had left, and Vorushko had struck a blow against the Alliance supply chain as well as bolstering her own position in the ongoing war.

Libria I: Novgorod advance on Davey

With the Minotaurs having left Libria I to exact their revenge on the Necrons, early 01.017M42 allowed the loyalists to recover from the loss of the central cities on Libria I. Most of Zhukov's forces were concentrated on the northern front, so rather than immediately return southward Zhukov continued to apply pressure to the crusade forces in the north, launching a Novgorod offensive against the city of Davey. Defended by Death Korps regiments, the city of Davey was pounded by Novgorod artillery before the loyalist guardsment carried out a textbook imperial frontal assault against the settlement.

The Death Korps defended ably, and the ground between the two armies was soon a chewed up mass of shell holes, broken equipment and bodies, but gradually the Novgorod inched forward. Over the course of two weeks the Death Korps were ground down and forced back, although their line never broke. By 0801.017M42 all of Davey had been captured by the loyalist force, and the offensive was officially closed down. It was only a small advance, but the advance threatened to isolate Slater in the far north, and provided the loyalist forces with a much needed moral boost.

Perseus Deeps: Hemera uprising & Vlokarion Raids

Towards the end of 016M42 the Persues Deeps began to once again experience significant flare ups of violence. Mid month, the Minotaurs made good on their revenge against the Necrons, appearing above Hemera on 1512.016M42 and launching a savage drop assault against the Necrons of the Charnovokh dynasty. Damage done, the Minotaurs returned to their ships and presumably back to their base of operations between Libria and the Deeps. Honour for the Necron interference on Libria I had been exacted.

On Hemera, the governor was forced to call for aid as once again a previously unknown genestealer cult overthrew the mayor of a major settlement and slew much of the loyal population. The Space Wolves responded to the call but underestimated the strength of the cult and were unable to shift the genestealers after hours of fighting. Depleted of ammunition and suffering unacceptable losses, the Space Wolves withdrew, leaving Hemera with a settlement fully in the hands of the Cult. This was a major concern, as many psychics began warning of an imminent invasion of the Deeps by Hive Fleet Nemesis. However on Tyranic timescales "imminent" could mean months, years, or decades.

The Dark Eldar raider Vlokarion was also active in the Perseus Deeps in late 12.016M42. It appeared that the Dark Eldar lord had timed his new raids to coincide with the emergent threat of the genestealers, enabling him to take advantage of weakened foes. His raids on Skera and Corticant were successful, as his dark eldar forces defeated the Charnovokh Necrons and Adeptus Mechanicus forces respectively.

Libria I current

Libria I: Minotaurs return

In early 12.016M42 the Dark Angels relieved the pressure on the loyalist forces on Libria I by delivering a telling blow on the Angels of Redemption. Once again astartes fought astartes with the Dark Angels making it clear where their loyalties lay. This escalation of astartes activity led to the Minotaurs returning once more, and initiating their own assault on loyalist forces, independent of Vorushko's command. Enraged by the Space Wolves and Dark Angels the Minotaurs, along with the Angels of Redemption, set about attacking loyalist astartes forces in the central cities of Novato, Gertiot and Derwood, prompting a determined response from the Space Wolves and Dark Angels. Dropping from strike cruisers in orbit, the Minotaurs spread chaos amongst the defenders of the central cities. Thousands died in the crossfire as astartes brother fought astartes brother, but the damage was less strategic and more designed to create as much fear and chaos as possible.

Taking advantage of the situation the Necrons had been waiting for an opportinuty to deal a blow to the loyalist Imperium, particularly the astartes, who they believed posed a significant threat to their Empire in the Perseus Deeps. The Necrons of the Charnovokh Dynasty arrived unannounced, and immediately began attacking Dark Angel and Space Wolf assets wherever they found them, being careful to avoid the Minotaurs and other Crusade forces.

The result of the Minotaurs and Angels of Redemptions' actions was to throw the defence of the central cities into turmoil. Reeling from the ferocity of the crusade assault the Dark Angels and Space Wolves were forced to abandon the central cities, leaving the crusade guard forces to simply walk in, destroying any remaining resistance. The Necrons quickly disappeared after the fighting. They had achieved their objective but had miscalculated the political impact of their actions. Although the Necrons were fighting the Minotaurs' common "enemy", the astartes chapter were deeply angered by the Necron interference, as they saw the Xenos as meddling in issues which were none of their concern, and the chapter vowed immediate revenge against the Charnovokh.

Libria I: Battles for Derwood

In late 011.016M42 the relentless crusade assault on Zhukov's western flank continued, as the large force of Volscian guard down the Derwood Road. Zhukov had already detached a force of Novgorod Guard to cover this new assault, but it would take time to make the trek back from the northern front to the central cities. Without intervention by the astartes Zhukov's rear guard would be unlikely to be able to hold off the crusade advance.

The loyalist imperial forces met in their HQ on Libria II and agreed the Space Wolves would send a small force to blunt the Volscian advance, allowing Zhukov to reinforce Derwood before they arrived. The Space Wolves immediately embarked for Libria I, but they had precious little time to act on any intelligence of the Volscian forces. Their assault was forceful and determined, but the crusade force were well prepared for such an intervention. The Space Wolves took heavy casualties and the crusade rolled over the meagre defences taking the city of Derwood from the loyalists on 2811.016M42

Despite losing the city Zhukov was not concerned. Arriving two days later the Novgorod Guard gave the Volscians no time to fortified, and immediately launched an all out frontal assault on the mechanised Volscians. The casualties as ever were horrendous, as the Novgorod commanders sent in wave after wave of infantry and even cavalry against the crusade tanks. However the numbers took their tool, and by 3011.017M42 the Novgorod guard had worked their way around the Volscians, forcing them to retreat or be surrounded. Derwood had been retaken.

Libria IV evacuation collapses

By late 11.016M42 it was clear the loyalist imperial position on Libria IV was untennable. To prevent the total loss of all remaining forces and assets, Imperial HQ devised a plan to rescue what equipment and important artefacts they could from the world before the combined forces of the alliance rolled over the remaining imperial defences. To aid in this the Iron Hands and Space Wolves moved in system with fast strike cruisers. Their intent; to land a force near imperial HQ for long enough to evacuate whatever they could.

The alliance, having previously allowed these "ordered withrawals" had no intention whatsoever of allowing the loyalists to escape with valuable assets intact. Unable to spare a fleet, the tau contacted their allies through the shadowy contact they still had with the Kel Sandros Eldar. In response the Disciples of Y'Nead arrived through the webway and lent their support to the rebel Lycaon guard who bore the onslaught of the initial astartes drop. The arrival of the eldar forces completely disrupted the imperial plan, and after a few hours of hard fighting the space marines withdrew, unable to secure a perimeter. This consigned thousands of guardsmen and hundreds of peices of military equipment, not to mention relics and other valuable assets to capture and reuse by the forces of the alliance.

Libria System: Current Status

Libria V: Controlled by Crusade
Libria IV: Controlled by Alliance
Libria III: Controlled by Alliance
Libria II: Controlled by Loyalists
Libria I: Contested Crusade/Loyalists

Libria III: Aftermath

The collapse of the crusade in Cartasia left the alliance with a simple job mopping up the genestealer uprising. However in east Cartasia the alliance forces were thinkly spread, leaving the genestealer cults in de facto control of Pardula Bay, Grabell and Berdysion Point. The crusade lost significant forces, as unable to evacuate, guardsmen and equipment in particular were left stranded on the world, while the alliance faced several months at best of clearing the xenos infestation, hoping that a tyranid hive fleet had not been psychically called...

The decisive battle for Libria III had left the alliance with the world, and control over Libria III and shortly Libria IV, as the loyalists launched their evacuation attempt. Meanwhile the crusade were left with Libria V and were fighting hard on the innermost planet of Libria I, against the loyalists, who controlled Libria II. The alliance had consolidated their position in the system, controlling the major world, and despite the intervention of the genestealers were now able to consider offensive operations against the rest of the imperial worlds.

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.

Libria III: Preparation for battle

With the Crusade bogged down in a protracted war on Libria I, and the catastrophic naval defeat at the hands of the loyalists, the alliance realised that there was a narrow window of opportunity to end the stalemate on Libria III and claim the planet for the alliance. Shadowstrike contacted Windgather, and by using the webway portals of the eldar the tau commander and his xenos allies were able to reinforce the sepratist forces on the Cartal plain. Here, with the bulk of the crusdade forces, the alliance planned a decisive strike through Cartal and to the south coast, breaking crusade resistance in a short decisive campaign.

The crusade were well aware of the military build up in front of them by mid 11.016M42, but were powerless to reinforce their own positions. However, on 1611.016M42 unexpected help arrived. Springing forth from an unseen point of egress, a necron emissary from the Charnovokh Dynasty met with Vorushko herself. Despite her monodominant stance on Xenos, the Inquisitor lord was receptive to their overtures, as the Charnovokh requested nothing in return. Instead the necrons simply wanted the chance to crush their old foe - the eldar - who they knew had arrived with Windgather to aid the alliance.

Now the crusade was more than able to match the formidable force arrayed against them, and expecting the intervention of the Tau'naur battlesuits the crusade prepared their own defences. Mighty Warhound titans and Knights joined the lines, and the crusade prepared to rebuff the imminent alliance attack.

Libria I: Current Strategic Position

Libria I: Voscians retake Freeburg

While Zhukov continued a relentless push against the crusade in the east, in the west the Volscians counter attacked on 1611.016M42. The Space Wolves remained in the area, and responded immediately, realising that the loss of Freeburg would allow the Crusade to reconnect the cities of Selmer and Blaydon with the rest of the Crusade held territory, following their isolation with the loss of Ranch to the Novgorod advance.

The Space Wolves were unprepared for the ferocity and determination of the Volscian attack, and it was abundantly clear that by now the Volscians considered the Space Wolves themselves heretics, in line with the teachings of the Crusade Ecclesiarchy. In addition, the Volscian soldiers knew they were cut off and that this was their one and only opportunity to break out of their isolated pocket. Fighting hard, the guard regimanets managed to first blunt the Space Wolf counter attack, then inflict massive casualties on the astartes, forcing them to withdraw. By 2011.016M42 the link with the rest of the Crusade via the Ansonville road had been re-established and the crusade had bought themselves a much needed respite.