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 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 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
For almost two Terran months the war on Gabriel's World had gone cold. General Pollack had commanded that all available troops, now mostly Librian guardsmen, be pulled back to defend a perimeter around Gabriel's Landing. The city, which had been so painstakingly won back from the Greenskins only two years previously, was now under seige by an enemy once more. The Librians took up defensive positions around the city, but had to wait until 3105.014M42 before the eldar launched their attack. Once again the Disciples of Ynnead led the assault, using their wraithguard as shock troops supported by devastating weapons fire from their super-heavy Scorpions. The Scorpions devastated the Librian armour before they allowed the wraithguard to attack. Once the heavy weapons of the defenders had been neutralised by the longer ranged Pulsars, the wraithguard moved in to deal with the infantry.
The Librians had no answer to the eldar equipment and tactics, and despite desperate short range attacks by grenadiers on the super heavy skimmers, it was too late. The wraithguard were soon among the Librian infantry and unleashed their fearsome short range flamer weaponry. The result was carnage, and in less than 24 hours the line had completely collapsed. A few lucky defenders managed to scramble onto one of the last shuttles to leave the planet, but the majority of the defenders were either killed or taken prisoner by the eldar. Gabriel's world had fallen to the Disciples.
No sooner had word reached Pollack of the loss of Gabriel's World than further alarms flooded in from Achreom. The neighbouring system had similarly come under attack, less than a day after the loss of the first imperial outpost. Once again the Disciples of Ynnead were identified, and although they found their initial raids having limited effect on the infantry heavy Novgorod Guard defenders, eventually the wraithguard elements were once again breaking through the imperial defences. By 1006.014M42 the imperium had been forced to abandon several settlements in the mountains of Naraheim, and as they retreated black smudges on the horizon behind them indicated to the guardsmen the destruction and burning by their alien opponents. Pollack now realised the Disciples' agenda wasn't just local to one system but appeared to be potentially subsector wide in scope. Denied reinforcements before, this time Pollack embarked on the battlecruiser Benbow, which had just returned from a mission in the Valitane subsector, in order to petition Lord Titus Luthor personally.
The war on Zadoc was particularly active on the western fronts at the beginning of 06.014M42. In just two weeks there were major shifts in the front lines, mostly to the detrement of the remaining imperial defenders. By 1506.014M42 the Alliance had made important gains in the west, while the imperium looked more on the defensive than ever before, and Wavell was facing a Commissariat board of enquiry.
Northern Front: Battle of the Islands
In the north the first few weeks of 06.014M42 saw co-ordinated attacks by the forces of chaos against the imperial controlled islands of Cariode and Hannuse. Launching operations from Reggia, the Iron Warriors landed a significant force on the more southern and populous island, aiming to take the important city of Montene. Cariode was simultaneously attacked by the Arch Cleric, who used a small insertion force to summon a daemonic host which quickly overwhelmed the imperial garison.
The response by the imperium to the daemonic incursion on Cariode was swift, with the Apocalypse Riders launching an immediate counter assault. They soon found their daemonic enemy and used their land speeders for long range fire support, while their highly mobile bike squads sped towards the enemy. The astartes took the fight to the enemy daemon princes, using a line of bikers to feign defeat, drawing their enemy into the open. Then the Apocalypse Riders launched a devastating - if late - flanking attack, with deepstriking elite infantry adding to the confusion. The highly mobile imperial force was able to use this ability to its advantage and the daemon army was gradually carved up and dealt with in turn. The commander of the Riders proved particularly heroic, leading his command squad against the fiercest of enemy foes and taking down two daemon princes and finishing off a Great Unclean One. By the end of 0406.014M42 the island was declared clean of daemons, and the few cultists left on Cariode were enthusiastically hunted down and slaughtered.
Further south and west on Hannuse things were not going as well for the Lunar Guard and Imperial Fists, who had been detailed to defend the city of Montene against the Iron Warriors. The Lunar Guard heavy armour, including a number of venerable Executioner Leman Russ should have been a deciding factor against the traitor forces, but their gunnery was exceptionally poor. A counter attack by the Imperial Fists who had commandeered several Vendettas floudered as Helldrakes ripped the navy craft from the sky, while foul magicks employed by the heretics obscured critical assets from view, allowing them to close with the imperial line. Overwhlemed by the assualt in less than two days the city and the rest of Hannuse was overrun. The Imperial Fists evacuated while the Lunar Guard were left to their - unpleasant - fate. Having watched their expendable minions and constructs destroy the enemy, the Iron Warriors themselves secured the city and began the usual practice of fortification.
Breakout from Aso Bridgehead
For several days the bridgehead on southern Aso had been held by the alliance against repeated probing attacks by the imperial defenders. During that time they had managed to open a webway portal and use their dominance of the skies to build up their forces in the Larrano pocket. On 0206.014M42 the breakout began as the alliance made their bid to wipe the imperium from Aso.
The alliance advance was split into two thrusts. In the east commander Windgather led his combined tau and eldar forces up the east coast towards Flavi, where he encountered strong Lunar Guard resistance and a counter attack from a company of Imperial Fists, but this was brushed aside and running battles developed along the road to Vorni. The remaining imperial defenders made a last stand at Serianna but were wiped out in a battle lasting just over three days.
On Windgather's left flank, commander Skyfall was tasked with protecting Windgather's advance. This nearly went disasterously wrong as the Novgorod Guard launched a strong offensive just as Windgather was making his breakout towards the north. The imperial force ground forward with relentless momentum, and the tau, despite inflicting horrendous casualties, were force to retreat. Tau high command became alarmed. If Skyfall did not stop the retreat Windgather would be cut off from his supply, and the assault on Aso would become a debacle.
Skyfall did not panic. Instead he continued to yield ground against the Novgorod while preparing his own outflanking manouevre. On 0406.014M42 Skyfall landed a hunter cadre to the north of the Gordinia road and launched an attack on the imperial supply line, protected by the Librian 23rd Armoured and 14th Infantry regiments. In the ensuing battle the tau rode their luck somewhat, as their Riptide in particular proved especially resilient to the imperial firepower. the tau were also lucky in catching the librians at watch change, a fortuitous event which allowed Skyfall's forces to sieze the initiative and deal a greater deal of damage early on than could have been reasonably expected. However it was the tau force's mobility which proved decisive. Early on the tau were able to capture key objectives, effectively pinning the Librians in place. Despite fighting hard the imperial forces were unable to escape the trap, and slowly the remining resistance on the road was eliminated. By 0606.014M42 the Novgorod Guard were feeling the effects. Cut off from supply and with the enemy on three sides their push into Larrano was abruptly ended. Now the remaining guardsmen dug in, preparing for the inevitable tau counter attack.
It never came. With no further meaningful imperial resistance the tau captured the rest of Aso by 1006.014M42 except for the remaining pocket of Novgorod guard. After refusing to surrender the imperial infantry were slaughtered in just over two days by a leisurely stand off bombardment by alliance forces. Any survivors were captured and led away to re-education camps. Aso had been secured and the chaos controlled city of Vorni was put under siege.
Alliance push on Andiselli
While the forces of chaos and the alliance battered the imperium from all sides, the alliance chose to launch a probing attack against the chaos front line in fromt of Andiselle. Both sides were now realising that before long the battle of Zadoc would be a fight between chaos and the alliance but until the imperium was eliminated there seemed to be little interest in prosecuting the war against one another in any meaningful way. On 0306.014M42 the alliance sent a relatively small Biel Tan force against the Arch Cleric, who responded with an equivalent force of summoned daemons. Over the next few days the battle raged over the valley protecting Andiselle, with the eldar forces eventually prevailing. However the alliance, having made gains, did not press home their attack, happy to have established their dominance, at least for now. The Arch Cleric similarly did not escalate. He had lost a battle, but he had not been caught out by the eldar. For now the front line againat the alliance was vastly overshadowed by the war against the imperium.
In 05.014M42 the alliance forces on Zadoc were facing a dilema. Since the invasion had begun progress had been remarkable, but the recent invasion of Vieto, however brief, had brought some realism back to the tau command who if anything were becoming complacent about their ultimate victory being assured. The reality was that although the Tau controlled much of the world, the north and east was still firmly in the grip of chaos, while the Isles of Aso and Riontas were becoming imperial fortresses. The alliance decided to act quickly to prevent the fortification of Aso, which they viewed as likely to prolong the war to unacceptable timescales.
The plan was code-named "Operation Proteus", and brought together a large concentrated force to strike at the rear of the imperial advance against chaos. The operation would see tau and eldar forces land and secure the area around the city of Larrano who would see of counter attacks as the major land forces were landed in the city. The Imperial supply line would then be cut, and the securing of Aso should be straight forward. The operation would then move into a second phase, with a two pronged assault by air and overland on the chaos city of Vorni. Aso would be secured for the alliance and the tau, and the eventual defeat of both chaos and the imperium would be brought ever closer.
The operation started well, as on the morning of 2105.014M42 alliance forces secured strong positions around the city of Larrano. The garison of the city fell quickly, and Proteus command distributed their forces in the hills around the city. In the south and west, facing the ocean and Aso archipelago, commander Skyfall's troops were supported by two distinct eldar forces including the Rillietan and forces from the Craftworld of Biel Tan.
In the north and east, the main line was held by commander Windgather, with the eldar acting as rapid response units and a mobile reserve. They didn't have to wait long as just a few hours later the highly mobile astartes of the Carcharadons and Raven Guard led tha vanguard of a ferocious imperial counter attack.
General Wavell had found out about operation Proteus. For once enhanced listening devices employed by the Adeptus Mechanicus all over the south of Aso had picked up the very conversations of the tau commanders, allowing them to pinpoint the time and location of the alliance attack. This was critical intelligence and allowed the imperium to devise a counter attack. Wavell and his commanders knew they would not be able to prevent the landings without suffering horrendous casualties. Accordingly they planned to allow Larrano to fall before launching a counter operation.
The imperial plan called on the cooperation of four space marine chapters and a large contingent of Librian Guard. The elite Librian armoured formations would support operations by the Carcharadons, Raven Guard, Apocalypse Riders and Ultramarines. The plan called for the astartes to keep the alliance forces busy, allowing the Librians to drive through the middle to secure the city.
The Carcharadon and Raven Guard strike was a total success. In the southern and western sectors the astartes wrought havoc amongst the alliance forces, destroying much of Skyfall's heavy equipment and dealing the Rillietan a heavy blow. The alliance line collapsed, and the astartes secured their objectives in the south west of Larrano. At the same time the Librians, supported by the Ultramarines launched their attack overland in the north, but faced stiff resistance from Windather's tau. As per their own plans, Windgather's forces called up their eldar support, and the concentrated eldar counter attack in conjunction with tau firepower obliterated the imperial advance. The imperial armour was wrecked and the ultramarines took heavy casualties. The central attack had failed.
With the imperial thrust to the north defeated, the Biel Tan eldar moved their forces south and west, as the remaining ultramarines had joined up with the Apocalypse Riders and had penetrated the alliance line in the west and north west. The Biel Tan attempted to reinforce commander Skyfall, whose battered forces were now facing the onslaught of a second attack. Unfortunately their arrival came to late, and the Apocalypse Riders and Ultramarines tore apart Skyfall's remaining forces forcing the eldar to retreat licking their wounds. Now the entirety of west Larrano was under imperial control, but the last action turned what could have been a decisive imperial victory into an unsatisfactory stalemate.
As evening fell on 2305.014M42 the battle had been raging for two days. Operation Proteus was going badly wrong and now the Apocalypse Riders with Librian support threatened to cut the alliance bridgehead in two. If they succeeded the operation would have to be abandoned, and this would rate as the worst alliance defeat of the war. Once again commander Windgather came to the rescue. Along with the Rillietan the tau commander and his eldar allies met the imperial spearhead head during the night of the 23rd and in the morning of the 24th.
The battle went badly for the imperium as the tau firepower proved accurate and deadly. Wave Serpents and Fire Prisms took their toll, and the Librian Armour proved vulnerable to tau firepower if the tank commander accidentally turned anything other than the Leman Russes heavy front armour to the attacker. The imperial forces also found taking cover in the buildings and rubble of Larrano was no use, as the advanced alien weaponry found them anyway. The Apocalypse Riders attempted a deep strike, but the enemy forces poured overwhelming firepower into the assaulting marines. By the end of 2405.014M42 the imperial spearhead had been wiped out and Wavell was consolidating his positions. The alliance forces held the east of Larrano and the imperium the west. After days of heavy fighting and serious casualties neither side was pleased with the outcome. The Imperial hold on Aso hung in the balance, but the tau had failed to get their quick victory.
On Zadoc the momentum generated by the Raven Guard on Aso against the forces of chaos was instrumental in the continued offensive towards the chaos held city of Vorni. For months the power of chaos had been waning. The Iron Warriors brooded within their fortress of Gerzonne, while the Arch Cleric himself had not been seen in person for a long while. Central co-ordination of chaos forces had broken down, and now actions were sporadic and usually defensive in nature.
The toe-hold on Aso was quickly flooded by guardsmen, and the Novgorod regiments begain their attritional grind up the island towards the city of Vorni. Casualties, as ever, were high, but the stoic infantrymen kept on pushing forward. They even encountered elite units of the Emperor's Children, ancient warriors from the dawn of the imperium, but such was their numbers, even these elite forces were crushed underfoot. By 2205.014M42 the imperial forces had reached the outskirts of the city, and began preparations for a long seige. The war here was going to plan.
Further south the foothold the astartes had made ont he mainland against the tau drew an inevitable counter attack from Windgather's forces once the Apocalypse Riders had been forced to withdraw to re-arm. In the south the tau had numbers, and with their eldar allies the alliance forces pushed back strongly from Perregor. The Imperial Fists and Lunar Guard took up positions where they felt they would delay the enemy for the longest, but the alliance were more than equal to any defensive plan put together by the imperium.
The tau-eldar forces advanced relentlessly in the week 14-2105.014M42. By 2205.014M42 it was obvious that Vieto could not be held. With regret, General Wavell ordered a withdrawal and the entire peninsular and island chaine was abandoned to the tau by 2405.014M42, save for some guerilla and special ops forces. Once again the tau had ejected the imperium from the Zadoc mainland, and Wavell had to think again.
While the Carcharadons and Apocalypse Riders debated what to do about the revelation that the Mechanicum had been acting in concert or even alliance with the Tau, the crusade forces continued their lightning advance against the loyalist forces on Libria I. The Carcharadons were particularly keen to secure as much of the world as possible, to give themselves a better position should hostilities break out within the crusade forces.
The Carcharadons struck without warning against the cities of Derwood, Gratiot and Novato. The attack was mainly airborne and simultaneous, causing the maximum amount of disruption and confusion amongst the imperial guard defenders. However the loyalists, expecting an attack, were well equipped, and the Librian forces in particular fought with a stubborn resolve to defend their homeland.
The battle hinged on the aerial assault. Despite being kitted out with a large amount of AA weaponry and Punisher battle tanks, the loyalists could not hold back the astartes. The Carcharadon command flier was even shot down by Librian forces, but somehow the elite of the astartes forces survived the crash, then survived withering fire from the defenders as the entire front line opened up on the crash site. Ignoring the storm of fire, the Carcharadons launched a close assault, their combat prowess easily overcoming the imperial guard defenders of the main defence lines.
The close assault won the battle for the Carcharadons, and the Librian defenders were taken apart at close range. Within a day the loyalist defence of the three cities had collapsed, and by 2105.014M42 the Carcharadons, who had taken moderate losses, were mopping up the remaining defenders. It had been a consumate display of astartes superiority, and the loyalists were now confined to the cities of the south east, and General Abrahams was unwilling to reinforce further failure. The loyalist forces on Libria 1 were isolated and alone.
As the end of 05.014M42 approached, General Pollack faced significant challenges on Gabriel's World. His appeals for reinforcements had been ignored by Sector command. Events in the Zadoc subsector and the Perseus Deeps were far more important and Pollack was told to use what he already had, which in truth wasn't much. Eventually Pollack managed to wrestle some new forces out of Titus Luthor in the shape of half a regiment of Lunar Guard and one company of Imperial Fists. Upon their arrival the fresh forces went straight into action, as the Disciples of Ynnead had attacked once more on the planet.
Gabriel's Landing was now under siege by eldar forces, and the Lunar Guard and astartes had a tough time deploying into the battle, although the astartes immediately tried to breakout and force the aliens back from the perimeter of the city. The result was an unco-ordinated imperial counter-attack, leading to horrific casualties among both the astartes and Lunar guard. Both fresh forces were effectively expended in just a few hours, and the seige remained. Morale plummeted, and the loss of Gabriel' World to the Imperium now looked likely.
With events moving apace on Libria the Federacy decided to act in late 04.014M42. In a close vote the Federal council decided to send the Tallaxian fleet, consisting of four cruisers and one battleshio, to the Libria system. Intelligence suggested only Admiral Pendragon's forces were present in the system, and Beattie's forces would not be arriving for a month or so. The fleet set sail and arrived some weeks later, immediately encountering the similarly sized Pendragon battlegroup in the Deep Space region of the Libria system.
Confident in his fleet's abilities the Federal Admiral, Cassin Kinkaid, immediately attacked. At first his fleet's shooting was unimpressive, but gradually the federal fleet found its range and was able to out-manouevre the imperial force, enveloping the enemy in a murderous crossfire. During the battle the federal losses were light, although the cruiser Liberator was badly damaged by the imperial battleship, who singled the mars class vessel out for specific punishment.
The FSS Haskell was less than impressive in her shooting, but the battleship's laxity was made up for by the brave gunners and pilots of the rest of the fleet, although the last bombing run carried out by the federacy force was conducted by cadets, their run failing to achieve any hits on the enemy at all and allowing a heavily damaged imperial cruiser to escape.
The final losses in ships were small, but the damage was extremely unequal. The federacy lost one escort along with damage to the Liberator but the imperial fleet suffered far worse and were forced to disengage. Pendragon lost a lunar class, Sir Gareth, while four other vessels were badly damaged. Pendragon withdrew his battered fleet to Libria V, while Kinkaid now controlled the system jump point. Taking the hulk of Sir Gareth in tow, he sent Liberator and his prize back to Hartak. Now he waited for reinforcement following the initial victory.
Despite the Crusade alliance between the Tau-eldar and the Mechanicum, there was no such love lost on the subsector capital, as the Apocalypse Riders and Imperial Fists planned an offensive on Zadoc against the alliance forces. In the previous month the Raven Guard had taken fight to Chaos in the north, and now the Vieto Isles became the target for the imperial forces. A meeting was held between General Wavell's command team and the astartes, and a plan drawn up. On Zadoc the imperium fought as one, while the different forces and commanders shared very different opinions on the war for Libria. However, these opinions were not mooted, and no inquisitors were present at Zadoc to meddle in affairs.
The astartes led the attack, with the Imperial Fists assaulting and capturing the city of Vieto. Further west the Apocalypse Riders attacked the most dangerous enemy formation, that of Windgather's tau-eldar forces, to prevent them intervening and reinforcing the beleagured tau forces in the city. In Vieto the Imperial Fists made light work of the tau force, forcing the remainder to withdraw. This allowed Wavell to follow up and take the Isles themselves, mopping up any tau resistance.
Further east Windgather was once again locked in a furious battle against the Apocalypse Riders, who were succesfully preventing any link up with the tau defenders in Vieto. Once again the Riders went for the critical command and control nodes of the tau-eldar force, and were able to capture vital intelligence during their mission. Their assault threw the tau-eldar alliance into disarray for several critical hours, ensuring the invasion of Vieto passed off as planned. However within the intelligence the Apocalypse Riders found irefutable evidence of cooperation between the tau and the Crusade forces on Libria. This certainly shocked them, but how they would react no one could guess...
On Libria I the crusade forces continued to push the loyalists back. In the far west the Carcharadons landed without warning, just as the Tau-eldar forces left the Mechanicum in control of the central northern cities. Once again the Lunar Guard were in the front line edfending the loyalist cause, but the ferocity of the astartes attacj could not be challenged. In three days the cities of Selden, Blandon and Freeburg fell to the Space Sharks, surrendering all the north of Libria I to the Crusade. There was nothing the loyalists could do.
On Libria III General Abrahams was growing increasingly concerned by the overwhelming power of the Crusade. Somehow the loyal soldiers of the Imperium had become the enemy, and the Crusade of Natalia Vorushko had even allied itself to its mortal enemies to overcome his forces. Such was the apparent hate for Lord Inquisitor Hathek, who advice Abrahams had been following. Now the lord general began to doubt his loyalties, although the power of the Inqusition seal still ensured his continued obedience to Hathek's orders.
For now Abrahams concentrated on defeating the rebels on Libria III, suppressing news of events on Libria I and effectively allowing it to happen. This was not a state of affairs which could continue for long.
In early 05.014M42 the necrons once again launched an offensive on Corticant in a war which had become far from dynamic. With the Imperium disctracted elsewhere, the necrons should have easily brushed aside resistance on the world if they had put their mind to it, but for some reason the necron lords were content to carry out the war at a leisurely pace. One effect of this, perhaps deliberate, was that Veers was unable to earmark significant forces for the defence of Corticant, givent hat the necron progress was so slow. Instead, the lord general saw his assets stripped as the situation on Zadoc and Libria deteriorated.
The necrons attacked in the south this time, pushing forward to Ironhaven, forcing the Imperial forces, mostly Novgorod guard to retreat north towards the more heavily defended imperial hinterlands. It was a bitter blow to the defenders however, who had so recently liberated Ironhaven from the eldar threat. Veers became increasingly concerned and withdrawn, keeping his own counsel and being seen less and less, despairing that events in the Zadoc subsector risked the loss of all he had gained in the hard fought crusade.
