Mordecai sees action intensify in the southern and central sectors

During 020 and 021M42 severe warp storms and an outbreak of a particularly virulent nurgle pathogen had caused serious disruption to the campaigns of the Aleph Sector. This was especially true of the Mordecai campaign where the forces of chaos were locked in a titanic struggle against the Imperium, led by General Kutuzov's imperial guard. The guard forces had suffered the most from the nurgle virus, but the forces of chaos had also struggled to contain the outbreak. In the latter half of 021M42 the warp storms abaited and the nurgle disease appeared to be under control, and both sides began funnelling reinforcements into the meatgrinder on Mordecai Secundus.

The mining world was key to the imperial conquest of the system, and in late 09.042M42 several new forces arrived to aid the war effort. A company of ultramarines and a significant force of Dragon's Sons astartes deployed in system, ready to launch themselves into missions against the enemies of the emperor, while the forces of chaos saw Fabius Bile and other chaos forces deploy via the Daemonworld of Astralis, giving the enemies of the Imperium a direct supply route Kutuzov could only dream of. Nevertheless, with a fully operational spaceport in orbit around Mordecai Tersius, and no fewer than three imperial naval battlegroups in the system, the Imperium controlled the space around Mordecai Secundus, and the strategic situation on the ground was finely balanced.

Southern Sector

In early 10.021M42 both sides began probing the front lines, looking for weaknesses. While the northern sector of the thousands of kilometre front line remained fairly quiet, battles erupted in the central and southern sectors. In the far south, near the beseiged city of Ur'Ghar, the Grey Knights launched a break out from the settlement directly into the heart of the Emerald Serpent and the Thousand Sons. Facing off against the elite of the enemy forces, the Grey Knights once again had to deal with the apparition of Magnus himself, as well as a daemon prince, a senior chaos sorceror and the animated warriors of Tzeentch themselves. The astartes were however optimised for dealing with just such a foe, and despite taking casualties, were able to overwhelm the Thousand Sons and breakthrough to the imperial lines to the west. The siege of Ur'Ghar had been lifted.

Slightly further west however, the Imperium faired less well, as the elite of the Thousand Sons pushed into the Sathugar mines, once again contesting the strategically vital resource complex. Defended by the newly deployed Dragon's Sons marines, the area was a wide front and difficult for the small numbers of astartes to hold onto. Rather than face being surrounded, the Sons withrew, allowing the forces of chaos to once again establish a foothold in the Sathugar complex.

Central Sector

In the centre of Kutuzov's front line, Fabius Bile and his followers clashed with the Ultramarines in a medium sized skirmish. The battle was brutal, but not decisive. Neither Bile nor the Ultramarines would yield to the other, and after several hours of intense fighting and moderate casualties, neither side could claim victory. Just north of this action however, another company of Dragon's Sons launched an offensive into the Death Guard faction known as the "House of Eschar". Here the fighting was partcularly brutal, and the battle swung back and forth dramatically as the critical objectives were taken, then lost, then taken again. The combat power of the loyalist astartes was impressive, able even to put down whole squads of resilient plague marines, but the intervention of the Death Guard terminators threatened to undo the imperial gains. Additionally, the nurgle deamon prince refused to die, even when charged by the company commander himself. Despite the astartes skill in combat, the blessings of nurgle could not be undone, and the leader of the Dragon's Sons was slain in combat with the foul prince of nurgle.

The loyalist space marines however had great flexibility. Using stealth and guile, their scouts were able to penetrate the chaos lines, causing disruption and confusion, and while the Death Guard right flank held up with the help of the Blightlord terminators, their left flank collapsed, largely thanks to the intervention of the space marine dreadnought and heavy firepower, although this took some time thanks to poxwalkers who had to be mown down again and again.

Eventually, with their left flank smashed, the Death Guard, despite having slain the Dragon Son's commander and dealing heavy casualties to their hated foe, were forced to withdraw to stronger defences. Now the Imperium had created a salient on the west bank of the small lava sea north of the Sarkar Traps. From here it might be possible to encircle significant chaos forces, if a breakthrough could be achieved.