Slow gains on Ares

As 02.011M42 came to an end the Claws of Lorek were struggling to halt the inexorable advance of the Imperial crusade in the Perseus Deeps. Lorek's adventure into the Vastrid sector had so far achieved nothing, and the Master of Chaos was once again forced to concentrate on the war on Ares.

General Veers was still hoping for a quick conclusion to the campaign given the smaller number of troops involved in the fighting, but he was unable to release the thousands of Guardsmen required to snuff out the Chaos defence, as they were still required to hold down rebellions on Bastien following Inquisition purges of the populace, deemed "necessary" by Inquisitor Lords Huron and Hathek. This meant the Space Wolves remained the vanguard force on Ares, with very little guard support.

On 2402.011M42 Lorek's daemonic hordes were soundly defeated at Hephath Station, despite losses of armoured equipment to the sharp claws of daemonettes, and the great company's runepriest personally slew a bloodthirster of Khorne in single combat. This could have led to a general collapse of the chaos defence of the world, but an unexpected return by Catechism forces - significantly traitor Cerberex Guard units - brought the Space Wolf advance to a grinding halt.

The sudden reappearance of the Catechism caused alarm on the Imperial Crusade Council, but it was soon seen that their leader, the strange and capricious creature known as Moonface, was not among the chaos forces. Neither were his legions. Instead traitor guard units, the remnants of the Catechism's campaign on Cerberex, had appeared to aid the Master of Chaos.

Even so the counter attack was unwelcome news to General Veers, as was a surprise raid on the Space Wolf base on Aethor by the Eldar. This time the Eldar forces were prevented from reaching the main Imperial base and the surprise raid soon turned into a costly stalemate for both sides before the Eldar disappeared as quickly as they had arrived. By the beginning of 03.011M42 the Ares campaign was still ongoing, but slow progress to an Imperial victory was finally being made.