Action in the Perseus Deeps

While the Vastrid sector saw the bulk of the fighting in late 02.012M42, there were still significant actions in the Perseus Deeps throughout this period, with the most significant action taking place over Sentinel.

The Enraptured had slowly gained the advantage on Sentinel following the demise of Lorek's forces, and by the middle of 02.012M42, had pushed the Imperium away from the Spaceport and central compound. Realising there was a risk that the Aurora Angels and Red Angels would be overwhelmed without support, General Veers summoned a meeting of his top generals and admiral Jellicoe to understand what he could spare for Sentinel.

The picture painted for Veers was not a good one. Almost one million guardsmen were still involved in anti-insurgency work on Parthenope and Bastien, and couldn't be spared lest the forces of Chaos gain a foothold in the population once again. Another 500,000 were on garrison duties on Eris, Corticant and other smaller worlds. None could be spared, and even then, the priority would be Zog, where the Imperial defenders were barely holding off the Necrons, or Alphe, where Hathek felt sure the Tyranids would resurface soon.

The Dark Angels came to the rescue. The commander of the second company entered the room, declaring that with Hylas retaken for the Imperium, there was no immediate need to prosecute the war against the Tau, and that the war on Chaos must take priority. Inquisitor Hathek rolled his eyes, as this was the very thing which had led to his falling out with Inquisitor Xanthus, but the help was well received.

On 2702.012M42 the Dark Angel fleet, including two battlebarges arrived over Sentinel to find the fleet of Lord Tragean waiting for them. Using the gravity well of a nearby terrestrial planet the Dark Angels closed on their enemy, noting that the chaos vessels had placed their battleship at the head of their battleline. The Dark Angels then rushed the rear of the Chaos line, causing a great deal of damage with their gun batteries and boarding torpedoes, while the Desolator class battleship was unable to mount an effective reply.

During the battle two chaos vessels were badly damaged, and the carnage class Unnatural Permutation was reduced to a dead hulk. Although the Space Marines lost a number of escorts, neither battle barge was damaged, and the chaos fleet fled, realising their position was hopeless. A few days later the Dark Angels arrived at the planet of Sentinel itself, swiftly taking the orbital docks before landing in force at the Space port. In one stroke the initative on Sentinel had been completely reversed.

The chaos forces had other problems during 02.012M42, as the Shattered Silence kabal launched a series of raids against the Enraptured on Blight and Carnage. Meanwhile on Zog, the forces of the Eldar tried to help the Imperium by attacking the Necron forces beseiging the Imperial compound. However, the swift mechanised attack met resolute defence and the effect on the Necron armies was negligible.