War in the Radeon Cluster

The action in the Vastrid subsector continued into the end of 02.012M42. By now all but one of the habitable systems in the Radeon Cluster had been secured by General Pollack and his Imperial forces. In the Cerrack Nebula only Aspaster held out, and Pollack's spies kept a close eye on Thrugnik's orks, watching for any threatening build up. Along with the major worlds of Keprok and Magark, Aspaster formed a trio of worlds held by the Orks, with Fort Ate and Fort Thrace protecting the major Imperial worlds from invasion, should an Ork Waagh! form.

In the Cerrack Nebula, rimward of the main Imperial worlds, Pollack had established Spinitus and Achreom as major fortified bases, but their proximity to the now war torn Sentinel and the Dark Eldar/Necron war on Drift, forced Pollack to deploy the majority of his strength on these two important worlds. While Pollack requested extra forces to defend Gabriel's World, the Orks arrived once again, landing in force on the small rocky world.

The Orks quickly overwhelmed several of the small Imperial bases on the world before Pollack could mobilise a response. When it came, it was in the form of the Space Wolves, who arrived in system on 2602.012M42, just four days after the Orks had landed.

Unfortunately the counter assault by the Space Wolves did not go well. the Astartes seemed unprepared for the ferociousness of the Orks under Thrugnik's command, and after bitter fighting they were forced to concede the bridgehead to the greenskins. With almost half of the inhabited zone on Gabriel's World now overrun, Pollack had to counter this new threat before turning his attention to Drift and Aspaster. Only after the suppression of these two worlds along with the others would Pollack's campaign be over.

Meanwhile the Dark Eldar were in action in the Nebula. On 2202.012M42, in an attempt to complete their occupation of Drift, they launched an offensive against the small necron tomb world which represented the last enemy resistance on the planet. Despite sending in their best troops. the Shattered Silence kabal were unable to oust the defending necrons from their positions, and the tomb world - although not fully awake - was able to put up a stalwart defence against the dark eldar. Exhausted, the forces of the Shattered Silence withdrew some days later to regroup and rethink their strategy for conquering Drift.

The Dark Eldar were also in action against Thrugnik's orks on Gabriel's World. realising the Orks posed a possible threat to their war on Drift, the Shattered Silence arranged for a lesser kabal to attack the Orks, as they had been doing at regular intervals for months. Although the Dark Eldar did some damage to Thrugnik's forces, they took heavy casualties themselves and failed to achieve their objectives.