Da Verminator defeated at Hylas

With the ongoing defeats on Zadoc concentrating the minds of sector command, there was little in the way of reinforcement which could be offered to General Van Dorn on Hylas, who's war against the ork was now becoming an epic struggle, sidelined by the more dramatic and strategically important wars on Tyranteous and Zadoc. The imperial fleet had just committed its main force to Zadoc, and was unable to do anything about the ork fleets now swarming around the imperial planet. Fortunately for Van Dorn other help was at hand at the end of 013M42.

The presence of Da Verminator's fleet around Hylas provoked the intervention of the Adeptus Mechanicus. They already had troops on the ground helping the war effort since their excavations of the ruins underneath mount Flynn (and their possible alien technology) were far from complete. The Mechanicus had a vested interest in keeping the world imperial so not only had they responded to calls for aid by sector command, they now pro-actively engaged the greenskin menace ravaging the world.

The ork fleet around Hylas was sizeable, but the Mechanicus took the opportunity to ambush Da Verminator before he reached the inner biosphere. The imperial vessels confidently approached their enemy, and the orks, true to form, accepted the challenge with glee. However the greenskin vessels, though numerous, were no match for the Mechanicus fleet, and within a few hours the ork warlord's vessles had mostly been reduced to scrap metal (though with some ships it was hard to tell the difference).

The fleet of the Omnissiah was unable to remain in the Hylas system, and left before the lumbering ork hulk and her escorts in orbit around Hylas was able to react. The ork blockade of Hylas had not been broken, but the battle had given Van Dorn's men a respite from constant bombardment and had interupted the constant reinforcement of the aliens on the ground.