Emerald Serpent defeated at Ceti

The reason the Emerald Serpent were regrouping at Mordecai and were easily attacked by Stahl's forces lay far to the galactic east. Using the arcane knowledge of the warp only accessible by the devotees of Tzeentch, the forces of chaos had arrived at the Ceti system to intercept a probing force of Novgorod Guard, sent in a small task force by Admiral Barham and General Chuikov to establish a base at Ceti.

Ceti lay on the main warp route between Vanir and the Echo cluster, and Barham needed a base in the system to ensure continued and uninterupted monitoring of the Necron threat. Currently hibernating, should the necrons awaken without warning and intercept the fleet at Ceti the result would be disastrous.

Chaos also needed more bases in the Hadron Expanse and were keen to prevent the imperium from improving their supply lines to the Echo Cluster, which the Emerald Serpent also had designs on. This led to a prolonged skirmish between the infantry scouting forces of the Emerald Serpent and those of the imperial guard. However, the Omsk Cavalry made the decisive impact, driving of the traitor forces again and again, eventually forcing the remnants of the patrol force back through the warp to Boltarean, then onward to Mordecai, where they were planning to raise followers for their next offensive.