Inconclusive fleet action at Mordecai

Following the warp storm outbreak of 03.020M42, the fleet movements of the Imperium were curtailed, but not altogether prevented. The battlegroups that Lord Admiral Bova Magnus had control over became split up and difficult to control centrally, but Admiral Stark was proactive in ensuring he had access to the as many vessels as he could lay his hands on. Sending out instructions to muster at the outer marker of the Mordecai system, by late 03.020M42 Stark's fleet at Mordecai was substantially bolstered with the arrival of a flotilla of Dauntless class vessels from neighbouring subsectors, as well as the Emperor class battleships Centurion and Leipzig.

 

The substantial increase in Imperial vessels threatened the chaos supply routes from Mordecai Primaris to the inner planet, now invaded by the Imperium under general Kutuzov, so the Emerald Serpent was forced to act in order to inderdict the Imperial fleet, with the intention of engaging in attritional encounters. The chaos fleet had a fleet base in the system, whereas the Imperium did not, so any losses would be more keenly felt by the Imperial side.

 

The first encounter between the two fleets occurred on 2403.020M42, when a chaos fleet was detected approaching the Imperium's main fleet rendezvous point above Mordecai Tersius. Here the Imperium had their precious supply fleet, so Stark send a powerful fleet of six dauntless class vessels, supported by Centurion and Leipzig to intercept.

 

The battle itself was inconclusive. Two chaos cruisers were heavily damaged but managed to escape back to the Mordecai docks, frustrating the imperial admiral, although one Carnage class was caught and hulked by the combined imperial firepower. One dauntless class cruiser was put completely out of action in the engagement, but the Emerald Serpent had failed to inflict significant attritional casualties on the Imperial fleet. The dauntless class cruiser Phoenix was taken in tow and could be repaired to operational status within weeks, while the chaos losses could soon be patched up at Mordecai docks, with the exception of the cruiser destroyed. This however was only the opening salvo in a series of increasingly savage naval battles at the Mordecai system.