Orar Raid

This article is about the Imperial Navy action; for the other uses, see Orar (disambiguation).

The Orar Raid was a battle early in the Gothic War where a Chaos warfleet led by Warmaster Malefica Arkham tried to launch a surprise attack on the Hive World Orar.^[2]

Unlike many such Chaos attacks up to that point, the defenders of Orar were far from taken unawares. In fact, an entire battlegroup,^[2] led by Captain Compel Bast on the Mars Class Battlecruiser Imperious ^[1], was preparing to leave orbit to help put down a rebellion in a nearby system and was already on full alert. They easily avoided the raiders' initial volleys and launched a vicious counter-attack.^[2]

Losses were extremely heavy for the traitor fleet as they tried to escape: the Slaughter Class Cruiser Soulless was crippled by a Nova Cannon hit from the Imperious and then destroyed by lance fire; a second Slaughter, the Deathskull, was reduced to a hulk by bombers from the Imperious and was destroyed as it fell out of orbit^[1]; even Arkham's own flagship, the Deathbane, had its bridge smashed by fire from the Iron Duke.^[2]

In the aftermath of the battle, the Imperious was outfitted with a salvaged targeting matrix, and Captain Bast received the Solar Cluster for the actions of his ship and crew.^[1]

Sources

• 1: Battlefleet Gothic Resources: Ships of the Gothic Sector, pg. 108 (accessed 2010.11.22)
• 2: Battlefleet Gothic Resources: 41st Millennium, pg. 94 (accessed 2010.11.24)