Chapter Summaries

The Players rapidly built a concealed defensive line in the desert while Zobayan flew out to scout the Orks. His report revealed a vast Ork battle, but his Valkyrie was hit before he could locate the force approaching the Battle Barge, and the transmission ended with his death.

• Bug complained that sand kept filling the foxholes as he and Assimilation Complete dug the defenses.
• Assimilation Complete let Bug shoot him to respawn after suffering from the heat, then disposed of his corpse with the other Players’ bodies.
• The Players connected their foxholes with trenches, reinforced them with sandbags, and concealed the completed defensive line with camouflage.
• Joker received Zobayan’s report that two enormous groups of Orks were fighting beyond the horizon and asked where the Orks seen three days earlier had gone.
• Zobayan went to investigate, but his Valkyrie was hit and the radio transmission ended with his scream.

Great Horned Beast and Fluttering Moth spotted Red Eye’s Ork convoy and waited for its vanguard to enter a mined area before opening fire. Amid mines and artillery, Red Eye rallied his panicked forces into a furious charge against the hidden human attackers.

• Great Horned Beast and Fluttering Moth saw the Ork convoy approach and reported its forces to the main position.
• Moth held Great Horned Beast back until the Ork vanguard reached the prearranged minefield.
• A mine destroyed a leading motorcycle, causing a chain of crashes as artillery shells battered the crowded convoy.
• An Ork boy warned Boss Red Eye about the ambush, and Red Eye kicked him away before roaring WAAAGH.
• Red Eye’s cry rallied the Orks, who answered with WAAAGH and charged toward the human positions.

Joker’s defenses tore through Red Eye’s charging Orks until crude catapults launched swarms of winged Squigs that silenced a Heavy Autogun position. The Squigs were burned away, but the brief gap let Orks advance and throw Stikkbombs into the trench.

• Red Eye’s Orks charged through the minefield despite mines and artillery, while Joker watched and assured Archer that his defenses could stop them.
• Orks reaching the dune crest were cut down by Heavy Autogun crossfire, but Red Eye ordered Pig-Slaver Technicians to launch Squigs from crude catapults.
• A crate of winged Squigs landed in a Heavy Autogun position, where the swarm killed the defenders and silenced the gun.
• A Gargant Flamethrower Trooper burned the Squigs out of the trenches, but the pause in gunfire let Orks advance closer.
• Ork Stikkbomb throwers attacked the position, destroying the Heavy Autogun and killing players, while several throwers accidentally blew themselves and nearby Orks apart.

Red Eye’s Orks lost their Squig launchers to precise human artillery, so he prepared a drug-fueled charge against the Players’ defensive line. Joker ordered anti-armor weapons ready and had Archer bring a tactical nuclear bomb in case Red Eye attacked the command post.

• Red Eye ordered his Orks to move and reassemble the Squig launchers, but human artillery destroyed the weapons and killed the workers after they revealed their new position.
• Red Eye prepared pig-riding Boys and had Pig-Slaver Technicians inject them with Awesome Drug for a charge.
• Forward observers reported the advancing Dinosaur Squigs to headquarters, and Joker ordered the Heavy Bolters and autocannons to stand ready.
• Joker told Archer to bring a tactical nuclear bomb, which he planned to detonate if Red Eye attacked the command post.

An Ork riding a dinosaur Squig exposed himself on a dune crest and was killed by concentrated fire, while a tougher boar-riding assault overwhelmed the Players’ ranged weapons. After one Player killed a war boar at the cost of his own life, the Company Commander ordered a melee countercharge, leaving both sides rushing into close combat.

• An Ork boy steered his dinosaur Squig away from the corpse-choked ridge and climbed to the dune crest, where Heavy Bolters and Autocannons tore them apart.
• Boar-riding Boys and Cyborg Boars charged the Players’ position, enduring heavy fire as the defenders struggled to stop them.
• A Player charged a war boar with a machete and died on impact, but his weapon pierced its eye and killed it, while its rider was thrown aside.
• The Company Commander realized melee weapons could stop the charging boars and ordered the Players to fix bayonets and countercharge.
• Hundreds of Players left the trenches with swords, Chainswords, shovels, and bayonets and charged the boar-riding Boys.

Players repeatedly charged the Orks in suicidal waves, turning the dunes into a chaotic melee and rendering Joker’s battle plan useless. Joker redirected heavy weapons to fire over the fighting, pinning the Ork vanguard while the bloody battle continued.

• More than a hundred Players countercharged the Boar Boyz and were wiped out, but they killed more than seventy Boar Boyz and their mounts.
• After hearing the favorable casualty exchange, Players abandoned the trenches in waves to charge the Orks, while the heavy weapons crews stayed at their posts to earn kills.
• Warboss Red Eye praised the Players’ courage, while Joker feared the artillery and heavy weapons crews would join the charges and ordered them to keep firing from the rear.
• As the melee spread across the dunes, Joker saw friendly fire from heavy weapons killing Players and ordered the crews to use arcing fire against the Orks behind the front line.
• The redirected fire disrupted the Ork rear formations as the Players pinned the vanguard; Joker gave up on detailed command while both sides continued to fall.

The Players and Orks fought through an all-night melee until Warboss Red Eye ordered his Boyz to retreat. Red Eye revealed that he wanted to capture the enormous ship behind the human defenses to build a Gargant, while claiming Gork had warned him not to join the battle.

• The Players kept charging into the melee, relying on Joker's resurrection point as their heavy weapons ran out of ammunition.
• After fighting from dusk until morning, Red Eye ordered the Orks to retreat, and Joker told the Players to stop pursuing and reorganize their defenses.
• Some Players ignored Joker and charged after the Orks, but gunfire killed them and they returned to their positions after reviving.
• Red Eye showed the Boyz the enormous ship behind the human lines and explained that he wanted its materials to build a Gargant.
• Red Eye said he had stayed out of the fight because he believed Gork had warned him of terrible consequences, and the Boyz urged him to remain safe while they fought for the Gargant.

The Players' defenses were resupplied and repaired while the Orks rested, and both sides plunged into another melee. When an Ork motorcycle charge shattered the Players' line and threatened the first trench, Joker ordered Archer to prepare the buried explosives.

• The Players' logistics troops delivered ammunition and repaired the heavy weapons while the Orks rested, allowing the guns to fire again when the horde charged.
• The Players rushed from their trenches to meet the Orks in another close-quarters battle, while Joker ate energy bars and learned that two Adeptus Astartes were on their way.
• Dozens of Ork motorcycles attacked from behind the horde, scattering the Players and breaking through their melee line.
• The heavy weapons struggled to hit the erratically driven motorcycles, and the Orks raced toward the nearly undefended first trench.
• Joker told Archer to detonate the explosives buried beneath the defensive positions when the Orks reached the first position.

Red Eye’s Ork assault was devastated by explosives before a Valkyrie arrived and drew him into a bizarre confrontation with the Space Marines All Passion and Zero Skill. All Passion tricked Red Eye into guarding against a shouted fist technique and kicked him in the abdomen.

• Hidden explosives blew up the Ork bikes and the trench, prompting Red Eye to order the Boyz to keep charging.
• A Valkyrie chased Red Eye across the battlefield with pulse lasers, killing Orks around him until it stopped to deploy Imperial Stormtroopers.
• All Passion and Zero Skill leaped from the Valkyrie and performed an elaborate introduction that left the battlefield stunned.
• Red Eye asked whether the two Space Marines meant to challenge him, and All Passion mocked his combat power before charging.
• All Passion shouted “Fang-Fang Fist,” made Red Eye guard his upper body, and kicked him in the abdomen.

Brother Ai and Zero Skill battled Warboss Red Eye while the Airborne Troopers struggled against the Ork tide. They killed Red Eye with a coordinated pair of finishing moves, but the Ork threat remained as the captain warned them to hurry.

• Red Eye’s combat power surged after Brother Ai kicked it, and it charged at the brothers.
• Red Eye targeted Little Veggie, but Zero Skill redirected its blow with Dragon Parry and struck its injured abdomen.
• Brother Ai and Zero Skill overwhelmed Red Eye with a barrage of fast and powerful attacks.
• The Airborne Troopers’ captain called for the brothers to finish Red Eye before the Orks overwhelmed them.
• Brother Ai launched Red Eye with Annihilation: Rising Dragon Fist, and Zero Skill split it in half with Dragon Soaring Kick.

After Red Eye's death shattered the Orks' morale, Joker's forces secured the battlefield and the Space Marines discussed the enemy's collapse. Joker then revealed that a tactical nuke was buried beneath the command post, sending All Passion and Zero Skill hurriedly away.

• Red Eye's death ended the Orks' WAAAGH! frenzy, and the Ork army fled as Joker ordered his troops to stop pursuing and tend to the wounded.
• Joker thanked All Passion and Zero Skill for their help, and Zero Skill explained that he had injured his leg using an unmastered skill.
• The Players brought a captured Ork to the command post, where Brother Ai explained how enemies could collapse when their leaders or node creatures died.
• Joker asked Archer whether he had dug up the tactical nuke buried beneath the command post.
• All Passion grabbed Zero Skill and quickly left the command post after learning about the buried nuke.

Inquisitor Herbert Hernanpode visited the Navigator's Sanctuary aboard his ship and learned that the Warp turbulence would soon ease. His ship then made an emergency stop to avoid colliding with a warship, and Herbert recognized it as belonging to the Space Wolves.

• Herbert entered the Navigator's Sanctuary and asked how the Warp turbulence was progressing.
• The Navigator told Herbert that the turbulence should weaken enough for travel in about a month.
• Herbert reflected on how fear helped the Ordo enforce discipline and loyalty across the Imperium.
• The ship shuddered as it made an emergency stop, and Herbert hurried to the bridge to demand an explanation.
• A crewman told Herbert that a ship had blocked their path, and Herbert saw a massive warship bearing Space Wolves markings on the main screen.

Inquisitor Herbert Hernanpode reluctantly accepted a visual communication request from Kronar Dragon-gaze of the Space Wolves, who challenged him about his mission and demanded to join him. Herbert agreed to let the Wolves accompany him to Pedetia, though he suspected they intended to use the isolated world as an opportunity to target him.

• Herbert accepted the Space Wolves' visual communication request after weighing the risks of refusing.
• Kronar Dragon-gaze introduced himself rudely, questioned Herbert's purpose, and asked to visit his ship; Herbert refused and defended his conduct as an Inquisitor.
• Herbert explained that he was traveling to Pedetia to restore its connection with the Imperium and investigate possible rebellion.
• Kronar announced that the Space Wolves would go to Pedetia to suppress any rebellion or Xenos invasion, and Herbert suspected they planned to target him there.
• Herbert agreed to their escort while criticizing it as a waste of manpower.

Great Horned Beast, Nameless, and Fluttering Moth patrolled the deserted Upper Hive and joked about nutrient bars and past battles until a massive blast shook the city. They took cover and realized the explosion came from outside the hive, where their side had detonated a high-yield nuclear weapon.

• Great Horned Beast, Nameless, and Fluttering Moth patrolled the empty Upper Hive while discussing the Orks and nutrient bars.
• Great Horned Beast complained about patrol duty and retold a story about killing an Ork.
• A distant flash and earth-shaking explosion struck the Upper Hive, shattering windows and shaking buildings.
• Great Horned Beast, Nameless, and Fluttering Moth took cover and identified the blast as coming from outside the hive.
• The blast was revealed to be a high-yield nuclear weapon deployed by their side.

Robert and the conference attendees struggled to find a way to stop the approaching Ork Green Tide. Joker proposed using nuclear bombs to create a radiation zone and increasing the soldiers’ drug doses, and Robert moved to prepare the plan.

• Robert showed the conference attendees reconnaissance images of the Ork Green Tide and asked how they could stop it.
• The Players and officers rejected proposals involving armored forces, melee, and airborne decapitation strikes.
• Assassin suggested bombing the Orks with high-yield nuclear weapons, but an officer warned that eliminating them all would devastate Pedetia.
• Joker proposed creating a radiation quarantine zone and raising drug doses to strengthen soldiers while weakening the Orks.
• Robert contacted Redito to expand drug production and prepare more nuclear bombs.

A month after the Orks gathered outside Pedetia Hive City, the pilot dropped a strategic nuclear bomb on their horde, and the Death Seekers charged into the radiation zone to attack the weakened survivors. BUG discovered that the Orks had lost much of their strength, turning the battle into a one-sided massacre.

• The pilot dropped a strategic nuclear warhead on the Ork horde and escaped as the blast engulfed the battlefield.
• The Assassin ordered the Death Seekers to charge, and Assimilation Complete and BUG led the Players toward the irradiated zone.
• Assimilation Complete told BUG that the anti-radiation drug should protect them for about a dozen hours as they advanced through dangerous radiation levels.
• The Warboss found that the Pig-Slaver Technicians' Awesome Drug could not relieve the Orks' radiation-induced weakness, then ordered them to attack the approaching Humans.
• BUG overpowered a much larger Ork in a clash of weapons, realized radiation had weakened it, and stabbed it while taunting the Orks.

Inquisitor Herbert Hernanpode and Wolf Lord Kronar arrived at Pedetia just as a nuclear blast revealed the planet was in crisis. After learning that Robert’s reorganized forces had killed sixteen Fallen Space Marines, Kronar dragged him off to see their corpses, with Herbert following.

• Herbert Hernanpode saw a nuclear explosion on Pedetia and ordered his fleet to battle stations and the planet’s forces contacted.
• Herbert’s landing party and Kronar’s Space Wolves landed at the spaceport, where Robert and Redito received them.
• Robert told Herbert that the Planetary Governor had invited Fallen Space Marines and was executed for heresy after the Upper Hive was found dead and corrupted.
• Robert said Pedetia’s forces had killed sixteen Fallen Space Marines, shocking Kronar and Herbert.
• Kronar grabbed Robert and insisted he lead him to the corpses, while Herbert hurried after them.

Robert escorted Wolf Lord Kronar and the Space Wolves through the devastated Upper Hive, where they examined the dead Chaos Space Marines and heard how the mortals had killed them. Kronar stopped Inquisitor Herbert from inspecting the bodies and made clear that the Space Wolves would protect Robert's people as they headed to the front lines.

• Kronar sensed only sixty people in the Upper Hive, and Robert explained that the remaining altered survivors had been executed and burned to prevent Chaos contamination.
• A Wolf Guard inspected the sixteen Space Marine corpses, and Robert described the three-stage operation that had killed them.
• Kronar praised Robert's courage and honesty, then ordered the bodies burned.
• Herbert tried to stop the burning so he could examine the corpses, but Kronar threatened him and the two groups raised their weapons.
• Robert urged Kronar and Herbert not to fight while the Orks attacked, and Kronar backed down and led the Space Wolves toward the front lines.
• Herbert realized Kronar's actions were meant to warn him against harming Robert's people.

Kronar and his Wolf Guard reached Pedetia’s Mid-hive, where Robert explained how recruits faced Genestealers before joining the fight against the Orks and described the Death Seekers’ lethal nuclear-strike tactics. After hearing about Pedetia’s decades of torment and the many factions gathered there, Kronar prepared to join the battle.

• Kronar arrived in the Mid-hive with his Wolf Guard and heard that new Death Seeker recruits had to defeat Genestealers or Cultists before fighting the Orks.
• Kronar demanded to go straight to the battlefield, but Robert explained the nuclear strikes and the drugs that left warriors only twelve to sixteen hours to live.
• Redito described the Death Seekers’ belief that death was a release from suffering, and Kronar said he understood their willingness to die in battle.
• Herbert approached and asked how the Death Seekers’ beliefs had formed, and Robert answered that Pedetia had endured thirty years of attacks by Chaos, Genestealers, Orks, and Dark Eldar.
• Herbert reacted to the presence of Dark Eldar on Pedetia, while Kronar called the planet a grand gathering and welcomed its many battles.

Robert revealed that three Space Marines had survived on Pedetia, and Kronar went to meet two of them at a Mid-hive training ground. After enjoying the soldiers’ cheers, Kronar sought a sparring match and chose Okeanos Rivers to face the brothers.

• Robert told Kronar that three Space Marines had survived on Pedetia and that two were training at the Mid-hive arena.
• Zero Skill and All Passion sparred, with Zero Skill using Dragon Flame to break All Passion’s guard before the brothers agreed to return to the battlefield.
• Kronar and his Space Wolves arrived at the arena, where the soldiers welcomed them with cheers and laughter.
• Kronar challenged the brothers to a match and ordered Okeanos Rivers to fight them.