Time passed quickly; two months vanished in the blink of an eye!
During that time, the Orks had not rested. They had continuously conquered territory, wiping out nearly every sizable Chaos stronghold on the planet, especially those with Warp rifts. Those rifts had all been closed as well.
Naturally, the Orks' actions had not escaped the Imperium of Man military's attention. Although the Imperium had remained on the defensive, that did not mean they were not keeping watch over what was happening on this planet and every move those Ork beasts made.
However, while the Imperium had seen it all and vaguely guessed that somewhere in the Great Wasteland lay a major Ork settlement—or perhaps an industrial base belonging to some third-party power—they still could not understand why those Ork beasts would do something like purging Chaos forces and closing rifts. Nor did they know how anyone could organize and control those beasts so tightly.
Of course, understanding or not, what mattered now was that reinforcements had finally arrived for the Imperium!
Three cruisers and several transport ships successfully reached the system. Then, large numbers of Ultramarines and Astra Militarum troops were drop-deployed to the surface, instantly bolstering Captain Timon Alcaeus's confidence and naturally putting some spring back in his step.
This time, a full thousand Ultramarines had reached the planet's surface—a standard company—along with nearly a hundred thousand mortal auxiliary troops. It was more than enough for them to launch another large-scale campaign in that city and strike at those detestable Ork beasts and Chaos traitors!
Unfortunately, more than a month ago, for reasons unknown, the Orks had withdrawn. Perhaps their casualties had been too severe, and they could no longer hold out?
In any case, those Ork beasts had suddenly pulled back. Up until today, apart from the