Chapter Summaries

After learning that Orks were slaughtering billions on a world near Vulkan’s 18th Legion, Angron ordered the 12th Legion to hurry to the Ounus Sector and aid the war. The fleet set out, with Kiel leading ten companies to finish the 19th Legion’s battle on World 9091 before rejoining it.

• Qin Xa received an astropathic report showing that Nuceria was prospering, then learned that Orks had overrun a supply-line world and threatened tens of billions of people.
• Qin Xa concluded that the Emperor’s order for Angron to help Vulkan and the other Primarchs concerned a growing war that would require five Legions, so Angron ordered the 12th Legion to depart for the 18th Legion.
• Angron’s officers plotted a fast route to the Ounus Sector and arranged to collect the 12th Legionaries fighting alongside the 19th Legion on World 9091.
• During the fleet’s Immaterium voyage, Angron saw a vast eye on a moving island and felt an inexplicable urge to approach it.
• After the fleet emerged from the Immaterium, Alkahas Fal objected to releasing the 12th Legionaries before their battle ended, so Angron sent Kiel and ten companies to finish the fighting.

Kiel and Qin Xa arrived on World 9091, where Farr and the 19th Legion had terrorized the population during their conquest. After defeating Farr in a duel, Kiel ended the war and ordered the 19th Legion to leave, while Qin Xa revealed that Farr’s Primarch, Corax, was a rebel who hated slaveholders.

• Kiel and Qin Xa surveyed World 9091’s impaled dead and learned that Farr’s 19th Legion recruits had spent a month conquering the planet through fear.
• Kiel took command from Farr and ordered an assault on the last defended city, but Farr objected to ending his campaign before he could fully subdue the population.
• Kiel defeated Farr in a duel and ordered him and his men to leave; when Farr attacked Kiel afterward, Qin Xa blasted him out of the command center.
• Qin Xa threatened Farr and explained that Corax opposed slaveholders, leaving Farr shaken by the revelation about his Primarch.
• Kiel’s forces ended the war within thirty minutes, and Farr’s 19th Legion boarded its transport while the World Eaters departed for their fleet.

After the World Eaters returned from World 9091, Angron welcomed his sons and approved Kiel’s decision to leave the planet’s original rulers in power until Guilliman’s forces arrived. Aboard the fleet bound for the Ounus Sector, Angron planned a system of civil honors for Space Marines who governed and improved worlds, with Qin Xa’s support.

• Angron introduced Qin Xa as his father and Guide, then explained the Triumph Cord and allowed the returning World Eaters to mark their own scars despite their complaints about Farr’s command.
• Kiel explained that he had temporarily restored World 9091’s original rulers to prevent disorder before Guilliman took control, and Angron praised his decision.
• The World Eaters fleet entered the Immaterium for the Ounus Sector, and Angron discussed the Legion’s shortage of Librarians with Qin Xa.
• Angron showed Qin Xa a ribbon design called the Devourer of Barrenness, intended to reward Outstanding Scholars who improved impoverished worlds as administrators.
• Angron declared that the Legion’s honors would recognize both civil and martial achievements, and Qin Xa approved his plan to appoint Space Marines to govern worlds.

Angron and Qin Xa witnessed humanity’s growth as the fleet traveled toward the Ounus Sector, where they expected to help Vulkan fight the Orks. Alkahas Fal arrived with reinforcements after Corax exiled him, and Angron accepted his forces while demanding that they atone for their past.

• Angron helped the Command Deck officers, and the fleet improved conditions for lower-deck residents by counting populations and providing rations, jobs, and better living quarters.
• Qin Xa inspected more than a hundred thousand volunteers from a system’s third world, who joined the White Knight before the fleet resumed its voyage.
• Three months later, Angron and Qin Xa discussed the varied worlds they had encountered and humanity’s renewed vitality as they traveled toward the Ounus Sector.
• Angron and Qin Xa agreed to seek help from Vulkan and other brothers in obtaining weapons and armor.
• Alkahas Fal arrived with warships and thirty thousand men, explaining that Corax had exiled him and other former slaveholders from the 19th Legion.
• Angron welcomed Alkahas Fal’s forces but warned the exiles that they would receive no special treatment and would have to atone.

Qin Xa and the 12th Legion rescued the survivors of two strongholds besieged by Greenskins in the Ounus Sector. After the refugees escaped through a Psychic Portal, a Gretchin’s improvised device exploded, inspiring another Gretchin to decide it had not been WAAAGH enough.

• Varius and Qin Xa arrived at the first stronghold, where Osiris reported that the 18th Legion had been defending two thousand people and that another force was cut off at a second stronghold.
• Kamas and the Olena Sisters evacuated the shelter’s children, elderly people, and sick through Varius’s Psychic Portal, while Varius sent the 18th Legion survivors to the White Knight.
• Qin Xa traveled alone to the second stronghold and fought through the Greenskins, killing their Nob and drawing the Orks away from the fleeing refugees.
• Qin Xa opened a portal ahead of the refugee column, and he, the 18th Legion captain, and the remaining Space Marines protected the survivors until everyone had evacuated.
• A Gretchin built an explosive helmet and backpack, and another Gretchin concluded that its failed device had not been WAAAGH enough.

Qin Xa returned to the White Knight with the last survivors from a world devastated by the Greenskins, leaving the 18th Legion and the ship’s crew to confront the scale of the loss. With Vulkan’s whereabouts unknown and the invasion spreading across the Ounus Sector, Qin Xa ordered the Olena Sisters to focus on developing ways to counter Greenskin reproduction.

• The Captain of the White Knight served refugees and stopped an idealistic sailor from haranguing them, insisting they needed rest and enforcing his authority aboard the ship.
• Qin Xa arrived with the remaining refugees and Space Marines; he confirmed that fewer than two thousand of the world’s eight billion people had survived.
• The surviving 18th Legion Captain urged the Sons of the Fire Dragon to continue fighting despite their failure to save the world, and Osiris rose from his knees.
• The Captain explained that a meteor had brought the Greenskin invasion, and Qin Xa ordered the crew to study the threat while the White Knight’s teams disinfected the settlement area.
• Qin Xa learned the 18th Legion had been out of contact with Vulkan for two months, then told the Olena Sisters to focus on studying Greenskins and developing Artifacts to counter their reproduction.

Qin Xa learned that the 18th Legion was struggling against a massive Greenskin invasion in the Ounus Sector and arranged to help evacuate its warriors and civilians until reinforcements arrived. When the White Knight reached the sector, Qin Xa prepared to aid a besieged 18th Legion cruiser and demonstrated a psychic method that more than doubled his ship’s speed.

• Qin Xa contacted Angron through the Astropath of the Resolute Determination and reported that the 18th Legion had lost contact with Vulkan and was scattered while evacuating civilians from the Greenskin invasion.
• Angron agreed that the 18th Legion would have to abandon worlds and asked Qin Xa to gather its forces and evacuate civilians until the reinforcements arrived within a week.
• Qin Xa ordered Brown and Quadrant to inspect the White Knight’s gun decks and Void Shield crews before the ship emerged into an invaded border system.
• The White Knight’s scanners found an 18th Legion cruiser carrying Space Marines and evacuated civilians under attack by two Ork warships, so Qin Xa ordered the ship to approach with its Macrocannons ready.
• Qin Xa linked the ship’s Librarians into a psychic array and used their power to more than double the White Knight’s speed.
• When the Captain asked what Qin Xa meant by preparing a portal, Qin Xa turned him toward the tactical table and told him to focus on commanding the battle.

Qin Xa used psychic power and the Librarians’ formation to turn a void battle against Greenskin warships, helping destroy one ship before the other mysteriously collapsed. After escorting a damaged allied vessel, he traced a horrific stench to a middle-aged man and suspected the man was an unusually powerful Blank.

• Qin Xa and the Captain launched twelve torpedoes at two Greenskin warships, and Qin Xa changed their red paint to stone-colored paint to slow them down.
• One Greenskin ship was destroyed by torpedoes, while the other evaded them with flare-like munitions and advanced on the damaged 18th Legion warship.
• The surviving Greenskin vessel began collapsing after unexplained flashes caused a psychic disturbance, leaving Qin Xa unable to explain what had happened.
• Qin Xa praised the Librarians, then noticed they were pale and unwell before leaving to check on the Captain.
• Qin Xa followed a terrible stench to the Settlement Office, hurled the middle-aged man away, and concluded that he was likely an exceptionally powerful Blank.

Qin Xa learned that a powerful Blank had disrupted the Greenskins’ psychic forces and then set course to aid Vulkan on the besieged world. When Qin Xa and the Olena Sisters reached the fortress, they found Vulkan already dead.

• Qin Xa identified the transferred refugee as a powerful Blank, ordered that he be kept alive, and concluded that the Blank had caused the Greenskin warship’s psychic chain reaction and explosion.
• The Captain reported that the allied warship had not deliberately sent the Blank and that Vulkan was fighting on the world under the heaviest Greenskin assault.
• Qin Xa ordered the White Knight to evacuate civilians while he, Brown, Quadrant, and the Olena Sisters prepared to aid Vulkan.
• The White Knight reached the ochre planet and drew away ten Greenskin warships as Qin Xa and the others teleported into a fortress under attack.
• The Olena Sisters led the group through the fortress to its command center, where they found Vulkan dead and told the human doctors to sit down and continue examining him.

Qin Xa’s squad found Vulkan apparently dead, but he revived and joined Qin Xa in fighting the Orks. As they traveled to confront the larger Orks, Qin Xa proposed drawing more Orks to the world and began painting himself red and blue to exploit their instincts.

• Qin Xa determined that a group had beaten Vulkan to death, but a falling stone struck Vulkan and woke him; Vulkan accidentally broke Quadrant’s neck as he sat up.
• Vulkan questioned whether the 12th Legion would slaughter civilians, and Qin Xa assured him that Angron’s Legion now fought to save people.
• Qin Xa used Tark’s ring to restore Quadrant, while Vulkan repaired himself and emerged from the medical bay in new armor with a new warhammer.
• Vulkan described the powerful Orks and their habit of returning his corpse so they could keep fighting him, and Qin Xa agreed to help kill their leaders.
• Qin Xa proposed turning the world into an attraction for Orks, then painted himself half red and half blue to exploit their characteristics.

Qin Xa and Vulkan fought an Ork horde and killed its fast Warlord, Sawa, leaving the Greenskins to flee. They set out together to draw more Orks into battle, while a Gretchin spy watched Qin Xa and received an order to collect brains.

• A Warlord led the Greenskins in a charge toward the crashed transport, where Vulkan and Qin Xa prepared to fight.
• Qin Xa used psychic power and close combat to slaughter Greenskins, whose belief in his red-and-blue colors made him faster and luckier.
• Sawa challenged the two humans, wounded Vulkan, and was killed by Qin Xa, who took Sawa's Battle Axe and hung his head on it.
• Vulkan brought Qin Xa a chain of Greenskin heads, and the two decided to use decapitation tactics to attract more Orks to their battlefield.
• A Gretchin spy watched Qin Xa leave and heard an unseen voice order it to collect brains and return for experiments.

Qin Xa and Vulkan continued destroying Greenskin tribes, while Gusa gathered newly spawned Boyz and urged them to fight the attackers. After Qin Xa and Vulkan wiped out the tribe, Vulkan saw that countless Greenskin warships were pouring reinforcements onto the planet, revealing how dire their situation had become.

• Qin Xa and Vulkan attacked another Greenskin tribe, where Qin Xa wore stolen Power Armor and wielded the Warlord’s Battle Axe.
• Gusa told newly spawned Boyz how Qin Xa and Vulkan had destroyed the tribes he had escaped, then convinced them that fighting would make them stronger.
• Gusa led the Boyz to confront Qin Xa and Vulkan, but Qin Xa survived a landmine explosion unharmed and the Boyz could not find Gusa in the smoke.
• Qin Xa and Vulkan slaughtered the remaining Boyz and discussed how their growing reputation had made their stolen Power Armor seem more powerful.
• Vulkan looked into orbit and saw countless Greenskin warships sending reinforcements down to Super WAAAGH Planet.

Qin Xa and Vulkan discovered that a powerful Greenskin Empire might be driving Orks across the galaxy, then faced Gork's Titan with the Divine Lord Titan. The Divine Lord Titan pierced Gork's Titan's abdomen, but the battle remained unresolved.

• Qin Xa told Vulkan that an organized Greenskin Empire was likely forcing disobedient Orks to migrate, and Vulkan promised to inform the War Council.
• Qin Xa said he and Angron shared The Emperor's goal, then privately considered Vulkan as someone who might be trusted with a warning about an approaching disaster.
• Qin Xa asked what Vulkan would do if someone accused his sons of betrayal, and Vulkan said he would kill the accuser.
• Qin Xa summoned the Divine Lord Titan as Gork's Titan and a vast Greenskin armored force approached across the desert.
• The Titans exchanged fire, and the Divine Lord Titan charged through the barrage before vanishing and reappearing beside Gork's Titan to pierce its abdomen with its spear.

Vulkan and Qin Xa destroyed Gork's Titan while the reinforcements arrived in the Ounus Sector. Angron joined the defense of World 8923, where the arriving Legions reunited and strengthened the besieged fortress.

• Vulkan disabled Gork's Titan's shoota, allowing Qin Xa to free the long spear and destroy the Titan.
• The Divine Lord Titan attacked the Greenskin vehicles as Vulkan saw the reinforcement fleet enter the system.
• Angron left Saling in command of the void battle and led the second wave of troops to World 8923.
• Angron's force fought off Greenskins burrowing into the besieged fortress, where Brown told him Vulkan and Qin Xa had been drawing challengers to the planet.
• Qin Xa and Vulkan arrived at the fortress after their aircraft crashed, and Angron welcomed Vulkan as more Space Marines and supplies came through the Ancient Void Shield.

Angron, Vulkan, and Qin Xa planned to use their world as a Greenskin reservoir, strengthening its defenses while Qin Xa continued luring Greenskins as the Butcher. Elsewhere, Gusa recounted his encounters with the Butcher to a tribe, but his boast that brains mattered more than fighting brought him into conflict with its Warlord.

• Angron and Vulkan examined the Eye of Insight projection, which revealed nearly ten billion Greenskins across the war world, and discussed sealing orbit and expanding the fortress.
• Qin Xa handed Angron Tark’s ring so he could use it to expand the fortress, then left to draw more Greenskin Warlords to the planet.
• Gusa told a tribe how the Greenskin Butcher had defeated him and spared him in exchange for spreading the Butcher’s story.
• Gusa claimed that nobody could beat the Butcher, not even a Super WAAAGH Beast, and said Greenskins needed to use their brains.
• The Warlord challenged Gusa’s claims, and the two faced each other in a tense confrontation.

Gusa joined the Warlord's tribe as it prepared to challenge the Greenskin Butcher, and reunited with his old friend Sissy P. As the tribe attacked, Sissy P suggested the Butcher had teleported past its defenses, while the Warlord insisted the Butcher's strength explained the massacre.

• Gusa explained that his talent for talking, not bravery, had helped him survive the Greenskin Butcher and rise among the Greenskins.
• The Warlord learned that the Butcher had arrived, gathered the tribe, and brought Gusa to the Mekboss for special armor.
• Gusa discovered Sissy P, a Smart Gretchin he had known when they were both younger, and told the Warlord they had been the first beasts to see the Butcher.
• Gusa led the others out of the underground den as smoke and flames filled the tribe, and he noticed the Butcher's power armor had grown larger.
• Sissy P suggested the Butcher had teleported into the tribe, but the Warlord dismissed him and advanced to challenge the Butcher.

Qin Xa fought a Warlord who challenged him with a powerful green-bladed weapon, while recording his observations about how Greenskins’ beliefs shaped his reputation and abilities. When the Warlord ignored his attempts to talk, Qin Xa killed him with a sudden attack from his palm.

• Qin Xa recorded himself explaining how Greenskins’ belief in his speed and luck helped build his reputation as the Greenskin Butcher.
• A Warlord ambushed Qin Xa, then triggered an explosion that dropped them into an underground cavern for a one-on-one fight.
• The Warlord searched for Gusa the Butcher’s Bane, who had vanished, and told Qin Xa that his weapon had been made by the Great Beast Emperor.
• The Warlord attacked with a green-bladed weapon that cut into Qin Xa’s armor, but Qin Xa evaded the blow and questioned the Warlord’s claims.
• The Warlord ignored Qin Xa’s attempts to speak and continued showing off his weapon, so Qin Xa killed him with a blast from his palm.

Gusa and Sissy P encountered Qin Xa after he killed the tribe’s Warlord, and Qin Xa exposed Gusa’s cowardice and the strange power behind his rise. Sissy P proposed that Gusa replace another Warlord, and Qin Xa spared him to serve as a future weapon against the Greenskins.

• Sissy P entered the burrow and took the Lightsaber, while Qin Xa recognized him and ordered Gusa to duel.
• Qin Xa quickly defeated Gusa, removed his helmet, and recognized him as the Warboss who had once charged him before fleeing.
• Qin Xa read Gusa’s memories and learned that Greenskin belief had made him a Warlord while also binding him to lose to the Greenskin Butcher.
• Sissy P revealed that a newly risen warlord planned to kill Gusa before challenging Qin Xa, and proposed that Gusa replace him.
• Qin Xa pressed Gusa beneath his foot, then relented and decided Gusa could serve as a Warlord and ambush enemy warlords in the future.

Qin Xa defeated the Greenskin Warlord and left Gusa to seize control of the tribe, while Sissy P helped him test the Greenskins' loyalty. Back at the fortress, Qin Xa discovered that Thuantar Craftworld Eldar had arrived through a Webway Gate, and Kiel reported the arrival of the Lord of the Fourth Legion.

• Qin Xa gave Sissy P an orbital bombardment Beacon and ordered Gusa to mark the Greenskin Warlord's location when he saw it.
• Gusa rose after Qin Xa left, killed the Mekboss and several dissenting Nobs, and claimed the tribe as his own.
• Sissy P used a brain-reading helmet to test the Greenskins' loyalty, and Gusa killed those who rejected his rule.
• Qin Xa returned to the besieged fortress and inspected an Eldar corpse with Angron and Vulkan, learning through its memories that it came from Thuantar Craftworld and that a Wraithknight had emerged through a Webway Gate.
• Kiel told Qin Xa, Angron, and Vulkan that the Lord of the Fourth Legion had arrived with his fleet, and Angron turned to face the news warily.

Perturabo arrived on Little Nuceria with the Iron Warriors and clashed with Vulkan over the plan to gather Greenskins there. Angron welcomed him, exposed his private thoughts, and secured his help, leaving Perturabo ready to take command of the planet’s defenses.

• Perturabo ordered Dantiok to accompany him to meet Angron instead of joining the battle, and Dantiok reluctantly obeyed.
• Perturabo criticized Vulkan and Angron for evacuating civilians and concentrating the Greenskins on Little Nuceria, prompting Vulkan to defend their strategy.
• Angron greeted Dantiok first, then welcomed Perturabo and revealed that he knew Perturabo feared being snubbed and was relieved to receive a friendly welcome.
• Angron accepted the Fourth Legion’s weapons as gifts, and Quadrant photographed Angron, Vulkan, and Perturabo together.
• Perturabo proposed destroying Little Nuceria and dispersing the Greenskins, but Angron and Vulkan affirmed that the Fourth Legion would secure the planet’s defenses.
• Perturabo offered to command the defense and make the lines withstand every Greenskin assault.