Chapter Summaries

Joseph and Annie survived as slaves in an Ork-run mine after the fall of Heglas Hive, where Joseph secretly prepared a resistance. After hearing that Imperium reinforcements had arrived, he urged the captive soldiers to organize and wait for the artillery strike, since rescue was not guaranteed.

• Annie told Joseph how they had been captured after an Ork shell knocked them unconscious and the Orks traded them to the whip boys.
• Joseph prepared mushroom soup for Annie and the other slaves using a recovered container, a purification tablet, and heat from a factory pipe.
• Joseph told the surviving soldiers that he had found portable communications equipment and could hear military announcements, including news of Imperium reinforcements.
• Joseph warned the soldiers that the Imperium forces might not know they were captive and urged them to resist so the Imperium would learn they were there.
• Annie described the resistance network, improvised weapons, and the Orks' limited firearms, while Joseph identified the repair station as a major threat.
• Joseph ordered the soldiers to prepare and wait for the day Imperium artillery arrived.

Joseph and the other human slaves launched a revolt when Imperium artillery signaled an attack, while Lin Fan and the 3rd Company fought off the Orks with Delia piloting a captured Gorkanaut. Delia’s machine helped turn back the Ork assault, though the slaves still needed Imperial reinforcements to survive.

• Joseph and the other slaves secretly built rebar launchers and waited for the Imperium’s artillery barrage.
• After an explosion at the maintenance station signaled the uprising, the slaves attacked the Orks, killed the Whip Boy, and began destroying machinery.
• Lin Fan and the 3rd Company repelled an Ork assault while smoke from exploding mushrooms obscured the battlefield.
• Delia repaired and modified a Gorkanaut, then joined Lin Fan’s forces and attacked the two advancing Gorkanauts.
• Delia’s Gorkanaut smashed through the Orks as Lin Fan and Little Yi exchanged teasing remarks about Delia.

Lin Fan and the 3rd Company defeated the Orks and joined the surviving resistance fighters from Slave Camp Zone Two. After finding a map to the Orks’ repair yard and witnessing the heavy losses there, Lin Fan reassured the prisoners that the Company had come to save them, though the chapter left their wider rescue mission unfinished.

• Delia’s Gorkanaut crushed the two Ork Gorkanauts, forcing the Ork forces to flee.
• Lin Fan met Joseph and the surviving resistance fighters from Slave Camp Zone Two, who gave him a map of the slave camps and Ork garrisons.
• Lin Fan chose to lead the group toward the Orks’ repair yard to join the resistance fighters there.
• Lin Fan saw the bodies of thousands of prisoners who had died fighting the Orks, while Damian prayed for them.
• Joseph asked whether the Imperial military knew about the prisoners, and Lin Fan reassured him that the 3rd Company had come to save them.

The Imperial Guard and Orks fought across a vast frontal battlefield after the Titans disappeared. Commander Hadlich’s isolated Leman Russ called for artillery support, leaving its crew to endure a bombardment that might hit friend or foe.

• Imperial and Ork forces clashed across three defensive trench lines, with massed infantry, tanks, and artillery forming the main strength of the battle.
• Commander Hadlich’s lone Leman Russ destroyed two Ork ramshackle tanks while Orks surrounded it and its rookie machine gunner panicked.
• Hadlich requested fire support from the 8703rd Artillery Regiment after his tank could no longer sustain combat.
• The artillery regiment fired high-explosive shells at sector 45999, and Hadlich warned his crew to pray they survived the bombardment.

Lin Fan’s group rested in an Ork warehouse, where the newly freed people shared food and regained their strength. Lin Fan planned to infiltrate the Ork industrial zone near Titanfall Basin using Delia’s captured Gorkanaut, though the group would have to crowd aboard.

• Lin Fan opened a blast door by hand, and a 3rd Company soldier told Joseph how Lin Fan had captured Delia’s Gorkanaut.
• Lin Fan’s group settled in the warehouse, ate rations, and gave Annie her first proper meal since becoming a slave.
• Little Yi recalled resistance fighters who had been vaporized after a surveillance system detected their heat source.
• Lin Fan told Joseph and Old Jock that they would advance toward Titanfall Basin to scout the Ork industrial zone and establish a signal point for the fleet.
• Lin Fan explained that Delia’s Gorkanaut could disguise their infiltration, and Joseph worried it could not carry more than four hundred people.

Lin Fan and his companions crossed Ork territory in a disguised Gorkanaut and reached Titanfall Basin, where he prepared to enter the Ork stronghold. The Space Wolves were still fighting nearby, while Trazyn refused Lin Fan’s request for power armor.

• Delia modified the Gorkanaut’s cockpit to disguise it, and Lin Fan’s group traveled through Ork territory while Little Yi found places for them to rest.
• Lin Fan refused to sell the slaves to Orks who tried to buy or steal them, blasted the attackers, and displayed their heads on the Gorkanaut as a warning.
• After several weeks, Lin Fan’s group reached Titanfall Basin and saw the shielded Ork tower at the center of the crater.
• Lin Fan contacted Kaiser Whitefang, who reported that the Space Wolves were fighting an Ork armored unit and had dealt with Gu Juji.
• Lin Fan asked Little Yi about enhancing his body and then asked Trazyn for power armor, but Trazyn refused.

Lin Fan disguised Gorkanaut as a machine from Koss Da’s workshop and passed through the Ork camp with Joseph and the other human captives. He reached Loba’s banner tower, where he discovered the Orks had established Ork University.

• Lin Fan used an Ork-like voice to clear a path through the camp and stopped a Gretchin from cutting the captives’ cables.
• Lin Fan told the guards at the banner tower that Koss Da had been attacked and that he wanted to bring his human slaves to join the Big Mek.
• The Ork captain contacted his superiors and allowed Gorkanaut through the gate, warning Lin Fan to follow the rules and pay for any damage.
• Lin Fan drove Gorkanaut into the tower and saw Mekboyz maintaining its machinery and an illuminated sign welcoming visitors to Ork University.

Lin Fan used Little Yi to fool the Orks into accepting him as a great big mek, and the Gorkanaut was escorted toward the university principal’s office. Delia mistook the display for a revelation from the Machine God and grew jealous of Little Yi, while Trazyn watched and the Tau Commander noticed the Adeptus Mechanicus forces arriving.

• Lin Fan had Little Yi transform the Gorkanaut’s weapon into a supposed Death-Ray Turbo Cannon, terrifying the Gretchin into believing his claim and escorting him to the principal.
• Delia discovered that the cannon demonstration had not come from her or Lin Fan, and Little Yi revealed herself as Lin Fan’s intelligent clothing before returning to armor.
• Delia interpreted Lin Fan’s actions as the Machine God’s trust and thanked him, while Lin Fan misunderstood her reaction.
• Delia asked whether Little Yi was close-fitting, then exchanged binary messages with her and began wishing she could become clothing for the Machine God.
• Trazyn watched Lin Fan’s roleplay from the basement, while the Tau Commander saw Adeptus Mechanicus forces entering the battlefield.

Lin Fan and his crew attacked Ork University, where Principal Loba had hoped to recruit the newcomer and learn about his weapon. After the ambush erupted into a battle, Lin Fan charged Loba and struck him down as another victory.

• Loba waited in his laboratory-like office to meet Lin Fan, hoping to recruit him as a professor and study his cannon.
• Lin Fan ordered an attack, and the Gorkanaut's weapons battered Loba's Electric Shield and wrecked the office, killing the welcoming Gretchin.
• Lin Fan used Little Yi's light-bending trick to deploy Joseph, Old Jock, and the others while Delia fought off the Blood Axes Security Team.
• Loba tried to flee, then fired an arm-mounted cannon at Lin Fan, but the Inertia Eliminator let Lin Fan keep charging.
• Lin Fan raised his chainsword over the terrified Loba.

Lin Fan fought through Loba’s Blood Axe guards as Ork technology, including repulsion shields and teleportation, complicated the battle. After escaping through a random teleporter, Loba vowed revenge and headed to his secret laboratory to activate a secret weapon.

• Loba escaped Lin Fan’s chainsaw attack with a random teleporter, and Lin Fan realized the Orks had developed dangerous new technology.
• Lin Fan and his soldiers took cover when Blood Axe guards advanced in a shield formation and ricocheted their bullets back at them.
• Lin Fan charged the formation, broke through its shields, and slaughtered the guards while his soldiers watched and bet on how quickly he would finish.
• Loba materialized in an Ork toilet, killed the Orks who mocked him, and blew up the toilet with a grenade.
• Loba called Command to order the secret weapon activated, then headed toward his secret laboratory.

Lin Fan and the 3rd Company fought the Orks’ Mekboyz until a dimensional shock cannon opened a Warp rift and summoned the Lord of Change Rokasna. Recognizing Lin Fan as Subjective One, Rokasna trembled as their reunion began.

• Lin Fan held off the Mekboyz while Little Yi tried to repair the repulsor shields, and a Mekboy’s dimensional shock cannon tore open a Warp rift.
• Warp corruption afflicted the soldiers, so Lin Fan ordered Delia to fall back and gave Old Jock the Emperor’s holy icon to purify their minds.
• The Lord of Change emerged from the rift and destroyed the Orks’ weapons, causing heavy casualties in the Banner Tower.
• Lin Fan and the daemon recognized each other as Rokasna and Subjective One, and Lin Fan prepared to fight him again.
• Rokasna recalled how Tzeentch had sent him to recuperate after his previous defeat before he unexpectedly fell through a rift into the Ork university.
• An Inquisition notice instructed a member of the Inquisition to locate a notorious heretical agent in the war zone.

Rokasna unleashed a growing magnetic construct against Lin Fan, who struggled to damage its self-repairing body and called on Trazyn for help. Trazyn chose to watch, while the construct aimed a powerful cannon at Lin Fan and the High Lords of Terra marked him as a target for an Imperial assassin.

• Rokasna used Warp energy to turn a Golden Age wilderness development device into a massive magnetic construct.
• Lin Fan ordered Priest Delia and her team to escape the banner tower and call for help.
• Lin Fan’s laser attack failed, and the construct’s limbs repeatedly repaired themselves after he punched through them.
• Lin Fan called Trazyn for help, but Trazyn stayed to watch and record the fight.
• Little Yi fled as the construct aimed its glowing turbine cannon at Lin Fan, who cursed as it charged.
• The High Lords of Terra detected an anomaly and marked Lin Fan as a high-value target for an Imperial assassin.

Delia's group called for Imperium reinforcements while trapped in an Ork university, and the Imperium launched a full-scale assault on Titanfall Basin to stop the Orks from completing a giant Titan frame. Battle Sisters arrived to aid the battered survivors, while Inquisitor Vissi sensed blasphemy nearby.

• Delia ordered Old Jock to activate a drop signal beacon as Orks attacked her damaged Gorkanaut, and the hidden Imperium fleet received the call for aid.
• Inquisitor Vissi sent Battle Sisters and storm troopers to support Delia, while Fleet Commander Cassimian ordered an all-out attack by the Armageddon Defense Command.
• Hadlich led the Pluto 37th Armored Regiment toward Titanfall Basin after the Departmento Munitorum reported that the Orks were building a giant Titan frame.
• Delia's group held a defensive position in an Ork building as the Gorkanaut absorbed enemy fire and Old Jock shot Orks threatening it with rocket launchers.
• Battle Sisters led by Sister Superior Gevisiting arrived in drop pods and attacked the Orks, while Inquisitor Vissi sensed a faint stench of blasphemy.

Kaiser Whitefang and the Space Wolves joined the battle near the banner tower, cutting through the Orks as they aided the Imperial forces. A towering mechanical construct emerged from the tower, and Magos Kaos threatened Captain Cassimian to stop him from calling in naval gunfire.

• Wodhaus sensed a powerful enemy at the banner tower and teleported the Space Wolves behind the Orks with Infinite Gate.
• Kaiser Whitefang led the Blood Claws and Grey Hunters in a fierce assault, using Beast-Tamer Lasguns and chainswords to slaughter the Orks.
• The Space Wolves reached the Battle Sisters and 3rd Company soldiers, while Kaiser wondered where Lin Fan was and why a Gorkanaut bore the Adeptus Mechanicus cog.
• A colossal, segmented mechanical construct burst from the collapsing banner tower and rose above the surrounding buildings.
• Lin Fan asked Tech-priest Delia for naval gunfire support, but Magos Kaos insisted that the Omnissiah's miracle be recovered and threatened Captain Cassimian and his daughter if he attacked.

Boss Loba revealed an immense flying Ork head armed with ancient technology and turned it against Rokasna’s mechanical bug, trapping the Imperium’s forces between the two machines. As the survivors fled, Lin Fan carried Delia away from the Gorkanaut she could not bear to abandon.

• Boss Loba raised his enormous rocket-propelled Ork head from beneath the ground and used its repulsion shield to absorb the Imperium’s missile attack.
• Little Yi examined the head’s shield and emitter, marveling at technology far beyond what she expected from the Orks.
• Loba aimed the head’s Disintegration Entropy Cannon at Rokasna’s mechanical bug while Trazyn teleported into the basin to watch and collect its technology.
• Rokasna laughed as the two machines threatened the Imperium’s troops, and Wodhaus and Kaiser Whitefang urged everyone to flee.
• Delia stayed behind to say goodbye to the Gorkanaut, but Lin Fan lifted her over his shoulder and ran after the others.

Rokasna unleashed his Soul Mirror of the Ignorant against Gork’s Disintegration Entropy Cannon, destroying 999 worlds through a cascade of disastrous scientific achievements. The chapter ended with the revelation that the Imperium and other civilizations still relied on melee combat because their seemingly material universe was fundamentally idealistic.

• Kaiser Whitefang and the Blood Claws led the Imperium forces through the Orks as Rokasna prepared to fire the Magnetic Devourer.
• Rokasna merged with his machine and aimed its turbine cannon at Gork’s giant head while Trazyn recorded the battle.
• Gork’s Disintegration Entropy Cannon fired, and Rokasna invoked the Soul Mirror of the Ignorant.
• On a distant border world, Xiao Yan recalled how Elder Luo had guided him from failing student to celebrated Scientific Grandmaster.
• Xiao Yan learned that his scientific work had caused catastrophes across the planet, while Elder Luo dismissed everything as part of the plan.
• Rokasna’s graduation project destroyed 999 worlds, leaving the chapter to conclude that Warhammer’s universe ultimately favored melee combat.

Loba’s Gork’s Big Head destroyed Rokasna’s Magnetic Devourer, but the two machines crashed together and sent a mountain of debris toward Lin Fan and his allies. Lin Fan raised the holy icon, and the Emperor’s shield protected and healed them as they prepared to continue fighting.

• Loba used Gork’s Mouth to absorb Rokasna’s magnetic scrap and Gork’s Snot to fire a near-light-speed shell that devastated the Magnetic Devourer and injured nearby troops.
• Rokasna opened a Warp rift to divert another shell into Gork’s Big Head’s rocket engines, collapsing its repulsion shield and sending it crashing toward the Magnetic Devourer.
• Loba steered the falling Gork’s Big Head into the Magnetic Devourer, destroying both machines as Rokasna escaped through a Warp rift and vowed to return.
• Lin Fan raised Old Jock’s holy icon and called on the Emperor as the wreckage fell toward the group.
• The icon produced a golden shield that stopped the debris, healed the wounded, restored their strength, and moved the Battle Sisters to kneel and give thanks.

Lin Fan learned that The Emperor had marked him as a saint, while Trazyn prepared to preserve Loba and imprison a Greater Daemon of Tzeentch in an endless staged battle. The Emperor gave Lin Fan a star map pointing to Trazyn’s hideout, setting up Lin Fan’s plan to confront him.

• Abbess Gevisiting realized Lin Fan was a chosen saint, while Inquisitor Vissi weighed whether to purge witnesses before deciding to let the saint choose what to do.
• The Emperor deflected the falling wreckage and told Lin Fan he could have asked more politely; Lin Fan asked for Trazyn’s location, and The Emperor sent him a marked star map.
• Trazyn revealed that the battlefield explosion and falling debris had been staged, then ordered Canoptek Scarabs to carry the restrained Loba into Gork's Big Head.
• Trazyn released a Greater Daemon of Tzeentch into his sealed pocket space and declared that it would become an actor in his collection.
• The Greater Daemon awoke in a false Ork battlefield, where an Ork immediately attacked it with a shell.

After escaping the devastated Titanfall Basin, Lin Fan learned that Kaiser and Wodhaus had crippled Bone Uncle’s Gu Juji but failed to kill the Ork warlord. Reinforcements arrived with too few transport vehicles, until Lin Fan’s returning burrowing transport offered a way to carry more troops and pursue Bone Uncle.

• Lin Fan helped calm the Battle Sisters after they became angry that he deferred to Kaiser, and Kaiser asked him to assess the Ork threat.
• Lin Fan identified the warlord as Bone Uncle, and Kaiser and Wodhaus explained that they had destroyed his Gu Juji but Bone Uncle had survived.
• The group left the ruined basin and met tank commander Hadlich and the Pluto 37th Armored Regiment, whose Chimera transports had been destroyed.
• Lin Fan planned to take a small force to hunt Bone Uncle, but a familiar voice announced the arrival of the burrowing transport vehicle he had sent for supplies.

Bone Uncle rallied the Orks around a plan to unite the galaxy’s Waaaghs, but Lin Fan’s forces attacked as they tried to leave. Lin Fan rejected relying on orbital bombardment to kill the Orks and instead ordered the ship’s guns to disrupt the ground beneath them.

• Bone Uncle declared that he would conquer rival Ork bosses and combine their Waaaghs into one vast Waaagh.
• The Orks gathered scrap, assembled vehicles, and began driving back toward their camp.
• Lin Fan ordered Commander Hadlich’s Leman Russ tanks to fire on the Ork convoy, destroying several vehicles.
• Bone Uncle called in nearby Ork forces, while Electric Shields protected his armored Bosses from the tanks’ shells.
• Inquisitor Vissi suggested orbital bombardment, but Lin Fan argued it could not guarantee the Orks’ deaths.
• Lin Fan told Captain Cassimian to fire the fleet’s smallest-caliber macro-cannons at the ground beneath the pursuing Orks.