Chapter Summaries

Senior commanders from the Space Marines, Defense Force, and Star Army gathered at the orbital fortress and reminisced about how rarely they met. Anrida complained that the navy and Space Marines kept recruiting the Defense Force’s best trainees, and Gray and Mendeleev tried to placate him.

• Mendeleev welcomed Gray and Anrida and remarked on the military’s growing ranks of promising young officers.
• Gray, Anrida, and Mendeleev recalled how the branches had become too busy with military affairs to gather since the battle against the Imperium fleet.
• Anrida praised the navy’s senior officers, while Mendeleev praised the Defense Force and acknowledged its vital responsibilities.
• Anrida complained that the navy and Space Marines got first choice of Defense Force recruits, leaving the Defense Force with fewer promising soldiers.
• Mendeleev explained that recruitment authority rested with the Defense Force and that recruits chose branches suited to them; Anrida said he understood but remained indignant about losing favored trainees.
• Gray offered to let Anrida complain to him anytime.

Gray, Anrida, and Mendeleev agreed to seek the Lord of the Stars’ approval to deploy troops against nearby Imperium territories. Art Student learned of their request and considered the navy’s five fleets sufficient for an attack.

• Gray asked Anrida and Mendeleev about the readiness of their forces, and they described improvements to the Defense Force and navy.
• Gray proposed asking the Lord of the Stars for permission to attack nearby Imperium territories, and Anrida supported him.
• Mendeleev questioned whether the Lord of the Stars would agree, but Gray argued that the forces were now stronger and the navy had received its battleships.
• Gray asked the senior officers for their views, and they supported seeking an audience together.
• Gaia told Art Student that Gray and the other officers wanted approval to deploy troops, and Art Student judged the navy’s five fleets sufficient for an attack.

Art Student convened the Star Army’s military, administrative, and logistics leaders to discuss Gray and his companions’ request to deploy to the Provence Sector. He warned that conquering the region would be easier than governing and holding it, then asked the officers to explain their actual plans.

• Art Student summoned Hogood, Anglie, Milos, and other senior officials to a conference aboard the Lord of the Stars Flagship.
• More than a hundred officials gathered, and Art Student entered with Tina of the Judgement Custodes before they saluted him.
• Gray told Art Student that the army was ready to deploy and liberate the Provence Sector from the False Emperor.
• Art Student questioned whether Gray’s army could free the entire sector, and Gray admitted they could not do so without Art Student’s command.
• Art Student pointed out that the Star Army lacked the personnel to govern and garrison the whole sector, then asked for the officers’ real deployment plans.
• Gray looked to Anrida and Mendeleev for support, but both ignored him.

Art Student approved the officers’ request to deploy troops and explained that the fleet and Space Marines were now ready, then asked them about nearby star systems. Since Gray and the others lacked intelligence, Milos began briefing them with a holographic map, ending when Dorak declined to explain it himself.

• Gray admitted that he and the others had come without a deployment plan because they feared Art Student would reject their request.
• Art Student reprimanded the officers for their excessive caution, then explained that the navy had five full-strength fleets and the Space Marines had completed training, so the time was right to deploy.
• Gray admitted that the senior officers had neglected intelligence on nearby star systems while focusing on training recruits, and Art Student turned to Milos for a briefing.
• Milos projected a detailed holographic map of the surrounding star region and identified the Star Sea Galaxy.
• Dorak muttered that Milos did not need to identify the Star Sea Galaxy, but refused when Milos invited him to explain the map.

Milos introduced the nearby galaxies around the Star Sea Galaxy, including the source of the valuable meat nicknamed Milos Steak. After the Art Student ordered Hogood to manage and protect that galaxy, Milos continued outlining the region’s planets and defenses, and Gray questioned whether the intelligence report was incomplete.

• Milos showed the nearest unnamed galaxy and explained that its two habitable planets were home to enormous, unintelligent beasts.
• Milos revealed that the specially supplied meat came from those beasts, prompting the Art Student, Gray, Hogood, Anrida, and Anglie to call for the galaxy’s development and protection.
• Nack teased Milos about the meat being called Milos Steak, and Milos explained that the name had stuck after his team brought back the steaks.
• The Art Student ordered Hogood to send people to manage the galaxy, then told Milos to continue his briefing.
• Milos described the eight galaxies within ten light-years of the Star Sea Galaxy, including their habitable planets and weak local forces.
• Gray asked Milos whether the intelligence gathered over the years amounted to more than what he had presented.

Milos briefed Gray and the others on nearby galaxies, highlighting the Conard Galaxy and the Milzhi Galaxy as notable targets and warning that internal threats would make governing conquered worlds difficult. Art Student halted the briefing to question whether their military and logistics forces could hold and manage many liberated galaxies at once.

• Milos described the twenty-one galaxies within thirty light-years of the Star Sea Galaxy and identified the Conard Galaxy and the Milzhi Galaxy as the two most noteworthy.
• Milos explained that the Conard Knight Family had dwindled to ten Knight suits and twenty-five Armiger-class Knight suits, while an Ork warship crash had brought a Green Tide to the Milzhi Galaxy.
• Gray, Anrida, Hogood, Mendeleev, and Anglie agreed that their forces would need to defeat Imperial fleets, purge hidden threats, and develop the planets they liberated.
• Art Student interrupted Milos and asked whether their military and logistics departments could hold and manage so many galaxies.
• Hogood admitted that his logistics department would be stretched thin if it had to manage more than ten galaxies.

Art Student limited the first expedition to the star systems his administration and Navy could manage and defend, while promising that hundreds of new warships would be ready in five years. He left his officers with orders to consolidate nearby systems, prepare for Imperial counterattacks, and build strength before attempting to liberate the Imperium of Man.

• Art Student praised Hogood for recognizing that the administration could manage only a dozen or so star systems, and Hogood promised to develop them well.
• Mendeleev explained that the Navy could defend a little over twenty star systems at most, and that a major Imperial counterattack would require multiple fleets.
• Art Student told Mendeleev that several hundred new Navy warships would be delivered in five years, allowing another expedition.
• Art Student ordered the officers to occupy systems within thirty light-years, build their ability to defend themselves, and remain alert to the Imperium and the evil gods.
• Art Student urged everyone not to seek quick success and declared that growing strength would eventually let them defeat the Imperium and liberate its people.

After Art Student left the conference room, Gray led the officials in planning the deployment to nearby star systems. The meeting settled on forces to defend Star Sea and support the campaign, while Hogood and Anglie were left to decide how their departments would handle conquered systems.

• Art Student departed after authorizing the officials to discuss the deployment plans among themselves.
• Hogood and Anglie proposed that Gray preside over the rest of the meeting, and Gray accepted.
• Gray proposed leaving one naval fleet behind to protect Star Sea and support the other fleets, and Mendeleev agreed.
• Gray assigned the Defense Force to leave five armies behind and the Space Marines to leave one brigade to help defend Star Sea.
• Gray asked Hogood and Anglie how their logistics departments would transform and administer conquered systems, and they considered whether to discuss the matter then or hold an internal meeting later.

Anglie, Hogood, and Gray agreed to postpone decisions on personnel and administration until the logistics and administrative departments could plan properly. After reviewing Milos’s reports, Gray and his officers planned to patrol five uninhabited star systems and deploy four fleets to take the sixteen inhabited systems.

• Anglie suggested waiting until everyone returned to discuss personnel for managing and transforming the conquered star systems, and Hogood agreed.
• Hogood told Gray that the logistics and administrative departments would decide who accompanied the military operation after reviewing their plans.
• Gray asked Milos to display a map, and Mendeleev questioned him about whether five star systems were free of intelligent life and enemies.
• Milos confirmed the five systems had been thoroughly searched and showed reconnaissance videos, satisfying Mendeleev.
• Gray, Mendeleev, and Hogood agreed to include the five uninhabited systems in patrols and assign their management to Hogood’s department.
• Mendeleev proposed taking the sixteen inhabited systems first, and Anrida suggested dividing them among four fleets, with each fleet handling four systems.

Gray and the officers finalized a plan to divide sixteen human-inhabited star systems among four fleets, then spent half a month preparing the expedition. The fleets departed the Star Sea Galaxy to liberate the systems, while Mendeleev stayed behind to defend the galaxy.

• Gray divided the sixteen human-inhabited star systems into four regions, assigning one fleet to each direction.
• Hogood and the logistics and administrative personnel returned to World One to finalize preparations, while Gray and the officers went back to the fortress.
• After half a month of preparation, the four fleets assembled outside the Recruit Training Planet's orbital fortress with combat and logistical ships.
• Mendeleev stayed behind to protect the Star Sea Galaxy and promised Gray that he would safeguard it.
• Gray ordered the fleets to set sail, and the ships charged their dimensional jump engines and vanished from the Star Sea Galaxy.

Gray and Tulas brought the Star Navy’s Second Fleet to an Imperium star system and began an invasion designed to draw out and destroy the strongest resistance. As the fleet advanced, alarms sounded across the system, leaving its governor, nobles, workers, and farmers waiting anxiously for an explanation.

• Gray confirmed the landing forces were ready and ordered Tulas to attack, while allowing the enemy time to prepare so its strongest forces would gather.
• Tulas ordered the fleet to advance into the star system, which contained an agricultural world and an industrial world that supplied food and weapons to the Imperium.
• Alarms rang across both planets, interrupting a banquet at the industrial governor’s residence and startling workers and farmers throughout the system.
• When the governor demanded to know what had happened, the guards outside the conference hall knelt silently, afraid they would be punished for having no answer.

An unknown fleet entered the system and ignored the spaceport’s attempts to contact it, prompting the governor to order the defenses to prepare an attack. After learning the ships belonged to the heretics who had captured the Star Sea Galaxy, the governor urged the nobles to fight and prove their loyalty to the Emperor.

• The spaceport commander reported that more than thirty unidentified warships were approaching the system and had ignored its signals.
• The governor ordered the spaceport to attack if the warships continued their approach, and the commander began preparing the defenses.
• A noble identified the fleet as belonging to the heretical forces that had captured the Star Sea Galaxy, and the nobles panicked over their inability to resist them.
• The governor silenced the nobles and declared that they must fight the heretics to demonstrate their loyalty to the Emperor.
• Several nobles echoed the governor’s call to fight to the end.

The Governor rallied the nobles and ordered the planet’s forces to prepare for the heretics’ invasion while requesting Imperial reinforcements. The nobles pledged their troops, and the Governor sent them to reinforce the Planetary Defence Force and hold key positions.

• The Governor ordered a distress message sent to the Imperium and directed Marshal Adams and Bishop Mill to organize defenses against the heretics.
• The Governor told the nobles they had to unite and commit their resources to defend the planet until Imperial reinforcements arrived.
• An elderly noble pledged his family’s support, prompting the other nobles to promise their forces as well.
• The Governor ordered the nobles to gather their troops and reinforce vital positions, and committed his elite troops and tax department enforcers to the defense.
• The nobles agreed to send their best soldiers to assist the Planetary Defence Force.

The Governor rallied the nobles and gathered forces to resist the heretics, believing they would fight together. When the nobles fled the industrial world, he ordered the air defense forces to shoot down every escaping transport aircraft.

• The Governor sent the nobles to prepare for battle, and they swore loyalty to the Emperor before leaving the Governor's Palace.
• The Governor began assembling soldiers as transport aircraft took off from the nobles' district and wealthy merchants' residences.
• The Governor ordered the air defense forces to destroy any aircraft attempting to flee, including those belonging to him.
• The air defense officers opened fire and destroyed the fleeing transport aircraft, and the Governor watched their wreckage fall.

Gray and Tulas watched the two planets prepare for the Star Navy Fleet’s arrival as noble transports fled and the industrial world’s air defenses attacked them. Gray ordered the Aerospace Fighter squadrons to destroy the spaceports and fleeing ships, then bombard key defenses, while the pilots prepared to sortie.

• Tulas reported that the fleet was less than a hundred thousand kilometers from the inhabited planets, whose forces were organizing defenses.
• Gray and Tulas spotted noble transports fleeing the planets, and Tulas showed Gray the industrial world’s air defenses attacking them.
• Gray ordered the Aerospace Fighter squadrons to destroy the planets’ spaceports and the fleeing transports.
• Gray added an order for the fighters to bombard the planets’ important defensive positions after completing their first mission.
• Naval Aerospace Fighter pilots prepared for launch and voiced their eagerness to fight the False Emperor’s forces.

Two hundred Aerospace Fighters and two thousand Intelligent Wingmen attacked the spaceport between the industrial and agricultural worlds. The spaceport's defenses were destroyed by Three-Phase Torpedoes, leaving the assault force poised to continue its attack.

• The Aerospace Fighter formations launched from the Star Navy Fleet's warships and advanced toward the two inhabited planets.
• The spaceport commander ordered the Imperium soldiers to fire on the incoming fighters, and they unleashed the spaceport's anti-air weapons.
• The fighters evaded the incoming fire and discovered that the spaceport had no Void Shields.
• The squadron captain ordered the Aerospace Fighters to launch Three-Phase Torpedoes at the spaceport.
• The torpedoes struck and engulfed the spaceport in explosions, destroying its defenses.

The Star Navy's Aerospace Fighters destroyed the spaceport and hunted down the fleeing noble transports, killing everyone aboard. The governor learned that the first line of defense for the industrial and agricultural worlds had fallen, leaving the planets exposed to an imminent attack.

• The Aerospace Fighter squadron destroyed the spaceport with Three-Phase Torpedoes, killing its commander and leaving survivors stranded amid the wreckage.
• The Aerospace Fighters pursued the fleeing transports carrying nobles as their pilots failed to outrun the attackers.
• The fighters destroyed the transports with long-range attacks, killing everyone aboard and ending the chase.
• The governor received news of the spaceport's destruction and realized the heretics would soon attack the worlds.

After reviewing the fleet’s intelligence, the Star Army’s Aerospace Fighters attacked military targets on two industrial worlds. The first torpedo strikes devastated air-defence positions and other important sites before the defenders could see their attackers.

• The squadron commander confirmed that the pilots had reviewed the fleet’s intelligence and ordered them to attack selected targets.
• Two hundred Aerospace Fighters and two thousand Intelligent Wingmen split into formations and entered the planets’ atmospheres.
• The governor panicked, ordered the air-defence forces to attack, and prayed for the Emperor’s protection.
• Before the defenders spotted the Aerospace Fighters, torpedoes struck air-defence positions across the planet.
• The air-defence forces intercepted some torpedoes, but explosions destroyed buildings and a fortress, killing its stationed defenders.
• Further strikes destroyed important positions across the industrial world, killing soldiers before they saw the enemy.

After Aerospace Fighters destroyed key defenses on two industrial worlds, Gray assigned David, two other Space Marine commanders, and two Defense Force armies to lead the invasion. David’s force established a beachhead on one world, where Space Marines secured a teleportation zone and the first Defense Force troops and heavy equipment arrived.

• The Aerospace Fighter commander reported that the strikes on both planets’ key defensive positions had succeeded, and Tulas authorized ground forces to begin landing.
• Gray selected two of the six Defense Force armies to join the Space Marines, then sent David and the other commanders to prepare for the assault.
• David and the other four commanders returned to their units, and the Space Marines began teleporting onto the planets using beacons placed during the earlier bombardment.
• David’s Space Marines secured a wilderness teleportation zone on one industrial world and prepared it for the Defense Force’s arrival.
• More than a thousand Space Marines and Dreadnoughts assembled before the first Defense Force battalion, ten thousand combat robots, and twenty Apocalypse Tanks teleported in.

The governor anxiously awaited the enemy’s next move while the Planetary Defence Force repaired the damage from the Aerospace Fighters’ bombardment. David approved Otto’s ten-route assault plan, and the Defense Force and Space Marines advanced on the industrial city.

• The governor prayed before the Emperor’s statue, fearing another bombardment or an imminent landing attack.
• One million Defense Force soldiers, ten million combat robots, and two hundred thousand Apocalypse Tanks arrived, while Gray left the Titans and Knight mechs undeployed.
• Otto presented a plan to attack the giant industrial city along ten routes, and David approved it and assigned Space Marines to support the assault.
• Otto ordered the Defense Force to advance, and its ten columns of Apocalypse Tanks set out toward the city.
• David ordered the Space Marines and Earth Dreadnoughts to follow the Defense Force as the Planetary Defence Force repaired the city’s bomb-damaged positions.