Chapter Summaries

Lilith, Anrida, and Nack considered how to respond after the local governor offered to surrender. Nack went to investigate aboard the frigate and summoned the governor to meet him there.

• The Vanguard Fleet reported that the other side had offered to surrender, leaving Lilith, Anrida, and Nack uncertain whether it was a trap.
• Anrida argued that the governor was unlikely to risk the consequences of trying to kill one of them, while Nack volunteered to investigate in person.
• Lilith approved Nack's plan and activated the teleportation platform so his troops could be recalled if they encountered danger.
• Nack assembled one hundred Space Marines from the First Company's First Squad and teleported with them to the frigate.
• Nack sent the two destroyers back to the Third Fleet and ordered the frigate captain to signal the governor to board a transport ship and come to the warship.

Nack’s frigate sent light signals to the three Cobra-class destroyers and waited for a reply. Aboard one destroyer, Marshall Conard awaited the translation of their response after deciding to surrender the Conard Knight Family to save it from destruction.

• Nack’s intelligence officer sent precise light signals to the three Cobra-class destroyers, and Nack ordered his crew to wait for a reply.
• Marshall Conard worried whether the opposing fleet would accept his surrender, while Willy Conard reassured him based on his psychic prophecies.
• Willy persuaded Marshall that surrender would spare the Conard Knight Family and could restore its strength, and Marshall finally agreed.
• After the Third Fleet’s vanguard entered the Conard Galaxy, Marshall’s three destroyers signaled that they wished to surrender.
• The destroyer pilot reported that the other fleet had sent signals, and Marshall ordered his intelligence officer to translate them.

Marshall accepted the Star Navy's demand to come aboard their frigate and went to meet them, while Nack prepared to receive him. Marshall stepped off the transport ship and recognized that he needed to approach the assembled Space Marines.

• The intelligence officer translated the Star Navy's signal ordering Marshall to present himself aboard its warship.
• Marshall asked Willy whether he would be in danger, and Willy reassured him that the Star Navy had accepted his surrender.
• Marshall chose to travel with only Willy and a transport ship pilot, saying the small party would show sincerity.
• Nack ordered an Aerospace Fighter to guide the transport ship to the frigate, then went to the deck with the frigate captain and one hundred Space Marines.
• Marshall landed on the frigate and stepped out to find Nack and the armored Space Marines waiting for him.

Marshall and Willy surrendered to Nack, who welcomed them into the faction of the Lord of the Stars and offered to share information about its leader. Nack then recognized Willy as a psychic with precognitive abilities and asked about him.

• Marshall and Willy approached Nack and his soldiers and formally saluted them.
• Nack praised Marshall for boarding the warship with only Willy and himself, then told him to call him Captain Nack.
• Marshall learned that Nack's faction served the Lord of the Stars and had no nobles, and he worried about his family's future.
• Nack reassured Marshall that surrendering made him part of their side and entitled him to learn about the Lord of the Stars.
• Nack asked whether Willy was the psychic whose precognitive abilities had revealed the Star Navy's arrival.

Willy explained his prophecies to Captain Nack, who learned that Willy had foreseen both the Conard Family’s destruction if it resisted and its future prosperity after surrendering. Nack then revealed what he knew about the Lord of the Stars, leaving Marshall shocked and grateful that Willy had persuaded the family to surrender.

• Willy told Nack that he had foreseen the Star Army’s arrival the day before and that the Conard Family would be destroyed if it resisted.
• Willy said he had also foreseen the Conard Knight Family regaining prosperity and renown by joining the Lord of the Stars.
• Nack accepted Willy’s account and led Marshall and Willy to the conference room to continue their conversation.
• Nack told Marshall what he knew about the Lord of the Stars, and Marshall was astonished to learn that the ruler was a god who could walk among mortals.
• Nack made drinks appear on the table with technology, astonishing Marshall and Willy, before everyone began drinking.

Nack discussed the Conard Family’s control of Conard Planet with Marshall and agreed to help eliminate the hidden cultists. Marshall accepted that the family would surrender management of the Conard Galaxy and sought a place for its mech-capable members in the Star Army.

• Nack asked Marshall how much control the Conard Family had over Conard Planet, and Marshall described the Ecclesiarchy’s influence and concealed cultists.
• Marshall asked the Star Army to help find and eliminate the cultists, and Nack agreed to cooperate in securing the Conard Galaxy.
• Nack said the Conard Family would have to hand the planet over to the logistics administration department after the threats were cleared.
• Marshall promised to relinquish management rights and explained that the family was ready to integrate into the Star Army.
• Nack welcomed Conard Family members capable of piloting knight mechs into the mech forces, and Marshall saluted him.

After the Conard Galaxy's management rights were settled, Nack took Marshall and Willy to see the Lord of the Stars' mechs. Marshall discovered that the ship he had mistaken for a cruiser was only a frigate, then arrived aboard a cruiser by teleportation and saw the Star Army's armored soldiers.

• Willy relaxed after Marshall agreed to relinquish the Conard Family's management rights over the Conard Galaxy.
• Marshall asked Nack to let him visit the knight mechs, and Nack agreed to show him both knight mechs and Titan mechs.
• Nack explained that the five-kilometer warship was a frigate, not a cruiser, leaving Marshall astonished.
• Nack used a teleportation platform to take Marshall and Willy to a cruiser without them noticing any movement.
• Marshall and Willy followed Nack through the cruiser and saw its tall corridors and soldiers in light power armor saluting him.

Nack showed Marshall and Willy a hangar of long-range support Knight mechs and revealed that his fleet carried two hundred Knight mechs and twenty Warhound Titans. Marshall was left stunned by the fleet’s strength and learned that its spare mechs let pilots switch machines if theirs were damaged.

• Nack led Marshall and Willy into a hangar containing ten long-range support Knight mechs.
• Marshall admired the mechs’ weapons and shields and longed to have them for the Conard Knight Family, but did not dare touch them.
• Nack told Marshall that the fleet carried two hundred Knight mechs and twenty Warhound Titans.
• Nack explained that the extra mechs let pilots switch to another machine if theirs were damaged, leaving Marshall incredulous.

Marshall learned that the Conard Family could eventually join the mech forces after stabilizing the Conard Galaxy, and Nack explained the fleet’s command structure. Marshall declined a tour of the Titans and prepared to meet the fleet’s other commanders.

• Nack told Marshall that damaged mechs could be replaced immediately and that talented members of the Conard Family might later pilot mechs.
• Marshall thanked Nack and vowed to serve the Lord of the Stars loyally in hopes of earning opportunities for his family.
• Nack offered to show Marshall the Titans, but Marshall declined because he needed time to process everything he had learned.
• Nack agreed to postpone the tour and said he would take Marshall to meet the other two commanders.
• Nack explained that he commanded the Space Marines while another commander led the army and a Navy Grand Admiral led the fleet, and he confirmed Marshall could meet them as a governor who had surrendered voluntarily.

Nack brought Marshall to the battleship’s bridge, where he learned the Star Army had a powerful twenty-nine-warship fleet and had annihilated the Imperium’s punitive expedition. There, Marshall met Admiral Lilith and commander Anrida, who welcomed him after he explained that Willy’s psychic prophecy had prompted his surrender.

• Nack told Marshall that the fleet included one battleship, four cruisers, eight frigates, sixteen destroyers, and ten logistics ships.
• Nack revealed that the Star Army had annihilated the Provence Sector’s punitive fleet and retained its surviving ships for logistics.
• Nack introduced Marshall to Lilith, Admiral of the Third Fleet, and Marshall greeted her respectfully.
• Nack introduced Anrida, commander of the First Legion, who praised Marshall for joining the Lord of the Stars’ cause.
• Marshall explained that Willy’s psychic prophecy had warned him to surrender, and Anrida said they already knew because they had monitored his conversations with Nack.

The Fourth Fleet entered the Milzhi Galaxy and scanned Milzhi Planet, where the radar detected three distinct life magnetic fields instead of the expected humans and Orks. The pilot identified the third signal as likely belonging to Genestealers, leaving Xavier, York, and Dorak facing an unexpected threat.

• Xavier asked York and Dorak for their recommendations, and York advised taking the fleet directly into the Milzhi Galaxy to gather firsthand intelligence.
• Dorak and Xavier agreed with York, and Xavier ordered the Fourth Fleet to enter the galaxy.
• Xavier and Dorak explained that they valued York’s judgment, and the three commanders traded jokes as the fleet traveled without incident.
• Near Milzhi Planet, Xavier ordered a comprehensive deep-space radar scan.
• The pilot detected three life magnetic fields on Milzhi Planet and reported that the additional signal was ninety-nine percent likely to be from Genestealers.

York, Xavier, and Dorak discovered that Genestealers were fighting the Orks on Milzhi Planet to preserve the human population they needed to expand their brood. With over fifty million humans hiding underground and no orbital defenses or functioning spaceport, York proposed bombarding the surface before deploying troops, and Xavier approved the attack.

• Dorak marveled that Genestealers had infiltrated another galaxy, and York explained how they spread through human populations and guided Tyranid fleets.
• Xavier's radar projection revealed Genestealers fighting the Orks, and York explained that they were protecting humans to preserve their ability to reproduce.
• The pilot reported that just over fifty million humans, more than ten million Genestealers, and eighty million Orks remained on Milzhi Planet, with the humans hiding in underground pipelines.
• The pilot confirmed that the Orks had destroyed the spaceport and that Milzhi Planet had no orbital defense forces.
• York proposed bombarding the surface before landing troops, and Xavier agreed to send Aerospace Fighter squadrons on a bombing run.

Genestealers defended a ruined building complex on Mill's planet against an overwhelming Ork assault. The Orks breached their defenses, and the Genestealers' line continued to collapse.

• Orks charged the building complex as the high-ranking Genestealer ordered the defenders to open fire.
• Genestealers and their artillery bombarded the advancing Orks, but the Orks pressed forward under heavy fire.
• Squig Hoppers rushed the defenses with bombs in their mouths, destroying several machine-gun positions despite the Genestealers' barrage.
• Orks broke through the damaged defenses and poured into the building complex, driving the Genestealers back.
• The high-ranking Genestealer urged his forces to hold the line, but the Orks continued to overwhelm them.

The Genestealer Cult patriarch joined the collapsing front line, rallied his forces, and used psychic lightning to slaughter charging Orks. He faced a heavily armored Ork boss, whose Chainsword battered the patriarch’s psychic barrier and forced him back under mounting pressure.

• The patriarch charged from the ruined buildings with hundreds of first- and second-generation Genestealers as a high-ranking Genestealer rallied the defenders.
• The patriarch killed an Ork attacking the high-ranking Genestealer, then ordered him to keep commanding the battle.
• The Orks turned toward the patriarch, but his psychic barrier deflected their gunfire and his lightning killed many of them.
• An armored Ork boss charged the patriarch, dodged his lightning, and swung a Chainsword at him.
• The patriarch blocked the Chainsword with a psychic barrier, but the Ork boss’s assault made it tremble and forced the patriarch to stagger backward.

The Ork Boss and the Genestealer Patriarch remained locked in a fierce battle while their followers fought around them, until the Weirdboy accidentally struck both leaders with Gork's Foot. The Ork Boss confronted the Weirdboy, who blamed the attack on Gork and convinced him it had been a divine punishment.

• Ork Boyz and Genestealers joined the battle, while the Ork Boss smashed approaching Genestealers and the Patriarch killed Orks with psychic lightning.
• A Weirdboy shielded the Ork Boss from the Patriarch's lightning, helping keep the leaders' fight at a stalemate.
• The Weirdboy lost control and summoned Gork's Foot, which struck the battlefield and sent both the Ork Boss and the Patriarch flying.
• The Ork Boss angrily confronted the Weirdboy, who claimed Gork had attacked because the Boss was not Waaaaaagh enough.
• The Ork Boss's anger faded as he cautiously asked whether Gork had truly struck through the Weirdboy, who insisted that it was so.

The Ork boss ordered the Ork Boyz to attack the Genestealers after the bishop retreated from their fight. Ork planes bombarded the Genestealers' position, leaving the wounded bishop unable to stop them.

• The bishop retreated to the defensive line after Gork's Big Foot blasted him away, badly injured and unable to keep fighting the Ork boss.
• The Ork boss grew furious when he could not find the bishop, then ordered the Ork Boyz to attack the Genestealers.
• Ork planes flew overhead as the Ork Boyz charged, and the aircraft began firing guns and dropping bombs on the Genestealers' position.
• The High Genestealers ordered their forces to attack the planes, but the Genestealers could not hit the fast-moving aircraft.
• The bishop watched helplessly as the Ork planes continued their bombardment, since his psychic power was depleted.

Ork aircraft and ground forces battered the Genestealer position, while Ish urged his followers to defend the brood behind them. After a sniper killed Ish, the grieving Genestealers charged the Orks in a desperate bid to avenge him and hold the line.

• An Ork pilot dodged fire from a Genestealer with a heavy machine gun and killed him by slicing him in two with the aircraft’s wing.
• Orks flooded into the position as a bomb-laden Genestealer detonated himself among them, killing several attackers.
• Ish urged the Genestealers to make desperate attacks to protect the Patriarch and the brood members behind the defenses.
• A gunshot struck Ish and sent him crashing to the ground, killing the leader of the defensive line.
• The Genestealers charged the Orks, vowing to avenge Ish and defend the stronghold.

After Ish was killed, the Genestealers charged the Orks but soon broke into a panicked retreat under the Ork Boss’s assault. The Bishop reached the collapsing frontline, learned of Ish’s death, and ordered the survivors to resume their attack.

• The Genestealers charged the Orks to avenge Ish, and the Ork Boss cut through them with his Chainsword.
• The Orks’ battle cries lifted their morale while the Genestealers lost heart and fled, abandoning their weapons.
• The Bishop rushed to the frontline and found the Genestealer position in chaos.
• A fleeing Genestealer told the Bishop that Ish had been killed by the Orks.
• The Bishop killed the Genestealer with psychic lightning and ordered the remaining Genestealers to pick up their weapons and attack.

The Bishop forced the fleeing Genestealers to turn and fight the Orks by striking down those who kept running. After the battle resumed, the Ork Boss overpowered the Bishop and killed him.

• The Bishop unleashed psychic lightning on fleeing Genestealers and ordered the survivors to attack the Orks.
• The Genestealers charged back into battle as the Bishop fought alongside them and rallied them against the Orks.
• The Ork Boss spotted the Bishop, blocked his psychic lightning, and knocked him to the ground with a kick.
• The Ork Boss pinned the injured Bishop beneath his foot and swept his Chainsword across the Bishop's neck.

The Greenskin boss killed the Bishop, and the Genestealers’ morale collapsed as the Orks slaughtered them across the battlefield. After the victory, the Greenskin bosses complained that the fight had ended too soon, while a Gretchin asked the leader for praise for his hoppers.

• The Greenskin boss raised the Bishop’s head and roared, prompting the Orks to join in while the Genestealers realized their leader was dead.
• The Genestealers panicked and fled, but the Orks pursued and slaughtered them across the battlefield.
• The Greenskin boss impaled the Bishop’s head on his boss pole beside three other heads, and the Orks fought even more fiercely.
• After every Genestealer had been killed, the Orks celebrated, while several Greenskin bosses complained that the battle had not provided enough fighting.
• A Gretchin climbed onto the Greenskin leader’s shoulder and asked whether the hoppers he had raised had earned credit, and the leader praised them.