Chapter Summaries

Art Student ordered a coordinated campaign to occupy the Underhive, assigning the Space Marines, Navy, Defense Force, and administrators their roles. Gray mobilized the Space Marines as the vanguard, and they armed themselves for the deployment.

• Art Student proposed occupying the Underhive, and his senior officials agreed to the plan.
• Mendeleev said the hive world's nobles would not interfere as long as the upper hive remained untouched.
• Art Student assigned Gray and Mo Tuo to clear major threats, Mendeleev to eliminate dangerous individuals they missed, Anrida to secure territory, and Hogood and Anglie to provide support.
• Art Student watched a projection of the Teda Galaxy and hoped to establish a territory amid the chaos.
• In 931, M41, Gray summoned the Space Marines and announced their mission to capture the Underhive as the vanguard.
• The Space Marines collected their weapons, equipment, and supplies before preparing to depart.

Gray led the Space Marines into the Underhive to hunt dangerous creatures and seize Totka City. After wiping out the gang members defending its walls, the Space Marines stood poised to take the city.

• Gray ordered the Space Marines to ride into the Underhive, followed by naval combat personnel and the Defense Force.
• Squad leader David’s team played loud music to draw monsters, and Gray allowed them to continue after hearing their plan.
• David and his squad killed charging Genestealers with plasma pistols as they rode through the Underhive.
• The Space Marines reached Totka City, where Gray ordered them to storm the gang-controlled settlement.
• The Space Marines leaped onto Totka City’s walls and killed several hundred gang members in seconds.

Gray and the Space Marines captured Totka City by killing its armed gang members, then waited for the Navy and Defense Force to arrive. Gray left Commander Anrida to pacify the city’s civilians as the allied forces prepared to secure the remaining regions.

• Gray ordered the Space Marines to enter Totka City and hunt down anyone carrying a weapon.
• The Space Marines killed gang members throughout the city, including a gang boss who offered Gray’s warrior a chance to join his powerful backers.
• After clearing the city, the Space Marines regrouped outside Totka City, checked their ammunition, and maintained their weapons.
• Latus and Anrida arrived with the Navy and Defense Force convoy and spoke with Gray.
• Gray asked Anrida to pacify Totka City’s civilians, and Anrida agreed to handle it.

Gray, Anrida, and Latus divided the campaign in the Underhive between the Space Marines, Navy, and Defense Force, who went on to capture cities across the region. Meanwhile, Rogue Trader Dok Monde fled Orks through the Warp and redirected his pursued ship toward the Teda Galaxy, hoping the Orks would turn their attention to its hive worlds.

• Gray, Anrida, and Latus agreed that the Space Marines would hunt xenos while the Navy and Defense Force attacked Underhive cities, calling on the Space Marines against powerful foes.
• Anrida left a Defense Force battalion in Totka City to govern it and screen for cultists, then departed with Latus and the remaining forces.
• The Navy and Defense Force split their main force outside Totka City and rapidly occupied the Underhive's other cities.
• Dok Monde's Rogue Trader ship was pursued through the Warp by an Ork fleet, and his astropath said no Imperial forces were close enough to help.
• The Navigator found a route toward the Teda Galaxy, and Dok ordered the ship to head there so the Orks might be distracted by its hive worlds.

Dok led the merchant ship out of the Warp into the Teda Galaxy while pursued by Orks. In Totka City, the Defense Force distributed vaccinations and supplies, but a man who praised the Four-Armed Emperor was shot dead, leaving the poor frightened and the soldiers restoring order.

• Dok ordered the merchant ship to flee deeper into the Teda system after it escaped the Warp with the Ork fleet close behind.
• Defense Force soldiers patrolled Totka City and distributed vaccines, food, and water to the Underhive poor.
• A soldier told the recipients to praise the Lord of the Stars as they collected their supplies.
• A bald man shouted, "For the Four-Armed Emperor," and a guard shot him dead.
• The poor panicked, but the soldiers fired into the air and reassured them that followers of Chaos Gods were the only ones in danger.

After conquering cities across the Underhive and gaining more than thirty million people, Art Student halted the campaign so his forces could manage their new territory and address shortages. The chapter leaves Art Student weighing Gray’s request to place the Defense Force under Space Marine command, a change Anrida opposed.

• Art Student’s forces captured many Underhive cities, killed more than a hundred thousand enemies without casualties, and expanded their population to over thirty million.
• Anrida reported that the Defense Force lacked enough personnel to garrison the captured cities, so Art Student ordered the campaign paused while the forces consolidated their gains.
• Anglie reported food and water shortages, and Art Student ordered Gaia to increase food starch and drinking water production.
• Hogood apologized for the inexperience of the civil administration, and Art Student praised his staff for keeping order among tens of millions of people.
• Mendeleev reported no problems for the navy, while Gray asked to place the Defense Force under Space Marine command; Anrida feared the proposal would diminish his force’s status.

Art Student decided that the Defense Force would assist the Space Marines in battle without becoming their auxiliary legion. Meanwhile, Crooked Mouth led an Ork attack on the Teda Galaxy, and the fleet destroyed its space dock.

• Gray described how the Space Marines had struggled to eliminate the massive Genestealer force, and Art Student reviewed the battle footage.
• Art Student ordered the Defense Force to support the Space Marines in battles while allowing it to refuse demands that violated its operational principles.
• Gray and Anrida accepted the arrangement, and the administrators saluted Art Student despite his protest that he was not a god.
• Crooked Mouth chose to attack the Teda Hive Worlds instead of pursuing the fleeing Rogue Trader's ship, and his Ork fleet opened fire on the space dock.
• Gaia alerted Art Student that the Teda Galaxy was under attack, and a projection showed the Ork fleet blasting the space dock into debris.

Greenskin Orks invaded Teda World after destroying its space dock, and Art Student decided to use the invasion for a field exercise while evacuating Underhive civilians. The governor learned that both Hive World One and Hive World Two were under attack and that the planetary defense forces had been notified.

• Greenskin warships crashed onto the planets, and Orks and their war machines poured out to attack the hive cities.
• Art Student rejected evacuating Teda World and ordered civilians moved to his base while his soldiers prepared to fight the Orks.
• The governor panicked at the invasion and shot a staff member who reported the destruction of the space dock.
• An official told the governor that Greenskin Orks were attacking Hive World One and Hive World Two, and said he had notified Marshal Liek.

Teda II’s governor and Marshal Liek prepared the hive city’s defences as an Ork horde advanced, with Imperial reinforcements still half a Terra month away. The Orks reached the southern defensive line, and the battle began with both sides exchanging fire.

• The governor learned that Ork warships had sealed the planet and ordered Marshal Liek to defend the hive city while astropaths sought Imperial aid.
• Marshal Liek’s forces built two defensive lines south of the hive city and rallied the soldiers to protect their families until reinforcements arrived.
• An intelligence officer told Marshal Liek that the Orks were ten minutes away, and Marshal Liek ordered his officers to shoot anyone who retreated.
• As the Ork horde approached, a frontline veteran ordered the Planetary Defence Force to open fire, killing many Orks.
• The Orks charged through the barrage without fear and returned fire on the human defensive line.

Human artillery and soldiers fought to stop the Greenskin Orks, but the Orks broke through the front-line trenches and overwhelmed the defenders. Marshal Liek watched the failing battle and questioned the intelligence he had received as the first line struggled to hold.

• Human artillery bombarded the advancing Orks, but its ammunition ran out as the Orks closed on the trenches.
• A shell struck a human position, killing the company commander and hundreds of soldiers, while a Greenskin Ork charged into the trench and slaughtered defenders.
• The company commander led his guards against the Ork, but the Ork shattered his bones and killed him before leading his boys back into the fight.
• Greenskin Orks poured through the breached lines and overwhelmed the human defenders in brutal trench combat.
• Marshal Liek watched the front-line footage, condemned the inaccurate intelligence, and was asked by his intelligence officer what to do as the first line faltered.

Marshal Liek ordered the artillery to bombard the frontline positions to slow the Orks, sacrificing his own soldiers and shattering the line. As routed troops fled toward the second line, its company commander ordered them fired upon while the Orks charged after them.

• Marshal Liek rejected the intelligence officer's objections and ordered the artillery to bombard the frontline positions.
• The artillery regiment commander enforced the order, and the guns killed both hive world soldiers and Orks in the frontline positions.
• Terrified soldiers fled the bombardment and the Orks, while commissar soldiers shot deserters but were overwhelmed.
• A company commander in the second line ordered his men to fire on the fleeing soldiers as the Orks pursued them.
• Boss Iron Hand led the Ork boys in a charge toward the second line.

Ork infighting delayed some of Crooked Mouth’s war machines, while the rest reached the human defenses on Teda Hive World and shattered the second position. As the human line collapsed, a regiment commander and a handful of resolute soldiers charged the Orks and were swallowed by the horde.

• A Gretchin piloting a Killa Kan insulted an Ork, killed him, and provoked a massive brawl among the Orks.
• Human soldiers at the second defensive position ran low on ammunition as they faced an enormous Ork assault.
• Ten massive Ork war machines arrived and bombarded the human defenses, killing soldiers and demolishing their positions.
• Many human soldiers fled toward the hive city as their morale collapsed, despite officers and veterans urging them to stand and fight.
• A noble-born regiment commander led the remaining resolute soldiers in a charge for Teda Hive World, and the Ork horde quickly swallowed them.

Marshal Liek’s command collapsed as the Orks advanced, and he and his intelligence officer died by suicide. In the Lower Hive, gang members resisted the Orks until an Ork boss agreed to send Hoppers into the fight.

• Marshal Liek ordered the surviving officers to keep fighting, then killed himself over the losses and the blame he expected to face.
• The intelligence officer found Marshal Liek dead and shot himself as well.
• The retreating human soldiers fled into the Lower Hive, where gangs fought the Orks to defend their territories and livelihoods.
• An Ork boss led repeated attacks on a gang-held street, but the gang’s heavy weapons repelled them.
• A Gretchin suggested sending Hoppers into battle, and the Ork boss approved the plan.

Clever Git sent Gretchin and bomb-carrying Hoppers into the attack on the gang-held street, then led a sneak assault on the gang’s rooftop gun position. After the Gretchin turned the Logging Gun against its former crew, the Greenskins broke into the street and began massacring the defenders.

• Clever Git ordered the Gretchin to prepare the Hoppers with bombs for the attack.
• The Orks advanced on the gang-held street alongside the Gretchin and Hoppers, and the Hoppers blew up a machine-gun emplacement.
• A gang member shot a Hopper with the Logging Gun, causing its bomb to explode among the Orks.
• Clever Git led Gretchin around the main battlefield to ambush the gang members on the rooftop, killing the sentries and the Logging Gun operator.
• Clever Git ordered the Gretchin to turn the Logging Gun on the gang, giving the Orks a chance to charge into the street and slaughter the defenders.

Art Student reviewed the Planetary Defence Force’s failed defense against the Orks, confirmed the base’s evacuation and fortifications were ready, and handed battle command to Gray, Mendeleev, and Anrida. At the defensive line, Anrida assigned the companies to their positions and ordered the tanks held back as artillery support.

• Art Student asked Anrida about the evacuation, Hogood about accommodations and withdrawal plans, and Anglie about the base’s defenses; each reported preparations were on track.
• Art Student left the battle to Gray, Mendeleev, and Anrida, while privately blaming Tzeentch for the Ork invasion.
• Tzeentch sensed that someone was blaming him and suspected the hidden interworld smuggler, whom he could not locate.
• Gray, Mendeleev, and Anrida agreed that the Space Marines would handle Ork bosses and naval personnel would support the Defence Force under Anrida’s command.
• Anrida assigned the first nine companies to the central, left, and right fronts, kept the last three in reserve, and ordered the tanks held back for artillery support.

Anrida, Gray, and Mendeleev oversaw the Defense Force’s preparations while waiting for the Greenskin Orks to approach. When Gray proposed luring the Orks toward the base to draw in more of their forces, Anrida was left to decide whether to approve the plan.

• Anrida assigned the Space Marines to handle dangerous Greenskin Orks and told Mendeleev’s naval personnel to rest until needed.
• Defense Force soldiers installed weapons, checked their trenches, and tried to calm their nerves by trusting the Lord of the Stars and their training.
• Captain Milos reported that about a hundred thousand Greenskin Orks had entered the Underhive and were more than three hundred kilometers away.
• Three Terra hours later, Milos reported Greenskin Orks fifty-three kilometers away in Totka City, but they were heading toward Azit City rather than the base.
• Mendeleev proposed luring the Orks to the base, and Gray supported the idea before asking Anrida, who commanded the battle, what he thought.

Gray sent Tina and her four Space Marines to lure an Ork force from Totka City toward the base without killing its boss. After drawing the Orks into pursuit, Tina’s squad continued provoking them as one Space Marine attacked from behind.

• Gray ordered Tina to lead her combat squad to Totka City and draw the Orks toward the base, sparing their boss.
• Tina and four Space Marines rode their Anti-Gravity Speeder Bikes to Totka City, where a small Ork force was searching for humans to fight.
• The Space Marines ambushed the Orks with gunfire and attacks, prompting the Ork boss to charge after them.
• Tina told her squad to keep the Orks pursuing them and not kill the boss, then led them toward the base.
• When the Orks began to slow down, one Space Marine circled behind them and charged into their ranks with his glowing Power Sword, cutting down several Orks.

Tina and the Space Marines lured a pursuing Ork horde to the base, where First Company opened fire and joined the battle. Tina killed the Ork Boss, breaking the Orks’ morale and sending some fleeing.

• A Space Marine cut through the pursuing Orks on his hover bike, then the Ork Boss sent Boyz to summon reinforcements and ordered the rest to keep chasing.
• The Space Marines repeatedly attacked the Orks to keep them pursuing, and Tina alerted Captain Gray that they were nearing the base.
• Captain Gray’s First Company opened fire from the trenches as the Orks reached the base’s defenses, beginning a fierce battle.
• Tina shot the Ork Boss in the head, and some Orks lost their nerve and fled.

After Tina killed an Ork boss, the Orks broke into chaos, and the Defense Force held its fire while they fought among themselves. Meanwhile, Iron Hand brought Iron Bull news of a large group of Human Tin Cans, and Iron Bull gathered his Boyz for battle.

• Tina's long-range kill of an Ork boss sent the Orks into disarray, with some fleeing and others fighting to claim leadership.
• Anrida ordered the First Company commander to cease fire and let the Orks fight among themselves while they waited for the main Ork force.
• A dozen Ork Boyz told Iron Hand that they had encountered Human Tin Cans riding motorcycles and had been attacked.
• Iron Hand brought the Boyz to Iron Bull, who confirmed their report and called his Orks to gather for battle.

Iron Bull led a growing Greenskin force toward the Underhive as Anrida prepared the Defense Force to meet the approaching horde. The battle began with a massive artillery barrage, and both sides opened fire as the Greenskins charged.

• Iron Bull gathered Greenskins and marched toward the Underhive, gaining leaderless followers along the way.
• A newly victorious Greenskin boss led more than ten thousand Orks in a charge, but the Defense Force's First Company wiped them out.
• Milos reported that a massive Greenskin force was approaching, and Anrida ordered the companies, artillery, and tanks to prepare for battle.
• The Defense Force's tanks and heavy howitzers fired on the horde, killing and disabling vast numbers of Greenskins before they reached the base.
• Iron Bull roared to rally his Greenskins, who charged and fired back as the Defense Force returned fire from its positions.