Chapter Summaries

Gray introduced himself as a regiment commander and challenged Tyberos to a duel, offering freedom if Tyberos won and demanding his surrender if Gray prevailed. Gray defeated Tyberos’s opening attack and cut one of his mechanical claws in half, leaving the Flame Sword resting on Tyberos’s shoulder.

• Gray told Tyberos that he commanded the Space Marines under the Lord of the Stars and explained their ranks and current numbers.
• Gray challenged Tyberos to a duel, promising to let the Carcharodons leave if Tyberos won and requiring him to surrender if Gray won.
• Tyberos accepted the challenge and readied Hunger and Slaughter, his mechanical claws.
• Tyberos charged Gray and attacked with both claws, but Gray evaded the strikes.
• Gray cut Tyberos’s left mechanical claw in half, dodged the other claw, and placed his Flame Sword on Tyberos’s shoulder.

After Gray defeated Tyberos, the Carcharodons leader surrendered and ordered his Chapter to lay down its weapons. Most Imperial Navy commanders also surrendered after learning the Carcharodons had given up.

• Gray extinguished the Flame Sword and rested it on Tyberos's shoulder, and Tyberos admitted defeat and surrendered.
• Tyberos ordered the Carcharodons Space Marines to lower their weapons, then removed his helmet and revealed his ruined face.
• Gray offered to have Tyberos's wounds treated, but Tyberos refused and agreed to order his fleet to surrender.
• Tyberos told the Librarian that the Carcharodons were no match for Gray's forces, and the Librarian agreed to withdraw and inform the Imperial Navy.
• The Imperial Navy learned of the Carcharodons' surrender, and most of its commanders chose to surrender as well.

Mendeleev’s First Fleet struggled against the Imperial Navy and Adeptus Mechanicus’ vastly larger combined fleet in the Jesta Galaxy as Imperial transports began landing troops on Jesta Planet. He summoned scattered patrol fleets to help and requested reinforcements, while Pius ordered the Defense Force to attack the transports from the ground.

• The Imperial Combined Fleet of more than seven hundred capital ships overwhelmed Mendeleev’s Star Navy Fleet and sent transports toward Jesta Planet.
• Mendeleev recalled the patrol fleets, whose arrival brought the Star Navy Fleet to thirty-seven vessels but could only disrupt the enemy’s advance.
• Mendeleev requested aid from the other major fleets, but communications officers reported that they were engaged elsewhere and could not send reinforcements immediately.
• Pius ordered the Fourth Legion of the Defense Force to destroy the Imperial transports before they could land.
• The Defense Force opened fire with anti-aircraft guns, Volcano Cannons, plasma cannons, and missiles against the incoming enemy formation.

Pius’s forces unleashed devastating anti-air fire against the Imperium’s landing craft over Jesta, destroying many transports and fighters while some reached the surface. When an Imperium cruiser tried to support the survivors with macro cannon fire, a large Void Shield around the planet stopped its shells, leaving the captain to report the problem and seek reinforcements.

• Pius watched the Defense Force’s anti-air barrage destroy numerous Imperium transports and fighters, while a few craft slipped through and landed on Jesta.
• Pius ordered all units to maintain their assault and destroy the incoming craft before they could react.
• An Imperium transport pilot requested fire support, and a cruiser captain ordered the ship’s macro cannons to fire on Jesta.
• Jesta’s large Void Shield made the shells vanish before they could reach the planet.
• The cruiser captain agreed to report the shield to General Bulon and request help from the Emperor’s Angels and the Adeptus Mechanicus.

Bulon agreed that the Imperium needed the Emperor's Angels to destroy Jesta's Void Shield generators, so the Brass Dragons launched a Drop Pod assault. Neketz and Pius's defenses subjected the landing zone to a devastating bombardment, leaving the Space Marines bloodied and battered.

• Bulon accepted Velov's suggestion to ask the Emperor's Angels to destroy Jesta's Void Shield generators.
• Arjinto sent two companies of Brass Dragons in Drop Pods toward Jesta to carry out a decapitation strike.
• Neketz spotted the incoming Drop Pods, but Pius told him to trust their home-ground defenses.
• Jesta's anti-aircraft weapons shot down some Drop Pods, while the survivors slammed into the landing zone.
• The Brass Dragons fled their Drop Pods after their Auspex alarms sounded, but missiles and heavy artillery blasted the landing zone and hurled them through the air.
• The battered Space Marines struggled to their feet after the bombardment and coughed up blood.

Isel and Zuckerberg regrouped after a heavy artillery barrage devastated their landing force on Jesta. They agreed to attack the Defense Force’s fortifications together while keeping their forces spread out, then charged toward the enemy positions.

• Isel and Zuckerberg escaped the heavy artillery bombardment, but their power armor systems suffered damage.
• Isel and Zuckerberg counted their surviving Space Marines and found that only a little over 130 of the original 200 remained.
• Zuckerberg examined the enemy’s layered defensive positions and chose a frontal assault because the fortifications were similar in every direction.
• Isel proposed that the Space Marines maintain distance from one another to reduce losses from further bombardment, and Zuckerberg agreed.
• Zuckerberg led the Space Marines in a rapid charge toward the Defense Force positions.

Kairos Fateweaver spread a false rumor about hidden Imperial weapons to draw Chaos warbands to the Jesta Star System, then redirected an Ork fleet there as well. Meanwhile, Arjinto learned that most of the Space Marines sent to Jesta Planet had been killed and asked Sage Belisarius Cawl for help.

• Kairos Fateweaver decided to draw Chaos forces into the war in the Jesta Star System by spreading news of a hidden Imperial weapons stockpile.
• Kairos Fateweaver sent psychic messages to Chaos sorcerers, who passed the rumor to warbands that set course for the system.
• Kairos Fateweaver spotted a huge Ork fleet in the Warp and cast a spell to guide it toward the Jesta Star System.
• Arjinto received a distress call and learned that only a little over thirty of the two hundred Space Marines sent to Jesta Planet remained.
• Arjinto ordered the communications officer to contact Sage Belisarius Cawl and request the Adeptus Mechanicus's assistance.

Cawl's Clone sent House Storm Knights to reinforce Zuckerberg's stalled Space Marines on Jesta. After thirty-one Knight mechs arrived by psychic teleportation, Chapter Master Arjinto personally led another force of reinforcements toward them.

• Cawl's Clone received Arjinto's distress signal and dispatched two light cruisers carrying House Storm Knights to break through the Defense Force's positions.
• Isel told Zuckerberg that a senior tech-priest had ordered him to activate a psychic teleportation beacon for the incoming Knight mechs.
• Zuckerberg ordered Isel to activate the beacon after the Defense Force's artillery and Exploding Hounds had devastated his Space Marines.
• Isel activated the beacon, and thirty-one Knight mechs from House Storm Knights emerged, led by a Dominus-class mech.
• Zuckerberg and Isel welcomed the Knight reinforcements, but drop pods then descended nearby, and Isel revealed that Chapter Master Arjinto had personally led more troops to support them.

Arjinto joined Richard’s Knight force to attack the Defense Force positions, reassuring Zuckerberg and Isel after their failed mission and losses. As the Knights and Brass Dragons advanced, Pius dismissed the threat and refused to call in the fleet’s Knights.

• Zuckerberg and Isel apologized to Arjinto and accepted responsibility for the failed mission, but Arjinto comforted them and urged them to regroup for the battles ahead.
• Arjinto met Richard, patriarch of House Storm Knights, and agreed that the Brass Dragons would protect the Knight suits from infantry attacks.
• Richard activated his Dominus-class Knight, and the other Knights advanced with the Brass Dragons toward the Defense Force positions.
• Neketz reported the thirty-one advancing Knight suits to Pius and asked whether they should summon the Knights stationed with the fleet.
• Pius sneered at the enemy’s Knight suits and dismissed the need to reinforce the defenses.

Pius ordered the Star Army to prolong the battle and wear down the False Emperor's forces until reinforcements arrived. At Position 032, the Defense Force's artillery halted House Storm Knights' advance, while the knights' return fire failed against the positions' Void Shield.

• Pius explained to Neketz that the Star Army had to avoid defeating the enemy too quickly while holding its defensive line until reinforcements arrived.
• Neketz left the command room to relay Pius's orders to the commanders.
• Captain Ebony ordered Position 032 to attack House Storm Knights' approaching mechs.
• Fifty Apocalypse Tanks and the rear artillery unit bombarded the knights, halting their advance and straining their plasma shields.
• Richard ordered House Storm Knights' mechs to return fire, but their attacks exploded against the Defense Force's Void Shield.

Richard led the Knight mechs in a charge against the Defense Force’s fortified position, but an Electromagnetic Pulse Cannon overloaded their plasma shields and left them vulnerable to devastating tank fire. Richard’s Dominus-class Knight lost its shield, leaving him exposed as the attack continued.

• Richard charged toward the Defense Force’s position under heavy artillery fire, and the Questoris Knight pilots followed to cover him.
• Ebony ordered the Electromagnetic Pulse Cannon at Position 032 to disable the advancing mechs’ shields.
• The cannon’s blue wave swept through the Knight formation and pushed the mechs’ plasma shields toward overload.
• Apocalypse Tanks destroyed several Armiger Knight mechs after the pulse attack left their shields vulnerable.
• An Apocalypse Tank’s siege shell struck Richard’s Dominus-class Knight and overloaded its plasma shield, leaving him exposed.

House Storm Knights and the Brass Dragons retreated after failing to break the Defense Force’s artillery-backed positions. Velov took their withdrawal without further attack as evidence that the heretics were running low on ammunition and began sending Astra Militarum troops down to Jesta.

• A Knight Errant mech saved Richard from an Earthshaker shell, and Richard ordered House Storm Knights to retreat after his Dominus-class Knight lost its plasma shield.
• Arjinto ordered the surviving Brass Dragons to withdraw when he saw the knight mechs retreat and judged that his Space Marines could not cross the artillery kill zone alone.
• Ebony halted the Defense Force’s artillery fire on the company commander’s orders, despite a squadron commander’s objections.
• After hearing House Storm Knights’ attack had failed, Velov considered their request for reinforcements and sent transport ships to test Jesta’s anti-air defenses.
• Several transports landed safely, convincing Velov that the heretics’ ammunition was depleted, so he ordered a large deployment of Astra Militarum soldiers to Jesta.

As the Imperial Combined Fleet overwhelmed Mendeleev’s Star Navy Fleet, five Ork space hulks emerged from the Warp and charged toward the battle. Meanwhile, dozens of Ork asteroid warships plunged toward Jesta, leaving the Imperial commanders stunned as they entered the planet’s atmosphere.

• Mendeleev ordered his Star Navy Fleet to retreat while fighting an attritional battle against the Imperial Combined Fleet.
• One-Eye saw the fleets on the space hulk’s combat screen and ordered the Orks to charge into battle.
• Four other space hulks followed One-Eye’s flagship toward the two fleets.
• An Ork boss ordered his asteroid warship to race toward Jesta, prompting the other Ork bosses to follow.
• The Imperial Combined Fleet detected the incoming asteroid warships and fired on them, but the Orks charged through the bombardment and entered Jesta’s atmosphere.

A Greenskin fleet appeared behind the Imperial Combined Fleet in the Jesta Star System, forcing General Bulon to turn and attack it instead of pursuing the heretics. Mendeleev also redirected the Star Navy Fleet to fight the Greenskins, and their fighters began intercepting the Greenskin craft.

• Tocqueville warned Bulon that five Greenskin warships had appeared behind the fleet, and Bulon ordered his ships to turn and engage them first.
• Greenskins swarmed into fighters and assault boats, launching in overwhelming numbers toward the Imperial Combined Fleet.
• Bulon ordered the fleet to fire, and its macrocannons and lance batteries attacked the Greenskin ships and craft.
• Wusi informed Mendeleev of the Greenskin attack, and Mendeleev ordered the Star Navy Fleet to charge the Greenskins and deploy its Aerospace Fighters.
• The Star Navy Fleet launched Aerospace Fighters and Intelligent Wingmen, whose attacks struck and destroyed Greenskin fighters and assault boats.

The Star Navy Fleet and Imperial Combined Fleet attacked the Ork fleet as Orks landed on Jesta and surged toward the Astra Militarum landing zone. Pius ordered Neketz to lead one hundred thousand Apocalypse Tanks against the invading horde.

• The Star Navy Fleet and Imperial Combined Fleet fought the Ork fleet, while Bulon kept his forces from cooperating with or attacking the Star Navy Fleet.
• Ork asteroid warships crashed into Jesta, and hordes of Orks poured out and advanced toward the Astra Militarum landing zone and Defense Force positions.
• Pius ordered the artillery to bombard the approaching Orks, killing many but failing to stop the horde.
• Pius ordered Neketz to lead one hundred thousand Apocalypse Tanks to support the Astra Militarum and destroy the Orks.
• Neketz left the command center and led the Apocalypse Tanks toward the landing zone.

Velov ordered the Astra Militarum to build defenses and bombard the invading Orks on Jesta, while the Defense Force also fired on the Ork advance. As the Orks reached the Astra Militarum lines, House Storm Knights agreed to help repel them and both sides opened fire.

• Velov arrived on Jesta as Ork warships invaded the system and ordered the Astra Militarum to construct defensive positions.
• The Defense Force fired shells at the Ork landing site, and Velov ordered the Astra Militarum artillery to join the bombardment.
• Astra Militarum and Defense Force artillery destroyed Ork vehicles and killed many Orks, but the surviving hordes continued charging.
• Velov asked Clan Chief Richard to assist against the Orks, and Richard agreed that House Storm Knights would help.
• As Orks closed on the Astra Militarum positions, the regiment commander ordered his soldiers to attack, and both sides unleashed gunfire.

The Orks smashed through the Astra Militarum’s hastily built barricades on Jesta Planet and overwhelmed the defenders. As an Ork Boss nearly killed the company commander, enormous tanks arrived and began cutting down the attackers.

• Ork battle trucks crashed through the Astra Militarum barricades and unleashed flamethrowers as Orks stormed the position.
• The company commander shot a fleeing soldier, rallied the remaining defenders, and led a charge against the Orks.
• An Ork Boss attacked the company commander, and a soldier was cleaved in two while warning him.
• The company commander dodged the Ork Boss’s axe until a massive shell blasted the Boss apart.
• Enormous tanks appeared beyond the Astra Militarum position and opened fire on the Orks.

Neketz led the Defense Force’s Apocalypse Tanks into the battle, crushing the Ork assault and securing the Astra Militarum’s frontline. As the tank force pressed forward, Velov, Richard, and Arjinto prepared their own forces to join the attack.

• Neketz’s Apocalypse Tanks attacked the Orks from both flanks, using siege shells and anti-aircraft guns to devastate the horde.
• The tanks pushed past the Astra Militarum’s rear positions and helped eliminate the Orks breaking through its frontline.
• Velov and Richard were stunned by the Defense Force’s heavy tank strength, while Arjinto said the Imperial fleet could destroy the planet if necessary.
• Velov urged the others to deploy against the Orks, and Richard committed House Storm Knights while Arjinto committed the Brass Dragons.
• Velov ordered all Chimera armored personnel carriers into action as Neketz commanded the tanks to keep advancing.
• A hundred thousand Apocalypse Tanks and their combat robot escorts surged forward, killing Orks with siege shells, machine guns, and Gauss Rifles.

Ork propeller aircraft attacked the advancing Defense Force, but the Apocalypse Tanks’ shields and anti-aircraft guns destroyed the entire formation. Undeterred, the Orks surged forward with Killa Kans and Deff Dreads to attack the tanks.

• The Orks sent a fresh wave of fighters and crude propeller aircraft against the advancing Defense Force tank units.
• Ork pilots strafed the Apocalypse Tanks, but the tanks’ field shields blocked the bullets and their anti-aircraft guns shot down many aircraft.
• One Ork aircraft dropped a bomb onto an Apocalypse Tank’s shield, blasting nearby combat robots into the air, but they recovered and resumed firing.
• An Apocalypse Tank’s anti-aircraft gun destroyed the bomber, and the tank force wiped out the remaining Ork aircraft.
• The Orks roared and charged the Apocalypse Tanks with Killa Kans and Deff Dreads.

Orks launched a massive assault on the Defense Force’s Apocalypse Tanks, while the Brass Dragons watched the tanks’ formidable defenses and joined the fighting. Arjinto led several hundred Space Marines toward the front lines as the battle intensified, and Isel questioned the power of the combat robots’ weapons.

• Gorkanauts and Dirty Tanks led the Ork horde in an attack, but the Apocalypse Tanks and anti-aircraft guns tore through the charging forces.
• Zuckerberg and Isel were shaken by the Apocalypse Tanks’ shields, while Arjinto urged the Brass Dragons to gather information and fight the Orks first.
• Arjinto led the Brass Dragons through the tank formation, and Neketz ordered the Defense Force not to attack them unless they attacked first.
• Arjinto reached the front lines and saw the Apocalypse Tanks destroy Ork vehicles before they could approach within a hundred meters.
• Isel asked Arjinto how the combat robots’ weapons could reduce Orks struck by their energy beams to grit.