Chapter Summaries

An Apocalypse Tank force and its allies advanced toward the Ork landing site as the Bloodhand Warband's survivors charged toward them. Kam's Khorne blessing made him immune to ordinary gunfire, and Neketz and Arjinto's Space Marines rushed to stop him before he reached the tanks.

• One hundred thousand Apocalypse Tanks advanced toward the Ork landing site alongside Astra Militarum soldiers, Space Marines, and other forces.
• Arjinto's Auspex detected approaching lifeforms, and he warned the Space Marines that the Orks were coming.
• Arjinto and the others saw Kam leading the surviving Bloodhand Warband Chaos Space Marines in a charge toward the tanks.
• The Apocalypse Tanks' machine guns and the combat robots' Gauss Rifles killed many of Kam's followers, but Kam evaded the attacks and resisted ordinary bullets through Khorne's blessing.
• The tank crews called on Commander Neketz to stop Kam, and Neketz charged out as Arjinto led the Brass Dragons' veteran Space Marines toward him.

Kam charged the Space Marines and overwhelmed Arjinto and his reinforcements in battle. As Kam brought his axe down toward Arjinto’s head, Isel and the others failed to stop him.

• Kam charged the Apocalypse Tank while dodging and enduring the Space Marines’ Bolt Pistol fire.
• Isel and the other Space Marines charged Kam, and Arjinto met him with his Power Sword.
• Kam broke Arjinto’s right arm, knocked away his Power Sword, and severed the arm with a follow-up axe strike.
• Isel and the others attacked Kam, but he sent them flying and left them badly injured.
• Kam raised his axe to kill the helpless Arjinto, while Isel and the others fired Bolters that vanished before reaching him.

Neketz killed Kam just before he could finish Arjinto, then the Defense Force’s tank force opened fire on the charging Orks. As the Ork army was torn apart, Neketz ordered the Tenth Company to concentrate its shells on One-Eye.

• Neketz arrived in power armor and killed Kam with his Flame Sword, saving Arjinto.
• Neketz offered Arjinto treatment, but Arjinto refused and asked Isel and the others to take him to the Techmarine.
• The Orks charged, and the Apocalypse Tanks and anti-aircraft guns slaughtered them with a barrage of fire.
• One-Eye roared in rage at the destruction of his army and drew the tank force’s attention.
• Neketz ordered the Tenth Company to fire every shell at One-Eye, and the siege shells filled the sky above his position.

One-Eye’s Orks gained powerful green shields from their collective belief, allowing them to withstand a massive bombardment and advance against the human tank force. Neketz recognized that the field depended on the Ork boss and ordered the tanks to retreat while keeping their distance.

• One-Eye survived tens of thousands of siege shells behind a green shield and declared himself invincible.
• The surviving Orks celebrated One-Eye, gained green barriers, and charged the human forces despite their comrades falling to concentrated fire.
• Neketz watched the Orks’ defenses and realized their collective psychic field would persist until the Orks were eliminated or their boss was killed.
• Neketz ordered the tank force to retreat slowly and maintain a safe distance while continuing to suppress the Orks.

Neketz summoned reinforcements from the fleet, and a massive force of Exploding Hounds, Earth Dreadnoughts, Knight mechs, and Reaver Titans poured through a teleportation passage to attack the Orks. The Imperium soldiers watched in shock as the mechs advanced and the Exploding Hounds and heavy weapons devastated the Ork ranks.

• Neketz received Mendeleev's approval and placed a teleportation beacon to bring in fleet reinforcements.
• Tens of thousands of Exploding Hounds, more than a thousand Earth Dreadnoughts, two hundred Knight mechs, and fifty Reaver Titans emerged from the passage and advanced on the Orks.
• Arjinto and Isel watched the immense mech force, and Arjinto admitted he did not know whether the Imperium could defeat the heretics.
• Exploding Hounds charged through the Orks' fire, tore into their ranks, and detonated when the Orks struck them down.
• Knight mechs and Reaver Titans bombarded the Orks, overwhelming their energy barriers and killing countless Orks.

Gray arrived with reinforcements after the war against the False Emperor's forces ended, then ordered a full assault on the Orks. As the battle erupted, Gray and Tyberos led an attack toward One-Eye, and Tyberos sprang forward as the Ork boss charged.

• Gray arrived with a thousand Space Marines, and Neketz welcomed him as the reinforcements' commander.
• Gray praised Neketz for holding the line and told Tyberos he would see the mech forces often from then on.
• Gray drew his Flame Sword and ordered the human army to wipe out the Orks.
• The tanks, mechs, robots, and soldiers charged as the Orks roared and rushed to meet them, plunging the battlefield into chaos.
• Gray, his honor guard, and Tyberos fought toward One-Eye, who charged at Gray with tens of thousands of Orks behind him.
• Tyberos burst out of formation with a Power Claw and an electrically crackling Power Sword as One-Eye closed in.

Tyberos killed the Greenskin boss, but the enraged Orks charged in force. Gray used the Flame Sword to incinerate a wave of them, then led Tyberos and one hundred Chapter guards toward One-Eye for a decapitation strike, closing to within a kilometer as One-Eye roared.

• Tyberos dodged the Greenskin boss's axe and killed him with his Power Claw.
• The Orks, emboldened by One-Eye's presence, surged toward Tyberos, but Gray blocked their advance with a devastating wave of fire from the Flame Sword.
• Gray ordered Tyberos and the Chapter guards to target One-Eye, whose death would rout the Ork horde.
• Gray led the group through the Ork ranks, using power weapons and the anti-magic field to break their psychic shields and cut them down.
• Gray and his group broke through the Orks' defenses and approached within a kilometer of One-Eye, who roared at their advance.

Gray and One-Eye fought amid a fierce battle between the Orks and the Chapter guards. After Gray severed One-Eye’s mechanical claw and left arm, One-Eye trapped him with a kick and axe swing, and Gray met the kick with his Power Fist.

• One-Eye rallied the Orks and led their charge against Gray and the others.
• Tyberos and the Chapter guards held the line and carved a path for Gray to reach One-Eye.
• Gray and One-Eye exchanged powerful blows, shaking the ground with the clash of the Flame Sword and battle axe.
• One-Eye split Gray’s flaming dragon attack with his axe, but Gray severed One-Eye’s mechanical claw and left arm with the Flame Sword.
• One-Eye dodged Gray’s follow-up strikes and used a kick and axe swing to block his escape, while Gray raised his Power Fist to strike the incoming foot.

Gray killed One-Eye, and the Greenskin Boss’s death shattered the Orks’ psychic link and morale. The Orks fled as the humans surged after them, turning the battle into a rout.

• Gray used the Power Fist to disintegrate half of One-Eye’s body, then burned away his arm with the Flame Sword.
• Gray knocked One-Eye unconscious with a stomp and cut off his head.
• Gray held up One-Eye’s head and declared the Greenskin Boss dead, causing the Orks’ psychic barrier and tribal link to vanish.
• The Orks panicked and fled while the humans cheered and charged after them.
• The humans unleashed cannon fire and gunfire against the now-unprotected Orks.

The human allied forces exterminated the Orks and other Chaos threats on Jesta Planet, then faced a tense standoff between the Defense Force and the Astra Militarum. Gray approached Velov and Arjinto to seek their surrender, leaving the officers confronting one another as Arjinto recognized Tyberos.

• The Astra Militarum and Defense Force pursued the leaderless Orks for more than six hours and wiped them out, along with the fleeing Chaos cultists, mutants, and Chaos Space Marines.
• After the fighting ended, Velov pulled the Astra Militarum back and kept his soldiers on guard against the Defense Force and Star Space Marines.
• Neketz asked Gray whether they should attack the Imperium forces, but Gray chose to offer them a chance to surrender instead.
• Gray led Tyberos and the Chapter's guard unit toward Velov and Arjinto, who agreed to hear them out rather than attack.
• Arjinto recognized Tyberos and remarked that he had not expected him to surrender and come to Jesta.

Gray tried to persuade Arjinto, Velov, and the Imperial forces on Jesta Planet to surrender by showing them the Imperial Combined Fleet losing the battle and warning of more reinforcements. A commissar and Velov surrendered, while Arjinto remained silent.

• Gray told Velov that surrendering would let the Imperial forces continue fighting for humanity under the Lord of the Stars.
• Gray showed Arjinto, Velov, and the others a hologram of the Star Navy surrounding and attacking the Imperial Combined Fleet.
• Gray warned that other Imperial fleets were being defeated and that more Star Navy ships, tanks, mechs, and Space Marines could arrive.
• Arjinto ignored Gray’s question about the Imperial fleet’s chances of victory.
• An Astra Militarum commissar dropped his weapon and knelt before Gray, and Velov soon followed by surrendering.

After Gray showed the Astra Militarum commanders the Imperial Combined Fleet’s defeat, Velov, Arjinto, and the other higher-ups chose to surrender. Velov announced the decision to his soldiers, who celebrated the end of the fighting.

• Gray showed the Astra Militarum higher-ups the brutal scenes from the Jesta Galaxy, convincing them that the Imperial Combined Fleet had been defeated.
• Velov and the other commanders surrendered to Gray, and Arjinto chose to surrender after Tyberos told him that surrender was no disgrace among humans.
• Gray welcomed the commanders, ordered them to calm their soldiers, and promised supplies so the troops could rest.
• Velov returned to the Astra Militarum positions and announced the surrender to the soldiers.
• The soldiers cheered with relief, while Velov, Arjinto, and Richard watched them in silence.

After the Star Navy’s reinforcements overwhelmed the Imperial Combined Fleet in the Jesta Galaxy, General Bulon concluded that the expedition had failed and proposed withdrawing. Belisarius Cawl left the decision to Bulon, who was poised to order a retreat.

• The Third Fleet, led by Nack, Lilith, and Anrida, joined the siege of the Imperial Combined Fleet after the fighting on Jesta Planet ended.
• General Bulon ordered uncommitted ships to reinforce the left flank and directed concentrated fire support to a damaged Adeptus Mechanicus warship.
• Star Navy reinforcements raised its forces in the Jesta Galaxy to more than five hundred warships, while the Imperial Combined Fleet fell to a little over six hundred.
• An intelligence analyst told Bulon that the fleet had lost contact with the other fleets, and Bulon concluded that they had likely been destroyed.
• Bulon told Belisarius Cawl that the plan to eliminate the heretics had failed and asked about withdrawing; Cawl said the decision was Bulon’s.

Bulon ordered the Imperial Combined Fleet to withdraw from the Jesta Galaxy while a small squadron sacrificed itself to delay the Star Navy Fleet. The Imperial fleet escaped after destroying a newly arrived Chaos warband, and Mendeleev began postwar preparations and convened a meeting.

• Bulon abandoned the attack and sent two light cruisers and more than a dozen smaller warships to cover the Imperial Combined Fleet’s retreat.
• Nine Chaos warband ships emerged from the Warp, and the Imperial Combined Fleet destroyed them in a single volley.
• The Star Navy Fleet destroyed the Imperial ships holding the line as the rest of the Imperial Combined Fleet escaped through the Mandeville Point.
• Mendeleev ordered his forces to cease fire, assess losses, repair damaged cities, and gather for a meeting.
• David and Dorak celebrated the victory, while Anrida warned the officers against arrogance.

Mendeleev identified failures in intelligence gathering and urged the Star Army to retaliate against the False Emperor’s forces in the Provence Sector. The commanders backed his plan to seize strategic nodes and strike vital enemy military targets.

• Mendeleev explained that the Star Army had received no warning about False Emperor forces assembling near the Star Sea, and Gray confirmed the intelligence came from the surrendered Tyberos.
• Mendeleev said the military also bore responsibility for neglecting intelligence, and Gray promised to report the problem to Milos and request more observation posts across Segmentum Pacificus.
• Mendeleev proposed sending a fleet to attack vital military targets in the Provence Sector and secure its key strategic nodes.
• Nack, Dorak, Mo Tuo, Gray, and the other senior commanders enthusiastically supported Mendeleev’s counterattack plan.

Mendeleev reviewed the fleet’s severe losses from the battle while the commanders prepared to attack the False Emperor’s forces. The report revealed heavy casualties and damage, leaving the fleet needing repairs and replacements before it could resume combat.

• Mendeleev argued that two fleets were sufficient for the attack and that the rest had to remain available for defense and reconstruction.
• Anrida noted that every unit wanted to join the battle, and Mo Tuo asked Gray to send Second Company; Gray approved the deployment.
• Wusi delivered a report to Mendeleev, who reviewed it and displayed the compiled losses on a holographic projection.
• The report showed that ten warships were seriously damaged, more than three hundred Aerospace Fighters and four thousand Intelligent Wingmen were destroyed, and naval personnel suffered heavy casualties.
• The Star Space Marines lost more than six hundred members and had over three thousand wounded, while the Defense Force suffered almost no casualties.

After the war, Mendeleev reported the Imperium’s enormous losses and the Star Army’s vast haul of ships and prisoners. The leaders debated how to handle more than four thousand surrendered Astartes Space Marines, with Dorak opposing their integration into the combat order.

• Mendeleev presented the Star Army’s losses, which Anrida called acceptable given the victory and the civilians protected across twenty star systems.
• Mendeleev revealed that the Star Army had captured thirty Battle Barges, fifty-six Strike Cruisers, hundreds of other ships, and more than one hundred and two million Imperial personnel.
• Mendeleev added that more than four thousand Space Marines had surrendered, and said the prisoner count was still incomplete.
• Nack asked how they should manage the surrendered Space Marines, while Mo Tuo admitted he had not fully considered the consequences of accepting their surrender.
• Dorak opposed letting the Astartes Space Marines join the Star Army’s combat order, saying they could not fight in close coordination with Star Space Marines.

Gray and the other commanders debated how to organize the surrendered Astartes, whom the Star Space Marines, Navy, and Defense Force refused to fight alongside. They agreed to consider granting the Astartes an autonomous Chapter under their command, and the group began negotiating its size and authority.

• Nack, Dorak, and the Star Space Marine captains rejected fighting alongside the Astartes, while Gray stayed silent.
• Anrida proposed giving the Astartes some autonomy while requiring them to obey the commanders' orders, and Gray supported the plan.
• Gray said the Astartes could retain their Chapter structure, receive weapons and equipment, and help reclaim star systems and fight xenos.
• Pius, Lilith, and other Navy and Defense Force leaders refused to cooperate with the Astartes, prompting Anrida and Mendeleev to argue that a thousand-member Chapter would be too small.
• Gray raised the question of how large the Chapter should be, noting that the commanders could replicate gene-seeds with their technology.
• Mendeleev led the group in discussing terms that would give the Astartes enough authority to encourage future surrenders without making them difficult to control.

Gray presented the agreed arrangements for surrendered Astartes Chapters, and the Lord of the Stars approved them. After deciding to explore ways to strengthen the Astartes, Gray and the others considered using a physical enhancement technology originally developed for livestock.

• Gray sent the proposal to the Lord of the Stars, who approved it with a single word.
• The group agreed to expand each Astartes Chapter from one thousand members to three thousand and have the Star Army supply equipment and train replacements.
• Dorak and Nack argued that the Astartes were too weak compared with the Star Space Marines and should be strengthened.
• Mendeleev suggested using livestock enhancement technology on the Astartes, and Anrida explained that it had been developed to improve the size and meat of livestock.
• Gray said the technology could be used on the Astartes because they were not normal humans, and suggested the Lord of the Stars might allow it.

Gray and his allies agreed on terms for integrating surrendered Astartes Chapters and launched a counteroffensive toward two vital worlds in the Provence Sector. Arjinto accepted the expansion and equipment terms, while Tyberos waited for his enhancement surgery.

• Gray explained that the new physical enhancement technology could not safely be used on Star Army personnel with genetic vaccines, and proposed letting Astartes choose whether to undergo it or receive technological enhancements instead.
• Anrida, Mendeleev, and the others agreed on measures for handling surrendered Astartes Chapters, then selected Xavier’s Fourth Fleet, Wood’s Fifth Fleet, a company of Star Space Marines, and five armies for a counteroffensive.
• The Fourth Fleet and Fifth Fleet set out toward the Provence Sector capital and an Adeptus Mechanicus forge world.
• Gray told Tyberos and Arjinto that Arjinto’s Chapter could expand to three thousand warriors, with the Star Army conducting their enhancement surgeries and supplying its most advanced equipment.
• Arjinto accepted the terms, and Gray told Tyberos that his enhancement surgery would take place after their current affairs were handled.