Attack on Skullcrusher

Contrary to what many imagined, even when the Emperor had campaigned against the Ullanor Ork Empire, there had only been a handful of truly grand, earth-shaking battles.

For most of the time, both sides had probed, harassed, and weakened one another while trying to uncover the fatal weakness the other had concealed.

War moved the whole body with a single tug. Before one had gained an overwhelming advantage, making fewer mistakes mattered more than achieving victories.

This campaign against the Ghoul Stars Ork Empire was no different.

Lox had consolidated part of the Solar Fleet's forces, along with Space Marines from the Night Lords and Salamanders, to forge the Nostramo Defensive Line into an impregnable wall.

According to the intelligence Lox had received, Marius Gage had already led reinforcements from the Five Hundred Worlds to seal off the other sectors connecting the Ultima Segmentum to the Ghoul Stars.

Only the Ultramarines, with their abundance of troops and commanders, could accomplish something like that.

This time, Gage had personally led the Four Champions and a host of senior Ultramarines officers, bringing more than five hundred thousand Astartes in response to Lox's call.

In fact, even Lox had been dumbfounded when he first heard the news.

Five hundred thousand. Fucking five hundred thousand.

And that was merely the Ultramarines' first wave of troops. If the war bogged down, all of Ultramar could dispatch even more Space Marines.

The present-day Greater Ultramar realm could no longer be described as the "Five Hundred Worlds."

As the inhabited planets surrounding the original Five Hundred Worlds had been annexed, Ultramar's territory had expanded by another enormous stretch.

This monstrous primarch realm now dominated the vastest reaches of the Ultima Segmentum.

According to incomplete statistics, it might now possess nearly six hundred core worlds with broad influence.