Chapter Summaries

Trazyn discovered that Vashtorr and Abaddon had raided Solemnace sixty-five years earlier, killing his avatar and releasing a Krork along with other exhibits. Fearing the Krork could build a new Ork empire, Trazyn confessed his illegal collection to the Silent King, who appeared with the Triarch as the chapter ended.

• Trazyn read a Necron pilot's memories and learned that Abaddon and Chaos Space Marines, aided by Vashtorr, had attacked Solemnace sixty-five years earlier.
• Trazyn and Lox inspected the damaged museum, found several exhibits missing, and freed captured Space Marines whom Lox restrained and told that the Horus Heresy was over.
• Trazyn discovered that his prized Krork had escaped, and Lox feared the ancient Ork could gather Greenskin tribes and secretly build a powerful empire.
• Trazyn asked Lox to accompany him to meet the Silent King, and they contacted Szarekh and the two phaerons, Hapsetra and Mesophet.
• Trazyn knelt before the Silent King and confessed that he had hidden a Krork in Solemnace and that Vashtorr's assault had released it.

Lox and Trazyn learned that Szarekh had tested Trazyn’s identity and warned him to keep the soul-restoration technology secret amid Necron political rivalries and the approaching Tyranids. Lox then explained the situation outside Solemnace to the rescued Space Marines, including Cassiel.

• Szarekh subjected Trazyn to pressure to verify that he was still himself, then revealed the Tyranids were advancing toward the Milky Way and ordered him to test soul restoration in secret.
• Trazyn told Lox that Imotekh the Stormlord opposed Szarekh, and Lox reasoned that the Silent King was maneuvering to bind humanity to the Necrons while keeping the Matrix of Leadership from destabilizing the dynasties.
• Lox warned Trazyn that restoring Necron souls could threaten Imotekh’s rule and ignite conflict, and Trazyn realized Szarekh’s warning was meant to protect him and conceal the discovery.
• Lox and Trazyn shared wine in Solemnace while Canoptek constructs repaired the museum and the rescued Space Marines gathered around Lox.
• Cassiel identified himself as a former Blood Angels Ninth Company captain, and Lox began telling the Space Marines what had happened outside.

Lox freed the stasis-bound Space Marines from Trazyn’s museum, left a psychic beacon on Solemnace, and headed for Terra. Meanwhile, the escaped Krork settled among the Ghoul Stars’ Greenskin Orks, named himself Da Vinci, and discovered that his offspring could only grow into ordinary Orks.

• Lox told Casil and the other Space Marines that Horus had rebelled against the Emperor, and Calanti confirmed the account from his own knowledge.
• Lox agreed to take Calanti and the liberated Space Marines back to the Imperium, then left a psychic beacon on Solemnace before departing for Terra.
• The escaped Krork defeated Bloodhowl Zak and took his throne on Greenskin Planet, where he brooded over how far the Orks had fallen.
• The ancient Ork chose the name Krork Da Vinci and used his spores and Waaagh energy to try to grow new Krork.
• After three days, Da Vinci’s first offspring emerged but grew only into a roughly three-meter Ork, leaving him frustrated and doubtful about taking revenge on the Necrons.

Krork Da Vinci accepted the Greenskin Orks as his descendants and learned that they had forgotten the Old Ones and their ancient past. After identifying the curse and divisions that held the Orks back, he rallied them to conquer the Ghoul Stars and lead a new Waaagh against their enemies.

• Da Vinci revealed his true appearance, and the Greenskin Orks acclaimed him as their new Boss while their Waaagh field began to influence him.
• Da Vinci questioned Bloodhowl Zack and a Runtherd about Ork history, learning that the Orks remembered the Brain Boyz but believed an extinction plague had killed them.
• Da Vinci deduced that the Orks had been weakened through blocked knowledge, genetic corruption, and a drive toward infighting, while their gods Gork and Mork were divided against each other.
• Da Vinci declared that the Orks' true enemy was the curse on their bloodline and called on them to become Krork again; the Orks roared their support and began changing toward their ancestors.
• Da Vinci set the first goal of uniting the Ghoul Stars, gathering resources to build battle moons and other war machines, and launching a Waaagh against the Necrons and every other enemy.

Kork Da Vinci strengthened and unified the Greenskin Orks, received the blessing of Gork and Mork, and vowed to conquer the galaxy. As Ashen Claws ships approached his planet, Da Vinci prepared to fight them while Narath Kyllin led his Chapter toward a battle he feared they could not survive.

• Da Vinci named a Big Mek Einstein and used intelligence-awakening mushrooms to help the Meks devise plans for building asteroid and planetary warships.
• Einstein identified powerful enemies in the Ghoul Stars, and Da Vinci swore to destroy the Necrons after learning about the Dzarakh Bone Kingdom's Flayers.
• Da Vinci's waaagh field reached Gork and Mork, who blessed him and made him the appointed leader of the Greenskin Orks.
• Da Vinci learned that human ships were approaching and ordered the Orks to ensure the humans never left their planet.
• Narath Kyllin and Chief Librarian Zoe Slyke prepared the Ashen Claws to attack the Ork planet, despite Zoe's vision of an overwhelming green tide and Narath's ominous premonition.

Kirin led the Ashen Claws’ desperate assault on Greenskin Planet, hoping to kill the Ork warlord Bloodhowl Zack and destroy the planet afterward. The Orks’ strength proved far greater than expected, and the chapter ended as Kirin challenged their boss to single combat.

• Kirin rejected Zoe’s suggestion to seek help from the Imperium and committed the Ashen Claws to fighting the Orks in the Ghoul Stars.
• Kirin ordered the fleet to bombard the enormous Ork towers, but their Waaagh!-powered defenses resisted the attack and the Orks retaliated against the ships.
• Kirin and nearly two thousand Ashen Claws launched an orbital assault and fought their way toward the Ork warlord, facing heavy casualties and powerful Ork machines.
• Kirin realized the Orks had far more Mega Armored Bosses and large walkers than before, while Kork’s name and the growing Waaagh! energy surged across the battlefield.
• Kirin challenged the Ork warlord to fight him one-on-one, and the Orks fell silent as heavy footsteps approached.

Natra Kirin and the Ashen Claws faced annihilation on the Ork world, where Bloodhowl Zack defeated Kirin despite his final explosive attack. Chief Librarian Zoe escaped with several hundred survivors, while the true Ork leader, Kork Da Vinci, let their warship flee to warn humanity of the coming Green Tide.

• Natra Kirin realized the Ashen Claws were surrounded by overwhelming Ork forces, including hidden Gargants, and ordered his warriors to lure out Bloodhowl Zack and attack him together.
• Bloodhowl Zack arrived, and Librarian Zoe warned Kirin that the Orks' powerful waaagh field obscured an even stronger presence on the planet.
• Kirin fought Zack, wounded his leg, and was crushed in Zack's power claw, but he tore out Zack's eye and detonated a melta bomb that grievously wounded the warlord.
• Zoe teleported several hundred Ashen Claws to the Ashen Claw, but Kork Da Vinci emerged, healed Zack, and slaughtered warriors who tried to delay him.
• Kork Da Vinci allowed Zoe and the warship to escape so they could warn humanity that the great Green Tide was coming.

Lox returned to the Imperium after more than a century away, learning that Terra had changed while Guilliman bore the burden of ruling it. The chapter ended with Guilliman recognizing Lox and embracing him joyfully in his office.

• Bloodhowl Zak's Orks overwhelmed the Ashen Claws, while battle moons destroyed their escort fleet with Einstein's gravity lash and the Malicious Claw escaped into the Warp.
• Lox and Trazyn traveled from Solemnace to the Solar System, where Lox reflected on the slow changes across human worlds.
• Enrico Nicholson welcomed Lox aboard the Red Alert and explained that Malcador had vanished, the primarchs had scattered, and Guilliman ruled as Lord Commander.
• Lox met Decimus at the Imperial Palace and learned that Stone Men and bureaucrats helped Guilliman manage Terra's administration.
• Lox found Guilliman buried in paperwork, and Guilliman recognized him, rushed over, and embraced him.

Lox returned to Terra and found Guilliman exhausted by a century of ruling the Imperium, then told him about his travels beyond the universe and the technology he had brought back. Guilliman eagerly embraced Space Bridge technology as a way to transform Imperial travel and communication.

• Guilliman broke down in Lox's arms and vented his anger at Malcador for leaving him to govern the Imperium alone.
• Guilliman described the burden of rebuilding the Imperium, managing the High Lords, and coping with the absence of his brothers.
• Lox told Guilliman that Sanguinius and Curze were alive in another universe, that he had defeated a Celestial, and that he hoped to share other universes' technology with humanity.
• Guilliman explained that Mortarion remained imprisoned in the Palace's shadow cells because she refused to become an envoy to the Aeldari.
• Guilliman recounted how he had stabilized the Imperium through reconstruction, military campaigns, and technological development, and Lox praised his efforts.
• Lox revealed that he had brought back Cybertronian Space Bridge technology, and Guilliman immediately resolved to build Space Bridges across the galaxy.

Guilliman explained his plans to contain the Eye of Terror with a fortress line led by Rogal Dorn and to reshape the Imperial Creed into a faith centered on the Emperor and material reason. After hearing that Lox’s parallel universe had successfully developed Primaris Astartes, Guilliman headed with him to Ganymede to meet the project’s scientists, while Lox worried that tensions between ordinary humans and Space Marines remained unresolved.

• Guilliman told Lox and Enrico that he wanted Rogal Dorn to command the defenses around Cadia and keep Chaos forces inside the Eye of Terror.
• Guilliman described how he had rebuilt Terra and adapted the Lectitio Divinitatus into an Imperial Creed that affirmed the Emperor’s divinity while promoting scientific reason.
• Lox suggested that the original copy of Guilliman’s scripture could be used to lure Lorgar, and Trazyn showed interest in collecting it.
• Lox told Guilliman that Primaris Astartes were being mass-produced in another universe, and Guilliman hurried with him to Ganymede to meet Arkhan Land and Belisarius Cawl.
• Guilliman discussed the prospect of upgrading the Ultramarines, while Lox reflected that the conflict between humans and Astartes still threatened the Imperium.

Lox returned to Ganymede after a century away, where the High Technology Community welcomed him as its founder and shared its progress. He told Guilliman, Arkhan Land, and Cawl about the multiverse and his discoveries, ending with news of a physical faster-than-light technology that left Cawl regretting that he had not made the journey himself.

• Lox warned Guilliman that placing Ultramarines in administrative posts would alarm the High Lords, but Guilliman remained silent as he considered the political risk.
• The Red Alert reached Jupiter, where the High Technology Community staged a grand welcome for Lox and presented him with its developing Book of the Omnissiah.
• Lox reunited with Arkhan Land and Cawl, then learned how the High Technology Community had advanced during his absence.
• Lox described the 1661 X-Men Universe, the Celestials, and the Human Expeditionary Force’s battles against their forces.
• Lox revealed that the X-gene had enabled him to create Primaris Astartes with an Infinite Engine, then announced that he had discovered a physical method of faster-than-light travel.
• Cawl regretted giving his personality copy to Lox instead of traveling to the other universe himself.

Lox returned to the High Technology Community and demonstrated the Cybertronian Space Bridge, a physical faster-than-light technology, to Sage Land, Cawl, Guilliman, and the Tech-priests. The first test succeeded, sending a starship 93 light-years to the HD 110067 system.

• Cawl regretted that his personality copy, Cawl One, had helped Lox decipher Space Bridge technology, while Cawl and Sage Land asked to travel with Lox; Lox told them to remain and help safeguard the Warhammer universe.
• Lox listed the technologies he had brought back and introduced Trazyn as the Necron Overlord who had regained his soul through the AllSpark and promised to foster friendly relations with humanity.
• Sage Land showed Lox the High Technology Community’s research into faster-than-light travel, including recovered black glass fragments associated with the Webway.
• Lox assembled the Space Bridge’s 121 pillars and used power drawn from Jupiter to open a traversable passage near Ganymede.
• Tech-priest Leonidas Cox volunteered to cross the passage, and his starship arrived 93 light-years away in the HD 110067 system.

Lox’s successful space bridge experiment thrilled Guilliman and sparked plans for an Imperial network, but Cawl warned that the technology threatened the Navigators’ power and could provoke retaliation. As Guilliman backed the project and ordered its rapid expansion, Lox revealed that a vast Ork tide was gathering, leaving the Imperium facing a new war.

• Ophelia Amengard decided to seek a meeting with Archmagos Belisarius Cawl and offer her family’s STC fragment as a sign of sincerity toward the new technology.
• Lox and the Mechanicus sages confirmed that the cruiser Stuart had crossed the 93-light-year space bridge and returned safely to Ganymede, while Magos Land urged them to develop a wider network.
• Guilliman celebrated the space bridge and considered using the accompanying Stellar Harvester as a weapon, while Lox withheld news that Chaos rebels had released a Krork from Trazyn’s collection.
• Cawl warned Lox and Guilliman that space bridges could threaten the Navigators’ influence, and Land recounted how Navigator agents had destroyed the Black Glass research site to protect their families’ interests.
• Guilliman backed Lox, ordered the space bridge network and Black Glass research accelerated, and declared that the Imperium would use Warp travel, space bridges, and the Webway together.
• Lox warned Guilliman that a green tide greater than the old Ullanor Ork Empire was gathering, signaling that another war was coming.

Guilliman learned that Abaddon’s forces had unleashed ancient Orks capable of becoming a galaxy-threatening green tide, and he redirected the Imperium toward preparing for war. Lox then ordered the High Technology Consortium and Adeptus Mechanicus to accelerate Space Bridge production and replace the old Astartes enhancement program with the completed Primaris upgrade.

• Lox told Guilliman that Abaddon’s reunited traitor forces had released ancient Orks, and Guilliman identified Lorgar or Erebus as likely architects of the scheme.
• Lox explained that ancient Orks were powerful, intelligent weapons from the War in Heaven, while Trazyn offered forces from the Nihilakh Dynasty to help fight them.
• Guilliman ordered Archmagos Land to verify and replicate Space Bridge technology, resolved to mobilize the Imperium, and planned to summon his missing brothers.
• Guilliman and Lox agreed to divide their responsibilities, with Guilliman handling the High Lords of Terra and Lox managing the Adeptus Mechanicus.
• Lox convened the technology assembly and ordered Space Bridge research and production to become the top priority, overriding objections from the assembled sages.
• Lox announced the completion of the Primaris Astartes upgrade project and ordered the old enhancement procedures suspended as the new technology replaced them.

Lox agreed to investigate Grand Sage Ezekiel while Cawl continued the Primaris Space Marine project. On Terra, Guilliman confronted the High Lords over political resistance to the Space Bridge, revealed an approaching Ork crisis, and secured their submission to his wartime command.

• After the Council of Truth, Cawl warned Lox that Ezekiel’s ambitions might exceed his loyalty to the Omnissiah, and Lox decided to investigate Ezekiel himself.
• Guilliman summoned the High Lords and senior officials, then argued with Custodian Tribune Diocletian as the council assembled.
• Guilliman announced that a new catastrophe was approaching and demanded temporary command of the Astra Militarum and Imperial Navy for wartime mobilization.
• Navigator Ambassador Alicia Cortes challenged Guilliman’s Space Bridge plans, and Guilliman lifted her by the collar before denouncing the factions resisting the technology.
• Guilliman revealed that a powerful ancient Ork had entered the galaxy and was gathering strength, then threw Shield-Captain Decian into a wall when he questioned the report.
• Keeler, Imperial officials, and Decian pledged support for Guilliman, restoring his control of the High Lords’ council.

Guilliman forced the High Lords to accept his authority and prepare the Imperium for the ancient Ork threat, while Euphrati Keeler conveyed the Emperor’s support for sweeping changes. On Ganymede, Lox recruited Rogue Trader Orphe Agamend as the first partner in deploying space bridges and considered where the ancient Ork might be hiding.

• Diocletian and most of the High Lords sided with Guilliman, while Guilliman compelled the Navigator Envoy and the military leaders to submit and ordered intelligence networks to investigate the Greenskin Orks.
• Guilliman tasked Diocletian with finding his scattered brothers and mobilizing their legions, then heard Euphrati Keeler say the Emperor supported him acting without restraint.
• On Ganymede, Lox and Trazyn discussed ways to locate the ancient Ork, narrowing its likely hiding places and considering asking the Aeldari for help with Webway records.
• Cawl brought Rogue Trader Orphe Agamend to meet Lox, and she recognized the potential of the space bridge technology after Lox explained its planned deployment.
• Lox offered Orphe a partnership in building space bridges, with Terra providing the technology and local systems supplying resources and operating the ports; Orphe accepted.

Orphea Armengarde and Belisarius Cawl began constructing the first Space Bridge hub beyond the Sol System in the Calixis Sector, giving the Armengarde Dynasty control over a major transportation route. Back on Terra, Lox struggled to advance the wider network and Primaris program while searching for the Krork and other missing figures.

• After three months of Warp travel, Belisarius Cawl arrived in the Calixis Sector with an Ultramarines escort and agreed with Orphea Armengarde to build the Space Bridge hub at Agaria.
• Orphea committed the Armengarde Dynasty’s resources to Cawl’s project, and Cawl used the King Seeker to mine difficult deposits and manufacture an expanded Space Bridge matrix.
• Cawl delivered Orphea a Stellar Harvester vessel with safeguards and left her in charge of the hub’s construction and operation.
• Orphea rallied her exhausted family, promising that the Space Bridge would make the Armengarde Dynasty powerful and allow it to charge rival Rogue Trader families higher fees.
• Lox continued planning the galaxy-wide Space Bridge network while searching unsuccessfully for the Krork and dealing with resistance to Primaris transformation from the Imperial Fists and Black Templars.

Kork Da Vinci’s Greenskin empire destroyed the Saisomon homeworld, suppressing the xenos’ ability to return after death and devouring their gas giant. With the Ghoul Stars’ other major enemies defeated, Da Vinci made the Flayer-infected Necrons of the Drazak Bone Kingdom his final target before taking the Great Green Tide into the wider galaxy.

• Bloodhowl Zack reported that the Greenskins had crushed the Saisomon nest, and Da Vinci demanded the Saisomons submit to his empire; when their captive refused, Zack stomped it to pulp.
• Kork Da Vinci’s Greenskin fleet attacked Tomb Core 9836-18, using battle moons, gravity weapons, and Waaagh-powered defenses to tear apart the Saisomon stronghold.
• The Greenskins overwhelmed the Saisomon forces, and the region’s Waaagh energy suppressed their ability to reload a save, making those killed in battle truly dead.
• Bloodhowl Zack killed the Saisomon leader and reported the victory to Da Vinci, who rejected Zack’s suggestion to call him the Earth Emperor.
• Kork Da Vinci named the Drazak Bone Kingdom his last target in the Ghoul Stars and swore vengeance for Kork and the Old Ones.
• The Greenskin battle planet and battle moons devoured the Saisomon homeworld and entered the Webway, leaving the system empty.

The Greenskin Orks, led by Kork Da Vinci, invaded the Drazak Bone Kingdom and destroyed its Flayer-infected Necron forces. After Bloodhowl Zack killed Vargul, Kork Da Vinci prepared to lead the Orks out of the Ghoul Stars and into the wider galaxy.

• Vargul awoke when the Greenskin Orks tore through the Drazak Dynasty's dimensional barrier with a Battle Moon.
• The Orks' Battle Moon and Battle Planet bombarded the royal court world while Vargul awakened the Necron forces and tried to hold the planet together.
• Greenskin Orks descended in meteor pods, and Bloodhowl Zack led the ground assault against the Flayed Ones.
• The Orks overwhelmed the Flayed Ones, and Zack fought through the defenders to reach Vargul's palace.
• Zack crushed Vargul's body and cognitive processor after revealing that Kork Da Vinci led the Orks.
• Kork Da Vinci celebrated the destruction of the Drazak Dynasty and declared that the Greenskin Orks would leave the Ghoul Stars for the galaxy.

Kork Da Vinci resolved to use the Greenskin Orks to remake the galaxy while the Ashen Claws survivors fled the Ghoul Stars. Uslan brought Zoe Slyke to the Sol System through the Webway, carrying news of Kork and preparing to meet Lox.

• Kork Da Vinci planned to defeat humanity and cleanse the galaxy as Orks scavenged the Necron Crownworld for weapons and technology.
• Ainstein refused Zak Bloodhowl's request to modify his power claws until Zak offered Vargul's corpse, prompting Ainstein to accept the work.
• Zoe Slyke led the depleted Ashen Claws aboard the Malicious Claw out of the Warp, but Uslan froze the crew and confronted him.
• Uslan offered to take Zoe to Terra in exchange for information about the Ghoul Stars, and Zoe accepted after sensing the Emperor's aura in Uslan's double-headed eagle statue.
• Uslan learned from Zoe that the Greenskin Orks had evolved under a new leader named Kork, then traveled with him through the Webway toward the Sol System.
• Uslan reached the Jupiter sector, identified himself to Lox, and Lox ordered the defenses to stand down.