Fortunately, the Greenskins' invasion was chaotic, without strategy or order, giving the Imperium time to regroup. For a long time to come, large numbers of enclaves loyal to the Imperium would remain in Segmentum Obscurus. They would simply have to fight alone behind enemy lines for a very long time.
According to intelligence reports, the largest Waaagh! among the vast Greenskin hordes, commanded by Ghazghkull Thraka, had already left Segmentum Obscurus and was charging toward Segmentum Solar.
Guilliman needed to prepare his defenses in advance to confront this mightiest of Ork Warbosses.
As for Segmentum Obscurus, Guilliman was thankful that Ghazghkull Thraka had not turned back to attack the Nachmund Gauntlet. The problems there were already severe. He dared not imagine how chaotic things would become if another enormous Waaagh! joined the fray.
Located in Segmentum Obscurus and connecting the eastern and western halves of the Galaxy, the Nachmund Gauntlet had become such a tangled battlefield that even calling it a complete free-for-all failed to do it justice.
If every faction in the Nachmund Gauntlet were marked in a different color, the map would resemble a pane of stained glass shattered on the ground: several Genestealer Cults, Chaos Warbands, Tyranid Tendril Fleets drawn to the fighting, awakened Tomb Worlds, and even the T'au Empire, which had expanded onto several worlds...
The Expeditionary Fleet led by Mathieu had become utterly bogged down in the war in the Nachmund Gauntlet, although his messages repeatedly assured Guilliman that he would quell the rebellion, complete his mission, and reclaim Imperium Nihilus...
Yet after analyzing intelligence from multiple sources, Guilliman knew that the Expeditionary Fleet he had dispatched to the Octarius Ork Sector was doomed to fail in its duty.
Three days earlier, he had also received a Space Marine Chapter Master named Lawrence, who