Chapter Summaries

Cleverhead was dying from Tyranid poison, so Cheng Mingrui performed a song for him aboard the stolen ship as they traveled through the Warp. After the Orks sang together and Cleverhead put away his Power Klaw, the Glory Knight emerged from the Warp into an ordinary star system.

• Cleverhead told Cheng Mingrui that Tyranid poison was controlling him and raised his Power Klaw to kill himself.
• Cheng Mingrui stopped Cleverhead and organized the Orks to prepare instruments for a performance.
• Cheng Mingrui sang “Power of the Horde,” and the Orks joined in, growing more excited as they played.
• Cleverhead thanked Cheng Mingrui, smiled, and lowered his Power Klaw, though his death remained inevitable.
• The Glory Knight was swallowed by a Warp rift and emerged beneath a pale yellow star in an ordinary star system.

Governor Conwater received survivors from the Imperial cruiser Glory Knight and sent Euronia’s fleet to seize the damaged ship from its Ork captors. Cheng Mingrui rushed to prepare the Glory Knight for battle as human landing ships approached.

• Warp storms brought the Ork-captured Glory Knight and escape craft carrying Imperial survivors to the Euronia System.
• Captain Pex asked Governor Conwater for aid, and Conwater agreed to assist him.
• Conwater ordered Euronia’s defense fleet to surround the Glory Knight, hoping to claim the cruiser.
• Cheng Mingrui ordered the Orks to attack the approaching human ships, then learned they had not yet captured the gun turrets.
• The human warships moved into range and launched landing ships while Cheng Mingrui’s Orks prepared for battle.

Conwater prepared to negotiate with Captain Pex while a boarding force discovered Tyranids aboard the Glory Knight and Cheng Mingrui launched a desperate escape. The human cruiser pursued the damaged Glory Knight toward Planet 4, while Pex remained at the station awaiting a private screening.

• Conwater ordered Throne Gelt and jewels prepared and went to welcome Captain Pex at the space station.
• A squad of human soldiers found a Tyranid feeding on the remains of Astra Militarum troops aboard the Glory Knight, and the sergeant warned that Tyranids had killed everyone aboard.
• Cheng Mingrui blamed the Tyranids for attacking the humans first, then ordered the Ork gun batteries to destroy the human destroyers and the Glory Knight to charge the cruiser.
• The Glory Knight destroyed two destroyers, rammed past the cruiser, and fled toward Planet 4 as the cruiser pursued.
• Captain Pex refused a public full-body screening, and Conwater ordered a separate room and procedure for him.

Pex warned Conwater that Genestealers had infiltrated the station, and the crisis escalated as Tyranids and Orks attacked Euronia’s forces. Meanwhile, Cheng Mingrui prepared the Glory Knight to evade pursuit and fight back, leaving Clever Git in charge of carrying out his orders.

• Pex passed his screening, warned Conwater about the Genestealers, and took command as Tyranids and Orks attacked the boarding forces and the station.
• Conwater ordered Euronia’s forces to pursue the Glory Knight and stop the xenos from reaching Number 3, following Pex’s advice.
• Cheng Mingrui studied a star chart, turned the Glory Knight off course, and ordered Iron Claw to finish clearing the ship of Tyranids.
• Cheng Mingrui instructed the Mekboys to build magnetic space mines, then led a repair crew to the damaged macro-cannon sections.
• Cheng Mingrui asked Clever Git to command the Boyz in an S-shaped course and use the macro-cannons against the pursuing cruiser.
• Clever Git rallied the Boyz to salute and carry out the order, though one Ork kicked a comrade for saluting with the wrong hand.

Captain Pex warned Governor Conwater that the xenos threat could lead to Number 3’s extermination and took command of the planet’s defenses. The Glory Knight remained at large, while Pex and Conwater prepared to return to the planet.

• Pex told Conwater that the space station was secured but warned that even one Ork or Genestealer reaching Number 3 could force the Imperium to destroy the planet.
• Pex recommended destroying the Ork-controlled Glory Knight, but the Guardian’s damaged engines and inexperienced captain left it unable to catch the ship.
• Pex offered to command the Guardian remotely and urged Conwater to return to Number 3 and prepare its troops.
• Conwater appointed Pex general of the planetary Defense Force and asked him to help plan the defense.
• Pex learned that Euronia’s officer corps and commissars were understaffed, then offered to train officers as he and Conwater set out for the planet.

Cheng Mingrui used minefields and a gravitational maneuver to evade the Guardian while sending Orks toward Euronia 3. The Glory Knight descended toward Euronia 4, leaving Cheng Mingrui’s plan to seed the planet with Ork spores underway.

• Cheng Mingrui ordered Clever Git to steer the Glory Knight through two nebulae while he and the Boys planted Space Mines.
• The Guardian entered the first minefield, lost its Void Shield, and fell behind after enduring the explosions.
• Cheng Mingrui guided the Glory Knight around Euronia 4 and launched Iron Claw and other Orks in small craft toward Euronia 3.
• The Guardian resumed firing and forced the Glory Knight into a descending orbit toward Euronia 4.
• The Glory Knight burned through the atmosphere and crashed into Euronia 4, while Cheng Mingrui’s Ork spores were set to spread on Euronia 3.

After the Glory Knight crashed on Euronia 4, Pex warned Conwater that the Orks could multiply and advance rapidly through warfare, urging the Imperium to prepare for a prolonged conflict. On the barren planet, Cheng Mingrui wondered how the Greenskins could survive and whether he should wait before making his next move.

• The Guardian's captain sent footage of the Glory Knight's crash to the Governor's Palace on Euronia 3.
• Conwater celebrated the Orks' apparent destruction, but Pex insisted that the Defense Force expand its preparations and armaments.
• Pex explained that Orks could spread from tiny fragments, multiply, develop advanced technology through war, and become an endless threat.
• Conwater asked what should be done, and Pex called for mobilization and an expedition to Euronia 4 to destroy the Orks early.
• Cheng Mingrui surveyed Euronia 4's barren terrain and considered whether to find another way to survive or wait before heading to the Human Homeworld.

Cheng Mingrui learned that the Boyz had struck water on Euronia 4, but the well produced only a trickle of dirty water. After Clever Git explained that Snotlings could make the Mushroom Farm flourish, Cheng Mingrui let him take charge of it.

• Cheng Mingrui explored Euronia 4 and found that its rocky terrain offered no minerals while the Mushroom Farm’s mushrooms withered.
• Cheng Mingrui heard that the Boyz had struck water and hurried to inspect the well.
• Clever Git showed Cheng Mingrui a small opening where murky, sandy water trickled from the mine wall.
• Clever Git told Cheng Mingrui that Snotlings tending the fields could make the Mushroom Farm grow rapidly.
• Cheng Mingrui agreed to let Clever Git handle the Mushroom Farm, and Clever Git promised to grow Gretchin and Boyz within ten days.

Cheng Mingrui worked to expand the Orks’ farming and mining operations while designing new equipment in his Mekboy Factory. After the Mekboyz completed his custom Power Armour, the Orks hailed him as a Big Mek.

• Cheng Mingrui gave Clever Git ten days to create a Mushroom Farm that could grow Boyz and assigned Boyz to test a damp spore-growing site near a spring.
• Cheng Mingrui asked Kidd about his equipment, and Kidd said the crude, dusty workshop and lack of minerals meant he needed another fifteen days.
• Cheng Mingrui ordered Squigs for the Mekboyz and began building another Magnetic Explosion Generator for his Power Armour.
• Cheng Mingrui designed Power Armour with three Magnetic Explosion Generators and an improved Krakka Teleporter that could move around a dozen Orks at once.
• The Mekboyz and Gretchin helped Cheng Mingrui finish the Power Armour, and he used his Krakka Teleporter to install a crucial component before putting it on.
• The Mekboyz and Gretchin cheered Cheng Mingrui and called him Big Mek.

After becoming a Big Mek, Cheng Mingrui visited Clever Git’s Mushroom Farm and found it flourishing with new Orks and Squigs. He discovered how Snotling mucus accelerated fungal growth, collected samples for research, and promised Clever Git custom Power Armour.

• Cheng Mingrui’s Power Armour and recognition from the Orks awakened more of his Ork genes, and he was hailed as a Big Mek.
• Clever Git reported that the Mushroom Farm had produced Squigs and Gretchin, and Cheng Mingrui learned that half a month had passed while he worked on his armour.
• Cheng Mingrui saw the expanded fungal forest and watched the first new Ork Boy on Euronia 4 emerge from the ground.
• Clever Git showed Cheng Mingrui how Snotling mucus nourished the fungal mat, and Cheng Mingrui stripped Clever Git’s armour to make containers and collect samples.
• Cheng Mingrui promised Clever Git a suit of Power Armour designed for Gretchin, and Clever Git happily followed him away from the farm.

Cheng Mingrui discovered that Orks formed a self-sustaining ecosystem capable of thriving on barren worlds, and wondered whether the Brainboys’ disappearance explained the Orks’ decline. After praying to Gork and Mork, he heard a mysterious response and carved a message into his Machine Tool, but soon forgot what had happened.

• Cheng Mingrui examined Snotling slime and found a microbial community that protected spores, extracted nutrients, and helped Ork fungi grow.
• Cheng Mingrui dissected a Snotling and concluded that Snotlings and their microbes sustained the Ork ecosystem and could transform barren meteorites into habitable environments.
• Cheng Mingrui recalled legends that Brainboys once governed Orks and had all died in a great plague, then wondered if their absence was tied to the Orks’ decline.
• Cheng Mingrui prayed to Gork and Mork for protection and heard the thought, “You said it! We heard ya!”
• Cheng Mingrui carved an order to erect statues of Gork and Mork into his Machine Tool, then forgot why Chinese characters were written there.

Cheng Mingrui prepared to honor Gork and Mork after losing some memories, while Pex considered his new command and the threats facing the Euronia System. At the ball, Pex used his meeting with Trivis to advance the Tyranid Cult’s plans, but worried about the incoming Commissar Kester and Officer Corps.

• Cheng Mingrui set aside his research and gathered his Boys to prepare a statue of Gork and Mork.
• Pex read his appointment as supreme commander of the Euronia System and learned that Commissar Kester and Adeptus Mechanicus Priests would arrive with an Officer Corps.
• Governor Cornwall introduced Pex to his niece Trivis at the ball, while Pex pressed him about the delayed Ork extermination expedition.
• Pex flirted with Trivis and considered expanding the Cult to light a psychic beacon for the Tyranid Fleet.
• Pex recognized that Commissar Kester and the incoming Officer Corps could pose a serious obstacle to the Tyranid plans.

Cheng Mingrui worried that the Orks lacked the workers and resources to build Gork and Mork’s statues and prepare for war, so he tried to turn Slugga Boyz into Mekboys. He left them eager to build Shootas after convincing them they could do it themselves.

• Cheng Mingrui worried that the Orks’ small population, low production capacity, and lack of gold and mining equipment threatened their plans.
• Cheng Mingrui realized he could increase productivity by turning accurate-shooting Slugga Boyz into Mekboys.
• Cheng Mingrui gave the Slugga Boyz tools, but they mistook them for weapons and nearly started a fight.
• Cheng Mingrui had the Slugga Boyz identify screws and nuts, then attach the nuts to the screws, and praised them as Mekboys.
• Cheng Mingrui assembled an Ork Shoota and challenged the Slugga Boyz to make one themselves, assuring a doubtful Boy that he could do it.

Cheng Mingrui recruited Kuka to help persuade Orks to join the Mekboy Factory by claiming Chinese was a language of divine Word of Power. Kuka believed him after seeing Chinese characters carved into a machine tool as Mork’s oracle.

• Cheng Mingrui sent newly persuaded Slugga Boyz to work at the Mekboy Factory and teleported to find Kuka.
• Cheng Mingrui asked Kuka to persuade Slugga Boyz and Warbike Boyz that machinery and manufacturing were their true talents.
• Kuka called Cheng Mingrui a rotten git full of schemes, but Cheng Mingrui claimed Mork had taught him a powerful language called Chinese.
• Cheng Mingrui explained that the language’s Word of Power worked through sincerity, and Kuka believed his story.
• Cheng Mingrui took Kuka to the machine tool, where Kuka touched the carved Chinese characters and hailed them as a real oracle.

Cheng Mingrui persuaded Kuka to spread a Chinese phrase that could awaken the Boyz’ mechanical talent, then began building a Tunnel Boring Machine to expand underground mushroom farms. When he returned to the mine for more materials, he found it stripped bare and the nearby ork city strangely deserted as Death Metal music blared from its center.

• Cheng Mingrui taught Kuka Chinese phrases, including one claiming he had a talent for making machinery, and told him to repeat it to losing Boyz.
• Cheng Mingrui decided to grow mushrooms underground to protect the farms from gales and planned to build a Tunnel Boring Machine.
• Cheng Mingrui teleported to the mine, gathered construction materials, and began manufacturing the machine’s parts.
• After using up his materials, Cheng Mingrui teleported back and found the mine stripped bare.
• Cheng Mingrui went to the ork city and found most houses empty and the Boyz unusually quiet as Death Metal music sounded from the center.

Cheng Mingrui discovered that Kuka’s Chinese Word of Power had inspired the Orks to build and innovate, while empowering their worship of Gork and Mork. He recruited the new Mekboys to finish the Tunnel Boring Machine, which he renamed the Big Digga.

• Cheng Mingrui teleported to the city center and found Kuka leading a concert beneath the golden-haloed statues of Gork and Mork.
• Clever Git told Cheng Mingrui he followed him because their adventures were exciting, and Cheng Mingrui knocked him down before letting him tag along.
• Kuka explained that practicing Chinese had caused Word of Power to awaken mechanical knowledge in the Orks and given the statues golden light.
• Cheng Mingrui refused to teach Kuka more Chinese and teleported away, wary of the consequences of spreading Word of Power.
• Five days later, Cheng Mingrui and the Mekboys completed the twenty-meter Tunnel Boring Machine, and he named it the Big Digga.

As Number 3's first Expeditionary Force prepared to depart, Pex clashed with his staff over the size of the army and Cornwall urged him to prioritize family and political survival. The discussion ended when reports and footage revealed that Orks had launched surprise attacks on cities in the Southern Hemisphere.

• Pex berated his staff officer for preparing only three hundred thousand troops, then dismissed him when he objected to Pex's demands.
• Cornwall smoothed over the dispute and argued that Pex should consider his family, future lineage, and the opportunities coming to the Euronia System.
• Pex pretended to accept Cornwall's advice and apologized for acting impulsively.
• A staff adjutant reported that large numbers of Orks were attacking Southern Hemisphere cities, and footage showed them charging out of the rainforest into an undefended city.
• Cornwall questioned how the Orks had reached Number 3 from Number 4, while Pex stared at the footage with murderous intent.

Iron Claw led a Greenskin assault on Ghana, where the attackers slaughtered the city’s defenders and civilians. After human aircraft bombed his forces, he remembered why they had attacked the city.

• Greenskins pursued fleeing civilians through Ghana until the Garrison Force opened fire and held them back.
• Iron Claw emerged from the smoke, charged through the defensive line, and slaughtered the human soldiers.
• Iron Claw dismissed the fleeing defenders as weak, while his Greenskins hunted them down.
• Human aircraft bombed the street, killing many Ork Boyz and covering Iron Claw in soot.
• Iron Claw remembered the reason for attacking the city as he thought about the Gretchin and Squigs from the rainforest.

Iron Claw sent Gretchin and Squigs to rob Ghana for weapons and supplies while his Boyz continued multiplying in Rainforest. Meanwhile, Cornwall agreed to let Pex continue his expedition to Number 4, assigning Chuck to deal with the Orks attacking Ghana.

• Iron Claw decided to rob Ghana so he could equip his growing band of Boyz, and ordered Goldtooth to keep gathering loot for another hour before withdrawing.
• Goldtooth relayed Iron Claw’s orders to airborne Gretchin, who directed the ground crews to load valuable goods onto cargo Squigs.
• As the Boyz fought and destroyed things around Ghana, Cornwall and Pex argued over whether Pex should continue the expedition to Number 4.
• Pex persuaded Cornwall to approve the expedition with three hundred thousand troops, and Cornwall promised space fleet support after the Orks on Number 4 were eliminated.
• Cornwall assigned Chuck to handle the Orks around Ghana, and Pex accepted the political bargain so his expedition could proceed.

Chuck led the Planetary Defense Force into Ghana to destroy the Orks, but his troops were overwhelmed as the Orks adapted and began using captured weapons and vehicles. Ten squads were lost, and the remaining forces faced a growing, better-equipped green tide.

• Chuck ordered the planetary garrison troops near Ghana to assemble and attack the Orks, but Iron Claw had already departed with his spoils by the time they arrived.
• Chuck sent soldiers into Ghana, where their early success against scattered Orks convinced him to report that the xenos were being swept aside.
• Orks surrounded and destroyed Tenth Squad, and a surviving Ork took a camera lens as a valuable prize.
• Ten of the fifty squads that entered Ghana were wiped out within half an hour as the Orks attacked in relentless waves.
• The Orks began using captured weapons and repairing vehicles, while new Ork fighters joined the assault and some Defense Force squads abandoned their positions.