Recaps

The Expeditionary Force reclaimed Carl II from the Orks and began clearing the station while its Ork-built outer sections disintegrated. Lynn learned that the Orks had grotesquely altered the station’s power, gravity, and defense systems, leaving the engineering team facing urgent repairs.

• Ork gangs fought over scraps and wreckage across Carl II, while the Expeditionary Force methodically cleared sectors and rescued wounded soldiers.
• Gus directed the cleanup, and Lynn received figures showing 16.15 million Orks eliminated, major areas secured, and 121.75 million still scattered across the station.
• Lynn ordered the soldiers to remain vigilant and inspect every passage and ruin for surviving Orks.
• Ork-built sections broke away from Carl II and formed a debris belt as the station began shrinking toward its original size.
• Alderman reported that the Orks had replaced the central reactor with Squig-powered Waaagh! generators, made gravity unstable with a spinning iron ball, and rendered the defense guns ineffective.

Lynn arranged to defend the damaged Carl II while Alderman organized repairs, but the fleet received urgent news that the Imperium’s Tithe collection fleet was about to reach Brevis. Lynn was left facing a choice between holding Carl II and rushing back to his home base.

• Alderman told Lynn that repairing Carl II would take at least two months and require far more engineers, Servitors, and materials than they had.
• Lynn ordered most of the fleet and all five million ground troops to remain on Carl II while Alderman prioritized restoring power, life support, and the port’s anti-aircraft guns.
• An unidentified ship emerged from the Warp and approached Carl II, prompting the fleet to assume level-one combat readiness.
• The ship identified itself as being from the Brevis Governor’s Office, and its young official told Lynn that the Tithe collection fleet was less than three days from Brevis.
• The official said Chief Archon Carter had ordered him to summon Lynn back immediately, as the Tithe fleet was likely nearing orbit around Brevis.

Lynn feared that Brevis would face a double manpower Tithe and possibly additional levies, which could trigger famine and expose its hidden psykers to the Black Ships. He decided to return to Brevis with three frigates and ended by asking Gus whether he still hated him for what happened aboard the Song Offering.

• Lynn worried that the Tithe collector might demand food and psykers from Brevis, endangering the planet and his plans.
• Lynn ordered the Obsidian Pinnacle, destroyers, frigates, and ground troops to stay at Carl II while he returned to Brevis aboard Lightning, Gale, and Thunder.
• Lynn summoned Gus and praised his performance and loyalty during the expedition.
• Lynn asked Gus whether he still hated him for what had happened aboard the Song Offering.

Lynn appointed Gus to command the Brevis Expeditionary Fleet while he was away from Carl II, as the approaching Tithe fleet and an expected Ork counterattack threatened the newly reclaimed world. The officers reacted with shock as Gus faced the prospect of becoming the expedition's Grand General.

• Lynn asked Gus whether he still resented him over the events aboard the Song Offering, and Gus said he had let the past go and was grateful for the life Lynn had given him.
• Lynn told the senior officers that the Tithe fleet had entered the Calixis System and might soon reach Brevis.
• Lynn warned that Ork spores remained on Carl II and that Big Gut Ragnar would likely launch a counterattack if the main forces left.
• Lynn announced that he would establish the position of Grand General to exercise his authority over the fleet and command its forces while he was away.
• The officers suspected Gus would receive the position, and Gus reacted with shock as the bridge's broadcast system came to life.

Lynn appointed Gus Griffith grand general of the Brevis Expeditionary Fleet and entrusted him with holding Carl II against the Orks. In private, he outlined a defensive strategy and left Gus with Dahan and Bailu to help protect the planet.

• Lynn asked Gus Griffith to serve as grand general, and Gus swore to defend Carl II from the Orks.
• Lynn ordered the officers to obey Gus unconditionally and took him to the captain’s quarters for a private briefing.
• Lynn instructed Gus to concentrate the fleet and ground forces around the core zone, mid-level platforms, and three main ports, building layered defenses and avoiding costly offensives.
• Gus described his plan to guard hidden passages, patrol for Ork gatherings, and prioritize repairs to reactors, life-support systems, and port defenses.
• Lynn assigned Dahan and Bailu to help Gus, explaining Bailu’s psychic abilities and telling him to heed Rena’s judgment when he faced difficult decisions.

Lynn left Gus in command of Carl II and departed with three frigates for Brevis, trusting undercover Orks to warn them of Ragnar’s plans. The fleet entered the Warp under Rena Dongzhi’s guidance, protected from Chaos as it traveled toward Brevis.

• Lynn told Gus that genetically modified half-bug Orks had infiltrated Ragnar’s forces and would provide advance warning of enemy movements.
• Lynn warned Gus that Ragnar’s menzi could drive Orks into a frenzy and urged him to prevent them from boarding; Gus promised to defend Carl II.
• Lynn boarded the Lightning and departed Carl II with two other Turbulent-class Frigates, waving goodbye to Gus.
• Lynn ordered the fleet into the Warp and set its destination for Brevis orbit.
• Rena Dongzhi guided the fleet through the Warp while the Gellar Fields and her Shadow in the Warp shielded the ships from Chaos.

Lynn discussed why he refused to betray the Imperium with Rena, who had secretly hypnotized the noble generals. Their frigate then emerged from the Warp and reached orbit over Brevis.

• Rena told Lynn to rebel against the Imperium and use the swarm to destroy anyone who opposed them, but Lynn explained that Brevis's human soldiers and civilians remained loyal to the Imperium.
• Rena admitted she had hypnotized the noble generals so they would obey orders and not notice the swarm recovering biomass; Lynn told her to warn him before acting on her own.
• Lynn suggested sending the generals to the front lines when Ragnar attacked so they could die fighting the Orks, and Rena eagerly agreed.
• Lynn told Rena that betraying humanity would mean losing his identity, and Rena said she would stay with him whatever he chose to do.
• The frigate exited the Warp and reached orbit over Brevis, where Lynn saw the familiar planet below.

After losing Carl II to Lynn, Luna learned that the Imperial Tithe fleet had entered the Calixis System and set course for Brevis, hoping to use the crushing levy against him. Lynn returned to Brevis and found its people celebrating the news of Carl II’s liberation, though the Tithe remained a looming threat.

• Luna surveyed her shattered fleet after losing Carl II to Lynn, while her adjutant warned that they were low on supplies.
• A sorcerer told Luna that an unusually large Imperial Tithe fleet had entered the Calixis System and that Brevis would struggle to pay its levy.
• Luna ordered her fleet to return to Brevis, determined to exploit the Tithe and challenge Lynn’s position as governor.
• Protected by Tzeentch’s blue flames, Luna’s fleet crossed the Warp and reached the Brevis system in less than ten hours.
• Aboard the Lightning, Lynn sensed Brevis’s joy and hope, and Rena told him that the people were happy.

One day before Lynn’s return, Isolde told Carter that Lynn had retaken Carl II, and Carter announced the victory across Brevis. Lynn then returned to the Governor’s Palace, where he prepared to deal with the approaching Tithe fleet and erase signs of Tyranid activity.

• Isolde told Carter that Lynn had retaken Carl II and killed the Ork warlord, Iron Pincers Chandler.
• Carter announced Lynn’s victory across Brevis, and the citizens celebrated while the nobles feared his growing power.
• Lynn arrived at Brevis’s main starport with Rena, where Marcus welcomed him with exaggerated praise.
• Lynn ordered Marcus to strengthen security at the starport and went straight to his transport aircraft.
• Lynn flew toward the Governor’s Palace to take stock of supplies and mobilize Brevis’s wildmen to remove traces of Tyranid activity before the Tithe fleet arrived.

Lynn returned to Brevis and rallied the St. Garus Family and local leaders as the Imperium’s Tithe fleet approached. The chapter ended with him assigning groups to provide supplies and recruits while promising to handle the Psyker levy.

• Lynn arrived in Brevis, reunited with Leo and Carter, and learned that Leo had stabilized the St. Garus Family’s position against Luna’s supporters and the Adeptus Mechanicus.
• Leo promised the St. Garus Family’s full support for Brevis’s Tithe and laughed as Lynn recounted Luna’s losses on Carl II.
• Lynn held a welcoming banquet for Brevis’s prominent figures and thanked them for supporting the victory on Carl II.
• Lynn announced that the Imperium’s Tithe collection fleet would soon arrive and warned that Brevis faced dire consequences if it failed to pay.
• Lynn assigned guilds to provide minerals and military supplies, scavenger alliances to provide recruits, and asked the nobles to help supply food while he handled the Psyker levy.

Lynn secured support from Brevis’s unions, scavengers, and nobles to meet the Imperial tithe, then rushed to the starport when the tithe fleet arrived. He saw an overwhelming Imperial fleet led by a converted Victory-class Battleship and accompanied by an Adeptus Astra Telepathica Black Ship.

• Lynn won promises of help from the unions, scavengers, and nobles, including grain contributions from the noble families.
• After the banquet, Lynn received an urgent message and hurried to Brevis Starport.
• Lynn saw the tithe fleet arrive in overwhelming numbers, far surpassing his expeditionary fleet.
• Lynn identified the fleet’s flagship as a Victory-class Battleship converted from a Retribution-class hull.
• Lynn recognized a Black Ship of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica among the fleet and knew it carried Sisters of Silence to collect the psyker tithe.

Lynn concealed the Tyranids from the arriving Black Ship fleet and met its commander, Dominic Ventria, who demanded Brevis’s Imperial Tithe for three fiscal years. The chapter left Lynn facing an unexpected demand for a debt nearly two centuries old.

• Rena warned Lynn that the Sisters of Silence aboard the Black Ship could disrupt psychic powers, and Lynn ordered every Tyranid unit to suppress its psychic fluctuations.
• The Victory-class Battleship Gemstone docked at Brevis’s starport, and its guards escorted Dominic Ventria and the Sister of Silence Lalathin the Huntress of Oblivion ashore.
• Lynn greeted the newcomers as Planetary Governor Kerry Von, but Dominic refused his offered handshake and introduced himself as the fleet’s supreme commander and an Imperial Navy rear admiral.
• Dominic demanded Brevis’s Tithe for M40.815, M40.998, and M40.999, leaving Lynn stunned by the nearly two-hundred-year-old debt.

Governor Lynn agreed to cooperate with Dominic’s tithe collection, but the requisition list demanded more people, weapons, grain, and psykers than Brevis could provide. He told Dominic that Brevis could not meet the demands, leaving the dispute unresolved.

• Dominic introduced Ralfa, the Sister of Silence responsible for collecting Brevis’s psychic tithe, and warned Lynn to comply with Imperial demands.
• Lynn assured Dominic that Brevis would cooperate, then escorted him and Ralfa to the starport’s VIP reception room.
• Dominic gave Lynn a requisition list demanding three-tenths of Brevis’s able-bodied population, weapons and supplies, vast quantities of grain, and one thousand psykers.
• Lynn realized the grain demand relied on Dorito Agri World’s output even though Brevis had lost control of it two years earlier, and that fulfilling the demand would cause famine.
• Lynn told Dominic that Brevis could not meet the demands on the list.

Lynn refused Dominic's excessive Imperial Tithe, explaining that Brevis could not meet the demands after losing Dorito to the Orks without causing mass starvation. He recounted his victories against the Orks, leaving Dominic wavering between disbelief and astonishment.

• Dominic threatened Lynn with the Inquisition and Exterminatus if Brevis refused to pay the Tithe, but Lynn calmly held his ground.
• Lynn argued that Brevis had already supplied more than forty billion soldiers and could not provide the demanded food and military supplies after Dorito fell to the Orks.
• Dominic dismissed Lynn's account of Dorito's occupation, reasoning that Orks would have attacked Brevis and that his fleet had seen no Ork ships.
• Lynn explained that Brevis had repelled Ork attacks, killed several warlords, organized guerrilla forces, and recaptured the Carl II space station.
• Dominic recalled that Lynn had been governor for just over six months and stared at him in disbelief over his claimed victories.

Lynn presented Dominic with detailed records of Brevis’s battles and administration, convincing the veteran commander that Lynn had genuinely defended and strengthened the planet. Dominic was left wondering whether Lynn might truly be the Emperor’s chosen one.

• Lynn gave Dominic a Dataslate documenting Brevis’s battles and affairs over the past six months.
• Dominic and Ralfa reviewed the records, including Lynn’s victory over Mountain Fatty Guga and the Orks at the Forbidden Wall.
• The Dataslate described Lynn’s campaign against Erko and his use of icefield tribespeople to harass the Orks.
• Dominic read how Lynn retook Carl II by exploiting the conflict between Sith and Chandler.
• The administrative records showed Lynn had founded the Vanguard, challenged the Noble Council’s grain monopoly, aided the undercity, and stopped a Chaos conspiracy at Saint Garus Castle.
• Dominic set down the Dataslate and reconsidered Lynn, wondering whether he was the Emperor’s chosen one.

Lynn challenged Dominic over Brevis’s Tithe, insisting that paying it would leave the planet unable to feed its people. After Lynn left, Ralfa detected two distinct psychic auras around him and said one resembled the Tyranids.

• Dominic agreed to investigate Lynn’s records and offered to extend Brevis’s tax deadline if they were accurate.
• Lynn refused the extension, warned that the tax could cause ten billion people to die, and left after Dominic ordered his guards to let him pass.
• A psychic guard confirmed that Lynn’s emotions showed no sign of lying and that he carried the aura of a battle-hardened veteran.
• Ralfa privately told Dominic that Lynn’s aura was muddled and contained two distinct psychic presences.
• Ralfa described one presence as cold, hungry, and similar to the psychic fluctuations of the Tyranids, startling Dominic.

Dominic accepted Ralfa’s assessment that Lynn carried a powerful, Emperor-blessed presence and delayed confronting him while his fleet was repaired and Brevis was investigated. As Lynn weighed the threat posed by the Tithe fleet and the risk of exposing the Tyranids, he agreed to Rena’s proposal to fight them openly.

• Ralfa told Dominic that Lynn held both a cold, devouring presence and a stronger holy presence like that of a Living Saint, and that he was neither corrupted by Chaos nor assimilated by the Tyranids.
• Dominic decided to investigate conditions on Brevis before demanding the Tithe, and ordered his guard captain to send three covert teams to inspect its upper city, middle city, and undercity.
• Dominic ordered repairs to the fleet’s damaged Gellar Fields and weapon systems, then planned to investigate the Orks on Dorito.
• Lynn worried that he could not gather the required food in time and that the Sisters of Silence might expose the Tyranids hiding across Brevis.
• Rena urged Lynn to bring the swarm against the tax collectors, Sisters of Silence, and their fleet, and Lynn surprised her by agreeing.

Lynn decided to provoke a staged Tyranid threat on Brevis to force Dominic’s Imperial Fleet to cooperate and help him counter the Orks. He ordered the operation to begin in three days, accepting that it would kill civilians and damage the world.

• Lynn explained that the Tithe, the Orks, and the Sisters of Silence and Inquisitor aboard the Black Ship had left him with no safe way to retreat.
• Lynn planned for the Genestealer Cult to stage attacks across Brevis while he spread word that a massive Tyranid fleet was approaching, pressuring Dominic to stay and fight alongside them.
• Lynn intended to use Dominic’s fleet to weaken the Orks when they attacked, whether by cooperating with the Imperium or by exploiting its strength against the Orks.
• Rena supported Lynn’s decision, and he told her to prepare the swarm for the operation in three days while keeping its main force on Dead World B concealed.
• Lynn watched Brevis’s civilians from his window and accepted that his plan would bring more deaths and destruction to protect the planet’s future.

Toothy and the remnants of the Hokage Clan crash-landed on Dorito and sought help from Boss Ragnar after claiming that humans had overrun Carl II. The patrol escorted them to Ragnar’s palace, where Toothy was about to face the Ork warlord.

• Toothy and the Hokage Clan emerged from their wrecked ship and marveled at Dorito’s sky, sunlight, and living landscape.
• Toothy vowed to grow powerful, become an Ork warlord, and return to Carl II to defeat Seven-Smasha.
• A Deffskull patrol confronted the newcomers, and Toothy reported that humans had overrun Carl II and Boss Sith and Boss Chandler had died.
• The patrol leader agreed to take Toothy and the Hokage Boyz to Boss Ragnar, who was having his third lunch.
• Toothy and the others crossed Dorito’s bountiful fields and entered Ragnar’s palace, where Big Gut Ragnar’s throne stood at the center of the hall.

Toothy told Ragnar that Carl II had fallen, concealing his role and the Hokage Clan’s identity. Ragnar suspected the visitors were hiding something but ordered his Boyz to muster, then led an enormous fleet toward Carl II.

• Toothy claimed that he and his followers belonged to the Blood Axe Clan and reported that Sith and Chandler had died while humans attacked Carl II.
• Ragnar questioned Toothy about the deaths, then ordered his followers to feed and house the group.
• After Toothy left, a Gretchin warned Ragnar that the visitors did not smell like Blood Axes, and Ragnar admitted he knew they were suspicious.
• Ragnar connected Carl II’s fall to Sith’s earlier psychic warning and ordered every fighting Boy to muster for an expedition.
• At dawn, Ragnar led a vast Ork fleet out of Dorito’s orbit toward Carl II.

Lynn learned that Ragnar had sent a massive Ork fleet toward Carl II and decided to meet Dominic, while keeping the Tyranid swarm hidden. After reviewing reports that showed civilians and workers praising Lynn while nobles condemned him, Dominic decided to support him, though he still wondered what the “Dragon of Frost” was.

• Rena told Lynn that Ragnar had sent hundreds of millions of Orks aboard more than a hundred warships from Dorito toward Carl II, and Lynn ordered the swarm to remain hidden.
• Lynn decided to meet Dominic and see how the Ventrilian major general would respond to the Ork fleet.
• Dominic reviewed reports showing lower-city residents praising Lynn for providing food, jobs, and protection, while the Vanguard recruited millions of soldiers.
• Dominic learned that middle-city workers praised Lynn for supplying food and military contracts as industrial output rose.
• Dominic read the nobles’ accusations against Lynn’s reforms and concluded that Lynn was a rare good governor who deserved his support.
• Dominic made his decision to support Lynn but remained uncertain about the Dragon of Frost.

After reading rumors that Kerry Von had earned the Dragon of Frost’s recognition, Dominic set out to find the legendary creature on Brevis’s ice plain. His heavily armed party entered the frozen wilderness, where Ralfa sensed an ancient, cold presence nearby.

• Dominic read accounts claiming the Dragon of Frost had saved Kerry Von and helped him win the tribespeople’s loyalty.
• Intrigued by the legend, Dominic ordered a heavily equipped expedition to the ice plain, despite his guard captain’s warnings.
• Dominic’s hunting party departed with a Baneblade, elite guards, Thunderbolt fighters, and Ralfa, a Sister of Silence assigned to protect him.
• Dominic asked Ralfa whether dragons existed, and she warned him to be careful.
• Ralfa sensed a faint, ancient presence deep within the ice plain and wondered whether the Dragon of Frost was real.

At the governor’s residence on Brevis, Lynn learned that Dominic had entered the ice fields seeking the Dragon of Frost, putting the hidden Tyranid base at risk. Lynn enlisted Sorine to investigate and steer Dominic away from danger, but he remained uneasy as Dominic’s party vanished from the star map.

• Dominic’s hunting party disappeared from the star map after entering the ice fields, and Lynn realized Dominic was searching for the Dragon of Frost.
• Lynn asked Rena to contact Sorine so she could monitor Dominic, since her Inquisitor status and Aeldari cloaking technology could help her avoid detection.
• Sorine arrived and heard that Dominic was searching the ice fields, where the Tyranids’ hidden base and Rena’s true body were located.
• Lynn warned Sorine that a discovery could spark a battle that would devastate Brevis, and Sorine agreed to investigate Xenos activity while protecting Dominic and guiding him away from dangerous areas.
• After Sorine left, Lynn watched Dominic’s vanished position on the star map and hoped the plan would go smoothly.

Dominic learned from a tribe that the Dragon of Frost lived at Twin Peaks Mountain and led his hunting party there. Lynn learned they would arrive before the underground evacuation was complete and asked Sorine to delay them, so she prepared to use Orks as a distraction.

• Dominic’s party found a fearful tribe, and he won the old tribesman’s trust with Ork heads and supplies.
• The old tribesman revealed that the Dragon of Frost lived at Twin Peaks Mountain, and Dominic immediately set out for it with Ralfa and his forces.
• Sorine secretly followed Dominic’s party and reported their destination to Lynn.
• Lynn learned the group would reach Twin Peaks Mountain in three hours, while Rena needed at least four hours to move the remaining experimental subjects and materials.
• Sorine agreed to delay Dominic’s party for an hour and spotted a Squig’s remains as a possible way to create a distraction.

Dominic’s party wiped out ten thousand Ork cavalry on the ice plain, but Ralfa suspected they had been lured into an ambush. As they continued toward Twin Peaks Mountain, a huge herd of Brevis Ice Plain Bison charged toward them.

• Dominic refused to avoid the approaching Ork cavalry and ordered his guards, Baneblade, and Thunderbolt fighters to attack.
• Dominic and his guards charged into the Orks, and Dominic killed their Snakebites Big 'Un leader with his power spear.
• The Orks fled after their leader died, and Dominic’s party wiped out the cavalry with only minor injuries among the guards.
• Ralfa questioned how the Orks had evaded aerial surveillance and felt watched again, but Dominic dismissed her concerns and continued toward Twin Peaks Mountain.
• A herd of at least a thousand Brevis Ice Plain Bison appeared on the horizon and charged toward Dominic’s party.