Recaps

Ragnar used the Stew God's power to overwhelm the Sisters of Silence and Ventria Guard, destroying a Stormblade and badly wounding Ralfa. As he prepared to kill her, a figure in golden armour appeared behind her.

• Ralfa ordered the guards and Sisters to attack Ragnar with Power Halberds, but their weapons could not pierce his skin.
• Ragnar killed several soldiers with single blows, while the Sisters of Silence's psychic suppression had no effect on him.
• Ragnar dodged a Stormblade's plasma shot, bent its gun barrel, and caused the tank to explode from within.
• Ralfa led the surviving Sisters in a coordinated assault, but Ragnar broke through her defense and injured her with a glancing punch.
• Ragnar approached the helpless Ralfa and raised his fist to kill her, but a figure in golden armour appeared behind her and steadied her.

Renix awakened and joined Ralfa in fighting Ragnar, but he broke away from their coordinated attacks and charged toward the bridge to kill Dominic. The chapter ended with Ragnar raising his fist to smash open the bridge doors.

• Renix awakened from stasis and checked that Ralfa was safe before facing Ragnar.
• Renix struck Ragnar with her Guardian Spear and Boltgun, but his strength and speed kept her at a disadvantage.
• Ralfa recovered and fought beside Renix, and their coordination helped them hold Ragnar at bay.
• Ragnar unleashed a wave of force to drive Renix and Ralfa back, then charged toward the bridge doors to reach Dominic.
• Renix and Ralfa pursued Ragnar, but he reached the bridge doors and prepared to smash them open.

Lynn killed everyone in the Macro-cannon control room to keep his secret hidden, then rushed toward the bridge. There, Ralfa and Renix used a coordinated attack to stun Ragnar with the Flower of Heavenly Tribulation, but he began adapting to the electricity and was close to breaking free.

• Lynn emerged from a ventilation duct into a firefight between naval soldiers and Deathskulls Orks, then sliced everyone in the control room apart with Psychic Power.
• Lynn headed toward the bridge after recognizing Ragnar’s name.
• As Ragnar battered the bridge doors, Ralfa signaled Renix to launch her at him, and Renix hurled her across the room.
• Ralfa dodged Ragnar’s punch with a grenade blast, while Renix distracted him with her Guardian Spear.
• Ralfa dropped from the ceiling and stabbed the Flower of Heavenly Tribulation into Ragnar’s neck, releasing millions of volts and immobilizing him.
• Ragnar endured the current and began adapting, warning that he would soon break free and kill them.

Ralfa held Ragnar in place so Renix could order the Stormblades to fire, but Dominic pulled Ralfa clear just before the plasma blasts struck. Ragnar survived the barrage, and a huge mouth split open in his abdomen.

• Ralfa signaled Renix to fire on Ragnar while she kept the Flower of Heavenly Tribulation buried in his neck.
• Renix ordered all seven Stormblades to fire at maximum power on Ragnar.
• Dominic emerged from the bridge and used a mechanical claw to pull Ralfa away as the plasma blasts hit Ragnar.
• Dominic caught Ralfa and handed her to the medics while the others waited for the smoke to clear.
• Ragnar remained alive in the crater, charred and gravely injured, and a huge mouth opened in his abdomen.

Ragnar devoured corpses and the wreckage of the Stormblade, restoring his strength until he surpassed his former peak. After he badly wounded Renix and turned on Dominic, Dominic resolved to fight back and ordered the Celestial Lions Squad to prepare for battle.

• Ragnar sucked nearby corpses into his belly mouth and rapidly healed as he consumed them.
• Dominic attacked Ragnar with his power claws, but Ragnar cracked one with a bare-handed blow.
• Ragnar devoured the Stormblade wreckage, grew stronger, and began drawing more corpses toward himself.
• Renix pierced Ragnar's belly mouth with her Guardian Spear, but he struck her into a wall and left her badly wounded.
• Dominic remembered the soldiers who had died protecting him and the Gemstone, then ordered the Celestial Lions Squad to prepare for battle.

Dominic and four Celestial Lions guards used coordinated attacks to keep Ragnar occupied while the remaining Stormblades fired on him, but Ragnar turned on the tanks and began destroying them. After crushing two Stormblades and killing their crews, he headed for another while Dominic watched helplessly.

• Dominic ordered his four bodyguards to use hit-and-run tactics, and they attacked Ragnar while the Stormblades fired plasma at him.
• Ragnar realized the Stormblades were the real threat and charged at the nearest one, ignoring Dominic's attacks.
• Ragnar shattered both shield guards' Storm Shields and knocked them down, breaking their ribs.
• Ragnar flattened the first Stormblade's turret, tore open its crew compartment, and devoured the crew.
• Ragnar destroyed a second Stormblade the same way, then turned toward another as Dominic cried out in despair.

Dominic wounded Ragnar with his power claws and detonated Melta grenades inside his belly before a Stormblade blasted a hole through his chest, but Ragnar survived. When Dominic learned that boarding troops were taking control of the Anna, Ragnar abandoned his attempt to recover and charged at Dominic in a rage.

• Dominic stabbed Ragnar in the back with his power claws, escaped his grasp, and slashed his arm while pulling the claws free.
• Dominic fired Melta grenades at Ragnar, whose belly-mouth swallowed them; they exploded inside him and caused severe injuries.
• Dominic ordered a Stormblade to fire, and its plasma blast struck Ragnar in the chest and hurled him across the hall.
• Ragnar survived the blast and began moving toward a destroyed Stormblade to recover by devouring it.
• A communicator reported that boarding troops had breached the Anna's shields and were fighting the Orks aboard, leaving Ragnar's fleet nearly defeated.
• Ragnar abandoned the wreckage and charged recklessly at Dominic, consumed by fury over the threat to the Anna.

Ragnar overwhelmed Dominic and the Celestial Lions guards, leaving Dominic disarmed, badly wounded, and trapped. Ragnar stood over him and mocked him as the remaining guards and their Stormblade tank were destroyed.

• Ragnar killed one fire-support guard, wounded another, and killed both shield guards despite their attempts to protect Dominic.
• Dominic charged Ragnar and aimed his power claw at the hole in his chest, but Ragnar’s tongue pulled him off balance and the monster bit off his left arm.
• Ragnar tore away Dominic’s power pack, causing his armor to lose power and pin him to the floor.
• A Stormblade rammed Ragnar and personal guards dragged Dominic from his armor, but Ragnar overturned the tank and killed the guards.
• Ragnar approached the helpless Dominic and taunted him about his former pride and threats.

Dominic Ventria defied Ragnar even as he lay wounded, but Heisen sacrificed himself to save him. As the Sisters of Silence carried Dominic away, Ralfa went back toward Ragnar, leaving Dominic helplessly watching another person risk their life for him.

• Dominic told Ragnar that the Imperium would keep sending forces until the Orks were destroyed, and Ragnar raised his fist to kill him.
• Heisen threw himself in front of Dominic and died when Ragnar punched through his chest.
• Dominic grabbed a metal shard and charged Ragnar, but two surviving Sisters of Silence lifted him and retreated with him.
• Dominic saw Ralfa walk against the retreating crowd toward Ragnar despite her wounds.
• Dominic cried out for Ralfa to stop and struggled against the Sisters of Silence, but they held him fast as she continued onward.

Ralfa sacrificed herself to unleash the Annihilation Spirit Box against Ragnar, and its psychic explosion engulfed the hall. As Dominic faced death, a silver-haired Inquisitor rescued him and fled into a nearby bridge.

• Ralfa prepared to use the Annihilation Spirit Box, knowing its power would kill her and that Dominic remained in danger.
• Ragnar killed the two Sisters of Silence carrying Dominic, then struck Ralfa and killed her.
• Ralfa's death released the Annihilation Spirit Box's psychic energy, which tore through the hall and formed a small rift.
• As the blast neared Dominic, a silver-haired Inquisitor grabbed him and sped with him into a nearby bridge.
• The psychic shock wave slammed the bridge's alloy doors shut behind them.

Sorine forced Dominic to face his responsibility to the fleet after he raged at her for saving him. Before he could recover from his grief, attackers emerged from the Gemstone’s ventilation ducts and opened fire on the bridge.

• Sorine slapped Dominic and told him that abandoning the battle would betray the soldiers who died to save him and endanger the human fleet and billions on Brevis.
• Dominic accepted that the war was not over and wept over the soldiers who had sacrificed themselves for him.
• A gunman fired at Dominic from a ventilation duct, but Sorine pulled him out of the bullet’s path.
• Attackers shot and killed two bodyguards before dozens of figures leaped from the ventilation ducts onto the bridge.

Blood Axe operatives attacked the exhausted defenders on the bridge, forcing Inquisitor Sorine to carry the gravely wounded Dominic through their fire and shelter behind a blast door. Dominic regained his resolve, while Sorine revealed she was also waiting for someone whose presence was close.

• Blood Axe operatives ambushed the weakened bridge defenders and moved to kill Dominic.
• Sorine carried Dominic through the bridge, using cover and a strange green energy pistol to kill several attackers.
• Seeing Sorine risk herself to protect him, Dominic regained his resolve and asked to fight, but Sorine refused to put him down.
• Sorine brought Dominic into a secure room and shut the blast door against the attackers.
• Sorine told Dominic she was not fighting alone and sensed that someone was very close.

Ragnar survived the psychic explosion by devouring eight soldiers and regrowing into a powerful, flayed form. As he charged toward the bridge to hunt Dominic, a masked figure in purple bio-armor stopped him.

• Several soldiers from the 4th Marine Regiment found Ragnar’s surviving mouth in the crater and opened fire, but their weapons barely harmed it.
• Ragnar’s mouth swallowed two soldiers, grew arms, and chased down and devoured all eight soldiers.
• Ragnar regenerated into a four-meter-tall, flayed Ork and set off toward the bridge, drawn by Dominic’s scent.
• A figure in purple bio-armor appeared upside down at the banquet hall entrance and told Ragnar he could not leave.

Lynn and Rena overwhelmed Ragnar after he charged at them, leaving him pinned and badly injured in the hall. Ragnar remained alive but helpless as Lynn shattered his newly regrown spine.

• Ragnar charged at Lynn, but Lynn struck him so quickly that Ragnar was flipped upside down before he realized what had happened.
• Rena seized Ragnar by the neck, slammed him into the ceiling, and smashed his face against it.
• Rena tore off Ragnar's right arm and hurled him toward the floor.
• Lynn pinned Ragnar's neck and three remaining limbs with four Neural Lances.
• Lynn leaped up and shattered Ragnar's newly regrown spine with a knee strike.

Lynn and Rena combined their psychic power to destroy Big Gut Ragnar, who had survived an earlier psychic collapse. Lynn then turned his attention to the approaching Ork fleet and the unfinished war.

• Lynn and Rena battered Ragnar until his body was reduced to a broken lump of flesh.
• Rena linked her neural tendrils to Lynn's armor and formed a powerful psychic spear.
• Lynn hurled the spear at Ragnar, triggering a psychic collapse that annihilated him completely.
• Lynn disconnected from Rena and looked toward the bridge, knowing the Ork fleet was nearing Carl II and the war was not over.

After Lynn killed the wounded Ork warlord, he contacted Sorine and planned to use her Twilight grenades to rescue the people trapped on the bridge without exposing himself. Sorine prepared to act while protecting the wounded Dominic, leaving her identity and beauty briefly revealed to him.

• Lynn and Rena confirmed that the Ork warlord Ragnar was dead, while fighting continued behind the bridge doors.
• Lynn opened a private mental channel with Sorine, who reported that over thirty Blood Axes commandos were attacking and the blast doors would hold for no more than five minutes.
• Lynn asked Sorine for a way to disrupt the commandos' vision and senses, and she offered three Twilight grenades.
• Lynn told Sorine to make the coming intervention appear to be her doing, and she agreed to use the grenades as cover.
• Sorine removed her mask and placed it over Dominic's face to protect him from the grenades' toxin, briefly revealing her appearance to him.

Sorine used Twilight grenades to cover Lynn and Rena as they killed the Blood Axes operatives in the bridge hall. After the smoke cleared, Dominic found Sorine gone, while Imperial soldiers arrived and confirmed that Ragnar had been destroyed.

• Sorine threw three Twilight grenades into the bridge hall, filling it with paralyzing yellow smoke.
• Lynn and Rena attacked under cover of the smoke and killed all thirty-odd Blood Axes operatives in about five seconds.
• Sorine thanked Lynn through their communication channel, and Lynn told her to keep Dominic alive before cutting the connection.
• When the smoke cleared, Dominic and the surviving officers found the Blood Axes dead and Sorine missing.
• Imperial soldiers arrived, reported no Ork life signs in the banquet hall ruins, and confirmed that Ragnar had been completely destroyed.

Dominic announced Ragnar’s death and prepared the fleet to face the approaching Ork main force, while Lynn discovered that Sorine’s new conquest target was Dominic. As Lynn monitored the Orks near Carl II, he found that their fleet had recovered from its brief chaos and was advancing in formation despite Ragnar’s death.

• Dominic announced that he and the Gemstone were safe, confirmed Ragnar had been eliminated, and ordered the fleet to hold formation for the next assault.
• Lynn received a system notification naming Dominic Ventria as Sorine’s new conquest target and was startled by the assignment.
• Lynn traveled toward Carl II and coordinated with Rena to monitor the Ork fleet using Tyranid probes.
• Lynn expected Ragnar’s death to leave the Orks disorganized, but the probes showed their brief infighting ended within ten minutes and their fleet regrouped to attack Carl II.

After Ragnar was presumed dead, Lynn and Rena realized the Ork Waaagh Field was reforming and suspected he had survived. The story revealed that the Stew God rescued Ragnar’s soul, while a strange stew appeared in his throne-cauldron aboard the Ork fleet.

• Rena reported that the Ork Waaagh Field was gathering again, and she and Lynn concluded Ragnar might still be alive.
• Lynn ordered Rena to divert their shuttle toward the Ork fleet to find Ragnar and kill him before he recovered.
• As psychic energy consumed him, Ragnar begged the Stew God to save him and offered all his stew, fleet, and planet.
• The Stew God accepted Ragnar’s bargain and sent his remaining soul away in a dark green light, unseen by Lynn and Rena.
• Ragnar’s apparent death shattered the Waaagh Field, causing Ork ships to break apart and the fleet to descend into chaos.
• Golden, oily stew appeared and bubbled inside Ragnar’s throne-cauldron aboard the Flatbread Meat Roll.

Ragnar returned from the cauldron after Pangdun fell into it, reuniting the Ork fleet and ending its brewing infighting. Still terrified of the human and insectoid enemies, he ordered the fleet to retreat toward Dorito while a few forward ships continued toward Carl II Space Station.

• Pangdun abandoned his fight for the boss's position, ate from the cauldron, and fell into the boiling broth.
• Ragnar emerged from the cauldron in a smaller, transformed body as Waaagh Fields across the fleet converged on the Flatbread Meat Roll.
• The Orks stopped fighting and hailed Ragnar, and the Warbosses bowed to him.
• Ragnar rejected a proposal to press the attack on Carl II and ordered the fleet to retreat to Dorito.
• A few forward warships continued toward Carl II Space Station and launched landing pods while Ragnar vowed to return for revenge.

Lynn and Rena watched Ragnar’s Ork fleet retreat toward Dorito and decided not to pursue him recklessly. Rena then reported a rapidly spreading plague on Dorito, and Lynn privately suspected Nurgle was behind it.

• Lynn recognized that Ragnar was still alive when the Ork fleet turned back toward Dorito.
• Lynn proposed sneaking aboard an Ork warship to pursue Ragnar, but Rena warned him that infiltrating Dorito was too dangerous.
• Lynn accepted Rena’s advice and acknowledged that the Waaagh! Field had made him more impulsive.
• Rena told Lynn that a plague had turned human corpses into walking dead and had spread across three continents of Dorito in a few days.
• Lynn used their psychic link to ask why Nurgle was in Dorito.

Lynn concluded that a major conflict was brewing in the Brevis System and ordered Rena to secretly expand the Tyranid swarm on Dead World A. He then headed back to Carl II to deal with the abandoned Ork Boyz and maintain Dominic’s support.

• Lynn and Rena discussed the arrival of Nurgle’s followers and wondered why Chaos was targeting Brevis.
• Lynn ordered Rena to move half the swarm from Dead World B to Dead World A and build a concealed hive underground.
• Rena agreed to establish hidden spawning pools and expand the swarm without alerting the humans on Brevis.
• Lynn said he would intervene and claim Brevis’s biomass if the Imperium could no longer defend the planet.
• Lynn and Rena flew back to Carl II to deal with the abandoned Ork Boyz and keep Dominic’s forces on their side.

Lynn’s Expeditionary Force trapped and destroyed an Ork invasion aboard the Carl II space station, then prepared to meet the human rear admiral. Lynn left the battlefield intending to discuss something with him.

• Lynn focused on raising Rena’s affection, which had passed 80, while deciding to ignore Sorine and Dominic as conquest targets.
• Millions of Orks invaded the Carl II space station, where Lynn’s Expeditionary Force used guerrilla tactics to harass and delay them.
• After learning their main fleet had retreated toward Dorito, the Orks panicked, and Lynn ordered the Tithe Fleet to bombard the station.
• The bombardment and cleanup eliminated over 3.2 million Orks at a cost of 315,217 Expeditionary Force casualties.
• Rena told Lynn that the Tithe Fleet had returned to orbit and that a human rear admiral had repeatedly requested a meeting, so Lynn agreed to see him.

Lynn warned Dominic that the Ork fleet’s orderly retreat suggested Ragnar might still be alive, despite reports that he died in battle. He left Dominic confronting the possibility that the Ork Warboss had survived by means no one understood.

• Dominic praised Lynn for defending Carl II and proposed attacking Dorito while the Orks were in disarray.
• Lynn argued that the Ork fleet’s orderly retreat did not match the chaos expected after a Warboss’s death and a leadership change.
• Lynn concluded that Ragnar was probably still alive, prompting Dominic to angrily insist that Ragnar had died in the psychic collapse.
• Lynn recalled Ragnar’s extraordinary regeneration and his flagship’s ability to swallow a fleet’s salvo, then asked why Ragnar could not have returned from the dead.

Lynn persuaded Dominic to reconsider his assumption that Ragnar was dead and proposed delaying the assault on Dorito to repair and resupply the fleet. He warned that rushing into a ground war against billions of Orks could turn the Imperium’s advantage into disaster.

• Dominic reviewed the battle’s abnormal events and, despite his anger over the sacrifices, agreed to hear Lynn’s proposal.
• Lynn explained that the Ork fleet had lost much of its strength and that Ragnar would struggle to restore it soon, even if he had survived.
• Lynn outlined the Gemstone’s damage and the shortage of ammunition at Carl II, then recommended resting and establishing a supply route before attacking Dorito.
• Dominic questioned whether a pause would let the Orks rebuild their Waaagh Field and grow stronger.
• Lynn argued that a damaged fleet and fewer than twenty million Imperial troops could not safely overcome Dorito’s five billion Orks, and urged Dominic to consolidate their forces before striking.