Chapter Summaries

Lynn’s Tyranid swarms infiltrated the Ork fleet and crippled its Battle Barges, while Luna intercepted the fleeing Ork cruiser with the Iron Radiance and led a boarding assault. The cruiser fell, and Luna and a Tyranid exchanged a look of mutual disdain before turning away.

• Tyranid swarms slaughtered the Orks aboard the transports and returned through them to attack the Battle Barges, throwing the ships into chaos.
• The expeditionary frigates moved against the Ork cruiser, but its captain tried to retreat and found the Iron Radiance blocking the way.
• Luna ordered the Iron Radiance’s Void Shields shut down and prepared to board, while the Ork captain chose to fight; the two cruisers collided.
• Luna and the Tzeentch Sorcerers led the assault, using Psychic Power to kill Orks as the Skitarii fought through the corridors.
• The Ork captain charged Luna and was frozen by her lightning before the Skitarii killed him, while Tyranids attacked from behind and helped capture the cruiser.
• Luna and a Tyranid exchanged a distant, disdainful look aboard the Iron Radiance, then turned away without acknowledging each other.

Chandler discovered that a Loota had helped a Squig swallow the Mecha Cache, then hunted the transformed creature as it rampaged through the Rule of Discipline. Meanwhile, Lynn confronted Luna about her battlefield decisions and realized she had known Carl II’s Ork warboss was aboard the largest ship.

• As the Ork fleet was destroyed, Chandler ordered a retreat from the battlefield but spotted a panicked Loota aboard the Rule of Discipline.
• Chandler killed the Loota after noticing a golden Squig that had swallowed the Mecha Cache, then ordered the Orks to catch it.
• The transformed Squig grew stronger, smashed through its pursuers, and dodged Chandler as it raced around the ship.
• Lynn contacted Luna and condemned her for letting the Orks board the Rule of Discipline and endangering Brevis.
• Lynn deduced that Carl II’s warboss was aboard the largest Ork ship, and Luna’s silence confirmed that she had known.

Lynn launched a torpedo toward the Ork flagship while Rena deployed Jingzhe to stop Chandler from escaping with the Mecha Cache. Jingzhe and her Lictors attacked the Orks with poisonous spores, throwing Chandler’s forces into chaos.

• Luna abandoned the Skitarii and Tzeentch Cultists, and Lynn called her an idiot before ending their transmission.
• Lynn realized the Orks believed Luna’s largest ship held a Mecha Cache and ordered the Pinnacle Black Obsidian to launch Model Three at the Mad Bull.
• Chandler crushed the golden Squig and recovered a sphere he identified as the Mecha Cache.
• Rena Jingzhe appeared aboard the Rule of Discipline, prompting Chandler to seize the cache and flee toward the Mad Bull.
• Jingzhe and her Lictors descended on the Orks, and living spores released poison mist that left the Boyz scratching and blinded.

Rena Jingzhe attacked Chandler’s Ork defensive line as he retreated aboard the Mad Bull and pulled it free from the Rule of Discipline. She disabled the Orks’ machinery with an electromagnetic pulse, then led the Lictors through the helpless defenders.

• Rena Jingzhe arrived among the Orks weakened by poisonous mist and cut through them as Chandler fled to the Mad Bull.
• Chandler activated the Mad Bull’s disposable thrusters, pulling its horns out of the Rule of Discipline while his mechanical guards formed a defensive line.
• Rena Jingzhe fired nine Bursting Lightning Spears into the Ork formations, and their electromagnetic pulse sent walkers and power armour out of control.
• Rena Jingzhe and the Lictors rushed into the disabled defenders, killing Orks trapped in walkers and armour.

Rena Jingzhe fought Chandler aboard the Mad Bull, but Chandler detonated a powerful bomb at point-blank range. The blast left Rena barely alive and Chandler missing as the damaged ship neared Carl II’s air-defense zone.

• Chandler’s fear intensified the Orks’ Waaagh!, strengthening the Surging Electro-Spear’s electromagnetic pulse and disabling more machinery.
• Rena Jingzhe reached Chandler while Lictors sacrificed themselves to block the Orks from reinforcing it.
• Rena used Chandler’s stumble to pin its right arm with a Bursting Lightning Spear and severed the arm at the root.
• Chandler launched a bomb powered by over a thousand Bomb Squigs, engulfing itself and Rena in an explosion that devastated the Mad Bull.
• Rena survived barely, searched the wreckage for Chandler, and found nothing.

Chandler escaped the sinking Mad Bull in a pod carrying the Mecha Cache, but Luna pursued him in a frigate despite heavy anti-aircraft fire. As the frigate closed in, Chandler begged Sith for help, but Sith ignored him.

• Chandler activated the Mad Bull’s escape pod and launched toward Carl II with the Mecha Cache.
• Rena Jingzhe let the pod escape, then began losing vitality as the Mad Bull sank and its Boyz faced attacks from two sides.
• Luna pursued Chandler in a Turbulent-class Frigate, seeking to capture him and claim the Mecha Cache despite Carl II’s anti-aircraft fire.
• Lynn watched the pursuit from the Pinnacle Black Obsidian and said Luna had a death wish, while noting he could not reach her in time.
• Chandler called on Sith to stop the pursuing frigate, but Sith ignored his pleas.

Bigfoot Sith used the Foot of Gork to destroy the pursuing frigate and save Chandler, who returned to Carl II with the Mecha Cache. Chandler dismissed Sith’s sacrifice and left to study the treasure, while Sith watched him with an unreadable expression.

• Sith gathered Psychic Power Boyz and drained their power to prepare a powerful spell, killing or badly injuring several of them.
• Sith summoned the Foot of Gork, which obliterated the front half of the Turbulent-class Frigate and killed Luna and its crew.
• Chandler escaped in his pod, reached Carl II’s air defense zone, and arrived safely in the core district clutching the Mecha Cache.
• Chandler thanked Sith dismissively, mocked him, and left to plan how to use the Mecha Cache to build a machine and challenge Ragnar.
• Sith watched Chandler leave and appeared to consider something.

After Luna failed to destroy Carl II, Lynn blockaded the planet and waited for a chance to strike from within. The chapter revealed that his attempt to infiltrate the Orks with Rena Orks had failed when their behavior exposed them as Tyranids.

• Luna emerged aboard the Iron Radiance in her last afterimage, ordered her fleet to help clear the remaining Orks, and then retreated with the wreckage of the Rule of Discipline.
• Lynn redeployed his fleet to blockade Carl II, choosing to wait rather than assault its defenses while Chandler and over a hundred million Orks remained.
• Lynn's infiltration plan used Ork genetic samples to create Rena Orks that could pass as Boyz if the other Orks believed they belonged.
• A Rena Ork fought an Ork Boy with precise, emotionless efficiency, making the surrounding Boyz suspect it was an outsider.
• The Boyz saw the Rena Ork's Tyranid form, swarmed it, and beat it to pieces.

After Rena’s attempts to infiltrate Ork ranks repeatedly failed, Lynn devised a second plan: create a new clan and infiltrate Ork society from the bottom as Gretchin. He transferred his consciousness into a weak new body at a Squig ranch, where a Gretchin rescued him from an attacking Muscle Squig.

• Lynn concluded that Rena’s precise fighting style and different physiology exposed her as an outsider among Orks.
• Lynn and Rena created a new clan of purple-skinned, agile Orks called the Hokage Clan, intending to infiltrate Gretchin workplaces instead of higher ranks.
• Lynn transferred his consciousness into one of the new bodies and arrived at a Squig ranch outside Carl II.
• Lynn struggled to control his weak, stiff body while surrounded by Squigs in a dung-filled pen.
• A Muscle Squig charged at Lynn, but a Gretchin pulled him out of the pen and saved him.

Lynn, calling himself Seven-Smasha, joined Toothy at a Squig ranch to learn Ork society from the bottom up. As Toothy explained the ranch’s brutal hierarchy, Lynn asked how they could get out.

• Toothy rescued Lynn from Muscle Squig territory, introduced itself, and shared its dream of becoming the richest Gretchin.
• Lynn named himself Seven-Smasha and claimed he dreamed of founding a new clan and becoming the strongest warboss; Toothy believed him and offered to look after him.
• Lynn agreed to follow Toothy, and its favorability toward him rose from 2 to 8.
• Lynn learned that Gretchin gangs competed for good jobs and Squig enclosures, while the disabled Nob overseer Lao Cantui collected teeth and punished those who paid too little.
• Toothy warned Lynn that Lao Cantui could still kill a Gretchin with one kick and told him about the Shark-Maw Squig pen.
• Lynn asked Toothy how they could get out of the ranch.

Toothy hid Lynn from a Gretchin gang boss and explained that Orks were forbidden in the settlement unless they earned protection. He took Lynn to a dangerous muscle Squig enclosure, where Lynn began his first job shoveling dung to earn money.

• Toothy covered Lynn with burlap and passed him off as a distant cousin when Master Pi and his Gretchin approached.
• After Master Pi left, Toothy complained that Pike had risen to become a gang boss by currying favor with the local Gretchin boss.
• Toothy told Lynn that Orks found among Gretchin could be forced into slave labor, and that Lynn needed strength, gear, and a fearsome reputation to reach headquarters as a warrior.
• Lynn asked how to earn money, and Toothy offered to take him to work.
• Toothy brought Lynn to a pen full of muscle Squigs and handed him a shovel to clear their dung.

Lynn spent a grueling day shoveling Squig dung in Seven-Smasha’s body, then returned to his own body aboard the Pinnacle Black Obsidian after three hours had passed. He concluded that he needed to build power in Ork society discreetly and chose Toothy as a potential proxy.

• Lynn struggled to shovel dung while dodging charging Squigs, and Toothy coached him through the work.
• Toothy and Lynn collected two teeth as their pay from the enclosure’s petty boss.
• Toothy brought Lynn to his cramped scrap shack, where they slept after the exhausting workday.
• Lynn’s consciousness returned to his body on the Pinnacle Black Obsidian, and he found that three hours had passed aboard the ship despite experiencing a full day in the Ork body.
• Lynn reflected on the Orks’ rapid growth and decided Seven-Smasha needed to rise beyond menial labor without drawing attention, with Toothy serving as a suitable public proxy.

Lynn backed Toothy as a partner in his plan to rise through the Ork hierarchy while keeping his own identity hidden. After learning that Awen could be replaced by whoever defeated it, Lynn prepared a purple outfit that made him nearly invisible and planned to attack that night.

• Lynn decided to help Toothy gain power while he worked as a hidden enforcer.
• Toothy took Lynn to the canteen, where it rationed starch jelly, while Lynn spent his two teeth on purple paint.
• Toothy explained that Awen managed their pen and that defeating Awen could earn someone its position.
• Lynn proposed killing Awen that night, and Toothy agreed despite its fear.
• Lynn dyed a rag purple and made an outfit that rendered him difficult to see, then told Toothy to keep others away while he fought.

Lynn and Toothy confronted Awen outside a tavern so Toothy could challenge it for leadership. Lynn killed Awen and drove off its followers, leaving Toothy looking at him with growing ambition.

• Lynn and Toothy finished their work and secretly went to the tavern to wait for Awen.
• Toothy confronted Awen and declared that it would take Awen's place, drawing laughter from Awen and its followers.
• Awen ordered its followers to attack Toothy, but Lynn burst from the shadows and defeated the two lackeys beside Awen.
• Lynn pinned Awen down and tore its head off as the remaining Gretchin fled.
• Toothy's fear gave way to swelling ambition as it and Lynn silently looked at each other.

Toothy and Lynn headed for Xiaobudian’s territory with Awen’s head, but first searched Awen’s base and discovered a fortune in premium teeth. Toothy chose to take some of the wealth to recruit help and approach Xiaobudian, leaving one chest hidden behind.

• Toothy told Lynn to take Awen’s head to Xiaobudian, and Lynn reassured Toothy that it would always be his boss.
• Toothy decided they needed a gift for Xiaobudian and led Lynn to search Awen’s base for teeth.
• Toothy and Lynn found three chests containing 1,531 premium teeth in a hidden cellar.
• Toothy composed itself, recruited six Gretchin with an offer of two ordinary teeth each, and assigned two to guard the base.
• Toothy took four Gretchin carrying two chests of premium teeth toward Xiaobudian, leaving the third chest hidden in Awen’s cellar.

Toothy claimed Awen’s position by presenting Awen’s head and crates of premium teeth to Xiaobudian, then rallied the Gretchin with gifts and took control of the gang. After blasting one challenger and forcing another to submit, Toothy strode into the base as its new leader, while Lynn watched approvingly.

• Lynn accompanied Toothy to Xiaobudian’s base, where Toothy presented Awen’s head and demanded his position.
• Toothy proved its claim with two crates of premium teeth, and Xiaobudian granted it Awen’s position while leaving it to defend that position itself.
• Toothy gave premium teeth to more than a hundred Gretchin and declared itself their officer.
• When two of Awen’s former petty bosses challenged it, Toothy donned Awen’s armor and fired its hand cannon, killing one and making the other submit.
• The remaining Gretchin acclaimed Toothy, and Lynn followed it back into the base with a smile.

After Awen’s death, Toothy consolidated power at the outpost, grew stronger as the Gretchin accepted him as their boss, and improved their wages on Lynn’s advice. Meanwhile, Xiaobudian examined Awen’s torn-off head and began suspecting that an Ork had killed him.

• Toothy divided Awen’s former core members with unequal treatment, sparking a clash between the two groups and turning their resentment away from him.
• Toothy killed several hard cases, secured his authority, and grew to around a meter and a half tall as the Gretchin recognized him as their boss.
• Toothy discovered that Awen had kept eighty percent of the workers’ wages and decided to raise their daily pay from two teeth to five.
• Lynn advised Toothy to raise wages to three teeth instead, and the workers responded with gratitude and greater effort.
• When Toothy asked how Lynn knew what to do, Lynn claimed he had found a secret manual while scavenging.
• Xiaobudian examined Awen’s torn-off head, recalled rumors of a purple shadow, and wondered whether an Ork had killed him.

Lynn realized Seven-Smasha’s body was becoming more Ork-like and decided to strengthen the impression that an Ork backed Toothy. After Xiaobudian gave Toothy Awu’s territory as a test, Lynn identified the suspicion behind the move and hinted that he had allies.

• Lynn had Rena examine Seven-Smasha and confirmed that part of its physiology had shifted toward that of a true Ork.
• Xiaobudian summoned Toothy, questioned it about Awen’s death, and gave it Awu’s western Squig pen to manage.
• Toothy returned to its base and told Lynn that Xiaobudian seemed to be testing it by provoking Awu.
• Lynn concluded that Xiaobudian suspected an Ork was backing Toothy and advised it to demonstrate that the suspicion was true.
• When Toothy worried that one Ork would not be enough to intimidate Awu, Lynn said he was not alone.

Lynn brought Toothy to a hidden corner where more than thirty Ork Boyz were waiting, then challenged their strongest member to a fight. He appeared to win and gain their submission, while revealing that the Orks had secretly helped him and had been created by Rena.

• Lynn led Toothy to the forgotten enclosure, where they found more than thirty Ork Boyz and their towering leader.
• Lynn challenged the leader, and the two fought while Toothy watched anxiously from behind the fence.
• The leader knocked Lynn down and appeared ready to finish him, but Lynn soon stood victorious as the leader lay unconscious and the other Orks submitted.
• Toothy celebrated Lynn's victory and realized that they now had more than thirty Orks on their side.
• Lynn revealed that the leader had recognized him and deliberately held back, and that Rena had created the Orks and sent Ogryn guards to control them.

Toothy prepared to face Awu after Xiaobudian assigned him Awu’s territory and wages, but Lynn remained unresponsive while commanding a space battle elsewhere. As Awu’s force approached, Toothy rallied the Gretchin who had stayed, ready to defend his position.

• Doudou and the other Ogryn agreed to play Orks under Lynn’s orders, and Toothy returned to the base believing the Orks would back him.
• Xiaobudian sent Toothy two crates of teeth as wages for Awu’s territory, and Toothy refused to return them despite warnings that Awu was gathering over two hundred armed followers.
• Toothy found Lynn unresponsive, unaware that Lynn was on the Pinnacle Black Obsidian commanding an expeditionary fleet to aid Luna’s fleet against Chandler near Carl II.
• A lackey warned Toothy that Awu’s force would reach the base within a quarter of an hour, and Toothy chose to stay and face them.
• Toothy assembled the Gretchin fighters, but fewer than a hundred of the usual 151 showed up, while the rest hid or fled.