Chapter Summaries

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.

Dominic's hunting party crossed a rampaging bison herd and reached Twin Peaks Mountain, where Ralfa suspected someone had delayed them to keep them from the mountain. After searching an apparently ordinary cave, Dominic found a hollow wall and opened it, revealing a vast underground cavern.

• Dominic led his party through the bison herd, and Ralfa cut a horn to turn away a charging bison.
• Ralfa suspected the Orks and bison had been sent to delay them and wondered whether Kerry Von was hiding a secret at Twin Peaks Mountain.
• Dominic and Ralfa entered a huge cave at Twin Peaks Mountain, but their search found only a strange, rank smell.
• A guard discovered that a rock wall sounded hollow, and Dominic blew it open with a Frag Grenade.
• Dominic and Ralfa entered the vast underground cavern beyond the opening.

Dominic’s party discovered an abandoned Tyranid nest beneath Twin Peaks Mountain and returned to the starport without investigating further, allowing Lynn’s secret to remain hidden. The next morning, Lynn warned Dominic that Big Gut Ragnar was leading a huge Ork force toward Carl II, and Dominic reacted with excitement.

• Dominic and Ralfa found evidence of a Tyranid hatching site in the underground cavern, but Dominic dismissed the Dragon of Frost as a legend invented by Kerry Von.
• Dominic ordered his party to return to the starport and said the abandoned nest posed no immediate danger.
• Sorine reported to Lynn that Dominic had left the cavern without taking further action, and Lynn relaxed at the governor’s residence.
• Lynn decided he still needed to make Dominic leave Brevis before his secret could be exposed.
• Lynn told Dominic that Big Gut Ragnar had set out from Dorito with over a hundred million Orks and a vast fleet to attack Carl II.
• Dominic confirmed the intelligence and stood at the window, visibly excited by the coming campaign.

Lynn weighed whether to abandon Carl II or defend it against the vastly larger Ork fleet, fearing Dominic might refuse to intervene. Sorine then reported that Dominic had already taken most of his fleet to Carl II, leaving Lynn relieved and surprised.

• Dominic received Lynn’s warning about the Orks and listened without revealing his intentions.
• Lynn told Rena that Brevis could either abandon Carl II or send its exhausted fleet to defend it, and she objected to abandoning the world.
• Lynn worried that Dominic might stand aside while both sides weakened each other, leaving Brevis vulnerable.
• Sorine informed Lynn that Dominic had departed for Carl II with most of the Tithe fleet, including the Gemstone.
• Lynn laughed with relief at Dominic’s unexpected decision to head for Carl II without making demands.

Lynn ordered Gus to defend Carl II until reinforcements arrived, then sailed from Brevis with the Second Crusade Fleet using conventional propulsion. Left behind on Brevis, Luna despaired over her collapsing influence and fell into a sleep that would become her most agonizing.

• Lynn told Gus to hold Carl II for three days while reinforcements traveled there, and Gus vowed to defend the planet.
• Lynn ordered the Second Crusade Fleet to prepare for battle and forbade Warp travel so the Tithe fleet would not suspect him.
• Lynn departed Brevis aboard the frigate Lightning with twelve Sword-class Frigates, a Lunar-class Cruiser, and civilian transports.
• Luna raged in her study over her lost standing, the failed Tithe scheme, and Lynn’s growing power.
• Luna returned to her bedroom, collapsed onto the bed without undressing, and fell asleep.

Luna dreamed that Lynn betrayed Leo and the Tyranids destroyed St. Garus, then awoke to find Tzeentch waiting in her room. Tzeentch gave her a painful flood of sorcerous knowledge, and Luna emerged determined to make Lynn suffer.

• Luna dreamed that Leo sentenced her to death for colluding with Chaos while Lynn betrayed him and the Tyranids destroyed St. Garus.
• Luna awoke in her bedroom and found Tzeentch standing before her in purple mist.
• Tzeentch told Luna the nightmare showed her future if she did nothing, and Luna begged him for another chance to defeat Lynn.
• Tzeentch sent black mist into Luna, filling her mind with painful knowledge of sorcery, schemes, and the future.
• After two days, Luna recovered, looked at her disfigured face, and vowed to bring Lynn and his allies despair.