In a universe whose size is immeasurable, there exist billions of galaxies.
The Milky Way is but one of these billions.
In the Milky Way, which humanity calls home, there are three hundred billion stars, spanning a diameter of one hundred thousand light-years.
Humanity struggles to comprehend the universe, at least humanity at this stage cannot comprehend it.
They still require the Emperor's radiance to barely survive in this remote corner of the universe.
For those living in this era, the Imperium of Man is the most powerful existence they have ever known in recorded history.
But to the cold, boundless universe, the vast Imperium of Man is insignificant.
The appearance of the Great Rift has made the connection between the Warp and the material universe tighter, with the currents of the aether raging.
It has also made chaos and slaughter more terrifying than ever.
War has spread everywhere.
Even with the revival of a Primarch, the Imperium must pay a heavy price to continue maintaining humanity's survival.
Countless engines of war set out from the Konor system, heading towards the Charadon Sector under the leadership of the Primarch.
The first battle erupted in the Ophelia system within the Charadon Sector.
The Ophelia system is a binary star system.
A vibrant, main-sequence star emitting blue-white light tidally locked another star, a red dwarf that was nearing its end.
The red dwarf and the other planets in the Ophelia system were controlled by the powerful gravity of the main star, forced to orbit it periodically.
The distance between the two stars is equivalent to a thousand times the distance from the Sun to Pluto, which is over four thousand light-hours, or one hundred and sixty-six light-days.
Converted to conventional units, it is nearly eight thousand astronomical units, or 1.2 trillion kilometers.
Calculated at a superhuman speed, you'd probably fly until you starved.
Such a distance is unimaginable for ordinary humans.
But from the perspective of stars, the distance between these two stars is perilously close.
The close proximity caused the four planets within this system to suffer from wildly unstable orbits and be tormented by conflicting solar winds.
This type of star system is very common in the Milky Way.
Multiple star systems often cause the planets within the system to be swallowed by the stars or ejected into the dark, cold void to drift.
The Ophelia system is relatively lucky; it retained four planets.
Thanks to the combination of gravitational flows and violent solar winds, these four worlds have become cosmic furnaces, their atmospheres rich in heavy elements and precious isotopes.
To exploit these valuable resources, humanity established numerous mining outposts.
They also built giant Hive Cities extending deep underground on the second planet.
The inhabitants live in the deep underground, avoiding the terrible radiation and stellar storms, maintaining a normal life.
Mining stations in orbit around the various planets tirelessly collect resources from the worlds of the Ophelia system, feeding the Imperium's industrial machine.
Orks have no interest in development; they are more accustomed to plunder and destruction.
Every now and then, they would come to raid.
Either hand over a portion of the resources, or everything would be destroyed.
In the past, their extortion attempts were always successful.
The nobles didn't want to waste too much time fighting them; buying peace with a portion of resources was a very cost-effective deal for them.
Unfortunately, this time the orks were not lucky.
They happened to run into the expeditionary fleet, and a great battle erupted.
Above the orbit of the third gas giant in the Ophelia system, countless energy beams and explosions flashed in space.
The ork warships operated on principles that tech-priests of the Mechanicus could not comprehend.
They were covered in patches and looked incredibly crude.
Several large warships were even puffing out black smoke like steamships from the age of sail.
That thick black smoke made the tech-priests wonder if the orks were using boilers to burn coal to make those warships, which looked like they would fall apart at any moment, fly.
No one could believe that such contraptions could fly into space to fight.
But the orks had this ability.
Their technology was always so bizarre.
The fleets of both sides maneuvered and fought in space, fierce and silent.
Humans and orks were dedicated to destroying each other, unleashing devastating attacks upon their foes without restraint.
Warships tore into each other at close range.
Space was filled with the straight lines of lasers, the parabolas of torpedoes, and the scattered debris left by explosions.
Large numbers of delayed-detonation nuclear bombs were scattered throughout the battlefield; upon contact, they would inevitably destroy ships and kill their crews.
Atomic shockwaves detonated in the void between the two fleets, and the electromagnetic oscillations produced phantom sounds that lingered for a long time.
Space battles often commenced at distances of tens of thousands of kilometers, but now the combatants were practically at point-blank range.
The proximity was so close that even the ork Boyz couldn't restrain themselves.
These crazy greenskins simply ignited their crudely made jetpacks, attempting to board ships directly.
The Primaris Space Marines retaliated in kind, slaying every ork who attempted to board.
The sounds of battle and roars from both sides echoed across every communication channel.
Amidst the terrifying fire of battle, an ugly, bloated ork warship was heavily damaged and on the verge of death under concentrated fire.
The Mekboy on board was hitting the heads of the ork Boyz, telling them to cooperate with him to save the warship.
But their actions were doomed to fail.
Under the continuous bombardment of the Imperial warships, the ork warship's armory suffered a series of chain reactions.
Accompanied by spurting fuel and ion arcs, countless ork corpses were blasted out from inside the ork warship.
The scene was like a puffball mushroom releasing spores outwards.
On the massive ork fleet's flagship, the ork Warboss saw a valuable warship destroyed and let out a low growl of rage.
He grabbed a Gretchin and slammed it against the wall to vent his anger.
This action caused the other orks to erupt in excited cheers.
"Destroy these damn 'umie ships! This system is ours!"
The ork Warboss roared, ordering the fleet to launch a more ferocious attack.
Cheers erupted from the communications of all ork warships.
"WAAAGH!"
The orks cheered at the order to attack, even though such an order was tantamount to suicide, they showed no fear, but were instead filled with excitement.
As the happiest race in the galaxy.
Death does not make orks afraid; it only makes them happier.
Facing the orks' frenzied counterattack, humanity also refused to back down, and the battle between the two sides became increasingly heated.
Chapter Master Lucretius Corvo of the Nova Chapter was in charge of leading the fleet engaged with the orks.
His flagship was the Emperor's Sword, a renowned battle barge.
He now stood before the control console of the The Emperor's Sword.
The Chapter Chaplain stood to his left, and the Librarian stood to his right.
The captains of the 1st and 2nd Companies stood before him.
The faces of the five were illuminated by the scattered light from the holographic projection in front of them, appearing somewhat pale.
They had already completed the upgrade to Primaris Space Marines according to the Primarch's orders.
Their bodies, encased in power armor, looked even taller and more imposing.
"They are heading towards defeat," Corvo said, examining the battlefield projection, his voice calm and steady, "but I believe we can achieve victory faster and then support the ground war on planet Two."
Before they arrived, the orks had already thrown a mob of ork Boyz onto the surface of Ophelia System's planet Two.
The Astra Militarum and a portion of the Primaris Space Marines had already gone down to fight on the surface.
But facing the ork warriors who were like waves, they were only barely holding on.
Corvo knew that the surface needed more support.
If the ground war dragged on, it would be very disadvantageous for humanity.
orks are a very powerful, yet very strange race.
They can run and move, but they are not animals; they are fungi.
Plant fish in the ground, and you won't necessarily get fish.
Plant orks in the ground, and you will definitely get a large group of orks.
Once the orks who have landed on the surface spread, Ophelia II will have to spend a long time clearing the lingering threat of the greenskins.
"Then what should we do?" The captain of the Nova Chapter's 1st Company asked Corvo.
"Board their ships and kill their Warboss."
Corvo's finger tapped the largest ork warship on the holographic projection.