When Colonel Haskell 'Hell Fist' Aldalon and the Catachan 57th Jungle Fighters arrive on the quagmire world of Gondwa VI, they find it locked in the grip of an ever-growing greenskin threat. Rather than shoring up the meagre defences, they instead elect to go on the offensive and retake Outpost Four... but are saddled with the barely trained Trooper Torvin of the Skadi Second Infantry, sole survivor of its fall.

As the Astra Militarum and orks clash and Colonel Aldalon comes to terms with the costs of victory, Torvin finds himself as much at risk from the Jungle Fighters who suspect him of cowardice as he is from the vile xenos... unless he can pass through this trial by fire and earn the respect of the Catachan Devils.