Chapter Summaries

Ron used the Astronomican to guide a battered pilgrim ship toward Ers Holy Land, where War Angels rescued its survivors from Nurgle undead. The pilgrims arrived at the planet, and Aleman prepared to welcome them as the first visitors to the Holy Land in six months.

• Ron sent a Psyker Beacon to The Pious and then rested with Lilith.
• The Pious entered the Warp, emerged beside a beautiful planet, and its pilgrims wondered whether they had reached Holy Terra.
• War Angels boarded The Pious, killed the undead, and rescued the starving pilgrims, including Jose, who received a Savior ration.
• A cleaning vessel docked with The Pious after the War Angels finished purging the ship.
• Aleman learned that visiting pilgrims had arrived at Ers Holy Land and hurried to prepare the reception hall.

Jose and the Pilgrims from the Pietas arrived at Ers and experienced a lavish, welcoming pilgrimage that strengthened their faith in The Savior. After they departed for Segmentum Solar, Jose stayed behind, passed the Schola Progenium's assessment, and Ron learned that Sahim had returned, allowing their journey to Holy Terra to begin.

• The Pilgrims from the Pietas arrived at Ers, mistook the reception hall's gardens for the Holy Land, and Aleman helped the hungry Jose after he collapsed.
• Aleman welcomed Jose without prejudice, gave him an energy drink, and brought him to the reception hall, where the Pilgrims registered and received lodging, food, and white divine robes.
• Jose and the Pilgrims toured Ers's Holy Land, saw the Emperor Colossus and other wonders, and ate and rested in luxurious surroundings.
• At the Ecclesiarchy Holy Cathedral, the Pilgrims met The Savior and witnessed The Emperor's Holy Fingerprint before departing with souvenirs aboard the Devout One.
• Jose chose to remain on Ers, passed the Schola Progenium's assessment, and enrolled in the Naval Academy.
• Ron received an email announcing Sahim's return and became eager to set off for Holy Terra.

Ron prepared to travel to Holy Terra to secure support for his territory and the spread of his Savior faith before Guilliman consolidated power. Three months later, Dreamer and Covendi entered the Webway gate for the journey.

• Ron refused Milia's request to join the trip to Holy Terra but promised to take her another time.
• Ron gave Sahim the Cruiser Covendi, two Frigates, and a fleet so he could become a Rogue Trader and restore his family's glory.
• Ron planned to seek support from Rogue Trader representative Kania Danda and the Ecclesiarchy, using Bishop Dony's signet ring and letter to reach Vicar Cardinal Lauren Tisqing.
• Bishop Dony declined Ron's invitation to travel to Holy Terra and left after giving him the ring and letter.
• Ron prepared to reach Holy Terra before Guilliman took control, hoping to secure legal protection for preaching and influence events.
• Three months later, Dreamer and Covendi flew into the Webway gate at Blackstone Gate.

Ron learned that Guilliman's battered Pilgrim Crusade had escaped the Maelstrom and was nearing Holy Terra, while Saint Celestine prepared for a battle on Luna. When Ron discovered that Guilliman's fleet was fighting Magnus near the Moon, he sent the Covendi fleet to join the battle and brought the Dreamer closer under stealth.

• Ron reflected on Guilliman's ordeals in the Maelstrom, where the Primarch's fleet suffered devastating losses before Aeldari allies helped it escape through the Webway.
• Guilliman read reports of the Imperium's worsening crises and resolved to begin the Unyielding Crusade after reaching Holy Terra.
• Saint Celestine kept a Big White Bear plush and privately longed to see the Demon Eater again, then received Guilliman's warning that Magnus's forces were approaching Luna.
• Guilliman planned to use a hidden Webway gate on Luna to evade Magnus, and Saint Celestine prepared to fight if the enemy caught them.
• Ron received Sahim's report of the battle near Holy Terra and ordered the Covendi fleet to join the fight while the Dreamer approached in stealth.

Guilliman’s forces fought Magnus’s Thousand Sons on Luna while awaiting reinforcements, and Sahim’s Covendi fleet helped stabilize the defensive line. Magnus arrived and began using the Pyramid of Tizca to tear open a Webway Rift that could doom Holy Terra, leaving Guilliman trapped beneath a devastating attack.

• Guilliman identified the Thousand Sons ambush and shifted the crusade’s defense to Luna, where his fleet struggled to hold the line.
• Sahim brought Covendi House’s fleet into the battle, destroyed its first enemy ship, and helped relieve pressure on the left flank.
• Magnus arrived on Luna in the Pyramid of Tizca, and Guilliman led his forces down to confront him.
• Magnus overwhelmed the expeditionary force with sorcery and summoned Daemons as Guilliman charged him.
• Magnus activated the Pyramid of Tizca to attack the Webway Barrier and threatened to destroy Holy Terra by opening a rift.
• Magnus bound Guilliman with spells and hurled scrap steel at him, leaving the Primarch buried in a distant crater as the Webway shook.

Magnus’s ritual threatened to tear open the Webway on Luna, but Guilliman rose to fight him and Imperial reinforcements turned the battle around. Ron fired the Dreamer’s Nova Cannon at the Pyramid of Tizca, drawing Magnus’s attention, and launched a second shot as the ship prepared to escape.

• Magnus overwhelmed Celestine, Greyfax, and the Imperial warriors while the Pyramid of Tizca neared the end of its ritual, and Ron waited aboard the Dreamer for a chance to attack.
• Guilliman broke free of the scrap metal and charged Magnus, prompting Ron to begin charging the Dreamer’s Nova Cannon.
• The Terra Garrison Fleet, Adeptus Custodes, Imperial Fists, and Sisters of Silence arrived, cleared Magnus’s defenses, and enabled Guilliman to duel him.
• Magnus kicked Guilliman into a crater as the Webway barrier began to fail, but Ron’s Plasma Shell struck the Pyramid of Tizca and destroyed its Sorcery Veil.
• Magnus traced the attack to the Dreamer and blasted it with Sorcery, stripping away four layers of Void Shields.
• Ron ordered the Dreamer to prepare a Warp translation and fired a second Plasma Shell at Luna.

Magnus’s attempt to destroy Holy Terra was thwarted when Guilliman held him in place long enough for Ron’s Nova Cannon to obliterate the Pyramid of Tizca. Magnus then tracked Ron through the Warp and invaded his soul, where he encountered a towering figure in Golden Armor that he mistook for the False Emperor.

• Guilliman fought Magnus while the Dreamer’s Nova Cannon struck the Pyramid of Tizca, destroying the ritual site and ruining Magnus’s plan to collapse the Webway Barrier.
• The Imperium’s forces celebrated their victory, but Magnus absorbed the souls of fallen Thousand Sons and sent a soul sphere after Demon Eater.
• Ron escaped Luna aboard the Dreamer, then discovered that Magnus had tracked him and was invading the soul of his true body.
• Ron called for backup within his soul consciousness and confronted Magnus as Demon Eater.
• A towering figure in Golden Armor appeared behind Demon Eater, and Magnus stammered in disbelief, thinking it was the False Emperor.

Ron watched the God-Emperor beat Magnus in the Soul Realm, where the Fallen Primarch’s soul was badly wounded and strengthened Little Sun in the process. Magnus returned to Luna to find that the ritual had exposed his humiliation to the battlefield, leaving him devastated and shamed before his enemies and followers.

• The God-Emperor arrived in the Soul Realm, sealed it, and seized Magnus as Magnus tried to escape.
• Ron taunted Magnus and urged the God-Emperor on as He battered Magnus until the Primarch’s soul consciousness dissipated.
• Ron discovered that the scattered soul energy had strengthened Little Sun, then returned to the Sanctuary of the Savior and considered the danger Magnus still posed.
• Magnus’s ritual array exploded on Luna, and he reappeared begging for mercy in front of Guilliman, the Imperium’s warriors, and the Thousand Sons.
• Magnus realized the ritual had revealed fragments of his beating to observers across the battlefield and withdrew in shame as a tear fell from his eye.

Magnus fled into the Lost Dimension after Guilliman nearly killed him, and Kairos failed to bring him back or devise a way to defeat Demon Eater. Guilliman led the Imperium to victory on Luna while Ron arrived at Holy Terra, where he spotted a familiar ship at the docks.

• Magnus detonated his Chaos power to escape Guilliman, then used a Sorcery ritual to exile himself into the Lost Dimension.
• Kairos found Magnus, but his involuntary snicker renewed Magnus's humiliation, and Magnus expelled Kairos's consciousness and vanished into spatial turbulence.
• Kairos abandoned several schemes against Demon Eater after seeing visions of his own defeat and the destruction of Tzeentch's realm.
• Guilliman wondered why his father had saved Demon Eater but not him, then led the Imperium's warriors to encircle the fleeing Thousand Sons.
• Ron arrived at Holy Terra, passed security checks, and saw a familiar ship as unrest stirred among the pilgrims at the dock.

Ron accompanied the Devout One’s pilgrims from Lion’s Gate Spaceport to the Ecclesiarchy headquarters on Holy Terra, where the pilgrims were shocked by Terra’s poverty and pollution. After Ron received a heretical rumor sheet about the Emperor, a Slaanesh cultist was killed and Frateris Militia rushed toward him.

• Ron saw that the Devout One had been lavishly repainted and decorated with a statue of The Savior, then joined its pilgrims by sharing his praise of Ers Holy Land.
• The Devout One’s pilgrims arrived on Holy Terra, where their fine robes and sacred incense earned them special reception and passage to the Ecclesiarchy headquarters in Antarctica.
• Ron walked with the pilgrims along Pilgrim’s Path and witnessed Terra’s pollution, poverty, and Chaos corruption before leaving them to reach the Ecclesiarchy Cathedral sooner.
• The Devout One’s pilgrims began preaching The Savior’s deeds, drawing the attention of the Ecclesiarchy authorities and Frateris Militia.
• Ron learned that Vicar Cardinal Lauren Tisqing was still alive and considered asking him to admit Ers Holy Land’s faith into the Ecclesiarchy.
• A Slaanesh cultist slipped Ron a rumor sheet claiming the Emperor had fathered a Little Sun with an entity in the Warp, then a Bolter shot killed the cultist as Frateris Militia charged toward Ron.

Ron escaped the Holy City’s crackdown and helped the Frateris Militia uncover a Slaanesh cult hideout, where the Legion of the Damned killed a Tzeentch agent who had engineered the Gouzi Literature incident. After learning that the Ecclesiarchy had suppressed reports of the Second Sun while cult purges spread across the Imperium, Ron went to meet Vicar Cardinal Lauren Tisqing about gaining the right to preach The Savior’s faith.

• Ron followed the One-Eyed Frateris Militia out of the Holy City as the Inquisition and Ecclesiarchy responded to the blasphemous flyers and rumors of a Second Sun.
• The Frateris Militia took Ron to a Slaanesh cult hideout in the Eternal City, where he fought cultists and helped locate the core chamber.
• Ron and the Legion of the Damned confronted and killed a Raven-masked Tzeentch cultist who had arranged the incident to destroy his Slaanesh rivals.
• The Frateris Militia praised the Emperor, documented the cleared hideout, and returned Ron to Ecclesiarchy headquarters.
• Ron learned that the Ecclesiarchy had suppressed Second Sun reports and that cult purges and conflicts among the Chaos Gods had spread through the Imperium and Warp.
• Ron went to meet Vicar Cardinal Lauren Tisqing to seek permission to preach The Savior’s faith openly.

Ron secured legal preaching rights for the Ers Ecclesiarchy and The Savior from Vicar Cardinal Lauren Tisqing, then joined the procession welcoming Guilliman to Terra. The chapter ended with Saint Celestine recognizing Ron—or seeming to—as they exchanged a smile.

• Ron met Vicar Cardinal Lauren Tisqing and explained the Ers Ecclesiarchy's predicament and Dony's wish to establish it.
• Lauren revealed that the Ecclesiarchal Council planned to ban the Ers doctrine, then granted the Ers Ecclesiarchy and The Savior legal rights to preach in the region.
• Ron warned Lauren that Guilliman's return could threaten the Ecclesiarch's position, but Lauren said he would avoid involvement and let events unfold.
• Ron left with Lauren's sealed letter for Dony, pleased that the Ers Ecclesiarchy could expand without direct support from Ecclesiarchy headquarters.
• Ron joined Sahim and the procession greeting Guilliman on Terra, where he noticed Saint Celestine and wondered whether she recognized him.

Ron followed Guilliman’s procession through Terra to the Imperial Palace, where Guilliman met the Emperor and received part of his plans. The Emperor brought Ron into contact with Guilliman, who was left wondering whether the Demon Eater was another brother.

• Ron watched Guilliman recoil inwardly from Terra’s grotesque Cherubs and stained-glass portrait, then observed the misery of the poor as the procession crossed the planet.
• Ron followed the procession to the Imperial Palace, where Adeptus Custodes granted Guilliman’s request to enter the Throne Room and meet the Emperor.
• The Emperor summoned Ron through the Warp and told him to communicate with Guilliman without exposing his identity.
• Ron called Guilliman “Brother,” promised to fight alongside him when needed, and quickly vanished, leaving Guilliman puzzled about his identity.
• The Emperor sent Guilliman part of his plans and encouraged him, and Guilliman later emerged from the Throne Room.

Guilliman reclaimed command of the Imperium while Ron and Sahim struggled to secure Covendi House’s Rogue Trader inheritance and avoid the turmoil on Terra. After Guilliman helped them obtain the Hereditary Contract, they left the Solar System, but news over the ship’s public channel hinted that their troubles were not over.

• Guilliman summoned the High Lords and announced that he would resume supreme command, then Ron and Sahim failed to negotiate with Kania Danda over Covendi House’s inheritance.
• Saint Celestine’s Geminae Superia invited Sahim and Ron to meet her, but Ron declined, suspecting she had recognized him as the Demon Eater.
• Guilliman studied a portrait of Ron’s true appearance and, after meeting Sahim and his aide Grant, approved a warrant to help expedite their inheritance process.
• Ron picked up Guilliman’s fallen documents, narrowly avoided further scrutiny, and left the office with Sahim after receiving the Primarch’s sealed warrant.
• Sahim obtained the Hereditary Contract, and he and Ron departed Holy Terra aboard the Covendi.
• Ron relaxed aboard the ship and planned to build his strength before Guilliman’s crusade, then heard startling news over the public channel.

As the Great Rift expanded, Ron prepared Ers for the galaxy-wide crisis and escaped an ambush by Abaddon's forces with help from Orks in the Webway. Two months later, he reviewed Ers's military and industrial expansion before deciding to enter the Warp as the Little Sun to salvage ships and search for technology.

• Guilliman announced the Indomitus Crusade as the Great Rift intensified, and Ron ordered his territory to organize defenses against corruption, Xenos, and Chaos incursions.
• Ron told Sahim to evade Nia Danda's Rogue Trader fleet, but the Covendi was ambushed by two Chaos warships under Abaddon after emerging from the Warp.
• Ron led the Covendi into the Webway, where Orks rammed and boarded the pursuing Chaos warships, killing their Chaos Marines and dismantling the vessels.
• Two months later, Ron oversaw Ers's pilgrim routes, trade efforts, military recruitment, and weapons production, while considering how to overcome its technological and shipbuilding bottlenecks.
• Ron decided to enter the Warp as the Little Sun and activated Warp gacha to search for salvage and valuable technology.

Ron absorbed faith energy from the Golden Sun, searched the Warp for ships and relics, and discovered the sentient Eternal Soul before it escaped. He brought back a vast haul of warships and technologies, raised Chi Yan, and prepared to expand the Spirit Net across the Galaxy.

• Ron drew too much faith energy from the Golden Sun, steadied himself after nearly losing control, and began a broad Warp search using his Power of Hope.
• Ron found the Eternal Soul and its complete Standard Template Construct system, but its hostile AI fled after he placed a Psyker Navigation Beacon on the ship.
• Ron marked thousands of warships and recovered wreckage and technological relics, which his territory's teams salvaged and catalogued.
• Ron reviewed the recovered technologies, sent Cawl the Wideband Signal Projector data, and later raised the metallic Heldrake Chi Yan in the Webway.
• Cawl reported that the signal projector had passed testing and the Mechanicus Forum had been revamped, and Ron ordered the projectors mass-produced for deployment across the Galaxy.
• A ship from Ers secretly deployed an Anti-Detection Signal Projector disguised as a meteorite, while a mechanical box fell to the ground on Huangquan VIII Forge World.

Parus discovered the Mechanicus Forum, used its shared knowledge and Xiao Ling’s computing power to advance his research and outperform his rivals. Ron ordered Cawl to expand the forum, but half a year later Huangquan VIII’s Fabricator-Director called for war against the members he considered traitors.

• Parus nearly succumbed to a Chaos temptation before opening a mysterious box containing a Data-slate and instructions for joining the Mechanicus Forum.
• Parus passed the forum’s test, exchanged knowledge for Gear Coins, and obtained the Xenos materials research he had pursued for decades.
• Parus used Xiao Ling’s computing assistance to finish an urgent assignment and earned praise at a Magos meeting, while recruiting other forum members.
• An Alchemist Master on Agripinaa discovered the forum on a Tech-priest’s Data-slate, sought its knowledge, and secretly asked how to use it.
• Ron reviewed the forum’s rapid growth and knowledge archive, worried that exposure could endanger its members, then ordered Cawl to recruit more members and accelerate expansion.
• Half a year later, Huangquan VIII’s Fabricator-Director demanded war to reclaim the knowledge and capture the forum’s alleged traitors.

The Fabricator-Director of Huangquan VIII launched an information attack on the Mechanicus Forum, but Xiao Ling trapped the Logis with its knowledge and drew them into becoming potential members. After the failed assault, the Fabricator-Director ordered a crackdown on forum members and traitors, only for his Red-Robed Vice Director to reveal that he belonged to the forum.

• The Fabricator-Director sent the Information Executioner and twelve Logis to invade the Mechanicus Forum while he supplied computing power.
• Ron ordered Xiao Ling to counterattack, and she trapped the Logis in the forum and tempted them with free access to knowledge.
• The Fabricator-Director's computing support failed, ejecting the Logis; they refused to attack the forum again and concealed how much they had enjoyed browsing it.
• The Fabricator-Director ordered a Forge World-wide search and arrested hundreds of Tech-priests, then declared that he would exile them to Mars for tech-heresy.
• The Red-Robed Vice Director admitted that he was a high-ranking Mechanicus Forum member, and the enraged Fabricator-Director aimed his Melta Cannons at him.

The Fabricator-Director tried to suppress the Mechanicus Forum on Huangquan VIII, but his Vice Directors and most of the Tech-priests resisted, and he ultimately ordered the entire Forge World to join. The forum spread across the Imperium and accelerated technological research, while Ron wondered why Mars headquarters had remained silent.

• The Red-Robed Vice Director used his upgraded Flare Shield and weapons to withstand the Fabricator-Director’s attack, while the Grey-Robed Vice Director revealed his support for the Mechanicus Forum and Xiao Ling’s believers.
• The Vice Directors and Tech-priests argued that the Fabricator-Director was endangering Huangquan VIII by opposing the forum, and he agreed to let the whole Forge World join.
• The Fabricator-Director registered on the Mechanicus Forum, discovered a video mocking his failed attack, and began sharing knowledge and pursuing new research.
• Vashtorr found a corrupted Tech-priest who had accessed the Pure Network and pierced his Electronic Brain to extract data.
• Ron approved the Redemption Market project and learned that Huangquan VIII had joined the forum, after which Forge Worlds joined in growing numbers and Ron expanded the forum’s features.
• As technology advanced across Ron’s territory, he grew uneasy that Mars headquarters still had not responded to the Mechanicus Forum.

Ron wondered why Mars had not reacted to the Mechanicus Forum, then learned that Fabricator-General Oud Oudia Raskian had sealed Mars and was persecuting its users. The chapter ended with Raskian declaring the Forum an unforgivable heresy and calling for its complete destruction, even at the cost of war.

• Ron reviewed Raskian’s conservative record and inspected the territory’s public works and Purification Rings while waiting for Mars to respond.
• Mars blocked the Mechanicus Forum, and Skitarii pursued Tech-priests who used it.
• Skitarii captured Buna, destroyed his Data-slate, and dragged him away for punishment as other Tech-priests watched helplessly.
• Buna’s memories showed how the Forum had given him access to knowledge and hope despite his family’s restrictive factory obligations.
• At a meeting in the Sanctum of the Omnissiah, Raskian called the Mechanicus Forum heretical and ordered its destruction, even if that meant starting a large-scale war.