Chapter Summaries

Ron learned that Dante and the Blood Angels were already heading to the Underworld System, where Leviathan's Tyranid swarm had arrived ahead of schedule. He ordered an evacuation and a defense while planning to activate the Necron Grand Prism, and the chapter ended as the Tyranid vanguard approached the Shield of Diamond.

• Ron reviewed the Blood Angels' brutal recruitment and transformation, their Red Thirst and Black Rage, and his plans to help them and improve Baal's environment.
• The Blood Angels informed Ron that Dante was away defending the Underworld System, where the Tyranids had arrived earlier than expected because time flowed differently across regions.
• Ron saw the immense Leviathan Hive Fleet and judged the existing defenses insufficient to stop it without a system-scale weapon.
• Ron identified the Necron Grand Prism as a weapon that could destroy the Tyranids across the Underworld System and ordered a large-scale evacuation before activating it.
• Ron mobilized his forces and rescue fleets, ordered Datong and the other defenders to protect threatened planets, and set out to find Dante and awaken the Necrons.
• The Leviathan vanguard emerged at the Shield of Diamond and advanced toward the Underworld System.

Admiral Justo’s fleet was destroyed after he recklessly attacked the Leviathan Hive Fleet, and General Mellon’s defenses at the Bastion Ring also fell. As Tyranids descended on nearby worlds, the Sons of Humanity and the Savior’s first reinforcements arrived near Higanbana.

• The Leviathan Hive Fleet adapted to the Shield of Diamond’s extreme cold, while Admiral Justo ordered the Imperial Navy Fleet to attack and discovered the Tyranids had outnumbered and outmaneuvered his ships.
• Justo and his adjutant led a suicidal charge that delayed the Tyranids, but the fleet was destroyed and Justo was killed aboard the command ship.
• General Mellon’s hidden defenses devastated the Leviathan Hive Fleet at the Bastion Ring, but the Tyranids eventually broke through and advanced toward Laesios, Higanbana, and nearby worlds.
• The Tyranids spread spore cysts across the threatened worlds as the Sons of Humanity flagship and its escorts arrived near Higanbana.
• The Savior’s first wave of reinforcements emerged from a Webway exit.

The Blood Angels arrived in the Underworld System to fight Leviathan, and Dante sent Karan to find House Flax’s last descendant, whose blood might cure the Chapter’s curses. Ron reached Higanbana after Dante had deployed there and went down to the planet, where his party encountered the isolated Blood Angel Faisal.

• Tyranid Spore Cysts struck Laesios, where Canoness Magda and the nomads fought to defend themselves, while General Mellon’s forces struggled to hold Higanbana.
• Dante arrived with the Blood Angels, divided his forces among the threatened worlds, and assigned Karan to recover the last descendant of House Flax or a sample of his blood.
• Ron arrived near the Blade of Vengeance, learned Dante had gone to Higanbana, and teleported down with Carter and the Thunder Custodes.
• On Higanbana, Faisal fought through Tyranids while supporting an unconscious comrade and struggling against the Red Thirst.
• Faisal heard sacred music and found a group gathered around a dead Tyranid Synapse Creature, where someone called out to offer him food.

Faisal encountered Datong and the Sons of Humanity Chapter, whose Panacea nearly suppressed the Red Thirst and healed him and his wounded battle-brother. After Centurion Armor reinforcements arrived, Faisal joined Datong’s force in fighting through a huge Tyranid swarm toward the Imperial Palace.

• Faisal saw Datong and the Sons of Humanity warriors cooking Tyranid meat and asked them for Healing Serum for his wounded battle-brother.
• Faisal succumbed to the Red Thirst and attacked Datong, who subdued him and injected him with Panacea.
• The Panacea healed Faisal and his battle-brother and made the Red Thirst nearly imperceptible, giving the Sons of Sanguinius hope of curing their curse.
• Datong learned that Captain Karan was searching the Governor’s palace and decided to lead a rescue, but a massive Tyranid swarm appeared before they could depart.
• More than twenty Centurion Armor suits arrived, and Datong arranged one for Faisal, whose Machine Spirit accepted him.
• Datong led the Centurion-armored warriors into the Tyranid swarm, and they fought their way toward the distant Imperial Palace.

Karan’s Blood Angels reached Governor Augustus, who detonated a Melta Bomb to deny his vengeful Broodlord brother revenge but left them a blood sample. Datong’s Centurions came to their rescue as Ron and Carter headed toward Dante, who was left in danger after Mephiston fell against a new Tyranid psychic force.

• Karan’s squad found Augustus in the palace garden, where the Governor recounted his history with the Tyranid Broodlord that had once been his younger brother.
• Augustus detonated his Melta Bomb and died, but Karan protected the blood sample he had left behind as the Broodlord’s swarm attacked.
• Faisal arrived in a Destroyer Centurion, and Datong led more than twenty Centurion Devastators into the garden to battle the Tyranids.
• Ron and Carter fought through the swarm while heading toward Dante, and Ron sensed a powerful Tyranid psychic presence near the southern defenses.
• Dante and Mephiston attacked a Zoanthrope and its Brain Bugs, but Mephiston collapsed and the Zoanthrope trapped Dante with psychic force.
• An unidentified tall figure appeared before Dante and took the immense psychic pressure upon himself.

Ron and Dante joined forces to defeat the Tyranid Zoanthrope and drive back the first wave, then Ron treated Dante’s injuries and suppressed his Red Thirst. As the next Tyranid assault began over Higanbana, Ron’s reinforcements arrived.

• Ron descended and shielded Dante from the Zoanthrope’s psychic attack while Dante prepared to fight.
• Mephiston amplified Ron’s Psyker Power with the Blood Angels’ Librarians, allowing Ron to shatter the Tyranid psychic creatures’ defenses.
• Dante killed the Zoanthrope, but Ron rescued him from the surrounding swarm; the Astra Militarum, Blood Angels, Custodes, and Datong’s forces then joined them and drove the Tyranids into the ruins.
• Ron concluded that he had to halt the vanguard, evacuate the people, destroy the planets, and later use the Grand Prism against the Leviathan Hive Fleet.
• Ron healed Dante with life-giving Psyker Power and Panacea, restoring his strength and suppressing the Red Thirst; Dante thanked him on behalf of the Blood Angels.
• Countless Tyranid Spore Cysts descended as Ron’s reinforcements arrived for the next assault.

Voladi’s Redemption Third Fleet held off the Vanguard Hive while transports evacuated people from Higanbana. At Helios Starport, Ron and Dante approved the Exterminatus of the Underworld System and continued organizing the evacuation and defenses against Leviathan.

• Voladi’s Redemption Third Fleet fought the Vanguard Hive in space while escorted transports reached Helios Starport and began evacuating Higanbana’s population.
• Ron’s treatment restored Dante’s health and suppressed his Red Thirst, leaving Dante distressed that he would have to serve for centuries longer.
• Ron explained his plan to repel the Vanguard Hive, evacuate the system, destroy its outer planets, and use the Grand Prism against Leviathan; Dante accepted the plan.
• Ron formally ordered the Exterminatus of the Underworld System in the Imperium’s name to support the evacuation.
• Ron reviewed reports that civilians and nobles were boarding evacuation ships, then studied support supplies and considered which forces, including Ogryns, to keep under his command.

Ron inspected the forces and defenses at Helios Starport as Savior's Territory prepared for the approaching Tyranid Swarm, while its wealth and equipment astonished the Blood Angels. Five days later, the defenses were ready, and Ron awaited the swarm's arrival.

• Ron decided to bring the Ogryns and Cadian Shock Troops under his command and considered enhancing the Ogryns with Gene-seed.
• Karan envied the Sons of Humanity's equipment, and Datong offered the Blood Angels Centurion Armor and lent them unused suits.
• Ron and Dante inspected the supplies and defenses as Savior's forces equipped the troops, fed them, and deployed Titans and Imperial Knights.
• Engineering machines built new defensive walls and installed heavy cannons and force-field systems around Helios Starport.
• Five days later, Ron and Dante faced the approaching Tyranid Swarm as Ron prepared for a brutal war of attrition.

Ron and Deksen’s information-warfare command coordinated missile strikes and defensive fire against the Tyranid Swarm at Helios Starport. The Tyranids pushed past the first defensive line, and their concealed Hive Tyrant began targeting the biomass behind it as close-quarters fighting loomed.

• Ron surveyed Helios Starport’s defenses with Dante, who trusted Ron’s leadership while learning that trained commanders would direct the battle from the Information Command Center.
• Commander-in-Chief Deksen ordered super-heavy missile strikes, and the missiles devastated Tyranid forces while a second strike hit the Hive Tyrant with a Melta Missile.
• The surviving Tyranid Swarm crossed minefields and attacked the Steel Defense Line, where Titans, Imperial Knights, and super-heavy tanks met it with concentrated fire.
• Ron reassured Dante as the Hymn of the Savior drowned out the swarm’s shrieks, while defenders fought the Tyranids at the Promethium Trenches and the first wall.
• The Hive Tyrant detected biomass behind the defensive line, redirected its forces toward it, and sent Tyranid Swarms through the first wall toward close-quarters combat.

Cadian Shock Troops and other defenders used abundant supplies, artillery, and coordinated Astartes support to repel Tyranid attacks across Higanbana. Ron suspected the unusually quiet Tyranid Swarm was preparing a major strike, while Dante saw the Molten Iron Behemoth Chi Yan beneath the watchtower.

• Cadian soldiers received a hot battlefield lunch before taking up their positions in Sector 1029.
• The Cadians repelled several Tyranid waves, and Sons of Humanity Terminators killed a Venomthrope that threatened their sector.
• Ogryns followed Smarty’s instructions to ambush a Sand Python, while Melta Cannons and Astartes squads hunted Tyranid command organisms across other sectors.
• The Tyranid Tyrant realized its forces were disappearing and learned that a raiding force had infiltrated the human rear to attack the command node.
• Ron ordered the command center to raise its alert level because he suspected the Tyranids were preparing a major move.
• After Chi Yan struck the watchtower again, Ron ordered it to settle down, and Dante saw the flaming Molten Iron Behemoth beneath the tower.

Ron and the command center repelled the Winged Hive Tyrant, then launched a counteroffensive against the Tyranid command core. The Tyrant tried to escape underground, but Ron’s forces blasted it back to the surface and surrounded it.

• Ron received the command center’s call for help and fought the Winged Hive Tyrant after Mephiston and the Psykers amplified his psychic power.
• Ron rode Chi Yan through the Tyranid Gargoyles and fatally wounded the Winged Hive Tyrant, which crashed into the core defenses.
• Chi Yan and Ron killed the wounded Winged Hive Tyrant while Mephiston and the Cadian Shock Troops held it off.
• Ron and Dante received orders to lead a general offensive against the Tyranid command core as Blood Angels and Sons of Humanity assembled for the assault.
• The Tyrant ordered a retreat and burrowed underground, but Ron’s forces struck the tunnel with Earthshaker Missiles and surrounded it after it emerged.

Ron’s forces defeated the Tyranid assault on Higanbana, evacuated its people, and destroyed the planet to deny the swarm its biomass. With the Vanguard Hive pursuing the Dreamer toward Pertita, Ron planned to draw it into conflict with the Necrons while a special engineering unit secretly excavated their tomb.

• Ron’s forces trapped and killed the Hive Tyrant, breaking the Tyranid Swarm’s coordination and driving the defenders to victory.
• After learning the Leviathan Hive Fleet would reach Higanbana in about ten days, Ron ordered an immediate evacuation and the destruction of the Capillary Towers.
• The Vanguard Hive sent a stronger swarm against Helios Starport, but the defenders evacuated while Voladi’s fleet covered their retreat, and Higanbana was destroyed with Cyclonic Torpedoes and Super-heavy Earthshaker Shells.
• Ron learned the Vanguard Hive was pursuing the Dreamer toward Pertita and planned to use the planet’s sleeping Necrons against it while secretly sending an engineering unit to excavate the tomb.
• A red Ork ship lurched out of a ripple in space above Pertita.

Orks led by Crowbar raided several Necron Tomb Worlds on Pertita, stealing technology and rescuing the stranded prisoners before withdrawing. Ron arrived with Dante and approached the untouched core tomb, where the Sautekh lord awakened and confronted them.

• Three Ork warships collided in the void, and their crews repaired the damage before transports headed to Pertita to collect Necron technology.
• Orks descended on Pertita, gathered the stranded prisoners, fed them rotten meat, and put them to work excavating Necron tombs.
• Crowbar’s crews used electromagnetic pulses and jamming equipment to defeat tomb defenses, haul away Necron technology, and capture one Necron in its coffin.
• The Orks withdrew before disturbing a core tomb, leaving Pertita’s excavation sites ravaged and their transports laden with loot.
• Ron and Dante arrived after the Orks had left, and Ron led them toward the largest, untouched tomb entrance.
• The Sautekh lord awakened as the tomb opened, and Lychguard and Devastators assembled around him to face Ron and his companions.

Ron negotiated an alliance with Zarathusa and Anrakyr to stop the Leviathan Hive Fleet, using the Grand Prism to trigger an explosion on Aeros. After assigning the allied forces their missions, Ron warned that the approaching Tyranid vanguard fleet was their immediate threat.

• Ron approached Zarathusa to propose cooperation, but Zarathusa accused the humans of looting his Tomb World until an Ork’s accidental death left a drill as evidence.
• Zarathusa threatened Ron until Ron summoned the Savior’s Armed Forces, prompting Zarathusa to agree to cooperate against the Tyranids.
• Anrakyr arrived with a Cairn-class Tomb Ship, and he and Ron greeted each other warily before joining Zarathusa in a war conference.
• Ron proposed reactivating the Grand Prism to direct stellar rays into Aeros and weaken the Leviathan Hive Fleet with the resulting explosion.
• Ron assigned the Blood Angels, Necrons, and Savior’s Armed Forces separate tasks to retake control of the Grand Prism.
• Ron warned the allied forces that the Tyranid vanguard fleet following the Dreamer was nearly upon them.

Ron coordinated with the Necrons to destroy the Vanguard Hive Fleet before activating the Grand Prism, while evacuations from the Underworld System were completed. The allied fleets annihilated the Vanguard Hive, but the Leviathan Hive Fleet accelerated toward the system as Ron prepared for the more difficult war ahead.

• Ron and Dante left the tomb throne after Zarathusa and the other Necron Overlord agreed to destroy the Vanguard Hive before activating the Grand Prism.
• Ron sent the Departmento Munitorum instructions for the Grand Prism operation and learned that the evacuation of the rear planets was essentially complete.
• Voladi reported that the Vanguard Hive Fleet had entered sensor range, and an orphaned Ork Boy was swept into the space battle before crashing into the Dreamer's Observation Dome.
• Ron ordered his adjutant to recover the Ork Boy while Voladi lured the Vanguard Hive Fleet into an encirclement.
• Necron fleets arrived to reinforce the humans and block the Vanguard Hive's escape routes, allowing the allied fleets to destroy it with concentrated fire.
• Ron warned that the Leviathan Hive Fleet remained the greater threat, and the approaching swarm accelerated toward the Underworld System.

Ron and the allied human and Necron forces began a three-day campaign to activate the Grand Prisms before the Leviathan Hive Fleet arrived. As battles erupted across the Underworld System, Ron joined Dante and Anrakyr on Tyranid-infested Fudia to seize the Spire Control Room, while Anrakyr secretly prepared Deathmarks to assassinate him.

• Ron warned the allied leaders that they had only three days to activate the Grand Prisms, and Tyranid attacks began across the battlefronts.
• On Laxios, Maya and Gabriel Seth welcomed Magda’s nomads behind the Cathedral’s strengthened defenses, and Maya’s teachings and promise of refuge won the nomads’ faith.
• Pulu ordered the War Angels, Flesh Tearers, and Adepta Sororitas to protect Laxios’s last Sun God Class crawler, while allied forces fought to activate the Grand Prisms on Tartarus and Aeros.
• Ron, Dante, and Anrakyr led an assault on Fudia to reach the buried Spire Control Room, which was surrounded by Tyranid defenses.
• Anrakyr secretly positioned Deathmarks to target Ron, but Ron’s reinforcements arrived as the Tyranid Swarms gathered for a direct assault.

Ron and the allied forces reached the Grand Prism Control Spire, where Anrakyr activated the weapon and betrayed them. Ron survived a Deathmark ambush, delayed the firing until his warriors evacuated, and triggered the Grand Prism as a glow rose from the Webway Portal.

• Ron, Dante, and Anrakyr led the allied forces through the Tyranid swarm and defeated powerful Synapse Creatures before a Hive Saint Titan blocked their advance.
• Anrakyr summoned Nyadra'zatha the Burning One, which destroyed the Hive Saint Titan, while Ron secretly resolved to seize the C'tan Shard.
• Ron and Anrakyr raced to the Control Spire as the Leviathan Hive Fleet approached, but Anrakyr reached the Control Room first and activated the Grand Prism.
• Anrakyr trapped Ron and Dante in a Mechanical Cage and sent Deathmarks to kill them, but Ron survived by deceiving the assassins with Psyker-made illusions.
• Ron hid in the Control Room and used Xiao Ling to take control of the Control Core while Dante and the allied forces evacuated.
• After receiving word that the evacuation was complete and the Leviathan Hive Fleet had reached the attack zone, Ron fired the Grand Prism, and a glow appeared at the Webway Portal just before the blast struck.

Ron destroyed the Leviathan Hive Fleet’s forces in the Underworld System, then prevented an immediate battle with the Necrons by warning Zarathusa that Orks were attacking his Tomb World. As the fleet headed for Baal, Guilliman learned of Ron’s success and decided to bring aid to the Blood Angels.

• Ron used the Grand Prism to explode Aeros, devastating the Leviathan Hive Fleet, then prepared to return to Baal as the surviving Tyranids fled toward it.
• Two Necron Overlords brought their fleets against Ron, but he warned Zarathusa that Orks were attacking his Tomb World, prompting Zarathusa to withdraw and split the Necron alliance.
• Anrakyr learned that The Burning One had escaped and pursued the C’tan Shard, while Ron’s fleet continued toward Baal.
• Ron discussed the coming defense of Baal with Dante, and Mephiston sensed a warning about a Supreme Bloodthirster invading the system.
• Orks raided Pertita and stole much of the Friet Dynasty’s legacy, so Zarathusa began a campaign of revenge against them.
• Guilliman read reports of Ron’s victory and decided to lead a fleet to aid Baal.

Guilliman sent the Indomitus Crusade support fleet toward Baal, where a Warp ambush by Fulgrim and Daemons ended after the Emperor intervened, though the fleet lost its route. Meanwhile, Greyfax forced Three-Barrel and the Sons of the People to join the battle against the Tyranids, and Ron sensed a huge Warp disturbance after losing contact with Guilliman.

• Guilliman ordered Felix to send the support fleet into the Warp despite warnings that its passage could attract Warp Abominations.
• Fulgrim appeared aboard Macragge's Honour as Daemons attacked the fleet, but a terrifying presence drove him away and opened a golden path through the Warp.
• Guilliman rallied the scattered ships and continued toward Baal while the High Lords called on nearby Adeptus Astartes Chapters for aid.
• Greyfax intercepted Three-Barrel and the Sons of the People, shattered his wineglass, and sentenced them to fight on Baal without retreating until the war ended or they fell.
• Ron failed to contact Guilliman and sensed an enormous fluctuation in the Warp.

Ron investigated a violent disturbance in the Warp and found the God-Emperor beating Fulgrim, who threatened to corrupt Ron’s domain. Ron took over the fight, defeated Fulgrim, and threatened to broadcast humiliating recordings of him, leaving Fulgrim asking to negotiate.

• Ron left the Battle of Baal planning meeting and entered the Warp to check on the God-Emperor after the Golden Sun shook.
• Ron found the God-Emperor beating Fulgrim, and Fulgrim reacted with humiliation and anger when Ron witnessed his grotesque appearance.
• Fulgrim taunted the God-Emperor and threatened to corrupt Ron’s domain, prompting Ron to promise to stop him.
• Ron fought Fulgrim, seized the Blade of Laer, and tore apart Fulgrim’s carefully maintained ornaments before beating him down.
• Ron showed Fulgrim a recording of the fight and threatened to broadcast edited versions across the Galaxy and the Warp for a year.
• Fulgrim trembled and asked whether there was room to negotiate.