Chapter Summaries

The Savior, Ron, welcomed Roboute Guilliman to Baal and explained why he had let the Lord Regent take the credit for the victory. Ron promised Guilliman extensive support for the besieged Indomitus Crusade in Segmentum Obscurus, and the chapter ended with their grand victory celebration drawing the attention of Chaos.

• Warships staged a vast display above Baal, and Guilliman arrived aboard Macragge's Honour to find the victory celebration already underway.
• Ron publicly credited Guilliman with planning the victory, then privately explained that he wanted to keep attention and danger focused on the Lord Regent rather than himself.
• Ron warned Guilliman that Nurgle and Mortarion might threaten Ultramar, while Guilliman revealed that Abaddon and daemons had besieged the Indomitus Crusade Second Fleet in Segmentum Obscurus.
• Ron gave Guilliman a support list offering fleets, Titans, supplies, technical teams, Webway routes, and commander Voladi, whom Guilliman had admired during the warship display.
• Ron asked Guilliman to rest on Baal while the support was prepared, and the brothers attended the celebration on Baal Secundus, where Guilliman honored the dead and addressed the crowd.
• Titans and other forces paraded before the crowds as Guilliman proclaimed humanity's hope and resolve, while beings of Chaos watched the celebration and plotted.

Holy Terra unveiled an oversized statue of the Primarch of Hope as the Imperium celebrated victory over the Tyranids on Baal. The celebration unsettled Chaos leaders and prompted Abaddon to exploit Guilliman’s absence by committing more forces to the Segmentum Obscurus.

• The Ecclesiarchy, Mechanicus, and Astra Militarum contributed to the Primarch of Hope’s statue until it stood taller than the other primarchs’ statues, and none of them dared object at its unveiling.
• The Imperium held a vast Victory Celebration on Baal, displaying the dead Leviathan Hive Ship and giving people a chance to see and shoot at it.
• Fulgrim resented The Savior and Guilliman for taking the spotlight, vowed revenge, and feared that The Savior would expose recordings of his humiliation.
• Mortarion concluded that Ka’bandha had weakened the Tyranid swarm before The Savior won, then ordered Ku’gath to prepare a plague for The Savior as well as Guilliman.
• Khorne grew furious when Ka’bandha ignored his attempt to contact him, while other daemons criticized the missing Bloodthirster’s failed campaign.
• Abaddon learned that Guilliman was on Baal and ordered more forces into the Segmentum Obscurus, considering the start of the Fourteenth Dark Crusade.

Abaddon prepared his Fourteenth Dark Crusade by targeting the Indomitus Crusade Second Fleet and the worlds near the Nachmund Gauntlet. As Guilliman worried over the threatened front, Ron proposed using the Webway to lure Abaddon away from the Eye of Terror while his own forces raided the Chaos Warmaster’s exposed territory.

• Abaddon recalled Horus’s defeat and his own rise as Warmaster before deciding that the weakening Second Fleet gave him a chance to advance toward Holy Terra.
• Abaddon sent the Planet Killer and a Chaos fleet toward Segmentum Obscurus, ordered reinforcements into the battle, and chose Dalova as his target.
• The Savior’s administrative and engineering teams arrived at Baal to install a Machine Spirit Host aboard Macragge’s Honour and organize Guilliman’s office.
• Bayesa Cotton met Felix, saw the towering piles of paperwork in Guilliman’s office, and agreed to take charge of the work.
• Guilliman waited for Ron at the Sanctuary and voiced concern that Abaddon could exploit the Second Fleet’s collapse to threaten the Nachmund Gauntlet and Holy Terra.
• Ron showed Guilliman the Webway routes and proposed a joint operation: Guilliman would lure Abaddon’s forces away from the Eye of Terror while Ron’s fleet raided his undefended stronghold.

Ron and Guilliman planned a joint campaign against Abaddon and the Eye of Terror, then Ron arranged for the exhausted Guilliman to rest and have the Armor of Fate examined. Guilliman slept at the resort while the fleets prepared to depart for Segmentum Obscurus, with Ron worried about the dangers ahead.

• Ron proposed joining forces with Guilliman to break the siege and raid Abaddon's resources in the Eye of Terror, and Guilliman approved the plan.
• Ron and Dante invited the exhausted Guilliman to vacation at the resort, where Guilliman agreed to take a day off.
• Guilliman recounted surviving the agony of removing the Armor of Fate, and Ron had the armor removed so the medical team could stabilize him and the Tech-Sages could study it.
• Ron gave Guilliman Panacea and promised to share its manufacturing technology, then urged him to change into vacation clothes and leave official business behind.
• Ron, Dante, and Guilliman reached the beach, where Dante enjoyed the resort and Guilliman fell asleep after Ron secretly drugged his coconut water with calming medicine.
• Ron rested while fleets gathered above Baal, preparing to depart for Segmentum Obscurus and face Abaddon in the Eye of Terror.

Guilliman relived the events that had helped drive Lorgar to Chaos, then encountered Lorgar and the Emperor’s corrupted divinity in the Warp. After resisting the Chaos Gods’ influence, Guilliman discovered Ron was under Slaanesh’s attack and rushed to his aid.

• Guilliman recalled Nikaea and the destruction of Monarchia, recognizing how the Emperor’s treatment had helped alienate Lorgar.
• Guilliman contacted Lorgar, who boasted that the Imperium had become what he envisioned before sealing himself away and directing Guilliman toward the Holy Sun.
• Guilliman saw the Emperor’s immense, dark divinity and refused to kill his father, then shattered the Chaos Gods’ influence and rejected his own Warp power.
• Guilliman sensed that Slaanesh was corrupting Ron and found him surrounded by a vast Slaanesh illusion.
• Ron prepared to charge into the illusion, but Guilliman arrived with the Sword of the Emperor and declared the daemons would die.

Ron and Guilliman entered Slaanesh’s illusion, where Fulgrim ambushed Guilliman and was defeated when Ron joined the fight. After they expelled Fulgrim and destroyed the illusion, both woke on Baal, and Guilliman prepared to leave for Segmentum Obscurus.

• Fulgrim secretly entered Ron’s illusion disguised as an Eldar dancer and waited to ambush Guilliman.
• Guilliman attacked the illusion’s Eldar figures, then blocked Fulgrim’s venomous strike and fought him fiercely.
• Ron recognized Fulgrim and joined Guilliman, and the two beat Fulgrim and projected humiliating images of him into the illusion.
• Guilliman and Ron expelled Fulgrim from the illusion and destroyed it, then woke on Baal after a restorative sleep.
• Ron told Guilliman that Fulgrim had asked him to keep the humiliating images secret, and Guilliman denied the rumors about Yvraine before leaving to prepare for Segmentum Obscurus.

Ron selected an elite force to raid Abaddon's holdings in the Eye of Terror, accepted the White Templars as his gene-sons, and led the fleet toward the Chaos stronghold. The chapter ended with the fleet arriving near the Eye of Terror and preparing to approach it.

• Ron chose the Lamenters, Carcharodons, and other Chapters for the Eye of Terror mission, while Tyberos anxiously awaited the Carcharodons' selection.
• Malakait brought the White Templars before Ron, and their genetic data showed high compatibility with the Primarch of Hope; Guilliman tacitly affirmed their claim.
• Ron welcomed the White Templars as his sons, cleared their name, and announced their return to the Imperium.
• A week later, Ron's fleet departed Baal as Guilliman led Fleet Primus toward the Nachmund Gauntlet; Tyberos decided to ask Ron for Gene-seed.
• Ron observed the Webway's expanding construction and considered how blackstone from Abaddon's holdings could support the project.
• One month later, Ron's fleet emerged in the northwest of Segmentum Obscurus and approached the Eye of Terror.

Ron planned to raid the Eye of Terror and ordered Tako to seek alliances with Ulthwé and an Ork empire while waiting for Guilliman to draw out Abaddon’s forces. Guilliman’s fleet gathered at Dalova, where Abaddon arrived to attack and found the system defended by Macragge’s Honour and countless Imperial ships.

• Ron reviewed the battle plans with Tako, ordered him to contact Ulthwé and the nearby Ork empire, and reserved the Orks for himself.
• Guilliman’s fleet assembled at Dalova, and his administrative team helped him deploy forces across the Segmentum Obscurus while he waited for Abaddon to appear.
• Abaddon’s Chaos fleet emerged from the Warp near Dalova, and he ordered the Planet Killer’s Doomsday Cannon prepared and the fleet to attack.
• The Chaos fleet’s auspex detected countless Imperial ships, and Abaddon saw Macragge’s Honour surrounded by warships.

Guilliman’s fleet trapped Abaddon’s Chaos Fleet at Dalova, but the Chaos Gods opened a Warp Storm that let the Planet Killer escape the encirclement. Abaddon ordered a new war while Guilliman coordinated with Ron, who saw an enormous vessel emerge from the Eye of Terror.

• Guilliman prepared to destroy Abaddon’s fleet after it fell into an Imperial encirclement at Dalova.
• Abaddon consulted the Oracles and learned that the Chaos Gods would aid him in a designated region, then ordered his fleet to break through toward it.
• Imperial ships led by Macragge’s Honour destroyed most of Abaddon’s fleet before a Warp Storm appeared and shielded the Planet Killer.
• Abaddon rejected his sorcerer’s warning to retreat, threatened him, and ordered the Black Legion to muster its forces for a new war.
• Guilliman told Felix to contact Ron and coordinate their plans around the Eye of Terror.
• Ron saw an enormous Chaos-wreathed object emerge from the Eye of Terror, dwarfing his ship, the Dreamer.

Ron learned that Abaddon’s Black Legion had deployed the Arks of Omen and began planning to establish a Chaos faction in the Eye of Terror while preparing a raid on the Legion’s base. As he waited for the fleet and allies to assemble, an Ulthwé Farseer invited him aboard an Aeldari Craftworld to discuss their alliance.

• Ron concealed his fleet as Arks of Omen and Black Legion ships emerged from the Eye of Terror, then reviewed Xiao Ling’s information on how Vashtorr and Abaddon had built the warships from Space Hulks.
• Ron decided to establish a Chaos force in the Warp, but abandoned the idea of making Kaelina its leader and planned to use a clone and Daemon Genestealers as its core.
• Ron sent Tako information about the Arks of Omen for the Lord Regent, who was pursuing Abaddon, and waited for the Black Legion’s forces to move away before beginning the raid.
• An Aeldari Craftworld arrived near Ron’s fleet, and a Farseer from Ulthwé invited him aboard to discuss their alliance.

Ron formed an alliance with the Ulthwé Eldar and Blood Eye’s Orks, then led their fleet into the Eye of Terror to raid Chaos strongholds. After several rapid attacks, the coalition’s notoriety spread, and Ron worried that resistance at the powerful forge world Gallium could delay them until Chaos assembled a counterattack.

• Ron inspected Ulthwé’s advanced Craftworld and met its Farseer and Blood Eye, whose negotiator Crowbar revealed himself as Ron’s agent.
• Ron negotiated the alliance, dividing up spoils and assigning Blood Eye’s Orks to lead the vanguard, then gathered the coalition fleet and entered the Eye of Terror.
• Ron charted a route to Savagar, the Black Legion’s lair, and led the fleet in a series of swift raids that earned it the names Demon Eater and Chaos Raider.
• At Cantos, Ron’s forces defeated the Shattered Blade Chaos Warband, captured its Chaos Warriors, and stripped them of their weapons and armor for later use.
• Ron saw that the raiding route was halfway complete but feared delays at Gallium, a powerful Dark Mechanicum forge world where Iron Warriors were stationed, could expose the fleet to a massive Chaos counterattack.

Ron halted the allied fleet’s attack after Gallium’s Dark Mechanicus Empress Krasia invited him to the Forge World and granted passage through the neutral zone. He arrived at Gallium’s spaceport to meet its leaders, while the surrounding Chaos Warbands watched warily.

• Ron reviewed the Dark Mechanicum’s history and practices, comparing them with the Ers Mechanicus’s own forbidden research.
• As Gallium’s defenses mobilized, Blood Eye and an Eldar Farseer urged Ron to attack, but Krasia sent a welcoming message offering the fleet safe passage.
• Ron canceled the attack, sent the allied fleet onward, and led several warships to Gallium to investigate Krasia’s invitation.
• Gallium’s Dark Tech-priests cleared the spaceport for Ron, forcing Chaos Warbands to move their ships and quiet their protests.
• Ron arrived at the port and noticed the unusual welcome as a woman’s voice addressed him as Lord Demon Eater.

Ron visited Gallium, where the Dark Mechanicus Empress sought access to the Mechanicus Forum, and agreed to let its Dark Tech-priests join under restrictions. He then set out with the allied fleet to raid Savagar, unaware that a Chaos fleet had already been sent to punish him.

• The Dark Mechanicus Empress explained Gallium’s desire for safer research and access to the Mechanicus Forum, while Ron learned that its Dark Tech-priests had been using special accounts.
• Ron suspected Cawl, Fabius, Perturabo, or a forum administrator of enabling the illicit accounts, but Cawl denied being their source when Ron seized him while he was selling Fuel Drink.
• Ron agreed to let Gallium’s Dark Tech-priests join the Mechanicus Forum through independent communities, with identity labels, supervision, and restrictions on sharing forbidden technology.
• Ron left Gallium, brought Cawl to the Savior’s Sanctuary, and assigned him secret work for a new Chaos force as the allied fleet advanced toward Abaddon’s territory.
• Ron ordered planets along the fleet’s route to surrender spoils or face destruction, then arrived at Savagar and attacked its fortresses, docks, and Ark of Omen hull frames.
• A Chaos fleet had already set sail to punish Ron, though he did not know it.

Guilliman’s fleet cornered Abaddon after Ka'bandha destroyed the Chaos reinforcements, and Guilliman boarded the Planet Killer to fight the Chaos Warmaster. Guilliman defeated Abaddon in combat, but Abaddon claimed Guilliman had lost as a spatial rift opened behind him.

• Abaddon’s fleet battled Guilliman’s forces while he waited for Araghast’s reinforcements to arrive.
• Ka'bandha slaughtered Araghast’s fleet, and Guilliman’s reserve forces later destroyed its remnants.
• Guilliman ordered the boarding of the Planet Killer and led his Primaris warriors toward Abaddon.
• Guilliman and Abaddon fought on the Bridge, where Guilliman overcame him and pinned down the Talon of Horus.
• As Guilliman prepared to execute Abaddon, Abaddon declared that Guilliman had lost and a spatial rift opened behind the Lord Regent.

Guilliman’s forces drove back Abaddon’s daemons with Holy Ash Bombs, but the Black Legion’s Arks of Omen forced the Imperials to withdraw from the Planet Killer. Voladi fought the Chaos fleet to a standstill before it retreated after Abaddon learned that The Savior had attacked the Black Legion’s base at Savagar.

• Zaraphiston rescued Abaddon from Guilliman’s attack, then summoned Chaos reinforcements that overwhelmed the Imperial line.
• War Angels arrived with Holy Ash Bombs, scattering the daemons, and Abaddon withdrew while his fleet prepared to destroy the Planet Killer.
• Voladi’s fleet intercepted the Arks of Omen’s attack and engaged the Chaos fleet, but Guilliman’s forces evacuated the doomed warship.
• Voladi commanded the Imperials in a promising fleet battle, then detected the Black Legion retreating toward the Eye of Terror.
• Zaraphiston revealed that The Savior had attacked Savagar, prompting Abaddon to order a return and call on other Chaos forces to surround him.

Abaddon returned to the Eye of Terror and rallied the Black Legion to encircle and destroy Ron, while Ron's forces assaulted a Black Legion fortress to seize its vaults. After finding a cache of Gene-seed, Ron discovered a lead to remnants of Fabius's laboratory and hurried toward it.

• Abaddon summoned his commanders, declared war on Ron, and split the Arks of Omen fleet to encircle Salvador.
• Ron weighed retreating as the Chaos Coalition and Abaddon approached, then ordered an assault after scouts found a Black Legion core vault.
• Ron led three thousand Adeptus Astartes into Wolf Shadow Space Fortress, defeated its defenders, and captured roughly three thousand Gene-seeds.
• Ron's scouts found another vault containing remnants of Fabius's laboratory, and Ron led his warriors toward it in search of valuable genetic material.

Ron led the evacuation of Fabius’s biological laboratory before the Black Legion’s orbital bombardment could destroy the fortress. He recovered a reproductive Female Space Marine, Primarch clones, and the genes of thirteen Primarchs, leaving with material for his next major plan.

• The Black Legion withdrew and ordered its warships to bombard the space fortress, while the Redemption Fleet fought to hold them back.
• Ron ordered the Tech-priests to evacuate the laboratory’s valuable equipment and genetic research before the Chaos fleet broke through.
• Ron and the Biologis Magi entered the vault and began dismantling Fabius’s experimental equipment and cultivation pods.
• The Biologis Magi discovered a dead Female Space Marine clone with reproductive ability, and Ron ordered her sealed away as a top-level secret.
• Ron found dead Primarch infants and recovered relatively complete genes from twelve Primarchs, giving him the genes of thirteen Primarchs in total.

Ron evacuated the Primarch genetic material from the collapsing fortress and brought it to the Dreamer, where he planned to use it to create a Chaos body infused with Primarch genes. As Ron prepared to seize Savagar’s resources and build a Chaos force, the allied fleet’s battle stalled and the Eldar began to retreat.

• Ron evacuated the biotechnology, Primarch remains, and blood from the fortress before a shipwreck rain destroyed the area.
• Ron inspected a Chaos clone embryo in the Dreamer’s laboratory and planned to fuse it with the genes of thirteen Primarchs as a vessel for Little Sun’s dark energy.
• Ron decided to build a Chaos force in the Eye of Terror, using Chaos power to fight other Chaos forces and expand alongside Savior’s Territory.
• At Savagar, the Eldar, Orks, and Redemption Fleet fought the Black Legion’s remaining warships while Ron worried that the battle was taking too long.
• Ron noticed the Eldar fleet’s formation contract and saw signs that it was retreating.

Ron persuaded the arriving Chaos Coalition to join him in plundering Savagar rather than fight his fleet, then organized their looting before withdrawing with the Redemption Fleet. Abaddon returned to find the Black Legion’s base stripped and devastated.

• The Ulthwé Eldar withdrew after warning Ron that the Chaos Coalition and Black Legion were closing in, while Blood Eye agreed to cover their vacated battle line.
• Ron revealed his support fleet and convinced the Chaos Coalition commanders to cooperate in raiding the Black Legion’s resources instead of risking a costly battle against him.
• The Chaos forces began looting Savagar, and Ron issued a mapped division of targets to stop their infighting and organize the plunder.
• The Redemption Fleet looted Blackstone, relics, and forging equipment, then left Savagar towing three space fortresses, part of a shipyard, and an unfinished Ark of Omen.
• Blood Eye stayed behind to loot and planned to attack Abaddon, while Ron’s fleet escaped before the Black Legion’s return.
• Abaddon arrived at Savagar and stared in disbelief at the devastated base, asking whether his fleet had come to the wrong place.

Abaddon returned to Savagar and discovered that the Black Legion’s base had been stripped by the Chaos Coalition, including the Tzeentch warband and Orks. After failing to recover the stolen fortresses and wealth, he vowed revenge, while Gallium Forge World profited from the plunder and Krasia wondered where Demon Eater had gone.

• Abaddon found Savagar’s fortresses and docks missing, then discovered wreckage showing that the Black Legion’s holdings had been looted.
• The Brotherhood of Revenge seized several fortresses, abandoned some of its warriors, and fled when Abaddon arrived.
• Abaddon pursued an Ork fleet into Warp turbulence, allowing the Brotherhood of Revenge to escape with some fortresses.
• Abaddon intercepted part of the Brotherhood of Revenge’s fleet, but the Orks later returned and stole the last remaining fortress.
• Abaddon learned that nearly all the Black Legion’s wealth had been taken and vowed revenge on the Ravagers.
• Chaos warbands spent their stolen wealth at Gallium Forge World, while Krasia wondered where Demon Eater had gone.