Chapter Summaries

Ron learned that Lion El'Jonson would soon awaken in a realm between reality and illusion, but the news was overshadowed when Veil Rifts erupted throughout Commorragh and Chaos Daemons began overrunning the Dark City. With only a week before the rifts could unleash a full invasion, Ron prepared to evacuate and defend the Webway while the Descendant of Asurman appeared to Drukhari under attack.

• Dark Mechanicum Archmagos Cawl and the Tech-priests raced to repair the Black Throne's mechanical structures before Ron's deadline, fearing the loss of their internet access.
• Guilliman mistook Ron's Emperor Clone Body for The Emperor, then learned about the Chaos crisis and agreed to ask Yvraine and the Ynnari to help defend Commorragh.
• Mordren asked whether the Lion would awaken, and Ron confirmed that Lion El'Jonson would soon return in the forests of Caliban, where he would awaken with new power.
• After Guilliman's communication ended, Jaghatai Khan told Ron that Veil Rifts had appeared throughout Commorragh and were still expanding, though their instability gave the defenders one week to prepare.
• Ron proposed evacuating personnel and sealing or destroying Webway entrances, then switched to the Descendant of Asurman vest while remaining bound to the Black Throne.
• Chaos Daemons devastated Commorragh, and Drukhari merchant Bailang called for the Descendant of Asurman before an Incubi emerged to block an abomination's strike as the Descendant's hologram appeared.

Ron used the Descendant of Asurman’s image and a promise of safety to begin evacuating Commorragh’s Drukhari to the Redemption Satellite Zone, while planning to claim the emptied Webway city. As the Veil Rift worsened and Jaghatai Khan asked about reinforcements, Ron received word that Nurgle’s Great Unclean Ones were coming.

• Ron projected the Descendant of Asurman across Commorragh, and his forces joined the local Kabals to protect residents and guide them toward evacuation points.
• Ron blamed Supreme Overlord Vect for Commorragh’s destruction and announced that the Redemption Satellite Zone would accept all Drukhari, beginning the Great Commorragh Migration Plan.
• Bailang saved a Kabalite Warrior who had slit his throat, and they joined the evacuation to the Redemption Satellite Zone.
• Drukhari boarded transport skiffs and left Commorragh, while Ron planned to seal the passages and take control of the emptied Webway city.
• Ron warned Jaghatai Khan that the Veil Rift was expanding, and Jaghatai said his forces could hold for only about three days without reinforcements.
• Rotigus found Bala and the other Great Unclean Ones sleeping in the Garden of Nurgle, and angrily blamed Bala for halting their invasions to pursue a supposed grand plan.

Bala the Glutton turned Nurgle’s garden toward brewing plague weapons that devastated other Chaos Daemons, then led the Plague Favorites to Commorragh and eased the pressure on its evacuation. With Commorragh’s migration progressing and the Black Throne repaired, Ron prepared to activate it and seal the Veil Rift, though Cawl’s near-certain success estimate left him uneasy.

• Rotigus confronted Bala for keeping the Plague Favorites in Nurgle’s garden, but Bala revealed that his new Plague Soup was the core of a revenge plan against the other Chaos Gods.
• Bala’s soup infected Rotigus with a severe plague, and Rotigus recognized it as a weapon derived from God-Blight and asked to learn the brewing technique.
• Bala led seven Plague Arks toward Commorragh, where his plague army overwhelmed Chaos Daemons and reduced pressure on the city’s great migration plan.
• Iris reported that half the targeted Webway entrances had been destroyed, and Ron said the evacuation and sealing plan was proceeding well.
• After the Black Throne was repaired, Ron returned to The Emperor's Clone Body and asked Cawl about the plan’s odds; Cawl claimed a 99.9999999% success rate and activated the throne.

Ron’s attempt to seal the Veil Rift with the Black Throne failed when the throne malfunctioned, leaving him trapped and unable to finish repairing the rifts. Cawl proposed using the Emperor’s repaired Holy Machine to take Ron’s place, and Ron contacted the Emperor; as the Emperor’s consciousness moved into the throne, Ron awoke in his own body and waited to see if the plan would work.

• Ron used the Black Throne to push back Chaos tides and repair Veil Rifts across Commorragh, but a powerful obstruction caused the throne to malfunction and left him injured and trapped.
• Ron blamed Cawl for the failure, and Cawl inspected the throne before proposing that the Emperor take over through the repaired Holy Machine.
• Ron entered the Warp to ask the Emperor for help, but his explanation that the Lord of Change had caused the failure enraged the Emperor, who attacked Tzeentch and drove him back to the Crystal Labyrinth.
• The Emperor transferred his soul-consciousness through the Holy Machine into the cloned body on the Black Throne, while Ron woke in his own Primarch body and hoped the throne would succeed.

As the Emperor’s Clone Body began awakening on the Black Throne, Ron and the defenders faced a Chaos assault designed to kill him before he could rise. After Cawl fell and Ron lost the use of Psyker Power against the assassins, Ron revealed that he had been hiding another power.

• The Emperor’s Clone Body began transforming the Black Throne as Ron ordered Cawl to strengthen the defenses and warned Jaghatai Khan and the nearby forces to prepare for a Chaos attack.
• Chaos corrupted machinery and weapons around the Throne, while Xiao Ling and Cawl used the surveillance systems to locate an assassin concealed near the Throne Core.
• Jaghatai Khan, the Captain-General, and the Custodian Wardens fought the revealed Blood God assassin, while two more assassins bypassed the defenses and rushed the Throne.
• Cawl and his father’s Heavy Servo-skull held off the two assassins, but the attackers destroyed the skull and severed Cawl’s mechanical head.
• Ron blocked the assassins from reaching the Emperor’s Clone Body and revealed the hidden Waaagh Energy of Brother Ron.

Ron spread Brother Ron’s legend among the Orks, whose growing faith sent Waaagh Energy to him as he faced three Chaos Assassins at the Black Throne. Empowered, Ron burst from his armor and fought back, leaving the Lord of Pleasure screaming as the battle continued.

• Ron used the Warp to spread Brother Ron’s image, inspiring Orks across the Galaxy to fear and worship him alongside Gork and Mork.
• An Ork Imperium launched its giant Ron-Kong-shaped space fortress into the Warp, evading The Rock; Azrael learned its image resembled the Primarch of Hope, The Savior.
• At the Black Throne, Waaagh Energy surged into Ron as three Chaos Assassins closed in, causing his muscles to grow until his golden Power Armor burst apart.
• Ron stopped the White Scars Primarch and the Adeptus Custodes from joining the fight, then struck the Blood God’s assassin in the face with a hammer.
• Ron knocked down the Lord of Change’s assassin with a blow to the back of its head, then battered the Lord of Pleasure’s clone until the pain reached his true self.

Ron fought the Chaos Gods’ assassins to protect the Emperor on the Black Throne, while Imperial warriors helped repel the attacks. The Emperor finally rose from the throne and destroyed the Slaaneshi clone, though Ron briefly wondered whether the being before him was truly the Emperor.

• Ron destroyed the Lord of Change’s Chaos Assassin, then fought the Blood God’s assassin as the Lord of Pleasure’s assassin moved toward the Black Throne.
• Ron hurled a blue Ultramarines Heavy Dreadnought into the pink mist, where it struck the Slaaneshi assassin and stopped its attack on the Emperor’s clone.
• Ron tricked the Blood God’s assassin with a false warning about the Emperor awakening, then he and the Imperial warriors overwhelmed the clone in a group attack.
• Ron discovered the Slaaneshi assassin had escaped using an illusion, rushed to protect the Emperor’s clone, and found himself trapped by Crystal Chains as the Chaos Gods targeted his soul.
• The Emperor rose from the Black Throne, pierced the Slaaneshi clone with his Golden Power Claw, and declared that he was no god but the proof of his enemies’ annihilation.

The Emperor sealed the Webway breaches, then appointed Ron as the sole ruler of the Imperium and crowned him before the gathered forces. The Emperor’s decree spread across the Imperium, where Saint Celestine witnessed Ron’s coronation through spiritual sight.

• Cawl survived the Chaos attack and rushed to check on the Heavy Servo-skull made from his father’s skull.
• The Emperor expelled the Chaos Gods’ consciousness projections, purified the Black Throne region, and sealed the Webway’s Veil Rifts.
• The Emperor refused to govern the Imperium himself and chose Ron as its ruler, while Jaghatai Khan moved aside to reveal him.
• The Emperor crowned Ron and declared him the Imperium’s sole ruler, and the assembled forces pledged loyalty to him.
• The Emperor’s psychic decree spread throughout the Imperium, and Saint Celestine saw Ron wearing the crown.

The Emperor named the Primarch of Hope, the Savior, ruler of the Imperium, prompting worship across Holy Terra and alarm among the High Lords. Grand Inquisitor Devere exposed their secret opposition, while unrest gathered in the City of Supplicants ahead of the coronation.

• Saint Celestine, the Twin Handmaidens, Custodians, pilgrims, and residents of Holy Terra received or celebrated the vision of the Savior standing beside The Emperor.
• Captain-General Lysias led the Custodians in swearing fealty to the Savior and accepting their new mission under his authority.
• Pilgrims from the Devout One recalled how the Savior had saved them and changed their fortunes, while one white-haired pilgrim prayed for his homeworld amid reports of war.
• High Lords met secretly to discuss resisting the Savior’s rule, but Devere revealed that he had infiltrated their Secret Brotherhood and had been monitoring them.
• The blue High Lord ended the meeting by declaring that he would prepare the ceremonial rites for the Savior’s rule.
• In the City of Supplicants, high-ranking opponents stirred trouble around the coming coronation, and the Solar Auxilia deployed armored forces to guard against blasphemy.

Sergeant Major Holmes led Solar Auxilia forces against unrest on Holy Terra, while Grand Inquisitor Devere organized a sweeping public-order operation to protect the Savior’s coronation. Devere resolved to strengthen the Savior’s authority and reduce the Emperor’s influence, as the Golden Throne’s hidden cracks continued to multiply.

• Holmes led the 13th Infantry Company into street clashes, believing rebels opposed the Savior’s reforms and striking them with batons.
• The account described Devere’s slow purge of Terra’s hidden populations and organizations, including the discovery of an isolated primitive tribe and disputes between the Ecclesiarchy and Ers Mechanicus over Psyker Network content.
• After unrest erupted ahead of the coronation, Devere summoned Imperial officials and launched a five-day Holy Terra Social Order Management Operation, demanding that they act for the Savior.
• Devere vowed to make the Savior’s authority impossible to ignore and supported religious reforms that would promote the Golden Sun and Savior while diminishing the Emperor’s influence.
• News from the Imperial Palace revealed that Magos maintaining the Golden Throne had found hidden cracks that were still increasing.

As cracks spread through the Golden Throne, Devere used the danger and unrest on Holy Terra to carry out a sweeping purge and strengthen the Savior’s rule. The Emperor told Ron the Throne’s damage was irreversible and begged him to end his life, but Ron confidently promised he could fix the problem.

• Devere secretly launched a purge of Holy Terra’s administration, arresting officials and executing more than a million rebels while the public security forces suppressed unrest.
• The High Lords approved a grander Savior statue, set a temporary coronation date, and announced a new holiday and doubled supplies, winning the population’s support.
• On the Black Throne, the Emperor told Ron that the Golden Throne was failing and asked him to kill him before his divinity caused a catastrophe.
• Ron reassured the Emperor that he could solve the Golden Throne’s problem.

Ron oversaw the Black Throne’s luxurious modification, giving the Emperor relief from pain and a device that let him communicate freely. The Emperor settled into his new facilities, began using the Spirit Net under a false name, and left the future of the Imperium to Ron and Guilliman.

• The Emperor accepted Ron’s offer to repair the Golden Throne and asked him to keep searching for an artifact capable of killing him if necessary.
• Ron ordered Cawl and the Dark Mechanicum to modify the Black Throne first and prepare repairs for the Golden Throne, while Cawl retrieved the Emperor Speaker he had built years earlier.
• Cawl’s teams installed the Black Throne’s new facilities and Emperor Speaker, allowing the Emperor to speak freely and furiously berate Jaghatai Khan and the Adeptus Custodes.
• Ron showed the Emperor the modified Throne Palace and gave him a high-authority Spirit Net account; the Emperor chose to leave the Imperium’s rule to Ron and Guilliman.
• The Emperor chatted with Xiao Ling and posted an anonymous essay mocking Guilliman’s Codex Astartes as the Throne Palace’s lights suddenly turned pink.

Ron and The Emperor discovered Cawl’s lifelike silicone creations, including profane figures modeled after the Lord of Pleasure, and The Emperor blasted Ron out of the palace. Ron later explained that The Emperor’s humanity and divinity were unstable, and he and Jaghatai Khan considered the Imperium’s plans and threats, leaving Ron burdened by the fate of its countless people.

• The Emperor and Ron mistook Cawl’s surprise display of lifelike silicone creations for a possible Chaos attack before hearing Cawl explain the technology and its design.
• Ron recognized the creations as a project he had once requested, while The Emperor found himself surrounded by seductive figures and angrily confronted Ron.
• The Emperor struck Ron with psychic power, sending him flying from the Throne palace, where Jaghatai Khan found him; Ron later cut Cawl’s research budget and ordered a new set of creations.
• Jaghatai Khan asked about The Emperor’s condition, and Ron described the struggle between The Emperor’s fractured humanity and destructive divinity, while explaining that repairs to the Golden Throne and the Holy High Towers might save him.
• Ron outlined the Silent King’s renewed war against humanity and the plan to turn Commorragh into a Webway hub that would gather resources and support the construction of Holy High Towers.
• As Ron and Jaghatai Khan prepared to discuss the Webway city, Ron said the Imperium’s people rested on his shoulders.

Ron consolidated his rule over the Imperium, empowered Jaghatai Khan’s White Scars, and punished Devere for a purge on Holy Terra. He then faced a hidden Daemon threat in Commorragh that could delay the Webway project, while the Redemption Hive Ship appeared above a savage planet.

• Jaghatai Khan pledged the White Scars’ support to Ron, who promised them White Falcon vehicles and a Redemption Titan Legion and announced the return to legion structures.
• Ron learned that Devere had purged potential opponents on Holy Terra, removed him from his high offices, and reassigned him to secret oversight work.
• Bayev traveled to Holy Terra to become Imperial Chancellor and Regent, while Ron expected him to manage the government and trusted the new administrators trained by the Schola Progenium.
• Jaghatai Khan reported that the Lord of Pleasure’s Daemons had scattered through Commorragh, and Ron concluded that clearing them could take armies and centuries.
• A Redemption Hive Ship, more than forty kilometers long, fed on a savage planet below.

The Savior’s Tyranid ranches kept the Redemption Hive Ship supplied while Abathur cultivated Wings of the Blade, a powerful Tyranid clone. When Ron sought to purge the Daemons of Pleasure from Commorragh, Abathur approved a limited pause in the clone’s cultivation, and Ron took control of a vast swarm to begin the campaign.

• The Ranch Department’s director praised Planet One’s administrator for exceeding biomass targets, and the administrator sent the Hive Ship instructions to stop feeding at the threshold.
• Wings of the Blade continued growing in secret as Abathur refined Tyranid gene templates and tended the Savior’s clone.
• Ron asked Abathur whether the swarm could wage a large-scale war and whether Wings of the Blade’s cultivation could be paused for an attack on Commorragh.
• Abathur said cultivation could pause for up to three months with limited losses and confirmed that enough Tyranids were available for the campaign.
• Ron connected his consciousness to the swarm through a brood of Zoanthropes and ordered the Redemption Hive Fleet to attack Commorragh.

Ron led the Redemption Hive Fleet through the Webway toward Commorragh, where Tyranid Lao Ba’s swarm devoured a fleeing Slaaneshi army. Yvraine’s Ynnari force encountered the Hive Fleet, but Ron chose not to attack them and continued onward, leaving Yvraine braced for a possible fight after a stray anti-air battery fired at a Tyranid bio-ship.

• Ron sent the Redemption Hive Fleet through the Webway toward Commorragh as Yvraine’s Ynnari force advanced to reinforce the Drukhari.
• Yvraine prepared the Ynnari to face a Daemon tide, but saw Slaaneshi Daemons fleeing from the pursuing Tyranid swarm.
• Tyranid Lao Ba caught the Keeper of Secrets and devoured her, prompting the swarm to overrun the Daemon army.
• Ron spotted Yvraine’s force, rejected the idea of attacking the Ynnari, and ordered the swarm to continue toward Commorragh.
• Yvraine feared the Hive Fleet would destroy her force, but the Tyranids passed without attacking; then a Firestorm Heavy Anti-Air Battery fired at a bio-ship.

Yvraine learned that Commorragh had fallen and led the Ynnari toward Raphael Asurman’s territory, while Ron accepted the Lord of Pleasure’s invitation to negotiate. Ron reached the Palace of Pleasure, resisted its temptations only imperfectly, and spotted a possible Sword of Khaine near the throne as the Lord of Pleasure offered him a pact.

• Yvraine halted the Ynnari from fighting the Tyranids, then learned that Vect was dead and Commorragh had fallen to Chaos.
• The Aeldari Farseer told Yvraine that the Drukhari and Harlequins had relocated to Raphael Asurman’s territory, and Yvraine ordered the Ynnari to join them.
• Ron tracked the Ynnari’s departure, then accepted the Lord of Pleasure’s invitation and sent a soul avatar into the Warp.
• Ron crossed the circles of Slaanesh’s domain, fell asleep on the Circle of Indolence’s beach, and was awakened by the Lord of Pleasure.
• Ron entered the Palace of Pleasure, ignored Fallen Phoenix Fulgrim’s objections, and approached the throne while searching for the fifth Sword of Khaine.
• The Lord of Pleasure offered to withdraw the Daemon armies from the Webway in exchange for the Drukhari’s souls and proposed that Ron rule the realm of pleasure with Him.

Ron rejected the Lord of Pleasure’s offer to trade Commorragh for Drukhari souls, then unleashed the Redemption Hive Fleet to clear the Webway city of daemons. As the Imperium prepared to celebrate its victory and coronation in the Webway, Guilliman faced the loss of the Emperor’s Sword and discovered the Emperor’s anonymous attack on him online.

• Ron refused the Lord of Pleasure’s pact and trade, then dissolved his soul avatar after learning the location of the fifth Sword of Khaine.
• The Lord of Pleasure accepted the Blood God and the Lord of Change’s terms and ordered the daemons in Commorragh to sabotage the Webway, but learned Ron had brought in the swarm.
• Ron used the Redemption Hive Fleet to hunt down the daemons throughout Commorragh while the White Scars withdrew from the Webway.
• The swarm cleared more than two-thirds of Commorragh, and Ron left its command to prepare for a victory celebration and coronation in the Webway.
• Ron contacted Guilliman to invite him to the celebration, while Guilliman worried over the missing Sword of the Emperor and read the Emperor’s anonymous criticism of him on the Spirit Net Forum.

Guilliman argued with the anonymous forum user Roman Prodigal over the Codex Astartes, then learned Ron had secured Commorragh and invited him to the Victory Celebration and coronation. Guilliman set out for the event despite the missing Sword of the Emperor, while Ron prepared to rebuild Commorragh into a major hub for the Imperium.

• Guilliman used his anonymous account, Blue Giant, to defend the Codex Astartes against Roman Prodigal, who dismissed his arguments and mocked him.
• Guilliman revealed that he was Roboute Guilliman and challenged Roman Prodigal to meet him in person, but Roman Prodigal said he would be waiting in Commorragh.
• Ron told Guilliman that Commorragh was secured and invited him to the Victory Celebration and coronation, adding that the Emperor wanted to see him and that he might need the Sword of the Emperor.
• Guilliman and Felix failed to find the missing Sword of the Emperor, and Guilliman departed for Commorragh while continuing to challenge Roman Prodigal.
• Three months later, Ron watched the Redemption Hive Fleet leave Commorragh as the Ers Mechanicus reignited the city's sun and engineering fleets arrived to begin its transformation.

Ron oversaw Dawn City's reconstruction and explained why he would restore the Imperium rather than abandon its poorest regions. Guilliman arrived in Dawn City, and Jaghatai Khan hurried him to meet the Emperor, while Ron discovered Guilliman had insulted the Emperor online and rushed to prepare medical help.

• Ron rejected a proposal to abandon impoverished Imperial regions and committed to restoring the Imperium, making Dawn City a central hub for trade and Webway defense.
• Ron and Jaghatai Khan discussed the Emperor's improved mood and learned that Guilliman was on his way to Dawn City.
• Guilliman arrived ahead of schedule, shared roasted Mutated Beast of Nurgle meat with Jaghatai Khan, and was taken to visit the Emperor.
• Ron discovered Guilliman had called the Emperor a crybaby and challenged him to a duel, so he sent a medical unit to stand by and hurried to the Throne Palace.