Chapter Summaries

The Lion and the Dark Angels used Extermination Automata to defeat the Chaos invasion of Vostonia and save its people. As they prepared to move on, a vast Warp rift opened, the Chaos Gods’ manifestations appeared, and the Lion realized they needed The Savior’s help.

• The Lion rallied the Dark Angels and humanity, then led an assault that destroyed the Chaos forces with the Extermination Automata.
• The Lion learned that Chaos had set a trap for The Savior and vowed to help protect his Primarch brother.
• The Lion fought and defeated the remaining Greater Daemons, ending the invasion and earning the planet’s cheers.
• The Lion refused a celebration, ordered his armor redecorated, and planned to proceed to Vostonia, where they could gather more troops.
• The Lion sensed the Warp growing more dangerous as a massive rift opened, Imperial warships crashed, and the Chaos Gods’ manifestations loomed over the Vostonia Pan-Sector.
• The Lion asked Sapphon whether the oracle could reveal when The Savior would arrive, admitting that they needed reinforcements.

The Savior issued a War Mobilization Order as the Chaos crisis approached, and Old York answered the call to return to battle with millions of other veterans. The chapter ended with the Imperium mobilizing vast stores of weapons, Iron Men technology, and newly produced combat armor for the coming war.

• The Savior proclaimed a Great Purge and called for a vast mobilization to defend humanity from Chaos.
• Old York received the veteran recall order, said goodbye to Little York, and left to rejoin the Storm Army Group.
• Old York and other veterans gathered in the streets, boarded transports, and began training with upgraded Individual Combat Armor.
• Old York scored 97.6% in a combat-armor target exercise as the Storm Army Group prepared to deploy tens of millions of recalled veterans.
• Forge World No. 5 began delivering twenty million sets of Individual Combat Armor, while the Magos approved vast stores of war machines made with Iron Men technology for the battlefield.

Ron fretted over whether the Imperium had enough strength for the coming war, then showed Guilliman the vast arsenal of automated weapons and reinforcements being assembled. Guilliman gained confidence in their chances, while Ron remained concerned about a powerful unknown enemy and secretly prepared armor forged with the Emperor’s remains.

• Ron described the Imperium’s wartime mobilization to Guilliman, who worried about the hardship imposed on its people but recognized that the forces were already being pushed hard.
• Aboard a Void Whale-class transport, Guilliman heard logistics workers eagerly volunteering for combat and was impressed by their morale and resolve.
• Ron showed Guilliman thousands of Remote Automated Combat Automata and swarms of armed Servo-skull Drones, explaining how their low cost and numbers could overwhelm Chaos forces.
• Guilliman saw the fleet and the enormous quantities of weapons being shipped in multiple batches, and his confidence in the campaign rose sharply.
• Ron warned that the four Chaos Gods and an unknown powerful enemy still demanded caution, then worried that only the Primarchs could confront the threat directly.
• A Dark Mechanicum Archmagos contacted Ron about the armor being forged with the Emperor’s remains, and Ron switched to a private channel before Guilliman could learn the secret.

Ron prepared the Armor of Redemption and outlined the plan to contain the Chaos Rift in the Vostonia Pan-Sector. He left the chapter aboard the Dreamer as the Imperium’s vast assembled fleet arrived to begin the campaign.

• Ron learned that the Armor of Redemption needed more Blackstone, then approved its chest decoration: a lifelike replica of the Golden Throne and The Emperor’s remains designed by Xiao Ling.
• Ron ordered the Armor of Redemption finished and delivered to Vostonia within ten Terra days, while keeping its details secret from Guilliman.
• Ron met Jaghatai Khan and Guilliman aboard the Dreamer and explained that the Chaos Rift threatened Vostonia’s worlds and the Old Ones Artifact.
• Ron revealed that the Legion of Fear, Orks, a Tyranid fleet, Drukhari, and Necrons had gathered in Vostonia and would temporarily disrupt the Chaos forces.
• Ron set a plan for the Imperium’s army to encircle Vostonia and advance inward while his assault force struck the Chaos host’s core.
• The Imperium’s fleets emerged from the Warp and gathered around the Dreamer, darkening the star system with their lights.

Ron assembled the Imperium’s vast fleets and revealed an information-command network to coordinate the assault on Vostonia, then ordered the campaign to begin. As the Imperial forces entered the war zone, Asava Kuhl’s Khorne warband arrived and found its path blocked by an immense Imperial fleet.

• Guilliman saw that the immense Vostonia campaign was too complex for any single commander, and Ron explained that the Imperium needed coordinated operations to destroy the Lord of Change’s array.
• Ron showed Guilliman the heavily shielded Information Command Centers, whose personnel and Machine Goddess supercomputing network would coordinate the Imperial armies.
• Ron assigned Jaghatai Khan to lead the elite assault force, while Guilliman accepted a supporting role and reminded Khan to learn the Redemption Legion’s Iron Men weapons.
• After fleets and Adeptus Mechanicus arks assembled, Ron rallied the Imperium, set out for Vostonia, and led the battle groups into warp transition.
• Asava Kuhl and The Anointed arrived in the Vostonia Pan-Sector, where they found an immense wall of Imperial warships blocking their way.

Aisawa’s Anointed Fleet was surrounded and destroyed after he refused to surrender, while Seraphax’s Warband of Ten Thousand Eyes arrived expecting to ambush the Savior but found itself encircled. When Ron contacted Seraphax, the Chaos sorcerer abandoned his attack plan and offered the warband’s loyalty.

• Aisawa’s fleet tried to hide among the Savior Fleet, but its commanders exposed the disguise, ordered the Anointed to surrender, and destroyed the fleet after Aisawa demanded a duel.
• Seraphax brought the Warband of Ten Thousand Eyes into the Vostonia Pan-Sector, intending to capture the Savior or the Lion and use them in a profane ritual.
• Belial warned Seraphax that the Savior Fleet had surrounded them, and the warband watched the Anointed Fleet’s destruction and the punishment of its survivors.
• Seraphax organized an assault on the Dreamer as his last chance, but Ron contacted him before the boarding attack began.
• After seeing Ron and the powerful warriors behind him, Seraphax gave up his plan and offered the Warband of Ten Thousand Eyes’ cooperation and obedience.

Ron forced Seraphax and the Warband of Ten Thousand Eyes to surrender, then used blackstone ships to suppress the Chaos storm Seraphax had summoned. He turned the defeated warband into bait for more Chaos fleets, while a mysterious figure awakened in a distant tower.

• Seraphax claimed the Warband of Ten Thousand Eyes was returning to the Imperium, then knelt and pledged loyalty when Ron threatened to attack.
• Seraphax secretly relied on a Chaos storm to destroy Ron’s fleet and give him a chance to escape, but Ron’s blackstone ships stabilized the surrounding space and subdued the storm.
• Ron ordered the Warband of Ten Thousand Eyes to disarm and arranged for its members to undergo loyalty re-education beneath a restored statue of the Emperor.
• Ron sent false messages claiming his fleet had suffered heavy losses, using the Warband of Ten Thousand Eyes as bait to lure in more Chaos fleets.
• In a distant tower, a horned figure bound in scripture opened its eyes as bells rang.

Ron welcomed the Legion of Fear to the Imperial fleet’s trap for the Chaos warbands and assigned Guilliman to face Fulgrim. As the Legion of Fear began recruiting captured Chaos warriors, Ron used his Dark Prince avatar to lead the assault and expand the legion.

• Ron told Guilliman that the Legion of Fear was an ally and falsely attributed its secret ties to the Imperium to the Emperor.
• Guilliman accepted Ron’s assignment to fight Fulgrim and returned to train, while Ron went to control his Dark Prince avatar aboard the Heart of Fear.
• Ron planned to use the war in the Vostonia Pan-Sector to grow the Legion of Fear and recruit Chaos warriors for a force against Chaos.
• An Imperial fleet trapped arriving Chaos warbands, and a Tzeentch warband surrendered after its ships were disabled and escape was blocked.
• Ron ordered the Legion of Fear to board resisting Khorne warbands, whose warriors were beaten into joining the legion.

Ron allowed more Adeptus Astartes to join the boarding actions against the Chaos Fleet, boosting Imperial morale as the battle overwhelmed the enemy. When Ron joined the assault himself, a defeated Bloodbound warrior named Arno faced an offer to join Diablo’s Legion of Fear, just as Khorne answered the rival god’s challenge with renewed blessings.

• Ron approved the eager Chapters’ requests to take turns boarding the Chaos Fleet, and the warriors celebrated before launching assaults by torpedo, teleportation, Jump Pack, and other means.
• The Imperium’s boarding victories stirred a veteran former Chapter Master and Dante, while Ron watched the Adeptus Astartes regain confidence and the Legion of Fear fought for Blood Points and Diablo’s Fel Energy.
• After receiving word of fierce resistance, Ron flew into space, tore through a Chaos battleship’s armor, and broke into its interior.
• A defeated Bloodbound warrior, Arno, recalled how hardship in the Lower Hive had driven him to seek power through Khorne, whose favor had seemed to give him strength and status.
• A Fear Warrior offered Arno a place in Diablo’s Legion and promised power through a Blood Points loan, while Khorne sensed Diablo’s attempt to recruit his followers and sent renewed blessings into the region.

Ron’s Diablo fought the Chaos Gods for the faith of Chaos Warriors, but their combined blessings threatened to overwhelm his dwindling power. With Diablo’s supremacy at stake, Ron asked The Emperor for dark-side energy and received a sudden, overwhelming surge.

• The Chaos Gods blessed the Bloodbound Warriors, helping Arno and his comrades resist the Legion of Fear’s attempts to recruit them for Diablo.
• Ron arrived aboard the Bloodbound flagship, defeated its Chaos Lord, and tried to make him submit to Diablo, but the Chaos Lord refused.
• Ron realized the Chaos Gods had launched a counterattack in the Warp, threatening Diablo’s image and draining his remaining Fel Energy.
• Diablo gave the Fear Warriors his last Fel Energy, and the Chaos Gods answered with an even greater combined blessing that strengthened their own followers.
• Facing defeat in the faith war, Ron asked The Emperor to lend him dark-side energy, and The Emperor’s power surged into Ron’s Sun of Hope, rapidly enlarging it.

Ron struggled to control the dark-side power The Emperor poured into the Sun of Hope, then used Diablo to distribute the excess as blessings to the Legion of Fear and nearby Chaos Warriors. The Chaos Gods joined forces to counter him, and Ron answered by unleashing an even larger wave of power across the Warp.

• The Emperor's tyrant persona continued feeding dark-side power into Ron's Sun of Hope, pushing Ron toward corruption and making Diablo boast that he would become Primordial Destruction.
• Ron used Diablo's Devour Authority and the Legion of Fear's faith network to distribute the surplus dark-side energy as blessings, renewing his followers' Blood Point Loans and pushing back the Chaos Gods' influence.
• Diablo granted blessings to nearby Chaos Warriors, including Arno, who accepted the power and spoke Diablo's name before another warrior struck him for supposed betrayal.
• The Chaos Gods noticed their followers' faith tilting toward Diablo and agreed to combine their power to suppress him.
• Ron matched their projected Fel Energy with a wider wave of dark-side power, giving blessings to every Chaos existence in reach.

Ron’s dark side overwhelmed the Chaos Gods’ faith in the Warp, but the Emperor struck him awake before his power and corruption went further. Diablo’s manifestation forced the Chaos Gods to withdraw, and Ron turned the victory into a mass defection of Chaos Warriors to the Legion of Fear; afterward, he discovered Dark Diablo’s faith energy had spread deeper into the Vostonia Pan-Sector.

• Ron’s Dark Side Power overpowered the Chaos Gods’ Fel Energy, and his Sun of Hope neared the threshold of godhood.
• The Emperor punched Ron’s darkened Sun of Hope, restoring his clarity, then refused Ron’s request for more Dark Side Power.
• The Chaos Gods abandoned their attempt to suppress Diablo after his energy shattered their faith region and altered their expectations for Vostonia.
• Ron ordered the fleet to retreat and end the boarding battle as Diablo’s Divine Shadow appeared in reality, drawing the Fear Warriors into greater devotion.
• Arno and other Chaos Warriors joined Diablo, while Ron gained a Chaos Fleet and more than two hundred thousand warriors for the Legion of Fear.
• Ron returned to the Heart of Fear and discovered that Dark Diablo’s faith energy had spread into the depths of the Vostonia Pan-Sector.

Ron learned to control faith-based Fel Energy and used it to strengthen the Legion of Fear and draw Dark Gods’ believers across the Vostonia Pan-Sector to Diablo. The Chaos Gods hesitated to retaliate, while Diablo’s new followers prepared to summon a Herald of Destruction.

• Ron entered the Warp to manage the scattered Fel Energy, then discovered that the prayers of countless believers overwhelmed him, so he blocked unnecessary faith connections and decided to limit worship and promote science in the Codex of Redemption.
• Ron focused his faith authority on the Vostonia Pan-Sector, blessed the Chaos Terminator Arno, and promoted him to a Chaos Champion.
• On a mining planet, Diablo displaced the Blood God’s power during a failed summoning ritual, and the Blood Slaughter Priest and his followers abandoned their former faith to worship Diablo.
• The Chaos Gods considered joining forces to reclaim their believers, but they hesitated because they feared another massive Fel Energy loss, allowing Ron to seize more regions and followers.
• Ron issued an oracle directing Diablo’s new believers to summon a Herald of Destruction, and a blazing Gate of Hell appeared in the Lower Hive.

Dark Diablo summoned a heavily armed Legion of Fear to battle Chaos forces across Vostonia, while a Governor’s abandoned planet gained a temporary reprieve from the new army. On Calisth Planet, Lion faced a collapsing defense as the Chief Librarian foresaw a destructive Fifth Shadow of the Warp.

• Dark Diablo sent a Purgatory Behemoth, Fear Warriors, weapons, and Fel Energy blessings through the Gate of Hell, and the Chaos Cultists armed themselves for war.
• The Governor learned that Imperial support would not arrive, went to the Upper Hive’s Defense Wall, and discovered Diablo’s followers had slaughtered the Chaos forces there before moving away from the Hive City.
• The Purgatory Behemoth led the Legion of Fear out of the Hive City to hunt enemies across the planet, while Ron gained more followers and influence across Vostonia.
• On Calisth Planet, Lion watched the Dark Angels’ defensive positions fall to the Daemon Tide and asked the Chief Librarian when The Savior and Imperial reinforcements would arrive.
• The Chief Librarian foresaw complete destruction and wondered whether the Fifth Shadow of the Warp was the prophesied Fifth Chaos God, alarming Lion.

Lion learned that the Dark King was prophesied to destroy humanity and resolved to fight despite the Librarian’s belief that the prophecy could not be stopped. As the fortress neared collapse, a Chaos warship delivered warriors who shielded the Imperial defenders from the demon tide, leaving Lion to question whether the supposed enemy had come to help.

• The Chief Librarian told Lion that prophecies linked the Dark King’s birth to the destruction of humanity, though he insisted the Emperor was not the Dark King.
• Lion learned that the Dark Angels had concealed the prophecy and that many Librarians who discovered it had gone mad or become The Fallen.
• The Chief Librarian predicted that The Savior would arrive within three Terran days, but nuclear blasts and the Chaos Demon Tide battered the fortress as Lion led the Dark Angels to defend its final line.
• Lion and his forces fought against overwhelming demons, and the Chief Librarian announced that the prophesied vanguard allies had arrived.
• A Chaos warship emerged through a fissure in Diablo’s phantom and deployed Chaos Warriors, who formed a shield line against the demon tide instead of attacking the Imperials.

Lion and the defenders of Calisth Planet watched the Legion of Fear join the battle against the daemons, holding the Bastion Line with overwhelming firepower and a fierce countercharge. In the Warp, Ron learned from the Seers that the Chaos Gods had sent Greater Daemons and traitors against the brothers, and he urged Guilliman and Jaghatai Khan to arm themselves and rendezvous with Lion.

• The Legion of Fear arrived as reinforcements and shielded the Imperium’s defenders, while Lion ordered his forces not to attack them.
• Lion contacted Broken Horn to propose cooperation, but the Legion of Fear captain refused and told the Dark Angels to defend their own line.
• The Dark Angels took Broken Horn’s dismissal as a challenge, and the Legion of Fear prepared its heavy weapons as a vast daemon tide advanced.
• The Legion of Fear unleashed heavy fire, charged into the daemon horde, and deployed Heldrake-mounted Purgatory Knights and war machines to devastate the daemons.
• Lion and Sapphon were stunned by the Fear Warriors’ weapons and their efforts to protect mortals; the Chief Librarian fainted, while Lion questioned whether Diablo was truly the Dark King.
• In the Warp, Ron told Guilliman and Jaghatai Khan that the Chaos Gods had sent Greater Daemons and traitors against them, then called for them to arm themselves and join Lion.

Ron, Guilliman, and Jaghatai Khan prepared for the assault on the Vostonia Pan-Sector, receiving upgraded armor and divine weapons from Ron’s armory. After the Redemption First Fleet reached the Calisth System, they learned that their brother had already been brutally ganged up on.

• Ron agreed to put Guilliman at the head of the assault, while privately expecting him to draw out enemy traps.
• The Archmagos presented upgraded Wildfire Armor for Jaghatai Khan and Armor of Fate for Guilliman, and Ron donned a recast Armor of Truth.
• Ron gave Jaghatai Khan Mechanical Great Eagle Wings and handed Guilliman the Sword of Khaine.
• The Dreamer brought the Redemption First Fleet out of the Warp into the Calisth System as Ron and the Primarchs prepared to teleport down.
• Before they could begin teleporting, Ron and the others received news that their brother had been brutally ganged up on.

Sapphon and the Dark Angels struggled to hold Calisth Planet, a vital node in a Chaos ritual, while Lion El'Jonson was overwhelmed by Greater Daemons and Fulgrim. Ron, Guilliman, and Jaghatai Khan teleported in to rescue Lion, and the chapter ended as an unseen attacker struck down the Fateweaver beside him.

• Sapphon ordered Lazarus to take an Inner Circle force to protect Lion, while the Chief Librarian warned that Calisth Planet was a node in a ritual threatening the Vostonia Pan-Sector.
• Broken Horn and the Fear Warriors attacked the Greater Daemons and killed a Keeper of Secrets, but Lion remained surrounded by eight powerful Greater Daemons and Fulgrim.
• Fulgrim enraged Lion by mocking him, then unleashed a powerful tentacle attack that left Lion exposed to the daemons' assault.
• Ron reviewed the battlefield scan and recording, then teleported with Guilliman and Jaghatai Khan to rescue Lion as the assault force deployed.
• Ron, Guilliman, and Jaghatai Khan reached the battle and rushed toward Lion, who was being battered by a Greater Daemon of Khorne.
• As the Fateweaver prepared to strike Lion with its Blade Staff, a sudden attack made the daemon shrivel and collapse.

Ron, Guilliman, and Jaghatai Khan rescued the battered Lion on Calisth Planet and joined him in defeating the Greater Daemons. As the brothers gathered afterward, Lion asked them to keep his humiliation secret, but a new eruption of Warp Fel Energy interrupted them.

• Guilliman and Jaghatai Khan arrived to support Lion, while Ron appeared and tore The Masque apart before confronting the Greater Daemons.
• Lion realized his brothers had witnessed and recorded his humiliating defeat, then broke free and counterattacked the Greater Daemon of Khorne.
• Lion manifested a Warp-shaped jungle and hunted the Greater Daemons with Ron, Guilliman, and Jaghatai Khan, who destroyed the ambushers together.
• The four Primarchs cornered and killed the last Bloodthirster, while Ron revealed that Fulgrim had withdrawn before they arrived.
• Lion thanked his brothers and asked them to keep his defeat secret, but a tremendous surge of Warp Fel Energy erupted.

Ron, Guilliman, and Jaghatai Khan prepared an assault on Calisth Planet as Chaos corruption threatened to turn it into a foothold for the Chaos Gods. The Lion struggled to understand the New Imperium’s doctrine and customs, but after enduring his brothers’ grotesque food ritual, he joined them as new war materiel arrived.

• Ron warned the Primarchs that the Lord of Change’s array could transform the planet into a Chaos enclave and spread corruption across the Vostonia Pan-Sector.
• Ron, Guilliman, and Jaghatai Khan arranged an encirclement and saturation bombardment, leaving the Lion confused by their confident plans and their insistence that the battle would still be difficult.
• Ron, Jaghatai Khan, and Guilliman explained that the New Imperium measured victory by long-term gains and humanity’s revival, prompting the Lion to admit he needed time to adapt.
• Ron offered the Lion cooked Greater Daemon Mutated Beast of Nurgle meat, and Jaghatai Khan presented another portion as part of the Primarchs’ shared ritual.
• The Lion ate the meat, asked for some to study, and was welcomed into the group as streams of incoming war materiel struck the ground.