Chapter Summaries

Ron tested a towering Necron-style mechanical Clone Body designed to let him enter the Pariah Nexus and turn Necron factions against the Silent King. After adding dramatic effects and confirming his command abilities, he departed for the Pariah Nexus as the Holy Soul Sect’s divine envoy, The Silent One.

• Ron arrived at a Necron research base, where the Archmagos of alien machinery reported that his mechanical Clone Body was ready.
• Ron reviewed his plan to spread the Holy Soul Sect’s faith among Necrons, though he worried because Zabok had gone missing after entering the Pariah Nexus.
• Ron inspected the six-meter Clone Body and found it lacked the imposing appearance he wanted, so the Archmagos added ghostly flames and a cloak of Gauss energy.
• Ron transferred his consciousness into the Clone Body, tested its movement and command protocols, and identified himself to the Immortals as The Silent One, Pluto’s favored divine envoy.
• Ron ordered the expedition to begin, and a Cairn Class Tomb Ship set off through the Webway toward the Pariah Nexus.

Szarekh summoned the Necron Phaerakhs to rally them around his plan to isolate the Warp, but Imotekh’s absence made clear that the Silent King faced a growing challenge from within. At the edge of the Silence Zone, Ron searched for a way to act before Szarekh dealt with the Stormlord and spotted a female Phaerakh who caught his attention.

• Szarekh gathered the Phaerakhs and Overlords at the Blackstone Nexus to present his plan for a galaxy-spanning veil that would sever the Warp and support reverse Biotransference.
• The council descended into disorder as many Necron leaders displayed damaged or eccentric minds, while Szarekh silently assessed their loyalty.
• Szarekh learned that Imotekh had refused his summons and that roughly a third of the Phaerakhs were absent, then concluded he must prepare for the Stormlord’s challenge.
• Szarekh reviewed intelligence about the Imperium, the Aeldari, the Orks, the Tyranids, and Zabok’s Holy Soul Sect, while judging the approaching Great Devourer the greatest external threat.
• Szarekh declared that the time had come to reorganize his forces against Imotekh, and the Triarch Praetorians silenced the council.
• At the edge of the Silence Zone, Ron searched projections of nearby Phaerakhs for a way to move before Szarekh confronted Imotekh, then paused to admire a female Phaerakh.

Ron planned to establish the Holy Soul Sect’s first major base in Fahra’s territory and personally persuade the powerful Phaerakh to join. As his Cairn Class Tomb Ship traveled to Alama, Fahra mourned the sensations and life she had lost through biotransference.

• Ron reassured Zabok and the other Kharozas believers, then ordered them to establish territory and build a stronger Holy Soul Sect army.
• Ron chose Alama, territory of Phaerakh Fahra, as the sect’s starting point despite Zabok warning that her dynasty was powerful and had already rejected their approach.
• Ron set out alone aboard his Cairn Class Tomb Ship to meet Fahra, hoping to win her over before the Silent King noticed the sect.
• On Alama, Fahra recalled her former life and lamented that her Living Metal body could no longer feel sunlight, wind, or the warmth of life.

Fahra remembered how biotransference had robbed the Necrontyr of their bodies, souls, and emotions, and she refused the Silent King’s plans and rejected the Holy Soul Sect’s return to her territory. Ron surveyed the wealthy Fahra Dynasty and planned to seize its ruler, resources, and worlds, but the Orb of Eternity Array activated as his fleet approached.

• Fahra recalled how she and her parents entered the Biomatter Conversion Hall expecting eternal life, only for biotransference to replace their bodies with Living Metal and strip away their souls and emotions.
• Fahra’s parents were devoured by the Nightbringer, and she inherited the Fahra Dynasty before sleeping for sixty million years and awakening in the present.
• Fahra rejected the Silent King’s decree and refused to tolerate his Blackstone Pylons, which she believed were harming life in Alama Zoo.
• Fahra learned that the Holy Soul Sect had returned to the Alama system despite her warning and considered ordering its ships destroyed.
• Ron surveyed the Fahra Dynasty’s Tomb Worlds and Orb of Eternity Array, then decided to claim Fahra, her wealth, and her territory for the Holy Soul Sect.
• Zabok warned Ron that the Orb of Eternity Array could trap and destroy them, and the array lit up as Ron dismissed his concern.

Ron brought the Holy Soul Sect’s mission to Fahra’s Tomb World and persuaded the Phaerakh to meet him, despite her threat to destroy his ship. He used Necrontyr etiquette and the Emotion Virus to make Fahra experience simulated emotions, leaving her confused and drawn to him as his scheme began.

• Zabok warned Ron that Fahra’s Orb of Eternity Array could destroy their ship, but Fahra accepted their communication request just before the attack deadline.
• Fahra allowed Ron and his party to land, then met him in the Tomb World’s hall and refused to join the Holy Soul Sect, though she offered an alliance.
• Ron argued that the C’tan had caused the Necrontyr’s suffering and that the New God could restore their souls, making Fahra reconsider her refusal.
• Ron approached Fahra despite the Royal Wardens’ warnings, repelled their attack, and took her hand.
• Ron’s Emotion Virus made Fahra feel anger, panic, and attraction, while he secretly began his Pure Love scam.

Ron used his Necrontyr prince persona and the Emotion Virus to win Fahra’s love and secure her commitment to rule the Fahra Dynasty with him, strengthening the Holy Soul Sect’s position. While touring her Royal Zoo, he spotted captured humans and recognized Admiral Mallen among them.

• Ron toured Fahra’s vast Royal Zoo and considered how he might acquire its technology and wealth for humanity.
• Fahra offered Ron the zoo, but he reassured her that he wanted her and the chance to save the Necrontyr together.
• Fahra confessed that she wanted to rule the dynasty with Ron, and he accepted, securing their union and the Fahra Dynasty’s growing integration into the Holy Soul Sect.
• Ron found imprisoned Chaos Daemons in the zoo and recognized that the Blackstone Veil technology could help humanity establish colonies in the Warp.
• Fahra explained that she had bought humans from Obris the Enslaver for the zoo, and Ron recognized Admiral Mallen among the captives.

Ron met Admiral Mallen’s imprisoned Imperial forces in Phase Space and decided to delay their release because the Blackstone Veil threatened their souls. He persuaded Fahra that the Veil endangered the Necrontyr too, setting the Holy Soul Sect against the Silent King, while Mallen’s prisoners unexpectedly received abundant supplies.

• Ron recalled how Mallen’s Indomitable Fleet had become stranded in the Pariah Nexus after Guilliman withdrew from the Silent King’s power.
• Ron told Fahra that the Blackstone Veil threatened all souls, and she agreed to dismantle nearby Blackstone Pylons and rally other Phaerakhs against the Silent King.
• Ron outlined plans to expand the Holy Soul Sect and revive Necrontyr culture while reshaping it to make the Necrontyr less harmful.
• After Ron and Fahra left, Mallen and the Ultramarines discussed the Veil’s effects and remembered how Necron forces had captured their battlegroup.
• Mallen returned to his den to pray and wait, but days later the Necrons began delivering plentiful human supplies into Phase Space.

Admiral Mallen and the trapped Imperial warriors received supplies from the Covendi Rogue Trader House and learned that the Indomitus Crusade had triumphed and the Imperium had prospered under Ron Grant. Just as they began to trust that rescue would come, the Ultramarines Librarian discovered that multiple Necron fleets were converging on the planet, threatening to destroy it.

• Mallen and the others discovered that the Necrons had obtained the human supplies through a contract with the Covendi Rogue Trader House, and the crates bore links to Ultramar.
• The Ultramarines Librarian realized that the supplies showed the Five Hundred Worlds had become prosperous, and the warriors celebrated the Indomitus Crusade’s victory after reading the news and sharing Sunlight Wheat Crackers.
• Mallen and the others learned from the supplies that Ron Grant and the returned Primarchs had restored the Imperium and defeated many of humanity’s enemies, so they chose to wait in the Royal Zoo for rescue.
• The mortal soldiers and Imperial warriors regained strength from the food and Healing Serum as the Abomination Veil began to dissipate and signs of space combat appeared overhead.
• The Ultramarines Librarian recognized the approaching ships as Necron fleets from a civil war and warned that their forces might destroy the planet and everyone trapped there.

Ron faced a rapidly escalating Necron assault on the Holy Soul Sect’s territory and concluded that the Imperium could no longer avoid a direct war with the Silent King. He ordered total mobilization, leaving humanity to prepare for an all-out struggle against the Necrons.

• Mallen and the Indomitus Crusade fleet witnessed the Necrons devastate warships and destroy a Tomb World, then resolved to escape the Royal Zoo and warn the Imperium.
• Ron refused Fahra’s proposal to withdraw, choosing to defend the Holy Soul Sect’s home and ordering Deathmarks to gather intelligence on the enemy.
• Ron learned that a much larger tomb fleet was entering the Holy Land system and that nearby Tomb Worlds were mobilizing, threatening to surround his forces.
• Ron weighed the costs of involving humanity but decided that war with the Silent King was unavoidable and that the Imperium had to prepare for total war.
• Ron ordered Zabok to inform the Imperial Regent and commanded the Imperium to mobilize its fleets, weapons production, recruitment, reserves, and new Adeptus Astartes.

Ron ordered Zabok to carry the Imperium’s Supreme Command back to the Royal Court and sent a Tyranid courier as backup, while preparing the Holy Soul Sect to withstand the coming war. In the Silence Zone, the Silent King oversaw the conflict and turned his attention to the Holy Soul Sect.

• Zabok enthusiastically accepted Ron’s order to return to the Royal Court and deliver the Supreme Command in person.
• Ron sent a fast Tyranid courier with the same information in case Zabok’s message was intercepted.
• Ron resolved to preserve the Holy Soul Sect and relied on the Tyranid Hive fleet, the Steel-Teeth Ork Empire fleet, and humanity’s Vanguard Fleet to reinforce the system.
• Aboard the Song of Annihilation, the Silent King learned that Imotekh had rejected his Command Protocol and that war had begun.
• The Silent King ordered Mephoset to provide intelligence and saw the Holy Soul Sect mentioned in a report.

Szarekh dismissed the Holy Soul Sect as insignificant and prepared for war against Imotekh, while intelligence about Crown-bearer Zahndrekh suggested the Stormlord might be weakened. Ron learned the attack on the Fahra Dynasty had been an accident, and decided to exploit the coming war to secretly expand the Holy Soul Sect and strike Imotekh’s rear.

• Szarekh ignored reports about the Holy Soul Sect, ordered the dynasties to awaken more armies, and confronted Imotekh, who rejected the Silent King’s authority and declared war.
• Hapsatra and Mephoset verbally attacked Imotekh until he ended the communication, after which Szarekh ordered his forces to begin the war.
• Szarekh assessed the balance of forces and learned that Zahndrekh’s subordinates were plotting rebellion and assassination, which could weaken Imotekh’s side.
• Ron learned that a passing Necrontyr dynasty, not Szarekh’s Praetorians, had attacked the Fahra Dynasty by accident and realized his supreme mobilization order could not easily be withdrawn.
• Ron decided to use the war to develop the Holy Soul Sect in secret, expand its territory, dismantle Blackstone Pylons, and guide its armies toward Imotekh’s rear.

Ron sent a letter in ancient Necrontyr script to Zahndrekh, hoping to end the war through noble etiquette and recruit the Crown-bearer. Meanwhile, Zahndrekh hosted a banquet aboard his flagship as his increasingly resentful lords prepared to move against him.

• Fahra worried that Zahndrekh’s forces would overwhelm the Holy Soul Sect, but Ron trusted his fleets and planned to use the Emotion Virus to win the Crown-bearer over.
• Ron wrote Zahndrekh a formal letter, ordered a Deathmark to deliver it, and told Fahra to prepare to welcome their guests as true Necrontyr nobles.
• Zahndrekh drank and banqueted with his lords aboard the Yama Tower Ship, unaware that his subordinates were hiding the battle outside and plotting against him.
• Zahndrekh asked about his missing guard Obyron and the prisoners, and his lords claimed that Obyron was tracking an assassin while the guests had choked to death at the banquet.
• When the servants failed to bring food up the steps, a sinister lord offered to taste it for Zahndrekh, who accepted without noticing the lords’ changed gazes.

Zahndrekh’s lords attempted a coup by poisoning him with an improved Iron-plague Neurotoxin, but he detected their betrayal and activated the banquet hall’s defenses. The toxin disabled his systems, and the rebels attacked as Zahndrekh fought back.

• A Necrontyr lord secretly poisoned Zahndrekh’s Snotling Mushroom soup while the other conspirators watched.
• Zahndrekh drank the soup, but when the conspirators grew suspicious, he recognized their plot and killed the poisoner with the hall’s weapons.
• Zahndrekh activated the defenses and summoned the Royal Wardens, but the Iron-plague Neurotoxin corrupted his body and blocked his commands.
• The rebels launched a joint assault on Zahndrekh, and he struck down a Necrontyr Overlord with his Staff of War.

Zahndrekh survived a coup with Obyron’s help, then received a letter from Charles condemning his attack on the Fahra Dynasty. He halted the assault and agreed to visit Fahra to settle the dispute before joining Imotekh’s war, while acknowledging that his longing for the past was only a way to endure his Living Metal existence.

• Zahndrekh’s loyalists were overwhelmed by rebels using Iron-plague Neurotoxin, and the traitors nearly killed him after destroying his Staff of War.
• Obyron returned, backed by high-ranking Deathmarks, and helped the loyalists defeat the rebels until Royal Wardens arrived to arrest them.
• Obyron explained that Fahra’s assassin had warned him of the coup and delivered a sealed letter from the Holy Soul Sect’s Emissary.
• After reading Charles’s rebuke, Zahndrekh ordered his Tomb Fleets to stop attacking the Fahra Dynasty and agreed to visit its core Tomb World for a banquet and negotiations.
• Obyron urged Zahndrekh to join Imotekh’s forces in the Hypnos System, then warned him that wine worsened his lapses; Zahndrekh admitted he understood his condition and did not believe in restoration promises.

Zahndrekh suspected that the Holy Soul Sect and its Emissary might threaten the Necrontyr Imperium, and ordered Obyron to prepare for a possible attack while traveling to Alama. There, Ron and Fahra prepared to welcome their guests amid a cultural revival that gave Necrontyr greater freedom and leisure.

• Zahndrekh told Obyron to remain ready to kill the Emissary and mobilize the Tomb Fleet if the Holy Soul Sect proved dangerous.
• Zahndrekh changed into formalwear and departed with Obyron and the Elite Royal Guard for Alama.
• Ron admired Alama's renewed city and explained that reviving Necrontyr culture and faith could draw them away from endless war.
• Fahra dressed for the banquet, joined Ron, and asked whether he would deceive her; Ron promised he would not.
• Ron and Fahra went out to greet the formally dressed officials and guards, who now had personal interests and days off under Ron's new directives.

Ron watched the Holy Soul Sect revive Necrontyr culture and planned to turn its influence into a bid for the Throne of Dominion, challenging the Silent King and the Stormlord. He prepared to recruit Crown-bearer Zahndrekh, whose arrival could give him the military strength and legitimacy to campaign among the dynasties.

• Ron saw the Holy Soul Sect's territory thriving with markets and revived Necrontyr professions, and Fahra said she believed Charles could save their people.
• Ron assessed the Necrontyr Imperium's power struggle between the Silent King and Imotekh the Stormlord, then decided to enter the contest as a third candidate.
• Ron credited human Tech-priests and Trazyn's collected relics with helping him reconstruct Necrontyr culture and strengthen his identity as their prince.
• Ron decided he needed Zahndrekh's support and army before campaigning among the dynasties, and worried the Silent King's allies might soon send the Triarch Praetorians against him.
• Ron followed Necrontyr noble etiquette to welcome Zahndrekh as the Crown-bearer's Cairn Class Tomb Ship descended.

Ron and Fahra welcomed Crown-bearer Zahndrekh to their court banquet as the newly formed Ramesses family, while both sides cautiously displayed their status and strength. Zahndrekh’s elite guard arrived, and Fahra’s Royal Guard faced them without showing fear.

• Zahndrekh traveled to the Holy Soul Sect’s court banquet with Obyron, who warned him to stay alert for a possible trap.
• Ron compared his modest Cairn Command Barge and honor procession with Zahndrekh’s grander arrival and resolved to acquire a more impressive barge.
• Ron took Fahra’s hand, and they formally welcomed Zahndrekh as the Ramesses family, a name Ron said he had restored.
• Zahndrekh returned the greeting through his herald, and the two groups proceeded toward the banquet under formal noble etiquette.
• Ron assessed Zahndrekh’s powerful Royal Guard and considered how Necron technology could improve his forces.
• Fahra’s Royal Guard stood tall and openly examined Zahndrekh’s warriors as they approached.

Ron welcomed Zahndrekh to the Holy Soul Sect with a banquet area restored to the ancient splendor of the Necrontyr, leaving the Crown-bearer awed by the Ramesses Dynasty’s culture and heritage. When Zahndrekh recognized a relic that he had seen in Trazyn’s collection, Ron claimed it was an inherited original, and Zahndrekh apologized without proof.

• Ron reflected on how the Holy Soul Sect’s Royal Guards had regained their awareness and honor, while he worried about Zahndrekh’s apparent killing intent and Obyron’s presence.
• Zahndrekh approached with his honor guard, intending to assess whether the Holy Soul Sect threatened the Necrontyr, but the barrier revealed a sunlit pyramid district restored to its ancient appearance.
• Ron welcomed Zahndrekh alongside the Phaerakh of Ramesses and Fahra, and Zahndrekh was impressed by the setting, ceremonial hospitality, and art collection.
• Zahndrekh recognized the relief Lament of the Dead and asked why it was in Ron’s possession when he had seen it in Trazyn’s treasury.
• Ron insisted that the relief was an ancestral Ramesses relic and accused Zahndrekh of insulting his ancestors, so Zahndrekh apologized and praised the dynasty’s legacy.

Ron used the Ramesses Dynasty’s history to strengthen his noble credentials and promote the Holy Soul Sect, then hosted Zahndrekh and his party at a traditional banquet. Zahndrekh questioned the New God Pluto’s reality, leaving the gathering tense as Ron calmly defended the faith.

• Ron recounted the Ramesses Dynasty’s history, stirring the guests’ memories and resentment toward the separatists, the C’tan, and the Silent King.
• Ron reflected on using his dynasty’s story and the Emotion Virus factories to build support for his rule and the Holy Soul Sect.
• The Royal Chamberlain escorted Ron, Farah, Zahndrekh, and the others into the banquet hall, where Zahndrekh recalled the Necrontyr’s lost age of flesh and prosperity.
• Obyron warned Zahndrekh of a possible threat, and Zahndrekh scrutinized the Holy Soul Sect’s influence and the image of its New God Pluto.
• Zahndrekh challenged Ron to explain the sect and asked whether Pluto was real; Ron affirmed the god’s existence but steered the guests back toward the banquet.

Ron hosted Zahndrekh at a lavish banquet, using wine infused with the Emotion Virus to let the Necron Crown-bearer experience emotions and build rapport. Zahndrekh left the next morning still savoring the feast, while Obyron urged him to depart for the Hypnos System to support the Stormlord.

• Ron and Zahndrekh agreed to leave serious matters aside and enjoy the banquet, while Ron secretly released enhanced Lictor assassins around the hall.
• Zahndrekh drank wine and ate delicacies, gradually becoming immersed in the feast as the Emotion Virus affected his data logic.
• Ron invoked banquet protocols to make Zahndrekh drink more, and the muddled Crown-bearer called Ron his big brother, though they signed no Brotherhood Protocol.
• After the banquet, Obyron escorted Zahndrekh to a palace guest room, and Ron confirmed that the Emotion Virus had taken effect.
• The next morning, Zahndrekh remembered the feast fondly, and Obyron reminded him that the Tomb Fleet was ready to leave for the Hypnos System.