Chapter Summaries

Drakus oversaw the heightened security around Romulus’s meeting, while Cato Sicarius and Shield-Captain Marcus set aside some of their mutual suspicion through an honest exchange. In the council chamber, Eldrad Ulthran warned Romulus that a ritual was weakening the veil around Cadia and offered the Farseer Council’s help.

• Drakus reviewed the security arrangements, allowed Aeonid Thiel and his force some freedom of movement, and coordinated with the Ultramarines and Dark Angels as the Aeldari delegation approached.
• Marcus asked Sicarius how the Astartes viewed the Adeptus Custodes, and the two discussed their mutual suspicions before agreeing to work together.
• Aglaia passed through the meeting’s security checkpoints and observed the assembled Imperial leaders as they awaited Romulus.
• Eldrad Ulthran told Romulus that an interstellar ritual was weakening the veil between the Sea of Souls and the Cadia region, and offered assistance from the Farseer Council.
• Ulthran assessed the powerful knight beside Romulus and concluded that he could not force his way into the chamber or defeat him.

Aglaia learned that the Masque of the Midnight Sorrow’s presence had led Ramesses to respect the Laughing God and avoid harming the Aeldari delegation. Romulus welcomed being underestimated and reviewed Ulthran’s proposed psychic spell, which Ramesses judged trustworthy after seeing it demonstrated.

• Aglaia reviewed the meeting records and learned that Abaddon had ambushed Ulthran’s Farseer Council after Khayon warned him of Ulthran’s dangerous spell.
• Ramesses explained that the Laughing God’s Harlequins had intervened, so the group would respect Cegorach and avoid provoking him.
• Ramesses’s candid explanation eased the guards’ tension while Navar-Dalen finished processing dossiers and went to receive an Imperial Rogue Trader lord.
• Ramesses warned Romulus that others might spread rumors about his apparent weakness, but Romulus welcomed being underestimated as part of his plan.
• Romulus examined Ulthran’s psychic spell analysis, and Ramesses confirmed it was trustworthy after reviewing the battle record in a Spirit Stone.

Abaddon’s attack on Ulthwé failed when Eldrad Ulthran turned Drach’nyen against him, but Chaos rescued its Warmaster before Ulthran could kill him. Convinced that he could only delay catastrophe, Ulthran offered Wings of Dawn a spell and Aeldari support to help the Primarchs strike at the Chaos Primarchs.

• Abaddon led the Justaerin in a Webway assault on Ulthwé, but the Farseers and Aspect Warriors overwhelmed the Black Legion’s forces.
• Abaddon charged Eldrad Ulthran, but Ulthran controlled Drach’nyen’s connection to Abaddon and pierced the Warmaster’s throat with his staff.
• Ulthran saw that Abaddon’s fury would fuel a devastating future Black Crusade against both the Imperium and the Aeldari.
• As Ulthran raised his staff to kill Abaddon, an unseen Chaos ally whisked the Warmaster away.
• Ulthran asked the Primarchs to help use his spell and an Aeldari-discovered planet to target the Chaos Primarchs.

Romulus accepted Ulthran’s proposal for Ulthwé to share Warp knowledge and Webway gates with Wings of Dawn in exchange for Spirit Stones. He then asked whether the Aeldari could provide routes to other regions of space, leaving Monoceros under his scrutiny when Ulthran said they could not.

• Romulus accepted Ulthran’s proposal, recognizing that Wings of Dawn needed Ulthwé’s knowledge of the Warp.
• Romulus reviewed Ulthwé’s offer to open Webway gates in Wings of Dawn’s territory in exchange for Spirit Stones, while the Imperium secured the routes.
• Romulus asked if Ulthwé could provide Webway routes to other regions of space, but Ulthran said it could not.
• Romulus reflected on how the Aeldari Craftworlds, like the Necron Dynasties, lacked access to shared knowledge and technology.
• Romulus looked toward Monoceros and wondered whether the Laughing God’s Black Library held the routes Ulthwé lacked.

Romulus secured a hundred-year Webway lease agreement with Monoceros while limiting the routes available to the Wings of Dawn and other Aeldari. Meanwhile, Cawl worked to restart Cadia’s Blackstone Pylon array with Trazyn’s data, but Trazyn stole a Servo-skull and annoyed him.

• Monoceros agreed to provide a Webway route under restrictions, and Romulus persuaded him to allow other Aeldari factions to use it as well.
• Romulus gave Monoceros a hundred-year Webway lease agreement and Spirit Stones, and they sealed the deal.
• Cawl studied Trazyn’s data package to restart the Blackstone Pylon array on Cadia when Trazyn appeared and provoked an argument over being called a loathsome thing.
• Cawl contacted the Dark Angels while Trazyn examined and secretly dismantled a Servo-skull, identifying it as a relic linked to Cawl’s former mentor.
• Trazyn made the Servo-skull vanish and claimed he had lost it, leaving Cawl furious as they continued their work.

Trazyn summoned Karna back to the Dawn Fleet, but first observed him hearing a request from Cadian veterans and civilians to form a local guard force. Karna approved their proposal and left with Trazyn for the fleet.

• Trazyn received a message from the Dawn Fleet and left Cawl to find Karna on Cadia.
• Ferdinand asked Karna to authorize an independent guard force made up of Cadians with some remaining combat ability.
• Karna approved the plan and told Sergeant Tycho to review the proposal and issue a permit under his authority.
• Karna explained to Trazyn that his companions' support let him focus on his own strengths.
• Karna and Trazyn set off for the Dawn Fleet.

Romulus and Arthur completed preparations for the coming conflict around the Eye of Terror, while Ramesses set out with Trazyn, Ulthran, and Monoceros to investigate Aeldari ruins for relics tied to Perturabo or Fulgrim. The chapter then followed a Dawn warrior through a solemn meal ritual and ended as the warrior boarded a Stormbird for battle.

• Romulus asked Trazyn, Ulthran, and Monoceros to accompany Ramesses to ancient Aeldari ruins and help him search for relics connected to Perturabo or Fulgrim.
• Arthur refused to join Ramesses, saying he would follow Romulus, and the four travelers departed without him.
• Arthur reported that the Black Templars had been recalled, a Naval Advisory Group had been formed, and Bjorn's Space Wolves were striking Chaos production worlds.
• Romulus reviewed signs of troop movements by the Emperor's Children, World Eaters, and Iron Warriors, then ordered that Cadia be made ready.
• A Dawn warrior completed the company's meal ritual, received a war briefing, and boarded a Stormbird as the weapons were readied for battle.

Arthur led the Ravenwing in a surprise attack that shattered an Iron Warriors siege force on Cadia, then ordered his troops to withdraw and defend rather than pursue. After a month of war, three fortresses had fallen and the Blackstone Spire was destroyed, with 1,297 fortresses remaining.

• A Khorne Obliterator consumed the heart of a fallen Loyalist Space Marine and absorbed his combat memories before Arthur appeared and beheaded him.
• The Ravenwing charged through the Iron Warriors' flank, destroying their siege troops and helping bring down a Titan as Arthur attacked their lines and killed the Warsmith.
• The Spear of Scourge struck the battlefield, obliterating part of a fortress wall and causing the Emperor-class Titan to collapse.
• The Iron Warriors retreated, and Arthur refused Sammael's request to pursue, ordering flexible defenses instead.
• On November 1, 774 M41, the Battle of the Cadian Gate reached its first month, with three fortresses fallen, the Blackstone Spire destroyed, and 1,297 fortresses left.

Kosolax reported to Perturabo on the enemy Primarchs’ soul-harvesting ranges and warned that surface sacrifices could no longer sustain the war. Perturabo threatened to kill Fulgrim if he broke their deal, while the Cadian campaign still lacked a breakthrough.

• Kosolax met a Tech-Magos, who warned that the Cult of the Creator’s resources were finite and demanded a breakthrough in return for continued support.
• Kosolax joined Perturabo aboard the fleet command ship and asked whether Fulgrim intended to renege on his deal.
• Perturabo said he would kill Fulgrim if necessary, and Kosolax offered to lead the charge.
• Kosolax submitted reports based on nearly ten thousand casualties, estimating the soul-harvesting ranges and influence of Arthur, Ramesses, Karna, and Romulus.
• Kosolax concluded that surface sacrifices were nearly impossible and could no longer sustain the war.

Kosolax proposed sacrificing World Eaters to destroy Cadia’s South Pole Star Landing Zone and provoke Fulgrim and the Chaos Gods into joining the battle, and Perturabo approved the plan. As the naval fight continued, Romulus learned of the planned attack and began considering a response.

• Kosolax told Perturabo he had gathered two billion captives and requested two Ramilles-class Star Fortresses and an escort fleet to strike the South Pole Star Landing Zone.
• Kosolax argued that a World Eaters assault could draw Fulgrim and the Chaos Gods into the battle, and Perturabo approved the plan while promising six billion more troops.
• Perturabo watched Karna fight across the surface and near orbit, then returned his attention to the damaged Iron Blood and the unpredictable naval battle.
• Dantioch and Pollux directed the Imperial fleet’s withdrawal while Kynon, Anourdi, Narek D'Gulel, and Oric Saxton worked aboard the Dawn.
• Romulus received Ramesses’s report about the planned assault on the South Pole Star Landing Zone and began considering a strategy.

Romulus and Perturabo issued orders for the coming battle over Cadia, each planning to wear down the other's forces while pursuing a decisive advantage. After Commissar Alex woke from a dream of an attack on the South Pole Star Landing Zone, he confronted his age and volunteered to join the reinforcements.

• Romulus ordered an evacuation from the South Pole Star Landing Zone, called on Pollux to form a defensive line, and directed Ledodus to provide orbital defense and intercept enemy landings.
• Ramesses reported that Kosolax's force included two Ramilles-class Star Fortresses and the Conqueror, and Romulus realized the enemy intended to drop the fortresses as ritual sacrifices.
• Perturabo and Romulus separately assessed their plans and issued orders to begin the next stage of the war.
• Commissar Alex woke in the staff office and realized the invasion and his inability to move had been a dream.
• Alex recalled the old allies who remained active across the galaxy, accepted that he was aging, and wrote his name on the volunteer roster for the South Pole Star Landing Zone reinforcements.

As the Battle of Cadia intensified, Arthur organized warriors displaying strange battlefield abnormalities and reassigned Alex Kane to lead the southeastern defenses. Alex accepted command of the 6th Defense Force and flew with Orlando toward Apus Central Bastion, which remained under fierce Chaos attack.

• Arthur reassured the Chapters about the battlefield abnormalities, formed a temporary organization for affected warriors, and sent Karna ahead to the South Pole Star Landing Zone with the Deathwing and Blood Angels.
• After reading a report naming Alex Kane, Arthur arranged for Alex to receive a command suited to his experience and ordered Orlando to deliver the appointment.
• Alex’s convoy diverted around the burning Eastern Logistics Hub and reached the Southeastern Logistics Hub, where Orlando met him with orders from Arthur.
• Alex accepted command of the 6th Defense Force, handed over his previous duties, and boarded a Stormbird with Orlando for Apus Central Bastion.
• Apus Central Bastion’s defenders held their line as its guns and Void Shield resisted the Chaos assault and falling warship fragments.

The Iron Warriors broke through Pavo Bastion’s inner defenses, but Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table teleported behind their lines and launched a counterattack. As Korvax died, Dark Angels joined the assault, turning the battle into a close fight amid the enemy formation.

• Korvax led his Iron Warriors through Pavo Bastion’s breached walls and celebrated reaching the inner defensive ring.
• Korvax wondered how long the Chaos offensive could last before a Melta blast drew his attention back to the battle.
• Arthur killed Korvax and his Siege Guard with the Black Sword as Blood Angels descended into the breach.
• Korvax recognized Kai, Gallad, and the Dark Angels among the reinforcements before he died.
• Kai and Gareth led the Knights of the Round Table and Dark Angels through a teleportation site, striking the Iron Warriors from behind.
• The Cataphractii tore into the Iron Warriors’ formation as the Knights raised their swords and charged.

Kai led the Dark Angels in a surprise assault that broke the Iron Warriors’ lines as Arthur coordinated the bombardment and defense of the bastions. Apus remained operational under Commissar Alex’s command, while the chapter ended with the Conqueror’s master raging in the void.

• Kai led the Dark Angels and Deathwing Terminators in breaking through the Iron Warriors’ formation and cutting off their reinforcements.
• Arthur ordered the Blood Angels assault team to withdraw after placing a beacon, then shut down the Void Shield Generator to prepare the bombardment.
• Arthur directed Apus Bastion’s anti-air artillery to destroy the Iron Warriors’ advancing forces and artillery support.
• Commissar Alex coordinated Apus’s defenses, accepting heavy losses as the bastion continued to hold and its anti-air array remained effective.
• The master of the Conqueror slammed his fist into the edge of a blood pool in furious humiliation.

Perturabo directed the Chaos forces through a costly retreat and redeployment after the Eternal Crusade defeated his fleet and disrupted his plans to send sacrifices to the surface. Watching the Black Templars fight, he accepted that his forces could not match their discipline and regretted relying on his unreliable allies.

• Perturabo calmly adjusted his plans after the near-orbit fleet lost two Ramilles-class Star Fortresses and Kosolax's transmission was cut off by the Eternal Crusade.
• Perturabo reviewed the casualty figures, noting that Astartes losses averaged five to one while mortal forces suffered far worse.
• Perturabo watched a Black Templars Marshal fight through the siege and cover his allies' retreat as Unliving demons came for him.
• Perturabo ordered the battered Chaos battlegroup to abandon the first offensive line and withdraw for redeployment.
• Perturabo watched the Emperor's Children ignore their allies' plight and regretted having allied with them.

Kosolax rejected the World Eaters’ order to retreat, condemned their history of obedience and slaughter, and seized command of the Conqueror. He led the ship into a direct descent toward the Tucana Bastion, determined to turn the battle and force the Blood God to act.

• Perturabo ordered his forces to withdraw normally while he watched the Conqueror and wondered what Kosolax would do.
• Kosolax challenged Captain Salin and the World Eaters commanders on the bridge, demanding they stop fleeing and reject their false glory.
• Kosolax denounced the World Eaters for repeatedly choosing obedience and massacre over resistance, then declared that their chance to become great was at hand.
• Kosolax struck Salin’s true body, and the World Eaters drew their weapons as the Conqueror began its descent.
• Kosolax ordered the Conqueror down toward the Tucana Bastion, where Karna the Seraph still defended the fortress.

Blood Angels, Executioners, and allied forces defended Tucana Bastion as the Conqueror fell from the sky and crashed beside its shields. Arthur ordered the bastion to prepare for defense, but the Blood God blocked the missile attack and a fiery Warp barrier formed between the two ships’ shields.

• Gabriel Seth, Fafnir Rann, Sepatus, and War Hound Hal fought back Chaos forces alongside the Blood Angels and Executioners at Tucana Bastion.
• Karna summoned the forces operating outside the bastion to withdraw, and Arthur ordered the defenders to reinforce the Inner Circle and focus on air defense.
• The Conqueror tore through the clouds and crashed beside Tucana Bastion, positioning its Void Shield almost tangent to the bastion’s shield.
• Arthur ordered a maximum missile saturation against the fallen ship, but the Blood God stopped the missiles between the overlapping Void Shields.
• Blood mist and fire gathered into a growing barrier as the defenders watched the horizon.

Kosolax used the Conqueror and his legion to force Khorne’s intervention, then led the World Eaters toward battle against the defenders of Tucana Bastion. As the ground war began, Perturabo launched a major assault on the Dawn Fleet, and Romulus ordered a withdrawal while preparing to face him.

• Kosolax emerged from the damaged Conqueror, revealed his wager of thirty thousand World Eaters, and forced the Bloodthirster to offer him an axe after he killed a Bloodletter.
• Rann, Sepatus, Karna, and Arthur recognized Kosolax’s defiance, prepared the defenders, and agreed they would win and share a meal afterward.
• Kosolax rallied the World Eaters against the assembled defenders, while Perturabo celebrated the Blood God’s intervention and ordered Frix to attack the Dawn Fleet.
• Perturabo took control of allied warships, Fulgrim began moving, and the Iron Warriors launched a suicidal assault as the Eternal Crusade was delayed.
• Romulus ordered the fleet to withdraw, while Ramesses prepared his spell and warned that Perturabo’s preparations made a decisive victory unlikely.

Perturabo forced the Dawn Fleet to abandon its orderly retreat and engage the Iron Warriors, then prepared to lead a boarding assault in a new molten-steel body. Romulus and the Dawn Fleet accepted the coming battle, with Romulus telling his warriors that he would unleash his restrained desire to destroy their enemies when the fight demanded it.

• Frix reported that the Dawn Fleet kept retreating, while Perturabo explained that Romulus's rationality made provocations useless and predicted that he would fight to protect Cadia's skies.
• The Iron Warriors pressed the Dawn Fleet out of satellite orbit until the fleet chose to engage rather than surrender control of the skies or abandon Cadia's supply routes.
• Perturabo transferred most of his essence into a molten-steel shell, awakened the Iron Circle Automata, and set out with the Siege Guard and Warsmith Krog for a boarding assault.
• Perturabo vowed to sever the Emperor's hold over his sons and create a nation independent of both the Emperor and the Chaos Gods.
• Romulus addressed the Dawn Fleet, affirmed that he shared his warriors' desire to annihilate their enemies, and said he would release it when battle required it.

Romulus explained why he would personally confront Perturabo, while his companions prepared to continue directing the war. Perturabo fought through a force of 130 soulless warriors aboard the Dawn and finally came face to face with Romulus.

• Romulus reassured Drakus and the others that they could manage the war, then said he had to confront Perturabo himself to understand and defeat him.
• The ancient Gloriana-class Battleship approached as it came under fire.
• Perturabo advanced through the Dawn's empty reception hall, where a Void Shield activated and trapped him with his Iron Warriors.
• One hundred and thirty Adeptus Custodes and Astartes attacked Perturabo and his Iron Circle Automata, while he noticed their bodies seemed soulless and repeated the same faces.
• Perturabo reached Romulus and greeted him as The Governor, but Romulus raised his weapon and refused to speak.