Chapter Summaries

Inquisitor Drax discovered how the Necrons had destroyed the Eternal Fire and learned that the Calidus Battle Group was trapped in the Silent Domain. Meanwhile, Qin Yun gained Orikan’s allegiance with Trazyn’s help and tasked the two Necrons with resolving the Haunted Necropolis problem.

• Drax and Little Alpaca’s squad explored the Eternal Fire and found the captain’s suicide note describing Inquisitor Skallus’s investigation of the Necrons on Redus.
• The note revealed that Illuminor Zarathusa’s agents had used black Obelisks to erase the crew’s minds and that the Calidus Battle Group remained trapped under siege.
• Drax sent the God Chosen to seek help and chose to continue into the Silent Domain to find the besieged battle group.
• Qin Yun received the players’ report after they returned and learned that Drax was proceeding deeper into the Silent Domain.
• Trazyn lured Orikan with information about Biomatter Transference, and players beat Orikan until he swore allegiance to Qin Yun.
• Qin Yun stopped Trazyn and Orikan’s argument and ordered them to help resolve the Haunted Necropolis problem.

Qin Yun learned that the Haunted Necropolis was being prepared by Silent King Szarekh and Illuminor Zarathusa, and decided the Imperium of Man had to defeat them. He ordered Xi Ling to create a new expansion focused on the Haunted Necropolis.

• Trazyn explained that the Haunted Necropolis had appeared during the War in Heaven and warned that stopping its activation required destroying every Obelisk.
• Qin Yun considered Szarekh's history and concluded that the Silent King was the Imperium of Man's most dangerous enemy in the real universe.
• Trazyn volunteered to serve as Qin Yun's vanguard, while Orikan challenged him and accused him of scheming.
• Qin Yun told Xi Ling to create a new expansion aimed at the Haunted Necropolis and focus their efforts on dealing with it.

Qin Yun secured Trazyn and Orikan’s service against Szarekh and arranged the Imperium’s campaign against the Necron hardliners. On a Necron-attacked world, the Battle Rose Warband began a rescue mission as Zarathusa awakened a Deathmark to hunt the survivors.

• Qin Yun promised Trazyn and Orikan that the Necrontyr would become vassals of the Imperium and that he would help restore their physical bodies, and both agreed to serve him.
• Qin Yun appointed Trazyn and Orikan as Imperial battlefield envoys and discussed campaign plans with Guilliman, Lion El'Jonson, Corax, and Jagatai.
• Inquisitor Drax assigned Little Alpaca and the Battle Rose Warband to rescue survivors inside the Silent Domain, including a Salamanders Astartes brother and a Sister of Battle.
• Zarathusa awakened Lord Santhigula, a Deathmark, and ordered him to kill the Imperial survivors and suppress their resistance.
• The Battle Rose Warband boarded a landing craft and descended toward the planet as the Deathmark set out on his mission.

The Battle Roses rescued Sarkan, Miriya, and the refugees, while Brutus recovered his fallen battle-brothers’ Gene-Seeds with the God Chosen’s help. Back in the real world, Qin Yun discussed secretly building an Aetheric Phase Engine as a last resort if the Imperium fell.

• Little Alpaca and the Battle Roses arrived by orbital drop, killed the surrounding Necrons, and began evacuating the refugees; Little Alpaca regenerated Sarkan’s lost arm with a serum.
• A Necron Deathmark shot Little Alpaca, but the God Chosen laughed at her death because she would resurrect, then captured the sniper by disabling his escape functions.
• The God Chosen escorted Brutus through the city and recovered the Gene-Seeds of his fallen Ultramarines comrades, despite Brutus’s concerns about their noisy approach.
• Illuminor Zarathusa discovered the intrusion and vowed to make every living being on the planet material for his experiments, while Brutus later saw Little Alpaca resurrected.
• Qin Yun discussed the Necron war with several Primarchs and planned to secretly construct an Aetheric Phase Engine as a final contingency for the Imperium’s destruction.

Qin Yun recruited the imprisoned Void Dragon to help defeat Szarekh and sent it toward the Haunted Necropolis. Meanwhile, the Battle Roses repelled Illuminor Zarathusa, and Szarekh prepared the Necrons to reclaim the Milky Way.

• Qin Yun assigned Corax and Jagatai to assist the expedition against the Necrons while Lion El'Jonson guarded Imperium Nihilus and Guilliman handled political affairs.
• Qin Yun visited Mars, had Xi Ling give the Void Dragon a body, and offered it freedom in exchange for serving him against Szarekh.
• The Void Dragon agreed to serve Qin Yun until his death after Qin Yun promised it a chance to take revenge on Szarekh and bound it with runes.
• Qin Yun sent Dalia Cythera and the Void Dragon to the Haunted Necropolis battlefield to help eliminate the Silent King.
• Little Alpaca and the Battle Roses destroyed Illuminor Zarathusa's Tomb Pyramid, but Zarathusa escaped through a Dimensional Portal after threatening humanity.
• Silent King Szarekh's guards relayed his confidence in Necron victory and his orders to prepare for the Necrontyr to rule the Milky Way again.

Chaos, xenos, Imperial, and player forces converged on the Haunted Necropolis as the players launched attacks across its star zones. At the Sindu System, Red Dragon’s group used Dragonwood Star to unleash Orks and Tyranids on the Necron fleet, then opened a Webway toward Vashtorr.

• Abaddon and Vashtorr renewed their alliance, and Vashtorr sent Chaos forces to corrupt the Blackstone Obelisks while the Word Bearers and Thousand Sons entered the Haunted Necropolis for their own purposes.
• Orks adapted Blackstone to resist the Haunted Necropolis, the Craftworld Aeldari aided the Imperium, and Imperial fleets and players entered the anomalous star zones.
• A Bowl of Lobster Soup’s Thirteenth Legion rescued a besieged Imperial world, defeated a Greater Thurian League fleet, and detained captured Hearthkyn before advancing toward the Necrons.
• Zuowangdao drew Szarekh’s fleet away from the Sindu System, then opened Webways that sent Ork and Tyranid forces into battle with the Necrons.
• Red Dragon’s group decided to open another temporary Webway, this time toward Vashtorr’s location, to disrupt his plans.

Zuowangdao lured Vashtorr into the Sindu System while a sprawling battle engulfed the Haunted Necropolis, and Damo’s attempt to arrest Silent King Szarekh failed. With the Void Dragon, Corax, and Jagatai joining the fight, the Necrons’ defenses crumbled, and the Primarchs confronted Szarekh at his pyramid.

• Vashtorr pursued the Old Ones’ treasury by targeting the Haunted Necropolis, and Zuowangdao tricked him into entering the Sindu System to protect its core from Tyranids and Orks.
• The Lord of Change approved Zuowangdao’s scheme and blessed their equipment, while Kairos and Magnus led psykers and automata into the Warp-suppressing Necropolis.
• Zuowangdao drew multiple factions into the Sindu System, and Damo led players to arrest Szarekh, but the Silent King’s royal guard killed them and forced Damo offline.
• The Necron defenses continued to collapse, and Szarekh ordered a retreat to the core planets as the multi-species battle threatened his remaining forces.
• The Void Dragon arrived with Corax and Jagatai, destroyed Necron forces and a mechanical city, and helped drive the battle toward the Silent King’s pyramid.
• Corax and Jagatai fought their way to Szarekh’s pyramid and prepared to take him down.

Key Plot Points and Events

• The T'au Empire suffers a major defeat by the Chosen Ones, leading to a loss of faith in the Greater Good.
• A rift near T'au homeworlds reveals a chaotic Warp battlefield, unlike anything the T'au have encountered.
• The T'au engage in a disastrous battle against Warp creatures, realizing the limitations of their scientific and technological approach.
• The T'au commander decides to retreat, avoiding total annihilation.
• The battle is an insignificant episode in the larger conflict, with various forces, including players, fighting each other.
• The Silent King Szarekh is defeated and imprisoned by the Void Dragon.
• Necron dynasties split into two factions: hardliners and surrenderists.

Character Developments

• La'Ko, a strategic analyst, has his worldview shattered by the Warp creatures, questioning his understanding of science and reason.
• Ka'Va, a Fire Caste warrior, realizes the power of faith in combating Warp creatures but also sees the potential dangers of radicalizing T'au faith.
• Szarekh, the Silent King, is defeated and imprisoned by the Void Dragon, facing a torturous existence.
• Imotekh, the Stormlord, and Trazyn/Orikan emerge as leaders of the hardline and surrenderist Necron factions, respectively.

Significant Themes

• The limitations of science and technology in the face of the unknown and supernatural.
• The power of faith and its potential dangers.
• The consequences of betrayal and the price of past actions.
• The struggle between hardline and surrenderist approaches to survival and power.

Character Interactions

• La'Ko and the commander: The commander tries to protect La'Ko from the disturbing Warp creatures, but ultimately, they both face the harsh reality of the battlefield.
• Ka'Va and the human auxiliaries: Ka'Va learns the importance of faith from the human auxiliaries in dealing with Warp creatures.
• Szarekh and the Void Dragon: The Void Dragon exacts revenge on Szarekh for his betrayal, imprisoning him indefinitely.
• Imotekh, Trazyn, and Orikan: These leaders emerge as rivals, each offering different paths for the Necron race's future.

Qin Yun planned to resurrect Old Man Emperor by gathering the fragments of his humanity and resolving the Webway crisis, then secured the Grey Knights’ cooperation despite their End Times Edict. Meanwhile, Sanguinius returned to life and was sent with Little Fulgrim into the Webway to prepare for the Emperor’s resurrection as the Chaos Gods prepared to escalate their response.

• Qin Yun traveled to Titan, summoned Brother Captain Stern from the Warp, and persuaded him and the Grey Knights Grand Masters to help collect the Emperor’s personality fragments.
• Qin Yun left Titan and prepared players to seek the Emperor’s fragments while Sanguinius’s allies gathered aboard the Imperial Glory.
• Qin Yun, the Avatar of Ynnead, and others resurrected Sanguinius, while the Imperial Glory repelled the Chaos Gods’ daemons.
• Qin Yun sent Sanguinius to the Webway to work with Little Fulgrim and assigned players to guard him from corruption.
• Qin Yun promised the Aeldari planets and support to help rebuild their homeland.

Qin Yun captured Xal'anaga the Outer and revived the C'tan one by one, forcing them to accept control protocols and join the Imperium. After subduing most of them, he revived Aza'gorod the Nightbringer, who immediately attacked him.

• Kasareth and other Aeldari Farseers, along with Trazyn and Orikan, hoped humanity's war against Chaos would weaken the Imperium and let their own races rise again.
• Cawl seized the T'au Empire's Star Tide Nexus and studied it with Xi Ling and the Void Dragon to improve humanity's Star Gate network.
• Xi Ling's promotional video sparked a player expedition boom, and the Zuowangdao Chapter sold Dragonwood Star to the Imperium for a huge price.
• Qin Yun, Xi Ling, and the Void Dragon found Xal'anaga the Outer, separated the C'tan consciousnesses inside him, and forced him and the others to pledge allegiance under control protocols.
• Qin Yun revived and subdued Overlord Zahurash and the other C'tan, then began reviving Aza'gorod the Nightbringer.
• Aza'gorod the Nightbringer attacked Qin Yun as soon as he learned what had happened.

Qin Yun subdued Aza'gorod and brought the C'tan under his control, while an Inquisition expedition uncovered the Old Ones' history and a clue to controlling the Orks. The chapter ended with Brother Zhong learning that an Old Ones ruin contained a divine artifact for controlling the Ork race.

• Xi Ling defeated Aza'gorod with the combined powers of the real universe and the Warp, and Qin Yun offered him submission or imprisonment.
• Aza'gorod accepted Qin Yun's promise of eventual freedom, and Qin Yun engraved a control protocol within him, placing the C'tan under his command.
• The Demon Hunter Warband and Inquisitor Rostov found an Old Ones ruin sealed in Dimensional Space and read its stored memories.
• Rostov learned that the Old Ones had fought the C'tan and Necrontyr, the Extragalactic Old Gods, and the Chaos forces created from their Warp plan.
• Brother Zhong found the ruin's clue to a divine artifact for controlling the Ork race, confirming that the Old Ones had created the Orks.

Rostov and the players learned that an Old Ones artifact could control the Orks, while Vashtorr sought Old Ones knowledge that would let him become a Chaos god. As Rostov raced Vashtorr to the ancient ruins, Qin Yun brought the Leagues of Votann into the Imperium and began planning war against the Chaos Gods.

• Rostov and the players discovered that the Old Ones had created an artifact capable of controlling the Orks and agreed to search for it.
• Qin Yun gave Rostov permission to use Dragonwood Star, and Rostov's forces clashed repeatedly with Vashtorr's Chaos forces while searching for Old Ones ruins.
• Rostov deduced that Vashtorr sought the Old Ones' forbidden knowledge to ascend as a Chaos god and vowed to stop him.
• Qin Yun pressured the Leagues of Votann to join the Imperium, and leaders including Destined-Uthar swore allegiance.
• After securing the Leagues of Votann, Qin Yun began planning the Imperium's final battle against the Chaos Gods.

Qin Yun’s reforms and the Imperium’s Webway project drove Perturabo and Angron to prepare for war against humanity. Perturabo joined Lorgar’s resistance, while Angron reclaimed the Conqueror and summoned the World Eaters toward a new target.

• Qin Yun pushed reforms through Terra as Guilliman publicly objected but allowed them to proceed, while the Imperium resumed repairing and expanding the Webway.
• Lorgar warned Perturabo that the Imperium was growing stronger and provoked his resentment of Dorn, persuading him to join Chaos’s war against humanity.
• Perturabo ordered his industrial worlds to ramp up production and began building enhanced Daemonculaba to replenish Chaos’s forces.
• Kossolax led his warriors into the Conqueror’s hidden command deck, where he found Lotara Sarrin’s remains and was attacked by daemons and the returning Angron.
• Angron killed Kossolax and his men, reclaimed the Conqueror, and summoned the scattered World Eaters before sensing a nearby target that filled him with rage.

Kassar’s Nameless Warband joined Kruxias’s attack on an Imperial planet, only for the supposed Mahjong Warband to reveal itself as an Imperial trick and capture the Chaos forces. Elsewhere, the Space Husky Warband discovered that a battle axe forged by Blood Ravens Techmarines might be linked to their missing supplies.

• Kassar clashed with Garviel Loken over the mission, but Kruxias defused the standoff and assigned the Nameless Warband to seize the Hymn Beacon.
• A Warp storm brought Angron and the Conqueror into battle, but the Imperium’s planet-killer cannon banished them with one shot.
• Kruxias pressed the attack from the rear, and the Mahjong Warband turned on him and seized the Pain Bringer as Imperial forces captured the Chaos fleet and its crews.
• Desorian led the Imperial Fists in capturing Kassar, and Red Dragon of Zuowangdao revealed that the Mahjong Warband had been an Imperial ruse staged for entertainment.
• Bald Monk, Pighead Strong, Boss Dou, and Dovahkiin traced the Space Husky Warband’s missing supplies to the Gift of Blackmane battle axe and suspected it connected their warehouse to a Blood Ravens ship in the Warp.

Gabriel Angelos’s Blood Ravens tricked the Space Husky Warband into handing over supplies, while Qin Yun and his allies prepared to recover the Emperor’s scattered personality fragments. Their first projection into the past revealed the young Emperor being slapped by a woman who called him Neoth.

• Gabriel Angelos chose a nearby Imperial Hive City world as the Blood Ravens’ next target, despite warnings that their ammunition was running low.
• The Blood Ravens used an ancient artifact to access the Space Husky Warband’s supplies, but players caught them and received missions asking them to provide supplies and forgive the theft.
• Bald Monk accidentally accepted the missions, and the Blood Ravens left the players an ancient relic that could transport them anywhere in the Milky Way for three hours.
• Trajan was unhappy that Qin Yun had brought xenos into the Imperial Palace, while Cegorach explained that the Emperor’s personality fragments had to be recovered through projections along the timeline.
• Qin Yun and the others projected themselves into the past and witnessed a woman accuse the young Emperor, calling him Neoth, before slapping him and walking away.

Qin Yun and the others traveled through the Emperor’s past and possible futures, collecting his scattered personality fragments and learning how he had repeatedly treated Erda and others as tools. After gathering the fragments, they returned to the Imperial Palace to awaken him and decide whether he should leave the Golden Throne.

• The Emperor sent Erda to hold off demons at Sodom, then destroyed the city with heavenly fire; Qin Yun condemned him for exploiting her feelings, and the Emperor turned himself into a fragment and entered Trajan’s hand.
• Qin Yun and the others witnessed the Emperor’s past schemes with Malcador, Erda, and Ollanius Pius, including the destruction of the Tower of Babel, and collected more fragments.
• The group saw the Emperor’s long role in shaping human history, his theft of the Old Ones’ power at Molech, and Erda’s decision to scatter the Primarchs after he excluded her from their lives.
• Qin Yun and the others visited possible futures in which the Emperor became a god, died upon the Golden Throne, or continued fighting Chaos, collecting fragments in each future.
• After gathering all of the Emperor’s personality fragments, Qin Yun and the others returned to the Imperial Palace to prepare to awaken him and decide whether he should rise from the Golden Throne.

Qin Yun restored the Emperor’s Fragments of Humanity and installed a speaker so the Emperor could communicate without leaving the Golden Throne. The Emperor gave the players a mission to find his missing sons and punish his old enemies, and the chapter ended with the players beating the bound Konrad Curze.

• Qin Yun had Laski connect a speaker to the Emperor, who woke up swearing and ordered the Adeptus Custodes to destroy the Ecclesiarchy, but Qin Yun told them to ignore him and keep his return secret.
• Qin Yun had Xi Ling release The Emperor Returns, an expansion pack that let players spend merit points to visit Terra and speak with the Emperor.
• The Emperor's Cattle Warband visited the Emperor, who tasked them with finding Russ, Vulkan, and his other missing sons and listed several enemies he wanted beaten up.
• The Emperor's Cattle Warband traveled to Konrad Curze's prison and beat the bound Night Haunter while recording photos and videos.
• The Emperor laughed when he received the footage of Konrad Curze being beaten, while Curze wondered why the players had attacked without asking him anything first.

Mortarion used Nurgle’s power over temporal causality to destroy an Imperial fleet, corrupt an Astropathic station, and launch the Plague Wars across human worlds. After the Imperium and its players suffered heavy losses, Qin Yun ordered Time Reversal Devices distributed so humanity could fight back.

• Mortarion led the Endurance and seven Plague Arks into realspace and announced his plan to attack an Imperial defensive region.
• Mortarion destroyed more than five hundred Imperial warships by making corruption planted in the future take effect in the present.
• Mortarion seized an Astropathic Central Station, infected its Astropaths with a prepared plague, and said the causal loop was closed.
• Mortarion’s forces began corrupting planets, while the Imperium and its players suffered devastating losses in the Plague Wars.
• Xi Ling, the Void Dragon, Orikan, and Trazyn analyzed Nurgle’s temporal attacks, and Qin Yun ordered Time Reversal Devices distributed to the God Chosen.

Qin Yun deployed time technology against Nurgle’s causality weapon, allowing the Imperium to crush Gastagh’s Silent Apostles and defeat Mortarion’s forces. Xi Ling then warned that abusing temporal powers had created Time Black Holes that could trigger a catastrophe and devastate both the Warp and reality.

• Qin Yun sent time devices and powerful players to the Plague Wars, where Gastagh’s Silent Apostles used the Triple Path to destroy an Imperium fleet.
• The Imperium repeatedly rewound its destroyed ships, defeated the Silent Apostles, and left Gastagh alive only after his bound daemon dragged him into the Warp.
• Mortarion boarded Jagatai’s flagship, fought through the God Chosen, and lost to Jagatai before Nurgle pulled him back through a Warp rift.
• The Imperium destroyed Mortarion’s fleet, and the Nurgle offensive collapsed after suffering grievous losses.
• Xi Ling explained that repeated use of time powers had created Time Black Holes by draining energy into the past and future.
• Xi Ling warned that a Time Catastrophe could exhaust the Warp and cause reality, technology, and the C’tan’s power to wither.

Qin Yun learned that the Time Catastrophe threatened to destroy interstellar civilization and decided to activate the Aetheric Phase Engine, bringing the final war against the Warp forward. After explaining his plans and the larger threat of the Extragalactic Old Gods, the Emperor summoned the Primarchs to meet him, but their sudden formality left him heartbroken.

• Xi Ling explained that the Aetheric Phase Engine could preserve the physical universe and human souls, but activating it would provoke the Chaos Gods into an early final battle.
• Qin Yun ordered Xi Ling to inform the Primarchs and prepare for war, while the Void Dragon and the Night Lords warned that the Milky Way could shatter.
• The Emperor told Qin Yun how their souls had fused, why players could enter the universe, and how the Chaos Gods and Eight-Pointed Star were tied to the Old Ones' plan against the Extragalactic Old Gods.
• Qin Yun and the Emperor agreed that the Primarchs should meet their resurrected father, and the Emperor asked for Konrad Curze to be sent back.
• Qin Yun left the Throne Room, and the Primarchs gathered to discuss the Aetheric Phase Engine plan before realizing the Emperor had summoned them.
• The Primarchs grew solemn when they recognized the Emperor's voice, leaving him hurt by how differently they treated him compared with Qin Yun.