Chapter Summaries

Over several months, the narrator reshaped Terra’s politics, supplied the Great Whites with a battle barge, and began recruiting hive-city Astartes to address Terra’s overcrowding. In the thirteenth month, Trajan invited the narrator to the Throne Room, and the narrator realized the Emperor had summoned him.

• The Supreme Council temporarily lifted restrictions on the Custodes, made Trajan Valoris a voting High Lord, and accepted the Minotaur Chapter’s gradual withdrawal from Terra.
• The narrator discovered that the Minotaur fleet held the Storm Daughter, then loaded it with Mechanicus equipment and supplies and sent its mortal captain to deliver it to the Great Whites.
• The narrator concluded that Terra’s vast hive-city population was unsustainable and decided to recruit hive-city Astartes to reduce the burden and supply the Indomitus Crusade.
• Trajan invited the narrator to the Throne Room, and the narrator recognized the invitation as a decree from the Emperor.
• The narrator followed Trajan toward the Emperor without carrying the Black Spear or Minotaur Shield.

The narrator followed Custodes Prefect Trajan through the Imperial Palace of Terra for three days and reached the Emperor’s Sanctum. At the closed throne-room doors, the Emperor’s psychic presence overwhelmed the narrator, who roared and forced the doors open.

• The narrator followed Trajan through ruined outer palaces and passed the relics of the Siege of Terra and the statues of the Loyalist Primarchs.
• The narrator and Trajan crossed the palace for three days, with Trajan rejecting suggestions to travel faster out of respect for The Emperor.
• The narrator reached the Emperor’s Sanctum and saw three hundred Custodes guarding the grand staircase to the throne room.
• The narrator climbed the staircase and sensed a powerful presence focusing on them through the closed throne-room doors.
• The Emperor’s psychic roar flooded the narrator’s mind, and the narrator roared before forcing open the throne-room doors.

After the simulation ended with Rorschach seeing the Emperor through Asterion Morok’s body, he examined the available rewards and wondered why the Emperor had erased part of his memory. He left the reward unchosen while weighing the risks of obtaining an Emperor-class Battleship.

• Rorschach’s simulation ended after he gazed upon the Emperor, and Morok was temporarily blinded while his standing with the Minotaurs rose to Worshiped.
• Rorschach woke with a splitting headache, and Iron Man David offered him a panacea before Rorschach told him to keep flying.
• Rorschach suspected the Emperor had erased a memory after he entered the Throne Room, but he could not determine what had happened.
• Rorschach dismissed the Chaos Daemon’s attempt to sow suspicion and shut down the Simulator without choosing a reward.
• Rorschach considered the chance to obtain an Emperor-class Battleship but worried its Warp Engine might not work in the Homeworld.

Rorschach weighed whether to take a guaranteed Cobra-class Destroyer or risk pursuing an Emperor-class Battleship, learning that the larger ship would demand a spaceport and a vast crew. He chose the Cobra-class Destroyer and considered turning the Antarctic base into a shipyard.

• Rorschach called an emergency conference with Iron Man David, Raditus, and Cortana to discuss his simulation reward.
• Raditus explained that an Emperor-class Battleship would require a near-orbit spaceport, expanded construction forces, and a huge crew; Cortana confirmed the ship's enormous manpower needs.
• Raditus said a Cobra-class Destroyer could be serviced at an existing sub-base and modified to operate with a smaller crew.
• Iron Man David suggested Rorschach could acquire the Emperor-class Battleship and deal with its needs later, but Rorschach chose the Cobra-class Destroyer instead.
• Rorschach asked about the vacant Antarctic base, and Iron Man David said its underground area could serve as a shipyard and potentially support a future spaceport.

Rorschach summoned a Cobra-class Destroyer, expanded plans to train a spacefaring crew, and assessed the military forces under his command. After Iron Man David proposed unifying the Homeworld and colonizing other planets, Rorschach ordered him to create an open-ended memorandum called the Earth Unification War.

• Rorschach summoned the Cobra-class Destroyer at the Antarctic base and noticed a Tzeentch-marked reward had become a Prayer Support with no time limit.
• Rorschach ordered Prime Minister Zola to prepare a naval academy and recruit trainees for future spacefaring crews.
• Rorschach and Iron Man David inventoried their forces, vehicles, and weapons, concluding they could challenge major powers on the Homeworld but would suffer heavy losses in an Imperial-scale war.
• Iron Man David proposed conquering and unifying the Homeworld, then pursuing planetary colonization.
• Rorschach instructed Iron Man David to create an open-ended memorandum named the Earth Unification War.

At Twin Islands Base, Rorschach watched the Stormtroopers train against the Weepers and then accepted a sparring match with the Company Commander of Sanguinary Company One. Using Shadow Step and his Metal Ten Rings, he knocked the armored Astartes to the ground in one move.

• Rorschach urged the Stormtroopers to maintain formation as they fought five unarmed Weepers Astartes, and the mortals overwhelmed one Astartes by targeting him together.
• Rorschach told the Stormtroopers that Astartes would destroy them in a real battle, then invited the Weepers to spar with him.
• The Company Commander of Sanguinary Company One volunteered, and Rorschach wrapped his arms in Metal Ten Rings before the fight began.
• The Company Commander charged Rorschach in Speed-pattern Power Armor, but Rorschach evaded him with Shadow Step and struck his abdominal plate with the Metal Ten Rings.
• Rorschach sent the Company Commander crashing to the ground with a single attack.

Rorschach sparred with the Weepers and watched Stormtroopers train before playing a global wargame with Iron Man David. The simulation exposed the complications of an invasion of Europe, and Rorschach left David to oversee the Forge Factories and Power Armor modifications.

• Rorschach defeated several more Weepers with single moves, demonstrating the gap between a Primarch and Astartes.
• Stormtroopers trained with Bolters and studied common xenos under Astartes guidance as they pursued Rorschach’s demanding standards.
• Rorschach and Iron Man David simulated an invasion of Europe, where David countered the Weepers’ decapitation strikes with mages and armored forces.
• David revealed that Dark Magic users and magical creatures such as werewolves existed, though he considered them a minor threat.
• Rorschach ended the wargame and told David to oversee the Forge Factories on Second Son Island and Hydra Island and check Raditus’s Power Armor modifications.

Rorschach prepared the Astartes and Stormtroopers at Twin Islands Base for an impending Chaos blessing, then watched the Simulator’s god interfaces interfere with one another until Nurgle’s group blessing reached zero. The chapter left Rorschach facing the imminent arrival of Nurgle’s blessing and unsure whether the Emperor had helped or set him up.

• Rorschach and Iron Man David equipped the assembled Astartes and Stormtroopers with Emperor’s Blood and Purity Seals as they vowed to fight and die in service to the Emperor.
• Rorschach inspected the heavily fortified circular plaza, knelt before the Emperor’s statue, and opened the Simulator to check Slaanesh’s approaching blessing.
• The Chaos Gods’ sacrificial interfaces transformed, and the Golden Throne interface appeared among them.
• Tzeentch’s interface drew Khorne into restoring Slaanesh’s countdown, then the Emperor’s interface helped Khorne and Slaanesh restore Tzeentch’s countdown.
• Nurgle’s group blessing countdown continued alone until it reached zero, prompting Rorschach to fear its consequences and question the Emperor’s intentions.

Johan returned to his village with food and gifts, only to find it deserted and his wife Tina dead from a grotesque illness. He discovered that his son Amir had become host to a Nurgling, which reached out to him as Johan recoiled in horror.

• Johan rode home with discounted food, candy for Amir, and a silk scarf for Tina after a week away working in the city.
• Johan found Old Jai's shattered food stall abandoned and took the sharp saw blade he found there before hurrying into the village.
• Johan found the village silent, the wealthy residents' gates locked, and no one answering when he reached his home.
• Johan entered the house and found Tina dead, her body covered in pustules leaking foul green fluid.
• Amir told Johan that Tina had fallen sick and that he had prayed to the gods for help.
• Amir turned around, revealing a festering Nurgling in his arms, and reached toward Johan while laughing.

Rorschach and his forces prepared to confront Nurgle’s Chaos invasion after David located its source in Uttar Pradesh. In Latveria, Wanda and Pietro learned that their nation was mobilizing against monstrous enemies, and Wanda worried about her brother’s safety as he departed on a mission.

• Rorschach noted that only Nurgle’s blessing had descended so far and that he had received no guidance from The Emperor.
• Natasha, Doom, and Hawkeye joined Rorschach, who ordered Natasha to establish the Assassin’s Court and explained the dangers facing their forces.
• David located the invasion in Uttar Pradesh, and Rorschach ordered his team to mobilize for Humanity.
• In Latveria, Zola’s military preparations turned the country toward war, and Wanda used her ability to move ammunition crates while Pietro explained that monsters threatened them.
• Wanda asked Pietro to flee with her, but he reassured her and left to deliver a message; she prayed for The Emperor to protect him.

Rorschach led an elite team into the Indian Subcontinent to investigate the Chaos invasion, with the Divine Spears Bureau promising support and securing the border. In an apparently abandoned town, Rorschach and Doom encountered a horde of monstrous Rotten Cattle and opened fire.

• Rorschach planned to assess the invasion and told Tony and Thor to join him, while Iron Man David shared redacted information with the Divine Spears Bureau.
• Zheng Xian told Rorschach that the Divine Spears Bureau would gather in Madhya Pradesh to assist and that magical defenses protected the border near Uttar Pradesh.
• Rorschach, Doom, Natasha, Hawkeye, and a Heavy Weapons Squad landed and advanced toward a mist-shrouded town while the other gunships headed for the border.
• Rorschach and Doom found the town deserted, and Doom reported that his sorcery sensed its missing people as both present and absent.
• Doom spotted something and lost communications, so Rorschach smashed through buildings to reach him and found a horde of hundreds or thousands of Rotten Cattle.
• Rorschach recognized the creatures as possible Chaos demons and fired his Precision Bolter at them.

Rorschach, Doom, and the Astartes defeated a herd of Nurgle blight bulls while Natasha and Hawkeye witnessed their first battle against Chaos demons. After the fight, Rorschach ordered the town searched and warned his companions that Chaos could corrupt minds and souls.

• Doom recovered from his shock and joined Rorschach in attacking the blight bulls with Hellfire as the Astartes, Natasha, and Hawkeye opened fire.
• Hawkeye and Natasha fought alongside the squad, and the Astartes charged the remaining demons with swords and chainswords.
• Rorschach and the Astartes slaughtered the herd while Doom incinerated the corpses, and Rorschach killed the final blight bull.
• Rorschach ordered Doom to collect sealed air and soil samples, then sent the Heavy Weapons Squad to search the town and kill any survivors.
• Rorschach told Natasha and Hawkeye that physical contamination could be dealt with, but corruption of the soul and mind made Chaos truly terrifying.

Rorschach’s team discovered that a plague had wiped out a town and pushed deeper into Uttar Pradesh to investigate, while trying to secure cooperation from local authorities. They reached a larger town where Nurgle’s forces had deployed Daemon Engines.

• Rorschach’s team found that nearly a million residents of a nameless town had vanished, and Doom burned the town after the Astartes searched it.
• Rorschach ordered Iron Man David to coordinate with the Divine Spears Bureau and local authorities to establish a quarantine zone, while reinforcements were dispatched.
• After viewing Doom’s footage, local officials agreed to cooperate, and Director Zheng Xian prepared to arrive at the temporary command center.
• Rorschach’s team continued into Uttar Pradesh at night and fought through waves of Plague Walkers while keeping their retreat open.
• Rorschach sent Doom to scout ahead, and Doom spotted a large town with flames and smoke rising from what appeared to be a newly built Forge Factory.
• The team charged toward the town, where they encountered Daemon Engines covered in rotting flesh and blood.

Rorschach and the Weepers destroyed nearly a hundred degraded Daemon Engines before discovering that Nurgle’s forces were using the missing townspeople to create Chaos Astartes. Rorschach realized the earlier attacks had been a diversion and ordered the Weepers to stop the scheme at any cost.

• Rorschach, Doom, Natasha, Hawkeye, and the Weepers destroyed nearly a hundred degraded Daemon Engines as a Nurgle zombie horde closed in.
• Rorschach led the group into town and found few Plague Walkers, then followed the fires to a Daemon Forge.
• Rorschach discovered Power Armor frames being produced on flesh-and-blood lines and incubators growing twisted humanoids, including potential Chaos Astartes.
• Rorschach concluded that Tzeentch had used the plague, Daemon Engines, and missing humans as a diversion to prepare bodies and equipment for a Chaos Astartes force.
• Rorschach took out a Melta Bomb and ordered the Weepers to stop Chaos’s plan, and the five Astartes vowed to fight to the death.

Latverian forces assembled along the Madhya Pradesh–Uttar Pradesh border as Iron Man David briefed Tony, Thor, and Raditus on the battle plan. After David revealed that Chaos Astartes might be involved, Raditus urged a nuclear strike, but David rejected it because of Uttar Pradesh’s population, food production, and the consequences under Imperial law.

• Auto-Servitor Robots prepared the border command center as transports delivered Latverian troops, Star Fortress Sentinels, and Raditus in his miniature Knight Titan.
• Raditus found Iron Man David, Tony, and Thor at the command center and asked whether Rorschach had encountered a serious threat.
• David outlined four defensive lines, including Sanguinary Companies, Imperial Guard, a mechanical legion building an isolation wall, and local forces maintaining order.
• Tony questioned the scale of the mobilization, and David said a destroyed flesh Forge Factory suggested that Chaos Astartes might have entered the world.
• Raditus called for high-yield nuclear strikes, but David angrily rejected the idea because of the people and farmland in Uttar Pradesh and the punishment for proposing Exterminatus.

Rorschach led the Weepers through Uttar Pradesh, destroying Plague Walker factories while the plague spread and civilian survival seemed unlikely. As quarantine preparations advanced, he ordered Iron Man David to tell local officials that defeating Chaos would require sacrifice.

• Raditus fell silent after Iron Man David questioned it and focused on monitoring the Intelligent controlled legion.
• Rorschach continued fighting across Uttar Pradesh with five Weepers, raiding towns and destroying flesh-and-blood Forge Factories as Natasha, Hawkeye, and Doom withdrew to support the command center.
• Rorschach halted his squad for fifteen minutes and asked Iron Man David to summon the Weepers Companies and report on the command center.
• Iron Man David reported that Doom had joined talks with local Official Departments, quarantine barriers were being planned, and the Imperial Guard and Stormtroopers faced resistance from officials.
• Rorschach told Iron Man David to warn the officials that humanity had no future while Chaos corruption remained and that victory would demand sacrifice.

Rorschach and the Weepers followed a Nurgle zombie horde to a besieged town in Uttar Pradesh, where they fought through the Plague Walkers to help the survivors. As civilians cheered, a massive green Hulk leaped from the town and attacked the horde.

• Rorschach noticed the Plague Walkers were moving like a guided reinforcement force and decided to follow them with the Weepers.
• Rorschach and the Weepers found a town surrounded by Plague Walkers, where survivors were fighting back amid heavy gunfire.
• Rorschach led the Weepers in a charge, cutting down Plague Walkers with the Scythe of Blood and Metal Ten Rings.
• A Plague Bearer tried to ambush Rorschach, but he destroyed it with a punch and warned the Weepers that more might be nearby.
• A giant green Hulk leaped from the town and crashed into the Nurgle zombie horde as the survivors cheered.

Hulk helped Rorschach and the Weepers fight through the Plague Walkers and reach the town, where its civilians disinfected them. Rorschach tried to learn how Hulk had become the town’s protector, but Bruce Banner emerged and mistook them for a Terra Astartes Legion backed by terrorists.

• Hulk smashed a path through the Plague Walkers, and Rorschach led the Weepers to join him.
• Rorschach saw Nurgle’s corruption vanish from Hulk’s skin and wondered what power was protecting him.
• Hulk, Rorschach, and the Weepers entered the town, where civilians washed and sterilized them.
• Rorschach introduced himself and asked Hulk to let Dr. Banner speak, but Hulk angrily refused to discuss Banner.
• Bruce Banner took control and asked Rorschach whether his group belonged to the Terra Astartes Legion and relied on terrorist support.

Rorschach met Professor Hulk, who had protected survivors from the Plague Walkers in Uttar Pradesh, and explained that Chaos was behind the plague. Professor Hulk agreed to join Rorschach’s war against Chaos, and Rorschach welcomed him to the team.

• Rorschach met Professor Hulk, who explained that he was a personality formed from Banner and Hulk and had helped protect the town’s survivors.
• Professor Hulk said the plague had killed most of the population, leaving fewer than fifty thousand people in Uttar Pradesh.
• Rorschach revealed that a Chaos God had caused the plague and said his support forces would arrive to evacuate survivors after quarantine screening.
• Professor Hulk asked how Rorschach planned to fight Chaos, and Rorschach said his forces were already committed to the war.
• Professor Hulk accepted Rorschach’s invitation to join the fight, and Rorschach welcomed him to the team.

Rorschach’s Astartes cleared the Plague Walker horde surrounding the survivor town, and he decided to use it as a base for the next offensive toward Lucknow. As Professor Hulk prepared to leave with him, Thor arrived and joined the fight while Tony conducted reconnaissance near the capital.

• The Weepers attacked the Plague Walkers with missiles, flamers, and assault vehicles, wiping out the horde and its hidden Plague Bearers.
• Rorschach questioned the Astartes commanders and chose the survivor town as a base after learning more Plague Walker hordes were heading toward Lucknow.
• Rorschach told Professor Hulk that Imperial Guard and Stormtroopers were close to taking over the town, and Hulk agreed they needed to move on quickly.
• Thor arrived amid thunder and lightning, and Rorschach asked him where Tony was.
• Thor explained that Tony had taken the Iron Legion to scout Lucknow and that local officials would provide long-range fire support once given coordinates.
• Rorschach introduced Thor to Professor Hulk, and the two greeted each other and clasped hands.