Chapter Summaries

The narrator fought the Herud in the Holy City while Captain Slaire and the others moved through the ruins. After the Herud leader’s entropy field drained time from the narrator, the narrator killed it and flew away carrying one of its weapons.

• The narrator flew over the Holy City as the Herud launched entropy-charged projectiles at the Power Armor.
• Captain Slaire led the Astartes and Mortal Warriors through the streets while the narrator signaled them to prepare to move.
• The Herud formed a sight-warping field, and a powerful leader emerged with two entropy-energy swords.
• The Herud leader’s field engulfed the narrator and rapidly aged the Power Armor, but the narrator charged and killed it with the Metal Wings and Power Sword.
• The narrator picked up an entropy-energy sword and flew into the sunlit sky.

After escaping the Herud, you returned to the Sword-class Frigate and discovered that resisting their entropy energy had aged your body. Seeing the Mortal crew’s adoration made you understand the Emperor’s purpose in sending you among humanity, though you doubted you could follow the path He expected.

• You led Captain Slaire and the others to the Thunderhawk Gunships, where a Forge artisan found that only one aircraft could still fly.
• The Thunderhawk carried everyone away from the Herud, and Captain Slaire urged you to have your physical condition examined after reaching the frigate.
• You saw that your face had developed wrinkles and your hair had turned white, though you told the others that your combat capability remained mostly intact.
• You returned to the Sword-class Frigate, where the Mortal crew knelt and cheered at your arrival.
• You realized that the Emperor had sent you among Mortals so you would learn to love and guide each person, but you doubted you could meet the Imperium’s expectations.

The Primarch secured Deathwatch reinforcements to retake the Holy World from the Herud and began the campaign with a devastating orbital bombardment. The chapter left the Herud war underway, with the Primarch’s plan to destroy the entire world narrowly restrained by his allies.

• The Primarch requested Astartes reinforcements through sector-wide Astropathic messages and learned that the Deathwatch would answer.
• Two Deathwatch Strike Cruisers reached the Holy World, where their Space Wolves and Raven Guard Company Commanders recognized the Primarch and knelt before him.
• The Deathwatch commanders brought eighty elite veterans and eight Dreadnoughts to join the Primarch and the Sons of Medusa against the Herud.
• The Primarch declared the war begun, and the Strike Cruisers bombarded the Holy World’s largest cathedral city for twelve hours.
• The Primarch considered ordering Exterminatus to prevent Astartes casualties, but the Sons of Medusa, Deathwatch commanders, and others persuaded him not to.

The Primarch led the Deathwatch, Sons of Medusa, and eight Dreadnoughts into the Herud’s underground caves, using Necron weapons and coordinated fire to push deep into their territory. As the larger cavern opened into a fierce battle, a Deathwatch Astartes sacrificed himself to shield a Dreadnought from a Herud Time Beam, which began reversing his time.

• The Primarch and the assault force landed on the Holy World, and the Primarch took a Staff of the Covenant, an entropic light sword, and a Stasis Bomb into battle.
• The Primarch led the Astartes into a cave entrance, where he and the Dreadnoughts destroyed Herud forces while advancing without casualties.
• The Primarch drove the force into a vast cavern and launched a charge as Herud numbers and entropic fields made the fighting more dangerous.
• A Herud circular war machine fired a Time Beam, and the Primarch used Shadow Step to evade it and charge toward the machine.
• A Deathwatch Astartes threw himself in front of the Time Beam to protect a Dreadnought, and the beam began reversing his time until his armor collapsed and an infant’s cry sounded.

The protagonist and the Deathwatch fought through the Herud’s underground nests, using Stasis Bombs to counter their entropy fields. After the protagonist was caught in one, his body aged but his strength increased, and he charged toward the Herud leaders as the battle turned in the Deathwatch’s favor.

• The protagonist led the Deathwatch through the Herud encirclement, destroyed a circular walking war machine, and captured the first underground nest.
• The protagonist advanced with eight Dreadnoughts and the surviving Astartes as the Herud converged on their position.
• A Stasis Bomb neutralized nearby entropy fields, allowing the protagonist to kill a Herud leader and clear the surrounding attackers.
• Tens of thousands of Herud, including leaders and circular walking machines, attacked the Deathwatch in a larger cavern.
• Several entropy fields caught the protagonist, rapidly aging him while increasing his strength and reaction speed.
• The protagonist tore through the Herud and charged toward their leaders, shouting, “For The Emperor—”

The Deathwatch fought through the Herud’s reinforcements as the narrator charged toward the Herud Chieftain. The chapter ended with the narrator launching a flying assault on the chieftain.

• Dark Angels, Space Wolves, Sons of Medusa, Ultramarines, and Raven Guard Deathwatch warriors charged the Herud, and the Raven Guard commander destroyed numerous enemies and walker machines with a Melta Bomb.
• The narrator tore through Herud while the Astartes gained ground, but fresh Herud reinforcements and a massive chieftain entered the battlefield.
• A Herud entropy field engulfed an Iron Warrior Dreadnought and silenced it.
• The Deathwatch commander identified the Herud Chieftain and ordered the remaining Dreadnoughts to concentrate their Laser Cannon fire on it.
• The narrator retracted the Metal Wings into thrusters and launched a flying charge through the Herud toward the chieftain.

The decaying warrior fought Herud Chieftain amid the Entropy Energy field, killing it before dying of old age. The simulation ended after three months and offered three items to retain.

• The warrior charged Herud Chieftain through the Entropy Energy field as his strength and body rapidly aged.
• The warrior struck Herud Chieftain with the Staff of the Covenant, while Herud Chieftain pierced his chest with an Entropy Energy Lightsaber.
• The warrior smashed Herud Chieftain's head, causing the Entropy Energy field to disappear.
• The warrior watched Astartes and Dreadnoughts fighting as he took his final breath and died of old age.
• The simulation ended and offered the Necron Staff of the Covenant, a Herud Entropy Energy Lightsaber, and a Brand-New Sword-class Frigate as retention options.

After completing the simulation, Rorschach chose to keep the Sword-class Frigate for the homeworld and ordered the fleet searched for parasitic xenos. When the flagship received an unclear distress signal from an Astartes Expeditionary Force in the Ghoul Sector, he led a force to investigate aboard the White Maw.

• Rorschach rejected the simulation's weapon rewards and decided the homeworld could use the Sword-class Frigate for space defense.
• Rorschach, Tyberus, and the Weepers Guard inspected nearly a hundred ships for Herud, exterminating other xenos parasites along the way.
• Rorschach and Tyberus agreed that Great White recruits would regularly clear xenos from the fleet between wars.
• Kahurangi reported that the Astropaths had received a garbled distress signal from an Astartes Expeditionary Force deep in the Ghoul Sector.
• With Tyberus away on an Ash Tithe trade, Rorschach ordered one company of Great Whites and the Weepers Guard to assemble.
• Rorschach and Kahurangi led the force aboard Thunderhawks to the Tyrant-class Cruiser White Maw to investigate the distress signal.

Rorschach and the Great Whites reached the Salvacal Cluster and detected an unresponsive Astartes Expeditionary Force fleet sending a distress signal. He led a Terminator Guard boarding party to investigate while Kahurangi prepared the Chapter for battle.

• Chief Librarian Kahurangi warned Rorschach that the Xenos of the Salvacal Cluster were dangerous and that their gas-giant homeworld had never been destroyed.
• The cruiser captain reported detecting a silent Astartes fleet with a Strike Cruiser, escorts, and supply transports.
• Kahurangi described a past incident in which a Great White ship was found abandoned, with its crew and Astartes missing and no signs of battle.
• Rorschach ordered the Terminator Guard to prepare and decided to lead the investigation personally.
• Rorschach took twenty-five Weepers aboard Thunderhawk Gunships and headed for the fleet as Kahurangi put the Great Whites on alert.

Rorschach and the Weepers searched an abandoned Strike Cruiser and discovered it belonged to a Black Templars Expeditionary Force. Their investigation took a dangerous turn when green mist burst from a dead naval officer and seeped into one of the Weepers' Terminator Armor.

• Rorschach divided the Weepers into squads and led five Terminators into the Strike Cruiser to search for survivors and identify the ship.
• Rorschach found Black Templars markings in an ancient prayer hall and ordered the other Battle Brothers to be informed.
• Rorschach and the Weepers reached the deserted bridge, where they found no crew, damage, blood, or trace of Chaos Psychic Energy.
• A Weeper shot a naval officer who appeared in the corridor after sensing that his mental state was abnormal.
• Green mist burst from the officer's corpse and entered one of the Weepers' Terminator Armor.

Rorschach and the Weepers confronted a Kryptos that had possessed a Battle Brother aboard the Strike Cruiser. After plasma destroyed the intangible xenos, Rorschach ordered the crew to warn the ship and prevent anything from leaving.

• A Kryptos-controlled Weeper raised his Bolter, but Rorschach used a Metal Ten Rings to sever the Battle Brother’s armored arm before the other Weepers disabled him with gunfire.
• Rorschach ordered everyone to fall back as green mist emerged from the wounded Weeper, and he discovered that his physical attacks passed through the Kryptos.
• The Kryptos lunged at Rorschach, who blasted it repeatedly with plasma from the Heart of the Forge until it vanished.
• Rorschach ordered the Weepers to check the injured Battle Brother, warn the ship about Kryptos and use energy weapons against it.
• Rorschach told Kahurangi to destroy anything attempting to leave the Strike Cruiser and ordered the Weepers to shoot unfamiliar targets on sight.

Rorschach led the Weepers through the Strike Cruiser to investigate the possessing xenos and discovered that electrical shocks could drive them out of their hosts. Near the Armoury, he fought a group of possessed Black Templars and began destroying the exposed xenos.

• Rorschach led four Weepers in Terminator Armor toward the Strike Cruiser’s Upper Decks and left a wounded Battle Brother in the empty bridge for treatment.
• Other Weepers reported that powerful electrical shocks could force the possessing xenos out of its host, a method they had discovered during encounters in the Lower Decks.
• Rorschach used a power cable to shock a suspected Battle Brother, then destroyed the xenos that emerged with the Heart of the Forge.
• Rorschach explained that the xenos could imitate memories and combat knowledge but failed to understand the Gene Offspring’s reverence for their Primarch, and the recovered Weepers joined his growing force.
• Rorschach’s group encountered Black Templars near the Mid-decks Armoury, and both sides opened fire without speaking.
• Rorschach used a shockwave to knock down the Black Templars and expose the xenos possessing them, then fired the Heart of the Forge at the creatures.

Rorschach rescued a group of Black Templars from Kryptos and learned how the xenomorphs had overwhelmed their expedition fleet. He revealed himself as the Imperium’s twenty-second Primarch, and the surviving Black Templars accepted him with reverence.

• Rorschach used the Heart of the Forge to destroy the Kryptos around the Black Templars, who surrendered to the Weepers.
• A Black Templars Chaplain told Rorschach that the Great Rift had cut off the expedition from High Marshal Helsreach and forced them to answer distress calls across the Ghoul Sector.
• The Chaplain explained that their Marshal had mistaken Kryptos possession for Chaos corruption, then trapped the fleet by burying its Navigators and Astropaths.
• The Marshal ordered the mortals slaughtered to stop Kryptos from taking over the ships, but Kryptos possessed him and many Astartes, forcing the Chaplain to kill the Marshal before he stopped fighting his brothers.
• Rorschach revealed that he had once been a Black Templars champion and was now the Imperium’s twenty-second Primarch.
• The Chaplain knelt, and the surviving Black Templars greeted Rorschach as their honored Primarch.

After the Black Templars joined Rorschach’s Void Fleet, he launched rescue missions across the Imperial Dark Side while the Great White Chapter patrolled the Far Eastern frontier. After five successful Prayer Support Missions without losing a Battle Brother, Rorschach ordered his forces to rest and decided he needed to increase the number of Astartes.

• Rorschach swept the fleet for Xenomorphic Races, and the Expeditionary Force survivors chose to fight alongside him.
• Chapter Master Tyberus returned from the Adeptus Mechanicus with news of the Imperium’s dire state after the Great Rift opened.
• Rorschach ordered the Great White Chapter to patrol the Far Eastern frontier and led the Weepers Guard and Black Templars on Prayer Support Missions.
• Rorschach’s forces won five Prayer Support Missions against Chaos Astartes, Greenskin Orks, and Heretic rebels without losing a Battle Brother.
• Rorschach gave the Weepers Guard and Black Templars five to seven days to recover, then resolved to increase the number of Astartes.

Rorschach chose a Raven Guard Prayer Support Mission set during the Imperium’s war against the Tau in the Damocles Gulf. After arriving on the unfamiliar battlefield with the Weepers Guard and Black Templars, he learned that Imperial communications were chaotic and the war was going badly, and he waited for the scouts before deciding how to intervene.

• Rorschach waited for Prayer Support to refresh after finding no suitable missions, then selected the Raven Guard mission in the Damocles Gulf.
• Rorschach assembled the Weepers Guard and a Black Templar Crusader Combat Squad, explained that they would face the Tau, and opened the Simulator’s mission.
• Rorschach and his forces emerged through a Warp Portal onto a barren world, where he ordered the Black Templars to scout and the Weepers to contact Imperial forces.
• A Weeper reported that the local commander had abandoned command and that the war was going badly, so Rorschach ordered everyone to await the scouts and prepare to intervene.
• Rorschach said the Raven Guard should also be fighting there and planned to seize command of them to improve the Imperium’s chances against the Tau.

Rorschach and the Astartes arrived as the Imperium’s defenses around Aggreland Hive City collapsed, and he ordered a covering retreat. After Raven Guard mistook him for Corvus, he revealed he was another Primarch and questioned Chapter Master Sevralax about the evacuation.

• Tau forces overran the outer bunkers, forcing the Imperial defenders to retreat toward Aggreland Hive City.
• Rorschach and the Astartes charged into the battle, with Rorschach destroying several Hammerhead gunships.
• Rorschach saw that the Imperium was evacuating the hive city and ordered his forces to cover the retreat.
• Raven Guard welcomed Rorschach as Corvus, but he clarified that he was one of Corvus’s Primarch brothers and asked to meet their commander.
• Chapter Master Sevralax told Rorschach that he had sent the Shadow Company to disrupt Tau attacks while the remaining Imperial forces withdrew.

After abandoning Aggreland Hive City, Rorschach secured the Raven Guard’s recognition and took command of its and the White Scars’ fleets. At Prefectia, the Imperial forces split over his authority, and Rorschach’s forces moved to intercept Tau Ethereal Andu as the Tau began landing.

• Raven Guard Chapter Master Sevralax reported the evacuation losses to Rorschach, who ordered him to contact Imperial forces and reclaim command authority.
• The Imperial War Council sent Cadian Guardsmen, a Knight House, Freeblades, and Adeptus Mechanicus vessels to join the counteroffensive.
• The War Council refused to recognize Rorschach’s claim as a Primarch, so he led the Raven Guard and White Scars to ambush the Tau at Prefectia.
• Raven Guard and White Scars ships crippled a Tau Hero-class Cruiser, while Tau Orca-class Transports escaped toward the planet.
• Master of the Hunt Khoros Khan warned that Ethereal Andu was aboard an Orca-class Transport, and Rorschach’s Thunderhawks launched to pursue it.

Rorschach and the Raven Guard launched a ground assault across the storm-wracked mining planet to find and kill a Tau Ethereal, whose escape pod’s location was obscured by multiple possible signals. They destroyed Tau scouting forces and reached an escape pod as enemy troops surrounded Rorschach.

• Kaelin Sorlak reported that Tau forces had begun landing and that the Ethereal’s escape pod was somewhere within twenty kilometers, though dozens of signals could be decoys.
• Rorschach ordered Thunderhawks to scout suspected locations and led the Fifth Company across the planet using Shadow Step.
• Rorschach and the Raven Guard ambushed and wiped out several Tau scouting squads in the sandstorm.
• Rorschach charged toward an Ethereal escape pod through incoming fire and stopped as Aurora Pathfinders surrounded him.
• Rorschach unleashed a massive Kinetic Impact that hurled nearby Fire Caste Warriors into the air.

Rorschach searched several Tau escape pods but found only decoys, then used reports from the Thunderhawk Gunships to locate the Etheral's true retreat force. He led the Raven Guard in an assault on Etheral Anva's guards and charged toward Anva.

• Rorschach hacked open an escape pod and found only a damaged drone, then ordered the Raven Guard to pursue another target.
• After a second pod also proved to be a decoy, Rorschach told Sorlak to have the Thunderhawk Gunships search for Etheral Guards and signs of an Orca wreck.
• Sorlak reported that a large force of Etheral Guards was hiding in a nearby dune region, and Rorschach ordered an aerial strike and led the Raven Guard toward it.
• The Thunderhawk Gunships bombarded Etheral Anva's guards as they covered Anva's retreat, overwhelming their Shield Fields.
• Rorschach and the Raven Guard attacked from the shadows, and Rorschach charged toward Etheral Anva with his Scythe of Blood.

Rorschach killed Etheral Anva on Damocles Gulf, giving the Imperium its first victory in the war, and withdrew with the Raven Guard. Aboard the Avenger, he learned that Chagatai Khan was safe and agreed to serve as bait in a plan to lure Shadow Sun into a decapitation strike.

• Rorschach cut down Etheral Anva and raised the Etheral’s head as the surviving Tau and Raven Guard looked on.
• Rorschach and the Raven Guard withdrew from Prefectia, while the Raven Guard and White Scars fleet drove back the Tau fleet.
• Rorschach prepared Etheral Anva’s head as a trophy aboard the Avenger and received Khoros Khan, who had lost an arm and been fitted with a mechanical prosthetic.
• Rorschach told Khoros Khan that Chagatai Khan was safe but unwilling to return to the Imperium.
• Khoros Khan and Chapter Master Sevralax proposed luring Shadow Sun into a decapitation strike, and Rorschach decided to act as bait.