Chapter Summaries

Leon and Ada visited John Brown at his school to offer him and his family a place in Atlas's Spartan Program, then reviewed the results of recruiting Adaptants across the Halo universe. They headed back toward Bountiful Star as the ceremony founding the Imperium of Man approached.

• Leon and Ada passed the school's security checks and met John Brown, whose maturity impressed them.
• Leon and Ada explained Atlas's confidential project to John and his parents, who agreed to join the Spartan Program and move to the Great Device Ark.
• Sixteen Earth days later, Leon reviewed the Adaptant recruitment records and saw that John had accepted the program while half of the Adaptants had declined.
• Leon watched negotiation footage to assess the accompanying trainees during the six-hour Slipspace journey back to Bountiful Star.
• Leon and Ada prepared to attend the ceremony establishing the Imperium of Man, which would be broadcast across every universe.

On the morning of the imperial ceremony, Sui Yang surveyed the crowded Imperial Palace and reflected on his hopes for the Imperium of Man. Alexia Ashford revealed that she had transformed herself with a personalized Veronica Virus, then mentioned that Athena wanted Sui Yang’s help fighting supernatural creatures.

• Visitors from multiple universes gathered at the Imperial Palace, where AECS Legion Auxilia, Flame Salamanders, Clone Soldiers, T-800s, and New Accra City police maintained order.
• Sui Yang sensed the crowd’s excitement and worries that the Imperium might repeat the failures of past empires, and reflected on his family and his hopes for humanity.
• Alexia Ashford joined Sui Yang and explained that she had used a personalized Veronica Virus and Nanorobots to transform herself, increasing her height and combat strength.
• Alexia told Sui Yang that Athena hoped he would help her fight supernatural creatures more effectively.

Sui Yang rebuked Alexia for seeking special treatment on Athena’s behalf, then decided he would approve a formal request for weapons and armor for the Greek Demigods. At the gathering before the ceremony, company officers, investigators, and Primarchs mingled while Leman tried to outdrink John Price.

• Alexia asked Sui Yang to provide Athena and the Greek Demigods with exclusive weapons and armor, and Sui Yang told her to follow the application process rather than seek favors.
• Sui Yang warned Alexia against letting romantic jealousy interfere with her work, and she acknowledged his rebuke.
• Sui Yang decided he would approve a request and personally forge weapons and armor for Athena, the Greek Demigods, and Hera.
• At the reception, Mike Monadi and Maggie Shaw watched Ada Wang and Leon S. Kennedy appear publicly close, while Leman challenged John Price to keep drinking.
• John Price escaped Leman’s drinking challenge and rejoined Soap, Roach, Ghost, and the other Advance Team members.
• The officers and employees socialized with the Primarchs, while Lion kept to himself and rested alone.

At the Imperial ceremony, the Primarchs gathered at Palace Square while Leman observed their relationships and provoked Perturabo. Sui Yang declared the Imperium of Man founded and called for humanity to unite and command the multiverse.

• Tinas stopped Perturabo from mocking Lion, while she, Mortarion, and Corax stood apart from the banquet crowd.
• Dorn refused Leman’s drunken invitation to drink, and Leman asked where Alpharius and Omegon were.
• Leman teased Perturabo, prompting Perturabo to leave the banquet hall with Mortarion and Corax; Leman privately assessed his brothers’ cliques.
• The Primarchs, Astartes, and crowds gathered at Palace Square as Atlas broadcast the ceremony across its platforms.
• Sui Yang addressed the gathered residents, declared that human disputes would end, and pledged that the Imperium would protect humanity and command the multiverse.

After Atlas became the Imperium of Man, Sui Yang opened four Space Gates to launch advance teams into new worlds. The chapter ended as he and Alpharius and Omegon watched footage from Universe 13, whose landscape looked like purgatory.

• Atlas used military force to eliminate religious institutions, then reorganized its government and armed forces under the Imperium of Man.
• The Empire established the Heretic Inquisition Department to detect Warp corruption among officials and commanders, and reorganized its Guard, defense forces, and Legions.
• On September 1, 2004, Sui Yang opened four Space Gates at the Imperial Palace ruins, exhausting most of his Psychic Power.
• Cerberus units, T-800s, and unmanned machines entered the four worlds to conduct reconnaissance before human advance teams followed.
• Sui Yang joined Alpharius and Omegon in the command center and watched live footage from Universe 13, which appeared to be purgatory.

Sui Yang monitored reconnaissance of Universes 13, 14, and 15 as teams crossed their Space Gates and began preparing bases. He recognized Universe 15 as the world of Alien and planned to give the Imperium’s Intelligence Department what he knew before turning his attention to Universe 16.

• Soap led Advance Team One and its engineering crews through the Universe 13 Space Gate to begin reconnaissance and build a Frontline Base in the toxic, corpse-strewn environment.
• Sui Yang sent a Flower of Purity with the team to improve Universe 13’s environment and let him sense and analyze its calamity.
• Advance Team 2 moved into Universe 14, where the Cerberus and T-800s found a dry, human-suitable world and engineers began laying maglev tracks.
• Reconnaissance in Universe 15 found a tropical rainforest and a distant atmospheric terraforming facility bearing Weyland-Yutani’s logo.
• Sui Yang identified Universe 15 as the Alien universe and planned to share his knowledge of Xenomorphs and the setting with the Intelligence Department while the Imperium explored it.

Sui Yang identified Universe 16 as a Red Alert 2 world and issued orders to prepare for its dangerous technology and to support reconnaissance in other universes. In Universe 13, the Imperium completed much of its Frontline Base, and Colonel John "Soap" MacTavish led a scouting mission beyond the screening perimeter.

• Sui Yang recognized the exposed gold and gems in Universe 16 as signs of the Red Alert 2 universe and considered the threat posed by its factions and superweapons.
• Sui Yang sent intelligence briefings and ordered Colonel Aya Brea and Major General Price to arrange support for operations in Universes 13 and 14.
• Sui Yang traveled with Alpharius and Omegon to Accra Park to assist Alexia with the nearly completed Custodes project and observe a combat simulation.
• The Engineering Department built sealed facilities, underground connections, defenses, and an aircraft hangar at the Universe 13 Frontline Base while the Dark Angels' 1st Company prepared to deploy its full force.
• Colonel John "Soap" MacTavish led several Advance Team members on a reconnaissance mission beyond Universe 13's screening perimeter.

Soap’s Advance Team discovered that Universe 13’s humanity was fighting a mutated force amid a blood-mist wasteland, and Sui Yang prepared reinforcements while investigating the strange world. When Soap’s squad found human soldiers being overwhelmed by Heresy, he ordered an intervention that left the battle’s survivors stunned.

• Soap reviewed orbital scans showing a harsh, polluted world where medieval equipment and World War-era weapons coexisted with advanced technology, while the Intelligence Department concluded humanity was fighting an unknown enemy.
• Sui Yang considered The Mutant Chronicles as a possible reference, sent the Intelligence Department his notes, and arranged for the Dark Angels’ 1st Company and Legion Auxilia to reinforce the Frontline Base.
• Soap’s reconnaissance group spotted a battle where more than a hundred human soldiers faced tens of thousands of corrupted humans and mutated creatures, which Soap identified as Heresy.
• Seeing the human soldiers close to defeat, Soap ordered his forces to assist, called for reinforcements, and directed the Black Falcons to bombard the enemy.
• The Metal Hydrogen strike killed more than a thousand Heresy, prompting the human soldiers to charge while the nun at the front recognized that the attack was not a divine revelation.

The nun and human soldiers fought the Demons while the Black Falcons and their weapons weakened the enemy lines. Soap, the Advance Team, and four Greek Demigods entered the battle to reach the surrounded humans, and Soap ordered them to push forward after Demon Hounds found them.

• The nun led the human soldiers against the Demons, while Black Falcon missiles and autocannons tore through the enemy ranks.
• The Demons dispersed into small units, and Soap concluded that their willingness to fight to the death meant the nun’s group had learned crucial intelligence.
• Soap, the eleven Advance Team members, and four Greek Demigods landed and used optical camouflage to approach the eastern side of the Demons’ line.
• Soap and his team silently eliminated a small Demon unit with brute force, then encountered more Demons as they advanced.
• Demon Hounds detected Soap and his team, and the Advance Team blasted the attacking creatures with Hardlight Rifles.
• Soap ordered his team to open fire, push forward, and link up with the local humans.

Soap, the Greek Demigods, and their allies rescued a beleaguered group of soldiers from Universe 13 by fighting through the demon horde. The nun survived the battle and Soap asked her to come with them.

• The Greek Demigods used Hera-blessed Bolt Rounds to cut through demons as Universe 13's soldiers mistook them for imperial knights.
• The nun led the surviving soldiers out of their trenches, but a five-meter Minotaur struck her down and threatened to slaughter the group.
• The four Greek Demigods killed the Minotaur with Bolt Rounds, then fought alongside Soap and the Advance Team against the demons.
• The Demigods ran out of ammunition and drew psychic swords that burned demons to ash, while the surviving soldiers continued taking heavy losses.
• The Agile Shadow and Luna Transports arrived with elite guards, turning the fight against the demons, and Soap asked the recovering nun to come with them.

Major Chris Redfield interrogated Blessed Nun Isabella de Kerouai at the Frontline Base, learning that Universe 13 had fought Hell and its Demons for nearly a thousand years. Isabella explained how Paladins and Saints had helped humanity survive, and admitted she had eaten their flesh and blood.

• Chris introduced himself and asked Isabella who she served, while warning that his department could extract memories from her brain.
• Isabella identified herself as a Blessed Nun of the Holy Roman Empire and said Hell's armies were gathering for a possible total war against humanity.
• Isabella recounted how the First Crusade uncovered a demonic artifact in Jerusalem, opened Hell's Gate, and let Demons overrun the eastern Mediterranean.
• Isabella explained that twelve Paladins halted Hell's advance and that the Church later made Super Soldiers by cloning flesh and eating the flesh of Paladins and Saints.
• Isabella described later disasters, including the Hell Virus and Corpse War, and said Joan of Arc helped drive them back.
• Chris asked whether Isabella had eaten Paladin or Saint flesh after technicians found unexplained substances in her samples, and Isabella said yes.

Chris explained the Imperium of Man and the Main Universe to Isabella, while Sui Yang assessed Universe 13 and its Heavenly Faction as a possible threat. Sui Yang considered how the Imperium could intervene and summoned Athena to discuss the unusual universe.

• After learning about Universe 13’s biotechnology, Chris suspected that Heaven exploited humanity’s faith and decided to send his intelligence to the Imperial Palace for the Emperor to judge.
• Chris reassured Isabella that the Imperium would defeat Hell, then showed her an introductory video about the Imperium and the Main Universe; its vast fleet left her shaken.
• Sui Yang reviewed the Intelligence Department’s report and recognized Universe 13 as resembling Trench Crusade, whose Heavenly Faction might profit from humanity’s despair and belief.
• Sui Yang recalled the Church’s four rituals for making knights and judged their transformation and loyalty constraints made them difficult for the Imperium to recruit.
• Sui Yang asked Apu to summon Athena so they could discuss how to handle Universe 13.

Sui Yang sent Athena to Universe 13 to spread the Human Codex and win humanity over without a massacre, lending her a powerful psychic 1911 for the mission. After she left, he considered a future imperial Church and Sisters of Battle, then reviewed reports on the Arachnids in Universe 14.

• Sui Yang ordered Athena to lead the Heretic Inquisition Department's elite forces to Universe 13 and spread the faith with support from Colonel MacTavish and the Dark Angels First Company.
• Sui Yang explained that God and Heaven were real in Universe 13, but he suspected the Heavenly Faction benefited from humanity's devotion and wanted Athena to challenge its influence.
• Athena accepted the mission and received Sui Yang's old 1911 pistol, which held powerful Pure Psychic Energy.
• Athena left, and Sui Yang considered founding an imperial Church and Sisters of Battle after Universe 13 was unified.
• Sui Yang reviewed reports from Universe 14 and saw footage of the Arachnids.

After the Blood Angels helped Ghost’s forces rescue a town from an Arachnid attack in Universe 14, Sui Yang recognized the Starship Troopers setting and chose Sanguinius’s Blood Angels to integrate it. He left the Xenomorph and Red Alert 2 universes as the remaining integration decisions.

• Ghost sent his forces and four Blood Angels tactical squads to rescue the town, where they killed the Arachnids and sealed their nest with Metal Hydrogen Bombs.
• Sui Yang recognized the creatures as Arachnids from Starship Troopers and concluded that the Imperium could overpower the setting with a Legion and its Fleet.
• Sui Yang weighed which Legion should lead the integration and decided that the Blood Angels were suited to the campaign.
• Sui Yang messaged Sanguinius to assemble the Blood Angels Legion and prepare for deployment to Universe 14.
• Sui Yang noted that the Ultramarines had abundant resources, Horus had yielded the opportunity to his brothers, and Lion had secured a strong position for the Dark Angels.

Sui Yang reviewed the Aliens and Red Alert 2 universes and sent John Price intelligence about Yuri’s Revenge. In the Trench Crusade universe, Mike Monadi and Lara Croft used holographic decoys to slip into a human town, where they began an infiltration mission.

• Sui Yang concluded that the Aliens colony was a major population center and that it could be unified later through a gradual approach.
• Sui Yang identified Universe 16 as being in the era of Yuri’s Revenge and sent a detailed briefing to John Price, trusting the Thousand Wounds Sons to counter Yuri’s psychic powers.
• Mike Monadi and Lara Croft approached a fortified town in Universe 13 and decided not to risk passing its guarded gate undetected.
• Mike and Lara threw Hardlight decoy devices that projected a fake attack by Demons and heretics, drawing the defenders and Knights away from the entrance.
• Mike and Lara slipped through the gate and entered the town during the resulting battle.

Mike and Laura surveyed a smog-choked town near the Hell Faction’s territory and decided that peaceful efforts to spread the Human Codex would fail. They planned to destroy the town’s power plant and defenses so an attack would let the Heretic Inquisition Department spread its faith, and Mike set out to begin the operation.

• Mike and Laura identified the town’s soldiers’ quarters, armories, church, and the Rebirth Knight Order’s mobile Colossus.
• After failing to find an abandoned building above ground, Mike led Laura through the sewers to an electrical room.
• Mike gave Laura Metal Hydrogen Bombs and explained that the town’s people were devoted to the Church and might report them as heretics.
• Mike marked targets for the bombs and proposed destroying the power plant and fixed defenses to provoke an attack by the Hell Faction.
• Laura understood that the Heretic Inquisition Department could spread its faith during the ensuing assault, and Mike declared that it was time to make some noise.

Christopher Loran tried to flee his border town with his children, Klonto and Carrie, after the Hell Faction attacked and breached its defenses. As a Demon Vulture dove at Carrie, a beam of golden Radiant Light pierced it.

• Christopher Loran returned home with protein blocks and shared a meal with Klonto and Carrie, hiding his disbelief in the Church.
• Explosions shattered the eastern wall and power plant, and Loran packed his savings and supplies as the town sounded the alarm.
• Loran watched the town's soldiers, Knights, and nuns struggle against the Hell Faction, then fled west with his children when demons entered the town.
• A Demon Vulture targeted Carrie as the family escaped, but a beam of golden Radiant Light pierced it.

Athena and the Imperium intervened when Demons attacked a frontier town, saving Loran’s family and promising to fight for humanity. As the townspeople began shifting their faith toward the God-Emperor, the Imperium’s forces turned the battle beyond the Steel Wall in their favor.

• Athena killed a Demon Vulture threatening Loran’s family, while Imperium soldiers shot down the other Vultures and launched missiles beyond the Steel Wall.
• Dark Angels and other warriors deployed from Thunder III Transports and charged toward the eastern battle as Athena comforted Loran’s daughter and relieved their fear and exhaustion.
• Athena introduced herself as a former Olympian Chief God now serving the God-Emperor of Mankind, and declared that the Imperium would defend humanity.
• Athena’s psychic power influenced the townspeople to revere the God-Emperor and the Imperium, though they would judge that faith by the Imperium’s actions.
• Agile Shadow missile strikes destroyed the Hell Faction’s armored units and gathered forces outside the Steel Wall, and six Dark Angels squads charged the surviving enemy.

The Dark Angels and Helljumpers defeated the remaining demonic forces, while the Imperium of Man began occupying and fortifying the frontier town. Loran watched patrols pass with his children, but worried that their new rulers might be no better than the old ones, just as someone knocked at the door.

• A Dark Angels squad captain rescued surrounded knights and nuns, killed a Demon Hound, and ordered the survivors to surrender as prisoners.
• Hundreds of Helljumpers deployed to help eliminate the demons, while Soap moved to bring the town under the Imperium of Man’s jurisdiction.
• The Imperium’s engineers and Dwarf technical advisers fortified the town with experimental anti-demon turrets and began repairing and renovating its buildings.
• Loran watched an Imperium patrol pass with his son and daughter, who were excited by the soldiers and their weapons.
• Loran wondered whether his family had merely traded one oppressive power for another when someone knocked on their front door.

Loran and his children received blood tests and a lavish free meal from the Imperium of Man, whose technology and abundance began to win Loran’s acceptance. Meanwhile, Celine and other technicians arrived at the Universe 13 Frontline Base to help reverse engineer the rituals used to modify captured knights.

• A female Synthetic and two T-800s visited Loran’s home, registered his family, and collected blood samples while providing a late-night meal and announcing four weeks of free meals.
• Loran’s children eagerly opened the food and tried the carbonated drinks, while Loran struggled to believe the meal included real beef and rice.
• Loran and his children ate the meal, and Loran silently cried over the delicious food before accepting the Imperium of Man.
• Celine and senior Biological Department technicians arrived at the Universe 13 Frontline Base alongside returning Elves and Heretic Inquisition soldiers.
• Celine and the other technicians prepared to help reverse engineer the four rituals used to modify twelve captured knights.