Chapter Summaries

The Luna Wolves 2nd Company assaulted Holy Tree City and began purging the Chaos-corrupted Na’vi, while Horus regretted having allowed their influence to grow on Pandora. Horus and Magnus awaited the company commander, who arrived carrying a metal cube containing the bizarre book.

• The ODSTs and Elite veterans returned to the flagship with the sealed bizarre book, and the ODST leader planned to report his exposure to a Demon.
• Hundreds of Luna Wolves Astartes landed in Holy Tree City and slaughtered the Na’vi they judged to be heretics as Auxilia transports arrived.
• Horus regretted his earlier leniency toward the Na’vi, and Magnus urged him to focus on dealing with the threat rather than blaming himself.
• Magnus resolved to work with Alpharius and Omegon to search his territories for Chaos and hidden heretics.
• The 2nd Company commander arrived with Company Guards carrying a metal cube, and Magnus immediately focused on it.

Horus and Magnus examined the Chaos-tainted book recovered by the Luna Wolves and Magnus chose to read it despite the danger. When he opened it, the book’s blue psychic radiance clashed with Magnus’s golden power, while his consciousness appeared to be drawn into another world.

• The 2nd Company captain delivered the sealed book to Horus and received orders to eradicate the Na’vi on Pandora.
• Horus and Magnus carried the storage case into a fortified underground shelter and unlocked its Nanometal seal.
• Magnus identified the book as a possible source of intelligence about the Chaos invasion and asked Horus to stop or kill him if he showed signs of corruption.
• Magnus touched and opened the book, unleashing blue light that his golden psychic energy swiftly suppressed.
• Magnus’s eyes turned vacant as an unseen force seemed to pull his consciousness into another world.

Magnus was trapped in a Chaos domain by the Heretical Book but held back from unleashing a Psychic Power shockwave, fearing the damage it could cause. Horus nearly struck him to prevent a catastrophe, and Magnus’s refusal enraged the force behind the trap as a figure appeared before him.

• Magnus realized the Heretical Book had dragged his consciousness into a Chaos domain and gathered Psychic Power to escape.
• Magnus stopped before unleashing his power, concerned that a shockwave could harm Horus, the Honor Guard, Pandora Planet, or the Space Gate.
• Horus ordered the Gastarin to lower their weapons as the Sekhmet argued over how to protect Magnus.
• Horus prepared to strike Magnus with Worldbreaker, fearing his brother would destroy the planet and star system if he lost control.
• Magnus returned to normal just before Horus swung, sparing Horus from killing his brother.
• A furious voice cursed Magnus for refusing to release his Psychic Power, and an enormous figure appeared before him.

Magnus resisted Tzeentch’s attempt to provoke and manipulate him until a golden psychic force drove the Chaos god away and restored reality. After checking the cleansing operation on Pandora, Magnus chose Earth-02 as their next destination, while Horus raised concerns about Universe 08.

• Tzeentch mocked Magnus and tried to unsettle him with taunts about his past, Horus, and their father, but Magnus stayed calm and recognized the scheme.
• Magnus inferred that Tzeentch had tried to make him lose control and endanger Horus and the warriors, then called the Chaos god a failure.
• A golden light struck Tzeentch and swept away his realm, restoring Magnus to reality beside Horus, the Sekhmet, and the Gastarin warriors.
• Horus showed Magnus the Luna Wolves’ operation, which had killed nearly three million Na’vi in two hours and was advancing toward wiping out Pandora’s Na’vi.
• Magnus proposed inspecting Earth-02 first because the Chaos forces might be diverting their attention from Earth, and Horus responded that they should also watch Universe 08.

Horus and Magnus assessed the growing dangers in Universe 08 and agreed to strengthen its defenses and investigate the Chaos invasion. They relayed their plans to their father and the governors, and the Imperial Navy 36th Fleet began mobilizing.

• Magnus and Horus reviewed Universe 08’s territories and the governors’ responsibilities, including Mortarion’s vulnerable border with the Chaotic Star Region.
• Horus warned that the Chaos Gods might be coordinating the invasion and could strike several regions, so Magnus recommended alerting the governors to prepare defenses.
• Horus proposed infiltrating the Chaotic Star Region and possibly attacking into the Warp, but Magnus cautioned that such an operation could be disastrous; Horus agreed to wait for a clear opportunity.
• Horus and Magnus planned to deploy intelligence agents with a joint force for support, while Magnus proposed using an Imperial Navy fleet operation as a diversion.
• The brothers shared their decisions with their father, Fulgrim, and the others, and the Imperial Navy 36th Fleet was the first to receive orders and mobilize.

Sui Yang used the Golden Throne to expand his psychic reach, then intervened when Magnus’s consciousness was imprisoned by a Chaos-tainted book. After recovering, he approved Horus and Magnus’s plan and ordered the 36th Fleet to cleanse the Chaotic Star Region.

• Sui Yang sat on the Golden Throne and used its power to draw faith into psychic energy, extending his perception across hundreds of light-years and connected universes.
• Sui Yang sensed intense distress from Horus and Magnus, then used Magnus’s body as a medium to collapse the Warp space imprisoning him and destroy the Chaos-tainted book’s hold.
• Apu and Melissa checked on Sui Yang, who dismissed their concerns and reflected on the danger Chaos had posed to Magnus and Pandora.
• Horus explained the events on Pandora and the plan he had discussed with Magnus, and Sui Yang approved their requests.
• Sui Yang ordered Apu and Melissa to send the 36th Fleet to the Chaotic Star Region to cleanse Covenant remnants, space pirates, and Mercenary groups made up of traitors.

Aboard a Phoenix-class Support Vessel bound for a major operation against Covenant-supremacist rebels, recruit Charlie Hoinerd looked forward to earning military merit and buying a Synthetic Companion. While shopping for snacks and comics, he met a female Elf who shared his interest in the Space Marines comics and invited him for a drink, leaving him stunned before he agreed.

• The recruits aboard the Phoenix-class Support Vessel admired Slipspace and learned that the 36th Fleet had been redirected to eradicate a large rebel organization in the Chaotic Star Region.
• Charlie Hoinerd reflected on his hopes of earning a bonus and buying a high-end Synthetic Companion, then left his quarters for the vessel's convenience store.
• Charlie passed Marines, Synthetics, engineers, Dwarves, Elites, and Elves as he made his way to the recreation and shopping area.
• Charlie bought energy blocks, chips, drinks, and physical comics, then met a female Elf who asked whether he liked the Space Marines series.
• Charlie discussed the comic's Mars battle with the female Elf, who invited him for a drink, and he agreed despite being surprised by her approach.

Charlie met Nalita Lothrian over drinks, discovered their shared passion for Space Marines comics, and learned she was interested in becoming a couple. As their online conversations grew warmer, Charlie’s battalion was urgently summoned to Hangar 4, where Colonel Janes Thomson announced that Special Operations Command would take charge of them.

• Charlie and Nalita Lothrian shared a meal and discussed Space Marines comics, and Charlie told her about a painful past relationship.
• Nalita admitted she had invited Charlie because she liked him and wanted to see whether they might become a couple; Charlie asked to take things slowly, and she accepted.
• Nalita paid for the meal, wished Charlie well before the coming cleansing operation, and later kept in touch with him online until their conversations became increasingly enthusiastic.
• As the Fleet prepared to leave Slipspace, Charlie’s battalion received an emergency order to gear up and assemble at Hangar 4 alongside ODSTs and Heavy Tyrants.
• Colonel Janes Thomson of the 36th Fleet’s Special Operations Command arrived and announced that his command would take charge of the assembled troops.

Charlie and his fellow soldiers received orders to escort agents on a reconnaissance mission to a glassed Covenant planet, while Nalita warned him of an ominous feeling. Unknown to the team, Mortarion and Corax had secretly positioned forces nearby to reinforce them if Chaos attacked.

• Charlie recognized Colonel Jains Thomson as his father’s old friend, but answered him formally when Jains addressed the troops.
• Jains changed the unit’s assignment to guarding agents, and he silenced an ODST captain who protested the escort mission.
• Nalita privately told Charlie she sensed danger and urged him to fire immediately if anything seemed wrong.
• Charlie and the troops boarded transports, which left Slipspace with the 36th Fleet for the transfer to a stealth vessel.
• The joint force was set to accompany Investigation Department and Heretic Inquisition Department agents on reconnaissance of an abandoned Covenant-glassed planet where remnants might remain.
• Mortarion’s Dawn Raiders and Corax’s Raven Guard had secretly deployed nearby and could reinforce the reconnaissance team and the 36th Fleet if Chaos attacked.

Jains Thomson’s joint force arrived at Quikangtu to investigate the buried city and its possible Covenant-era extremists. After the troops began their descent onto the frozen planet, Jains landed on an icefield and detected faint gunfire.

• The chapter described how the Covenant glassed Quikangtu after its Elite governor rebelled, leaving the planet a frozen refuge for those branded heretics or traitors.
• The Diana III-type entered the star system under stealth and took low orbit above Quikangtu’s nightside.
• Jains Thomson ordered the Marines to follow the agents’ instructions and sent the ODSTs, Special Operations Detachment, and support units down first.
• Charlie and the other Marines began descending aboard transport craft as the drop pods streaked through Quikangtu’s atmosphere.
• Jains landed on an icefield, scanned the area, and heard faint gunfire.

Jains Thomson sent Clone Soldiers and reconnaissance units into an underground city after hearing gunfire, where they found signs of a recent battle involving Covenant remnants and an unknown species. A drone then revealed contagious, grotesquely deformed Brutes and Gnolls, and an agent warned Jains to keep his troops away from them.

• Jains ordered the troops to secure the landing zone and sent three Clone companies, Cerberus, and Hunter-Killers to investigate the underground city.
• The scouts found plasma weapon damage, Covenant crystal projectiles, blood from several species, and no bodies in the entrance hub.
• Jains considered whether the unknown dark green blood came from the Flood or Chaos-corrupted beings, but the analysis ruled out the Flood.
• A scout drone recorded deformed Brutes and Gnolls dragging corpses deeper underground, and Jains identified them as the source of the dark green blood.
• An agent warned Jains that the creatures were highly contagious and told him to keep the troops at a distance and avoid close combat.

Janes Thomson and Chris Redfield’s forces were ambushed by mutated Heresy emerging from the fissures, forcing the Clone Soldiers to defend the Hub Area while the team awaited reinforcements. The Clone Soldiers initially held their line, but the grotesque little creatures infected and incapacitated dozens before swarming through the tunnels and overwhelming the defenders.

• Janes Thomson ordered the ODSTs, Special Operations Detachment, Tyrants, and Mechas to secure the landing zone after learning the threat was extremely contagious.
• A Brute spotted a reconnaissance drone, announced that fresh prey had entered its lord’s trap, and triggered a surge of mutated Brutes, Gnolls, and Wasps that destroyed the Cerberuses and attacked the drones.
• Chris Redfield told Janes that his team would withdraw and leave the operation to Raven Guard 4th Company, while Janes ordered an emergency defense of the Hub Area.
• More than five hundred Clone Soldiers formed a defensive line and cut down the charging Heresy in the narrow tunnels, then stomped and shot the grotesque little creatures that rushed their position.
• Janes discovered that the little creatures had infected and rapidly corroded dozens of Clone Soldiers despite their armor, and the creatures poured through the passages until they overwhelmed the Hub Area defenders.

Janes and his forces fought an overwhelming Heretic horde that emerged from underground, suffering devastating casualties from corrosive attacks before reinforcements arrived and evacuated them. Chris ordered quarantine aboard the Diana III-type, while the Raven Guard's 4th Company Fleet arrived in orbit over Quikangtu.

• Janes watched the Clone Soldiers from three companies get overwhelmed by malformed creatures, and their implanted chips detonated when the soldiers risked falling under enemy control.
• Janes's forces opened fire on the Heretics as they attacked from underground, but the horde's plasma, spiked crystals, flying wasps, and corrosive green liquid battered their defensive line.
• Janes angrily targeted the bloated creatures after their corrosive spray killed soldiers, while the remaining troops held their position despite dwindling ammunition and overwhelming odds.
• Silver Gull aircraft and Luna Transports arrived, and Charlie, Nalita, Chris, and a thousand Marines helped Janes's survivors withdraw aboard the transports.
• Chris ordered comprehensive inspections and quarantine aboard the Diana III-type, and the Raven Guard's 4th Company Fleet arrived in orbit over Quikangtu with shark-shaped company insignias on its ships.

The Raven Guard 4th Company fleet arrived, and its captain, Tyberos, contacted the human commanders to coordinate operations against the heretics. The call ended with Janes and Chris preparing for the Carcharodons’ cleanup campaign.

• Charlie cautioned the rookies that they were not yet experienced enough to fight alongside the legion and that the heretics were beyond their abilities.
• Nalita felt her nerves ease when the Astartes arrived and gave her a sense of security.
• Janes and Chris connected to the Raven Guard 4th Company’s communications and saw the imposing Tyberos in Terminator Armor.
• Tyberos identified himself as captain of the Carcharodons Company and asked Colonel Redfield for advice on fighting heresy.
• Tyberos told Colonel Thomson to replenish supplies and then join the Carcharodons’ Auxilia for cleanup operations before ending the call.
• Janes and Chris stared at each other in blank dismay inside the Luna Transport.

The Carcharodons arrived at Quikangtu to take over the assault on the underground city after the fleet bombarded the entrance. Tyberos led the Astartes through the hazardous landing zone, where Knight Mechs began clearing a path through the tunnel.

• Chris ordered the transport crew to prepare for landing, and Janes described the Raven Guard 4th Company's aggressive fighting style and the Carcharodons' support.
• The Carcharodons fleet bombarded the underground-city entrance, and Tyberos's force launched toward Quikangtu alongside Legion ODSTs.
• Tyberos and more than five hundred Carcharodons landed amid the bombardment's mud and fog, then spread out toward the blasted entrance while drones monitored the area.
• The Carcharodons' scans detected Heretics surging up through the tunnel, and two Knight Mechs arrived to support Tyberos's company.
• Tyberos ordered the Knight Mechs to blast a path through the tunnel, and their Gauss Rifle Cannons opened fire.

Tyberos led the Carcharodons into Quikangtu’s corrupted underground city, where a Chaos-tainted swarm attacked them. The chapter ended with Tyberos charging into the enemy tide with his chainsaw Power Claw.

• Knight Mechs cleared the breach tunnel, allowing Tyberos and the Carcharodons to prepare their advance.
• Tyberos surveyed the underground city and led the Company Guards and Knight Mechs down into its polluted swamp.
• The Carcharodons avoided the swamp’s grasping plants and examined the Chaos-corrupted ruins with drone and Knight Mech feeds.
• Chaos servants and Heresy creatures emerged from the jungle and charged Tyberos’s force.
• Tyberos activated his chainsaw Power Claw and charged into the attacking creatures.

Tyberos and the Company Guards drove into the Heresy tide, slaughtering Brutes and other creatures while pushing deep into the underground city instead of holding their position. Their assault drew enemy resistance away from incoming reinforcements, and the chapter ended as more than five hundred Carcharodons from the 2nd and 3rd Assault Platoons landed and joined the reverse encirclement.

• Tyberos leaped into the enemy ranks and tore through the Brutes with his Chain-saw Power Claw, then crushed the last survivor.
• Tyberos advanced while his Rotary Bolter Cannon and the Company Guards cut down the Heresy creatures, pushing into enemy territory rather than waiting for reinforcements.
• The two Knight Mechs opened fire with their plasma and Gauss weapons to support Tyberos and the Company Guards.
• More than five hundred Carcharodons from the 2nd and 3rd Assault Platoons descended through the breach and landed with little resistance.
• The newly arrived Carcharodons joined Tyberos and the Company Guards in reverse-encircling the fetid tide.

The Carcharodons established a fortified landing zone and imposed strict quarantine against Nurgle’s corruption while reinforcements pressed into the underground city. Charlie’s group joined an armored deployment north, and Chris’s agents landed at another frontline position as the battle continued.

• Tyberos ordered strict quarantine, examinations, and Sacred Baptism for everyone involved in the campaign on Quikangtu.
• Carcharodons reinforcements entered the underground city, while the Company Champion stayed behind to guard the landing zone.
• Janes ordered Charlie and his group to accompany the Fourth Armored Division north to secure a suspected entrance to the underground city.
• Tyberos’s armored division departed with Charlie and the others aboard a Mammoth mobile fortress.
• Chris led his agents from a Thunderhawk Gunship to another frontline position, where Carcharodons and Clones held against the Heresy Wave.

Chris joined Tyberos’s forces on the front lines as they fought through the heretics’ attacks and learned that the enemy might be preparing a summoning ritual. As Tyberos offered a choice between destroying the ritual and ordering Exterminatus, laughter rang out and a green light flared from the marked location.

• Chris assessed the battle’s danger and saw that Mortarion’s fleet was racing toward Quikangtu to reinforce the defenders.
• Tyberos ordered an assault, and Chris led his agents toward the rendezvous point while the Carcharodons and Clones fought off swarms of corrupted creatures.
• Suicide-charging Gnolls released corrosive fog that killed and infected Clones, while self-destruct chips prevented the heretics from taking control of their bodies.
• The Carcharodons pushed the enemy back, and Chris’s team reached Tyberos at a forward strongpoint.
• Tyberos identified abnormal energy fluctuations at a site ten kilometers away and offered to destroy the suspected ritual or withdraw and carry out Exterminatus.
• As Chris prepared to answer, eerie laughter sounded and a bright green light shone from the marked location.

Tyberos and the Carcharodons charged toward a Chaos portal after a Psychic shock wave opened it, despite Chris urging them to withdraw and call down Exterminatus. The battle reached the portal as a Greater Daemon of Nurgle emerged to confront Tyberos.

• A Psychic shock wave swept through the underground city, revealing a huge green Warp portal and disrupting aircraft and equipment.
• Chris judged Quikangtu expendable and planned to withdraw the Imperial forces so the Fleet could carry out Exterminatus, but Tyberos ordered the Carcharodons to charge.
• Tyberos, the Carcharodons, and Chris’s agents fought through the Nurgle cultists toward the portal as the Heretics counterattacked.
• A Carcharodons machine gunner was surrounded by Nurglings and explosive Gnolls, then overloaded his reactor and sacrificed himself to destroy nearby Chaos creatures.
• Chris urged Tyberos to retreat, but Tyberos ignored him and focused on a fifteen-meter Greater Daemon of Nurgle emerging from the portal.