Chapter Summaries

Tyberos and the Carcharodons retreated north after their weapons failed to harm the Nurgle Great Daemon, which advanced through their rearguard and slaughtered the Company Guards. The Fourth Armored Division covered the retreat at the northern exit, where Charlie watched the battle unfold.

• The Nurgle Great Daemon invited Tyberos and the Company Guards to join Grandfather, but Tyberos opened fire and found that bolters and missiles could not stop it.
• Tyberos ordered the Carcharodons to retreat north toward the Fourth Armored Division, while Chris led his agents out with them.
• Tyberos and the Company Guards stayed behind to cover the retreat as the Great Daemon struck Tyberos with its greatsword and knocked him backward.
• The Great Daemon swept its sword through more than a dozen Company Guards, and one mortally wounded Guard detonated his reactor without harming it.
• The Fourth Armored Division bombarded the heretic horde from the northern exit as Charlie watched the retreating Carcharodons from atop a Mammoth.

Charlie and the evacuated forces watched the Carcharodons struggle with leaving Tyberos and his Company Guards behind in Quikangtu’s Chaos-ravaged underground city. As the ships prepared to execute Exterminatus, Mortarion’s fleet arrived and he rebuked the Carcharodons.

• Charlie and the Auxilia covered the retreat as Carcharodons Company withdrew from the Chaos wave, and Colonel Jains Thomson ordered all units to evacuate Quikangtu.
• The ships extracted the main forces and began quarantine, but Tyberos and a hundred Company Guards lost contact inside the underground city, which became undetectable to their instruments.
• The Carcharodons argued over returning for Tyberos, while Nalita and Charlie watched; the Company Champion ordered the fleet to prepare Exterminatus and told Meris to report their actions to Corax.
• The Company Champion left the hangar alone, apparently intending to return to the underground city, while the other Carcharodons stayed behind under his orders.
• Three Kingfisher-class Cruisers and two Phoenix-class Support Vessels reached low orbit and aimed their cannons at the underground city, as a fleet led by a Sojourner-class Dreadnought appeared nearby.
• Mortarion reprimanded the Carcharodons over the comms, calling them reckless and questioning how Corax had such wasteful offspring.

Mortarion arrived at Quikangtu with the Sojourner-class Dreadnought and took command as the Carcharodons faced devastating losses. After his Deathshroud helped Tyberos and the survivors retreat, Mortarion charged the Nurgle Great Daemon in fury over a fallen Carcharodon's stolen Gene-Seed.

• Mortarion brought his fleet to Quikangtu through a Forerunner Jump Drive and ordered the Carcharodons Fleet to stand by under his command.
• Mortarion and seven Deathshroud teleported to the planet and plunged into the underground city, where Tyberos and a handful of Carcharodons were fighting a losing battle.
• Mortarion ordered the Deathshroud to cover the Carcharodons' retreat, and they broke through the enemy to lead Tyberos and the survivors toward the northern exit.
• Mortarion saw a Carcharodon cut in half and realized Nurgle's forces had taken the warrior's Gene-Seed before it could be recovered.
• Enraged by the desecration and the Great Daemon's taunts, Mortarion charged at the Nurgle Great Daemon.

Mortarion fought the Nurgle Great Daemon to stop it from taking the Carcharodons Company's Gene-Seed, overwhelming its forces with Pure Psychic Energy. Corrupted Dawn Raiders emerged from the portal and tried to make him doubt his loyalty, but Mortarion killed the daemon and plundered its psychic source.

• Mortarion charged the Nurgle Great Daemon, and their clash unleashed Pure Psychic Energy that annihilated most of the daemons and heretics in the underground city.
• The Nurgle Great Daemon tried to corrupt Mortarion with promises of Nurgle's grace, but Mortarion rejected it and broke its Psychic Barrier with a surge of power.
• Mortarion pressed his attack and drove the Nurgle Great Daemon toward the portal while the daemon taunted him about the Emperor and his fate.
• Voices from beyond the portal pleaded with Mortarion and claimed that Grandfather offered true freedom, distracting him long enough for his scythe to wound the daemon.
• Twisted Dawn Raiders emerged from the portal, and Mortarion sensed that they were his offspring before dismissing the daemon's attempt to persuade him.
• Mortarion struck down the Nurgle Great Daemon, severed its head, and completely plundered its psychic source.

Mortarion killed the corrupted Dawn Raiders on Quikangtu, recovered a Gene-Seed, and ordered the planet destroyed after discovering the Chaos forces seemed to be his Offspring. Troubled by the encounter, he contacted Sui Yang, who promised to gather the Primarchs for a family meeting and explain the Empire’s future.

• Mortarion killed the corrupted Dawn Raiders, collected a Gene-Seed, and returned to the Sojourner-class Dreadnought.
• Mortarion ordered the Gene-Seed examined under strict precautions and placed the ship and its personnel under isolation, with Tyberos and the Carcharodons' Company Guards singled out for testing.
• Mortarion initiated Exterminatus, and the Sojourner-class Dreadnought bombarded Quikangtu until the planet broke apart while the fleet escaped the debris.
• Mortarion ordered the fleet to remain alert and barred it from reentering Slipspace as he struggled to understand why the Chaos forces had seemed like his Offspring.
• Mortarion contacted Sui Yang, who said he knew what happened and would call the Primarchs together for a family meeting to explain the Empire’s path forward.

Sui Yang gathered the Primarchs to discuss the Chaos invasion and reveal the truth behind the corrupted Astartes. He explained that the Death Guard and other Traitor Legions, including traitorous Primarchs, came from a parallel universe and were not connected to his sons.

• Mortarion ended his call with Sui Yang and awaited the family meeting after learning that the Death Guard had crossed into the Physical Universe.
• Sui Yang concluded that Chaos intended to use the Traitor Legions to undermine the Primarchs’ loyalty, so he summoned his sons and ordered the Custodes and attendants to leave the Meditation Hall.
• Vulkan arrived at the hall, and fourteen more Primarchs joined him by holographic projection as they gathered to hear Sui Yang’s orders.
• Sui Yang showed the Primarchs Mortarion’s recordings of the corrupted Astartes at Quikangtu, shocking them and prompting Leman to accuse Mortarion of losing control of his Legion.
• Sui Yang stopped the argument and revealed that the corrupted warriors were the Death Guard and other Traitor Legions from a parallel universe, along with traitorous Primarchs.

Sui Yang recounted the Warhammer 40,000 timeline to his sons, from the Emperor’s unification of Terra and the Primarchs’ scattered childhoods through the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy’s opening massacres. His sons reacted to their alternate selves’ betrayals and tragedies, while the story left them reflecting on how their happier upbringing had kept them from the same path.

• Sui Yang explained that the Emperor purged the unstable Thunder Warriors, prompting Horus, Angron, and others to condemn his ruthlessness.
• Sui Yang described the Primarchs’ creation and scattered childhoods, including Guilliman’s loving family and Angron’s enslavement and Butcher’s Nails.
• Sui Yang recounted the Great Crusade, Lorgar’s punishment over the Perfect City, and how Erebus and Kor Phaeron led Lorgar toward Chaos.
• Sui Yang explained how Magnus’s warning disrupted the Webway Project and how Horus manipulated Leman Russ into attacking Magnus and the Thousand Wounds Sons on Prospero.
• Sui Yang described the traitors’ purges at Isstvan III and massacre at Isstvan V, then continued through Ferrus Manus’s death, Angron’s ascension, and the assault on Terra.
• Horus vowed to kill Erebus and Kor Phaeron if he reached their universe, while the Primarchs recognized that their different upbringing had spared them from their alternate selves’ betrayals.

Sui Yang recounted the Horus Heresy and the tragic fates of the Primarchs in another universe, prompting his sons to question whether he was the Emperor’s alternate self. He reassured them of his care, warned them about Chaos, and ended with the Primarchs vowing to protect the Empire.

• Angron and Fulgrim reflected on how the Butcher’s Nails and Chaos had twisted their alternate selves, while the Primarchs considered how the other universe’s Emperor had failed them.
• Guilliman asked whether Sui Yang was the alternate self of that universe’s Emperor, and Sui Yang said he might be but vowed never to treat his sons with indifference.
• Sui Yang described the Second Imperium, Sanguinius’s death, Horus’s defeat, Malcador’s sacrifice, and the tragic fates of the loyal and traitorous Primarchs.
• Horus asked whether Sui Yang had shared the history to prepare them for Chaos, and Sui Yang confirmed it while warning that Chaos’s growing aggression showed the Imperium was on the right path.
• Sui Yang ordered the Primarchs to respond swiftly to Chaos incursions, and they pledged to defend their father and the Empire.

After learning about his alternate self’s atrocities, Fulgrim vowed to kill him if they ever met. On Bountiful Star, Hirak Oren was rejected as an Adaptant and, desperate for advice, received a friend request from “For the. Emperor!! Boots!”

• Fulgrim brooded over his counterpart’s crimes and swore to kill him if he got the chance.
• At the Sons of Humanity Legion’s recruit camp, a Synthetic told Hirak Oren that his body could not survive genetic modification.
• Hirak’s parents comforted him and took him home after his dream of becoming an Astartes was crushed.
• Hirak shut himself in his bedroom, searched for advice online, and posted requests for help.
• A user named “For the. Emperor!! Boots!” sent Hirak a friend request.

After the Sons of Humanity Legion rejected him, Hirak Oren found comfort in an online conversation with another rejected recruit, then chose to pursue a future in the Sons of Humanity Auxilia. Days later, a senior approached him and called him by his forum username, Fresh Fruit 1155.

• Hirak accepted a friend request from For the... Emperor!! Boot! and explained that the Sons of Humanity Legion had rejected him because his constitution could not withstand the modifications.
• For the... Emperor!! Boot! described Legion recruitment standards and revealed that they had also been rejected by the Sons of Humanity.
• Hirak learned that the other user was seventeen and lived in New Argo City, making him wary of the unlikely coincidence, and then left the forum.
• Hirak told his parents he would keep working toward joining the Sons of Humanity Auxilia, and they spent a warm afternoon together.
• Hirak returned to school and endured his classmates’ whispers and occasional taunts without changing his resolve.
• On Friday afternoon, a senior from another school approached Hirak and called him Fresh Fruit 1155.

Hirak Oren met Marul Conco, who claimed to be the online user “For the Emperor’s Boots,” but Hirak denied being the person Marul sought and reported the encounter to his father. As Hirak traveled toward the hospital where his mother was, a voice invaded his mind and threatened his parents unless he followed its orders.

• Marul Conco approached Hirak, identified him by his online name, and explained how he had tracked him down.
• Hirak denied being “Fresh Fruit 1155,” watched Marul leave, and messaged his father that Marul might be part of an organization targeting rejected Sons of Humanity recruits.
• Hirak boarded the train and planned to travel to the central hospital, believing its security would protect him from Marul.
• At a transfer station, a voice spoke directly into Hirak’s mind and threatened his parents’ lives unless he obeyed its instructions.
• The voice ordered Hirak to board the next train to the terminal station and warned him not to try any tricks.

Hirak Oren was forced by a powerful woman to board a hovercraft and taken to a secret gathering, where she revealed she had mentally coerced him and wanted him for his potential as an Astartes. As she dragged him toward her master's plan, gunfire suddenly interrupted her.

• Hirak learned that the patrol officers could not act against Marul Conco, while the voice in his mind forced him to hide his situation from his parents.
• The voice ordered Hirak to enter a purple hovercraft, which carried him to a crowded warehouse.
• A silver-haired woman welcomed Hirak and admitted she had threatened and guided him there, offering him a chance to become an Astartes.
• Hirak rejected the woman's offer and recognized her as a likely enemy of the Empire.
• The woman restrained Hirak, said she wanted to claim his potential and prevent him from disrupting her master's plan, then began leading him away.
• Boltgun shots rang out and cut off the woman's words.

Four Grey Knights stormed a warehouse, slaughtered the heretics, and captured the Snake Demon that had seized Hirak Oren. After surviving the battle, Hirak was teased by a Grey Knight about his talent for cursing and his suitability for the Imperial Fists.

• A Grey Knight burst through the warehouse roof and opened fire on the heretics, and three more Grey Knights joined the attack.
• The woman holding Hirak Oren revealed her monstrous Snake Demon form, while Hirak cursed at her to draw the Grey Knights' attention.
• The Grey Knights shattered the Snake Demon's psychic barrier and forced it to release Hirak, who crawled away from the fight.
• The wounded Snake Demon tried to flee, but a Grey Knight impaled it with a Power Spear and the others captured and sealed it in a metal case.
• A Grey Knight approached Hirak and joked that his cursing would suit him better for the Imperial Fists than the Sons of Humanity.

After learning the Grey Knights had used his rejection by the Sons of Humanity as bait to uncover a Chaos cult, Hirak chose to join them and prepared to leave his family. As he flew toward New Argo, a purple beam erupted over the city and Demonic creatures began attacking, leaving the Grey Knights’ next move uncertain.

• A Grey Knight explained that the Sons of Humanity had deliberately rejected Hirak so the Grey Knights could use his anger to expose the snake-bodied witch’s Chaos forces.
• The Grey Knights offered Hirak a choice between joining the Sons of Humanity and becoming a Grey Knight, and Hirak chose the Grey Knights.
• The Grey Knights gave Hirak one day to say goodbye to his family and ordered him to report to the Sons of Humanity recruit camp before noon the next day.
• As Hirak flew toward New Argo in a Silver Gull, a purple beam rose from the city, and the sealed snake-bodied witch laughed that her lord’s plan had succeeded.
• Demonic creatures poured into central New Argo, where patrol craft, officers, and Terminators fought to defend civilians.

Captain Duke Oren led his patrol officers through New Argo after Chaos Creatures overwhelmed their defensive position, then directed them toward Central Hospital for shelter. They arrived to find three corrupted Astartes attacking the hospital, while its armed guards opened fire on them.

• Chaos Creatures overwhelmed Duke Oren's patrol, killed an officer with Psychic Power, and forced the Synthetics to sacrifice themselves so the humans could retreat.
• Duke failed to contact headquarters, then chose to take his team to Central Hospital and help defend it while awaiting the Sons of Humanity.
• Duke's team fought off isolated Chaos Creatures as they advanced toward the hospital.
• The officers discovered three corrupted Astartes attacking Central Hospital and heard them declare their allegiance to Chaos.
• Central Hospital's armed security personnel fired a concentrated barrage of Hardlight beams at the Fallen Astartes, who stood laughing without dodging.

Duke’s patrol encountered three Fallen Sons of Humanity attacking Central Hospital, and Duke went alone toward the hospital because his wife was inside. After the Fallen Astartes slaughtered Trauma Team and cornered Duke, a Company Champion arrived and engaged one of them.

• Three Fallen Sons of Humanity shrugged off Armed Security’s attacks, and one entered Central Hospital, where fighting and screams erupted.
• Duke ordered his patrol to evacuate south and help trapped civilians, then headed alone toward Central Hospital to reach his wife.
• A squad from Trauma Team attacked two Fallen Astartes outside the hospital, but the two killed the entire squad in seconds.
• Duke fired at a Fallen Astartes, who ignored the shots and advanced on him as the fighting inside the hospital fell silent.
• A Thunderhawk Gunship arrived, and its Company Champion leapt down to attack the Fallen Astartes pursuing Duke.
• The Company Champion and the Fallen Astartes locked their weapons together as the Champion declared that the traitor’s end had come.

The Sons of Humanity fought the Emperor’s Children outside Central Hospital, killing one with concentrated fire while another wounded a squad captain and was destroyed when he overloaded his reactor. The Company Champion continued dueling the last Emperor’s Child and severed its right arm and shoulder, but the fight remained unresolved.

• Three Sons of Humanity tactical squads opened fire on an Emperor’s Child and blasted it into charred wreckage.
• A helmetless Emperor’s Child attacked the squads at close range, wounded a squad captain, and seized him as a shield.
• The wounded captain overloaded his Cold Fusion Reactor, killing himself and the Emperor’s Child in a massive explosion.
• Duke watched the Company Champion continue fighting the last Emperor’s Child and worried over the enemy’s strength.
• The Company Champion severed the last Emperor’s Child’s right arm and shoulder, but the enemy laughed and praised his skill.

The Sons of Humanity fought Chaos forces across New Argo while Saul Tarvitz monitored the battle from the fleet’s Emperor-class Battleship. Footage of an immense creature on the central avenue left him suspecting it was their Primarch.

• The Company Champion killed a fallen Emperor’s Child, and two tactical squad members burned the body while Duke entered the central hospital.
• The Sons of Humanity considered the fallen Emperor’s Children’s strength and advanced toward the city center to purge Chaos threats.
• More than a thousand Astartes and over a hundred thousand Auxilia deployed across New Argo as the 2nd Company fleet assembled in low orbit.
• Saul Tarvitz received footage of an immense creature on the central avenue and suspected it was their Primarch.

Saul Tarvitz learned that a Chaos Greater Daemon resembling Fulgrim had appeared in New Argo, and Fulgrim ordered his forces to contain the invasion until reinforcements arrived. As Tarvitz teleported down to lead the defense, Lucius broke the Sons of Humanity’s lines and began dueling their Company Champion.

• Saul Tarvitz recognized that the Greater Daemon in New Argo resembled Fulgrim and sent him footage while requesting a direct communication.
• Fulgrim told Tarvitz that the creature was a Chaos imitation and ordered him to hold New Argo until the 1st Company, his personal forces, and one hundred Custodes arrived in twenty minutes.
• Tarvitz ordered the Fleet’s remaining combat personnel to support the ground forces, then teleported to New Argo with more than a hundred Company Guards.
• Lucius cut through the Sons of Humanity’s line, killing more than ten warriors and turning the battle in the fallen Emperor’s Children’s favor.
• The Company Champion attacked Lucius with a Power Greatsword, but Lucius dodged and challenged him to fight.

The Sons of Humanity nearly broke the Chaos forces after an ODST platoon attacked their rear, but a Succubus Maid turned the battle back in Chaos’s favor. The ODSTs’ last stand weakened her Psychic Barrier, allowing a Heavy Tyrant to destroy her and drive her spirit back into the Warp.

• The Company Champion fought Lucius to a standstill, disrupting the Emperor’s Children’s support and weakening their battle line.
• A Helljumpers (ODST) platoon attacked the Chaos forces from the western alley, inflicting heavy losses and helping the Sons of Humanity advance.
• The Succubus Maid charged the ODSTs, deflected their weapons with her Psychic Barrier, and slaughtered most of the platoon, restoring the Chaos forces’ momentum.
• The ODST sergeant overloaded his gear and charged the Succubus Maid, using the resulting explosion to break her barrier and drain her Psychic Power.
• A Heavy Tyrant struck the weakened Succubus Maid with a punch carrying hundreds of tons of force, tearing her apart and driving her spirit back into the Warp.