Chapter Summaries

Sui Yang watched his newborn sons Leman, Fulgrim, and Angron and vowed to protect them from the hardships of their Warhammer 40,000 counterparts. Meanwhile, reporter Robin Mead prepared to broadcast a report about visiting Moon City under construction.

• Sui Yang identified the three newborn Primarchs as Leman, Fulgrim, and Angron while Dorn and Vulkan watched over them.
• Sui Yang asked Alexia to help care for the children while he stayed at the Frontline Base for five or six months, and Alexia requested that he keep signing proposals by hand.
• Robin Mead and cameraman Jerry fixed their equipment and began a live broadcast from Seattle.
• Robin Mead announced that she and the news crew had permission to travel with Atlas's Engineering Department to visit the Moon City construction site.

Atlas completed the first phase of Space City, a vast public-facing space hub that secretly served as a military fortress and spacecraft production center. Robin Mead and Jerry toured its public areas during a livestream before preparing to board a ship to the Moon.

• Atlas completed Space City's first construction phase on June 30, 2000, creating a facility that could accommodate 160,000 people and secretly housed military defenses and ship production lines.
• Robin Mead and Jerry arrived at Space City and reported on its views and facilities for Seattle Noon News.
• Viewers watched Robin's livestream and shared their excitement about Space City and the planned trip to the Moon.
• Robin and Jerry toured Space City's gardens, work areas, recreation zones, and a standard dormitory room for nearly six hours.
• At 17:15 Pacific Ocean time, Robin and Jerry reached the docking port to meet Atlas's Engineering Department team and board a Moon-bound ship.

Robin Mead and Jerry boarded an unreleased Atlas engineering vessel at Space City while livestreaming their trip to the lunar colony. As Liu Junhao hinted that Atlas had military-grade spacecraft, Space City declared an emergency and ordered everyone to shelter.

• Robin and Jerry met Atlas senior engineer Liu Junhao, who explained that the engineering vessel was a mass-produced model Atlas had kept from public release.
• The three completed boarding procedures and passed security, where Atlas personnel guarded the docking port.
• Robin and Jerry saw the engineering vessel and its surrounding spacecraft through the boarding bridge’s panoramic windows as viewers discussed Atlas’s possible warships.
• Robin asked Liu whether Atlas had built military-grade space vessels, and Liu hinted that it had.
• Space City Control activated a red emergency alert and ordered all personnel to return to their rooms or residences and seal them.

As Space City entered an emergency state, Liu Junhao led Robin Mead and Jerry aboard an engineering ship while Jerry continued livestreaming. Atlas owner Sui Yang addressed humanity and showed a massive, semi-elliptical object in space that appeared to be extraterrestrial in origin.

• Liu Junhao reassured Robin Mead and Jerry that they could escape aboard the engineering ship, and the three boarded it.
• Robin Mead, Liu Junhao, and Jerry took seats in Passenger Cabin No. 1 while Jerry livestreamed the tense cabin and docking port.
• Libreville's air-raid sirens sounded, and maglev transport craft marked with AECS flew overhead as the city's public screens switched to Atlas's broadcast.
• Sui Yang addressed viewers worldwide and warned that the matter could affect society and humanity's future.
• Sui Yang's broadcast showed a huge, semi-elliptical celestial body in deep space that appeared to be an extraterrestrial artifact.

Sui Yang announced that an extraterrestrial vessel was approaching Earth and that Atlas would send seven warships to intercept it. He entrusted Sanguinius with the Imperial Spear and the mission to lead a boarding party onto the alien ship.

• Sui Yang revealed that the enormous object would collide with Earth in sixty hours unless it slowed further, and announced that Atlas had seven military spacecraft ready.
• Sui Yang said the fleet would make contact with the vessel in forty-two hours, urged humanity to face the threat, and promised battle updates and peacekeeping measures.
• Sui Yang called Sanguinius into his office, where his son arrived in Prototype Power Armor and asked whether he would lead a boarding party.
• Sui Yang gave Sanguinius the Imperial Spear and tasked him with leading his younger brothers and the assault force to capture the alien vessel.

Sui Yang gave Sanguinius the Imperial Spear and tasked him with leading the assault on the approaching Harvester Mothership. Sui Yang planned to seize the vessel and its advanced technology before it could reach Earth.

• Sui Yang gave Sanguinius the Imperial Spear and assured him that his brothers would receive suitable weapons and armor as well.
• Sanguinius agreed to protect the R&D Department's field personnel and lead his team toward the mothership's central control room.
• Sui Yang recognized the approaching alien vessel as the Harvester Mothership from Independence Day and considered its hive structure and technology.
• Sui Yang planned to send five Serenity-class Military Transport Ships and two Fides-class frigates to breach the mothership and disable its systems.
• Sui Yang hoped Atlas would capture the mothership and gain its energy shields, Planetary Core Extraction, and Warp Travel technology.

Sui Yang reviewed Atlas’s new Fides-class frigate and assault craft while preparing for the assault on the Harvester Mothership and considering compensation for casualties. Meanwhile, Sanguinius and his brothers traveled to Space City, where he ordered them to follow his command when the operation began.

• Sui Yang inspected the Fides-class Frigate and Sea Sparrow craft specifications and reviewed Atlas’s deployment progress.
• Sui Yang saw that two Serenity-class ships were openly patrolling near Main Universe Earth while Atlas prepared to integrate openly with society.
• Sui Yang focused on casualty compensation and combat-unit benefits as he considered the likely losses in the coming space battle.
• A Luna Transport Craft carried Sanguinius, Vulkan, Leman, Fulgrim, Angron, and forty Thunder Warriors toward Space City.
• Leman teased Sanguinius, and Fulgrim stopped him before Sanguinius remained composed.
• Sanguinius told his brothers to follow his command once they reached the space station, and they agreed.

The Atlas Fleet approached the Harvester Mothership, and Sanguinius briefed the assault force on the plan to break through its defenses. As Jains Thomson and Rod Hoinerd prepared their troops aboard the Dawn, the ship entered stealth mode and readied its first salvo.

• The Atlas Fleet advanced toward Mars as Sanguinius told the officers they would engage the Harvester Mothership and might send elite troops aboard if its shield held.
• Sanguinius rallied the assault force, and the officers vowed to carry out the mission to defend Earth.
• Jains Thomson and Rod Hoinerd discussed the danger of the mission and their determination to fight for humanity and their families.
• Jains and Rod equipped their platoons and led them into drop pods aboard the Dawn.
• Captain Sean Rice announced that the Dawn had entered stealth mode and would coordinate with the fleet to fire its first main-battery salvo at 10:15 a.m. Pacific time on January 24, 2000.

The Atlas Fleet attacked the Reapers’ Mothership as it approached Earth, but its first volley failed to penetrate the Energy Shield. Captain Sean Rice ordered a concentrated second strike, and the chapter ended with his crew reporting that it had worked.

• The Atlas Fleet’s hidden warships struck the Mothership with beams and Plasma, forcing it to change course while its Energy Shield held.
• The Mothership fired a probing barrage from its bow, but the concealed human ships avoided being exposed.
• Captain Sean Rice ordered the Dawn and the Fleet to continue firing and move toward sector 35.67.35.
• The Atlas Fleet launched its main guns and more than four hundred strategic-grade hydrogen bombs at the same point on the shield.
• The Mothership intercepted some missiles, but more than three hundred bombs struck and produced an enormous explosion.
• The radar operator told Sean Rice that the second volley had worked.

Sean Rice led the Dawn through the Harvester Mothership’s barrage and ordered its carrier aircraft to launch as the fleet closed in. Javiero Norien and the other pilots attacked the Reaper carrier aircraft with a coordinated missile salvo.

• The Atlas Fleet shattered the Harvester Mothership’s energy shield, and Sean Rice ordered the fleet to close in and draw enemy fire.
• The Harvester Mothership locked onto the Dawn and fired a barrage, but Sean Rice maneuvered the ship past it and ordered a fifteen-second antimatter-engine acceleration.
• As the Dawn accelerated toward the mothership, Sean Rice ordered the carrier aircraft squadrons to launch.
• Javiero Norien launched his Pied Falconet from the Dawn, followed by the other Pied Falconets and unmanned fighters.
• Javiero ordered the squadron to fire metal hydrogen missiles at the Reaper carrier aircraft, and the pilots launched a coordinated salvo that erupted in explosions.

The Atlas Fleet fought overwhelming numbers of Attackers near the Harvester Mothership, trading aircraft and suffering damage while trying to reach the target. Captain Sean Rice ordered the Dawn to face its ventral side toward the mothership’s damaged section and signaled the assault force to begin its attack.

• Atlas carrier aircraft destroyed nearly a thousand Attackers in their opening missile salvo, but the enemy’s numbers soon encircled the human formations.
• Haweiluo used missiles and cannon fire to destroy Attackers, shared their shield-breaking ammunition requirements, and ordered his squadron to escort drones and return for resupply.
• Haweiluo’s subordinate aircraft No. 02 was destroyed, and the Atlas carrier formations suffered heavy losses as they fought through the encirclement.
• Atlas fleet vessels used point-defense cannons to protect returning fighters while their main and secondary batteries bombarded the Harvester Mothership.
• After receiving reports of hull damage and casualties, Sean Rice ordered the Dawn to aim its ventral side at the mothership’s damaged section and told the assault force to attack.

Jains and the Atlas boarding troops assaulted the Harvester Mothership, drawing the Reapers’ forces away from the engineers while Sanguinius prepared to confront the mother queen. The chapter left the engineers’ advance beginning as Vulkan arrived at the main control room with an enormous hammer.

• Jains rallied his AECS platoon inside a drop pod and reminded them to create chaos aboard the Harvester Mothership while protecting the technical engineers.
• The drop pods crushed many Soldier Ants on landing, and Jains’s troops joined the ODSTs and other Atlas forces in securing a foothold.
• Jains’s demolition specialists fired metal hydrogen missiles, devastating the Soldier Ant swarm and breaking its attempt to encircle the boarding force.
• Sanguinius sent four concealed Tern Assault Craft to carry troops and engineers to the main control room while he waited to confront the mother queen.
• Vulkan appeared on the main control room’s landing platform before the Worker Ants, wielding an enormous hammer.

Vulkan and the ARS First Reconnaissance Company fought through the Reaper Mothership toward its main control room, where engineers could seize control of the vessel. After clearing the landing platform and a guarded passage, Vulkan considered putting the Reapers to work as laborers.

• Vulkan ordered Second Platoon to protect the engineers while First Platoon advanced with him.
• Vulkan led the Hunters through a passage, using Pulse Scan readings to find the route to the main control room.
• Vulkan proposed enslaving the Reapers’ soldier ants and worker ants as laborers instead of killing or imprisoning them.
• Vulkan and the Hunters attacked the soldier ants guarding the route and cleared the area in less than a minute.

Vulkan’s team breached the Harvester Mothership’s main control room, where engineers began taking over its systems while the assault troops fought a worsening battle near the landing zone. The chapter ended with Captain Javiero Norien announcing that Dawn carrier aircraft were arriving to bomb the Reapers.

• Vulkan smashed through the blast door, and the Hunters crippled the Reapers inside the main control room.
• Four engineers began taking control of the mothership, estimating that the process would take at least six minutes.
• Vulkan coordinated the defense of the control room while Soldier Ants repeatedly attacked and failed to retake it.
• Janes’s platoon fell back toward the landing zone, where many soldiers were killed or injured as Reaper forces pressed them.
• Janes saw Homelander get engulfed by heavy artillery fire and warned the troops to watch for enemy artillery.
• Captain Javiero Norien announced that the mothership’s anti-air defenses were disabled and Dawn carrier aircraft were arriving to bomb the Reapers.

Janes’s forces broke the Reaper siege with nuclear air support while the Atlas Fleet retook control of the Harvester Mothership, though casualties reached as high as forty percent. As the Reaper Queen left her fortress, Sanguinius leaped from a Tern and hurled the Imperial Spear toward her.

• Javiero Norien’s aircraft bombed the Soldier Ants with nuclear submunitions, breaking the siege and allowing Janes to lead a counterattack.
• Janes confirmed that Fulgrim, Leman, Angron, Maggie Shaw, and the others were still fighting and ordered his able troops to charge.
• The Atlas Fleet destroyed the disorganized Attackers after engineers disabled the Harvester Mothership’s fire-control systems and took control of it.
• Sean Rice learned that the Dawn had suffered over twenty percent personnel losses, with total casualties expected to reach thirty-five to forty percent, and asked other captains to send air support.
• Sanguinius learned that the Reaper Queen had left her fortress, leaped from a Tern Assault Craft, and hurled the Imperial Spear downward.

Sanguinius killed the Reaper Queen, breaking the alien forces’ coordination and securing humanity’s victory aboard the Harvester Mothership. At Atlas Headquarters, Sui Yang ordered the capture operation and casualty accounting to begin, then revised the compensation plan for the fallen.

• A golden-flamed Imperial Spear struck the Reaper Transport, and Sanguinius attacked the Reaper Queen as she emerged from the wreckage.
• Sanguinius broke through the queen’s shield and protective suit and killed her with the spear’s golden flames.
• A communications officer told Sui Yang that the queen was dead and the Soldier Ants and Worker Ants had fallen into disarray.
• Sui Yang ordered engineers to steer the captured Harvester Mothership toward Earth and directed Atlas to prepare to claim it.
• Sui Yang ordered staff to compile and verify the casualty list, then reviewed and expanded the Fallen Personnel Compensation Plan.

Jains visited Rod in the hospital, where Rod explained that his injuries had convinced him to retire and spend time with his children, despite the company’s generous benefits. Meanwhile, Atlas tested upgraded Clone Soldiers in a fierce battle in Simulated Town, and observers reported that the experiment was proceeding without abnormalities.

• Robin Mead’s news broadcast showed the Reaper mothership and reported that Atlas was studying its technology and considering what to do with its prisoners.
• Jains arrived at the hospital and learned from Lina that Rod was in room 1407.
• Jains found Rod recovering from the loss of his legs, and Rod said he planned to retire and focus on Lina and Charlie while receiving company benefits.
• Rod revealed that his pension and living allowance totaled at least ninety-three thousand per month, leaving Jains stunned before he departed for a bar.
• Atlas’s Experimental Clone Soldiers fought in Simulated Town, where an ambush killed several soldiers but the units continued following their orders.
• Observers reported that the Clone Soldiers were operating as planned, though the intense battle was expected to leave fewer than five percent of either side alive.

Sui Yang and Alexia reviewed a battle testing Atlas’s new Experimental Clone Soldiers and discussed safeguards against loss of control. Alexia’s Inquis serum had safely enhanced human subjects, and Atlas planned to use it to strengthen its forces while producing Clone Soldiers capable of rivaling costly Universal Soldiers.

• Sui Yang questioned whether the Experimental Clone Soldiers would remain stable without human control, and Alexia explained that their self-destruct chips could stop a rebellion if their bodies were seized.
• Atlas’s Clone Soldiers were described as mass-produced through cloning, brain surgery, copied consciousness programming, and final technician checks, with annual production at about fifty thousand bodies.
• Alexia’s team developed the Inquis serum in May 2000, and tests found that it safely improved subjects’ physical abilities, with elite personnel reaching roughly 1.4 to 1.7 times their prior performance.
• Janice Thomson and Rod Hoinhold received Inquis, and Sui Yang planned to give Atlas’s main forces low-level enhancements within five years.
• Clone Soldiers in the Simulated Town received Inquis through their growth solution, bringing their performance up to or beyond that of expensive Universal Soldiers.

Sui Yang reviewed the successful Clone Soldier live-fire test and Alexia's updates on Compound V and Homelander's recovery. Alexia also revealed that the Astartes Project had produced its first stable subject, and Sui Yang approved research into optimizing Sanguinius's Gene-Seed on the condition that stability came first.

• Sui Yang praised the new Clone Soldiers after their live-fire test and promised rewards based on last year's questionnaire.
• Alexia reported that Compound V could be produced in small batches and that Homelander was recovering from severe burns, with three days remaining before further examinations and brain-programming updates.
• Alexia showed Sui Yang Subject 001, a clone implanted with Guilliman's Gene-Seed and altered through twenty surgeries, and said the Astartes Project was nearly complete.
• Sui Yang said Subject 001's suitability would need to be determined through practical testing.
• Alexia proposed optimizing Sanguinius's Gene-Seed with Nightwalkers information, and Sui Yang approved the research while warning that Gene-Seed stability had to come first.

Sui Yang confirmed that Alexia’s Gene-Seed research was ready for deployment and reunited Guilliman with her before explaining that he had summoned his sons to help prepare the company’s next move. The chapter ended with Sui Yang revealing that he planned to show humanity Atlas’s true strength and bring his sons into public view, while Sanguinius suspected the company was preparing to recruit the Firstborn Legion from the public.

• Alexia said that Gene-Seed production was safe and stable, though cloning was too costly for mass production, and Sui Yang left the observation room.
• Alexia reunited with Guilliman and Sanguinius, welcomed Guilliman home, and urged both sons to rest before returning to her research.
• Sui Yang told Guilliman and Sanguinius that Alexia’s department was studying preserved tissue from the Reaper Queen Mother to decipher Reaper telepathy.
• Guilliman suggested using the Reaper prisoners as low-cost labor, and Sui Yang said their potential value was being considered but was not why he had summoned Guilliman.
• Sui Yang declared that it was time for humanity to see Atlas’s true strength and for his sons to appear publicly, leading Sanguinius to suspect they would help recruit soldiers for the Legion.