Chapter Summaries

Sol was poisoned by a Lictor, and the First Company’s Terminators died trying to protect him. After Archer gave Sol a Soul Rejuvenation Pill, Sol regained consciousness and seized the Lictor as he ordered the nuclear bomb detonated.

• The Lictor wounded Sol with a venomous blade, and Sol fought back as the neurotoxin began to take hold.
• The First Company’s Terminators rushed in to save Sol, but the Lictor killed them one by one while Archer tried to treat Sol.
• Archer gave Sol a Soul Rejuvenation Pill after his antidotes failed.
• The Lictor killed the last Terminator and pounced on Archer, but Sol suddenly grabbed its forelimb.
• Sol held the Lictor and ordered the nuclear bomb detonated.

After the nuclear blast destroyed the Ultramarines First Company, Marneus Calgar killed the wounded Lictor and appointed Severus Agman to lead the First Company and Cato Sicarius to command the Second. Players celebrated Sicarius’s promotion as the arrival of their “invincible Second Company Commander,” while the Space Marines remained shaken by their losses.

• The Lictor crawled out of the crater, but Marneus Calgar crushed its limb and tore it apart.
• Calgar mourned the loss of Sol and the First Company, then appointed Severus Agman as First Company Commander and Cato Sicarius as Second Company Commander.
• News of the First Company’s annihilation and the commanders’ new appointments spread through Plantem.
• Players celebrated Sicarius’s promotion and predicted that he would make defeating the Tyranids easy.
• Ultramarines wondered why the Death Seekers were celebrating, and one recalled rumors that they eagerly sought Sicarius’s autographs.

After recovering from his injuries, Cato Sicarius learned that he had been named Company Commander of the Ultramarines Second Company. He rallied the command post behind a daring raid on a Tyranid breeding ground, and the Second Company prepared to avenge the First Company.

• Cato Sicarius returned to Plantem's command post and learned from Severus Agman that he had been appointed Company Commander of the Second Company.
• Severus Agman explained that Chapter Master Sol Invictus and the First Company had nearly been wiped out, and that Marneus Calgar had made Agman acting Company Commander of the First Company.
• Cato Sicarius accepted his new responsibility and studied the Tyranid positions and Imperial defenses on the tactical map.
• Cato Sicarius proposed a deep strike against a Tyranid breeding ground in the enemy's rear, despite the risk of the Second Company being isolated.
• Cato Sicarius urged the officers to avenge the First Company, and the gathered Adeptus Astartes pledged themselves to the raid.

Sicarius summoned the Death Seeker commanders and asked them to commit ten divisions to support the Second Company's assault on a Tyranid bio-nest. After the representatives fought among themselves to earn the assignment, the First and Fourth Armies' alliance prevailed, and Sicarius selected their seven surviving executives to prepare their forces for the operation.

• Sicarius presented the Second Company's high-risk assault plan and asked the Death Seekers to provide at least ten divisions to support it.
• The Death Seeker representatives argued over which armies deserved the assignment, and their rivalry erupted into a brawl.
• The First, Second, Fourth, and Fifth Armies joined forces to eliminate the Third Army after its executives tried to withdraw from the fight.
• The First and Fourth Armies allied against the Second and Fifth Armies, then defeated them by splitting their forces and attacking the Second Army first.
• Sicarius chose the seven surviving executives from the First and Fourth Armies and told them to prepare their warriors for the operation.

Sicarius launched a coordinated assault on Plantem, but the Death Seekers’ spontaneous counterattacks turned the planet’s battle into chaos. As the Hive Mind shifted forces to contain the fighting, it faced a critical shortage of biomass.

• Sicarius rallied the Ultramarines, the Death Seekers, and allied Space Marines before launching a frontal assault to draw the Tyranids’ attention.
• Sicarius led the Ultramarines Second Company aboard Thunderhawks on a stealth raid into Tyranid-controlled territory.
• The Hive Mind accelerated spawning and redirected Tyranid forces in response to humanity’s attack.
• Bug urged Reinhard to counterattack when the Tyranid assault weakened, but Reinhard warned that the apparent retreat could be a trap.
• Death Seekers across Plantem charged the weakened swarms, forcing the Hive Mind to divert more forces and intensify production.
• The fighting spiraled into an uncontrolled planet-wide battle, leaving the Hive Mind short of biomass.

Marneus Calgar struggled to decide how to respond to Sicarius’s unauthorized mass deployment, then reviewed reports showing that humanity’s chaotic counteroffensive was pushing the Tyranids back across Plantem. He ordered the forces to keep attacking while closely monitoring Sicarius and the Second Company.

• Marneus Calgar angrily questioned Sicarius’s decision to mobilize over a hundred thousand Space Marines for a decisive battle.
• Calgar set aside the question of whether to punish or reward Sicarius and asked for an update on the battle across Plantem.
• Space Marines from several forces reported advances, weakened Tyranid resistance, and fierce fighting on multiple fronts.
• Calgar concluded that the disorganized counteroffensive had disrupted the Tyranid deployment, though it risked heavy casualties.
• Calgar ordered continued battle reporting, close observation of Sicarius and the Second Company, and an uninterrupted offensive against the Tyranids.

Sicarius led the Ultramarines in a high-risk jump assault on a Tyranid biological structure at the heart of the swarm on Plantem. They landed amid heavy fire and charged into the enemy as Thunderhawks burned the surrounding swarms, leaving the assault underway.

• Sergeant Numin teased Sicarius over the company channel about the massive war his battle plan had triggered, and Sicarius told him to focus on the battle.
• Sicarius ordered the Thunderhawks not to land and directed the Ultramarines to jump into the Tyranid hive’s core using their Jump Packs.
• The Thunderhawks swept over Plantem and reached a vast hill of living Tyranid tissue, where Sicarius leapt first and the Astartes followed.
• Sicarius ordered the descending Marines to fire on Tyranid anti-air organisms while the Thunderhawks cleared the landing zone with their weapons.
• The Ultramarines landed on the biological structure, and Sicarius charged toward a Tyranid biomass pool as the Thunderhawks bombed the surrounding swarms with Promethium.

Sicarius destroyed the Tyranid node creature, then joined the Death Seekers’ breakthrough in a full-scale counteroffensive on Plantem. As the Tyranid resistance collapsed and progress passed 70%, Players on the forum urged others to log in before the battle ended.

• Sicarius ordered Second Company to withdraw after confirming the node creature’s destruction, but a Death Seekers Chimera arrived and its driver was killed by a Tyranid attack.
• Sicarius saw Imperial reinforcements pouring through the Death Seekers’ breach and ordered Second Company to continue attacking.
• Millions of Death Seekers and Space Marines launched a counteroffensive across Plantem, pushing the Players’ progress bar past 70% in two days.
• Players on the forum discussed the rapid progress, the Tyranids’ losses, and the approaching end of the battle.
• A Player returning from Mercury explained that he had been offline while retrieving a missing sampling robot from a mission.

As the Tyranid infestation on Plantem collapsed into a giant pit, Imperial pilots discovered that the Hive biomass was gathering into a colossal creature. The creature shot down Zobayan, and the squad leader ordered the surviving fighters to retreat.

• The Tyranid spores and living growth across Plantem withered away, clearing the skies for Imperial aircraft.
• Eagle Eye Squad spotted a vast pit swallowing Tyranid biomass and received orders to approach for reconnaissance.
• Interference from lingering spores disrupted the squad’s instruments and communications as it neared the pit.
• A blue energy bolt struck Zobayan’s fighter and destroyed it.
• The squad leader saw a huge, glowing mass of flesh and biomass emerging from the pit and ordered everyone to fall back.

Eagle Eye Captain returned to monitor a growing Tyranid entity while Command prepared an orbital strike, and Death Seeker Players arrived to observe it. The strike hit the pit and tore apart the still-forming Hive Lord.

• Command ordered Eagle Eye Captain to guide an orbital strike, and he flew back toward the pit while the rest of Eagle Eye Squad withdrew.
• Eagle Eye Captain identified a colossal creature forming from Tyranid biomass and wreckage, and Command told him to monitor its growth until the strike arrived.
• Death Seeker Players arrived in Imperium vehicles as close-range observers and stopped short of the pit to avoid interfering with the strike.
• A precise orbital strike descended into the pit, and its blast and heatwave overwhelmed the observers.
• Eagle Eye Captain and the Death Seeker Players saw the forming Hive Lord twist and break apart in the beam.

The Tyranids were defeated on Plantem, and the allied Space Marines and Death Seekers celebrated humanity’s victory. Marneus Calgar then turned to the planet’s difficult postwar reconstruction, while Sage Takk proposed burning it with Promethium to speed recovery.

• The Death Seekers and Adeptus Astartes learned that the Tyranids had been annihilated and celebrated victory on Plantem.
• Space Marines from different Chapters reflected on their coming separation, then joined the Death Seekers in firing weapons into the sky.
• Marneus Calgar asked Sage Takk how quickly Plantem could regain its former production capacity, and Takk estimated at least two hundred years.
• Takk suggested burning Plantem with Promethium to remove Tyranid remains and shorten recovery to about fifty years.
• Takk asked Robert about Pedetia’s environment, and Robert insisted his world did not need such drastic treatment.

At Mercury Base, Liu Peiqie regretted missing the orbital bombardment while repairing his robot, then saw a silver humanoid flash enter the information terminal. Long March found no evidence of the visitor and locked down the base while Liu Peiqie awaited rescue.

• Liu Peiqie read a forum post celebrating the victory in Ultramar and watched a video of a Lance destroying a behemoth.
• Liu Peiqie complained that repairing his robot had made him miss the orbital bombardment and said he felt lonely on Mercury.
• Liu Peiqie saw a silver, humanoid figure rush into the information terminal and told Long March what he had witnessed.
• Long March said its footage showed no sign of the silver figure, reported Liu Peiqie's condition to the Earth Space Center, and locked down the base.
• Liu Peiqie accepted that he might have hallucinated and sat quietly while Long March kept him company.

Bit successfully projected part of his power into an information terminal in Earth's universe, but decided to keep his main body in the Warp and proceed with his plans. Meanwhile, a Necron appeared before Marneus Calgar and more than a hundred Chapter Masters to threaten the galaxy with a coming awakening, leaving Calgar enraged.

• Bit celebrated his first successful projection into Earth's universe and judged that moving his entire power there would be too dangerous.
• Bit decided to keep his core in the Warp while using his new avatar to intervene more boldly and gather information.
• During a strategic meeting aboard the Glory of Macragge, a silver Necron appeared in Marneus Calgar's seat and displaced him to the side.
• The Necron declared that the Karrakur Twin Stars' supernova would awaken the Menak Dynasty, which would purge all other life.
• After the Necron vanished and the meeting hall returned to normal, Calgar smashed the conference table in fury.

Robert received gifts from people hoping to gain influence through his connection to Marneus Calgar, who then came to warn him that a silver-skeleton Xenos had threatened to destroy the Eastern Galactic Quadrant. Robert admitted his prophetic abilities and recommended evacuating and abandoning the Orpheus Sector, leaving Calgar to consider a politically unacceptable plan.

• Robert accepted another bottle of liquor and explained that people were courting him because they believed Calgar might march on Terra with a vast Space Marine force.
• Marneus Calgar visited Robert and reported that a silver-skeleton Xenos had announced its intention to destroy the Eastern Galactic Quadrant, beginning with the Orpheus Sector.
• Robert asked about the Karrakur Twin Stars, and Calgar questioned him about the Death Seekers' ability to foresee the future.
• Robert admitted that his prophecy said the Necrons would awaken later, triggered by the Karrakur Twin Stars' supernova, and that Calgar's encounter was supposed to involve the Orpheus Sector Governor.
• Robert advised evacuating the Orpheus Sector, issuing a sector-level Exterminatus order, and building a defensive line in the neighboring Eurydice Sector.

Robert warned Calgar that the Necrons in the Orpheus Sector were more dangerous than the Tyranids and explained the heavy sacrifices required to defeat them. Calgar rejected a limited decapitation strike and committed to full mobilization and attacks on every high-ranking Necron leader, determined to drive them from Orpheus.

• Calgar questioned whether the Necron threat was greater than the Tyranids, and Robert confirmed that the Necrons they faced were more dangerous.
• Robert outlined a costly campaign requiring a fleet twice the current size, up to two hundred thousand Adeptus Astartes, and tens of millions of mortal troops; Calgar rejected the losses as beyond the Imperium's means.
• Robert proposed boarding the Necron command ship to kill its supreme commander and then withdrawing, but Calgar called the plan dependent on Xenos mercy and respect.
• Calgar suggested combining full mobilization with a fallback boarding strike, but Robert warned that hesitation would be fatal because Necron ships could maneuver at light speed and their forces could counter psychic attacks.
• Robert advised digging deep defenses, storing supplies underground, and using close-range assaults against Necron troops; he said Lasguns were ineffective against Living Metal.
• Calgar ordered full mobilization and attacks on all Necron leaders using orbital drop pods, Boarding Torpedoes, and Thunderhawk Gunships, vowing to drive the Necrons out of Orpheus.

Kalibrun Langen’s relentless nightmares drove him to summon Orpheus Sector’s military forces to Amara Prime and broadcast desperate distress calls, which neighboring sectors ignored. Just as he considered suicide, Governor Robert of Pedetia arrived with the Death Seekers as reinforcements.

• Kalibrun Langen suffered recurring nightmares of skeletal kings forcing him to eat raw flesh, and a Psionic Master found no detectable psychic influence.
• Langen summoned a Tech-Priest and tried stimulants to stay awake, but neither stopped the nightmares.
• Langen built churches across Orpheus and prayed to the God-Emperor, but his nightmares grew clearer and more brutal.
• Langen ordered all Orpheus military forces to gather on Amara Prime and sent distress calls across nearby sectors, disrupting the sector and receiving no reinforcements.
• Langen began considering suicide, but Governor Robert of Pedetia arrived at Amara Prime aboard his flagship with the Death Seekers.

Robert investigated Governor Langen’s nightmares and concluded that Chaos was behind the Necron threat, then led a raid that killed Langen and exposed the cult conspiracy. With Orpheus’s defenses under his control, Robert ordered extensive tunnel networks dug across Amara to fortify the world.

• Langen begged Robert to deal with a newly appeared Xenos and described his terrifying nightmares.
• Robert suspected the Necrons had awakened early and ordered a task force to investigate the Karrakur Twin Stars.
• Robert blamed Chaos and suspected Tzeentch was orchestrating the threat, then learned that the psyker Master Vella had been advising Langen.
• Robert left the cathedral and returned an hour later with Death Seekers, Inquisitors, and Battle Sisters, who raided the building and killed Langen.
• Robert took control of Orpheus’s defenses and ordered forces to excavate vast tunnel networks across Amara.

Robert reported to Calgar that Chaos might be behind the Necrons’ early awakening in the Orpheus Sector, while preparations continued to assess the Twin Stars and reinforce Amara Prime. The screening found almost no cultists, and Robert remained unconcerned about leaving Pedetia or the Angels of Death’s insistence on returning to their homeworld.

• Robert used the Ansible to tell Calgar that Chaos was likely stirring in Orpheus and that the governor’s palace had been steeped in Chaos worship.
• Robert reported that the Angels of Death, Death Seekers, Inquisitor, and Battle Sisters were screening the nobility, while Mechanicus personnel investigated the Twin Stars and construction began on Amara Prime.
• Robert warned that splitting forces to defend the Angels of Death’s homeworld would leave it vulnerable to destruction by its moon.
• Calgar asked whether Robert feared losing power on Pedetia, and Robert said he would welcome someone taking over the governorship.
• [Ruthless Assassin] reported that the screening found few real cultists and that Master Vella had merely exploited the desperate Sector Governor.
• Robert, Calgar, and [Ruthless Assassin] laughed over the governor’s apparent stupidity.

The High Lords debated Calgar’s gathering of more than a hundred thousand Space Marines, but decided they were powerless to challenge him and should maintain the status quo. They approved a resolution to support the Orpheus Sector, though the Abbot of the Astropatic Order did not know where it was.

• Ers accused Calgar of using new threats to keep the Chapter Alliance together and demanded that the High Lords respond.
• The Lord Commander and Pontiff Ritra argued that they lacked concrete information and could not act effectively against Calgar.
• The Master of the Assassinorum said it was already too late to stop Calgar, and Ritra concluded that they should maintain the status quo.
• The Abbot of the Astropatic Order woke and shouted that they must support Orpheus.
• The High Lords approved a resolution to support the Orpheus Sector, and the Abbot quietly asked the Navigator Emissary where Orpheus was.

Fluttering Moth brought Tianxia Daji and the other Squad Leaders to distribute nutrition bars to starving residents of the Mid-hive, revealing how the burden of the war effort had worsened their suffering. He warned that with Chaos stirring and Calgar’s Secondary Review approaching, the Players would be left responsible for addressing the hive’s problems.

• Fluttering Moth led the Squad Leaders to the Mid-hive and organized them to distribute nutrition bars to the starving residents.
• A resident begged to take food to his starving sister, but a Player made him eat the bar there to keep him from being robbed.
• Tianxia Daji learned that troop transfers to Amara Prime had left Mid-hive residents without even Corpse Starch.
• Fluttering Moth explained that stopping the Players’ food allotment would not reduce production quotas and would only increase the nobles’ share.
• Fluttering Moth said the coming Secondary Review and Chaos infiltration made the hive’s problems urgent, and that the Players would have to handle them.