Chapter Summaries

Kaelen, Hagismund, and Moyufeng infiltrated the rear of a Chaos-held Monastery to disrupt a dark ritual, though the Librarian’s prophecy left their roles unclear. After finding the Monastery heavily guarded, Kaelen identified a brief patrol gap and prepared to lead them inside.

• Kaelen explained that Chapter Master Hurun’s main force was distracting the enemy while their team infiltrated the Monastery to disrupt its ritual.
• Kaelen revealed that a Librarian’s prophecy required a strongman, a warrior, and a champion, and he identified Hagismund, himself, and Moyufeng as the trio.
• Moyufeng complained that his Lasgun made him seem useless, while Hagismund joked that he could provide atmosphere and took Moyufeng’s blow without reacting.
• The trio approached the Monastery and found its walls covered in Chaos runes and its defenses crowded with cultists, rebel soldiers, and Sentinel Walkers.
• Kaelen asked the others for their ideas; Hagismund proposed charging, and Moyufeng rejected the plan as reckless.
• Kaelen took command and pointed out a patrol gap near the Monastery wall, then told Hagismund and Moyufeng to stay close as they moved in.

Kaelen, Hagismund, and Moyufeng reached the Monastery’s Warp Resonance Array despite its supposedly formidable defenses, only to face a Chaos Sorcerer. The sorcerer repelled Kaelen’s attack and struck Moyufeng down, while Hagismund moved to hold the hall’s entrance against the incoming guards.

• Kaelen led Hagismund and Moyufeng through the Monastery’s blockades and into the desecrated great hall.
• Hagismund’s mission panel updated with the objective to destroy the Warp Resonance Array, and Kaelen threw a Meltabomb at the Chaos Sorcerer who emerged from the shadows.
• The Chaos Sorcerer caught the Meltabomb’s blast with psychic power and sent it back, hurling Kaelen into a wall.
• As guards rushed toward the hall, Kaelen ordered Hagismund to block the entrance, and Hagismund took up his Tower Shield.
• Moyufeng questioned the array’s lack of redundancy, and the Chaos Sorcerer struck him with a psychic shockwave, leaving him paralyzed with a spinal fracture.

Moyufeng, Kaelen, and Hagismund sacrificed themselves to destroy the Chaos Sorcerer’s formation at the Monastery. On the main battlefield, Huron ordered the Ogryn to finish off the last Chaos warband leader.

• Hagismund held the Monastery entrance until a cannon shell killed him, sealing the doorway with his body.
• Moyufeng crawled toward the formation while Kaelen grappled with the Chaos Sorcerer to keep him from intervening.
• Moyufeng hurled himself into the formation’s core, triggering a psychic explosion that engulfed him, Kaelen, and the sorcerer.
• The infiltration team’s explosion marked the operation’s success as the Chaos warband’s remaining fighters were overwhelmed by Ogryn.
• The last Chaos Terminator challenged Huron to a duel, but Huron dismissed his appeal to honor and ordered the Ogryn to tear him apart.

After Hurun’s forces defeated the Chaos Terminator, Hurun negotiated a contract giving [Cult of the Gear 007] control of the planet in exchange for taxes and trade. The agreement left Hurun aware that the governor was using forbidden AI, but willing to protect him for the benefits.

• Hurun praised the Ogryn Players for defeating the Chaos Terminator and rewarded them with double rations before they scattered.
• Hurun agreed to give [Cult of the Gear 007] administrative control of the planet in exchange for a garrison, taxes, and trade rights.
• [Cult of the Gear 007] offered to recycle Chaos Space Marine armour into new Power Armour, and negotiated his annual tax down from one hundred suits to ten.
• [Cult of the Gear 007] ordered ten Kastelan Robots to strip the corpses from the armour and explained that he would not use Servitors or biologically modified Skitarii.
• Hurun realized [Cult of the Gear 007] was researching forbidden AI, but agreed to keep his warriors from interfering as long as the governor stayed loyal and paid taxes.

Cult of the Gear 007 completed and purified a suit of MKIV Power Armour by assembling it himself, using a game system mechanic that erased the Chaos corruption from recycled equipment. He planned to hand the armour to the Claws of the Stars as tax and earn merits while they fought in it.

• Cult of the Gear 007 assembled the Power Armour by hand so the system would recognize it as his creation.
• 007 inspected the finished MKIV suit and added critical remarks about the design of other Power Armour patterns.
• 007 soothed the suit’s newly formed Machine Spirit, which was eager to fight.
• 007 confirmed that the system had erased the Chaos corruption from the recycled armour and replaced it with a loyal Machine Spirit.
• 007 planned to give the suits to the Claws of the Stars as tax and earn merits from their battles.

Huron approved a Death Seekers operation against Dark Eldar pirates while focusing his forces on Chaos and Orks in the Maelstrom. Nearby, two Players watched Little White Who Wants to Duel the Ork Boss provoke a huge Ork force into melee, leaving them stunned by his tactic.

• Huron reviewed the Maelstrom’s threats and prioritized eliminating Chaos, suppressing Orks, and eventually dealing with Dark Eldar pirates.
• A bridge officer reported that the Death Seekers wanted to handle the Dark Eldar alone, and Huron approved their request.
• Players Flying Eagle and Name? Haven't Thought of One watched an Ork stronghold while planning how to assassinate its Warboss.
• Little White Who Wants to Duel the Ork Boss charged into the Ork camp and fought through the warriors with knives.
• Little White taunted the Orks for relying on guns, prompting them to abandon their firearms and attack him in melee.

Flying Eagle and Name? Haven't Decided watched Little White draw out Ghazghkull Thraka by fighting through the Orks, but Little White died in their duel. A sniper then wounded Thraka and baited him toward a suspected Meltabomb, prompting Flying Eagle to urge the players to pull aggro before the sniper claimed the kill.

• Flying Eagle guessed that Little White was displaying his strength to provoke the Ork boss into a duel, while other players prepared to ambush the boss.
• After an hour of slaughter, Little White stood atop a mound of Ork corpses as Ghazghkull Thraka emerged and challenged him.
• Little White and Thraka fought, and Little White cut Thraka's unarmored neck before Thraka's chainaxe sliced him in half.
• Little White died knowing the watching players would likely kill Thraka, ending his chance to complete the solo decapitation challenge.
• A sniper shot Thraka through the right eye, enraging him and drawing him toward a distant dune.
• Flying Eagle recognized the shot as bait for a suspected Meltabomb and called on the players to pull aggro.

The Death Seekers ambushed Ironhide with heavy artillery, but the wounded Ork Warboss survived and began dodging their fire as his camp mobilized to protect him. [Flying Eagle] and [Name? Haven't Thought of One] then charged toward Ironhide on a modified motorcycle, carrying a micro tactical nuke.

• The Death Seekers opened fire on Ironhide with autocannons and mortars, blasting his armor apart and badly wounding him.
• Ironhide survived the barrage, dodged the players’ shots, and headed toward the Ork camp as its boyz, vehicles, artillery, and Stompa mobilized.
• [Flying Eagle] revealed a modified off-road motorcycle, and [Name? Haven't Thought of One] climbed onto the back seat.
• [Flying Eagle] launched the motorcycle off the high ground and raced across the Gobi with [Name? Haven't Thought of One] holding the micro tactical nuke they planned to detonate near Ironhide.

A Death Seeker’s desperate motorcycle charge killed the Ork Warboss Ironhide with a grenade, helping bring down the Ork empire. Unaware of the attack’s details, Hurun received Governor Valens’s sudden offer of double the tithe, while Valens secretly feared the few hundred mortals who had defeated the Orks.

• Flying Eagle drove through Ork fire toward Ironhide with a Death Seeker riding behind him, but an explosion killed Flying Eagle and paralyzed his passenger.
• The rider’s uncontrolled motorcycle flew toward Ironhide, and he pulled the grenade ring as the bike struck the Warboss’s chain axe.
• The grenade detonated, killing Ironhide and the nearby Orks and overturning vehicles in the blast wave.
• Hurun contacted Valens to demand the overdue ore quota, but Valens offered the current and next quarter’s supplies in double quantity.
• Valens revealed that he had obeyed because he feared Hurun’s few hundred mortals had destroyed the neighboring Ork empire and could eliminate him just as easily.

Planetary Governor Blackwood received [Ghost Face] and the Death Seekers, who claimed their mortal troops would serve as bait for the Dark Eldar. After the governor left, [Ghost Face] checked on the captured Daemonette they planned to use against the raiders.

• Blackwood watched a transport land, expecting Adeptus Astartes, but saw hundreds of Death Seekers in Carapace Armor emerge instead.
• [Ghost Face] told Blackwood the mortals could lure the Dark Eldar and argued that being captured would cost the governor nothing in pensions.
• Blackwood completed the handover ceremony and left, still doubtful that the troops would return victorious.
• [Professional Scammer] entered a sealed room aboard the transport and extinguished the incense made from Untouchable ashes around a rune-covered cage.
• [Ghost Face] woke the captured Daemonette and reminded it of its humiliating capture, then told it to cooperate because the Eldar would soon arrive.

The Death Seekers lured a Dark Eldar raid into an ambush by unleashing a Slaanesh Daemonette, sending most of the raiders fleeing in terror. [Ghost Face] then detonated a Meltabomb to kill the daemon and finish the threat to Rhea IV.

• [Ghost Face] prepared a captured Slaanesh Daemonette as bait, and the Death Seekers flew an unarmed transport toward the Dark Eldar raid.
• Four Dark Eldar fighters sliced the transport apart, releasing the Daemonette, which killed one pilot and terrified the raiders into retreating toward the Webway.
• The Daemonette caught some fleeing Dark Eldar while the rest escaped, spreading word that Rhea IV was under She Who Thirsts's attention.
• [Ghost Face] told the Daemonette that its presence would deter future raids, then revealed a high-yield Meltabomb.
• [Ghost Face] detonated the bomb, killing himself and the Daemonette and resolving the threat to the planet.

Rugert Huron grew suspicious when Planetary Governors across the Maelstrom began paying their taxes early and in full, and the Star Claws feared a Genestealer conspiracy. He sent the Lamenters Chapter and Death Seekers to investigate while preparing a new purge against Chaos warbands.

• Rugert Huron questioned why several Planetary Governors had suddenly delivered their full quotas ahead of schedule.
• A Star Claws intelligence analyst suspected Genestealer infiltration, and the commanders agreed that the unusual efficiency could threaten their supply lines.
• Huron ordered the Lamenters Chapter to patrol with the Death Seekers and investigate the potentially infected worlds.
• Huron noted that Orks and Dark Eldar had also stopped raiding the main routes, leaving Maelstrom supplies plentiful.
• Huron decided to use the abundant supplies to plan another purge against the Chaos warbands.

Lamenters Chapter Master Malakin Foros and Death Seeker Commander [EGO] planned to identify a Genestealer cult by gathering Rhea IV’s nobles and officials for inspection. They arrived to a grand welcome and accepted Governor Blackwood’s banquet invitation, which gave them the opportunity they needed.

• Malakin Foros met [EGO] and agreed that the joint patrol should investigate the planet’s leadership for Genestealer infection.
• [EGO] proposed gathering Rhea IV’s nobles and officials at a public event so the Death Seekers could use their intuition to spot cultists.
• Foros and [EGO] selected Rhea IV as their first target because it was a resource-rich hive world among the planets that had recently begun paying taxes on time.
• During the arrival procession, [EGO] found the Planetary Defense Force’s concealed hair and stiff movements suspicious but judged Governor Blackwood likely loyal.
• Foros and [EGO] agreed to approach Blackwood carefully to avoid alerting a wider cult network, then accepted his invitation to a welcoming banquet.

Ego and Furos investigated Rhea IV for Genestealer infiltration after finding no signs of it among the governor’s guests. Their inspection of the Mid-hive revealed that the district had become unexpectedly clean and orderly, and Governor Blackwood explained that his people had started paying taxes properly after the Death Seekers fought off the Dark Eldar.

• Ego and Furos found no signs of Genestealers among the nobles at Governor Blackwood’s banquet.
• Ego and Furos questioned Blackwood, who agreed to let them inspect the Mid-hive and ordered his adjutant not to stage a cleanup.
• Ego and Furos arrived in a spotless industrial district, prompting Blackwood to accuse his adjutant of deceiving him.
• Ego asked the adjutant about the Emperor’s hands, and Furos tested his blood and found no Genestealer infection.
• Ego asked why the people had begun paying taxes properly, and Blackwood said the Death Seekers’ defeat of the invading Dark Eldar had frightened him into action.

Ego reassured Furos that the Lamenters were not cursed, but chose to enter danger to protect others. In Commorragh, Vilar prepared a full-scale attack on Rhea IV to avenge his kabal’s disgrace, leaving the planet under threat.

• Ego and Furos found no Genestealers on Rhea IV, and Furos asked how Ego’s few hundred troops had repelled the Dark Eldar.
• Furos said he would rather avoid battle than risk civilian deaths and wondered whether the Lamenters brought misfortune wherever they went.
• Ego told Furos that disasters were not a curse and that the Lamenters kept entering the storm to protect others.
• In Commorragh, Vilar punished the Dark Eldar squad leader who had fled Rhea IV and condemned his forces for their failure.
• Vilar ordered every raider squad, Ravager, and Talos Pain Engine assembled, then vowed to lead an assault that would slaughter Rhea IV’s population.
• Furos felt an inexplicable chill on Rhea IV as Vilar prepared to attack.

Ghost Face abandoned a plan to massacre Rhea IV’s nobles after Freddy reminded him the Lamenters were present, then tried to summon a Daemonette aboard the Death Seekers’ ship. The ritual instead brought forth a Keeper of Secrets, who gave the Players its true name before they drove it back into the Warp.

• Ghost Face proposed killing Rhea IV’s nobles and falsely reporting them as Genestealer hybrids, but Freddy objected because the Lamenters were protecting mortals.
• Ghost Face returned to the Death Seekers’ ship and ordered a summoning for a replacement Daemonette.
• The ritual went out of control, killed the summoner, and opened a Warp rift through which a Keeper of Secrets began to emerge.
• The Death Seekers Players attacked the Greater Daemon with heavy weapons and Untouchables’ ashes, forcing it to offer cooperation against the Dark Eldar.
• Ghost Face kept the Players firing until the daemon revealed its true name, Savannah Newman, then it retreated into the Warp as the rift collapsed.

Ego ordered the summoning chamber abandoned and planned to dispose of the Warp-tainted frigate after a Greater Daemon appeared during a low-level summoning. When Malakin Foros reported an intensifying premonition and chose to stay, Ego pledged that the Death Seekers Legion would stand with the Lamenters.

• A Player told Ego that a low-level summoning had drawn Savannah Newman, a Slaanesh Greater Daemon, who had been watching them.
• Ego ordered the summoning chamber sterilized and the Warp-tainted frigate sent to a barren planet for disposal, while allowing Ghost Face to attempt summoning Savannah Newman by her true name.
• Malakin Foros contacted Ego and said he had a persistent, worsening premonition of danger.
• Ego denied that anything had gone wrong on his side and asked Foros whether the Lamenters should leave or remain.
• Foros chose to stay and protect the mortals, and Ego promised the Death Seekers Legion would stand with the Lamenters.

The Death Seekers prepared for a possible Dark Eldar attack, and airborne Players were sent to scout and delay a confirmed raiding squad. The Players spotted five Dark Eldar slaughtering PDF soldiers, but one raider broke away to lure them down while the Incubi captain let him go.

• Ego deployed airborne Players with heavy weapons and grav-chutes to defend the northern industrial district from a possible Dark Eldar attack.
• Flying Spaghetti and the other paratroopers discussed using flashbangs against the Dark Eldar’s heightened senses.
• Command confirmed Dark Eldar traces and ordered the airborne units to scout, delay the enemy, and protect evacuating civilians.
• The Players spotted five Dark Eldar massacring PDF soldiers near an abandoned freight transfer station and hovered above them to observe.
• A Dark Eldar warrior detected the Players and left the squad to lure them down, while the Incubi captain ordered the others to continue their slaughter.

Death Seekers paratroopers pursued a lone Dark Eldar to protect civilians, but the alien killed their squad leader and found his death strangely devoid of the pain and terror it expected. The Dark Eldar was left wondering what kind of human he had faced.

• The Death Seekers squad leader redirected his paratroopers to pursue the lone Dark Eldar as it slaughtered fleeing civilians.
• The paratroopers opened fire, but the Dark Eldar dodged their lasers and was surrounded on the street.
• The squad leader ordered the Planetary Defense Force soldiers to evacuate civilians while the Death Seekers engaged the alien.
• The Dark Eldar fired a splinter shard into the squad leader, and its neurotoxin began killing him despite his life-support system's intervention.
• The wounded squad leader charged the Dark Eldar with his Grav-chute, but the alien cut off his head in midair.
• The Dark Eldar sensed no pain or fear from the squad leader's death and wondered what he was.

Flying Spaghetti and the remaining Death Seekers killed a Dark Eldar assassin, but his poison melted Flying Spaghetti and his equipment into a puddle. With their squad badly depleted, the survivors decided to attack another Dark Eldar squad and take as many enemies with them as possible.

• The Death Seekers used a flashbang to blind the Dark Eldar, and Flying Spaghetti charged him despite being impaled by his poisoned sword.
• Flying Spaghetti grappled the assassin while two players stabbed his chest and two others shot his head, killing him.
• The Dark Eldar poison dissolved Flying Spaghetti and his gear into a bubbling puddle.
• The four surviving players decided to find the Dark Eldar squad and attack with their remaining grenades and explosives.