Chapter Summaries

William's reconnaissance team encountered hostile, incorporeal beings designated "Shadow" on Kepler-22b and retreated after most of their weapons proved ineffective. Fleet Zero halted exploration and discussed how to handle the anomaly, while Halsey and the others reviewed footage showing Mylon's attacks could knock the Shadows back.

• A wounded person fled from four Shadows into a subway entrance, and the beings gathered outside it.
• Shadows emerged around William's convoy and attacked, but most weapons passed through them, so William ordered everyone to retreat.
• Mylon's Rotary Gauss Cannon briefly knocked the pursuing Shadows back, while Carl's Electromagnetic Sniper Rifle had no effect.
• The convoy returned to the pyramid, and Halsey told William the Kepler-22b civilization's disappearance was likely connected to the Shadows.
• Fleet Zero suspended work on the ruins, classified Shadow as Euclid, and entered combat readiness.
• Halsey reviewed Mylon's footage with William, John, Carl, and Mylon, who joked that he might have good fortune.

William deduced that faith in Athena could help counter the shadows and ordered Silver Bullets and Athena sent to Kepler-22b. Halsey explained that the ruins belonged to the Pioneers, who used realm gates to travel between worlds, and that they had called Earth Terra.

• William questioned Mylon about what he had said and thought when the shadows appeared, then realized his devotion to Athena might be important.
• William ordered Serena to arrange Silver Bullets and have Athena join the operation on Kepler-22b.
• Mylon asked William for a larger bonus if they contained the shadows, and William promised to buy him figurines.
• After the others left, Halsey teased William about Serena's feelings for him and explained that Spartan captains often formed close bonds with their AI assistants.
• Halsey told William that the Pioneers had used gravitational anomalies to create realm gates and that their writings identified Earth as Terra.

Halsey and William discussed the gates, the Pioneer Civilization’s fate, and how to kill the shadow creatures. They agreed not to pursue further research into the dangerous gates, but planned another trip to the Desert Planet after Athena and specialized ammunition arrived.

• Halsey showed William a recording of a gate opening onto a chaotic realm filled with wailing sounds.
• William theorized that the Pioneer Civilization had released something uncontrollable while exploring other spaces, and Halsey agreed it was a likely explanation.
• William explained that sincere prayer to a god and Silver weapons could kill the shadow creatures, and Halsey noted that Mylon’s faith had made his prayer effective.
• Halsey suspected that the incomprehensible realm beyond the gate, rather than the shadows, had destroyed the Pioneer Civilization.
• William asked about the warp and Evil Gods, and Halsey said they had found no evidence of either.
• Halsey advised against further research into the gates, and William agreed to revisit the Desert Planet with Athena and specialized ammunition.

William and Serena briefed the forces at the Desert Planet base on the plan to destroy the source of the Shadow phenomenon and rescue the planet’s inhabitants. The officers prepared to deploy while William, the Blue Team, and Athena were assigned to attack the source.

• The Umbrella Engineering Team built an operation base around the Gate and assembled Pelicans, Warthogs, and four MS on the Desert Planet.
• Serena presented reconnaissance showing Shadows extracting hearts from humans and feeding them to a flesh mass that produced more Shadows.
• Serena explained that sincere prayer to Athena would let the forces kill Shadows and that silver physical ammunition was needed to defeat them.
• William assigned the ground forces to restrain Shadows and rescue inhabitants while he, the Blue Team, and Athena targeted the flesh mass.
• William ordered the officers to relay orders and prepare to move out in half an hour, and John led Carl and Mylon to change into their MS pilot suits.

William and Umbrella's forces prepared specialized MS units and troops for an operation against the Flesh Mass while rescuing surviving natives. The forces boarded their vehicles and MS units and began moving out.

• Athena spoke with William about being regarded as Umbrella's Goddess of Victory, and he told her to prepare for the operation.
• William underwent decontamination and inspected the troops, Pelicans, Assault MS units, and his specialized white MS, equipped with silver weapons for fighting the anomaly.
• Serena reported that the Warthog convoy would enter the city ruins to rescue natives, while Heavy Marines and Athena would support the MS formation near the Flesh Mass.
• William and Serena boarded the Specialized Unit, activated its systems, and William ordered the operation to begin.

The Feral Sharks wiped out the Shadow Monsters in the city and found frightened native inhabitants hiding underground. Meanwhile, William’s force reached another ruined city, where Athena prepared to face a massive crimson mass of flesh.

• A convoy of Feral Sharks entered the ruins and confirmed that silver ammunition could kill the Shadow Monsters.
• The Feral Sharks defeated the creatures and advanced into the underground passages under the Colonel’s command.
• The Colonel’s platoon found pale, human-like natives and requested technical assistance from William.
• William’s Specialized Unit traveled with Assault MS and Pelicans toward a second ruined city.
• William ordered Serena to prepare an airdrop of Heavy Soldiers and Athena, who was to undergo Colossal Transformation upon landing.

Athena and the Containment Fleet destroyed the tumor mass producing the Shadow Monsters, but a sudden gravity anomaly transported William, Serena, and their units to a hellish realm. The chapter left them facing a crimson sky, scorched cliffs, and flying skull-headed creatures.

• Athena led the Heavy Soldiers into the city while Pelicans bombarded the tumor mass and the soldiers fought the Shadow Monsters.
• Athena grew to colossal size and repeatedly hurled her silver spear at the tumor mass as William’s MS units fired on it.
• The tumor mass ruptured and lost all activity, causing the Shadow Monsters to evaporate and a flood of red liquid to sweep the Heavy Soldiers out of the city.
• William ordered Athena and the ground forces to withdraw while his unit and Blue Team remained on guard.
• A gravity anomaly seized William and Serena’s units and carried them to a realm beneath a crimson sky, where skull-headed creatures flew nearby.

William and Serena were stranded on an Earth-like planet in another dimension after a teleportation event, and William recognized it as DOOM’s Hell. As they prepared to seek a way back to the Solar System, he ordered Serena to scan the ruins while they tested the Specialized Unit against nearby demons.

• Serena identified the flesh mass below the Specialized Unit as their original target, and William destroyed it with a Floating Sword.
• Serena determined that they had been teleported to an Earth-like planet outside the Milky Way, possibly in a Parallel Universe, and blamed herself for their predicament.
• William comforted Serena, who embraced him and confessed her feelings for him.
• William recognized the planet as Hell from DOOM and told Serena he had thought of a way to return to the Solar System.
• William prepared to take the Specialized Unit into low orbit while Serena scanned the city ruins and detected nearby Anomalous Creatures.

William and Serena fought their way through the demons on the corrupted planet and reached low orbit in the Specialized Unit. Serena found artificial ruins, and William revealed that they were searching for a man to wake.

• William synchronized with the Specialized Unit while Serena took control, and its AT Energy Shield burned the charging wraiths to ash.
• William used six Floating Silver Swords and the Gauss Magnum to destroy demons attacking as Serena piloted the unit toward low orbit.
• The demons stopped pursuing the Specialized Unit and resumed fighting one another after it broke through the atmosphere.
• From orbit, William saw a Stone Spear piercing the corrupted planet as Serena reported finding artificial ruins worth investigating.
• When Serena asked what they were looking for, William said they intended to wake a man with a bad case of morning temper.

William and Serena flew the Specialized Unit to Kadinger Cathedral, where William believed Doom Slayer was sealed. They began fighting the cathedral’s Hell Guards while protecting the buildings from damage.

• William told Serena they needed to awaken a man to return to the Solar System, then chose Kadinger Cathedral as their destination.
• Serena prepared the Specialized Unit for another atmospheric breakthrough, and William piloted it toward the cathedral.
• William and Serena found the cathedral floating above magma and spotted disciplined Hell Guards guarding it.
• Serena took control of the unit while William used its Particle Beam Swords and Floating Swords to attack the Hell Guards.
• The Hell Guards’ attacks broke their own platforms, sending some of them into the magma, and William continued the fight after his neural synchronization reached one hundred percent.

William and Serena entered Kadinger Cathedral to find the sealed Doom Slayer, hoping he would help them return to the Solar System. They discovered him asleep in a coffin, and William learned that awakening him would cost 10 billion system funds.

• Serena landed the Specialized Unit outside the cathedral, and William entered with her to search for a coffin.
• William and Serena followed the cathedral’s inscriptions to its center, where they found a coffin and Doom Slayer’s Praetor Suit.
• Serena translated the inscriptions, learning that Hell’s priests had sealed Doom Slayer and warned demons never to awaken him.
• William pushed open the coffin and found Doom Slayer asleep inside, while Serena stood guard with his Gauss Submachine Gun.
• William’s system scan found Doom Slayer’s abilities beyond measurement and offered to awaken him for 10 billion system funds.

William paid to awaken the Doom Slayer, hoping he would help William and Serena return to the Solar System. The Doom Slayer attacked William at first, but stopped when he heard about the demons and charged into the horde outside the temple.

• William spent ten billion credits to release the Doom Slayer from forced hibernation.
• The Doom Slayer emerged from the shattered sarcophagus and attacked William, who told Serena to leave and avoid pointing a gun at him.
• William persuaded the Doom Slayer to stop attacking by mentioning the demons gathering outside, but the Doom Slayer ignored his request for help and put on the Praetor Suit.
• Serena reunited with William outside the temple, where they saw flying demons and Newborn Demons approaching.
• The Doom Slayer hurled a boulder into the demon horde, laughed, and leaped into the crowd to slaughter the demons with his bare hands and a demon's thigh bone.

William and Serena helped the Doom Slayer slaughter the demons, then offered him free weapons and ammunition in exchange for passage to Mars. The Doom Slayer opened a portal to Mars, where Serena confirmed their location and contacted Colonel Mihal Victor.

• William piloted the Specialized Unit and used its Gauss Magnum and Vulcan Cannons to kill demons around the Doom Slayer.
• After the demons were wiped out and Kadinger Cathedral sank into magma, William offered the Doom Slayer free weapons in exchange for taking them to Mars.
• The Doom Slayer silently agreed, opened a portal, and led William and Serena through it to Mars.
• Serena confirmed they had arrived in the Prometheus Plains and contacted Colonel Mihal Victor at the Mars fortress.
• William told Victor to send a Pelican to pick them up and referred to the Doom Slayer as one of their guests.

After William and Serena returned from Kepler 22-b, Halsey prepared Fleet Zero for his possible absence and helped oversee the surviving natives. William reached Mars Fortress with the Doom Slayer, where the Slayer immediately sought out weapons.

• Halsey concealed William’s disappearance from most of Umbrella Technology and warned Andre to prepare the Russell Family’s loyalists for possible attacks.
• Halsey and Fleet Zero searched the Extragalactic System, contained the surviving natives, and left Spartan Black Team and researchers to help them rebuild.
• After learning that William had appeared on Mars, Halsey returned to the Solar System while Cortana continued supervising Kepler 22-b.
• William and Serena arrived at Mars Fortress with the Doom Slayer, and Victor welcomed William without revealing the news of his disappearance.
• The Doom Slayer reached for a Marine’s M41A, so William ordered Victor to bring him every individual weapon in the fortress.

William gave the Doom Slayer a collection of Umbrella weapons and arranged a vehicle to carry them away. Afterward, Serena asked William how he felt about her, and he gently turned her down because he was committed to Catherine and their children.

• William showed the Doom Slayer Umbrella’s weapons, and the Doom Slayer tested the Gauss Machine Gun against the gel wall.
• William gave the weapons and ammunition to the Doom Slayer, who drove them through a portal in an engineering vehicle.
• Victor told William that the doctor was expected to reach the Mars Fortress in ten hours, and William arranged to stay at a hotel in Mars City.
• Serena asked William about the promise he had made in Hell and told him she wanted to know how he felt about her.
• William called Serena an excellent partner, secretary, and friend, then refused her because he had a family with Catherine.

William arrived at the Mars City hotel after rejecting Serena’s advances, then reunited with Halsey at the iron fortress to review Umbrella’s containment plan for Kepler-22b. The planet was classified as temporarily Keter, and exploration of its Boundary Gates was halted as Umbrella prepared to withdraw and conceal the site.

• William asked Serena to report on the security motorcade, then warned her to stop focusing on their relationship.
• William and Serena reached the Umbrella Complex Hotel, where William rested while Serena stayed in her own room.
• Andre visited William, confirmed he was safe, and forbade him from taking part in future containment or military operations.
• Halsey arrived on Mars on September 19, and William and Serena met her at the iron fortress.
• Halsey presented Umbrella’s Kepler-22b plan, which required guarding the planet, halting Boundary Gate exploration, withdrawing personnel by September 30, and erasing the project from public records.

William agreed to conceal information about Kepler-22b and promised Halsey he would stop joining Containment Operations, then returned to Earth and stepped back from frontline duties. Soon after, civil wars erupted across the Middle East, and the UNSC prepared to fight rebels equipped with advanced military gear while avoiding harm to civilian hostages.

• William ordered Serena to delete information about Kepler-22b and told UNSC forces to enforce the Containment Protocol around the system.
• Halsey privately pleaded with William not to risk himself in more Containment Operations, and he promised to leave them to John and Mylon.
• William and Halsey returned to Earth while Serena and the Spartan teams remained on Mars until Fleet Zero retrieved them; the Blue Team escorted the angel and Life Fruit to Hafa.
• William settled at the seaside villa to handle company affairs and care for Yelena and Ivan while John, Carl, and Mylon protected his family.
• On October 3, 2018, civil wars broke out across the Middle East as warlords, politicians, and corporate figures formed a rebel force.
• The UNSC mobilized ground troops against rebels armed with Mechanical Skeletons and body armor, but civilian hostages prevented it from using orbital bombardment.

Tina briefed Andre and the officers on the Rebels’ forces, demands, and hostage-taking, then revealed evidence that they had moved something from Göbeklitepe into an underground facility in Baghdad. The UNSC sought Umbrella’s help identifying the Rebels’ claimed world-ending weapon, which Tina suspected was connected to the ancient ruins.

• Tina reported that the Rebels numbered close to 540,000, or as many as 700,000 with allied groups, and that tens of thousands were holding Baghdad alongside millions of civilians.
• Tina explained that the Rebels demanded the UNSC buy 200 billion barrels of oil at seventy dollars per barrel and had used propaganda to gain civilian support.
• Andre criticized humanity’s repeated wars, while Tina said the UNSC had rejected a proposal for saturation bombing and was preparing to fight the Rebels.
• Tina told Andre that the UNSC wanted Umbrella’s technological and intelligence assistance to identify or verify the Rebels’ claimed weapon.
• Tina revealed that agents had traced construction of a Baghdad underground facility to an earlier excavation at Göbeklitepe, where a Turkish general had recovered something and burned his fallen guards.
• Tina warned that the Rebels might possess a world-ending weapon connected to the ancient ruins.

Andre organized Umbrella’s forces and coordinated with the UNSC for a joint assault on Baghdad to eliminate the Rebels and seize their supposed world-ending weapon. The First Fleet delivered fifty Spartan-II soldiers to the Containment Fleet, and Andre took charge of them ahead of the operation.

• After learning William had given him command, Andre ordered the UNSC commanders to prepare an urban assault and instructed them to offer the Rebel leaders surrender terms before the attack.
• Andre ordered Mike O'Donohue to send fifty Spartan-II soldiers to the Containment Fleet, provide ground support for the UNSC, and prepare ships for orbital fire support.
• Andre told Umbrella officers to ready their forces to storm Baghdad alongside the Spartans and capture the weapon the Rebels claimed could destroy everything.
• Mike arrived aboard the Containment Fleet flagship with the fifty Spartan-IIs, who wore upgraded Powered Infiltration Armor.
• Mike warned Andre to protect the inexperienced Spartans, then left to arrange Marine Corps support for the UNSC.
• Andre ordered the Spartan-IIs to follow Athena to the war room and prepare to join the operation against the Rebel leaders and potential anomalous phenomena.

On October 4, 2018, the UNSC launched a surprise assault on Baghdad, dropping Umbrella forces into the city to attack the Rebels. Carter and Noble Team cleared an intersection and headed for the Underground Facility to execute rebellious officials and investigate unknown anomalies.

• At 14:00, missiles struck Baghdad, and the Rebels scrambled for shelter as civilians retreated to their homes.
• Umbrella UBCS soldiers and Heavy Soldiers poured from airdrop pods, attacking Rebel troops, tanks, and armored vehicles across the city.
• At 14:03, five Spartan-II soldiers from Noble Team landed two kilometers north of central Baghdad and overwhelmed the Rebels at an intersection.
• Carter ordered Noble Team to join the other teams, execute the rebellious generals and officials, and approach the Underground Facility cautiously with their AT Shields at maximum power.