Chapter Summaries

William proposed deploying Astartes squads to the colonies as a buffer against disasters and extraterrestrial threats until reinforcements arrived, and the representatives approved. After the meeting, William left for his suite with Serena and prepared for the banquet.

• William explained that colonies could face disasters before fleets arrived and proposed stationing Astartes on each colony planet.
• The representatives agreed to the deployments after William promised the Astartes would not interfere in colony military affairs.
• William ended the meeting and was surrounded by representatives who discussed arms orders and long-term plans with him.
• William left the conference hall with Shadow Team and Serena, then sent Shadow Team to rest after they reached the upper floors.
• Serena confirmed William's suit was ready, then returned to her room, leaving William alone in his suite to wonder whether she was flirting with him.

William attended a hotel banquet with Serena as his companion, where he acknowledged their mutual feelings but said they could not take their relationship further. After kissing her, he negotiated a lucrative weapons deal with Sharma and returned to his suite slightly tipsy.

• Serena dressed for the banquet and offered to accompany William, who let her hold his arm.
• William told Serena that their god-level connection had stirred feelings in him, but they could not take their relationship further.
• William kissed Serena in the elevator and called it a reward for her years of service.
• William and Serena mingled with representatives and politicians, and William sold advanced weapons to Sharma for twice the usual price.
• After the nearly two-hour banquet, William left Serena and returned to his suite to rest.

By the fourth quarter of 2023, the UNSC and humanity had entered an era of rapid colonization and prosperity, while Umbrella dominated the arms industry and maintained forces to contain anomalies. The chapter leaves Umbrella’s containment operations stable, with the Space Containment Center still free of breaches.

• More than ninety percent of the world's countries had joined the UNSC, while William Russell stopped trying to persuade the remaining holdouts.
• The UNSC recovered from the Titan attacks and expanded across the Orion Arm, with its colonial population surpassing 1.5 billion on August 1, 2023.
• Umbrella supplied the UNSC’s growing fleet and controlled colonies and regions whose combined population reached 160 million by mid-2023.
• Umbrella kept its conventional forces at their 2019 strength while maintaining five Infinity-class fleets, a Containment Fleet, and specialized Marine Corps units.
• The UBCS stationed 1,200 Omega personnel under Colonel Andrew Mike at the Space Containment Center, which had never suffered a containment breach.

The chapter outlined Umbrella’s combat forces and security network by the end of 2023, including the Ghost Agents, Spartans, Astartes, agents, informants, and security personnel. It left the Astartes Legion plan set to resume after a new batch completed augmentation surgery in mid-2024.

• Umbrella ended development of the USS branch and retained the Ghost Agents, with 1,800 graduates by the end of 2023 and 800 serving aboard the Infinity under Major Karina Lesprus.
• Umbrella deployed another 200 Ghost Agents to assist the Containment Fleet, while the rest monitored anomalies and possible rebellions across colony planets.
• Umbrella assigned the remaining Spartan-I Warriors, five Spartan Primarchs, Noble Team, and Shadow Team to the Infinity, while other Spartan-II Warriors served in the First through Fourth Fleets.
• William Russell suspended the four Astartes Legions plan after the Sirius-4 incident, and Umbrella deployed Astartes across its colonies while planning to concentrate future recruits within its six fleets.
• Umbrella maintained at least 52,000 B-Class agents, an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 Outsiders, and around 50,000 to 60,000 security personnel across its jurisdictions.

In 2024, Umbrella’s power far exceeded the UNSC’s, though humanity’s society remained prosperous despite emerging threats from terrorists and distant colonies. At Jiu Hai Colony on the Moon, students from Umbrella Comprehensive School arrived, including Yelena Russell and Ivan Russell.

• Umbrella’s workforce and military had grown enormously, and its strategic weapons and superhuman soldiers gave it a decisive advantage over the UNSC.
• Umbrella’s projections indicated that colonial independence movements were unlikely before humanity’s population reached 50 billion, while terrorism and future frontier unrest remained possible.
• By June 3, 2024, Jiu Hai Colony had grown into a vast lunar metropolis protected by a large AT Energy Shield field.
• A civilian UM255 carrying Halifax City students and teachers landed at Airport Seven, where undercover Marines escorted the group through the terminal.
• Yelena Russell emerged with her friends, followed by Ivan Russell and the other boys in rugby uniforms.

Yelena and Ivan traveled with Hafa High School to Jiu Hai Colony for the North American football finals and their graduation celebrations. As their classmates tried to use the trip to get closer to the siblings, Yelena quietly discouraged one girl from pursuing Ivan, while Ivan’s teammates asked him to introduce them to Yelena.

• William had kept Yelena and Ivan from skipping grades to protect their privacy and help them fit in with their peers.
• Ivan’s Hafa school team advanced to the North American high school football finals, which Umbrella arranged to host at Jiu Hai Colony alongside a joint prom.
• Yelena and Ivan traveled with their classmates to Jiu Hai Colony under the protection of plainclothes Marines.
• A female classmate asked Yelena to arrange a private date with Ivan, but Yelena doubted the girl was suitable for her brother.
• Ivan’s teammates asked him to introduce them to Yelena, and he rebuffed one who mocked her chances with him.

Ivan and his schoolmates traveled to Jiu Hai Colony for a football championship against Pendleton High School, while Yelena hoped their parents would attend. The siblings discussed whether Hia might surprise Ivan at the final as the bus headed for their hotel.

• Gorilla joked with Ivan about asking Yelena out, then the students left the terminal under the guidance of plainclothes officers.
• The school dean told the students they would stay at the Central Hotel for three days and play Pendleton High School for the championship two days later.
• Yelena messaged William to ask whether he and her mother would attend, and William said they would try to come despite having matters to handle on Pluto.
• Yelena complained to Ivan that their father might prefer time alone with their mother, but Ivan said their parents could genuinely be busy.
• Yelena asked whether Hia would attend, and Ivan said she might miss the final because she was working on her thesis.
• Yelena suggested Hia might be planning a surprise for Ivan, while Ivan dismissed the hint and settled in for a nap.

At Pluto's research facility, 049 told William that a D-class corpse had been treated to remove a plague and warned that the case was connected to dictatorship. Serena's records revealed the man had planned a massacre after an abrupt change in behavior, so William sent a covert fleet to investigate the UV Ceti star system.

• 049 showed William and the others a D-class corpse that he said had no plague, which had been artificially eliminated from the man.
• Serena identified the dead man as a would-be terrorist from the UV Ceti star system who had planned a massacre of civilians after his behavior suddenly changed.
• Halsey noted that the man's abrupt shift in personality and emotion suggested severe psychological or physical trauma.
• 049 urged William to take the case seriously, then pushed the corpse into an operating room for further research.
• William ordered Serena to send the Amber, Viking, and God of War to the UV Ceti system, with Miranda Keys in command and Robert, Kolax, and Shadow Team aboard the Amber.

William and Halsey planned to attend their children’s championship game and boost its publicity, while Yelena, Ivan, and the Hafa High School students arrived at the Central Hotel in Jiu Hai Colony for their graduation trip. The chapter ended as students from another school entered the hotel, including a girl in a football uniform.

• William agreed to attend his children’s championship game with Halsey and said Umbrella would increase publicity for it.
• William suggested that actors from Avengers: New Era attend the game to promote the film.
• Yelena, Ivan, and the Hafa High School students arrived at the Central Hotel, where their teachers arranged free rooms for their three-day stay.
• The Hafa students noticed a group from another school enter the lobby, including a female student wearing a football uniform.

Ivan's team learned that Nova Terra, Pendleton High School's female ace, had helped her school dominate the playoffs. Yelena revealed that their parents and Avengers actors would attend the final, and Ivan showed her footage of Nova's uncanny ability to evade or overpower defenders.

• Ivan told his teammates that Nova Terra had played only in Pendleton's quarterfinal and semifinal wins, where opponents scored no more than fifteen points.
• Hafa High School's students collected their room cards and settled into the hotel's upper-floor suites.
• Ivan stayed in his room to study recordings of Pendleton's playoff games.
• Yelena visited Ivan and said their parents and a group of Avengers actors would attend the final and that their parents planned to reveal the siblings to the world if Ivan won the trophy.
• Ivan showed Yelena footage of Nova charging through defenders and scoring a touchdown as opponents repeatedly slipped or were knocked down.

Ivan and Yelena discussed Nova Terra’s unusual abilities and Ivan suspected she was a psionic protected by her family. At the high school football final, the teams and cheerleaders took the field, and the chapter ended as the captains prepared for the coin toss.

• Ivan told Yelena that Nova was the daughter of Terra Enterprise chairman Constantine Terra and came from a prominent family.
• Ivan concluded that Nova was more likely a psionic than an anomalous phenomenon, and Yelena agreed not to tell Grandpa Andre.
• Yelena left to go shopping while Ivan continued studying tactics to defeat Nova without revealing too much of his own abilities.
• The high school football final drew a packed crowd at Jiu Hai Colonial City’s central stadium, where Megan Fox performed and introduced the teams.
• The cheerleading squads competed in dances, with Yelena leading Pendleton High School’s opponents.
• The teams’ captains stood at midfield as the referee tossed a coin to begin the final.

Ivan led the Hafa Team to a late victory over Pendleton High School in the North American High School League championship. After the game, William publicly revealed Ivan and Yelena as his children.

• With two minutes left, the Hafa Team resumed play, and Ivan sprinted through Pendleton’s defense toward the end zone.
• Nova caught up to Ivan, but he reached the end zone and gave Hafa the lead; Pendleton’s counterattack failed to change the result.
• The Hafa Team celebrated winning the championship while Nova left the field after her coach praised her performance.
• William arrived beside Ivan and told reporters that Ivan was his son and that Ivan had a sister.
• Yelena joined William and revealed herself as his daughter.

After leaving Hafa High School’s celebration, William returned to the Infinity to hear Agent Gray’s report about human experimentation tied to Hozette Corporation on UV Ceti. The investigation revealed that the arrested tycoon and UNSC commander acted strangely and showed no signs of bribery, leaving the circumstances unexplained.

• William ended the reporters’ interviews and promised to cover the Hafa High School group’s expenses for the day.
• Serena told William that the fleet investigating UV Ceti had uncovered extremely serious circumstances, so William left Jiu Hai with Halsey.
• On the Infinity, Serena connected William with Miranda and Agent Gray in the UV Ceti Dome Cities’ Control Room.
• Agent Gray reported finding a warehouse linked to Hozette Corporation where human experimentation was being conducted, and said his agents and three frigates had arrested the connected tycoon and UNSC garrison commander.
• Gray said the two men showed little resistance and seemed dull-witted, while Miranda reported that the commander had no unexplained wealth and the tycoon had transferred the warehouse’s usage rights to him.

William learned that 049 could control human minds and suspected it had helped plan a UNSC rebellion on UV Ceti. He ordered defenses around the Solar System and sent Fleet Zero to investigate, while Yelena and Ivan attended their graduation dance on Jiu Hai, where Nova arrived.

• Halsey warned William that 049 could perfectly control human minds, as gunfire broke out near the Control Room and Robert reported a UNSC attack on UV Ceti.
• William ordered Miranda to withdraw ground forces from UV Ceti and directed Serena to reinforce Solar System defenses and send Fleet Zero to investigate the rebels.
• Halsey suggested the rebellion had been planned for years, and William said he would travel to UV Ceti to identify the enemy while avoiding killing the rebels.
• William let Yelena and Ivan remain on Jiu Hai for their graduation dance as Fleet Zero, including the Infinity, jumped away.
• Yelena and Ivan arrived at the dance and joined their friends, then Nova entered wearing a cyan-blue evening gown.

At the graduation ball, Nova invited Ivan to dance and revealed that her father planned a marriage alliance between their families. Xiya arrived intending to confess her feelings, but before Ivan could explain the scene, explosions and a power failure interrupted the confrontation.

• Nova crossed the football players and invited Ivan to dance, drawing jealous reactions from his teammates and the cheerleaders.
• While dancing, Nova and Ivan discussed their abilities, and she told him her father hoped to arrange their marriage to bind the Terra Family to Umbrella.
• Ivan suggested waiting until their fathers had spoken before meeting again.
• Xiya arrived secretly from Jiu Hai Colony, saw Ivan dancing with Nova, and angrily confronted them as Nova called herself his likely fiancée.
• Explosions shook the colony and the hotel lights flickered, prompting the Marines to draw their weapons and order everyone to gather in the center of the dance floor.

An anomalous phenomenon seized control of Jiu Hai Colony’s ordinary residents, turning them against Umbrella and its allies. Ivan and the others subdued the attacking crowd and warned Umbrella’s fleets, while much of the UNSC fleet rebelled and fled beyond the range of Earth’s electromagnetic cannons.

• An explosion and a mental attack disrupted the evacuation of Hafa High School and Pendleton’s teachers and students, causing most of them to attack Umbrella’s Marines.
• Ivan and Yelena used their speed and strength, Xia used green air clubs, and Nova used psychic power to knock the attackers unconscious without killing them.
• The Marines contacted Jiu Hai Colony’s Control Room and learned that the colony’s citizens were attacking Marines and security personnel while Ivan’s father remained unreachable aboard the Infinity.
• Ivan deduced that the phenomenon had targeted Umbrella employees because they could resist its mental control, and he ordered a warning sent to Umbrella’s First Fleet and Containment Fleet.
• The lieutenant reported that more than half the UNSC fleets in the Solar System had rebelled, but Tina controlled Earth’s orbital electromagnetic cannon array, forcing the rebel fleets to flee beyond its range.

Ivan and his companions left their hotel during the riot in Jiu Hai Colony, after Nova used her psychic powers to stop attackers. They reached a Marine Corps company that secured them, while chaos and casualties continued across the colony.

• Ivan decided to rendezvous with the Marine Corps rather than wait for a carrier, and the lieutenant prepared to lead the group.
• Ivan tried to wake Gorilla, but Gorilla remained under mind control, so Ivan knocked him unconscious again and left him behind with the other sleeping classmates and teachers.
• The lieutenant reported that a nearby Marine Corps company could escort them to the Spaceport and that Lieutenant General O'Donohue's First Fleet had arrived above lunar orbit.
• Ivan and the others descended to the hotel lobby, where Nova used her psychic powers to knock out several crazed travelers who charged at them.
• The group left the hotel and saw fires, gunfire, and explosions throughout Jiu Hai Colony before a Marine Corps company arrived and surrounded them for protection.

Ivan, Yelena, Xia, and Nova were attacked while traveling in an armored convoy to the spaceport, where they discovered the attackers included Yuri Recruits and gray-skinned Brutes. Ivan directed the others to protect the Marines and counterattack as Xia raised shields and launched Air Arrows at the Brutes.

• A Marine armored unit escorted Ivan, Yelena, Xia, and Nova toward the spaceport to reach the First Fleet.
• Nova sensed approaching psychics moments before an attacker overturned their armored vehicle.
• Ivan forced open the damaged hatch and led the others out into a street battle against civilians firing pink flames and gray giants attacking the Marines.
• The chapter identified the attackers as Yuri Recruits and Brutes controlled by Yuri, though William remained unaware while inside the transit tunnel.
• Ivan assigned Xia to protect the Marines and attack the giants, and Yelena to eliminate the ranged attackers.
• Xia shielded the Marines with Air Shields, floated into the air, and sent green Air Arrows toward the Brutes.

Yelena, Nova, and Hsia defeated the Yuri Recruits and Orks who ambushed Ivan’s armored company in Jiu Hai Colony. After promising to help find the culprit, Ivan left the colony with the others and reached the First Fleet’s flagship.

• Yelena, Nova, and Hsia overwhelmed the Yuri Recruits and Orks, relieving the surviving Marines.
• Ivan learned from the captain that only his company had been targeted, and that Lieutenant General O'Donohue had sent Spartans to escort them.
• Ivan apologized for the casualties and promised to help his father find the ambush’s culprit, while the captain reassured him that the Marines had accepted the risks of protecting him and Yelena.
• Nova knocked a Yuri Recruit unconscious so the Marines could capture one alive, and nearby companies arrived to reinforce the survivors.
• Forty Spartan-II soldiers and heavy armored forces escorted Ivan, Yelena, Hsia, and Nova from the disorderly Jiu Hai Colony to the First Fleet’s flagship.

Ivan and the others returned to the First Fleet flagship, where Mike explained that William’s fleet had gone to UV Ceti. Ivan suspected the lead was a diversion and warned that the enemy’s real target was the Solar System, leaving Mike to prepare for the possibility of a rebel assault and widespread mind control.

• More than a dozen Pelicans brought Ivan, Yelena, Xia, Nova, and their escorts back to the First Fleet flagship above Jiu Hai Colony.
• Mike welcomed them and recognized Nova as Constantine Terra’s daughter.
• Mike told Ivan that William’s Fleet Zero had gone to UV Ceti to investigate a gathering of UNSC Rebels and information from doctor (049).
• Ivan argued that the timing of the uprising and the attack on him and Yelena suggested the UV Ceti lead could be a diversion aimed at drawing forces away from the Solar System.
• Mike agreed that the Solar System might be the true target, and Ivan warned that the enemy could already have compromised ninety percent of the UNSC.