Chapter Summaries

The French Army attacked the Alien Forces in a town, but the aliens’ armor, speed, close-combat spines, and explosive ranged weapons overwhelmed the troops. William ordered a retreat as the aliens pursued the UNSC forces and spread through south-central France, while Serena warned that bombardments and Tactical Hydrogen Bombs could not be used.

• Serena reported that French infantry, armored units, and aerial fire support had arrived, and the French Army began its attack at 9:45 Atlantic Time.
• A French sergeant led his platoon into the town, where the soldiers and the Infinity’s bridge crew saw the armored, spined aliens for the first time.
• The aliens endured concentrated gunfire, then charged into the French lines and killed soldiers with their spines while other aliens fired explosive shells from transformed arms.
• After an orange shell struck the sergeant’s Individual Camera, William told Serena to order the French commander to retreat, and the UNSC troops began withdrawing.
• The Alien Forces pursued the retreating troops while spreading across south-central France, and Serena concluded that the UNSC could not use large-scale bombardments or Tactical Hydrogen Bombs.

William ordered Umbrella and UNSC forces to contain the Alien Forces in France while he sought Rebecca’s help studying the creatures. He left the chapter planning to have Ghost Agents secretly capture one for examination.

• William ordered the fleets to Europe and directed troops to establish defensive lines in France and assemble near Paris.
• William told Ivan and his companions to prepare for battle, and ordered Athena to stand ready while keeping Achilles on Minos Island.
• William had Rebecca review footage of the alien creatures and asked her to study their characteristics.
• Rebecca said she needed to examine a creature personally, so William ordered Prus to send elite Ghost Agents into the quarantine zone to secretly capture one and avoid letting the creatures replicate psychic energy.

Colonel Prus and her Ghost Agents deployed from Paris to southern France to capture an alien organism while avoiding the main enemy forces. After scouting Autuval and spotting six aliens, Prus ordered her sixteen-person team to kill five and take one alive.

• Prus received orders to capture one live alien organism and use psionic attacks only as a last resort.
• Prus and her Ghost Agents flew by Pelican from Torfu Village toward the alien-occupied area in southern France.
• The Ghost Agents entered the woods near Autuval and advanced under Optical Camouflage.
• Prus and her team surveyed the damaged town, saw alien organisms finishing off dead French infantrymen, and identified six aliens.
• Prus ordered the Ghost Agents to inject T-Virus Serum, switch to armor-piercing Spike Rounds, kill five marked aliens, and capture the sixth alive.

Colonel Prus and the Ghost Agents were ambushed by alien creatures near Otuwal Town and fought to survive until reinforcements arrived. As the aliens overwhelmed their position, Prus and her team stood their ground, awaiting airborne support from the Infinity.

• Prus and the Ghost Agents attacked six alien creatures in the fields, but the injured creature signaled an ambush, bringing many more aliens out of hiding.
• Prus ordered her team to abandon Optical Camouflage and retreat north as the aliens fired artillery and pursued them at high speed.
• Prus contacted the command center at Torfu Village and learned that airborne troops from the Infinity would arrive in four to seven minutes.
• Prus rallied the Ghost Agents to fight, then killed a leaping alien with her Shock Dagger.
• The Ghost Agents held off dozens of aliens, but their spike attacks rapidly drained the team’s AT Energy Shields.

Ivan and his forces rescued Colonel Prus and captured one of the aliens after Mylon and the Custodes destroyed the attacking creatures. Back aboard the Endless, William saw the captive and felt he had encountered its kind before, while Ivan reported that he had sent Serena a recording of the battle.

• Vulture support craft and Drop Pods arrived as Prus and the Ghost Agents were close to being overwhelmed, bringing Ivan, Heya, Mylon, and the Custodes into the battle.
• Mylon and the Custodes slaughtered the aliens while Heya used her magic to immobilize the alien Mylon had marked for capture.
• Ivan told Prus the capture operation was complete, and she withdrew with the Ghost Agents as transport craft carried the survivors and captive back to the Endless.
• William inspected the captive and felt it seemed familiar, while Ivan told him he had sent Serena a copy of the battle video.

William recognized the alien creatures as Mimics from Edge of Tomorrow and suspected they could reset time by sharing memories through special individuals. He ordered the forces to avoid attacking while Serena searched Fiac Town for the Mimics’ brain.

• Rebecca concluded that the creatures lacked individual emotions, followed orders from a leader, and could imitate things but not acquire others’ abilities.
• William recognized the creatures as Mimics and recalled that their Alpha scouts transmitted battle information to the Omega, which could reset time and learn from past mistakes.
• William ordered his forces and the UNSC troops to maintain a blockade and withdraw rather than engage the Mimics.
• William explained his time-reset theory to Rebecca and suggested that killing the Mimics’ brain might stop their resets or destroy the species.
• William told Serena to name the species Mimics and scan Fiac Town for their brain.

William identified Omega among the Mimics near Fiac Town and led a force to capture it without killing the Alphas that could trigger a reset. As the Mimics were defeated, William revealed that he wanted to acquire the Alpha’s time-reset ability, astonishing Serena.

• Megan scanned Fiac Town and found Omega being carried through the woods by ordinary Mimics.
• William ordered the force to drop near Fiac Town, avoid attacking the blue-lit Alphas, and leave Omega unharmed until he gave the order.
• Hia used magic to restrain most of the Mimics as Imperial Guards and Astartes killed the unrestrained creatures.
• William moved through the slowed battlefield and reached Omega while Serena questioned why he had joined the fight.
• William told Serena that he wanted to obtain the Alpha’s ability to reset time, and she reacted with astonishment.

William obtained the Mimic Omega’s Time Reset ability by letting its blood enter a wound, then ordered the forces to secure the battlefield and recover the blood. The Mimic threat was temporarily contained, though troops remained on alert to ensure none survived.

• William shot his left hand and threw a Plasma Grenade into the Omega, killing it and nearby Mimics.
• He plunged into the Omega’s blood, and the system confirmed that he had gained Time Reset, which could return him to seventy-two hours before his death up to three times.
• William’s hand regenerated, and he told Serena to keep his new ability secret.
• William ordered Serena to have technicians recover the Omega’s blood and directed fleets and ground forces to stand down or return to their assigned posts.
• William ordered everyone to keep the area secure until technicians arrived, after which the Primarchs and Astartes helped collect battlefield remains.

Andre gave a press conference in Paris about the Mimic attack on Fiac Town, explaining how Umbrella and the UNSC defeated the alien species and rejecting conspiracy theories. The chapter ended with him offering to release combat footage to dispel public doubts.

• Andre summarized the Mimic attack on Fiac Town, reporting approximately thirty-three thousand casualties.
• A young reporter questioned why the Mimics had breached near-Earth defenses and accused Umbrella and the UNSC of staging the attack.
• Andre said the Mimics used specialized technology to bypass defenses and explained that they imitated their environment and had a hive-like structure.
• Andre said the Astartes Unit killed the Mimic leader in an airborne assault, allowing the forces to contain the infestation.
• Andre called the conspiracy theories false and offered to release combat footage.

At a press conference, Andre silenced doubts about the mimic invasion by showing footage of a French soldier killed by a mimic, then revealed Umbrella’s new Star Killer-class flagship. The colossal ship arrived over Paris and blocked out the sunlight.

• Andre played Individual Camera footage showing a French soldier’s squad being killed by a mimic, silencing reporters who had doubted the invasion.
• Andre warned rumor-spreaders about legal action and confirmed that the footage would be released online.
• A reporter showed a photograph of the Star Killer-class Flagship, and Andre said it belonged to Umbrella and was humanity’s largest and most powerful warship.
• Andre invited the reporters to the hotel’s landing platform after an officer informed him that the flagship had arrived.
• The Star Killer-class entered view and stopped one thousand meters above Paris, blocking out the sunlight.

William arranged the Infinity crew’s transfer to the Star Killer-class Flagship and assigned the Infinity to Andre’s Containment Fleet. The chapter then introduced Bountiful Star, a remote colony that had become a four-day journey from Earth with Warp Engines.

• William ordered Serena to gather evidence and personal information about people claiming the released footage was fabricated, then sue them.
• William announced that the Infinity’s crew and other personnel would transfer to the Star Killer-class Flagship, and Carmen agreed to command it.
• William told Serena that the Infinity would go to Andre’s Containment Fleet and ordered four more Battlecruisers built for the fleet.
• The narration described Epsilon Indian System’s habitable colony, Bountiful Star, and explained that Warp Engines had cut the trip from Earth to four days.

The chapter introduced Bountiful Star, a frontier agricultural colony protected by a small military force that included thirty Astartes. It revealed that the Blood Ravens, led by Gabriel Angelos, had settled into farming there because Serena considered them less combat-focused than other Astartes.

• Bountiful Star became one of humanity’s major food-producing worlds, with three million residents and Harvest City as its capital.
• The Engineering Team built an orbital elevator and military-civilian hub, while a Paris-class Frigate and its troops guarded the colony.
• The thirty Astartes stationed on Bountiful Star wore red-and-white armor bearing a raven insignia and called themselves the Blood Ravens.
• The Blood Ravens bought a farm and worked the fields in Harvest City, led by veteran sergeant Gabriel Angelos.
• Serena had assigned the Blood Ravens to Bountiful Star because they enjoyed studying knowledge and science and had not shown exceptional combat strength.

Gabriel and the Blood Ravens left their peaceful farming work on Bountiful Star after Captain Macha ordered all surface combat units to return to The Observer. On the bridge, Macha told the assembled commanders that they had detected a gigantic vessel containing nonhuman technology.

• Gabriel spoke with a Blood Raven about the promising hybrid vegetable harvest and said he hoped their research would meet expectations.
• A Marine Corps sergeant delivered Captain Macha's order for all combat units on the surface to assemble and return to The Observer.
• Gabriel ordered the Blood Ravens to gear up, and thirty of them drove to the Orbital Elevator in Harvest City.
• More than four hundred Marines, Helljumpers, and Blood Ravens rode the freight elevator to the hub station and boarded The Observer.
• Captain Macha told Gabriel and the other commanders that they had detected a gigantic vessel containing nonhuman technology.

Macha revealed that three alien warships had entered the Epsilon Indian System and were blocking communications as they approached Bountiful Star. With reinforcements a day away and millions of colonists at risk, Gabriel decided to lead a boarding assault while The Observer’s aircraft distracted the enemy, then left for the hangar to prepare.

• Macha showed that three enormous alien warships were approaching Bountiful Star and explained that their interference had cut off communications, including Quantum Communication.
• Macha, the Marine Corps lieutenant, and the Helljumpers second lieutenant concluded that The Observer could not hold off the technologically advanced ships alone and that evacuating Bountiful Star’s three million people was impossible.
• Gabriel refused to abandon the colonists and proposed that The Observer’s carrier-based aircraft distract the enemy while his Blood Raven Squad boarded two warships using Falcon vessels.
• Macha agreed that boarding was their best chance, and Gabriel arranged for his squad to attack two ships while the others occupied the third until reinforcements arrived.
• The Marine Corps lieutenant and Helljumpers second lieutenant offered to pay for drinks after the mission, and Gabriel left the bridge for the hangar.

Macha received a video transmission from the alien fleet approaching Bountiful Star, while William learned that the Covenant had arrived at the colony. He put Umbrella and the UNSC on a wartime footing and learned that three nearby fleets were eight thousand light-years away.

• Macha ordered the communications officer to project the transmission from the approaching warships, and an alien appeared speaking an unknown language.
• At Russell Manor, William and Halsey introduced their newborn son, Arthur Russell, while their friends and family gathered around them.
• Serena interrupted the gathering and showed William information about the three alien warships confronting Bountiful Star.
• William recognized the ships as belonging to the Covenant and recalled that Bountiful Star was where humanity’s war against them began.
• William ordered Umbrella and the UNSC onto a wartime footing, and Serena reported that the Fifth Fleet and UNSC’s Thirtieth and Thirty-first Fleets were patrolling eight thousand light-years away.

William sent the Fifth, Thirtieth, and Thirty-first Fleets to support Bountiful Star, where communications had failed and a Covenant force was approaching. The Observer and Bountiful Star’s garrison launched to face three Covenant cruisers, but their first attacks failed to break the enemy shields.

• William ordered three fleets to Bountiful Star after Serena confirmed that all attempts to contact the planet had failed.
• The Observer’s crew prepared its fighters, Assault MS, Marines, Helljumpers, and Blood Ravens for the approaching Covenant fleet.
• Gabriel rallied the Blood Ravens, and Macha ordered the carrier aircraft and MS to launch while the ground forces stood by.
• At 1103 hours on September 21, 2026, Bountiful Star’s garrison officially engaged the Covenant forces.
• The Observer dodged plasma fire and struck a Covenant cruiser with its accelerator cannon, while an artillery MS fired its Gauss Cannon; neither attack penetrated the cruiser’s shield.

The Observer and Bountiful Star’s forces fought the Covenant’s three CCS-class Cruisers while Aerial Strike led a formation that opened a path for two Falcon aircraft. The Falcons breached the shields and hulls of two cruisers, allowing Sergeant Angelos’s squads to begin their boarding operation as Macha ordered the aircraft to regroup.

• The Observer and the other defenders opened fire, then the Covenant cruisers retaliated with plasma weapons and launched their carrier-based aircraft.
• Aerial Strike led the Viking Fighters and F-X Kai in a fight against the Covenant aircraft, and the human formation pressed on under heavy fire.
• The two Falcon aircraft split from the formation, breached the shields of two CCS-class Cruisers, and melted through their hulls to board them.
• Macha’s crew reported that Sergeant Angelos’s two squads had boarded the enemy ships and were preparing a decapitation operation.
• Macha ordered the carrier-based aircraft to withdraw and help The Observer engage the cruiser that had not been boarded.

Gabriel and the Blood Ravens boarded a Covenant cruiser and wiped out the Jiralhanae, Unggoy, and Kig-Yar in a warehouse. An invisible Elite then ambushed Gabriel, slashing his helmet and right eye with an Energy Sword.

• Elites left the warehouse after scolding the Jiralhanae, who vented their anger by attacking nearby Unggoy while Kig-Yar watched.
• A Meltagun Beam punched through the cruiser’s bulkhead, and the Falcon entered through the breach, sealing the hole and knocking Covenant troops down.
• Gabriel led the Blood Ravens in an attack that killed every Covenant enemy in the warehouse, then warned his squad not to lower their guard.
• The Blood Ravens formed a defensive circle when the automatic doors opened, but an invisible Elite charged from within their formation.
• Gabriel dodged the Elite’s first Energy Sword strike, but its follow-up cut through his helmet and wounded his right eye.

Gabriel and the Blood Ravens repelled a Covenant Elite ambush, then gathered enemy weapons and armor while holding a warehouse against repeated attacks. After learning the Covenant posed a serious threat to humanity, Gabriel led his squad deeper into the cruiser, while The Falcon returned to The Observer with the recovered equipment.

• Gabriel exposed an Elite using Optical Camouflage and ordered the Blood Ravens to activate their helmet Pulse Scans.
• The Blood Ravens used Bolter fire and Plasma Cannons to break the Elites' Energy Shields and kill them.
• Gabriel learned that the other squad had lost two brothers fighting Tall and Thin Guys alongside Ape-like Beasts.
• Gabriel ordered the Blood Ravens to send combat footage to Captain Macha and recover useful Covenant equipment for transport to The Observer.
• The Blood Ravens repelled several Covenant attacks on the warehouse, then Gabriel led them into the cruiser's passageways as The Falcon departed.

Macha’s forces struggled against three Covenant cruisers as the Blood Ravens suffered their first deaths in combat. The Observer and its fighters kept the battle going, and the chapter ended with a successful escort return and a renewed sortie.

• Macha learned that the Flying Formation was low on fighters and ammunition, one Blood Raven squad had lost two members, and its Falcon had been destroyed.
• Macha ordered the Aerial Strike to escort the other Blood Raven squad’s Falcon as it carried captured Covenant weapons and equipment back to The Observer.
• The Observer’s Electromagnetic Cannon and the Artillery Strike’s Gauss Cannon struck the shield of an unboarded CCS-class Cruiser, making it flicker.
• The Aerial Strike intercepted pursuing Covenant aircraft, destroyed several, and covered the Falcon until it safely reached The Observer’s hangar.
• After the fighters replenished their ammunition, several F-X modified fighters and Viking Fighters followed the Aerial Strike back into battle.