Chapter Summaries

Alvin defended his plan to delay Leviathan in the Stygian System so he could evacuate its population and resources to strengthen the Crimson Defense Line. Dante declared that the Emperor and Sanguinius supported the plan, and the Blade of Courage shone in Alvin’s hands as the Blood Angels swore to defend Baal and the Stygian System.

• Alvin explained to the Blood Angels’ Chapter Masters that holding the Stygian System for a month would let him evacuate its people, industry, and resources for the long war.
• The Chapter Masters questioned whether Alvin could evacuate so much in time, and Dante said he could because the Emperor’s War Apostle had brought a prophecy.
• Dante declared that Sanguinius also supported the plan, angering the Chapter Masters, then told Alvin to take up the Blade of Courage.
• The Blade of Courage burst into radiance when Alvin lifted it, and Dante proclaimed the light proof of Sanguinius’s will.
• Dante rallied the Blood Angels, who swore to defend Baal and the Stygian System and never fail Sanguinius’s blood.

After the Crimson Conference, Dante and Alvin prepared defenses against Hive Fleet Leviathan and began evacuating the Stygian System. Dante revealed that Alvin would find the reason for his changed attitude in the Black Zone, where a pact tied to Alvin’s ancestor awaited him.

• Dante established a plan to delay Leviathan with strongholds across Ixoi, Lesios, and Tartarus while Alvin evacuated people and resources and a second defense line was built.
• Alvin watched Blood Angels successors depart to sacrifice themselves for the month the plan required, and Dante urged him not to waste their lives.
• Dante gave Alvin the Blood Guard to help overcome resistance to the evacuation, then remained on Baal.
• Alvin asked what Dante had discussed with the War Apostle, and Dante said he had asked when he could finally rest but was told he still had a mission to complete.
• Dante told Alvin to seek the answer in the Black Zone and find the pact connected to the Valshius Patriarch’s ancient oath to the Emperor.

Alvin returned to Higanbana and summoned its Noble Lords to organize the evacuation ahead of the Tyranid threat. He left the council under the protection of Dante’s Blood Guard, ordering the nobles to fight on the front lines so the population and resources could be evacuated.

• Alvin wondered whether the Valshius Family’s covenant with the Emperor concerned its lost Men of Gold treasure, but Penny could not explain what she had told Dante.
• Alvin and Penny returned to the Stygian System, where Planetary General Dresster thanked Alvin and worried about persuading Higanbana’s nobles to leave their assets behind.
• Alvin convened Higanbana’s Noble Council, and the Noble Lords discussed evacuating their personal estates without mentioning the common people.
• When a Noble Lord protested that nobles should be evacuated first and pointed at Alvin, Tuck severed his arm and a Blood Guard killed him after he called for an attack.
• Alvin invoked the Lord of Baal’s authority and ordered the Noble Lords to use their hoarded wealth and military equipment to fight on the front lines while the population and resources were evacuated.

Alvin forced Higanbana’s nobles to help resist the Tyranid Swarm and evacuate the population and industry, then exposed their threats as futile. He ordered the Blood Guard to kill every noble in the conference hall, an event later remembered as the Bloody Conference.

• Alvin told the nobles they would stay behind to help resist the Tyranids while the population and industry were evacuated first.
• When several nobles protested and threatened to appeal to Terra, Alvin shot them dead and silenced the rest.
• A kneeling noble begged Alvin to let the nobles’ children evacuate, but Alvin rejected his plea and refused their demands.
• Old Knight Jazz and other nobles threatened to obstruct the evacuation, so Alvin struck Jazz and revealed that his men had already attacked their families.
• Alvin ordered the Blood Guard to kill every noble in the hall, and the slaughter later became known as the Bloody Conference.

Alvin and General Droste forced Higanbana’s nobles and their guards into suicide and penal battalions while arranging the evacuation of the planet’s people and resources. Alvin prepared to move Higanbana’s civilization to habitable planets in the Alien World and wrote Dante a letter about what he had done.

• Alvin ordered Droste to report that the nobles had volunteered to fight the Tyranids, and proposed fitting them with suicide bombs.
• Droste suggested assigning Commissars to prevent the nobles from resisting, and Alvin agreed to supply millions of bombs.
• The Planetary Defense Force and Cadian Shock Troops forced hundreds of thousands of nobles into the suicide corps, while the Blood Angels, Silver Templars, and Punishers disarmed millions of noble guards and sent them to penal battalions.
• Alvin took control of Higanbana’s estates and factories, then arranged to evacuate its population, resources, minerals, and industry through a portal to habitable planets owned by Weyland Corporation.
• Alvin wrote Dante a letter explaining what had happened, delaying the news so Dante would not see it through an Astropathic Message.

Dante learned that Alvin had killed all 870,000 nobles on Higanbana and appealed to Robert Guilliman to handle the political fallout. Alvin arrived at Aeros to evacuate its vital Promethium supplies, only to discover that Hive Fleet Leviathan had already breached Tartarus’s defenses and launched a massive attack.

• Dante read a letter reporting that all 870,000 nobles on Higanbana had volunteered to fight the Tyranids and died, and he feared the political consequences of Alvin’s actions.
• Dante wrote to Robert Guilliman, asking the Primarch to intervene in the crisis over the slaughtered nobles.
• Alvin completed the evacuation of Higanbana’s people and industrial resources to a habitable planet controlled by Weyland.
• Alvin and his team arrived at Aeros, a major Promethium-producing world guarded by the Cadian 1433rd Air Wing under Henrig Janster.
• Alvin saw a colossal Hive Ship and swarms of Tyranid bio-ships attacking Aeros, revealing that Tartarus’s defensive system had collapsed.

With Hive Fleet Leviathan overrunning defenses and threatening Aeros, Alvin ordered an emergency Promethium stockpile before the Tyranids arrived. Torzak revealed that Pertita might contain a Hyperdimensional Cube holding a sealed C'tan, and Alvin decided to go there.

• Alvin learned that Tartarus was near collapse, the Blood Angels and Flesh Tearers had withdrawn, and Tyranids were attacking Aeros's mining platforms.
• Colonel Jansett told Alvin that gathering enough Promethium would take at least fourteen days, so Alvin ordered the fleet to secure Aeros's airspace and the workers to mine as much as possible within three days.
• Alvin considered using Transformers to speed up mining and asked Torzak to lend him an army, but Torzak refused.
• Torzak told Alvin that Pertita contained a cage known as a Hyperdimensional Cube, which could seal a C'tan.
• Alvin decided to take the fleet to Pertita in search of the Hyperdimensional Cube.

Alvin prepared to travel to Pertita to find the Hyperdimensional Cube while the Tyran threatened Aeros. He left Carroll in charge of the Void Claw and persuaded Torzak to accompany him, as the device might imprison a dangerous Star God Fragment.

• Alvin learned from Colonel Jansett that Aeros could hold out for only three days, or five with reinforcements, and ordered the defenders to hold for five days.
• Alvin gave Carroll control of the Void Claw and tasked him with securing the route between Aeros and Pertita in case Alvin needed to retreat.
• Alvin requisitioned several thousand specialized mining machines from the Transformers' world and sent them to Aeros to increase Promethium production.
• Alvin told Torzak they were setting out for Pertita to find the Hyperdimensional Cube, and Torzak agreed to go after Alvin warned he might accidentally release its imprisoned Star God Fragment.

Alvin, Torzak, and Hilda traveled to Pertita to investigate a Necron prison that might hold a C'tan fragment, but they discovered that the Void Dragon, Magradros, was waiting in the planet's storm clouds. Their spacecraft lost power and began crashing toward the surface.

• Alvin brought Torzak and Hilda to Pertita, where Torzak warned that an escaped C'tan might be waiting for them because the C'tan were vindictive.
• As their spacecraft entered the planet's storm clouds, Alvin saw a furious face formed from lightning, though Hilda and Torzak initially saw nothing.
• Alvin asked Torzak whether he could reseal an escaped C'tan, and Torzak said he could only manage a single weakened fragment.
• Hilda spotted the shifting face in the clouds, and Torzak identified it as Magradros, the Void Dragon.
• The Void Dragon's presence disabled the spacecraft's instruments and engines, sending it plunging toward Pertita.

After their spacecraft crashed into a canyon on Pertita, Alvin learned that Trazyn had ordered Torzak to bring him to the Void Dragon’s prison, though Torzak claimed he had not known what was imprisoned there. The group decided to descend into the fissure, where Alvin felt something calling to him.

• Torzak rescued Alvin and Hilda from their exploding spacecraft with a Stasis Field after hiding in his Pocket Dimension during its fall.
• Alvin confronted Torzak, who admitted Trazyn had ordered him to bring Alvin to Pertita but insisted he had not known the Void Dragon was imprisoned there.
• Hilda reported that abnormal gravity prevented them from climbing out and that their psychic powers weakened deeper in the canyon.
• Torzak argued that the Void Dragon had not escaped the Hyperdimensional Cube, and said he trusted Trazyn to protect Alvin as a valued specimen.
• Alvin agreed to follow the descending path into the fissure after sensing something calling to him.

Alvin, Hilda, and Torzak reached the Blackstone Citadel, where Torzak opened a way into the prison holding the Void Dragon. They found Magradros inside, and it addressed Alvin with an offer to make a deal.

• Hilda led Alvin and Torzak through the canyon to the Blackstone Citadel, where Torzak explained its history as a prison for the Void Dragon.
• Torzak checked the citadel’s runes, confirmed the Void Dragon remained imprisoned in the Hyperdimensional Cube, and opened an entrance.
• Torzak warned Alvin and Hilda to stay close and avoid the deadly traps as they entered the citadel.
• Alvin saw the imprisoned Void Dragon, Magradros, bound inside a strange structure.
• Magradros fixed its gaze on Alvin and said it wanted to make a deal with him.

Alvin was teleported to Magradros, the imprisoned Void Dragon, who tried to trick him into becoming a vessel and freeing him. Alvin saw through the scheme and offered to negotiate a deal, and Magradros agreed.

• Alvin found himself alone before Magradros in the Blackstone Citadel.
• Magradros promised Alvin power and an empire if he released him, while secretly planning to possess Alvin's body.
• Alvin pretended to be tempted, then stopped just outside Magradros's reach and mocked him for nearly falling for the deception.
• Magradros erupted in fury, but the Necrons' restraints drained his energy and suppressed his struggles.
• Alvin offered to free Magradros and find him a vessel in exchange for a deal, and Magradros agreed.

Alvin bargained with Magradros for a weapon capable of destroying the Tyranid Hive Fleet in exchange for freeing the Void Dragon. After Magradros accepted Alvin’s offered Uru armor as a vessel, Alvin revealed that the armor was the trap he had prepared for him.

• Alvin offered to free Magradros if he helped him drive back the Hive Fleet, and Magradros first demanded a fragment before claiming he could build a weapon instead.
• Magradros made Alvin swear on his soul to the Warp that he would release him and provide a vessel after learning the weapon’s instructions.
• Magradros stored the weapon instructions in a piece of Living Metal and hesitated to hand it over until Alvin offered him a spiked suit of Uru armor.
• Alvin tossed the Destroyer to Magradros, who transferred his consciousness into the armor and realized Alvin had tricked him.

Alvin trapped the Void Dragon Magradros inside the Destroyer Armor with spells and runes, forcing him to obey commands. He left Magradros powerless and declared him his slave.

• Alvin ordered Magradros to be quiet and kneel, revealing that he could control the Void Dragon's armored body.
• Alvin explained that he had inscribed Kamar-Taj spells and runes into the Destroyer Armor, trapping Magradros and binding him to obey commands.
• Magradros accused Alvin of breaking his oath, but Alvin argued that he had promised only to provide a vessel, not to leave it untouched.
• Alvin told Magradros that his arrogance and contempt for humans had led him into the trap.
• Magradros threatened Alvin, who slapped him and declared that the Void Dragon was now his slave.

Alvin persuaded the Void Dragon Magradros to serve him as a slave for five hundred years in exchange for freedom and five C'tan fragments. Torzak and Hilda arrived to find Magradros subdued, and Torzak began suspecting that Alvin held the mystery Trazyn the Infinite sought.

• Alvin offered Magradros freedom after five hundred years of service and promised him at least five fragments if he served faithfully.
• Magradros accepted the deal and agreed to serve Alvin as his slave.
• Torzak and Hilda emerged from the traps, and Alvin introduced Magradros as his slave.
• Magradros demonstrated his power, convincing Torzak that the metal armor contained the real Void Dragon.
• Torzak wondered whether Alvin held the secret Trazyn the Infinite had been searching for.

Alvin tricked Magradros into signing a lengthy employment contract that let Alvin borrow the Void Dragon’s power for free. Magradros then revealed he could counter the Tyranids by restoring communications and enabling faster-than-light travel through realspace.

• Magradros read Alvin’s contract, agreed to its terms, and signed it, unaware that hidden clauses gave Alvin free use of his power.
• Alvin made the contract effective immediately and reminded Magradros that poor performance or disobedience could extend his five-hundred-year service term.
• Alvin asked Magradros about a weapon to drive back the Tyranid swarm, and Magradros argued that communications and navigation were the swarm’s greatest advantages.
• Alvin identified the Tyranids’ disruption of communications and Warp travel as a central threat to isolated planets and their defenders.
• Magradros claimed he could restore communications within the Hive Mind’s shadow and enable faster-than-light travel through realspace.

Alvin used Magradros and Torzak to obtain a Blackstone warship and discovered that the Tyranid Shadow in the Warp did not affect him. When they reached Aeros, they found the planet’s defenses collapsing under a massive Tyranid assault, and Alvin ordered his men to arm the guns.

• Alvin ordered Magradros to build a ship from the Blackstone tomb’s materials, extending his service term when he initially resisted.
• With Torzak’s help, Magradros built a Blackstone-coated warship that could travel faster than light through realspace without entering the Warp.
• Hilda and Magradros realized Alvin was unaffected by the Tyranid Shadow in the Warp, though they could not explain why.
• Alvin reached Aeros and saw Tyranid Bio-ships attacking the planet’s defenses and destroying space-mining platforms.
• Alvin found that the Tyranids had broken through the front line in two days and ordered his men to mount their guns and fire.

Alvin returned to the fleet defending Aelos and learned that the defenders had suffered heavy losses and transferred only 35 percent of their Promethium target. He chose to hold the planet against the approaching Tyranid motherships and prepared a surprise for the Swarm.

• Alvin returned to the bridge and reviewed the fleet’s defensive position around Aelos.
• Colonel Jansett reported that only 48 mining platforms remained operational, fewer than 30 percent of his troops could fight, and just 35 percent of the planned Promethium had been transferred.
• Alvin considered retreating but decided that falling back would leave Baal vulnerable to a repeat of the catastrophe in the Stygian System.
• Alvin ordered Jansett to hold the remaining mining platforms until further notice, and Jansett pledged that the 1433rd Air Wing would not retreat.
• Alvin ordered Carroll and the crew to support the Navy’s attack and declared that he would prepare a surprise for the incoming Tyranid motherships.

Alvin planned to turn Pertita into a mechanical world to outproduce the Tyranids, then went to Marvel to ask Odin to lend him the Bifrost. He agreed to find Odin a Tyranid queen in exchange, leaving the two of them poised to test whether the swarm could threaten the World Tree.

• Alvin went to the Transformers world, gave Sentinel Prime instructions, and then traveled to Earth in the Marvel Universe.
• Alvin summoned Odin and asked to borrow the Bifrost so he could strike the Tyranids.
• Alvin described the Tyranids’ rapid evolution, hive mind, and ability to consume organic matter, prompting Odin to consider whether they could reach the World Tree.
• Odin told Alvin that someone more powerful could deal with the Tyranids if they became a threat.
• Alvin agreed to find Odin a Tyranid queen in exchange for borrowing the Bifrost, and Odin accepted.

Alvin visited the Transformers’ world and saw Sentinel Prime’s mass-produced war machines, including an immense, heavily armed Titan-like machine. Impressed by Sentinel Prime’s work, Alvin rewarded him and named the giant machine Giant Spirit God, which awakened and greeted him.

• Alvin and Odin agreed that being debt-dodgers would make their dealings easier, and Alvin moved the Bifrost onto the Sword of Redemption before traveling to the Transformers’ world.
• Sentinel Prime showed Alvin one hundred and seventy Forge Factories and introduced the specialized Transformer models designed to fight the Tyran.
• Sentinel Prime unveiled an eighty-meter war machine protected by Void Shields and plasma shields, equipped with compressed internal space, hundreds of cannons, and other weapons.
• Alvin praised Sentinel Prime, promised him the energy of ten stars after the war, and assured him he would not abandon the Transformers.
• Alvin named the giant machine Giant Spirit God, and it awakened and greeted him as the Progenitor.