Chapter Summaries

Alvin pretended that Seragrim’s ritual attack had left him near death, baiting the Daemon Prince into entering the battlefield. He revealed the deception and unleashed an immense, otherworldly Psychic Power over the Dark Angels’ position.

• Alvin ordered the Dark Angels to begin escaping through their forest domain, prompting Seragrim to fear they would abandon the Great Tower.
• Seragrim commanded his Chaos Sorcerers to destroy Alvin’s summoning ritual, sacrificing tens of thousands of worshippers and hundreds of sorcerers to strike him with Warp energy.
• Alvin appeared to collapse, bleeding from all seven orifices, and Seragrim left his throne to capture him personally.
• Alvin sprang up unharmed and revealed that he had faked his weakness to lure Seragrim into the battle.
• Alvin unleashed a vast Psychic Power that enveloped the Dark Angels’ remaining position.

Alvin made the Great Tower vanish with the Mirror Dimension, then fought to escape Daemon Prince Seragrim as the Honor Guard protected him. The Blood Angels arrived over Dragon Forest Star, and Louis Dante told the Dark Angels to hold on until their forces landed.

• Alvin used the Mirror Dimension to make the Great Tower disappear, enraging Seragrim and prompting him to attack the Dark Angels.
• Alvin heard a broken transmission that seemed to mention Dante and the Blood Angels, but the communications officer thought it was Warp interference.
• Seragrim shattered an Honor Guard warrior's Storm Shield and killed him with one punch, while the other Honor Guard warriors and Sword Guard attacked the Daemon Prince and helped Alvin retreat.
• Hundreds of red Thunderhawk Gunships emerged from the polluted clouds, and Louis Dante identified the Blood Angels' ship as the Red Tear.
• Alvin fired a flare and contacted the Blood Angels, and Dante ordered the Dark Angels to mark targets for an orbital strike and hold their positions until the Blood Angels landed.

The Blood Angels arrived and turned the battle against Chaos, with Chapter Master Louis Dante leading their assault. As Dante confronted the Daemon Prince Seragrim, Angron appeared on the battlefield, and Dante charged toward him.

• Alvin refused to flee and clashed with Daemon Prince Seragrim as the Blood Angels began their airdrop.
• Sanguinius's Coffin of Wrath landed amid the Chaos Legion, and Blood Angels poured out to attack.
• Louis Dante led the Blood Guard through the Daemons, cutting a path toward Seragrim.
• Angron tore through space and appeared on the battlefield, alarming Alvin.
• Dante charged toward Angron, and Alvin recognized him as the Blood Angels' Chapter Master.

Dante faced Angron alone and, after being struck down, confronted his exhaustion and desire for release. A vision of Sanguinius renewed his resolve, and Dante rose to block Angron’s next blow, determined to stand until the Daemon fell.

• Dante charged Angron alone and struggled to withstand the Daemon Primarch’s attacks.
• Alvin realized Dante repeatedly sought deadly positions, while Angron struck Dante into the ruins and shattered his armor.
• As he lay wounded, Dante remembered his sixteen hundred years of service, his burdens, and his longing to rest.
• Dante saw a vision of Sanguinius, who silently reminded him that his duty was unfinished.
• Dante rejected a meaningless death, blocked Angron’s blow, and vowed that he would not fall before the Daemon.

Dante faced Angron alone and, empowered by a sacred light that recalled Sanguinius, survived the Daemon Primarch’s full-force attack. As Angron attacked again, Dante declared his intent to end the daemon’s atrocities, and pure angelic wings appeared behind him.

• Angron mistook Dante’s radiant presence for a reminder of Sanguinius and attacked him in a jealous rage.
• Dante withstood Angron’s crushing axe strike, knocked the weapon away, and sent the Daemon Primarch reeling.
• Dante ordered the Blood Guard to leave and support Alvin, insisting that he face Angron alone.
• Angron threatened to break Dante and force him to kneel before the Red Angel, then charged again.
• Dante invoked Sanguinius and the Emperor, vowed to end Angron’s atrocities, and manifested sacred wings of light.

Dante drove a holy spear into Angron and fought to hold the Daemon Primarch in place, while Alvin’s concern for Dante broke the restraint on his own power. Alvin tore off Seragrim’s arm and advanced on the Daemon Prince, declaring that he had no interest in Khorne’s blessing.

• Dante used a golden spear to pierce Angron’s chest, burning and weakening the Daemon Primarch as the two struggled against each other.
• Alvin saw Dante’s peril and lost focus, allowing Seragrim to seize him in the Daemon Prince’s hand.
• Golden flames surged around Alvin as he pried Seragrim’s fingers apart and tore off the Daemon Prince’s arm.
• Alvin approached the wounded Seragrim, whose blood mingled with Alvin’s golden flames, and rejected Khorne’s blessing.

Alvin used Atropos's Blade to erase Seragrim by severing his fate, then moved to attack the wounded Angron. The Lion King arrived, stopped Alvin, and took over the confrontation with his former brother.

• Seragrim charged Alvin, furious that the Blood God had favored him.
• Alvin froze Seragrim with his will and used Atropos's Blade to sever his fate, causing the Daemon Prince to disintegrate.
• Alvin endured intense pain and approached Angron, intending to kill him and save the gravely wounded Dante.
• The Lion King appeared, restrained Alvin's killing intent, and told him to rest while he faced Angron.
• The Lion King's presence overwhelmed the Chaos forces gathered before him.

The Lion King confronted Angron and drew him into a battle while Alvin watched. The Lion King’s taunts and skill with his sword and shield pushed Angron away from the battlefield, leaving Alvin impressed by his aggro attraction.

• The Lion King taunted Angron about being a slave and a Chaos-controlled beast until Angron lost his temper.
• Angron sent Chaos forces to attack the Lion King, who swiftly cut down the charging daemons, traitors, and war machines.
• Angron charged the Lion King, but the Lion King used his Lion Shield to rebound Angron’s axe strike and knock him down.
• The Lion King mocked Angron about their fathers’ gifts and kept deflecting his attacks as Angron focused on killing him.
• Alvin watched Angron follow the Lion King away from the battlefield and decided to learn from the Lion King’s aggro attraction.

After defeating the Daemon Prince, Alvin found Dante fatally wounded and learned that the Chapter Master wanted to die rather than be interred in a Dreadnought. Alvin offered to save him, and despite understanding Dante’s wishes, he decided the Imperium still needed him.

• The Lion lured Angron away from the battlefield, allowing the Blood Angels and Dark Angels to counterattack the Chaos Legion.
• Alvin reached Dante and saw that Angron’s attack had caused catastrophic, irreversible injuries.
• Dante told Apothecary Eris to take his Gene Seed to Baal and told Isaac not to place him in a Dreadnought.
• Dante told Alvin not to grieve, then lost consciousness after saying he was tired and wanted to rest.
• Alvin said he could save Dante, and Eris urged him to act because the Blood Angels and the Indomitable Crusade needed their Chapter Master.
• Alvin chose to save Dante despite his wishes and apologized for making him work longer.

Alvin arranged for Dante to undergo a Primaris upgrade surgery while directing the Dark Angels and Blood Angels to retreat. He led the pursuing Chaos Legion through a portal into an ambush by four armored regiments of the Holy Terra Auxilia.

• Alvin proposed saving the unconscious Dante with Primaris upgrade surgery, and Eris agreed to accompany him while Isaac stayed to lead the battle.
• Alvin took Dante and Eris away for treatment, then returned and ordered the Dark Angels and Blood Angels to retreat along a route he transmitted.
• The Chaos Legion pursued the withdrawing Chapters, ignoring an Iron Warriors Company Commander's warning that the retreat was orderly.
• Alvin led the Chapters into a dead end, then opened a portal to the Dark Angels' base and brought them through to safety.
• Alvin expanded the portal to reveal four armored regiments of the Holy Terra Auxilia, which opened fire on the pursuing Chaos Legion.

Alvin ordered the Imperium’s forces to unleash a massive artillery and air assault on the Chaos Legion, using reverse-engineered Basilisks, Thunderhawks, and armored regiments. The Chaos advance was halted under the bombardment as the tank column began charging forward.

• Alvin ordered the first ranging salvo followed by a saturation bombardment of the Chaos Legion’s rear ranks.
• Tens of thousands of Basilisks opened fire, destroying World Eaters, Chaos Renegade Chapters, and even the Iron Warriors’ defensive positions.
• Thunderhawk gunships launched Hellfire Missiles against Chaos forces while anti-aircraft fire tore attacking daemons from the sky.
• Alvin’s crews continued loading and firing despite the heat and smoke, while Valshius’s commander ordered the barrage extended.
• The tank column advanced as its commanders ordered their guns to keep firing into the Chaos Legion.

Alvin abandoned Bonegrinder and ordered the Blood Angels' Space Fleet to bombard the Hive City after his forces withdrew. Then the Blood God's power tore at reality above Dragon Forest Star, threatening to turn the planet into an altar and declaring that Atropos's soul belonged to him.

• Alvin refused Bonegrinder's plea to escape through the portal, declared their pact over, and left him under bombardment.
• Alvin closed the portal, confirmed his forces had withdrawn, and called in the Blood Angels' Space Fleet to bombard the Hive City.
• The Blood God's voice reached the battlefield and fixed its gaze on Alvin, filling him with terror and malice.
• Warp readings surged as a crimson beam rose from the Hive City ruins and blood-red clouds spread across Dragon Forest Star.
• The psychic Librarian warned that the Veil of reality was about to tear, as Warp rifts opened and the planet shook.
• The Blood God declared Dragon Forest Star his altar, claimed Atropos's soul, and announced that the Apocalypse had descended.

Khorne declared an Apocalypse-level war on Dragon Forest Star and began turning the planet into a Warp-tainted battlefield to sacrifice its inhabitants for Atropos. Faced with destruction beyond his forces’ capacity, Alvin decided to call for help and rely on the Indomitable Crusade fleet and Robert Guilliman’s arrival.

• Khorne announced the Apocalypse and flooded Dragon Forest Star with blood-red Warp energy.
• The planet’s land and sky transformed as the blood god’s ritual began to engulf the battlefield.
• Alvin realized his army and the resources of five worlds could not withstand an Apocalypse-level war.
• Alvin told Azrael to stay quiet while he considered what to do.
• Alvin decided to call for help and wait for the Indomitable Crusade fleet, the Ultramarines, and Robert Guilliman.

Robert Guilliman ordered the Indomitable Crusade fleet to reinforce Dragon Forest Star after learning that the Chaos Gods had appeared and declared the Apocalypse. Haunted by his failure to reach Terra in time, he struggled to contact the besieged defenders and vowed to arrive before history repeated itself.

• Robert Guilliman entered the council chamber and ordered the fleet to reinforce Dragon Forest Star at any cost.
• Calgar reported that a vast Warp field surrounded the Idolater System, making communication and navigation extremely difficult.
• Remembering how his fleet had failed to reach Terra during the Siege, Guilliman ordered the fleet to divert power to its communications array.
• Guilliman made contact with Dragon Forest Star and saw Alvin, Lion El'Jonson, and the defenders fighting Daemons as the transmission broke apart.
• Guilliman pleaded with Alvin to hold out for seven hours and vowed that he would not arrive too late again.

The Khorne Legion launched an apocalyptic assault on Dragon Forest Star, forcing Alvin’s forces to fight immediately while Ezekiel tried to contact the Regent. The frontline began to buckle under the overwhelming Daemon horde, leaving Commissar Lund and the defenders facing a collapsing flank.

• Warp storms tore open Dragon Forest Star’s sky as Khorne’s Daemons and World Eaters charged Alvin’s positions.
• Alvin ordered the armored divisions to fire, sent Ezekiel to contact the Regent, and commanded Optimus Prime and Megatron to lead the Cybertron Legion’s counterattack.
• Commissar Lund charged from the trench and killed a Bloodletter with his Bolter before rallying the soldiers to defend the line.
• The Holy Terra forces and super-heavy tanks inflicted heavy losses, but the advancing Chaos Legion kept pressing forward.
• The frontline began to falter as Cultists and Daemonic monsters filled the trenches, and Lund saw that his flank was collapsing.

The Holy Terra Legion’s defenses crumbled under Khorne’s assault until Alvin summoned the Giant Spirit God and connected the army through its command network. After surviving the destruction of his regiment, Commissar Lund demanded to return to the battle, determined to kill the daemons.

• The Dark Angels and Blood Angels attacked the Chaos Legion’s flank, briefly relieving pressure on the Holy Terra Legion.
• Alvin summoned the Giant Spirit God and linked its command system to the Transformers, Space Marines, and soldiers.
• Ezekiel reported that Guilliman and the others had broken through the Warp blockade and contacted the Indomitable Crusade fleet.
• A medical officer told Lund that the 117th Regiment had been wiped out and that Lund was its only known survivor.
• Lund refused to rest and asked the medical officer to restore him to fighting shape so he could return to battle.

After enduring painful cybernetic surgery, Lund Alvarez returned to duty determined to fight the Chaos Daemons, only to learn the Ninth Legion had been annihilated. He joined the Eighth Legion as Commissar of the 113th Regiment, despite a warning that something was wrong with its people.

• Lund Alvarez endured the implantation of a cybernetic eye and a superalloy spine, then left the medical tent to return to the front.
• Lund told the medical officer that Company Commander Fischer had spoken fondly of his young daughter, and the medical officer recalled fighting in the Nachmund Campaign.
• Lund reported to the Munitorum command post and learned the Ninth Legion had been wiped out two hours earlier, with no survivors.
• The Munitorum staff member offered Lund a post with the Eighth Legion's 113th Regiment and warned him that something was wrong with its people.
• Lund accepted the assignment, and the Munitorum officially reassigned him as Commissar of the 113th Regiment.

Lund Alvarez took command as Commissar of the 113th Regiment and discovered its soldiers were undisciplined, drunken daredevils. When the regiment deployed, they ignored his objections and charged straight into the Chaos main force, leaving Lund to realize why twenty Commissars had already served before him.

• Lund arrived at the 113th Regiment's camp and found its soldiers and Company Commander drunk and disorderly.
• Lund threatened the soldiers into forming ranks and rebuked the Company Commander for drinking on duty.
• The Department of the Munitorum ordered the 113th Regiment to flank the Chaos forces, and the soldiers immediately boarded more than a hundred Taurus Armored Vehicles.
• The Company Commander drove the regiment straight toward the Chaos main force, claiming a direct breakthrough would cut off the enemy's encirclement.
• Lund learned that he was the twentieth Commissar assigned to the regiment and feared the reckless soldiers would drive him to ruin.

The 113th Regiment fought through the Chaos Legion with reckless driving and firepower, astonishing Commissar Lund by destroying a Chaos Hellbeast and ramming a World Eater. After reaching a devastated position, the regiment learned it had to stop a Chaos flanking attack without reinforcements, leaving the Company Commander expecting to die there.

• Lund watched the 113th Regiment charge the Chaos Legion in a Taurus Armored Vehicle while the Company Commander fired its heavy bolter at Daemons.
• Alexei drove the vehicle beneath a Chaos Hellbeast, allowing the Company Commander to kill it with close-range shots to its unarmored crotch.
• Alexei rammed a World Eater with the regiment's Vibranium-armored vehicle, and Lund learned the vehicles had been specially modified.
• The 113th Regiment reached a ruined position and found no surviving defenders to answer the Company Commander's call.
• Lund told the Company Commander that the Munitorum had ordered them to stop the Chaos Legion's flanking attack and that no reinforcements were coming.
• The Company Commander lit a cigarette and said he expected to be buried there.

Commissar Lund and the 113th Regiment fought a desperate delaying action against the Khorne Daemons to protect the Holy Terra Legion's retreat. After nine companies were destroyed, Lund and the last company charged into the Chaos forces.

• The Company Commander ordered the 113th Regiment to hold the flank with artillery support and sent Eighth and Ninth Companies forward as successive defensive lines.
• The Chaos forces broke through the trenches, nearly wiped out Eighth and Ninth Companies, and threatened the main force's flank.
• The Company Commander committed more companies as the 113th Regiment endured repeated bombardments and held the Chaos advance for two hours at the cost of nine companies.
• The Company Commander shared his hometown liquor with Lund before leading First Company, the regiment's last remaining strength, into battle.
• Lund joined the Company Commander and First Company in a final charge against the Khorne Daemons.