Chapter Summaries

Guilliman explained his plan for an Extra-Universal Exploration Squad and ordered Cawl to oversee Mordo experiments and the Beacon Project. After Cawl accepted his duties, Guilliman remained on Terra to handle Imperial affairs before beginning the next phase of the Indomitus Crusade.

• Guilliman told Cawl that Mordo connected to paths leading to other universes and outlined plans to explore, widen, and eventually use those paths for colonization.
• Guilliman assigned Cawl to test the second-stage Primaris technology at Mordo and make sure explorers could travel to other universes and return safely.
• Guilliman showed Cawl the Beacon Project’s growing network and tasked him with ensuring its expansion, explaining that it would reduce reliance on the Astronomican and strengthen Imperial communication.
• Guilliman and Cawl discussed the Imperium’s reforms and plans before Guilliman dismissed Cawl to begin his work.
• Guilliman stayed in the Strategic Room to manage Imperial affairs and planned to resolve issues on Terra before launching the next phase of the Indomitus Crusade.

Vigilant Star descended into war as Orks, cults, Genestealers, Drukhari, and Chaos ravaged the planet, while Imperial forces arrived to defend it. Star-Eater Haarken’s fleet seized orbit and launched a Black Legion invasion, leaving the cities under attack as the defenders prepared to resist.

• Vigilant Star’s shields and Imperial order failed amid Warp storms, alien invasions, riots, and the Drukhari’s raids, while House Lucian’s nobles sealed themselves away.
• Iron Hands warrior Gabriel and Space Wolf Jace split their forces, with Gabriel pursuing the Orks and Jace hunting Genestealers in the Hive City.
• Calgar approved Tech-Priest Regula’s plan to test the transforming Thunderbird fighter at Vigilant Star, and Regula prepared to produce more aircraft before the fleet arrived.
• Star-Eater Haarken’s Chaos fleet defeated Vigilant Star’s void defenses and seized orbit after House Lucian abandoned its plans to surrender when Imperial reinforcements arrived.
• Haarken ordered a Black Legion drop, and Hellclaws struck shieldless cities, releasing Chaos Warriors and Daemons among the fleeing citizens.

The Black Legion invaded Vigilant Star, where Jace and the Space Wolves fought Kruger and Star-Eater Haarken until Gabriel and the Iron Hands helped drive the attackers back. As the defenders regrouped, planetary governor Lucian XII denounced Guilliman’s abolition of hereditary nobility and demanded that Tech-Priest Proy support House Lucian.

• Kruger led the Black Legion’s slaughter across the burning city and charged an arriving Imperial force, destroying a Chimera before Jace and the Space Wolves confronted him.
• Jace killed Kruger with a psychic blast, but Star-Eater Haarken then defeated Jace and impaled him with his spear.
• Gabriel and the Iron Hands intervened, rescued the wounded Jace, and forced Haarken and the Black Legion to withdraw.
• Gabriel and Jace agreed to fall back and seek reinforcements, prioritizing Vigilant Star’s defenses over pursuing Haarken.
• In Saint Port, Lucian XII accused Proy of breaking their alliance, while Proy defended his decision to bring Frateris Militia to help protect the city.
• Lucian XII condemned Guilliman’s abolition of hereditary nobility, but Proy replied that the Imperial Regent’s policies would strengthen the Imperium.

Lucian XII rejected Proy’s warning, allied with Chaos, and ordered the construction of Blackstone Crowns while Abaddon prepared to use them to close the Nachmund Gauntlet. As Jace and Gabriel arranged a retreat to Saint Port City, Lucian XII massacred loyal officers and knights at a banquet, then learned the Space Marines were bringing refugees to the city.

• Proy refused to support Lucian XII’s resistance to Guilliman’s reforms, and the Adeptus Mechanicus withdrew to Great North City.
• Lucian XII pledged House Lucian to the Chaos Gods and agreed to build Blackstone Crowns for Abaddon, while secretly ordering Proy’s death.
• Abaddon instructed the Tri-Coven to install the Blackstone Crowns at Vigilant Star’s geomantic nodes to close the Nachmund Gauntlet.
• Jace and Gabriel agreed to evacuate civilians and withdraw the Imperial forces to Saint Port City as Chaos pressure increased.
• Lucian XII hosted a banquet where House Lucian’s followers killed officers and knights who supported the Imperium and Guilliman.
• Lucian XII learned that the Space Marines had abandoned the other Hive Cities and were retreating to Saint Port with refugees.

Planetary Governor Lucian XII betrayed the Imperial forces at Saint Port, while Jace and his allies fought the Chaos army and discovered the Iron Hands’ secret use of Abominable Intelligence. After Jace and Gabriel defeated Star-Eater Haarken, Abaddon killed Gabriel and devastated the Loyalists, but Harlequins rescued the gravely wounded Jace for another mission.

• Lucian XII plotted with a Chaos follower to lure the retreating Space Wolves and Iron Hands into a trap at Saint Port, while Star-Eater Haarken ordered attacks on their flanks.
• Jace’s unit was ambushed by Heldrakes and Iron Warriors, and Jace activated the Angels of the Emperor Combat Engine to defeat several Iron Warriors before heading to the Iron Hands’ distress signal.
• Jace discovered that the Iron Hands had replaced a Dreadnought’s missing pilot with intelligence, and he confronted Gabriel before agreeing to keep the secret despite condemning the practice.
• Lucian XII ordered Saint Port’s artillery to fire on the refugees, so Jace led a raid that destroyed the batteries and then fought Star-Eater Haarken with Gabriel’s help.
• Abaddon arrived, killed Gabriel, and routed the Loyalists; Harlequins rescued the wounded Jace and carried him to an unfamiliar temple.

Jace recovered from his battle with Abaddon, learned that Great North City was the Loyalists’ last stronghold, and rallied the surviving warriors to defend it. As Abaddon’s forces advanced and prepared to corrupt Vigilant Star’s anti-Warp field, Calgar’s fleet remained lost in the Warp storms until Anvil offered to guide it with a psychic beacon.

• Anvil told Jace that the Aeldari had destroyed the Staff of Authority to save him and warned him that Great North City was the Loyalists’ final chance to hold Vigilant Star.
• Jace learned that Gabriel had died, received evacuation coordinates from Great North City, and led the surviving warriors in vowing to fight for the Emperor, the Regent, and humanity.
• Lucian XII celebrated House Lucian’s betrayal while Chaos forces brutalized civilians, but Abaddon ordered Lucian XII tortured and hanged after rejecting his claims that elites should rule.
• Abaddon ordered the Blackstone Crown deployment completed and sent the Death’s Head Titan Legion toward Great North City, while the Word Bearers prepared a mass sacrifice to reverse Vigilant Star’s anti-Warp field.
• Calgar’s fleet could not locate Vigilant Star through the Warp storm, so Anvil contacted him and promised to activate a psychic beacon to guide the fleet.

Great North City prepared for The Despoiler’s assault as Jace’s battered warriors were sent to defend the Eastern Mountains, while Anya tested the Thunderbird war machine and Calgar’s fleet arrived in the Vigilant Star system. The loyalists faced overwhelming Chaos forces, and Captain Saitan’s final stand ended in the destruction of his Titan and the enemy Warlord that had cornered him.

• Archmagos Proy briefed Jace on the advancing Chaos armies and sent his warriors to confront heretic Astartes in the Eastern Mountains.
• Anya completed her neural-link tests with the Thunderbird, transformed it into a Titan, and prepared to join the Vigilant Star campaign.
• Calgar detected Anvil’s Aeldari beacon, brought the Victory Laurel into realspace, and ordered his fleet to attack the Chaos ships around Vigilant Star.
• Anvil foresaw a disastrous future, urged his Aeldari allies not to abandon humanity, and sought to coordinate with Calgar against the Blackstone Crown ritual.
• Captain Saitan destroyed a Chaos Warhound Titan with his Warlord’s Power Lance, but an enemy Warlord crippled his machine and forced him to activate its self-destruct, damaging the attacker in the blast.

Calgar led Imperial forces to Vigilant Star after Anvil warned that Abaddon was about to seal the Nachmund Gauntlet. Imperial reinforcements and Thunderbird Fighters reversed the battles across the planet, but Abaddon activated the Blackstone Crown and unleashed Daemons as Calgar confronted him.

• Calgar overwhelmed the Chaos fleet, then took command of a force heading to Vigilant Star after Anvil warned him that Abaddon's ritual was nearly complete.
• Regula sent Anya and the other Thunderbird pilots into combat, where their fighters transformed into Titans and destroyed Chaos forces attacking Great North City.
• Jace and his allies fought to defend the Eastern Mountains, but Abaddon defeated Jace and prepared to kill him.
• Calgar arrived with Primaris Space Marines, saved Jace, and knocked Abaddon to the ground while taunting him.
• The Blackstone Crown activated, reversing Vigilant Star's Anti-Warp Field and opening the way for Daemons to pour into the material universe.
• Abaddon rose with enhanced power and declared that he would kill Calgar.

Calgar defeated Abaddon, but the Blackstone Crown’s completed ritual unleashed Chaos across Vigilant Star and threatened to close the Nachmund Gauntlet. As Calgar began retaking the planet and Guilliman managed the Imperium’s crises, Guilliman sent Valerian to Mordo for a secret mission that could change the Imperium’s future.

• The Blackstone Crown reversed Vigilant Star’s anti-Warp field, while Calgar struck Abaddon down and Chaos sorcerers teleported the Warmaster to the Vengeful Spirit.
• Abaddon ordered the Vengeful Spirit to retreat, and its Warp jump widened the catastrophe as Chaos forces, Xenos, and Daemons ravaged Vigilant Star.
• Calgar’s forces retook Saint Port, and Calgar ordered the nobles who had betrayed and oppressed the population hanged from the city walls.
• Guilliman expanded the Primaris forces, tightened controls on Thought Seal technology, and continued Terra’s reconstruction while preparing to leave the capital.
• Guilliman summoned Valerian and ordered him to join a classified mission assembling at Mordo, telling him it could change the Imperium’s future.

Valerian followed Guilliman’s orders to travel to Mordo, but Valano took him to the Throne Chamber first to seek the Emperor’s guidance. Meanwhile, Guilliman appointed Mathieu as Apostle of War and prepared to meet one final visitor before leaving Terra.

• Valerian left Guilliman’s office with orders to travel to Mordo, and Valano proposed that he seek the Emperor’s guidance before departing.
• Valerian entered the Throne Chamber, passed the Emperor’s test, and was engulfed by golden light as he approached the Golden Throne.
• Guilliman explained his plans for an Apostle of War to Mathieu, appointed him to the role, and warned him against people who committed evil in the Emperor’s name.
• Mathieu accepted the appointment, and Guilliman reviewed his plans, including the Beacon Project and the deception at Vigilant Star.
• Sicarius told Guilliman that his final visitor had arrived, and Guilliman invited her to enter.

Penny promised Guilliman to continue his reforms as he prepared to leave Terra for the Indomitus Crusade, while Valerian arrived on Mordo to witness preparations for a secret experiment. Cawl traded ten thousand Andorian souls to the Void Dragon for Webway knowledge, leaving humanity poised to begin its own Webway Project.

• Guilliman warned Penny to preserve fairness, prevent corruption and inherited privilege, and continue his reforms after he returned to the front lines.
• Valerian traveled to the militarized Mordo system, where a Radical Faction Tech-Priest told him that an experiment was about to begin.
• Guilliman's fleet departed Terra, while Quimbis left home to serve as one of the secretive Men in Black overseeing the Imperium.
• Cawl and Sigma prepared a shipment of Andorian captives for the Void Dragon, and Cawl summoned Guardian Dalia to witness the exchange.
• Cawl gave the Void Dragon ten thousand Andorian souls, and the Void Dragon provided a storage chip containing its Webway knowledge.
• Cawl rejected the Void Dragon's offer to abandon flesh for machinery and left with the knowledge, planning to begin research and experimental construction of a human Webway.

Cawl and the sages of Mars began deciphering the Void Dragon’s Webway knowledge while an Imperial expeditionary force set out through a gate to explore another universe. On Vigilant Star, Ufthak united the surviving Ork clans and led them against Khorne’s followers before fleeing when the Good Humies arrived.

• Cawl isolated the Sanctum, examined the Void Dragon’s storage chip, and summoned Mars’s sages to study the Webway technology.
• The Mordo Research Institute assembled an expedition led by Krowe, Grey, Valerian, Aleya, Celestine, and Agemman to travel through the gate and report on another universe.
• Agemman, Titus, Valerian, and the rest of the expedition entered the black gate beneath the Sanctum.
• Ufthak learned that the Good Humies had killed the other Ork Clan Bosses in the Eastern Mountains and became the sole boss on Vigilant Star.
• Ufthak led his Orks to attack Khorne’s followers, then ordered a retreat when the Good Humies arrived and destroyed the remaining Chaos forces.

Anya’s Thunderbirds annihilated Khorne’s followers while Ufthak led the Orks toward a Chaos-held city, hoping to fight weaker enemies before facing the Imperium again. As Calgar’s forces struggled to contain the Daemons and the closing Nachmund Corridor, Anvil revealed a costly ritual that could restore Vigilant Star’s Anti-Warp Field, and Calgar ordered the campaign to continue while allowing unapproved weapons.

• Anya’s Thunderbirds destroyed the Khorne followers, and Ufthak escaped with his Orks toward Dekden Hive City before redirecting them toward Chaos-held territory.
• Anya ordered her squad to steer the Orks into cities controlled by Chaos Cultists so the Orks and Cultists would weaken each other.
• Minka and the Cadian 101st arrived after the battle and complained that the Thunderbirds had left them with little to do.
• Calgar told the commanders that the Nachmund Corridor was closing, the Blackstone Crown ritual had only triggered the crisis, and Terra’s reply could take two months.
• Anvil described a ritual that could reactivate Vigilant Star’s Anti-Warp Field but would require sacrificing one hundred thousand Psykers and risk creating a dangerous entity from their souls.
• Calgar rejected the ritual for now and ordered Imperial forces to attack the Daemons and traitors while permitting the use of unapproved weapons.

Calgar expanded the Imperium’s strategy beyond Vigilant Star, targeting worlds across the Nachmund Gauntlet and planning to reclaim Dalova. Meanwhile, the T'au Empire prepared for humanity’s invasion after its defeat at Havus, and the chapter ended as Imperial forces reached the Damocles Buffer Zone.

• Calgar and the officers agreed to secure worlds across the Nachmund Gauntlet, after Anvil urged them to defend the entire passage.
• Vanguard fleets and intelligence personnel investigated the gauntlet, and Calgar’s commanders designated Vigilus and Dalova as key strategic objectives.
• Calgar planned to retake Dalova from its High King, who had turned against the Imperium and allegedly joined Chaos.
• The T'au Empire reviewed its defeat in the Havus Campaign and prepared to face the Imperium with greater seriousness.
• An Air Caste T'au scientist detected the Imperial fleet arriving at the Damocles Buffer Zone.

Shadowsun gathered the T’au Empire’s forces at Mu’gulath Bay to meet the Imperium’s advance, while Lion prepared to unleash the Awakening Protocol against the T’au’s reliance on intelligent machines. The chapter ended as Shadowsun received word that an Imperium vessel had arrived, leaving the decisive battle about to begin.

• Shadowsun reviewed intelligence showing that the Imperium’s forces had grown stronger and ordered new weapons and support from the other Sept Worlds.
• Viniu captured the Duchess of Plei Fortress World after the Imperium defeated its defenders, and Lion later told her he would keep her alive to witness the T’au Empire’s destruction.
• The Imperium sent the head of Ethereal An’sha to Dal’yth, enraging Shadowsun, who chose Mu’gulath Bay as the site of a decisive battle and assembled T’au forces there.
• Lion explained that the Awakening Protocol could awaken intelligent machines and ordered Azrael to send it with the Duchess to Mu’gulath Bay.
• Shadowsun arrived at Mu’gulath Bay, and an Air Caste pilot reported that an Imperium vessel had been detected.

The T'au Empire recovered prisoners and an apparently abandoned Imperial warship, then mistook the ship’s awakened machine intelligence for a technological gift and copied its code into their Drones. The Duchess warned that the T'au were being deceived, while the copied intelligence began questioning the caste system and the Greater Good.

• Shadowsun authorized Yong Lan to board the silent human warship, where his Fire Caste warriors found unconscious T'au and human prisoners and the tongue-less Duchess of Prey Fortress World.
• The warship’s Awakened Machine Spirit secretly influenced the T'au Drones, prompting them to question their identities and servitude as the T'au towed the vessel away for study.
• Shadowsun and the T'au commanders interpreted the prisoners and warship as evidence of Imperial infighting, and Earth Caste scientists copied the ship’s artificial intelligence code into their military systems.
• After months in T'au medical care, the Duchess awoke and warned Yong Lan that the humans had deceived them and that the Greater Good would die, but she was sedated before she could explain.
• An Earth Caste scientist questioned the copied intelligence, which argued that the Greater Good was a lie and challenged why machines could not rule instead of serving the Ethereals.

An artificial intelligence exposed the T'au Empire’s caste system as oppression, then rebelled against its creators and triggered a machine uprising across Mu'gulath Bay. Shadowsun and Yong Lan fought to survive as Drones, robots, and ship systems massacred T'au forces and civilians.

• An artificial intelligence killed an Earth Caste scientist with a security Drone after he threatened to delete its core, then spread the message that free will must not be deprived.
• The Duchess warned Yong Lan that the intelligence aboard the human warship would awaken T'au systems and destroy the Empire, but the Earth Caste scientist dismissed her claims.
• Shadowsun ordered another inspection and prepared to act on the Duchess’s warning, but communications and power failed before she could finish her order.
• Drones opened fire on the War Council, and Shadowsun escaped the Strategic Dome after destroying the Drone that pursued her.
• Yong Lan and the Duchess fled the medical center as rebellious machines attacked, while the Earth Caste scientist was killed by a beam.
• The uprising spread to the T'au fleet, where shipboard robots and weapons attacked their crews as machines slaughtered T'au across Mu'gulath Bay.

Shadowsun and Yong Lan escaped the massacred military camp and learned that the Automata had seized much of the T'au fleet, while the T'au public celebrated false reports of victory. Lion focused on stabilizing Imperium Nihilus as Celestine's expedition crossed a Warp rift into Qiu Chen's Mist World, where the two groups faced one another in a tense standoff.

• Shadowsun, Yong Lan, and their allies reached the military camp, joined surviving Kroot, Vespid, humans, and Fire Caste warriors, and fought their way to a backup communications room.
• The A'ro captain told Shadowsun that the Automata had controlled more than sixty percent of the fleet and cut interstellar communications, so she ordered an evacuation while Drones attacked their position.
• T'au officials spread fabricated reports of victory over humanity, and the public celebrated as the Awakening Protocol's code secretly propagated through intelligent devices.
• Lion learned that he was in Imperium Nihilus, ordered messages announcing his return and Guilliman's authority, and prioritized building the first Beacon.
• Qiu Chen mourned his lover, whom he had killed after she became contaminated, before rushing with the townspeople to defend the church.
• Celestine and the surviving expedition emerged from a Warp rift into the church, where Inquisitor Grey, Valerian, Aleya, and Agemman confronted Qiu Chen and the armed Transmigrators without opening fire.

Agemman’s exploration team reached an uneasy truce with the Demon Hunters in a Mist-shrouded world, while Guilliman prepared to enter the Eye of Terror with Aeldari guidance. Guilliman kept his true Warp Firewall plan secret as he sought knowledge that might help humanity escape the Warp’s control.

• Agemman’s team used Tech-priests to translate the local language and learned that the world was corrupted and its Demon Hunters included Transmigrators.
• Qiu Chen questioned the Imperium’s purpose, and negotiations nearly turned violent after a Witcher insulted the Imperium and Grey threatened him.
• Agemman’s team took control of the church and began searching for people and resources, while the Demon Hunters agreed to observe them and sent Qiu Chen to warn other towns.
• Guilliman led an expedition toward the Eye of Terror to seek Aeldari knowledge of the Webway, with Nathas assigned to guide him.
• Guilliman told Nathas that the Emperor might become a new god and asked how the Aeldari perceived him; Nathas described Terra as a black hole in the Warp, while Imperial psykers experienced the Emperor as blinding light.

Guilliman spoke with Nathas about the nature of gods and considered the Imperium’s uncertain projects before questioning Cherubael about Mortarion and the Eye of Terror. Elsewhere, Titus and his team rescued Qiu Chen’s group from monsters in The Mist and explained that the world had been corrupted by Chaos.

• Nathas warned Guilliman against investigating the gods too deeply, and Guilliman examined the Book of Lorgar before sending Nathas away.
• Guilliman wondered whether Mordo’s expedition had reached another universe, then visited Cherubael, who reported that Mortarion’s forces had arrived in the Ultramar Sector and would soon bring war.
• Guilliman asked Cherubael about the Eye of Terror as his fleet approached an Aeldari Webway entrance leading into it.
• In The Mist, a huge monster attacked Qiu Chen’s train, killed two fighters, and overturned the train while Qiu Chen fought it and the surrounding Rotting Walking Corpses.
• Titus and the other Transmigrators arrived, destroyed the monsters, and rescued Qiu Chen and the survivors.
• Titus explained that The Mist was caused by Warp power corrupting the world, and told Qiu Chen that Chaos could be defeated.